Part 11 (2/2)
”Tao's eyes!” The Saipese banged a fist on the console's padded edge. ”We do not deserve this!”
”What? What is it?”
”See for yourself, Cap'm. I don't even want to say it.” He keyed the pointer to the new light blip flas.h.i.+ng across the screen and asked SIPAc.u.m for an ID. ”Ion signature says that's a Luhran patrol s.h.i.+p. They sure aren't out here to see the sights-and they're heading straight for us, too.”
Kimry was just entering the con-cabin, a few mins early for duty. She was adjusting her clothing, a brief-skirted yellow wrap-tunic over nothing at all. She also looked flushed from . . . whatever she had been doing. With whomever.
148.
149.
”But we haven't done anything,” she blurted. ”We're absolutely clean!”
Chan gave her a stare. ”So what? That spook's SIPAc.u.m just a.n.a.lyzed our s.h.i.+p's signature and recognized us as the s.h.i.+p that illegally blew off the surface of Rahman and fled all pursuit. So we didn't do anything on Aglaya 'cept take out that fata.s.s s.h.i.+eda -so we're already fugitives, remember?”
”Oh.”
”Ready DS, Captain?”
”Neg.” Janja was flipping switches and depressing keys in the manner of a woman possessed. She also actuated the speakers, flipping a finger over to direct a quick scan of all frequencies. The live one locked on: ”s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p Hornet. s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p Hornet. This is Luhran s.p.a.ce Watch patrol cruiser Goshawk, Captain Khyrkh commanding, You are guidelined to off-power and receive a boarding party. You are in Luhran s.p.a.ce and this is an order of Luhran s.p.a.ceWatch. You are the subject of a Sector Seven star-search ... ”
d.a.m.n, Janja thought, oh d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n it-and I can't identify myself to them in front of my crew! And if I sent them out of the con-cabin and next thing they knew we're free to go our way, they'll be worse than suspicious. Oh Rat-it wasn 't such a great idea, making me instantly infamous!
She heard Chan's explosion of sarcasm for her benefit. ”Oh sure, pos, of course! Heave to and welcome 'em onboard. Make it easy for the vaporizer teams, the fugitives' friends, hmm? They solve all problems and end all worries. Atoms to atoms, dust to-”
”Ease it, Chan,” Janja said. She half-turned to address Kimry, at the same time easing down the toggle to close commlink sender. ”Computrician! Call up the 150.
star-charts, quick! We can't outrun these spooks in open s.p.a.ce and we sure don't want to fight 'em, not policers if we can help it! But if we can find a broken field in time, we may be able to play a little tag with 'em. We are fast, you know-but they're too fast for freefall dodge-em, bet on it.”
”Can't fight!” Chan echoed, on a rising note. ”What else can we-”
”I said ease it, s.p.a.cefarer. Zip it!”
Kimry was already spinning the scanner on the computerized, richly detailed galactic charts that were every navigator's sacred screeds.
Janja was opening the ins.h.i.+p comm that would carry her voice throughout Hornet. The craft was small as s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps went, but hardly so small as to crowd her and the four crewmembers. She a.s.sumed that Kimry had just left either Kemahtejas or Swayn, but she didn't know which, or where.
”We're challenged by a Luhran policer. Good s.h.i.+p. They want to board. We do not wish to be boarded. We also don't want to tangle with 'em. // we succeeded in crippling them or worse, we'd have half the spooks in the Galaxy after us. Forget DS. Just . . . stand by. Kimry?”
”We're in sector XT88M, quadrant 4D. Technically Luhran s.p.a.ce, firm, but mostly clear arcs. Here's a patch of asteroids at coordinates X7B ...”
”No good,” Chan said, before Janja had a chance to speak. ”Asteroids are worthless. That flaining policer could crowd us in on one so tight we'd crash-graze it, at least.”
”Just as bad,” Janja said. ”Headquarters would give him a commendation for saving Luhra the expense of sending us back to Rahman-or save TGW the expense 151.
of taking us in for trial.” Again she issued swift instructions to SIPAc.u.m. The puter dropped the little s.p.a.cer sidewise, then sent it zipping off in a new direction. ”Is that all, Kimry? Nothing but asteroids?”
”That's all. . . . ” Kimry's voice thrummed, taut with frustration. ”The only other thing is what the index shows as a CongCorp communications relay station.”
”CongCorp!” Chan snorted. ”Huh-heard about the holomeller that hotcha blond and the purple jacko from Eilon're making? CongCorp's in deep tr-”
Once again Janja cut in on him. ”A comm-relay station? Where is it?”
Kimry checked the coordinates and read them off, just as Swayn came into the con-cabin.
”Captain!”
”Just a min, Swayn.” Janja had fed the coordinates into SIPAc.u.m. ”We head for SwineCorp's relay station-we'll go in on a double ellipse. Hang on, m'dears!” Her voice sounded almost ready to chuckle in an unaccountable rush of delight.
”Just what I was going to suggest, Captain!” Swayn said happily. The man who claimed both Rahman and far Suzi as home planet moved in behind Chan's chair.
”What's to be gained?” Kimry wanted to know.
”Tell 'em then, Swayn,” Janja snapped. ”I'm busy!”
Swayn laughed aloud and spread large hands at the end of long arms, the wrists thick slabs of bone emerging from the sleeves of his jumpsuit-its color was what Kemah had referred to as ”grunje-brown.”
”Don't you see? It's just what we need. No policer's going to do any shooting with a CC relay station around! They're fixed pseudo-satellites that handle all message traffic to and from CongCorp headquarters, 152.
for one thing. True, CC's in a lot of trouble over that planet Eilong thing,* but they're mighty big taxpayers on Luhra, I remember that. The relay stations are indispensable. They also cost too much! All that equipment-grabbles, they're well equipped, believe it. Even a direct link to CC's data banks.”
”Uh-huh,” Chan put in in a grumbly voice, ”that's why they set the things up like forts in s.p.a.ce. What we should be doing is getting ourselves ready to welcome a boarding party-'n then we'd have hostages!”
”You're not thinking, Chan,” his captain told him. ”We aren't bent on attacking that 'fort in s.p.a.ce.' We merely put ourselves between it and the Luhran pa-troller.”
”Huh,” Swayn said, beaming at his captain. ”Let anyone attack a comm-relay station, maybe damage one-Sheol!-CongCorp wouldn't waste time on complaints or trials. They'd just turn it over to their ruf-fos.” He startled Chanthawan by reaching down and drawing a finger across the yellow-bronze throat of the seated man. ”If you weren't dead when those apes got through with you, you'd wish you were!”
”Hey, hands off,” the Saipese said, twisting in the mate's chair.
”I give up,” Kimry said. ”So why are we heading straight for it, then?”
Janja was smiling. ”Because-”
”s.p.a.cer Hornet! We are holding fire, but-you really aren't going to be so stupid as to make a run for it, are you?”
Janja b.u.t.toned the s.h.i.+p-to-s.h.i.+p commsender. ”Goshawk, if I had known this s.h.i.+p was wanted when I s.p.a.cEWAYS#16, The Planet Murderer 153.
closed the deal for it three days ago on Terasaki, I wouldn't! We're innocent of any wrongdoing and I'm sure your scanners read absolutely no action in our DS area.” She b.u.t.toned off. ”There-that might keep 'em thinking and conferring for a half-min, and we don't need much more. It's this way, Kimry: check your chart again. The coordinates you gave me for the relay station are mere kilometers outside Luhra's official defense area. We head straight for the station with them following, but daring not fire. We zip around it and are outside their jurisdiction. We also keep right on going- fast. Stand by for acceleration!”
”Aha!” Chan cried, and Kimry made a similar exultant noise.
SIPAc.u.m cut in just then, in response to its instructions. Hornet was immediately accelerating at a rate that had Swayn clinging to the back of Chan's chair and rammed Kimry back against the wall-and tied knots in every belly onboard. On the console's microscreen, light-dots blurred. Someone from Goshawk was babbling at them, but the comm came through all garbled.
Then, ”d.a.m.n. One problem, Cap'm,” Chan said. ”They're just as fast as we are.”
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