Part 11 (1/2)

The lander swooped down into Aglaya's atmosphere, and down. Janja's DS men made excited noises, jittering in their fire-seats. Ready to say the word to voice-actuated fire-control systemry. Janja twisted a focuser to read the name on the side of the s.p.a.ceboat lander. Her weapons were not tracking it; they were aimed at the mother s.h.i.+p.

”Fire,” she said.

s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p Kirin, unsuspecting that such a little craft might have mounted in its missile tubes a weapon that was so old it was nigh-forgotten, died.

The depro bolt simply sucked forth all Kirin's protons, liberating the electrons with their strong aversion to each other; electrons that had been held together in an uneasy truce by the protons. The electrons parted at speed, to rush off in all directions. Kirin became a bright flash just at the outer reaches of Aglaya's atmospheric sheet.

(The depro guns had not lasted long, a few centuries ago. Defense was too simple. So was turning the bolts back on their senders. After less than a century the weapon was all but forgotten. The ever-progressing members of the Galactic race had long since ceased bothering to rig the simple defense. Ratran Yao had used a crossbow more than once, he had told Janja, and once he had taken out a ranting speechifying menace to the Tri-System Accord . . . with a slingshot and a ball bearing.) Kirin died, with all hands.

Kirin's s.p.a.ceboat was just landing. It dared not try to rush away, now. Whoever was...o...b..ard knew he would never make it, not against this murderous little s.h.i.+p. Perhaps a conference, some trickery . . .

144.

”The same weapon that just destroyed your stinking slaving s.h.i.+p, Captain s.h.i.+eda, is now trained on your boat. Come out.”

”Who are you?” the pirate and slaver wanted to know; Janja turned up the volume because his voice was poorly amplified from his portable talker.

Unfortunately someone on the lander with him went a bit fraggy and starting swinging a gun to bear on Hornet. Surely s.h.i.+eda would never have ordered such an act under the circ.u.mstances.

”Captain!” That was Kemahtejas, at Hornet's forward DS.

”Fire, Kemah,” Captain Jansanerima said, and with a swift nod and a little smile Kemah said ”Fire,” and his DS-puter todc care of the rest.

s.p.a.cer Kirin's lander went to pieces, spectacularly.

”About as it should be,” Janja said quietly. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could scarcely breathe. She had killed Jonuta, and he was back. Why bother to kill him again-and besides he had saved her life, which remained an unpleasant fact to live with. s.h.i.+eda, pirate and slaver, user of females and males, murderer, became a perfect subst.i.tute for the woman who needed one. The s.p.a.ceways were better for s.h.i.+eda's departure, and yet he had died as much as a Jonuta subst.i.tute-simulacrum, for Janja's peace of mind, as s.h.i.+eda.

”Impersonal,” Janja muttered, staring at the screen. ”Undramatic. The touch of a b.u.t.ton. Sorry I failed to tell him who I was.”

She sighed, going limp but forgetting to smile as she might have expected to do. ”All hands a.s.semble.”

They gathered in the con, glancing at her and at each other. s.p.a.cefarer and DSer Kemah was visibly excited.

”Better than good job, Kemah!” his captain told 145.

him. ”Twice! We have just relieved the s.p.a.ceways of the burden of Captain s.h.i.+eda, and if any of you hasn't heard of him, don't admit it. All of you were on the s.h.i.+p that did it. I can't think of any tight friends he had; people who might hold his death against you. I'd say it's a plus for you, should you be looking for berths in future. We-”

”Happy to be on s.p.a.cer Hornet, Captain Jansa! What do we do next-fill the cargo holds?”

”Thanks, Chan,” Janja said, and allowed herself to look away as if in embarra.s.sment. Chanthawan's words tended to support her a.s.sumption that right now her popularity rating with her crew was higher than ever, after its sagging while they remained here on Aglaya, doing nothing. She hoped she was right; she had a bomb to drop on them. She also had to do some acting and some lying. She had begun.

”I-I can't do it. I'm sorry. I apologize for what you may see as weakness. All right, I am a sentimental a.s.s. I came here for slaves, and I've been dithering. s.h.i.+eda's appearance made me realize that I just can't do it. I can't be a s.h.i.+eda-it was s.h.i.+eda who-you all know that I am an Aglayan. It was s.h.i.+eda who stole and sold me. I can't do that to any other Jansas.”

”You sure overcame being a slave, Captain!”

”I know. I did. I also know that most don't. I ask you to forgive your captain its sentimentality, and support me in leaving here. You will all be paid-I did well enough on the last. . . transaction.”

Eyes sent nervous glances this way and that, until DSer Kemahtejas spoke forcefully into the silence: ”I'm slicin' proud to've s.h.i.+pped with the captain as didn't give s.h.i.+eda a chance to destroy us all. I was on DS, Captain, but you give the orders.” His face changed just a little in the slightest of smiles. ”I reckon 146.

I'm not too unhappy that my captain's sentimental about her own people-especially since right now I'm one of her people! So are the rest of you!”

”Hey, you're right, Kemah.”

”Firm. I'm with you, Cap'm Sentimental!”

Two more nods and a few enthusiastic words made it unanimous. Janja nodded, with a grateful look to Kemah. She had two excellent reasons to be grateful to him, now.

”I thank all of you. Let's. .h.i.t it for Terasaki!”

They did that cheerfully, and maybe two Aglayan lovers saw a bright flash in the sky. Maybe they took cover and maybe they didn't; lightning and thunder they were familiar with, but everyone had been warned about the sky-demons who sometimes came down and carried people off.

Not this time.

Having sent the others elsewhere about their duties, ensconced Kemah in the mate's chair beside her, and made sure the commsender was off, Janja watched Hornet's SIPAc.u.m set them on course. She glanced over at Kemah.

”I congratulated and thanked you in front of the others, s.p.a.cefarer Kemahtejas. Now I want to thank you privately, Kemah. I was nervous about crew's reaction to my . . . weakness, and I really appreciate your speaking up. You got the job done for me.”

”Meant it,” he said, hardly able to glance at her. ”And don't you go calling sentiment 'weakness,' Captain. We know you're not. We've talked about the strength of a woman who freed herself from slavery and has a s.h.i.+p of her own. We're with you.”

Janja wished she could tell him more, and knew she couldn't. ”Thanks still again, Kemah. I'll print out a recommendation and sign it for you. That way if we 147.

should ever fall out, you'll have it just the same.”

”Fall out? Us?”

Janja flipped her fingers. She couldn't tell him that some day she would be leaving all four of them, somewhere. Tell him who and what she was now and at worst he'd change his mind completely and she'd be dead; at best he and the others would blow her cover anywhere they went.

”It's just that I'm grateful, Kemah. Ask just about anything of me, and you've got it.”

His voice took on a new note; that of a man speaking to an attractive woman. ”Anything, Captain?”

Janja heard him and his tone, and knew what he'd said. She turned to him with a small smile. ”No, Kemah.”

He looked away, glanced back at her, grinned. He rapped his knuckles against the rounded edge of the console. ”s.h.i.+t,” he said, and both of them chuckled.

”All right, Captain Jansanerima. ”You got no problem with me.”

”All right, s.p.a.cefarer Kemahtejas, we're going to do fine!”

Adjusting course slightly so as to avoid the settled planet Luhra's fat bright star, Sipac.u.m sent Hornet toward the Hubble-Durga system, and Terasaki.

13.

Never, never back a rat into a corner. Not unless you're wearing armor.

-Ratran Yao The second challenge came out among the stars, and this time it was not from a slaver-pirate. SIPAc.u.m sounded its proximity-and-closing alarm and was instantly the entire, focus of attention on s.p.a.cer Hornet. This time Chanthawan was oncon with Captain Jan-sanerima, and it was he who swung to the scanner and made hasty adjustments.