She fell across the table; as she pushed herself upright, the mug rolled away. She saw Peralta reel, pawing the air for balance; he stumbled against a chair and fell backward. She took the chair and raised it, a leg aimed to lunge at his throat.
Tregare caught her arm. "Don"t! It"s my job, if anybody"s. And we have to try to talk, first!"
"No!" She saw Peralta raise a gun; she pulled free. The chair was off aim now; she twisted down with it. The legs went to either side of his head and neck, but one knocked the weapon loose, spinning away, and then the rung between them pinned Peralta"s throat.
Calmer now, but still moving in slowed time, she jumped to stand on the chair- steadying herself with one hand to its back, prepared to leap in any direction.
Tregare stared as Peralta bucked and kicked, gripping a chair leg in either hand but lacking leverage to free himself.
Now the man kicked both feet into the air-and again, higher. She felt the chair wobble; she reached out, ready to catch a foot and twist it if she had to jump. But Tregare moved forward; as Peralta"s legs came up again, he caught 125.
each at the ankle and held them nearly vertical. "Now, then-" Rissa was surprised to see that he laughed. "-can we stop this foolishness and sit down and talk?"
Peralta cursed. Then; "Let me go! I can"t breathe!"
Tregare nodded to Rissa; she stepped down. "All right-get up and behave yourself." He moved the chair away and pulled Peralta up. The man felt his neck and jaw, brushed at his clothes. He replaced his chair and sat.
For Rissa, time began to approach its normal pace.
"d.a.m.n it, woman-you didn"t have to do that! I wasn"t-"
"You thrust a knife at Bran Tregare. I had no choice."
"But I only flourished the d.a.m.ned thing and pulled it back."
"And the gun?"
"Just to hold you off me, was all. You had me down, and-"
She shook her head. "No matter, it was too late. You had triggered the-the-" She looked to Tregare. "Time slowed, you see, and my body acted."
Peralta"s eyes narrowed. "Berserker! If I"d known that-"
"Not quite the same," said Tregare. "Her mind still works-but when danger triggers the reaction, she"s a fighting machine that doesn"t stop till it"s settled. I have a little of that myself, but not trained to the peak hers is."
Peralta turned to Rissa. "I"m lucky you didn"t kill me- right?"
"Thank Tregare for that-I would have."
"Do you still want to?"
"No, the effect is over now. Though I wonder-can Tregare afford to trust you alive?"
The man rubbed palms over cheeks and eyes. "I-I can see how you feel. I did it all wrong, didn"t I? Got pressured up-you and your waiting game, Tregare-and pushed too hard, too fast." He looked at each of them. "Can we start over now, and talk?"
"Just a minute." Tregare left; when he returned with fresh coffee and mugs, Limmer accompanied him. The two sat.
"I think," said Tregare, "you two have something to settle first."
Limmer"s sneer-mask hid whatever he might have felt. Peralta shook his head. "I owe you satisfaction, Limmer-if 126 .
you want, you can have it. I was half-curdled with tension, but that"s no excuse. Would an apology do? Either way, I owe you that."
They all waited-until Limmer said slowly, "Depends on you."
"How"s that?"
"The apology suits, for now. But you buck Tregare"s authority again-any way-I"ll have you for it, then or later."
"You"d go to kill me, you mean?"
"Or let you live, maybe-but with a face like mine, or worse."
For a moment Peralta went rigid; then he breathed deeply. "All right. I apologize, Limmer. And I guess you"re being fair enough, considering ..."
"Accepted." Limmer stood. "Well, I"ve got work to do."
Looking after him as he walked away, Rissa said, "I would not wish to insult that man."
Peralta shook his head, then said, "Well, Tregare, how do we stand? If you want me off the ship, it"s going to cost you. Local rumor says you"re into-Hulzein money, so you could buy me out fairly, shaking nothing."
Tregare paused a moment. "If that"s what you want, Jima, I think we can d.i.c.ker it. But I have an offer you might like better; stop to think about it."
"Is command in it?"
"No. Forget that. Here it is-you and No Return follow my orders until the job"s done or I free you of it-and I think you know the job I mean. Afterward you and the other shareholders have the ship to yourselves, free and clear of me." His hand forestalled Peralta"s answer. "Except that if we win it all, you"ll end up with a few more ships to your string, likely. Now-what do you say?"
Peralta chewed his lower lip. "Do I have to decide it now?"
"I"d feel better if you did." Tregare waited, then said, "But the idea"s new to you-I"ll give you time to think on it. Is three days enough?"
"I-yes. It"ll do."
"Then-" Tregare frowned. "You started pulling hull plates yet, for the installations?"
"Waiting until we had things settled."
"Either way it needs doing; our time"s limited." Now he watched Peralta closely.
"One thing, though-you"ve got only 127.
the two choices-there"s no third. You understand me?"
Head lowered, Peralta looked aside. "I-I"m not sure."
"You"re not stupid, Jimar-you can"t help but think, cut your losses and lift off. Well, don"t try it-that"s all. Or Lim-mer wastes a missile blowing you to dust before you leave at- mosphere. I"ve got too much invested in that ship."
Peralta snickered. "So you"d blow it up?"
"Before I"d be robbed of it, I would."
"If you don"t trust me, Tregare, maybe you had better buy me out."
"Trust?" Tregare shrugged. "After today, you"ve got to prove that. I"m just making it simpler for you."
"I see." The man rose to leave. "If I get off, you"ll want my First Hat briefed. I"ll tell her to expect word." He nodded once to each of them and left.
"What do you think, Rissa?"
"Buy him out, of course. He may be all right, but why risk it?"
"Why? Because he"s so d.a.m.ned good in a tight pa.s.sage. If I could be sure of him-"
"Well, then-you will decide, Bran. He only thinks the decision is his."
UPSHIP they met Limmer in Control; Tregare reported the happenings the other had missed. When he came to Rissa"s part, Limmer chuckled. "I wish I"d seen that-Peralta always fancied himself a fighter."
When Tregare spoke of precaution against Peralta"s absconding, Limmer turned to his controls and punched a sequence. "There. Until further notice, Number Two missile has No Return"s name on it. Neutron head, so we could chase ship and salvage it, though of course most of the instruments would be burned out."
At the end of his narrative, Tregare asked, "Who"s Peralta"s First Hat?"
"Hilaire Gowdy. I"ve seen her onscreen once or twice-big woman-not young, but quick- minded. I could like her, I think-and depend on her."
Tregare gave a lopsided grin. "You think, too, I should buy him out."
Limmer shrugged. "You said it yourself-command can"t 128.
be split. Can he keep from trying? Buy him out or kill him while you still can-that"s what I"d do."
"He gets his three days." Tregare spoke flatly. "Given time to think, I doubt he"s fool enough to make promises he won"t keep." He shrugged. "I"d better call the scoutship. I haven"t relieved my men there, from alert status."
FLYING upslope from Base Two to the cabin, Rissa said, "Bran, you say command cannot be divided-but you do confer with your people."
"Oh, sure-when I have time for it I ask advice and I listen-any man does who isn"t a fool. But then /decide. And it"s that last part Peralta wants a bite of."
"I see. Others may have their chance to persuade you, but if they do not-"
"You"ve got it."
"Yes." She thought, then nodded. "It was the same with Erika-and now with Liesel."
Back to the cabin and inside, Tregare sat brooding. Finally Rissa said, "Bran? Does this problem worry you so much?"
He shook his head. "It"s not that. Oh, some, sure. But what"s got me down is the way Jimar has changed. I"d heard rumors-which is why I took the precautions-but I hadn"t really credited the stories." Looking up at her, he said, "He"s always had ambition to burn, but back at the Slaughterhouse, Peralta was one of the fairest cadet officers we had. I never thought the day would come, when I couldn"t trust that man behind my back."
"He was your friend, then?"
"Not quite that, maybe. But sure"s h.e.l.l he had my respect-and deserved it."
She put her hand on his. "Then let us hope he still does."
"Hope, yeah." But Tregare brightened up a little, and could talk of other matters.
IN the morning, Rissa proposed a schedule for her work on No Return. Tregare answered her. "Until I"ve settled with Peralta, you and I stay together at all times on that ship. I know it"ll slow things down but-" He waved away her pro- 129.
test. "This is as much for my safety as for yours."
And when they met with Limmer, before going to No Return, Tregare told him, "We do all the preparatory work first, before any weapons go aboard. Get them unpacked, but keep them groundside. Until I"m sure of Peralta one way or the other, that ship stays unarmed."
Rissa spoke. "But you said-in this situation, all landed side by side-that ships" weapons are of no use."
Tregare grinned, "Yes. But you see, I"ve thought of a way -given a couple of working turrets and maybe a missile-I could lift that ship with a good chance of getting free. And if / see it-maybe Jimar does, too. I wouldn"t bet against it."
Peralta, when they boarded No Return, was cool and polite. Inspecting the drawings, he demurred at Rissa"s plan to remove half the forward beams and brace the remainder with a ring of girders. "Or at least," he said, "hold off until we know for sure that there"ll be time for such extensive work and still meet deadline-whenever that is."
Rissa frowned-Peralta"s objection was not logical and would make the work more difficult-but seeing Tregare"s gaze on her, she did not speak. When the two went upship alone, she marked to her plan anyway. Tregare raised his eyebrows but did not object.
And later, walking from Peralta"s ship to Limmer"s, he said to her, "Notice the bulkhead seals just below the open-hull area? Not standard, and all new. Sure as peace, he"s thought of the same trick I did!"
Peralta joined them and Limmer for lunch. He protested the delay in initial weapons installations. Tregare said, "It looks slower, but we get fewer mistakes with all crews working at the same stage of the job. We learned that on Carcharo-don." Rissa thought, When he wants to be, Tregare is a good liar.
THE next day, work proceeded smoothly. "Too d.a.m.ned smooth, in fact," Tregare said at dinner one evening. "I"ve got Limmer accidentally mislaying some parts and supplies, to stall the job until Peralta has to make up his mind." But Jimar Peralta showed no signs of doing so.
The day before Tregare"s ultimatum was to expire, he and Rissa stayed away from Base Two. He sent Deverel and 130.
Kenekke instead, and spent most of the day in the scoutship. At mid-morning Rissa joined him there; he sat at the control console, drumming one hand"s fingers against its edge.
He grinned up at her. "The only good thing is, I already know I can outwait him. But it"s no fun."
"Why do you think it best that we are not there today?"
"Peralta"s boiling with alternatives. If he could reach me directly-I"ve deactivated his scramble channel here-he couldn"t help but try them on me. But he can"t talk without Limmer"s hearing what he says, so he can say only yes or no. For me, Rissa, that insult was a lucky thing."
"You know the man better than I." They sat together, speaking occasionally but not often. At noon Rissa brought food from the cabin and they lunched; then she left him to his vigil and walked for a time to ease her own tensions. In late afternoon, as she approached the cabin again, she saw him emerge from the scoutship.
He waved and shouted, "It"s over." When she was in speaking range he said, "Peralta leaves the ship tomorrow; Hain and Anse are bringing his signed agreement. He didn"t even ask much more than Ms share was worth-just enough so we could d.i.c.ker a little and both save face."
She ran to him; his arms tightened around her and lifted her off the ground as they kissed.
He set her back on her feet, and she said, "Now-tomorrow-we can do the work as it should be done!"
"Sure, but right now let"s celebrate!" They started toward the cabin; from above came thunder.
"BRAN?" But he was running for the scout; she followed. Inside she found him at the comm panel, grinning and talking rapidly.
"Jargy, you old goat! Why didn"t you call in sooner?"
The picture wavered; the voice came quiet and deliberate. "Not sure who ran the place these days, Tregare-three ships at Two and none of them Inconnu. Thought I"d wait for a hail before putting down."