第61节

Brickman was now walking level with the tailplane, his face partially

obscured by the starboard wing. He wore a white headband bearing the

brown petal motif of the Min-Orota and looked thinner than the last

time Jodi had seen him. His crewcut hair looked darker too.

Simons set off towards the plane. Jodi and Kelso let him get ten yards

ahead, then followed.

'Steve! Got the new boys here. They'd like to meet you."

The white-clad figure gave an answering wave then motioned to the

ground crew to take the glider back inside the workshop. The

intervening wing moved out of the way, enabling Jodi and Kelso to get a

clear view of their fellow alumnus. He was slimmer. His hair was not

just darker, it was jet black.

And the guy it belonged to wasn't Brickman.

Kelso faltered in mid-stride. 'Wait a minute ' 'Keep going,' whispered

Jodi. 'Just play it by ear."

They approached to within arm's length in time to hear Simons identify

them by name, adding. 'They tell me they're old friends of yours."

Cadillac found himself in something of a quandary. In 'borrowing'

Steve's acquired memory, and later assuming his identity, he had not

considered the possibility that he might encounter Trackers who

actually knew the real Steve Brickman.

There was no danger of them guessing he was a Mute, but they would know

he was an impostor -'and that might prove awkward.

If they had not been wingmen, he would have arranged for their removal

on some trumped-up charge of sloppy workmanship or insolent

behaviour.

But that was not possible. He was in urgent need of people with flight

experience to help move the project along, and these two new arrivals

were the only ones available in the whole of Ne-Issan.

Cadillac squared up to the new recruits and cast his eyes over each of

them in turn. He was sure that Steve would have known exactly how to

turn a situation like this to his advantage. He had to try and do

likewise. But knowing everything that Steve knew was not the same

thing as knowing how Steve would act in any given set of

circumstances.

Not the same thing at all...

And there was another problem he hadn't foreseen.

The transfer of information had ceased the moment that Steve had

finished teaching him to fly. Cadillac had then gone on a long journey

with Mr Snow, arriving back at the settlement in time to witness

Steve's flight to freedom. He only knew at second hand the events

leading up to Steve's escape, and was unaware of what had happened

since. He was thus able to recall everything Steve knew about Jodi up

to the moment of her dramatic disappearance: Kelso, on the other hand,

was a total stranger.

'Jodi Kazan... Yeah, the name's familiar. She was the flight section

leader aboard The Lady from Louisiana.

But she was killed trying to land during a thunderstorm."

'uh-uh,' said Jodi. 'Almost." She motioned to the disfiguring sheet

of livid scar tissue that covered the left side of her face and neck.

'I got the marks to prove it."

'So I see . . . ' 'Brickman' eyed her keenly. 'You still look a lot

different to the Kazan I remember."

'I am a lot different. You've changed quite a bit too."

'You must have me mixed up with someone else,' said 'Brickman'. 'I

heard about what happened to Kazan and The Lady, but I wasn't on board

at the time. I'm not saying you aren't who you claim to be, but I

joined Hartmann's crew after the refit. The Plainfolk gave The Lady a

real pounding."

'True. Yeah, well . . . that explains everything,' said Jodi.

'Brickman' suppressed a smile and turned his attention to Dave Kelso.

'Are you sure we've met? I've been trying to place you but your name

doesn't ring a bell."

'That doesn't surprise me,' said Kelso. 'When Simons here mentioned

your name, I thought I knew you but, uhh . . . like Jodi . . . I've

obviously got you confused with some other guy." He shrugged. 'It

happens."

'All the time,' said 'Brickman'. Never mind. We'll have plenty of

time to get acquainted in the next few weeks.

Welcome aboard." He shook hands with both of th