with them. They’d taken us in tow. I know even less about
them than I do your freedom fighters or terrorists or whatever they
are.”
“You have devices in your head and so have
they. You have artificial eyes and so have they. And you have the
ability to understand computer systems that are alien to you. Jones
says you can run a spaceship with your mind.” He placed the fingers
of both hands on his forehead for a moment.
“I have just returned from a planet called
Dilmar where these aliens destroyed the entire population and set
the settlements on fire. We were fortunate that one man survived to
tell the tale.”
“A whole planet?”
“A pioneer world. Fifty thousand people, in
three cities.”
She looked over his shoulder at the bulkhead
behind him, plain, featureless. Fifty thousand people. “Just
ordinary people? Not a military outpost?”
“Ordinary people of all classes, trying to
build a future for themselves. I can show you the evidence.”
She snorted. “Evidence. Evidence is like
statistics.”
“You don’t trust me?”
She smiled at the floor at her feet. He had
to be joking, didn’t he?
She realized he’d moved when she saw his
boots, polished to a mirror shine.
“You want honesty you can understand?” He
lifted her chin with his fingers and locked his gaze with hers. “I
do my job as honestly as I can. And that is to allow ordinary
people to live their lives in peace.”
Not a blink, not a waver. But what did he
want? More Supertech ‘magic’? “What can I do?”
“We have one ship, one of their fighters. We
have the pilot, too. Dead, unfortunately. One of our patrol ships
found the vessel, apparently abandoned in a planetary orbit. You
will tell me what you know, what you think you may be able to
discover. Perhaps penetrate the ship’s computer systems.”
He hadn’t let go, still held her chin in
strong fingers. His skin felt smooth but tough. She’d never been so
close to a manesan. She could smell him, clean but spicy, a little
like their food.
“ Well, Suri ?”
“Their systems are different?”
“We have no way of knowing.”
Intriguing. Absolutely intriguing. She felt
that familiar surge of adrenalin that signified a challenge. But
for him? This bastard?
“If I say no?” She treated him to a brief
laser stare which would have had a human ducking for cover.
Completely unaffected, he let go of her
and sat down again. “You would help the Bunyada but not me? They are terrorists, killing and
destroying to sow unrest. They claim to be anti-Mirka but it is
usually everyone else who suffers. Shuba, Hasta and the poorer
Vesha. Not the Vesha princes, not the rich merchants like Sayvu’s
father. I can show you this, too.”
“Show me what you have and I’ll decide.”
Bravado. He’d know. He hadn’t threatened her, no ‘do this or you
die’. Then again, why state the obvious?
“In the meantime, can you take these things
off?” She jutted an elbow in an attempt to show him her shackled
wrists.
He pressed a button on the communicator at
his belt. Almost immediately the cell door opened and an underling
appeared, nearly falling over himself to bow. “Remove the bands,”
Ravindra said.
Morgan felt the shackles fall away and
flexed her shoulders. Ah, that felt good. Better than her cheek.
She lifted her fingers to her face. I’ll bet I’m bruised .
“Come.”
Chapter
Eight
Morgan trailed in Ravindra’s wake, a couple
of troopers behind her. The guard at the exit from the prison block
nearly bent over double in obeisance. If she’d thought the admirals
in the Coalition Fleet were self-important, they had nothing on
this man. Who needs gods when you have an admiral?
Ravindra led the way to a guarded door not
far from the detention block and inside the isolation unit. The
troopers acknowledged the admiral and unlocked, casting furtive
glances at her as they did so. Inside yet another closed room an
officer greeted
them than I do your freedom fighters or terrorists or whatever they
are.”
“You have devices in your head and so have
they. You have artificial eyes and so have they. And you have the
ability to understand computer systems that are alien to you. Jones
says you can run a spaceship with your mind.” He placed the fingers
of both hands on his forehead for a moment.
“I have just returned from a planet called
Dilmar where these aliens destroyed the entire population and set
the settlements on fire. We were fortunate that one man survived to
tell the tale.”
“A whole planet?”
“A pioneer world. Fifty thousand people, in
three cities.”
She looked over his shoulder at the bulkhead
behind him, plain, featureless. Fifty thousand people. “Just
ordinary people? Not a military outpost?”
“Ordinary people of all classes, trying to
build a future for themselves. I can show you the evidence.”
She snorted. “Evidence. Evidence is like
statistics.”
“You don’t trust me?”
She smiled at the floor at her feet. He had
to be joking, didn’t he?
She realized he’d moved when she saw his
boots, polished to a mirror shine.
“You want honesty you can understand?” He
lifted her chin with his fingers and locked his gaze with hers. “I
do my job as honestly as I can. And that is to allow ordinary
people to live their lives in peace.”
Not a blink, not a waver. But what did he
want? More Supertech ‘magic’? “What can I do?”
“We have one ship, one of their fighters. We
have the pilot, too. Dead, unfortunately. One of our patrol ships
found the vessel, apparently abandoned in a planetary orbit. You
will tell me what you know, what you think you may be able to
discover. Perhaps penetrate the ship’s computer systems.”
He hadn’t let go, still held her chin in
strong fingers. His skin felt smooth but tough. She’d never been so
close to a manesan. She could smell him, clean but spicy, a little
like their food.
“ Well, Suri ?”
“Their systems are different?”
“We have no way of knowing.”
Intriguing. Absolutely intriguing. She felt
that familiar surge of adrenalin that signified a challenge. But
for him? This bastard?
“If I say no?” She treated him to a brief
laser stare which would have had a human ducking for cover.
Completely unaffected, he let go of her
and sat down again. “You would help the Bunyada but not me? They are terrorists, killing and
destroying to sow unrest. They claim to be anti-Mirka but it is
usually everyone else who suffers. Shuba, Hasta and the poorer
Vesha. Not the Vesha princes, not the rich merchants like Sayvu’s
father. I can show you this, too.”
“Show me what you have and I’ll decide.”
Bravado. He’d know. He hadn’t threatened her, no ‘do this or you
die’. Then again, why state the obvious?
“In the meantime, can you take these things
off?” She jutted an elbow in an attempt to show him her shackled
wrists.
He pressed a button on the communicator at
his belt. Almost immediately the cell door opened and an underling
appeared, nearly falling over himself to bow. “Remove the bands,”
Ravindra said.
Morgan felt the shackles fall away and
flexed her shoulders. Ah, that felt good. Better than her cheek.
She lifted her fingers to her face. I’ll bet I’m bruised .
“Come.”
Chapter
Eight
Morgan trailed in Ravindra’s wake, a couple
of troopers behind her. The guard at the exit from the prison block
nearly bent over double in obeisance. If she’d thought the admirals
in the Coalition Fleet were self-important, they had nothing on
this man. Who needs gods when you have an admiral?
Ravindra led the way to a guarded door not
far from the detention block and inside the isolation unit. The
troopers acknowledged the admiral and unlocked, casting furtive
glances at her as they did so. Inside yet another closed room an
officer greeted
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