A spare, youngish woman said, "WarAvocat, would you look at this?"
He accepted a data pad. "What is it?"
"An abstract of data taken during routine scan while we were off the Web. Gemina tagged it."
WarAvocat skimmed it. "A phantom?"
"The info came off the abandoned 3B station, which was in a conjunctional mode during the incident. There was no comparable data from the 3A source. Gemina thinks someone was purging and weaving in so there wouldn't be a noticeable hole."
WarAvocat scrutinized the ID data. Gemina said the phantom could not be either of the ships it had claimed to be. Gregor Forgotten was on a regular trapezoidal run between L. Maronia, K. Foulorii, M. Bemica, and D. Sutonica-B. Always had been and always would be. The Hansa Traveler True Ceremonial had been lost, but it had been found by XVII Macedonica twenty years ago. Pirates. No known survivors.
"A phantom phantom? That's a new one."
Phantom operators did borrow the identities of ships which could be counted on to remain safely far away. But to underlay one falsehood with another hinted at something more sinister than smuggling.
Gemina had caught no whiff of a true identity.
"Curious."
Insofar as Gemina could determine, no one had boarded or departed the Traveler during its inexplicable approach to M. Shrilica 3A.
"Run it through the Starbase pool when we get there."
Starbase.
He was an old fart. He should not be moved by anything. But he could not suppress his excitement when he thought of the artifact. VII Gemina would be in repair dock a long time. His duties would be light.
"WarAvocat. Word from XXVIII Fretensis. IV Trajana is in."
"IV Trajana?"
"It brought in those people you put aboard that Traveler at P. Jaksonica. It rescued them from a Cholot prison."
They had dared? ... He would get the story. That Haget would be sorry if he had screwed up....
He ordered the artifact and two aliens brought as soon as VII Gemina entered repair dock.
What artifact and two aliens?
WarAvocat brooded. Then, "Access, Gemina. Priority input. I want a council of Deified WarAvocats. Mandatory. No excuses accepted. Input immediately." In seconds all the former WarAvocats were present.
"During our previous visit to Starbase, the Deified Makarska Vis put three guests of mine off the Guardship. They aren't there now. Think about that."
They saw the peril before he finished.
Someone offered a motion to recall the Deification of Makarska Vis. It failed. Barely.
— 67 —
"Why is that damned Guardship still out there?" Valerena demanded.
"Why not go ask?" Provik snapped.
"Hell. I might." She knew he was tired of hearing about it. He feared she had fixed it as an object for all her frustrations.
The transition was going well because of the failure in the end space, because the stakes were high, because there was a Guardship in the sky. Somebody had to be in charge. And Valerena was the designated heir.
Beyond that general agreement, though, the Directorate fell into factions trying to get the advantage of one another.
The Simon Tregesser Other, acting in an advisory capacity, was cautious and cooperative. It did not want to be shut down.
Provik said, "You have to recall Blessed. No matter how insecure he makes you."
"I know. Soon."
"Real soon. The Directors won't tolerate having the heir apparent kept isolated and ignorant. They'll make it an issue."
"Screw them."
"They're scared, Valerena. They're going to be scared for the rest of their lives. I can tell them ten thousand times there wasn't anything in that end space to connect House Tregesser and they're not going to believe me down in their guts. They're going to wake up every morning wondering if this is the day the hammer falls."
Valerena grunted. She understood. She felt it herself. She told the nearest window she wanted to look outside. Sometimes staring down at Tregesser Horata had a calming effect.
"Can they find us?"
"I don't think so."
"But they never give up. They never forget."
"They can be distracted. Simon made a lot of friends Outside. They'll consider the ambush a great success. They'll be primed for anything. The Simon Other would be priceless as a go-between."
"All right. See who's outside."
Somebody wanted in. Lupo asked who it was.
"Simon."
"Speak of the devil. Come ahead."
Valerena watched Provik move to the best vantage point. She had seen him dispose himself like that for her father a thousand times. She was tempted to move, just to mess with him.
Lupo said, "We were just discussing you. I told Valerena we shouldn't dispense with you because you could be valuable as an ambassador Outside."
Valerena controlled a lip twitch. The bastard could say a lot without saying anything directly. She asked, "What brings you here?"
"That sonofabitch sitting up in the L5 is using our mining drones for target practice."
"What?"
"It just blew away an empty headed for the Pyrimedes moons."
Valerena could not think. Why did she freeze like this sometimes?
Lupo asked, "Why?"
"Who the hell knows? Maybe they're bored. Maybe they didn't know the gun was loaded."
"No provocation? The drone didn't buzz them?"
"Hell, the bastard was five million K away and headed out. They showed off a trick shot with a CT slug."
"Have they been asked for an explanation?"
"They aren't talking."
Provik said, "Valerena, the Directors will be in a panic. Someone will have to hold their hands."
"You do that better than me. You scare them more than a Guardship does."
"I'm usually more immediate."
"Calm them down. I'll try to find out what's going on."
Provik stepped into the down shaft behind the Simon Other's bell. As they descended, the Other asked, "What was that about me being an ambassador Outside?"
"They're used to dealing with Simon Tregesser."
"Why drag it under her nose?"
"Trying to give her reasons to keep you alive."
"I'd think you'd want rid of me."
"Why?"
"You got out of that end space by dancing around a Guardship you expected. If you'd wanted Simon to get out, you would've seen to it. He didn't get out. That makes me a living reproach."
"He overstepped."
"His immortality thing. I warned him. He thought he could bring you around by offering to share. He couldn't survive without you, anyway."
Lupo said nothing.
"I owe you, Lupo. Had he done it his way, he would've gotten rid of me." The Other drifted out of the shaft. "I won't mention my suspicions."
"No. You won't."
The Other would have to be monitored. No way it would not try to use what it knew.
"They're settled," Provik told Valerena. "What's the story upstairs?"
"No story. It won't talk. But it keeps taking potshots. Nothing that can't be dodged, though somebody could break off the Web and get blasted before we could warn them."