A Dark and Hungry God Arises by Stephen R. Donaldson

liplessly.
    'I didn't. ' Davies shivered so hard that his right knee failed. This was only a cargo hold. Nothing except the bulkheads and the infrastructure and the ship's frail skin held out the black and absolute cold of space. For an instant he caught himself with his left. Then that, too, folded, and he thudded to the deck. His mouth could hardly form words. 'It's impossible. '
    'I told you so, ' the woman commented distantly.
    Then it's a game, ' the man assented. 'Captain Nick must be playing bait-and-switch with our hosts. If he thinks he can get me tangled up in something like that, he's even more confused than I remember.
    What's your name?'
    The heat leaked out of Davies, taking his life with it. He should have wailed or pleaded. He should have answered the question. But he didn't. He said, shivered, Tuck you. '
    At that, anger or enthusiasm stretched the man's lips even thinner. They were pale around his words as he said,
    'Listen to me. I'm the Bill. You pay me before you get anything. Hypothermia is a nice death. As soon as you go to sleep, nothing ever bothers you again. You can be sure I won't let you freeze. I'm not that nice to anybody.
    You can answer questions now, or you can wait until I try a little BR surgery on you.
    What's your name?'
    Despite the cold, Davies had no trouble reaching back among his memories - Morn's memories - to the Academy, where she'd first heard the term 'BR surgery'. BR
    meant 'bio-retributive'.
    'Davies, ' he replied in a cough of steam. 'Davies Hyland. '
    The man paused. 'Now why, I wonder, ' he mused,
    'does that name sound familiar?'
    'You heard the story, ' the woman told him. 'Captain Davies Hyland, commanding officer, United Mining Companies Police destroyer Starmaster. It destructed somehow - or Thermopyle blew it up. He got away with the Captain's daughter. Morn Hyland. She left him for Succorso when Com-Mine Security arrested him.
    'You know Thermopyle. You know what he must have done to her while he had her. On top of everything else, he must have gotten her pregnant.
    This must be her son. '
    That doesn't make sense, ' the man protested. 'He's at least sixteen years too old. '
    The hold contracted around Davies. The cold seemed to leech vision as well as heat out of him. The ague in his muscles was so severe that he couldn't keep his head up. On his knees he huddled over himself like a penitent.
    The woman sighed patiently. Where did he just come from?'
    'Captain Nick's ship. '
    'And where before that?'
    The man let out a sigh of comprehension. After another pause he asked, 'Davies, why did you go to Enablement Station? What were you doing there? What was Captain Nick doing?'
    Now who was being betrayed? By whom?
    Davies could feel the sleep he'd been promised coming.
    The chills threatened to shake his consciousness apart.
    Soon he wouldn't be able to connect one thought to another, and he would be able to rest at last.
    What answer would Morn want him to give?
    He had no way of knowing; but he did the best he could.
    'She's UMCP. Morn Hyland. ' I'm UMCP, you fucking bastard, and this is one bill I'm definitely going to pay.

    'They sent her. ' He could barely force out more than one word at a time. 'I don't know why. But Succorso -' The cold seared his lungs. For a moment he coughed hard enough to bring up blood. Then he finished. 'He's working with her. '
    There. At least one small part of his debt of harm to Nick Succorso was paid.
    But it didn't work. Not the way he wanted. Out of the cold and the gathering dark, the man said, 'I don't believe you. Enablement is the only place she could have obtained a kid your age. That means you must have been the reason they went there. There must be something'
    — Davies heard relish in the word - 'special about you.
    Otherwise our hosts wouldn't want you back.
    'I'm quite sure you know what that something is.
    Eventually you're going to tell me. You're going to tell me what kind of game they're playing. '
    Davies couldn't see