by C. Litka
02
I touched the button on the display panel and (thankfully) clear boiling water filled the covered mug with the swirling cha leaves. I didn't travel without cha. I disconnected it and held the warm mug in my hands, watching the cha leaves unfold in amber swirls. Would I ever taste real cha again once my supply was exhausted? The galley seemed to be working fine and with Cin still napping, I decided to make a quick inspection of the gig before awakening her. The landing jets set in the underside of the gig offered a vague hope of getting the gig somewhat mobile - and that only with a lot of blind optimism, seeing that the displaced plumbing indicated possible extensive damage to the underside. I needed to know if we had any hope of escaping the Pela.
Crawling back into the milky light, I climbed up to the engine compartment bulkhead and stepped to the other side. There was a large ball of crumpled hull and machinery in the way, and the vines obscured most of the undercarriage, but I pushed my way deep enough into them to get a glimpse of three landing jets that seemed undamaged, with the promise of more. There was a long dent, but it seemed fairly narrow. I'd need a better look, but with what I'd seen, I was optimistic enough to start forming plans. Which alarmed me. I've found that every time I let myself get optimistic, I get a dart in the back, or the equivalent. I could only hope the worst had already happened. But even that thought was tempting the Black Neb, yet again.
I cleared my mind, and climbed back down to cabin to sip hot cha until I decided I was hungry enough to awaken Cin. I stepped into the dim control compartment. She'd slung the mesh hammock along the port bulwark and hung her sidearm on the nav console next to me, no doubt just to tease or tempt me. I didn't fall for it. I just stood silently watching her for a minute before she gave up, opened her eyes and smiled under that Neb-blasted mustache.
'All fixed?'
'I believe so. Breakfast in bed? Entree no.1 is Vin-dre, with fresh greens and pasta, meal no. 2 is Char-nuts in a light sauce with vegetables and rice, plus there are ten other buttons I can push. Just pick a number and take your chances.'
'I think, Captain, that with your permission, I'll sign on as cook - and owner,' she said, swinging out of the hammock.
'You're more than welcome to both. I seem to remember that you sailed as cook for your passage to Despar.'
'Aye. Cooking is my one domestic skill. It's entry into all sorts of places - from dives, to palaces. A useful skill in my work. And while it's not for me to say, I know my way around synth food machines. Captain Flory was very generous with his praise.'
'Take your time, I'll clear the debris out of the compartment and see if any furnishings survived the crash intact.'
By the time Cin produced two steaming meals under their covers, I'd gathered up and shoved the loose leaves and branches outside and pried two slightly askew acceleration chairs up from their storage slots in the warped deck.
'Next time it'll take a lot less time. I had to manually program in a lot of spice and texture specifications. I hope you like it,' he/she added, with, a rather surprising amount of sincerity, and trepidation. 'It's a Tienterra dish.'
'Well if it tastes even half as good as it smells, it'll be delicious.'
It was, and I told her so, enthusiastically praising both the taste and the textures of the meal - which is far harder to create than taste alone.
'Oh, don't be such an oily serpent, Litang. It's annoying.'
'I'm not being an oily serpent. I'm merely giving you the compliments you've earned. This tastes and eats like real, grown food. Trust me, food was one of the hallmarks of the Starry Shore. We had our own moss garden and grew much of our own food. And our cooks were from Mycolmtre so I'm used to spicy foods as well. My compliments are sincere.'
He/she shrugged, but didn't look displeased.
'Besides, I'm very Unity Standard. Being pleasant is simply just part of my nature.'
'I hope you're good for other things as well.'
'That sounds promising?'
'I'm referring to repairing this boat.'
'I fixed the synth-galley, didn't I? So you see, I have my uses. I needn't snivel and scrape to save my wretched life. So if I am pleasant and complimentary, it is simply my nature, and the company. And I'll boldly add that this meal would be even more enjoyable, if you'd take that grotesque mask off and quit distorting your voice. You've a pretty face. There's no reason why we can't spend our time together pleasantly.'
She gave me a sharp look, half angry. But only half. 'There's every reason not to. I'm still mad that you recognized me right off, and removing it requires time to do it properly, so you'll just have to live with it for a while longer. I can be spiteful. How did you recognize me right off?'
'Restore your own voice and I'll tell you.'
He/she gave me a dark look, and then peeled off a small skin toned patch from her throat under the dirty bandana around her neck. 'Happy?' he/she said in her own voice.
'Very. And the answer is just as simple. Who else could you have been? Who else but you would have remained on the island when the fleet had sailed? And why do you still have the mask on after they'd gone anyway?'
'They had sailed only hours before you arrived. I don't keep track of hours anymore, but I hadn't slept before you arrived.'
'That close. Damn.'
'You needn't be too upset; your Min wasn't there. She and Prince Imvoy sailed with the Indomitable and Raven for parts unknown shortly after your dismissal. From the gossip I heard, you put the fear of the Empress into Imvoy with your talk of more agents, radio tracers, and all that. They left DarQue and half his forces behind with orders to finish work on the Guardian and Triumphant while they went off somewhere to hide, fearing the Empress's forces' immediate arrival,' she said brightly.
'Ha! I was so angry about your abduction that I said that just to light a fire under the complacent Captain Lil'dre so he'd call DarQue or Min for me. I guess I can be spiteful, as well,' I added, and glancing across to her I saw her leering at me and realized, 'But then, I suppose it was all true, after all.'
'Of course, my dear Litang. I made contact with Cimmadar's space station as soon as we emerged from the shell-reef. Between my account and the data from the radio sensors I'd brought with me, they tracked the Rift Raven until it entered the atmosphere of the Pela - no doubt giving them a good idea where the rebel base was located. Your friends, however, didn't have to worry. The Empress was, and is, content to let them come to her. The intelligence I provided simply allowed her forces to place satellites along the likely track of Prince Imvoy's rag-tag fleet in order to give them plenty of time to prepare for their reception. I'm afraid it's all quite hopeless for your Min.'
'She's not my Min,' I said bitterly. I had realized that my association with Grandmama had likely doomed Min's hopes, unless the Empress was completely incompetent. Oh, I had warned Min, even without realizing that Cin would have tracking devices with her. I could only hope the Rebel leadership took my warning more seriously than I did at the time, and move with extreme caution. Nothing I could do - yet - so instead, I said, 'Tallith Min is a friend, and my former owner. She's not mine in any other sense. You're teasing me, of course, but I'm not a complete fool. I had to make a very important choice before landing on Redoubt Island. I hope you understand the full implications of the decision I made, my dear Cin.'
'The most likely explanation is that you're a Unity Standard fool. Why did you come back at all? And don't tell me it was for me. It could only be because you missed your precious Min and wanted to beg for your job back.'
'It wasn't just for you and it wasn't for Min - in that way - or my job either. I came back well, to kill Vinden and failing that, warn Min about the depths of his treachery.'
'You? Kill Vinden? Why?'
'The dead can tell no tales of the Pela. And Vinden had no intention of running any risk of stories being told. We were never meant to return to the Unity. It was always a one-way voyage. Both parties will protect this secret and it's something we need
to remember.'
'You're saying that he tried to kill you?'
'And my shipmates by destroying the ship. He programed a secret pilot bot to hijack and crash the ship into the shell-reef. We were very, very lucky to survive long enough to disable it.'
'And then you came back to kill him? You? Wil, Unity Standard, Litang? How in the Neb did you think you could do that when you couldn't even put a dart in me with your eyes closed?'
'Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was very angry.'
I considered what story I wanted to spin, and decided the truth would do, so I spun my yarn of how a self-destruct bot overrode the controls and drove the Starry Shore into the rocks of the shell-reef, and our narrow escape - without mentioning Botts's role in the affair - attributing our survival to hitting a big rock early, taking the pilot bot off line, but still allowing the ship to more or less survive. '...So with some luck, we should be able to make it back to the Neb, but it'll be a very long voyage, perhaps a decade or more. I felt that I had time, while repairs were still underway, to return with evidence of how utterly ruthlessness Vinden is, and, hopefully, see that justice is served.'
She considered that in silence for a while. 'And finding them gone, you landed anyway.'
'In the hope that you had somehow survived and that I could offer you a ride home.'
'Did it occur to you that if I had indeed survived, I'd take your boat to complete my mission?'
'As I said, I'm not a complete fool. Yes, I considered that possibility. But I owed you my life and when you were my responsibility, I failed to protect you. I really needed to find you alive on the island, or I'd have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. I knew that if your kidnappers made one mistake you'd turn the tables on them, so it was possible that you were still alive. And if you were, I'd just have to deal with the downside.'
'And how did you expect to deal with the downside, Litang? With oily sweet talk?'
'First, I'd offer you a ride home and a new start.'
'You didn't believe I'd accept that, did you?'
'Well, not right away. I knew things would get complicated. But I owed you for my life and I pay my debts. I felt we could reach a mutually beneficial understand concerning Vinden and Min.'
'What sort of understanding?'
'Well, to begin with, Vinden would be yours to do with as you cared.'
'Oh, you'd let me kill Vinden, since you're too Unity Standard to get blood on your hands.'
'I'd leave Vinden's actual fate up to you. We wouldn't need to kill him, just removed him from the revolution. Marooning him on some passing island would do. As much as he deserves killing, I am too Unity Standard to do it - in cold blood anyway - or expect you to do it either.'
'Right. And Min? You'd let me kill her too?'
'No. We'd kidnap her and with the help of my friends, escape to the Neb aboard the Rift Raven. That would serve the same purpose as killing her. Without Vinden and Min, and in the face of certain defeat, I'm sure the rebellion would've collapsed. However, if we couldn't swing that, I thought I'd be able to discredit her standing within the movement from afar, while at the same time exposing Vinden for the monster he is. I know things that could potentially throw the rebellion to disorder and likely end it. Once again, that would accomplish the same thing as killing her - the counter revolution would fall apart and you'd get the credit for completing your Honor Mission.'
'My Honor Mission!' he/she snapped. 'What do you know about Honor Missions?'
I lied. 'Your old friend D'Lay told tales out of school and, well, given your failures to eliminate me, the loss of the Sister Sinister, and the fact that this is clearly a one-way mission, I'm guessing this is an Honor Mission. And since I may bear some responsibility for putting you into this position, I feel an obligation to do what I can to see that you're remembered with honor - short of killing Min.'
'You'd betray your friend Min to buy your life and salvage my honor?'
'I said nothing about saving my life. Only about saving Min's and the lives of my friends, in a way that would restore your honor as well. My life is a separate issue that we'll have to resolve between us.'
'Still, you were ready to betray her cause. That's very serpent-like, Litang. It gives one pause...' he/she said with a leer. 'But then, I know well how serpent-like you are.'
'Her cause is hopeless. Lost before it began. Her life is not, or need not be. If a friend insists on walking along a cliff blindfolded, and you see that the next step will take them over the edge to their death, do you stand idle and let them fall? Or do you do something to prevent them, even if they told you not to?'
'And yet, it wasn't all that long ago you were willing to let her take that step.'
'True, though I had tried to talk her out of it, with no luck. I had no choice except to accept her decision. Whoever listens to me? And, well, back then, it still seemed to be a noble purpose with a chance of success. Now, given Vinden's actions it seemed to me that there was nothing to choose between the Empress and Vinden - both are ruthless murderers. With the noble purpose gone, I'd have done whatever I could to save her from both of them and the bloody Cloud Throne. If she hated me for it, I'd just have to deal with that.
'So you see, I thought your inevitable demands could be met - with a little compromise by both of us. All I had to do was convince you that we would've accomplished both of our aims, and escaped the Pela as well, if we worked together.'
He/she shook her head. 'You are a very snaky fellow, indeed.'
Five hundred generations of St Bleyth ancestors will do that to a fellow. 'Blame it on my drifteer relatives. But the fact remains, with some compromises on both our parts, it may well have worked. So, knowing my plan, would it have lifted?'
He/she laughed. 'Perhaps.'
'Then keep it in mind. There may still be a way...'
'With your rescue party?'
'No. We'll be well out of radio range even if they do send a boat in. But there's another chance, but I'll say nothing now, I'll not tempt the Black Neb until I've examined the gig in greater detail. However, I assure you, if there's a way back to the Nebula and the Unity, I'm going to find it. And as far as I can see, the only way back leads through my friends in Min's expedition. So give my proposal some thought, just in case it comes into orbit again.'
'You'll work to that goal, whether I agree to your terms or not. Getting close to that expedition is something I must do as long as I've a breath in my body. I'll see to that.'
I shrugged. 'Oh, I'll work to that goal, no strings attached for now. In the end, you'll find that you will need me for your success. And you'll pay the price of success. Min's life.'