Eternity's End (84 page)

Tiegs interjected, "A second ship took off from Elmira, shortly after North. Unauthorized and identified as belonging to something called Centrist Strength. What the hell does
that
mean? Are they pursuing him?"

In the left-hand frame of the screen was a magnified view of the two Spacing Authority warships that earlier had been threatening
Impris
. Their space inductors blazed as they accelerated on an intercept course. Were they moving to help the commissioner's ship or hinder it? This, Legroeder thought, could very quickly get out of control.

Cantha switched an audio channel, and appeared to be picking up an eavesdropped, rebroadcast military frequency.

"—is Commissioner North the only one aboard the launch?"

"—negative—pilot, and traveling with one aide—Berkhauer—"

"Do we have any confirmation from HQ?"

"Negative. He may be acting on his own."

There was a sound of muttered imprecations. Then:
"All right. We'd better give him some protection. But let's see if we can slow up his rendezvous a little, until we get word from command."

"Aye, aye."

"Whoops," said Johnson, and Legroeder looked up as four ships of the Kyber fleet abruptly shot out ahead of the formation, streaking inward as though to join the impending fray. Was everybody trying to get to North first? Was
Farhawk
really hoping to make a deal with him?

"Here's a different thread," said Cantha.

A scratchy hiss, then:
"I must meet with them alone, Vigilant. Repeat, there may be jeopardy to Impris if I cannot conclude this parlay successfully. Please keep your ships at a distance to avoid inflaming the situation..."

Hiss.

"Commissioner North—this is Captain Sanspach of Vigilant. We have no verification of your authority for this mission. Please stabilize your orbit until we receive confirmation."

The commissioner's voice was edged with desperation.
"You don't understand. There may be an attack from other Kyber forces if I don't meet with this fleet. Break off your approach and let me proceed."

Sanspach sounded skeptical.
"Commissioner, can you identify the ship following you? We have information that it is registered to Centrist Strength."

"Do not—repeat, do NOT—allow that ship to approach! I am uncertain of its purpose!"

"But Commissioner—"
Sanspach paused, then muttered,
"Damn—!"
before cutting his transmission.

For two long minutes, there was near-silence on the bridge of
Impris
as everyone watched the movements of the ships. The Kyber ships were hurtling toward a possible rendezvous, but the two Spacing Authority destroyers were closer. And the Centrist Strength ship was closer still, and gaining...

A new transmission came in on a tight beam from the Kyber commander.
"This is Kyber Farhawk. Impris, you are to lay in the following course and prepare to boost out of orbit as soon as negotiations are complete."
A series of instructions followed.

"No!" Legroeder shouted.

Friedman looked defeated. "They have the weapons, Rigger. I can't refuse, if they order us."

"No, you must not resist," Commander Fre'geel said in a soft hiss.

Legroeder hesitated. The Narseil were desperately eager to get
Impris
—and him—to their institute. Would they be willing to abduct him and the passengers and crew of
Impris
to do it? They owed no allegiance to Faber Eridani. But how about him? Did they owe it to him? He glanced at Cantha and saw a torn expression. Shit. If only he had a weapon.

To do what with?

Deutsch floated closer, almost protectively. Legroeder blinked. He leaned into Deutsch and whispered into his friend's ear. A moment later, Deutsch's telescoping arm shot out with blinding speed and put something in Legroeder's hand. He gripped it before his eyes had a chance to focus on it.

A tiny neutraser pistol, a one-shot. Legroeder snapped it up into view, for all to see. "Listen to me, people—"

Fre'geel's eyes narrowed.

"Rigger Legroeder, what are you doing?" Friedman protested. "Raising a weapon against friends?"

"No," Legroeder said, and drew a sharp breath. He raised the gun and placed its muzzle to his own head. To the slight bump of the implant in his temple. "Not against friends."

Fre'geel let out a low hiss.

"All right? Back me up, Freem'n." Keeping the gun to his head, Legroeder stepped forward so that all on the bridge could see him, and to let the captain of the Kyber ship see him on the monitor. "You all get it? This ship does not leave Faber Eri orbit. If it does, it goes without the information you all want so badly. Captain Arden, I suggest you back off and forget that little change of plans of yours. And Fre'geel?" He faced the Narseil commander. "Do you wish to say something to the good Captain Arden?"

He had never seen a Narseil's eyes shrink so narrow.

Talbott's face held a grim expression as
Red Knight
streaked into space, but his heart was racing. Somehow he had known that it would fall to him, in the end, to stop the former Spacing Commissioner. At last he was
doing something
instead of waiting, always waiting—this was why he had joined Centrist Strength—to act, and to make a difference.

They would make a difference, all right. The three of them—Talbott, his pilot Hanson, his weapons officer Manny. They would make clear that you do not kick sand in the eyes of Centrist Strength. And they would do it not just on behalf of Strength, but of all the people of this world who believed in the
destiny
, in the
future
.

One of their own leaders had fallen away, and it was the task of
Red Knight
to bring him in. To stop a disaster from happening. Ottoson North, fleeing like a jackrabbit when the going got tough, and risking the security of all they had worked for.

The planetary horizon had spread out in a round arc beneath them, glowing against the eternal black of space. "How long to weapons lock?"

Manny replied, "Long shot, in about four minutes. Tighter shot, and more options, about seven. Major, I'm picking up a couple of destroyers moving toward intercept. Must be
Vigilant
and
Forte
."

"Message coming in from them now," Talbott muttered, adjusting the com.

"Vigilant to unidentified Centrist Strength vessel. Discontinue your pursuit at once. Repeat—call off your pursuit. We warn you not to interfere with Spacing Authority business."

Talbott didn't answer, but snorted as he punched up a secure transmission to Command. Text only—not as classy as what the Authority used, maybe, but more secure. He sent:
Range in four to seven minutes. Have received a warning from Authority destroyers. Estimate they will be a factor in six minutes. Awaiting final instructions
.

As he waited for a response, he watched Faber Eridani turn beautifully beneath them. They were still in high acceleration, their space inductors pulling them around the planet in a guided path at about twice standard orbital velocity. If their power shut down, they'd fly off into space like a stone from a sling.

"What's the word, Major?" Hanson asked, eyes glued to the controls.

"Coming now." Talbott held his breath as their orders scrolled across.

Code Blue confirmed. Take your prey, and good hunting
.

Talbott's voice caught. He'd trained for this for years, but he'd never actually been in ship-to-ship combat. It was time to prove his mettle. Those two Authority destroyers weren't going to play games. Should he say something to his crew?

He drew a breath. Sacrifice is the name of the game, he whispered silently. No guts, no glory. He glanced left, right. His voice was gravel. "You know what we're here for. They're going to try to stop us. Let's get the job done."

For a long moment, no one on the
Impris
bridge spoke, or even seemed to breathe. Then Fre'geel, stiffly, moved toward the screen. "Captain of the Kyber. I must inform you that the Narseil Navy—" he hesitated, just a heartbeat "—stands in support of our colleague Rigger Legroeder. We cannot cooperate with the coerced removal of
Impris
from her home system." He looked back at Legroeder, his eyes drawn with tension.

The Kyber captain spoke forcefully. "You
must
cooperate... and you will..."

"And what?" answered Fre'geel. "Bring back a dead man, with dead implants? Will that advance your cause?"

The first hint of uncertainty entered the Kyber commander's voice. "You may regret not taking this opportunity."

"I'll regret it more," Fre'geel said flatly, "if Rigger Legroeder pulls that trigger."

Legroeder strained to keep his hand from shaking. "Captain Friedman," he murmured to the horrified
Impris
skipper, "I'm sorry to have to do it this way. But if you went with the KM/C fleet... I'm not sure you would ever reach the Narseil Institute. These are pirates, the same ones who tried to destroy you
and
us, once before."

"Skipper," Tiegs said urgently, "there's an awful lot of coded com activity among the Kyber ships. I can't read any of it, but there's some heavy-duty discussion going on."

Friedman squinted, and suddenly pointed to the center of the screen. "What's
that?
" Seven ships were converging on North's launch from above, in front, and behind. The pursuing ship was closest, and gaining rapidly.

"North's ship has increased power," Johnson said. "He's trying to get away from the Centrist Strength ship and join up with—
oh my God
, what are they doing?"

There were several flickers of light on the screens.

"What's happening?" Friedman snapped.

Johnson worked frantically at the controls. The image on the screen shifted left and right, then snapped to a higher magnification. "It's weapons fire! Centrist Strength has fired a missile at North! Now one of the destroyers is firing at the Centrist—"

Blast of static, then North's voice:
"Stop! What are you—?"

North's words were cut off as a burst of white light ballooned out like a small sun on the near side of the planetary horizon. It was followed by a second, more distant sunburst.

Legroeder, stunned, had to struggle to keep the neutraser to his head. Cold, hard metal against his temple.

"Mother of—"

"Johnson, was that what I think it was?"

"Yeah, Captain. It was North's launch. They blew him. The Centrist Strength ship blew him." The nav officer looked up, dazed. "He's smoke, Captain. And so is the Centrist."

Friedman whispered, "This Centrist Strength blew him to keep him from going to the Kyber?"

The com crackled.
"Terrible, terrible,"
said the Kyber captain, on a public channel.
"This violence was totally unnecessary. We came here in the hope of preventing such tragedies."

"No," Legroeder said, with sudden understanding. "The Centrist Strength ship
was
Kyber—they were
all
KM/C agents."

"KM/C wanted North dead, so he wouldn't talk," said Deutsch. "They were just baiting him to get him up here. Right, Legroeder? And then they let Spacing Authority take care of his killers, so
they
wouldn't talk. They sacrificed their own agents to conceal the extent of their complicity. They're determined to look clean." Deutsch turned slowly to Legroeder. "My friend, I think you can lower that gun now. I don't think they'll take you by force."

No one on the bridge spoke, as Legroeder stood nearly motionless, slowly shifting his eyes to Fre'geel. "Commander," he said softly. "Do I have your word on what you just told the Kyber captain?"

Fre'geel was breathing raspily. But a hint of what could almost have been a human smile fluttered at his mouth. "You have my word," he said huskily. "And my... apology." He inclined his head forward.

Legroeder sighed and lowered the weapon.

"Thank you," the captain said.

Legroeder nodded, gazing down at the gun, turning it slowly in his hand. Lifeless metal. But one squeeze of the trigger... He handed it back to Deutsch. It disappeared into Deutsch's metal side.

"I trust you'll turn that weapon in later," Captain Friedman murmured, staring at the image in the screen, where the explosion and the debris had faded from visibility. The Kyber detachment had broken off its run and was now returning to the main Kyber fleet. Legroeder suddenly felt utterly drained. He wondered whose move it was now.

Tiegs spoke. "
Vigilant
is warning
Farhawk
not to interfere with orbital operations, and
Farhawk
is warning everyone not to interfere with
Impris
."

Captain Friedman pursed his lips. "Hell of a thing—bastards like that being our protection. But better them, I guess, than no one."

To which Legroeder whispered a silent amen.

They were approaching their parking orbit when the message arrived from El'ken, addressed to Secretary General Albright via an open broadcast on the net. The statement made no mention of the clandestine near-hijacking of
Impris
by the Kyber ships. But it hailed the return of
Impris
as vindication of the Narseil's century-old claim dating back to the War of a Thousand Suns. El'ken urgently requested safe passage for the ship and full participation by the Narseil Rigging Institute in the investigation of her disappearance.
"We also applaud critical contributions made by Rigger Legroeder in the rescue of Impris—and call for guarantees of his safety and freedom, as well..."

Fre'geel's bright, vertical eyes gazed at Legroeder as El'ken spoke.
Will you let it go at that?
he seemed to be asking. Legroeder gave a slight nod.

The answer from the secretary general came a few minutes later.
"We respect and appreciate the Narseil interest in this matter. Rest assured that your recommendations will receive the highest level of attention. In the meantime, we guarantee free passage for Impris, and welcome her home after a long absence. We are dispatching a tow, with escort, and clearing Impris for immediate docking at Outer Terminus Three. As for the Kyber fleet in our skies, we thank you for such helpful role as you may have played in her safe return. Now, it is time for you to leave."