The Bright Black Sea (123 page)

'What in the Black Neb are you doing with her
here?'

'I'd imagine she was sent to kill Vinden and Min to
toss a spanner in the counter-revolution,' I replied. 'I'm guessing
she stowed away on the
Triumphant
on Ravin. As luck had it,
I was in position to thwart her assassination attempt aboard the
flagship and took her prisoner. I'll send her back to the Nebula in
a sleeper-pod. Follow me, and if you have any more questions, you
can ask them while we get her in a pod and clear a bit of the junk
out of the engine room storage compartment.'

'You thwarted another assassination attempt?' he
said, shaking his head as he fell in beside me. 'This I have to
hear. Spin your yarn, skipper. '

I spun my yarn as Riv and Dici dug out a sleeper-pod
from storage and cleared a space in the small storage compartment
to store it.

'You think she was just planning to walk up to Min
and Vinden and dart them?' Dici asked.

'Why not? It would've worked if I hadn't been there
and recognized her. This was a suicide mission so the consequences
afterwards were of no great concern to her.'

'Why would she agree to a suicide mission in the
first place?' he asked.

'Perhaps to uphold her honor,' I replied. The
tentativeness was a lie.

'Strikes me as a very iffy plan, if you could call it
a plan at all,' said Riv.

'Not at all,' I replied, and turning to Tri'n, 'Did
she strike you as – a Dar or an outsider?'

'An outsider,' she replied without hesitation. 'Not
one of our company.'

'Riv, Dici?'

Riv looked at her and grinned. 'Aye, I see your
point.'

Dici said, 'I don't.'

'Look at how she's dressed – an eclectic mixture of
spaceer and Pela clothing – which makes it hard to place her with a
glance. Both groups, the spaceers and sailors are small enough to
recognize a stranger disguised as one of them. But neither pays
enough attention to who's in the other group to notice someone out
of place. Dressed as she is, both sides would, at least on a casual
glance, simply place her in the other group. Assuming she steered
clear of people as much as possible she could probably move about
pretty freely. Neb, she reached the flagship without a problem and
could've likely gone searching throughout the ship for her targets,
if they hadn't been on the deck when she arrived There's little
enough security here.'

'The loyalty of those of us who remain have been
tested countless times,' asserted Tri'n. 'But no one expected an
enemy from the outside.'

'I must admit, neither did I. She must've gained
access to the
Triumphant
when it was still on Ravin and
found a nook to hide in for the passage in a cocoon-style
sleeper-pod which was programed to revived her once there was a
breathable atmosphere. I'm guessing, but I can't think of any other
way... Right. Let's get her stowed away in that sleeper-pod before
she revives.'

'What are you planning to do with her?' asked
Riv.

'I'm thinking I send her as a boxed tourist to some
Apier world.'

'Not the Guard?'

'I owe her my life, Riv. She gets hers, whether she
wants it or not.'

'She may have more weapons, Captain. Have you
searched her?' said Tri'n as I lifted her into the pod.

'Probably does...' But I found myself reluctant to
search her and in a hurry to get her in stasis.

'Do you want me to search her?' ask Tri'n.

'Thanks. I'm sure she's still armed, but once in
stasis, it won't matter. We'll take that into account if and when
we revive her. I think the wisest course now is just to get her
into stasis as quickly as possible before she comes to. These
stealths have ways of minimizing the effects of our weapons. No
point taking chances.'

She gave me an unreadable look, but said nothing
more..

I activated the suspended animation unit and closed
the pod's lid. I locked the compartment door with my captain-only
security code and made certain that all my (soon-to-be former) crew
members were warned to steer clear of that compartment and its
dangerous, if sleeping, inhabitant.

02

I retreated to the lower hull of the
Raven
and
in the mellow sunlight and cool, fragrant breeze, I tried to order
my thoughts – the ones I'd been pushing away. Without much success.
When Molaye returned from wrangling the box to the quay, I filled
her in on the recent events – she just watched me silently with a
faint smile, knowing better to say out loud what she was
doubtlessly thinking. I outlined my plan to send Cin's sleeper-pod
somewhere far away, once the ship returned to the known Nebula. She
assured me that'd be no problem, with a sly smirk.

Molaye had just drifted off to get a bite to eat,
with one last unspoken sarcastic remark in her glance, when Tenry
swung by and with a nod, we retired to the bow of the ship to sit
and have a quiet talk.

'What's this I hear about you darting Vinden to save
the life of Talley's would-be-assassin? Have you taken leave of
your senses, Skipper?' he asked, but with a grin.

'Oh, did anyone happen to mention that I saved their
lives as well?'

His grin widened, 'I rather think that was a given.
Trust me, I know – your proper place is in the line of fire.'

'They seem to assume I was just hanging around to
stand in that line. However, I'll have you know, that she shot at
me and failed, as she has done on a few other occasions. That makes
her my assassin, not theirs, and since I darted her she's my
prisoner as well.'

He gave me a look between wonder and pity. 'And
darting Prince Imvoy? How are you lifting that?'

'He overstepped his authority and gave me no option.
I wasn't about to wrestle for his darter and risk darts flying
about by accident with Min and Admiral DarQue close at hand.'

He sighed, 'Well, I see you've got your story well in
hand, for all the good it'll do you.'

'It's the truth, for what it's worth.'

We sat in silence for a while and watched the young
sentry snakes playing in the cavern entrance, darting and twisting
about like animate arrows, apparently trying to nip each other's
tails.

'I don't think Talley's very happy with you, at the
moment,' he said, at last. No doubt the official reason for his
visit.

'Can't say I blame her, Ten. But she'll come around.
She always does. I'm sure she'll also come around to seeing that we
need to be more than drift pirates if we're to rally the people and
unseat an empress who's held the throne for a century. Especially
with someone, who, as you well know, has no right to it at all. We
need to offer someone better. And killing a prisoner out of hand, a
helpless one at that, is not the way to begin such a venture. I'm
sure Min'll come to see that.'

'You think so? You don't think she'll wonder why you
seemed so adamant in your defense of a girl who tried to kill
her?'

'She can wonder all she wants. We've settled that.
She can't have it both ways.' Which may've been saying too much,
but what the Neb. Still, I added, 'I hardly know Cin, and what I
do, scares me. Don't read anything more into it than she has, but
in the past she saved my life, and she could've killed me on the
flagship. She didn't miss. Hitting my cap's badge twice is beyond
chance...'

'Why?'

'Who knows? Probably some tactical reason to get a
clear line of fire or something, but the fact is, I would be dead
several times over, but for her actions. What type of person do you
think I am if I'd let Vinden – Vinden of all people – kill her out
of hand? What sort of karma would that earn me?' I added growing
angry. 'You're Patrol. Tell me I did something wrong.'

He shrugged. 'I can't do that. Vyn and I agree that
killing her would've been ill advised. I'll leave you to do the
math on the karma angle.'

'Karma earns you luck.'

'Well, you're going to need it.'

'Think so?'

'Given the need for unity within the movement,
darting the Prince isn't lifting...'

'Given the need for a clear chain of command – which
Vinden isn't in...'

'Given the idiocy of darting a prince of the realm...
Not that I don't personally approve, Skipper, but still, you may've
pushed your luck or karma too far this time. I think you're
underestimating the importance of Vinden in the scheme of things.
He was, and still is, the leader of the opposition. Though the
crown passes on the female side, the male siblings can be very
powerful. Vinden, Prince Imvoy, is the closest thing they have to
the old order they're fighting to restore, Talley notwithstanding.
She may've officially cut him out of the chain of command, but with
his title and stature he can do anything he pleases, and there's
not much Talley can do about it. You've picked a powerful enemy in
Vinden.'

I didn't say anything for a while, and said, 'I
didn't have a choice, Ten. Well, at least everyone knows what
they're getting in me.'

'True,' he said, and added with a sigh, 'But I'm far
from convinced that was wise either. But the deed's done. So tell
me, Wil, what's the story of you and this assassin?'

I told him my tale – I figured it'd reach Min via
Vynnia and hopefully make it clear that I was acting honorably.

After Tenry pushed off, I took time to try to
honestly examine my motives. I'd no romantic illusions about Cin.
All I needed to do was recall her icy grey eyes and the cold, cruel
delight she took in administering pain to kill that notion. Neb,
she'd been so cold and ruthless, that even the other members of her
class and Order had shied away from her in the end. And yet, that
didn't seem to rule out some sort of well, comradeship when faced
with danger. True, it hadn't stopped me from betraying her on
Despar – but I didn't have a choice.

And , there's that unguarded openness in her eyes,
the easy sharing of her thoughts, as chilling as they sometimes
were, that, well, gave the illusion of friendship. I don't know if
she's aware of what she was sharing or not, but, it was such a
marked contrast with Min that it made quite an impression on me,
and I could not help but want to reciprocate at some level.

And finally, the fact that I was still alive was
entirely due to her – both her unintended failures and her
deliberate actions to keep me alive. And as for that jumble of
emotions which raced through my mind when I first saw her, after
believing her dead all these years including that dart of joy when
I recognized her, well, I pushed them into a black hole at the back
of my mind, lest they make a liar of me.

I was going to hear more from Min, and perhaps DarQue
as well. But I'd been there before and I was, after all, acting in
a very Unity Standard manner, which I didn't feel I needed to
apologize for. They already knew what they were getting. I felt
that they'd do nothing too drastic.

I was ready to grab a bite to eat and a nap when Glen
Colin came slouching around the hull to stand beside me looking
down.

'What's lifting, Chief?'

'I hear you darted my boss, Cap'n. Didn't think you
Unity Standard chaps held grudges,' he said with a sly grin.

'I've been corrupted. Just what you'd expect from
hanging around with whiskey soaked engineers and guides.'

'A low blow. I've never darted the boss, even if he
can be a right bastard.'

'Then you've come to thank me, I assume.'

He grinned. 'Wouldn't want to say that. I've come to
suggest that you don't walk into dark deserted alleys alone with
the boss. He's a mite sore.'

'So his head hurts, does it?'

'More than his head. His pride. And he doesn't suffer
contrary fools.'

I shrugged. 'I doubt I changed his attitude about me
very much.'

'True. But you may've moved up on the list, a'wee
bit. Likely to the top.'

'Is this my official warning?'

He shook his head. 'The boss doesn't bother with
warnings,' and added, with a measuring look, 'Don't know what game
you're playing, Cap'n, but I like'ya, so when I say be very, very
canny in what you do, you know it's not a threat, but a friendly
hint.'

'Aye, and thank you. I'll just suggest, in return,
that my crew's been in the drifts long enough to know who'd be
behind any mishap I might suffer, and I've a feeling, they'd do
something about it.' I knew Molaye would.

'Aye,' he muttered giving me a measured look. 'Best
just to stay out of his orbit.'

'I'm not pining for his company, Glen.'

He nodded. 'Fair orbits, Cap'n.'

No good deed goes unpunished.

Tenry appeared in the door of the small mess as I
finished my meal.

'What's the word?' I asked, looking up.

He just stood, watching me, hands in his trouser
pockets and slowly shook his head. 'I don't know Skipper, I've been
in some hot spots with my superiors, on a number of
occasions...'

'On a large number of occasions, I believe,' I
corrected him.

'...On a large number of occasions, and still, I
think you take the crown.'

'How so?'

'I've never darted a Prince of the Realm, but...'

'But? What's the verdict?'

'Officially, you're, reluctantly, in the clear.
Tallith wasn't happy, but you live a charmed life and seem to be
able to get away with anything with her. The Admiral was hard to
read. I almost think he found it interesting, though you're lucky
you weren't under his command yet or you'd likely be facing a
firing squad. Remember he and Vinden were as thick as thieves back
in the old days, but perhaps he admires foolhardiness. As for
Vinden, well, I don't think I need say anything.'

'Aye, I'm watching my back.'

'Just keep out of sight. Darters shoot straight and
far. I'd say you're a dead man, except Tallith made it abundantly
clear to ol'Uncle Hawk that she wants you alive. I'd say that you
now owe your life to her, as well – if you don't happen to have
some unfortunate accident along the way.'