though that seemed fairly unlikely.
He could only wait, considering what might be likely to happen to him. Concord Administrators were people of tremendous power. Just the presence of one in the system would make all the powers moving there pause for a moment and wonder just what it meant. He might be here to try me and have me shot, Gabriel thought. I guess some of the higher-ups in Star Force and the marines might have insisted on something like this, since the trial on Phorcys didn't go the way they wanted. But the more he considered this, the less likely it seemed. By and large, one of the things the Concord did not do was waste energy, and sending a Concord Administrator after him would be like hitting a bug with a sledgehammer. So what is he doing here? Gabriel thought. If I'm an afterthought-or perhaps a minor distraction-what brings him to these parts all of a sudden?
The gig came to ground with a slight thump, and the marines got up and escorted Gabriel to the door that opened for them. He stepped down and saw that they were in the shuttle bay of a ship, enough like Falada 's to be one of her twins. Right. Schmetterling, then, he thought as the Marines escorted him down through the clean (and surprisingly empty) white halls.
They turned right suddenly into a doorway that opened for them, and Gabriel found himself looking into a small meeting room. It was a very plain place, table and chairs and nothing else but a window on the stars and a man looking out of it. The man turned as Gabriel stepped in and the doors shut behind him. The man standing before the window was not very tall, bald on top, a little thickset, dressed in a plain dark tunic and breeches, standard business wear on many worlds where humans worked. But the strongest of the first impressions was of the eyes. They were close set and small. They were very lively, very acute, and rather chill. The mind living behind them was not a kindly one, Gabriel thought, but neither was it cruel, just pitiless when it knew what it wanted and saw it in sight. The face was one with a lot of smile lines, but any smile appearing there would be subordinate to those eyes and the thought they held.
Right now they were looking at Gabriel with bright interest. The interest shocked him a little. Certainly this man knew who he was, what he had been accused of.
'Gabriel Connor,' the man said. It was not a question.
'Obviously,' Gabriel said, 'and you are?'
'Lorand Kharls.'
They looked at each other for a moment 'So you're 'the big man,' ' said Gabriel then.
Kharls looked at him. 'Some nicknames just seem to stick,' he said. 'Will you sit down, sir, or shall we conduct this entire interview standing?'
' 'Interview'?' Gabriel asked. 'Am I applying for a position? I don't recall filling out any forms.' He stepped to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Kharls moved to sit down opposite him. 'You didn't,' answered Kharls. 'Do you have any idea why I asked to see you?'
'My first thought was that you were going to take me back to Concord space for trial,' Gabriel said, 'or possibly try me now, since as a Concord Administrator where you are is justice.'
Kharls looked at him with an expression that was more than usually unsettling, mostly because Gabriel couldn't make anything of it at all. 'And how would you feel about that?' Kharls asked.
Gabriel opened his mouth and closed it, then said, 'I'm not ready yet.'
''Yet'?' Kharls said.
'I don't have any of the evidence I need to clear my name,' said Gabriel.
'Ah,' Kharls said. 'Your claim during your trial that you didn't know what the chip was for.'
'I thought I did,' Gabriel said, 'but I was wrong. I had no idea that it would trigger explosives that would cost my shipmates' lives.'
Kharls looked thoughtful for a moment. 'Even if that were true,' he said, 'you would still be guilty as an accessory to manslaughter.'
'An unwitting accessory,' Gabriel replied, 'yes. Certainly not knowing what you were doing counts for something in a court of law.' He swallowed and said, 'Believe me, I grieve for my shipmates. I'm willing to stand trial-but not before I have enough evidence to give me a fighting chance at acquittal and to find out who the real murderer is.'
'You might never collect that much evidence,' Kharls said.
'Maybe. 'Never' is quite a while,' Gabriel returned. 'I'll do what I have to do.'
Kharls gazed at the floor for a couple of moments, then said, 'What if I were to suggest to you that, under certain circumstances, that evidence might be made available to you?'
Gabriel's heart leaped inside him. He worked desperately to keep anything from showing in his face.
'What kind of circumstances?'
'Your knowledge of the Thalaassa system's situation,' Kharls said after a moment, 'was unusually complete according to Ambassador Delvecchio, and your analyses were unusually sharp for someone brought new to the problem.'
Her notes, Gabriel thought, and a great rush of hope welled up in him. 'Did they find her notes? Did she-'
Kharls held up a finger. Gabriel fell silent. 'There are forces moving in the outer reaches of the Thalaassa system that the Concord doesn't understand,' Kharls said, 'and that it must understand for the security of the surrounding systems.'
'You need intelligence,' Gabriel said softly. The images of the little ships that had attacked Sunshine, and of the big ship that came up out of drivespace and looked at them before vanishing again, were vivid in his mind.
'Yes,' Kharls said. 'I'm asking you to serve the Concord with something besides a gun.' The phrasing went right through Gabriel with the same heat and pain that a plasma beam might have. 'You want me,' Gabriel said slowly, 'to do the same kind of thing that got me cashiered? And you're offering-what?'
'A shortened sentence,' Kharls said. 'Manslaughter, even with extenuating circumstances, requires some punishment, and a limited pardon afterwards.' ' 'Limited'? You think that I-'
'Reinstatement of certain privileges,' said Kharls. 'Your pension rights and so forth. Limited-' 'No.'
'Don't you even want to know what you would be doing?' Kbarls asked.
'No, because already you're not offering enough,' Gabriel answered, glaring at the man. 'If you have this evidence you claim to have, justice requires that you produce it at my trial. Justice is supposed to be your whole duty as a Concord Administrator-'
' 'Our duty is peace,' ' Kharls said. 'Justice is never forgotten, but sometimes it may have to wait in line.'
'Oh, so you can dangle it over my head and make me jump?' Gabriel said, bitter. 'Maybe Elinke's opinion of you was right after all.'
Kharls's eyebrows went up at that. 'You've seen Captain Dareyev recently?'
'Your intelligence-gathering does need help,' Gabriel remarked softly. 'Just what is it I'm supposed to be finding out for you?'
'I'm not sure that's a discussion we should have until we have an agreement in place,' Kharls said.
'Oh. So I'm to do a job I won't be told about until I've already agreed to payment that may be wildly inadequate for the service rendered?' Gabriel said and laughed out loud. 'Do you just think I'm unusually stupid or just a glutton for punishment? Sorry, Administrator. Find another fool. This one's busy at the moment.'
Gabriel got up and was turning to go.
'Connor,' the Concord Administrator said.
There was something odd about the note in his voice. Not quite entreaty-Gabriel suspected that such a thing would come very hard to this man. Gabriel turned.
'You may not be a marine any more,' Kharls said, 'but when you enlisted, you took certain oaths. 'To protect the Concord and the peace of her peoples against all threats overt and covert, public and private.'' 'As you say,' Gabriel said, 'I'm not a marine any more.'
'The Concord may have the power to kick you out of the Service,' Kharls said, 'but it has no power to absolve you of the oaths you swore. Only the Power to which you swore them has that authority.' He put his eyebrows up. 'Heard anything from that quarter lately?'
Gabriel could only stare at the man's sheer effrontery. 'When I do,' he said at last, 'you'll be the second to know. Is there anything else?'
