Doona Trilogy Omnibus

by neetha Napew

  “We received information that this ship did not undergo a postflight inspection, that it has been sealed for two weeks, and may be involved in a Treaty violation,’ the Councillor said. She answered Hrrestan in the formal Hrruban of diplomacy, a courtesy which boded no good at all.

  “Naturally Commander Rogitel as Spacedep’s representative is present. The violation is alleged to involve an uninhabited satellite of a star system.” Todd felt his spirits sink to a new low. Leaving the Albatross sealed was no crime, and indeed, such postflight inspections were not always completed in a timely fashion. As long as the ship had been sealed, the inspectors didn’t much mind. Ken and Hu Shih had been informed of the incident; they had told Hrrestan, who was scarcely likely, even under the stringent codes of honor under which Hrrubans operated, to jeopardize his only child. No one else should have had that information. Ken and Hu might have been annoyed that the two friends had told Kelly, but she’d’ve told no one, knowing how very serious this could be. So who could have leaked that information?

  Clearly only those who had set the trap into which Todd and Hrriss had fallen.

  “A serrious charrge this is,’ Hrrestan said, also in the formal tongue. He sounded calm, but his pupils were slitted to mere lines, a sure sign that the older Hrruban was deeply troubled.

  “Serious, indeed,’ Councillor Dupuis said. “I require a deposition from the ship’s crew before the ship is unsealed.”

  “I trust,’ Commander Rogitel put in so suavely that his manner alarmed Todd, “that there has been no tampering with that seal?”

  “Examine it yourself, Commander Rogitel,’ Hu Shib said, very much on his dignity at hearing such aspersions cast.

  “Hmm, it looks untouched,’ Rogitel said, taking a long time peering at the seal, though he didn’t touch it.

  “Reeve! Hrriss!” The Councillor waved them forward to the sealed hatch. “Do you swear and affirm that you took nothing out of this ship besides articles of clothing and personal effects?” They nodded solemnly, raising their right hands simultaneously. “That the contents listed here on the landing manifest were signed by the landing supervisor at the time of disembarkation?”

  “I do,’ Todd said with a formal bow.

  “I do,’ Hrriss echoed with an equally formal bow.

  hth a gesture, the Councillor ordered the marine sergeant to break the seal. As he touched the control pad, the hatch slid back, and a whoosh of stale air made those nearest, including the Councillor, recoil. Todd thought that that was one mark on their side as he saw Dupuis recognize what that implied. Lights came up inside the Albatross and the sergeant stepped politely aside as the ramp extruded the few feet to the ground. The port workers swarmed aboard to do the fumigation routine. They were as quick as they were efficient and very shortly left the ship with a nod from the foreman that their task was completed.

  The Councillor acknowledged this and then gestured for Todd and Hrriss to follow her into the Albatross. Rogitel followed them, still wearing that blandly smug expression. While he wasn’t like his superior, Landreau, who blustered when angry, Rogitel was coolheaded and very quiet, a dangerously misleading trait, which tempted the unwary to talk in his presence under the delusion that he wasn’t listening. Rogitel missed little, and he shared Landreau’s bitter feelings about Doona.

  Kelly’s warning about him was all too timely.

  “This is a very serious matter,’ the Councillor said as they followed her to the cabin of the Albatross while the ventilation system sucked away the fumigation mist. “We have incontrovertible information, gleaned from the orbiting buoy around Hrrilnorr system, that a ship, now identified as the Albatross, passed through the perimeter of that system. Both of you should know,’ and she paused to make plain her point that they should know, “that Hrrilnorr is a proscribed system and may not be entered. Do you have any explanation that will justify such a violation?”

  “Yes, we did enter that system, ma’am,’ Todd said without the slightest apology in his tone.

  Rogitel raised an eyebrow very slightly and sucked in his pale cheeks at such an open admission of guilt. “In response to a Mayday message broadcasting over the emergency frequency. Our log tape shows a bolo of the object broadcasting that Mayday and we both felt justified, in that circumstance, to enter a proscribed system and render such aid as was needed. In view of the proscription, Hrriss, as a Hrruban citizen, answered the appeal If you will view the log tapes, Councillor, I’m certain you will agree that our action was justified.” Todd gestured for her to precede him to the cargo bay.

  The Councillor pursed her thin lips, but there was an element of surprise in her manner as she moved down the short corridor, with Todd, Hrriss, Rogitel, and the marines following. “Then of course I will inspect your log tapes. If you were answering a Mayday, this puts an entirely different complexion on the matter. But it would have been wiser,’ and she pinned them with a harsh stare, “to have reported the mafler sooner, rather than later.”

  “The Hunt, ma’am, is of great importance to Doona, and Hrriss and I were responsible for its success,’ Todd said, not so much in apology as in explanation.

  Dupuis raised her eyebrows in an expression of disagreement of his priorities.

  “What a clever explanation for breaking interdict at Hrrilnorr,’ Rogitel said, his eyes cold. “Have you an equally glib explanation for these?” At the commander’s gesture, a marine lifted off the panel on the front of the drives cabinet, revealing a number of small packages.

  Rogitel tore the wrappings off one and held it up. “Would you mind telling me what this is?” Astonished, Todd stared at the hand-sized lump.

  It looked like a free-form rock swirled with multiple colors, like sunshine on oil. He’d seen something like it on educational tapes in school, when they studied the biology of other alien species. “It looks . . . like a cotopoid egg case.” Todd felt sick.

  Cotopoid egg cases were priceless and rarely available on any legitimate market, since they were artifacts of another interdicted system.

  “Now, tell me how it got there, behind your engine control panel.

  “I don’t know,’ Todd said, staring disbelievingly at the equipment cabinet. “It wasn’t there when I last inspected the engines.”

  “When you last inspected the engines. And when was that?” Rogitel asked.

  “Remember, you are speaking before the Treaty Councillkor.”

  “Before we took off from Doona,’ Todd replied, his mind racing. When had these incriminating packages been inserted in the control panels?

  On Doona where a mechanic in Spacedep’s pay would have had access to the Albatross? Or on Hrretha during that second, totally redundant “servicing’?

  “And these?” the Spacedep official demanded.

  “What about these?” There seemed to be dozens of small artifacts shoved between the elements of the machinery. When the marines removed other panels, still more bags and bottles were revealed.

  Some were opened to expose objects of great value and rarity, also from interdicted systems.

  Part of Todd’s bewilderment reflected a droll amusement at the sheer volume of purloined valuables that Hrriss and he were supposed to have assembled. But any amusement was soon drowned by the obvious fact that a lot of trouble had gone into framing them with such a widespread cache of illegal treasures.

  “I have no idea where any of this came from Todd said in staunch repudiation as he suppresse( the rising anger he felt at such long-planne treachery.

  “Such a display would have taken weeks to gather We did not,’ Hrriss said with stiff dignity, his tai tip twitching with indignation.

  He turned to thi Councillor. “We answered a Mayday call. The tape:

  will verify this.”

  “Then how did those get there?” Rogitel demanded as yet another cache was discovered.

  “We are not responsible for their presence on th( Albatross,’ Todd said, his tone as expressionless al Hrriss’s. “There were
no such illegal items on boarc this ship when we left Doona. I oversaw the chec myself.” Rogitel’s heavy lids lowered over cold blue eyes “Then where did they come aboard?” Rogitel asked in a poisonously reasonable tone.

  “The Hrrethans insisted on a complimenta service of the Albatross while we were attending the ceremonies there,’ Todd said, making no accusations. “When we landed, we reported the incideni to my father.

  The portmaster’s deputy, Linc Newry, had properly affixed the seal.” “That is the lamest explanation you’ve yet advanced, Reeve,’ Rogitel said. “The seals on the hatch were intact. They were placed there not half an hour after the ship had landed, according to the portmaster’s log. It would have taken far longer than half an hour for anyone to secrete all these items. Therefore, you two are the only ones capable of concealing the artifacts on this shipsometime between your departure from Doona and your return, via the Hrrilnorr system!’ Rogitel was winding himself up to a good display of outraged anger.

  “Councillor Dupuis, these young men, so trusted by their parents, have been using their privileged position as trusted messengers of AIreldep to pillage treasures from interdicted planets.

  Alreldep will be shocked at the abuse of their trust.”

  “I am not Alreldep,’ Hrriss said coldly. “I am a Hrruban, a citizen of Rrala, on whose behalf I made the journey with Todd Reeve to Hrretha. I answer to the Hrruban High Council of Speakers and to the Treaty Councillors.

  Not to Spacedep.”

  “I stand reproved,’ Rogitel said with noticeable sarcasm. “You shall indeed answer to the Treaty Councillors and your own High Council of Speakers.

  Just then, one of the marines pulled the panel “from the last cabinet, the ship’s log recorder.

  Behind the metal sheet, some of the equipment had been moved to one side to make room for an ovoid white stone, at least a meter high.

  It resembled Terran alabaster, except that it had an inner illumination of its own. The Spacedep official regarded it from a safe distance.

  “The very presence of such a gem,’ and Hrriss extended his forefinger, claw fully sheathed, at the luminous Byzanian Glow Stone, “supports our innocence. They are only found deep inside the caverns of the planet. The log will show how little time we spent in that system: far too short a span to have landed, searched, and found a Glow Stone of that quality. Further,’ he went on, holding up his hand, “they are why the system is proscribed. The effects of the mineral’s emissions are not yet fully investigated.”

  “But their possible danger makes them all the more collectible,’ Rogitel said, an air of triumph in his stance. “Arrest them!” he ordered the marines who bracketed Hrriss and Todd, weapons drawn.

  “We are innocent,’ Todd said, standing erect and ignoring his escort.

  Hu Shih stepped forward to block the exit. “I protest, Madam Councillor. I have known these young men far too long to entertain for one moment that they are guilty of transgressing a Treaty whose terms they have scrupulously obeyed and upheld for twenty-four years. Or,’ and Hu Shih straightened his shoulders in denial, “jeopardize themselves and the world they hold dear by pilfering baubles.”

  “You call that,- and Rogitel pointed at the Byzanian Glow Stone, “a bauble?”

  “It is in my eyes,’ Hu Shih said in measured contempt.

  “Perhaps,’ said Councillor Dupuis, “but this matter has gone from a minor infraction to systematic robbery and the arrest is to proceed.” “To that I must concur,’ Hu Shih said, bowing to her, “but an armed escort is unnecessary and insulting. I can speak with full confidence that neither Todd nor Hrriss will resist the due process of law.

  Councillor Dupuis accepted his statement and gestured for the squad leader to have his men reholster their weapons.

  “These . . .” and Dupuis waved at the array of incriminating evidence, “are to be impounded, identified, and placed in the highest security.” “Remove that Stone with care,’ Hrrestan said to the two marines who were about to lift the Byzanian Stone out of its hiding place.

  “Yes,’ Rogitel said, stepping in front of Hrrestan and ostentatiously taking charge of the removal.

  “Don’t touch it with your bare hands or let it touch unprotected skin. Treat it as carefully as you would radioactive substances. And it’s heavy.”

  “What, sir?” asked one of the marines, a glazed expression on his face. He had been standing right beside the Stone since the panel had been opened.

  Now the light seemed to pulse, drawing every eye to it.

  Shading eyes with one hand and stepping quickly around Rogitel, Hrrestan pulled the man away from the white light. The marine shook his head, looking puzzled.

  “He has been affected by it already. We must all leave before the Stone’s effect spreads,’ Hrrestan said. “The most noticeable effect it has is an interference with short-term memory.” As Hrriss and Todd dutifully proceeded with their escort, Todd caught a glimpse of Rogitel, disconnecting the flight log recorder. He carried it out of the ship cradled in his arms like a bubble made of glass.

  Once the group was outside, technicians sealed the ship once more with fiberglass wafers, and Councillor Dupuis affixed her own seal.

  Hrriss and Todd were hustled to a shuttle which had landed while they were inside the Albatross.

  “That Glow Stone,’ Hrriss murmured as they were led to seats, “affects more than men.”

  “Quiet there! No conversation between criminals,’ Rogitel said, no more the suave diplomat but the acknowledged jailor.

  “Criminality has yet to be proved,’ Hrriss said as he was pushed into a seat while Todd was taken farther down the aisle before settled.

  They were advised to fasten their safety harnesses and were then studiously ignored by the marine guard.

  During the entire journey to Treaty Island, no one even offered them anything to eat or drink, although Rogitel and the marines ate a light meal.

  Perhaps, Todd thought, sunk in a negative mood, it was as well he and Hrriss could not speak. Rogitel would construe it as collusion to be sure their “explanations’ tallied before interrogation. But Todd did not need to speak to Hrriss to know that his friend would be as puzzled as he that dozens of illegal items had been secreted on the Albatross, a ship used almost exclusively by themselves on official tours of duty.

  And the positioning of the Byzanian Glow Stone indicated a good try at jamming the recorder. His kick must have tipped the Stone sufficiently to restore the function, but had the Stone’s radiation erased the tape? Would the all-important Mayday still be recorded?

  Surely machinery was a little less receptive to the Glow Stone’s effects than a Human? And the Mayday was the only proof of their innocence right now.

  Once the shuttle landed on Treaty Island, the two prisoners were hurried inside the huge Federation Center. Hrriss had only a glimpse of the high, white stone laade before they were rushed up the stairs and through a maze of identical hallways.

  There was no sound but the clatter of boot heels on the smooth surface of the floors. The sergeant stopped before a door, its nameplate blank and status sign registering “empty.”

  “You’ll wait here until the Council is ready for you,’ the sergeant said. “Food and drink will be brought in a bit.”

  “That is most considerate,’ Hrriss said in Terran Standard. The numbness of shock had receded sufficiently to make him aware of an intense thirst and, less insistent, some hunger.

  “You’re a Treaty prisoner and the courtesies are observed,’ the sergeant said, but Hrriss could see that the man approved of his use of Terran.

  Hrriss knew that the military arm of both parent governments was made up of fierce patriots who preferred their own culture in all ways.

  It was one of the reasons there was no standing force of any kind of Doona, the symbol of compromise. As the Treaty Organization was trying to maintain a separate but equal method of expansion in trading and colonization, each culture needed to remain indepen
dent from the other. That would make a Doonan “army’ an unacceptable third force.

  “Hear tell you all had some party last night,’ the guard said, sounding almost friendly. “What’s keeping you?” he added, looking down the hall just as Todd, between his guards, reached the room. “In you go.” The escort stood aside to let Todd enter.

  “Food and drink coming.”

  “Thanks, Sergeant,’ Todd said, and his stomach rumbled. Whether the sergeant heard that or not was irrelevant, for he closed the door firmly. Both Hrriss and Todd heard the lock mechanism whirr, and the bulb over the door lit up redly.

  They also heard the stamp of boots as someone stood to attention outside the room.

  The two prisoners turned to view the room. No more than three meters on a side, with a long window running along the wall opposite the door.

  A broad table was set underneath the window, a tape reader on its surface but no tapes in it or blanks ready to be used. There were three padded chairs against the wall: a cheerless functional cubicle.

  “Are they likely to listen in?” Hrriss asked.

  “I doubt it,’ Todd said, glancing at the door.

  “Looks like a research room, not an interrogation facility, in spite of that tape reader.” He had been listening to the sound of his voice. “It’s soundproofed. Scholars insist on that as an aid to deep thought and concentration. Fardles, despite what they hauled out of cabinets and crannies on the Albatross, we’re still only alleged Treaty breakers, not actual criminals.”

  “We might as well be, Zodd, with all the treasures Rogitel pulled out of hiding,’ Hrriss said gloomily.

  “Hu Shih didn’t believe we took them. Neither did your father!’ Todd began to pace with some agitation. “All the way here I kept trying to remember every time we’ve left the Albie unguarded and open. Suffering snakes, Hrriss, that stuff could have been planted anytime the last few years.

  “Not if proper service checks were carried out, zOdd, and you supervised the last one yourself,’ Hrriss reminded him.

  “Yeah, so I did. Then the junk has to have been planted during that phony servicing on Hrretha.