Jane shrugged. “Just a general hint. In the Alliance, don’t try to bribe customs agents. Not that they’re not as bribable as any other customs agents, but the Alliance had a big scandal a year or so ago. Some customs agents ignoring a kidnap-and-slavery ring. So for now, you’re better off not trying. You don’t want to attract attention, and you might just get some fool that wants to show how virtuous he is by turning you in for attempted bribery.”
Kas nodded. “Hear that, Rom? We play it straight in the Alliance. No bribe attempts.” Rom nodded wordlessly. He was scowling at the traders in suspicion. He obviously still did not trust the two Alleys.
Kas and Jane’s interminable conversations resumed, and became increasingly intimate. It surprised no one but the two of them when they one day found themselves waking in the same bunk after a night of passionate lovemaking.
Kas seemed dazed. He was having trouble dealing with the concept that this exciting creature could be as interested in him as he was in her.
Lady Jane, on the other hand, was cheerful and seemed happy. She annoyed Rom with her smiles, jokes and contented humming.
Kas was still trying to analyze his feelings when they emerged in the M’Keba system. The jump point wasn’t picketed, but almost as soon as they emerged they detected a customs cutter heading in their direction and Toj called on the ship’s intercom.
“Cap’n!” the usually unflappable engineer reported, “Th’ damned alarm went off. T’was the Alliance as bugged us!”
Kas thought fast. “Thanks, Toj. Now tear that damned thing apart. If they search us we don’t want them finding and recognizing it.” He turned to the others on the bridge. “All right. These are the people that bugged us. Now in theory, since they’re not getting their alarm signal, they should assume we’re not the ones they’re after. But we take no chances. Play it straight and play it for all you’re worth. They’ll be suspicious of any ship coming from the Empire, even without the damned alarm.” He whirled to confront the traders. “Here’s where we find out for sure how good your word is.”
Both Jane and Lar nodded soberly. Rom was less than successful in concealing the needler he still carried.
They were hailed and ordered to prepare for boarding. Kas told Rom to bring the ship’s papers and accompany him to the main personnel lock.
Chapter 6
The man that boarded was small and businesslike. He examined the ship’s papers and manifests as well as the identification documents of her crew and the ship’s log in minute detail. Even Jane and Rom seemed inhibited by the man’s ruthless efficiency. Surprisingly however, the physical search of Starhopper was so casual as to be cursory. It was as though the official was convinced that if the papers were in order, the ship must be in order as well.
“Bloody smuggler’s paradise,” Rom muttered as the man headed for the lock. “Gotta come back here after this’s over!”
Lar overheard, and nodded. “Looks that way. The man was nothing but a paper pusher.”
Jane grinned. “Yeah. Guess they figure hiring cops got their fingers burned, so they’re hiring admin types. We may have to visit here more often. At least for awhile. Not that we do a lot of smuggling you understand, but…”
Kas snorted. “I don’t give a damn about the smuggling opportunities. I won’t be coming back here to trade. Let’s just get out of here before they change their minds.”
They boosted max for the jump point while Tera completed her computations. They had been in the system only two standard days when Kas signaled Rom and they jumped.
“One more,” he exulted. “One more recal and we can stop worrying about being found out.” He saw Rom open his mouth to speak and continued, “Okay, it’s actually two, but the last one’s in an uninhabited, unclaimed system.” He shrugged. “Oh, someone might stumble across us while we’re working on the Rekesh. Sheol, they might even be there now! But those are normal military problems; the kind we’re trained to handle.”
Jane didn’t seem to share his optimism. “What is our last Alliance recal stop?” she asked.
Rom grunted from his station. “Place called To-Han. Near the edge of the Alliance and the edge of known space. If it’s like most frontier systems, it should be easy!”
But both Jane and Lar were shaking their heads. “Wrong. To-Han’s got a small naval base,” she said. “Oh, I guess it’s not much of one, but it’s still an Alliance Navy installation.”
Kas frowned. “Why would they have a base ‘way out here? There wouldn’t seem to be any threat.”
Lar shrugged. “You know how it is. Their representative to the Alliance Congress had a lot of pull some years back. He rammed it through on the grounds of protecting the borders of the Alliance from the unknown. And there are half-a-dozen systems, both Alliance and independent, within one jump of the place. The real reason, of course, was to boost To-Han’s economy. From what I’ve heard, the units stationed there mostly do pirate interdiction.”
Jane nodded. “And that means that they may be suspicious, and that they’re experienced in searching ships.” She hesitated. “If I’d known To-Han was one of your scheduled stops, I’d have recommended going around, even if you had to go months out of your way!”
Kas slammed a fist on the arm of his chair. “Damn!” He shouted. “I hate having lousy intelligence! You’d think Imperial Intelligence could have told us about a goddam base on our route!”
Rom snorted. “They probably figured we didn’t have ‘need to know’.”
Kas clamped down on his anger. His tone was calm and cold as he turned to Jane. “Well, we can’t change our minds in mid-jump. We’re committed, now. Is there anything else you can tell us about To-Han? Are they likely to have the jump points picketed or is there a chance we can get by without Navy involvement at all? After all, they’re not likely to expect pirates to come to their home system.”
Jane shrugged. “It’s possible. I haven’t actually been to To-Han; few people have. It’s so far out that I wouldn’t expect that they’d get a lot of traffic. So you may end up being right; it may be ridiculously simple. On the other hand, if they’ve conned the Navy into handling security for the whole system, it could be a nightmare.”
Everyone’s nerves were on edge as they emerged. Kas’ heart fell as he saw the armed satellite that picketed the jump point. Over a hundred meters in diameter, it fairly bristled with lasers, particle beam weapons and missiles. An automated beacon was repeating, “Welcome to To-Han. Please kill all motion relative to this station, and stand by. Any attempt to maneuver will be considered a hostile move. Your cooperation is appreciated.” At Kas’ nod, Rom complied with the instruction.
Several hours went by before Rom detected a corvette approaching at a relatively high speed. It was almost another hour before it was in normal communication range. As soon as the communication lag was down to five seconds, Edro reported that they were being hailed.
Kas had decided that the best defense was a strong offense. As soon as the screen cleared to reveal an Alliance Navy Commander, Kas shouted, “What the hell’s going on here? We just want to recal here, not invade! Do you…” His voice trailed off as he realized that he recognized the face in the screen.
And the recognition was mutual. The Commander frowned for a moment, then his face cleared. “Well! Captain Kas Preslin of the Empire Fleet. And out of uniform. How interesting!” A predatory smile crept across the man’s face.
Kas was shaken, searching desperately for a response. Finally he sighed. “Hello, Tarn. I was hoping not to run into anyone I knew.”
The Alliance Commander leaned forward intensely. “I’ll bet you were. You wouldn’t be looking for stray Battle Cruisers, would you?”
Kas looked puzzled. “Stray what? What the devil are you talking about?”
The Commander grinned. “All right, then, suppose you tell me what you’re doing out here in a civilian ship, and out of uniform?”
Kas forced an embarrassed expression to his face. “I don’t wear that uniform anymore, Tarn.” The man’s grin faded, to be replaced by a skeptical look. Kas shrugged, then grinned as he continued, “Why don’t you come on
