A Choice of Treasons (71 page)

Of course, you must,
Ard’dha’sit thought.
Especially since my armada outnumbers the ships you have in this system ten to one.
But he didn’t voice that thought. “Your protest is noted. However, the circumstances surrounding Add’kas’adanna’s death are under question, and until the matter has been resolved, all Kinathin units will remain under the direct control of the Kinathin Delegation. Furthermore, the Kinathin Delegation has withdrawn from the General Council, also pending a satisfactory determination of the circumstances surrounding the death of Director Add’kas’adanna.”

Zort’s eyes darted from side to side. So far he’d said nothing, but he had guilt written all over his features. That, more than anything, decided Ard’dha’sit’s hand. He touched the throat mike sewn into the collar of his councilor’s robes, spoke three words in Kinathin
battlespeak
. Only a heartbeat later the door opened and one of his bodyguards entered, leveling her sidearm at the three Directors. In
battlespeak
she said, “We have secured the outer vestibule, My Lord. Marshal Sin’bos’menna reports she is transiting into the system now, and with the armada behind her she should have the system secure within the hour.”

Ninda demanded, “What’s going on here?”

At the tone in Ninda’s voice the bodyguard tensed, but in
battlespeak
Ard’dha’sit cautioned her to remain calm. To Ninda he said, “I and the Kinathin Armada are going out to personally investigate Add’kas’adanna’s death. And it is only appropriate the three of you accompany me. You will, of course, be allowed to bring your own retinue, and to maintain communication with your subordinates.”

Palevi chose his marines well. Yagell and her twenty in full armor were nicely hidden in the troop compartment behind the back bulkhead in
Two
. Palevi and his ten were appropriately big, and brawny, and ugly, and their sidearms were very visible, and there was no doubt they would do a good job of upholding the rather unpleasant reputation of imperial marines. And Notay turned out to be an actress of star quality. She’d tied her short hair back into a bun, managed to look strict and severe and accountant-like. The four with her did a pretty good job of acting also, though York wasn’t sure if they fooled Faiel.

York wanted everything nice and legal, so Harshaw was his legal council. York had briefed Harshaw several days ago, and the man had spent the intervening time pouring through
Cinesstar’s
library files on naval law. Oddly enough, York trusted the man more than any other civilian.

Somehow Harshaw had scrounged up a business suit and a brief case. “Have to look the part, Captain,” he said in response to York’s glance.

“How do we stand legally?”

“There’s nothing that prohibits the commander of a ship from independently contracting for her repairs, nor any prohibitions regarding Borregga, nor any prohibition against independently financing said repairs, as long as you don’t enter into any agreement that conflicts with your duties.” Harshaw raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

York shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. That’s taken care of.”

Fithwallen and Omasin and Faiel arrived in short order. They looked rather skeptically at Notay and her
accountants
. Omasin frowned at Palevi and the escort of ten armed marines. “Is that necessary, Captain? Borregga is really quite civilized.”

York looked at him and grimaced. “There’s still a reward of one million crowns on my head.”

“Ah! I had forgotten about that.”

Fithwallen added, “I do have the resources to insure your safety on Borregga.”

“Thank you all the same, but I prefer to do my own insuring.”

Fithwallen smiled and looked at the marines. “You know, you’re only going to enhance your image with such a retinue.”

“What image?” he asked.

She shook her head sadly. “Don’t be naive, Captain.”

The short hop to the bank in
Two
was a bit strange. While the major hunks of rock in the asteroid belt were spaced thousands of kilometers apart, in astronomical terms it was a tight fit. York watched the screens all the way; saw a lot of small boats traveling back and forth between rocks. Borregga was indeed a thriving metropolis.

The bank was on an ovular rock about thirty kilometers in diameter named Gibraou. The president of the bank, Mr. Kaiya Danthor, met them at Gibraou’s shuttle station. He was a small, rather officious man, who stopped just short of offering to act as Sarra Fithwallen’s personal carpet. He was surprised by the size of York’s retinue, but when Fithwallen introduced York as the
famous Captain Ballin
, Danthor nodded, glanced at the ten armed marines and said, “Ah yes! There are rumors all over the rocks about you and your ship, Captain. I dare say that incident at Sarasan was a rather unpleasant business.”

York looked at his watch. “How do they know about that? We’ve only been in Borreggan
nearspace
for ten hours.”

“News travels fast, Captain, though in the finer details most of the rumors are somewhat incorrect. I, of course, have other, more reliable, sources of information.”

Danthor ordered up a small fleet of
cars
to drive them all to the Borreggan branch of
Suin & Danthor
, a bank apparently owned by a company owned by another company owned by Fithwallen. As they split up into the cars York pulled Notay aside, asked her, “Who have you got assigned to Faiel?”

Notay inclined her head toward a rather attractive, but small, female marine, the top of whose head barely reached Faiel’s chest. At York’s frown, Notay said, “Don’t let Calla’s size fool you, Captain.”

The
cars
Danthor ordered up were small, electrically driven transports that carried four passengers comfortably. The ride to the bank was about a kilometer through busy streets. At the bank they were escorted through a side entrance into a large, private reception area obviously not used by the general public. There, Danthor, looking at Fithwallen, said, “Shall we adjourn to my office?”

She nodded and looked at Faiel. “Jandeer. Why don’t you and Brentin remain here? Captain Ballin and I have a few details to discuss with Mister Danthor.”

York brought Notay and Harshaw. The two marines assigned to Fithwallen and Harshaw hesitated uncertainly until York said, “That’s all right. You can stay here.” Then he glanced at Palevi, keyed his implants and whispered, “No one in or out.”

In Danthor’s office the banker offered them all a drink. York and Fithwallen accepted while the rest declined. Harshaw and Danthor went to work immediately, while Fithwallen and York stayed in the background. Notay, staying in character, pretended to listen in on Harshaw and Danthor, though York noticed she constantly scanned the room.

“Your bodyguards are rather apparent, Captain,” Fithwallen said with a smile as she and York waited.

“There are a lot of people who would like to see me dead.”

She laughed. “Yes. That is the unpleasant truth.” She played with her drink for a moment, had something on her mind. “Captain. I once offered you a job, though the circumstances were not right and you turned me down. If you get out of this alive, and you think you might be interested in making a career change, let me know.”

“There’s not much I know how to do, other than soldering.”

She smiled warmly. “We can discuss the possibilities at that time.”

A few minutes later Harshaw approached York. “This all seems in order, Captain. Nothing terribly complicated really. In return for delivering Miss Fithwallen to Borregga, she funds all of the repairs to
Cinesstar
. And to protect you, the ownership of all repairs reverts to the empire upon completion.”

He looked at Fithwallen and frowned. “Delivering you to Borregga?”

A side door to Danthor’s office opened suddenly, and three civilian equivalents of Palevi’s big, brawny, uglies melted into the room. They were armed, guns drawn, but Notay was fast enough to step behind Danthor, draw a gun and aim it at Fithwallen. Danthor snapped, “Hold your fire, gentlemen,” then looked at Fithwallen for further instructions, and as everyone froze York keyed his implants and whispered “Code Blue.”

Fithwallen raised her hands, palms out. “I won’t be leaving with you, Captain.”

At York’s look, she added, “Don’t worry. We had an agreement. Your end of the bargain was that you would deliver me to any location of my choice. Well, quite honestly, I don’t believe your chances are very good once you leave Borregga, so this is the location of my choice. You have kept your end of the agreement, and I’ll keep mine. And if you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave Brentin and Jandeer here also.”

Palevi’s voice came over his implants. “Blue secured.”

It was time to trust Fithwallen. “Okay,” he said, leaving his implants keyed so he was broadcasting his words. “Sergeant Notay. Secure your weapon.”

Notay complied, but Danthor hesitated to give the same order to his uglies.

“Kaiya,” Fithwallen said. “Don’t be foolish.”

He nodded to his uglies and they holstered their guns.

Fithwallen looked at York. “Tell me, Captain. What is
code blue
.”

York kept his eyes on Danthor. “Sergeant Palevi and his marines have secured the outer corridor and are prepared for a firefight. An assault team is standing by, in full combat armor, with heavy assault equipment, ready to cut their way into the bank and pull me out.”

Fithwallen smiled. “And I suppose the order for them to fight their way in here is code green, or red, or something like that.”

York grinned back at her and she nodded. “And knowing your marines they would be unhappy to find you in anything but the healthiest condition.”

She looked at Danthor. “You see, Kaiya, I’ve come to understand that Captain Ballin here is a thorough man.”

In the reception area Palevi’s uglies were all waiting tensely with weapons drawn, though Notay’s little
accountant
had Faiel face down on the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back. She was sitting on his back holding a small gun to the back of his head. York glanced at Notay and she gave him a smile and a wink.

The ride back to
Cinesstar
was uneventful, and contrary to York’s paranoid fears his ship was in no worse shape than when he’d left her. Rame had recalled his rumor teams, and debriefed them before York arrived. As York sat down at the captain’s console Rame told him, “A lot of conflicting rumors floating about, though they do have it right about the double-cross at Sarasan. Some rumors that involve the empress’ presence on this ship, but they’re not consistent enough to worry about. Even rumors that she was among the dead at Sarasan.”

York had an idea. “This place has to be loaded with spies and informers. Let’s make up some rumors that could help us, then send your teams out again to spread a little misinformation.”

Rame actually broke into a grin, but that disappeared. “We did get one piece of information that bothers me. Apparently, there isn’t a single Mexak ship that comes even close to carrying the kind of firepower we have. And every pirate captain in the League is scheming to gain control of her, under the assumption we’ll soon be heavily in debt for repairs. Some of them are going to be disappointed when they learn otherwise.”

York got in a short cat-nap of a few hours, was awakened by his yeoman. “There’s a call for you, Captain, from Governor Dandra.”

York took the call in his office. “Captain,” Dandra began. “I’ve been notified by
Suin & Danthor
that you have rather substantial credit.” Dandra’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and he paused, but when York made no comment he continued. “You may move your ship to the yards and effect whatever repairs you need. You can make the arrangements with Yard Captain Breaug.”

A few hours later
Cinesstar
settled into a low gravity dock in the Borreggan shipyard on another big rock. The dock was completely enclosed, a fact York disliked intensely, but he had no choice. And as the giant gates swung slowly shut, sealing
Cinesstar
inside, he tried not to let his paranoia win out.

There was a lot of room in the dock, however, and he immediately stationed marines in full armor all around
Cinesstar
, cordoning her off from any unauthorized visitors. It took another day to get it clear to Breaug and the yard crews that none of them would touch his ship. The yard would provide parts and equipment, but Cappik and his people would do all the work.

Then York had to wrestle with Cappik for a few hours to get the chief to set his sights a bit lower. With their rather substantial credit, Cappik wanted to overhaul
Cinesstar
from stem to stern, which would only take about three months. York gave him one tenday.

“Captain, you can’t be serious,” Cappik pleaded. “We can’t do shit in a tenday. Beggin’ yer pardon, sir.”

“Think about it, chief,” York said. “This place is full of spies and informers, and we’ve been here now for almost two days. You can bet both the empire and the Directorate now know we’re here, in pretty good shape, and getting better. And if they stay in character, they’ve already scrambled an entire armada to burn us. Remember what they did to Dumark. A tenday probably leaves us some margin for error, but not much.”