“Bloody smuggler’s paradise,” Rom muttered as the man headed for the lock. “Gotta come back here after this’s over!”
Lar overheard, and nodded. “Looks that way. The man was nothing but a paper pusher.”
Jane grinned. “Yeah. Guess they figure hiring cops got their fingers burned, so they’re hiring admin types. We may have to visit here more often. At least for awhile. Not that we do a lot of smuggling you understand, but…”
Kas snorted. “I don’t give a damn about the smuggling opportunities. I won’t be coming back here to trade. Let’s just get out of here before they change their minds.”
They boosted max for the jump point while Tera completed her computations. They had been in the system only two standard days when Kas signaled Rom and they jumped.
“One more,” he exulted. “One more recal and we can stop worrying about being found out.” He saw Rom open his mouth to speak and continued, “Okay, it’s actually two, but the last one’s in an uninhabited, unclaimed system.” He shrugged. “Oh, someone might stumble across us while we’re working on the Rekesh. Sheol, they might even be there now! But those are normal military problems; the kind we’re trained to handle.”
Jane didn’t seem to share his optimism. “What is our last Alliance recal stop?” she asked.
Rom grunted from his station. “Place called To-Han. Near the edge of the Alliance and the edge of known space. If it’s like most frontier systems, it should be easy!”
But both Jane and Lar were shaking their heads. “Wrong. To-Han’s got a small naval base,” she said. “Oh, I guess it’s not much of one, but it’s still an Alliance Navy installation.”
Kas frowned. “Why would they have a base ‘way out here? There wouldn’t seem to be any threat.”
Lar shrugged. “You know how it is. Their representative to the Alliance Congress had a lot of pull some years back. He rammed it through on the grounds of protecting the borders of the Alliance from the unknown. And there are half-a-dozen systems, both Alliance and independent, within one jump of the place. The real reason, of course, was to boost To-Han’s economy. From what I’ve heard, the units stationed there mostly do pirate interdiction.”
Jane nodded. “And that means that they may be suspicious, and that they’re experienced in searching ships.” She hesitated. “If I’d known To-Han was one of your scheduled stops, I’d have recommended going around, even if you had to go months out of your way!”
Kas slammed a fist on the arm of his chair. “Damn!” He shouted. “I hate having lousy intelligence! You’d think Imperial Intelligence could have told us about a goddam base on our route!”
Rom snorted. “They probably figured we didn’t have ‘need to know’.”
Kas clamped down on his anger. His tone was calm and cold as he turned to Jane. “Well, we can’t change our minds in mid-jump. We’re committed, now. Is there anything else you can tell us about To-Han? Are they likely to have the jump points picketed or is there a chance we can get by without Navy involvement at all? After all, they’re not likely to expect pirates to come to their home system.”
Jane shrugged. “It’s possible. I haven’t actually been to To-Han; few people have. It’s so far out that I wouldn’t expect that they’d get a lot of traffic. So you may end up being right; it may be ridiculously simple. On the other hand, if they’ve conned the Navy into handling security for the whole system, it could be a nightmare.”
Everyone’s nerves were on edge as they emerged. Kas’ heart fell as he saw the armed satellite that picketed the jump point. Over a hundred meters in diameter, it fairly bristled with lasers, particle beam weapons and missiles. An automated beacon was repeating, “Welcome to To-Han. Please kill all motion relative to this station, and stand by. Any attempt to maneuver will be considered a hostile move. Your cooperation is appreciated.” At Kas’ nod, Rom complied with the instruction.
Several hours went by before Rom detected a corvette approaching at a relatively high speed. It was almost another hour before it was in normal communication range. As soon as the communication lag was down to five seconds, Edro reported that they were being hailed.
Kas had decided that the best defense was a strong offense. As soon as the screen cleared to reveal an Alliance Navy Commander, Kas shouted, “What the hell’s going on here? We just want to recal here, not invade! Do you…” His voice trailed off as he realized that he recognized the face in the screen.
And the recognition was mutual. The Commander frowned for a moment, then his face cleared. “Well! Captain Kas Preslin of the Empire Fleet. And out of uniform. How interesting!” A predatory smile crept across the man’s face.
Kas was shaken, searching desperately for a response. Finally he sighed. “Hello, Tarn. I was hoping not to run into anyone I knew.”
The Alliance Commander leaned forward intensely. “I’ll bet you were. You wouldn’t be looking for stray Battle Cruisers, would you?”
Kas looked puzzled. “Stray what? What the devil are you talking about?”
The Commander grinned. “All right, then, suppose you tell me what you’re doing out here in a civilian ship, and out of uniform?”
Kas forced an embarrassed expression to his face. “I don’t wear that uniform anymore, Tarn.” The man’s grin faded, to be replaced by a skeptical look. Kas shrugged, then grinned as he continued, “Why don’t you come on across? I picked up a bottle of Penurian Glark on D’Jellabah… “
The Alliance Commander smiled sardonically. “I don’t suppose you know that Glark is illegal in the Alliance.”
Kas put on a shocked expression. “No!” He proclaimed theatrically, “Then you’d better get over here and help me drink up the evidence before somebody catches me with it!”
The Commander chuckled. “You always were an arrogant bastard. But Kas,” he continued, sobering, “You’d better be able to convince me to believe whatever story you’re going to run on me. Friends or no, this is duty. And you won’t like Alliance jails.” He shrugged. “I’ll see you in half an hour.” He terminated the connection.
Kas sagged in his chair. “People,” he declared, “We are in big trouble! Tarn Traskon is no bored customs agent. He’s Alliance Navy and he’s as sharp as they come. One slip and we’ll be in those Alliance jails he mentioned.”
Rom was looking concerned. “What’re you gonna tell ‘im, Skipper?”
Kas shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. It’s going to have to be very close to the truth, so it’s not contradicted by our documents.” He turned to the woman at his side. “Jane, I think that story you used on your Singhalese friend should work here as well; but if you’re going to change it let me know. Tarn is quick enough to spot the smallest inconsistency.”
“The rest of you,” he turned back to the others, intercom open. “Stick to your cover stories no matter what. He or someone on his staff may indicate that they know our covers are false, and that another crewman told them all about it. But that’s just a standard interrogation technique. If they say something like that, you simply don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. And don’t get fancy. You’re just outies who signed on to deliver corpsicles to a new colony. Play your cover story straight, and play it for all it’s worth. I don’t give a damn if things have happened that make it sound totally ridiculous; it’s all you know.”
Kas, Jane and Rom met Tarn Traskon at the main lock. He was accompanied by a single aide, a lieutenant. As soon as the two had stripped out of their suits, the group adjourned to Kas’ cabin. Kas brought out the advertised Glark and a handful of glasses. Jane helpfully served. Then Kas dropped into a chair with a huge sigh.