"How long?" Amos ben Sierra Nueva said desperately
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eyes arid held out her hands in a "go figure" gesture and let them flop back onto the bed. "Hmmp." "So... you're in love... with Simeon-Amos?" "No! Of coufsetiod I said I was in love with my professor, not Simeon-Amos. They're two different cases." She started to.laugh. "I'm older and wiser now, Simeon-Simple." "As long as you're npt sadder, love." She chuckJed/"No, not sadder." "Naturally you and Simeon-Amos will have to undergo a bit of a period of adjustment," he said seriously, "but he really wants to help. And he's going to be very busy helping. That'll go a long way in curb- ing any ardent tendencies he may have. Try to cut him a little slack, Channa; he's the victim of an inbred cul- ture. Besides which, we're all under threat of death."
threats of death as a reason to get more interested. I do wish this crisis wasn't so immediate." She sighed again, wearily. "Maybe they're not out there. Maybe they gave up and went back to Saffron, to Bethel. All we'd have to do is file a report, while the fleet floats by us." "I wouldn't bet on it, babe." "I must be mellowing," she observed, "I've allowed you to call me love and "babe and... I actually let you get away with 'luscious popsie,' didn't I?"
night, Simeon." "'Night, Channa." "Oh, God, not another meeting," Channa mumbled to herself around the light-pencil clenched in her teeth. In one hand, she held the notescreen she was studying and, in the other, a cup of coffee. Hot as hell, 212 Anne McCaffrey 6? SJW. StirSag black as death, sweet as love: not the way she generally drank her caffeine, but the proper dose to jolt a body into action after inadequate sleep. For something stronger, she would have to go taDoctor Chaundra. "Why meetings?" she continued to herself as she stumbled into the lift at the end of the corridor. "Why can't I just send memos?" i;
Channa started so violently at the presence of two other people on the lift that she almost slopped the hot coflee over her hand. GuEput a steadying grip under her elbow.
civilians. They're not used to facing a military emer- gency. They need to be told the information again and again before it'll seem real to them." The lift hissed to a stop. "Fortunately, I don't need to be told so often, so I can get right on with my work," he said. "See you later, ladies."
was leaning into the padded corner of the lift, eyes dosed and a dreamy smile on her lips. "Patsy?"
herexpression as she stretched languorously. "Yeah?" "You look almost as exhausted as I am. Aren't getting enough sleep?" Patsy's eyes widened, and she worked her eyebrows melodramatically. "Not much," she said with some enthusiasm. "Unless you use 'sleep in the euphemistic sense."
"Con mucho Gusto!" Patsy giggled. "Ah've read about this. People in crisis, they jest get together, y'know? You ask Simeon about it He'll tell ya."
matters. I suspect he's morbidly fascinated by the sub- ject Besides, I know what you mean."
patsy said with a wink. "Hubba hubba." She nudged Channa with her elbow.
over one ear and took^ sip of her coffee. Ghastly, she thought. "Simeon tolcrme that 'hubba hubba' meant i j # 'sexy lady "Did he? Well, when he says it, it probably does. No, really, it jest means somethin1 sexy, anythin' sexy What, is up to the beholder." Patsy rose onto her toes and clicked her heels together a couple of times. "Ah think Simeon-Amos is sexy," she said teasingly.
repressively. "Oooh, yeah, ya can puulll it..." "Patsy!" "Loosen up, girl! If ya get too tense, all yore hair fells out. Doncha know that?" She grinned and waved as she got off on her floor.
padding held a faint trace of Patsy's body heat. "It's been entirely too long since I went to work with a smile like that" "Great Lord, we cannot determine whether the craft we pursue left the area of the station or not," Baila said, tugging at the cupid's bow of her lower lip.
lip. "Why not?" he said mildly. The technical officer swallowed. "There is too much traffic here, lord. Individual trails fade in the back- ground clutter."
icy stab of concern. According to their best calculations, the way the fugitive ship had been pushing its engines, it should have blown itself to a ball of plasma and frag- ments long before now. Granted that, in the old days,
fortune, they reached a well-traveled zone first, the unthinkable could happen. The Clan would be in danger. He would be in even mote danger N from the rest of the Clan. ,
its attention to him. "Extrapolation: the vector of the prey, matched against last definite location and possible destinations, as updated from the chardogs of that cap- tured merchantman."
"Now, eliminate all those that would require more than four days' transit from last known location."
the most probable search vector in any case. "We must continue the pursuit. Comments?" he asked the other captains' faces. They were present by holo, a ghostly ring effaces on the shadowed command-couches of their respective bridges, similar to the Bride's. Aragiz t'Varak, of the Age of Darkness; Zhengir t'Marid, of the Rumal N Strangler, in the old tongue N Pol t'Veng, of the Shark, old and scarred and the only woman among them, the only one with an inde- pendent command in the Clan fleet. Enemies and rivals; his ability to make them move in concert was another test the Clanfathers imposed. That which does not fall us, makes us stronger, he reminded himself "Captains and kin," Belazir said. "You have the data. We must decide whether to continue the pursuit, or break off. My recommendation is that we continue."
held by jesses to a hostile wrist "If you had not stopped to loot, we would be closer on the prey's trail," he said sharply.
We must continue the mission,"
was known to be a canny and prudent commanders. "Something is just slightly out of kilter." She made a rocking gesture with the claw-scarred hand. Belazir considered her remark. What had that con- tractor N one of the' 4nes the Clan fenced loot to occasionally N said? "There are bold pirates, and old pirates, but there are no old, bold pirates." "Still," she went on, "the balance of risk is clear. We must know if the prey reached this station. To do that, we must take it in our fist"
run," Pol said. "With as little as one week's lead, we can lose the Navy among the stars and dust Nothing is lost save time." "And the effort we put into subduing Bethel!" Aragiz snapped. "Stopping for that merchantmanN" "Was irrelevant and consumed no significant expense of time!" Belazir said. "In any case, there is a substantial chance nothing was left alive on the prey- ship by the time it reached this station. If it did reach them. In which case, there is the station itself."
man of few words. "Atargetofgreatopportunity." "Risky," Pol said, rubbing her chin. "We come in fast at the limits of their sensor capacity and launch hyper-velocity anti-rad missiles to knock out their communications," Belazir said. "We pulse our engines to jam subspace for the time required. It will look natural to those who come to investigate later. A black hole evaporating, or some such." "Hmmm." Pol rasped a hand over the horrible keloid scars that narrowed one half of her face. Since cosmetic repair would be easy enough, Belazir suspected she kept them as an affectation. But with those scars, even the 216 Amu McCaffny 6?SJVf. Stating most arrogant seldom remembered that Pol was a woman. Those grooves had been made by the daws of an animal which Pol had subsequently strangled with her bare hands. She wore its tanned hide around her shoulders. E
risk strategy. However, we can#ot find out if the prey reached the station if we obliterate the station. We must be sure that no warning of us has gone out On the other hand, a swift raid, catching them unawares, would dis- cover die truth and we can act accordingly." "Taking with us whatever the station holds," Belazir said, grinning avariciously. Greed was quickly kindled, since everyone knew what the merchant ship had yielded: the merest trifle in comparison to what a full station would render up. "Depending on what we find, we might even have time to call for the Clan's transports to come and haul the loot. Even what we could load on our frigates makes a raid more than worth our while."
tion of Aragiz. Belazir quirked a brow at him. After criticizing his commander for sloth, he could not be behindhand now. "Attack, then," Belazir concluded. The others nodded. "Tactical instructions follow. Confirm on receipt"
ascetic in middle-age, Flimma Torkin blossomed visibly as Simeon-Amos bowed over her hand.
be hovering attentively, but... "Mr. Sierra Nueva N" "Simeon-Amos," he said. "Will you please listen to what I'm saying? As station THE CTTY WHO FOUGHT 217 head, you should have some knowledge of how our communications system functions." "I am sorry," he said meekly. This should be interesting, Simeon mused. The rest of the session went n\uch more smoothly, although Nonstandard. Simeon thought the computer into action; a few nanos later it came up with a probable derivation, from the languages other than Standard spoken among the first setders of Bethel, plus observa- tion of the refugees.
authority figure from childhood, nurse, teacher [primary].
Flimma left. "You learn quickly," Simeon said: sufficiently true as well as polite encouragement Meanwhile, Simeon had been busily switching assignments. The assistant power chief was really the logical person to brief Amos. The fact that Holene Jagarth was stacked and less than thirty was irrelevant; at least to Simeon and anyone else dealing with her as an expert on plasma containment Twenty minutes later she stood, ominously silent for a moment, then turned to the pillar. "Talk to him, Simeon. Or send him around to my place for recreational duty, but in the meantime I have work to do!" Holene said in a terse voice, turned on her heel and stalked for the corridor. Amos blinked in astonishment "What was the mat- ter with her?" he asked plaintively. "Ahem," Simeon said, and watched Amos turn back toward the training display they'd been using. "I wonder if you could tell me, what role do women play in Bethel society?" 218 Anne McCaffrey fe? SM, Starting "Role?" The question seemed almost meaningless to him. "They are mothers, of course; daughters, sisters, wives. They keep the home, raise die children, follow gentle skills such as medicine and painting, the writing of novels and poetry." He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" "I was wondering if, perhapsvwomen played a more subservient role on Bethel." "Subservient? No, of course not! Bethel has, as yet, a very small population. Therefore, to us, the bearing and raising of children is th&highest calling a woman may attain. We revere our mothers, and we feel that women and children are to be protected and nurtured."
tional cases, such as Channa. And I have never been one of those who think that women should keep to the inner rooms and stay silent in the presence of men. That is old-fashioned and ridiculous. Why, some of my primary associates in the New Revelation were women! I feel as though you are telling me that respect is disrespectful." "Not at all," Simeon said soothingly, "but I think you may be confusing respect with condescension." Amos face took on the set look it had worn through the last half of his dinner with Channa. "A little less patting on the hand, Simeon-Amos. You give them the impression that you claim authority because of your gender." "No, no," Amos exclaimed, throwing up his hands in rejexrion. "If I have an aura of authority, it is because of my position on Bethel. Birth aside, I am a junior mem- ber of the ruling council. I rule the family estates, of course. I have been an administrator for several years now." He smiled in a confiding manner. "Although, I have found that women react differently to my orders. I do not deny that I find it simpler to work with men." He gave a negligent shrug. "There is no problem of seduction between men." THE QTY WHO FOUGHT 219 he's consistent, at least, Simeon thought. Maybe he needs to cling to whatever ego-confirmation he's got, since he's S0 displaced.
just patronized me? Based on your belief that you're such a treat for ariyprJfe to deal with? I'm a part of this culture. You're not I know these people, you don't. I run this station and have been running it since before you existed, and will be running it centuries after you're dead. And I'll be running this station throughout this emergency while you're only pretend- ing to. So listen up! You're treating your women instructors as if they're only adequate until someone real, meaning male, arrives to take over. Well, the experts here just happen to be female! We're short of time, so I'm going to pay you the compliment of expecting you to be able to adjust to that alien concept We need you to be one of us. We need you to forget about Bethel for the time being. "I know how much we're asking of you, Simeon-Amos,' he concluded, his voice less stern and more under- standing, "butyou're asking us to trust you withour lives."
rassment, puzzlement and astonishment Oh, fugle, Simeon thought Channa was right. I do have the sensitivity of a demolition charge. Seventy-seven of Amos' followers had died fleeing Bethel. And, being the conscientious sort of leader Simeon had seen him be, he probably had them marching through his dreams at night, asking, "Why?" "Sorry," Simeon said, "that was badry phrased. Look, I need to know if you can do this. I need to know now. You'll be dealing with Channa, under her authority, daily. I'm not going to waste time. If we have to replace you with someone who doesn't have the same hang- ups you have, then six hours is all we can afford to waste on a false start. Now, can you or can't you?"
they died, ran through his mind like a prayer response. Followed by: No. I saved some, who would otherwise have died. And Bethel may yet live, what & left of it. "I have never yet failed to accomplish a thing that I have set out to do," he said grimly. He touched head and heart with two fingers as We bowed to Simeon's column. "Would you be so good as to convey my apologies to the lady who has just left?"
that you can tell her yourself." Simeon watched Amos' Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard.
would probably be best." C CHAFER THIRTEEN This is worse than the captains' meeting, Simeon thought It was absolutely amazing that so little rumor had leaked out. In that alone was an indication that they might be able to bring the whole thing off. SSS-900-C personnel had an uncanny instinct for keeping their mouths shut when silence was more than golden,
ing off N barring Channa and Amos N and no one was listening to a word being said.
on the station. Which, thank Ghu, Simeon thought with relief, is not nearly large enough to hold all of the station's population. The sensible had stayed in their quarters watching the whole spectacle on holo. The skeleton crew now running the station would have their own briefing later. Just as well I didn't bother to activate sound from the priuate quarters' screens, he thought wearily. He was getting a good enough cross section of opinion right here, far the
toid. "This was a mistake. We should have briefed their counsel-reps, who would have briefed their aides, and so on. This could build panic to critical mass." For some reason the shouting in the auditorium rose to a higher pitch. "Or simply get so loud the noise shakes the sta- tion to pieces and saves the damn pirates the trouble."
they look more angry than frightened to me. I've gotten 222 AimeMcCaffivy& SM. Stirling more used to the smell of fear than I like, but the ambience here has a different reek. Of course, I can't hear what they're saying, they're all yelling so loud."
directional sensors: E "... those goddamned assholes in tnat colony ship..." "... yeah, how many ways are, they going to try to get us killed,.." "... where's the damned Navy? That's what I want to know. They cripple us with taxes and..." "... this is crazy. TTiey don't even know this is what's gonna happen? Meanwhile, I'm sittin here losin' money.,.. what do they expect us to do?"
asked in a tone that overrode the babble. He added in a stew of subsonics intended to stun and intimidate. The noise dropped offabruptly, pleasing him. "For starters, shut up and listen!" he suggested in a reasonable tone. "We expect you to take the emergency seriously, to listen to instructions and to carry them out" He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "This meet- ing will give you what you need to know on how to handle yourselves during the anticipated emergency. Remember, what you don't know, you can't reveal. From this point on, I remind you that rumor helps the enemy, not you or me, and not this station.
it to your section leader, who's the same person who leads your ordinary emergency evacuation team. If it's true and it concerns your safety, he'll know about it If he hasn't heard it, he can check with me and I'll con- firm or deny it. I wttl tell you the truth. Do not spread rumors. Remember that We fully expect shortly to be occupied by an enemy force which has a very bad reputation for space piracy."
for attention. Simeon acknowledged him. THE CITY WHO FOUGHT 223 "Pirates?" he asked. "Look, is this another one of your damned games, Simeon?" "Absolutely not. This is as real as death. They'll be here in less than three-days. We've notified Central and the Navy, who assure us that a rescue mission is already under way. But it woiA be here before the pirates are likely to arrive. Therefore this station and its personnel must initiate such delaying tactics as possible. To stay aliver That silenced the last bit of muttering.
N we're stuck here!" Mckie's face was a study in outrage.
weren't told because we used the available space to evacuate children and the sick," she said crisply. "Any objections to that, Mr. Mdde?" "As I said," Simeon went on, "we are not only expect- ing to be occupied, we are hoping we will be." He paused again to see that they had absorbed that distinc- tion. He was proud of his people! They got it in one! Shocked pale faces now accepted what he did not, after all, have to spell out. "Listen up now. These are your station manager's orders. Don't offer direct resistance. Cooperate when- ever necessary but don't volunteer anything. We expect that most of the enemy won't speak Standard, so misunderstand when you can. Make your answers as brief as possible, when you can't be silent. If you don't know, say so, but do not tell them who does know. Yüklə 2,81 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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