Lady Lure (8 page)

“Rolli.” Perri motioned to the robot. At once
Rolli moved toward Halvo, who was ending his involuntary journey
strapped down on the bench upon which he had begun it.

“Rolli,” Halvo said in a low voice, “consider
once again the arguments I have made in these last few days.”

“I know my duty,” Rolli said. “For your own
good, Admiral, I urge you not to cause any further trouble. Come
with me to the viewscreen.”

With Rolli’s help Halvo got to his feet and
took up a position where the Chief Hierarch could see him. Rolli
then quietly moved away toward the ship’s controls, stopping just
out of the Chief Hierarch’s line of sight.

“So.” A triumphant smile curled the Chief
Hierarch’s thin lips as he regarded the famous admiral. “It is
you.”

“I told you it was,” Perri said, annoyed by
this sign of the Chief Hierarch’s lack of confidence in her ability
to accomplish the task he had given her. “Now, sir, if you will
just tell me what you want me to do with him.”

“He is to be off-loaded onto a personnel
shuttle that is on its way to intercept you even as we speak,” the
Chief Hierarch said.

“Then we will see you in person in a short
time.” Perri signaled to Rolli to close the transmission.

“Just a moment.” The Chief Hierarch
forestalled the action. “You and the robot are to remain aboard the
Space Dragon.”

“I told you so,” Halvo whispered to Rolli,
turning slightly so that his face was not visible on the
viewscreen.

“I don’t understand,” Perri said to the Chief
Hierarch. “Sir, is there some problem? Oh, please, it’s not Elyr,
is it? You haven’t – you did promise you would take no action
against him until I returned.”

“See for yourself.” The Chief Hierarch moved
aside, allowing a second person to step into view. A young man with
fair hair, green eyes, and a long, solemn face looked out of the
view-screen.

“Elyr!” Perri said. “You are alive and well.
How happy I am to see you.”

“In fact,” the Chief Hierarch said, “I have
just appointed Elyr to be my principal assistant.”

“I knew you would understand that he could
commit no crime,” Perri said. All the doubts and fears generated by
Halvo’s insistence that the Chief Hierarch had not been
straightforward with her fled at the good news, leaving Perri’s
honest heart overflowing with happiness. “Thank you, Chief
Hierarch. I know you will not regret your decision. And
congratulations to you, Elyr. I look forward to greeting you in
person in just a short time. Dear Elyr, I can scarcely wait.” She
could not resist adding that last, warm note. Surely, after what
she had done for him, Elyr would be as eager to greet her as she
was to embrace him.

“Alas, Perri, your hope cannot be fulfilled.”
Elyr spoke in a doleful voice. “You must comprehend that what the
Chief Hierarch and I have decided is for the best.”

“What are you saying?” Perri asked. “Rolli
and I will land on Regula soon. Chief Hierarch, if you have an
assignment for Elyr, I beg you to allow him to delay its start
until we can have just a few minutes together. It will mean so much
to me.”

Perri was too intent on her conversation with
the Chief Hierarch and Elyr to pay any attention to what was
happening off to one side of the cockpit, out of range of the
viewscreen.

“Admiral.” Rolli spoke at a lower volume than
usual, keeping to a level that could not be heard over the video
link with the Chief Hierarch’s chambers. Halvo caught the odd note
of warning and did not so much as turn his head or shift his eyes.
He responded by barely moving his lips and he used the same low
tone.

“Yes, Rolli.”

“Three Regulan warships are approaching the
Space Dragon.
Their weapons are set on firing mode.”

“You know what this means.” Still Halvo gave
no indication of a conversation going on between himself and the
robot. To the two men on the other end of the video link, he was
merely waiting for Perri to finish speaking with Elyr. Halvo had
heard enough of that particular conversation to be entirely
enlightened as to the true relationship between Elyr and his
betrothed.

“Now you have proof that my predictions were
correct,” Halvo whispered to Rolli. “Those vessels are being sent
to blow up this ship, and you and Perri with it. Soon neither of
you will be available to deny the Chief Hierarch’s version of the
events that brought me to Regula.”

“Death would be a blessing to me,” Rolli
said.

“But not to Perri.” Halvo did not pause to
question such a peculiar statement from an emotionless robot. He
was too busy trying to think of a way out of a seemingly impossible
situation. Rolli appeared to be the only hope left, and Halvo was
determined to convince the robot to act. “Perri is young and
deserves to live. As far as I can tell, her biggest crime is trying
to save her ungrateful fiance. What Perri did to me, she did at the
Chief Hierarch’s behest.”

“Elyr is not worthy of her,” Rolli said. “Not
worthy at all.”

“Then do something to help her,” Halvo said,
“because it is clear to me that Elyr won’t.”

Meanwhile, Perri was still dealing with Elyr
and the Chief Hierarch.

“You are to stay on the
Space Dragon
until you receive official permission to land,” the Chief Hierarch
repeated in response to Pern’s continued insistence that she wanted
to meet with Elyr in person.

From the bewildered look in Pern’s eyes,
Halvo could tell that she suspected what was going on, though he
thought she was not ready yet to admit out loud that she was the
victim of a treacherous plot. Halvo decided it was time for him to
take control of the conversation.

“Why don’t you tell us exactly what you have
planned for me once I reach the surface of Regula?” Halvo asked,
turning back to face the two men on the viewscreen. “Don’t you
think Perri has the right to know the full extent of your
machinations? After all, it won’t make any difference how much
information she has. She can’t stop you now, can she? Speaking for
myself, I would like to know which of the possible scenarios I set
out for her is the correct one.”

“Admiral, the personnel shuttle should be in
position for docking with the
Space Dragon
within ten
seconds,” the Chief Hierarch said, his disregard for Halvo’s
questions providing the final proof Halvo needed about his
conclusions on the Hierarch’s plans. “I advise you to disembark
promptly.”

“What if I don’t want to leave?” In the Chief
Hierarch’s last remark, Halvo had discovered the opportunity he
sought. It had been a long time since he had participated in such a
dangerous game. A part of him that he had believed permanently laid
to rest was beginning to awaken again. Danger or no, Halvo was
enjoying himself. He just hoped he could avoid a sudden bout of
dizziness until the confrontation with the Chief Hierarch was
finished. And he sent a fervent prayer to each of the ancient gods
of Demaria that Rolli’s programmed instructions to protect Perri at
all costs would not fail.

“Regulan personnel shuttle to starboard,
requesting permission to dock,” Rolli reported from a position near
the ship’s control panel.

“Permission granted,” Elyr said, apparently
speaking at the same time to both the
Space Dragon
and the
shuttle.

“Belay that order!” Risking vertigo, Halvo
turned to look into Rolli’s constantly blinking twin blue lights
that took the place of eyes. “Rolli, you have about ten seconds to
unscramble your circuitry and do the right thing. After that, it
will be too late for all of us. Especially for Perri.”

“Elyr, please,” Perri cried to the uncaring
face on the viewscreen. “I have done my best to help you. Now tell
me the truth. Elyr, what is happening?”

The viewscreen went blank.

“Rolli,” Perri cried, “get the picture
back.”

“No,” Rolli said. “I need the power for
Starthruster.”

“You mustn’t! We can’t run away. Not now, not
when Elyr is free.” Perri’s green eyes were swimming with tears,
and she sounded more and more desperate with every word. It was
clear to Halvo that she was trying to convince herself of the truth
of what she was saying. “Our mission is a success, Rolli. You and I
together have saved Elyr from the death sentence. It is a time of
rejoicing for us and for all the Amalini Kin.”

“Elyr was never charged with any crime,”
Halvo said. “If he were a criminal, he would not be allowed in the
same room with the Chief Hierarch unless he was chained or under
heavy guard. Elyr’s so-called imprisonment was a ruse, a deliberate
lie invented to lure you into an act of piracy. In your heart you
know it, Perri. Admit it.”

“No! Elyr would not betray me, not when I
risked my life and my honor for him.”

“Admiral.” Rolli’s calm, metallic words broke
into Perri’s frantic reply. “You have exactly thirty seconds to
strap yourself and Perri into your seats before I activate
Starthruster. I calculate that it will require forty-five seconds
for the commanders of the Regulan ships now approaching us to order
their weapons to be fired and for the ensuing blasts to reach the
Space Dragon.
This will leave us fifteen seconds in which to
quit the immediate area.”

“No!” Perri screamed again. “I won’t leave. I
won’t!”

Halvo could tell she was on the verge of
hysteria. Under the circumstances, he couldn’t blame her. There was
no time to reason with her that she was better off without the
treacherous Elyr. He would do that later, if they lived long
enough. Catching Perri by her upper arms, Halvo slammed her down on
the bench. Though she was apparently too stunned by his unexpected
action to fight him, he held her with one arm and knee while he
fumbled for and found the button that controlled the straps. By the
time Perri fully realized what he was doing, she could not move.
The flexible metal bands that once had held Halvo kept Perri
immobilized. But Halvo could not move either.

“My back!” he yelled, stiffening with
pain.

Rolli either did not understand what was
wrong with Halvo or did not choose to respond. At the appointed
moment, exactly thirty seconds after promising to do so, Rolli hit
the button to activate Starthruster. The
Space Dragon
shuddered, then rocked as if it had been struck by a giant’s
fist.

The motion threw Halvo to the deck.
Fortunately, he landed on one side. He rolled over onto his back
and lay there, groaning. Perri, equally unable to move, gazed down
at him in a decidedly unfriendly way.

“You deserve a backache,” she said to him.
“Let me off this bench at once.”

“I will just as soon as it’s safe,” Halvo
said. Raising his voice, he called, “Rolli, when you can leave the
controls, come and help me. I’m having trouble getting up.”

There was no response from the robot.

“Rolli?” Grunting with the effort, Halvo
attempted to raise his head so he could see better. “Rolli!”

“Something is wrong,” Perri said, straining
to lift her own head. She appeared to have recovered from her bout
of near hysteria, her thoughts apparently no longer on Elyr, but
upon her robot. “From where I am, I can see the control panel
better than you. Rolli is sitting absolutely still at the controls.
Halvo, do you smell something burning?”

“Insulation.” Halvo sniffed the air again,
just to be sure. “Can you see any smoke?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Perri squirmed around
on the bench as much as she could, trying to get a better view of
the controls and the robot. “Rolli’s eyelights are out. Halvo, I
think the
Space Dragon’s
controls are on overload. I’m sure
Rolli told me that is what the big red light means.”

“The blast from one of those Regulan ships
must have hit us just as Rolli activated Starthruster,” Halvo said.
“If the robot’s metal fingers were on the control panel at exactly
the right moment, they would be perfect conductors for the charge
from the Regulan ships.”

“Is that why our ship is vibrating so much?”
Perri asked.

“This ship is vibrating because Starthruster
is still working. We are hurtling through space at uncontrolled
speed,” Halvo said. “If Rolli is out of commission, then I have to
get to the controls fast.”

“Well, I am certainly not in a position to
stop you,” Perri said in a resentful tone. She watched him struggle
to move off the deck.

“Damnation,” Halvo growled. “I can’t get to
my feet on my own.”

“Do something!” Perri shouted at him. “I
don’t think the
Space Dragon
can take much more vibration
without tearing apart at every seam. Rolli warned me against using
Starthruster for too long a time.”

Perri could not move very much, but she
managed to wriggle downward along the bench until the restraining
band across her chest and arms was rubbed up just above her left
elbow. This was on the side toward Halvo. Perri lifted her lower
arm, rotating it outward as far as she could. “Here. If you can
raise your arm and take my hand, perhaps you can use me to pull
yourself up.”

“It will hurt you,” Halvo said.

“Do we have any other choice?” she snapped.
“If you injure my wrist or my elbow, we will fix it later. Just get
up from that deck, Halvo, and find a way to slow the
Space
Dragon
before it tears apart from the stress!”

Reaching up, Halvo caught Perri’s hand. Then,
grunting with pain, he bent one knee and pushed as hard as he
could, levering himself off the deck as Perri had ordered. He heard
her catch her breath as he pulled on her arm, and he saw her set
her teeth.

Of course, inevitably, as soon as he began to
move the cursed dizziness returned. Closing his eyes to shut out
the spinning cockpit, Halvo clung to Perri’s forearm and to the
additional body parts he discovered with his other hand as he
blindly raised himself a little higher.