"Don"t," Angus returned roughly. His eyes followed Morn"s drift as if he wanted to unbelt himself and go to her, touch her-as if he thought she might be able to bear his touch. "Take care of Ciro. Make sure he"s all right. Then come see for yourself. Finish coding your message. We"ll transmit as soon as we get a window on Valdor. If we survive this d.a.m.n swarm."
He punched off his intercom. To no one in particular, he growled, "I still want to know whose game we"re playing."
When her back touched the bulkhead, Morn wiped her eyes, rubbed her palms up and down her cheeks. Then she reached for one of the zero-g grips in case Angus used navigational thrust. But she didn"t answer him.
"Well, if Nick"s right-" Sib began. He couldn"t complete the idea, however. "I guess I don"t understand. What does Soar Soar gain by trying to sabotage us? She"s pulling away-she"ll never know if Ciro succeeded." gain by trying to sabotage us? She"s pulling away-she"ll never know if Ciro succeeded."
He looked at Nick as if he wanted Nick to explain himself. But Nick gave no sign of hearing. Motionless and unreactive, he slumped in his bonds as if he"d been overtaken by autism.
Under his breath, Angus muttered, "That won"t last."
Davies didn"t know whether he was talking about Gutbuster"s Gutbuster"s escape or Nick"s withdrawal. escape or Nick"s withdrawal.
Nevertheless Angus was right.
After fifteen minutes or so, Vector returned to the bridge, reported that Ciro"s blood was clean, and resumed working at the auxiliary engineering console. And less than half an hour later Trumpet"s Trumpet"s particle sifters jumped like Davies" heart. Across the spectrum, narrow bandwidths spiked as if they were screaming. Bombarded by subatomic intensities which had nothing to do with the natural rock and static of the swarm, the sensors chimed alerts. particle sifters jumped like Davies" heart. Across the spectrum, narrow bandwidths spiked as if they were screaming. Bombarded by subatomic intensities which had nothing to do with the natural rock and static of the swarm, the sensors chimed alerts.
"s.h.i.t!" Davies gasped. His hands leaped convulsively at the data keys, capturing the readings, coding them for a.n.a.lysis.
Again Angus was faster. By the time Davies finished entering his commands, Angus had already begun feeding results to one of the displays.
"Jesus!" Sib panted as numbers and implications scrolled to life in front of him. "Are we hit?"
Violent jags in the readings suggested weapons fire.
"No," Angus muttered as he worked. "But there"s a shock wave coming."
The sensors implied a tremendous blast building behind the first violence.
Morn tightened her grip. She didn"t look at the screens-or even at Davies. Pale and intense, she kept her eyes fixed on Angus.
After a second he added, "It won"t reach us. It"ll have to move too much rock to get out this far."
"Then what-?" Sib tried to ask.
Wishing Morn to look at him, Davies pointed urgently at the screen. "You know what that is?"
He had the answer himself: he didn"t need to hear her say it. All he wanted was her attention. He knew she had made an almost obsessive study of such things in the Academy.
She was him. He hungered for her confirmation.
She shook her head as if she couldn"t turn away from Angus.
"What?" Sib repeated.
Twisting against his zero-g belt, Vector studied the display. "Some kind of beam gun," he murmured curiously. "But I don"t recognize the signature. Too much distortion. Some other power source is playing havoc with our reception."
"d.a.m.n right," Davies snapped. "That"s the Lab"s generating plant. It just blew."
Distinctly Angus growled, "It was. .h.i.t by a super-light proton beam. Soar"s Soar"s behind us." behind us."
Morn flinched as if she"d been stung.
"You mean," Sib croaked in protest, "Sorus Chatelaine just destroyed the Lab? Lab? She doubled back and She doubled back and destroyed destroyed it?" it?"
Grimacing a sneer, Davies twitched his head in Nick"s direction. "She took the bait. He didn"t just set her up. He set up the whole installation. She works for the Amnion. One reason she"s here is to make sure n.o.body finds out about our antimutagen." Morn, look look at me. "The Lab was doomed as soon as Nick started talking to Beckmann." at me. "The Lab was doomed as soon as Nick started talking to Beckmann."
Nick, of course, hadn"t given Deaner Beckmann any warning.
"They must have trusted her enough to let her inside their guns. They didn"t have anything that could protect them from a super-light proton cannon."
Intransigent herself had barely survived. herself had barely survived.
"All those people," Morn breathed. "All those people." "All those people." She seemed to shrink in dismay, as if the shock belittled her. "Nick, what have you She seemed to shrink in dismay, as if the shock belittled her. "Nick, what have you done?" done?"
Nick"s eyes flipped open. Slowly he raised his head and started grinning like a skull.
"There isn"t likely to be another ship with that kind of cannon around here," Angus continued. "It"s got to be Soar. Soar. So now she"s behind us." With a shrug, he finished, "If Ciro sabotaged the drives, she wouldn"t have any trouble catching us." So now she"s behind us." With a shrug, he finished, "If Ciro sabotaged the drives, she wouldn"t have any trouble catching us."
Sib chewed his mustache. "What"re we going to do?"
A shiver of intensification ran through Nick. "Let me loose," he offered.
Apparently only Davies heard him. Vector, Sib, Morn, and Angus acted like he hadn"t spoken.
"You know," Vector put in, "the thing that"s always amazed me about illegals-including myself, of course-is the amount of ingenuity we"re willing to expend so that we can get ourselves into trouble. It"s staggering." As he talked, he keyed off the console, undipped his belt, and drifted free. A push of his foot moved him toward the command station. His tone sharpened. "Deaner Beckmann was a brilliant man. A little wrongheaded, in my opinion, but brilliant. Half the people there were brilliant. And now every one of them-"
He swallowed hard and hunched over his chest as if emotions he"d forgotten long ago were crowding out of his heart. Distress occluded his blue gaze.
"Let me loose," Nick repeated. His tone hinted at fever or hysteria. "I"ll stop her."
Vector caught himself on the arm of Angus" g-seat. Like Davies, he seemed to want Morn to look at him. Yet she focused on Angus as if he were the only one who mattered, the only one who existed; the only one who could help her.
"I think we should get out of here," Vector told her and Angus. His voice shook. "Run for open s.p.a.ce and start broadcasting. Beckmann and his people were killed because they knew about the mutagen immunity drug. Our only real defense is to tell more people. Tell everybody. If we fight, we might lose. Then the Amnion win, and every one of us will have died for nothing."
"No!" Davies protested instantly. His inner fire spiked like the readings on Soar"s Soar"s cannon. "You can"t do that!" She killed my mother! "We have to hit her. Now, in the swarm, where we have the advantage"-where cannon. "You can"t do that!" She killed my mother! "We have to hit her. Now, in the swarm, where we have the advantage"-where Trumpet"s Trumpet"s agility could be most effective-"and she thinks we"ve been sabotaged. We"ll never get another chance like this." agility could be most effective-"and she thinks we"ve been sabotaged. We"ll never get another chance like this."
Words weren"t enough. He couldn"t articulate the fire. Only his hands on the targ keys would be able to do that.
At last Morn turned toward him. Stricken and reduced, she gazed at him with an ache in her eyes. Pain compressed her mouth. Softly she sighed, "Oh, Davies," as if she were grieving.
"I did this," Nick insisted more vehemently. "It"s mine. Let me loose."
Angus c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at his son. "You don"t think Vector makes sense?" He might have been jeering.
A cry mounted in Davies" nerves, strained against the muscles of his throat. Don"t you understand? I don"t care care if he makes sense! I don"t if he makes sense! I don"t care care what it costs. what it costs. Soar Soar killed my mother. If we don"t go after her, I"m killed my mother. If we don"t go after her, I"m nothing. nothing. That"s all I have. That"s all I have.
He restrained himself somehow. "Morn"s already made her decision," he retorted weakly. "We"re going after Soar." Soar." To his own ears he sounded small and useless, like a beaten kid, but he didn"t know how else to defend what he needed. Morn was watching him with misery on her face, as if he"d failed her. "We"re going after To his own ears he sounded small and useless, like a beaten kid, but he didn"t know how else to defend what he needed. Morn was watching him with misery on her face, as if he"d failed her. "We"re going after Soar" Soar" he repeated. "She"s killed too many people. We"re cops, we can"t run away from this." he repeated. "She"s killed too many people. We"re cops, we can"t run away from this."
Abruptly he stopped in a flash of inspiration. His fire burned so hotly that it exalted him. Instead of protesting further, he said the only thing he could think of which might sway Angus.
"She has Milos Taverner with her."
When Davies said that name, old rage smoldered again in Angus" yellow eyes. His hate was almost autonomic: so visceral that even his zone implants couldn"t control it. His mouth twisted as if he were remembering hurts which sickened him.
"It might be a good thing," he muttered, "to put Sorus Chatelaine out of her misery."
"Let me loose," Nick insisted. His fever was plain in his voice. "I"ll stop her. I know what to do."
"That does it," Sib announced; unnaturally harsh and sure. "I don"t want to listen to this anymore. I"m going to gag him."
Grimly Sib shoved his gun into one pocket and retrieved his roll of strapping tape from another.
"No!" Davies protested again. "Don"t." Intuition ruled him now, as commanding as flame. Because he was desperate, he could see possibilities-"We need him."
Slapping at the clasp of his belts, he freed himself and swung out of the second"s station to intercept Sib.
Sib stopped, stared at him in consternation. Morn opened her mouth as if she wanted to object. Vector must have swayed her; she wasn"t on Davies" side any longer; she withdrew her support just when he needed it most. But instead of speaking she only watched him with dumb sorrow in her eyes.
"Him?" Angus snorted in scorn. "You mean Captain Sheepf.u.c.ker? We must be in worse trouble than I thought. What in h.e.l.l do we need him him for?" for?"
Davies didn"t try to answer. When he saw Sib stop, he redirected his momentum toward Nick.
Nick rested against the rear bulkhead in a crumpled stance, as if his bonds prevented him from straightening his back. So that he wouldn"t turn into a projectile when Trumpet Trumpet maneuvered, Sib had strapped one of his arms to a handgrip: he dangled there like a dressed beast. maneuvered, Sib had strapped one of his arms to a handgrip: he dangled there like a dressed beast.
In a strange way, he looked like he"d been blinded by his scars. Their craziness consumed his gaze completely. Pa.s.sion throbbed in them as if they were all he had left.
Davies caught himself on the front of Nick"s shipsuit.
Nick leered back at him from under his eyebrows.
Ignoring the pressure of Morn"s dismay and Angus" disdain, Davies met Nick"s eyes.
"How?" he demanded. "How would you stop her?"
Nick replied with an immured grin. "Let me loose."
"Sure," Davies returned sharply; desperately. "Let you loose. Give you another chance to kill us all. Try to imagine Angus doing that. Try to imagine Morn doing it. Use your head, Nick. We"re going to keep you trussed up here until you rot.
"You said you know what to do. I don"t believe you. How could you stop her?"
A look of manic calculation came into Nick"s gaze. He glanced past Davies" shoulders at Angus, at Morn, then focused on Davies again. Slowly his chin came up.
"Let me loose," he repeated in a conspiratorial whisper, as if he didn"t want Angus or Morn to hear him. "Give me a gun. A laser rifle-a big one. And an EVA suit."
"Oh, perfect," Davies snapped. "What a great idea. That way you can fry us all without having to worry about it if you damage Trumpet"s Trumpet"s integrity." integrity."
Nick shook his head impatiently. "Send me outside. Leave me. I"ll stop her.
"She"s following us," he breathed to Davies" hunger. Husky and strained, his voice throbbed with his own desperation. "She knows where we are. Lab Center a.s.signed us the same protocols. She"ll come after us on the same course.
"Leave me outside. I"ll wait for her. She won"t see me because she won"t look." His chest heaved. "I"ll peel her open like a bloated carca.s.s. By the time she knows I"m there, she"ll be venting so much atmosphere she won"t be able to keep up with it. Then I"ll cut my way inside. I"ll cut her heart out-I"ll give her scars she can"t live with.
"Let me loose." He showed Davies his teeth. "I want to kill her."
Angus laughed like cracking wood. "You"re out of your mind, Captain Sheepf.u.c.ker. Soar Soar is too big. She can absorb all the damage one laser rifle would do. You won"t even slow her down." is too big. She can absorb all the damage one laser rifle would do. You won"t even slow her down."
Vector nodded. "You must think we"ve all lost our minds. How do you expect us to believe you won"t start shooting at us as soon as you get your hands on any kind of gun?"
Davies didn"t care what they said. He waited to hear Morn.
Vector fell silent. Angus didn"t go on. Sib said nothing. Everyone on the bridge waited.
After a moment she cleared her throat.
"Davies," she murmured thinly, "this is impossible." The crime which Nick and Sorus had committed against the Lab distressed her too much: she couldn"t see what was at stake. "What"s happening to you? You want to get Soar. Soar. I understand. But if that means you"re ready to start trusting Nick-" I understand. But if that means you"re ready to start trusting Nick-"
Her voice trailed away as if she were sinking down to some inconsolable place where he would never be able to reach her.
Davies didn"t turn. If he looked at her and saw that she was beyond reach, his veins would burst.
"No! "he shouted into Nick"s madness. "I shouted into Nick"s madness. "I understand understand him-I understand him better than him-I understand him better than you you do! I remember what do! I remember what you you remember." The harm Nick had done to her was acid-etched in the channels of his brain. "And I"m remember." The harm Nick had done to her was acid-etched in the channels of his brain. "And I"m male. male. Whatever that means. I know what he"ll do! Whatever that means. I know what he"ll do!
"He needs this too much."
Nick"s blind craziness urged him on. At the same time, however, it helped him control himself. He stopped shouting. Instead he spoke in a guttural rasp from the center of his chest.
"He won"t bother to turn on us. We don"t matter. We never did. Sorus Chatelaine is everything. She"s all there ever was."
Nick nodded as if Davies" recognition pleased him.
"If we don"t try to get Soar" Soar" Davies continued roughly, "if we can stand being that ashamed of ourselves, we might as well go into hiding for the rest of our lives." At last he let go of Nick so that he could confront the rest of the bridge. "She"ll hunt us forever. Davies continued roughly, "if we can stand being that ashamed of ourselves, we might as well go into hiding for the rest of our lives." At last he let go of Nick so that he could confront the rest of the bridge. "She"ll hunt us forever.
"But if we do try to get her, he can help us. He can hit her while she still thinks Ciro might have sabotaged us."
Let him pay for his own crimes. And give us a better chance.
Morn clenched her free hand in her hair and pulled as if she wanted to tug her mind out by the roots. "Do you think so?" she countered. "Look at him." Her eyes were full of darkness as she studied her son. "Do you like what you see? He isn"t here anymore. There"s nothing left of him. He died when he lost his ship. That"s what"s wrong with revenge. It kills you. It"s just another kind of suicide."
G.o.d d.a.m.n you, Davies groaned to himself. I backed you when you decided to free Angus. When you finally made up your mind, I stood with you. Why can"t you stand with me?
He ignored her protest. Instead he retorted softly, "Do you really think it"s preferable preferable to keep him tied up here like a piece of meat?" to keep him tied up here like a piece of meat?"
More than anything he"d said, that appeared to affect the people around him. Angus growled deep in his throat, but didn"t argue. Vector blinked as if he were abashed; as if everything that happened surprised him with new emotions.
Pale and tense, Sib stared at his hands. He held the gun in one, his roll of tape in the other. He might have been weighing one against the other; choosing his fate.
The gun was heavier. Abruptly he shoved the tape back into his pocket, lifted his head. A cornered look gleamed like sweat on his pale features.