“I hope we won’t have to use any of this equipment.”
“Of course, Captain. Permission to look at the rest of the ship?”
“Wait a minute, Janet. I have a request for you… a personal favor to ask.”
Janet looked thoughtfully at him, then at Kim.
“All right, Captain.”
“Could you do a genetic test on Kim?”
“Depends on what kind of test…” A look of surprise appeared briefly on her face. “A test of your mutual compatibility?”
Kim snorted.
“No.” Alex strained to keep his cool. The thought that he was planning to start reproducing with a fourteen-year-old girl was a bit much. But the favor he was about to ask her was just as strange. “Janet, I’d like to make sure that Kim really is a fighter-spesh.”
“Captain?”
He sighed.
“The situation is rather strange, Janet…”
“I think I’m beginning to get the picture.” Janet was talking to him, but all her attention was concentrated on Kim.
“Kim had her metamorphosis the night before last.”
“Really…”
Janet leaned on the table next to Kim. Authoritatively took her by the chin, turned her face to take a closer look. Alex had no idea what she must have seen. But the look of slight mistrust left her eyes.
“It’s not in the traditions of the Empire to take aboard speshes immediately after transformation.”
“Of course,” agreed Alex. “But there is no direct rule against it, either.”
“I believe you. But what does genetic analysis have to do with it?” Kim herself had been silent, allowing them to discuss her fate. Alex suspected her silence wouldn’t last much longer.
“She does not have a fighter-spesh certificate.”
“I can issue that without any tests,” said Janet calmly. “Her ID has all her medical information. Specialization type, altered genes, and the probable somatic profile.”
“She doesn’t have an ID. She’s… lost it.”
Janet was silent for a minute. Then she said firmly:
“Captain, any person, spesh or natural, who loses an ID can go to the nearest clinic. After a genotype analysis, the central databank will release the information on their identity.”
“We cannot do that, Janet.”
A brief glance from Kim was his reward for the “we.”
“Why not?”
“Kim has severed all ties with her past. She doesn’t want her family to know where she is. And if the databank receives an inquiry, they’ll certainly notice it—then there will be no avoiding them.”
“Why?” the doctor was genuinely surprised. “I’m pretty well acquainted with the laws of the Empire, Captain. After the metamorphosis, a spesh becomes an absolutely autonomous person. She has the right to work, to keep in touch with those she chooses, to enter into or cancel any kinship alliance, to live or commit suicide…”
Alex sighed, threw a questioning glance at Kim. He could not offer any objections at all—Janet was absolutely right.
“I’m from Edem,” said the girl.
“A little patriarchal, but a nice planet.” Janet gave an encouraging nod. “Kim, what are you afraid of? You are a fighter-spesh, so you are quite capable of protecting yourself from any unwanted attention. And the law is totally on your side. We can go to the spaceport’s clinic together…”
“No!”
Kim jumped up, backing away from them. Janet and Alex exchanged glances.
“We’re wasting our time,” said Alex. “Janet, perhaps it might be better for you and Kim to talk alone.”
“No,” cried Kim. “I won’t talk to her alone!”
“Why not?” Janet’s voice was still warm and soothing. “Kim, I like you, let’s not quarrel, okay?”
Kim relaxed a little.
“It’s not you…”
“It’s him, then?” Janet nodded toward Alex. “He’s harmed you?”
Kim must have thought that was funny.
“It’s hard to harm me.”
“It is indeed. Let’s discuss the problem and find some way to solve it, all right?” Janet stretched her hand toward the girl.
Kim hesitated a moment. Then she limply slapped the doctor’s palm and sat back down between them. Janet was silent, looking at the girl.
“I’ll be killed if they find me,” said Kim shrilly.
“It’s hard to kill a fighter-spesh,” rejoined Janet, not really challenging the remark itself.
“It’s hard, but possible. They’ll send another spesh. Or two.”
“Why? In that case, my dear, they would incur serious problems with the law. Especially since you are now under double protection—of the Empire itself, and of the space fleet union.”
Kim gave a crooked grin.
“You know, you’re older than I am, but I swear I know more about problems with the law!”
“Maybe you’re from an influential, conservative family, and your clan is upset with your escape?”
Alex thought Janet’s version of events was quite likely. But Kim shook her head.
“No. But I do know what I’m talking about. The moment I surface… I’m a goner. I’ll be dead, and you guys will all be in a bind.”
Alex expected a reproachful, or even an indignant, reaction from Janet. To bring aboard a girl-fighter who was more of a danger than she was a defense… But apparently, Janet really did like Kim.
“Well, you tell me. If that’s the case, what can I do?” The doctor spread out her arms. “A spesh-certification is easy to issue. You are a fighter-spesh, I am sure of that. But I have a duty, dear, to establish your identity first. And you don’t have an ID.”
Kim was silent.
“We have one other option, Janet,” said Alex hesitantly, with a slight quiver in his voice. He had entered a tricky realm of loopholes, something he had never liked to do.
“And what might that be, Captain?”
“You could issue Kim a fighter-spesh certificate. Then…” Janet frowned, shaking her head, but Alex continued, unabashed. “… then Kim and I go to the nearest registration center. And file a temporary marriage contract—based on the spesh-certificates. They’re identification enough to do that.”
“I understand that they’re enough. But I refuse to issue a fake certificate.”
“Janet, wait! After the marriage, Kim gets a new ID, with the name Kim Romanov… Kim, will you take my last name?”
Kim was staring at him wide-eyed, still not quite comprehending.
“… and there are no inquiries to the databank. The information will be entered there, but so what? How many girls named Kim are in the galaxy?”
“But I can’t break the law!” Even Janet’s patience had its limits.
“And you won’t be breaking any laws. We’ll all come back to the ship right away, and you’ll enter all the information from her new ID. Suppose I asked you to issue a temporary certificate and promised to show you the ID a little later. You could go for this tiny infringement, couldn’t you?”
“Not a single computer in the world would let this through. How can I write that the spesh-certificate was issued based on a document that hadn’t been received yet? Are you telling me you can travel back into the past, Captain?”
“Yes, I can.”
Janet was silent.
“Ship time is determined by the captain. I could run the clock by Greenwich Time. Or by Great Beijing. The time at home port. The time of the planets we visit. You see? What time is indicated on your documents?”
“Ship time…”
“You see? If anyone checked, everything would look as though…” Alex took a deep breath. “… the ship’s captain had entered into a marriage union with a member of his crew, after which the bride had a genetic test that confirmed her status as a fighter-spesh…”
“Wait a second!” Janet waved her hand. “Are you serious, Captain? Are these just theoretical guesses or…”