Why had Jindriss told Sarvik all this?
From his reaction to Leradil's news, it was clear that Jindriss had known nothing of Farworlds' plans to build generation ships. But from the indications of ongoing communication between Farworlds and ASH that GENIUS had uncovered, there were others at ASH who evidently did. The implication had been as obvious to Jindriss as it was to Sarvik as soon as Jindriss mentioned the supernovas: An inner clique, presumably drawn from the controlling factions of both organizations, had concocted the scheme as a desperate bid to get themselves away to a new beginning before the great irradiating happened.
Having gotten that far, Jindriss wasn't exactly sure what he wanted. In part, he had come to Sarvik out of a need for undisputable corroboration of what Leradil had said. And partly it was self-preservation. Farworlds was sufficiently impressed by Sarvik's abilities to want him in on the project, and to this end had been prepared to reveal at least a part of the story to him. Jindriss had enabled Sarvik to put it in perspective by telling him the rest. Therefore, Sarvik owed Jindriss. Jindriss's unstated hope had to be that through the weight Sarvik evidently carried with Farworlds, coupled with the threat of exposure that the two of them were now in a position to brandish, they might gain places for themselves in the ark. And as for Leradil? She had known as little about Farworlds' plans for generation-ship lifeboats as Palomec had, and as little about the reasons for them as Sarvik. But she had been the instrument by which they had put the two parts of the story together. Thisapart, of course, from her being Palomec's sisterwas enough to earn her a place in whatever they managed to make from the situation.
Sarvik's decision, after a lot of thought and endless arguing with GENIUS, was to tackle the situation head-on. He called Indrigon at Farworlds and told him that he had his answer.
"Already, Dr. Sarvik?" It was still well inside the seven days they had agreed on. Indrigon looked pleased. "So the prospect of becoming a part of the greatest exploration project ever attempted proved irresistible, eh?" One side of his face took on a cautionary look. "Of course, you understand that the termination of your present arrangements would have to be official and final before we could admit you any further into confidentiality." The deal had been that Sarvik would have to finish with Replimaticon. They obviously didn't mean to leave him in a situation where he could go bargaining elsewhere.
But none of that mattered now. Sarvik replied bluntly, "There's no need for any more games with half-truths, Mr. Indrigon. I know the real reason behind the project and why it's so urgent."
Indrigon's expressions changed to a disappointed frown, as if he had expected better. "Now you're pushing us too far, Dr. Sarvik." Clearly, he thought that Sarvik was trying an ill-timed bluff.
"You think so?" Sarvik said, maintaining an easy look. "Surely you haven't forgotten that I specialize in finding out what I'm not supposed to know. After all, isn't that what attracted your interest in the first place?"
Indrigon looked disbelieving, then suspicious. And then both sides of his face went into agitated spasms that betrayed uncertainty. Sarvik put any doubts to rest by saying as much as was prudent over a net link, even on an encrypted channel. "Life is going to get distinctly unhealthy in this neighborhood, I hear. It might be a good time to think about moving on, wouldn't you agree? Shall we say . . . maybe in as little as two years? Now have I got your attention?"
Sarvik had guessed that Indrigon was one of the inner group at Farworlds who knew the situation. Indrigon's mute incredulity now was enough to confirm it. Sarvik wasn't so sure about the other two he had met, Lequasha and Umbrik. There could be room only for so many on a generation ship, after allalong with favored relatives, friends, hangers-on, and others with necessary skills. But Sarvik didn't think that anyone at Farworlds had discovered Leradil Jindriss's connection with ASH, and therefore Indrigon could have no idea how Sarvik had gotten the information. All anyone at Farworlds would know was that in two days flat Sarvik had penetrated the inner group's most closely protected secret.
One solution they could resort to, of course, would be to put out a contract to get rid of him, which was sometimes the way things went when a tangle of overlapping deals led to so many conflicts and contradictions that resolution was impossible. But Sarvik was prepared to gamble against it. Such a drastic answer would deprive them of any chance of benefiting from his expertise and the resources he commanded, which had been their objective to begin withand which he had just shown to be even more potent than they had realized previously. He didn't think they would throw it away now. And he was correct. The response came within hours of Sarvik's call: no teleconference hookups this time; Farworlds would fly him to Xerse to talk in person.
He was met at the airport at Gweths by a flymobile sent to collect him and was flown to a pad high on the Farworlds Tower. There he met Indrigon again, along with a number of other insiders on the projectnot in a staff relaxation park halfway up the building, but in the executive offices of the topmost pinnacle. For this time all of them knew that he was dictating the terms. His terms were simple: from himself, a total commitment to developing the kinds of systems they were going to need at the other end; from them, places for himself and up to a dozen associates in the generation-ship program, which he learned was code-named Breakout. To comply with his side of the arrangement, naturally he would need full access to Farworlds' files of design data, logistics planning, and future development schedules for the entire project.
"Who are these dozen associates, Dr. Sarvik?" Indrigon asked him.
Sarvik shrugged vaguely. "I'm not sure yet. Relatives? Friends? You're not the only ones who would want to bring a small part of your own world with you, you know. I'd like to think I could preserve a few familiar faces, too."
It was what anyone would have expected. The terms were agreed upon.