"Tell me now," he said.
"House Tregesser has a Guardship. Actually, Valerena Tregesser has her Guardship."
He just looked at her.
"I'll change its name. VI Adjutrix. That sounds so... I don't know. Dull. How about Horido Segada? That sounds dramatic and menacing."
It meant "Black Storm Rising." She had heard that somewhere.
"It's sure to catch the imagination. That's what the Go called their Main Battle Fleet."
"So I'll think of something else. What matters is, I've got aGuardship."
"How?" Cool Lupo. Over his shock already. Probably the biggest shock of his life.
"I seduced it."
His eyes narrowed.
"And now it will do anything I tell it to keep me liking it. It'll get a steady diet of Valerena Others."
"How many of those are there, Valerena? How reliable are they?"
"Why?" She did not like his tone.
"Others can be troublesome if you haven't kept them on a short leash."
"There were some things my father kept to himself. I'll follow his example."
Lupo shrugged. "We have a Guardship to discuss. I suggest you don't reserve anything there."
He was right. He was the Guardship expert. He could tell her if she had made a fool of herself. So she told it all, from first impulse till she set foot on Prime again.
He gave her his absolute attention. He had that knack, of shutting out everything but you. She'd never held anyone's complete attention so long. He listened gravely, the way, as a child, she had thought a father ought when his little girl brought him tales of her adventures.
"Did I do good?"
"You did marvelous. I may revise my opinion of what kind of Chair you'll make."
While the spell held, she asked, "What should I do now?"
"Move it. We'll have to refit and recrew it. We do that where it sits and every ship through here will run off to tell the universe."
"It can't get back onto the Web. That's why it stayed here. It barely remembers that it was headed for Starbase. If it wasn't a machine, I'd think it was sick."
"We'll head it out past the mines. Maybe to Wodash. I'll find an orbital path that won't get any attention. On record we can open a new mining facility to account for the traffic. It can move in starspace, can't it?"
"Yes."
"This will be harder than managing that ambush was. We didn't have to do that under the noses of everybody on a busy strand."
"I really did something that's never been done."
"You made history. If we handle this right, you'll be the most famous Tregesser ever. But if we screw it up, there won't be any House Tregesser."
"Yes." She was tired, suddenly. "Don't you get bored, being right all the time? Figure out what you want to do, then set it up."
"First we need cover stories...."
Valerena left her seat. "Don't waste time. I want that Guardship for my headquarters. You like the Pylon, you can have it. Blessed can have the place on the Gorge. He needs something better than that old relic in the High City."
Lupo nodded. She thought she detected a hint of strained patience. Every time he talked to her... It hurt. He was worrying about the future of the House again. When he did that, she worried too, wondering if she was incompetent and a peril.
It made her want to scream, "You bastard, I'm trying! I'm doing the best I can! Stop listening to what I say when I'm running my mouth and pay attention to what I'm doing! Help me!"
Provik rose too. "We'll talk again after you've rested. I have a thousand questions about the Guardship."
"When I get the chance."
As he opened the door, Lupo added, "I really would like more information about your Others, Valerena. It could be important."
She went without answering, wondering why the sudden interest.
Lupo stood looking at the door. The family joined him. One said, "I refuse to be amazed by anything ever again."
Lupo said, "I think it's time to grow us some brothers and sisters. Otherwise the workload is going to bury us."
One suggested, "You might consider doubling T. W. a few times, too." T.W. Trice was the second name on the chart of the House Tregesser security apparat. She was the one person Provik trusted completely. She was the perfect manager, taking most of the routine load off his shoulders.
"I've tried. She won't do it."
Two observed, "Valerena was sensitive about her Others. She's worried. Does that mean some of them are out of control?"
"Probably. She had to go churn them out to confuse us, then just turned them loose. We'll have to find them all, tag them somehow, and keep them under surveillance. The workload keeps growing."
"And you love it," Two said. "You're practically running House Tregesser now."
"Just this side. They can keep the business end."
— 78 —
Haget was in a mood where he thought everything he said was funny. Everyone else thought he was being nasty. Jo was tired of making allowances.
They had visited the first two stations. They had come up with zeroes. All right. So it was not going to be a stroll. They had known that. Why get irritable and sarcastic?
The Traveler was coming up on the third station now. Everyone, including Seeker, had a job. This was no time for emotional distractions.
Jo and her squad were convinced. This was the jackpot. They were ready.
Breakaway. Haget went to the bridge to oversee communications with the station. AnyKaat offered Jo a compassionate glance.
"Kark! Look at that thing!" Degas said. "Straight out of the Stone Age." He and Vadja were in charge of plundering station data.
AnyKaat said, "I make it three ships docked. One Hauler and two Travelers."
"Curious." Jo looked over her shoulder. The schematic had Travelers docked side by side around the wheel from the Hauler. "Suggestive?"
"Maybe. But an old station might have a wobble it damps with its porting arrangements."
Jo looked around. Too early to have gotten anything else.
Haget stepped in. "They aren't pleased to see us. You'd think a tramp station would be eager to suck anybody in."
"Wouldn't you?"
"Watch them, Jo."
What did he think she was doing? "Yes, sir. Have they assigned us a berth?"
"Eight. Beside a Hauler."
"Why am I not surprised?"
AnyKaat said, "Lieutenant, I'm starting to get heat readings from both Travelers."
Jo looked. She was only a touch more familiar with the equipment than AnyKaat. "Colonel, can you look at this?" He had been a WatchMaster.
"They're warming up to pull out," he said. "We've made somebody nervous. Yell if they undock." He returned to the bridge.
They would have seen nothing had they been a normal Traveler. Civilians did not need gear that could see such things.
The Probe team began to get results. "Lieutenant, there's a lot of running around going on."
Why? Guilty consciences? Making with coverups they did not feel were needed for a Hauler?
There was a ping. Degas said, "Jackpot."
They had penetrated the station's system, starting with the obvious, records of arrivals and departures. The entry following the departure of the suspect Horigawa Hauler was: dpt sveldrov trav gregor forgotten.
The Traveler that had behaved so oddly at M. Shrilica. Interesting.
"That Hauler is Horigawa," Haget tossed in the hatchway.
Jo felt a touch, found Seeker beside her. There are some of Them there. Mind picture of a Messenger thing. Three. Possibly four. They may sense my presence.
"Would that explain the activity?"
Perhaps.
"Activate the weapons systems. Warm screen generators."
"All right!"