Rebels quest, p.13
Rebel's Quest, page 13
part #6 of The Long View Series
"Since about twelve hours before we left Earth orbit. I came aboard as a courier. " Pert-faced as she was, she had more age to her than showed at first—but the movements of her slim bod) showed an athlete's coordination.
Tregare frowned. To cover his surprise, he said, "Courier?
Where's your fruit salad?" But then he saw, on the slightly faded suit, the darker places on sleeves and legs and shoulders where those decorations had been. So that's where Lofall got
all that stuff. He moved a hand. "All right; I know where it went. I saw it go off the ship. But now then—who are you, and at the hell are you doing here?"
My name is Tanit Eldon. I'm an Underground agent with roughly the same rank as the woman who left ship wearing my—" She grinned. "—my fruit salad. For about three months, since taking some brief training at the Hulzein
Establishment in Argentina, I've been working undercover for UET at the main spaceport. And at the moment, since my report is long and dry, I'm waiting for you to offer me a drink, captain, sir. "
Working undercover, was she? Maybe—but who for? Drinks made and served, because he could use a new one himself, Bran Tregare asked questions. A lot of them, and cutting back and forth from one subject to another, trying to trip her up.
Most of it fit—maybe all of it, but he didn't know all of it. She had code words, she had names—info that Renni Lofall had picked off the wide-burst channel for him. She described the layout and setup of Erika Hulzeins Argentine base, and maybe she'd been there and maybe not, but Bran hadn't so he could only go by what little he did know.
"How did you and Lofall get together?"
"She was loitering around where she could make eye contact with the couriers, or anyone else that came aboard, and now and then giving an Underground code sign. " Again the grin, and Tregare felt he should be noticing something. Finally he did; occasionally her right thumb, the hand resting quietly in her lap, made an inconspicuous triple twitch: toward the back of the hand, forward, and again back. When he nodded, Tanit Eldon said, "When I responded, we did the usual drill— greeted each other like old friends and arranged to meet and talk in her room. " She shrugged. "I wanted Onship and she wanted off, so the details were easy. The only way it could have been easier would be if we wore the same size suit. "
"That's nice. " But one thing her story didn't explain. So he asked. "Why did you want to get on this ship?"
"Because word got back, from your wide-burst contacts with the UG, to Erika Hulzein. And she wants to make an alliance. "
An alliance? Erika? Tregare said, "Just who is it, she wants to team up with?"
Eldon leaned forward. "Well, any Escaped ship would be better than none. But the way I was told, when Madame Hulzein put it together that here was a ship that was Escaped and armed, she said it had to be Tregares Inconnu. And that's when I was pulled by the roots out of my previous assignment, and ordered to get on here at any cost. " Pause. "Which I did. "
He thought about it. Whether his aunt Erika knew who he really was, or whether Eldon did, made no difference. Because either way, no "alliance" could be made operative during Erika's probable lifetime (and how was his sickly cousin Frieda, Erika's daughter, doing these days?). Regardless, that stuff would have to wait.
What couldn't wait was finding out if Eldon told any truth.
Shrugging, she accepted being interrogated under truth drugs as a matter of course. "Now if you were UET I'd be trying to claw my way out of here. But at the port I didn't have that problem; the UG rather neatly got me into a job that didn't carry a high level of Security precautions. "
So Eda Ghormley brought the kit upship and administered the injections, and Tregare ran his questions—or as many as he could keep in mind—through the mill all over again.
Tanit Eldons story held up solidly. So Ghormley left, and Bran waited until the drugs wore off so that the woman came back to herself and knew where she was. Then he personally took her down to Stores, where Groden issued her the standard necessities, and finally Bran escorted her to the quarters lately vacated by Renni Lofall.
Still looking slightly whacked-out, Eldon said, "I can't simply ride this ship; I'll need a job. I don't know ships' needs, but I've worked as a junior administrator. "
Tregare couldn't help saying, "Too bad we don't have any juniors to administrate, " but then he smiled and said, "How are you at keeping track of inventory, monitoring actual count against the computers version?" Because he didn't have time for that stuff, himself, and Renni Lofall had shown him the need.
She nodded. "I've done that land of thing, yes. "
"Ail right: tomorrow, show me a trial run. If you pass—" Suddenly he realized she couldn't know all the complicated sniff about rankings and owning shares in the ship; no time for all that. now. "If you pass I'll buy you a Chief's rating and you can pay me back out of work credits. " She wanted to ask more but he shushed her. "I'll explain later; for now, don't worry about it"
Then he left, trying to figure what Erikas angle could be.
* * *
Danger seemed to unify the ship, and keep down the incidence of hassles. Since Inconnu first headed for Stronghold, Tregare had needed to hold court only twice, both for minor matters. So he'd nearly forgotten about that chore, until one day his Third Hat appeared at Tregares door with a scowling Chief Rating named Sven Dahl, one of Junior Lee Beauregards Drive techs. "We have a problem, skipper, " said Frei Relliger.
Bran sighed; if he wanted problems he'd ask Tinhead for one. "Come on in. " It didn't look like a social occasion, so except for seats he offered no hospitality. "What is it?"
"He gets his say first because he's brass; right?" said Dahl. Tregare looked at the man; the Chief was a "black Swede" or maybe Norwegian, swarthy with dark hair and high cheekbones. Big, and probably good-looking enough except for a nose that must have caught one fist too many.
And now the squarehead was spoiling for a fight. So Bran said, "If that's how you want it. All right, Relliger. What's the beef?"
Obviously embarrassed, the Third Hat tried to keep his story short but couldn't seem to manage. Since he and Leanne worked separate watches, they each had a lot of lonesome time. Dahl had started hanging around Leanne every chance-he got, and making suggestions. And then—
"Just a minute, " said Tregare. "Shouldn't she be here herself, to tell this part? You saying it, it's hearsay evidence. "
"I asked her to. She wouldn't come, unless you make it a direct order. " Tregare nodded; he'd hear these people first. Relliger continued. Finally Dahl had propositioned her outright, and she'd turned him down. "At which point he turned on her and was grossly insulting. He's not going to get away with that. "
"You charging insubordination, or what?" Relliger shook his head, so Bran didn't wait for a verbal answer. "All right, Chief Rating Dahl. What's your side of it?"
"Sure I made a try, there. Where's the law against that? Or against striking out, either. But she set me back snotty. Like I wasn't good enough for her. " Brows raised, Tregare waited. "So I told her she wasn't so much, shopping around like she does. First you, skipper, then him, so why too upnose for a Chief? I mean, it's not like she did the Slaughterhouse and brought her tattoo from UET. " Arms folded, Dahl sat back.
SOUTH FORTY 113
"There's more than that, " said Relliger. "He called her names. "
"A couple, maybe, " Dahl said. "But nothing real bad. I—"
"I do not care, " said Bran. "I want to know one thing here, and one thing only. Exactly what is it that I am supposed to decide, about this?"
"It's not deciding, " Relliger answered. "Just give us permission to fight; that's all. "
Then it came to Bran, what they were after. After Escape he'd filed UETs Ships' Regs away and written a very brief paper entitled "NEW Ship's Regulations, by order of Bran Tregare. " Looking back, he figured he'd put in some silly stuff, out of sheer smart-aleck bravado. But he remembered the first three; they came first because he meant them:
I. Orders will be obeyed first and argued later.
II. No drinking or drugging on duty.
III. No fighting without captain's permission.
All right. Now he said, "You want to fight?" Both nodded. "You'll each tell me why. " He paused. "You first, Dahl. "
''I want to show him I'm the better man. And her, too. " It's debatable that winning a fight proves that, but I understand your point. And you, Frei?"
"He's not going to get away with insulting Leanne!"
Tregare thought about it, and weighed the odds. On the face of it. Dahl had the physique and quickness to make short work of Relliger. Dammit, Bran couldn't afford to lose another officer just now—and if he didn't specify otherwise, he knew this fight would be to the death. Yet if he shielded his Third Hat from danger, the mans usefulness would end as the crew lost respect for him. And the whole stupid mess over nothing more than a pair of bruised egos....
There wasn't any good answer, so Tregare made one up. He made a show of thinking hard, but he was only figuring the details of how to say it. Let 'em wait a little...
He cleared his throat. "Scout Bay Two is mostly empty. First you stow the loose gear away; there'll be nothing used as weapons. Unarmed combat, and unclothed—no watches or rings, even. "
"Wait a minute!" Dahl. "What are the rules?"
"Make up your own. " Nobody answered; Tregare decided he was beginning to enjoy this. "What happens in there is your business. When somebody knocks to be let out, and not before, the door opens again. " Now the kicker. "Don't take more than ten minutes at it, though. Because that's when I let the air out. "
"But you said, no watches!" Both men protested.
Tregare shrugged. "Your problem. " He saw the two of them looking at each other, and was pretty sure what they were thinking: no referee, no seconds, no cheering section for the winner...
Then Relliger said, "Dahl? Maybe if you'd apologize to Leanne—"
The Chief Rating shrugged. "I could do that. I guess I was a little rough. Got sore, you know, and—"
"Sure. But she'd appreciate your telling her so. "
Talking almost like friends, the two men left. Bran Tregare poured himself the drink he'd been wanting, and grinned.
South Forty was a long haul from Earth and seemed longer. Twice Inconnu passed UET ships within shouting range, but Bran kept his beacon turned off and didn't bother to answer their hails. Since he couldn't spare time and fuel to try intercept, why give them any data about him? A further point was that even if intercept had been possible, he had no officer cadre to put onto a captured ship: Gonnelson didn't want command, and Tregare saw neither Prestor nor Relliger as command material. Not yet, anyway. And he wasn't exactly overstaffed with ratings, either.
He could have sidetracked to raid any one of three UET colonies not too far off Inconnus route. Bored, he figured the costs in fuel and time, and decided none of them were worth stretching the trip by months of ship's time. Heavenly Isles would have been the most economical side-jaunt, but as Tregare said in council, "It's a fairly new colony and the planet's mostly ocean. Likely all we'd get from a raid would be the fuel we'd waste stopping there. " So they skipped Heavenly Isles; Tregare had t/to still riding above six by then, and would have hated to waste it.
Slowing toward the system where South Forty orbited, Tregare detected no other ship traffic. Not surprising; his data bank showed this Hidden World to have little commerce. But it was a place he wanted to check out, for future possibilities. A little isolation could be a good thing.
The sun was more orange and less bright than Earth's, but South Forty's orbit averaged only about point-eight of an A. U. so temperatures would be reasonably comfortable. Coming in past the usual gas giants, Tregare got a good hi-mag look at South Forty. His approach angle, by luck, showed the planet side-lit; checking the movement of planetary features on time-lapse tape, the degree of axial tilt was evident. About one-third radian, Bran guessed; slightly less than Earth's but not much. Looking, Bran Tregare nodded. The habitable zone on this world would cover a lot of latitude—and in that zone was plenty of land area.
But so far as he knew, there wasn't much habitation yet.
Closing so near that he'd spotted the major settlement and its spaceport, still Tregare got no hail from groundside. Finally he got on the horn and initiated the action. With straight talk, since this was a Hidden World: "... armed ship Inconnu, an Escaped Ship, Bran Tregare commanding, request landing instructions... "
Eventually an answer came. No screen picture, just a woman's voice, saying, "South Forty responding to Inconnu. Sorry to be such slow pay, but we get so little action these days that the port isn't manned full time. Please be welcome here. Pick, any landing circle you want, but it'd be helpful if you'd burn the weeds off one that hasn't been used lately. " She paused, then answered Bran's next question before he asked it. "We're well-fixed for fuel and supplies. In fact we had to shut the refinery down because we ran out of storage volume. So—"
"Right. Thanks for telling me " And in fact he had been wondering if this backwater could make it worth his while to expend the fuel needed for entering and leaving its gravity well. "See you down there pretty soon. "
Two more orbiting spirals: then he plowed air and went in.
Number Six landing circle looked most overgrown. When Inconnu came to rest, the growth was gone. Leaving Gonnelson to hold down Control, Tregares group waited in the main airlock until most of the smoke and dust had settled, then the hatch opened and the boarding ramp moved out and down.
Tregare led the way groundside. Following him were Frei
Relliger. Hain Deverel, and a couple of other Chief Ratings. All wore their usual sidearms but no heavier weapons.
From the modest-sized Port Admin building, a party of three came to greet their visitors. The tall, lean woman in the lead looked to have about forty Earthyears, bio. When she gave a hail, Bran recognized her voice from the circuit contact. Then the groups met and everybody shook hands. "So you're Bran Tregare. We've heard about you, more than a little. And we have some messages for you, left by other ships. "
"That's good; thanks. " Distracted a little, Bran tried to keep the names straight. This blond woman, slightly greying, was Mayo Tolridge. The man was Theo-somebody, and the youngish brunette was somebody-Corelli; maybe he could fill the rest in later. "Who-all left messages? You happen to remember?"
The names rang few bells, so he decided the stuff would be mostly info from people he did know, relayed by some he didn't. And inside the building, that's how it turned out. Raoul Vanois had been here with Carcharodon, and left an uncoded voice tape for Tregare. "It's two as sends word for Inconnu. " Contrasting with the odd grammar—and now Tregare recalled that Vanois was a Backwoodser and touchy about his planet's mode of speech—the voice itself came clear and sweet, like a child's. "I has first from Derek Limmer. He have your note is label Delta Five and say will or does mission at New Hope. I does not understand what year he says, but he meets you at Number One. " There was more, but from it Tregare got little meaning.
Well, though—Limmer had agreed to visit the New Hope arsenal and pick up ships' weapon's for delivery to Tregares base. Long View or not, the network was beginning to function! Two other tapes had been brought here and entered in the original versions. Kickem Bernardez, at time of recording, was still maintaining the Hoover's UET facade and visiting colonies with impunity. He didn't yet have Tregares planning on hand, but "given any luck at all, Bran Tregare, I shall hear it from you in person, some landing, over a great untidy lot of drink. "
And Jargy Hoad had raided a UET world and not only got away clean but came near to capturing a UET ship, groundside. "But I must have tipped our hand, Bran. With a quarter of his crew stranded groundside, and before he had his ramp up and his airlock closed, that skipper lifted off. " A pause. "I just wish I could figure what I did wrong, there. So I wouldn't do it again. "
None of the other material was anywhere near as interesting. Bran heard it through, recorded it in case some parts might be important later, and then spent another hour composing and taping messages he wanted to leave here. For the data net to work in the Long View, it needed all the input it could get.
On Hidden Worlds, Tregares business rarely involved him with the ways their governments were organized. So he never did bother to find out Mayo Tolridges position in the hierarchy at South Forty. She was, though, apparently in charge of all dealings with Inconnu, and that was fine with Bran Tregare. Because the woman stated her wishes clearly, made reasonable trade offers, and settled any given individual deal without undue bickering. Bran was used to more shuffling, but found it easy to get used to her style of commerce.
South Forty was at disadvantage because the Ports main computer had troubles. Nearly half its memory storage wouldn't access dependably; some days it worked, other times not. Tregare offered to take a look, but found the problem was beyond his grade of skill. He wished Renni Lofall were still available, but wishing didn't help much.
When he mentioned the difficulty later, in Inconnu's galley, Hain Deverel spoke up. "Mind if I have a try, skipper? If it's all right with groundside? I have a sort of knack with 'intermit-tents—I get hunches, and sometimes they're right. "
Well, Tregare had the same kind of ability in other fields, so he got Tolridge's okay for the attempt, and Deverel found and fixed the glitch in less than two hours. Notified, the woman said, "That's worth something in our trading. A bonus to your ship. I'll have to think what's suitable. "
"Not the ship, " said Tregare. "Pay Hain Deverel. He did the work. " He wasn't quite sure why he put it that way; if he himself had found the trouble, he'd have assigned any bonus to Inconnu, Finally he decided it was because he held captains shares and Deverel didn't.
A side effect of the incident was that the Port bought quite a lot of spare electronic hardware. "For backup and expansion both, " Tolridge said. Then she and Bran looked over their respective inventories to see what else might be swapped to mutual advantage. Until she exclaimed, he'd forgotten the seed grains he'd picked up at one of Inconnu's early landings. Some he'd traded at Number One as planned, but there was a lot left. Now Tolridge looked excited. "That's a problem here. Anything we plant, fertility's fine for some years, then starts dwindling. So we do need new stock. "
