A Larger Universe (32 page)

"Yes, Lord Tommy."

"Did Lord Ull give you that tunic, too?"

"Yes, she said your artisans wear this color, and you
would be pleased.  She also gave me your change of clothes."

"Well, I'm not pleased, and I need to talk to Ull about
you.  In the meantime, make yourself at home here.  I have work to do." 
Her odor was rank.  "And you might use the pool on the hill to clean up. 
You'll find soap there."

Her face became stiff.  Something he had said. 
Well, of
course.  The rancid odor is deliberate, a means of defense.  Still, she’s
fouling my quarters, even if I’m not here much.
 

"Let me say that again," he said.  "Use the
pool and soap, and get rid of the smell."

He couldn't mistake her body language.  She didn't want to
be here.  Well, he hadn't asked her to be here, either.

"What's your name?"

"Sisle"

And, because he thought she was, he said, "Sisle,
you're safe with me.  Just clean up.  We'll talk about this when I get back,
which may be tomorrow.  Oh, and I don't sleep here, so you can if you
want."  He looked at the chamber as if seeing it for the first time. 
These weren't ideal quarters for a human.  Where would someone sleep? 
"Make yourself at home," he finally said again.

He decided to have the discussion with Ull about Sisle later
and hurried to the elevators.  No point in thinking about her anyway.  He
wasn't a boy girls were attracted to.  Was she a girl or a woman?  She seemed
older than he, but he didn't know enough to tell.  A transit test was more
important.  That was something he could get his arms around.  Get his arms
around.  Why had he used that phrase?  Sweat trickled down his sides.  This wasn't
good.  He had too much going on right now to be distracted.

#   #   #

Director Neth had taken over as ship commander, and
The
People’s Hand
moved toward the third world from the star, where the People’s
ships would gather, using the insystem drive.  She didn’t object to the ship
making a short transit instead. 

They emerged near the third world.  As with the last
transit, this one was more accurate and quicker than it should have been but
that didn't prove anything.  Until the ship sold some of the extra mass being
carried in water storage, he was stuck with a theory but not enough data.

#   #   #

The first two times he woke that night, he was in a dream
about warrior women.  The third time was with an idea that had nothing to do
with the transit.  The hour was too late to go back to sleep and too early to
get breakfast. 
No matter
, he thought, as he pulled on his clothes,
I
need to verify something first.

When he told Ull he had plenty of computers available for
trade, he hadn't been considering the wireless access points.  He hadn't seen a
need to install them on other ships.  Now, he did see the need, if Ull was
right concerning his own safety and the safety of teams sent to other ships. 

The wireless nodes received transmissions directed at them
on the correct frequency.  That provided all kinds of possibilities.  The
distance the node could send a reply was limited to a few hundred feet, but
that could be solved once the new computers were installed with his slightly
modified programs.  If all of these ships were similar, he should be able to
hijack at least one radio transmitter.  First, he needed to talk with the
artisans from the Communications Guild who had helped him with the three-dimensional
viewer.  They should be able to detect the frequency of the wireless access
points.  Some parts of this idea had nothing to do with computers.  Maybe they
could help him with that, too, but how much to tell them might be a problem. 

He laughed to himself as he entered his warehouse. 
The
Trojan horse I’ve been building won't compare to the new one I have in mind. 
Why control one ship when I can control a fleet?
  He stopped laughing when
he realized he could only use this trick once. 
As soon as I reveal I’m
controlling the other ships, the Nesu on this ship will respond.  At that
moment I must be ready to take control of the Nesu Tol, too, and I’m a long way
from being ready.
  As he turned on the computer in the cubical his artisans
had built for him, he had another thought: 
And I’m not even sure I should.

#   #   #

As The People's ships arrived over the next three days,
Tommy worked to get his artisans ready.  Ull had assured him all of the ships
were built with the same plan.  Once they had a functional design, the builders
hadn't had enough resources or reason to change.  Even the plan of each deck
was the same.  Installing computers from Earth would be much easier the second
and third time, with a few minor changes to the programs, of course. 

One thing he didn't do during those three days was return to
his pond chamber.  When he finally talked with Ull about Sisle, he got nowhere.

"Someone with your status on this ship should have at
least one servant," she said.

Tommy's voice had a definite edge.  "Where are your
servants?"

"My servants are the two warrior sentries outside my
chambers.  I need no others until I have kits to care for."

"So why not a warrior for me, too?"

"Do you need protection from the other humans on this
ship?”  She made a discordant whistle.  “I thought not, but you might have
other needs."

"Other needs?  What other needs would I have?"

This time, Ull's whistle echoed through her chamber. 
"You are young.  It will come to you."  Her voice became serious. 
"If you reject her, she will be treated badly by her kin.  Your rejection
would also reflect on me.  Treat her as you will, but do me this favor and keep
her in your service."

#   #   #

The other ships entered the system more than twenty hours
away via insystem drive from the target planet.  One entered fifty hours away. 
A few of them tried short transits to get closer with varying luck.  As Ull had
explained it, the usual tactic was to make several short transits trying to get
closer.  The ship commander would stop and switch to insystem drive when she
felt no better margin of error could be achieved.  When the short transits
ended, the most distant ship was still thirty hours away and driving inward.

Tommy found Ull taking her turn as ship commander, lounging
in her command chair, her tail twitching behind her, and watching one of the
50-inch 3-D radar screens Tommy's artisans had installed near her platform. 
The goggles caused some undulating whistles the first day she wore them on
duty, but now every deck officer had a pair and took every opportunity to look
over her shoulders.  The astronomy section head had even proposed an
improvement that they quickly adopted.  The radar transmitter on a lander had
been exchanged with a ship-sized unit of longer range, and the lander moved out
fifty kilometers from the ship.  With the remote transmitter linked to one on
the ship, they could see with the resolution of eyes fifty kilometers apart.  A
joystick at the command chair turned the ship's gaze in any direction.  Ull had
admitted to Tommy that she enjoyed watching the other ships creep in; it gave
her a feeling of superiority.

"How do you feel about dramatic gestures?" Tommy
asked Ull.

"Dramatic gestures?"

"You have a word for drama, so you must know what I
mean.  Doing something for show."

"I understand.  To what purpose?"

"We have things to trade.  On Earth, bragging about
your products is a way to generate interest."

"That is also our way," Ull said.  "The
council has been discussing how to best display what you have done in order to
get the maximum return."

"May I make a suggestion?" Tommy asked.

Ull whistled.  "Will I be able to stop you?"

"If you are not interested," Tommy said.

"Yes, I will hear your suggestion,” Ull replied.  “You
are much too serious."

"What is the most valuable change we have made to your
ship?  What will generate the most in trade?" he asked.

"Restoring the living areas," she replied. 
"Almost every ship you see has the same problems we had before you
arrived."

"That may be true, but they will not see that unless
they visit the ship.  From the outside, the most spectacular change we have
made is the accuracy of our transit drive.  If they see that, they will want to
visit to see how we did it.  The other improvements will sell themselves."

Tommy finally saw an expression on Ull's otherwise immobile
face.  Her lips pulled back from her fangs in a way that, on Earth, would have
been called wolfish.  "Have I ever told you, wild Earthling, that I like
the way you think?"

Ten minutes later, the
Nesu Tol
emerged within fifty
kilometers of the nearest ship, moving in the same direction, but making no
attempt to match its acceleration.  A few minutes after that, they were near
the second closest ship.  Ull continued the game until every ship driving in
for the Gathering had been "tagged," then returned the
Nesu Tol
to the third planet and resumed orbit. 

"Is that what you had in mind?" she asked Tommy.

"Exactly."

"There is also another benefit," she said. 
"Any raider who discovers our next destination will hesitate to
follow."  She turned to listen to the sudden eruption of inquiries coming
from the radio.

#   #   #

By custom, no one traded until the third day of the
Gathering.  The People spent the first two days exchanging greetings and
visiting old friends and family on other ships without the pressure of
commerce.  Late in the evening of the third day, after all the visitors had
left and he could come out of hiding, Tommy decided five days without a bath
and swim was long enough.  Sisle could just go somewhere else until he
finished.

The door opened to his palm.

He put Potter down and called "Sisle?"  He got no
reply. 
Good, maybe she's out.  I’ll get my bath and swim and be on my way.
 
He had a pair of cutoff pants for the swim, but he would watch for her while he
was bathing.

He found her lying by the bathing pool, one hand trailing in
the water.  At first he thought she was asleep, but saying her name again
didn't rouse her.  Neither did a tentative touch to her shoulder.  He finally
gave her a firm shake to make her open her eyes.

She struggled to a seated position.  "You came back,
Lord Tommy,"

"Were you waiting for me?" was all he could think
to say.

"You locked me in, Lord Tommy."

"I did what?  How could I have done that?  You let
yourself in, didn't you?"

"No, Lord Tommy.  Lord Ull opened the door for me the
first day.  She said it would be up to you to give me access to the door."

"Can we drop the Lord Tommy stuff for now?"  He
understood.  "You haven't eaten in five days, have you?"

"No, Lord Tommy."

"I didn't know.  I wouldn't have done that.  Let's get
you some food."  He was almost stammering.

She lost her footing on the way down the hill and fell onto
his back, almost forcing them to the ground.  She stumbled again as they walked
to the door. 
She's too weak to get there on her own.  How am I going to
make this up to her?
  That she would never expect him to, didn't occur to
him.  He reached around her and put his hands under her forearms, ignoring her
protests.  Potter was nowhere to be seen.  Something to worry about later.  For
now, getting her fed and ignoring her body pressed against his were his
concerns.

In the elevator he had to put down a feeble rebellion when
she saw what deck he had chosen.

"You're taking me below the Commons!" she said.

"I'm taking you to a meal room.  The two I know of are
below the Commons."

"We never go below the Commons.  I could eat in the
warrior meal room."

"I've never been there to eat.  They might not serve me
there, and I need to eat, too.  Anyway, whose opinion matters in this?"

Her gaze, which had been on the deck numbers flashing by,
dropped to her feet.  "Your opinion, Lord Tommy."

All of this is turning me into a jerk.
  Tommy's mom
used to talk a lot about men who were jerks.  Life was different here, but that
didn't mean
he
had to be different. 

The elevator stopped.  "I'm sorry, but we're here
now," he said.  "The meal room isn't far, and I can get you served
right away.  I do have some influence down here, after all.  I promise
everything will be all right."

Throwing a bomb into the artisan meal room might have caused
its occupants to scatter faster than a warrior's entrance, even a female
warrior, and one leaning weakly against Master Tommy.  Valin, alone, remained
seated in front of his half-eaten breakfast. 

 "I was about to leave, too, until I saw who was with
her," Valin said.  "You've taught me to expect surprises, Master
Tommy."

"Valin, I left her locked up in my quarters above the
Commons for five days without food.  She needs to eat."

"You have quarters above the commons?  They did accept
you as one of the Nesu!  No matter.  Sit her here.  I'll bring something for
her."

Tommy sat across the table from Sisle and watched as she ate
until her pale face took on a greenish cast.

"You'll probably still feel weak for a while,"
Tommy said.  "I want to tell you again how sorry I am to have done that to
you.  I'll try to make it up, somehow."

That brought a tentative smile to her face, which quickly
disappeared.  "I am yours to do with as you please, Lord Tommy, though
perhaps you wouldn't have liked the smell of my dead body, either."

Where did Ull get this person, and why did Ull think I
should have her?  If she has an attitude like that after what she has been
through, she must have been giving someone a lot of trouble.