“Ours too, ma’am. But I have a bad feeling that she might not survive her rescue attempt.”
Tsao’s dark eyes bored into him with an intensity that made him want to squirm. “Are you suggesting that Director Testa might cause her further harm, Mr. Swamp?”
“I am. I believe her accident was arranged by him, and that she was not supposed to survive it. Even if she did, he was counting on a wild imar—a deadly local predator—to be drawn to the crash site by the sound of impact and finish the job. An imar almost did get her, a tragedy averted through the actions of the very natives whose treaty this action will ignore. Even if he doesn’t dare make what could be judged a understandable if sadly fatal mistake extricating her from the wreck, rescuing her by means in flagrant and willful violation of the treaty will irrevocably damage her reputation and standing inside BCT.”
Captain Tsao shook her head, still unconvinced. “My concerns are not with her standing and reputation, but with her life. Lacking clear and compelling evidence of wrongdoing on Director Testa’s part, I have no choice but to allow him to land. What I will do is make him aware that his every move is being watched, and that he dares not make any mistakes, fatal or otherwise.”
Joe had to assume that one or several corporate high-rollers were behind the attempt on Serena’s life, and Testa would count on them to protect him. Besides, she would be the best witness against him. He couldn’t take the chance, and was running out of arguments. “Captain Tsao,” he said, not quite able to keep the desperation he felt out of his voice. “As BAA Station Chief I must protest this proposed violation in the strongest possible terms.”
“Your protest is noted. Now if you will excuse me—”
“No, you are not excused, Captain.”
Joe turned to look at the commboard. Serena’s eyes were open. She gave him a weary wink, then spoke again, not a single trace of weakness in her voice. “Did you hear me Captain Tsao? I said you are not excused.”
The older woman glanced offscreen a moment, then turned back. “Is that you, Ms. Caltefores?”
“Yes it is, Captain. Now hear me. I absolutely forbid you to allow that shuttle to land. Do you understand me?”
A pained look appeared on her face. “Yes ma’am, I do. It’s just that your father—”
“There is nothing to argue about, Captain. I would rather die than knowingly dishonor the pact my father and our company has made with the people here. We are either people of honor and principle, or we are nothing. I will not allow you to make me a hypocrite. Is that clear?”
Captain Tsao bowed her head. “Painfully so, Miss Caltefores. Our facilities will allow us to shut down the shuttle’s onboard control and turn guidance over to site operations.”
“Then do so immediately.”
The older woman touched her brow in salute. “Yes ma’am. It will be done.” Her image blanked.
Serena’s head slumped back and she let out a weary sigh. “That woman has tried to treat me like a child for years now.”
Joe found it surprisingly easy to smile. “Lady, I don’t think that’s going to happen any more.”
“Probably not. At least I was able to keep from breaking the treaty any more than I already have.”
A chill went down Joe’s spine as he realized that she hadn’t heard Bull’s offer to let the shuttle land after all. She hadn’t been making an end run around Tsao’s willingness to let Frank rescue her. She had stood on principle alone. That was the act of a warrior.
Jubal let out a whoop. “The shuttle’s lifting. Onboard control is shut down and she’s mine now. What should I do with her?”
Joe scrubbed his forehead wearily. “Bring it back here, I guess. Can you put Frank under arrest?”
The factor’s face split in a lopsided grin. “We can give it one hell of a try.” “Go for it.” He turned to face Serena’s image once more. “Well, I guess we won. The problem is, you’re no closer to being rescued than you were when you crashed.”
She chuckled, then grimaced. “Maybe that’s why I don’t feel like a successful executive.”
Bull touched Joe’s shoulder. “Mister Joe,” he said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Will you help us?”
He stared up at the big alien. “Help you what?”
“Rescue Miss Serena, of course. Regrettably we do not know enough of your physiology or medicine to render much assistance on that count, but you could treat her injuries if you would let us take you to her.”
Joe felt a bubble of excitement rise. “Jubal!” he called, his mind suddenly racing. “Call Petra and Hakim. Tell both of them to gear up for a long hard hike. Have Hakim bring a full trauma kit, and tell Petra we’ll need a stretcher. We should both go, too. Maybe you’d better call the ship, have them take over the shuttle and take Frank off our hands. Tell the others we’ll get back, uh, probably sometime late tonight. Lights! We’ll—”
“Mister Joe,” Bull interrupted patiently.
“What?”
“You have misunderstood me. I said we would take you there. Already more of us are gathered outside, waiting to convey you to Miss Serena.”
Joe still didn’t get it. “Convey?” he echoed blankly.
“If you have no objections. We can move much faster than you can, the weight of a human will not appreciably slow us down, and we do not find the heavy growth of our jungles much of an impediment. If we depart immediately we can be there in less than one of your hours.”
Joe finally understood that they were offering to act as living transport. “You’d do that for us?”
Bull inclined his head. “We would consider it an honor to aid our friends this way.”
He glanced at Jubal. “You game?”
“Count me in. I’ve already called the ship. Let me signal Petra and Hakim. They shouldn’t take more than a minute or two to get ready.”
Joe turned back toward the commboard. “Did you hear that? The cavalry is on its way.”
“Hurry,” she said, closing her eyes and letting her head sag back.
On a sunny afternoon 161 days later, Joe was in his office killing time by playing rummy with Bull. The big alien was whipping his butt badly. Guys had nearly eidetic memories, which made them formidable opponents at cards. Joe could have evened the odds a bit by cheating—he could see the reflection of Bull’s cards in his glasses—but his mind wasn’t really on the game.
His comm chimed. His stomach flipped over. “Yes?” he called.
“She’s here—” Mabel began excitedly before remembering herself. “Uh, Madame Caltefores is here to see you.”
He took a deep breath. “Send her in, please.”
“Should I leave, Mister Joe?” Bull asked, picking four cards off the pile and considering them. “I know that humans need privacy for some forms of communing.” He carefully laid down the ace through four of clubs, three fives, the ten through king of hearts and discarded the queen of diamonds, getting rid of all of his cards. “I seem to have won again anyway.”
Joe shook his head as he stood up. “That’s OK, I’m sure she wants to see you too.” He raised a warning finger. “But I’m not going to let her play cards with you.”
His office door opened, and Serena Caltefores walked back into his life again. Just like the first time he’d met her, all he could do was stand there and stare.
The last time he’d seen her had been as she was being loaded on a shuttle to be taken up to the orbiting supply ship. She’d been unconscious and hooked up to seemingly every medical device at Hakim’s disposal, alive but in critical condition.