Authors: Margaret Weis
Brother Daniel,
pale and trembling, looked from Tomi to Maigrey. Head bowed, he did
as he was told, shrank back against the wall.
The Corasian was
within half a meter's distance from the bottom of the bed. Maigrey
took a step forward, stood in front of it, placed herself between the
soldier and the helpless woman.
"No free
samples," Maigrey said. "We want our money."
The fiery mass
edged nearer the toes of Maigrey's boots.
She had little
fear for herself. She had the bloodsword, the needles were already
jabbed in the palm of her hand. Xris's weapons arm was lined up,
fingers aiming directly at the other Corasians in the corridor. His
men—waiting in the wings, alert for his signal—could be
counted on to take care of any that escaped the cyborg's missiles.
But being forced to kill these Corasians would seriously hamper, if
not Outright destroy, her plans.
"Back off,"
she said. "Or the deal's ended."
The Corasians
body quivered, heaved, then suddenly reversed direction, flowed back
across the deck. Reaching its robot case, it oozed its way inside.
"Now,"
she continued coolly, "about the money—"
The robot head
came to life, the case snapped shut with a click. "We do not
understand this concept of money. You risk life for it, for a thing
that can be of no value to you after death. You sell us secrets of
technology in return for it—secrets that must eventually mean
your galaxy's doom. You even sell each other for it."
"It's
what's made us what we are today. Well?"
"Your terms
will be met. We will provide you with coordinates and an escort to
your destination."
"Good."
Maigrey limited herself to that one syllable, afraid the relief would
sound in her voice if she said more. An escort would be a nuisance,
but one that could be managed.
The soldier
pivoted on its wheels, headed for die door. It rolled past Xris,
whose weapons arm slowly lowered to his side. The Corasian rejoined
its fellows in the corridor.
"We will
now return to our mother ship," it said.
Maigrey glanced
back at Sparafucile. The assassin removed his hand from Tomi's mouth,
the knife from her throat. Flicking the blade shut, sliding it into
some dark recess in his rags, the half-breed grinned and glided over
to join Maigrey, who was heading for the door.
Tomi gasped,
shuddered, gulped in air. "Wait!" she managed to call out
Maigrey paused, looked back, stopped. "Go on ahead," she
ordered Xris and Sparafucile. "I'll catch up to you in a moment.
Well"—hand on the bloodsword, she turned toward the
captain—"what is it?"
"You saved
my life," Tomi said, her tone sullen, disbelieving. "At the
risk of your own? Why? Why didn't you just let that thing have me?"
Maigrey studied
the woman, gaze calm, cool. "I could have. I thought about it.
And if it's any comfort to you, Captain, saving you wasn't a noble
gesture on my part. I acted out of necessity. They were testing me,
wanted to see if I was serious. I am, Captain. I assure you. I am."
"I'm glad
to know it, bitch." Tomi's head fell back onto the pillow. Her
eyes closed, the reaction to her ordeal setting in. "I was
afraid I was going to have to . . . reevaluate my opinion . . . of
you."
Maigrey smiled,
the smile that twisted the scar on her face. "Brother Daniel, a
word with you."
The priest
crossed the room, came to stand near her.
"No more
injections," Maigrey told him, talking in an undertone. "We'll
be at our destination in about two days time. Raoul says it will take
that long for the effects of the drug to wear off completely. She's
got to be alert, by then, capable of resuming command."
"Yes, my
lady."
"Keep the
paralyzers on her, though. God knows what she'd try if she were
loose."
"Yes, my
lady. What if she wants to know the reason why? What do I tell her?"
"I don't
know," Maigrey snapped. She was suddenly tired, felt drained,
empty. She wanted to be alone, shut herself up in her room. "Let
her think she's gotten to you, maybe."
"Yes, my
lady. And . . .• thank you, my lady. What you did—"
His voice, earnest, trembling, broke.
"What I did
I did for the reasons I said I did, Brother Daniel," Maigrey
told him wearily. "Don't go sentimental on me. Now, return to
your post."
The priest did
as he was told. But his glance, as he left her, was filled with awe
and admiration.
Maigrey was
strongly tempted to hit him.
She stalked out
the door, slammed her hand against the controls, shutting it behind
her. If only he knew how close she'd come to letting the Corasian
have the woman. If only any of them knew how seriously she'd
considered it. . . .
Maigrey walked
past her room with a brief longing glance. Returning to the bridge,
she informed Agis of their status, received Xris's report on the
status of the Corasians, who had left the ship without further
incident.
Outside the
viewscreen, the stars of the strange and alien galaxy glittered
brightly. The Corasian mother ship began to withdraw, the small
Corasian spaceplanes ended their web building, returned home, with
the exception of those detailed to stay behind, act as escort.
Maigrey stared
at it, saw none of it. She saw only the abyss.
An oath, an
oath, I have an oath in heaven: Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
William
Shakespeare,
The Merchant of Venice,
Act IV, Scene 1
"Coming up
on the Lane, my lady. Or at least that's what I assume it is. The
readings are identical—"
"The
Corasians stole our technology, so it's probably a Lane. The
coordinates are in the computer. " Maigrey took her place behind
Agis, looked out through the bridge's viewscreen. "I've plotted
the course as nearly as I can, all things considered. What are our
escorts doing?"
"Flanking
us. Six to port, six starboard."
"They don't
seem much interested," commented Xris. He had left engineering,
come to watch the attempt at the Jump.
"They're
not," said Maigrey. "If they were, they'd have six hundred
out there, with a net around us. But, then, why should they be
suspicious? Escaping from them, making a run for it is the last thing
they expect us to do. We're in it for the money, remember? They
figure we'll meekly follow where they lead. They're going to be
shocked as hell when we blast off in the opposite direction."
"There may
be six hundred of them waiting for us on the other side."
"I doubt if
they can figure out where we're going. This move of ours is bound to
baffle the collective mind. It's so completely illogical. And by that
time, His Majesty's fleet will have arrived. That should keep them
occupied."
"Coming up
on the Jump, my lady." Agis sounded the alarm that would send
everyone conscious aboard ship scrambling.
Maigrey sat
down, strapped herself in, waited, watched the Corasian escorts
floating leisurely alongside. They'd be floating leisurely alongside
nothing in a moment.
"I've
determined our destination," she said. "I've found what
appears to be either several large asteroids trapped in an orbit
around a small sun or else the remains of a planet. This is where
we'll find Abdiel. The system's near the edge of the Void, which
makes sense from his viewpoint. In case anything went wrong, the
mind-seizer could always slip back to friendly territory. It's
uncharted, far from any major Corasian population centers, so that he
won't be disturbed in his work. And these fragments are the only
objects of any size anywhere near the coordinates that could
successfully support life."
"How did
you come to know these coordinates of yours, sister?" Xris
asked, blowing smoke.
"How could
I
not
know them?" Maigrey muttered, not for him to hear.
"That
mind-link thing?"
The stars
disappeared, the Corasian escort vanished. Maigrey stared into
endless nothing.
"Yes,"
she said aloud. "That mind-link thing."
"Jump
completed, my lady," said Agis.
"Thank you.
How long until we arrive?"
"Less than
twenty-four hours, my lady."
"Very
good." Maigrey unstrapped herself, rose to her feet. "I'll
send Sparafucile to relieve you. You'd better get some rest, Agis.
Xris, are those engineers regaining consciousness?"
"Yeah.
They're not feeling real well. Looks like they're suffering from the
galaxy's worst hangover. But they'll be able to take over when the
time comes."
"Good. I'm
going below, to have a little talk with our ship's captain."
Maigrey left.
Xris watched after her, then sat down, took the twist from his mouth,
examined it.
"You
married?" he asked Agis.
The centurion
shook his head. "My lord does not permit married men to serve in
his Honor Guard. Divided loyalties, he says, make a divided man."
"You sign a
contract?
Agis glanced at
him, smiled wryly. "A contract is a man's name on paper. It may
bind him legally, though that's not certain. Witness the number of
lawyers flourishing in the galaxy. We swear an oath."
"Oaths can
be broken, same as contracts."
"Yes,"
replied Agis quietly, "but, if so, the oath breaker cannot pass
the responsibility to another. The matter is between him and God."
Xris leaned
back, propped his flesh-and-blood leg on the console. "I'll
stick to lawyers."
Maigrey entered
the captain's quarters without knocking and interrupted what appeared
to be an extremely interesting conversation, on Tomi's part, at
least. The captain was leaning near Brother Daniel, talking to him in
argumentative tones. She snapped her mouth shut when Maigrey came in,
cast a swift glance at the priest, and sank back into her pillow.
Closing her eyes, she seemed to have fallen into her drugged stupor.
Brother Daniel
was flushed scarlet. Seated in his chair, hands folded together, he
had not been looking at the woman, consequently missed that
conspiratorial glance.
Maigrey guessed
what Tomi must be thinking. "Brother Daniel, report to Xris on
the bridge. I want you to take a look at the engineers, make certain
they are recovering from the effects of the drug."
She was watching
Tomi closely, saw her black eyes flick open in involuntary
astonishment. The eyes shut quickly again, however.
Brother Daniel
stood up. "Yes, my lady."
"And then
go to your quarters, lie down, get some sleep. Your duty here is
ended," Maigrey added, seeing him start to protest. "The
captain will soon be returning to the bridge. You have done an
excellent job, Brother Daniel. You are to be commended."
Raising his gaze
from the floor, the priest looked once at the woman lying on the bed.
Her eyes had opened again. Confused, she was staring at him, her
expression pleading. Was she begging him to stay? Hoping, perhaps,
that he'd turn on his leader?
Brother Daniel
regarded Tomi steadily, calmly. Turning then to Maigrey, he said,
"Thank you, my lady," and left the room without another
word, without a backward glance. The door slid shut behind him.
Tomi glared at
her.
"All right,
bitch, you got rid of him. What for? So you can kill me, not have to
worry about him?" Her voice was slurred, her eyes open, but
unfocused.
Maigrey came
near the bed, stood over it. "You can drop the act, Captain. It
isn't necessary. I ordered Brother Daniel to stop giving you the
drug. What did you think? That you'd managed finally to seduce him?"
Tomi blinked,
her eyes narrowed. "If this is some sort of trick—"
Maigrey leaned
down, shut off the paralyzer on the woman's hands. "No trick."
Tomi, continuing
to watch her warily, sat upright.
"Your hands
and feet will feel numb for a while," Maigrey continued. "It
takes the brain time to readjust. You won't do much walking around
for an hour or two yet. After that, I presume you'd like to shower,
change into your uniform. Then, if you'll come to the bridge, I'll
show you our location when we come out of the Jump, give you a report
on fiiel consumption. You should have enough left to make it back
safely across the Void.
"As for us,
we'll be disembarking shortly. You'll have to run the ship by
yourself for a while. Your lieutenant's injury wasn't serious. He's
making progress, but he's not in a fit state to resume his duties
yet. As for the passengers, if I were you, I'd leave them in
hibernation until you return to our galaxy. Raoul has prepared enough
of the drug to keep them under. That will, of course, be your
decision. Any questions?"
Tomi was staring
at her, incredulous, suspicious. Her limp hands dangled between her
knees. "Where are the Corasians?"
"Gone. We
shook them when we made the Jump. I presume we'll run into them again
before long. It is their galaxy, after all. But, by then, hopefully
you will have joined up with His Majesty's fleet"
"His
Majesty." Tomi was still fuzzy. "His Majesty who?"
"I'm sorry,
Captain. I really don't have time to explain it all to you. I trust
that someday you will come to understand."
"You're not
turning us over to the Corasians?"
"No,
Captain."
"You re
giving me back command of my ship—an unarmed cruise liner—in
the middle of an enemy galaxy—"
"On the
fringes, Captain. It's not as bad as you suppose."
"And I'm
supposed to team up with some king? What's he king of? A penal
colony?"
"You can do
anything you please, Captain. It's your ship again, or it will be in
about six hours. I'm offering you what I consider to be your best
chance of survival."