The Empty Warrior (39 page)

“Acknowledged, Captain,” Busht answered mechanically. “The first officer has the conn.”

Priority one meant the sender expected the message to be read immediately if not sooner, so Valessanna hastened from the bridge as soon as command of the watch was passed on. She made her way as quickly as possible to her quarters. On the way, as she rode the lift, a thousand variants of what the message might contain flashed through her brain. None of the possibilities were very appealing. She would almost certainly be relieved of command to start with, and that would be effective immediately. In her thoughts the dreaded prospect of a stint in rehab reared its ugly head once more, so it was with great trepidation that she entered her quarters, took a seat before her work station, and ordered up her messages. As she had expected, the priority communication was not computer generated text that was the norm for intra-fleet communications; it was a personal v-mail from Inspector Claudaine. She stared at the visage of his head and shoulders, floating frozen in the air before her, for several seconds before activating the message.

“Valessanna, I’m very pleased you and your crew have at last made port,” the Inspector began, a surprising smile spreading across his round face. “You seem to have had a very exciting deployment. The force welcomes you home.

“As I’m sure you have already realized, however, the circumstances of your return have necessitated the employment of some rather extreme precautions.” Claudaine’s smile faded as he launched into the business end of the missive. “Your crew, with a few exceptions, is to be reassigned. Orders posting them to new positions aboard the
Observant,
the
Arbiter,
or here with me on
Courageous
have already been sent. They will report to their new stations immediately, with no shore leave, either now or in the foreseeable future. I understand that this may seem harsh, but the situation dictates that they should be kept separate from the general population for as long as possible.

“Senior Pilot Willet Lindy is to be detained incommunicado and in quarantine at police headquarters on Sefforia. His ultimate disposition will depend on the outcome of the investigation we are only now commencing. Lieutenant Commander Cyanne Lindy will be given the option of joining him or the crew of the
Arbiter
. I have no doubt that she will prefer to stay at the side of her husband; she has only been offered the option of another post out of respect for her family.

“Dr. Merco Beccassit and any other staff, medical or otherwise, that the logs show to have had anything more than the most casual of contacts with the aberrant that you are transporting will also be transferred to police headquarters where they will also be quarantined. The doctor will assist us, as much as is practicable while being sequestered, with the investigation of the aberrant and the circumstances of his abduction until such time as the doctor may be returned to his previous duties at the Union Academy of Science.

“You will remain on Sefforia to oversee the refit of
Vigilant.
However, I regret to inform you that you will be supplied with a monitor bracelet. The bracelet will be directly interfaced with the UP network. Any mention of
Vigilant’s
trek to the forbidden world or the aberrant now aboard your ship, no matter how indirect, will result in you being relieved of command and detained under house arrest. Furthermore, any behavioral abnormalities exhibited by you that might in any way be attributed to your contact with the aberrant will result in your immediate quarantine at headquarters with the other members of your crew already detained there.

“The aberrant is to be interned at your residence.”

“What?” Valessanna nearly shouted at the unhearing inspector before her.
You can’t do that
, she thought. It contravened a dozen different laws. But just as quickly she decided that the higher ups could do most anything they wanted. The aberrant certainly wasn’t going to be in a position to get in touch with anyone concerning the matter, and she was looking a rehabilitation term right in the face even if she was totally cooperative. So who was left to file a complaint?

“Your residence has already been informed and the appropriate preparations made,” Claudaine’s image said even as Valessanna fumed. “I apologize for the imposition, but as you do live alone, your home is in a very secluded location, and as we assume that you have already been exposed to the aberrant, it was deemed in the best interests of everyone involved that this action be taken. It is only a temporary solution. You have my personal assurance that other accommodations will be found for the aberrant as soon as it is practical to do so. Already, a frigate has been dispatched to the Sol system in an attempt to discover Vazilek intentions in that area. It may be that we can return him home in short order. But for now, he must be kept somewhere far from the public eye. Your home is as good a place as we have in that regard.

“
Vigilant
will dock at Creebarton Memorial. The port is in the process of being evacuated for your arrival. The media will be told the evacuation is due to structural concerns only just now brought to light. Security personnel will be on hand to transport the Lindys, Dr. Beccassit, and whomever else we determine should be quarantined to headquarters. You are instructed to summon your personal vehicle to transport yourself and the aberrant. Your monitor bracelet is to be picked up at UP headquarters in Bensora. Shuttles will be on hand to transfer your crew to
Observant
,
Arbiter
, and
Courageous.

“Once Creebarton is emptied of personnel, security operatives will board
Vigilant
to wipe your logs before a civilian repair crew is brought in to take her out to the belts. She will be routed to the Toko Bizet shipyard for refit. A shuttle will be placed at your disposal so you may oversee the repairs while still spending time on the surface, and in the process keeping a human eye on the aberrant.

“I regret that I will be unable to meet with you in person. As soon as the crew transfers are complete, the
Courageous
, along with
Arbiter
and
Observant
, will be leaving orbit. Vazilek activity has increased in this sector since your departure, and we are urgently needed on the beat. I look forward to a face-to-face meeting once
Vigilant
has been returned to the force. Goodbye and good luck, captain. Claudaine out.”

The image disappeared, replaced by a displayed summary of her remaining unread messages. They were few, and all of them from Seldon, undoubtedly asking for instructions on how to deal with this or that detail concerning her return. She did not feel like reading them at present, so instead instructed
Vigilant
to save them for later perusal. She leaned back in her chair and hugged herself tightly with both arms.

It could have been a lot worse, she told herself. She still had her command, at least for the time being, and there appeared to be a good chance she would make it through without a court martial. Plus, she was home. But having the savage take up residence in her house, that was simply too much to contemplate. She would be perfectly safe of course. Seldon and the warder robots would see to that. But having to deal with the man’s primitive nature on a daily basis was going to be extraordinarily trying, to say the least. All she could do was go home with him in tow; pop a Distreban, an Apprereign, or some similar drug; take a long soak in the tub, and hope it all would calm her mind enough to endure the initial days of the ordeal. Then perhaps Claudaine’s promise of finding “other accommodations” for the aberrant would come to fruition in short order.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door chime. “Open,” she said to the air and the compartment door slid aside to allow an agitated Kira Pellotte to storm into the compartment. She stalked toward Valessanna waving a printout wildly through the air.

“I’ve been transferred,” she said, as if the mere thought of such a thing had been an utter impossibility only moments before. “I’m to man the third watch in
Arbiter’s
sick bay. Everyone I’ve seen has similar orders, everyone. It’s as if they are transferring the entire crew to other ships.” The unperturbed stare Valessanna leveled in her direction quickly quieted her, and then the import of the captain’s expression hit her. “They are, aren’t they?” she said in a less flustered tone. “They’re moving everyone.”

“Yes,” Valessanna stated, nodding matter of factly. “Everyone but me. I stay with
Vigilant.
And you won’t be going to
Arbiter.
Once they analyze the logs they will have you quarantined at headquarters, along with the Doctor, the Lindys, and anyone else they deem to have had more than ‘the most casual of contacts’ with the aberrant. I am the lone exception. I am to be his jailer, as he has been assigned quarters at my home.” The last sentence was delivered with a mixture of disgust and exasperation.

“How can they do this?” Pellotte whined plaintively.

“
Vigilant
will be refitting at the Toko Bizet shipyard for quite some time,” Valessanna answered. “She won’t need a crew. Everyone except the engineering staff would have eventually been transferred anyway, but because of our friend Mr. O’Keefe, even they will move on immediately. And no one gets shore leave. Apparently headquarters is bent on keeping the media completely in the dark until they can figure out what to do with the aberrant. Even I am to be issued a monitor bracelet to wear until all of this is over, to make sure that I keep my mouth shut. I fear you will be stuck inside headquarters for quite some time. I doubt you will even be allowed to send mail. I’m sorry.”

“Is all this sanctioned by law; can the police actually do this legally? Or do we have some recourse in the matter?” Pellotte was regaining her composure, more thoughtful now than angry.

Valessanna considered the question for a moment, going over the enlistment contract in her mind. “I believe that they can,” she said finally. “The force has always retained to right to tell us where to serve during the length of our contracts. There is also a clause that states we can be denied leave in times of extremity. One could debate the fact that the presence of the Earther is a galactic emergency, but the crisis with the Vazileks would certainly qualify. I imagine the courts would say the force has the right to reassign any of us or deny us leave on that basis alone. Objectively speaking, I would say that the force has not overstepped its bounds at all in this matter.”

Pellotte’s hands, which had heretofore been used to exuberantly punctuate her words as she spoke, dropped limply to her sides. “Then this is the end for us, isn’t it?” she asked mournfully.

Valessanna paused, trying to think of something sentimental to say, but sentiment was not in her nature, not anymore. “Probably,” was the only word she could come up with.

Pellotte collapsed into her lap, pulling herself close to the captain as she did so. She buried her head against Valessanna shoulder. “I’ll miss you,” she sobbed.

“As I will miss you,” Valessanna answered, cradling the girl tenderly in her arms.

O’Keefe was lounging on the sofa in his quarters with his feet propped up on the table, wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms, when the corridor hatch chimed. He instructed
Vigilant
to allow entry, and Pellotte walked in with the captain. The latter was the first to speak.

“We will be putting in at Sefforia within the hour. When we arrive, everyone aboard must leave as
Vigilant
is to be taken to the shipyards for repairs.” She recited the words dryly, as if reading from an official pronouncement. “As per orders from the chief inspector of this precinct, you have been remanded into my custody until further notice.”

Oh, my God
, O’Keefe thought,
won’t that be just lovely
. The captain tossed a small, flexible bag made of black fabric onto the sofa beside O’Keefe and continued.

“Please pack whatever you wish to take with you. All your needs on the surface will be provided for, but if you have grown attached to any of the clothing or toiletries that we have provided for you here, you are free to bring them along. In the meantime, Kira would like to speak with you privately. I will wait for you in the corridor.” With that, she spun on her heel and exited the room. As she strode away O’Keefe noticed that for once her hair was not spun into a tightly woven bun. Instead it flowed down her back, and was slightly disheveled as if she had only recently risen from her bunk.

“So what’s this all about?” O’Keefe asked, without getting up.