The Challenge (27 page)

She understood this was Osari’s way of reassuring her, a link that left him vulnerable. He spoke to her mind-to-mind.
You are free to leave at any time. But I hope you will stay. I went to considerable trouble to arrange this meeting.

“Why?”

You do not speak freely in front of your mate, and you have secrets I wish to hear.

“What if I don’t choose to share these secrets?” Tessa challenged the Osarian boldly.

“Then we are not the mind-meld friends I’d hoped for, and I beg your pardon for pressing myself upon you,” Osari spoke in a flat voice, but through the mind-link Tessa sensed his hurt.

She held onto Osari’s tentacle. Harmony, friendship, curiosity and excitement came through. She didn’t know if he could lie to her through the link, but it seemed to her he had let her see and feel his genuine essence. And he meant her no harm.

“Forgive me, friend, Osari. I do not trust easily,” Tessa murmured in apology. She withdrew from his mind, but kept the emotional link. “Now, tell me why you are here.”

The Osarian spoke words, but emotions came through his tentacle. “My planet,” began Osari in a dry tone colored with pride through the emotional link, “has the dubious distinction of the best trade location in the galaxy. We are centrally situated between many natural space lanes. What makes our location unique are two black stars of equal mass, equi-distant from our planet.”

“This is good?”

“The black stars are extremely dense matter and exert tremendous gravitational forces that expedite commerce.”

“I don’t understand.”

He shot a mental image through the link. “Our planet is like the center of a sling shot which launches the star ships into space at minimal cost. Since my planet has such a prime location, certain members of the Galactic Federation have actively sought to prevent us from becoming too powerful. All traders are offworlders. No one will share or sell us the information we need. For centuries we have been forbidden from participating in the lucrative contracts that use our world as a center of commerce.”

“What is a trader?” Tessa asked still confused but appreciating the time she’d spent guarding Daron, the business tycoon who’d wheeled and dealed his way to a financial empire. During the months she’d spent protecting him, she’d also listened to his power plays, to his contract negotiations, and, most of all, to his business acumen. She hoped a little of his skill had rubbed off on her, so she could understand the dynamics of Osari’s situation.

“Traders negotiate the contracts of goods and services passing through space and earn their commission by charging a percentage of each transaction.”

Tessa understood that the Osarians would have to be upset that their world was so useful and that they weren’t profiting by it. But she didn’t understand why the Osarian was here. “What does all this have to do with me?”

Dora answered through her earrings. “We have purchased the information the Osarians need to conduct business, details others refuse to sell them due to their prejudice. That information came in with a batch of data concerning planetary imports and exports. We also have up-to-the-moment credit reports and detailed starship schedules.”

“I was told you did some interesting shopping,” Osari pressed gently.

“Your source is accurate.” Tessa saw no reason to lie, but she didn’t like being spied upon. “I bought the information you want or so Dora informs me.”

Startlement swept through Osari’s link. “Who is Dora?”

“Dora is a computer and my friend. She’s sentient and I would ask you to please keep all knowledge about her a secret.”

“Osarians keep many secrets. Have no fears, Tessa. Osari thanks you for the trust. Now I have a request.”

Tessa tensed, sensing the Osarian had finally come to the real purpose for the meeting. But she didn’t speak. Daron Garner had taught her that often the person who spoke first in a negotiation lost the upper hand. So she schooled her patience and simply remained silent.

“I would like to purchase shipping information from you. Before you answer, I must warn you that though I will keep our arrangement a secret, there’s a possibility others may find out and the discovery could put you in danger.”

Tessa shook her head in frustration. Once again she had to make decisions without enough information. “What kind of danger?”

“Our use of this information will cut into the profits of others.”

“I’ve always believed in a free market.” Still Tessa hesitated. “Will this information affect Rystan?”

A negative came through the link. “However, the Endekians, Cytons and Rangoji will not be pleased. They have kept this information from us for centuries.”

“So how did I end up with it?” Tessa asked Dora.

“I purchased in bulk,” Dora explained. “Vast quantities of economic data came in, and I pared it down to the essentials. The information came from a variety of sources, each person believing their piece was common knowledge. The Osarians can’t do the same thing. Too many aliens refuse to deal with them.”

That’s terrible. “Dora, how lucrative are these contracts?”

“Traders charge a standard rate of two percent of all transported cargo. Profit depends upon the number of contracts and volume of business. The Osarians are a very enterprising and hard-working race.”

“Will I break any laws by selling this information?” Tessa asked both Dora and the Osarian.

“No, dear,” Dora replied, “you’d only break an unwritten law of discrimination.”

“I would never ask a friend to break a law.” The Osarian’s voice came through flat, but from the link Tessa sensed she might have insulted her new friend.

“Forgive me, please,” Tessa said. “I’m new to Federation ways and must gather all the data I can before making this decision.”

“I understand.” Osari sent more warmth through the link.

Tessa wondered if the emotions he sent could influence her judgment. Yet, she didn’t release his tentacle and return to verbal communication. “Osari, how much will you pay for the information?”

“Five million credits.”

Tessa whistled in appreciation at the size of the generous offer. She had bought the information for less than one million that afternoon. Yet, still she hesitated. Azrel had told her that she couldn’t keep credits in her name, and she’d assumed if she didn’t spend the funds Kahn could take them after they arrived on Rystan. However, if she had a source of income and she kept her credits on other worlds, she could protect her assets—especially if Kahn didn’t know about her side business.

Although Tessa fully intended to make her marriage work, if it didn’t, she wanted the means to return to Earth. This might be her chance to give herself a way to escape Kahn—one she hoped she’d never need. She’d already known that Kahn would put his people’s needs before his own, but since she’d learned how his grandfather had lied to him, how his father’s affection had been withheld, she couldn’t help being proud of the man he’d become. Although she and Kahn had had a rough start to their marriage, he was coming around. He’d made many concessions, letting her train for the Challenge as a man, listening to her opinion about his father, and she was certain she’d won a measure of his respect. Besides, the wondrous psi link when they made love was simply indescribable.

“Why don’t we barter?” Tessa bargained. “I’ll trade you the information for partial ownership in your venture.”

“You wish to be our partner?” Osari asked. Through the link, he sent astonishment. Apparently no humans had ever wished to go into a partnership with an Osarian.

“Yes,” Tessa said firmly, instinctively sure she had made the correct decision.

“I am unprepared for such an honor.”

She’d shocked the normally serene Osarian into confusion.

“Friend Osari, have I offended you in some way?” Tessa asked as jumbled emotions flooded the tentacle linkage, dazing her.

“I must contact my home planet with your offer. Osari does not have the authority to accept. May I please use your communications vidscreen?” Osari requested.

“Help yourself.”

Tessa broke the link but not before learning that the Osarian was even more isolated on Zenon that she’d imagined. Osari hadn’t just sent emotions through the link but information about his people. The Osarians used telepathy among themselves and often linked many minds together, enjoying a vast communal “thinking pot” that she had difficulty expressing in words. Osari could function as an individual, but he preferred to be part of a group and with his own kind.

The link didn’t take long. Osari slithered back to her and placed a tentacle in her palm. “They’ve agreed,” Osari told her exuberantly. “We’re partners. At first, my people were just as shocked by your proposal as I was, but now the entire planet will celebrate.”

“As will I—in private.”

“Here is our contract.” Osari handed Tessa a shiny disk that Dora scanned and quickly translated. Tessa was a fifty percent partner of all Interstellar-Osarian trade agreements negotiated by an Osarian that used the data she’d supplied. Tessa was to provide the current information she’d acquired, plus updates, if she could still obtain them. She signed the contract, provided a thumb print and retinal scan, and recorded her copy of the contract in Dora’s memory banks.

As Tessa, Dora, and Osari worked out the practical details into the early hours of the morning, Tessa fought to stay awake with coffee. Osari would personally oversee one-third of her credits, one-third would be sent to Rystan, and one-third sent to a bank account on Zenon. In addition, she and Dora modified an encrypted communication system so Dora could contact the Osarian wherever he might be in this quadrant of the galaxy—without using the spaceship’s network.

Satisfied and exhausted with her new business arrangement, Tessa hugged Osari good-bye. His cold slimy tentacles left her covered with ooze, but her suit automatically cleaned up the mess. Her eyes burned dryly from sleeplessness, and she felt empty and drained, yet jazzed about this new venture, too. Despite her caffeine induced coffee buzz, she was so tired, her nerves throbbed. Bone-weary with fatigue, Tessa wished she could activate her null-grav and sleep on a cushion of air.

However, without Kahn there to float her, she simply lay on the floor, closed her eyes, and fell into an immediate sleep. It seemed only moments until Kahn shook her awake.

She didn’t want to open her eyes, but he kept shaking her. When she ignored him, he clasped her shoulders and yanked her to her feet. She opened her eyes and then wished she hadn’t. Kahn glared at her, his expression fierce, his jaw tensed, the cords of muscles in his neck bulged with tension.

“What? What’s wrong?” She’d never seen him this angry and would have taken a step back—except he held her up in the air, rage twisting his mouth into a tense, grim line. Only once before had his anger come close to this kind of fury, after she’d stolen the shuttle. Although she knew he would never strike her, fear shot up her throat and made her mouth dry as the Zenon desert.

“Tell me there’s been a mistake,” he ordered. “Tell me that you didn’t spend
all
the credits.”