by David Drake
"I will comply, of course," said the Mromrosi, "but not because of your order, which does not apply to any member of the Emerging Planet Fairness Court. I will comply because I perceive my presence contributes to your exacerbated responses." He bounced along on his eight stubby legs, his color fluctuating from beige to olive-drab and back again.
"Jhum!" Line Commander Fayrborn would have used a more condemning name for the intrusive and ludicrous alien, but he feared that one of his officers might report his behavior and his lack of respect for the Mromrosi would count against him.
"Line Commander," said Boro Omerrik as he took up his station once again, "for the record, I want to say that I do not support your actions against the Mromrosi. And I am opposed to contacting the Grands because it supersedes the orders we were given. We are answerable only to Fleet Commodore Grizmai. Anything other than strict obedience is contrary to the oath we were required to take."
"Understood," said Line Commander Fayrborn, feeling a bit better now. "Communications Leader Gaikhu, you enter it into the official records, to keep our Buttrine happy. Since he has been elected to continue his work." He put his hands on his hips as he watched the surveills, his attention on the Petards.
The Mromrosi went golden yellow and silent as he departed.
Group Line Chief Leatris Sventur was startled to see the door to her quarters whisk open, and a moment later the single green eye of her ship's Mromrosi appear around it, curls a gorgeous shade of golden-russet. She had not yet fallen asleep and so did not have to jolt herself awake, but she was not completely alert, either. "Yes?" she said, a little surprised that her Bunter had not intercepted the Mromrosi.
"Your Bunter has not malfunctioned, Group Line Chief," said the Mromrosi as he came frolicking toward her. "I have taken the liberty of putting a temporary restraint on it, so that it cannot respond to anything but overt attack, which is not likely to occur. I will restore it to working order when I leave."
Sventur had not been aware that Mromrosii could alter the cyborgs in this way. "Why have you done this?"
"I think it would be advisable for us to talk, Group Line Chief," said the Mromrosi, bustling into Sventurs quarters and closing the door quickly. "I am afraid that I and my associates have agreed that there is excellent reason to anticipate great trouble here. For that reason, I have come to discuss the state of affairs with you and to seek your advice, as well as to speculate on courses open to you now."
Group Line Chief Sventur cocked her head. "Speculate? Why do you say that?"
"Because it is clear to all of us that Line Commander Fayrborn is above his intellectual and emotional capacities to function well and therefore has become a disadvantage to the mission. Doubtless you are aware of this; everyone is." The Mromrosi hopped up onto the end of Sventur's bed and peered down at her with his single benevolent eye.
"To act against him is mutiny," said Group Line Chief Sventur, hoping that the Mromrosi was unaware of the plans the other Group Line Chiefs had in readiness. "Mutiny is a death-penalty offence."
"That is not my assessment, that such an act would be mutiny, that is," said the Mromrosi, turning a soft shade of chestnut. "Nor is it the assessment of my associates. Or, for that matter, your fellow Group Line Chiefs, or so we reckon." He—at least everyone called him he, as they called all Mromrosii he because few humans had sorted out the complicated six-sexed species—positioned himself more comfortably on the foot of Sventur's bed. "We wish to inform you, by which we include all Group Line Chiefs of this mission, that we would regard as favorable any action that removed you from the caprice of your current Line Commander."
"You want us to mutiny?" Sventur inquired, thinking she must have misunderstood what the Mromrosi had said. "Assuming it's possible."
"Want is not the issue here. We believe that if this mission is to carry out its orders and serve the purpose for which it is intended, then it must be undertaken without the leadership of Line Commander Fayrborn. Correcting this is not mutiny, but a necessary adjustment. We do not espouse rebellion, but we do not approve disaster by consent, either." The Mromrosi thought about his statement as if reviewing it for error. "I do not see that continuing to act on Line Commander Fayrborn's orders will help in any way to create the desired result."
"Whatever that may be." Sventur was listening very carefully, as if by attention alone she might be able to work out the meaning the Mromrosi was trying to convey. "And you want me to tell the others?"
"Nothing like that," said the Mromrosi, turning a deep blueberry shade. "My associates have undertaken that task."
"You mean, you're all talking to us?" Sventur asked.
"That is essentially correct," said the Mromrosi. "We wish you to be aware of our position as you decide which course to follow. I suspect that you have considered making some effort to avert the most destructive of Line Commander Fayrborn's impulses."
"You are offering to protect us if charges of mutiny are brought against us?" She could not accept what he was telling her. "Would you keep us from freeze-drying?" This was the current execution of choice for mutiny.
"Of course," said the Mromrosi. "The Emerging Planet Fairness Court would not expect you to take the brunt of such a charge, and we would never countenance freeze-drying you."
"Would that make any difference? The Fleet Commodore gave us secret orders. Revealing the orders is also a freeze-drying offence, if the Fleet Commodore wants to be strict about it." She was sitting up now, and she could feel tension gather in her body. Her Bunter would have to massage it away if she were to get any sleep at all.
"The Fleet Commodore would have to accept our ruling in this case, as we would be answerable for your actions." The Mromrosi stretched himself up so that he was about a third again as tall as he usually was. "There are issues here you do not fully comprehend. There are questions that you have not asked because you lack the knowledge to ask them. Therefore it is fitting if you permit the Emerging Planet Fairness Court to advise you."
"If you say so," Sventur told him, having difficulty following the Mromrosi's train of thought.
"When you Group Line Chiefs have your next contact, we Mromrosii will be with you, to aid you in your deliberations. We have useful observations to contribute, you may be certain." He hopped down from the bed and scampered across her quarters back toward the door. "Your Bunter will be in correct working order in less than a minute, Group Line Chief Sventur," he said as he slipped out of the room.
Sventur stared at the place where the Mromrosi had been, wondering if this could have been a particularly realistic nightmare. But she knew she had not dreamed it, and that the Mromrosi's warning was genuine. Her hope to be left out of the conflict between the Group Line Chiefs and the Line Commander vanished. She would have to choose a side, and the only side that was acceptable was the Group Line Chiefs. With a gesture of resignation she got out of bed and started toward the bathroom; a few seconds later her Bunter followed her, fixing its massage units in place.
"Does everyone have an inventory for ordnance?" asked Group Line Chief Apanali.
"According to the latest zap, we're to head down to the surface in two hours."
"Not according to Fayrborn," said Group Line Chief Praechee. "He's said no one is to move until the Grands give the go-ahead. The Flotilla Master still hasn't acknowledged our existence."
"Pog the Grands," said Group Line Chief Hsuin. "If we wait for the Grands, we'll be here for a decade, and we'll catch all the sperk. I say we put Goriz in charge, the way we planned. The Mromrosii are right."
There were guarded nods all around, made huge by the surveills. In the Sakibuckt, the ship's Mromrosi turned intense scarlet, then faded to the same shade of taupe the other Mromrosii were.
"So what do we do now?" asked Sventur, fearing for her family on the planet. "There's a communications blackout, probably from the Petards. We can't get through without specific permission, and you know Fayrborn won't ask for it."
"We will make arrange
ments," said the Mromrosi on the Ikemoos. "But be prepared to act in two hours."
"Who's going to tell Fayrborn?" asked Group Line Chief Goriz.
"Let us attend to that as well," suggested the Mromrosi from the Daichirucken. "The Grands cannot prevent our use of the communications' systems. No matter what the Basatan'gal have done to isolate the planet, there are installations we can reach." He signaled the Communications Leader, Parker Parkerman from Dataline. "You will operate on our authority. In this situation, the Emerging Planet Fairness Court will prevail. Our assumption of responsibility will be voice-printed in your log."
Parkerman acknowledged this, adding, "I'll leave a file open for you, if there are any additions you wish to make. On voice lock."
"An excellent notion!" The Mromrosi of the Reiwald seconded Parkerman's suggestion. "Indeed each ship should have such a file at this time. You have much to do. Your Glavuses are not ready for combat, and that is unwise, for combat is going to be waiting for you on Lontano. You will need to spend some of the little time at your disposal to organize your armorments."
The Mromrosi of the Yamapunkt added, "Since conditions on the surface are not yet known, we will have to be prepared for more eventualities than would generally be the case. Care will be necessary, and flexibility."
"Right you are," said Group Line Chief Apanali. "We ought to get to it."
"I haven't spotted any alien ships," Group Line Chief Hsuin remarked. "No beacon in orbit, nothing."
"It is not the way of the Basatan'gal. They land on a planet and do everything they can to cut it off from everywhere else. They keep their ships on the surface, not only to fight with the natives, and provide protection in an alien environment, but to decrease the chance of discovery in random sweeps conducted by the Emerging Planet Fairness Court." The Mromrosi of the Suidotal spoke with authority. "I have observed them closely, and I know their history."
Then the fact that we haven't heard anything—" began Group Line Chief Sventur.
"Means little or nothing; the communications blackout the Grands have instigated may be useless," her ship's Mromrosi confirmed. That is why the matter of consent from the Grands is of no importance. The Grands have not been able to discover anything that they have reported. If there are Grands on the surface, they are mute until we arrange to correct that."
"So we have to go in blind," said Group Line Chief Sventur. "At least I know Lontano. I grew up in Capacitta."
"And we'll have to rely on you," said Group Line Chief Hsuin.
"Of course," said Group Line Chief Apanali. He scanned his surveill, giving the impression that he was looking the other four Group Line Chiefs directly in the eye. "We'd better get at it. Ordnance first, then readiness teams. We leave orbit in one-hundred-seventeen minutes."
The others concurred, and Group Line Chief Hsuin summed it up for the rest of them. "I sure hope we're doing the right thing."
Line Commander Fayrborn was furious. He goggled at the three Group Line Chiefs confronting him and he spat as he swore at them. "You'll freeze for this, all of you!"
"Possibly," said Group Line Chief Apanali. "But that's better than dying out here, picked off by an enemy on the surface we can't see but can pogging sure see us."
"You don't know that. You're only guessing," said Line Commander Fayrborn, giving them some of the contempt he had felt from Charge Pallisenne.
"According to the Mromrosii, its a sperking good one," said Group Line Chief Praechee. "If you'll be good enough to turn over your weapons and your encyphering planchet?"
"You can't do this," Line Commander Fayrborn said, hanging onto his disruptor. "Stand back."
Group Line Chief Praechee shook his head. "Even you aren't stupid enough to fire a disruptor weapon in a ship this size." He said it as if he were talking to a five-year-old.
"I won't have it," Line Commander Fayrborn announced.
"Begging your pardon, sir, but it's done," said Group Line Chief Goriz. "The Bunters have already logged the change and the reason."
"The Grands won't allow it," said Line Commander Fayrborn, "They've said they're—"
"Protecting you?" suggested Group Line Chief Praechee. "Though you're only related to the Lord Mayor of Dickens on your mother's side? Not good enough."
Gilyard Fayrborn stood straighten "My transfer is all but approved."
"Where is your record of this transfer?" asked Group Line Chief Goriz. "There is no record of it anywhere on this mission."
"Of course there's not," said Fayrborn with an arrogant toss to his head. "Just as there is no record of the officer in this mission who reports to the Grands." He had the satisfaction of seeing alarm in the other's faces. "Surprised you, didn't I?"
"What are you talking about?" demanded Group Line Chief Praechee.
"A double agent, of course. The Grands told me about it." He glared at them. "With officers like you, what could you expect?"
Group Line Chief Apanali shook his head, exasperated and sympathetic at once. "And you believed them? Turn over your weapons, Line Commander. We have to leave orbit in fifteen minutes."
"The Grands will inform The Hub," declared Line Commander Fayrborn, desperation making his voice shrill. "And you'll answer for this. Mutiny! You were insubordinate before, but you're light years beyond that now."
"We realize that," said Group Line Chief Goriz, holding her stunner so that it did not point directly at Line Commander Fayrborn.
"I want it on record that I regard this as a criminal act," said Line Commander Fayrborn, trying to retrieve his dignity. "I intend to file formal charges against all of you, and against any members of your crews who supported you."
"You're kidding yourself, Line Commander," said Group Line Chief Praechee. "You're not in a defensi—"
A hissing sound, so low it had been hardly noticeable, grew suddenly louder. The Group Line Chiefs recognized it a second too late, as the odorless, invisible gas of Line Commander Fayrborn's private security unit at last kicked in full strength.
Five minutes later, when the three Group Line Chiefs came to amid the blare of klaxons, they were met by solicitous Bunters, all as chagrined as machines could be, explaining they did not realize that line Commander Fayrborn was escaping until he had taken a skiff and headed for the Mon Droit Cassiopeia.
"Which is where we believe him to be at this moment," finished the Senior Bunter of the Yamapunkt.
"Pogger all," said Group Line Chief Praechee, one hand to his head which felt as if it had been swathed in a mass of thick, painfully hot towels.
"What about the landing?" asked Group Line Chief Goriz, forcing herself to think and hating the labor it took to gather her ideas. What gas had Line Commander Fayrborn been using? "We have the alert on hold," said the Senior Bunter of the Yamapunkt. "Executive Officer Omerrik ordered it when the skiff cast off."
Group Line Chief Goriz nodded. "Good."
"Group Line Chief Sventur has already worked out the modulations for cast off in five-minute increments for the next two hours," said the Senior Bunter.
A riot of turquoise-blue curls appeared in the space behind the gathered Bunters, and then a huge green eye. The Mromrosi shoved the cyborgs aside and moved nearer. "The report is accurate," he told them. "You were subjected to fantod gas from Hydeyama. But you will recover now. You did not have the lethal dose, of course."
"Or we'd be dead," said Group Line Chief Apanali sourly. He had made it to a crouch and was slowly getting to his feet, not trusting his legs very much.
"Fantod gas," said Group Line Chief Goriz. "So that's what it was."
"Yes. Line Commander Fayrborn's personal Bunter carried the antidote for him at all times." The Mromrosi faded to periwinkle.
"I wish we'd put him in restraints at once," said Group Line Chief Apanali. "Hindsight. It always works."
"He would have escaped in any case," said the Mromrosi. "And there is nothing you can do at this time that will improve your situation. Therefore it is my recommendation that yo
u proceed with your appointed tasks. Group Line Chief Goriz is in command of the mission now."
Emmelein Goriz had tottered to her feet. "And we're holding the alert?"
"Group Line Chief Sventur handled it all admirably; she has even sent a zap to The Hub explaining the circumstances of your attempt to detain Line Commander Fayrborn, and his . . . apparent defection to the Grands. And a special Most Secret read-only to the Fleet Commodore." The Mromrosi bounced restlessly. "So that it cannot be intercepted."
"We hope," said Group Line Chief Goriz. She was feeling a little steadier now. "All right. We'll resume count to descent in ten minutes. In the mean time, I want you all to try to find out what's going on down on the surface. Tell Communications Leader Vonigal to monitor everything, and I mean everything, he can pick up from Lontano."
The Bunters moved first, locating various link-boxes along the wall to pass on Group Line Chief Goriz's orders.
"You think Fayrborn's going to cause any trouble?" asked Hsuin as he practiced walking.
"I think we'd better assume that he is," she answered. When she tried to turn her head quickly, she had to grab the nearest Bunter to keep from falling over. "Weo! That fantod gas is strong stuff."
"It is wise to be monitored for medical disfunction at your earliest convenience," said the Bunter.
"I'll keep that in mind," said Group Line Chief Goriz, thinking that time might not come until after they lifted off from Lontano.
They chose Seicancel, fifty kilometers north of Capacitta, as their landing place, for their readings had shown that all communications with the capital were blocked. On their second fly-over of three, the small city seemed undisturbed, and its landing field adequate to their needs.
"I have cousins in Seicancel," said Diam Bontorn, the Protocol Officer of the Yamapunkt. "I could try to reach them, find out if there's anything they can tell me. They'll trust me. They know I'm one of them."
Since spying was high on the list of Protocol Officers' duties, Executive Officer Boro Omerrik relayed this suggestion to the Reiwald, adding to Acting Line Commander Goriz, "It makes more sense to send Bontorn than to send Sventur."