Then a solidity captured her, and brought her to rest, and she heard, “Lissa, are you all right, oh, Lissa.”
Slowly, she looked about her. The fire-splash after-images began to fade; she glimpsed stars. The ringing in her ears diminished. I’m alive, she knew.
[154] “Get into the tube,” Valen chattered. “Back aboard Dagmar. I’ll finish here.”
“No,” she said hoarsely. “You go on. Back to your work. We’ve damn little time left. I’ll join you in a couple of minutes.”
A sob caught in his throat. He released her and sped off.
XXIX
STARS, Milky Way, sister galaxies shone in majesty. The black hole was lost to naked-eye sight. Even the cloud from which Dagmar fled was now scarcely more than another gleam in the brightness-crowded dark. The crimson that for minutes had raged and roared about her was become a memory. She had radiated its heat into space. The brutality of five-gee boost lingered only in aches, bruises, exhaustion, nothing that a good rest wouldn’t heal; she flew at gentle half-gee weight.
Memory still echoed. Nor had the ship yet relinquished her booty. Bodies crowded the decks. Pungent odors and sibilant words filled the air. Lissa picked a way among them, bound aft. When she thought some hailed her, she responded with a nod or a wave and passed on. It was all she could do. They had their medics and others tending to the hurt among them. She was ignorant of their requirements, and in any case wrung dry, wanting no more than to creep into her cubicle, draw the bunk sheet over her, and sleep.
Her course took her past the laboratory. Esker saw and shambled to the door. “Milady,” he called in an undertone. She heard urgency and stopped. He beckoned her to enter. They were alone there, the others having gone to their own places. His back was bent and fatigue showed leaden in every gesture. Nonetheless the ugly face grinned.
“What do you want?” she asked.
He rubbed his hands together. “I wanted you to know first, milady.” He leaned close. She was too tired to draw back. He spoke in a near whisper, although no Susaians were in this [156] corridor and probably none but Orichalc knew any Anglay. “As we were finishing the evacuation, milady, I saw one of them carrying a data box, and what’d be in it but their observations? Different model from any of ours, but it had to be a data box. Things were crowded, confused. I shoved in and slipped it right out of that ridiculous straw-fingered hand. The bearer didn’t notice; walking wounded. Nobody did. I’ve got it here, and I’m about to copy off the file. Then I’ll leave the box for them to find, as though it got dropped accidentally. But when the stuff’s translated, we’ll know what they found out, at least this part of what they did. So our efforts paid off that much, didn’t they, milady?”
You little tumor, she thought. I shouldn’t accept this. But I suppose I must. Maybe I should even congratulate you.
He peered at her. “I did well, don’t you think, milady?” he asked. “You’ll put in a good word for me when we get home, won’t you, milady?”
“I’ll stay neutral, if I can. It’s up to you.” She turned and left.
Orichalc, bound forward with his personal kit, met her farther on. They halted. “How fare you, honored one?” he greeted. Under the flatness of the trans, did she hear concern? “I have not seen you since you went to aid in the rescue.”
“I’m all right,” she said. “Everybody is, or as much as could be expected, I guess. You?”
“Sh-s-s, I hold back. The Susaian officers know that a member of their race has been aboard this ship, but they know no more than that. Captain Valen agrees it is best they not meet me. On his advice, I seek the Number Two hold.”
Slightly surprised, Lissa noticed herself bridle. “I should hope, after what we’ve done, they won’t cause trouble.”
“No, but why provoke emotions? I can bide my time. Soon we make rendezvous and transfer our passengers. After that, in view of our condition and the delta vee we have expended, Captain Valen says we shall go straight home. Surely other researchers will come from Asborg, and from many more worlds.”