across? I picked up a bottle of Penurian Glark on D’Jellabah… “
The Alliance Commander smiled sardonically. “I don’t suppose you know that Glark is illegal in the Alliance.”
Kas put on a shocked expression. “No!” He proclaimed theatrically, “Then you’d better get over here and help me drink up the evidence before somebody catches me with it!”
The Commander chuckled. “You always were an arrogant bastard. But Kas,” he continued, sobering, “You’d better be able to convince me to believe whatever story you’re going to run on me. Friends or no, this is duty. And you won’t like Alliance jails.” He shrugged. “I’ll see you in half an hour.” He terminated the connection.
Kas sagged in his chair. “People,” he declared, “We are in big trouble! Tarn Traskon is no bored customs agent. He’s Alliance Navy and he’s as sharp as they come. One slip and we’ll be in those Alliance jails he mentioned.”
Rom was looking concerned. “What’re you gonna tell ‘im, Skipper?”
Kas shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. It’s going to have to be very close to the truth, so it’s not contradicted by our documents.” He turned to the woman at his side. “Jane, I think that story you used on your Singhalese friend should work here as well; but if you’re going to change it let me know. Tarn is quick enough to spot the smallest inconsistency.”
“The rest of you,” he turned back to the others, intercom open. “Stick to your cover stories no matter what. He or someone on his staff may indicate that they know our covers are false, and that another crewman told them all about it. But that’s just a standard interrogation technique. If they say something like that, you simply don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. And don’t get fancy. You’re just outies who signed on to deliver corpsicles to a new colony. Play your cover story straight, and play it for all it’s worth. I don’t give a damn if things have happened that make it sound totally ridiculous; it’s all you know.”
Kas, Jane and Rom met Tarn Traskon at the main lock. He was accompanied by a single aide, a lieutenant. As soon as the two had stripped out of their suits, the group adjourned to Kas’ cabin. Kas brought out the advertised Glark and a handful of glasses. Jane helpfully served. Then Kas dropped into a chair with a huge sigh.
“We may as well get right to it,” he began.
Tarn nodded. “I can’t figure out why the Empire would send you, of all people,” he said.
Kas frowned. “Send me? Hell, they booted me! Look, Tarn, I get the feeling I’m missing something. Who or what am I supposed to be? I mean, you talked about jail. I just barely avoided being locked up on Prime. Now I come out here, and you want to lock me up. What’s going on?”
Tarn eyed him suspiciously. “We may get to that, though you won’t enjoy it if we do. Why don’t you just tell me what you’re doing out here out of uniform and in an old trading hulk?”
Kas put on a wounded expression that was, he was glad to note, echoed by Rom. “ Starhopper may be old, but she’s no hulk. She’s sound as an Imperial crown!” Tarn showed no reaction, and after a long moment, Kas sighed deeply.
“I’d hoped to not have to go into this. The crew doesn’t know. But it looks like I have no choice.” He sighed again. “You remember Admiral Lu-Jenks?”
Tarn’s rigid expression softened slightly. “Sure do. You were his favorite hate object. He seemed to want to devote the rest of his career to ridding the Fleet of outerworld scum like you.”
Kas grimaced as he nodded. “Yah. Well, he decided to take it upon himself to do just that. He sent me on a rigged mission in command of a destroyer. I was to raid a pirate base that had been found on an airless moon in an uninhabited system not far from Avalon. But they were waiting for us. We were hit with nuclear-pumped planetary defense lasers, heavy particle beams, and even missiles. We took ship damage and almost twenty percent casualties; over fifty percent in the landing party. The thing was, we succeeded, which Lu-Jenks obviously didn’t expect.”
“When we finally took the place, we found proof that Lu-Jenks had warned the pirates that we were coming.” He slammed his fist on the arm of his chair. “I still can’t believe that a Fleet officer, an Admiral at that, would do that to his own people!”
He frowned into his lap for a moment before continuing. “When we limped back to Avalon, Lu-Jenks knew something had gone wrong. He ordered me to his office on the planet to report.” A hint of a grim smile touched his lips. “I reported, all right. I broke his jaw and a few other body parts before his staff pulled me off him. He said he would have me executed for assaulting a superior officer. He would have, too. But I had the evidence, and I made sure it got to the proper people.
“Proper!” He continued with a sour smile. “They said it would be bad for Fleet morale to court-martial an Admiral, especially one from as powerful a family as Lu-Jenks’. All they did was make him retire. With full honors and full pension, of course.
“Naturally, they weren’t quite so considerate with outerworld Captains. I was offered a choice: take early retirement and a reduced pension, or be court-martialed for assaulting that pompous bastard.”
His expression turned bitter. “So, an innerworld Admiral schemes to get sixty-three Fleet people killed and a hundred and thirty more wounded, and retires with honors. I fight a heavy action against a prepared opponent, and get booted out at reduced pension. So much for devotion to the Fleet!”
He shrugged, and a sour grin surfaced. “When the story began getting around, I did find that I suddenly had a lot of friends. One of them fixed me up with a civilian Master’s ticket, and few more managed to find me financing to buy the old Starhopper and bid on the charter to deliver these cold-sleep colonists. I signed on an outerworld crew on shares, and here I am.” He finished.
Tarn was looking skeptical. “And how long ago was this?” He asked.
“Just over a standard year, now,” Kas replied.
Tarn turned to his aide and gestured slightly. The Lieutenant nodded, and Tarn turned back to Kas. “Lieutenant Trensa needs to call my ship,” he said. “Is there someplace he can get secure communications?”
Kas grinned, “This is a trading tub, not a flagship. Secure communications don’t come with the package.” He thumbed the intercom. “Edro, the Lieutenant from the corvette will be coming up to the bridge to use the comms. Show him how to use them if necessary, then you and Tera leave the bridge to give him some privacy.” He turned and looked at the Lieutenant as he continued, “the Lieutenant will let you know when he’s finished, so you can resume your bridge stations.” The Lieutenant nodded silently and slipped out the hatch.
Kas turned his attention back to Tarn as the latter was saying, “I should have known that anywhere I’d find Kas Preslin, I’d find a beautiful woman! And what’s such a lovely young lady doing consorting with a degenerate like Preslin?”
Lady Jane blushed, but flashed a broad smile. “Oh, aside from an insatiable lechery, he’s not so bad.” She shrugged. “Actually, I guess you could call me a guide. Captain Preslin wasn’t familiar with the independents and the Alliance. So, since my ship was laid up I contracted to help keep him out of trouble.”
Tarn snorted. “It would take more than one woman to keep Kas Preslin out of trouble.” His smile faded. “You have a ship? May I ask your identity and citizenship, please?”
She shrugged, her expression bland. “Of course. I’m Jane Gray. They call me ‘Lady’ Jane Gray. I’m an Alliance citizen, though I spend most of my time in the independents.”
He nodded. “I recognize the name, though I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting you before. You’re pretty well known in this part of space. Your ship is also the Lady Jane, is it not?” She nodded.
“Well,” He continued, “You’re an Alliance citizen, and you’ve just heard Kas’ story for the first time. What do you think? Is it just a cover story for an operation by Imperial Fleet Intelligence?”
Jane grinned. “Nobody would make up a story like that, especially a military organization! Punching out an Admiral? I mean, really!” She turned an old-fashioned glare on Kas. “I wouldn’t put it past him to do it, either!”
Tarn chuckled. “I wouldn’t, either. After all, I’ve known him for over ten years. How about it, Kas? Did you really do that, or is it just your cover story?”
Kas shrugged. “I imagine you’ll know in a few minutes. That’s what your Lieutenant’s doing, isn’t it? Checking out my story? I figure you must have someone on board your ship that’s recently returned from the Empire.”
Tarn's smile was sincere. “Of course. One of my officers returned six months ago from detached duty on Prime.” He shrugged. “In the meantime, let’s take care of business. Who issued that charter, and where is this colony they’re establishing?”
Uh oh, Kas thought, here we go. He shrugged and slid Starhopper ’s papers across his desk. “The colony’s on
