Eternity's End (82 page)

His voice broke off as a sudden tremor passed through the deck of the starship, causing Legroeder to grab for another handhold.

"What the hell was that?" Friedman barked.

"There!" cried Johnson, pointing to the long-ranger scanner. "Look at that!" A dozen or more ships were materializing out of the Flux—an entire armada—directly into orbit around Faber Eridani. They were far too close to the planet for safety, and the bridge continued quaking as waves of gravitational disturbance passed through
Impris
.

Legroeder shuddered. If those riggers had miscalculated even a little, those ships could have slammed into the planet's crust like cannon balls.

"Are those people idiots? Who
are
they?" Friedman demanded.

"They're Kyber ships!" Deutsch said. "Look at them!"

Four or five of the ships were almost as close to them now as the two Faber Eri destroyers. They were moving
fast
—and they appeared to be maneuvering to surround
Impris
. But for what purpose? To capture her?

"Whose? Ivan's?" Legroeder asked.

Deutsch was studying the screen. "I don't think so. I'm not sure, but—"

He was interrupted by a yell from Tiegs. "Captain, they're sending a warning to the destroyers to keep their distance!"

"Well, that's good—I think. Isn't it?"

"I'm not sure—wait." Tiegs made some adjustments to the display, trying to make sense of a barrage of incoming information. "Listen to this. It's coming from that fleet. Going out on regular com, but also onto the worldnet!"

A metallic-sounding voice filled the bridge, apparently coming from one of the Kyber ships.
"...here to guarantee starship Impris's safe passage home. We are Kilo-Mike/Carlotta, of the Free Kyber Republics. We're not here to bother anyone, as long as you let this ship through to her home port—now. It is carrying—"
the voice hesitated, as though fumbling through a script
"—information vital to riggers of all worlds. Any interference with Impris could have dire consequences..."

There was more of that, followed by a challenge from the Faber Eridani destroyers. In response, the Kyber ship repeated its intention to guarantee
Impris
's unimpeded passage.

On the
Impris
bridge, they listened to the exchange in stunned silence. This was altogether too bizarre. Legroeder felt as if events were slipping entirely out of his control.

"Captain!" Tiegs called. "We're picking up some response on the worldnet! A lot of it. A whole series of... what did you call them, Cantha?"

"Response trees," said the Narseil. "People are picking up on it—amazingly fast, and in large numbers. A lot of them seem to want to know if we're who we say we are." He put a rapidly scrolling stream of messages up on one of the com-screens. "
And
the news nets are starting to pick up the story. Captain, we're becoming news all over the planet!" He touched another control, and on a second screen, multiple frames showed talking heads chattering excitedly. One, and then others, switched to high-powered telescope images of the spaceships.

"Do they know about the Kyber fleet, too?" Friedman asked.

"Yes—but I'm not sure anyone knows what to
make
of it. There seems to be a lot of confusion."

"Well,
I'm
certainly confused," Friedman said. He turned to Legroeder. "How much do they know about the Kyber on Faber Eridani?"

Legroeder opened his mouth and closed it. "Well... they know about the old Kyber worlds. But the Free Kyber Republic is just a fancy name for what they'd call the Golen Space pirates."

Friedman frowned, perhaps reflecting on the nature of their recent stopover at Ivan. "Then these people... no..." He shook his head, and just watched and listened for a while.

Legroeder, looking over Tiegs' shoulder, tried to follow the worldnet display erupting in a streaming chaos of instant messages. Did they have any filtering software that could help them make sense of this?

Before he could ask, the Kyber captain's voice intruded again.
"We're making this port call for another reason, as well. Commissioner North of the Spacing Authority—are you listening? Our captain has a message for you."

Commissioner North! Legroeder remembered YZ/I's comments about Carlotta's tentacles extending deep into Eridani affairs. Did they reach as high as the Spacing Authority Commissioner?

Apparently North
was
listening. After a brief delay, a voice responded on another thread:
"This is Commissioner North. I don't know you, but if you are indeed of the so-called Free Kyber, then this commissioner has just one thing to say to you: Turn your fleet around and get out of our solar system at once."
A visual image flickered onto one of the screens. It was North, glaring into a camera, with what looked like a control center in the background.
"We will tolerate no interference from pirates of Golen Space."

The channel switched back to the Kyber transmission, catching a different speaker in a laugh. A visual snapped on of a heavyset male, encrusted with augmentation, including a metal ring around his skull.
"This is Captain Arden of KM/C Farhawk. Our fleet will be staying just a little longer, thank you. Hello, Ottoson—it's good to see you again. It's been too long, hasn't it?"

North's eyes blinked in dismay. Or was it recognition? Whatever the emotion was, it vanished beneath a mantle of unmistakable anger.
"Do not assume familiarity with me, Kyber—"

His transmission was stepped on by the Kyber's. "
Commissioner North—no need to apologize for our past history. This seems as good a time as any to thank you for your excellent work on behalf of Kilo-Mike/Carlotta and the Free Kyber Republic."

Legroeder exchanged glances with his shipmates as North's voice strained unsuccessfully to penetrate the static created by the Kyber transmission.

The Kyber voice rose.
"Citizens of Eridani, this is Captain Arden of the Kyber fleet, here to safeguard starship Impris. We mean no threat to your world. But it is time you were told: Commissioner North has been assisting us for years, with skill and devotion. Please do not blame him. His diversion of resources to our fleet has been in answer to a higher calling— reaching out to the stars, for all of humanity. We assure you, what little it has cost you will be more than offset by the gains yet to come."

North's voice was barely audible, his transmission hissing through the jamming.
"...enough lies, you are trespassing and threatening our territory. Your presence here is an act of war."

"Come now, Commissioner..."

Cantha murmured, above the confusion, "We're picking up some other official transmissions here. Your Secretary General Albright has issued a plea for calm..." Cantha touched a switch, and in one corner of the main viewscreen, a heavyset, bearded man was speaking in front of the emblem of the Faber Eridani world government. Cantha started to raise the audio on that, but Captain Friedman waved it off; the Kyber captain was speaking again.

"Commissioner, you and your colleagues in the RiggerGuild performed beautifully in keeping Impris protected for us—and her history hidden, while that was necessary. We regret that you, or perhaps some of your people, became overzealous and threatened the life of Rigger Legroeder. That was never our intention—"

Legroeder frowned. It was getting harder and harder to sort out the lies, here...

"Fortunately Rigger Legroeder escaped, and has since acquitted himself with great courage in the rescue of Impris. Commissioner, there is no need for you to threaten Impris. These are returning heroes—
your
heroes, citizens of your world. We all have an interest in learning why she suffered the terrible fate that she did."

The Kyber captain's face was now on many of the news channels, as the direct transmission was fed through the nets to the entire planet.
"Good people of Faber Eridani—the safety of Impris is of paramount importance to us. Your rigger scientists will no doubt want to examine her. But we also ask that she be made available to—"
and was it Legroeder's imagination or did the Kyber choke a little
"—the Narseil Rigging Institute. The Narseil played a great role in her rescue, and they have a role to play yet in unlocking her secrets."

That's it, Legroeder thought. KM/C knows their operations are on the skids here, so they're cutting their losses. They can't seem like enemies, or they'll be cut out of the findings from the mission. How long do they think they can play the innocent?

"We also request—insist upon!—safe passage for Rigger Legroeder, whose role will be no less important..."

Legroeder was aware of all eyes on the bridge turning to him. He pressed his lips together grimly.

On the com-console, messages streaming from the worldnet had become a blur, impossible to follow with the eye. Tiegs increased the number of frames on the viewscreen, until it was filled with an array of tiny faces of excited newscasters, all talking about the confrontation in space. Cantha glanced over from his attempt to filter the message stream and remarked, with wry Narseil humor, "I believe the planet knows about you now, my friend. Are you ready to fulfill your destiny?"

Legroeder grimaced.

Cantha hissed a Narseil chuckle. "I'm making some progress here. Your computer was good in its time, Captain. But the newsnets are ahead of us. Here's one analysis of worldnet opinion..." On the main screen, a large frame showed a graphic representation of worldnet message streams, branching and growing with the live public debate. "The largest stream there represents people who want
Impris
brought in safely. It overlaps with people claiming Commissioner North is a Kyber collaborator. And
that's
about the same size as the stream supporting him..."

Captain Friedman squinted at the display. "What's that big band smearing across the whole frame?"

Cantha hummed. "There you have the people who are—what is the term?—scared witless about an invasion fleet in their—"

"Reply coming from North," Tiegs interrupted.

"...these ridiculous claims! If you came to provoke a confrontation, we'll give you one. We hold you completely responsible for any harm that may come to Impris, or any other—"

His signal again disappeared under the hiss of the stronger Kyber transmission.

"Commissioner—we mean no harm to Impris or anyone else. In fact, we have an offer to make. We invite you to come personally to our flagship for a conference, a parlay. We have worked together before; there is no reason for threats and posturing. Let us put mistakes of the past behind us."

A break in the static.
"The mistakes are yours, Kyber—"

"We feel, in light of your past service to our cause, that we owe you a place here with us..."

From the North channel there was only silence.

Freem'n Deutsch floated close to Legroeder. "Was North really working for KM/C the way they're claiming?"

Legroeder closed his eyes, thinking about the conspiracy against him. Had that been orchestrated from the very top, by North—at the behest of KM/C? How many others were involved, and how long would it take to flush them out?

The Kyber captain concluded,
"...if you accept our offer, notify us when your ship has reached orbit. We will escort Impris inward, and meet you for safe transit in low orbit. For the sake of peace, we urge you to accept. Farhawk out."

Captain Friedman glanced at Tiegs. "Any official reaction?"

Tiegs shook his head. "Nothing from the world government yet. But listen to this news commentary..."

One of the frames containing a talking head was magnified, and a newscaster's voice came up. "...Analysts have been comparing the Kyber statements with evidence released last week by attorney Harriet Mahoney. And they're finding some startling points of agreement."

Legroeder stood open mouthed.
Harriet Mahoney?

On the main display, the Spacing Authority destroyers were edging away from
Impris
as several of the Kyber ships completed their protective gauntlet around the starliner.

"Impris, this is KM/C Kyber Farhawk. Are you able to make normal-space headway?"

Friedman answered, "
Farhawk, Impris
. Affirmative—though we were about to request a tow for final approach."

"Well, follow us on in. We'll see if anyone wants to screw with us. All right?"

Friedman's eyes closed to slits as he contemplated this turn of events. He was clearly thinking, Do I want to fall in with a KM/C fleet? Do I have a choice? Friedman said to Tiegs, "Get me the Spacing Authority ships." When Tiegs nodded, he said, "
Vigilant
, this is
Impris
. Do you intend to interfere with our movement?"

There was a long pause before the destroyer replied,
"Impris, you are cleared to establish a one-thousand kilometer orbit."

Captain Friedman's eyebrows went up, as the two Spacing Authority destroyers began to accelerate away from them, toward the large, blue-and-white orb of Faber Eridani.

As they moved inward with the Kyber ships, Legroeder had for a time the surreal feeling that all spacing activities around the planet had simply frozen in a state of panic. Planetary defenses were at a state of high alert, monitoring the approaching fleet. Ships moved in their orbits, of course, but most ordinary departures and arrivals had been put on hold as traffic control waited to see if hostilities would erupt. From Spacing Commissioner North, there had been no further word.

Cantha continued to monitor net transmissions. According to the news channels, messages on the public net were coming in at a rate of half a million a minute, and were deeply divided between fear of the Kyber fleet and ambivalence over North. "Everyone's wondering what the World Protectorate and the secretary general will have to say," Cantha observed. So far, there had been no further official statement.

Captain Friedman, pacing nervously between the com station and the nav and helm who were flying formation with the Kyber ships, seemed to be working himself up to a dangerous level of tension. Finally he stopped and cried out, "Would someone, for God's sake—" and he hesitated a moment, as everyone stared at him in alarm.