Chapter 6
“Every decision, every action or inaction, every breath you take must serve the purpose of attaining your ultimate goal.…”
Devlin Sinclair-Maru, Integrity Mirror
Saef eyed the strange young woman as she perched on the arm of a chair near Bess, one booted leg swinging, but he did as Bess requested, taking a seat near the two women.
“I’ll eat later, m’lady. Hermes was going to send something down…”
“Yes,” Bess said. “Hermes has been pestering me about it, but I wanted to wait. You don’t contribute enough when your mouth isn’t full.”
Saef shrugged. “Politicking isn’t one of my strengths.”
“As a Fleet captain, that must evolve, Saef.”
He felt the unwavering focus of the strange young woman’s eyes upon him, and it felt oddly disconcerting. “Fortunately, there’s a war,” she said. “Less talk, more action.”
Saef finally looked up at the young woman. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said.
She smiled broadly, but the smile did not reach her eyes. Saef noted an almost feral, cat-like aspect to her slender face. Her teeth looked sharp and white as she said, “Oh, but we did!”
Saef regarded her fixed smile for a moment before looking back to Bess, who said, “This is Inga Maru.”
Inga Maru.
Saef pursed his lips, thinking back fifteen years or so. Eldridge had brought Saef and several of his cousin classmates into a squalid section of Port City. He remembered the decay of condemned buildings, and wondered why any demi-cit would remain in such horrible straits, when modern, mod-housing stood available.
Then Saef recalled his shock when he saw the man greeting them, dressed in tattered clothes…a cheap old sword at his waist. This impoverished man was a Vested Citizen, clinging stubbornly to his citizen status rather than demoting and accepting the Imperial stipend and housing all demi-cits were entitled to.
And Saef remembered the man’s three children, staring at him and his cousins, the strong, well-fed Sinclair-Maru. The oldest of the three children, he now recalled, was a starved-looking young girl with disordered blond hair and startling blue eyes. She had been holding something…What was it? A doll? A pet? He couldn’t place it now, but he still felt the shock when he heard their surname: Maru. The poor blighted scrubs were distant relatives, bearing half the Family name, descendants of Mia Sinclair-Maru’s brother. He also remembered the heartache he felt for their plight.
“I remember,” Saef said, looking at her again. “We took you to the spaceport.”
“Yes,” Bess interjected, while Inga just smiled in her disconcerting way. “To Hawksgaard. She worked for me there these many years, and now she’ll be working with you.”
“Working with me,” Saef said slowly, frowning.
“Yes. She’s Fleet rated, and she’ll serve as cox’n or mid in your new command.”
Saef looked again at Inga sitting on the arm of the chair, her leg swinging, her cloak gathered about her. “She’s old for a mid, and young for a cox’n.”
“You’ll make it work,” Bess said.
“M’lady,” Saef said, feeling his brow lower, “I have trained hard for this my whole life. Perhaps it would be better if I followed my own training in Fleet matters.”
Inga continued to smile, unmoved, and Bess stared at him for a moment. “Hermes, seal the room, please,” Bess said without taking her gaze off Saef.
“Yes, my lady,” Hermes said. “This room is now sealed, and I am withdrawing.” In his UI, Saef saw his connection to the Family Net disappear as Hermes killed all the signals to the room.
“Okay,” Bess said. “The other part of the equation, now. I have agreed to enlist you as an intelligence resource for Imperial security.”
Saef merely stared at her.
“In addition to your duties as a Fleet captain, you will be investigating a possible faction of heavyworlders in Fleet. You will be reporting your findings to…a highly placed Imperial operative via QE.”
“Perhaps, m’lady,” Saef said in a low voice, “you should have consulted with me on this matter first.”
“Why? I obtained items from the List, and a shot at bringing a little Imperial favor back to the Family. What could you have to say about it?”
“I’m not well suited for this cloak-and-dagger nonsense—”
“Of course you’re not, Saef. That’s what Inga’s for.”
Saef glowered at Bess, then up at Inga, who just continued to smile. “And she is suited for it?”
“Trust me to know my tools well,” Bess said. “I don’t simply want you to succeed, Saef. I’m not just betting your life on this, I’m betting my life, too.”
Saef gazed critically at Inga. “I would not wish to contradict you, m’lady, but surely vanity’s not a job requirement for a spy. She’s too thin to have spent the high-grav time for any kind of strength.”
“Trust me. There are strengths you cannot see,” Bess said. “But enough about that. She’s got a Fleet rating. I want her with you all the time, so make it work.”
Saef nodded his head stiffly, resigned. “As you wish, my lady.”
“Very good. You’ll be out of here tomorrow, on your way to Imperial City. I’ve had your effects gathered from command school and they’ll be here by morning.”
“Tomorrow, then,” Saef said, beginning to rise.
“Wait,” Bess said. She reverently lifted a small box of carved wood, placing it on the table between them. “This is for you.”
Saef glanced curiously at both women before sliding the box nearer and opening the delicate lid. Within lay a flattened gray oval, about the size of his hand. It took Saef a moment to realize that he beheld a piece of legendary Shaper technology. His next thought was of the million credits or so that it represented.
“Old Devlin’s shield generator,” Saef said in a low voice, looking up to the fixed gaze from Bess.
“Yes.”
“I can scarcely believe it is still in the Family.”
“There are a few old treasures remaining even still. You will use this always. Like old Devlin said, ‘the silent hand,’ eh?”
Saef nodded. “It is a great honor, m’lady. But with this sold, you might afford rejuv.”
Her eyes flashed suddenly. “I will not live and grow young while my siblings and cousins—our children—all wither and die!” She stared hard at Saef. “And neither will you. We both live or die on this one turn of the cards. You will be as hard to kill as I can contrive.”
Saef nodded, feeling a sudden warmth. It might represent nothing more than pragmatism on the part of Bess, but it was by far the most personal and generous token the Family had ever bestowed upon Saef. “I understand. I will take it, then.”
“Yes. Use it always,” Bess said, calming. “It sips power from the standard Shaper cell very slowly. And once Hermes stops suppressing this signal, it will link with your UI.”
Saef stood to his feet and inclined his head to Bess, then turned to Inga. “Mistress Maru, tomorrow we become shipmates, it appears.”
Inga stopped swinging her leg and stood to her full height. She stood taller than she first appeared, and she looked Saef nearly eye-to-eye. “Yes, Commander,” she said, her smile gone, her face still and serious. “We’ll get on famously, you’ll see.”
“Perhaps,” Saef said. “There is this whole chain of command, taking orders bit that we will need to explore. It’s a funny old tradition in Fleet, and they’re damnably stuck on the notion.”
Inga’s mouth quirked back to her smile. She mystified Saef by winking at him, producing another red fruit from somewhere, and settling back on the arm of the chair.
“Saef,” Bess said, “only the three of us in this room will ever fully know Inga’s role in your efforts. I will not inform the Imperials, and I suggest you follow suit. She’ll serve as a cox’n with a degree of invisibility, I believe, and follow orders in that role rather admirably.”
Saef felt far from certain in this, but nodded. “Very well, m’lady.”
Bess stared appraisingly at him. “Trust me, Saef. I have raised her like family. Like Family. You know what that means.”
Saef hesitated only a moment before nodding again, although he wasn’t sure that he did know what it meant.