Part 12 (2/2)
”Thank you,' Hrriss said.
”And I'll bet no one in this village believes it, either,' Kelly went on, wound up by indignation.
”A Hrruban does not bring disgrace to his Stripe...” Kelly rolled her eyes skyward. ”You are not in disgrace, Hrriss, any more than Todd is. You're just just pending investigation. You're sure I can't get you something?” she asked in a milder tone, rather surprised at her own vehemence. But the idea of an honorable person like Hrriss even thinking the word ”disgrace' infuriated her.
”Nothing I can think of,' Hrriss said, dropping his jaw at her energetic defense. He was as much touched as amused by it. ”You have already brought me something I appreciate greatly: yourself. Will you please visit again when you may?”
”Of course,' Kelly said, giving him a big hug as she turned to go. ”Hang on, Hrriss. This won't last long.” Ken found Emma Sumitral in a research room in the Treaty Center. She was a tall, slim woman of thirty, with large, smoky gray eyes and dark brown hair. She had the same formal carriage as her father the Admiral, which somehow made even the casual smock she was wearing look elegant.
”I am very troubled by what you've told me,' she said after Ken had detailed the seizure at the Albatross and the findings of the hearing. ”You may count on our support. My father will certainly want to help you, but I'm not sure what he can do. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do.”
”You can help me find out who informed Rogitel that the Albatross was stuffed with contraband.
Naturally he refused to reveal his source. The Treaty Controller doesn't know, or won't tell. The rest of the Council refuses to talk to anyone other than Hu s.h.i.+h or Hrrestan. And they're probably only speaking to Hrrestan because he's head of the Hrruban contingent. I hate like poison being ignored, Emma.” And Ken managed a weak smile at that defect in himself. ”I've got to find out who planted that junk, especially that blasted Byzanian Glow Stone, because they admitted being near Hrrilnorr IV. But no one there believed that they'd heard a Mayday. 1 believe!”
”I personally find it very hard to believe that either Todd or Hrriss could be smugglers or pirates.
But it is most unfortunate that they did not have the Albatross inspected as soon as they landed.
Especially in view of that Mayday.”
”I reported that to Hu and Hrrestan myself. You know the boys were Masters of the Hunt, that that trip to Hrretha meant they'd have to work day and night to get the Hunt organized. Newry saw no harm in sealing the s.h.i.+p and letting the boys get on with crucial Hunt details.” He hissed out a sigh, sounding more Hrruban than Hayuman, letting his hands go limp in his lap.
”But Treaty Law had been violated,' Emma reminded him in a gentle voice. She was a noted expert on the topic.
”A Mayday should be considered extenuating circ.u.mstances, Emma, not a crime. And there was no one else capable of 5rganizing the Hunt.
That could not be cancelled, and that's why I thought it was permissible for the formal inspection to be deferred. Just for two weeks.” Ken raised his hands again in a pleading gesture. ”You know yourself that we have to have the Snake Hunt, whether we dress it up as a tourist attraction or New Home Week or whatever. Those snakes would swarm whether or not there were any Hunters to restrict them. Hu and Hrrestan agreed with my a.n.a.lysis of the situation-Doona has to be profitable and the Snake Hunt provides a large hunk of our income.
If anyone is guilty of not insisting on that inspection, it's me.
I should be taking the blame.” Emma looked very grave.
”Ultimately you may have to.” Then, having startled him, she went on.
”From what you have told me, Ken, it is not just that delay, it is also all those valuable items that were found on the Albatross and the tape record of landings and launches within the framework of that Hrrethan journey.”
”Neither Todd nor Hrriss is untrustworthy or a pirate or smuggler.”
”No, they are not the type. However, the fact that blame is being attached to those two young men may yet work in their favor. They are much admired on Earth. Their friends.h.i.+p is legendary. I think you could say that it epitomizes Doona in many people's minds.
”Will it? After all this has been broadcast about the galaxy?” Ken asked bitterly.
Emma looked at him sternly. ”If there is any rumor, gossip, slander, or libel about this investigation before it has been completed and its report made, there will be far more trouble for the loosemouthed than they can swallow! The boys are under house arrest, not incarcerated in a Poldep facility. Unless they break their bond, they are safe from slander. Now, let's see what we can find.” She turned to her desktop console.
She initiated a search based on the boys' names and the name of their s.h.i.+p, the word ”Hrrilnorr,' and the names of the artifacts that Ken could recall.
”Now we wait.
When the computer eventually spat out a list of file names, Emma briefly scanned each one, and instead of data, found she was looking at a moir graphic with a blinking square in the center requesting a confirmed pa.s.sword.
”Cla.s.sified! In the last two weeks, every one of these has acquired a special clearance pa.s.sword.
They're locked!” Ken swore softly. ”d.a.m.n it, I'd hoped you'd be able to get through. I got the same graphics. Not a single code I knew got me any results. Do I need to start standing on desks to get cooperation?” ”Not yet. . . I hope,' Emma admitted with a wicked light in her eyes. She bent over the board.
”I've got Father's code-key number. They wouldn't dare cla.s.sify these files too high for the head of Alreldep to access.” To Todd's surprise, his father arrived home for dinner with a very attractive woman whom he introduced as Emma Sumitral.
”How do you do, Miss Sumitral?” Todd asked stiffly, and then the name registered. ”You wouldn't be related to Admiral Sumitral, would you?” ”Indeed I am, Todd Reeve,' she responded, squeezing his hand warmly. ”I've heard a great deal about you from my father.” She had a brilliant smile that lit up her gray eyes. Then she crooked her neck to look behind him.
Suddenly his formality deserted him and he burst out laughing. ”I gave up wearing that rope tail a long time ago, Miss Sumitral.”
”Emma,” please,' she said, and he gestured for her to take a seat. ”My father used to regale me with stories about Doona. I was only five when the first wave of settlers left Earth for Doona, so this world has always been special to me. I always wished my father didn't work for the government so we could have come, too,' she admitted. ”I'm glad now that he does. His position has opened otherwise locked doors for me as a researcher, and now I believe it may help you, too.”
”What?” Todd said, grasping at whatever hope was offered him.
”Todd, we'll wait until Hrrestan and Mrrva arrive. This concerns them, too, you know.” Ken's expression was so concerned that Todd wondered what they could have found out that would upset his father-more than he was already.
Hrrestan and Mrrva arrived at the Reeves' house shortly before sunset. Todd greeted them courteously. He had to bite his tongue on ”How's Hrriss?” Even with the parents of his friends, he would not break his given word.
Hrrestan and Mrrva nodded gravely to their son's dearest friend, their liquid eyes saying what they, too, would not say aloud. Both Hrrubans already knew Emma Sumitral.
”I've chased out the other children for the evening,' Pat said, trying to set all her guests at ease. An adult evening. Kelly ought to arrive any minute now.
Todd looked up, somewhat surprised, but Kelly hadn't smothered him with sympathy earlier and she'd scarcely do it in front of guests.
”She is?” Pat glanced at him, worried. ”I thought you'd want her input. Isn't that all right?”
”Sure,' Todd said hastily.
As deftly as her father would, Emma led the discussion away to other matters, and held forth on the subject of trade among the colony worlds. Todd found her not only charming but intelligent. He rather thought she and Kelly would like each other.
Kelly arrived only minutes behind the Hrrubans.
They greeted each other warmly. ”It's nice to see so much of you these days,' she said ingenuously.
Todd couldn't help but gawk at her, for she couldn't have more plainly told him she'd visited Hrriss, too.
”Well,' said Pat, surprised, ”you did learn some diplomacy, after all.” Then Ken introduced her to Emma and offered drinks all round.
For the first time, Todd found that the simple courtesies be usually enjoyed extending struck him as unnecessary time-wasters. Once Hrrestan and Mrrva were settled, Emma began to detail the files she had unlocked.
”It's turned out to be more than juSt trusting my father's opinions of you and Hrriss,' she said, ”I think we may have stumbled onto a very complex and highly organized smuggling operation.” She waited patiently until everyone stopped demanding details. ”I found some, all right. And more data from the beacons...o...b..ting the other prohibited worlds is still coming in. So far, all of them show the identification number of the Albatross as having entered those systems shortly before or shortly after the s.h.i.+p visited Hrretha. The information is not yet complete. There are still four buoys circling interdicted systems left to be heard from, and that data will come in within the next few days.”
”I can't believe that they all have the code number from the boys' s.h.i.+p,' Pat said.
”Now, the beacons identify the Albatross as being the s.h.i.+p that crossed their barriers in each instance.
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