Part 30 (1/2)

at a picnic hunting for crumbs. It fit, all right. Unfortunately. ”Wonderful. What do you propose we do about it?”

”You'd better stay aboard the s.h.i.+p until they leave. Can you get this Daviee person to tell them you're not there?”

”Probably,” Forsythe growled. ”There's just one slight flaw in that plan: the Gazelle's about to leave for Angelma.s.s. I doubt they'd be interested in having us along while they go angel hunting. No, you're going to have to do something from there. And you're going to have to do it in the next three minutes.”

Beside Ronyon, Hanan Daviee cleared his throat. ”High Senator?” he murmured, raising a tentative hand.

Forsythe focused on him. ”What?”

”If you'd rather not leave right now, you'd be welcome to join us,” he said. ”We have enough room aboard for both of you.”

Forsythe stared at him, the automatic polite refusal catching midway up his throat. It was, on the face of it, a ridiculous suggestion.

But on the other hand, why not? The other High Senators talked a great deal about angels being the future of the Empyrean, but to the best of his knowledge not a single one of them had ever personally gone on an angel hunt. It was no more or less than basic research for a man in his position.

More to the immediate point, it would save him the trouble of facing a group of reporters and questions he didn't really want to answer right now. ”Very well, Mr. Daviee,” he said. ”I accept your offer. Zar? Cancel the panic. I'm going to take a run out to Angelma.s.s with the Gazelle.”

There was another silence from the phone, a longer one this time. ”You're not serious, sir,” Pirbazari said at last, his voice sounding sandbagged.

”Perfectly serious,” Forsythe said. ”Why not?”

”Why not? This isn't exactly your standard fact-finding trip, High Senator. We're talking about Angelma.s.s here. EM radiation, deadly particle fluxes, violent magnetic fields-”

”We're also talking about a hunters.h.i.+p, Zar,” Forsythe reminded him. ”They're designed for that environment.”

”You also haven't been checked out on hunters.h.i.+p fundamentals, sir,” Pirbazari said stiffly. ”That's a basic safety rule. I'm sorry, but I cannot in any way endorse this course of action.”

”Noted,” Forsythe said. ”Continue your work; I'll check in with you whenever I get back.”

He closed down the phone and replaced it in its pocket. ”Well,” he said, nodding to Hanan. ”Request permission to stay aboard, Captain. Or whatever the appropriate phrase is.”

”Oh, we're not that formal here, High Senator,” Hanan said, his face reddening a bit. ”If you'll permit me to show you and your aide to your rooms-”

”Why don't I do that?” Kosta put in. ”Then you can concentrate on getting the s.h.i.+p ready.”

”That would be more convenient-if the High Senator doesn't mind, that is,” Hanan added quickly, looking at Forsythe.

It was, for Forsythe, a familiar pattern: common man meets Important Personage and instantly starts walking on eggs. Fortunately, it was familiar enough for him to know how to handle it. ”What the High Senator would like most,” he told Hanan, putting a note of mild reproof in his voice, ”is for you to relax. I don't want any special treatment or deference or to interfere with your work in any way. All right?”

”Ah... yes, sir,” Hanan said. ”I'll try.”

”Good,” Forsythe nodded. ”It might help for you to pretend I'm just someone who's interested in angel hunting and came along to see what the business was like.”

Hanan smiled wanly. ”First thing I'd do is try to talk you out of it. Far too much work involved. Thank you, High Senator.” His eyes flicked to Kosta. ”We'll put them in cabins one and two. Get Chandris to help you change the bunks.” With a nod, he turned and hurried down the corridor.

Forsythe felt a quiet chill run through him. Chandris. As in Chandris Lalasha, as in the Xirrus's stowaway. He'd predicted to Pirbazari that she and Kosta were working together; now, it seemed, that prediction had been borne out.

She was aboard... and he was going to be spending several days cooped up on this s.h.i.+p with them.

He shook away the momentary twinge of uncertainty. These were con artists, after all. Con artists were almost never violent.

Ronyon was looking at him, uncertainties of his own puckering his face. We're going to be staying aboard the s.h.i.+p for a few days, Forsythe signed to him. This is Mr. Kosta-he's going to take us to our rooms. The other man who was here is named Mr. Daviee.

Ronyon nodded, and Forsythe turned to Kosta. ”Whenever you're ready.”

”Right,” Kosta said, his eyes lingering on Ronyon for just a second too long.

Which meant he very much wanted to ask, but wasn't sure of how to do so. ”Ronyon is deaf,” Forsythe said, saving him the trouble. ”Also somewhat r.e.t.a.r.ded. If you need to say anything to him that can't be communicated by simple gestures, you'll have to do it through me.” Which wasn't entirely true, of course. But there was no need for Kosta to know that.

”I understand,” Kosta said. ”Uh... if you'll follow me, the cabins are back this way.”

They retraced their steps back to the now-sealed hatchway and continued a short way past it to one of several identical cross corridors. The first door along it opened into a small but cozily furnished cabin. ”This is normally Ornina's room,” Kosta said as he ushered them in. ”Hanan's is across the corridor. Let me call Chandris and find out where fresh bedding is kept.”

”All right,” Forsythe said as Kosta stepped around him and went to the bedside intercom. He wasn't really happy with the idea of throwing Hanan and his sister out of their rooms; but this too was a reaction he'd run into before, and he knew that they'd feel far more uncomfortable if he insisted on taking less than the best accommodations they had to offer.

Kosta finished his conversation and looked up. ”She'll be along in a few minutes,” he told Forsythe. ”You can wait here, or else I can take you to the control cabin and introduce you to Ornina.”

”Let's do the control cabin,” Forsythe decided. ”After that, perhaps you'd be good enough to pull up the specs for this s.h.i.+p and let me start learning my way around.”

”Certainly,” Kosta said. ”This way, please.”

They had again pa.s.sed the hatchway and turned inward toward the center of the s.h.i.+p when, turning a corner, they came face to face with a young woman, a stack of linens in her arms. ”There you are,” Kosta said, turning back to Forsythe. ”These are our guests: High Senator Forsythe and-ah-”

”His name is Ronyon,” Forsythe supplied, giving the girl a quick onceover. In her mid to late teens, he estimated, attractive enough in an immature sort of way, her posture exuding confidence and control. Clearly, she belonged here on the Gazelle; and for a brief moment he wondered if he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion about who she was.

And then he took another, longer look at her face, with that neutral-polite expression, and those coldly calculating eyes. It was the measuring look of a professional politician... or a highly competent con artist.

No, there'd been no mistake. ”And you, I take it,” he added, ”must be Chandris.”

”Yes,” the woman said, her gaze flicking once to Ronyon. ”The Gazelle is honored by your presence. May I ask what brings a High Senator aboard our humble s.h.i.+p?”

”Circ.u.mstances, plus an interest in Mr. Kosta's work,” Forsythe told her. ”I'll try not to get in your way.”

”I'm sure there'll be no problems,” she said coolly. Her eyes dropped to the pendant around his neck, perhaps to rea.s.sure herself that he really was who he claimed to be. ”If you'll excuse me, there are still several things that need my attention before we hit the launch strip.”

”Of course,” Forsythe nodded, stepping to the side of the corridor to let her pa.s.s. ”If that's the bedding for our rooms, though, you can just give it to Ronyon. There's no need for you to take it there personally.”

”All right.” Stepping to Ronyon, she offered him the bedding.

The big man looked questioningly at Forsythe. Take it back to our rooms, Forsythe signed to him. You remember the way?