Hex (9 page)

D'Anguilo peered at her, then he abruptly snapped his fingers. “Of course... Ms. Wright, isn't it?” She smiled and nodded, which he reciprocated in kind. “I remember you telling me once that you wanted to join the Corps after you graduated. Looks like you made it.”

Kyra grinned, and it was Sandy's turn to look embarrassed; realizing that D'Anguilo wasn't just some corporate flack, she stared down at the floor. D'Anguilo paid her no mind as he returned his attention to the others. “Anyway, I'm here because I'm the company expert on the races we're dealing with... including the
danui
, or at least as much as we know about them.”

“I take it, then, that you've met the
nord
,” Mark said. D'Anguilo raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and the sergeant nodded. “We've already been briefed about this... I mean, that a merchant marine captain heard about the
danui
system from one of the
nord
, and...”

“I talked to the
nord
, yes. In fact, that's what I was doing here before you showed up.” D'Anguilo gestured to the porthole. “You probably noticed their ship near the gatehouse. It brought one of their emissaries. I spoke with him just a few hours ago.” He smiled. “Not that I had a chance to say much. You don't talk to the
nord
, really... You just listen, and hope that your translator can keep up with them.”

“And the
danui
?” Kyra asked. “Have you met with them, too?”

D'Anguilo shook his head. “You can count the number of humans who've actually laid eyes on a
danui
on one hand and have some fingers left over, and I'm not one of them. For some reason, the
danui
preferred to let the
nord
act as their intermediaries. We've had no direct contact with them, and...”

The door behind him slid open. Sean's mother floated into the wardroom. “Dr. D'Anguilo?” she asked, and he nodded. “Andromeda Carson, captain of the
Montero
. Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise, Captain.” He offered his hand, which she shook. “Happy to be aboard.”

“Don't let me interrupt. Go on with what you were saying.” Andromeda grasped a wall rail and pulled herself to one side of the room. Sean noticed that she seemed to be deliberately not looking his way. Which was fine with him.

“Thank you,” D'Anguilo said. “As I was saying, we've had no direct contact with the
danui
... which is puzzling, to say the least. You'd think that, if they were interested in allowing humans to colonize a planet in their system, they'd want some say in the matter. But they seem to be rather indifferent about the whole thing.”

“Not even trade negotiations?” Cayce asked.

“Oh, there has been some of that. We're not getting a planet for free.” D'Anguilo shrugged. “But that's for later missions. For this particular expedition, all we've been asked to bring with us are transplantable specimens of native flora from Coyote... seeds, sprouts, young trees and shrubs, that sort of thing.” He glanced at Andromeda. “The skiff that brought me here carried them as cargo. I assume they've been loaded aboard.”

“Yes, they have,” Andromeda replied. “But I'm just as confused about this as you are. Aren't the
danui
concerned that we may be introducing invasive species to one of their planets?”

“I asked the
nord
emissary about this, and...” D'Anguilo stopped, slowly let out his breath. “Have you ever heard a
nord
laugh? They don't do it very often. Maybe it's just as well, because it's pretty unpleasant, but... well, that's exactly what he did. Then he told me that it didn't matter. We could poison the place, he said, and the
danui
wouldn't care.”

A low whistle from Mark, while Sean and Kyra traded an astonished glance. Cayce stared at the astroethnicist. “They don't care? What are they... ?”

“Lieutenant.” Andromeda gave him a cold look, and Cayce shut up. She looked at D'Anguilo again. “So what else have the
nord
let us know? Surely they've supplied us with vital info. Mass, surface gravity, atmospheric composition...”

“No. Not even so much as a photo.” D'Anguilo reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black cartridge. “Just this starbridge key,” he added, holding it out to the captain. “It's programmed to let us make the jump to HD 76700... and, yes, before you ask, we've been promised that it'll work in reverse as well.”

Andromeda took the key from D'Anguilo. “Will this put us out near the
danui
homeworld, or didn't the
nord
tell you that either?”

“The starbridge it opens is located one-half AU from our objective,” D'Anguilo said, “or one and a half AUs from HD 76700.” Andromeda opened her mouth, but he held up a hand before she could say anything. “I don't know if that means it's at a Lagrange point or in a trojan orbit or anything like that. All I've been told is that's where the
danui
starbridge is located, and that the world we're being allowed to colonize is within half an AU of that position.” He hesitated. “I'm sorry, Captain Carson, but that's all the
nord
would let me know. They seem to take some amusement by keeping us ignorant.”

“I don't like this.” Sandy's voice was low; she'd folded her arms across her chest and was scowling at no one in particular. “There's no reason why we should trust them... and I don't know about you, but when someone tells me nothing about the place they want me to go, I get the feeling there's something there they're trying to hide.”

Sean nodded, and to his surprise, D'Anguilo did as well. “I agree. I think the
nord
are hiding something, and so are the
danui
.” A corner of his mouth ticked upward. “That's why I went through diplomatic channels and sent a private communiqué to the
hjadd
ambassador on Coyote, to ask himher what heshe knew about HD 76700.”

“Well, that's resourceful,” Andromeda said, and Sean reluctantly found himself agreeing with his mother. The
hjadd
were humankind's closest allies among the Talus races; if any of them were going to offer candid information, it would be them. “What did heshe say?”

“Nothing... or almost nothing.” D'Anguilo turned to look her straight in the eye. “Heshe wouldn't tell me what was there. Not in specific terms, at least. But what heshe did say was we'd find—and I quote—‘the greatest wonder of the known galaxy, and we're honored to have the
danui
share it with us.' ”

No one said anything for a moment until Sandy slowly let out her breath. “Yeah, that's a lot of help. And why should we believe anything the beakheads have to tell us?”

D'Anguilo glared at her.
Beakheads
was a racial epithet, usually directed at aliens in general and the
hjadd
in particular. Before he could retort, though, Mark cleared his throat. “Pardon me, but I know for a fact that the
hjadd
ambassador is a devout follower of
Sa'Tong
, just as I am. And the Third Codicil of the
Sa'Tong-tas
prohibits us from any actions—including telling lies—that would bring harm to ourselves or anyone else. So if the ambassador says we'll find the greatest wonder in the galaxy in the
danui
system, then believe me when I say that we can trust himher.”

“I'm not entirely sure...” D'Anguilo began, then stopped. “That is, I have certain... um, suspicions... about what may be there. But I'd rather not share them until I know for certain.”

“Fair enough.” Andromeda looked at Mark. “So that's your job... to explore this new world and find out what's there. If it's what the ambassador says it is, then it's worth the risk.”

“Yeah... or so we hope,” Sandy murmured, and Cayce shot her an angry look.

Andromeda glanced at her watch. “All right, then... If there are no other questions, my crew and I have work to do.
Montero
's scheduled departure is forty-five minutes from now, and we'll be making the jump at the top of the hour. You'll need to be in your cabins by the time we leave the station and safely strapped down before we go through the starbridge. Dr. D'Anguilo...”

“Tom,” he said.

“Tom, I'd like to have you on the bridge when we make the jump. Please report to Deck One in forty-five minutes. The rest of you are at liberty until then.” Without another word, Andromeda turned to the door, slid it open, and pushed herself out into the corridor. Sean noticed that she barely glanced his way. It was as if he'd become just another passenger. Which was just as well with him.

“You heard the captain,” Cayce said, sharply clapping his hands together to get their attention. “Everyone needs to be back in their cabins in forty-five minutes. Until then, do whatever you need to do, but do it soon. That's all. Dismissed.”

He pushed himself toward the open door, with Mark and Sandy not far behind. Sean turned to Kyra as they started to leave. “So... you once had him as a teacher?”

“Uh-huh. Pretty good one, too. I learned a lot from his class.” She hung back, giving the others a few more seconds to exit the wardroom, then took his hand. “I'm a little nervous about the jump,” she murmured. “This is the first time I've ever done this.”

“You don't have anything to worry about, really.” Sean had been through hyperspace before, but he had to remember that it was Kyra's first time. Like the rest of their team, they had taken a rehearsal on the Corps simulator at Fort Lopez. It was only a facsimile of the real thing, though, and he couldn't blame her for being anxious.

“Yes, well... all the same, I'd rather not be alone.” Kyra made sure no one else was listening, then moved closer to him. “I asked Sandy if she'd mind swapping cabins with Mark,” she whispered. “She said she wouldn't. Do you think you can ask Mark...?”

“I don't think he'll mind, either.” Sean stared at her. “But I thought we'd agreed to stay away from each other until this was all over.”

“I know, but...” Her expression was pensive as she bit her lower lip. “I'm getting the feeling this isn't going to be the usual survey mission. I mean, we don't know anything about where...”

“Don't worry. We'll be fine.” Another glance at the door, then he gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Of course, if you're really serious about being comforted, we'll have to see if two people can fit in those bunks.”

“Maybe.” A fleeting smile that quickly disappeared. “I just hope you're right,” she said, becoming solemn again. “I'm beginning to think we should have stayed in bed back home.”

I
N ALL THE MANY TIMES ANDROMEDA HAD GONE THROUGH hyperspace, never once had she completely closed her eyes. Oh, she'd blinked, all right, at the moment when a starbridge's zeropoint energy generators opened its torus and a silent explosion of defocused light rushed through the wormhole. That no one could look at without squinting. But she always kept her eyes open during the fifteen seconds it took her ship to make the jaunt from one star system to another. Although she told herself that, as captain, she needed to be aware of what was happening, the truth of the matter was that she was fascinated by the near-instantaneous transition from one place to another even though she'd experienced it dozens of times.

So the retinal afterimage of the spacetime kaleidoscope hadn't yet faded when the
Montero
completed its plunge through Starbridge Coyote. Peeling a sweaty hand from her armrest, Andromeda pushed back her hair as she let out her breath.

“Everyone okay?” she asked, speaking to no one in particular.

Around the command center, her crew groaned and muttered. Jason's face was pale, but at least he hadn't vomited; it had taken
Montero
's first officer a long time to learn how not to get sick during jumps, and he still kept a plastic bag discreetly hidden beneath his seat. A weak smile and a shaky thumbs-up, then he prodded his mike wand and called below to check on the passengers. Only Zeus seemed unperturbed; perhaps it was only machismo, but the chief petty officer insisted that hyperspace didn't bother him. Andromeda had watched him in the past, though, and had quietly noted that he closed his eyes like everyone else. He just recovered more quickly than the others.

“Nice work, Captain.” From behind her, Andromeda heard Thomas D'Anguilo's voice. “In fact, that was just about the smoothest jump I've ever had.”

She half turned in her chair to look back at him. D'Anguilo was seated at the remote survey station, hands calmly resting at his sides. His complexion was normal; there wasn't so much as a drop of sweat on his face. She was impressed. Most passengers were upchucking by then, but D'Anguilo was as placid as if they'd only taken a gyro ride.

“Thank you,” she said, then returned her attention to her crew. “Stations, report. Engineering?”

“All systems nominal, ma'am.” Rolf didn't look away from his screens. “No structural damage. Main engines on standby, life support functional, ditto for all comps and primary AI.”

“Very good. Mel?”

For a moment or two, Melpomene didn't respond. She was focused entirely upon her board, her hands moving across the console. “Melpomene?” Andromeda repeated. “Status, please.”

“Aye, skipper.” The helmsman finally heard her. “We're at our expected arrival point... HD 76700, 1.5 AUs from the primary. But...” Apparently puzzled by something on her screens, she hesitated. “Skipper, I don't get it. I'm not finding any planets.”