Chapter 76 The Final Betrayal
01
Quarters were tight in the longboat, but we were all old shipmates and had plenty to talk about during the two-day trip with Botts at the helm. As I mentioned, nothing was said, but clearly no one was surprised that I was sent packing. The handwriting had been on the wall as soon as I put that dart into Vinden.
On the way back I disclosed Min's generous gesture of turning the Starry Shore over to us. She'd given me a 1/12th share of the ship and 2/12th of its assets. A fortune. She'd divided the remaining assets and balance of the ship into equal shares for the current crew, along with Myes and Rafe. It was a fortune for everyone, especially for the younger members of the crew. There were drifteer traders available that could be had for their share when they felt like striking out on their own. So between Min's gift and Riv's daffa brandy, everyone was in a pretty jolly mood, save old Cap'n Wil. Though I tried to hide my regrets and worries, I didn't fool anyone. We'd been shipmates far too long for that to lift.
Command of the Rift Raven would've suited me just fine. With it, I would've been able to keep my promise and contribute to Min's cause – however forlorn it turns out to be – and in a manner I was best suited for. While, at the same time, be in a position to aid Min, Vynnia and Tenry, in the inevitable escape when the counter coup hit the rocks. However, if I'd not been on the flagship or Cin had not hesitated when she saw me, as I believe she did, allowing me a second to draw my sissy, I was pretty certain there'd be no counter-revolution to aid. Cin was a second or two away from completing her Honor Mission when my lucky darts put an end to it.
I'm fooling myself even to think that. I'll not fool you. It was what I did after I had thwarted Cin's attempt that ended my usefulness to Min. Darting Vinden, even if I underestimated his standing in the movement, was simply not going to be tolerated. It couldn't be overlooked. And the summary execution of Cin would likely not to have mattered. My objections were no doubt viewed as whimsical, romantic or simply unrealistic, given the nature of the conflict. And my darting of Vinden was foolhardy, no matter how right it seemed in the moment. Still, I couldn't think I should have done anything differently, which is small comfort. Nothing in the end had turned out right.
02
We' spent two days going over the Starry Shore making her ready to sail for home. As we were finishing up I asked Botts to step around to my office at its convenience for a confab. I was playing with the pilot bot key at my desk when it appeared in the door.
'Captain?'
'Do we need this?' I asked, as I tossed the pilot bot key back and forth in my hands. 'Can you pilot us back to the Neb, given the Directorate's estimation of our location?'
'How important is travel time?'
'Not as important as getting back to the Neb. Somehow, Botts, I find myself looking every gift horse from Hawker Vinden in the mouth. I don't trust him, and I don't trust his pilot bot, at least not without him aboard, So, that being the case, I'm wondering if you could use the estimated position you and the Directorate came up with to find our way back the known Nebula. I realize it will take longer, but it will take longer in any case since we're left with less than half our fuel. But I'd sleep a lot sounder knowing you were our pilot, and if we take most of the passage in our sleeper-pods, the duration, if reasonable, would not matter much. Since we're all owners now, I don't have to worry about crew salaries.'
'First off, I cannot say for certainty which direction leads back to the Unity, so we'd be starting blindly. I don't know how long it would take to emerge from this black reef and reach a position where we could locate ourselves in the Nebula. And I could not guarantee that we wouldn't be heading away from our desired destination. Those two unknowns would force me to be very conservative with our fuel, and thus make a long passage of this first leg of our journey. After determining our position, we might still find ourselves in a position where we would have to traverse reefs without charts. There were a series of maneuvers during the passage that would seem to indicate that we were traversing a reef or two, so I think this would be very likely. While none of this rules out my piloting the ship home, it makes it likely that the voyage would take at least say, six years or more, to get back to the Neb.'
'Would you be willing to pilot us? I'd rotate a minimum crew to keep you company, knowing how social you are.'
'Piloting a ship is what I was made to do, Captain. I would welcome the opportunity.'
'Right. I think we'll go that route. Still, I'll sleep on it. I don't want to let my dislike of Vinden unduly influence my actions, but I don't have a good feeling about giving Vinden's pilot bot absolute control of my ship. Am I being unreasonable, Botts?'
It considered my question for a moment. 'Based on my long service with Villain Viseor, his associates, and rivals, I would say that some humans have primordial drives and a certain disregard for ethics that, if I were asked to put my fate in their hands, I would pause to consider what exactly their motives might be before I committed myself.'
'Exactly.'
03
I decided to have Botts pilot us home, to everyone's relief, I think. Better the robot you know... Riv had the engineer console, Elana, the pilot's chair and Kie, the lookout. A formality, of course, because Botts would be taking us out. Molaye, Botts and I completed the bridge contingent, lounging in the auxiliary station chairs behind the main console. We were waiting for Riv and Lilm to complete their final pre-burn run through of their engines. Botts could've done it himself, but engineers are pretty touchy about their charges, so we let them go about their work.
'My last voyage, Molaye. There's a cha plantation in the clouds waiting for me somewhere at the end of it,' I said with a sigh. 'Blue seas fading into the haze, green peaks in the clouds. A rocket boat in the shed, for when I get restless... Ah, like Vinden, I'm almost ready to sleep this passage away.'
'Right,' said Molaye, rolling her eyes. 'Never fear, we'll talk you out of that. You've plenty of years to grow cha in your old age.'
'You've thought me pretty ancient right from the beginning – a decade ago. I'm old enough to plant cha and you're ancient enough to be Captain Merlun.'
'We'll see,' she replied with a happy laugh, no doubt repeating “Captain Merlun” silently in her head.
'Engines are ready, Skipper,' said Riv.
'Right. Let's get it underway. 'She's all yours, Botts. Take us home. Set a course for Carivon – as soon as you can find out where in the Neb we are.'
Where in the Nebula we would actually go after Carivon, had been a subject of debate since we left the Pela, and wasn't resolved. Still, not knowing what our status would be with both Cimmadar and St Bleyth when we arrived, it seemed foolhardy to just blunder back into the situation we'd been in before we sailed for the Tenth Star. We'd arrive in Carivon orbit, a new ship with new names again. Kie and Botts would fix things with the Unity and Guild on Carivon and then, perhaps, we'd go... But, I suppose, those will be Captain Merlun's decisions.
'I have the ship, Captain,' said Botts, as it fired the steering rockets to swing the ship away from the Tenth Star. I could feel the slight tug of inertia as the ship began to stir.
Even as the ship began its swing, its main engines sprang to life – at max thrust – pushing us into our chairs as the ship began to accelerate.
'What in the bloody blazes! I exclaimed. 'Botts! Have you short circuited? We're not in that big of a hurry!'
Botts' eyes glowed brightly. 'Sir!' And said nothing more
Different steering rockets began to fire, also at max thrust, pushing us awkwardly against the arm rests of our chairs.
'Botts? What are you doing?' Had it gone berserker on us?
'Captain, Order the ship to be abandoned immediately. I have been replaced at the controls of the ship. The pilot bot has taken control again, and now has control of the ship's systems. It appears to be steering the ship for the shell reef, and I suspect it has been programed to destroy us. You need to act without d
elay, Captain,' it said, broadcasting to everyone aboard,
Vinden. The dead will tell no tales of the Pela.
'To your assigned boats, everyone,' I ordered over the com link. 'Botts, send Botts II to the gig, you'll be aboard the longboat. Riv, Kie, see to the gig, Molaye, the long boat. Move.'
We staggered to our feet, under the twisting pseudo-gravity of the main and steering engines maximum thrust. Riv and Kie stumbled off for the engine room access to the gig. Molaye looked to me. 'Captain, you're coming...'
'Of course. Go. I'm right behind you. Get everyone of your group aboard the longboat. Now.'
As I spoke, Botts also shook himself, as if to free himself from the ship, and tore out of the bridge. A moment later, it was broadcasting on everyone's com link, 'Do not wait for me. I am going to attempt to sever the pilot bot's link to the ship's controls and regain control of the ship. I cannot guarantee I will be able to accomplish the task before the ship reaches the reef, so do not delay on my account. Get the boats off before the rocks become too thick.'
'Do you need help, Botts?' I asked.
'No. During the voyage I explored the inner hull and charted the pilot bot's location and its network connections. It resides in an armored pod located in one of the fuel tanks and its link to the ship's systems is, for the most part, hidden and not easily accessible within the ship's support structures. I did, however, find one accessible spot in that link that I can reach and possibly sever, but the conduit is heavily armored and will take time to breach. I've collected a plasma salvage ax and I'm making my way to it now. There is nothing you can do. Just see that everyone gets clear of the ship. You have less than two minutes before we'll be in the outer fringes of the reef. '
Riv broke in. 'The bloody access hatches won't open, Skipper. Tried the manual over-ride. No go. We're locked out of the gig.'
'Molaye?'
'Same here.'
'Damn. Damn. Damn!' I said.
'You will need to disable the power unit to the access port,' said Botts over the com link, and flashed to everyone a diagram from the ship's manual showing the control boxes near the access ports and highlighted where the power line could be reached and severed. 'A plasma ax should do the trick. Without power, they'll open manually.'
'Right. Everyone not hacking on the power line suit up. We'll be taking hits very soon.' I said, staggering over to the bridge's emergency spacesuit locker.
'Are you coming up, Captain? asked Molaye again, over the com link.
'I'm donning my suit and will be up shortly.' Botts seemed unperturbed, and I didn't care to sound panic stricken in comparison. Though I was close to it.
I sat down and slipped the loose fabric suit on – mechanically making the needed connections as I did, I cursed Vinden, over and over again. We'd worn the suits often enough, so I could curse him and still swiftly suit up.
There was a loud, shuttering screech as we sideswiped a small meteor.
'Captain, we'll have the hatch open in less than a minute. Get up here, now,' said Molaye via my com link speaker.
'On my way.' Taking charge already, though it looked to be too late. 'How are you doing Botts?'
'I've made a scratch in it.'
I hoped that was robot humor.
The ship shuttered again, staggering me as it sideswiped another rock.
'How are you doing Riv?
'All present. Sar's hacking away. Sparks are flying. Another blow should do it...We'll be in shortly.'
Right. Nothing more to do. I opted for the small access ladder rather than the main well – it was easier to hang on to and it led directly to the longboat access port.
Another rock bounced off the hull, setting the ship to ringing. Any of those rocks would've destroyed the ship had we been traveling at interplanetary speeds. It was only the fact that we were traveling at a relative crawl – a ship the size of the Starry Shore takes its time to build up any sort of velocity, even with the engines at max – which meant they bounced off of us, rather than blowing us to atoms on impact. However, the longer the rockets blasted full out, the denser the shell-reef became, the more likely we'd hit a rock large enough that wouldn't bounce off. Which, I thought, if it happened really soon, would be our best hope – we might survive the impact – there was a great deal of hull between us and the bow of the ship to absorb the force of impact. But it had to be soon.
'We'll be able to take to the boats in a minute or two, Botts. Get to the longboat if it doesn't look like you can sever the link,' I panted, as I climbed up the rungs set in the bulkhead, past the crew. We had to be accelerating at more than 1 gee, so climbing was hard work in the space suit and uncertain motion of the ship as it encountered more and more small asteroids.
'I am built of D-matter and don't need air. I can survive a crash far better than humans, Captain. Don't wait. Get the boats away before the rocks get too thick and dangerous.'
I reached the awning deck and swung out into the companionway. The longboat the crew had collected in the little alcove by the access hatch was close at hand.
'We've got it open. Get up here, Wil.' I could hear her speaking aloud as well as via my com link.
'I'm here...' I called out just as I was blinded by a brilliant flash and deafened by a great crash that sent a black, tidal wave of debris flying down the companionway at me. Something big and fast hit my legs, knocking me off my feet and sending a sharp wave of pain up through my body, followed by another stunning blow to my chest taking my breath away. Smaller pieces peppered me as my vision or the lights flickered and went out. There was a high pitched shriek and the breath was drawn from my lungs as the deck opened up to the vacuum of space.
'We've been hulled! Button up!' I heard Molaye yell, as I weakly, and ineffectively, tried to pull the spacesuit's hood over my head.
Blackness.
04
It took some time to recognize Illy. I was afraid I was seeing her from the far side of the event horizon, so it took a very long time to form and deliver a mumbled question. 'Where am I?' or sounds to that effect.
'The medic bay. You're born to die a cha planter.'
'The gang?'
'All survived. You're the worst case.' That wasn't entirely reassuring. I seemed surrounded by the med bay machines, I thought of old Captain Miccall...
'My ship?
'Botts says he'll get us home.'
'You're not lying?'
She shook her head 'No, we survived.'
My vision was just clear enough to see her and knew her well enough to know that she wasn't lying, so I closed my eyes and let go.
Later, when I awoke again, I was a little clearer headed, though I found I couldn't move – I was strapped in an accelerating healing unit covering my chest and my lower legs as well. I lay reviewing events over and over, until Illy appeared again.
'Feeling stronger, Captain?' she asked.
'Some. What's our condition?'
'Stable. Botts was able to sever the link and take back control just as we hit the rock that knocked you out. It managed to swing the ship around, and with volley after volley of anti-meteor missiles smash the biggest rocks in our path as we decelerated. The ship sustained damage, mostly to the bow and cargo hatches, but Botts says it'll get us home, although we'll need several weeks to put things back together before we start. So you can just relax. Molaye has everything well in hand, and there'll be plenty to do even after you've been mended.'
'How long will that be?'
'Two more days under the full set of healers, and another five days of intermittent treatments should get you back to your old self. All you need to do is relax, get better, and stay out of Molaye's way.'
'What happened to me? I remember the breach on the awning deck, and well, nothing much afterwards.'
'You were hit by debris. Broke both of your legs, and damaged your ribs and lungs. Molaye reached you in time to prevent you from being sucked out through the breach with the atmosphere, and managed to secure yo
ur spacesuit hood so you didn't suffocate straight off. It was touch and go for both you and the ship for a while there and it took almost half an hour before we could get you to the medic bay. You were sailing pretty close to the event horizon, Wil, but you pulled through.'
'I guess I retired a little early.'
'Oh, you'll be back before we sail. Don't worry.'
I wasn't worrying. Captain Merlun had taken charge, and she was welcomed to it. I'd a feeling that the current state of the Starry Shore would've broken my heart, if I was still her captain.
Later, my shipmates were allowed to come around to yarn under the watchful eyes of Molaye and Illy. I counted noses and they were indeed, all accounted for. All looked worn, but put on a good show of being in good spirits, so I just concentrated on getting whole again.
Three days later I was sitting up in the medic bay, still connected to the medic unit by a few portable units and cables – my damaged bones and tissue had been rebuilt but not completely restored.
'How'ya feeling Captain?' asked Molaye as she and Botts entered the med-bay.
'As good as I look,' I replied.
'I was hoping for a better report. Still, that'll have to do. Illy says you're well on the mend, so I thought I'd best fill you in on our status and prospects.'
'You needn't. I'm not taking charge again. You've paid your dues. Keep at it, Captain Merlun. You've been running the ship for years, anyway.'
She just laughed, and said, 'I'm sure we'll argue about that all the way home. 'Still, I'm sure you're anxious to hear my status report. Think of it as a courtesy, if you want. Doesn't matter to me. '
'I'm pretty sure I don't want to hear it, but lift anyway.'
'The good news is that all the critical systems are repairable. The bow is pretty smashed in and the hull has a whole new set of nice long dents. We were holed only once, in no.4 hold, the one that put you here. That's sealed. We have enough fuel in the remaining auxiliary tanks to get us home, but it would be a very long trip, on our own. But we'll get to that in a moment,' Molaye went into the details, which I won't bother to record, save that from what I could gather, reading between her optimistic lines, the Starry Shore's next port of call would be the flats of & Kin's, or some such spaceship grave yard. The damage to the hull seemed likely beyond repair. 'So you see, Captain, the main damage is to the forward hull, so the Starry Shore can still get us home, thanks to Botts, once again.'
'I don't know how we can repay you, Botts,' I said, turning to it, standing silently next to Molaye.
'My pleasure, and my duty, Captain. It is what I was built for. And having heard our status, I now have a proposal to make, with your permission.'
'Of course, please do.'
'As Molaye mentioned, with the remaining fuel our voyage home could be a very extended one since I will have to proceed very slowly until I can determine our position to conserve fuel. And then, depending on our vector relative to our desired target, we could be faced with a very long voyage – ten years or more cannot be ruled out at this point.
'However, the Directorate being aware of our situation and eager to repay you for your services to the Mountain King would like to return the favor and offer aid that would significantly increase our chances of returning to the Neb within a reasonable time frame. The Directorate likes to keep obligations in balance.'
'So do I, but I should hate to think they owe us anything. All we did was honor our Guild obligations to aid a distressed spaceer. I prefer to think our relationship with both you and the Directorate are based more on friendship than obligation.'
'That being the case, I see no barrier to proceeding with the Directorate's proposed plan.'
'Which is?'
'Once I have us out of this reef and can determine our location, the Directorate would dispatch a replacement ship for the Starry Shore. They propose an Ividar 96 box SilverStar Liner, along with a cargo of machine made trade goods. They would dispatch it with robot pilot to rendezvous with us. We would take possession of it and the robot pilot would take charge of the Starry Shore to pilot it to the Inner Drifts.'
'That is too generous – an Ividar SilverStar is worth far more than the Starry Shore, even without a cargo. It seems out of proportion to whatever services I may have performed for them.'
'It is offered on the basis of friendship, Captain, as you yourself indicated. And the value of the ship is of no concern to the Directorate. We have no use for credits within the Machine Directorate. However, there may be more balance in the trade than is apparent. Directorate policy is to collect any illegal machine in the human drifts, so it not only has an interest in collecting the pilot bot, but is also very interested in what that pilot bot can reveal concerning the historic ties of Cimmadar and the Nebula at large. It will be a small piece in the puzzle of the Tenth Star, so the exchange is not as uneven as it may appear to be.'
It still was. An Ividar ship is a premium, First World machine-built ship, and the SilverStar line is their premium line of ships. I doubted the pilot bot data, once extracted. would be that valuable. Still, I knew that the Directorate could easily afford to give us an Ividar ship – they needed very little from humans, and traded with us more or less as a way of keeping their ties with us alive, which, for some reason, they seemed to think is important.
'I must say, Botts, that's very, very generous of the Directorate... ' I said. 'Please express our deep gratitude. But I'd appreciate it if you'd give me several days to assess our situation and think. I need time to think everything through.'
It nodded, 'Yes, of course. We have time'
05
The following day, still confined to the medic bay, but feeling stronger, I asked Botts to step around to see me.
'We know who did it, and why – the dead tell no stories of the Pela. What I don't know is how? How could a class 7 machine attempt to kill us? I thought they had programs to prevent that.'
'Strictly speaking, it wasn't the pilot bot that took control of the ship. There was a low order AI pilot install within the pilot bot pod – one that was too simple to need to be programed not to kill. It was located before the actual pilot bot and designed to intervene before the pilot bot took control, under certain conditions. I suspect it could be triggered to destroy the ship when the authorized pilot thought that the ship was in danger of being used by non-Cimmadarians to reach the Pela. A sort of anti-pirate kill switch.'
'How likely was that? I mean, I assume the key drive had certain wards and secret procedures to protect it from being used by just anyone.'
'People can be forced to do things against their will. The fail-safe would allow someone being forced to apparently cooperate while insuring that the secret would still be kept. You must remember, we’re talking about a secret that has been kept for perhaps twenty thousand years or more. Over that period of time, just about everything could happen.
'The pilot bot predates the revolution, so it's at least 11,000 years old, and likely much older, which is one of the reasons why the Directorate is so interested in its history. I suspect that the pilot bot has been in the service of Cimmadar since before the Revolution – likely installed and re-installed in the ships that sail the Nebula. Indeed, I suspect that to keep their secret, only pilot bots know how to find the Tenth Star. In that way, no corruptible person in their employment could ever compromise the location of the Tenth Star. The only link between the Neb and the Pela is an incorruptible pilot bot, guarded by a kill switch.'
'Makes sense, though, Glen Colin could've found his way back, when he was loose in the Nebula. But then, his talent wasn't known when they allowed him outside the Pela. I suppose that's what made him so very valuable to Vinden. Even without the Starry Shore, he had Glen Colin stashed away in a sleeper-pod who could, if necessary, find his way home. Old Glen Colin knew his value...' I mused, recalling our conversations.
'Glen Colin was, indeed, a dangerous oversight, as we are now.'
'Well, you and the Directorate can find your
way here, or will be able to soon enough. I doubt we will. Though it is ironic that because they tried to kill us, we're now able to if we cared to chart a course to the Tenth Star. That's something we'll have to ponder, Botts. Do we really want to know?'
'I believe I can trust you, Captain, to make the right choice.'
'Not a question I really want to think of, at the moment. The more pressing question is what activated the suicide switch? We've been sailing the ship for decades without tripping it.'
'Vinden must have activated it before he left the ship, and set it so that as soon as we set out, the suicide bot's trigger was tripped and usurping the pilot bot's priorities, took complete control of the ship to do one thing – to destroy it. Fortunately, it was not a sophisticated program, so that running the ship onto the rocks of a reef close at hand became its course of action, never mind that by starting from zero velocity it was not the most effective way to destroy the ship. Had it been programed to take over some point later, while at interplanetary speeds and hit even a small meteor, it would have insured our complete and immediate destruction'
'I suppose, given complete control of the ship – we were trapped aboard it – there was no reason to get too fancy. It would've succeeded it you weren't on board and knew where its weak link was.'
'True, Captain.'
'We are very lucky to have you as a shipmate. Thank you Botts. Again.'
'I'm blushing, Captain,' it replied. 'But the truth is that I'm the one who's lucky. Discovering the Tenth Star more than pays for anything I have done for you and my shipmates.'
'We've both been very lucky, Botts.'
'Yes we have.'
06
Later.
'I've been thinking,' I began, pausing when Illy sighed, to give her a look and add, 'Well, I've had plenty of time. 'Mostly about the Starry Shore and Cin, and what I could've done, or not to have prevented these losses.
'Aye, Wil, so what have you been thinking about now?'
'Botts thinks that the pilot bot is the way Cimmadar keeps the Pela secret. Only pilot bot knows how to reach the Pela, and only someone with the key can activate it, and only with the proper procedure or ID. And, as we know, the crew isn't allowed to track its course.'
'So?'
'Well, it always struck me a little strange that St Bleyth would send the Sister Sinister after us. We'd been on Despar for ages, so they had plenty of time to kill Min and me prior to our departure. And with all the darter fights around the port, it would have been very easy to slip a few fatal darts into the nightly melees.'
'From all you've told me it was your Naylea Cin's assignment...'
'She's not mine...'
'Right. The point being – they were simply waiting for the assigned assassin to arrive. Code of honor and all. Besides, compared to their level of involvement in the Despar troubles, killing you and Tallith was likely a minor matter for St Bleyth. They sent Sister Sinister after you only after Cin failed again and we were on our way to the Unity where it would've been very hard to get the job done, once again. It was merely the most expedient measure to wrap up an unfortunate affair.'
'Well, that's what I thought. But knowing what we know now, I think there may be more to it than that. I think the Lost Star itself had a bounty on her because of the pilot bot it had on board, which was the key to the Pela, and out of Cimmadar's control. They may not've been in a great panic, as long as Prince Imvoy had it, and someone would have had to discover, and then compromise the pilot bot security, but once it was out of Vinden's control, that became, at least, a remote possibility. A very remote one, but then, I think we can safely say, they don't take any chances at all. So the Lost Star was a loose end that they wanted tied up – captured or destroyed. Little could be done within the Unity, but once in the drifts, it was a different story. Cimmadar may have hired St Bleyth to capture or destroy the Lost Star, which puts D'Lay's insistence that we were the only ship for his mission in a slightly different light, seeing that really, he could've chartered any number of drifteer ships in orbit, despite what he said.'
'You're suggesting that D'Lay chartered us to capture or destroy the Lost Star?'
'Well, he needed us to deliver his force to Boscone first, but after that...'
'Didn't he promise to keep us safe after our arrival?'
'From Cin. And he may not have been privy to the Order's ultimate plans for the Lost Star. He didn't strike me as the type that would simply destroy us when he was done with us, especially in light of his concern for our safety when Explora Miner arrived. But, if and when the orders came down, who knows? In any event, once the Lost Star was no longer of use to St Bleyth, and as soon as it became vulnerable to capture or destruction – which is to say, as soon as we were out of sight of the Patrol in Despar – they wasted no time sending a frigate after us, and spent little effort trying to talk us into surrendering before launching their missiles. Sending a warship to kill two people hardly seems cost effective, and St Bleyth is, despite its trappings, a business.'
'So?'
I glanced at her, and shrugged. 'So nothing. Like I said, just thinking.'
'Is that all you're thinking about?'
'No. I've been thinking that Vinden needs to be exposed for what he is and brought to justice. He was ready to take the Starry Shore back to the Pela without Min when we first crossed orbits with him. And I've no doubt that should Min prove an impediment to his ambitions, or when he no longer feels he needs her, he'll discard her, as well as Vyn and Ten, just as ruthlessly as he did us.'
'What can you do?' Not that she didn't know already.
'I can go back – as the sole survivor of the wreck of the Starry Shore, just to keep everyone a ghost should things go adrift – and show Min what Vinden did to her shipmates and her ship. Hopefully this will be enough proof to decide that Vinden is too dangerous to keep about.'
'I doubt Min'll welcome you back – for any reason. And Vinden would do everything possible to silence you. You can't go back, Wil. You'll have to trust that Min can handle her uncle.'
'She still, I think, admires him. And yes, I'll have to be very careful, and contact Min secretly. But we owe her that much.'
'So you've decided to go back.'
'I'm thinking about it,' I allowed. Mostly a lie.
Illy considered that for a moment, and said, 'I think you should think very carefully and concretely about what you could expect to accomplish. Min is quite capable of looking after herself. And we survived Vinden's attempt and will see home. The Starry Shore would always have been in danger of being discovered, so the new ship the Directorate is offering is a far better solution than renaming the Lost Star yet again. And how many times over the years have you bemoaned the drifteers' penchant for pursuing revenge? That's what this is really about. Vinden failed to kill us. Let's just get on with our lives.'
I shrugged, and left it at that for the moment.
She was right, of course. I was driven by revenge and the shame I felt for once again being outwitted by Vinden. And the guilt I felt in my careless failure to protect my prisoner. And guilt for so readily abandoning the promise I made to Min on the Yacht Club field. Oh, I'd left her without too much guilt, but now I couldn't – the Unity side of my heritage saw to that. My St Bleyth ancestors, of course, simply wanted Vinden dead. So rarely did both ways of looking at the Neb correspond, that it felt unavoidable, And I needed to do something – and as soon as I was able to. It was how it was written.
07
I'd one last item to take care of. I asked Botts to step around to my office for a talk.
'Captain?' it asked, as it entered. 'Have you come to a decision on the Directorate's offer?'
'Slide that door closed, will you?' I asked, and after it did so, I said. 'I have a counter proposal to make.'
'I take it you are uncomfortable with the proposal?'
'I'm not uncomfortable so much as I don't think it is necessary. I believe I can buy both the ship and its cargo. If the Direc
torate sends the ship to rescue us from a long passage, well, that can balance the service we did for the Mountain King. If they owe anyone for the Tenth Star it's Vinden, not me. And as I said, your expedition was a way of repaying you for saving our lives on several occasions. So what I'd like to do is simply buy a ship and cargo from the Directorate.'
'While I'm sure the Directorate could supply a ship and cargo we could now afford with Min's generosity; I don't think it's necessary. We've little need for credits. Think nothing of the credits involved. It's a way of expressing their regard for you. You'll owe them nothing.'
'I believe you, Botts, but, well, I'm an irrational human, so I would like to pay for the ship and goods. And since I can easily do that, it'll keep our relationship in balance.'
'Have our shipmates agreed to this?'
'It's not necessary. I'll have you know, Botts, I'm far, far wealthier than even you can imagine, assuming, of course, this is what I've been told it is,' I said, drawing out Captain Miccall's ring and handing it over to Botts. 'Look through the small opening in the inside.'
It brought the ring up to its eye/sensors and examined it for fully a minute. I was beginning to get worried it had become lost in the gem's dark maze. And then it turned to me.
'This would seem to fit the description of a darq gem.'
'I was told it is one. A small one, but authentic. Is the Directorate familiar with them?'
'The Directorate is aware that 27 of them are said to exist within the Unity. There are rumors of others, but just rumors. However, even prior to the revolution, no sentient machine has had an opportunity to examine one. Their value means that they are very closely guarded by their owners. Indeed, some machines suspect that they do not exist at all, save in the imagination of fiction writers, and the fantasies of, as you say, fabulously wealthy individuals. And yet...' it seemed, for once to at a loss for words.
'And yet, a tramp ship captain casually hands one to you. A small one, but seemingly authentic one. It certainly has the rumored effect on me.'
'How?'
'How did I obtain it?'
'Aye...'
I told him my tale, concluding with, 'So you see, this is the situation that I've been holding it in trust for. It is the ideal solution, for the gem itself is a very dangerous item. My life, or the life of anyone I turned it over to would be in great danger should word get out one way or another. And quite frankly, how one could safely turn it into credits, is beyond me. So by turning it over to you and the Directorate, it serves its purpose of securing our future, while solving the problem of safely disposing of it by using it to buy a new ship and cargo. If, of course, the Directorate would accept it as payment...'
'Its value far exceeds the value of the proposed ship and cargo.'
'Let's not quibble, Botts. If I had to turn it into credits, I could expect only a tiny fraction of its ultimate value, so the ship and cargo would likely be worth more than what I would've obtained from selling it – without the danger that selling it would likely have entailed.'
After a long pause, Botts said, 'The Directorate agrees to your offer to exchange the ring for the ship and goods. While they believe the value of the gem in human society far out weights the goods they are offering, they find that they cannot turn down a fabled darq gem. I can tell you this, Captain, after bringing to their attention both a fabled darq gem and the Tenth Star, not to mention the wyrm weather and dark dragon’s phenomena that you've given me the opportunity to study, you have become the Directorate's favorite human. I get the sense that they are eagerly awaiting what you turn up next.'
'A rather dangerous honor, Botts. Still if all goes as planned, unless the Directorate is curious about the intricacies of growing and processing cha leaves, they're going to find my next explorations rather boring.'
'Oh, I rather think the new and strange things you come across are tied in with your karma, Captain,' it replied with bright eyes.
'You're just trying to scare me.'
'It's the karma, Captain. But, back to business. As for the ship and gem, the Directorate will credit you with the balance of the value of the gem, minus the value of the ship and cargo once the value of the gem has been agreed to. In this way neither party will feel that they owe or are owed anything, and both parties can continue to operate on the basis of friendship. If that is acceptable to you. '
'Excellent. Yes, of course, with one proviso – divide any remaining darq gem credit evenly between all our crew members since it isn't my gem. I was merely holding it in trust for my ship's and shipmates' benefit. It has haunted my sock drawer for years and now that it is to be used as it was intended, I feel rather liberated. Perhaps now we can lay the ghosts of the Four Shipmates finally to rest.'
08
You would think that after being captain of this packet for a decade or more – depending on how you care to count the years – I'd be able to issue an order and expect it to be obeyed. Well, I'll admit I didn't issue all that many of them, so they may've been taken aback a bit. But still their resistance to my plan to return to the Pela was uncalled for. I didn't let it deter me. I was walking in Captain Linnor's boots now. She had a cargo to salvage to redeem herself, and I had a cold-blooded killer not only to bring to justice, but to see that he didn't kill everyone else I knew and loved. In the end, the gang had no lift to hold me back – I was buying the Raven's gig out of my share of Min's gift and if I wanted to take a jaunt in it while they put the ship back together, I could – since I was its captain and could do as I Neb-damned pleased. And if I wasn't its captain, I could still do as I pleased, we weren't close enough to sailing that I couldn't sign myself off.
'I'm not a fool. I'm not out for blood. And I will be very careful and cunning,' I exclaimed, far from the first time to Illy. 'I don't plan to go charging in and demand that Vinden be brought to justice. My plan is to secretly contact Ten aboard the Raven. I can ping the Raven's automatic distress response radio with an encrypted message without tipping my hand, even if the other ships intercept it. From my experience aboard the flagship, I'm sure that a micro-burst radio signal would go unremarked, if it was even noticed. Once I've made contact, I'll send along the vids of what Vinden did to his old employees and his ship, and we can plan how to deal with Vinden's inevitable betrayal. I don't even have to show my face.'
Illy sighed. 'I know you, Wil. I've all but raised you. Grandma M'Risha notwithstanding, you're too Unity Standard to deal with the likes of Vinden. He'll hand you your head on a platter if you try to tackle him. As he has in the past,' she added sharply.
'Not every time,' I countered, remembering that dart to his hand. 'And I've no intention tackling him by myself. I just want Ten and Vyn watching him like a hawk. And well, if they should happen to hit him over the head with a spanner and shove him out the air lock when no one's looking, so much the better.'
'That's what you say now...'
'Trust me. I know my Unity Standard limits. But I also know my Unity Standard responsibilities as well. I can't leave old shipmates to the cold-blooded whims of Vinden. Not when I've the time to do something. I have to live with myself, Illy. And I can't just do nothing and live with myself. There's a knot in my chest of anger and guilt that'll choke me sooner or later...'
'Have you checked it in the med bay?'
'Yes,' I replied steadily. 'I have. There's nothing wrong with me but a sense of right and wrong.'
She shook her head. 'No. There's more to it than that...'
'Save your breath. My mind is made up. I'll be back in less than twelve days. If not, leave without me and I'll find my own way home to the Unity. You'll know where to find me...'
'On a white beach...'
'Or high in the misty blue-green peaks amongst my cha trees.'