Tor was shaken by his captain's reactions, but he protested, "It's not the same at all! The Actionists just want to save mankind from a new dark age!"
"The hell it isn't!" Jirik's fierce tone made Tor shrink back into his chair. "The Januvians just wanted to save mankind from 'damnation'." He forced himself to calmness. "Look, Tor, These people think that they need to have control of the entire Alliance, and maybe the entire Empire, to 'save' mankind from this new dark age. So far, they've been able to influence a handful of planets on the rim of known space. Now they're figuring that they should 'spread the word' to the other nearby planets. Are you really so naive as to think that they will be able to gain control of the entire Alliance in 200 years by peaceful means? Do you really think that all those millions of people are going to calmly surrender control of their planets, their sector, their Alliance, to a bunch of Rimworld fanatics? Even the Actionists know better. They tried to bribe me to smuggle battle comp software back from the Empire. They know better, and you'd better decide which side you're going to be on when the coin drops."
Tor looked stunned. "They tried to get you to smuggle military stuff? I can't believe it. Everyone I met was so nice, so reasonable. Why would they need military stuff?"
Jirik's thin smile was grim. "They've had a lot more time to think about this than you have, kid. Oh, sure, most of them are nice enough, maybe even naive enough to really believe that every damned human in the galaxy will just join them, if they will only listen. But the leaders know that they won`t listen. They know that, sooner or later, probably sooner, they're going to have to take what they want by force; and what they want is the Alliance. They're gearing up for a war." He sighed gustily. "Go think about it, kid. Think hard, and figure out where you stand. And in the meantime, keep your damned mouth shut. Consider it an order. I won't have politics discussed on my ship. When you figure out where you stand, let me know. I plan to be as far from the rim as possible when this thing pops, and if you decide that you're on their side, we'll sign you off when we get back to the rim."
Tor's expression was panicked as Jirik rose to leave the mess deck. "I don't want to sign off, Captain! Please, let me stay aboard! I'll keep my mouth shut, I promise!"
Jirik turned in the hatchway. "Relax, kid. There's time. You think about it. If you decide that your place is with the Actionists, let me know by the time we get to Alpha." He strode firmly away from the mess deck and Tor's stricken face.
As Jirik walked toward his Cabin, he passed Via lounging in her own cabin door. The golden woman straightened as he approached. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Captain?" she asked.
Jirik shrugged, and led her down the passage to his own cabin. Closing the door, Jirik sighed wearily and said, "Okay, Via, what's on your mind?" It was hard to tell for sure, but Jirik would have sworn that the woman was embarrassed!
Via shuffled uncomfortably. "Uh. I don't know exactly how to say this. I screwed up, Captain. Uh, I guess that the best way is just to come out with it. I'm a spy, or at least I'm supposed to be one. Damn! It sounds stupid just saying it like that!"
Surprised, Jirik hesitated, then waved Via toward the room's chair, and thumped down on his bunk. "You want to tell me just what the hell that means?" he asked in an edged tone.
Via Shifted uncomfortably in the too-large chair. "I'm going to, Captain. I just don't know how. Look, I was stranded on Boondock for almost a local year. Just scraping by, you know?" At Jirik's nod, she continued. "Well, when things were really tight, I met some people, you know? I mean, they were nice, they didn't hit on me, they were very sympathetic, they helped me get some jobs to keep me going, and I rather liked them."
"I didn't pay much attention to this Atmos crap at first, of course. But finally, my 'friends' got me to read some of his stuff, and after a while, reading about it, and talking about it, I guess they convinced me; or at least it was easier to just agree with them.
"After awhile, they introduced me to this guy Cony, and we talked a lot, and I guess I got more and more into it. I was even thinking about taking him to bed."
Jirik hoped that his start at the mention of Cony's name hadn't been visible. "So, How did you get from there to spying? It seems like a long reach, even for politics."
Via shifted uncomfortably. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. I mean, it just sort of happened. As I said, I'd been talking to Albet Cony a lot, and I guess he figured that I was a real Actionist convert. Well, when you grounded on Boondock, you caused quite a stir. The Lass was the biggest ship to visit Boondock in almost ten years. Hell, people were taking their kids out to the port to see the big ship. Albet was as excited as everybody else, maybe more so. Anyway, right after you grounded, he got a bit flashed, and started talking a little too much. In fact, he bragged that he was the one that had arranged for you to come, and that it had taken over a year, and that not even you knew that you were being manipulated to come to Boondock." She paused and looked questioningly at Jirik.
Jirik shrugged. "It's possible, I guess. Hell , somebody ordered a big shipment of advanced Empire medical electronics, and offered premium rates for delivery. It could have been him. No ship much smaller than the Lass could have handled it. Did he say why he wanted to get us out here?"
Via shook her head. "No," she replied, "but he was unhappy about your asteroid damage. I gathered that it spoiled some plan of his. Anyway, He wanted to know if I could conn a ship as large as the Lass. I told him that of course I could, that the only difference between navigating a rim tramp and an Empire liner was the complexity of the comps, which would let the liner make longer, safer jumps. Maybe I was bragging a little, since I'm not sure that I could handle the comps on a liner, but I knew I could handle the Lass. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said that maybe I could do something important for the cause. I tried to find out what, but he must have realized how much he was talking, and he shut up. The next thing I heard was a few days ago. He called me, and wanted to know how quickly I could be ready to leave, if I had a ship. I told him a few hours, we passed some pleasantries, and he signed off. I wondered what the hell that call was about, but I kept my mouth shut. I was ready to jump at any chance to get back into space."
Jirik was glowering. "That was before Valt was beaten. Are you sure that you didn't know about that in advance?"
The heart-shaped elfin face registered dismay. "Captain, I swear! I didn't know anything about that until after it happened. Albet called me at about one in the morning, and said he had to talk to me right away. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but I told him to come over, got dressed, and made some coffee.
Hell, I thought he'd had a sudden attack of the hornies, and I was trying to decide whether I wanted to go along with it. When Albet got there, he was excited as a kid. He said that my chance to do something important for the cause had come. He told me that your navigator had been beaten up in a bar brawl, and that you were going to need a navigator, fast. Then he said that you were going to smuggle some Actionist stuff back from Alpha, and that a lot of credits were involved, and that they needed someone to keep an eye on you and your crew to make sure that you didn't double cross them. He implied that he was afraid you'd grab the credits and run. He gave me some spy-eyes to hide around the ship. I told him that I didn't like the idea of spying on shipmates, and that in any case, if I got to the inner worlds, I damned sure wasn't coming back to the rim!
He said that he understood that, and if I had anything to report, I should tape it and slip it into the shipment of books that you were bringing back from Alpha. I still didn't like it, but I was desperate to get off the rim, so I said I'd do it. Are you really smuggling for the Actionists, Captain? Frankly, you don't seem the type."