Lady Lure (36 page)

“No more than you are,” Kalina said. “I will
not leave unless Captain Jyrit specifically orders me to do
so.”

Jyrit wasn’t paying any attention to the
discussion between Halvo and his mother. The captain of the
Krontar
was fully occupied with issuing a series of commands
to his bridge crew. The
Krontar
slowed as the unknown ship
continued on an interception course. At Jyrit’s order, Dysia
released the safety monitors and readied the ship’s weapons for
firing.

“I am beginning to think they would prefer
not to talk to us,” said the communications officer, who was trying
to establish contact with the unidentified ship. “Ah, there they
are. Sir, they have finally accepted a video link with us. The
picture is coming on the viewscreen now.”

The image of the oncoming vessel faded to a
picture of one section of its bridge. A man so young he could only
be a junior officer had the helm, but he wore no uniform. At once
Jyrit identified himself and his ship, stating that it was
returning to Capital.

“Identify yourself.” Jyrit paused, awaiting
that act of courtesy common to all space travelers who were on
respectable business.

“We prefer to remain anonymous.” The young
man spoke with no trace of politeness. Perri watched in fascination
as Jyrit’s antennae began to turn red with anger at the deliberate
rudeness.

“Are you the captain?” Jyrit demanded.

“You have passengers whom we wish to welcome
aboard our ship,” the young man said without answering Jyrit’s
question. “You will send a shuttlecraft to us with the Lady Kalina
and Admiral Halvo Gibal aboard.”

“If we do not?” Jyrit said through gritted
teeth.

“We will reduce you to atoms.”

“They are pirates,” Halvo said. “They want
prisoners for ransom.”

“Before I allow any of my passengers to visit
an unknown ship,” Jyrit said to the face on the viewscreen, “I must
speak to your captain.”

“Why?”

The response was so insolent that Jyrit’s
antennae fairly glowed with outrage. But he kept his voice firmly
reasonable. “I want your captain’s word of honor that these two
passengers will not be harmed.”

There followed a whispered conversation
between the young man and someone who was positioned off-screen.
While it went on, everyone on the bridge of the
Krontar
stared at the viewscreen, straining to discover any sign that might
reveal the origin of the ship they were confronting. Perri gazed as
fixedly as anyone else, but all she could see was a communications
station bare of everything except the necessary console equipment.
The area behind the young man was also blank, just a pale, painted
background – until he leaned closer to whoever was speaking to
him.

“Halvo,” Perri said, keeping her voice soft,
“when he moved just then, his shadow moved over a raised marking on
the wall.”

“Bulkhead,” Halvo corrected her. “I saw it,
too. Something has been deliberately covered over.”

“An identity mark?” said Kalina, who was
close enough to hear them talking.

“Possibly,” Halvo said, “but I can’t tell
what it is. Not unless he changes position again so his shadow
slides along that bulkhead.”

“It looked to me like a circle,” Kalina said.
“Which isn’t much help to us. There are hundreds of governments
that use some kind of circular device as their emblem.”

Or a spiral. Perri could not make herself say
the words out loud. Not yet, not until she was sure of what she was
beginning to suspect.

“If these are pirates, that could be a stolen
ship, and any emblem on it would be meaningless,” Halvo said.

“Our captain will speak to you,” the young
man said to Jyrit.

Jyrit moved forward a pace or two to stand
directly in front of the screen. The young man who had been
speaking to Jyrit stepped aside and an older person in plain dark
tunic and trousers came into view. This man had light brown hair
streaked with gray, and though she could not see his eyes on the
viewscreen, Perri knew they were green.

“Halvo,” Perri hissed. “I know him.”

“What?” Kalina stared at her. “Who is
he?”

“It is Vedyr. It is Elyr’s servant. He
carried to me the news that Elyr had been condemned to death. False
news!” Raising her voice, Perri said, “Captain Jyrit, that
mysterious ship must come from Regula. Now that I have recognized
the captain, I can identify that covered-up symbol on the bulkhead
behind him as the Regulan spiral.” As she spoke, Perri moved out of
the shelter of Jyrit’s back and into full view of the man on the
screen.

“Perri?” Vedyr looked stunned.

“He probably expected you to be confined to a
cell,” Halvo said, “and never guessed you would be on the bridge to
see and recognize him.”

“It is a good thing for us that she is here,”
Kalina said. “Thank you for the information, Perri.”

“If you do not deliver Lady Kalina and
Admiral Halvo to us promptly,” Vedyr said to Jyrit, “you will be
destroyed.”

“I would say he has recovered from his
surprise,” Halvo said.

“Captain Jyrit, may I speak to him?” Perri
asked. “I have an idea.”

“Go ahead. Take as much time as you like.”
Jyrit motioned to Perri to take his place while he stepped closer
to Dysia, with whom he began to speak in a low voice. Perri
understood that Jyrit was planning his next move and would
appreciate having Vedyr’s attention fixed on her for a while.

“Vedyr.” Perri faced him, unafraid.

“Woman, you may not speak without my
permission,” Vedyr said.

“You just heard Captain Jyrit. I have his
permission to speak. Vedyr, you do not want Lady Kalina or Admiral
Halvo. I am the one you want to take back to Regula. As you can see
by my lovely new clothing and by the freedom with which I move
about this bridge, I am not a prisoner here. These people think
well of me. I offer myself as hostage in place of Lady Kalina and
Admiral Halvo. I will willingly join you aboard your ship. I will
return to Regula without protest, and once there, I will offer
myself to the Hierarchy for punishment.”

“You?” Vedyr looked as if he might burst into
scornful laughter.

“I am sure Capt. Jyrit will agree to let me
have a one-person shuttlecraft. I can be with you within the
hour.”

“Women cannot handle machinery.” Vedyr’s
voice was filled with the usual Regulan contempt for females.

“During ray absence from Regula, I have
learned to pilot the
Space Dragon.”

“Outrageous! Scandalous!” Vedyr did not
trouble to hide his shock. But he pulled himself together quickly.
“You are of no use to us, Perri. Enough delay! I want an immediate
answer from Captain Jyrit.”

“Sir,” the communications officer said to
Jyrit, “our sensors indicate only a skeleton crew aboard that
ship.”

“No more than half their weapons are
operational,” Dysia said, adding the data provided by her
instruments. “This confrontation is only a bluff. They don’t know
us very well if they thought we would be fooled by it.”

“Just as I thought.” Jyrit paused for a
second. “Vedyr may be able to answer some of our questions. I want
that ship disabled, not destroyed. And I want the crew captured
alive. Fire when ready, Lieutenant Dysia.”

“Aye, sir.” Dysia pressed the buttons on the
weapons console. At first nothing happened, but then everyone on
the bridge witnessed the results of their attack on the viewscreen.
Sparks flew from the communications console next to Vedyr. With a
shout he jumped away from it.

“Can you still hear me, Vedyr?” Jyrit was
back in the captain’s position, standing next to Perri. “It is you
who will be destroyed if you do not surrender.”

“Fire!” Vedyr screamed. The image of his
ship’s bridge vanished, changing to an exterior view of the entire
ship. The weapons tubes flared bright yellow. The aim was true and
a moment later the
Krontar
rocked as the blasts hit her
hull.

Perri was thrown off her feet and onto the
deck. Halvo caught her, setting her upright again.

“Lieutenant Dysia.” Jyrit was as cool as if
he were attending a party. “Blast those Regulans to a standstill
now. I want no injuries or deaths on my ship.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Why is Vedyr doing this?” Perri cried. “He
has never been a violent person.”

“You heard him,” Kalina said. “He wants me
and Halvo for hostages. Some people will turn violent for large
sums of money.”

“No, there is more to what Vedyr is doing.
There must be,” Perri insisted.

“Are you hurt?” Kalina asked, seeing Perri
rub her wrist.

“I just landed hard on my hand and twisted my
wrist. There’s no serious harm done.”

“Would you actually have gone to that ship in
place of Halvo and me?”

“Of course.” Pern’s green eyes met Kalina’s
deep blue ones with open honesty. “I have much to answer for, Lady
Kalina. I am sure it is at least partly because of me that we are
in this dangerous situation. If I can help Halvo or you or, indeed,
prevent the taking of a single life aboard this ship, then I will
do whatever is required of me.”

“Captain Jyrit.” Dysia’s voice rang through
the bridge. “All weapons on the Regulan ship have been disabled.
Their air-circulation system is no longer functioning. They have
only two shuttlecraft and both are out of commission.”

“Good work, Lieutenant. Communications
officer, get the bridge view back on screen. I want to see Vedyr
face-to-face.” It took a minute or so, but Jyrit’s order was
carried out and a wavering, smoke-obscured image appeared. “Now,
Vedyr, you cannot live much longer in a deteriorating atmosphere.
As I understand your culture, suicide is not acceptable to Regulans
under any circumstances. We will send shuttlecraft to pick up your
crew. How many survivors have you?”

“There are twelve of us.” Vedyr appeared to
be utterly defeated.

“My communications officer will make the
arrangements with you. We will take your damaged ship in tow. Jyrit
out.” With a slash of his hand Jyrit indicated that the video link
with Vedyr should be severed.

“Thank you for your help, Perri.” Jyrit’s nod
in her direction was almost a bow.

“Captain, something is wrong here,” Perri
said. “Vedyr is not a space pilot, he’s a servant. Why was he put
in charge of a ship with a minimal crew and only half the weapons
in working order? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I agree.” Jyrit gave her a quick look of
approval.

“Their apparent surrender may be a trap,”
Halvo said.

“Are there any other ships in this area?”
Jyrit asked his communications officer.

“No, sir,” came the immediate response. “All
clear between here and the Cetan border.”

“Then our best hope of solving this
intriguing mystery would seem to lie in intensive questioning of
Vedyr and his crew,” Jyrit said. “And you, Perri, will have the
chance to prove you meant that rash claim you made to the effect
that you are willing to do all you can to help us.”

Perri stared into the holding cell, grateful
that she was not being kept in one. It was a gray metal cube
containing only a padded shelf for sitting and sleeping and a
pull-down lavatory for the prisoner’s personal needs. A
strained-looking Vedyr was standing well back from the charged mesh
that stretched across the open side of the cell. If he touched the
mesh, the shock it generated would leave him unconscious.

Jyrit had decided not to attend this initial
interview, saying he would interrogate the prisoners later, after
giving them time to think over their misdeeds and contemplate what
kind of justice might await them. Thus, it was Halvo and Perri who
stood facing Vedyr, along with Dysia and a security officer, who
were there to serve as corroborating witnesses. In one hand Halvo
held a recorder. He pressed the button to start it.

“Perri of Regula, your official
identification of this man is required,” Halvo said to her.

“It is Vedyr of Regula, the servant of my
former betrothed, Elyr,” Perri said. “I know him for a liar, but he
is completely loyal to Elyr. I do not believe he would stop a
Jurisdiction ship on his own. Elyr must have sent him, or perhaps
the Chief Hierarch did.”

“The identification and your comments are
formally noted.” Halvo looked toward Vedyr. “Have you anything to
say for yourself? I warn you, interrogation by Captain Jyrit’s
security people will not be a pleasant experience. You would do
well to speak now to me.”

“You do not frighten me.” Vedyr sneered.
“Captain Jyrit will not break the laws, not on a Jurisdiction ship
with Lady Kalina aboard it. Torture is forbidden by Jurisdiction
law. So are truth drugs and mind draining. I have nothing to say,
not to you, Admiral, or to your Captain Jyrit.”

“But I have,” Perri said. “In fact, I have
already told my story several times. You were involved in the plot
to abduct Halvo from this very ship. Surely you know about Jugarian
honor, Vedyr. Captain Jyrit will not rest until you and Elyr are
punished for your parts in that crime. If you are still as loyal to
Elyr as you have always been, then you will tell everything you
know about the plot against Halvo. You see, I believe and I have so
informed Captain Jyrit and Lady Kalina that the true instigator of
the abduction scheme was the Chief Hierarch. If I am right, then
you and Elyr may be able to lessen your punishment by revealing the
truth.”

Those statements were what Perri and Jyrit
had agreed that she would say to Vedyr. Still, the words were hard
for Perri, because she believed Elyr was as much to blame as the
Chief Hierarch. But she was eager to prove that she had been a pawn
and not one of the conspirators. While on the bridge of the
Krontar,
Perri had found the qualified approval of Lady
Kalina and Captain Jyrit to be extremely gratifying. She was
determined not to disappoint them.