by Sharon Lee
“Pilot,” he said, nice and polite.
“Pilot,” she answered, in the same pitch and key. She included Dulsey in her nod. “I appreciate the two of you keeping us on course while I had some down time.” She hefted her mug with a slight smile. “I also appreciate the tea.”
“You are welcome, Pilot,” Dulsey said softly. “If you like, I can make you some soup.”
“Not right now, thanks,” Cantra answered. “Right now, it’s time for the shift to change. I’m rested enough to fly her and the two of you have got to be on course for exhaustion yourselves.” She took another step forward, and now Jela spun his chair, too, looking up at her out of black, ungiving eyes.
“We’re coming up on transition,” he said, calm and easy on the surface, but showing tense beneath it. Cantra felt a flicker of sympathy for him, inclined her head and squared her shoulders.
“So we are. The board is mine, Pilot. Get some rest, the two of you.”
“Where shall we rest, Pilot?” Dulsey snapped. “We are forbidden the ship, save this room and the galley.”
Cantra tipped her head. “Don’t like to be locked out of things, Dulsey?” She shrugged, flicked a glance to Jela; saw her own image in his eyes. “I’ve reconfigured,” she told him, trusting Dulsey would follow his lead, and trusting that he wouldn’t chose to make trouble now, if trouble was on his flight plan.
“The quarters across from the galley are unlocked now. I suggest the two of you get some rest.” She stared deliberately into Dulsey’s eyes and was mildly amused when the Batcher’s glare did not falter.
“I strongly suggest that the two of you get some rest,” she said softly.
There might have been a hesitation. If so, it was too brief for her to scan. Jela came to his feet and nodded, respectful.
“The shift changes, Pilot,” he said formally.
“Thank you,” she replied. “I’ll see you on the far side of sleep.”
A measuring black glance swept her face before Jela turned and moved toward the door with his light, almost mincing steps. The panel slid aside as he approached. Stayed open as he turned.
“Dulsey?” he said, and it was clear from the tone that he could and would carry her, if she wanted it that way.
For a heartbeat it seemed as though Dulsey would stay stubbornly in her chair. She glared at Cantra, who gave her a smile and sipped her tea. Goaded, she transferred the glare to Jela—
And levered herself out of the chair, walking heavily. At the door, she paused, like she’d just remembered something, turned and bowed deeply.
“Pilot. Good shift.”
Almost, she returned the bow. Almost. In the event, she simply nodded, and watched the two of them out the door.
When they were gone, she opened the secret hatch on the board and flicked a toggle, locking herself in.
THE DOOR OPENED to his palm, revealing quarters not much smaller than standard transport quarters. There were two hammocks, one high, one low, and compact sanitary facilities, including a dry cleaner. Floor space was at a premium, and he took up most of it.
Dulsey sidled in between him and the door. It shut as soon as she cleared the beam, emitting a peevish-sounding sigh, and the status light went from green to red.
They were locked in.
Jela kept the curse behind his teeth. Of course she’d lock them in, he thought. The same reasons that had seen them confined to the tower and the galley applied.
Dulsey sighed, sharply, but surprisingly enough didn’t say anything; just turned and considered the cramped quarters, her face Batcher-bland.
“You have any preference for high or low?” he asked when it seemed like she wasn’t disposed to speak or move on her own.
“If the pilot permits,” she answered distantly. “I will take low.”
“Makes no difference to me,” he said, remembering to keep his voice easy. “I’ve slept worse.”
“So have I,” she said, and slipped past him, rolling into the hammock like a spacer, and yanking the webbing tight.
He considered the top bunk—two pair of handholds were molded into the ship’s wall by way of a route, and he used them, rolling into his hammock like a spacer, too, and pulled the webbing snug. He looked around, finding it no more roomy at the top than the bottom, and located the sensor within an easy sweep of his hand.
“Want me to dim the lights, Dulsey?”
Silence. Then the sound of a hard-drawn breath.
“If the pilot would be so good.”
The pilot would. He waved his hand; lighting obligingly fell to night levels. He closed his eyes and deliberately relaxed, which should have triggered his sleep process. Granthor knew, he was tired enough to sleep.
Despite that, he lay awake, listening at first to the small sounds that Dulsey made, and, after her breath had evened out into sleep, his own thoughts as he moved, not into sleep mode, but into problem-solving.
While he hadn’t minded limited access while he was in the pilot’s chair, he found he minded it more than a little now. Easy enough for Pilot Cantra to lock them both into this tiny cabin until she raised her next port and handed them over to whatever passed for law locally. Easy enough, if he was of a mind to be morbid, for the pilot to evacuate the air from this same cabin and save herself any planetside inconvenience at all.
He wished he had a better reading on Pilot Cantra, truth be told. That she traded Gray—or even Dark—was near enough to certain. No honest civilian pilot had reason to fly like she did—and that was before taking into account her choice and number of weapons, her specially-rigged ‘skins, and her highly interesting ship.
Balancing all that was the fact that she had held to peaceful welcome, and paid her share when it came down to cover and be covered. In point of fact, she had been entirely well-behaved and civilized right up to the time hostilities were specifically brought against her. At which point, she had acted efficiently and well.
Until she’d hit the end of her energy allotment, and he’d thought he was going to see a tall, grim woman fall face flat to the deck. By his estimation, considering the muscle tremors, staggered breathing, and elevated adrenal levels, she should have gone down. The fact that she hadn’t was—interesting. As was the fact that a relatively short nap had returned her to functioning—if not optimum—levels.
That she didn’t trust strangers—a lapsed military and a runaway Batcher—on her ship only showed her good sense. That she would allow them to stay long on her ship—was unlikely.
Full circle. He wasn’t problem-solving. He was worrying—he was that tired. As if he needed proof.
Fine. This called for measures.
He breathed, filling his lungs fully and then fully exhaling. Before his mind’s eye rose an image of a task screen, cluttered with tasks, and showing generous sections of red and yellow. With each inhale he focused his attention on one section of the screen. With each exhale, he wiped that portion of the screen away, leaving only blackness.
Half the screen cleared, he abruptly remembered something else. The tree. He’d gotten used to having the tree by his side while he slept, to protecting it, and imagining it protecting him.
In fact, he hadn’t slept without the tree in the same room with him—since when? Since he’d returned to the Trident. Not even when they’d put him in isolation.
Concern began to grow. He remembered . . .
The tree was still anchored in the piloting chamber, along with someone who—
Moist greenness filled his senses, soothing him, lulling him into—
Jela slept.
FOURTEEN
Spiral Dance
Transition
THE HIGH-CAL BAR was gone. Cantra checked her numbers for transition, found nothing to adjust and sat back in her chair, sipping what was left of the tea.
She considered opening the intercom into the guest quarters, and decided not. Jela and Dulsey’d already had plenty of time alone to talk and go over plans, if plans they had. If they were sma
rt—and she allowed both of them to be smart—they’d catch the naps she’d recommended, maybe after taking a little mutual comfort.
Her stomach clenched at the thought of mutual comfort and an unwelcome memory of Pilot Jela’s wide shoulders and slim hips flickered, which she was having none of.
“Three armor,” she reminded herself loudly, and had another sip of tea, putting her attention wholly on the screens and the scans.
It seemed that they’d gotten away clean, leaving aside the questions of who, how and why they were being pursued. If the pursuers were outworld, like Dulsey thought, then there was the possibility of a welcoming party at Taliofi. She didn’t much like the idea of that, but she liked less the idea of missing the delivery deadline. An agreeable amount of hard coin came with meeting that deadline, and a deal of grief she neither wanted nor would likely survive came with a late delivery.
So, they went to Taliofi, exercising due caution. The vulnerable moment would be at the end of transition, when it would take the screens full seconds to come back online, and weapons only as fast as the pilot understood the situation.
It wasn’t possible to translate with the shields up, but it was possible, though risky, to go in with weapons live—and emerge with those same weapons still live and eager to answer the pilot’s touch.
Prudence, as Garen would say, plots the course. Not that Garen had ever in her life acted with what anybody sane’d call “prudence.” Of course, Garen hadn’t necessarily been sane.
Cantra finished her tea, slotted the empty cup and leaned to the board, accessing the weapons comp and inserting the appropriate commands. The timer at the bottom of her forward screen revealed that they would reach the translation point in a quarter clock, which gave her time to stretch, fetch more tea, and—
A green flutter tickled the corner of her eye. She turned and looked down-board at Pilot Jela’s veg—tree, its leaves moving in a pattern approximating the Dance of a Dozen Scarves, inspired no doubt by the flow of air from the duct under which it sat.
Sighing, she came out of the chair, closed her eyes and did her stretches, the while seeing shadows of leaves dancing on the inside of her eyelids. Talk about prudence. Last thing she needed was for that pot to leave its moorings, if the translation happened to be a rough one, which, going in with the weapons live, it was likely to be.
Stretches done, she moved down-board, and stood before the plant in question.
It wasn’t much to look at, now that she had the leisure. It was considerably shorter than she was, and its main trunk wasn’t any thicker than a dueling stick. Straight like a dueling stick, too, until near the top, where four slender twigs branched off on their own. The branches held a goodly number of green leaves, and, nestled among them, what looked to be three fruits, encased in a green rind. The whole thing smelled—pleasing, moist and minty.
None of which changed the fact that it was a stupid thing to have in a piloting room.
She shook herself and bent to the restraints, finding in short order that Dulsey had done a job which couldn’t be improved upon, short of rigging up a restraining field or spacing the thing. Not that she had time to do either.
Good enough would have to do, she thought, straightening and giving the tree one more hard look before she went back to her chair, glaring at the screens as she unslotted the cup.
Clear all around, for a wonder. She carried the cup with her to the galley, filled it from the carafe, snapped the lid down, and gave the little room a fast once over, looking for things left loose.
More credit to Dulsey—everything was where it belonged, the latches engaged on all cabinets and doors. She touched the carafe, making certain it was secured, and left the galley. In the hall, she flicked a glance to the door of the guest room. Red and yellow lights glowed steady, signaling that not one, but two, locks were engaged, Pilot Jela having impressed her as a man handy with a toolkit and inventive besides.
‘Course, the room hadn’t been locked that couldn’t be escaped, but Jela had also impressed her as cool-headed, not to say sensible. There wasn’t any use to him in irritating her right at present. Much more productive to just take a nap and bide his time, being sure that they’d outrun whoever wasn’t after him. No, the vulnerable moment with Jela would be when Dancer was on Taliofi Port. She’d have to be slick in her ditching, which she was confident she could be. What wasn’t known, of course, is if she could be slick enough.
Well, that was a worry for later. She turned and went back to the piloting chamber, slipping into her seat and making the straps secure just as the timer in the forward screen went to zero.
The weapons came up, the shields went down, the screens went gray, the timer reset itself and began counting down from twelve.
. . . eleven . . . ten . . .
Spiral Dance shivered.
. . . nine . . .
. . . calmed . . .
. . . eight . . . seven . . .
. . . twisted like a Sendali contortionist. The straps tightened across Cantra’s torso; at the far side of the board Jela’s little tree snapped a bow, its leaves in disarray.
. . . six . . . five . . .
. . . calm again, but Cantra wasn’t believing it . . .
. . . four . . . three . . .
Dancer twisted again, with feeling. The pot containing Jela’s tree thumped hard against the bulkhead, despite the restraints. Cantra gasped as the straps pressed her into the chair . . .
. . . two . . . one . . .
Normal space.
Her hands moved, one for the weapons board, one for the scans and shields, ready, ready—
The screens showed stars, all around; the scans showed clear, likewise. The image unfolding in the navigation screen showed her course overlaying the pattern of stars, with an estimated time of arrival at Taliofi just under twelve ship-hours. Ahead of schedule, thanks to the early lift. Still, she didn’t feel like taking the scenic route. The quicker she got down—even at Taliofi—the better she’d feel.
She sighed, notched the weapons back to stand-by and scanned again, just being sure.
If there were any ships with hostile intent inside the considerable range of her eyes and ears, they were both cloaked and cool—which made them watchers, dangerous in their own ways, but not needful of her immediate attention.
A blue light lit on the edge of the navigation screen. She touched it, and info flowed down the screen, the short form of it all being that one and one-quarter ship hour’s could be shaved off real-space transit to Taliofi, if she was willing to fly like a Rimmer.
She grinned, fingers already feeding in the amended course.
THE HAMMOCK SWUNG hard and Jela woke, felt the ship steady, and took a breath, expanding his chest so the webbing wouldn’t grab too tight on the next bounce.
“All right down there, Dulsey?” he asked.
“The pilot is kind to inquire,” her voice came, breathlessly. “This humble person is well.”
“Good. Stay put, hear me? I don’t think we’re done dancing ye-”
The ship bounced again, gratifyingly on cue. The straps snapped taut, and the hammock swung out and back, smacking Jela’s hip against the metal wall hard enough to sting though padding and ‘skins. He scarcely noticed it, himself, but his cabin-mate didnhave his advantages.
“Dulsey?”
“What transpires?” An edge was added to the breathlessness; Jela figured she’d taken a pretty good bump herself.
“My guess is we’re translating with weapons on-line,” he said. “With a ship this size, that’s bound to introduce a bobble or two.”
“Bob—” she began, and stopped as the ship settled around them once more. “We are out.”
He considered it, listening with his whole body in a hammock that hung calm from its gimbals.
“I think you’re right,” he said at last.
“The door is still locked.”
He was sorry to hear that, but the info didn’t surprise him.
“I
figure the pilot has other things on her mind,” he told Dulsey, keeping his voice easy despite his own dislike of the situation. “Even given that we lifted out early and should be ahead of whatever delivery schedule she might have, she doesn’t know who might be coming after. If I was in the pilot’s chair, I’d want to minimize my exposure. It might be Pilot Cantra’s going to do some flying—” That was what they had said in his training wing, when a pilot needed to produce the impossible. “I’d expect us to be in here until the ship’s on port.”
Grim silence for a count of five.
“What shall we do?” Dulsey asked finally.
Jela sighed, quietly; trying not to remember how very much he disliked doing nothing; and did not wish for a computer, a database, or a stack of reports to read.
“Sleep?” he suggested.
She didn’t answer, and grimness lingered for a bit. Then he heard her breathing smooth out and knew she’d taken his advice.
Now, if only he could take his advice, he thought crankily, and moved his head against the hammock’s pad.
Well. Enough of sleep and dreaming memories. What was needed was analysis and a plan. It was not to Pilot Cantra’s benefit to keep him with her, so she would think and she was quite possibly correct to think it.
However, Pilot Cantra’s benefit was secondary to his own. His departure from Faldaiza had been strategic retreat—remaining would not only have been foolhardy but would have endangered himself and his mission, those two elements being inseparable, and Pilot Cantra and her ship had been available. The question now became: What was best for him to do in order to recover the ground he had lost?
It was a knotty question, he thought with some satisfaction, as he began to assign decision priorities.
He hoped he had an answer by the time Pilot Cantra unlocked the door.
FIFTEEN
Spiral Dance
Taliofi
TALIOFI WASN’T EXACTLY the garden spot of the Spiral Arm, nor was it quite so law-bound as, say, Faldaiza. It was by no means the worst world on which to put down a ship carrying irregulars, and the lack of an interested local constabulary generally made it a likely port for a pilot in Cantra’s line of trade. The fact that it wasn’t one of her favorite ports had less to do with the various briberies involved, which could go as high as ten percent of receipts, and most to do with it being home to Rint dea’Sord.
