Sertian Princess (6 page)

"My lady," he murmured quietly.

"My lord," she replied formally, but in a voice so soft that only he could hear.

Then he swung, business-like again, back to the waiting group.

"The Phoenix is all yours, Corin.  Take her out when you're ready."

CHAPTER 6

After dropping the Phoenix off, he returned to his personal quarters through the garden.  He toyed with the idea of snatching a couple of hours sleep during the transit to Floreat but there was still too much to be done.  One thing in particular had been niggling at the back of his mind all day.

"Sam, where is Marie?"

"She's in her quarters, boss.... her room computer tells me that she's asleep."

Well, that was one thing that would have to wait until later.  He showered and changed his clothes.  Then he went over to his personal safe and took out a small and intricately carved, ivory box.  His fingers felt around the pattern, searching for the concealed spring mechanism.  There was the faintest of clicks and the lid opened a fraction.  He carefully put the box down on a small table and opened the lid fully.

A warm glow flooded out from the box and seemed to fill the room around him.  He lifted the jewel out and felt its power increase with the nearness of his touch.  It was a Moonstone, so called because, according to legend, the first one had been discovered on the only moon of Old Earth.  Although its power had not been realised at that time, it had still been prized for its colour, beauty and extreme rarity.  It was more than a hundred years later that the wearing of a Moonstone was first linked to an increase in telepathic powers and decades after that, before the link was conclusively proved.

Even now, when it was recognised that most people had latent telepathic powers to some degree or other, not everybody reacted positively to the jewel.  And even when they did, it required years of practice to take full advantage of the heightened awareness that was potentially available.  Ideally, each individual Moonstone would be cut to match the psychic profile of the person who would normally use it.  In that way the enhancement of the telepathic powers would be maximised, although even a rough, uncut Moonstone would provide some increase.

He had himself spent five years of study and meditation with the monks of Platos, learning how to control his powers, before this particular Moonstone had been cut to his personality and he had then spent a further two years as a novice before being allowed to go off planet.

Now he placed the jewel around his neck, feeling as he did so, the bustle of activity all around him.  Carefully he set in place the psychic control blocks which pushed this awareness into the back of his mind until he specifically chose to use it.  Without those blocks in place he would be swamped by the thoughts and feelings of everybody around him.  Apart from, on occasions, causing severe embarrassment, an inability to selectively tune out the background 'noise' had been known to completely break an otherwise strong and stable mind.

He finished packing the clothes and equipment he was taking to Floreat and summoned a servitor robot to take it down to the docking area for him.  Then he settled himself down into a comfortable chair and set his mind to work, to establish a telepathic connection.  He let the waves of background thoughts wash over him again but this time he analysed them, discarding first the ones which were most obviously different from the pattern he sought.  Gradually he refined his selection process, narrowing the search down to the pattern he remembered.  He could not have described this pattern: but just as the brain has the ability to recognise a voice over a communicator with the vision switched off, his brain remembered and recognised the thought patterns of the people with whom he had most contact.

Suzanne was aware of him as soon as he touched her.  He withdrew slightly as etiquette demanded and waited for her to respond.

"Yes, my lord," came the inquiring thought.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Suzanne, but as this will be the back-up comms link for this operation, I thought we ought to reinforce the link.  Are you busy right now or can we link minds for a moment?"

"Yes, of course."

She took down the outer layer of barriers in her mind and welcomed him in.  He experienced again the strange sensation of receiving two sets of conflicting data.  He was in his own quarters but he was also standing in the Control Room watching the other officers going about their duties.  He was Suzanne.... but not completely.  He could still sense the inner barriers in place, preventing him from accidentally straying too deep and his training did not allow him to probe.  Instead he withdrew.  The patterns of their thought processes were now firmly implanted in each other's minds.  It would not take so long to find each other next time.

"Ok, Suzanne.  Please inform the Officer of the Watch that I'm on my way to the Control Room and have the Comms Room prepared.  It's time to contact the Centre."

***

Marienna was not sure what it was that had woken her: whether it was the music that had started playing again, softly in the background or whether it was the smell of fresh coffee emanating from the servitor robot standing patiently by her couch.  Whichever it was, she decided, it was a very pleasant way to wake up.

"Where are we?" she addressed the room computer.

"Sam says that we're holding outside the Floreat system before making our final approach."

"Ok.  Ask Sam what the local time is on Floreat and how we're doing against the schedule."

"Local Floreat time is 04:34, sunrise at the spaceport will be at 06:57.  Sam says we're still on schedule to drop down to Floreat just before dawn."

"And what about the Aldebaran's schedule?"

"The Aldebaran is due to arrive in a transit orbit around Floreat at about 11:30 local time and depart transit orbit again at 17:30 local.  The shuttle is scheduled to land at the spaceport at 14:00 and lift off is 15:00 local.  Sam says that his latest information is that the Aldebaran is still on schedule."

Marienna drank some of the coffee and went over to the cupboard to choose an outfit suitable for the wife of a prosperous jewel merchant.    Despite the fact that she had already made up her mind to wear a formal outfit for travelling in and had insisted the previous day that the workshop make her one as a rush job, she went through a long routine of comparing the new outfit against the rest of her wardrobe before deciding that she would indeed wear it.

She carefully folded it and packed it into the small rucksack that was all that she would be allowed to take with her.  Making an illegal entry onto the planet meant that they would have to travel as light as possible to start with, and would have to buy further clothes and other necessities from the shops and boutiques around the spaceport when they got there.

She dressed quickly in a plain coverall and boots, and finished the rest of her coffee.  Kneeling down in front of a small locker by the side of her couch, she pressed her palm against the viewplate and after a few seconds, the door swung open.  Inside was a small arsenal of personal weapons.  Marienna began selecting the ones she would take on this mission.

A small needle laser she strapped to her wrist and concealed under the sleeve of her coverall.  Activated by muscle pressure, it was deadly at up to 30 metres and capable of inflicting a severe burn at over five times that range.  Miniature stun and gas grenades had been designed to look like ornaments and attach to her belt.  Goggles and nasal filter plugs, to enable her to operate in a gas filled environment, she placed in the belt pouch together with a selection of standard and electronic picklocks.

A collapsible laser rifle complete with telescopic sight and image intensifier went into the rucksack.  A miniature video camera and directional microphone went in next.  The camera had been specially adapted to use the same lens attachments as the rifle and also incorporated a transmitter capable of sending the pictures directly back to the Salamander's databanks.  Finally, she put on the gold necklace containing the throat microphone and the earrings which contained the corresponding receivers.

The belt she wore was also a product of the electronics workshop.  Concealed as one of the studs was a switch which, if activated, would immediately generate a force screen tailored to the contours of the wearer's body.  The force screen was designed both to absorb energy pulses from laser weapons and to deflect projectiles.  It was not intended to be a complete replacement for body armour but was lighter and less bulky for normal everyday use.

She finished checking the equipment and looked at her watch.

"How long before the final jump?" she asked.

"I have not yet been informed of a jump time," her room computer replied, "but Sam tells me that all positional calculations have been completed."

"I see.  Do you know where Lord David is?"

She did not actually expect an answer to that as Sam was normally very discreet about Lord David's movements.  She was, therefore, surprised, not only by getting an answer at all, but also by its detail.

"Sam says that Lord David is in the Communications Room talking to Excellency Khan."

Obviously her security status had been radically upgraded for Sam to be so free with his information.  She felt considerably cheered by this realisation as she picked up the rucksack.

"Please inform Lord David, when he comes out of the Comms Room, that I have gone down to the docking area to check out the penetrator."

***

In the Comms Room he waited impatiently for Sam to complete the electronic screening and establish the secure link with the Centre.  Eventually the viewscreen cleared to display an unsmiling Khan.

"You don't look happy today, your Excellency," he began.

"I fear, Lord David, that my news is somewhat mixed.  First, I have secured your corvette.  The Cleopatra is due to depart Star Base Runnymede within the next few hours.  Ah, I see by your face that you've done the calculations too.  The Cleopatra cannot possibly reach your area in under seven days, more probably eight.  However, she has been given your rendezvous co-ordinates and her captain has explicit orders to place the ship under your direct control once he arrives.

"The news regarding the passengers and crew of the Aldebaran is not so good.  Every single one of them checks out as far as we have been able to establish.  What are of more interest, are the late bookings joining at Floreat and Andes but, unfortunately, I have not yet received all of their details.  The best I will be able to do is to leave a message for you at Andes spaceport.  Can you arrange for its collection?"

"Yes, no problem.  The girls can pick it up on their way through. What about the cover stories?"

"Cover stories for both your parties have been established with as much background detail as I could provide.  I'll send Sam all the details, together with the passenger and crew lists."

"Ok.  So what you're saying is that you have no idea at all about the strength of the opposition or the identities they may be using?"

"None I'm afraid.  You're on your own now.  If I get anything more, anything at all, I'll leave it for you at Andes.  Good luck."

He broke the connection and clambered out of the Communications module.  Simon had relieved Elida as Officer of the Watch and was waiting for him.

"Set up the final jump, Simon.  Take us in as close as you can.  I want the ship rigged for silent running and I want all nonessential systems closed down."

"Yes, my lord."

"And send a message to Corin on the Phoenix.... Burst transmission Code Red.  Ask him to check the information desk at Andes spaceport for any messages or packages for Mr. Held.

"Now, how long before we can make that jump?"

"The positions have all been calculated.  I'm releasing the probe now.  We should be clear to jump in five minutes, my lord."

"Hell, don't be too efficient, Simon.  Make it 15 minutes to give me a chance to tidy some things up first."

"Yes, my lord."

"Sam, where is Marie now?"

"She left a message that she's gone down to the docking area to check out the penetrator, boss."

"Ok.  Pass the word that I'm on my way down there myself.  I want to be on our way as soon as this jump has been cleared."

***

Marienna was inside the penetrator doing a final instrument check when he got there.  He dismissed his bodyguard and climbed into the copilot's seat.

"Hi, Marie.  How's it going?"

"Instrument check completed, my lord.  All systems are functioning normally."

"Ok, close it down and power off."

The two minute warning sounded as he waited for her to go through the close down procedures.  When she had finished, he checked that the voice recorder in the control position was off.

"I've been trying to catch you alone all day: there's something I want to say to you without too many flapping ears around.  I was wrong and I apologise.  I should have woken you and let you come with me to the Control Room when that message came through.  I put you in an impossible position and I apologise for that.  I didn't think it through properly."

"You don't have to apologise to me, David.... I mean, my lord."

"David will do for now.  We're on our own and the recorder's switched off."

"But it was my fault.  I was your bodyguard and I had no right to be asleep."

The 10 second warning sounded followed by the stomach wrenching feeling of disorientation.  He reached over for her hand and smiled at her.