Dark Horse (33 page)

R
ose watched
Davʼs little hovercar disappear through the snow-covered trees and had a terrible sense he should not have gone.

But of course he had to. It was his job.

He lived next to a forest in a wooden house which had what on Earth would have been considered an avant-garde design. Here, it was probably the typical cabin in the woods, although she couldnʼt see any other houses nearby.

She bet living on top of hundreds of people in the
Barrist
for months at a time meant peace, quiet and space were important to Dav Jallan.

She turned back inside. “What now?”

“Pack your things.” Sazo sounded distracted. “Hopefully it wonʼt be necessary, but you might as well be ready.”

As she had at least fifteen minutes before Dav would reach the other Grih waiting for him just outside the no-go zone, she followed Sazoʼs advice. “How would you get me out, though, if I did need to leave?”

“I deployed a drone when we got here. It looked like part of the explorer craft I sent down with you and Dav to his house. It detached as the craft flew back to me. So far, itʼs been well-enough cloaked that the Grih havenʼt picked it up, even though itʼs been right over their camp three times now. Itʼs capable of picking up a single passenger, and given it was built to fit a Tecran or a Grihan, youʼll have more than enough room.”

“Good to know.” She zipped up her bags. “But theyʼll know the moment I make a run for it, wonʼt they? Didnʼt you say theyʼre monitoring my every move?”

“They are, but only because Iʼm letting them. Iʼll simulate an image of you onscreen if necessary. You can keep talking and not be where they think you are, and I can shut down their monitoring systems easily enough at the same time and make it look like equipment malfunction.”

“Iʼm glad Iʼm on your side.” Rose set her bags down next to the chair Dav had set up for her in front of a large screen. Saw she had another five minutes and went into the kitchen to make a cup of grinabo. “Might as well get one last cup in, if Iʼm going to be on the run.”

“Might as well.”

He sounded completely serious, where she had been mostly joking.

“I hope it doesnʼt come down to me running for my life, Sazo. Iʼd like this to be civilized and friendly. And thereʼs no reason why it canʼt be.”

“You would think so, but theyʼve started to shield their comms and their conversations in the mobile center. I can try to strip the interference away, but itʼs going to take a little time.”

“They could be going into a huddle about their points of negotiation, and they donʼt want you listening in, or youʼll have all the advantage.”

Sazo made a hum of agreement. “That would make sense, but itʼs not going to stop me trying to find out what theyʼre saying.”

“Of course not.” She took the steaming cup of grinabo to the table, and had almost finished it by the time the screen blinked on.

A man in uniform sat at the center of the table, and he had three officers standing behind him, one of whom was Admiral Hoke. She guessed he must be the head of Battle Center. Three Grih, well-dressed and stately, sat to his right, two to his left.

He cleared his throat. “Good day to you, Rose McKenzie. My name is Admiral Krale, and I am the head of Grihan Battle Center. To my right and left are the leaders of each of the four planets, and the overall leader of the Grih. They can introduce themselves to you when they address you.”

So, no UC councilors, no Dimitara. This was a heavy-weight Grihan-only council of war.

Rose found her last swallow of grinabo went down with difficulty. “Good morning.” She dipped her head in an attempt at the Grihan formal greeting.

She could see they were all surprised, and she gave an inward sigh.

As if he could read her mind, Sazo whispered in her ear. “Remember what Dav said about expecting them to underestimate you.”

It had obviously already begun.

“Where is Captain Jallan?”

She didnʼt know why she expected he would be present, but she had. And not having him there was giving her a bad feeling.

“Why would a captain from our explorer fleet be involved in a meeting at this level?” A woman two down from Admiral Kraleʼs right spoke up, a heavy sprinkle of condescension in her tone. “My name is Cavile Lostra, Rose McKenzie. I am the leader of Calianthra.”

Rose looked at her. She was sleek and dressed in a pale green suit that complimented her pale skin and auburn hair, which was styled to look like a candle flame.

“You obviously know who Captain Jallan is, if you know heʼs a captain of your explorer fleet, and you would be very ill-informed if you didnʼt know Iʼm sitting in his house right now, and that he helped bring me to Calianthra, so I suspect you must know why I thought he would be involved in this meeting. Why are you pretending it is such an unusual request from me?”

There was an uncomfortable silence, and as Rose kept up eye contact with Lostra, she shifted in her chair.

“Captain Jallan, however strong his personal relationship with you may be, doesnʼt have the security clearance necessary to be present for what we hope to achieve in this meeting.” Hoke spoke up. “He is being debriefed.”

“Can we leave the topic of Captain Jallan aside for the moment?” A man to Kraleʼs left spoke. He was tall, the tallest there, and his stark black clothes were in contrast to the clothing everyone else was wearing. His hair was silver-gray and clipped short, more a buzz cut than the electric-socket shocked look of most of the Grih. “My name is Vulmark, and Iʼm the leader of the Grihan people. Iʼd like to know what your intentions are toward the Grih.”

“My intentions?” They were afraid of little old her?

Or, more likely, little old her plus her two big, bad Class 5s.

“You seem to have two thinking systems at your beck and call, and as I donʼt know anything about you, that makes me nervous.” Vulmark gave a slight smile.

“They arenʼt at my beck and call. Theyʼre my friends, and they use me as an advisor of sorts. And one of them, Sazo, is a silent participant to this meeting, and can hear everything you say about him.”

“How can you advise them when you are as new to the Grih as they are?” Cavile Lostra fingered a stray strand of hair that had fallen across her brow.

It was a good question, but Rose had the sense they were veering from the main issue. “My specialty is in the area of moral responsibility and conscience.”

Again, it seemed she had managed to silence the most powerful people across the four planets.

She was tired, she still hurt a little, and she was starting to feel edgy again that Dav wasnʼt there. She was sure he would have tried as hard as possible to be involved. “Can we get to the point here, ladies and gentlemen?”

“I donʼt know if we can while I still donʼt have a clear sense of whether youʼre dangerous to the Grih or not.” Vulmark drew himself up sharply.

Oh, for heavenʼs sake.
“Iʼm about two-thirds of your size, Iʼve just recovered from being shot twice and Iʼm recovering from cracked ribs and other injuries as well, although Dr. Havak certainly has worked miracles there. And on top of that, Iʼve never once, since Iʼve encountered you, done anything to hurt a single Grih. In fact, Iʼve done everything in my power to help you. What on earth do you think Iʼm going to do?”

The woman beside Vulmark leaned forward. “My name is Gaumili, Iʼm the leader of the planet Grih, the first of the four planets. I agree that you physically seem to pose no risk to us but do you understand that as a completely unknown entity, we have to take precautions to safeguard our people?”

“I can understand taking precautions.” And truly, she could. Would a Grihan visitor to Earth fare better than her? Thinking of the conspiracy theories, she probably had it a lot easier. “However, there is also such a thing as good will. You are rapidly running through your store of it.”

Vulmark tapped a long finger against thin, mercurial lips. “You canʼt die from a shockgun blast.” He looked down at a handheld lying in front of him. “You apparently can see through our camouflage, and you appear to be far more intelligent than any of the five member nations of the UC think of when they picture a sentient orange.”

“With respect, Mr. Vulmark, your misconceptions about sentient oranges are not my problem. I am what I am. I didnʼt ask to come here. Iʼm not the thin end of the wedge, Iʼm the only one of my kind. With the exception of Admiral Valu, the Grih have been decent to me, and I can see that if Iʼm to find a place for myself in my new reality, the Grih people would be the closest I could come to being home. I have no fight with you, quite the opposite.”

She leaned back and wondered where to go from here. She simply wouldnʼt have believed they could have made such a bogey man out of her. And they hadnʼt even gotten to Sazo yet.

Hoke leaned forward from her place behind Admiral Krale. She looked down the length of the table. “Iʼve had Rose in my custody numerous times, and there was no point at which I could not subdue her. Yes, she can survive a shockgun blast, but itʼs not like she can run a lap around the spaceship afterward; sheʼs rendered unconscious.”

Vulmark drew in a deep breath. “Point taken. But it isnʼt just Rose weʼre dealing with, is it?”

“No.” Rose agreed. “You want to talk about Sazo.”

“We have a very clear law that states we have to try to kill Sazo,” Krale said.

“That law is two hundred years old, and killing Sazo when he hasnʼt done a single thing wrong, and in fact used his own shields to prevent Grih ships from taking fire, is hardly equitable.”

“Agreed.” Guamili obviously shocked her own colleagues as much as she shocked Rose. “News of what Sazo did, and his and Roseʼs exploits, have already disseminated across the four planets and to most of the other UC members. This has been fueled in great part by comms of some songs performed by Rose on board the
Barrist
, which have endeared her to the Grihan people.”

“Told you if you sang they wouldnʼt be able to give you away.” There was a smug tone to Sazoʼs soft words.

“I am very much of the opinion that the decision to execute a kill order on Sazo would meet with vast public disapproval.”

“I would agree.” A thin, wiry man sitting next to Cavile Lostra moved his handheld around with a finger in an unconscious gesture. “My name is Radie Silvan from the Grihan planet Xal, and Iʼve been getting the same feedback from my people.”

“And you, Hygu, Lostra?” Vulmark asked the two on either side of Silvan.

They both gave reluctant nods.

“If we donʼt execute the kill order, then can you tell us what path you and Sazo will choose?” Kraleʼs voice was overloud in the silence that ensued.

“Weʼd like to work with Captain Jallan and the crew of the
Barrist
, assisting them in their exploration work. And if you genuinely need the threat of Sazoʼs fire power, we can go where you need us and he can look mean and threatening for you.”

“That would be a very acceptable outcome.” Krale exchanged a look first with Hoke and then with Krale.

“We could draw up a contract to that effect now,” Vulmark said with a nod.

“Rose.” Sazoʼs voice sounded odd. “Iʼve finally decrypted the conversations they were distorting earlier.”

“And?”

“And Dav has been arrested and is facing a court martial.”

“What?” She raised her eyes and looked straight at Krale. “Youʼll draw up a contract stating weʼll work with Captain Jallan?”

“Well, not Captain Jallan specifically, because captains get promoted, change ships.”

“And can be arrested?” She pushed back her chair and stood.

Krale jerked with surprise, then rubbed a hand over his face. “He left his post. There is no getting around that.”

“Dav left his post to protect his entire ship and all the other ships in the fleet. If you donʼt understand that, I donʼt think Sazo and I can work with you.”

“Weʼll understand it when Captain Jallan is brought before the courts.” Krale shot a quick look at Hoke.

“Hoke.” Rose looked at her with genuine fury. “You know what Dav did was the right thing. The only thing a captain who understood the whole situation could do to protect his people.”

“Hereʼs the thing, Rose. If Dav did what he did to protect the fleet,” Hoke held her gaze, “that means Sazo posed a risk to the fleet and that Dav was saving everyone from him lashing out. That means if Sazo is upset, he becomes a danger to us. The Grihan people may all be humming along to your songs now and feeling sorry for Sazo, but how long will that last if they know Dav had to bundle you up and give Sazo his way in order to protect Battle Center crew?”

“So youʼre saying . . .” Rose could hardly believe what she was saying.

“Either Dav left his post, which is against orders and carries a five year sentence, and the stripping of rank, or Sazo is dangerous, and the chances of popular support for not executing the kill order becomes far more shaky.”

“Youʼre making it a choice between Dav or Sazo? Youʼd railroad Dav into a conviction to keep Sazo? Or Sazo and I would have to go on the run if the truth of what Dav did comes out?” But why were they offering her the choice?

Sazo
was
dangerous when he was upset.

It would get better with time, but they didnʼt know that, so why would they risk it? And also risk the loyalty of their own staff by deliberately convicting Dav when they knew he had only been doing his duty?

And then, it all came together.

“You want to keep your toy.” She spoke softly. “You think if Sazo and I agree to work with you, and the general public continues with their enthusiasm for us, that somehow you can get someone on board and cage Sazo again. I donʼt know what happens to me in that scenario. I get dumped somewhere? Locked up?” She spat the words out in disgust.

The uncomfortable silence was all the confirmation she needed. Some of the Grihan leaders exchanged troubled looks.

“Iʼve disabled their monitoring systems. Made it look like mechanical failure.” Sazo was almost too soft in her ear, she only just caught what he said.

Time to go.

She reached out and switched off the screen, ignoring the shouted demand for her to stop from Admiral Krale as she leaned across the table. Something on Admiral Hokeʼs face made her pause, just for a moment, before she switched the screen off. She picked up her bags. “Where is the drone?”