TriPoint, a Union Alliance novel by Caroline J. Cherryh

“So what’s your recommendation?”

“Lie in port. It’s not a sure bet Sprite’s coming in. It is a fact that that something’s already here.”

“Who? What?”

Forget getting all the truth out of Capella. It took her a couple of beats to censor. Or lie.

“Renegade. Scavenger. Little stuff. No threat to us. But he’ll track us. He’ll find the dump. He’ll kill us if he can… to shut me up.”

“I can understand that motivation.”

Capella’s chin came up, eyes a clear try-me, and he gave it back:

“You are an arrogant sumbitch. My son’s just a good lay, is he? Good boy, a little dim, do anything you like on his watch? Or did he scare you into this?”

Long, long silence in the corridor, and Capella’s nostrils flared.

“Didn’t think it would go this far.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, sir, I fucked up. I considerably fucked up.”

He let the silence hang there. He’d never been sure what captain or what interests Capella served. But it was down to basics, now. When something threatened the ship you were on… it was suddenly damned basic; and he let that admission hang there long enough for Capella to hear it herself.

“But in some measure,” he said ever so quietly, so she would hear it, “your friends are something we can deal with outside Pell system. In some measure, you’re up to that, aren’t you?” He’d never challenged how she handled navigation, or her other faculties. It was the closest pass he intended to make to that touchy matter. He challenged her nerve. And her skill. And waited for his answer.

“I think—” she began to equivocate. It wasn’t ordinary for her.

“I know,” he said, cutting her off. “I know. Period. If Sprite gets here, what action do you suggest, second chief navigator, to prevent a search of our records?”

“It’s our deck, sir.”

“That’s fine. We can lose docking privileges pending our release of those records. This isn’t the War, second chief navigator. We may be necessary to the Fleet, but our little hauling capacity isn’t necessary to Pell Station, and our brother and sister merchanters aren’t just apt to rally round Corinthian in a quarrel with other merchanters, does that occur to you, second chief navigator?”

A Fleet navigator wasn’t an entity to piss off. You agreed to take on the inevitable Gift from the Fleet and you agreed not to ask questions; you agreed that was grounds for very severe action in certain quarters. In effect, you took a ticking bomb aboard, and you hoped to hell nothing ever set it off: there was nothing but Capella’s personal inclinations and physical restraint to keep said navigator from walking out on that dock, finding this Patrick, and turning coat in five minutes. It was a hell of a chance to take.

But it had gotten, thanks to Capella and Christian and Marie Hawkins, down to a similar hell of an alternative.

“Yes, sir,” Capella said, equally quietly, “it does occur to me. But if we don’t get Hawkins back… we’re still screwed, no matter whether Sprite comes in here or not, which isn’t proven they will, sir, that’s my thought.”

“I am so glad, I am so very glad we agree on that, second chief. But take it from me that we are going to board call tomorrow on schedule, that this is the course we’re taking, and that, while I have thought of spacing Christian, I expect his ass in that airlock, safe, sober, and in your company. After that, I expect your professional talents to be on, period, capital letter, On. Can we agree on this, second chief?”

No blink, just analysis, like the face she wore on the bridge.

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Good. That’s real good. Because I appreciate the seriousness of what’s happened out there. And I value officers who do. Ahead of my son, at this moment. Do you copy that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s all, then.”

Capella nodded a courtesy, turned with a touch more precision than the habit of the crew, and walked… you could see the military in the backbone, the way you could see her move around her station on the bridge, economy of everything.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162

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