They sent a message capsule ahead of us. Towing the Trythian ship slowed us down considerably. The captain's orders were to send message capsules if anything out of the ordinary happened. They'd sent at least three since we came aboard.
I gave the captain and his top officers the full story. Lee Minson and the other six gave their versions. Mine had the most information in it. Mayguena and Lilliasa had told me much more than most slaves ever guessed about the Trythians.
They let me roam the ship. It reminded me a lot of my cadet training flights. I did my best to stay out of the way. Time was slipping by, though. I paced a lot, up and down the corridors of the ship. There was nothing I could do to make the ship fly faster. It labored under the extra mass of the Trythian ship. Captain Perith was nice enough, but he wasn't the person I needed to talk to about sending a rescue fleet.
The crew wasn't quite sure how to treat me. I was a legend, although few of them made that connection at first. I didn't have any rank. I wasn't enlisted and so wasn't invited to join the card games in the lounge. I wasn't an officer so I didn't fit in there either. All the people I knew were far away. I found solitude on the observation deck. For once, solitude was not what I wanted but it was what I got.
It was a relief to finally make port at Duraanos. They docked the ship at a station. The eight of us from the Trythian ship were met with a full escort decked out in formal dress. We got a priority ride to the surface of the planet.
The Patrol hadn't made it a circus, though. The civilian media weren't advised of what was happening. We stayed within the Patrol compound.
I was given a set of rooms apart from the others. All of us underwent complete psych probes, recording every detail possible about our experience. I refused the meds they offered. They consulted my files, which led to another round of whispering and consultations and resulted in more extensive interviews. I felt like a prisoner. I wasn't being charged with anything, but I was still watched constantly.
I was on my third day of interviews, dressed in a baggy gray jumpsuit. I had bare feet. I picked at the Patrol logo stitched across the front of my suit while I talked.
"Describe their social customs," the tech said.
"You've been over this eight times already. Can I talk to the base commander?"
"Soon enough," the tech said.
I slammed my hand on the table and got to my feet. I stalked over to the window and stared out. The view was depressing. I saw a lot of solid wall of the building next door. There was a narrow strip of walk below me with a solitary potted tree sitting forlornly in the middle.
"Describe their social customs," he repeated. "Tell me about their genetic . . ." His voice trailed away. His chair scraped across the floor. I didn't bother to turn around and look. "Sir," he said stiffly.
"I'll take it from here," Lowell said.
I almost sagged in relief. I turned and leaned one hip on the windowsill. The psych tech gathered his papers and hurried from the room. Lowell shut the door behind him. He turned around to study me. I noticed he was wearing his High Commander's insignia.
"You were supposed to report back to me on Tebros six months ago," he said.
"You're not going to ask me how I'm doing?" I said it with more than a touch of sarcasm.
"I read the med files on you," he said. "They're still not quite sure what to do with you."
"And you just happened to pass through here and catch my name on a report."
"Don't push your luck, Dace. I've been making regular rounds of this sector for the last three months. Ships are still disappearing."
"But now you know why."
"What happened with the Sessimoniss?" He looked out the window, staring down at the limp potted tree.
"We were shot down, with pretty much no warning. The Trythian drive is so much different we didn't register their ships until they were on top of us. And they can maneuver in the hyperspace interface."
He didn't look surprised. I would have bet just about anything that he'd read everything I'd told the techs before he came in.
"Vance managed to get the Sessimoniss to acknowledge him as a person. The next delegation sent there should get a much better reception."
"There won't be another delegation, not for a long time," Lowell said.
I let that hang in the air for a while, waiting for more explanation. None came.
"When is the Fleet getting here?" I asked.
"What Fleet?" Lowell glanced at me, raising one eyebrow.
"The one you're sending to Trythia to rescue the others."
He sighed heavily. "There won't be a Fleet."
"Why not? When I left, I had two months to bring back help. They're counting on me. They can't survive much longer than that."
"You escaped, why can't they?" He watched me with his silver eyes opaque and unreadable.
"They can't pilot the Trythian ships. You aren't going to rescue them." It was an accusation.
"I can't, Dace." He sounded as if he really regretted it. "There are too many other things happening. The Fleet can't be spared."
"They're connected to Vallius. You can't ignore them."
He raised his eyebrow again.
"Vallius was a group of rebels. From what I could find out, their ship was tampered with. Which is why they crashed where they did. It's a miracle any of them survived." I stared at the floor of the room, at the dusty fake boards with worn spots in their coloring. "You think they can't possibly be a threat, not to the Empire. But sometime, within a few years or centuries, they'll have us all wearing collars. They're ruthless."
"How many worlds, Dace? How many of them?"
"A dozen worlds, and I don't know. A few hundred million, maybe."
"And that's a threat to the Empire?"
"Yes."
"Then how did you get free?"
"I had help." I closed my eyes, tired of arguing, tired of explaining. "We have to go back. We have to help. I promised. If you won't send the Patrol, I'll find my own fleet."
"I don't doubt you could."
Silence built in the room, creeping out of corners until it filled the space.
"It might work," Lowell said quietly. "Give them an enemy to focus on. It might unite some of them."
"I heard about the Federation and Roland. Will Scarlet, Willet Smythe, was there. Roland sent him to the Trythians to try to negotiate a deal. They made him a slave."
"Tell me what you heard," Lowell said, mildly curious.
"About Roland? After he was named planetary governor, he rewrote the laws and then kicked the Patrol out. He made contact with the Federation, made a deal with them. And then rewrote their laws as well. Will said three systems had left the Empire to join the new Federation."
"Twenty three. Most of a sector. And another hundred are threatening. The Empire is crumbling at the edges. Maximillius won't listen to reason. He sent Patrol battle groups to enforce order. They won't shoot their own people. And he doesn't realize it."
"Should you be telling me that?"
Lowell shrugged. "You've got a higher security clearance than most Patrol officers. Tell me what I should do here, Dace."
"You've got power. You've got your information network, you can rescue those on Trythia. I don't know what you can do about systems leaving the Empire. Isn't that their choice? Does the government really matter? Their local government is still in place, only the highest have changed."
He laughed. "Trust you to put it in simple terms. Is everything that clear cut?"
"What has the Empire ever done for me? Except get me in trouble. What use is having an Emperor that most of the people in the Empire have never seen and probably never will? Does it matter who the Patrol takes orders from?"
"You seemed to care before, when you helped stop Roderick from taking the throne."
"I was helping you. And myself. And Mart. It makes little difference to me who sits on the fancy chair."
"It makes a difference when they start passing new laws," Lowell said.
"And who follows those laws, outside of the Inner Worlds? There aren't enough Patrol ships to bother with most infractions. Let the systems govern themselves, mostly. Pass laws about the big things, like slavery. Enforce those."
"I've heard them asking if slavery is really such a crime," Lowell said.
He was baiting me now and I wasn't going to take the bait.
"Send a Fleet, Lowell. They don't deserve to be slaves to the Trythians or anyone else."
"Who, Dace?" Lowell faced me squarely. "Tayvis is there, isn't he?"
"Yes," I said. He had to still be alive. "And others."
"Vance?" he asked.
"Last I saw, yes. Although they may all be dead by now. We were supposed to start a civil war. And I was supposed to bring help."
He tugged at his ear, thinking. "It might help." He shifted his position. "I can order one Fleet, and possibly a few battle groups. If we can figure out where to send them. The navigators who came with you are doing their best. We can't just point our ships that direction and push the button."
"The Trythians can." I felt the warmth of relief wash through me. He was going to send help. "As close as I can figure, we have about three weeks, and another week of travel to get there in time."
"Not we," Lowell said. "This is a military action, Dace."
He could have slapped me. It wouldn't have surprised me more.
"That didn't stop you from dragging me into it before."
"And I regret doing it. You're not going this time."
"I'm the one who knows how to contact them, I'm the one they're expecting. I have to go, Lowell."
"Then join the Patrol." He turned on his heel, headed for the door.
"Lowell," I protested.
"Not this time, Dace."
"Think about it, I'm the one who has to go back. I have the contacts for both the Trythians and the slaves. I'm the only one both sides will listen to."
"You've also done more than enough, Dace. Go home to your ship. Let the Patrol handle this." He opened the door.
I leaned back against the window. He left the room. The door snapped closed with a sound that seemed to echo in my head.
He was leaving me behind. Despite all the reasons I should go, despite me half expecting him to drag me there, he wasn't going to. He was going to leave me here, to chew my nails and worry and wait. I closed my eyes, shutting out the tepid sunlight reflected off the floor of the room.
I'd left Tayvis behind. I had to go back. I had to make sure he was safe. I had to go.
I had to be Patrol to go. Lowell's goal had always been to get me to enlist. This time he was going to win. He held all the cards. I had nothing.
It was a pain as sharp as a physical wound. I would have to give up my dreams of freedom. I would have to give in and do the one thing I'd been resisting since my first day at the Academy.
Jasyn would skin me alive when and if I ever saw her again.
I sank down slowly to the floor, feeling hope seeping away from me. I felt trapped and helpless, as much as I ever had on Trythia. Lowell would win. Lowell would get what he wanted, because there was no way I was going to stay behind.
The psych tech came back. I ignored his questions and walked out, leaving the door hanging open behind me.
I crossed the base, walking past the sad little tree in its pot. I felt a lot the same. If I had leaves, they'd be drooping and just as dusty and forlorn.
I headed for the only place I knew where I might possibly find Lowell. The guards at the door didn't try to stop me. They knew who I was and figured I was going in for yet another session. I wasn't stopped until I was outside the base commander's office.
"I need to see Commander Lowell," I told the man who stopped me.
"Commander Lowell is in conference," he answered. "You need an appointment to see him."
"Then I want an appointment for now." If I didn't talk to him soon, I was going to lose what nerve I had.
"That is not possible," the man said.
I looked past him. The door to the commander's office was closed. But there was someone leaning next to it that I recognized. She was watching me.
"I believe the commander will make an exception for her," Paltronis said to the secretary. "But you'll still have to wait until he's done with the base commander," she added to me. She shifted away from the wall. "Page me when he's out," she said to the secretary. She took my arm and led me into the hall.
"He could be hours," she said. "Have they fed you lunch yet?"
I shook my head, wondering if we were friends or not this time. We'd had our differences and our problems, mostly over Tayvis. She looked friendly enough, but that could be deceiving. Paltronis was one of the most dangerous people I knew. The other people in the hall gave us both a wide berth as we passed.
"I hear their cafeteria is better than most," she said.
I let her lead me to the cafeteria. We sat at a table in a far corner.
"What do you want?" she asked me.
"I'm not hungry," I said.
"That's a first for you." Her smile faded around the edges. "To tell you the truth, Dace, you look like you could use a few good meals. Have they been mistreating you?"
"Besides asking me the same questions over and over, no, they haven't."
"They aren't treating you well, either. Barefoot and in a janitor's jumpsuit. No wonder Lowell was so mad at Commander Alain." She punched up an order on the table's screen. She leaned back in her chair, watching me while we waited for the order to come.
"It doesn't matter," I said. Nothing mattered right then, except that I get back to Trythia and find Tayvis.
"What really happened? You used to be paranoid to be caught without shoes and here you are, trotting around the base barefoot."
I looked at her, really met her eyes for the first time. She looked away first.
"You've got hard edges, more than before," she said. "I'd hate to meet you in an alleyway. Even if it isn't dark."
"You? Lowell's personal weapon?"
She laughed, easy and relaxed. But there was always an edge to her that never dulled. She gave the impression of always being ready for an attack. "I haven't heard that description before. So what's important enough for you to go looking for Lowell? I thought he just finished talking to you."
"He did. He's sending ships to Trythia. He told me I couldn't go. He said it was Patrol only."
"So you're going to enlist, just to get back there?"
I shrugged. "Tayvis is there. And I'm the only one to send to make contact. Lowell wouldn't agree."
Our food arrived, steaming plates delivered to our table by a young ensign. He slid them onto the table then hurried away.
"Eat," she ordered, pushing a plate at me. "And let me think about this for a minute."
I picked at the food. She chewed thoughtfully. I managed half the plate before she spoke again.
"You really have changed, and I don't think I like it," she muttered. "Eat it all, Dace. You're going to need the energy. Are you serious about enlisting?"
"He didn't give me another choice, Paltronis. Enlist or stay here. And we're running out of time. The sooner I can get him moving, the better." I picked at another bite of mystery vegetable in mystery sauce. It tasted better than it looked.
"I think I have an idea," she said. Her grin had lots of teeth in it.
I found myself returning her grin and feeling better about the whole situation.
"We'll take care of the papers when you finish that plate. And this one." She pushed another one in my direction. "And Lowell's going to regret giving you any choice at all."