She purpled and those beautiful eyes widened in panic. Then, suddenly, the flush faded and the eyes steadied. She stepped backward. “Of course, Admiral. Please come in.” That blinding smile flashed.
I stepped in and she closed the door. The cabin was tiny. A single chair and minuscule desk occupied a cubbyhole opposite her bunk. Everything was perfectly orderly. The cabin hardly looked lived-in. “Have a seat, Admiral,” she said, grinning.
“Thank you, but I’ll stand,” I said firmly. Sitting would mean one of us sitting on the bunk.
She shrugged and sat down… on the bunk. “Well, Admiral, what can I do for you?”
“Well, I uh… The Viceroy has ordered me down to Haven. I have to let them make a hero out of me.” My face warmed again.
“Good.” she said firmly. “It’s about time, and highly deserved, too!”
I felt myself flush again. “Come on, Suli, you were here. You know I was no hero. The heroes were out there.” I waved vaguely.
She sniffed. “Too right, I was here. Sure, there were heroes out there. But there was a hero in here, too.” The passion faded from her face, to be replaced by puzzlement. “But what’s that got to do with me? You said you needed my help.”
I writhed in embarrassment. “Well, you see, I’ve been flooded with invitations to social events-dinners and the like. I’ve been ducking them, but the Viceroy caught me, and he’s insisting that I begin attending them.”
She just regarded me silently. “You see, He… uh… I, Oh Sheol! Cord suggested that I arrange for a female to accompany me to these events, to keep me from being bothered by a bunch of women!”
She collapsed in a paroxysm of laughter. My acute embarrassment began to fade into resentment. “Excuse me,” I said stiffly, “I’m sorry I bothered you.” I started for the door, but she put her hand on my arm.
“Please,” she said between peals of laughter. “Don’t leave!” She began to sober as she saw my irritation. “I’m sorry,” she said gently. “I really am. I wasn’t laughing at you. It was just the…” She suppressed a giggle before continuing, “It was just the idea that the great Admiral Val Kedron, Savior of the Rim, Commander of thousands, needs me to protect him from predator females!” She trailed off into more gales of laughter. I began to see the humor in the situation myself, and in a moment, we were both howling. As our laughter began to fade, she added, “me, a Frejan!” and we both roared again. It took several minutes for us to regain our composure.
“All right, Admiral,” she finally said. “Exactly what is it you want me to do?”
My face grew warm again. “Well, uh, just go with me to these dinners and things… and… uh… pretend that we’re… uh…”
“Involved,” She supplied.
I nodded. “Believe it or not, you’re the only female in the fleet that I know other than in passing.”
She grinned. “I believe it. But if anyone down there knows anything about Frejans, they’ll know a Firster would never be involved with a paleskin. I mean…”
My heart sank. “I know what you mean. I’m sorry. I can see that I wasn’t considering your sensibilities…” I started for the door again, and again she put a hand on my sleeve.
“No, damn it!” she said fiercely, “You don’t know what I meant! And don’t say ‘sensibilities’ when you mean ‘prejudices’! Dark or light, you’re the most man I’ve ever met. I’ve learned more about myself in the past few months than in all the years before them. I’ve learned about prejudice, and I’ve learned about friendship, and…” she flushed, “other things.
“For the first time since leaving Freja, I feel like a member of a crew, instead of some kind of target. I have pale-skinned friends now! People I like and respect, that like and respect me. And I owe that to you. You wouldn’t let me hide inside my small prejudices; you made me come out and greet the world — the real world, not the nonsense that passes for reality on Freja.
“I’ll be delighted to be your protector, Admiral,” she continued. “I owe you much more than that.”
I shook my head. “You don’t owe me anything. I just pointed out the obvious. You were the one that took action. If your life has changed for the better, it’s your doing, not mine.”
She threw me a sidelong glance. “Y’know, Admiral, excessive modesty is just as irritating as a lack of modesty. Maybe you’d better work on that!”
After a few more minutes’ conversation, I reluctantly excused myself. As I left, she took my hand. I stared at my hairy white paw holding that slim black hand, and a thrill of excitement ran through me. I was shocked. I again reminded myself I was no horny teenager, to get excited about a handshake!
There was one more piece of real business for me before becoming Cord’s sacrificial lamb.
Luckily, there was one unarmed tramp in the Haven system at the time. I summoned her captain.
“I have a job for you,” I began. “I want you to go to Thaeron.”
His eyes widened. “Uh, that could be dangerous, Admiral,” he protested.
I nodded. “Yes, it could. However, we must know what’s going on there, and make sure that they know what’s happened here.
“Actually,” I continued, “I suspect they’re so starved for information that you’ll be in no danger at all. I doubt they know anything that’s happened since Gyrfalcon was sent back for repair. Keeping Thaeron informed was probably low on Jonas’ priority lists.”
We worked out a cover story for the tramp. We’d load her up with a typical cargo for Thaeron, mostly luxury foodstuffs. He’d tell whoever asked about the battle here, and portray himself as so greedy a trader that he’d run the risk of destruction to be first into Thaeron with a cargo to sell.
“I expect them to pump you for information, and they may not be particularly gentle about it,” I told him. “But if you talk willingly, I doubt they’ll get rough. While you’re talking, keep your eyes open. I’ll want to know about everything you see and hear, and even how you feel about what you see and hear. Any detail may save lives.”
I issued orders for the tramp to be provisioned with whatever the Captain ordered, and sent him on his way. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. At least I could feel that I was accomplishing something besides being an animated display for Cord.
A few hours later, we shuttled down to Haven. I’d been hoping we’d be able to sneak in unnoticed, but it was not to be. When the shuttle’s hatch opened, a roar erupted from a large crowd. Spaceport guards formed a human chain and held a path open for us through the throng. I turned and offered my arm to Suli, just behind me. She flashed me a grin and a wink before taking the arm as though it was the most natural thing in the world. When we appeared in the hatch, the crowd’s roar increased, and then trailed off, as they became aware of Suli. She was breathtaking in a red hooded cloak that framed her midnight skin and white hair dramatically. She was wonderful, behaving as though a throng greeted her everywhere she went.
A lot of the crowd seemed to be reporters. People shouted inane questions at me while I muttered “No comment!” over and over. Suddenly I noticed that more than half the cameras were now pointed at Suli. I could see the headlines now: ‘Mystery Woman Accompanies Kedron!’ Nevertheless, her exotic beauty knocked them off balance long enough for us to reach our ground car and escape.
The car had been sent by Cord, and it whisked us to the Viceregal Palace, where adjoining quarters had been arranged for us.
I introduced her to Cord, and he was as instantly smitten as every other male that meets Suli. At lunch, he was holding her chair and monopolizing her conversation. I began to get irritated.
“If you’ll excuse me sir,” I said. “I’ll just return to Valkyrie and blast off for Betelgeuse.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “Of course, Admiral, of course!” Then he seemed to process what I’d said, did a comical double take, and flushed. “Wha…” His expressions ran the gamut from preoccupation to puzzlement, embarrassment, and finally, anger. “How dare you?”