"For years, yes. We were friends. I miss him. I've cried, and I'll cry

again. I don't blame you. I said that before."

"Yes. You did." Ky took a deep breath, banishing the lump in her throat that threatened to bring on her own tears. "Well. We'll talk later, Quincy. I'd better get ready for Colonel Kalin."

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

Colonel Kalin was prompt, as she'd expected. In person he looked

as tough and competent as he had over the comscreen.

"Well, Captain Vatta," he said, extending his hand. She shook it; it was hard, callused. "I'm glad to meet you at last."

"Welcome aboard, Colonel," she said.

"Is there a secure area?" he asked.

"Not really; we can talk in the recreation area with the doors shut,

or my cabin-though it's quite small-or the bridge."

"I see. The recreation area, then. I presume it's monitored?"

"Of course. But merchants no more than the military want their

affairs talked about. We have some screening capability."

"You will not mind if I add mine... ?" It was just barely a question.

"Not at all," Ky said. She led the way to the rec area, and spoke into

the intercom. "Bridge, this is the captain. I'll be in conference in the rec room, with screens on. Use a visual flash if we have a situation develop." She pulled out a chair at one of the tables. "Have a seat, Colonel."

"Thanks," he said, sitting down. She sat across from him as he glanced around. "Pardon me for being blunt, but we have a lot to talk about, and we're both busy professionals."

Ky nodded.

"I understand you've spoken to ISC about the ansible attack; they said you've told them we said we weren't involved. And I've seen what you sent by beacon-flash as well. But is there anything, any detail, you haven't included? We've had to post a hefty bond with

ISC until they clear us for that action, and the sooner we settle that the better."

"Nothing but the recording of Paison's crewman talking to me," Ky

said.

"And you jettisoned his body?"

"Yes. No cold storage," Ky said. Except in with their food, which

she didn't think needed saying.

"I wondered if that was why. Did you beacon it?"

"No, the only spare beacon we had aboard was put on our cargo."

"Ah. We're going to have to try to find it, because from what you

and his com tech say, some of his contact information was on his

person. Can you give us an approximate location?"

"Only with difficulty. We have the elapsed time, of course, but Paison tried to do a complete wipe of our system, so most of the data are suspect. We haven't had time to do a purge and reset, though, so it might be retrievable."

"Just not believable. Oh, well. The next thing is this contract between us. I hope you believe me when I say that we did not foresee any of the difficulties..."

"I didn't think so..." Ky said.

"No. We said ten days, and expected to be back for the passengers in seven, actually. Usually that's plenty of leeway. But when our techs couldn't get even the backup ansible working, we knew we had to jump outsystem to get to ISC before they got to us. Again, we thought we would be right back in the system, but ISC wouldn't pass us out of Tangier, and insisted that another commander be appointed. That's when I came aboard this operation."

"You were trying to work on the ansible platforms? I thought only

ISC could-"

"We have techs who can restart backup systems," the Colonel said, rapidly and not looking at her. "And yes, ISC knows about it." She wondered anyway. "At any rate, we did not expect to be delayed coming back into Sabine system, and we were quite concerned- and expressed our concerns to ISC-that you would be running short of supplies. May I ask when you began rationing?"

"As soon as we'd cleared off the counters of the food we had no storage for," Ky said. "My-I'd been told one time that it was always wise to have a few days' reserve, so I calculated for twelve days, not ten. That wasn't bad. Then, when you left the system, I cut back again, trying for the maximum survival with what we had. I had to keep crew rations up so they could do their work..."

"That must have been tough," the Colonel said again. "But I'm also impressed. You'll pardon me for saying what you know, that you're quite young to be captain, and I would not have expected a civilian captain with so little experience to be that decisive. Your company must provide excellent training."

"Actually, I learned that at the Slotter Key Space Academy," Ky

said. Surely he knew that already. Major Harris knew; Harris must

have told him. "Before I was kicked out," she added.

"Um, yes, Major Harris said something about that. Typical cadet trouble, he said." Colonel Kalin shook his head. "You would be surprised how many good young'uns have something like that in their pasts. Now-I'd like to hear some details about this mutiny.

We had no idea that Captain Paison was going to cause trouble."

Ky wanted some details of the money she'd be getting, but this wasn't the time to bring that up. Instead, she began a concise summary of the mutiny, starting with her realization that the passengers' location in the cargo compartments gave them potential access to the control systems. When she came to the confrontation, the scene was as vivid in her mind as it had been since. She struggled to keep her voice level and her hands still.

"So Gary said 'Don't let them-' and I shot Paison, and his mate

cut Gary's throat-"

"Why did you shoot Paison first?" Kalin asked. He sounded like one of her instructors at the Academy taking her back through a tactical problem.

"I didn't have a good shot at the mate-the way he was holding Gary-and Paison was the leader. I thought maybe, if I got him-"

Ky shook her head. "It was so fast-"

"You did the right thing," Kalin said. "But again-it's surprising.

I'd have to credit your military training. Then what?"

"The mate's arm sagged as Gary died, giving me a target. I shot him, but not fatally. He charged; I fired again, and that time got him

in the throat. I thought that would end it-the others behind them were too stunned by the blood, I think. But Kristoffson came at me; my junior engineer and I fired together, and he went down. Then I told them to sit down, and they obeyed me, and-" And then had come the reaction, the surge of nausea, the grief, the need to keep going anyway, keep the control she had regained, save her ship... Again she fought back the lump that had appeared in her throat.

Kalin waited a moment before saying anything. Then he said, "If you don't mind my asking, what was your class standing before that?"

Ky looked up, surprised. "The Academy didn't release numerical standings prior to graduation," she said. "But I was in the honor corps." It still hurt, she found, but the tears were easier to control now.

"I don't find that surprising," the Colonel said. "You know, you reacted much more like a military officer than a civilian ship's captain. It was a creditable performance, Captain Vatta, a very creditable performance. If you were a junior officer in my command, I'd be putting you in for a citation."

Ky choked back the "Really?" that wanted to come out in a schoolgirlish squeak. "Thank you, Colonel," she said in what was almost a normal voice. She could not help the internal warmth that she hoped didn't show in her face.

"Now-we have some financial business to conduct. I have the amended contract with me-I understand Major Harris has gone over the provisions with you?"

"Yes, he has," Ky said.

"I understand that your company's legal staff has vetted part of it- the per diem for extra time and a bonus for inconvenience, delay, damage-but since at that time no one knew about the mutiny, we did not include any settlement for the death of a crewmember and so on. If you feel you need to wait until Vatta's legal staff has approved this additional settlement, ISC tells us the communications ansible should be up for limited service in a day or so. Or, we can deposit the amount agreed on by your company's

lawyers now, and defer the rest until that part of the contract is approved. It's your call, Captain."

If she waited for approval, what would the company lawyers say?

More important, what would her father say? What if he ordered her, in his position as CFO of Vatta Transport, to turn over her cargo to Furman? She was not going to do that. She was absolutely not, notgoing to do that.