Survivor's Quest

Jinzler cocked his head. "Who is Director Uliar?"

"He's the head of the colony," Pressor told him, pressing the activation button on his command stick. Behind him the door to the alcove slid shut and the double car began to descend.

"I see," Formbi said. "I'm sorry—I'd assumed you were the leader."

"I'm the Guardian," Pressor said. "My Peacekeepers and I keep order within the colony. Director Uliar and the Managing Council make all the policy decisions."

"Sounds rather like a corporation," Jinzler commented.

"And why not?" Pressor retorted. "Corporations work a lot better than the political mess we left behind."

"Yes, of course," Jinzler said hastily.

"How many of you are there?" Formbi asked.

Pressor turned his face away from them. "I think I should let Director Uliar handle any further questions."

The car fell silent except for the distant creaks and rumblings of the turbolift equipment, and the melodic murmuring of the four Geroons as they huddled together in a back corner. Probably still assuring each other that they were all right, Pressor decided, eyeing the dead animals wrapped across their shoulders with a mixture of distaste and fascination.

With a raucous squeak and a vibrating thump, the double car came to a stop, snapping Pressor out of his thoughts. "This way," he said, touching the door release on the command stick. "We'll go find Director Uliar." He stepped outside—

And came to an abrupt halt. At the back of the turbolift lobby, as he'd prearranged, three of his Peacekeepers were standing ready, their faces displaying expressions ranging from wary to hostile to simply nervous.

Standing in a silent group beside them were Director Uliar and the two Survivor members of the Managing Council. Beside Uliar, her auburn hair glinting in the corridor's light, was Instructor Rosemari Tabory. Pressor's sister, and Evlyn's mother.

And that part Pressor had most certainly not prearranged.

"Director Uliar," he said in greeting as he crossed the lobby toward the group, trying to keep his voice steady. "Councilor Tarkosa; Councilor Keely," he added, nodding to each of the other two old men in turn. "What brings you here?"

"Don't act the i

"These are some of them," Pressor said, flicking a quick look at his sister. Rosemari's expression was stiff, with a hint of paleness to her skin. "This is hardly the place for a historic diplomatic meeting, you know." He looked significantly at the two councilors. "Or the correct attendance for one, either."

"The entire council will be summoned in due course," Uliar said. "But I think those of us who actually lived through the Devastation have first rights to face our destroyers."

"This is a major event, with a major decision attached to it," Pressor insisted, keeping his voice low. "Probably the most significant thing that's happened since we arrived here. The Charter specifically requires that the entire Managing Council, Survivor and Colonist members, be present."

"And they will be," Uliar promised. He twitched a smile. "Until then, I daresay Instructor Tabory can act as observer for the Colonists."

"But—"

"Which ones are the Jedi?" Keely cut in, his nervous eyes darting back and forth across the group that had now paused a little uncertainly by the turbolift door. "Guardian? Which ones are the Jedi?"

"None of those here," Pressor told him. "The Jedi are still being held in one of the turbolift cars."

"No one here is a Jedi, you say?" Uliar said. "Not even—? Why look, Instructor Tabory; there's your daughter. Imagine that."

Pressor felt his stomach tighten as he glanced behind him. Evlyn was just emerging from the car behind the last of the Geroons, the calmness in her face in sharp contrast to the tension in her mother's. "She was assisting me," he said, looking back at Uliar.

"Was she really," Uliar said, as if it were a surprise to him. "You took your niece up to Four, exposing her to all the extra radiation up there? Not to mention putting her at risk from potentially dangerous intruders? What an extraordinary thing to do."

"She likes spending time with her uncle Jorad," Rosemari put in, her voice firm for all the concern in her face. "She always has."

"Indeed," Uliar said as Evlyn slipped past Jinzler and Formbi and came to stand beside her mother. "Hello there, Evlyn. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Director Uliar," Evlyn said with a seriousness that looked strangely out of place on someone so young. But the quick hug she gave her mother was pure ten-year-old. "You don't have to worry about me. Uncle Jorad did everything just right. I wasn't in any danger."

"I'm sure you weren't," Uliar said, eyeing Pressor again. "Just as you weren't in any danger two years ago, hmm? Back when Javriel went crazy and tried to take the entire nursery hostage? You were helpful to your uncle then, too, if I remember correctly."

"You do," Pressor confirmed, feeling sweat starting to gather beneath his collar. So Uliar had noticed Evlyn's abilities, too. He should have known the old Survivor would catch on. And of all the possible times for him to decide to make an issue of it—

He felt his throat tighten. Or had Uliar in fact deliberately chosen this moment? A moment when there were outsiders—including Jedi—aboard his ship for the first time in fifty years? Outsiders who, not knowing the realities aboard Outbound Flight, might be willing and able to confirm his suspicions about Evlyn?

"Indeed," Uliar said. "You have a strange way of returning your niece's affection, Guardian."

"I needed her help today," Pressor said. "The same help I needed from her back then: to act as decoy. It wasn't a job any of my Peacekeepers could handle."

"But your own niece?" Uliar persisted. "Why not pick someone else?"

He smiled crookedly, the giveaway sign that he was about to close the jaws of his verbal trap. "Or," he said smoothly, "does she have special qualifications or talents that make her suited for such tasks?"

"My daughter has many special talents, Director," Rosemari put in, her arm wrapped protectively around her daughter's shoulders. "For one thing, she doesn't panic under pressure. She's quick and smart, and she knows Four as well as anyone else in the colony. Certainly now that most of the work is done and almost no one goes up there anymore."

"Did she also join the Peacekeepers while I wasn't looking?" Uliar countered, throwing a quick glare in her direction. His trap had been set for Pressor, and he clearly didn't appreciate Rosemari jumping in and blunting its teeth. "As long as we're quoting from the Charter, Guardian, I believe it explicitly states that you and your Peacekeepers are the ones who are supposed to stand between the colony and potential dangers."

"He just said he needed someone to decoy them," Rosemari said, her voice starting to match the director's own a

She shifted her finger to point squarely at Uliar's chest. "Or should he have asked someone else? One of your granddaughters, maybe?"

"A decoy shouldn't have been necessary," Uliar insisted. "Guardian Pressor has assured us over and over that between the various traps and the droid surveillance, Four is perfectly secure."

"Oh, so now you want to set off explosives and wreck it completely?" Rosemari asked scornfully. "After all the time and effort my father and the others poured into putting it back together?"