Long View - Zelde M'Tana Part 40

How . . . ? Dopples wouldn't have crossed her this way! Not smiling now, Tregare said, "The abstract of your ship's log. Your name and a lot of others aren't on the roster until after Escape; then, there you all are, and coded with quarters'

a.s.signments. You see?"

She shook her head. "It wasn't like you think. Tell you sometime, maybe. For now, I'll stand on what Dopples wrote."

The doorchime sounded. He went, and came back with two trays. "Eat now, M'tana. Talk later."

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When they finished, he brought out and poured some wine that had a stinging aftertaste. "All right-you said we need to talk. You start."

She swallowed. "Like you said first, I'm the one wants a Hat berth. You got one open?"

"Two. Second and Third-and only one good prospect to promote from the ratings." She waited. "First I had to put a cadre on another ship-left me short of talent. Then my new Second got pregnant by my new Third-on purpose, they did that-and hearing my plans, they decided to get off here. I bought them out fairly, of course." Not looking angry, he frowned at her. "Now before we even start to d.i.c.ker- just to pay for your meal and drinks-start telling me all I don't know about you and the ship you came off of, and any ships you had contact with."

Then he grinned, and it looked friendly enough. "Because what I'm planning, I need to know more than I'll ever find out."

She began with herself and what she'd learned of ships. Yes, Inconnu's controls might be some different, and she didn't know ships' weapons, only portables. And she hadn't lifted off or landed, real, but her simulation tests showed she could if she had to. So far, Tregare didn't say much.

Some things, important just to her, she skipped. Anyway, he knew about her being cargo and then living with Parnell-before that, was what he asked about. All right- the Wild Kids, and getting caught by the Committee Police their own d.a.m.ned selves. And again, not all of it-just what fit with where she was right now.

They finished the wine; he opened another bottle. "So. I wondered what training you had, before you got shuffled into cargo. Now I know-from UET, nothing. But out there on the loose, you learned command before you were fourteen." He nodded. "It starts to make sense. Go on."

Escape, she told of. He interrupted. "If Parnell hadn't logged it, that you by yourself took out an armed man in a power suit-"

She explained how it happened, then cut to the contacts with other ships. Each time, he had comments. On Bernar-dez: "He's Escaped, all right-but keeping cover with UET ships and colonies. That's smart-but then, he always was. And at a message drop he left me something-the 313.

whole basis for my new plans." He had to be a little drunk now, Tregare did; he leaned closer to her. "Fairgrave's idea-he has the wrong place, is all. Stronghold!

That's the key."-Stronghold, yeah-Zelde remembered now. Except she couldn't figure Tregare's angle on the place. . . .

He shut up then; she went along, telling. About Malloy, he said, "Pig in the Parlor, huh? Well, I've left coded word for him; maybe he'll find it someday." Krueger: "Tell me more on that." Best she could remember, Zelde did. "Yeah. If Use gets word in time, she'll bring Graj Spee."

Quinlan: "Pell's a loner. No point in coding anything for him here, anyway-he'll hardly be back. A general note, though, to all Escaped ships-that could reach him secondhand somewhere, same as anyone else." Tregare straightened up. "One thing more, M'tana-how did you get up to Captain? Tell it all."

All right. "Ragir's hurts brought him down." Nothing to say of her own pain.

"And Dopples out flat, so long." Like telling something she'd only heard, not lived, she explained. Then Carlo Mauragin, and Franzel-just bare fact on that, too. "But I got to the power suit-it worked good enough, except no way to use the projector that went with it, and-"

That's when Tregare laughed. She looked at him; before he answered, he filled her gla.s.s. "M'tana-in a way we're twins, you and 1. After Escape, / scotched a UET takeover using a suit. Wrecked mine, though-no parts left to fix it, afterward."

Squinting at her, he sat back. Waiting for something more? She said, "So we had the ship again-but n.o.body except me, to run it. And I'd had to kick so much a.s.s, and me up from cargo-too many couldn't live with all that. So-" She shrugged. "I had to sell off, was all. You see it?"

To answer, took him a time. He'd been looking down; now he stared at her directly. "On Inconnu you wouldn't have that problem. All I'd log, for record, is what Adopo-lous gave you to show around." He nodded. "I could use you on here, M'tana. But the question is, can I afford you?"

"What's that mean?"

"Weltmarks-I need a lot, maybe you gathered, and I have only the Hat berths to peddle for them." She tried to talk but he cut in. "Don't offer to come aboard as a rat- 314.

ing-I'd never ship an ex-officer in a pride-hurting job. Too risky; you people found that out with-what's his name?"

"Mauragin. But I-"

"So if you can't afford to buy a berth, you're out. I'm sorry."

"Sorry, yeah. What kind of figure you got, on Second Hat?"

His eyes narrowed. "Two hundred thousand-Second or Third, either one; makes no difference. Do you have it?"

Zelde shook her head. "What I got, or what I dou't- seems you're pricing kind of high, though."

One hand he put out to the side, fingers spread. "You heard what they're trying to do to me here! I need-"

This one, I can't be easy on-not ever! She thought fast. "One forty, I'll go. Out of that, I'll see you fueled."

"No." Gulping from his winegla.s.s, shaking his head. "It leaves me only twenty thousand fluid credit from the deal. I need more than that-a lot more."

She laughed. "You got more." She showed him the readout tape. "See? I own that fuel-bought it at regular price, and you get it the same way. Leaves you-"

"Eighty thousand clear, yeah! And-you bought a fair load of food, too." Now he scanned the tape closer. "You-the time code on this tape-"

"That's right." Zelde felt good; she smiled at him. "Heard the argument, you see, and-"

He slammed his gla.s.s down so hard it broke, and leaned back laughing. "That's what you were doing on the computer? Buying up fuel before Fairgrave changed the price officially?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Seemed like a good move."

Grinning wider than she'd seen him do, Tregare pumped his right fist twice, up and out. He stood; at the intercom he said, "Watch officer-that you, Gonnelsen?

Right. Call Port Admin-Gannes or Hanen, whoever you reach-tell them we're adjourned until tomorrow. Mid-morning should be soon enough. Tregare out."

He came back and sat down. "All right. Second Hat M'tana-and when I have the fuel and the eighty thousand, that's who you are on this ship, long as you can hack it- let's have a drink."

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Waiting until he'd poured-bourbon again, now-she was going to thank him, but he spoke first. "Now then- you want to stay here tonight? Or do you have things to take care of, in town?"

Her shoulders moved, not quite a shrug. "Some stuff to pick up at River House-I can do that tomorrow, or whenever. No-Second Hat quarters on here sounds fine."

"That's not quite what I meant. My Second and Third haven't cleared out yet.

What I had in mind, M'tana, was right here."

Get this part straight, fast! Groundside, either way it wouldn't matter. But she'd be living on this ship. . . .

She tried to think it out. He was starting to talk when she cut in on him. "You said you was shorthanded-means you got s.p.a.ce. Some kind of place I can be, for now."

She waved a hand at him, didn't want him to say before she did. "One thing you should know, Tregare."

He waited. "My men-I'm the one as does the picking." He didn't answer. "This change anything? I mean-you want some other Second Hat-and get your fuel someplace else, too?"

Don't push him too far!

Tightened, gradually his face relaxed. "No problem. You're right-there's s.p.a.ce."

He gripped her arm and then let go. "There's time, too." Either he laughed, then, or cleared his throat.

"Wasn't out to mad you up. Just had to say it."

Now he did laugh. "If you couldn't stand up to me, M'tana, how could you stand up for me?" He grabbed her by the arms, held her face to face with him. The bottom quarter of his tattoo didn't match the rest, quite. No-it had to be the other way-he'd been only Third Hat at Escape, with the top three-quarters added later.

Not a good job-Henty, she'd done Parnell and Dopples a lot better.

He reached to touch the ear with no lobe. "Tell me about that sometime, will you?"

"Sure. It wasn't so much."

"I'll bet." He gripped her shoulders-tense, shaking her, but not hard. "Stick with me, M'tana, you'll have your own ship again someday. And maybe more."

For the night he gave her a rating's cabin-empty for a while, it looked-and went with her to draw bedding and 316.

the rest. Alone in the place, she didn't bother to unpack. Tomorrow she'd get her things from River House, and close accounts with the Port. Any trouble about that?

No-not with her and Tregare backing each other.

Tregare. She might be with him a while sometime, at that. The way of the man-not like Parnell, but he made her feel something. Parnell she'd had to have-and come to think on it, Honcho, too. This one she didn't-if she needed him at all, it was for what he was and where he was going. And maybe that's why he needed her.

The main thing, she decided-just short of sleep-was keeping it straight. Like always.