“That was supposed to be us,” said Tal, with more than a little smugness. “I managed to lie to the traffic net.” Spider relaxed a little, then said, “Do you think there were any people on board?”
“I wouldn’t know,” said Tal. “I chose it for location.” He went back to the controls, attaching their new course for the Diamond military port, an area of docking that would be better able to protect them if anyone in Opal woke up. A few moments later he said, “No. It was a drone. Listed here as cargo.” Suddenly he laughed. “Listen to this—it’s on the manifest as carrying gold bathroom fixtures for Lord Cardinal Amo’s residence.”
“How about that?” said Spider. “They’re wrong, you do have a sense of humor.”
Tal blinked. “ Humor is not one of the things I lack.”
“Gold bath fixtures,” said Spider, then he whistled. “Some poor fool in Weapons is going to be in trouble tomorrow.”
“Would you rather us than him?”
“No, but I can sympathize.”
Tal looked around. The only other person there was Gabriel, who was sitting in the comer trying to be inconspicuous. “What’s become of Ennis the Disliked?”
“He’s down in the hold with the cadets. And Keylinn.”
Tal looked faintly startled. “Find out if he’s still alive. I wanted to ask him some questions.”
Spider glanced at Gabriel and vanished down the stairs. A minute later he returned, looking pale.
“Well?” asked Tal.
“He’s alive. I gave them your message.”
“What’s the matter with you?”
Spider swallowed. “He was unconscious when I went down. They were arguing about what to do with him. Tal, I don’t think the Graykey are people we ever want to offend.”
“So I understand.”
“If you let them have him, I don’t want to know about it.”
“All right.”
Spider looked over at Gabriel. “Don’t you have anything to do?”
“No,” said Gabriel.
“And there’s another thing,” said Spider. “What do you intend to do with this cargo? Toss him on the Station? We don’t have the money to support him. Take him to the Diamond? He doesn’t have papers.”
“Adrian owes me a favor,” said Tal.
“Fine, fine, why worry.”
There was a sound of footsteps on the stairs to the hold, and Keylinn appeared. Tommy came up behind her, and she put an arm around his waist. Tal turned in his seat to watch.
“Tal,” she said, “I’d like to formally present Tommy O’Malley, my …” She hesitated in translating. “My cousin three times removed on my mother’s side. I think that’s how you say it. Tommy, my tarethi-din. May you both be friends, for the sake of contract-sanity and by my own wishes.”
Tal stood. “What should I do?” he asked.
“Bow,” said Keylinn.
They both bowed, and Tal said, “A relative, eh? I should have recognized the marks.”
Keylinn was puzzled. “We don’t look alike, except for the hair.”
“I meant the affinity for explosives. So far as I’m concerned, Tommy … we’re friends.”
Tommy’s ugly face grinned. “On my part, too.” He took out a silver flask and swallowed from it. Then he offered it to Tal. “Your enemies are my enemies,” he said, adding, “insofar as it’s practical.”
Keylinn was glad to see that Tal recognized a ritual when he saw it, and accepted a drink from Tommy’s flask. It would have been unfortunate otherwise. “We have to get Spider into this now,” she said.
The head of another Graykey cadet appeared at the hatchway stairs and said, “Oh, that’s not necessary, sister. Spider’s been drinking from our flasks for days. He’s blood-tied to practically everybody here.”
Spider looked up at this statement and appeared horrified.
They disembarked in the military docking area on the Diamond. Keylinn, her arm again around Tommy’s waist, said, “I guess this is where you guys flap your arms and fly home under your own power.”
She exchanged kisses with the other cadets. A boy who’d said once that he was captain of the Herons wiped tears from his eyes and said to Tal, “Will you formally release us early, sir? We have twenty-three minutes left.” He pulled out a lace handkerchief and blew his nose sentimentally.
“How will you be getting home?” asked Tal.
The cadet gave a smile of engaging shyness. “Well, we were hoping to trespass on your hospitality for a lift to Baret Station. We can hitch on any craft you have going that way.”
“Easily done,” said Tal. He added, “I release you.” Cheers came from some of the cadets. “A gathrid,” Tal heard one say, “and we still made it out alive!” The captain of the Herons waved a hand in Gabriel’s direction and said, “Would you like us to take him along? We can probably find something for him to do at home.”
Gabriel looked alarmed. He circled behind Tal. “No! I’m staying with you, aren’t I?”
“I’m staying on the Diamond,” said Tal.
“Fine,” said Gabriel.
The cadet shrugged. “So be it.” He joined the other Graykey, who were consulting the Diamond traffic net for the next ship to Baret Station.
“Relax,” said Keylinn to Gabriel. “No one will interfere with your fate.”
He still looked wary. Tal called, “Spider! Take our new possession to the office and tuck him in on the sofa. He looks tired.”
“He’s not the only one,” said Spider as he joined them. “And you might want to give some thought to creating papers for him, just in case.”
Spider glared briefly at Tal, then gave Keylinn a quick, shy kiss on the cheek. “Welcome back. Come along, you,” he said to Gabriel, and he started walking away. Gabriel hesitated, then followed.
“We’ll have to stop at my mother’s,” she heard Spider’s voice as if faded in the distance. “She’ll be worried that I missed my visit. Do you like cookies?”
“You’ve made a conquest,” said Keylinn. She paused, looking uncomfortable, then said, “I wasn’t sure you would come. I thought it might be politically embarrassing for Adrian.”
Tal smiled, not nicely. “All of this happened off the books. When next we meet the Lord Cardinal, it will be business as usual. So much for human politics in action.”
“Except that now
