th' jump engine, too.'
Cale examined the pilot's panel. Gnat-class couriers had a crew of two, but a man alone could run one. Nabel's modifications had obviously extended to the control panel. Instruments and switches dangled from unmarked wires. Nabel was probably the only man in the universe that could fly this ship with all the jury-rigs. After a moment, though, he began to make sense of the confusion of wires. Most of the wires protruded through openings usually occupied by more traditional instruments. Nabel had not jury-rigged, so much as replaced instruments and switches with others intended for different sized and shaped instrument panels. Everything was worn, but clean, and the instruments themselves looked almost new. Cale looked at Nabel with a new respect for the old man's capabilities.
'I'll need you to label all these loose instruments, but mostly I'm impressed. You say the inertial drive came out of a strengl?'
The old man bobbed his head with a proud smile. 'Yep. I've had her up to 4G's. She'll do more'n that, but I'm too old fer such nonsense, an' I quit at four. Even so, I had to wear a blamed G suit!'
Cale nodded. 'All right. I'll want to try her out, but if she's as good as you say, how much will you take for her?'
The old man cackled and rubbed his hands together. 'It'll cost ya more'n one of them bars, that's fer sure!'
They finally made a deal. Cale paid four of his bars for the ship, with the stipulation that he could bring it back within three months, and Nabel would buy it back for half price. In effect, Cale was renting the ship for two gold bars. He knew he was overpaying, and there was a chance the old man would refuse to buy L'rak back. However, nobody rents starships. At least no one who wouldn't ask many questions and demand a lot of documentation. Oh, they run charters, of course, but not rentals. This would give him a nearly untraceable ship with which to cash in a few of his sunstones. He figured that by the time word of the first deal got out, he would be able to convert two more stones, return the ship to Nabel, and take off in Scorpion without being traced. Moreover, of course, it appeared L'rak was fast enough to outrun any police or pirate ship in space.
He used the Yor-Tarken identity on the ship's papers. It would stand up to fairly strict scrutiny, and Cale Rankin could not be tied to the ship. All this rapid and repeated name change stuff was irritating, but it wouldn't be necessary much longer; once he turned his sunstones into negotiable diamonds, he was sure he could assume the Cale Rankin identity permanently.
Once the old man had labeled his jury-rigged instruments and removed the painted name on the hull, they had moved L'rak out onto the landing field. Cale lifted off.
He was impressed. L'rak lifted with the quiet smoothness of a new vessel. Once he cleared Torlon space, he opened the throttle. A wide grin spread onto his face as acceleration climbed. He watched the accelerometer as it passed 4G, then five. He throttled back at 5.5G because he was starting to gray out. The little craft was amazing. Its acceleration and maneuverability were unlike anything Cale had ever experienced. He decided this must have been what it was like to pilot a Strengl long-range fighter in the Old Empire Fleet. He began to try to figure out ways he could keep the little monster. It was a shame L'rak would never fit in Scorpion 's tiny hold!
Satisfied, he returned to Torlon and loaded provisions for his trip. He figured he would have to complete his task in less than a month, which meant short jumps and quick turnarounds. Any more than that, and people, especially law enforcement people and pirates, would begin taking an interest in a man zooming around in a modified Gnat-class with a supply of sunstones and diamonds!
He waited until dark to sneak back to Scorpion. He reported events to Tess, and left his instructions. No one was to come aboard under any circumstances. In the morning, Tess was to lift off and hide behind the second moon of one of the system's gas giants until she detected L'rak emerging from the jump point. At that time, she would return to Torlon and assume orbit, waiting for Cale's signal before grounding for a quick pickup. Cale was becoming very grateful for Scorpion 's advanced AI. Few ships in space could have executed Cale's orders, but Tess seemed confident she would have no problem.
Cale had spent many hours with Tess poring over star charts, navigation charts, and Stellar Index entries and working out an itinerary. From Torlon, two short jumps would take him to his first stop, New Chin. New Chin's most famous product was jewelry. John had never been there, but rumor had it that New Chin jewelers were not particular where they obtained their gems. Several of his pirates had mentioned selling stolen jewels there on occasion. Cale hoped to sell two sunstones there before lifting off for Ararat, a regional banking center one jump away. He should be able to sell at least one stone there. Given the planets' wealth, he hoped to sell his largest, a 15mm monster. Then, he would immediately lift off for Refuge, formerly the sector capital, but now a wide-open trading center. Refuge was the only place Cale worried about; its reputation was not encouraging. Nevertheless, he had decided it was worth the risk to get rid of one more stone.
If he succeeded in his quest, he should have more than enough diamonds for a luxurious retirement on any planet in the Old Empire, or in the Alliance, for that matter. Refuge was two short jumps from Torlon. Once there he would return L'rak to Nabel, board Scorpion, and disappear into the cosmos, just as rumor began inspiring searchers and pursuers.
Once off Torlon and clear of pursuit, Cale could begin making long-range plans. He planned to head first to Ilocan, to check out what should be his own, luxurious villa. He had hopes that he really could settle there. His Aunt Jessica; uh, John Smith's Aunt Jessica had retired there some years ago. Her glowing descriptions had caused John Smith to select it as a possible home. Perhaps he could even get a license to practice law! However, if he found anything there that indicated his secret was known, body sculpt or not, he would have to run. Perhaps he would head deeper into Old Empire space, to begin retirement or a new career as a courier. For the moment, his immediate plans were worrisome enough!
The tiny L'rak was barely large enough for a cramped bridge, two tiny 'staterooms' consisting of a foldout bed and desk and a small closet. The so-called 'staterooms' were so small that one had to step outside the door to climb into the open bunk, and then close the door after himself. One of these was presently filled with Cale's provisions, since the miniscule 'hold' consisted of less than a cubic meter of space. The rest of the passenger spaces were limited to a single cramped 'fresher and a coffin-like med cabinet.
L'rak did not run to an AI, of course. Her simple-minded astrogation comp seemed crude compared to Tess's abilities. Cale was forced to use studied-but-never-used astrogation techniques and cross his fingers a lot.
But she was fast. It had taken Scorpion 44 hours to reach Torlon from the jump point. L'rak made the return trip in 32. Tess had computed that the two jumps to New Chin would take 92 hours, followed by a recal stop requiring 39 hours, a jump of 87 hours, and 42 hours to reach New Chin from the jump point, for a total of 304 hours, or almost 13 standard days. L'rak shaved that time to just under ten. If she could maintain that pace, Cale should be able to meet his one-month goal for the complete trip.
An Old Empire destroyer picketed new Chin's jump point. In less than an hour, a customs official had been dispatched, L'rak 's papers had been examined, and she had been given a cursory search. Cale held down his speed inward. There was no sense advertising L'rak 's capabilities.
Once the communications lag was down to five seconds, he was hailed by a large orbital station, demanding to know his business. Cale's terse 'Gem trading' seemed to satisfy them, and he was directed to a berth on the landing field near the planet's capital city.
Even before he landed, jewelers and gem dealers were calling, inquiring about his merchandise. Cale claimed to be unwilling to discuss deals over open comm circuits, but actually, he queried the station's library directory to locate the largest jeweler and the largest gem dealer on the planet. He wanted to sell two sunstones here, but he wanted to do only one deal for both. He wanted to be on his way out of the system before tongues started wagging. Only the largest dealer or jeweler would be able to handle the purchase of two eight-millimeter sunstones.
As soon as he had grounded and taken care of the port formalities, he walked two blocks from the port before grabbing a hovercab to the headquarters of Peng Gems.
An attractive young woman operated the reception desk. When he asked about meeting with a gem buyer, she seemed unimpressed, until he mentioned sunstones. Suddenly she became very attentive, and began pressing buttons on her console. In only moments, a small, middle-aged man hurried to the reception desk with a large, if insincere smile.
'A very good day to you, sire… uh…'
'Averano,' Cale supplied, using the name of a long-dead pirate.
'Of course, sire, of course,' the little man ushered him down a short, deeply carpeted hall and into a small,
