Born of Flame
Page 14
Their drinks came, and the draught seemed to restore Dundee to his former jovial self. “To Bastu, and the branch we both won!” he toasted.
They drank, then laughed and chatted of the race they had both run among the Home Worlds. “To Votal!” he toasted again.
A half dozen toasts later, Dundee’s spirits had improved still further. His grin seemed to glow as he leaned across the pedestal. “Now that all the other players have been acknowledged, I will toast you, my lady. To your heart, Spacebread, which came so close to breaking. May I capture it as it has captured mine.”
To Klimmit’s surprise, she tapped Dundee’s cup and drank, a sly smile curling her face. “Don’t forget Inspector Galvirst.”
Dundee coughed in his ale, then guffawed.
“Now,” Dundee continued, “for my proposal. I would like very much to throw my lot in with you, love. I think we would make a smashing team and could accomplish twice as much together as we each could singly. I’m sure, with a little time, your love would grow.”
Klimmit harrumphed. Spacebread laughed.
“I’m perfectly willing to sell my ship and invest the money in yours,” Dundee proposed. “Think of it! We could not only overhaul the old crate and install the newest stuff, but we could add a granthite booster.”
“Old crate!” Klimmit squealed, rising.
Spacebread laughed again and quieted him. Her golden eyes danced over the rim of her cup. “Well, I’ve gotten Votal patched up pretty well, thanks to that wrecked Osghan ship we found. A few of the components I pried loose while you were trussing Quan up in your ship should prove very useful if Votal ever figures out how to tap their memories. And the XR divider unit and the fanjets were a perfect match. Still, I could use a new Foldover housing … But tell me, where are we to be off to, then, if you are to come along?”
Klimmit began to protest again, but held his tongue when he saw how she looked at the calico cat.
“Now you’re talking.” Dundee beamed. “I’ve got a scheme or two in mind. Nothing too elaborate or risky.” He mentioned a name and asked if she had ever heard of it.
Spacebread didn’t lift an eyebrow. “The swindler? The one the ISP has been looking for so long?”
Dundee nodded happily, then began a long story describing how he had located the criminal out in the Scatterlings—the rough frontier planets beyond the ISP’s power. With the money swindled from investors he had opened a casino in the Black Cluster. Dundee had devised a scheme for gaining the fugitive’s confidence and kidnapping him, after of course sacking his casino, and he went into intricate detail.
Spacebread waited until he was finished. “Does Inspector Galvirst know about the part where we keep all the money?”
Dundee’s expression of joy collapsed. Klimmit glanced at him suspiciously.
“Tell me again how you arrived at the Shadowmaze so fast.” She smiled.
He stumbled over the explanation: how Galvirst had jailed him, then brought him to the Shadowmaze where the ISP had no jurisdiction. But he confused the details miserably, and halfway through broke into howls of laughter at his failure to lie well.
“Will someone please fill me in!” Klimmit demanded angrily.
Spacebread quieted the hearty laughter she shared with her calico companion and said, “Our friend here is an ISP agent, figlet. My guess is we are the real reason he was attending the Festival here on Kiloo.”
Dundee winced. “Please, please! Not an agent. Same as you, I agreed to perform certain services for Galvirst, but only in exchange for his helping me out of a sticky situation.”
“Like jail?” she suggested.
He puffed up as if to protest, then deflated. “Well, yes, if you have to know. I got into a little disagreement with the power structure of one of the Home Worlds. Galvirst got me out to find you and persuade you to help me recapture the swindler. He wanted you especially for some reason and knew you wouldn’t work for him outright. Then I met you, and I fell in love.”
Klimmit glared at him indignantly. Nasty spy.
“Oh, but Spacebread, it would be a glorious adventure anyway.” Dundee grinned. “Think of the loot. Think of the fun. Forget the ISP and Galvirst; we’ll do it for ourselves. It’s a foolproof plan. We’ll have a grand time, really.”
Spacebread looked at Klimmit, who found himself suddenly wondering what it felt like to win a lot of money at the gaming tables of the Black Cluster. He caught the question in her glance and eyed Dundee again. An adventurous smile grew across his face. He nodded his agreement.
She smiled now at Dundee, her lips flirting. “Very well. I will share the stars with you for a time, my romantic friend. I owe a debt to Galvirst too, in any case. He did keep Quan off my back. But I know you better than you think, for we are alike, and soon you will be away like a moth after an even brighter flame.”
Dundee beamed widely and raised his cup. “To us three, then! Until the gleam of a brighter flame parts us.”
The two cups glittered for a moment in Marghool’s crescent light, high, as though to reach the stars. Then the two cats linked arms and drained them. The pact was sealed.
Oscar Steven Senn has been writing since he was twelve. He ducked out of P.E. in high school to write novels, pecked out stories and poems on an old manual typewriter with a thick window in the back to show the works. Graduated to an electric model, on which he delivered his first published work, The Double Disappearance of Ralph Fozbek, and its two sequels. He is the author of Spacebread and its sequel, Born of Flame. His novel A Circle in the Sea was honored by the American Library Association as one of the 50 best young adult novels. The Double Disappearance of Walter Fozbek was animated by Hanna-Barbera Productions for CBS Storybreak. In all, Senn has authored eight books for young readers.
He was educated at Ringling School of Art in Sarasota Florida. He has worked as a newspaper illustrator in Florida and advertising Art Director in both Florida and California. His work has been included in Communication Arts magazine’s Illustration Annual and honored by the New York Art Director’s Show.
As a fine artist, he is represented in Los Angeles by Couturier Gallery on La Brea. His work is featured in collections all over the country. Mr. Senn has designed toys, TV commercials, posters, logos, and annual reports. His fine art ranges from large format landscapes to surrealist images of American life. He currently lives in Jacksonville, Florida with a dog, two cats, and a turtle.
Table of Contents
The White Cat
Of Risk and Rockets
The Lost Probe
Battle in the Betweeness
Homecoming
To Be A Warrior
A Distant Dirge
The Quest
Three Wishes
A Thief in the Night
The Blue Fountain
Into the Shadowmaze
The Guardian's Voice
Behind the Veil
The Last Accounting
To Share the Stars