For a minute all I saw in their faces was confusion, either at the question itself or because they were puzzling over the answer to it. All their faces, that is, except Tera's. In that instant I saw in her suddenly wide eyes that the pieces were finally starting to fall into place. "The answer, of course," I continued, not waiting for the cla.s.s to respond, "is that he didn't sense any such problem because one of you is not the man he hired for your particular slot on the ship."

Chort found his voice first. "That is incredible," he said, the whistling under only slightly better control. "How would anyone have known the Icarus was valuable enough to do such a thing?"

"And once he knew it, why didn't he just go to the Patth and turn us in?"

Shawn added. "This makes less sense than the psycho nutcase theory."

"Not really," I said. "The answers, in order, are that he had no idea at all that there was anything special about the Icarus. And he didn't turn the ship in to the Patth because his purpose in coming aboard was something else entirely."

I nodded to Everett. "Everett was the one who finally pushed me onto the right track," I said. "It was back when you all learned what the Icarus was carrying, and he pointed out that Borodin and the Patth weren't the only possible players in this game. I suddenly realized that he was right; and furthermore realized who the other player was."

"Who?" Tera demanded.

I lifted a hand. "Me."

There was a short silence. "I don't get it," Shawn said. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about me, and about the people I work for," I told him. "And about the fact that the murderer came aboard the Icarus for the sole purpose of delivering me a message. A lesson in obedience."

My gun had been waving almost idly around the table, the hand gripping it making small gestures as I spoke. Now, in a single smooth motion, I brought it to point rock-steady at the center of the large torso looming up over the far end of the table from me. "You can tell him, Everett," I said quietly, "that I got the message."

Another silence descended on the room, this one as thick and dark as tar paste.

"I don't know what the h.e.l.l you're talking about," Everett said at last, his voice husky and as dark as the silence had been.

"I'm talking about a crime boss named Johnston Scotto Ryland," I said. "A man who thought I needed to be taught a lesson about strict obedience to one's orders and one's master.""Wait a minute, wait a minute," Shawn said, sounding bewildered. "You've lost me completely. How did a crime boss get into this?"

"Because he's a crime boss who's holding a half million of McKell's debt,"

Nicabar said, his eyes studying me with an intensity I didn't much care for.

"McKell's been smuggling for him for the past few years."

"You're a smuggler?" Shawn demanded, staring accusingly at me. "So that's how you got the borandis so easily. I should have guessed that a big simon-pure hotshot like you-"

"Put a baffle on it, Shawn," Nicabar cut him off. "So what did you do to earn this lesson, McKell?"

"Ixil and I had a cargo of his bound for Xathru," I said. "We were running a little ahead of schedule, so I diverted us briefly to Meima."

"Why?" Tera asked.

"I'll get to that later," I said. "Ryland has informers everywhere, even on a backwater world like Meima. I think Ryland was already having suspicions about my loyalty, so when one of his snitches reported I'd landed there instead of Xathru he apparently concluded I was getting ready to jump ship or double- cross him or some such thing. Regardless, he decided I needed a lesson on why that was a bad idea. Were you that informer, Everett, or just the local muscle for the territory?"

Everett didn't answer. "Well, the personnel list's not important," I said.

"Either way, Ryland ordered Everett to tail me and find out what I was up to.

He followed me as I wandered around Meima; and was probably right there in that taverno when Cameron came over and offered me the pilot's post aboard the Icarus."

"How did he know you'd been hired?" Tera asked. "Unless he was close enough to overhear, couldn't you two just have been having a chat?"

"I'm sure he wasn't that close," I said. "I was keeping a close watch, and I would have remembered anyone sitting that close. But he didn't have to hear anything. All he needed was to see Cameron give me a guidance tag to know I was taking a job with him.

"So when Cameron left, Everett decided to tail him instead of staying on me, probably hoping to find out who exactly I was dealing with. I had planned to follow Cameron myself, but I got diverted by a trio of unhappy Yavanni and lost him. He followed Cameron, watched him hire a couple more crewers; and then apparently decided to take a closer look at one of you. So he let Cameron leave, followed his latest acquisition into a nice dark alley, and clobbered him."

"And this person was who?" Tera asked.

"Whoever Cameron had hired to be ship's medic, of course," I said. "Because when Everett called to report what he'd found-which wasn't much-Ryland told him to take this person's place and follow me aboard the Icarus. Fortunately for us, Everett was actually qualified to handle the job. Or maybe it wasn't just luck; maybe he'd picked on the medic on purpose."

Chort whistled suddenly, a sound that hurt my ears. "I remember," he said. "He was the last to arrive. He said he had been delayed at the gate."

"Actually, he'd probably been skulking around the side of one of the other ships watching the rest of us gathering," I said. "He probably had a whole storyworked out to spin for Cameron about how he'd bought the job from a buddy who'd suddenly taken ill or something."

Nicabar snorted gently. "Pretty pathetic story."

"It may have been something better." I c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at Everett. "Feel free to jump in if you feel your creativity or cleverness is being maligned."

"No, no, keep going," he said evenly. "It's all nonsense, of course, but it does make for fascinating listening."

Out of the corner of my eye I caught the slight wrinkling of Nicabar's forehead.

Everett didn't seem particularly worried; and if there was anyone who had a right to be worried at the moment, it was Everett.

"Whatever his story was, it turned out to be unnecessary," I continued, trying to distract Nicabar's attention away from questions about Everett's unconcerned att.i.tude. The last thing I wanted right now was to have a former EarthGuard Marine to go all suspicious of this setup. "Cameron didn't show up, so Everett simply pretended he was the one who'd been hired in the first place."

"You know, McKell, Everett's right," Shawn growled. "This is all Grade-A speculation. You said yourself Cameron got away from you on Meima. How could you possibly know what happened?"

"It's not speculation at all," I said. "You see, I had a brief talk with Cameron after the incident with Ixil's cabin. He told me he'd tackled someone busily preparing a poison-gas mixture out in the Icarus's lower corridor; but he further told me that it wasn't anyone from the crew. His a.s.sumption was that it was someone who'd come in from outside the ship; but if one of the crew had let a stranger in, why wasn't he there with him to help carry out this second murder? No, it's much simpler to a.s.sume that one of his original crewers was replaced right from the start."

"You said Everett came aboard to deliver a message," Tera said. "What did you mean by that?"

"In Ryland's eyes, I was flirting with treason," I said, feeling my fingers tightening on my plasmic as I stared blackly across the length of the table at Everett. "But apparently he thought I could still be redeemed, or at least could be scared back into the fold. And so in his typically crude and heavy-handed way, he ordered Everett to kill my partner."

"Your partner?" Tera gasped. "Jones was your partner?"

"No, of course not," I bit out, a flood of emotion suddenly washing over me.

An innocent man had died, all because of me. "Jones was exactly as advertised: a mechanic Cameron hired off the street for the Icarus. And that's where Everett made the mistake that so muddied the water that it took me until now to figure it out. He was so convinced that my partner and I were both jumping ship and abandoning Ryland's contraband on Meima that he just a.s.sumed that the Icarus's mechanic was my partner. Add to that Jones's natural friendliness and social ease, and it probably looked to him like we'd known each other for years.

"And so, knowing that it was traditionally the mechanic's job to a.s.sist with any s.p.a.cewalks, he sabotaged the rebreather on the suit that was Jones's size and sat back to wait for the inevitable."I gestured toward Everett with my plasmic. "But then you made a slip, a small one, which I didn't catch until a comment Revs made on Palmary jogged it back to mind. We'd gone to Xathru to turn Jones's body over to the port authorities and incidentally to pick up Ixil. While we were all out of the ship you called Ryland to report that the foul deed was done, but also told him I'd said something about bringing yet another partner aboard to fill Jones's slot.

Ryland confirmed that you'd missed your intended target, but since his cargo had indeed been delivered on schedule it was all cool now and to just stay aboard and keep an eye on me."

"So where was the slip?" Shawn asked. "I don't see any slip."

"The slip came later," I said, watching Everett's face. "When you came into the ship while I was talking to Ixil in the wraparound. You took one look at him and said, 'So this is your partner.' There's no reason for you to have put it that way unless you'd already believed someone else was my partner."

Everett's expression didn't change, but there was just the slightest twitch of his lip. Enough to show that, despite his protests, I'd hit the mark.

Nicabar cleared his throat. "Question. If everything was so cool, why did he try to kill Ixil on Potosi?"

"Because between Xathru and Potosi the situation suddenly stopped being cool,"

I.

told him. "The first thing I did when we reached Potosi was to call Ryland to get the location of a dealer I could buy borandis from. By that time the swirl of Patth activity around the Icarus was starting to heat up, and Ryland was none too happy that one of his people-me-was at the center of all the attention."

"Why didn't he just tell you to jump ship?" Shawn asked.

"Because he knew I wouldn't do it," I said. "I'd already told him that part of my cover as a poor but honest ship's pilot was to stick with the Icarus, and he knew better than to argue the point with me over a StarrComm link. Besides, he already had a plan that would preempt the whole decision.

"You'd all been told to stay aboard ship while I went to get the borandis. But Everett had orders to check in with Ryland, so he loosened Shawn's restraints enough that he'd be able to work his way free and escape. Then, while the rest of you were out searching, Everett headed to the StarrComm building. Maybe you even called while I was still talking to him; he was off the line a long time looking up the location of a drug dealer to steer me to.

"Anyway, Ryland told him to do two things. First, to phone in an anonymous tip to Najiki Customs that we had smuggled gemstones aboard; and second, to kill Ixil, who Everett told him was still sleeping off his burns. When customs found a dead body aboard and locked the Icarus down for investigation, Ryland reasoned, I would be out by default.

"Unfortunately for all his cleverness, everything went wrong from that point on.

Cameron caught Everett preparing to kill Ixil, clobbered him, and put the chemical vials inside Ixil's room where Everett couldn't easily get at them again."

I looked at Tera. "Do you remember, Tera, when you cut into my phoneconversation with Everett to tell us you'd found Shawn? Do you remember how he sounded?"

"He did seem a little odd," she said, her forehead wrinkled with thought. "A little blurry, as I recall."

"He was a lot blurry, actually," I said. "At the time, I a.s.sumed it was because Shawn had hit him during his escape. Now, I know it was because he hadn't yet recovered from your father's one-two punch."

"Dad keeps in pretty good shape," Tera said. "I'll bet he still can pack a wallop."

"Especially when properly inspired," I agreed. "I'll have to look up your throw-boxing record, Everett, and see if you had a history of easy knockouts or whether Cameron was just lucky. At any rate, when Everett came to, he knew he wouldn't have time to come up with a Plan B before the Najik arrived, so he hightailed it off the ship, remembering to lock the hatchway behind him the way it had been when you'd all scattered to look for Shawn.

"Sure enough, the Najik arrived in force and prepared to open the ship the hard way. And there Everett's second stroke of bad luck came in: Chort returned to the ship about the same time and decided they shouldn't go in without the captain being there. So he blocked their path; and no one in the Spiral goes out of their way to irritate Crooea. The Najik were probably in the process of discussing protocol with their HQ when the third and final bit of bad luck arrived."

"You?" Nicabar suggested.

"Me," I confirmed. "Ryland knew how far across the city he had sent me for the borandis, and figured the whole thing would be over and done with long before I.

could make it back. What he didn't know was that the sky was going to open up and rain small mammals, and that as a result I would hire a cab instead of using the more anonymous public transports the way his employees are supposed to. At any rate, I got back in time to bluff the Najik out of a real search, and we were off again."

"An amazing bit of deduction," Everett commented, shaking his head in feigned wonderment. Apparently, he still wasn't ready to give it up. "Seriously flawed, of course, but still interesting to listen to. Tell me this, then, Mr.

Detective: If I was so determined to get you or Ixil, why did I risk my life to help get you away from the Patth on Palmary? To the point of even getting shot, as you may recall?"

"Oh, I recall, all right," I said with a nod. "And the reason is simple, even if the rest of the details are a little murky. You didn't hurt Ixil or me because by then you knew just how valuable the Icarus really was and that Ryland would definitely want to get hold of it himself. You needed a pilot to get off the planet; hence, the selfless volunteer work."

With my free hand I gestured to Nicabar. "Revs, however, was a different and more serious matter entirely. You needed a pilot and an engine specialist to fly the Icarus; but with Ixil and Revs both around, you had two engine specialists.Under other circ.u.mstances you probably would have been happy to have the duplication; but sometime in the preparation for my rescue Revs must have let it slip that he was an ex-EarthGuard Marine. That was great for getting me out, but not so great when you looked further down the line.

"And so, when Ixil left you in the main club room as rear guard, you propped up one of the dead Iykams in a likely position behind some of the tables, picked out a spot nearby, and then shot yourself in the leg."

"He shot himself?" Chort whistled. "But why?"

"Two reasons," I said. "First, because he needed an excuse for why he was out of sight when Revs and Ixil brought me in from the back room. Remember, he had to shoot at Revs from concealment near where he'd set up the dead Iykam, then move a couple of tables away from there and shoot the corpse in the back if it was to look plausible. The only possible reason he could have for lying down on the job was if he'd been shot."

I shrugged. "As it happened, he wasn't as good or as lucky as he'd hoped, and was only able to wound Revs instead of killing him. Still, for putting him more or less out of action it was good enough."

I was looking directly at Everett as I spoke; and so it was that I caught the flicker of relief that crossed his face just before the quiet and all-too-familiar voice came from the archway behind me. "Very clever, Jordan,"

the voice said. "Very clever indeed."

I took a deep breath as the rest of the people around the table once again became stunned marble statues. "And the second reason he shot himself," I added, letting the breath out in a resigned sigh, "was that he wanted an excuse to stay aboard the Icarus after the rest of us came up here to the lodge. That StarrComm call he'd made, you see, wasn't to any doctor friend."

With my free hand, not turning or even looking around, I gestured to the archway behind me. "May I introduce you all to Johnston Scotto Ryland."

CHAPTER 24.

"I'M IMPRESSED, JORDAN, really I am," Brother John said, his voice accompanied by the sound of measured footsteps coming toward me across the wooden floor.

"So that's why you were sitting on the portico all afternoon, was it? Waiting to see if I'd show up?"

"Not really," I told him. "No-don't try it," I added, shifting my aim toward Nicabar as he began to ease one hand toward the edge of the table.

"Yes, do listen to the man," Brother John agreed. "At least, if you want to live. You can put your gun down, too, Jordan, there's a good boy. So you didn't expect me to show up?"

"Not while I was watching, no," I said, laying my plasmic on the table and onlythen half turning to look around behind me. Brother John was standing in the archway, beaming with apparent ease in our direction, as six of the biggest and meanest-looking thugs I'd ever seen strode purposefully toward us. Their faces were without a doubt those of casual killers; the large black guns they were pointing at us made my plasmic look like a toy in comparison. "I a.s.sumed Everett was watching the cliffs behind the lodge, waiting for you to arrive."

"Don't be absurd," Brother John said. His voice was still cheerful, but there was a sudden undercurrent of menace beneath it. "You don't really think I'd have let you get here ahead of us, do you? We've been waiting in the back wing of the lodge for almost a day now. No, I think you were waiting for Everett to get tired of his vigil and come inside."

"What exactly is going on here?" Tera asked, her voice trying hard to be calm but not entirely succeeding.

"I should think that was obvious," Brother John said, his gaze still on me.

"We're taking the Icarus and its alien stardrive off your hands."

"I'm afraid I hadn't gotten to that part yet," I said apologetically, turning back to the table. The bodyguards had reached us now, and as four of them stood watch the other two hauled Ixil and Chort to their feet and began a quick but thorough frisking. "Everett was told to lure us here with the promise of a safe haven. Mr. Ryland and his people were, we know now, waiting in hiding here in the comfort of the lodge. As soon as the rest of us were inside out of the way, the plan was to sneak out to the ship and take off, leaving us stranded."

The thugs found no weapons on Ixil or Chort, pushed them back down into their chairs, and moved on to Tera and Shawn. "I'm surprised they didn't just line us up and shoot us," Tera bit out, glaring ice-shredders at Brother John and ignoring as best she could the hands moving over her body.

"You underestimate Mr. Ryland," I told her.

"Yes, indeed," Brother John seconded. "After all, you already owe me your lives once over. It was my people on Palmary who stood guard over the s.p.a.ceport during your mad rush off the planet. As well as in the control tower, I might add."

"I wondered why we got away so easily," Nicabar murmured. "The least the Patth should have done was lock down all departures."

"They tried," Brother John said, beaming some more. "Indeed they did. The pressure was applied, and the governmental authorities had given the orders.