[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

extent, right now handily between the orbits of Earth and Mars.
But she had been astonished at how fast they were able to get there.
She was sure that she had just been at a meeting that would be discussed at
length and ad nauseam in the history books for years to come. Provided the
human race had a future the Phinons might have something to say about that.
The Belt ship thrusted away on repulsors, then lit its torch and soon was lost
among the stars.
Lost among the stars, that's how she had felt on Deepguard after Luke was
killed. There had been nothing left but a crater when she reached the site of
the laser batteries, and she'd gone into the remains of the base, cried for
what seemed hours, prayed, and slept. The next day she put on her professional
self and tried to find a way to send a laser message, but it was simply
impossible. The day after that she was rescued. She and Luke hadn't known that
the System Patrol had nearly a fleet of military and scientific vessels on the
way to Deepguard to study the aliens. She'd had no idea that the Phinon
Project existed.
She'd been whisked straight back to Luna, was reassigned to the Phinon
Project, and spent all her time being debriefed. But lately she'd been doing
nothing. She knew too much to go back to an active duty assignment on a
battleship, but not enough to help the geniuses that made up the cast of the
Project.
Then Knoedler had requested her services and told her that he had a plan for
her to ultimately visit every spaceship crew in the System Patrol to brief
them on the Phinon threat.
But first . . .
Someone knocked on her door.
"Yes? Come in."
Dykstra opened the door. "You may rejoin us, Nikki. I'm sorry we couldn't let
you stay with us. But believe me when I say it really was in your best
interest as well as in ours."
"That's okay, Doctor. I'm just a measly little ensign, after all. The colonel
can order me to swab the deck now if he'd like."
"Well, the deck kind of dingy," she heard Knoedler say from behind Dykstra,
then the colonel came is into view.
"No disrespect intended, sir," Nikki hastily said, but to be honest, she
didn't really care what he thought.
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Recent experiences had given her a more realistic view on what counted, and
what didn't.
"Oh, sure there was," the colonel said, smiling. "I used to make those kinds
of comments, too. Still do, as a matter of fact." He smiled again.
"So, am I guilty of treason now, too," Nikki blurted out. "Or is my being kept
in the dark going to save me prosecution in the event you two get caught?"
Dykstra turned to the colonel. "She's quicker than most of the people on your
staff, Colonel Knoedler."
Then he looked at her. "And certainly a good deal more honest. Perhaps we'd
better 'fess up to the ensign, don't you think?"
"Perhaps. What is it you suspect, Nikki?" Knoedler asked.
Suddenly it's "Nikki" now, eh Colonel?
But she found she didn't mind Knoedler's sudden foray into familiarity. "What
I suspect is that the High Command doesn't know we're here, and would be
damned upset if they found out that you two had been meeting with those
representatives from the Belt, cease-
fire notwithstanding. Am I on the right track?"
"You'll know eventually," Knoedler said, not looking happy.
Dykstra laughed. "Oh, Colonel. She's got us lock, stock, and barrel. Nikki,
you just want to know the whole story, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Dykstra asked.
"Vengeance. The Phinons killed someone dear to me. I want to be at the front
of the phalanx that does them in."
"Okay," Knoedler said. "I'll give you the crisp little version. Although I'm
not acting entirely on my own, I'll take the fall for those above me that
sanctioned this meeting if things don't go right. The bottom line is that some
of us think that the Phinon threat is the real danger to the Solar Union, not
the Belt, and we want their help in dealing with the aliens. All of the issues
separating the Union and the Belt will be moot once we can go to the stars. We
have a cease-fire now and we've been sharing data, but we haven't told the
Belt about several new technological advances that we've figured out from our
collection of alien artifacts. And unfortunately, there are plenty of folks
who want to use the new alien-derived technology to annihilate the Belt
government once and for all. Dr. Dykstra and I are not among the latter
group."
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"The new technology? Like the drive for this ship?" Nikki asked. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]