One's Aspect to the Sun (11 page)

Baden acknowledged the request and Rei put us in a parking orbit and then they both looked at me.

I shrugged. “No sense worrying until we know what they want.”

“Of course not,” said Baden, “but I think I'll just go and check that all our cargo is secure, while we're stopped here anyway.”

“Probably just coincidence,” Rei said. “They could be looking for data runners, smugglers, pirates . . .”

“. . . local criminals, world-jumpers, illegal tech . . .” Yuskeya added.

I wondered what Viss had done with the dead man's techrig. I knew we were all thinking the same thing, so I said it aloud. “Or they could be looking for missing PrimeCorp operatives. Let's just wait and see, shall we?”

Baden came back after a few minutes and said that everything was secure, and not long after that, the MPP hailed us again.

I told Baden to put the main screen on. “Captain Luta Paixon here. How can I help you?”

The MPP officer on the screen was an older man, not recently shaven and with the look of someone who'd already done this too many times. He sighed and nodded once. “Flight Officer Halderan. Thank you for waiting, Captain. Would you mind sending your cargo manifest, crew and passenger lists down the datalink?”

“Not at all.” I nodded to Baden. “I'd be sending that to Central Berthing in a moment anyway. What's the problem, Flight Officer?”

“I'll just ask you to wait another few moments, Captain,” he said, ignoring my question and blanking the comm signal. The words “Please Wait” flashed on the screen in Esper, New Asian, Vilisian, Lobor, and a couple of other Earth languages.

I signalled to Baden to cut our outgoing signal as well and looked around at the others. “What do you think? Does he suspect something or is he just rude?”

Baden shrugged. “There's nothing in any of that information that anyone should look twice at. It's the same stuff we download to every docking authority—well, except for the specifics of the cargo.”

“And our two passengers,” Rei reminded him.

“I doubt anyone's looking for them,” I said, shaking my head.

“Ship's coming up from the planet,” Yuskeya said. “Signature reads as an MPP Ironwing.”

“So someone's coming to visit us.” I took a deep breath, wishing the intruder's body was already floating somewhere between here and Mars. I'd wanted to get further away from Earthspace before we jettisoned it, but now it seemed that might have been a bad idea. “Okay, folks, we're just going to cooperate, here. If they find anything they shouldn't, I'll tell them what happened and take full responsibility. PrimeCorp's not quite as popular on Mars as it is on Earth, so that might run in our favour.”

Viss' drawling voice came over the comm from Engineering. “Just as a point of interest, Captain, the
Tane Ikai
could fly circles around an MPP Ironwing and be gone outsystem before they finished getting a signature reading.”

I smiled. “Noted. But I'd rather not put us on the Nearspace fugitives list if I don't have to. And we do have cargo to deliver.”

“Just a thought, Captain.”

“Hail the Ironwing, Baden. I may have to put up with this, but I don't have to pretend that I like it.” When he gave me the nod, I said, “Mars Planetary Police vessel approaching the far trader
Tane Ikai
. Please respond to this comm and state your purpose.”

The face on the viewscreen was not that of the weary Flight Officer who'd hailed us first, but a woman, much younger but with a stern set to her jaw.

“MPP Red Wing Arla Jansen here, Captain Paixon, and my Flight Officer, Tamri Ongolonan is with me. We'd like a word with you on board your vessel, if that's convenient.”

“May I ask why? We seem to be having a perfectly clear conversation over this comm.”

She wasn't easily rebuffed, though she kept glancing at her controls, not holding my gaze. “My orders are to speak with you in person, Captain. We're investigating several criminal matters at this time and we're hoping you may be able to assist us.”

I was about to give in when another voice broke in on the comm.

“Thank you, MPP Ironwing. The Nearspace Protectorate is assuming authority in questioning this vessel. Your revised orders should appear on your console any second now.”

I almost grinned, but kept my face impassive. The voice was one I knew well.

Red Wing Jansen's lips tightened a little as she looked at her console. She didn't resume eye contact with me. “Certainly, Admiralo,” she said with cold politeness. “
Bonan tagon
, Captain.” The comm screen went blank, only to spring to life again a moment later. The face filling it now was grinning.

“
Saluton
, little sister!
Kiel vi fartas
?”

“I'm fine, thank you, but it's
big
sister, remember? Just because you're an
Admiralo
doesn't put you first in everything.”

He laughed aloud, showing even, white teeth. His dark hair showed no signs of grey and his face was as unlined as mine. He didn't look eighty any more than I looked eighty-four. “All right, you're still the boss. Now tell me, what have you been doing to annoy the Mars Police?”

I looked as innocent as possible. “Absolutely nothing. I'm just passing by on my way outsystem, about to dropdown some cargo, when—”

“They want to question you about something with no provocation whatsoever, I know, I know. You sure seem to attract bad luck, Luta.” He shook his head in mock sympathy.

Baden snickered quietly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rei punch him in the arm. The crew knew, of course, that Lanar was my brother, and seemed to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in the teasing he gave me. “Okay, I might have a couple things I'm not really eager to tell them about,” I admitted. “But nothing they need to know.”

“No data runners on board?” he asked. “I hear PrimeCorp's keen to track down a cagey one who's managing to avoid all their traps between Earthspace and the Cassiopeias. Seems he—or she—is playing fast and loose with PrimeCorp data, and they don't like that at all.”

I shook my head. “No data runners that I'm aware of.”

“Hmph. Like you'd tell me.” His grey eyes sparkled with amusement. He leaned back in his chair, and I saw that he was in his shipboard office. The wall plaque behind him, with the insignia and motto of the Protectorate, framed his face. “Okay, know anything about any mysterious disappearances before you left Earthspace?”

My heart thudded but I said coolly, “No, but if it were Alin Sedmamin who disappeared I confess I wouldn't shed any tears.”

Lanar snorted. “
Azeno
! Is he bothering you again?”

“Nothing I can't handle. Although one thing he said made me wonder. Something about 'changes in the wind' that would favour PrimeCorp. Any idea what he might have meant?”

Lanar pursed his lips. “He said this over a real-time link?”

I nodded. “He was trying to convince me to come in and see him, as usual.”

“I'm surprised he'd say that. It almost sounds like an admission of something, doesn't it?” His face wasn't giving anything away.

“It might, if I had any idea what you were talking about.”

He seemed to consider, then said, “Not just yet, Luta. But yes, we think PrimeCorp is up to something.”

“Gee, what a surprise.”

He grinned. “Want to do me a favour? Where are you headed next?”

“I have cargo for Eri,” I said cautiously. I didn't want to volunteer the information that we would be heading for the Split after that. Lanar would try to talk me out of it, and I wasn't in the mood to fight with him.

“Perfect! Will you courier a datachip to the Protectorate headquarters there? It will save me a stop.”

“No top secret information that's going to make me a target, is there? I have enough trouble on my hands already.”

“Cross my heart,” he said solemnly. “I was about to pick it up from the Superintendent on Mars, but I'll message him and tell him to deliver it to—who will you send to collect it? Viss?”

“Sure, he'll probably have some part or something to pick up anyway. But you'll owe me one,” I warned. “I'm not the one who signed on to be an errand runner for the Protectorate.”

Lanar laughed. “I haven't actually run that many errands since I made Admiral, but I don't mind being in your debt.”

Curiosity got the better of me. “You won't really be, anyway. Not that I'm complaining, Lanar, but why did you step in with that Ironwing? You didn't think I was actually in trouble, did you?”

He chuckled again. “No, I just wanted to talk to you and I didn't have an hour to wait for MPP to finish jabbering. I know what they're looking for and it wouldn't apply to you anyway. They're boarding every ship that's left Earthspace in the last three days.”

I felt a little pang at his trust, thinking about what was concealed in the secret locker, but I brushed it off. “So what's up?”

He went suddenly serious. “We were docked at Sagan and I spoke with Karro. He told me about Hirin. I'm—it will be a big loss—for the family. Is he there?”

“It sure will.” I brushed away a tear that had sprung up too fast for me to try and blink it back. “He's doing fine so far, though, and he's happy—really happy. He's in his cabin. Do you want to talk to him?”

“I'm glad you can do this for him, then. Yes, put me through. I've got a run to Lambda Saggitae on the board but I have a minute. Oh, and little sister,” he added, the grin sneaking back across his face, “try to stay out of trouble, would you? I'll tell them to let you sidestep the red tape this time, but I'm not always going to be there to get the MPP or anyone else off your tail.”

I stuck out my tongue at him. “I don't need a babysitter anyway, but thanks. It saved me a chunk of time, if nothing else.”

“No problem at all. See you 'round Nearspace,” he said, and I signalled Baden to transfer the feed to Hirin's quarters.

After we'd contacted Mars Berthing again and arranged for the cargo dropdown, I realized that Lanar hadn't mentioned Mother. He usually asked—in an oblique way—if I'd had any luck with the search, even though I think he'd lost his own hope of finding her long ago.

I tried to brush it off. We hadn't had a long conversation, he was in a hurry. But it emphasized the hollow ache in my chest, that dark suspicion that no matter how much I wanted it, I was never going to find her.

Chapter Seven

I was finishing my morning session of tae-ga-chi when Rei signalled me on the ship's comm. We were seven days out from Earth, still two away from the vicinity of Jupiter and the wormhole to MI 2 Eridani.

“Good place to get rid of our unwanted cargo,” she advised. “The only thing on the scanners is a big asteroid. If I calibrate it right I can set him down right on that.”

I wondered if anyone else on board shared my pangs of guilt about getting rid of this inconvenient body. Sure, he'd broken onto my ship, assaulted me and tried to steal my genetic secrets—but did he really deserve to be jettisoned unceremoniously onto some nameless asteroid in the empty vastness of Nearspace? It gave me a twinge. I also still felt bad for lying to Lanar about it, and worried at how quickly word of the intruder's disappearance had spread to the outer planets Earthside.

However, options were limited. He currently reposed in the frozen confines of Cargo Pod Two, but he'd already been there for a week and he couldn't stay there forever.

“Okay, Rei, give me twenty minutes and I'll be on the bridge.”

She hummed a few melancholy bars of what I imagined must be an Erian funeral dirge, then chuckled and broke the connection. I shouldn't have been surprised. Rei can find the humour in almost any situation, and if there isn't any she'll find a way to inject it. Forcibly.

I slipped out of my bodyglove and pulled clothes out of the dresser. Tae-ga-chi is not a sweaty kind of workout, but it does tend to focus mind and body into such a mellow state that you move in slow motion for a while afterwards. I was only half-dressed when a knock sounded at the door of my cabin.

Hirin's voice called, “It's me, Captain.”

“Come in, Hirin.”

He entered the cabin and quickly shut the door behind him. When he saw the state of my attire, or rather lack of it, his eyebrows shot up. “I swear, if I were twenty years younger—”

“You'd still be wrinkled,” I laughed, but I stepped over to plant a kiss on his cheek. His arms came around me in a surprisingly strong embrace and he moved his head so that our lips met instead. He kissed me with unexpected ardor.

When he released me, my pulse rate was higher than it had been during my workout. I stepped back in surprise and looked at him suspiciously.

“Hirin Paixon, are you getting better?”

He laughed, but then he said, “Honestly, Luta—I don't know. I feel so much stronger than I did back on Earth, you can't even imagine. Dr. Ndasa commented on it yesterday.”