by Richard Dee
“We’ll be arriving in the next couple of days. Hasn’t Ria told you? I’m bringing a passenger back as well.”
“She hasn’t mentioned anything, but we’ve been busy, is it a paying passenger?” There was a pause. “Please tell me it’s not Rixon’s mother?”
He sounded worried, he must have known Messinya, maybe they had history. They were both strong characters, I could imagine that meeting of minds and personalities. I thought that Ria could break it to him. “Wait and see,” I said. “Ria will probably tell you.”
He left it at that and ended the call. Irin was looking at me in a particularly bad way.
“What?” I asked.
“You know Dolmen?” It wasn’t a question, more like an accusation.
“Yes,” I admitted, “a long time ago. It’s a complicated story.”
“I suppose I’m not surprised,” she had gone red, a sure sign of an imminent eruption. “Dolmen was Rixon’s boss, the man who trapped me into working for him.”
I might have guessed. “Let me explain,” I started. I was saved by Melva.
“Were you calling Ria?” she asked, oblivious to the tension.
“No,” I said, relieved at the interruption. “I was speaking to Griff; it was a business thing.”
“Oh, why’s Irin upset then?” Perhaps she wasn’t as oblivious as I thought.
“It’s nothing,” Irin said, “just work.”
“Does Griff know I’m coming back?” Melva asked.
“I don’t think so,” I answered. “Ria does and she should have told him. If she doesn’t, it’s going to be a surprise for him. She kept you secret for all these years so he’s going to be… agitated is probably the politest word.”
She looked worried. “Gran told me about him, how he was huge and frightening, will he be mad with me?”
“No,” I said with confidence. “He might be mad with Ria, she can cope with him, she’s had a lot of practice. And if he starts on you, I’ll be mad at him!”
That seemed to reassure her. I realised that the thought of standing up to Griff or anyone else didn’t frighten me half as much if I was doing it to protect my little girl. Even though she wasn’t little, she was to me.
Irin was quiet, I knew why; Villiars wouldn’t be working on IW planets. There was suddenly a smell about the whole Costa thing. Rixon had promised that her family were safe, we had believed him. Maybe it was all a coincidence. I could tell that Irin was starting to get annoyed. We were spending all our time on my family, she was happy as long as she thought hers were safe. Now there was a doubt in her mind, she was putting things together and not liking the answer she got.
I was doing the same, I would have to make finding her family more of a priority. Meanwhile we had still heard nothing from Evers.
Irin said nothing more about Dolmen. It must have been a shock that we all knew each other. Sooner or later, I was going to have to explain how Dolmen had saved my life after the Navy and I had parted company. How I wasn’t really Dave Travise.
We arrived above New Devon and the customs check was brief. I had Melva’s papers and we were allowed straight down. She sat beside me for the re-entry and I told her all about the place as we descended. The route we were given took me over my house on the cliffs. “That’s the house that we bought,” I said proudly, dropping low and earning a rebuke from traffic.
When we had landed and closed the engines down, I dropped the ramp and handed Freefall over to our Gyrl, she would look after the ship while the three of us set off to meet Griff and Ria.
“Who’s she?” asked Melva, as I gave her the keys.
“That’s Dannika,” I explained. “She’ll guard the Freefall for us.”
No Mag-Lev for us, we drove into the city in Elana’s ground car and managed to find a place to park close to Griff’s office, on the other side of the street.
Ria and Griff came out to meet us; they must have seen us pull up. “I recognised the ground car,” she said sadly, pointing to the wing, which was slightly crumpled. “I was there when Elana did that, a few too many drinks and a quick getaway.”
After the arrival I had been expecting, it was all very muted with Griff. He shook Melva’s hand, very formally, muttered something about how she looked like her mother and unusually for him, kept quiet. Ria must have said more than something, he was on his best behaviour.
Ria was beside herself with excitement, the shells in her hair jingled and rattled as she ran towards Melva. The girls hugged for ages. “It’s so good to finally meet you,” gasped Melva, sounding out of breath from the assault on her ribs.
The girls all went off giggling and left Griff and me alone.
“Lovely girl,” he said. “Ria thinks that she kept it all from me but I knew, it’s a relief to let it all go.”
“How?” I asked. I wasn’t really surprised, he knew everything else that went on in the galaxy, why not that? But I was annoyed that he hadn’t told me.
“Myra told me she was pregnant,” he said. “She made me promise not to tell anyone. Then she went to Ria, I figured that she told her the same. So when she went, I knew why but I had to pretend.”
Why was it, I wondered, that we had to make our lives so complicated. “So you both knew but had to pretend to each other that you didn’t.” He smiled.
“Daft, isn’t it?”
“Did you get it?” I asked him as he produced a bottle from his desk and poured us both a teacup full of whisky.
“The chart plug-in, yeah I’ve got it.” He rummaged in his desk and produced a thing like a small book, the metal case was painted light green. “This interfaces with the control unit in the Navigation mainframe, you’ll find it under the panel in the wheelhouse.” He pointed to a small plug on the corner. “Just plug it in, the cable is on the main unit ready for it. Myra will recognise it and update herself.”
“What about status? Freefall is Federation registered; she’ll be spotted by every official with a scanner.”
Griff shook his head. “Nobody cares over there. It’s just our paranoid government.”
I found that hard to believe, I thought about Miro, how he had to hide the truth about the Khayan. Then there was the propaganda, from the Holy Wars, how we were enlightened, how the Holy government was secretive and had scuttled away to form the IW once the war was lost. Maybe it was all a lie?
“Seriously?”
Griff smiled. “Would I send you off if I thought it wasn’t safe? We crossed over all the time on the Orca, how did we get the food for Stu? You’ll be fine.”
I had to trust him, I raised my cup and we drank, I hadn’t had a drop for a while and it tasted good, warming me all the way down.
“There’s another problem,” I said. He looked at me.
“What?”
“Well, Irin’s family and the Villiars manager, they went to a planet starting with R. Now you say Rixon’s base is on Rosskine.”
He thought for a moment. “Rixon said he wouldn’t pursue her.”
“That’s right.”
“Then it’s just a name,” he said. “All companies are paranoid about security, because of people like Rixon and Irin. Like it or not, it’s kurmuh, in a way. Lots of planets start with an R. Villiars doesn’t work in the IW. They’re with a Villiars manager. They left Jintao on a Villiars transport. They must be somewhere else. If you find Rixon, he’ll probably confirm that he kept his word.”
He was right. I was sure Rixon wouldn’t have gone back on what he had said but it wasn’t me that needed convincing.
Chapter Twelve
I plugged the module into the Navigation computer as soon as I got back on board. Ria, Melva and Irin were off shopping and I thought it would be a good time to get ahead of the game.
Myra noticed it straight away.
“What’s that you’ve plugged in, Dave?” she said, her voice excited. “Hang on a minute, oh, it’s a new chart system, are there that many worlds that I didn’t know about? Wow, why have I not known
all this before?”
“What do you have, Myra?”
“Somewhere called the Independent Worlds, Dave, there are so many of them. I take it we’re on a trip to one of them? Which one?”
“It’s a place called Rosskine,” I said.
“Found it,” she replied almost instantly, “it’s two days inside the border, a big industrial planet; it says here that it’s very polluted.”
“Great stuff, Irin will be pleased. Hopefully we can go there and see Rixon and put this worry of hers to bed for good.”
“Did you say Rixon?” Myra asked.
“I did, why?”
“Is he another Rixon like me and Melva? And the other one, Messinya. You’ve been talking about people called Rixon a lot. I’ve met some of them. We must be an important family. Are we going to meet another one?”
“That’s the plan,” I said. “Myra, can you sort out a course and file a flight plan with departures, so that we’re ready to go? Don’t declare it as our destination though, we’re not supposed to know about it, just say we’re off to trade on a planet that’s close to our route but on our side of the border.”
“Mum’s the word, Dave,” she said, followed by a giggle. I had noticed that the AI had picked up on Melva and the relationship. I wondered if she would start dispensing motherly advice, and would Melva listen?
“I don’t know how much information you have in the plug-in,” I said. “If you can find out anything special about the way they do business on Rosskine, that would be great.”
“OK I’ve got a few details, I can show it on the screen. It’s not that different from our way of doing things. When do you want to leave?”
“Not yet, just get us in the system; we have a few things to do before we can leave.”
Principally that involved an argument with Melva. It all started when I told her that we were leaving.
“I’m coming with you,” she declared, managing to copy her mother and grandmother in just about all respects.
“No you’re not,” I said. I thought that I’d try straight refusal first. As if that did me any good.
“You can’t just say no, I want to come, he’s my uncle.”
Perhaps I should try to reason?
“We don’t know what the situation is over there; we might not even find him. It’s not like going to a Federation planet; we shouldn’t be in the IW at all. If it’s safe, we’ll come back and get you.”
The look on her face told me that wasn’t going to work either.
“Do you think I can’t handle myself, that I’m going to be scared or useless or something?”
“Of course not, I’m just looking out for you.” Behind me I saw Irin shake her head and knew that I’d got that wrong. Teenagers were tricky.
“Ha!” she said. “You didn’t even know about me for seventeen years. I’ve had to fend for myself; then you waltz back in and expect to somehow protect me.” There was scorn in the voice. “Am I supposed to be grateful, or impressed? Do me a favour!”
“That’s hardly fair, Melva, I didn’t know about you, or I would have done what I could, anyway Messinya was looking out for you.”
“Whatever,” she said. “The principle’s the same. You can’t just take over my life, I’m not a kid.”
“Fair enough, let’s say that I’d be happier if you stayed here with Ria, please. Just till I know it’s safe.”
Myra broke into the conversation at that point. “Melva,” she said, with a different tone, it sounded a bit scary to me. Melva looked surprised. “What?” she asked.
“Do what your father says, he’s looking out for you,” she said. I was expecting some sort of smart reply.
“Well, since you asked so nicely, I’ll stay here with Ria.” She flounced out, Irin was laughing.
“And what’s so funny?”
“Sorry,” she said, “you haven’t quite mastered it yet have you?”
Before we took off, I called Ria. “Look after Melva while we’re gone,” I asked.
“Sure,” she said, she was laughing as well. Melva must have said something to her. To be honest, I was past caring. I just wondered how Myra knew how to get her to obey so easily.
Chapter Thirteen
After a three-day flight, Myra suddenly announced, “We have passed the edge of Federation space, Dave. We are now in the territory of the Independent Worlds. Rosskine is another two days away.”
Space was space; we had no idea we had crossed any borders. But there were people watching us, detecting our entry into their jurisdiction.
“I have a request to stop engines for boarding, Dave,” Myra announced in the early hours of the day after we had entered IW space. “They say they are the border patrol. There is a proof of identity attached to the message; I’ve checked it against the information in the new chart plug-in. It suggests that they are genuine; and serious.”
“OK then, I guess we’d better stop and welcome them aboard.” Irin and I got up and made ourselves presentable.
“Wait in the wheelhouse,” I said to Irin.
“No way,” she answered. “I’m coming down with you to the lock.”
The craft was small and nimble. Not only that, but it was also bristling with weapons. We watched as they came alongside us and docked. Then they asked for permission to come aboard. I acknowledged and we went down to the airlock. When the lights turned green, I opened our hatch. While I waited, I wondered what would happen.
The hatch on their side slid sideways, there were three of them in unfamiliar black uniforms; it was obvious from their general demeanour that they were not happy to see us. “Take us to your wheelhouse, please,” one said. At least the pistols remained in their holsters. We all went topside. I was in front, Irin fell in behind them. Nobody spoke. I was glad that Melva wasn’t here, we could be turned back or arrested. I had heard stories about IW prisons.
“Papers,” said the one with the most gold braid, the other two looked around at the wheelhouse. They peered at the bits of kit and shook their heads; as if they were looking at a museum exhibit. That upset me, Freefall might be old but she was in good condition and had saved me enough times to deserve a little respect.
“Are you lost, Federation man?” the officer asked as he inspected the transpapers. “Just the two of you on board?” He paused and indicated his scanner. “We have better scanners than you have. We are not so backward that we require transpapers either, we can interface directly with your…” he looked at his screen and did a double-take. “Myra. You name your computer?”
I stared right back at him. “Yes, we all do. I’m not lost, I’m looking for someone.”
He looked up from the papers, beside me I glimpsed his men tense.
“Hmm, and who might that be? You describe yourself as a trader; this ship is old and has seen better days, although it appears to be well maintained. It’s also armed and shielded. A trader wouldn’t be another term for a bounty hunter… would it?”
This was all getting off on the wrong foot. Whatever happened to my tact and diplomacy skills?
“I’m not a bounty hunter. The person I’m looking for is a friend of mine from a long time ago. I have information about his family that he needs to know, important family news. I can’t get a message to him any other way than by coming over here myself. My… government discourages such things, as I’m sure you know.”
He smiled. “Yes they like to consider themselves enlightened but, well, are they? And this declaration says that you are headed to Rosskine, is that where the person is?”
This was where the story was about to get a bit shaky.
“I honestly don’t know, it’s where I remember him talking about.” I had to be careful. “It’s all I have to go on.”
“And I expect it was a long time ago,” finished the officer, sighing, as if he had heard the story before. “Do you have a name for this person?”
“Why?” Irin said and he turned to her. He looked upset. I wondered if they had a different
view of women in the IW. That was something that we hadn’t bothered to find out about.
“Slow down, lady, it would be better not to question me. You might talk to officials that way over there; I’m the one in charge here.” He waved his scanner at her and looked at the readout, his face was impassive but I noticed that Irin went pale.
“I’m sorry, officer,” I broke in, trying to defuse the situation, “we’re not used to your way of doing things. We’re in a hurry.”
He smiled. “I appreciate your difficulty with our approach, it may well be different from yours. I was actually offering to help you. I have family too and if I had important information, I would be in a hurry and might forget my manners. I certainly wouldn’t be bothered about a border. We’re not all as bad as you may have heard; just because we have a uniform and are on the other side of a line that some politicians had drawn on a map. You see, we have a better method than you, we don’t have to search, we can just ask. Unless he doesn’t want us to know of him. Rosskine has a reputation, as a hiding place for criminal elements. I imagine that the person you’re seeking may fall into that category.”
They moved away and held a whispered conversation for a moment or two. There was a lot of pointing at the hand-held scanners and I got the impression that they knew more about Freefall and us than they let on, and what had they got from Myra? Had she been able to hide anything crucial from their scans? I would have to ask her later; after they had gone.
“Very well,” the senior one eventually said, “I should really escort you to the border and warn you never to come back. But I’ve decided to let you continue. You can go to Rosskine and ask your questions. You might find this person there, you might not. In any event; I imagine that the Federation knows nothing of your mission, and they would not miss you. Rosskine is a dangerous place; if anything unfortunate happens to you when you are on the planet, there will be no repercussions on us.”
He looked again at the scanner held by one of the others. “And if you find the man, presumably you will take him away with you, back to the Federation. You might even kill him, who knows? Either way, it’s one less criminal for us to worry about, so in that respect, it’s good news. We will leave you to continue your voyage.”