Promised Land by Brian Stableford

tell,’ I said. ‘He’s going the wrong way around. I’ll have to turn to watch him down. Otherwise the planet’ll be between us’
    â€˜Well, turn, then,’ snapped Charlot.
    I took the Swan out of orbit and followed the White Fire along her decaying trajectory.
    â€˜Do you want me to land?’ I asked.
    There was a pause. It was a difficult decision. He settled for the legal way.
    â€˜No,’ he said. ‘Note her position. Then get back to the orbit. Then get me that fool on the ground.’
    I complied.
    Embarrassing minutes dragged by while I beeped the spaceport. I was afraid I’d have to pull the same trick that I’d pulled on the captain of the White Fire to force an acknowledgement out of them. But they knew what was happening as well as we did. They knew they had to reopen talks.
    â€˜Come on,’ muttered Charlot—a most unusual gesture of impatience.
    â€˜They’re probably still tracking the White Fire ,’ I said. ‘It’ll take them longer to work out her position than it took us. They have inferior equipment.’
    â€˜Even they can track a ship,’ snarled Charlot. ‘How far away from them is she?’
    â€˜She’s a hell of a long way from the ground signal,’ I said. ‘Maybe sixteen hundred miles, in an area of uniform green that must be eight hundred miles across. Rain forest. Must be.’
    Charlot was at my elbow by now, peering at the console. I couldn’t see him, because I had the hood on, but I knew he was there.
    Ground opened up the circuit.
    â€˜Thanks a lot,’ I said. ‘This is the Hooded Swan again.’
    â€˜I know who it is,’ said the deep voice. ‘What do you want now?’
    â€˜You know bloody well what we want,’ I said. ‘The White Fire just went down.’
    â€˜That’s our problem,’ he said.
    I knew that Charlot wanted to take over, so I peeled the hood off and waved him to go ahead.
    â€˜Identify yourself,’ demanded Charlot. ‘Give your rank and name.’
    â€˜This is Lieutenant Delgado of the Zodiac crew,’ came the reply.
    â€˜Well, you listen to me, Lieutenant ,’ he said. ‘This is Titus Charlot of New Alexandria, and you’d better find me someone with a whole lot more authority to talk to. If you don’t know what my name means I suggest that you check with the embassy from New Rome. I want the captain, but if you can’t get him in a hurry get me whoever you can. I want to talk to someone now who can get something done . And when you’ve got him, get the New Rome authority and someone from the families as well. This is something you can’t handle and you’d better believe that.’
    That’s the sort of approach which almost invariably works when dealing with military types. The Lieutenant wasn’t real military, of course, but rank is rank and the Zodiac crew still functioned like a crew.
    â€˜The proper authorities have been informed,’ said Delgado serenely. ‘Representatives from New Rome are being consulted. You will be informed in due course of the decision which has been taken.’
    â€˜Now just you wait a minute, Delgado,’ said Charlot, drawing a deep breath.
    â€˜Careful, Titus,’ I murmured. ‘Your humanity is showing.’
    He ignored me. ‘You are toying with the future of your people,’ he said to Delgado. It seemed a bit strong to me, but Charlot was pulling all the stops out. Half measures weren’t going to get a look-in. He was determined to carry this one by simple bluster. ‘If you don’t know that a kidnapper using your planet as a refuge spells big trouble then you have no right to be at the other end of this circuit,’ he said. ‘You have refused us permission to apprehend a known criminal, and you have failed to do so yourselves. The White Fire will lift inside five minutes, and that makes you the