Pegasus In Space

But! But!

Never mind Watari. He is basically a good commander, Johnny admitted. Just doesn't like things that ain't according to the book, his book, and we sure as hell ain't according to any book yet written. Xiang went over this bird with every sensor known to man, with a maintenance crew I personally checked. He weighted that word to imply that he had done some not totally "legal" scanning.

Aren't we going from the frying pan into the fire?

There're a lot more 'paths available on Padrugoi than there were on First Base. Lance is getting some well-deserved sleep at last.

WHAT? Look, I don't NEED to be wrapped in cotton wool for the rest of my life, Peter began angrily.

Cool it, Pete. You'll be working your butt off soon enough to pay for this luxury cruise. You'll bitch then, I suppose, about being out in the cold cruel world.

Wanna bet?

Johnny imagined a huge grin on his face.

Then Peter asked, Was Flimflam the only one involved in this sabotage?

Scarcely, Johnny replied with a snort. Although, he added quickly with a puzzled sigh, I'm still trying to figure out who had the most to gain by offing us. Flimflam was just waiting for a chance but he'd've had to have had help. Fraga and Leitao?

Them? Peter was dumbfounded. I thought they were both Space Authority.

I'd never heard of Fraga before. Though I have heard Leitao's name, Johnny mused. He was sure baby-sitting her. Stayed with her in sick bay until I was ready to 'port them down. And that collapse of hers-I'd like to know more about those two.

She was scared stiff. Of me! Peter couldn't quite suppress the note of injured surprise in his voice.

Exactly. She was scared stiff of you, the psychic, although she must have known that you-and I-are teleports when she was drafted to come up to that meeting. 'Pressure of work'? 'Overwork'? I don't think so. What about scared of what she had on her mind? I want some answers from those two. Later. Now you finish the night's sleep I so ruthlessly interrupted, Pete.

It took Peter a while, using limbics, to erase the angry indignation and get to sleep, secured in the netting. He woke to the sound of low voices in the corridor outside the privacy cubicles. He had slept himself out and was much revived by the rest. With a touch of chagrin he thought of his outburst. He shook his head and felt the reaction-reminding himself sternly that he was in free fall and to move accordingly. He was also hungry and needed to empty his appliance.

He gave himself a gentle shove out of his cubicle, using the head to empty his appliance before drifting toward the forward cabin. Xiang was on duty, talking to a man in a smart civilian coverall sitting in the other position. Xiang let one arm drift up as he saw Peter. Peter mimed eating and glided into the galley that was unoccupied, save for the lingering aroma of a savory. Peter twisted the selection dial, stopping at fried chicken with rice and peas, and remembered the lunch he'd eaten with Ceara Scott. He chose that, not really caring if it was time for "lunch" or not. Once again he could sense an odd cramp in his belly. Free fall was affecting him?

Thinking of Ceara made him wonder: had there been any investigation of Mai Leitao or Georg Fraga while they'd been here? He tried not to resent the woman's reaction to him. Had he remembered to tell Johnny about Fraga's unexpectedly opaque mind? How had Flimflam been involved? With Fraga or Leitao? Or Barchenka? She would surely have a crow to pluck with him and Johnny. But how could she be connected to Shimaz, who was very much incommunicado on First Base?

And, if Flimflam could finagle trouble on Padrugoi, was it safe to send such unreformable personalities to the Station to serve their sentences? Or cause the trouble Shimaz did at First Base? Not that it did him any good since Hiroga Watari had a Japanese attitude toward criminals: that they were not to be cosseted.

As standard procedure required all persons eating at any of the mess halls on Padrugoi to run their hands through the ID box at the entrance, a secondary investigation by Commander Bindra was efficiently and expeditiously conducted. Five persons-three were offenders and the other two confessed that they were badly in debt to Flimflam (facts that Kibon corroborated)-were detained in the brig's isolation cells. Their fingerprints and traces of an epoxy on their skin and clothing verified their presence on a prohibited level of Padrugoi. A sixth man also had traces of the damning substance but he was not detained at that point. Commander Bindra had specially chosen crews installing security devices in any ventilation shaft or conduit wider than fifty centimeters. Additional measureswere being contemplated anent a closer supervision of all offenders.