Alice hid a smile. For once, Bernie's lessons had been useful. "Can we catch up with him?"
"Yeah, but there's no point. He's not going to pull over for us, and I don't want to follow too close, either. He might decide to dump the evidence, if you know what I mean."
Alice did. "What if he jumps? What if he's not going to land on Vasquez at all?"
"If he was going to jump he'd have done it already." Teresa checked a display. "I'm going to fly right past him and orbit the planet until he arrives. Once I know which settlement he's chosen, I'll set down first. That won't look as suspicious, and we'll be ready for him on the ground."
"And then we'll storm his ship and get Harriet back."
Teresa glanced at her. "We might try negotiation first."
"We don't have anything to offer."
"He doesn't know that. You're Peace Force, and for all he knows you've got a command cruiser on the way to arrest his entire crew. We might be able to play on that."
Alice's eyebrows rose. "The Peace Force has cruisers?"
"Not in these parts, but it could be a good opening gambit. Rats like Smith will always run from a superior force."
"Yeah, but he'll stop running as soon as he checks his long range scanner."
"Don't worry about that." Teresa tapped the console. "The Navy stripped the guns when they sold this thing off, but they didn't take everything. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Teresa altered course a fraction, and eased the throttles forward. The engines rumbled, and their marker on the system map began to race towards Vasquez. They shot past the slower-moving red dot indicating Smith's ship, and before long the planetary disc started to grow in front of the fighter's nose.
Alice grinned. "To think I was supposed to be writing an essay on the rise of the Empire."
"That'd be useful in a gunfight," remarked Teresa.
"I know, right? I keep telling Bernie it's a total waste of time."
"Who's Bernie?"
"My nemesis," said Alice, with feeling.
"Is she with the Dismolle Peace Force too?"
"Are you kidding? She runs the Peace Force."
"Funny. I got the idea it was just you and Harriet." Teresa checked the displays, her face thoughtful. "Is there anyone else in the office?" she asked casually.
"Not really."
Teresa nodded, then turned her attention to the controls. She rolled the ship onto its back, aiming the nose just below the planet, and as they approached the atmosphere she pulled the stick back so the ship skimmed the atmosphere. Then she cut the thrusters, and they sped around the planet in a long, completely silent orbit. Above them, the stars shone bright and hard, like a thousand distant streetlights. "Hungry?" asked Teresa.
"Always."
"Okay. Sit there, I'll get some grub." Teresa undid her belts and strolled to the rear of the cabin, where she opened a locker and took out a couple of dull metal tins. She brought them back, handing one to Alice. Then took her seat, balanced the tin on her knees and peeled the lid back.
Alice did the same, and her stomach rumbled at the smell of hot stew.
"Here, take a look at this," said Teresa, and she eased the stick over gently. The side thrusters jetted, briefly, and the ship slowly rolled onto its back. Vasquez swam into view, incredibly close, and Alice stared at the huge expanses of land and ocean.
They sat there in silence, eating the hot food with the huge, gleaming planet laid out before them. Alice couldn't remember doing anything so cool in her entire life.
Chapter 19
Slowly, the crew member raised his hands, still clutching the thinscreen. Harriet snatched it off him and tossed it on the bunk.
"D-don't shoot," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"How many on board?" demanded Harriet, pressing the gun harder into his back.
"Four crew plus the captain. Supposed to be a dozen mercs, but they didn't make it back before we took off."
Harriet smiled grimly. She could thank Bernie for that.
"Wh-what are you going to do with me? I just look after the engines, I didn't have nothing to do with—"
"Shut it." In the ensuing silence, Harriet wondered exactly what she was going to do with him. She could probably tie him to the bunk, but he'd shout for help the moment she left. She couldn't knock him out with the gun, not without risking killing him. She might have the power settings wrong, and the shot could easily go right through the man … and even the ship's hull. That only left one choice, and with a determined expression, she explained.
"I can't!" protested the man. "Tyron … you don't know him. He'll kill me!"
"You think I wouldn't?" growled Harriet, praying he didn't say yes.
"I-I don't know."
"I'm an officer in the Peace Force," said Harriet, grinding the muzzle into his spine. "I shoot people like you for spitting in the street."
He swallowed audibly. "A-all right, all right. I'll do what you say."
"Good choice. And if you try anything—"
"Don't worry, I got it. I won't give you any trouble, I swear. I—I got family back home."
Harriet felt a flash of remorse, but she crushed it quickly. If he cared about his family so much he shouldn't be working with Tyron Smith, or helping to kidnap Peace Force officers. "Lead the way."
They left the cabin, turning towards the flight deck. At first, Harriet had considered going to the engine bay and shooting the damn things, stranding the ship. She couldn't see any point to it, though, since she'd heard Smith planning a return to Dismolle. No, all she had to do was take charge, so that when they landed on Dismolle she was still on board, rather than floating around in deep space, frozen into a solid lump.
They made their way to the ladder she'd seen earlier, the one which lead upwards through a hole in the roof. As they approached she could hear muted beeps from the flight deck, interspersed
