Rissa and Tregare (32 page)

"Yes, Bran. I will seek you first on
Lefthand Thread."

"Fine. If I go somewhere else, I'l leave word." He left, and she took his seat at the field controls.
Can I do it?

She had to try. "Ivan-the women at Welfare, who hurt you-remember?" He winced. "What did they do? Show me what they did." He lay supine, spreadeagled on the floor, reliving what he told. Again and again she shuddered. Tie a boy down, arouse him sexually-then punish that arousal with vicious pain. No wonder normal response was kiled!

She thought, then said, "Get up and sit again. Now-Ivan, how old were these women?" Middle-aged, most of them, he told her. She nodded.

"Ivan-they are al
dead
now, or near it. Do you realize they are dead?
You
have kiled them, Ivan -simply by traveling among the stars, by staying young while they aged and died." She leaned forward. "Dead people can
 
not hurt you, Ivan. They cannot touch you-you are beyond their dead reach!"

His brow wrinkled; he shook his head. Quickly she said, "Spit on them, Ivan-
spit on them'."
He spat. "Trample their bones to dust!" His feet beat against the floor. "Now they no longer exist. You have destroyed them. You are free of them. Your body can do as you wish it to-and there wil be no pain, but only joy."

His face twitched; again he shook his head. "It is true!"
He recovers from the drug-there is little time.
She went to the door and locked it, came back and undid his clothing and her own. "Here is how it wil be with you, Ivan, from now on." She watched his smile begin. "You see, brother? There is no pain...."

clothed again, and he also, she sat with him as he came to full awareness. He looked up at her. "I dreamed. I dreamed that I-was all right again.''

She squeezed his hand. "And you
are
all right-forever now, you are. The past has no more power over you." He sat up. "But-what really happened? It seemed-"

"What does it matter? Your mind and body know they are whole again."

"But you-" He frowned. "No-that was my mind, I guess, and the drug. You wouldn't-"

"Always, I do what is necessary. Believe what you will-I cannot see your dream, to know if it is true or not. Unless you wish to tell me..."

"No!" He got to his feet slowly; she stood also. "I'll keep that to myself; sharing it might spoil it. But-whatever-my life's thanks to you!"

"You make me very happy, Ivan. Are you ready to go to the ship now?"

"Yes-a little shaky, but improving fast. And
hungry!"

She laughed. "And so am I. Shall we go and see if it is lunchtime yet?"

Aboard
Lefthand Thread
and upship, they found Limmer, Felcie, and Tregare in the galley. Lunch had begun; Limmer waved for two more servings.

Rissa introduced Ivan. Felcie said, "Tari's brother? You just got here? You're a little older, aren't you? What's it like on Earth, when you left? Not too snooky, I bet. Are you glad to be here?"

Tregare laughed. "Don't worry, Ivan-you get used to it. Answer what you can keep track of and let the rest hang or come later. All right?"

Ivan smiled and slowly nodded. "I'm a little smeared yet, Felcie; it took a hypnotic to pull some bugs out of my head." He turned to Tregare. "Did it all come out right?"

"Sure-there wasn't much-less than I expected. But from the looks of you, it made more difference than I thought." Ivan shrugged. "Tensions I didn't know I had-now they're gone." He looked to Felcie. "You asked-well, by chrono I'm three years older than Rissa. Not quite that, bio-I rode deep-freeze all the way here. Came in on
Graf Spee.
Peace knows,
yes,
I'm glad to be here. What Earth's like-or was-that's no fit subject for mealtimes." Counting on his fingers, Limmer chuckled. "You'll do, man-you got
all
of them!''

The talk-light, friendly chatter-progressed. At first Rissa watched Ivan closely, but soon decided his adjustment was stable and complete. Certainly his responses seemed open, unguarded. Apprehension gone, mentally she sighed in relief.

after lunch, while Felcie showed Ivan around
Lefthand Thread,
Tregare and Rissa inspected the preliminary work done on
Valkyrie
and
Graf Spee.
Only a few minor corrections were needed; cutting and reframing could proceed, then the arming itself.

Coming downship in
Graf Spee,
they met Ilse Krueger. The small woman wore a coverall suit; her hair was pulled back into a tight knot. She said, "Welcome aboard, Tregare-Tari. I was down in Drive when you came in, I guess. Everything going all right, above?"

"Fine," said Tregare. "And is everything all right with you, Ilse?"

She shrugged.
"Now
it is. First here, I felt Limmer was crunching me-and
you
sure as peace were. But then I asked around. When I heard that
everybody
got the truth field treat-ment-well, after Peralta I couldn't argue with that logic. But you didn't have to give me that garbage about shooting me down if I didn't kowtow the right way!"

"Oh?" Rissa recognized Tregare's best deadpan expression.

"Yes,
oh!
Not much I'd put past you, Tregare-but blow-ing up an unarmed ship and all aboard it, out of spite for losing an argument? I didn't believe that for a minute, you peace-bedamned pirate, you!"

Tregare laughed. Rissa reached to grip the woman's shoulder, gently. "Ilse Krueger-I find that I
like
you." Ilse patted Rissa's hand. "That's good-and I'm glad-but I'm a bitch on jets and never forget it. You ought to hear-"

"Then we are much alike-otherwise I would not now be alive."

Tregare said, "You can trade stories some other time. But Tari has a point, Ilse. We married in a dueling arena. She'd just kiled a man twice her weight-a
skilled
man-without weapons."

Ilse blinked and stared at Rissa. "I wouldn't have though! it. But I guess I should have-short haul or long, what other kind of woman would Tregare take up with?"

"Could have been you, Ilse-when we first met, on South Forty. You had your own litle harem then-the twins-so I left the string loose. But I've always figured I missed some-thing worthwhile."

Ilse Krueger smiled. "Well-someday, maybe, Tregare. Unless your dueling woman would kil me for it." Rissa shook her head. "Our binding is not exclusive. If you wish to go fulfil yourselves together at this moment-"
But how will Bran react
when I tell him-as I must-of Ivan?

Tregare turned her to face him. "You mean that, don't you? But-" He grinned at Ilse. "-right now I think we're due back on
Thread."

Bidding Ilse Krueger good-bye, Rissa felt the other was now indeed friendly. Going downship, she said as much to Tregare.

"Sure," he said. "I told you-with Ilse, it's just that the shakedown takes a litle time. 

They entered
Lefthand Thread's
galley and found Ivan and Felcie there before them. Ivan said, "We're invited to stay for dinner. I didn't know your plans, Tregare, so-"

"Derek thought," said Felcie, "if you'd like, if you're not busy, we could get all the captains together-Vanois, Gowdy, Ressider, Krueger-you
aren't
busy, are you? I hope-a real party, Derek thought-maybe-" Tregare waved a hand. "Sure we can stay, and thanks. But not late-I want to reach Base One sober enough to read Deverel's message log and make sense of it." He turned. "I'd better call Hain now and tell him we'll be a while here." He left; Rissa sat and accepted coffee.

"How do you like the ship, Ivan? Did Felcie show you how we install the weapons systems?"

"Yes. She had me running simulations on a projector tur-ret, too, and-"

"He's
good!
First he overcontrolled, the way I still do sometimes-then he got the feel of it and his scores went up like a kite. Give him a week, Tari, and he'll be real competi-tion for you."

Ivan said, "I don't know about
that-
but it's the kind of thing I learn fairly easily, now my coordination's come back." Tregare rejoined them. To Rissa he said, "The packet should ground late tomorrow. Shall we meet Hawkman at the Lodge tomorrow night?"

"If we are not needed here-surely. And what of
Inconnul"

"Another day-maybe two, if Zelde M'tana decides not to land at night. But Limmer's marked her a landing circle." He turned to Felcie. "Is that spare cabin stil free?" Brows raised, she nodded. "We don't have a change of clothes along, but we could freshen up a litle before dinner."

he and Rissa left. In the vacant cabin they showered, lay together for a time, then rested. After some thought, Rissa told him what she had done for Ivan-and why.

Tregare frowned.
Have I made a mistake here?
But he said, "He's not sure it was real?"

"He prefers, I believe, not to know."

"Funny . . ." He shook his head. "Two years with Erika's psych techs couldn't do it. And yet-" 

Relieved, she said, "Two factors, Bran. First-on a very deep level, he saw me as the one person he could trust. Second -you had cleared away the residue of UET's mental implants, geared to a Hidden World situation. Then when I convinced him that those who hurt him are dead-and stil I saw he was not totally free, so I-Bran? What do
you
feel?" Smiling, he ran his fingertips up her cheek, into her hair. "You said it right, what you told him-always you do what is necessary. That's good enough for me."

"I am glad, Bran." She rose and began dressing. "But-Ivan must not know that
you
know." He stood also. "Sure-I see that. Don't worry-far as I'm concerned, he never
had a
problem. Al right?"

"Very much so." She kissed him. "Now-shall we try to be on time for dining?" they were nearly the last to join the group. Limmer and Felcie, Ivan, Vanois with hair and beard trimmed to neatness, Hilaire Gowdy-these were there ahead of them. As they sat, Kile Ressider entered; he greeted those he knew and was in-troduced to Ivan. To Tregare he said, "I've been thinking. I shouldn't have expected command, when you have someone who's worked an armed ship. At first I had reservations. Now I don't."

Tregare grinned and accepted Ressider's handshake. Before he could answer, Ilse Krueger joined them; he shrugged and motioned Ressider to a seat.

Ilse greeted the others; Rissa introduced Ivan. "... and he was the one you told me of, who inquired about me!" Nod-ding, Krueger shook hands and said, "This one's brother, are you? Yuu a duelist, too?"

"No, not especially. I'm trained to kill in the easiest way, not to follow ritual unless I have to. But that's only training, in case it's needed. I mean, don't be-"

"Frightened?" Her blonde curls, worn loose now, swung as she shook her head. "Nothing much scares me. I'm the smallest person ever to survive UET's Space Academy gaunt-let-and I've got the scars to prove it." She smiled. "That's not any kind of challenge-just fact."

Ivan smiled also, and moved the chair beside him for her convenience. "Sit here, won't you?" When she did, he said, "I wish I knew how to fly a ship." Then food was brought, and the woman's answer was lost to Rissa in the noise of general conversation.

Saying little, Rissa looked from one to another, observing. Vanois used his native jargon only a few times, then spoke in more normal patterns. Hilaire Gowdy ate sparingly; already-in less than twenty days, Rissa guessed-the loss of weight was noticeable. Ressider talked with Limmer and Felcie, too far away for Rissa to hear what was said. She turned to Tregare. 'Your group becomes, I think, a viable entity."

"Yeah-since Peralta, it's shaken down pretty good. When
Inconnu
gets here-"

"Then you will firm your schedules, to leave this world."

He gripped her hand. "And that's when it all goes on the line-our next thirty or so chrono-years. And maybe the next thousand, for the whole peace-losing human race!"

the party after dinner was much as Rissa expected. Liquor and drugsticks abounded, though she and Tregare used both in moderation. The size of the group varied-people suddenly absent for a time and then back again-but Limmer's quarters proved too small; headquarters reverted to the galley. When Tregare said to her, "Time to go, I think," she looked around to see who was present. "Ivan? He is not here."

"He'll be all right. Hain can come pick him up tomorrow." They said good-byes to those who listened, and went down-ship. Outside, by the aircar, he said, "Who flies it? I can-but would you rather?"

"You-I am sleepy now and would be rested later." She dozed on the way and woke at Base One. Tregare went to the scoutship, she to the cabin. She slept for a little while but woke when he joined her.

Next morning they rose early. While Rissa made breakfast, Tregare visited the scout. He returned just as Rissa was preparing to call him, and they ate.

"The packet lands sooner than I thought," he said. "I left word for Hawkman to bring the new aircar; he'll be at the Lodge this afternoon."

"And did you speak with Base Two?"

"Yes. I'm going there for a while-come along if you like." He paused. "Limmer's turning out to be my key man; what do you think of taking him and Felcie along to the Lodge? I'd like him to feel a real part of the Hulzein Establishment." She nodded. "Of course. And I owe Felcie a ride through the pass; I've hinted of it to her. But you say nothing of Ivan."

"He's
all right. But we'll be taking Krueger to the Lodge, too. Sometime during the party last night, Ivan moved in with her."

"He-?" Rissa laughed, stood and leaned over to kiss her husband. "I would not have thought-but his instinct was right. He took his strengths to the strongest woman."

'' You consider her stronger than Gowdy?''

Rissa shook her head. "Hilaire is older. He may never-it was older women who hurt him so terribly. You remember, I told you-"

"Yes-and you told me to forget it, too, so I am. But-Ilse at the Lodge-you think it'll be all right?"

"If she oversteps herself, Liesel will correct the matter."

"I expect so. All right-you want to come to Base Two?"

Upon consideration, she did not. Tregare and Deverel took the aircars; Rissa went to the scout, talked with Kenekke, and spoke on the screen with Liesel and with Ernol. Later, carry-ing a snack in her shoulder pouch, she hiked uptrail. She ate beside a stream; from the ledge where she sat, it dropped so far that the breeze whipped it into spray. Her seat gave her a view of the plateau and the hills that fell away below it.