Part 86 (1/2)
tion. You should rejoice that they're now paying attention and you've had a demonstration of how they can move.”
”Right. Sorry. But the yacht ...”
The Thek had absorbed all the yacht's considerable inertia, flicking Tim and his shuttle off as a housewife might flick an ant off a plate. When he hailed them, Arly could hear astonished relief in his voice.
”Permission to land shuttle?”
Should she bring him in, or send him back to FedCentral? A glance at the readouts told her the shuttle wouldn't make it back safely.
”Permission granted. Bring 'er aboard, Ensign.”
And he did, without any hotdog flourishes.
Ar!y looked around the bridge, and wondered if she looked as disshelved as the others. Far more ragged than Sa.s.sinak had ever looked, she thought. Well have to get this place cleaned up before she sees it and everyone rested. But we still have to get back down there, just in case.
Convincing the Dockmaster at the FedCentral Station that the Zaid-Dayan was not an agent of doom required the rough side of Arly's tongue.
”We saved your tails from a 'catenated Seti fleet. And you're going to gripe at me because I left without your fardling permission?”
”It was highly irregular.”
”So it was, and so were the Seti. So were the traitors in your system that wanted to let 'em in. It's not my feult you wouldn't believe the truth. Now you can let us dock or watch us sit out here using your station for target practice.”
”That's a threat!” he said.
”Right. Going to take us up on it?”
”Ill file a complaint.” Then his face sagged as he realized to whom that complaint would go: Sa.s.sinak, now in command of the loyal Federation forces onplanet, Acting Governor. ”It's all very irregular ...” His voice trailed away into a sigh. ”All right. Bays twelve through twenty, orange arm.”
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”Thank you,” said Arly, careful to keep her voice neutral. Never push your luck, Sa.s.sinak always said, and she felt her luck had been working overtime lately. ”If you have any fresh forage for Bronthin, we have an individual in bad shape who's been a Seti prisoner.”
This the Dockmaster could handle. ”Of course. With so much diplomatic traffic, we pride ourselves on keeping full supplies for every race in the FSP. Any other requirements?”
”A Ryxi which is suffering from 'feather pit,' whatever that is, and a pair of Lethi who seem all right, although our medical team isn't familiar with Lethi.”
”Only two Lethi? That's very bad. Lethi need to cl.u.s.ter in larger numbers.”
”Plus a larval Ssli,” Arly said. ”It's complained that its tank needs recharging.”
”No problem with any of that,” said the Dockmaster, suddenly cordial. ”If you'll send the allied races to bay sixteen, that'll be the quickest access for our specialty medical services.”
”Will do.” Arly shook her head as she looked around the bridge, ”Can you believe that? He was willing to stand us off as if we were pirates, but he's got specialty medical teams for our aliens.”
Arly had been in communication with Sa.s.sinak for the past several hours. The situation onplanet had stabilized with the loyalists firmly in control, and only scattered pockets of resistance.
”And I think most of that's confusion,” Sa.s.sinak had said. ”We're finding that many of the Parchandri/Paraden supporters had been blackmailed into it. Others just didn't know any better. Right now the Thek are calling for a formal trial.”
”Not another one!”
”Not like that one, no. A Thek trial.” Sa.s.sinak had looked exhausted. Arly wondered if she'd had any rest at all since her disappearance. ”Another Thek cathedral is all I need! But considering what they've done, we really can't argue. They want those prisoners you rescued from the Seti, especially the Bronthin, Ssli, Weft, and Dupaynil.”
340.
So now, docked at the Station, Arly saw these turned over to special medical teams. Soon they'd be on their way to the Thek trial. She wondered about the crew and pa.s.sengers of the yacht Tim had trapped. But she wasn't going to ask any questions. Two experiences with fast-moving Thek were quite enough.
It was impossible to overestimate the civilizing influence of cleanliness, rest, and good cooking, Sa.s.sinak thought. Back on the Zaid-Dayan, back in a clean uniform, with a stomach full of the best her favorite cook could do, with a full s.h.i.+ft's sleep, she was ready to forgive almost anyone. Particularly since the Thek, in their unyielding fas.h.i.+on, had satisfied any remaining desire for vengeance.
For a moment, she felt again the pressure of those most alien minds. And marveled that she had survived two terms in a Thek cathedral. Never again, she hoped. The judgment process might be exhausting but it served its purpose admirably.
The guilty Seti were to be confined to one interdicted planet, guarded by installations whose crews were former pirate prisoners. Paraden family lost all its possessions, from s.h.i.+pping lines to private moonlets. Paradens and Parchandris alike were given basic survival and tool supplies, the same they had sold to many a colony starting up, and deposited on a barely habitable planet.
With the single exception of Ford's Auntie Q. She lost nothing for the Thek considered her a victim, not a Paraden, despite her name.
And, thanks to Lunzie's partisans.h.i.+p and fierce arguments, heavyworlders were also considered victims. After all, they had been cheated by the wealthy lightweights who then blackmailed them into service. So the Thek required only that those conspirators in the governments of heavyworlder planets be expelled. The others, informed of the complex plot, were given shares in the liquidation of Paraden a.s.sets. They could use that to ease their lives.
In addition, FSP regulations changed to allow heavy- .
341.
worlder migration to any world open to humans. But that did not include Ireta: the Thek would not change their earlier decision. Aygar had been consoled, finally, by the knowledge that he would have a chance to see many equally fascinating worlds. And enough money to enjoy them.
Now the original team relaxed in Sa.s.sinak's office, with most of the tales untold and a long night ahead for telling them. Restored by a couple of sessions in the tank to heal his b.u.ms, Ford crunched another of the crispy fries. Sa.s.sinak met his eyes and felt indecently smug. They had private plans when the party broke up. He had told her just enough about Auntie Q and the Ryxi tailfeathers to whet her appet.i.te.
Dupaynil, though, had lost some of his polish. Specldessly clean, as usual, perfectly groomed, he still had a hangdog tentative quality that she found almost as irritating as his former blithe certainty.
Lunzie, always tactful, had put aside her grief for Coromell to try to cheer Dupaynil up, but so tar it hadn't worked. Timran, on the other hand, was indecently gleeful. He had taken the mild commendation she'd given him as if he'd been awarded the Federation's highest honor in front of the Grand Council. Now he sat stiffly in the corner of her office as if he would burst if he moved. She'd better rescue the lad.
”Ensign, there's an errand ... a fairly special one ...”
”Yes, ma'am”
”We're having guests; I'd like you to escort a lady from the Flight Deck in here.”
If anyone could settle a young man like Tim, it would be Fleur. He'd enjoy Aygar's student friend, too, and Erdra. Sa.s.sinak grinned wickedly at the thought of Erdra coming face to face with the reality behind her daydreams. She was no Carin Coldae and the sooner she quit playing games and went back to finish that advanced degree in a.n.a.lytical systems, the better. The riot had cured her of any thought that violence and glamor coexisted, and a visit to a working wars.h.i.+p ought to clear out the rest of her nonsense.
342.
Lunzie would want to meet her relative-of-sorts, from the Chinese family. It had been extravagant, in several ways, to send her own shuttle down for them, but she felt it important to build respect for Fleet. No more restrictions on the movement of Fleet personnel, and no civilian weapons monitors, either. The Zaid-Dayan was, as it always should be, ready for action. Now, while Tim was gone, she could try to penetrate DupayniTs gloom again.
”I wanted to apologize to you,” she began, ”for pulling that trick ...”
”It was a trick, then, with the orders?” He brightened a moment. ”I was sure of it. You used the Ssli, right?”