Dushau

Her captain's uniform, just worn enough to be authentic, fit her loosely, so she appeared to have lost weight from the worry of hard times. The ship's history Arlai fabricated and placed into her unadorned leptolizer gave her good reason for the graying hair and worry lines Arlai's makeup scurry imposed on her. Looking at herself, she could almost believe she was an adventurous, moderately successful businesswoman.

But her transformation was nothing compared to what Arlai did to Jindigar. First Arlai built the Dushau up into the lumpy, flat-headed shape of a Skhe using extruded forms. Over the padding wenta mil thick, brown and black pigmented shrink-suit designed to protect the sensitive Skhe skin from ultraviolet, hiding all trace of Jindigar's dark indigo coloring. The sheen of his skin's nap was also hidden, so he appeared to have the mucous damp, warty hide of the Skhe under the film. Over this he wore the crossed harnesses, jingling with status bobs and charms typical of a Skhe first mate.

His legs were wrapped in the bilious green leggings a lower class Skhe would wear. As an afterthought, Arlai added a waist-length cape of krisl fur, telling Jindigar "Rndeel, mate of the Roving Bettina" had won it in a littre game in Port Arthur on Pesht.

Jindigar said, "Since that's exactly where Kamminth got it, I think she'd be honored to have us use it." He swirled, letting the full cape flow around him as he inspected his image in the screen where Arlai mirrored him, and Krinata tried to imagine a Dushau gambling in a spaceport dive.

"But there's something missing," said Krinata pondering the effect. And then she knew. "The smell. Skhe always smell like the bay when the tide's out."

"No problem," said Arlai. "And if we're boarded, the whole ship will reek of Skhe, especially the cabin I've furnished for Rndeel."

"You've thought of everything," approved Krinata. They had six hours to get used to their personae before they'd have to answer the Approach Authority's hail. They returned to the control room to rehearse.

Krinata took the captain's chair, glancing behind her at "Rndeel" as he squatted on the stool Arlai had installed before the astrogator's station. She was amazed to see how the Dushau moved with the fluidity of the Skhe, and the quick head ma

She praised him, adding, "Now, since we won't always have translators overhead while on the streets, you'd better practice letting me do all the talking. At least my accent backs up our story."

He answered in a flawless, gamy Skhe dialect. She recognized the invective common to Skhe spacers, unheard on Jindigar's lips in all the years she'd known him. Switching on Arlai's translator beam, he added in character, "I'll have you know I was hatched within earshot of Ssthinmeer, and schooled under three adults. Florard I ain't, but good enough for the likes of any mere port inspector, I sure am."

Even Krinata had heard of the Skhe elite university, Florard. and its counterpart among the lower classes, Ssthinmeer. "Arlai, is his accent really that good?"

"Indeed. Jindigar is something of a linguist by hobby, and he's worked Oliat with Skhe Outriders. Everyone agrees he's a phenomenal Emulator. I couldn't begin to criticize. I doubt if a Ssthinmeer native could notice anything amiss."

Emulator. That was an Oliat office. She'd had no idea it meant what the title implied. What else was there she didn't know about Oliat capability? She was begi

Arlai damped the shrill howl with an apology, and brought the new data onto their control boards. As she worked to remember all she'd learned about reading Arlai's displays. Krinata noted out of the corner of her eye how Jindigar—no. Rndeel—had not flinched when the piercing screech sounded. Arlai had programmed that tone because it was pleasant but attention-grabbing for Skhe.

Arlai briefed them, "Distress signal is an hour away at Bettina's maximum. Dushau ship, Phembera registry—commandeered. Was Intentional Act; now called, Mercer's Folly."

He paused, saying aside to Krinata, "A Terran name on a Pham ship?'

"Never mind. Oliat's their problem? How many aboard?" "Patience," said Arlai. "I'm decoding." "Code?" asked Rndeel in Skhe. "What kind of code?" "That's the problem. I... aha! A Dushau code from Corporate League days, even before my activation, Rndeel. Here it is."

The screen display read:

DISTRESS. SEVEN DUSHAU IMPRISONED IN INTENTIONAL ACT BY DUKE LAVOVS MEN. SURROUNDED BY FOUR ARMED ESCORT SHIPS. SIXTEEN LEHIROH GUARDS CREWING ACT, DETERMINED TO TAKE US TO PRISON TO SUPPLY BLOOD TO DEVELOP A VIRUS TO KILL DUSHAU. WE WONT PERMIT THAT. PLEASE REPORT OUR DEATHS TO FAMILY.

As she read this, Krinata heard one part of her mind repeating, If s just one rebel Duke. It doesn't mean the Empire is crumbling,

There followed a list of Dushau names. Rndeel lunged to his feet and let out a very Skhe hiss. "Captain, request permission to attempt a rescue. Two of those Dushau are friends of Jindigar from his earliest youth."

He stayed perfectly in character, yet Krinata could only take it as an order. Arlai certainly would. "Arlai, is there anything we can do to help them?"

There was silence, though Krinata heard scraping and crashing sounds billowing up from the nether regions of the ship. Arlai finally answered, "If the projectors still work, we might be able to run a diversion-pass. Thirlein, the Act's Sentient, was a close friend of mine once, if she's still in command. Rndeel. do I have permission to break her Allegiancy-bonding and reset her as I've been reset?"

Tensed to address this emergency, Krinata packed away her relief that Arlai's powers were still somewhat restricted, and her utter dismay at the idea of one Sentient programming another. That was how the League was reported to have perished, in a war against renegade Sentients. Probably as untrue as the historical record that the Allegiancy perished from a Dushau conspiracy! Another part of her mind took note to ask Jindigar about that someday.

Rndeel said, in heavily accented standard, "Give Thirlein the status commands Jindigar gave you, Arlai, but be a'caution for her sanity, not to force if she resists."

"I understand, Rndeel."

There was a reverberation in the hull plates. Krinata asked, "What's that noise?"

"I'm setting up our deep-space image projectors," answered Arlai. "It's been too long since they were used!"

"With your permission, Captain," said Rndeel through the translator. "Flesh hands the Sentient's a'needin'. He doesn't know the right cusswords."

"Go, Rndeel," said Krinata, surprised at how easy it was to consider the Skhe a new crewmember.

For the next infinitude of minutes, Krinata sat her station listening to echoes of Skhe hisses and invective among the boomings and thumpings. To distract her from chewing her nails, Arlai gave her the plan.

"We will approach them as an armada of Lavov, Duke of the Jornay Cluster. We'll present orders for us to take charge of their captive ship and send them to Phembera to transport emergency medical supplies to an epidemic. We will appear to their sensors to be thirty heavily armed ships. I will provide their sensors with authentic cross-chatter among our ships, but you will have to go onscreen and issue the order to this fleet captain. Ah, I have his name now: Dinel Petriski—sounds Peshtini."

"Petriski is a minor barony. I'd be able to bully him if he was working for the Emperor, or my High Duke. But he's serving Duke Lavov."

"And it will appear you are a new recruit of Lavov's. Humans seem to be taking new alliances now. What could be more natural than for Pesht to send Lavov a small armada to help with the Dushau problem?"