The Bright Black Sea (62 page)

A cross dressing tactician was likely to draw
attention, red hair or not, I thought. Still his rather elegant
mannerism did little to hide the icy steel in his eyes. So I
contented myself with a question. 'You know a great deal about Min
and me. How did you come by this if that operation isn't in your
bailiwick?'

'As I mentioned, my assignment has a high priority,
so as soon as I arrived two days ago, I communicated my plight,
urgency, and my proposed response – chartering the
Lost
Star
. The Monastery felt that releasing faithful Cin's damning
reports of her encounters with you it might offer some insight into
gaining your cooperation.'

I laughed, 'And did it? I can't see any special touch
you used, unless it was using a stun dart to get me to somewhere
for a quiet talk. That seems to be the one standard procedure.'

He shrugged and smiled, 'Perhaps. But Cin had you in
bed, my dear Captain. I've only had you up for a cup of cha... Be
that as it may, I may've been a little too free with all the tattle
I've dished about Cin, but I'd rather have all that on the table –
and, mind you, just between us – than for you to find out about our
connection in some other manner. I hope you'll appreciate how
up-front I've been about this particularly awkward situation and by
being so, gain your complete confidence.'

I nodded, 'It has been informative,' I offered
guardedly.

He shrugged. 'Enough of this pleasant chit-chat,
unless you'd like another cup of cha, or have more questions, I'd
like to get you on your way. You know all you need to know for now,
and the less disruption there is in your routine, the safer we'll
all be. Let me say again, you do need to be very careful from here
on. I'd advise you to stay aboard your ship if you can. If word
gets out that I've been here, my enemies will certainly suspect
that it's your ship I need and take appropriate action. But ,
that's what I'm paying so handsomely for.'

I looked down on the cheque token. Owners don't turn
that type of credit down, not ones with an engine that needed to be
relined. I sighed, and looked up. 'Do I have your word on your
honor and that of Saint Bleyth that you will not kill Tallith Min
or me, or turn us over to this Cin to do the job?'

'Yes, and I'll go further, I'll do everything in my
power to keep you alive not only until we reach Boscone but long
enough for you to make your escape, even if means trouble with my
Masters. I suspect I'll be under pressure of some sort once I've
reached Boscone, but I'll see you off safely. I've no love for Cin
and no obligation to help her, and seeing that I may well've been
betrayed somewhere high up in the Order, perhaps by one of the
Masters, which is something completely out of order, I'll defy them
if needed to allow you to clear Boscone' he said. 'But once out of
my protection, you're on your own.'

I nodded. Well, it'd not be my decision in the end.
'I suppose I must take your proposal to Min. I assure you I will do
my damn best to convince her to sail to Aticor hollow, though I
doubt I'll succeed.'

'I rather doubt it myself,' he said with a smile.
'But don't worry – if you can survive Cin, you'll get to Boscone
and back to the Unity without trouble.'

'I was lucky.' I said standing to leave.

'That works. Or perhaps it was a matter of karma.
Yours over hers,' he replied, handing my darter clips over to me. I
slotted it back into my darter and slipped it back into its
pocket.

'I rather doubt assassins have a great deal of karma,
so if it was a matter of karma, assassins would never succeed.'

'But they'd have more karma,' laughed D'Lay, who grew
serious. 'Now Captain, I've taken every precaution I know to keep
my presence here and this meeting secret. But if my opposite number
– whoever it be – has reasons to suspect you're about to aid
Despar's enemies, you and your crews' lives are in danger. I'd
advise you to put an end to all shore leave and depart for Aticor
hollow just as soon as you can clear. Head out and operate under
power for one day. I'll rendezvous with you five days out and lead
you to the Striker...'

'How can I contact you?'

'Don't. I'll know when you deposit that cheque token
in your account, and take it as a yes to my proposal. I'll follow
you out to make the rendezvous...'

I nodded and headed for the door, followed by a
smiling Captain D'Lay. As I reached the door, I felt a sudden need
to make a point. I spun half about and grabbed him by his coat and
pulled him close. His eyes widened just a little and grew cold.

'Just so we have an understanding. If anyone of my
crew suffers as a result of this meeting, I'm holding you
responsible. I'll hire your best friend, your lover if you have
one, to kill you. Trust me, D'Lay, I can afford whatever it takes
to make that happen. I'm a dead man, and you'll be joining me. No
unexpected ambushes no screw ups, this time,' I added fiercely. I
pushed him away, and slipped out the door, between his two hulking
crew members. I was shaking as I walked down the stairs, through
the scented court yard and out of the joy house to find myself in a
dim lane just off the busy Strand. Still, I found that even I can
be pushed too hard.

01

Min stared off into the dark drifts through the
viewpanel in the bulkhead for several minutes after I'd finished
presenting Captain D'Lay's proposal. I'd called them back from
shore leave as soon as I reached the gig, and we were now sitting
in her office. I let her think. I'd told her all, including St
Bleyth's involvement in her assassination attempt. (Though not
about my duel or my issues with St Bleyth. She seemed content to
remain a pilot aboard the ship for the present, and I didn't want
that to jeopardize that attitude.) It struck me that D'Lay hadn't
mentioned any involvement of St Bleyth in the assassination of her
parents. I'd have to ask D'Lay about that. That hadn't quite worked
either...

At last she turned to me and said simply. 'Your
advice, Captain.'

Her eyes, as usual, revealed nothing of her thoughts,
but I suspected she was just going through the motions. 'What I'd
like to do, or what I think possible?' I asked, just to play the
game. This was her decision and we both knew it.

'I believe I know what you'd like to do,' she said
with the faintest of smiles. 'So let's go with what you think is
possible.'

I sighed. 'I'm thinking we don't have a choice. Even
if I turned a blind eye to the ship's finances. I did some quick
research and St Bleyth exists as D'Lay described it. They even have
an agent here in CityOne to handle their business. I can't imagine
we presented many obstacles to an assassin since our arrival, so we
actually may be still on this side of the event horizon because of
D'Lay's need for our services. And given their expertise, and need,
I've been sitting here nursing a growing suspicion that Captain
D'Lay may not shy away from piracy if it proves necessary to
accomplish his task,' I said and paused, adding, 'To be fair, he
never so much as hinted that was an option, which, the more I think
about it, may be telling...' I shrugged. 'I miss Azminn and our old
customers. None of them would think of cutting our throats...'

Min smiled again. I'm far from certain she shared my
feelings on that. 'Then you suggest we take the credits and hope
they're all the fighter pilots as they claim to be.'

'If there was a safer course, I'd argue it until I
was blue in the face, but I don't see one.'

'Nor I. It is, however, a seventeen million credit
cheque token. Didn't expect to see many of them. It dulls the sting
of our plight wonderfully' said Min giving the token just resting
on her desk a little push with her forefinger, sending it slowly
tumbling my way. 'Please deposit it.'

'Right,' I said, lazily snatching it out of the
air.

02

We sailed hollow two days later for Aticor on our
cutdown engine. We'd found a set of D-Steel braces actually
designed to reinforced our engine's unconventional mounting. It
seems that replacing worn out engines with smaller ones due to a
lack of availability and/or the available credit balance is a
common practice in the drifts, so the ship repair yards had braces
on hand designed to fit shorter engines into our engine size slot
which could be adopted for our use. Riv and the staff adopted a set
to secure our engine, so I no longer had any concerns about our
engine mounting. Our engine performance curve took a hit being cut
down, but handling them had become second nature, so leaving it as
is was not a concern. Plus I'd have a great deal more confidence in
repairs done in the Unity than anything done in the drifts, so I
didn't mind putting off repairs until .

Only Min and I knew our true course as we set out,
but like Min, the gang took the news of our actual destination
stoically. Most of the old spaceers knew of the Order of Saint
Bleyth and their mercenary prowess, so when I mentioned D'Lay's
remark about how we'd be the safest ship in the drifts they agreed
– with reservations, perhaps. Still, if anyone was overly
concerned, they didn't show it. They may place too much trust in my
well known propensity for caution and my supposed influence on our
owner. I could only hope that trust wasn't misplaced, especially
since they didn't know the half of it.

Four days later found the hounds and I waiting on the
landing stage to greet Captain D'Lay's long boat as it slowly
approached our extended gangplank. He'd had his boat decelerating
hard for the last several hours to match our velocity. As the boat
slipped into the lock on to our gangplank I turned to the hounds at
my side and gave them the standard strict orders to be on their
best behavior and stay – you got that? Stay – as the safety
door-panel slid open. I stepped onto to the gangplank as D'Lay
swung out and landed lightly on gangplank deck. With his long wine
dark auburn hair tied back and wearing an elegant silver and black
uniform designed to fit his slim form, he looked young, casually
confident, and commanding.

'Welcome aboard the
Lost Star
, Captain D'Lay,'
I said, taking his offered hand. He smiled with his ram you, damn
you look, and studied me.

'Thank you Captain. Good of you to have me onboard.
Let's make it simply D'Lay, unless you're all that formal
aboard.'

'You'll find little formality aboard this ship,
D'Lay. I'm Wil. We've a cabin prepared for you, and I'll find
accommodations for your boat crew, as well.'

'Excellent. Don't worry about my boat crew – I'm
sending them ahead to to get things moving aboard the Striker. We
can use the next two days to hammer out the details of the
operation. Time is of the essence....' at which point Astro and
Orbit's best behavior reached their limit and they started looping
forward to welcome our guest.

'Sorry. They're just dumb and friendly,' I said
snagging their collars before they could do too much slobbering.
'You see, we're not very formal at all.'

He flashed me a smile, whipping his cheek. 'So I see,
Wil. But I'm very fond of dogs,' he said, crouching to meet the
mutts at their eye level while dodging most of their kisses for a
few moments.

'I'll take you to see our owner.'

'Lead on.'

In the well going up, I said quietly, 'I've told her
about the Order's involvement in the attempt on her life. As a
favor, I'd rather you keep my own encounters a secret.'

'And why is that, Wil?'

'Simply a mater of do as I say, not as I do. I need
to get about and I can hardly keep Min wrapped in security and go
and about doing my job as usual. I've met your Cin and can
recognize her. Min hasn't.'

D'Lay gave me a weighing glance and nodded. 'Fair
enough. Wouldn't want it known that you were in bed with the
enemy...'

'I wasn't...'

He smiled brighter.

'Not in that way.'

'Well that's what Cin's report says, but still –
blackmail can be useful, Wil...'

I said nothing further. I wasn't going to win that
one.

Once I introduced D'Lay to Min in her office, I was
struck by how much they seemed alike, different sexes, different
features, but still, they almost could be brother and sister,
sharing a certain daring attitude, and a certain ruthless drive. I
wasn't certain if that was good or not. I'd a feeling I'd not want
to find out, either. Hopefully D'Lay would be busy enough with his
own crew that we could get by the next month or two of our charter
without finding out.

The charter agreement was signed, necessary
arrangements were quickly agreed to, and our course was changed to
rendezvous with the Striker.

03

I wiggled through the narrow entry hatch and wormed
my way up into the cockpit of the Omni-V jump fighter. 'What seat
should I take?' I called back to D'Lay, following me in.

'Your choice.'

I settled into the port position, as D'Lay squeezed
past me to take the other one. 'Nice and cozy,' I remarked as I
settled in, the seat all but enclosed me.

He flashed me his always ready smile, empty of
anything more than the efficient pursuit of his mission.

'Wait until you're completely enclosed in the
harness. It takes some getting used to...' he said. 'But let's go
through the check list and pullout before we engage the full
cocoon.'

We were fourteen days out of Zilantre and if all went
as charted, twenty seven days from Boscone Reef. We'd rendezvoused
with the Striker five days after he had joined us. It had remained
on course for Boscone so that we'd not have a great deal of
maneuvering to do to continue on, once we had D'Lay's forces on
board. We were met by the Striker's full force of eight jump
fighters. They were taking no chances, this time. Communication was
only line-of-sight lasers, so they came out ready for battle.