FM Busby Long View 7 Rebel's Quest

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agree you have the right not to answer. And so do I. "
Without intent, he found himself smiling. "We lift day after tomorrow, around
sunset. Bring your gear aboard two hours early. No time for last-minute stuff;
you see?"
"I understand. " So Tregare nodded and led the two people to the door, where
the guard waited to take them down off the ship.
Then Bran sat down and poured himself a drink. Thinking, this Obrigo was a
wild card he hadn't asked to be dealt. Was she an agent of Erikas? In that
case, what would she want?
Oh hell, Erika's long dead.
But her daughter would carry the same genes, the same aims. Yet how could
anybody know he'd come here?
In the Long View, a rendezvous planned by only one side simply couldn't
happen. But still...
His suspicions made no sense; he knew that, but couldn't shake them loose. His
parents, on
Number One where he was going next: no, there was simply no way they could be
involved.
Could they...
His hand moved, as if to brush away cobwebs of fear. This was all garbage; it
was the woman herself who bothered him. Something familiar there: not only
movement but appearance yet he couldn't place her. Chance resemblance,
probably but who? Damn, if he could be his real self again, not this
stretched-out wreck, he'd put her in her place fast enough, and show her what
uppity really meant. Or did he really want to do that... ?
Hell with it; he polished off his drink and went upship, back to work.
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The next two days went hectic; when Obrigo showed up he was arguing some
mistakes with groundside suppliers. He didn't have to argue; he could say "go
to hell, " and lift off. But he rather liked the idea of Far Corner as a
buffer between UET and the Hidden Worlds, so he kept patience beyond his wont.
Only at the edge of vision did he notice Obrigo climb to the entrance deck,
and Chira go to meet her. He'd told Chira to greet Tari Obrigo, feed her some
coffee or whatever in the galley, and take her to captain's digs. Chira, he
noticed, didn't offer to help carry the passengers luggage. Well, maybe that
could be a good start. After a while he disengaged the argument without too
much prejudice, and went to see how
Chira was doing.
* * *
The door to his quarters was open; he heard Obrigo say, "Why must I carry my
gear from one place to another, where I will not be staying?"
Entering, standing behind her, he said, "You're staying here, Ms. Obrigo. The
rest of the ship is full. "
Chira yelled, "Yeah? Where I go?" When he laughed, saying she could stay right
here and
they'd all have lots of fun, she spat. "I don't do that stuff. I
don't. "
"Neither do I, " said Obrigo. "Do not worry" And to Tregare, "I have bought
passage only that. Or else I leave this ship. "
The whole ploy had got out of hand, but he was stuck with it. Well, sooner or
later he had to test the limits; why not start now? He reached out, clenched a
hand in her hair, shaking her head slowly from side to side. "Nobody's getting
off and you stay here. Don't crap me how you don't do this or that, either; I
know the Hulzein training program. You got it?"
Her only reaction was to say, "Let go of my hair. "
He did; she hand-brushed it back from her face, and said, "Erika has more than
one training program. "
"I know, " he said, and left quarters for Control. It was time for lift, and
time to see if he could do it.
Liftoff went well enough; bent out of shape Tregare might be, but still
functioning. He set course for Number One, waited until Tinhead confirmed that
aim and accel were correct within limits of acceptable error, then went
downship to quarters.
Tari Obrigo and Chira must have been getting chummy; when he came in they
moved farther apart. Chira had a guilty look to her, and Bran noticed a couple
of nearly-empty shotsized glasses. So they'd been at his best booze, too. All
right...
Where to push it? The passengers luggage. "Inspection time, " he said, and saw
Obrigo hesitate before she opened the bags to him. He searched quickly,
determined that there were no hidden compartments of any size, and came up
with a lockbox. "Open it. "
She shook her head. "That is private Hulzein business. "
And when he said that he was in a lot of Hulzein business himself, she claimed
she had no authority in this matter and couldn't even open the thing, herself.
He didn't buy it. "You almost lie like a Hulzein but not quite. "
"Believe what you wish. I cannot oblige you. "
He looked at the box and recognized its mechanism a photolock, keyed to its
bearer's retinal patterns. With one hand to her nape he brought the lock to
her eyes. "Keep 'em open. "
But the lock didn't yield. He let her go. "Well, I've opened photolocks
before. "
"If you try this one, do it somewhere else. Or let me out of here and Chira,
also. "
"Booby-trapped, is it? Fine you can tell me how. " "You know Erika better than
that, if you know her at all.
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Would she allow me to be a possible weak link?" And finally she convinced him
she didn't know. So he might as well drop the matter.
He said as much, adding, "If you can't open it yourself, I don't have to worry
you've got a weapon in there. "
Eyes slitted, she laughed. "Is that what you were afraid of?" "Afraid?" While [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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