Jirik flushed and grunted. "I'm not. Yeah, I'm smuggling, but I'm not going to talk about it. I have my own good reasons for doing it."
"Well," Via said doubtfully, "I'm not going to ask. It's your business. Anyway, after I'd talked to you, I made up my mind that I wasn't going to spy on anyone for anyone. I guess I was starting to regain my senses. Then, when I heard the kid spout that Actionist propaganda, I knew that I had to tell you. I broke one of the big three rules, and I was embarrassed and guilty. I knew that I had to warn you that you may be messing in something too big for you, and that it could be dangerous." She rose, reached into her belt pouch, and pulled out a handful of pin-sized spy-eyes, throwing them on jirik's desk. "Do what you want with these, Captain. As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to sign off on Alpha, and try to book a berth headed as far from the rim as I can get. I don't want any more part of Atmos, or Actionists, or the rim." The thin lips beneath the turned-up nose were even thinner with disapproval.
Discomfited, Jirik turned the subject to less sensitive areas. "Well, you're stuck with us until we get to Alpha. Will you need any help dealing with Tor?"
Via smiled gently, but the blinding white teeth didn't show. The change of subject wouldn't affect her obvious disappointment at finding that Jirik was involved in smuggling, and without telling a crewman.
"Teenage crushes are hell, aren't they?" she replied. "No, I don't think I'll need help dealing with it. He's an intelligent kid, and he has too much class to try something stupid. I'm sure that can handle it."
Jirik nodded. "Well, if you do need help, just tell Bran or me. Tor's a good kid; he's just very impressionable. And," He added, "You are a very beautiful and exotic woman. At his age, I'd have been following you around with my tongue hanging out!"
This time the teeth gleamed. "Well, thank you, Captain, but you're not that old. I'll be watching for your tongue hanging out. Don't worry. I know that it's just a case of raging hormones; I'll be as gentle as I can." Rounded hips swaying beckoningly, she sauntered from the cabin.
Damn! Jirik thought, that's one helluva woman! If he were even a few years younger, his tongue would be hanging out! Too bad he'd had to make her think that he was the kind of man that would smuggle, and do so without telling his crew. He sighed.
After Via left, Jirik sat for several minutes, lost in thought. She was right. He was much too deeply involved in something 'way over his head, and worst of all, political. He'd resigned his Navy commission after Januvia and become a spacer because spacers were strictly apolitical; and now, that damned Class I had dragged him into the middle of a situation that risked the lives of every person on the Lass.
Valt and Tor, at least, hadn't accepted that risk. In fact, they hadn't even known of it. And now, Valt was in an Boondock hospital. The initiative had all been on the sides of the users, the manipulators, and he was tired of it. Via's disapproval of Jirik's involvement in smuggling and politics was obvious, as was her loss of respect for him; and Jirik couldn't blame her a damned bit!
He would have to do something to regain the initiative. This crap of operating in a reactive mode was both foreign to him, and frustrating. He was getting some ideas about that, now that he wasn't being driven by events and had time to think. He headed for the engineering deck, to talk to Bran.
Bran listened quietly as Jirik vented his ire, and declared his intention to stop being a pawn, and start being an active player in this dangerous game. When Jirik's stream of complaint and invective finally began to slow, Bran asked him what he intended to do.
"First, I'm going to call a crew meeting, and I'm going to tell Tor and Via the whole story," Jirik replied, "All of it. Their lives are at risk, and they have a right to know why. I'm going to put them to thinking of things that we can do to regain the initiative!"
Bran frowned. "Are you sure that you want to let Via know the whole story? That could be risky, if She's still an Actionist."
Jirik jumped to his feet, pacing the small length of Bran's engineering cubby. "I know. That spook Tomys would call it an 'unacceptable risk'. But I don't give a damn. She spent more time on Boondock than any of us, and she could help a lot. Besides, I like her; and I like her and trust her even more since her confession. I think she's just what she says she is, and I think that she'll help if we give her a chance. Valt nearly got killed because I couldn't tell him what was going on. That's not going to happen again!"
Bran, surprisingly, was grinning. "Now, that's the Jirik we've all come to know and love. Straight, honest and honorable. 'Damn the deviousness, full speed ahead!' Welcome back, Captain!"
Jirik flushed. "All right, damn it," he replied sourly, "I'm not a devious character. I never pretended to be. I hate these 'wheels within wheels' people, and I'm tired of playing their games. Now, stop razzing me, and tell me what you think, damn it!"
Bran's grin faded, but a slight smile remained. "I wasn't making fun of you, Captain. I admire your honesty and straightforwardness. I agree with you. It's time we stopped letting ourselves be manipulated; but I'm not sure that there's anything much that we can do about it."
Jirik shrugged. "I'm not sure, either. But I know that we've got to try, damn it. What do you think about leveling with Tor and Via?"
"Don't worry about it, Captain," Bran replied, "Just do it. You've always been successful by being honest and straightforward. So, let's deal with it in an honest, straightforward manner. Deity knows we're not going to outdevious Tomys or Cony, but devious people can sometimes be completely confounded by simplicity and honesty. So let's try playing it your way. Maybe we'll catch them off-balance."
Tor was obviously confused and wondering at the idea of having a crew meeting in mid-jump. Via merely seemed casual and uninterested. Her respect for Jirik had obviously plummeted badly after Jirik's admission of smuggling.
"All right," Jirik said as the meeting convened, "There's been a hell of a lot going on since we got to Boondock, and most of it's been bad. I called this meeting to brief you on exactly what has happened, and why, and to get your help in dealing with it." He recited the whole story, from Via's report that the Lass' visit to Boondock was arranged by Cony, through Tomys' visit and its role in the bookchip deal, Valt's beating, and the Actionist 's Tomys-approved smuggling deal.
Throughout his recital, Tor looked dumbfounded. Via's bored look disappeared as the story unfolded, and her beautiful face registered interest and thoughtfulness. Concluding his account with Via's confession and his determination to seize the initiative, Jirik asked for questions.
Tor's expression had become stricken. "But, Captain, Why didn't you tell us; I mean, Valt and me? We had a right to know, and maybe we could have helped!"
Jirik nodded. "You're right, Tor. You and Valt did have a right to know. I decided to keep it from you and Valt because I wasn't sure that I could rely on your discretion. I'm sorry. Valt was drinking too much for me to trust him to stay silent, and you were hanging.around with all those University students, many of whom were Actionists. I wasn't sure that you wouldn't.let something drop accidently that could have put us at even more risk."
Tor's face flushed with anger. "You could have trusted me, Captain! I can keep my mouth shut!"
"I'm sorry, Tor," Jirik replied earnestly, "All I can say is that I didn't know you very well, and I didn't feel that I could take the chance, with all our lives at stake. I'm still not sure that I was wrong." He shrugged. "Like me, you're not a very devious person; and we had reason to believe that the people we were dealing with were both devious and deadly. Valt's beating was no accident; and Tomys tells me that he wasn't intended to survive it." Tor looked only slightly mollified, and Jirik was going to explain further, when aid came from an unexpected source.