A truth of Valor

"Tracking me."

"Yeah. But it's not hard to see Big Bill's point. He's just given the most dangerous person he's ever likely to meet the run of the station. He's going to want to know where you are."

"Serley suck-up," Werst snorted.

"Best part of it is," Ressk continued, ignoring him. "I can separate out the ID code that makes this work. These things aren't random, they're sequential. I copy the whole thing into my slate and give myself the next lower number, and I now also have an all-access pass."

Mashona held out her slate. "Do one for me."

"The next lower number that Ressk is using already belongs to someone." Torin took her slate back as Ressk began messing about on his own. "Let's send up as few flares as possible."

"So how does chrick and geeky here get to a board?" Werst asked.

"Alamber."

Torin stopped checking the movement in her hand-eighty percent, she could work with that-and stared at Ressk. "No."

Ressk shrugged. "At worst, Big Bill will think you're heading to Communications to build and consolidate a power base."

"Fukking a di'Taykan is like breathing air," Werst pointed out. "Evidence suggests Big Bill's too smart to see anything else in it."

"Then he'll just think Gu

Mashona raised her hand. "I volunteer to get some."

"Weirdly, Alamber wants Gu

Werst unsuccessfully hid a snicker. "You'll have to use your wiles, Gu

"I don't have wiles," Torin snapped. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of a better idea. "What if Alamber was lying and Communications is under surveillance? You think Alamber and I getting it on will make Big Bill look away?"

Ressk looked up at that. "Who notices a di'Taykan having sex? If Big Bill happens to stumble over the recording, he'll think nothing of it. And, if it turns out he's still up and watching live, you'll be distracting him while I slip in and crack his system. More to the point, you'll distract Alamber."

Unfortunately, Ressk was making sense. "If I'm there to see Alamber, why would I bring you with me?"

"You wouldn't. Aren't. I'm bringing myself." Ressk patted himself on the chest. "Most of the station maintenance is done by Krai wearing blue overalls much like these. Unless they're into seams and pockets, anyone watching will just see another maintenance worker. Humans usually can't tell us apart."

"True." Mashona rolled back up onto her feet and moved to stow the first aid kit.

Gross physical features like height and weight aside, Humans-with their substandard sense of smell-could only identify individual Krai by the pattern of mottling on their scalps. Put them in uniforms, remove the individuality of clothing choice, and the Humans working with them when they were integrated into the Corps had to learn new recognition skills. Fast. Outside the military, most Humans never bothered.

"If the Grr brothers are watching?" Torin asked.

"Acceptable risk."

Werst suddenly gri

"Oh, fuk you," Torin sighed.

"That would make a stronger man than Big Bill look away," Mashona pointed out, rolling back up onto her feet and moving to stow the first aid kit.

Werst raised both arms and flexed. "Not the first my cernit's scared off."

"Deformed?"

"Enormous."

"Enormous would be deformed on a little guy like you."

It sounded like business as usual, but Torin could hear the concern under the banter. She was the one thing they shouldn't have to worry about. Be a whole lot easier if people started shooting at them. That, she could deal with in her sleep.

Speaking of… It was 2426 ship time, and there'd be no chance of rest until this was done.

She stood, flexing her hand. "I hope you caught some sleep while I was gone. Werst, Mashona, go back out into the Hub and find out everything you can about the Heart of Stone. How many in her crew, who they are, what kind of training. How many weapons they have. Their captain, Cho…" The bonded knuckle pulled painfully but held as her fingers curled into a fist. "… he's ex-Navy. And there's a young di'Taykan named Nadayki working the seal, doing the same sort of shit Ressk can. If necessary, use that information to get people talking. Take into account that anyone off a ship is an amoral s.o.b., and the support staff isn't a lot better. If you're done before Ressk and I are back, the armory is in an old explosives storage pod off the ore docks, up against the back bulkhead, maybe ten degrees off from the lock. The Heart's at the lock. Go into the schematics of this place and find the fastest way to get the armory off the station. Quick and dirty, we've got no time for finesse. And speaking of no time for finesse…" She sighed and headed for the air lock. "Come on, Ressk. Let's see if Alamber really does spend all his time in Communications."

"What are you going to…?"

Torin cut him off. "I'll decide when I get there." She glanced down at the camera on the edge of the control panel, thought briefly about pretending to forget it, and changed her mind. Ultimately, rescuing Craig trumped her ego. "Whatever happens," she muttered, reaffixing the camera to her tunic, "you're editing this bit out."

Torin would have preferred to have avoided the Hub entirely, but it was the only way to get from the docking arms into the station. "Remember," she said quietly, pitching her voice under the noise of the games on the big screens and a fight between two di'Taykan under the nearer one, "play nice. Recon only. Do not engage."

"If they swing first?" Mashona asked, arms folded.

"Win." Torin swept a disdainful gaze around the Hub. At first glance, she couldn't tell the pirates from the station crew. The thieves and murderers from the support staff. Fukking Werst. "Might makes right with this lot." The two di'Taykan were rolling around on the deck. Given they were di'Taykan, it wouldn't be a fight much longer. "If it comes to it, I want this lot to think twice about pissing us off."

Wrest flexed his toes against the deck, cracking the knuckles. "Just twice?"

"Twice is fine. It's 0341 now; if we're not back at the ship by 0830 station time…" Five hours was more than twice the time Ressk said he'd need. "… assume we've been caught. Abandon subtlety. Blow the docking clamps, haul ass, and call in the Marines to deal with the armory."

"This is subtle?"

"Werst."

His nose ridges flared. "These are bad guys, Gu

"Figuratively speaking," Mashona muttered under her breath.

"You get grabbed," Werst continued ignoring her, "precedent suggests you'll haul your ass and Ressk's out of the fire. We'll wait."

Torin opened her mouth to tell him she'd just given him an order and, from his expression, he knew exactly what she was about to say. Easy enough to figure out his response. With less than fourteen hours, they didn't have time to argue. "Fine. Presit can call in the Marines. She'll know before you do." Nodding toward the nearest bar, she added, "Put your drinks on my tab."

Mashona gri

"Cherish the small things," Torin agreed. "Now go before I get any older and this plan gets any more ludicrous."

There were three ways to get to System Administration from the Hub. With no reason to be anywhere near the staff quarters or the maintenance tubes, Torin took the obvious and most public route. What was your business in Admin? would be a lot easier to answer than, Why were you skulking about? should her journey come to Big Bill's attention in the next…

Torin glanced at her slate.

… twelve hours and forty-one minutes.

The section of corridor directly off the vertical was utilitarian. Gray. Cleaner than the public areas, granted, but also less streamlined. Not all the mechanicals were hidden and it reminded her of the engineering sections of a battle cruiser. It was stupid o'clock in the morning station time, between shifts, so she expected to be alone, but four meters away at the access to a second vertical, a Krai in maintenance overalls stood swearing at an open panel. Glanced up as Torin's boots hit the deck, dismissed her as unimportant, and returned to profanity. Big Bill could almost definitely pick the Grr brothers out of a crowd, but his maintenance workers? Not likely. Not unless they were behind on their fifteen percent. Ressk would get to Communications right after she did, and no one would see him coming.