I waved an arm in the direction of the alley so narrow we would have to turn sideways to pass between the buildings on either side. Without hesitating, Stone went first. I noticed that she had again loosed the front of her cape for quick access to the knives. She was no fool and she was ready to fight if this was an ambush. She was ready to fight any who attacked her, including me.
I said soothingly, “Just move right on through into the backyard.”
Stone moved without looking back. That perhaps scared me more than if she had objected. Her confidence was supreme.
When we were clear of the narrow space, I pointed to the patched and faded canvas material strung between three trees. “There. Sorry for the way it looks.”
Captain Stone slowed, then turned and faced me. “I thought it might take weeks to find you. I’m sorry if I’m not as prepared for this meeting as I should be, however, let’s get a few things straight between us.”
I nodded without comment.
“I’m not here to harm you in any way and your secret is yours. I’ll never tell, no matter how our meeting turns out.”
I nodded again, not feeling the need for words. The woman had more to say.
Captain Stone waved an arm in the direction of the dilapidated tent. “Don’t be apologetic. I’ve lived in worse.”
That took me by surprise. My eyes flicked to the sagging tent with the rips and patches and wondered how it could be worse.
Stone said, “The reason I’m here is to make you an offer. Can we talk inside?”
“My friend, Bill, is in there.”
“Are you mated?”
I shook my head. Then tilted my chin up as I thought about that question a little more. We might not be mated, as she asked, but we were inseparable. “We’re friends. We look out for each other. Always have.”
“I admire that and respect it. Are you saying that whatever I offer to you will include Bill?”
“I haven’t had time to think about it, or know what your offer might be for me, but where I go, so does Bill. I mean, you don’t have to pay him, but we’re a kind of package deal—if I accept.”
Captain Stone gave a slight smile. “I value loyalty above almost all else, so my instincts tell me that if we work out a deal, your friend Bill will be part of it. And he will be paid for his contributions.”
“What about me?” Bert called out from his burrow in a voice sounding hurt or offended.
I shrugged and motioned to a hole I could crawl into located on the hillside near the entrance to our tent. “Do you have room for three in your offer?”
“Who and what was that?”
“Bert. I’m not sure what race he is, or sex, but since Bert is a male name, I call it he most of the time. We say he is a Digger because we don’t know any better or the name of his race. He lives in nearby burrows wherever Bill and I set up shop.”
Stone looked puzzled. “He’s underground now? How does he know what we talked about?”
“Very good ears. I mean, they are exceptional,” I said.
“Thank you,” Bert replied sincerely, his voice sounding hollow as it spilled from the tunnel entrance.
It was Stone’s turn to be confused. “Bert lives underground?”
“Oh, yes. I forgot that part. Bert, can you come up here and meet Captain Stone, or are you too busy?”
Bert’s voice drifted back. “Later. Right now, I’m intrigued by her and the ship called the Guardia, which seems to have gone missing a few tenths of time ago, according to the local star-port police. The wagering commission has placed a reward for knowledge of its whereabouts, and for that of Captain Stone. An interesting point, the Guardia didn’t exist until a solar year ago, yet while docked here, it purchased repair parts for a military transport ship of a kind in use a generation or two ago. An odd occurrence.”
“Who the hell is that and how does he know all that information about me?” Captain Stone snarled. A knife suddenly appeared in each hand.
“Relax, Captain. I told you he was very smart. Did I tell you that? Anyhow, he is. In a few tenths of time, he’ll know more about you than you do.”
“My history had been purged by the best software scrubbers,” she said, putting the knives away. “Nobody should know those things.”
“Including your history on the mining asteroid called Manger?” Bert asked, sounding as if he was intentionally irritating the captain.
“How could you possibly know I was on Manger?” Stone asked more calmly, as she considered possible ways Bert could know that information. She found none. Her eyes squinted in concentration, then explained her source of confusion. “The ship had a different name back then. I never divulged my name while there, so there is no way to know that information.”
Bert finally spoke up again, the sound of his voice emerging from another entrance to his warren, so he must have changed locations, “When you left Saffron with the yellow army on your tail, that was a logical place to go and rename your ship the Lady Empire. Knowing that, and the cargo you carried, your route was easy to trace.”
Captain Stone’s face was so red that it threatened to turn purple but for the green makeup. She flicked the knife in her left hand, “Inside the tent. Now.”
I walked. I tried to explain as I did, “He’ll still hear everything we say inside.”
“The tent is too far away from that tunnel. Besides, how can he possibly know those
