Tayvis tugged his collar straight. The uniform was all too familiar. He wore no insignia, Rik had left that deliberately vague. The rest of the crew seemed to accept him, although there were whispers and glances that followed him through the ship. So far, he hadn't had to give any orders. He didn't know if they would be obeyed.
The ship was underway, leaving Jerikon for Larranais. They had sent seven more ships back to Besht under guard. Five had escaped. Tayvis shifted in his seat, watching the crew around him. Rik sat in the captain's seat, talking shift orders with his second. With each ship they confiscated, some of the crew was replaced with crew from the private ships, although Tayvis noticed Rik was careful to keep them to a minimum on his own ship. They were given positions that were noncritical, ones that had no access to the ship's com or navigation units or weapons.
The ship slid through the jump to hyperspace. The bustle on the bridge slowed. Rik finished and leaned back with a sigh. He glanced at Tayvis and gave him a grin.
"I should make you duty roster commander, I hate it." He shifted his look behind Tayvis. "Yes, Commander?"
Tayvis felt the hair on the back of his neck crawl at the suddenly tense silence. He stayed in his seat, watching Rik's face.
"You are relieved of command," Rik was informed by his gunnery officer. The man stepped around to the front where Tayvis could see him. There were a dozen other men behind him carrying weapons.
The bridge crew continued with their jobs. Interesting, Tayvis thought. It was mutiny, but they were in on it. He looked at Rik. The man showed no surprise. He'd suspected this was coming. He smiled, seemingly relaxed and at ease.
"Don't you want to talk this over?" Rik asked Zubaida, the gunnery officer.
"We've already talked," Zubaida answered. "The three crew members who protested are in the brig. You and your friend," he waved the stunner at Tayvis, "will be joining them."
"What are you planning on doing?" Rik asked. "Defecting to the Federation?"
"We don't like what's happening, taking ships from people. Most of us have family involved. They're starving on some of the worlds, and we keep taking the ships away. How long before they start shooting at us?"
"I don't like it either," Rik said. "But I have my orders."
"And you'll blindly follow them, but we won't." Zubaida leveled his weapon at Rik's head. "Others have left, we can, too."
"You can do more good here," Rik said.
Zubaida took a step back in surprise.
"You think I'm blindly following my orders?" Rik pressed. "How many ships have escaped? How many times have I ordered you to shoot them down? Those were my explicit orders. I chose not to enforce them. The ships we've sent to Besht haven't all arrived. Most of them went to other destinations first, with their cargoes intact."
Zubaida lowered his weapon. The other officers behind him muttered to each other.
"Flanigan needs to be stopped," Rik said, speaking the treasonous words aloud. "But we can't stop him if we run away."
"What are you saying?" Zubaida asked.
The bustle on the bridge had long since ceased. All officers were watching and listening. Tayvis suspected the com officer had turned on the shipwide broadcast.
"That I'm not as blind as you supposed," Rik snapped. "Listen to me. You aren't the only ones to feel this is wrong. That Flanigan's orders are wrong. We aren't the only Patrol ship that isn't enforcing his orders to the letter. Others have mutinied and been relieved of command. We need to stay, and work from within the Patrol to bring Flanigan down. Otherwise, we are going to be caught in a shooting war with the Federation."
There were more mutters. Zubaida holstered his stunner. "You're talking treason," he said to Rik.
"Not to the Empire, only to the High Command," Rik said.
"And what of him?" Zubaida pointed at Tayvis. "Who is he and why is he on this ship?"
"He isn't Flanigan's spy," Rik said. He looked over at Tayvis. "Do you want to tell them who you work for or shall I?"
"As I told you before, I'm officially out of the Patrol," Tayvis said evenly. "But you wouldn't listen."
"He works for High Commander Grant Lowell," Rik said.
The muttering stopped. The rest of the officers relaxed and put their weapons away.
"So you're working with us?" Zubaida asked.
"If it means stopping a war and keeping innocent people alive, yes," Tayvis answered.
"Well put," Rik said. He turned to his navigation officer. "Where are we really headed?"
The woman jumped nervously. She glanced at Zubaida before answering. "A waystar."
"They gave us the coordinates on Jerikon," another woman said. "The merchants have been using them to avoid us."
"How did you convince them to trust you?" Rik asked. "We are Patrol. We are the ones confiscating their ships."
"My brother," the woman said. "He's cargomaster for one of the independent ships. They have a whole network. They're smuggling food across the border."
"Good for them," Rik said. "How can we help?"
It was almost funny, Tayvis thought as he leaned back and watched Rik organize a mutiny on his own ship. Rik knew a lot more than he let on. And so did his crew. Within the hour they had a plan drawn up that involved not just their own ship, but a dozen other Patrol cruisers. Rik had laid the groundwork months before. Flanigan wasn't going to get the ships he wanted. They would keep mysteriously escaping the net set to catch them.
It was also clear that no one really believed it was the Federation shooting up ships. The rumors were that the crime syndicates were grabbing for power. They had ships, ones that could pass for Patrol. Admiral Flanigan, for whatever reason, was helping them.
A third of the crew would swap places with crew on other ships. With Flanigan's orders, it was easy enough to explain why their crew was so different from the one they'd left Besht with. It was obvious both Rik and Zubaida had spent long hours planning their strategies. It was only a matter of coordinating plans.
"We need to know where they are," Rik said, referring to the pirates building Patrol ships. "With that information, we could stop them."
"Why don't you ask Lowell?" Tayvis asked. They turned to look at him. "Didn't you say he was wanted for treason? Again."
"You were involved the last time, weren't you?" Rik asked. "I heard about that."
"Yes, I didn't arrest him. Don't ask me details and I won't have to shoot you."
"You trust him?" Zubaida asked Rik.
"Yes." It left no room for misinterpretation.
"And you know Commander Lowell?" Zubaida turned to Tayvis.
"Don't ask me to contact him," Tayvis said. "It's personal," he added when they started to question him.
"Then where do you want to go?" Rik asked. "Zubaida has the contacts with the crews and with the independents. I'll find Lowell. I won't be questioned if I don't show up on time."
"Send me to the Federation," Tayvis said.
"Why?" Zubaida was still suspicious.
"Because I know people there. I worked with them before they were the Federation. I can get your messages across."
"We don't need the Federation on this," Rik objected. "We can handle it ourselves."
"You need the Federation, because without them, some idiot like Flanigan is going to start a war. They need to know what's happening. And besides, more than half of the ships are Federation now, both Patrol and freighter. You also need a contact in the Gypsies."
Rik and Zubaida traded looks that said Tayvis was insane.
"No one gets inside the Gypsy loop unless they are Gypsy," Zubaida said.
"No contacts in your crew?"
"Not that will admit it," Zubaida answered.
"Then you're in luck. I happen to know some Gypsies quite well. The trick is going to be finding them." Tayvis wasn't looking forward to facing Jasyn, not without Dace on the ship. Jasyn would have too many questions he didn't know how to answer. But if anyone could tell the Gypsies what to do, Jasyn could.
"Now I know you're lying," Rik said. "Gypsies don't deal with the Patrol."
"It's personal," Tayvis said.
"And one of these days, you are going to tell me. And then maybe I'll forget all about Kluger Outpost." Rik's smile was teasing.
"Maybe someday I will," Tayvis said evenly. About the time the stars burn out, he added silently to himself.
"Then it's settled," Rik said. "At the waystar, we swap people and information. I keep looking for Lowell. Zubaida will coordinate with the non-Patrol ships. And you," he looked over at Tayvis, "will find a way into the Federation and make contacts there. And if you are very lucky, you will contact the Gypsies and see what they can bring into this, if anything."
"And what is our purpose?" Tayvis asked. "What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to keep things the way they are?"
"We're trying to stop the crime syndicates and keep trade moving and keep people from starving," Zubaida said.
"And keep Flanigan from getting us all killed," Rik added.
"That's clear enough. Who's going to work out a trade agreement with the Federation?"
Zubida scuffed his foot on the floor.
"None of us have the authority to enforce any agreements," Tayvis said. "Someone needs to go to the Council of Worlds and tell them what's going on out here."
"You have someone in mind?" Rik asked.
Tayvis shook his head.
"Then we'll keep looking until we find someone," Rik said. He turned to the crew. "Does anyone object? Speak now and we'll find somewhere to leave you behind with no hard feelings. Betray us to Flanigan and you'll wish you had gone out the airlock right now." He waited.
Silence was his only answer.
"Then so be it," he said. "As of this minute, we are all considered traitors and mutineers if anyone learns what we're doing. But it's for the good of the people of the Empire."
"And the Federation," Zubaida added.
"And the Federation," Rik echoed.
The cheering started raggedly, a few voices raised in a shout. The rest of the crew joined in. The sound echoed through the halls of the cruiser. Tayvis sat and listened and wondered if they were all going to be shot as traitors. Not that it mattered to him.