"Wake up, honey." Sue's cheerful voice shattered nightmares about riding a horse through a mob of screaming men with swords.
I sat, blinking groggily.
Sue set a tray on my table. "The Admiral wants a word with you. I told him he would just have to wait until you had a chance to eat and wash." She bustled out.
I stared, my mouth hanging open. Sue had told a full Admiral to wait? Was she on my side or not? I ate fast and used the facilities.
Sue waited near the door to the cell block, talking to a hulking guard in an Enforcer's uniform. She smiled her grandmotherly smile, all wrinkles and twinkling eyes. "That was quick. Are you ready to go? Regulations, dear. Just hold out your hands."
She snapped cuffs around my wrists and took my arm. The hulk fell in on my other side. Sue chattered the whole way through the ship. She complained about the level of weapons issued nowadays. Completely underpowered in her opinion.
The hulk disagreed, saying that too many Enforcers were being shot with contraband Patrol weapons.
I didn't think it mattered. After what I'd seen people do to each other with lengths of sharpened metal and pointy sticks, weapons were weapons. All of them were designed to hurt people; wasn't that the point? I didn't say any of it out loud, though.
We rode the lifts into the posher levels of the ship. I flexed my bare toes. No stickers, thorns, or sharp rocks to cause painful bruises or other injuries. I would have been happy if I hadn't been so nervous.
Sue stopped outside a door. She knocked once, then opened it. "Admiral Tuong's aide," she said with a wink as she pushed me into the office.
The aide, a thin, blonde woman who looked as starched as her uniform, pressed a button in her desk. "Captain Dace is here, sir." She pressed another button. "You may go in."
Admiral Tuong was an older man, his hair light gray and rather thin. He studied me, steepling his fingers precisely on his immaculate and barren desk.
My bruises ached. I shifted my feet. "Can I sit, sir?" I waited for his nod before I sat in the chair. It forced me to sit at attention.
"You put me in a delicate position." Admiral Tuong's voice was as precise as his fingers. He placed each word with care, weighed and fully measured. "I have several conflicting reports about you. Who am I supposed to believe?"
"Malcolm Tayvis. He's the one who offered me a way out of the mess."
"Who got you into it?"
"Do you want me to start at the beginning?"
"You are under no obligation to incriminate yourself."
"Admiral, I rather hope my story will prove my innocence if nothing else." And probably my stupidity, but I didn't say that out loud.
"Do I have your permission to record this account?"
"Yes."
He produced a recorder.
I told him everything. Well, almost everything. He didn't need to know how I felt about Tayvis. The office was quiet when I finished. Had I really done those things? I stared at the force cuffs on my wrists.
Admiral Tuong tapped his finger on the desk. "Is there anyone who can verify your story? Of all the witnesses that have been interviewed, none agree on who you are or why you were on Dadilan."
"Tayvis can verify everything, at least most of it."
"It will be at least a month before he is in any condition to testify to anything."
"He's going to recover?"
Admiral Tuong smiled. "He'll make a full recovery in time. It was a close call."
I sighed with relief. "Commander Nuto can corroborate most of my story."
"Unfortunately, Commander Nuto will not be making a full recovery. His body is on its way to his family."
It hurt, as if someone had slugged me.
"Is there anyone else?" Admiral Tuong prompted.
Will Scarlet worked with Tayvis. I didn't know if he would admit it. I didn't even know if Will was his real name. I shook my head.
"We have one of your crewmembers in custody."
"He blew my ship. Flago works for Gerant Clyvus."
He tapped his finger again.
I shifted on the chair.
"Why do they want you dead? What purpose will it serve?"
"Revenge most likely. I did mess up their plans."
He pressed a button on his desk. "The charges against you are serious. We will consider your extenuating circumstances. Full military inquest has been scheduled in two days."
"Thank you, sir."
Sue and the big guard escorted me to the cell block.
I let their chatter wash over me. Serious charges meant I might get a life sentence to somewhere even worse than Dadilan. Without Tayvis to back me up, I had only my word and his agreement, if Nuto had recorded it offworld. No matter how irregular, it was at least something in my defense.
Sue removed the cuffs when we reached my cell block. I was her only prisoner.
"Do you play comets?" she asked. "It's against regulations, but it might help the time pass faster for both of us."
"I don't have anything to bet."
"We'll play for points."
We sat behind her desk and played comets for the rest of that day. By the time I retired to my cell, I was behind by four hundred thirty six points. Sue played a mean game. I could learn a lot from her.
She talked the next day while we played. She had four children and six grandchildren scattered around the Empire. She looked forward to the time she could spend visiting them. Terrorizing them in their own homes, as she put it, grinning widely. We both laughed over her tales of trying to keep the Emperor's son in custody during a coup attempt. He was sixteen and kept finding new ways to slip free. He now sat on the throne as Emperor. Sue talked as if he were just another person.
By the second night I knew the names of her two husbands, her children, their spouses, and their children.
"I was looking for adventure after my Jershon died," she said, sighing. "And I found it. The only thing I regret is leaving my poor kittens behind." Her poor kittens were thirty pound sand cats with claws the length of my fingers.
I liked Sue, even though I was down by over a thousand points. I suspect she cheated, though how she did it I never did guess.
She brought me a different outfit the morning of the inquest, a gray shipsuit like I'd worn as captain of my own ship. She'd even found a patch for the Independent Trader's Guild. She apologized for not being able to find captain's bars. She handed me a pair of boots my size.
I hugged her and thanked her.
"You still have to wear cuffs, dear," she apologized as she fastened them on.
My bodyguard, the huge man who had escorted me to the Admiral's office, took me to the room where the prisoners waited. He seated me in a corner separate from the rest.
I heard snatches of comments from the others, things that made me hope the others got life sentences somewhere I would never go. I shifted nervously on the hard chair.
Pardui sat across from me. Her stare could have cut steel. Clyvus and his men were lined up against the opposite wall. Ricard Blake, seated in a comfortable chair at the far end, complained loudly, protesting his innocence.
Dysun entered, his upper torso and one arm completely wrapped in bandages. His guard sat him near me.
"Remember our agreement, Dace," Dysun whispered.
"You broke that when you threatened to shoot me, remember?"
"Quiet," Dysun's guard ordered.
I snapped my mouth shut. We waited, the tension rising with each passing moment. When the door to the trial room finally opened, I could almost taste the relief that rippled through the room.
"Captain Dace of the Star's Grace," the man at the door called.
My bodyguard escorted me into the next room. The doors slid shut. I faced a panel of three high-ranking officers. Admiral Tuong sat to one side.
The clerk read the list of charges. It included unauthorized contact with a restricted culture, disruption of trade, murder, and impersonation of a Patrol officer among other, lesser offenses. The man finally finished and took his seat.
I fidgeted. The room grew so quiet I heard the air ducts whispering.
The three men on the panel studied me; a full admiral in silver, an Enforcer admiral in black, and a man in gray with no insignia. Dadilan and the drug, shara, were more important than I had believed.
"Captain Dace," Admiral Tuong spoke. His voice echoed in the room. "These charges are serious. How do you plead?"
I hesitated, choosing my words with care. "I did most of the things I'm charged with, yes. I plead extenuating circumstances. May I explain?"
"We've listened to the story you told Admiral Tuong," the Enforcer answered, leaning back in his chair. "If what you have said is the truth, we can resolve the charges. The question is, have you told us the truth? Each person out there tells us a different version of events, most incriminating you. They have other people to corroborate their story. The only ones you have are dead or in a coma."
"What answer can I give?" I resigned myself to spending the rest of my life on a prison planet. I had no evidence. I had no one to argue for me. I had no way to prove I told the truth.
"You claim Commander Malcolm Tayvis recruited you as a special agent on Dadilan. Can you substantiate the claim?"
"I signed an agreement. I don't know if Commander Nuto transferred the record off-planet. There should be a record of a request for my files. Commander Tayvis wanted to read them. He had doubts about me that were resolved by his reading my file."
The admiral whispered with the clerk.
The clerk typed on his computer, then nodded.
The admiral plucked his lip. "That request is on record, yes. The lack of evidence either way tends to make me believe you." He turned to the clerk. "Is there a psychic on staff?"
The man in the gray uniform smiled. "A psychic wouldn't be any use."
When you meet someone who will change your life, you expect flashing lights or some great, overwhelming feeling of destiny, something at least. I felt only a twinge of hope rising yet again.
"She has a psychic rating of point zero zero three, using the most sensitive test available. A psychic simply couldn't read anything."
"What else is there to try? We have to sort out this mess somehow." The admiral thumped the desk in frustration.
"Commander Tayvis is expected to make a full recovery within a month or two." The man didn't seem to care either way. "He can clear the matter. We'll hold her in custody until then."
"There is a slight complication," the Patrol Admiral spoke for the first time. "According to some of the accounts, Commander Tayvis was involved with the accused."
The man's eyebrows shot up.
I blushed, remembering Tayvis' hand on my cheek, his lips on mine.
The man laughed. "Gentlemen, I request you drop all charges and turn the defendant over to me. The charges can be reinstated if such is deemed necessary."
Who was he that he could order admirals around? He was either one of the Council or Patrol High Command. Or possibly the Emperor himself. I had no idea what his highness looked like.
"Is that wise, Lowell?" Admiral Tuong asked.
That ruled out the Emperor. I was pretty sure his highness' name wasn't Lowell.
"Do it as a favor to me." Lowell smiled smugly.
The other men traded glances.
"Charges dismissed," the Enforcer admiral said. "Prisoner is released into the custody of Commander Grant Lowell."
Grant Lowell crossed the room, stopping in front of me. He stood barely taller. He stared me full in the face. His eyes were an odd shade of silver. "If charges are reinstated, you will most likely be found guilty and locked away for a very short, very unpleasant life. Do you understand?"
I nodded. I wondered if he offered a worse alternative to life in prison.
Grant Lowell smiled again. "Good." He unfastened the cuffs, handing them to the clerk. "Follow me."
I rubbed my wrists and followed.
We exited into a different hall. He took me to a small cabin.
Commander Lowell straddled a chair. "Sit down, Dace."
I took it as an order and sat.
"I'll be blunt. I work for the undercover division of the Patrol."
I twitched. They had spies everywhere, if you believed the more paranoid students at the Academy.
A smile flickered across Lowell's face. "Yes, it exists. Commander Tayvis has worked for me several times before. That's one reason I'm here." He cocked his head, watching me.
I felt like a bug being eyed by a hungry bird with a big, vicious beak.
"I want to offer you a job, Dace. You have no ship, no family, no money. Nothing but a piece of paper that says you can legally fly a ship. Who's going to hire you now?"
I winced, he wasn't pulling his punches.
"From what I've heard of your adventures on Dadilan, you could make a very effective agent."
"And if I don't accept your offer?"
Commander Lowell shrugged.
"I spent my years at the Academy telling the Patrol no, I'm not going to join now."
"You apparently joined when Commander Tayvis asked."
"He threatened to shoot me if I didn't!"
Lowell raised one eyebrow and waited.
I shifted in my chair. "I had a dream, Commander. I wanted to fly my own ship. I lived that dream for less than a month. I can do it again. I will do it again. I found out on Dadilan I can be as tough as I need to be. I can shoot a person down without warning, although I hope I never have to again. I don't ever want to look at someone I just shot. You're asking me to do that at any time. I can't live that way. I'm sorry, Commander. I can't work for you. I'd become something I hated."
"I do believe that's the most honest refusal I've ever been given. It's a week's travel to the nearest system with open trade. Think about it. If you change your mind, let me know. I'll be on the same ship." He rose from the chair, crossing to the door. He turned back, his hand raised to the controls. Our eyes met. "You have great potential. Are you sure you want to waste it?"
"Quite sure."
We stared at each other a moment longer. He held my future in his hands. One word from him and I would be in prison.
"Pity," he said at last. "Sue will fetch you in a few moments. The ship leaves in about an hour."
"What about the charges?"
"They're dropped. You are free to go." He gave me one last measuring look, then walked out.
I sat in the chair, stunned. He was just going to let me go? I stared at the door, half expecting him to reappear and tell me the whole thing was a joke and I was really going to be sentenced to life on a prison planet of my choice. It would fit with everything else that had happened.
He didn't come back. Sue did. I was on that ship when it left.