"It hasn't been tested?"
Hyatt shook his head. "Your mission will be Photon's maiden voyage, Captain."
Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing. This ship had not undergone a shakedown cruise. She certainly hoped the shielding worked-her life would depend on it. If the shielding failed for even an instant while she was in hyperspace, and she became exposed to its raw elements…
She forced that thought down. "You said there's a sister ship. Where is it now?"
"The last message we received from Tachyon was broadcast as she approached the system at the heart of the Crab Nebula. Captain Larry Spearman, the ship's pilot, reported everything was in order. That was nearly a year ago."
Susan's breath caught in her lungs as she remembered what Clayton had told her about her assignment. "And you want me to follow Tachyon out to the Crab Nebula." It was a statement rather than a question.
"Correct."
She remained silent for a few seconds. That explained why Hyatt had wanted a Fleet pilot; he had already lost one of his own.
"It all comes down to money, doesn't it?" She couldn't keep the venom from her voice.
"That is correct."
Susan sniffed, not bothering to hide her contempt. She felt anger building within her. First, the lack of a cold-sleep coffin, then the realization that the ship had not been properly tested. Now she finds her mission is to follow a Survey Service ship into the unknown-a ship that has been missing for nearly a year. And Hyatt had waited until now to tell her.
"Damnit!" she said, putting as much thunder into her voice as she possibly could, "Why couldn't you tell me all this before?"
Hyatt's face went beet red and contorted with rage. "Listen, Captain, if you can't live with the way I do things, I'll find a ship's pilot who can!"
"But-"
Hyatt held up a hand to stop her. "That's it."
Susan wanted to tell him what he could do with his assignment, but she couldn't. This was her first chance in ten years to get back into deep space-very likely her final chance-and she could do nothing to jeopardize it.
She nodded. "I can live with it," she said, keeping her voice calm and level with an effort. She only hoped that, in fact, she could.
Hyatt turned and started back down the short corridor, toward the bridge, and Susan followed. "One more thing," he said without turning around.
"What is it?" she asked, her voice sounding flat. Anything else would be anti- climactic.
"Commander Alterman will accompany you on this mission."
Susan stopped as a sudden numbness filled her mind. Karl would be going with her! His life would again be in danger, and she would again be responsible for it, just like ten years ago in Aldebaran system.
Again she saw the strange apparition that had appeared in the briefing room- the image of Karl charred nearly beyond recognition. Had her ability to detect danger in the immediate future somehow been responsible for that?
"This is a single person ship," Susan said. "There is no room for him."
"Of course, it will be tight, but you can manage."
"But he's Survey Service."
"He will be going with you none-the-less. I want him onboard as my representative, and he will double as ship's physician."
"No!" Susan said, before she could stop herself. "I won't have him aboard this ship!"
Hyatt stopped and turned toward her in the cramped corridor. "This is not negotiable, Captain," he said.
And Susan suddenly knew nothing she could say would dissuade him.
Chapter Seventeen
By the time she returned to Darcy's quarters, undressed, and slipped beneath the comforter, her wrist chronometer read 0407. She set its alarm for 0700, then lay on her back in the dark, unable to sleep, staring up at the invisible ceiling as if she could make out something there that would answer all her questions. She had come up against too much in the past hour and a half, facts and concepts she had not been able to absorb at the time. Now they bubbled up in her mind, jostling for prominence.
Foremost among them was the thought that Karl would accompany her on her mission to the Crab Nebula. He would join her on an assignment in search of a lost Survey ship, a ship that had been missing for nearly a full year.
She didn't want Karl along, but there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Hyatt had made it clear that if she wished to pilot his ship, it would be on his terms. It was either take Karl along, or not go herself. And that was no choice at all.
Again she would be responsible for his life. And again she thought of that strange vision.
It always came down to being responsible for the lives of others. And if it happened again as it had in Aldebaran system…
A shiver rattled up her spine and she pulled the comforter snugly around her neck. There was nothing she could do about any of it. She could chase the questions around in her mind all night, and by morning be no nearer a solution than she was now. She needed sleep-in only a few hours she would have to be alert, ready to absorb what little ship's familiarization Hyatt would permit.
Closing her eyes, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and forced her breathing into a regular pattern, then concentrated on relaxing her tense muscles.
Again the nightmare came, the dream/memories knifing into her sleeping thoughts. She was again in Aldebaran system, onboard the Fleet cruiser Defiant, and Karl's body worked gently against her own as she held him in her arms…
Chapter Eighteen
"Incoming call for Captain Susan Tanner," said the phone's soft monotone.
Susan woke with a start, her body bathed in perspiration. Although she was not cold, she trembled uncontrollably beneath the comforter.
"Incoming call for Captain Susan Tanner."
She stood and went to the phone. Slapping at both the signal off and audio only buttons, she stepped into the lens cluster's field.
"Who is it?" she asked, glancing at her wrist chronometer glowing in the dark. It read 0532.
"Put this on secure." She recognized Hyatt's voice and instantly came awake, then pressed the appropriate button glowing on the wall.
"I'm on secure. What is it?"
"Something has happened. We will lift in less than two hours."
Susan shook her head to clear it. There was something wrong with what Hyatt had just said. We. And there was something else…
"What about the familiarization session you promised?"
"It won't be necessary. Besides, there is no longer time for that."
"Why? What happened?"
Hyatt hesitated an instant, then said, "I've just talked to Commander Alterman. We are in agreement that I should leave Luna at once, under both yours and his protection. My impostor has been spotted on Luna within the hour, and Alterman believes the attempts on your life are somehow connected to him."
"You told Karl about the attacks?" Then it struck her-Hyatt should know about only one attack. He shouldn't know about the one in the exchange area.
"I had to. There has been another attempt on your life within the past hour."
"What are you talking about?"
"The technician who was working on your LIN/C has been murdered."
Sudden fear filled Susan's thoughts. That's what he had meant. They had tried to trace her through her LIN/C. "When did it happen?"
"Her body was found less than half an hour ago. But we don't have time for this. We must get off Luna-now."