Chapter 12
“I don’t like the sound of any of it.” Hal’s voice was quiet through Fee’s ear piece.
She was sitting on the balcony off her bedroom again, watching Larga Ways pass overhead in a purple haze of light.
“No one does,” Fee told him. “Natta and Trayla’s handlers are downstairs right now, getting a debrief.”
“Admiral Hoke tells me that Natta was seriously injured,” Hal said.
“They beat him up to get information, and I honestly don’t understand it.
” Even though he couldn’t see her, she waved her hand as she spoke.
“The parts they were so concerned about were for sale on an open table in a warehouse market. We didn’t steal them from a top secret location.
I don’t know why they went from being available to anyone off the street who wanted them to worth kidnap and torture. ”
Hal was silent for a moment. “That’s a very good point.”
“They took Natta back to a warehouse that contained Paxe’s laser cannon.
So they definitely knew what those parts we bought were.
” She tapped at her lip. “Unless this morning was the first opportunity they’d had to buy those specific parts.
” She drew her knees up and hugged them.
“Maybe they weren’t able to get them at the auction where the trader we bought them from obtained them.
What if whoever took Natta didn’t know what had happened to the parts?
What if they were forced to go to the market, trawling the tables to see if they might be there?
We got to the market as it opened, and I let Paxe and Eazi identify items that might interest them.
We must have reached the table first, and had already bought the stuff by the time the other interested parties arrived.
They maybe thought they could follow us and steal them, but when Natta took them out to the courier that Eazi had arranged, and they were whisked off, they panicked. ”
“That sounds logical.” She could hear Hal moving, the creak of his chair, the drumming of his fingers on his desk. “I wish I could be with you.”
“Same.” She thought of how little time they spent together as it was, and wanted nothing more than for him to be sitting across from her right now.
“So what next?” he asked.
“Baruke is being difficult about setting a date and time for a meeting. I sort of anticipated it, but Eazi found out he’s going to be at a dinner tomorrow night and so we’ve managed to get ourselves invited to the same dinner as VIPs.
” She wondered how Baruke was going to react to that little ambush.
“I don’t like you poking him, Fee. He’s in charge down there, and you’re in his sphere of influence.” Hal’s voice got deeper.
“I won’t poke him. I’ll be gracious. If I can find out anything about those parts directly from Baruke, that means we won’t have to go sneaking around the warehouse later.” She could hope for the best, but she didn’t think Baruke was going to be honest with her.
“And if you can’t?”
“Then we’ll sneak back to the warehouse. Paxe said a couple of the items in the office where they were beating up Natta were parts he was waiting for, as well. By the day after tomorrow, hopefully things would have calmed down there, as far as the authorities go.”
“What have they done with the Balcoans you dealt with?” he asked.
“They’re still being held. Them having a laser cannon there is a big deal, apparently. Not something they can explain away easily. I wouldn’t mind trying to question them about what they know about Paxe’s ship, but we’re obviously not going to try and get to them while they’re in custody.”
“Obviously.” Hal’s voice was dry.
Fee couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. “What? You think I’d try?”
“I hope not.” She could hear the amusement in his voice, too.
“All I’m getting up to tomorrow is shopping for a fancy outfit for the dinner tomorrow night,” Fee assured him. “Trayla’s coming to the dinner, too, so we both need to find something fancy to wear.”
“Baruke will probably try to have you followed after the dinner,” Hal warned.
“That’s a point.” Fee thought about it. “I’ll have Eazi book me into a hotel in the city, and I’ll go back to it after the dinner. Maybe I can keep the room while I’m here, so if I do need to reach out to Baruke, I’ve got a base to do it from.”
Hal sighed. “I really, really wish I could be there with you.”
“What about you?” she asked. “All peaceful on the Grihan front?”
He hesitated, and she dropped her feet to the ground and sat up a little straighter.
“Given your pause, the answer is obviously no.”
He made a sound she thought might be a snort.
“It’s not dangerous, but the Garmman seem to be playing strange games with us up here. And I think the games they’ve learned are based on Earth technology.”
“What?” She rose to her feet. That was the last thing she expected to hear. “What kind of technology?”
“Some mirror tech, some repeater tech. Now isn’t the time, but I know Yiko is going to reach out to Sazo and Eazi, and ask them what details they may have collected from their visits to Earth. And you and Rose and the others will probably be asked some questions as well.”
“You mean, ask them what info they could have collected that the Tecran passed on to the Garmman?” she said.
Hal sighed. “Exactly. The Garmman got something from the Tecran in exchange for the Class 5 plans. Either that, or they were more involved than they’ve ever admitted to.”
“That’s hard to believe, given the chances the Tecran have had to shift some of the blame onto them, and haven’t.” Fee didn’t think the Tecran would have taken the full hit if they could have sent some of the UC’s ire the Garmman’s way.
“I agree, but if this does turn out to be Earth tech, and I think it is, then they have to have got it from the Tecran. And now they’ve decided to go ahead and use it without informing the UC.
” Hal’s voice changed, became more clipped.
“It seems the admiral’s calling, so I have to go.
I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Please be careful at this dinner. ”
“I will. And you take care up there, playing games with the Garmman.” She didn’t like this new turn of events.
The Garmman were apparently out to get her, and now it seemed as if they were out to get the Grih, as well.
“You were talking to Fiona?” The screen showed Admiral Hoke was seated as usual at her desk, her face stern.
“I was. She filled me in on some of what happened on Balco.” He didn’t like that Natta had been beaten. It meant if they had managed to get hold of Fiona, she may well have been beaten, too.
“The fact that the Balcoans fired a laser cannon at them is astonishing,” Hoke said. “It was also their undoing—”
“Fired the laser cannon?” Hal leaned forward. “Fee never said anything about them firing the laser cannon.”
“It never touched her.” Hoke’s face underwent a strange transition, as if she was picking her way through unknown territory. “Perhaps it slipped her mind?”
Hal rubbed at his forehead, because that actually may well be true. She had been more concerned for what had happened to Natta than anything that might have happened to her. “Maybe.”
“It was definitely Paxe’s cannon, as it turns out.” Hoke shook her head. “They had his cannon in an empty warehouse, along with plenty of other things he’s missing. And we don’t know who they are or what their agenda is.”
“I want to go down there.” Hal felt the first lift of weight off his chest as he spoke. “I know we need a presence up here, but I need to be down on Balco with Fee.”
Hoke stared at him. Leaned back. “That might be tricky, politically.”
Hal returned her gaze.
Eventually, she sighed. “All right. I’ll make it happen, but there will be some dancing with the politicians first. But you can start coming back toward Larga Ways.”
Hal pushed back from his desk. “Thank you.”
“She’s going to a dinner tomorrow night. That might be a way to ease you in, without raising too many eyebrows.” Hoke moved her head from side to side, as if her neck was stiff. “I don’t know if you can get there in time.”
“I can,” Hal said, even though he wasn’t sure of the exact distance the Illium currently was to Balco.
However far it was, he’d make it.