It was Bert who suggested it. The lower crew bunk in each bank had three drawers for the personal belongings. That meant just enough space under the lower bunk to accommodate Bert if the drawers were left ajar. As the general mess in any crew quarters, short of an inspection by a High Emassi, was never very tidy, half-open drawers, with contents half-in and half-out would be unexceptional. The credentials which Nitin had supplied for the unquestionably Catteni members had been genuine with support documentation on the files of the administration. There were even a few more that would pass the most rigorous inspection.
It was as well that such attention to detail had been observed for Kami-tons vessel had to pass five separate full inspections to be passed to land on Catten. There would have been more had the conspirators tried to land on the station.
There had, however, been a very tense moment when an Emassi captain who knew Kamiton quite well was the inspecting officer. He had given the vessel and the documentation only a cursory inspection but settled himself in the mess for an update on Kamiton's latest exploration.
Kamiton had played out his part with laudable indolence, ordering Chuck and Nitin to provide food for their guest.
Bert, sweating in his hiding hole, worried about Zainai, Tubelin, and Kasturi on the KDL. But it was laden with ores-all in the useful platinum groups-that would make it so welcome any suspicion of its genuineness would be overlooked. Nitin had also supplied the nonCatteni members of the crew with equally authentic documentation. Since their destination was the refinery area of the planet, well away from the main city, they ought not to be in any danger.
Nitin had so picked at that first part of the overall scheme that even he had come to be satisfied with its high chance of success. About the rest he was only certain that he had done all he could to ensure the possibility of success: not, he was quick to add, the prot, ahility.
"Too many things could go wrong. Our group could have been infiltrated and our plans known…"
"Only so much of the plan," Karoiron interjected. "When"' Karoitoh stressed the conjunction, "we get down on Catten and when we have contacted the rest of us, I think you will raise the odds in favor of probability:'
Karoitoh turned his head ever so slightly to see ZainaI taking a few more sips of water, all that he was allowing himself since he had designated his role in their plan. He hoped that Zainal would not overdo the starvation he had deemed necessary to the success of their stratagem. One did not underestimate an Emassi of Zainal's proven ability.
He was however glad to change into his own ship and let others do what was necessary to improve on Zainal's disguise.
Well, as soon as this niggit left, Karoitoh thought, they could proceed.
This appeared to be the last of the space inspections. He had never seen so many security shuttles and craft zipping around the planet before. Ah, well, there hadn't been a full convocation of Mentats during his lifetime.
And, with any luck, this would be the last. The most that ever had assembled since he had taken up his adult duties had been ten; He rather doubted that some of those farthest from Catten would make the journey but who ever came would receive a lasting reward for their trouble. He did spare a thought for those on the KDL. He really wanted to get the dependents away to the safety of Botany. Good idea of Zainal's on several counts: one of them being that Kasturi had a girl child and so didTubelin: mates for Bazil and Peran. That way some of their families would survive the blood bath that would be certain to follow a failure. But this time, they would not fail.
Karoitoh grinned and fortunately his smile coincided with some fatuous remark of the security Emassi, and Karoitoh rose, able to signal that they really had best end their conversation.
They landed on the field they had been directed by security to use.
Then proceeded, as planned, in a ground vehicle to Kamiton's quarters in a secluded area of the city where many Emassi kept temporary units. As Kamiton disarmed the alarm system, it blinked its message that persons still within the apartment had recently deactivated it. Kamiton warned the others by silently pointing at the message and took out his stun weapon, setting it on medium.
"Kamiton?" and, as that was Zainal's voice, Kamiton reholstered the weapon with relief.
He stopped in the doorway to his main room, shocked at Zainal's altered appearance, and quickly looked beyond the haggard man to the other members of the KDL group and ignored Zainal's battered and nerve-whip lashed body.
ZAINAL REMAINED IN SECLUSION when the others went out on their individual errands of contacting other dissidents and setting in motion the next step of the scheme. If some of the dependents objected to being forced to leave their comfortable homes in the middle of the night, carrying only basic necessities, they were silenced by the dire consequences of ignoble deaths or futures if they chose to stay behind. By dawn, the empty ore carrier, the KDL was aloft and received only the most cursory of queries by security patrol ships as it proceeded at a leisurely speed out of Catteni space. As soon as it was in relatively empty space, the KDL would run at maximum speed, red-lining if necessary to be sure the dependents were safely at Botany before the last of the Mentats arrived, and more were assembling in their fast and comfortable ships every time period.
ON THE FIFTH DAY after the KDL had departed, Kamiton received the short burst of code from their space station colleague.
"Ugred;' said Kamiton when he had translated the message, "says that there are only two more Mentats and four juniors scheduled to arrive. All should be in place by morning."
"Everything else is ready?" Zainal asked. He spent a lot of time on his belly buffered by the softest material Kamiton's quarters contained since his back had been lashed by nerve whips. He rather thought Kasturi had enjoyed that exercise a little too much, but the disguise had to pass any close inspection. He wasn't sure, at this point, which annoyed him most-the necessary wounds or the equally necessary starvation.
The medic among their secret group had injections ready to sustain him-but these would only last so long and would have to be administered in the last safe moment on the space station. If they made it that far.
"Everything essential to the operation is in place, or so Ugred said in his last message. The presence of so many Mentats has everyone nervous, agreed, but one more security vessel is not likely to cause any unnecessary attention. And Ugred will have issued a special clearance to the duty officer in case he cannot himself be there."
"Waiting is always hard," Kasturi remarked to no one in particular.
No one had an answer for such a truism.
"Any message from Chuck and Bert?" Zainal broke the silence to ask.
Kamiton shook his head. "No message is good:'
Zainal fell into a light dose, which he did more often than he liked, but it helped him to conserve energy. He went over and over the plan, fretting that Chuck and Bert who had remained aboard Kamiton's ship might be discovered. He reassured himself that the ex-marine sergeant, with his knowledge of both Barevi and Catteni, could handle any eventuality. He would be able to move about the huge field, would be able to listen to any rumor in the mess on the field where other Drassi were awaiting the return of their captains. Most of the talk was about the Mentats coming to Cat-ten and everyone wondering what it was all about.