Seeker by Jack McDevitt Read Free Book Online

all but blew us into the student center.
    “It’s good to meet you, Chase,” he said, steering us into Benjamin’s. “I appreciate your coming.” He was wearing gray slacks and a blue seashell shirt beneath a white jacket. He looked good, a tall, dashing type with a sense of humor and maybe a little bit shy, out for a night on the town.
    We sat down and picked up our menus. Benjamin’s hadn’t changed much over the years. The dining area was bigger than in the old days, when the restaurant was located on a pier. And the selections had changed, of course. But it was still cozy, still subdued, and it still featured a seafaring ambience. There were sails and wheels and compasses scattered about, and one wall opened onto a virtual lighthouse and storm. In addition, they still had images of celebrity entertainers, including the classic one of Cary Webber standing outside the restaurant on the pier, with the ocean at her back. She looked lost. Cary had been a romantic favorite, but she died young, of course, and thereby became immortal.
    We ordered wine and some breadsticks. When the server had gone, Marquard leaned across the table and whispered that I was striking. “But of course,” he said, “you already know that.”
    I wondered if I was in for a long evening. I said thanks, propped my elbows on the table, folded my hands, and rested my chin on them. “Shep,” I said, “what do you have on the
Searcher
?”
    “Wrong translation, Chase.” He looked around as if to ensure that we were alone — we were, save for a group of three or four students seated over by the window — and lowered his voice. “It’s
Seeker
.” He said it as if it had special significance.
    “Seeker,”
I said.
    “That’s correct.”
    “Okay.”
    “Chase, I don’t think you understand. This might be
the Seeker
.”
    “I’m sorry, Shep. I have no idea what we’re talking about. What’s the
Seeker
?”
    “It’s one of the ships that carried the Margolians off to their colony.”
    “The Margolians.”
    He smiled at my ignorance. “They left Earth during the Third Millennium.
Fled
, I guess, is a better term. They told nobody where they were going. Went out on their own with five thousand people. And we never heard from them again. They’re the lost colony.”
    Atlantis. Intava. Margolia. Light dawned. “They’re a myth, aren’t they?”
    “Not really. It
happened
.”
    “They didn’t care much for the home world.”
    “Chase, they lived in a society that was nominally a republic—”
    “—But—?”
    “—It controlled the churches, and used the schools to indoctrinate rather than teach. Patriotism was defined as unwavering support for the leader and the flag. Anything short of that was disloyal. The decisions of those in authority were not to be questioned.”
    “What happened if you did? You got jailed?”
    “Hellfire.”
    “What?”
    “You had a divinely imposed responsibility to submit to the will of the president. Render to Caesar.”
    “That’s not what ‘Render to Caesar’ means.”
    “It got twisted a bit. Failure to support the political establishment, and for that matter the social establishment, in thought as well as in act, constituted a serious offense against the Almighty.”
    “Weren’t there any skeptics out there?”
    “Sure. But you don’t hear much about them.”
    It was hard to believe people could ever have lived like that. “So it’s a famous ship?”
    “Oh, yes.”
    “Are you telling me the
Seeker
never came back, either?”
    “That’s correct.” He leaned toward me, and the candlelight flashed off a row of white teeth. “Chase. If this cup you told me about is really from the
Seeker
, you couldn’t have done better.” The wine and breadsticks arrived. “You say a woman walked in off the street and just presented you with it? Without any explanation?”
    “Yes. That’s pretty much what happened.” I was thinking how pleased Alex would be.
    “I don’t suppose you