"Five minutes to show time," Everett announced.
"Where are we this time?" I asked.
"We should make the shift to Aquarus in about five minutes," Everett answered.
"And then we find out how willing they are to accept your diplomatic status," Twyla put in. "Are you sure you don't want to swap out the beacon and pretend to be a merchant?"
"As if they'd believe that," Ginni said.
"Either they arrest us or they don't," I said fatalistically. "One way or another, we'll know where we stand in the Empire." Aquarus was one of the Inner Worlds, close to Linas-Drias itself. We were stopping mostly because we needed to refuel. I wanted tanks as full as possible when we got to Linas-Drias, just in case. So the others could run if they had to.
"I just hope they've decided to recognize the Federation," Darus muttered. "Last I heard, they still believed they owned everything."
"So what's the plan?" Everett asked as he booted up the nav system.
"I don't know," I said, taking the fourth chair in the cockpit and turning on the scanning systems.
"Good plan," Everett said. "How about I talk to them as soon as we clear jump?"
"And say what?" Ginni asked.
"Shoot us and die? That should work really well." Twyla grinned at him over her shoulder.
"You'd better decide soon," Tayvis said. He leaned in the doorway of the cockpit, watching.
The reentry alarm beeped. Twyla and Ginni were very busy as the ship slid back into normal space. I itched to be in the pilot's seat. I watched the screens as they cleared instead. My hands were shaky, but the meds Xerian gave me had the convulsions under control.
"What do you have, Dace?" Twyla asked.
"I'm picking up several dozen ships," I answered. "At least three Patrol cruisers, several fighters, a few merchants."
"We're at Aquarus," Everett said. He flipped over to the coms. "Aquarus Control, this is the Phoenix Rising, requesting approach coordinates."
We waited through a long minute of static.
"The cruisers are changing course," I said. "Three fighters on intercept course."
Ginni glanced back at me. "Keeping on course, holding speeds steady," she said.
"Aquarus Control," Everett spoke again.
He was interrupted. "This is the Executor. You will come to a complete stop and prepare to be boarded. You are under arrest."
"Executor, this is the Phoenix Rising," Everett said with a grin. "You don't seem to understand. This is a diplomatic ship, representing the Federation. The Ambassador is on her way to Linas-Drias to congratulate your new Emperor on his coronation."
"You will prepare to be boarded." The Executor wasn't going to be convinced.
"That would be considered an act of war. Do you really want the Federation here asking questions regarding your treatment of their ambassador?"
There was static for another minute.
"Your ship is a known smuggling vessel. The crew roster lists wanted criminals. You will prepare to be boarded." The officer on the Executor sounded less sure of himself.
"Smuggling is a new one," Twyla quipped. "I thought it was mostly piracy."
"They're closing," I said. "Weapons systems are armed."
"This is an unarmed diplomatic ship. Firing at us will be considered an act of war." Everett looked like he was enjoying himself.
"Ginni?" I asked.
"Still holding course. Do you want me to stop?"
"Keep going, don't make any sudden moves."
Tayvis nodded his approval.
"Card game," I said. "The better bluffer wins."
Everett shot me a grin. "Executor, we appreciate the escort to the planet. Our ship needs refueling."
"You will stop or be shot!"
"You don't want to do that," Everett said. "We are only here to refuel. The Federation will take the loss of their ambassador most personally."
Static crackled out of the com for another long minute.
"You will proceed on your current course," the officer said. "Any deviation will be considered hostile action. You will be taken into custody upon landing."
Everett switched the com off. "That could have been worse."
"It could have been better," Twyla said.
"We'll just have to impress them when we reach the planet," I said. "How many of those uniforms do we have?"
"Everyone but you," Tayvis said. "What are you thinking, Dace?"
"They used force and threats first. I want everyone in uniform and armed when we open the hatch. This is a diplomatic flagship. It should look like one."
"And the ambassador should look like one as well," Tayvis said.
"I hate making grand entrances."
"You do them so well." Ginni adjusted the thrusters.
"I think I know the perfect outfit," Tayvis said.
"How long until we land?" I asked.
"Maybe an hour," Ginni answered.
"Move over," I nudged her. "Go get your uniform on."
"You aren't flying," Ginni said flatly. "Twyla can cover both stations."
"She's right, Dace," Tayvis said.
I sighed and gave in. Ginni patted my shoulder as she squeezed her way out of the crowded cockpit.
"Go on, Dace," Everett said. "I've got it covered."
I felt useless and unnecessary. It was not a good feeling. I got up and left the cockpit, following Tayvis back to our cabin.
I sat on the bed, my feet curled under me, as Tayvis dug through the wardrobe Will had provided me. I was dying, I could feel it. The tumors were growing. There was no other explanation for the constant dull pain. The treatments hadn't worked. I'd known deep in my gut that it wasn't going to work. Shomies Pardui would still have her revenge on me. Her drugs had poisoned me to the point I wasn't going to live much longer. Nothing the medics did was going to fix me now.
"Something wrong?" Tayvis asked. He held up an outfit of deep burgundy, a formal tunic trimmed in gold with matching leggings.
"I'm fine," I said.
He put the outfit on the end of the bed. "Why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not, I feel fine," I lied.
"Dace." He stood at the end of the bed, watching me.
"Do you know how annoying it is to have every move you make watched?" I got off the bed, hiding the stab of pain I felt at moving too quickly. "I'm fine, Tayvis. There is nothing Xerian can do for me that he isn't already."
I deliberately picked up the outfit, looking anywhere but at the hurt on his face.
"You told me once that you never lied."
I bit my lip. I only lied to spare him the pain. He'd find out soon enough.
"Don't shut me out."
"The pain patches aren't working, Tayvis. That's all."
"He has others."
"I don't want any meds." I tried to step past him.
"I know."
He wouldn't let me pass. He caught me and pulled me into his arms. I leaned on him, feeling his warmth. I felt safe with him. I loved him more than I ever thought possible.
I should have refused to marry him. I should have pushed him away. It was unfair. I was selfish to want these last few months of life to be with him. I couldn't have said no to him because I wanted it too much.
"You should get ready." He made no move to let me go.
"Let them wait."
He kissed the top of my head. "Do you want to talk to Xerian?"
"No, but I will." If it made Tayvis feel better, I'd pretend to try. I knew it wasn't going to help.
"Then go get ready." He let go of me, turning back to the overfull storage lockers.
I felt suddenly cold. I didn't want to be a diplomat. I wanted to take my ship and just fly until I died. I wasn't going to get what I wanted. I never had. I crushed the outfit in my fist and went into the bathroom to change.
I took my time. It was better than doing nothing, watching the others fly my ship. When I finally emerged, we were on final approach to the planet. My hair was still too short to do anything fancy. I'd combed it straight. It still tried to curl. I decided I wanted it to look that way.
Tayvis looked up from a game of solitaire spread across the galley table. I sat across from him and nervously picked at the thick trim of my tunic. He reached across the table and smoothed a stray curl. I looked up at him. His eyes were the color of warm chocolate.
"You can do this, Dace," he said.
"I don't have any idea what I'm doing."
He grinned and flipped over a card. "Bluffing. Xerian said he had some different meds you can try."
"Later, Tayvis. I don't want a bad reaction in front of people I'm trying to impress."
"You thought up a plan yet?" Darus asked as he joined us.
Paltronis walked past, her arms full of blasters. She stopped long enough to leave two on the table. "No, you don't get one, Dace," she said as she headed for the cockpit.
"Don't argue with her," Tayvis warned me. "She's right. I know you're the best shot, but it wouldn't look too diplomatic if you were armed."
"I'd be too tempted to use it," I agreed. I sighed as I watched Darus and Tayvis both pick up blasters. They checked the charges before holstering them.
The first whisper of atmosphere brushed over the ship. I wanted to fly so badly it hurt. I also understood why I wasn't. My hands were twitching, just barely, but enough to warn me I'd better watch my meds more closely.
Xerian came out of the cabin behind me, the one that had been Louie's nursery. He sat next to me and opened his medkit. He had a blaster, tucked into a holster at his side. He didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable with it. Flying with ex-Patrol had its advantages. He wordlessly offered me a handful of pills and patches.
"I need a clear head, Xerian." I didn't take any of them.
He pulled my hand free of the trim on my tunic and pushed the meds into it. "Then you'd better take them."
Paltronis came back from delivering weapons and handed me a glass of water. Tayvis snapped another card onto the table.
I wanted to swear. I wanted to pretend I didn't need anything, that I was just fine. I wasn't, not by a long shot. My hands trembled as I swallowed the pills then rolled up my sleeve. I peeled off the old patches and stuck on the new ones. No one made any comments.
The ship landed, settling lightly onto the landing field. Ginni and Twyla were much better than good. I briefly wished that we were wearing green and not burgundy, that we were light years away and doing nothing more than delivering cargo. I'd agreed to this, though.
"They're on their way," Everett said. "A full squadron at least." He pulled off his headset. "Ground control is demanding we come out, with our hands up." He deliberately flipped off the com.
I swallowed nervously. This was going to be messy, no matter how I handled it. And this was just Aquarus. I wondered if we were going to make it to Linas-Drias at all.
Tayvis reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
"Tell me when they start threatening to shoot," I said.
"They already are." Everett swung his chair around to face me.
Ginni flipped a last switch on her controls. I looked up at Paltronis. She leaned on the galley counter, her arms folded. I suddenly felt much better knowing she was on my side, that they all were. I reached for Tayvis' cards.
"Call them back," I said. "Tell them this is unacceptable. Demand to speak to the governor, or whatever they have here."
"The whole diplomatic immunity spiel?" He grinned and turned back to the com.
"They didn't shoot at the ship, they won't shoot now," I said as I shuffled cards.
"You hope," Tayvis said.
I fanned the cards out and studied them. They were marked, at least six different ways. "It's easier to win with a marked deck."
"Only if you know how to read it," Xerian said.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be," I said, suddenly nervous again. He was right. The sheer audacity of what I was doing finally hit me. Eight of us and a handful of blasters against an entire planet. It was absolute lunacy. It was so crazy it just might work. The only question was whether we were going to survive. I straightened the deck. "Anyone want to play Comets?"
"What level of cheating?" Paltronis asked.
"Anything goes," I answered.
She laughed as she took a seat at the table.
"Something funny?" Darus asked as he came out of the engine room. He wiped grease from his hands. "Everything is holding green down there. Why are we just sitting here?"
"We're bluffing," Paltronis said.
"We're being diplomatic," Tayvis added.
"Impressing the natives?" Darus shook his head. He didn't add anything as he went to change.
"Deal me in," Ginni said as she joined us at the table.
Everyone played, except Everett. He stayed in the cockpit, arguing over the com. He looked like he was enjoying himself. He winked when I looked his way.
We sat in the ship for almost three hours. We played Comets. Everyone cheated. We scored impossible combinations. I deliberately didn't think about the game we were really playing.
Everett sighed and pulled off his headset. "They're sending a Fleet Admiral to talk to us. Aquarus is under martial law."
"That can't be good," Tayvis shuffled the deck and started dealing out another hand.
"Is he going to try arresting us?" I asked.
Everett shrugged.
I picked up my hand. My cards were worse than lousy. I knew it and so did everyone else. I put the cards back on the table. "Let me know when he's been sitting out there for a while."
"Stalling won't make him go away," Twyla said.
"I know that," I said to her. "But I'm not the one sitting out in the sun in full dress uniform."
"No, you're the one giving up because your cards are really bad." Darus grinned at me.
I pushed my hand into the middle of the table. "Even cheating won't help, not that combination."
"They want to talk to you," Everett said. He held the headset towards me.
I stretched. "I'll talk face to face. Tell them that."
I went up the short set of stairs to the back of the ship and into the cabin. Tayvis followed me.
"I'm fine," I said. "I just needed to use the bathroom."
"Did you talk to Xerian?"
"No, because I'm sure you did for me."
"Well?"
I shook my head. "It isn't helping, much." The pain was still there, dull and constant. Nervousness over our situation wasn't helping.
"Dace."
I shook my head again. I wrapped my arms around myself. He pulled me up against him and just held me. I leaned against him, trying not to notice the blaster or the uniform he wore. It reminded me too much of other impossible situations we'd been in. I was bound to run out of luck eventually.
"I wish it were different, but wishing isn't going to change anything." I stepped back from him. "And I really do have to go."
He let me go. I went into the bathroom.
He was playing cards with the others when I came back out. I paced the lounge, too nervous to play. I couldn't concentrate on cards, not now.
Everett was still in the cockpit. The com light blinked in front of him. He ignored it, watching me instead. I crossed the lounge to stand behind him.
"There's a full delegation out there now," he said.
"How long have they been sitting?" I looked at the front viewscreen. Groundcars parked haphazardly everywhere, most with flashing lights and Patrol markings. Troops crouched in whatever cover they could find. A group in shining uniforms clustered at the back of one of the cars. Half watched the ship while the other half talked urgently with each other accompanied with a lot of hand waving.
"The last car pulled up five minutes ago," Everett answered.
I picked up the headset and listened. They were still demanding we exit the ship, but they weren't insisting on the hands up part. We'd made them nervous. I put the headset down.
"Time to move," I said with a final look at the viewscreen. If it came to a shooting match, we weren't going to last more than a few minutes. I sincerely hoped it didn't come to that.
The cards disappeared. By the time I crossed the ship to the hatch, the others were waiting. They looked dangerous. I tugged my collar straight and opened the hatch.
I lifted my chin, trying to look arrogant and in charge. I walked slowly down the boarding ramp, stepping off the end and stopping just barely outside of the ship's shadow. The others fanned out behind me. I was acutely aware of the number of guns aimed at me. I kept my hands at my sides.
The delegation of shiny uniforms milled behind the groundcar for a moment. We stood and waited.
One of the uniforms moved a bit farther toward us, still behind the shelter of the car, though. "You will put your weapons down," he said loudly. "You are under arrest."
I stared him down. None of us moved. Another uniform joined him. They whispered for a moment.
"You will throw down your weapons," he repeated. "Slowly and carefully."
"We will not," I said sharply. "I demand to speak with your governor."
"You are in no position to make demands," the man shouted back. "You are wanted pirates. You are under arrest."
"We were sent here by the Federation," I answered. "To negotiate with the Empire. And to attend the Emperor's coronation. Under every law of diplomacy, arresting us would be a very big mistake."
I was bluffing. The Empire had been the only real power in so long that most laws of diplomacy were centuries out of date. I hoped the rules that governed negotiations between the different sectors would hold. Or that I could twist them to my advantage. It would help if I could remember the little I knew about them. I hadn't ever thought the civics course I took at the Academy would be necessary except for the part dealing with trade.
"I am the official ambassador of the Federation," I added. "Mistreatment of me or my staff will be construed as an act of war."
"Use bigger words," Darus whispered behind me.
"Shut up, Darus," I whispered back.
Things went quiet for a long moment as the uniforms huddled behind the groundcar. They broke apart in a flurry of action. I watched the ones with the sparkliest medals, they had to be the ones in charge.
An older woman, with a face that could have cut wood, stepped forward. She came all the way around the front of the car, stopping less than twenty feet in front of me. She had a full Fleet Admiral's stars on her collar. She looked like she'd been sucking unripe kitzi fruit. "The Federation is reduced to sending known criminals as its official representatives?"
"I've never been convicted."
The woman shifted her gaze from me to the others, dismissing me as a threat. I wasn't wearing a weapon. "This farce has gone on long enough." She shifted her gaze back to me. "Despite past honors, you are a traitor, a thief, and a pirate."
"And Ambassador to the Empire. I am not here to answer to you."
"Then why are you here?"
I smiled at her. "Merely to refuel. Our destination is Linas-Drias."
She glared. She opened her mouth. I cut her off.
"Refuel my ship and we will leave. We will not cause you trouble." I paused, just a bit. "Unless you start it."
She glanced at the ship and then at the eight of us standing at the end of the boarding ramp. I could almost see her thinking. Eight of us, against an entire planet? I was sure she'd heard the stories about me, though. She took a single step back.
"You will stay in your ship," she said. "You have twelve hours to be out of my system."
"My ship requires basic services," I said.
She snapped her fingers. One of the other uniforms scurried forward. "See that they receive basic maintenance," she ordered. "I want you gone," she said to me.
"Of course," I said.
She waited for us to leave. I stayed standing at the end of the ramp. She tried to intimidate me with her glare. She was an amateur at it, at least compared to the people I'd played with lately. I waited until she shifted her feet.
"When you send your message to Linas-Drias," I said, "Please give my regards to Iniuri and Max."
Her glare slipped a bit.
I turned deliberately and walked up the ramp into my ship. The others fell in behind me. Everett shut the hatch.
"That went well," Darus said.
"Nobody got shot," I said. "It went better than I expected."