“Ser Chairman…?”
Chairman Inaru glanced toward Mitsui. “I believe the director has been most responsive to your inquiry and to his responsibilities to the Coalition. Our past investigations have shown the overall cost-effectiveness of IIS to be quite high. That is especially true in terms of the information provided continually to the committee.” Inaru turned back to Van. “You do intend to continue the reporting practices of your predecessor?”
“I could not imagine doing otherwise, ser Chairman.”
Van had the feeling that the hearing was going to be very long, and that he would end up answering many of the same questions, again and again, if in slightly different words amounting to the same response. He smiled politely and waited.
Chapter 78
The Salya slid into the docking tower at Aerolis, kissing into position without so much as a click or a muted thump.
“Excellent docking.” Van unstrapped from the second seat and looked at Nynca. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” She smiled wryly. “I may not say that after this tour you’ve scheduled for me. You did Gramps proud.”
“I gave you the ones you knew,” Van protested. “You were the one—the planning director—who told me that we needed to reestablish the offices that the Revenants had forced shut as soon as possible and reopen—”
“Laren and the legal staff said it was necessary to claim what assets we could and to ensure we didn’t get charged with effective abandonment or neglect.”
“Always the legalities.” Van shook his head. “Never what’s right.”
“The advocates don’t like ethics, Van,” she said quietly. “They’re too dangerous. Legal codes are more predictable.”
“Only when they’re backed by ethics and power.”
“They don’t like to remember that,” she pointed out.
“Most don’t.” Van smiled wanly as he reclaimed the duffel and the small carry bag filled with datacards necessary to update the information on the Joyau’s shipnet. “Alya and I will clear out and leave you to your tasks.”
“You have the harder ones.”
In some ways, he did, Van reflected, but Nynca had more stops to make.
Mason Jynko was waiting for Van and Alya in the docking tower beyond the lock.
“Director…we had more to do on her than on the Salya…but she’s ready now.”
“Good.” Van slung the carry bag over his shoulder and followed the ship contractor hand over hand down the tube.
They took another tube to the third docking tower and climbed back up to the locks joining the Joyau and the tower.
There, Jynko stopped and looked at Van. “We’ve managed to incorporate the standing wave equipment by cutting a meter off the port rear cabin and half a meter out of the hold. It’s not like a satellite-based system, ser. Your receiver is just as sensitive, but—”
“I know,” Van replied. “I read the specs you sent. What you’re telling me is that the transmitter’s only good for very short bursts, and that I’ve got to be in jump areas for it to work at all, and it will take all the power of the fusactors for five minutes—poured into that special accumulator.”
“That’s about it, ser. It was tough working out the reverse flow from that.”
That had been one of Van’s ideas. If he had to have another accumulator, he wanted to be able to throw the power back into the ship’s drives or shields, if necessary. In effect, the additional power would hold the shields another three minutes against a dreadnought. What good three minutes might do…Van didn’t know, but he’d seen how power cross-connections had worked for Trystin and later for the Joyau.
“As you ordered, ser,” Jynko said, “we’ve stored the boxes that were in the cargo hold in the conditioned warehouse space.”
“I’ve told Joe to expect the billing,” Van replied. “Compared to the cost of refurbishing the Joyau, it won’t be much, but I need them kept safe.”
“We understand, ser. We’ve been supporting IIS for over a century.”
Van nodded. “Everything checks out?”
“Yes, ser.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Van pulsed the ship lock open and stepped inside. He could smell the odors of fresh coatings, and electrical work.
Even before he reached his stateroom, where he stowed his gear, he had linked to the ship and was running his own diagnostics. Even as Jynko had promised, everything checked.
Alya had made for the tech spaces.
Still, it was almost two hours before Van was ready to delock.
From the second seat, Alya, olive-skinned, green-eyed, and willowy, despite also being nearly as old as Van and having raised two children, looked at him.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For agreeing to be your tech? I like the job. I like IIS. I like working with you.” She smiled. “You told me where we were going…but not in what order.”
“I’ve had a few things on my mind.” Van grinned sheepishly. “The Farhkan system—Dharel—first. Then Keshmara, Meroe in the Kushite Association, and a long list of small places, but the order after Meroe depends on what happens as we go. We have a lot of offices to investigate and rebuild.” After he talked to the Farhkans—if they would talk to him.
Van squared himself in the command seat. “We might as well get on with it.”
A-prime, this is Joyau, ready to delock this time. Van checked the locks and seals, then the ship’s power, before dropping the internal grav to nil.
Joyau, you’re cleared to delock and depart.
Stet. Delocking. Will maintain low-power departure.
Thanks, Commander. Like to keep those towers for a few more years.
Van laughed. Like to see them when we get back.
He used the barest touch of the steering jets to ease the Joyau away from the tower and the asteroid to which it was attached. The monitors still indicated a heightened level of Coalition warships in the Perdyan system, and a lesser amount of commercial travel.
Once the ship was headed out-system and well clear of the Belt
