CHAPTER 8
“This isn’t funny,” Whiskerchin’s Captain Bedelev concluded, her face close to the video pickup. The officers clustered in the Jaunter’s ready room listened intently. “I’m stuck in my cabin. Most of us are! As soon as we went off shift, our doors stopped working! My people can’t get into their stations or out of them. They’re worried that the environmental systems are gonna shut down at any moment, and there’s not a flerking thing we can do about it! So am I! That snoff-faced Kail has got the whole ship under his control. We’re stuck! If you can see this message, get us out of here! Or if you can’t save us, nuke the ship from space. Harro knows who else those stone-assed giants will take over next.”
The transmission blacked out, to be replaced by the Imperium seal. The six humans and two Uctu at the oval table in the small chamber sat back in their molded seats, troubled expressions mirrored on all their faces. The two captains of the naval escort ships, Captain Colwege and Captain Lopez were present, courtesy of the tri-dee projectors in the ceiling, making it look as if they sat at the table, too. Ormalus, the Uctu communications officer, switched off the system. The mechanism lowered itself into the surface of the table.
Captain Melane Wold looked up from the screen. A slightly built human of average height with large eyes and hollow cheeks accentuating the shapely bones of xir face, xir delicate features belied the resilience and toughness reflected in xir service record. Xe wore a grim expression.
“And that’s the ship that came into orbit around Counterweight at the same time we did,” xe said, turning a slim hand upward. Xe glanced at Parsons, who occupied the seat at xir right hand. “I’ve taken evasive maneuvers to ensure that we’re not in a common vector with it. The helm is ready to blast us out of here immediately if we have to.”
Parsons nodded. “Your precautions are admirable, Captain.”
The rest of the officers, Lieutenant Plet included, nodded and murmured agreement.
“Carrying too many of the Imperium’s precious eggs in one basket,” Wold said, wrinkling xir nose. “The crew’s been running scenarios from the moment we heard this trip was in the offing. There was no chance I’d put the Emperor’s cousins in jeopardy.”
“We’re keeping fighters ready to launch in case the Wichu ship makes a move,” Lopez said. She was a tall woman with patrician features and warm brown complexion. Colwege, a white-haired, snub-nosed man with black, button-like eyes, nodded agreement.
“His Highness will appreciate your vigilance.” Parsons said, gravely.
“But now what do we do? How did the Kail take over the Whiskerchin?” Wold asked. “They don’t seem to care whether their captives communicate with the outside world. Do they think that they’re unassailable?”
“Aren’t they afraid we’ll open fire on them?” asked Commander Atwell, the Jaunter’s ordnance officer. He smacked a fist down on the tabletop. “That’s an act of piracy! We’d be within our rights to take them down.”
“No one wants to see a loss of life,” Parsons replied, his voice a soothing lull. “The Wichu is carrying a number of civilians. Has anyone asked the Kail what they want?”
“Of course we did!” Wold said, spots of hectic color appearing on xir cheeks. “They don’t want to talk to us. They’re demanding to speak to Proton Zang. I’ve told them that it hasn’t arrived yet. They insist that it has, but they don’t know where. They want us to bring it to them.”
“Have they said how they are aware of the Zang’s presence?” Parsons inquired. Wold shook xir head and opened xir mouth to speak.
At that moment, the door slid open, and a head popped in. The appearance of the newcomer provoked a fragment of amusement in Parsons, but he kept his face from revealing it.
“Lord Thomas,” he said in a level voice.
“What ho, Parsons?” the young man said, cheerfully. His face was flush with triumph, as though he had achieved some minor victory. He turned and offered a handsome salute to the senior officer. “Good morning, captain. Captains.” He extended his greeting to the two holograms.
“Lord Thomas,” Wold said, narrowing xir eyes slightly. “How did you get in here? Every system is on emergency lockdown!”
“The door didn’t stop me.” The young noble held up his viewpad. His military identification showed on the small screen. “I showed it my credentials, and it let me in.”
“I’ll have a word with it! You shouldn’t have been able to pass!”
“His duties, captain,” Parsons said. He checked his chronometer. Lord Thomas was a few seconds ahead of the time Parsons had estimated he might arrive. “As I told you, Lord Thomas requires access to the scout ship.”
As evidenced by the strands of silver peeking through the captain’s thick hair, xe had not been born within the last forty-eight hours. Xe gave Parsons a searching look, asking for further explanation. Thomas did not miss the expression. He saluted again.
“Lieutenant-Captain Lord Thomas Kinago at your service. My sister told me that no shuttles are going down to the surface. We’re all panting to begin our touristing. Is there some way I may be of assistance? Perhaps my ship the Rodrigo could be pressed into service if the shuttles are otherwise occupied?”
“You’re attached to the Rodrigo?” Wold asked, with an air of disbelief.
Thomas lowered his eyes modestly. “It is, in fact, attached to me. It’s my ship. I am its senior officer.”
“Lieutenant Plet is the commanding officer of record,” Wold replied, with a nod toward the severe-looking blonde woman sitting on one side of the table.
Thomas smiled in a supercilious fashion. “Yes, that’s the way the official record reads, but I hold superior rank to her. And to you. No offense, of course.”
“With all due respect, your lordship, that has nothing to do with …”
Parsons thought it best to intervene.
“If I may, captain? I need to impart a piece of confidential information that must not be known outside this room … ?”
Wold collected nods from xir assemblage of officers. The Uctu communications officer palmed a control that threw an additional barrier of interference in the case of eavesdroppers. Wold returned his gaze to Parsons. “Well?”
Parsons tented his fingers. “It is this: Lord Thomas has been of use, now and again, in service to the Imperium, on covert missions. In a quiet way, of course.”
“A noble?” Wold asked, disbelievingly. “Useful?”
“I take umbrage with that tone, with all due respect, captain,” Thomas said, looking hurt. “I’m brighter than I appear.”
“If you really want to be of use, my lord, please go back to your day room,” Captain Wold said, setting xir jaw. “It would help if you would keep your relatives busy while we deal with this crisis. That would be the most helpful thing you could accomplish.”
Thomas’s eyebrows flew up. So did his hands, which curved gracefully over his head. Parsons recognized the motion as second position. He raised his own eyebrow a fraction of a millimeter. Thomas dropped his arms at once to his sides.
“So there is a crisis. I thought so. What is in the offing? I’m sure I can help. Anything to clear the logjam. My cousins are eager to get to the surface of Counterweight as soon as we can. We all have activities planned.”
“No,” Wold said, lowering xir brows. “We’re not landing personnel there, and certainly none of you … aristocrats … until the alert is cleared.”
Lopez cleared her throat. “We advise against it, my lord,” she added.
“We don’t need fuel or supplies at this time,” put in Commander Tamber, the first officer, a stocky, older man with a nearly bald head. “Should we program in the coordinates of the next way station, captain? We can leave orbit with the bulk of the planet between us.”
“No, please don’t!” Thomas pleaded, his sea-blue eyes pools of abject appeal. “I’d sooner spend the rest of the journey in a cage with wild animals than my sister if she is thwarted of her elephant safari.”
“Her what?” Atwell asked. Lord Thomas spread his hands, a helpless look on his face.
“A sightseeing journey on animal-back. Antique mode of transportation, and uncomfortable, I would guess, but Nell finds satisfaction in reliving the modes of yesteryear. She might even try to take a pair or so of the elephants home with her, if she finds them to her liking. I wonder if you could find a secure pen in which to hold them on our return journey, captain?”
“That matter is of little importance at this time, my lord,” Parsons said, with a quelling glance. His lordship was not of a mood to be quelled, but he was able to distinguish between the present and the future. He turned an open and helpful countenance toward the commanding officer.
“Then what is? Believe it or not, captain, I can keep a secret. You won’t believe what our brother has in mind for Mother’s next birthday present! It’s quite amazing … but I’m not allowed to tell. It could so easily get back to her.” He leaned forward, confidentially. “The walls have ears, you know, in spite of your gadgets and devices.”
Whether the reference to the First Space Lord was inadvertent or craftily deliberate, it made the officers surrounding the oval table, including those present by holography, sit up straight. Wold looked torn between two equally unpalatable decisions. It was not lost upon them that Lord Thomas Kinago was the son of Admiral Tariana Kinago Loche. Parsons felt matters begin to move in the direction that he felt would accomplish the greatest good. A plan had formulated itself in his mind, one that might lead to a bloodless solution. He would not have to lend even a modicum of persuasion to get the captain to allow Lord Thomas to be involved.
“May he be seated?” Parsons inquired, with a casual turn of his hand. “At this point it would be less harmful to inform him fully than to send him back without being apprised of the entire gravity of the situation.”
“Oh, very well!” Wold waved Lord Thomas to an empty chair beside Plet. The young noble took the steps in short leaps, and twirled once before sitting down. Plet rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Exec?”
Without rerunning the message from the Whiskerchin’s captain, First Officer Tamber gave an admirably quick precis of what had already been detailed to the rest of the officers.
“They want to speak to the Zang in advance?” Lord Thomas asked, at the conclusion.
“That appears to be their aim,” Parsons said. Lord Thomas’s eyes went wide.
“Why now? They could have a word with it when we all get to the platform. Why take over the ship that was carrying them in the very direction they wanted to go, to bring them to the very beings they wish to speak with?”
“We do not know. It is not easy to speculate upon the Kail’s motives. Once we all reach the viewing platform, the ambassador and his staff will take up much of the Kail’s time. The Zang will, I presume, be absorbed in preparing for their spectacle. They may not remain long after it has been concluded. If the Kail wish to have a private conference, it would be wise to do it ahead of time.”
“Why now?” Thomas repeated. “They could have made a request to speak to a Zang any time, couldn’t they?”
“Isn’t it difficult to encounter one?” Captain Wold asked. “The diplomats said we only know where this one is because it asked to observe us.”
“Sounds like the Kail know how to find them if they managed to determine that Proton Zang was coming here,” Thomas said, toying with the controls for the display console. It started to rise. Plet reached over and clapped her hand on the “down” switch. The mechanism subsided. Lord Thomas grinned at her. “It’s a useful talent, Zang-detection. We ought to ask how they do it. We might have Zang zinging all over the place in the Imperium and never know it.”
“But Lord Thomas is right, Commander,” Plet put in. “If they can contact the Zang, why didn’t they do it before leaving Kail space?”
“It may be that the Zang don’t like visiting Kail space,” Thomas said heartily. “I hear it’s desolate. Lots of planets, precious little life except for the ugly creatures themselves. No greenery at all.”
“We have no confirmation that the Zang prefer planets with plant life,” Parsons reminded him. Thomas looked abashed.
“Quite right, Parsons. I’m afraid, despite my eager anticipation of the spectacle ahead, I have not devoted much time to the study of our host species, only of their past demonstrations of planet-pruning.”
“If you don’t mind, my lord … ?” Captain Wold said, pointedly. Thomas settled back easily in his chair.
“Of course, captain. I was being inconsiderate. Your room, your rules. Pray carry on.”
A low whooping noise erupted. Lieutenant Ormalus flipped open the screen at her table station and ran a disklike fingertip down the scope.
“Sir, program intrusion in progress! From the Wichu ship.”
“What kind?” Wold demanded.
“Attempted breach of computer systems. Database.” The Uctu made passes that caused moving graphics to rise from the screen. She scanned them with narrowed eyes.
“Has it broken our defenses?” Wold asked.
“No.” The coral-skinned female switched her narrow mandible from side to side, emitting a worried clicking noise. She drew one of the charts upward and expanded it. Within the framework, bar codes rose up and down. One near the side of the frame quivered near the top. “Curious. Navigational database probe.”
“Well, what do they need that for?” Wold asked. “Navigational charts are in wide usage across the galaxy. They’re posted on the Infogrid, for pity’s sake! What’s wrong with the map system on the Wichu ships?”
“It could be looking for something the Wichu don’t have in their atlas,” Thomas said.
“A star chart isn’t a secret,” Wold said. “The probe isn’t targeting population numbers or defense installations.”
“Then, what?” Tamber asked.
An alarm erupted from Ormalus’s scope. “Penetration!” She pinched the bar in the chart. It shrank at once to the bottom of the frame. “Auto-overrides also operational.”
“Can you tell what it read?” Parsons asked.
“Running diagnostics,” Ormalus said. “Still nav charts. Only nav charts. Peculiar.”
Lopez leaned to the left, as if listening to someone who was not within range of the video pickups.
“We’re seeing an intruder, too, Captain Wold. We thought we were well defended! This is not a straightforward attack on our systems. It seems to be coming through personal accounts.”
“Sending override information to your ships,” Ormalus said. “Confirm?”
Lopez listened and nodded again. Colwege did, too. “Confirmed, lieutenant.”
“Please forward the data to me, lieutenant,” Parsons said. “Along with the portals they used to invade the system.”
The Uctu gave him a severe look. “Mine not fault.”
“Nor my comm officer,” Colwege said, lowering his snowy eyebrows threateningly.
“Most likely not,” Parsons agreed. “The Kail have a reputation for being able to interact with electronic systems. Curious for a race that manufactures no technology of its own.”
“How do we defend against it?” Wold asked.
“Require approval for any incoming data. Automatically weed out all casual requests. Shut down access to the Infogrid except as needed until we are out of contact with the Whiskerchin.”
Wold exploded in outrage. “That will cripple us! We have streams coming in from all over! Our transmissions will slow below a crawl.”
“Assign LAIs to monitor. They can process exabytes of data faster than the passive systems. Run virus checks on their systems frequently to ensure that they have not been corrupted themselves. It would be wise to add layers of security.”
“But LAIs will be able to tell if their systems are faulty,” Lopez said. “I trust my people, all of them, flesh or circuit-based.”
“Better to have redundant checks,” Wold said. The bright spots appeared on xir fine skin. “Make it so, exec. I feel as though we are under siege. An attack will almost certainly result in some casualties. I want to avoid involvement in a raid, but we will do what we have to to protect the Jaunter. Our escorts are intended to provide cover if we need to cut and run, not to start a war.”
“They need our help,” Lord Thomas said. “The Wichu are our allies, and they are prisoners on their own ship. Shouldn’t we do what we can to remove the Kail?”
“Short of attempting to breach the Whiskerchin?” Wold asked. “That is not in my brief, my lord. The defense of the Emperor’s family is of paramount importance! You are our priority.”
“That’s all well and proper,” Thomas said, “but is there no middle way you can determine?”
“Not under these circumstances, Lord Thomas!”
“There might be a way we can gain leverage,” Parsons said, calmly. “It is convenient that Lord Thomas has joined us.”
“How so?” Wold asked.
“The Kail seek Proton Zang. We are to take it and its human escort, Dr. Derrida, on board. You captains each received the details of its proposed meeting point via secured data packet this morning, as did I. If we take the Zang on board the Jaunter before the Kail encounter it, we will have an upper hand. The Kail will need to negotiate through us to interact with the Zang. We can demand terms, including the release of the Wichu vessel or the Wichu crew.”
“They are monitoring us,” Colwege pointed out. “They’ll know if we send the military escort we had intended. The Whiskerchin’s sensors will see weapons and troop movement and follow it to our destination!”
“Then we will not send a military escort,” Parsons said. “Lord Thomas, as I have already indicated, is a resourceful individual. He will go to meet the Zang.”
“One man in a shuttle will attract as much attention as a troop carrier,” Lopez said.
“Then we will hide him in a crowd,” Parsons said. “We will allow the rest of the nobles to fly down to the surface as a group. Once there, they will scatter to the four winds, making it difficult for the Kail to determine which if any to follow. That will necessitate requiring them to leave their pocket secretaries and viewpads behind, not to mention any LAI employees and servants.”
“Why not bring simply it on board with an official escort?” Captain Colwege asked.
“Well, it would seem too anxious, wouldn’t it?” Lord Thomas asked. “As military personnel, your presence would seem to make a statement that the Zang is being taken into custody to prevent it making contact with the Kail—which is rather what you have in mind, isn’t it? But if I invite it on board, then it’s just the courtesy of a cousin of the Emperor himself making our visitor welcome. I can even bring it gifts. I’ve choreographed a dance of welcome, complete with original music and lighting effects …” His hands rose again to describe an arc.
“No, my lord,” Parsons said, heavily. “No dancing. Pray comport yourself with dignity.”
The young man looked crestfallen. “Oh, very well,” he said, his voice falling into a singsong recitation as though he was a small child being chided by his mother. “I will be as careful with my courtesy as I would during the visit of a head of state to the Imperium court. I will watch out for any Kail wandering about the place, and obey my security detachment in case of alarums and excursions. I will not endanger myself or my guests unduly. I will exhibit decorum as befitting someone of my station and responsibilities. Will that be suitable, captain? If something happens to me, my mother will understand. She is not unaware of my comings and goings.”
Wold shook xir head. “No. I can’t let them go unguarded. The Emperor would have my scalp if something happened to one of them.”
“I’m willing to do it,” Lord Thomas said. His eyes shone. He was undoubtedly picturing storybook heroics in which he was the chief protagonist. “Send Redius with me. He’s amazing at hand-to-hand combat with a bokken. I’ll bring my sword and pistol. None of them have any technological elements, unless you count a firing pin. It’s in the name of Imperium security, isn’t it, as well as the defense of our allies? My cousins will be eager to participate under these circumstances. We like an interesting subterfuge in a good cause.”
“They will be unaware of the subterfuge, my lord. You may express to each of them that they need to leave devices behind because of the situation, but for their own safety, not to aid the Wichu.”
“Oh, very well!” Thomas rose from his seat and went through a gyration that seemed to suggest disappointment and the dislike of being under authority. He sank back into his seat. “We shall do as you suggest. What about it, captain?”
Parsons watched the idea percolate through the consciousness of each of the three captains. Wold held xir viewpad to xir lips. Lopez and Colwege did the same. They conferred in private for a moment. Wold turned to Parsons.
“Are you sure you can trust this … young man?” Wold asked. Parsons could tell that the word for which the latter phrase was substituted was not complimentary to Lord Thomas. “We do not want to offend the Zang by sending a … a non-diplomat.” That, too, was a euphemism for the captain’s original thought.
“It has indicated through its representative that it wants to study us. Lord Thomas will be as good a specimen as any with which to begin.”
Thomas brightened and his hands began to describe some symbol. Parsons turned a steadying look upon him that caused him to fall motionless. His lordship had presented the captain with his credentials from the secret service, but his requirements for obtaining passage off the ship would be thwarted if he appeared too unsteady.
“Very well, your lordship,” Wold said. “We’ll arrange a shuttle for you immediately. Just you.”
“Splendid! But what about my cousins? And, if I have not emphasized the importance of her wants and needs, my sister?”
“I am very reluctant to let the rest of them go. It might be very dangerous while the Kail are abroad.”
“If I go, they will kick up a ridiculous fuss if they’re not allowed to come, too,” Lord Thomas pointed out. “Are you prepared to have your Infogrid file bombarded with plaintive and increasingly shrill messages from them and their many correspondents? I assure you, my cousin Erita is capable of some dangerously pointed sarcasm.”
“We will assign security to each of the nobles,” Parsons offered, as the captain wavered. “They will be at least as well protected spread out on a planet as they are confined within one ship. If one is attacked, which is most unlikely considering that the Kail do not seek to interact with humans, the others will have warning and can take cover. I can ensure that their bodyguards carry devices that will block them from tracking devices. I will accompany them, but Lieutenant Plet can oversee the operation.” Plet, beside Thomas, straightened her already upright back another two degrees. “The nobles will go about their business without hindrance, as they would on an ordinary occasion, allowing Lord Thomas to make the single contact that is necessary.”
“That sounds like a license to commit mayhem,” Wold said dryly. “Particularly in light of the tracking blockers.”
“Naturally,” Lord Thomas said, with a boyish grin. “How I wish that such a thing had been in my possession when I was on Kazuro 5 … but I digress. I will meet the Zang and escort it here, under cover of touring, shopping and carousing while you deal with the Kail. What do you say? I have been gone a long time. I hope to return to my cousins with welcome news.”
The captain exchanged glances with Parsons and xir fellow senior officers.
“Very well. It sounds like the best solution. If necessary, all of you must take to ground on Counterweight. No heroics!”
“You have my word,” Thomas said, with a hand over his heart. “We are very good at concealing ourselves when there is trouble. You won’t see us for dust. The Zang and I will be in the same hiding place, waiting for your retrieval.” He rose gracefully from the chair. “I’ll have my cousins ready for departure within the hour.”
“And remember, my lord,” Parsons cautioned, as Lord Thomas made for the door, “no dancing!”
Thomas wrinkled his nose.
“You absorb all the fun in the room, Parsons, like a veritable black hole. Have I ever mentioned that?”
Parsons allowed himself a minor sigh.
“Frequently, my lord.”
The door slid shut behind the young man, and the red lights circled the portal to reinstate security protocols. Wold lowered xir thin brows and stared at Parsons.
“Are you sure this is the best way to make contact with the Zang?”
Parsons allowed his shoulders to rise and fall no more than a millimeter.
“What better camouflage than a collection of profligate nobles on the loose across the world? If the Kail have not been able to pinpoint the Zang by themselves, then we have a negotiating point to free the Wichu. It is worth a try.”