Nadine had been born on the wrong world.
He said, gently, "You're not a fool and you certainly aren't a coward. You're just someone who is learning a hard lesson. You are discovering there is no escape. No matter how far or how fast we run the bars we carry with us will always cage us in. You, me, everyone. We are all prisoners of our mind."
"Not you, Earl!"
"Everyone." He sipped at his glass. She saw the light reflected from his eyes, the strong lines of his mouth and jaw. "Don't try to find happiness, Nadine. Be satisfied with contentment."
Good advice but he would never take it. For him there could be alternative to the path he had chosen and she wondered how a world could hold such allure. What had he lost that he should miss it so much?
"Drink," he urged. "You need to relax. What have you to report?"
Nothing but a host of small details, but she sensed his interest was deeper than it seemed. What, to her, were trivial scraps of information was, to him, items which could threaten the success of his enterprise.
Watching him, reading him, she felt a disturbing flood of emotion. One stemming from the safety of the cabin, his strength, the protection he could give. A partner who could offer happiness. One who could give her love.
"Earl!" The peedham had dissolved her reticence. The light held a new softness and his closeness created an urgent demand. "Tell me," she whispered, her hand rising to caress his cheek. "Tell me -" but even as she framed the question she knew it would be futile. What he had lost would be a secret he would keep. Instead she said, fighting for control, "How much longer will the journey last?"
"Does it matter?"
"It could. There are too many disputes, threats, actual fights. The compliment is restless. They resent discipline and are bored. Some even talk of breaking the journey to make a raid."
"No!" He was emphatic. "They mustn't be allowed to do that. We have to keep going. Talk to them. Remind them of what they stand to gain. The treasure, gems, precious metals, all the other things. The entire wealth of a world. The planet itself. Play on their greed. If they insist on arguing threaten to evict them."
"And when they object? Am I supposed to fight?"
"If you have to, yes." He strove to be patient. "I'm not talking about physical combat. Fight with your brains and talent. Read them. Use lies, gossip, rumor, anything which works. You've done it before."
"On Kaldar. This is a new world."
"It's still a world. The same rules apply. Another drink?" He set aside the bottle when she shook her head. "Then get some rest. Stay here if you want. I'll make sure no one bothers you."
She wanted more than the security of his cabin.
"Earl!"
She reached for him, yielding to the thrust of emotion, her demanding need. Within the circle of her arms she felt the firm strength of his body, responding to its warm impact, feeling the burning heat of desire, knowing it was shared. Then, abruptly, he pushed her away.
"Earl'."She felt the pain of rejection. "What's wrong?"
His hand was pressed against the bulkhead and she read the answer. Her own hand confirmed it. The metal was free of vibration. The Erhaft field had collapsed.
Dumarest ran through a ship filled with apparent corpses. An illusion created by the drug which had neutralized the quicktime in his blood and restored his normal metabolism. In the engine room others, also on normal time, wrestled with the bulk of the generator.
Zoll Mauger snarled his impatience at a stubborn panel.
"Give me a hand, here! Move!"
Simi Kent, the second engineer, ran forward with an oddly shaped lever. One he slipped into an orifice, heaved, grunted as the casing remained intact.
"What's the problem?" Dumarest rested a hand on the metal. "Warped?"
"Maybe fused. I hope to hell it isn't. Cutting it free could do damage." Simi heaved again on the lever, Dumarest adding his strength. Together they forced it free. "Zoll!"
The engineer pushed them aside as he crouched to examine the exposed interior of the generator. When he straightened black smears streaked the contours of his face.
Simi was impatient. "Bad?"
"Bad enough. The governor blew. The safety fuses took the brunt, but they went in turn and the coils are grimed." Irritably he shook his head. "I don't understand it. There was no reason for the damn thing to blow. We were running even, no surges, no drain, nothing to cause damage. It just happened."
Dumarest said, "How long to repair it?"
"As long as it takes." Mauger was curt. "The governor will have to be replaced. We carry a spare so that's no problem. But the generator need to be cleaned, the safeties renewed and the coils needs to be polished and realigned."
"For the text-book repair," agreed Dumarest. "I'm talking about something good enough to establish the field and get us to a planet."
"You an engineer?"
"I've handled machines and seen damaged generators." Dumarest stared at the other man. "From what you say most of what needs doing is basic. Maybe I can help. It's my neck too," he reminded. "Don't blame me for taking care of it."
"I don't." Mauger looked at Nadine. She had entered the engine room as they had talked. "What is it?"
"The captain wants a full report." She looked at the dismantled generator and added, "I heard what you said about replacing the governor. I suggest you check the spare before you do."
"Why?" Mauger scowled when she told him. "Some worker on Kaldar committing sabotage? Are you serious?"
"Vargas was complaining about sloppy work. There could be a connection. How often do governors blow?"
"Rarely," admitted the engineer. "What's your point?"
Dumarest said, before Nadine could answer, "It could be simple chance or it could be sabotage. If it happens again we could lose the generator. Are you willing to take that kind of chance?"
"Not if I can help it," said Mauger. "I'll check it out. You can report to the captain when I've finished."
Cradled by his chair in the control room Lief Chapman was a part of his domain. A meld of machine and mind, of science and art; apparent magic which had given Mankind the universe to rove in. All useless now. The vessel had turned into a coffin.
With the Erhaft field down it was traveling below the speed of light and long before it could reach a habitable world everyone aboard would be dead. Starvation would see to it, and thirst, and inevitable madness. Not even the magic of drugs would stave off the inevitable. But that would not happen to his command. The vagaries of chance had seen to that.
"Captain?" Niall was at his side, eyes on the main screen. "You've checked it out?"
Chapman nodded, eyes drifting over the panels, the ranked instruments. Space was far from empty and nothing in it was safe.
"As yet we're lucky," said the navigator. "This area is relatively clear. It all depends on how long it takes to affect repairs."
Dumarest provided the answer. Chapman scowled as he finished his report.
"How long?"
"A day, maybe less." Dumarest noticed the captain's expression. "I'm quoting the engineer. The original governor is useless. If it hadn't been for Mauger I'd be saying the same about the generator, but we had luck and he was quick to act. He needs to calibrate the spare governor, replace the safeties and do what he can to clean the coils."