Mirror Dance

“Then their next move—if we get the shuttle airborne—must be to try to blow up the Ariel in orbit before we get there, cutting off our escape.”

“Speed,” he repeated doggedly.

“Contingencies, Miles dear. Wake up. I don’t usually have to restart your brain in the morning—do you want some more tea? No? I suggest, if we suffer dangerous delay downside, that the Ariel take refuge at Fell Station, and we rendezvous with it there.”

“Fell Station? The orbital one?” He hesitated. “Why?”

“Baron Fell is still in a state of vendetta with Bharaputra and Ryoval, isn’t he?”

Jacksonian internecine House politics; he was not as current on them as he should be. He had not even thought of looking for an ally among the other Houses. They were all criminal, all evil, tolerating or sabotaging each other in shifting patterns of power. And here was Ryoval, mentioned again. Why? He took refuge in another wordless shrug. “Getting pinned, trapped on Fell Station with fifty young clones while Bharaputra hustles for control of the jumppoint stations, would not improve our position. No Jacksonian is to be trusted. Run and jump as fast as we can is still the safest strategy.”

“Bharaputra won’t swing Jumpstation Five into line, it’s Fell-owned.”

“Yes, but I want to return to Escobar. The clones can all get safe asylum there.”

“Look, Miles, the jump back on this route is held by the consortium already dominated by Bharaputra. We’ll never get back out the way we jump in, unless you’ve got something up your sleeve—no? Then may I suggest our best escape route is via Jumppoint Five.”

“Do you really see Fell as so reliable an ally?” he inquired cautiously.

“Not at all. But he is the enemy of our enemies. This trip.”

“But the jump from Five leads to the Hegen Hub. We can’t jump into Cetagandan territory, and the only other route out of the Hub is to Komarr via Pol.”

“Roundabout, but much safer.”

Not for me! That’s the damned Barrayaran Empire! He swallowed a wordless shriek.

“The Hub to Pol to Komarr to Sergyar and back to Escobar,” Thorne recited happily. “You know, this could really work out.” It made more notes, leaning across the comconsole, its nightgown shifting and shimmering in the candy lights of the vid display. Then it put its elbows on the console and rested its chin in its hands, breasts compressing, shifting beneath the thin fabric. Its expression grew gently introspective. It glanced up at him at last with an odd, rather sad smile.

“Have any clones ever escaped?” Thorne asked softly.

“No,” he answered quickly, automatically.

“Except for your own clone, of course.”

A dangerous turn in the conversation. “My clone did not escape either. He was simply removed by his purchasers.” He should have tried to escape … what life might he have led, had he succeeded?

“Fifty kids,” Thorne sighed. “Y’know—I really approve of this mission.” It waited, watching him with sharp and gleaming eyes.

Acutely uncomfortable, he suppressed an idiocy such as saying Thank you, but found himself with no remark to put in its place, resulting in an awkward silence.

“I suppose,” said Thorne thoughtfully after the too-long moment, “it would be very difficult for anyone brought up in such an environment to really trust … anyone else. Anyone’s word. Their good will.”

“I … suppose.” Was this casual conversation, or something more sinister? A trap …

Thorne, still with that weird mysterious smile, leaned across their station chairs, caught his chin in one strong, slender hand, and kissed him.

He did not know if he was supposed to recoil or respond, so did neither, in cross-eyed, panicked paralysis. Thorne’s mouth was warm, and tasted of tea and bergamot, silky and perfumed. Was Naismith screwing—this— too? If so, who did what to whom? Or did they take turns? And would it really be that bad? His terror heightened with an undeniable stirring of arousal. I believe I would die for a lover’s touch. He had been alone forever.

Thorne withdrew at last, to his intense relief, though only a little way, its hand still trapping his chin. After another moment of dead silence, its smile grew wry. “I shouldn’t tease you, I suppose,” it sighed. “There is a sort of cruelty in it, all things considered.”

It released him, and stood, the sensuous langour abruptly switched off. “Back in a minute.” It strode to its cabin washroom, sealing the door behind it.

He sat, unstrung and shaking. What the hell was that all about? And from another part of his mind, You could lose your damned virginity this trip, I bet, and from another, No! Not with that!

Had that been a test? But had he passed, or failed? Thorne had not cried out in accusation, nor called for armed back-up. Perhaps the captain was arranging his arrest right now, by comm link from the washroom. There was no place to run away, aboard a small ship in deep space. His crossed arms hugged his torso. With effort he uncrossed them, placed his hands on the console, and willed his muscles to uncoil. They probably won’t kill me. They’d take him back to the fleet and let Naismith kill him.

But no security squad broke down the door, and soon enough Thorne returned. Nattily dressed in its uniform, at last. It plucked the data cube from the comconsole, and closed its palm over it. “I’ll sit down with Sergeant Taura and this and do some serious planning, then.”

“Ah, yes. It’s time.” He hated to let the precious cube out of his sight. But it seemed he was still Naismith in Thorne’s eyes.

Thorne pursed its lips. “Now that it’s time to brief the crew, don’t you think it would be a good idea to put the Ariel on a communications blackout?”

An outstanding idea, though one he’d been afraid to suggest as too suspicious and strange. Maybe it wasn’t so unusual, on these covert ops. He’d had no certain idea as to when the real Naismith was supposed to return to the Dendarii fleet, but from the mercenaries’ easy acceptance of him, it had to have been expected soon. He’d lived for the past three days in fear of frantic orders arriving by tight-beam and Jump-courier from the real Admiral, telling the Ariel to turn around. Give me a few more days. Just a few more days, and I’ll redeem it all. “Yes. Do so.”

“Very good, sir.” Thorne hesitated. “How are you feeling, now? Everybody knows these black miasmas of yours can run for weeks. But if only you’ll rest properly, I trust you’ll be your usual energetic self in time for the drop mission. Shall I pass the word to leave you alone?”

“I … would appreciate that, Bel.” What luck! “But keep me informed, eh?”

“Oh, yes. You can count on me. It’s a straightforward raid, except for handling that herd of kids, in which I defer to your superior expertise.”

“Right.” With a smile and a cheery salute, he fled across the corridor to the safe isolation of his own cabin. The pulsing combination of elation and his tension headache made him feel as if he were floating. When the door sealed behind him, he fell across his bed and gripped the coverings to hold himself in place. It’s really going to happen!

Later, diligently scanning ship’s logs on his cabin comconsole, he finally found the four-year-old records of the Ariel’s previous visit to Jackson’s Whole. Such as they were. They started out with utterly boring details about an ordnance deal, inventory entries regarding a cargo of weapons to be loaded from House Fell’s orbital transfer station. Completely without preamble, Thorne’s breathless voice made a cryptic entry, “Murka’s lost the Admiral. He’s being held prisoner by Baron Ryoval. I’m going now to make a devil’s bargain with Fell.”

Then records of an emergency combat drop shuttle trip downside, followed by the Ariel’s abrupt departure from Fell Station with cargo only half loaded. These events were succeeded by two fascinating, unexplained conversations between Admiral Naismith, and Baron Ryoval and Baron Fell, respectively. Ryoval was raving, sputtering exotic death threats. He studied the Baron’s contorted, handsome face uneasily. Even in a society that prized ruthlessness, Ryoval was a man whom other Jacksonian power-brokers stepped wide around. Admiral Naismith appeared to have stepped right in something.