Derelict For Trade

23

Rael Cofort watched Karl Kosti bounce through the outer lock, an anticipatory grin on his craggy face. She continued on her way to the galley, and watched Frank Mura happily checking off the latest delivery of supplies.

"What’s with Karl?" she asked. "He looks like someone just gave him a couple of planets for his own."

Frank looked up, a quick smile in his eyes. "Few days ago, while you were up at the Spin Axis, those three wranglers off that Deneb ship came and apologized—and ever since then he’s been using his rec hours to go off with them to that Shver gym to try to kill each other."

Rael laughed. "Well, everyone to their own hobbies, I guess." She continued on her way through the Solar Queen, hugging her good news to herself as she went.

Everywhere she saw crew members busy with tasks. It had been that way in the days since the confrontation with Flindyk. On the surface, they were happy enough, and busy; underneath, she knew, the fate of the Ariadne was on everyone’s mind, but no one talked about it.

What could they say? The Starvenger papers had been surrendered back to Trade, and the Ariadne's owners traced. Heirs had been found; complicated messages had been zinging back and forth across the starlanes.

Rip Shannon bounded by, tape spools in his hand. He gave her a cheery nod and she said, "The cargo masters still gone?"

Rip gave a nod. "At least Tapadakk wants to deal again."

"Tapadakk." Rael considered this. "I thought he was part of Flindyk’s network?"

Rip caught himself on the up-ladder and floated in midair. "Apparently he wasn’t part of Sphere Eleven, but whether he knew about it or not, Jan says no one except him will ever really know the truth. Tapadakk was certainly full of apologies for ’misunderstandings’ and ’false rumors’—which is about as open as any Kanddoyd gets. The thing is, he’s the best for Terran traders, so apparently we’re stuck going through him."

"I’d think Jan and Dane would use moral superiority to boost our cause a little."

Rip laughed. "Oh, I think they will. Only the way Van Ryke put it was: ’Maybe if we rub his mandibles in it for a little while, he’ll deal decently enough.’ "

Rael laughed as well. "Did Tooe go with them?"

Rip nodded. "Everywhere Dane goes."

Rael moved aside, and Rip bounded up toward the control deck.

Rael continued on. The door to the captain’s cabin was open, but he was not there. Queex saw her and squawked, and she stepped in to set his cage rocking.

Shortly afterward she handed herself through the hatchway to the control deck, and stood, watching. Jellico was there, working with Steen and Ya; Wilcox had gotten upgrades on navtapes, and Ya was monitoring the busy comlink.

You never can predict reactions, Rael thought, shaking her head slightly. The officials of Exchange had not said anything public or overt to the Solar Queen's captain or crew since that day at the Movable Feast. Nothing. On the other hand, their debt had suddenly appeared canceled the day after Flindyk’s arrest, and not long after, vendors had contacted them, offering ship’s supplies, and when Jellico said they were cash-strapped, each vendor had insisted that they had a line of credit good enough to supply their needs for blasting off.

The officials wanted them gone, was what it came down to, Rael suspected. But the Queen lingered, while the red tape over Ariadne and Starvenger was slowly unraveling. Had unraveled.

It was now solved, but as yet no one knew it.

She bent her gaze to Jellico’s broad back, and watched him. And after a time he became aware of her presence; he looked up, his eyes lightening when he saw her there.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Not at all," she said. "But I’ve news."

His brows lifted slightly. He turned to Steen, said, "Carry on."

Wilcox looked over at Rael with a little smile, then returned to his work.

Out in the hatchway, Jellico said quietly, "Yes?"

Rael smiled at him. "This news needs the appropriate setting." She watched him, saw his eyes narrow in abstraction. She was beginning to read his moods—as he was hers. "Tell you what," she said. "You’re obviously busy there. Meet me at the Movable Feast in—an hour?"

"The Movable Feast?" One of his straight brows soared. "Think they’ll let us in?"

"We just today received a special invitation from Gabby. I strongly suspect that business has been better than ever."

Jellico smiled, then gave a decisive nod. "An hour."

She smiled, and impulse prompted her to hold out her hand, to touch, to reaffirm what she felt but had not yet been spoken. But she stilled the impulse, sensing that it was yet too early. Miceal Jellico would have to be brought by degrees to break those barriers he had set around himself.

Until then, public caresses would only embarrass him.

So she just smiled, and saw her own smile reflected in his eyes; but then he surprised her by catching hold of her hand and, with an air of gallantry, kissing it.

Then he was gone.

She made her way to the maglev for what she suspected would be the last time, reflecting on how delightful it was to be surprised by him. He would always surprise her, and they could spend a lifetime discovering one another.

As the pod sped toward the North Pole, she leaned back and watched the other passengers, and when she debarked, the business of the habitat. Everything appeared much as usual. She knew that the authorities were working in the background, that some changes would have to make their way through the elaborately sedate, polite labyrinths of Kanddoyd negotiation. But she was satisfied with what she had done. Individuals had been helped, from mere tissue repair to the possibility of a real life, for Nunku. It was Ross who had unexpectedly proved to be her biggest help in getting at least amnesty for those Spinnerites who wished to come out and seek a better life. He appeared to have shaken off the lethargy with which he’d cocooned himself—she knew, though they hadn’t discussed it, that the inspiration behind his sudden energy was the realization he’d soon be going home.

Rael smiled as she entered the restaurant. Home for her had become the Solar Queen. Wherever it went, that was home. Its crew were now her family.

The Kanddoyd who greeted her led her up to one of the private booths, and Gabby himself soon appeared.

"I delight! The doctor, the captain? You luxuriate, exquisite foods I select meself!" He bowed and went away.

She looked out the window at the magical lighting winking along the Kanddoyd towers. When Jellico slid in next to her, she had champagne in fluted glasses.

"Crystal?" Miceal said, indicating the champagne.

"We’re at point-eight grav—you can manage that," she said.

"We’ll essay it," he said.

She felt the double impact of his words, and her carefully prepared speech fled.

"The Ariadne is ours," she said.

Jellico’s hand tightened, and a drop of champagne spilled, sparkling, to his fingers.

"I asked Teague to give me my share of our inheritance early. He did, but for a wedding present, he went himself to the heirs, used my money to buy title to the ship, and I have the deed here. Now. Got it today. All we need to do is rename her, and put our names on the title."

"Wedding present?" He looked stunned.

She smiled, her heart pounding. "Is it too soon? Or do you find you can’t bear after all to take the risk?"

For a long moment he was silent, and she felt the universe darken. Then he looked up and said, "This kind of talk—I don’t really know how. I thought I’d cut this side of me out. You’re right about risk. I never wanted to go through the grief I’d seen—" He shook his head.

"Go on," she said gently. "I think I follow."

"Why should you?" he retorted with slightly acidic humor. "I was a fool. I saw it in that instant when Flindyk threw the wine in your face. He was a cagey devil, Flindyk. He must have seen that that was the quickest way to hurt me the most. It’ll always be that way—that people who want to be my enemy will seek to destroy what I love most."

"Yes," she said, gripping her hands tightly in her lap.

"But I also saw. well, if you had died, then I’d have all the grief anyway, and no good memories to look back on." He looked up, his emotions, for once, clear in his eyes. "Let’s go and make those good memories, Rael. Soon. Now."

He held both hands out, and she brought hers up and gripped them.

"As long as I live," she promised. "As long as we both shall live."

"What?" Ali gasped. "You mean—that’s it? They’ve gone to Ross to marry them? And we’re not invited?" He flung down the tools he’d been carrying; unfortunately the micrograv kept them from making a satisfying crash. "I’m devastated. Hear me?"

Dane sighed. Van Ryke had just given him the word—first the captain and Cofort would get the red tape out of the way on both their marriage and the new ship, and then they’d blast off for the world that came with the ship. Apparently there were still nine months left on that charter, and the cargo the Ariadne had found had been worth killing the crew for, so it seemed that, at last, they were heading straight for prosperity.

"Shut up," Rip said, laughing.

"They’re just doing the legal stuff with Ross," Jasper said, giving them all his shy smile. "They’ll do the actual vow exchange with us—after we blast off. They want to be married in space, with only the stars around, and not this place."

"Well, I can see that," Ali said. "But they might have told us."

"Telling you now," Dane said. "We’ve got to get our stuff together and shuttle over to the Starv —the Ariadne."

"Marriage, ship, promotion," Ali said, snapping his fingers. "What’s next? I can handle it!"

"Don’t tempt fate," Rip said, groaning. "Just get your kit together, and shut up."

"Wait," Dane said. "Before you go, we’ve got to name our ship."

The other three stared at him for a long moment.

"Name—" Jasper said.

"Our ship," Ali repeated, his brilliant eyes intense with emotions Dane couldn’t name. His lips curved in a pensive smile and he said, "That’s right. Ariadne is gone—her soul went with her old crew. And she never was the Starvenger. So. ?"

They looked at each other helplessly.

"We have to think of something," Dane said, feeling uncomfortable. "Then send a message to the captain. They’ll register the name after they do the marriage legalities. So we can’t take all day."

"We need a name that sounds well flying next to the Solar Queen."

"Something terrestrial?" Jasper asked. He winced. "Lunar Duke or Venusian Viscount sounds kind of—"

"Idiotic," Rip said. "I think we’re on the wrong starlane with the royalty. The Queen's the Queen, and always will be, but we don’t need any kings or dukes or any of that."

Dane shut his eyes, seeing an image of the heavens above Terra, remembered from his youth. And suddenly he had it. "Celestial," he said. "What did our ancestors use to guide their ships by?"

Ali sighed with satisfaction. "The North Star. That’s it, Viking." He looked at the others, and saw Jasper nod with decided approval.

"North Star," Rip repeated, and he shoved himself toward the hatchway. "I’ll send the message, then get my gear."

"Just a moment," Ali said, catching his arm. "How about the cats?" he asked, pausing.

"Tau’s got them already," Dane replied. "He’s gone over with them and his lab stuff."

"Tau?" Rip asked.

Dane shrugged.

Jasper said, "He had his choice, for he’s senior medic. And Cofort said as long as the ships were flying together, she didn’t mind duty on the North Star. But Tau wants to be with us—some project going on, apparently."

"I thought I heard some hinting around," Rip said. "Well, that’s fine with me."

"Too bad." Ali flipped upside down and grinned. "I’ll miss seeing old Viking here blush every time she appears."

"I don’t," Dane said, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"You did." Ali wiggled his brows.

"But he doesn’t anymore," Rip put in, ever the peacemaker.

Ali made a graceful, careless turn and oriented right-side-up. "I told you, you just need to come with me. Get plenty of practice being around beautiful women. You’ll like it, I promise."

Dane sighed. "I like them already," he said. "I like them a lot. It’s when they look back at me that I suddenly grow an extra foot, and find I’ve got too many arms and legs."

"It’s all right to look," Ali said, for once at least semi-serious. "Cofort now, she has fine taste, and she looks at me." He grinned smugly. "Everyone does. They can’t help looking at such a handsome fellow. Of course that’s all she does, is look. I could wait until the galaxy goes nova before she’d act on it."

"I know, I know," Dane said. "I’m learning." He wasn’t going to admit to anyone, not even Rip, that he’d had a talk with Rael, and had gotten a lot of things clear just about interacting with people. Not that it would change him overnight. But at least he didn’t feel quite so stupid anymore.

"Speaking of females, what about Tooe?" Rip asked, as the apprentices parted to pack their gear.

"She knows we’re leaving now," Dane said.

That was all he said. He went back to his old cabin, and started packing, thinking over the events of the last few days. After all that work, it didn’t really seem like much of anything was changing. Nunku still wanted to live at the Spinner, as did most of the klinti, though apparently at least they’d get ID papers, and jobs if they wanted them.

About the only concrete change that Dane could see was that Tooe had been given papers. She now was a free citizen, with no debts, ready to start her life. But though she’d worked hard and uncomplainingly, each

day she’d talked less.

Would she be able to leave the klinti? Dane had been honest with her, saying he didn’t know if they’d ever be back. Of course once she was out in the starlanes, if she decided not to stay with the Queen she could work her way back on any ship.

What was toughest was leaving in the first place.

Dane shook his head as he finished packing away his belongings. He looked around the bare cabin, wondering who would live there next, and how they’d feel about leaving wherever they were coming from—how they’d feel about the Solar Queen and her crew.

For him it had been easy. No family, no ties. This was it, his home.

In silence he joined the others, and helped push the baggage into the shuttle. Ali chattered happily, cracking jokes and singing snatches of song. Rip kept sending Dane glances of sympathy from his dark eyes, but he said nothing directly. Jasper just worked, as always keeping his thoughts to himself.

When the shuttle was ready to go, Rip made a business of checking over the com once more—and then he stopped, for a little blue figure bounded down the tube and flung herself in, clutching in her thin webbed fingers a ragged, bulging receptacle.

Dane grinned at her, and watched her drooping crest lift. No one was in sight on the dock; her good-byes had been said.

In silence the crew of the North Star made their way to their new ship. And not long after that, the two ships eased their way out of the great lock, and nosed out toward space.

Though there was plenty to do, Dane hovered near Tooe, watching. She stopped at the port, but her gaze was not back in the direction of the rapidly dwindling habitat.

As they built up speed for the jump to hyper, she turned and smiled out at the stars.