The Aftermath

It had taken two months for Yuan to track down Hunter, which he had released after taking Dorn and Elverda aboard his own Viking. After seeing the artifact, Yuan realized that he had to return the sculptress and her cyborg companion to their own ship and let them find their own destinies among the asteroids.

Yuan still bore a scar from Tamara’s knifing; he refused to allow nanotherapy to remove the scar. Something to show my grandchildren, he thought. A reminder of the wrong path I was on.

Dorn recovered, albeit slowly, from his chest wound, thanks to stem cell therapy. Tamara’s crushed fingers had healed completely. Yuan made it clear to the crew that she was a prisoner; she had free rein of the ship, except for the bridge. She was not permitted to communicate with headquarters.

“When Humphries finds out what you’ve done,” she warned, time and again.

Yuan would simply shake his head, grinning. It doesn’t matter what Humphries threatens, he told himself. I’ve seen where my life leads. I’ll get through this, one way or another.

At last Yuan found Elverda’s ship under tow by Vogeltod, heading for Ceres. Vogeltod’s skipper, Valker, had graciously welcomed them aboard his vessel and brought them to his own quarters to discuss the situation.

Valker sat behind his oversized desk, smiling handsomely at his two visitors. Elverda smiled back, a little uncertainly, from her perch on the recliner. Yuan, wearing a crisply clean uniform with captain’s stripes on its cuffs, was sitting on the edge of Valker’s bunk, the only other available seat in the jam-packed compartment.

“You’re Elverda Apacheta,” Valker said, more of a statement than a question.

“Yes. I am the owner of the Hunter.”

“You’re a very famous woman,” Valker said, his smile going even brighter. “I looked you up. I’ve never met a sculptress before. I’m honored to have you aboard my ship.”

She smiled back at him. “You are very gracious.”

“No, not at all.” Valker’s smile turned almost shy. Then he suggested, “Why don’t we have some refreshments while we’re talking? It’s almost dinner time.”

“I’d like to get this settled as quickly as we can,” Yuan said.

“We have an injured man aboard Captain Yuan’s ship,” Elverda said. “I don’t want to leave him for very long.”

“I see,” said Valker. “Okay. Let’s talk business. When we found Hunter she was drifting and abandoned. That makes her a derelict, according to IAA regulations. We took claim of her and we’re bringing her back to Ceres.”

Elverda objected, “But she’s not salvage—”

“No, she’s not,” Valker agreed, stopping her with an upraised hand. “But she was a derelict and we have a legal right to sell her for the best price we can get.”

“I am her owner,” Elverda said.

“You were her owner, dear lady. Now she’s my property. Mine, and my crew’s.”

Yuan said, “I’m not sure the courts at Ceres would agree with you.”

With a laugh, Valker replied, “That’s what makes horse races. And why we have lawyers.”

“But I don’t want to travel all the way back to Ceres,” Elverda objected.

Valker said, “Then make me an offer.”

“An offer?”

“Right here and now. How much are you willing to pay for the ship?”

Elverda glanced at Yuan, then said, “But I have no money.”

“She’s worth at least half a bill,” said Valker.

“I have no money,” Elverda repeated.

Valker sighed. “Then I guess we’ll have to go to Ceres.”

Yuan gripped the edge of the bunk’s mattress, thinking hard. I could accept his decision and go back to Viking with Elverda. Or I could return to my ship and then blast this scavenger into a cloud of hot plasma and retake Hunter for her. I could. It would be easy. But what would the consequences be? You already have to deal with Tamara and probably Humphries. You’re already in deep trouble. How can you reach your proper path in life if you continue to live by violence?

The artifact had changed Yuan, profoundly altered his outlook on life by showing him a goal, a path, a tao that he yearned deeply to achieve. He thought about consequences now. He looked farther ahead in time than he had ever done before, and realized that until he had seen the artifact he had been merely zigzagging through life, bouncing from one event to the next, jittering like a dust mote being pushed and jostled by the forces around it, with neither control nor care about what happened next. Now he looked ahead, as far into the future as he could. He knew his life would end happily. But how to get to that destiny? That was his problem.

Valker saw the look on Yuan’s face. He had seen it before and knew what it meant: trouble, big time. The man was determined to help this old lady, and he had a fully armed attack ship at his command.

“Isn’t there some way…” Elverda began, but her plaintive question died in her throat before she could finish it.

“What were you using the ship for?” Valker asked. He had seen from the IAA registry that there was no crew listed, only one other person aboard the vessel, somebody named Dorn. A priest, according to the records. But there was no dossier on the man. His history was a complete blank.

“It’s a personal mission,” said Elverda, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

“Personal?” Valker’s smile turned doubtful. “You mean you don’t want to talk about it?”

Elverda seemed to struggle within herself for a few heartbeats. Then she said, “I am assisting Dorn.”

“The priest.”

“Yes. His objective is to find the bodies of those who were killed in the wars and left to drift through the Belt.”

Valker blinked at her. “Salvage dead bodies?”

“To give them proper funeral rites,” said Elverda. “I know it seems outlandish, but—”

Leaning back in his big desk chair, Valker said, “Not at all outlandish. I understand salvage. Families must be willing to pay handsomely to have the bodies of their dead returned to them.”

“It’s not for money,” Elverda said. “We never even thought of that. We simply give them final rites, as they deserve.”

With a low whistle, Valker steepled his fingers in front of his face, thinking hard. They’re two nutcases, this old woman and her priest. Wandering around the Belt picking up bodies. To give them funeral rites? That’s weird. She could be lying, of course. There could be something else in this.

“I see,” he said at last. Leaning forward, he placed both his big hands on the desktop. “Okay. You’re involved in something that’s… it’s religious, isn’t it?”

Elverda nodded slowly.

“Okay. I won’t stand in your way. You can have your ship.”

Elverda gasped. “I can?”

Yuan asked, “For how much?”

“Nothing. For free. A gift from Captain Valker and his crew.”

“Do you mean it?” Elverda seemed on the verge of tears.

“Of course I mean it,” Valker said, getting to his feet and coming around the massive desk. “Hunter is all yours. And maybe you can get your priest to say a prayer for me and my crew. Might do us some good.”

“Certainly! Of course!” Elverda rose, clasping her hands together in gratitude. “Bless you, Captain Valker.”

Yuan stood up too, his face showing more suspicion than appreciation.

Valker walked them from his compartment to the airlock, where Viking and Vogeltod were mated together. Elverda kept thanking him and he acted as if almost embarrassed by her gratitude. As he saw them through the airlock, Valker thought that it would be simple to hand over Hunter to them and then have all three ships go their separate ways. Once he was sure that Yuan’s Viking was safely out of the picture he could always track down Hunter and retake it. Without falling under the guns of Viking.