“Just a moment.” Ky had not called on the skullphone, which she still found awkward to use, and now moved the files she wanted to send, plugged in, and sent them via ship com.
“Thank you,” the agent said. “The visual matches but I’ll send the bioscan to our records department.”
“Once he’s docked,” Ky said, “you might ask him whether he has any bioscan data on me. He might have, since my father asked Furman to go to Sabine on my behalf.”
The agent’s brows rose. “You don’t seem at all concerned that such data might implicate you.”
“Implicate me how?” Ky asked. “I am Kylara Vatta, and I know that, and any real identity check will prove it. If the ansibles weren’t down, you could contact Slotter Key for all the details.”
“But they aren’t working,” the agent said. “According to Captain Furman, the real Kylara Vatta was on a very different ship, the…er…Gary Tobai…”
“Yes, I explained that,” Ky said. “Are you sure that ship hasn’t shown up in this system yet? I was expecting Stella to follow on directly, and she should be here by now.”
“I’m quite sure,” the agent said. “I will inform you if—when—such an event occurs.”
“Thank you,” Ky said, warned by his tone. “I didn’t mean to impugn your watchfulness, it’s just that I’m worried about her. I thought she’d be here by day before yesterday.”
_______
Stella stayed two extra days in Sallyon, doing her best to soothe the ruffled feelings of its administrators. “We are traders,” she kept saying to one after another unhappy official. “Yes, Ky is a bit impetuous, but Vatta Transport is what it has always been, commercial and not military.”
“In these dangerous times, we simply cannot have private individuals raising a military force…” This was the fourth official to call her in for a lecture. Stella held on to her temper with an effort.
“I quite understand. As you may have noticed, I’m not doing any such thing. I have traded ordinary cargoes—” The designer toilets had brought an excellent price here, as had the custom fabrics.
“But you are going to follow her, are you not? Your listed next destination is Cascadia; that’s where she went. That suggests to us that you are in league.”
She was getting very tired of this suspicion. I’m not like Ky at all, she wanted to scream at them. In truth, she did not want to follow Ky. If Ky had gone rogue, as she suspected, she could not help Vatta by playing along. Besides, she could pick up little here that anyone in the Moscoe Confederation would want. Still, more than she wanted away from Ky, she wanted to get Ky into a small room and shake some sense into her.
“I have only this one small ship,” she said. “And as you pointed out, these are dangerous times. I hope to persuade my cousin that her duty is to protect me, and other Vatta ships, perhaps by escorting us in convoy.”
“We still find it suspicious—”
“You would find anything I did suspicious,” Stella said, her temper finally fraying. “I have met all your restrictions; I have conducted only normal trade activities. You simply want to believe I am part of some vast conspiracy. Let me turn that around. How am I supposed to know that your hostility to an interstellar space force is not part of collusion with these pirates who have taken over Bissonet?”
The man turned pale. “How dare you—?” he began.
Stella stood up. “I could ask the same question. Perhaps you cannot grasp that family members may disagree, even vehemently. Ky and I are cousins, not even sisters, and certainly not twins. We have been at each other’s throats more often than not since childhood. We are working together now only because of the peril that stalks our family. You met her; you have now met me. Can you really say we are alike?”
“My apologies, Captain Vatta,” the man said. “To look at, to talk to, you have been nothing like your cousin. You are beautiful; she is—”
“Plain as a post,” Stella said, in the tone of a beauty who has scant patience with the plain. She did not sit down again, but she stood less braced. “Always has been. Let’s be honest here, gentlesir. Children in a family aren’t all alike. I was the pretty one of the family—no credit to me; I was born this way. My sister Jo was the smart one; my brothers were the strong ones. Ky’s mother kept talking to my mother about how to dress her up, make more of her, but no matter what, she was not going to look like me. And she minded, of course. Anyone would. She liked to think I was nothing but a pretty face.”
“So she always hated you?” the man asked. Stella felt a stab of guilt at this—she had described a stereotypical jealous woman, and as far as she knew Ky had never cared enough to envy her—but she ignored it and went on.
“I wouldn’t say hate,” Stella said. “But we were rivals, of a sort, until she abandoned the competition.” Again, that tickle of guilt. “She made herself different from me—rough where I am smooth, so to say. It comes naturally to me to look for a way to avoid problems, to cooperate; it comes naturally to her to attack problems head-on, to argue. This doesn’t mean she’s always wrong. But if it’s possible to put someone’s back up, Ky will do it.”
“I see.” He cocked his head. “So…you don’t agree with her about this Bissonet business?”
“I don’t know exactly what she thinks,” Stella said, “because I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. The invasion scares me; I saw what happened to my family back home. If this is the same enemy who attacked Vatta, they must be stopped or we’re all in peril. But Ky as commander of a vast interstellar military force…that’s ridiculous.”
He relaxed visibly. “And you would tell her so?”
“I would,” Stella said. “If I ever catch up I intend to talk some sense into her. As her closest living relative, an older cousin, I think she’ll listen to me, even given our past friction.” She hoped she was right. She had the uneasy feeling that Ky was past listening to sense from anyone; that she was living out some adolescent fantasy of power and vengeance, perhaps intoxicated by something on Osman’s ship or simply the possession of a ship configured for war. “Vatta needs her,” Stella went on. “We need all our family members, and we need them all working for the family, to rebuild our business.”
After that, the station authorities gave her no more difficulties; she sold off the rest of their cargo, and refilled the ship with goods Orem thought might sell on Cascadia. “Nothing likely to make the profit we did in Rosvirein and here,” he said. “But we should cover expenses nicely.” When the cargo had been loaded, Stella didn’t push for a priority departure. She was already well behind Ky, and it would do Ky no harm to worry some. Maybe, if she worried, she would start to realize her responsibility to the family instead of daydreaming about a space navy.
_______
The days in FTL flight passed uneventfully. Between sessions in which she moved from division to division to learn more about ship operations, Stella planned one speech after another, finding flaws in each that Ky would surely exploit. It was infuriating. Anyone with a gram of sense could see that trying to raise an interstellar force was a job for governments or powerful, experienced, military leaders, not a young woman who hadn’t even finished her education. But the more she thought about Ky’s objections and how to counter them, the more she saw that the basic idea—having a real interstellar force that could control if not eliminate piracy and prevent attacks on systems—was a good one.
Both Quincy and Orem agreed when she brought them into the discussion.
“The only choices I see—other than just letting the pirates take over, which we all agree isn’t good—is that merchants form an armed league to fight them off or governments cooperate to create exactly that kind of interstellar force,” Orem said. “The system governments never wanted merchanters to create a force like that; they were afraid that we’d become a menace—controlling supply, able to attack from space. They weren’t any too happy about ISC having its own armed force.”
“That may be,” Stella said
, “but that doesn’t mean Ky’s the one to do it. She’s younger than I am; she didn’t even finish at the Academy.”
“Ky’s smart,” Quincy said. “No, she didn’t graduate, but she had only a few months to go—she’d learned most of what they had to teach. And I’ve seen her in action.”
“So have I,” Stella said. “But even so, she’s a Vatta. We need to rebuild Vatta; that’s what she said she was going to do. We need every ship and every family member to stay focused on that as the top priority. It’s one thing to say that this kind of force is needed, and even to suggest what components might be in it. But to take a Vatta ship and try to do it herself is…is irresponsible at best.”
“Maybe,” Orem said. “I haven’t met her, of course; what I know I’ve learned from you, from Quincy and other members of the crew who were aboard with her. But rebuilding Vatta will take more than having ships to haul goods. It will take securing the spaceways, making them safe for trade again. If she can do that—if she can influence others to do that—that’s an important contribution to Vatta’s recovery.”
“I agree,” Quincy said. “And I don’t see it as disloyalty to Vatta; I think she cares as much about Vatta as you do. She sees beyond Vatta, though, to the society in which Vatta must function.”
“I suppose,” Stella said. “I still think she’s not the right person to organize such a force.”
“You’re still annoyed with her for leaving you behind,” Quincy said, with a knowing expression.
“I’m still angry about that,” Stella said. “All right, I understand her reasoning at Garth-Lindheimer. What if they didn’t adjudicate the ship to Vatta? We needed another ship. But Rosvirein I simply do not understand. You know the mess we jumped into there—if it hadn’t been for Balthazar’s expertise, we might all have been killed. And she left the moment trouble started, just bolted away; others stayed behind, and she could have. What kind of military commander is that? What kind of care for us?”
“Stella, I’ve told you—” Quincy began.
“I know what you’ve told me. I still think she could have stayed in dock, or found a way to meet us somehow. You just don’t want to see her as anything but your marvelous Ky.” Instantly she was ashamed of herself; she sounded like the jealous one now.
Quincy shrugged. “Either you’ll understand someday, or you won’t. I have work to do. Excuse me, Captain.” And with a nod to Orem, she withdrew.
Stella sighed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I hate to upset Quincy. I do take your points, Balthazar, but I’m not going to agree that Ky is the right one for that job…not yet, anyway.”
“I’m certainly not going to interfere in a dispute between my employer and her relatives,” he said with a wry grin. “I hope when we get to Cascadia that she is still there and you can reach an agreement.”
_______
Gary Tobai dropped back into normal space right on target; Stella had gained confidence in her experienced crew, but this was always a tense moment for her. She didn’t really like space travel; she’d be glad when she could settle down again on Slotter Key and stay there. That thought reminded her of Aunt Grace. She’d better have a good report for Aunt Grace if she hoped to live happily ever after.
As soon as scans cleared, Captain Orem called her forward. “Ma’am, there are two Vatta registry ships in system. Fair Kaleen, which we expected, and Katrine Lamont. Do you know anything about that one?”
Stella queried her implant. Katrine Lamont, transferred to this route after the Sabine affair—why? she wondered—captained by Josiah Furman. Excellent record until the Sabine affair…what had he done? Had he been involved with Ky in some way? Crossed her? Was she going strange even back then?
“It’s one of our larger ships,” she told Orem. “Captain Furman should be listed—”
“J. Furman, yes, ma’am.”
“He’s listed on this route, so that’s fine. I’m glad to see another Vatta ship whole and on its proper route; it gives us something to work with.” And it gave her someone certainly sane to talk with, as well. Furman, she now remembered, had been the captain on Ky’s apprentice voyage. Ky had thought he was difficult, but she herself had been difficult at thirteen; her animosity to Furman was surely no more than adolescent pique. Such an exemplary captain was surely levelheaded enough to be fair with his employer’s daughter. If Ky had complained about him again at Sabine, that said more about her than about him. Perhaps he would be an ally, someone to add weight to her own words. Ky wouldn’t like it, but she’d have to listen.
Moscoe Confederation’s system ansibles were working, so she debated whether to call Ky or Furman first. Family won out. Before she sicced Furman on Ky, she should at least find out if Ky had come to her senses. Besides, the ship wasn’t synchronized to local time yet. According to the information transmitted by the local system, they were more than a shift off.
_______
Ky’s skullphone pinged an alarm, then transmitted the automatic message: Gary Tobai’s beacon had been recognized. She let out a sigh of relief and sent a quick thanks for notification. Stella had hired experienced crew, yes, but too many things could go wrong and she had dreaded losing her nearest relative. She wanted to place an immediate call, but Stella would have things to do. She’d be talking to Traffic Control, to the various official entities. Later would be soon enough, though she wished Gary Tobai had a faster insystem drive.
Another call waited when she got back to the ship. “It would help in the adjudication if Monitor Leary observed your initial contact with your cousin,” the agent said.
“Why?” Ky asked.
“For evidence,” he said. “If your cousin recognizes you as her cousin. That is not sufficient, but it is suggestive.”
“She might call anytime,” Ky said. “Did you want Monitor Leary to come back aboard?”
“With your kind permission,” he said.
Ky agreed, feigning a good grace she did not feel, and managed to smile politely at Leary when she came aboard. Shifts passed. Finally a call came in.
“I’m glad to hear from you,” Ky said. “I was beginning to worry.” No need to say she’d been worrying for days.
“We’re all fine,” Stella said. “And you?”
“There’s a problem,” Ky said. “The other Vatta ship in system, Katrine Lamont—”
“Yes, with Captain Furman. You don’t like him, do you?”
“That’s not the problem, Stella,” Ky said. “He’s claiming I’m an imposter.”
“What?” It was clear from Stella’s expression that this was not what she had expected to hear.
“You heard me. He thinks I’m—you will not believe this—Osman’s daughter pretending to be Kylara Vatta.”
“That’s—that’s ridiculous.” Stella’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever gave him that idea?”
“He thinks Kylara’s dead, he says, killed in the attacks on Vatta. He thinks Osman’s up to something and has put in a ringer. That’s what he’s telling the stationmaster, anyway. And with the Slotter Key ansible and those in between still down, I can’t prove differently.”
“Has he seen you? Surely he knows you.”
“He does, which is why I don’t understand it. He hasn’t seen me face-to-face, but he’s seen current visuals and he still insists I’m a look-alike imposter. It’s strange…no matter what he thinks of me personally, surely he knows who I am.”
“He should,” Stella said. She sounded tentative, as if she were really thinking about something else.
“Crown & Spears has a genetic sample from Jo; they compared it to mine before giving me access to the corporate accounts—”
Stella’s voice sharpened. “What have you done with the corporate accounts?”
“Nothing, really. I needed to pay docking fees on arrival is all. I’ve put it back, from a delivery payment. We had a load of medical stuff.”
“You were carrying real cargo?”
“Of course I am, Stella. What did you think??
??
Stella didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I…was beginning to wonder.”
“Wonder? About what?”
“The people at Sallyon were really upset, Ky, about your plan to form some kind of space navy—”
“The people at Sallyon are idiots,” Ky said. “They’re more worried about upsetting the pirates than protecting themselves and their trade.” Surely Stella understood that. It was obvious enough. “Either system governments are going to have to get together and fund a real interstellar force, or we merchanters are, or we just give up and let the pirates take over system after system and run the universe. I’m not happy with that thought. They killed our parents.”
“It’s a job for governments,” Stella said. “Not us. We have enough to do just putting Vatta back together, if we can.”
This was not an argument Ky wanted to have at a distance; she needed to see Stella face-to-face. “I’m glad you’re here, Stella. How long before you reach the station?”
“Sixteen days, Balthazar says.”
“Balthazar?”
“Balthazar Orem, the shipmaster I hired back at Garth-Lindheimer. You may remember you left me stranded there, just like you did at Rosvirein and Sallyon…” Stella’s beautiful face hardened; Ky realized that Stella was still angry. She had always been able to hold a grudge until it died of old age.
“Not because I wished to,” she said. “I’m glad you found a reliable capt—shipmaster.”
“I was very lucky on that account,” Stella said. “And he agrees with me that merchants have no business trying to set up a military force—” That wasn’t exactly what Orem had said, but never mind.
“You talked to him about my plans?” Ky said, with the slightest emphasis on my. “When you knew them only by hearsay?”
“Considering the reputation you were leaving behind yourself, it seemed entirely prudent,” Stella said. “I had no idea what I’d find when—if—we finally caught up with you.”