Shiffeld’s face didn’t even twitch. “Oh, no doubt he had a lot of unwitting help, like poor Miss Sorvall here who thought they were carrying out lawful orders. I don’t think they should be treated too harshly, do you? I mean all’s well that ends well. But as for the involvement of others, I’m quite certain all the evidence you’ll find will prove that Ramsey acted entirely on his own.”
“Uh… yes. I imagine you are quite right, Governor.”
Regina twitched and Crawford seized her hand. She fixed an angry glare at him, but said nothing.
“Now, I’ve gone over your report from the battle and I must say it was a brilliant victory! Absolutely brilliant! I will insist that the Protector properly reward you—you and all of our commanders.” He glanced at Crawford and smiled. “Our losses were low, the threat has been completely eliminated, and there is now nothing to prevent us from completing the gate and finishing our mission, correct?”
“I would say that was accurate,” said Frichette.
“So it would seem,” said Crawford. Regina said nothing.
“In fact,” continued Shiffeld, “the only thing that disappoints me is the fact that the traitor, Citrone, managed to escape. When I arranged with the Seyotahs to have her transferred to your ship for security reasons, I assumed you’d take better care of her. I read your report, but I’m still rather amazed that you let this happen—considering how well you handled everything else.”
“I take full responsibility, sir,” said Frichette. “In my eagerness to see to the situation on Bastet, I did not think to leave a larger guard with Citrone. She overpowered the shuttle pilot and got away.”
“And no one noticed?”
“She carefully kept Bastet between her and Indomitable during her boost. The people on Indomitable would have realized immediately that something was wrong if they’d seen the shuttle, but they couldn’t spot it. The people on Bastet’s bridge did spot it, of course, but they didn’t know what was going on and saw no reason to report it. It was over an hour before anyone realized what had happened and Citrone was gone by then.”
“And you could not track her?”
“She shut down her systems after her initial boost and then waited until she was around the planet and beyond the sensor drone we’d launched earlier. Then she made a random course change. We looked, of course, but could not find anything. Four days later, a clan ship reported finding the shuttle and the pilot, but Citrone and Gillard were not aboard. They obviously transferred to some other ship. Finding them now will be difficult.”
“Well, in light of your other successes, I don’t think there’s any need to put too much emphasis on this in any reports to the Protector, do you, My Lord?”
“I’ll be making my own reports, sir, and I won’t leave anything out.”
Shiffeld frowned slightly. “I see.”
“But, since the need for me as a fleet commander seems to have passed, I can revert to my original function. Or at least one of my original functions. With your permission, I’ll begin work on tracking down Citrone. There’s still a chance of finding her.”
“Certainly. An excellent idea. It would be wonderful to see her brought to justice.”
“It would be wonderful to see someone brought to justice,” growled Regina, very quietly. Shiffeld did not appear to hear.
“But now, while I realize that we need to get everyone back to work, I think that a modest celebration of our victory is in order…”
An hour later they emerged from Shiffeld’s office. Nothing at all was said until they were well out of earshot of any of his people. In fact, they didn’t say anything until they were aboard a shuttle heading for Neshaminy. Finally, Regina could not hold it in any longer. “So, Shiffeld gets off Tosc-free?”
“For now,” said Frichette. “The man is an expert at this sort of thing, and I’m quite certain he is right: I won’t find any hard evidence implicating anyone but Ramsey. Shiffeld’s far too clever to leave anything incriminating lying around.”
Crawford nodded. “That’s why there were no messages from him during our dash to reach Bastet. He realized what we were doing, but he could not tell us to cease and desist without revealing his role in it. He was willing to just stand aside and see how things went.”
“And Ramsey probably told him we could not get there in time to stop him,” said Regina bitterly.
“Ramsey was a fool to trust Shiffeld,” said Crawford. “Now he’ll take the fall for both of them.”
“No less than he deserves!” spat Jeanine.
“I will, of course, be making a full report to the Protector when contact is re-established,” said Frichette. “And my reports don’t have to follow court-law; I can include all of my suspicions even if I don’t have hard data to back them up. As for what action the Protector might take…”
“He’ll probably give the bastard a medal!” snorted Regina.
“Quite possibly. All the bad guys don’t always get their comeuppance in the end, Regina. And the Protector will be far more interested in having a batch of heroes than in a messy conspiracy case.”
“I noticed Shiffeld’s little bribe-threat to you by offering not to make a stink over Citrone’s escape,” said Crawford. “You going to take it?”
Frichette stared at him coldly. “As I said: I will be reporting everything. Maybe I could gloss it over in the report to the Protector himself, but the head of my department would catch it for sure. No, I’ll have to face the music over that screw-up—unless I can catch Citrone in the next two years, of course.”
“Not much chance of that.”
“No, probably not,” he sighed. “I have almost no contacts or resources here, and if Citrone has any brains, and I think she does, she’ll leave the system as soon as she can. Oh well, I don’t think she’ll prove any further threat to Andera.”
“I must say you don’t seem all that upset about her escape, I’d almost think that you admire her.”
“On a strictly emotional level and as a loyal Anderan, I’m appalled by what she did, of course. But I have to admit that it was a brilliant scheme. If you had not woken up early, Charles, it would have worked. On a professional level, I do admire the operation, if not her, personally.”
“But all those people died!” protested Regina.
“They were all military or civil administrators, legitimate targets in war time.”
“But there isn’t any war!”
“You mean there wasn’t any war when we left, ten years ago. For all we know, the Venanci declared war six months ago. If so, then Citrone’s actions were a legitimate ruse of war. Everyone takes advantage of that sort of communications lag—including us.”
“So she gets away with her crime, too?” said Regina. “She murders nine thousand people and gets away with it and you say ‘oh well, it was a brilliant operation’? Your sense of justice is a bit warped for my tastes, Petre.”
“She also was instrumental in saving a million Frecendi. If it wasn’t for her, they would be dead now. So count it a bargain exchange. I had a bit of a talk with her husband when they were aboard Agamemnon. He insists that Citrone was just a pawn working for the Venanci, and I tend to agree.”
“Well, what’s done is done,” said Crawford. “Hopefully, we’ll never see her again.”
“Amen to that.”
* * * * *
“I hate to impose on you again, Andra. But we won’t be staying long. We just need you to hide us until we can arrange passage on a starship,” said Brannon Gillard to his priestess friend.
Andra Roualet frowned. “You are really going to leave the system?”
“Yes, I think it is the only practical choice. Carlina is convinced that the Anderans will hunt her down and kill her if she remains here.” Brannon glanced over at where his wife was reading a book from Andra’s collection. “That’s why I’m asking you for refuge instead of going home: we’ll be harder to find here.”
“But you had diplomatic safe passage, why did s
he insist on ‘escaping’ like that?”
“She did not trust the Anderans. And considering how badly they managed to get the Seyotah to stretch the rules, I have to agree with her. She’s certain they will expend every effort to track her down and assassinate her.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” whispered Andra. “I understand that she murdered thousands of people!”
“She was just a tool in other peoples’ hands, Andra. I… would not want to see her killed.”
Andra looked at him very closely. “You care for her, don’t you? This marriage wasn’t just a diplomatic ploy, was it? Why Brannon, are you actually in love with her?”
“I think that perhaps I am. I used the same technique on her as I did the Seyotah boy—only a much deeper probing.”
“Brannon! That was very dangerous!”
“I know. But I think it has done us both some good. I looked inside her, Andra, and I did not find an evil person. She’s hurt, confused, and desperately in need of healing. But I think that, perhaps, I do love her.”
“Perhaps you can heal each other.” Brannon looked at Andra sharply. She was clearly referring to his dead wife—his first wife, he corrected. Had his sorrow and loneliness really been that obvious?
“In any case, we are asking for refuge. Will you grant it to us?”
“Of course I will. But I still can’t believe the things I let you talk me into, Brannon!”
* * * * *
The celebration was… dull. Shiffeld had gone all-out to prepare a proper celebration aboard Starsong, but despite the excellent food and drinks and music, it was still dull. Crawford wasn’t sure why, it just was.
“Our governor could have taken a few lessons from the Seyotah on how to throw a party,” said Regina.
“Yes!” laughed Crawford. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Not even any gardens to slip off to.” She slid her arm around his waist, well, halfway around his waist; that was as far as she could reach.
“Well, there have to be a few empty cabins on this ship. Maybe we could…”
“Not likely. Shiffeld has spies everywhere. If he got word we had slipped off together, he’d suddenly decide he needed us for another round of toasts just to spite us. The bastard. Of course, we could go back to your quarters on Neshaminy…”
Crawford snorted. “They’ve got their own party going on over there. To celebrate the victory and Greg and Sheila’s engagement. I don’t think they’d be any likelier to leave us alone than Shiffeld. On the other hand, it would probably be a lot better party…”
“Except you don’t like parties.”
“Who told you that?”
“A few people. And my own astute observations.”
“I guess it’s true. I never felt comfortable at parties. Everyone was supposed to be having a good time and I never would, which only made me more uncomfortable. A feedback loop of sorts. After a little while I’d feel like the walls were closing in on me and I’d have to get out.”
“You didn’t seem that uncomfortable on Panmunaptra.”
“No, that’s true. Guess maybe it was the company.” He gave her a squeeze.
“I’m flattered.”
“No, I’m serious. I was so happy being with you, I just didn’t notice what was going on around me. And while this party might be dull, I’m not uncomfortable at all.”
“Well, that’s good. But I think I’d like to see that party on Neshaminy, later.”
“Knowing them, it will probably go on for hours yet. We’ll have plenty of time.”
They stood there for quite a while, letting the other celebrants flow around them. Holding Regina, he didn’t feel the least bit uneasy. Yes, definitely the company.
Tad Farsvar came by and they exchanged a few words. The young man seemed about as comfortable as Crawford used to feel at parties, but it was far more understandable in this case. “So what will you do now, Tad?” asked Regina.
“Assuming my leaders don’t need me for any more diplomatic duties, I think I shall go home.”
“And do what?”
“Well, our family’s commission from the trade agreement is already making us rather absurdly wealthy and I will be due a fair portion of that, personally, for being the first ones to spot you. I might even have enough to buy my own ship after a while. Then I could think about starting a family…”
“Really? Do you have anyone in mind?”
“Well, there is this girl.”
“A good first step,” said Crawford. “I recommend girls very highly.” He squeezed Regina tightly until she hit him. “But what sort of ship? You were a prospector before.”
“I might do that, although I’m thinking that trading might be more interesting—especially once your gate is finished. Will clan ships really be allowed through?”
“I would imagine. Although I could not begin to imagine what sort of licenses and fees would be involved.”
“Well, that is some time in the future,” said Tad. “For right now I will start with going home. You Newcomers certainly lead exciting lives, but I’m exhausted!”
They both laughed and Tad moved on. Crawford went back to pleasantly hanging on to Regina until he spotted Petre. He was surprised to see him standing next to Jeanine. Rather closely next to her, in fact. “Say, are they…?”
“Maybe,” said Regina, with a lopsided smile. “She hasn’t confided in me, but I think she was rather smitten by the brave, handsome young man who rescued her from a dark, dank dungeon.”
“Uh, that would make sense, but I thought she … er, that her tastes were…”
“She’s still finding herself, I think. However, I can’t say I’m all that thrilled with her knight in armor.”
“Hmmm, I was about to say that Petre’s a good kid, but I have to remind myself that I really don’t know a damn thing about who he really is. The Petre Frichette I thought I knew is just a facade.”
“Well, if he hurts her, he’ll have to answer to… to you.”
“Me?”
“Well, you are a lot bigger and stronger. He won’t be afraid of me.”
“On the contrary, I think he’d be a lot more afraid of you. When you get charged up, you are damn scary.”
“All right, we’ll take him together.”
“Sounds good. Or at least the together part does.”
“Yes. Together does sound nice. I like you, Charles Crawford. I’ve told you that before.”
“And I like you, Regina Nassau. But I’m not sure how much time together we’re going to have for the next few years.”
She nodded and squeezed him. “Yes, I have a planet to terraform.”
He looked out through one of the huge viewports. In spite of the celebration, dozens of bright specks moved around the spot where an enormous ring was taking shape.
“And I have a gate to build.”
Epilogue
Brannon Gillard, underpriest of the Lifegiver and Assistant Crèchemaster of the Hidran-Clorinda Clan, slowly walked down the row of gestators, carefully noting the readouts with the easy assurance of long familiarity. His practiced eye checked each of a dozen different indicators and verified them satisfactory, as much by instinct as by actually reading the numerical data. When he reached the last one and there had not been a single problem, he paused and gave thanks to the Lifegiver. This was a well-run facility, nearly as well-run as the one he had once administered, and problems were few.
He completed his shift without incident and then returned to the modest quarters which he shared with his wife. It had a small airlock where he changed out of his work clothes, put on his respirator, and let a strong blast of compressed air and suction pull away the chlorine. It had been decided that for safety’s sake their home would be suited to Carlina’s needs and he would wear a respirator, rather than vice-versa. A mishap with this arrangement would merely make him ill, while under the opposite conditions, Carlina could die in a matter of minutes. It was not a small sacrifice for hi
m, but one he was glad to make. They had been together now for over two years and he had come to love her very much.
She met him on the other side of the airlock and embraced him warmly. She kissed him on the neck and he nuzzled her hair with his mask. As she pulled away, a tear dripped from one eye. At first he thought that something was wrong, but no, it was just some lingering trace of chlorine. It had happened a hundred times before, but it fooled him every time. In spite of every precaution, chlorine got loose in their home all too often. It must have been very irritating for her, but she never complained.
“How was your day?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, nothing unusual. Archpriest Neerlam does things differently than I’m used to, but we get along.”
“I’m sorry you had to take a subordinate position when we came here.”
“I was lucky to find any position at all. Our arrival here was not exactly a common event. I might have had to become some wandering preacher, living off the kindness of strangers.”
“Like I do?”
“We are hardly strangers anymore, my love. And you more than earn your keep.”
“How?” she snorted. “By keeping the apartment tidy? Still, an ex-saboteur and mass-murderer should be grateful for any job she can get.”
“I wish you would not refer to yourself that way.”
“It is what I was, Brannon. You can forgive me for it, you can even try to get me to forgive myself, but nothing can change what I did.”
“But it does no good to dwell on it. Think instead on the good things you have done.”
“Like what?”
“Like the million lives you saved. Like the happiness you have brought me.”
“Are you happy?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I just wish I could make your life more fulfilling.”
“I am fine. I spend my days on the information network learning more of your people. The time will come when I find a place where I can be useful.” Her eyes fell and she looked troubled. “But I discovered something… interesting today.”
Across the Great Rift Page 47