Trickster

Steven Harper

Trickster

CHAPTER ONE

"There is no greater fear than the possibility of losing a child."

Hare

"God!" Hare

"How did-" Ben began, but Hare

"Hold on," he protested, catching up. "How do you know we left slip?"

"The Poltergeist is a brand new ship and it still has minor bugs in the slipdrive," Hare

"There's still no big hurry. We have to negotiate landing privileges before we can even enter orbit. Five minutes won't make a difference."

"Perhaps not to you." Hare

Ben quickly activated his own earpiece and checked the communication display on his ocular implant. A flick of his eye highlighted the proper cha

"Half an hour to get there, then," Hare

They reached the lift and hustled inside before the doors snapped shut. Although Ben couldn't see anything of Hare

"Apologies," Hare

"It's just water," Ben said. "Don't worry, Hare

Hare

The bridge was an oval, with the captain's chair in the center and a large viewscreen at one of the narrow ends. Individual workstations ringed the bulkheads. Two of them-the pilot board and the sensor board-were occupied. Everything was painted in soft blues and greens, and there were no angles anywhere. Even the doors had rounded corners. The place smelled of fresh paint. As Hare

Seated in the captain's chair, Father Kendi Weaver glanced up as Ben and Hare

It was also very big.

"So this is where my son is hidden," Hare

"If Sejal's information was correct," Kendi said.

"I hope we can narrow things down a little," Gretchen Beyer put in from the sensor boards. She was a tall, raw-boned woman with blue eyes, blond hair, and bland features that would blend easily into a crowd. The gold medallion around her neck matched Kendi's, though her amber ring gave her rank as Sister.

"What do you mean?" Kendi asked.

"Database says Klimki

"It isn't that bad," said Lucia dePaolo from the pilot console. "We can find ways to narrow it down. He's got to be in an inhabited area, for one thing."

"Population one point two billion," Gretchen reported.

"But not all of them will be slaves," Kendi countered.

"Slave population three point three million."

"Shut up, Gretchen," Lucia said.

"We will find him," Hare

Ben, meanwhile, slid into his customary seat at the communication board beside Lucia's pilot console. Communications had remained dead while the Poltergeist was slipping-only the Silent could communicate with ships in slipspace-but now the board leaped with activity. Ben automatically sifted through cha

"I've already contacted the transportation authority," Lucia told him. She was halfway between thirty and forty and had olive skin, shoulder-length black hair, and a lush body. Her fingers, however, were long and quick, marked by ragged nails and a fair number of white scars. She pronounced her name with a "ch" sound in the middle.

"Permission to orbit?" Ben asked.

"Granted, no problem," Lucia said. "We'll be there in twenty-four minutes."

Ben glanced up. Klimki

"All right, troops," Kendi said, "we have to find one nine-year-old slave boy whose name has probably been changed to who-knows-what, and we need to do it in as little time as possible."

"Sure," Gretchen said. "Won't take but a minute. After all, we have Bedj-ka's age and gender, the name of the planet where he lives, and the fact that his father kidnapped him away from his mother when he was a baby-" Hare

"Gretchen," Kendi warned. "Thin ice. Skating. You."

"Yeah, all right," Gretchen said, relenting. "Look, we don't know if he's ever changed owners, or if Klimki

"Bedj-ka is Silent," Hare

Gretchen's blue eyes glittered and Ben tensed for an explosion. "Yeah, well I'm supposed to be Silent, too," she said. "What's that prove? I haven't touched the Dream in six months."