Kare considered Jarek’s countenance. Was his most excellent Chief of Staff saying only what he wanted to hear, in such a way that kept Kare neatly within the bounds of his office and happily productive? That was part of Jarek’s function, after all.
He sighed. “Very well. I’ll return in a moment or two.”
Jarek bowed again. “Your Honor.” He slipped out of the room, leaving Kare to himself. He considered bringing up the images again then paused, his finger over the pad.
To see her in person…!
That would be worth any number of Board meetings and pointless politics.
Kare adjusted the cumbersome formal jacket, tugging it down at the front. He squared his shoulders. With renewed energy, he prepared to return to the chamber and herd a particularly large and wayward group to where he wanted them.
Chapter Twelve
Mid-jump, Keogard-Sunita Gates. FY 10.070
Catherine tiredly pushed her hair off her forehead and out of her eyes. “The Feds have been trying to catch up with me ever since we broke into core space. You’ve known this all along, Lilly. I can’t see why it’s now a problem.”
Lilly was sitting on the serving table, her legs swinging, but she leaned forward to answer earnestly. “Because they really are after us!”
Bedivere stood at the door of the relaxation-dining area, one shoulder against it and his arms crossed. He was trying not to laugh, but Catherine didn’t know if the laughter was directed at her or at Lilita’s indignation.
Brant was sitting on the opposite side of the table to Catherine and eating an orange. He was using a knife to peel it. He had pulled the knife out of his jacket. He was concentrating on prying bits of peel away and the sharp, tart smell of the fruit was distracting.
Lilly clearly didn’t like Catherine’s reaction, or anyone else’s. She scowled. “I don’t like the Federation any more than you do. They’ve been a monopoly for generations and they use that power indiscriminately. Taxes are horrendous and economies are depressed everywhere because they’ve got their hand in every pocket, squeezing for all they’re worth.”
Bedivere smothered a laugh and turned it into a cough.
Brant separated a segment of orange, holding it on the side of the knife with his broad thumb. “You sound like a college pamphlet.”
Lilita’s face grew red. “Yes, so I listened to the Aneesh when they talked about it. Doesn’t make it not true.”
“Except you need to back up a step in your supposition,” Bedivere told her. “No one is forcing these worlds to spend their last yen buying their way onto the Federation Board. They do it because they want to.”
“Except Federation membership is the only way you can get access to the fedcore, the Itinerary—”
“Anyone can buy an Itinerary,” Catherine interrupted.
“Anyone rich enough and only Federation worlds can afford them! They throttle private traffic by charging a fortune for the Itinerary.”
“I thought you said all the Federation worlds were economically bankrupt?” Brant said.
“Yes, yes, but after they get their place on the Board, they get all the Federation trade breaks and the traffic and the business from the Federation itself, because they’ve got the only whatever-it-is they used to qualify for membership.”
“Federation membership sounds like a terrible deal,” Bedivere said. “No wonder no one wants to join.”
Lilly jumped off the table. “But they hold the galaxy to ransom! No one wants to live in the fringes!”
Brant looked up at her sharply. Bedivere straightened up from his lean.
Lilly pressed her lips together, looking around the room. “I mean…” she began softly, then stopped, looking wretched.
Catherine got to her feet. “Lilly, I’ve been around for a very long time. I’ve seen a galaxy without the Federation and I’ve lived on the fringes a long time. One thing I’ve learned is that no one is ever completely right, or completely wrong. There’s always another side to it.”
Lilly pressed her lips together. “That’s not going to stop the Federation.”
“No, but if you bear what I’ve said in mind, it might just stop you from making terrible mistakes, ones you’ll regret for the rest of your life.”
“And the Federation?”
“We’re going to duck them and hide out for a while. We’re already halfway to the Sunita system.”
“Which world?” Brant asked. “There’s, what, eight of them settled now? And a couple of moons.”
“Exactly,” Bedivere said. “If the Feds caught a hint of our ion trail back out the gate and if they have any ability to track it—even if they jab their finger at a star map and guess which system we were heading for—they still have to search every single world and settlement and moon. It gives us time.”
“Time for what?” Lilly asked. She was quiet and sober, now.
* * * * *
Sunita System. FY 10.070
Catherine was eating in the galley standing up. She didn’t even bother to lean over the counter to catch crumbs. She was too hungry. She had hit the lucky button on the dispenser and a bowl of something that smelled familiar emerged, piping hot. She ate it with her scalded fingers, even though there were forks. Somewhere.
All she wanted to do was eat enough to stop being hungry, then fall into bed for a month. Or two.
Lilly’s quick, quiet boots sounded, hurrying down the corridor. She was moving fast.
Catherine put down her bowl as Lilly rounded the open doorway, one hand on the frame to swing herself around. Behind her, Bedivere and Brant appeared. They had been alerted by her running.
“They killed them,” Lilly said. Her eyes were glittering with tears. “They killed both of them.”
Catherine didn’t bother asking who she was talking about. Once they had cleared the gates, she had asked Lilly to tap into the fedcore and collect any news they should know. Lilly was smart. She would have included the Keogard system in her search parameters without being told.
Sadness touched Catherine. Sibéal and she had not been close friends. They had spoken only a few times in the course of doing business. But Sibéal had been like-minded. Independent and free spirited.
For her own part in Sibéal’s death and Rashnu’s, too, Catherine felt regret.
Brant’s expression was grave. “Why kill them? There was no reason to.”
“To make me react,” Catherine told him. “They’re prodding, hoping I swat back and that way they’ll find me.”
“Are you? Going to swat them?” Lilly’s tears were glistening on her cheeks now.
“We’re going to stick with the plan.”
One corner of Bedivere’s mouth turned down. He was upset, too. But he was controlling it, like always.
“And the plan is?” Brant asked.
“There’s a small moon around the twelfth planet. We’re going to ground there.”
“Are you crazy?” Lilly cried. “If the Federation is looking for us, the very last thing we should do is stay still!”
Catherine pushed her bowl away. She had lost her appetite. “We’ve already been over this. Sunita is a big system. It’s not ideal, but it’s imperative the ship be grounded, most of the systems off-line and everything be rock steady for the next twelve hours. For twenty-four hours after that, being grounded will be useful, too. After that, we can run as fast as you like, Lilly.”
“Maybe we should put it off for a while, until conditions are better,” Bedivere said.
Catherine rounded on him. “No. We are not putting this off.”
“Putting what off?” Brant demanded.
“That’s on a need-to-know and you don’t,” Catherine said.
He looked surprised, but she didn’t care. This was too important. She looked at Bedivere. “There’s never going to be a good time to do it. There’s never going to be a perfect place. We do it now. No more waiting.”
“But the ship will be basically disabled for thirty six hours,” he
said quietly.
“Being on the ground doesn’t disable the ship,” Lilly said flatly. “Unless there’s something else going on here I don’t get.”
“Me, too,” Brant added.
Catherine put her hand on Bedivere’s arm. “I don’t want to wait another minute more than I have to,” she told him. “We’ve both waited long enough.”
Bedivere’s gaze was steady. “You’ll be vulnerable.” His tone was controlled, but she could hear the stress, deep down.
“That was always going to be a risk. We’ll never have a perfectly secure place to do it. This is as good as it gets.”
There was a soft whomp of a pressurized explosion, then an alarm began wailing on the concierge console on the wall of the galley. Lilly swore as she looked at the console, reading the data. “Recycling. Something has popped a gasket. Gotta go.” She hurried away.
Aware of Brant standing and watching, she shook Bedivere and picked her words carefully. “The ship needs downtime, too. Even more reason to ground and do the install.”
He drew in a deep breath. “You’re sure?”
“That we have to do this, yes. That this is the least risky way to do it, hell, no. But we could go another twenty years and not get a clear opportunity. You want to wait that long?”
He grimaced. “No.”
Catherine looked at Brant. “We’ll park the ship, then everyone can get some rest. Tempers are high. We need downtime, too.”
“Whatever you say,” Brant said and she knew that he wasn’t going to let this rest.
Chapter Thirteen
Fourth Moon of Sunita XII, Sunita System. FY 10.070
Brant didn’t leave it alone for any time at all.
Catherine grabbed four hours of sleep. It was the minimal amount she thought she could get away with and still be able to focus on the work to come. She buzzed Bedivere to let him know she was ready, then showered and changed quickly.
The silence in the ship, with the engines down, was almost total. The moon was an airless rock, so there wasn’t even a breeze to whistle through the superstructure. Catherine could feel her tension building simply because of the silence.
She hurried through to the surgery, where Bedivere was waiting and began preparations while Bedivere stripped down to the waist and laid down on the procedure table, face-downward.
“You’re going to put that thing in him, aren’t you?” Brant asked from the doorway.
Catherine looked up from arranging the trays next to her, startled.
“That’s why we have to stay parked for thirty six hours. The navigator is going to be out of commission for that long.” He stepped into the room and pointed to the tech, sitting on the tray. “Is this where you tell me that whatever that is, it’s some sort of life-saving device?”
“I wouldn’t insult your integrity by trying that,” Catherine said.
“What have you made me a party to, then?” The anger was radiating from Brant via clenched fists and strumming tendons.
Bedivere turned his chin to look at Brant. “It’s called a mesh tether. It will let me stay connected to the ship no matter where I am. Even if I’m on the other side of Federation space. As long as I can connect to the fedcore, I can reach the ship.”
His calm answer seemed to infuriate Brant even more. “You worked for twenty years, paid a small fortune, caused the death of two people, all for the sake of a piece of mech that will make life more convenient for you?”
“The comm link he’s already got is reaching the end of its useful life,” Catherine said. She kept her tone even, like Bedivere had done. “And it wasn’t a small fortune, Brant. It was a huge amount of money.”
“This is why you didn’t want to tell me, isn’t it? You knew I would…I would…” He drew in a breath that shook. “I object to this. It is indecent.”
Bedivere sat up and swung his legs around to face Brant. “If you stop us from doing this, then Sibéal’s and Rashnu’s deaths will be for nothing.”
“You dare taint their lives with this….”
“Brant,” Catherine said sharply.
He looked at her.
“Fareed,” she said more gently. “This isn’t the calamity you think it is.”
“It isn’t?” Brant laughed bitterly. “I thought…call me stupid, but I thought that out of all the people floating around the galaxy doing interesting things out of the sight of the Federation…I thought it would be you two who found it.”
Catherine blinked.
“Found what, Fareed?” Bedivere asked softly, as if he was afraid that speaking any louder would startle Brant and shut him down.
Brant looked up at the ceiling then closed his eyes briefly. “There’s been rumors for years that another jump technology has been developed. Something that might not need gates and Itineraries. I thought you had tracked it down, that it was real. I never for a moment thought that what you had spent twenty years working for was a piece of biotech.” He spat the word out.
“Fareed,” Catherine said quietly. “Remember what I said to Lilly about there always being another side to it?”
“How can you possibly think there is a way to justify this?”
“I’m not going to try and justify it to you. You’re not listening. But I will give you more than I would a total stranger. There is a reason we’re doing this, one I can’t—I won’t share with you. Not now and maybe not in the future. You’re just going to have to trust me when I say there is a side to this you can’t see right now and it makes all the difference in the world.”
“Trust?” He spoke the word incredulously.
“Do you know if Lilly has repaired that recycling blow out?” Bedivere asked him.
“What?”
“Go and check, see if you can help her,” Bedivere told him. “And when you’re finished, ask her to see if there are any free docks we can book on Sunittara, four days from now…unless you want to delve into the fedcore yourself?”
Brant stared at him, like he was having trouble processing what he said.
“Go and keep yourself busy for a while,” Bedivere added. “Stay out of this. Don’t think about it. In three days’ time, we can talk, if you want. But for now, go away.”
“Nothing is going to stop you doing this, is it?” Brant said, his voice softer and more reasonable.
“Not even you,” Bedivere said flatly.
Brant nodded. “I’ll…I’m going to see how Lilly is doing.”
Catherine squeezed Bedivere’s shoulder when Brant was gone. “How did you know?” she asked.
“Know what?”
“That he was looking for a way out. That a direct command would resolve this for him?”
Bedivere blew out his breath heavily. “I think the hardest thing I ever had to learn was how to deal with moral dilemmas and not go out of my mind. He likes you. He even respects you, but this is pulling him in the opposite direction.” He looked over his shoulder at her, then turned and settled himself on the bed once more. “Let’s get this done. I don’t like leaving us sitting out here like this a minute more than we have to.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sunittara (Sunita VIII), Terminus, F.Y. 10.070
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Catherine asked for the last time, looking up at Brant where he stood with his feet apart, looking solid and judgmental, at the top of the ramp.
“I’ve seen so many terminals they’ve started to blend,” Brant said. “Besides, I want to be somewhere where you are not.”
Catherine dropped her gaze.
“Just for a while. Meditating while you’re staring at the back of my neck is not conducive,” he added.
Catherine nodded. The truce they had arrived at in order to get the ship up off the moon and on a smooth two day glide over to Sunittara had shown signs of stress since they had docked the ship, as if they had all reached the ends of their patience. Time away would be good.
Lilita had already shot down the ramp and had gone. Her duties ended on
ce the station umbilicals had been attached to the ship and she had barely waited for the ramp to descend.
That just left Catherine and Bedivere. He was up, on his feet and seemed normal. The incision scars were healed.
This excursion was the real test. She had been working hard to hide how terrified she was. What if the tech didn’t work? What if she had botched the installation? What if the years she had spent learning all the medical procedures needed to pull this off hadn’t been enough?
Bedivere looked at her. “Let’s head out.” Simple words, but the meaning was so profound she trembled.
He must have seen her shaking, for he picked up her hand and squeezed it. “Come on,” he encouraged. “Let’s find out if you’re as good a medic as you are a pilot.”
Brant scowled at the top of the ramp.
Catherine deliberately turned her back on Brant. She couldn’t deal with him right now. Not for the next few minutes.
She and Bedivere stepped off the ramp and headed for the big cargo doors, which were cranked open to let people through. The top of the bay was open to the sunlight—real sunlight—and pools of brightness splashed the docking bay floor and fell against the cargo doors, showing the scrapes and dents from thousands of cargo sleds pushing their way through.
Bedivere was walking normally, but as they reached the halfway point between the ship and the doors he began to slow his pace and she knew he was as fear-filled as she.
Finally, he stopped.
“Just a few more steps,” she whispered.
His hand was clamped around hers and he looked at her, swiveling his head slowly like it was being cranked by a rusty cog. “I suddenly…can’t walk.”
“It’s in your mind. It’s just the fear.”
His grip on her hand loosened and tightened convulsively.
She stepped around in front of him, so that he could look at her directly. “It’s not a big deal,” she told him. “If it doesn’t work, then I’ll pick you up and drag you back to the ship and when you come round, you can cuss me out for scraping your face on the dirt.”
Faring Soul - Science Fiction Romance Page 9