Until Sariena informed him that a signal had come in from the Trojan, obviously intended for Zeigler. The ship was now the possession of the Terran Planetary Government, in whose name it had intercepted and taken command of the Aztec. Both vessels were proceeding to Earth. Valcroix congratulated Zeigler on his dedication and ability in carrying through a difficult and demanding task.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Robin reported to Major Ulak on Bridge Deck of the Aztec. “Sir, Commander Reese and Elmer Luthis are requesting your presence in the staff dining mess.”
“Luthis?”
“The senior member of the ship’s scientific contingent. It’s with regard to the names they’re required to submit for the party to be received aboard Trojan.”
“Very well. Captain Quoyn will assume watch duty on the Bridge.”
“Sir,” Quoyn acknowledged.
Ulak detailed two troopers to accompany himself and Robin. They left by a passage passing between communications and control rooms aft of the Bridge, descended two levels of stairs to the quarterdeck, and from there proceeded aft past the officers’ day room to a midships bulkhead lock, where one of the guards securing the ship had been posted. On the far side of the bulkhead, a gallery containing air regeneration plant connected to a lateral corridor that was on the way to the section that the scientific staff used. As the party came through the lock into the gallery, Robin grabbed suddenly at one of the handrails by the door; at the same time, a strange thing happened. Somebody turned off the Yarbat generators underneath that section of flooring. The reaction to the crisp military footfalls of the other three sent them soaring upward and floundering in the suddenly zeroed gravity. A moment later the generators came on again, slamming them to the floor with the impact of a well-executed judo throw. Ulak lay dazed, all the breath knocked out of him. He recovered his senses to become aware of Robin relieving him of his firearm and communications equipment. Two other figures that had appeared from behind the machinery were likewise disarming the troopers.
“What? . . . Delucey? . . . Treachery?” Ulak wheezed.
“I regret the necessity for deception,” Robin replied. “But sometimes loyalty goes back a long way.” More people were coming quickly and silently from the direction of the far corridor.
“We’ll take care of them,” Merlin Friet said. And to the other arrivals, “Put these three in the utility locker.”
The guard posted on the forward side of the lock heard the activity and came through to investigate just in time to be relieved of his weapon and added to the catch.
“Are they ready in the cargo hold?” Robin asked. The guards there should have been dealt with similarly at the same time, and locked in one of the switchgear compartments.
Friet checked, using a compad. “No hitches,” he confirmed. “They’re moving into place.”
* * *
On the Bridge Deck, Quoyn took a call from Robin, sounding urgent. “Captain, emergency situation in the mid cargo hold! Major Ulak needs you here with nine men immediately!” Quoyn rattled off names and set out with his squad. They entered the hold at the double through the forward door to find figures milling in some kind of disturbance at the far end. The figures vanished through the after door, which moments later clanged shut. Only then did it register with Quoyn that neither Ulak, nor Delucey, nor any other TDF uniforms had been among them. He turned back in sudden alarm, his men coming to a confused halt around him. . . .
Just in time to see the steel shutter slide down across the forward doorway, too.
* * *
The sergeant commanding the guard detail in the aft cargo hold also got a call from Robin. “Lieutenant Delucey acting on behalf of Major Ulak. All men in the aft section proceed to the midships quarterdeck immediately to receive further orders.”
“Sir.”
The route forward led through an instrumentation bay, where the same Yarbat up-then-down-again treatment was repeated. It proved singularly effective with military personnel running at the double, and netted the whole squad.
* * *
The skeleton crew that Quoyn had left behind to watch over the Bridge Deck were the only ones left—though they had no notion of the fact—by the time Luthis came along the passage between the ancillary rooms to the rear, followed by a mixed group of senior staff and scientists. The two guards posted at the entry to the Bridge stepped forward as they approached. “Not past this point,” one of them told him.