Defender

Gi

Jase, he thought then. Jase, on the bridge, with freedom of communications.

“I’d like to keep this civil,” he murmured, trying to keep it out of Sabin’s drugged hearing. “The captain pushed the dowager, hard. We’ve had a bit of a blow-up and the dowager’s willing to have it be settled, tit for tat. Given the freedom from restriction. That’s how things are.”

“Mr. Cameron.” The doctor was irate. “I’ll thank you to take this mob out.”

“We can move the captain to the dowager’s quarters, where we can care for her,” Bren said… not having consulted in the least, but he took a chance, high and wide. “We feel, given the nature of the reaction, that we ought to remain a resource for her… and we take our commitment to Captain Graham very seriously. We willremove her from the premises if we feel she’s in danger, damned right we will.”

“Get out of here.”

“You can’t enforce it,” Bren said. “Nor should. This is international politicsyou’re taking a wrench to, sir, and mypatient is the agreement that pastes three species together and keeps your ship operational. In that capacity, I’m supported by two of your captains and both the planet’s nations. And I’m not budging.”

“Cameron.”

That was from Sabin. He paid attention, and walked cautiously over to the bed.

“You damn bastard,” Sabin said.

“Yes, ma’am. I am and please attribute the misunderstandings to me, with profound personal apologies. I know the dowager’s limited in her conversation with you, but she’d much rather have an agreement and a civilized understanding. Her presence here is both an honor to you and an expression of her wish to have an agreement.”

Sabin’s scowling face was pale and beaded with sweat.

“You think I’m tracking?”

“I think you’re hearing things, and they come and they go, rather like talking down a pipe. Am I right? But I think you know the essentials. I think you know you can have a voyage with allies—or maybe that voyage shouldn’t take place at all. If we can’t bring the peace we’ve reached—out there—then what are we bringing, captain? If the representatives of the world and the station have to be locked belowdecks and kept out of decisions, we’re not bringing them damned much hope.”

“Who are you going to poison next? The pilot? That will be useful.”

“Captain, here’s a simple question. Did you back Pratap Tamun in an attempt to get information out of Ramirez? Was that where it went wrong?”

“What in hell are you talking about?”

“That is a fairly reasonable suspicion, isn’t it? You nominated Tamun. You generally supported him. Tamun wanted information on conditions at the station, because he was suspicious there was something withheld, and Ramirez wouldn’t give it to him. If he’d had what Ramirez knew, he could have brought the whole crew in on the mutiny—but he didn’t have it. And if hedidn’t have it, maybe you didn’t have it. Now every eyewitness but one is dead. And you just appropriated him to your staff.”

Sabin blinked slowly, sweat beaded in the lines about her eyes. The expression was somewhat bewildered. It might be she’d lost the threads of the question. It might be bewilderment of a different sort.

“Jenrette?”

“All the others died in the coup. So there’s Jenrette. And you wanted him away from Jase. And we know it.”

A slow series of blinks. Sabin’s face wasn’t accustomed to bewilderment. The map of lines was better suited to frowns.

“Damn this headache.” She seemed then to lose the pieces. And grope after them. “You’ve built a fairy castle, Mr. Cameron. And poisoned me because of it?”

“Only incidentally because of it, because if I’d believed you were on the side of the angels, or if you’d understood my position, Captain Sabin, you and I might have talked and the level of tension on this ship wouldn’t have prompted you to restrict the dowager’s movements and insult her at her own di

“You were the translator, Mr. Cameron.”

“I can’t ameliorate body language, Captain Sabin.”

“You… and Jase Graham. Damn him.”

“Damn us both, captain. Let’s be fair. Didyou know about the situation on Reunion?”

Sabin’s hand wandered to her head, shaded her eyes a moment, shutting him out.

Then dropped.

“Where’s Jules Ogun? Does your coup extend to the station?”

“Call him. I’m sure Jase can patch you through. What’s on the station is what we agreed on, a cooperative power-sharing, Captain Ogun, Lord Geigi, and Mr. Paulson. And considering everything that’s gone on, I’m not sure we’re not all going back aboard the station.”

“Things onstation are what they were.” Gi

“Who’s that?” Focusing clearly hurt.

“Gi

“Not what I pla

“So things onstation are secure,” Bren said. “And we can bring the ship back in to dock and try to settle this—you, your crew, the station… everybody. It does admit a certain failure on our part. Maybe we can avoid that.”

Sabin shut her eyes. There was a lengthy silence. Bren looked at Gi

“She’s pretty damn sick,” he said. “She’ll be all right, but she’s in no shape to make decisions right now. I don’t think this ship should leave port right now. We’ve been lied to, by Ramirez or by the whole Captain’s Council. We know there are records we weren’t given. We know there’s been deception on deception—whether it’s the old Guild ru

“Guild, hell,” Sabin muttered, eyes still shut. “We never were sure. Just put a brake on it, Cameron. Don’t speculate.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and folded his hands and stopped where he was, listening, waiting while a very sick woman tried to gather her faculties.

“First off, tell the dowager she’s a right damn bastard.”

It was no time for a translator to argue. Mitigation, however, was a reasonable tactic. “Aiji-ma, Sabin-aiji has heard our suspicions regarding Tamun and received assurances from me and Gin-aiji that we have not arranged a coup of our own. She addresses you with an untranslatable term sometimes meaning extreme disrepute, sometimes indicating respect for an opponent.”

Ilisidi’s mouth drew down in wicked satisfaction. “Return the compliment, paidhi.”

“Captain, she says you’re a right damn bastard, too.”

Sabin almost laughed, winced, and grabbed her head with a hand that shook like palsy. “God.”

“Hurts. I know. I’m sorry.”

“Damn your ‘sorry.’ Tell the dowager she can wander all over the deck and into the reaction chamber for all I care. What’s Graham up to, up there right now? Going through files?”

“I think he might be asking questions.”

“Of Jenrette.”

“Among other actions. I know for a fact, captain, that he’d shoot me before he’d take an action that endangered this ship. Let’s lay suspicions out in plain sight. He lived onworld with us for a number of years, he understands us, and his understandingof us has led him to do what he’s done. Frankly, he in no way anticipated what happened at the aiji’s table. He rather pla

Blink.

“People havebeen assassinated in this affair,” Bren said. “Not least of our suspicions—Ramirez.”

Blink-blink. “Not unless you did it.”

“You suspected us? We suspected you.”

“Did you do it?”

“No. I investigated, and my staff investigated. No.”

“That’s constructive.” Pain made Sabin shield her eyes and breathe heavily for a moment. “I’ll tell you what, Mr. Cameron. Let’s just assume this voyage is going to take place. Let’s assume we can even proceed on schedule. I’m not looking forward to acceleration until this headache stops, but we all have our inconveniences. Did you tell the dowager she’s a bitch?”