"I ... Commander Sa.s.sinak, I"m sorry, but I don"t know what you"re talking about. That code is known to me, yes-it"s from the IG"s office. But . . ."
"I don"t like secrets on my ship, Dupaynil! I don"t like junior officers receiving IFTL messages to which the captain is forbidden access. And encrypted messages at that. I don"t like people going over my head to the IG"s office. What"s your gripe, eh?"
Dupaynil, she was sure, was not as upset as he looked. He was too smart by half. But he was responding to her obvious anger and had lost some of his gloss. "Commander, the IG"s office might have reason to contact me about the Security work I"ve done here-if nothing else, about that-you know ..." His voice lowered. Sa.s.sinak let herself calm down.
"I still don"t like it," she grumbled, but softly. Someone smothered a cough, over in Weapons, and nearly choked from the effort. "All right. I see what you mean, and from what Lunzie said that whole thing was cla.s.sified. Maybe there is a reason. But I don"t Tike secrets. Not like this, at a time when we"re all . . ." She let her voice trail away. Dupaynil"s lids drooped slightly. Was he convinced? "Take your d.a.m.ned message, and unless you Uke causing me grief, tell me what"s so important I can"t even read it."
Dupaynil moved to the decryption computer and entered his pa.s.sword.
Sa.s.sinak turned to the communications watch officer, and said, "Take over. And make sure I know about any incoming or outgoing messages. From anyone." This last with a sidelong glance at Dupaynil.
The Security officer was staring at the screen as if it had grown tentacles; Sa.s.sinak controlled an impulse to laugh at him. He glanced at her, a shrewd, calculating look, and she spoke immediately.
"Well? Are you supposed to clap me in irons, or what?" He shook his head, and sighed.
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"No, Commander, it"s nothing like that. It is ... odd . . . that is all. May we speak in your office? Privately?"
Sa.s.sinak nodded shortly and left the bridge with a final glower for everyone. She could feel the support of her crew-her own crew-like a warm blanket around her shoulders. In her office, she put her formal desk between herself and Dupaynil. His brows rose, recognizing that for what it was, and he sighed again.
"Captain, I swear to you ..."
"Don"t bother." Sa.s.sinak turned away, briefly, to glance at the hardcopy he offered her, then met his dark eyes squarely. "If you don"t know what I"m talking about, then you don"t-but I cannot ignore anything like that. It nearly cost me my life twenty years ago."
"I"m sorry. Truly sorry. But just as you received unwelcome orders a short while ago, I have now received unwelcome orders to leave this ship-unwelcome and even stranger than yours."
"Oh? And where are you supposed to go?" She saw Dupaynil wince at the unbending ice in that tone. She could care less, as long as she rid herself of a potential traitor.
"To the Seti-to the Sek of Fomalhaut, in fact. One of my past sins come to haunt me, I suppose. Apparently there"s some kind of diplomatic problem with the new human amba.s.sador to the High Court, and I"m supposed to know someone who might be of a.s.sistance."
"But you can"t," Sa.s.sinak said sharply. "You can"t leave: we"re all under orders to proceed to Federation Central, you most of all. You were in on all of it; your testimony ..."
"Can be recorded, and will have to be. I"m sorry. Truly sorry, as I said, but these orders take precedence. Have to." His finger tapped the authorizing seals and codes; in the labyrinthine regulations of Fleet and FSP, the IG"s signature outweighed even the Judge Advocate General"s. "Besides, I might still be of use to you. The Thek hinted that the Seti were involved, but they had no solid data, or none they pa.s.sed to us. That"s something I can look into, with my contacts in the Seti diplomatic subculture. They estimate the as- 44.
signment proper will take me only about six standard months; I can be back in time to share what I"ve learned, and testify if called,"
Sa.s.sinak heaved a dramatic sigh. "Well. I suppose, if you have to, you have to. And maybe you can find something useful, although the Seti are the least likeable bunch of bullies I"ve ever met."
"They do require careful handling," Dupaynil murmured, almost demurely.
Sa.s.sinak wondered what he was up to now. She did not trust him one hairsbreadth. "Very well. Where are we supposed to drop you off?"
"It says your orders will be in shortly and I"m to leave at the next transfer point. Wherever that is."
"Somebody"s entirely too clever," Sa.s.sinak growled. She hoped she hadn"t been clever enough to trip herself with this-but so for Dupaynil seemed convinced.
Just then the junior com officer tapped timidly on her door, and offered a hardcopy of her second faked IFTL message, the one telling her to drop out of FTL drive, and proceed to the nearest Fleet station. The nearest Fleet station was a resupply center with only monthly tanker traffic and the occasional escort or patrol craft dropping by. She remembered it well, from her one previous visit fifteen years before. She showed Dupaynil the orders.
"Supply Center 64: says there"s an escort in dock. You"ll take that, I imagine?" At his nod, she said, "I"ll expect you back at 1500, to give your deposition; we"ll have the equipment set up by then, and an ETA for the supply center."
The rest of that day Sa.s.sinak hardly dared look at Ford; she would have burst out laughing. Dupaynil came back, gave his testimony while she asked every question she could think of before she sent him off to pack his gear.
They popped out of FTL s.p.a.ce within a few hours of the supply center. Sa.s.sinak had already dispatched messages to it and the escort vessel (whose pilot had been planning an unauthorized three-day party with the supply center"s crew). Escorts, not large enough to house a
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Ssli, were out of the IFTL links. Once aboard, Dupaynil would have only sublight ways of checking up on his orders.
Docking the Zaid-Dayan at the supply station was simple: the station had equipment to handle large transports of all shapes, and the small escort took up only a minute s.p.a.ce at the far end of the station. Sa.s.sinak indulged herself, as she rarely could anymore, and brought the cruiser in herself, easing it to the gantry so gently that no one detected contact until the status tights changed color.
"Nice job!" said the station Dockmaster, a Weft. "We"ll have air up in the tubes in a few minutes. Is your pa.s.senger ready to transfer?"
"Ready when you are."
Dupaynil would leave by one of the small hatches, an airlock on the second flight deck. Even with a Fleet facility, Sa.s.sinak didn"t like opening up real interior s.p.a.ce to a possible pressure loss. She glanced at Dupaynil, visible on one of the side screens, and flicked a switch to put him on-channel.
"They"re airing up the tube. Sure you don"t want a pressure suit?"
"No thank you."
He had already explained how he felt about pressure suits. Sa.s.sinak was tempted to teach him a lesson about that, but under the circ.u.mstances she wanted their parting to be as friendly as possible.
"Fine . . . we"re standing by for your departure signal." She could see, in the monitor, the light above the hatch come on, flick twice, and steady to green.
"On my way," said Dupaynil. Then he paused, and faced the monitor-cam squarely. "Commander? I did not intend to cause you trouble and I have no idea what that initiation code means to you. You may not believe me, but I have no desire to see you hurt."
And I have a great desire to see your back going off my ship, thought Sa.s.sinak, but she smiled for his benefit. "I"d like to believe you, and if that"s true, I hope we serve together again someday. Have a good trip. Don"t let those Seti use you for nest padding."
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When the status lights confirmed that Dupaynil was safely off the ship and into the station, Sa.s.sinak breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could tell Ford what she was up to-or enough for him to help her with the last of Dupaynil"s maneuver. That involved a bit of straight talking to the escort captain, on the need for immediate departure, and the importance of keeping his mouth firmly shut. Sa.s.sinak kept the Zaid-Dayan linked to the station until the escort broke away.
"And just how did you manage that?" Ford had waited just long enough for her to engage her office"s privacy circuits. Sa.s.sinak grinned at him. "And don"t bother to look innocent," he went on. "I don"t know how you did it, but you must have."
"Let"s just say that someone who"s spent her career on ships knows a bit more about them than a Security office rat."
"And you"re not going to explain, eh?"
"Not entirely. Would you trust Dupaynil to have undipped whatever bugs he"s set out on this ship?"
"Mmm. I see."
"And you are smart enough to figure out everything you need to know. You can think about it while looking up your remarkable relative."
"But what about the depositions? I can"t leave now!" His face changed expression suddenly. "Oh. The only one who knew about those orders is ... G.o.ds above, Captain, what did you do?"
"Used the resources available to make appropriate dispositions of personnel in a situation of extreme delicacy," said Sa.s.sinak crisply. "And that"s all I"m going to say about it. Your a.s.signment is to uncover whatever links you can between the suspect merchant families and planet piracy and the slave trade. On my orders, by my a.s.sessment that this need overrides any other orders you may have heard about."
"Ummm . . . yes, ma"am."
"Good. Dupaynil, meanwhile, is supposed to be investigating the Seti and their connection with all this nastiness. I have heard, from time to time, that the Seti
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expressed sympathy with the heavyworlders for having been the victims of genetic engineering. You remember that they believe all such activity is wrong and refuse any kind of bioengineering on their own behalf. They"re also known to hate Wefts, although no one seems to know why, and the Wefts won"t comment."
"I"ve never understood why the Seti came into the Federation at all," Ford said. He seemed glad enough of a detour.
"Let Dupaynil worry about that," Sa.s.sinak said. "Now, d"you think a direct call to your family will locate your great aunt?"
"No, probably not. Let me think. The family hears at least once a standard year at Homefaring, but that"s five months away. And she travels, you know; she"s supposed to have one of the most luxurious yachts in s.p.a.ce. We might find her in one of the society papers."
"Society papers!"
Ford flushed. "She"s that fend; I told you. Minor aristocracy, but considers herself well up there. Once we locate her, I can fake-I mean arrange-a message from the family to justify a visit."
Sa.s.sinak did not even know the names of the papers Ford called up on their next shift down into normal s.p.a.ce. She glanced at the sheets as he pa.s.sed them over: even in flat copy, the photographs fairly glittered with wealth. Women in jewels and glistening gowns, men in formal Court dress, ribbons streaming from one knee. The sumptuous interiors of "gracious homes" as they were called, homes that existed merely to show off their owners" wealth. Sa.s.sinak could not imagine actually sleeping in one of the beds shown, a "sculpted masterpiece" with a stream of moving water actually running through it. She could feel her lip curling.
"Ah! Here she is." Ford had his finger on the place. "Among the notable guests at the wedding-would you look at that so-called bride!-is my very own n.o.ble relative. Will travel on to partic.i.p.ate in the Season at the usual Rainbow Arc events . . . which means she"s somewhere between Zalaive and the Rainbow Arc. Permission to initiate search?"
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"Go ahead." Sa.s.sinak was deep in a discussion of the reasons why cuulinda was destined to replace folsath as the newest sporting rage among the n.o.bility. She hadn t heard of either, and the article didn"t mention whether they were played with teams, animals, or computers. Ford busied himself at the terminal, checking Fleet"s comprehensive database on vessel ownership and movement on the lowlink.
"Ah! She"s en route to Colles, ETA two weeks, and there"s a ... Oh snarks!"
"A what?" asked Sa.s.sinak, looking up at his tone.
"Well. I can get to her by her next planetfall, but it means. .h.i.tching a ride on a tanker-transport."
Sa.s.sinak grinned at him. Tankers had a reputation as bare-bones tranportation, and they played out that game on visitors.
"It"ll make the contrast all the greater." She looked at the route he"d found. "I"ll cut your orders, get you on that patrol-cla.s.s. Don"t forget to arrange that family message somehow."
"I won"t."
His routing didn"t give them much time, but, with Lunzie and Dupaynil both out of the way, they enjoyed a last festive evening in Sa.s.sinak"s cabin. Then he was gone, and Sa.s.sinak had the final planning to do as they approached the crowded inner sector of the Federation.
She wondered how Aygar would react to the publicity and culture shock of FedCentral. He had been using the data banks on the Zaid-Dayan several hours a day. Ford kept a record of his access. He"d talked to both Marines and Fleet enlisted personnel and word of that trickled back to Sa.s.sinak by channels she doubted Aygar knew about. He had asked to take some of the basic achievement tests, to gauge for himself where he stood educationally. Sa.s.sinak had given permission, even though Dr. Mayerd thought "the boy," as she called him, should have professional advice.
The test results lay in the computer files. Sa.s.sinak had not accessed them, out of respect for the little
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privacy Aygar had, but from his demeanor he seemed well pleased with himself. She was less certain.
He was a striking young man, attractive if you liked muscles and regular features, and she admitted to herself that she did. But except for that subtle sense of rivalry with Lunzie, she would not have been drawn to him. She liked men of experience, men with whom she could share her broad background. Fleet officers of her own rank, or near it. It was all very well to impress youngsters like that ensign Timran. No woman minded starry-eyed boys as long as they stayed respectful. But Aygar did not fit that category, or any other.
"Commander? Central Docks wants a word."