Defender

Bren didn’t see Yolanda. Hadn’t seen her in the crowd.

“If he hadn’t foreseen there might be communication problems,” Jase said, “if he hadn’t trained perso

Taylor. The pilot that had rescued Phoenixfrom its predicament.

“Ramirez made us able to survive here,” Jase said. It was a daring comparison. If the ship had a saint, it was Taylor—and Jase’s status, one of Taylor’s Children—had the place very, very quiet. Nobody expected much out of Jase in decisions.

But he’d hit them with words. He’d said things no one else could.

He’d mentioned Yolanda, when no one else had remembered her.

And Jase was right. The man who’d refueled the ship and died leaving them a hellish mess—had had the foresight to create Jase and Yolanda to study languages and cultures that had no possible relevancy to the ship; and whether he knew it or not—to make themselves different-minded enough that they could bridge that soft-tissue gap between ship-thinking and whatever they might meet on the planet.

That was Ramirez’ doing… when most of the ship’s crew couldn’t conceive that the colony they’d left behind could possibly look at things differently… and Jase was right, Ramirez was one chief reason they were standing here, because the alternatives, the pitfalls they could have walked into—were a guarantee of disaster.

For creating Jase and Yolanda, and for listening to them, Ramirez deserved a monument.

And that led to one difficult thought.

Would the man who was that foresighted, that awareof time, distances, and change—then do something so damnably stupid as to lie to them all about Reunion and plan to desert them?

Why? That was the question. Whyhad Ramirez held Reunion secret?

Whyhad the whole Reunion business not come out when Pratap Tamun tried a coup against Ramirez?

Had Ramirez—unlikely thought—been the onlycaptain who knew?

Tamun, the newcomer to the captaincy—he hadn’t known.

Ramirez had waited until his last breath to tell Jase—as if Ogun and Sabin couldn’t. A way of putting a stamp of approval on Jase? The ticket to legitimacy in the office which Jase had fought every step of the way?

Well, for damned sure Ramirez hadn’t intended to be overheard.

The paidhi, better than most present, understood Ramirez’s position. Damned if he didn’t. In that light, he understood every maneuver the man had made. As a sovereign cure between strangers, truth was vastly over-rated.

Jase finished.

“The company is dismissed,” Ogun said.

“ What about Reunion?”

The shout came from out of the crowd at Bren’s back. Shocked silence followed—about two heartbeats.

“This isn’t the place or the time,” Ogun snapped, and Ogun had the microphone. The tone went straight to the bones.

But: “ Why?” a female voice shouted out, and in that breathless hush, didn’t need a microphone. Faces were obscured in the dark. Someone else, male, shouted: “ What happened out there?”

“Nandi,” Banichi wanted his charge out of harm’s way, and wanted him to move to the wall.

But Bren stood still, even when Banichi nudged him. “I want the answers,” he said. Geigi also stood fast, since he did, both of them being fools, and lord Geigi’s security was also hair-triggered and worried.

Gi

And Ogun stood under the light, visible to everyone on the screen, his dark face frowning. Jase and Sabin were at either shoulder.

“ Why?” the crew had begun to chant. “ Why? Why? Why?”

Ogun held up an arm. Held it until, slowly, there was silence.

“One of you,” Ogun said, “one of you with the guts to step into the light—come up hereand ask me.”

There was silence a moment. Then a single man moved into the light. Kaplan, of all people. One of Jase’s displaced guards.

“With all respect,” Kaplan said, his voice breaking. It cracked, twice, and he managed to say, picked up by the mike, “with all respect to the captains, apologies from the crew. But—” Kaplan got a breath. “We’re with you, captain, we always have been with you, and we go into the dark with you, no question, but here we’re being told things different than makes sense to us, and we don’t want to leave here with any doubts.”

Kaplan had learned something, being with Jase. It was a solid piece of diplomacy, a door through which crew and captains could fit together, if Ogun would just take the invitation and pick up the olive branch.

And Kaplan wasn’t alone. Polano and Pressman were discernible in the shadows behind him.

“Mr. Kaplan, is it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Phrase your question.”

“I’d rather ask the captains if they can explain better ‘n we can ask, sir, because we don’tknow.”

“Better than you can ask,” Ogun said. “Better than you can ask, Mr. Kaplan. Answers are in that list of survivors posted on C1, cha

“ It’s not enough!” someone shouted from the back, and Ogun drew an angry breath.

“All right. You want to know the truth, cousins and friends, the truth is, we didn’t make the choice, we didn’t havethe choice. Now there isa choice to make, a last piece of business from the Old Man, and what we do about it, that’s a question before the Council. Every man and woman of you, get to a com station, personally, read the list. That for a start. Then if you can’t take orders and accept the discipline that’s kept the ship alive, get a parachute and join the colonists. But if you cantake orders, if you remember who you are and what you are and what your job is, then you know why you don’t question an order except through cha

Human bodies stiffened, unthought, automatic. Noise stopped.

Visitors stayed still, whether or not lord Geigi understood enough of what was going on. Bodyguards were ready for anything.

“First question,” Ogun said. “Are there any survivors who aren’t on the list? Answer: we don’t bloody know. If there is any other name, and a few could have been born and half grown by now, Reunion’s in a position to know. We’re not.

“Second question: do the aliens out there know where we are now? Answer: we hopenot, but you know and we know there’s optics, there are ante

“Third question: why did we keep it quiet? Answer: it wasn’t our idea. But the fewer people that know, the fewer can tell—if we were so unlucky as to be asked by the intruders out there. So forget you know.

“Fourth question: why didn’t we take Reunion perso

“Fifth question: what are we going to do next? Answer: that’s an issue under debate. Written suggestions will be considered. Turn them in, cousins and crew. We’ll listen.

“End of statement. I’ve disposed of a stack of memos. Don’t expect a written answer. For the rest, consider Captain Ramirez in light of what I’ve just said, and honor himfor saving our necks and doing the damn best he could.