He caught her, held her without a word.
"B-Haaq! B-Haaq--how--"
"Majtech B-Haaq to you from now on! Just on my way to your cell to take
you back where you belong! And that upstart Kane! Only this might save
me the trouble--"
He hauled her roughly after him into the open rampway which dipped
gently into the wide parking yards. The ramp trembled, bucked beneath
them but she somehow kept from falling.
"I--I thought you--Kane--"
"Thought he killed me, did you? He came close enough, and he'll pay
for it! Come along...."
They crossed the yards at a half run.
B-Haaq was hauling her up on the fin-step, and then the outer lock was
opening, and they were inside.
The small space craft rocked sickeningly on its mounts.
B-Haaq barked to his waiting pilot. "Up-ship, you fool! Do you want us
wrecked before we're even underway?"
The grim faced labortech punched his studs almost before Deanne had
secured herself in an ackseat, and then with a dangerous overload of
power, the tender jumped free of the shuddering planetoid.
"B-Haaq--for the love of Pluto, what's happening--"
"Haven't you learned yet what it's like when a Geejay breaks down?
Sol III has been taking this for over an hour. Fortunately for
you planetary imbalance doesn't affect all bodies in a system
simultaneously, or that piece of rock back there would be rubble by
now...."
"Is there a Project AA underway yet?"
"Of course there is. The Flagship received a warp-beam ESR from Sol
III, and of course we dispatched a crew to take care of those nuisances
immediately. One of our duties, after all...."
The girl unbuckled her ackseat straps and sat up straight. "You mean
they had to _call_?"
"What do you expect, that we keep a constant watch on all these
backwater planets--"
"According to Regulations--"
"A lot you know of Regulations, young woman! Do you realize what the
charge against you is? And that the lives of two men were risked to
bring you back in one piece?"
"All I know is that this system's Geejay was serviced only eleven
Periods ago, and was supposed to be good for at least--"
"That will be enough of that, or you'll find yourself facing more than
just loss of rank!"
She reddened. "What of the man Kane?" she asked.
"He's lucky," B-Haaq answered, grinning slowly. "He'll be killed down
there before they finish the double-A job."
An alarm clanged in the ship, and it veered sharply on its automatics,
dodging the hurtling masses of debris that were still being flung
into Space from the Outer Ring of Saturn. Minutes passed before the
labortech at the controls, face drained of color with the tension of
watching for the first sign of failure of the automatics, was able to
relax and set course outward toward the looming hulk that was Director
Gentech Starn's Flagship, drifting slowly at the system's rim.
* * * * *
Deanne paused on the catwalk, blended herself with its shadows. She
had heard nothing. She knew every inch of the great Flagship as she
knew the limited dimensions of her own quarters; knew the main traffic
corridors and the hours of each cycle when traffic was at its height
and at its ebb. And she knew the mazed web of maintenance catwalks as
well.
Her orders had read "Confined to quarters pending disposition of the
following charges--" but her Section Commander knew nothing of men like
Kane, knew nothing of the fire that could touch a man's soul and ignite
the rebellion that now blazed so brightly in her own. The chances
were few that it would even occur to Coltech Q-Jaax that she could be
anywhere but in her quarters. At any rate, that was her gamble, and it
was far less desperate a one than that which Kane had taken for what he
believed.
The conference chamber loomed below her in the gloom of the ship's
cavernous mid-section, and it would not be difficult to locate one of
the many pressure duct leads. But she would need to remove a small
transition piece, and--no! What would Kane have done--simply extract a
single, strategic machine screw, and _swing_ the piece aside! It would
save minutes. Hearing the men below would then be as simple as though
she stood in the chamber with them.
And she must hear, must know what they planned. So that somehow, Jon,
if he still lived, could know.
Within seconds she had swung from the narrow walk and dropped
soundlessly atop the wide expanse of the chamber's metal ceiling.
Quickly she estimated the area beneath which the main council table
lay, then sought the duct nearest the spot. In only seconds more, she
was lying prone in the deep shadows, able to hear.
"--and to be quite blunt about it, I am genuinely worried...." It was
her uncle. "My niece's extraordinary behavior can be discussed later,
gentlemen. Right now this matter of the Gravity-Justifiers is of the
most importance. First of all, Captech D-Yun, why was I not immediately
notified of the perilous difficulty in Sol system? These people depend
upon us for their very lives! Well?"
"There is no excuse, Sire."
"Yes, I think perhaps there is! If not excuse, then reason, at least!
If my memory serves me correctly, it has been a scant eleven Periods
since the Sol Gravity-Justifier was last serviced, a piece of work,
gentlemen, that has in the past been valid for fifty at minimum! Was I,
perhaps, to be kept from knowing that what work was performed eleven
Periods ago was a failure?"
A tight pause. And then, "Certainly not, Sire," in a soft tone from
D-Yun. "But these people have been such--well, nuisances. We have
given them so much more than their share of service that sabotage of
some sort naturally suggested itself. We had been in the process of
analytical survey--"
"I'll have none of that, not from any of you! Sabotage indeed. Why,
it is a matter of record that Sol is not the only system in which
breakdown has occurred far ahead of schedule tolerance! Yes, I know
that, too, gentlemen! There is another thing I know as well. I know
that there is no sabotage. I know that my personal staff of copytechs
has been overworked for a full period in an effort to keep the peoples
of over twenty different star systems unaware of the major technical
difficulties which have been increasingly frequent in each of the
others! I know that propaganda, instead of technical skill, has been
keeping the prestige of the Alliance intact! The fault cannot be laid
to Captech D-Yun's saboteurs! It must be laid squarely at our own door
step, gentlemen! For some reason which I would like to know, we have
simply not been able to keep up. We are not the technicians our fathers
were, and careful study will show that they were not technicians to
match their fathers, nor they their fathers before them! Slowly but too
surely, we are losing something! Why?"
* * * * *
Deanne breathed shallowly, straining to hear every word.
"Perhaps, Sire, the efficiency of our Cad tech recruiting system could
be improved. Although I admit, the planets have not been producing
youths of the caliber of--"
"Bah! If anything, they're getting quicker-witted all the time! And
we have had little trouble, from among twenty-one star systems in
two galaxies, in obtaining the necessary periodic quota! Yet our new
ships are not as good! Our number increases, but that is all! And mere
number, by itself, is worthless!"
Another voice replied, but she could not identify it. "That might be
traced, Sire, to the poorer quality of raw materials which the planets
are obliged by law to furnish us at the scheduled intervals in return
for our service--"
"That is starwash, and you know it! If anything, quality has improved,
since the discovery of new mining planets. I can still read records,
young man! Perhaps you are not fully acquainted with the Director whom
you're attempting to deceive!"
"If, Sire, I may hark back for a moment to the question of
sabotage...." A curious chill coursed the length of Deanne's slender
back. That was B-Haaq speaking. "I suggest that in this particular
instance, Captech D-Yun may well be correct. I speak in light of
the renegade, Cadtech Kane. Prior to his capture on Titan, there is
little telling to what lengths he may have gone for revenge, Sire.
As a Fourth Period Cadtech, he knew Geejay co-ordinates for at
least twelve systems, and he knew also upon what the power of the
ITA depends--technical efficiency. If that were to be flagrantly
misrepresented through such sabotage, ITA prestige and power would of
course suffer, and Kane's thirst for revenge slaked. I think perhaps
it is of paramount importance that we seek to discover where he might
strike next! If, that is, he survived the disintegration of Titan."
A murmur went up, grew noisier, and Deanne felt herself holding her
breath. Then there was her uncle's voice again--
"You use the word 'power' strangely, Majtech."
"Not at all strangely, Sire! Our technical excellence has made all
planets completely dependent upon us! You may say that it is not
revenge that we seek, but only safety. You may say that if we do have
power and prestige, it is only for self protection, so that what
happened to our ancestors centuries ago may never again be repeated.
All these things are true. But also true is the fact that power is
power. We have it, for two galaxies depend upon us for the very life
of their civilizations! It is Kane who would threaten it! To give it
up, or to let it be so easily taken from us, is to make of ourselves
the fools that Kane so confidently assumes us to be! Centuries of work
and progress hang in the balance, gentlemen! If this Kane has escaped
Titan, we must find him! And if he has not, then we must undo his work!
We must, in short, show these planets who holds the whip-hand, first,
last and always!"
There was a moment of silence. Then suddenly a swelling flow of voices
lifted in approval, and there was scattered applause. And it did not
quiet immediately when the Director Gentech spoke.
"Gentlemen! Gentlemen. You must know that I thoroughly disapprove of
the views that Majtech B-Haaq has just expressed, and I am certain
that, upon a moment's self-examination, you will feel as I do. I have
thought often of the man Kane, and have as often wondered how close
he may have been to many truths which we have either overlooked or
forgotten! However, in all fairness to the Majtech I will call for a
vote. Those in favor of the Majtech's proposals to comb the Sol system
for Cadtech Kane, and to assert the prestige of the ITA will ballot
'yea.' Those opposed will cast blank ballots."
Silence, then, and Deanne counted her heart beats, thought surely they
must be loud enough now to be heard the length and breadth of the ship.
"--the ballots have been counted, gentlemen...." The deep voice was
slow and deliberate as it always was--yet it seemed, somehow, too slow
now, too deep. "Majtech B-Haaq's proposals are approved by a majority
of--of one vote. We will therefore begin our search immediately, and
will trust that I was also incorrect in my evaluation of our present
technological efficiency. This session is now adjourned."
Director Gentech Starn had suffered the first overruling of his long
career.