Warrior: En Garde

"No, that would be too great a prize to let slip through our grasp." Shang lowered himself to the foot of Justin's bed. "How did you discover the deception?"

Justin smiled. "Superstition. My father and his wife never traveled on the same JumpShip in order to protect their children from being orphaned in case a K-F drive malfunctioned." Justin leaned forward. "What made me even more suspicious was that while I was in the hospital, I saw a man who looked exactly like Hanse Davion and one who looked exactly like my father. The doubles had apparently been prepared to deceive someone. I know that Davion wants revenge against Liao, but I don't know what for."

Justin watched Shang's eyes grow distant. Two parts hospital rumor, one part pure nonsense, and a dash of family anecdote. That ought to allay Shang's suspicions long enough to keep Andrew safe for the moment. Now for the clincher."Reach into my jacket pocket."

Shang slashed the pocket open with the sharpened nails of his left hand and pulled out some folded sheets. As he unfolded the document, he saw that they were Federated Suns identification papers containing Noton's image and description. He studied it and grunted. "They've provided him with a new identity."

Justin nodded. "I tried to reason with him, to get him to refrain from selling you the list. He seemed to think you'd only lose a regiment trying to capture the ship. I said you'd be angry and he said he'd apologize from his villa on Verde. Then he offered to sell the scraps of his operation here on Solaris."

Justin lifted his left fist in the air and let it drop to the bed with a thump. "I declined his offer."

Shang slipped the identification document into his own pocket. "Interesting." He bowed his head, then backed toward the door of Justin's spartan quarters. "We will speak again, Justin Xiang. For now, let me express the gratitude of the Maskirovka for all you have done."

Justin nodded easily. "Goring Hanse Davion's ox is a distinct pleasure." Justin narrowed his eyes and tapped his chin with his right index finger. "I wonder how the Prince will take the death of Philip Capet?"

41

Fomalhaut

Draconis March, Federated Suns

11 May 3027

 

William Pfister, Captain of the JumpShip Meridian ,shivered with as much anger as his portly body could contain. "My God, Danica," he said. "If this is true, why, it would be a disaster!"

Danica Holstein nodded sympathetically and leaned back in the deeply padded leather chair opposite Pfister's desk. "That's the reason I brought this to you, Bill. My head K-F drive technician, Stephen Leigh, says that he shipped one of his early training cruises with Kevin Mori. He told me that the Mori on your Meridian is not the same individual, even though he claims the same credentials . . ."

Pfister shrugged. "I can't thank you enough, Danica, for letting me know." Pfister glanced over to a corner of the room where Danica's son sat hunched over a computer console. "Do you think he can prove it?"

Before his mother could answer, Clovis raised a hand. The stubby, childlike appearance of the limb did not match the normally sized head or the deep voice booming from his throat. "Console him, mother. My being a dwarf means nothing to Monopole's computer. The codes that the good Captain has supplied me have been most useful... Aha!"

"What? What?" Pfister shot from his chair and darted toward the corner.

Clovis swiveled his chair around and smiled as he pointed to the computer display with his left hand. "Here it is, Captain. Monopole's files include an LIC advisory that Mori is suspected of being an ISF agent. They point out that old and current identification pictures do not computer-scan as having the same Bertillon measurements for the bone structure in the skull or long bones. You have a spy in your crew."

Pfister bent over to read the report. His sharp, shocked breaths were audible across the room, and his thick lips quivered as they formed each word he read. Finally, he straightened up and shook his head. "Blake's Blood!"

Clovis spun back to the keyboard and typed in another request for information. "That's not all, Captain Pfister. Did you know that the seals on your third helium tank are suffering from molecular deterioration? I don't suppose Mori informed you about that, did he?"

Pfister's jaw dropped open as the data scrolled up the screen. "My seals are degenerating? My God!"

Danica stood and brushed her long auburn hair back over both shoulders. "That could be devastating," she said. "If you lose the liquid helium, you can't jump."

Pfister wilted. "What can I do? I can't trust my chief Tech and I've got this hauling job for Monopole on the twenty-first. Gotta jump the Silver Eagleto Errai. If I lose those seals, Monopole might jerk their contract, and then I'll be sunk!"

Danica smiled and rested her right hand gently on Pfister's left shoulder. "Take it easy, Bill. I'll radio the Bifrostand have Leigh shuttle over to your ship. If those seals can be salvaged, Leigh's the one who can put them right."

Pfister rose out of his self-pity long enough to look warily at Danica. "You'd do that for me? Why?"

Danica gave him her warmest smile. "Bill, you're too suspicious. Just call it insurance. I know that someday you'll return the favor if I ever need it."

Pfister flushed, then nodded. "Thank you, Danica. And you, too, Clovis."

The dwarf dropped from the chair. "Don't thank us yet, Cap-lain. Wait until Leigh saves those seals."

Pfister looked hopefully at Danica. "You'll send him to the Meridian immediately?"

Danica nodded solemnly. "You radio clearance for him to hoard and inspect, but try to keep Mori from knowing he's there or that you're on to Mori's secret. I'll radio Leigh the second our little shuttle leaves planetary orbit."

* * *

"Thank you, Fomalhaut Control. This is Bifrostshuttle Mistletoeleaving your control on return vector to our home ship. Out." Danica switched the shuttle's radio over to the scramble frequency she'd designated for covert communications. "Mistletoeto Bifrost.”

“Leigh here, Danica. How did it go?"

Danica smiled. "Pfister bought it. Take the Hemlockover to the Meridian and blow the helium seals.”

“What about Mori?"

Danica paused for a moment. "As we discussed, make the blowout look like sabotage and implicate Mori."

Leigh's voice dropped to a grim bass roar and rumbled through the shuttle's cabin. "Dead men deny no charges."

Danica nodded. "If you see an opportunity to catch him when the helium tank goes, do it."

"Roger. Out."

Danica removed her headset and swiveled the chair around to face her son. "You did manage to get the Bifrostdesignated as the alternate carrier for the Silver Eaglewhile rampaging around in the Monopole computer, didn't you?"

Clovis nodded sullenly. "You kept Pfister busy enough for me to have reconstructed Monopole's entire corporate structure."

Danica frowned at her son's glum expression. "What is it, Clovis? I know something is bothering you. You can't hide it from me." She narrowed her brown eyes. "Is it killing Mori?"