Chanur's Legacy (47 page)

“I’ll bet you they aren’t. I’ll bet there was a reason old No’shto-shti-stlen had gtstself nose-deep in kif. And I’ll bet there were casualties. On the other hand—“

“On the other hand.”

“On the other hand, stsho aren’t prone to commit themselves until it’s absolutely safe. So cancel the last bet. There may not have been. There may not have been a shot fired here. It’s not the h
an’s
style. Or Llyene’s. Leave that to Paehisna-ma-to. Well, well—“

She was playing with the optics. Scan wasn’t showing the ambush, which in Meetpoint’s sparse system didn’t leave many points of cover—like keeping the station between them and the opposition, hence the lane assignment; like keeping some of them lying off in the system fringes, like between their ships and system exit, to nadir of the star.

But ships in dock caught the wan sunlight quite nicely, besides all those working-lamps and warning-lights that kept outside tenders and pushers from going splat! into a station structural part or a ship at dock. Optics was a major function on her board; and she had already been watching and capturing images.

“Ah. There’s
Ha’domaren…
Not out there where he could get hurt, not our Haisi.”

“Gods rot him,” said Tiar.

“Couple of kif we don’t know. Tc’a ship shows up as a seen-before, at Urtur.”

“My heart won’t take the surprise,” Tiar said.

“Oh, here’s one.
Ehrran’s Honor.”

“Ehrran!”

“We do have a
han
presence here, friends. Can we assume it’s that faction which hates us with a passion? We have Paehisna-ma-to’s pet hunter captain. We have assorted mahendo’sat, we have—
Padur’s Victory.”

“Blast them if they’re in on this!”

“Could be coincidence. They were coming this way, for probably honest reasons. But I’d
sure
like to know who was at Hoas while we were at Urtur.”

“What about the
Sun?”
Hallan asked.

“I wish I could tell you not.” But there it was, in evidence between two other hani ships,
Nai’s Splendor,
and
Doran ‘s Golden Hope. Sahern ‘s Sun Ascendant,
plain to see.
“Lslillyest,
a good clutch of stsho ships, none of which I know, none of which library knows, which indicates they’re not traders, they’re from deep inside stsho space ... do I guess, the capital at Llyene, if they’ve set No’shto-shti-stlen aside?”

“Politics,” Tiar said. “Gods, there’s something three days dead here.”

“We could get out of here,” Chihin said. “We could tell the kif we’ve had our closer look, goodbye, good luck.”

“They’ll outlaw us. They’ll have their evidence, a cargo not delivered, right on the books. Chanur will lose this ship, Chanur will lose Momentum with the mahendo’sat.”

“Better free-running than clipped at dock.”

“It’s one thing to say, cousin.”

“We’re not giving up!”

“Oh, no, no, no, Chihin.”

“What are we going to do?” Tiar asked.

“I don’t exactly know. Neither do they. They can try their writs and their papers. Those don’t make many holes in the hull. And they’ll talk to us. Talk is what they’re here for. They’re here to prove a case against us.”

“It’s a trap,” Hallan said. “If the
Sun’s
with them, it’s a trap—they’re going to file some complaint, captain.”

“Good lad, good thinking. Gods-be right they are.”

“I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

She had to laugh. Probably to Hallan Meras it wasn’t funny.

“They’re not getting him back,” Chihin said.

“Just run the calc,” she said. “First thing is not to hit the station. Then we’ll worry about Sahern clan. They’re a minor problem.”

“It’s not a minor problem,” Chihin said.

“Say he’s not going to Sahern. It’s one thing for
me
to throw him off. No gods-be Sahern is taking him. Two plus two, cousin, let me handle the legal work, you have your hands full and I don’t want to make a mistake here. Fala, you want to make another run belowdecks?”

“Aye, captain, I will.”

“I’d say we have another half hour. Get down there, there’s some shifting about I want done. You m
ay
have to do take-hold down there. Have something in mind.”

“Aye, captain.”

Nervy kid. It was a dangerous thing, moving about in approach. Things could happen. But the stray cargo pusher that happened into the
Legacy’s
path was going to be out of luck.

“Captain,” Tarras said, “I’m still holding that missile live.”

“That’s where you’re to hold it.”

“Just confirming,” Tarras said. “Thank you.”

Calc was shaping up. Fala called up for instructions. Station called to protest they were out of calibration, check their computers.

“Oh, we’re not using your feed,” Hilfy delighted to say. “Since you can’t prove you’re authorized. We’ll just guess our way in.”

“You damn fool!”
Meetpoint Control screamed.

“How are we doing, Tiar?”

“Oh, maybe five, ten percent one way or the other. Who knows?”

“You lose your license!”

“Hope we’re good, Meetpoint. Or give us No’shto-shti-stlen.”

“Not can do! Not can do! Brake!”

“Have Paehisna-ma-to’s adherents so little nerve?”Vikktakkht cut in over com. “We, on the other hand, are braking. And our weapons remain live.”

Credit to the
hakkikt,
not one word about the missile they had armed, which with his systems he most probably knew about.

“Thank you,
hakkikt.”

“You stop, you stop, I call superior!”

“Like give us access to No’shto-shti-stlen?”

“You stop, I try!”

“Are we calc’ed, Tiar?”

“We’re steady on.”

“Sorry, Meetpoint. Not in the mood now. Maybe we’ll take that missile off-line. Maybe not.”

“You bluff!”

“Oh, yes, sometimes. Not all the time.” She shut off that corn-link. “Shut it down, Tarras.”

“Gray hairs,” Chihin muttered, “forty of ‘em.”

“Just put us in soft,” she said.

Hallan’s mouth was moving. Reading numbers or committing himself to the gods, Hilfy thought. And punched in the take-hold.

“You damn fool break Jive hundred law!”

“He’s hysterical,” Hilfy said, accidentally into a live mike. “Take care of that, Tiar.” And cut the contact. “Your excellency, I report a safe dock. You may move about now. Felicitations on your excellency’s return to Meetpoint. We are now attempting to make contact with
gtst
excellency the governor, but mahendo’sat have occupied station offices...”

“Wai!”

“We believe by the number of stsho ships here at dock who are not traders that some treachery is contemplated. There are han officials who have historical antipathy toward Chanur; there are mahendo’sat including Ana-kehnandian; but the ship of his excellency the
hakkikt
Vikktakkht is holding position off the station with the threat of weapons and of the Treaty and of the displeasure of the
mekt-hakkikt.
As to
gtst
excellency No’shto-shti-stlen, these outrageous persons are withholding contact with
gtst
excellency. We are in fear for
gtst
safety at this moment, or wonder if your excellency might have a word with these individuals.”

“I shall execrate them. “

“Please prepare to do so. I am putting your intercom in direct radio contact with Meetpoint communications. For obvious reasons we are not accepting the umbilicals, most particularly the com lines.”

“We are prepared. “

“You are in contact,” she said, and pushed the button and eavesdropped, chin on fist.

“
Outrageous and shameless behavior,”
was the opener, at a pitch that made the indicators spike. While on a wavelength belonging to hani official business: “,
put me in contact with Hilfy Chanur.”

“You are there,” Hilfy answered. “Good day. Is this Ehrran clan?”

“Insolence will not improve your case with thehan.’ You are personally and as a crew charged with piracy, kidnapping, rape, and murder; you are as a head of clan charged with treason, sedition, violation of Treaty law,

“Speeding. You forgot speeding and irregular docking procedure, Ehrran. This is a political show and we both know it. Gods, is there a dirty business this side of Ajir you don’t have your hand in?”

‘” I demand to speak to Hallan Meras. On behalf of Meras clan and Sahern.”

That was bound to come. Hallan threw her a desperate look, Chihin looked like thunder.

Hilfy punched the transmit again. “Demand what you like, Ehrran. Chanur doesn’t permit it.”

Captain, Hallan was saying soundlessly. She shook her head.

“Do I have that for the record, Chanur?”

“Absolutely you do, Ehrran.”

“Captain,” Hallan said distressedly.

“You’re married. Shut up.”

“I’m—“—married, the jaw said.

“As of about half an hour ago. Signed by a stsho official, a stsho holiness, an impartial witness and me as captain of this ship. Congratulations and don’t disgrace us.”

“Who—?” Hallan shut up again. The Eyes of the
Ban
was reading more charges on com.

“Better be me,” Chihin said darkly.

“First listed,” Hilfy said. “Excuse us we didn’t ask preferences. You were calculating approach and I thought they’d pull this.”

“But,” Hallan said. Before Chihin shut him up. Ehrran was repeating some question. She just transmitted the document in facsimile. And the one charging Sahern with desertion, abandonment, public insult, public indecency, malicious suit, and nine infractions of the common law of Compact space.

“And I’m adding conspiracy and defamation under the law of the Amphictiony; and conspiracy to commit breach of the Peace under Treaty law, Ehrran, against the captain and crew of
Sahern’s Star Ascendant.
If she wants to go to court, by the gods,
I
have names and dates logged.”

Strange the silence that followed that. The contact broke off. Somebody was consulting somebody.

She punched in on the conversation on the other channel. Indicators were still hitting high levels.

Let it run, she thought, and shoved back to give her legs a stretch. “I think we’ll stand down a while. Put us on alarm, Chihin. Put the recording on. Go clean up ... do whatever takes your fancy. Good luck,
na
Hallan, congratulations, welcome to the clan, we’ll give you the formal party when we get out of this.”

There was a general clearing out. She didn’t ask to where. She sat down again, and started reviewing the messages that they weren’t admitting receiving.

Not everyone had left. She saw the shadow in a dead monitor, looked back at Tiar over her shoulder.

“Need any help?”

“Might.”

“The
han’s
not through yet.”

“The han’s not through yet and Paehisna-ma-to hasn’t even started.”

“The bribes have to be flying. Paehisna-ma-to to the stsho, to the kif off-station, the kif on-station...”

“The
hakkikt
has been loyal to aunt Py for a long time.”

“Some of them could be getting restive. Including the
hakkikt.”

“I have thought of that.”

“They say you can buy anything at Meetpoint.”

“Except certain things. I’d say maybe the Precious-ness isn’t on the open market. Maybe a holiness isn’t. The stsho are fragile people. They’d never take a chance that wasn’t forced on them. They’re hanging back now, I’m betting on it, trying to see where advantage lies.”

“Politicians.”

“Not all bad, politicians. The stsho are good at it. They’d have been a mouthful for somebody long since if they weren’t. And if they weren’t a prime source of goods; and if they hadn’t ties with the methane folk.”

“The tc’a business? That was extremely odd.”

“It was very extremely odd. Py sent that in symbol-set. The tc’a that received it didn’t read it in the ordinary way. It thought the sentences were separate-brain paths. It interpreted them that way and just nearly got us all in trouble.”

“You think she’s near here?”

She considered that answer a long moment. Then: “No. I don’t. I think she knows what’s going on but she can’t get here in time.”

“You can’t transmit in hyperspace!”

“You can’t change vector and you can’t transmit. Correction.
We
can’t.”

Tiar made a rumbling in her throat and shook her head. “If you could do that—“

“—to blazes with the futures market, the whole way we trade? Yes to that, too. Aunt took a big chance getting that message here. Possibly Vikktakkht knows. Possibly it surprised him. Possibly he won’t rush to the nearest gathering of kif and tell what he just heard. I have the feeling it scared hell out of him.”

“Keep the fear in him?”

“Certainly it shook him. Certainly it made him think. Certainly we’ve got one ally out there that’s got something new to think about. That’s why I’m inclined to make a bet that we’ve got a little leeway with Vikktakkht. And I may do something I wouldn’t dare, if
gtst
excellency can’t find
gtst
excellency very soon now.”

“What’s that?”

“Surrender our stsho passengers.”

“They are reprehensible individuals!”
gtst
excellency cried, waving
gtst
arms. “They are covered in shame and perfidy!”

“Your excellency could not then discover the whereabouts of No’shto-shti-stlen? Or is it tasteful for me to ask—“

“Your honor has every attribute of taste! Your honor is the only whiteness in a thousand worlds, wai! the treachery, wai! the reckless and shameless behavior of individuals who were born with better advantage!”

“What is the condition of No’shto-shti-stlen?”

“Dire.
Gtst
bravely holds
gtst
post. But
gtst
confides to me that
gtst
despairs. The influence of Paehisna-ma-to has reached even to Llyene, and the capital has lost confidence in
gtst
excellency, the capital has sent out other persons to displace
gtst
that may be more pleasing to Paehisna-ma-to.”

“And not pleasing to the
mekt-hakkikt?”