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points of operating the field. "Yes, I see it," he said. "All right-here comes
the first batch."
Unhandcuffed and unhobbled, the fifteen filed in. Only Gowdy followed; she was
armed, but the gun rested in its holster. Rissa thought, Certainly, she is
sure of herself.
"Who's the top ranker?" said Tregare. Gowdy indicated a stocky man whose head
was bandaged. "All right-sit down there and name yourself.''
The man sat. "Elrain Hardekamp, onetime First on the Attila. And you're
Tregare-all primed to kill me because I wasn't on your side, when I'd never
seen you before."
"Easy, Hardekamp-no matter what you say here, your life's safe. Now tell
it-why you mutinied with Peralta, and how you stand now."
The man half-stood, then dropped back to his chair. "Mutiny? No such thing."
He shook his head.
"Two years, nearly, I hid on Tweedle, UET looking for us all. Then Peralta
came and got us out. He wanted my oath and I gave it."
Hardekamp gestured. "What he said was, we were joining an Escaped fleet-that
he wasn't in command, but he should be. Our first job was to take care of that
for him-well, it didn't work. I
don't know who's right and who's wrong, but I went with the man who saved my
butt on Tweedle. I
guess I'm stuck with that."
"Maybe." Tregare waited, then said, "Peralta's dead by my doing. Would that
stop you from joining me, if I offered?"
Hardekamp rubbed his hand across his face. "That's a straight offer?" Tregare
nodded. "I don't know what was between you and Peralta-no way I could, you
see. But I'm trained for space, not groundhogging. So if you don't mind, we
being on the wrong sides from each other lately, then neither do I. I'll sign
it or swear it, whatever."
Tregare looked at his instruments and nodded. "You're a truthful man. Forget
the oaths; I'll settle for a handshake."
When that was done, he said, "All there was with me and Peralta-I might as
well tell all of you-
I helped him take his ship from UET, and he owed me service for it. But he
couldn't forget he'd been senior in the old days-he wanted command
174
and tried to kill me to get it. He lost." He shook his head. "I would have
bought him out fair.
I offered that, and I'd rather he'd accepted."
"So would I," said Hardekamp. "Or that he'd stayed. He was a fox, that one-the
way he got us up free from Tweedle. But you must be a better one, Tregare."
"Maybe, maybe not. I'm here-let's get on with it."
The next few questionings were brief; the men and women followed Hardekamp's
lead, and the indicators stayed green. Then a tall man, one eye bandaged and
right arm in a sling, sat.
He said, "I won't bother lying, Tregare. You killed my brother when you flamed
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groundside. I
wouldn't ship with you if the world was burning away under my feet! So kill me
and be damned to you. But if you were any kind of man, you'd give me a
fighting chance."
Tregare stood; his hands shook. "I'm sorry about your brother. But Peralta
gave me no chance. I
had to make my own. I give you better than that; you go free to make your way
on this world." He gestured to Gowdy. "Get him out of here!"
The rest of the interviews took little time. Tregare shook his head at one
man. "You're out." To
Rissa he said, "The indicators flickered; I'm too tired to find out why."
When it was done, they slept again in Peralta's former quarters. The next day
all personnel were questioned under the field, and Tregare designated three
more to be grounded; he did not state his reasons. Limmer, with Kenekke riding
"shotgun," delivered the five to One Point One and brought the scout back
barely before dark.
NEXT morning Tregare and Rissa inspected new installations on No Return, found
few errors and decided to return to Base One. Over lunch, Rissa said, "Felcie,
would you like to come with us, or must you stay to guard the equipment?" "Oh,
I'm sure it's safe here. I'd like to go with you." So five rode the scout to
the plateau. Nothing had changed; there had been no intrusion. Once aground,
Felcie was shocked at the effects of Peralta's foray-the damaged cabin
\r175
\rand wrecked aircar. "What a snick! Looks like somebody used ship's
weapons!''
"We did," said Rissa. Felcie's mouth opened, but closed without replying.
"Come, Felcie, I will show you a little of the place. All right, Bran?"
"Sure. I've got some calls to make."
Rissa gave Felcie a conducted tour. First the cabin-but no mention of its
defenses. Then outside-
to the plateau's edge with its sweeping view of lower Hills and plain, then
back past cabin and outhouse for a short climb, far enough to see the plateau
as a whole.
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"It's well planned," the girl said finally. "And I love the location! I've
never been far into the Big Hills on the other side-a little higher than
Hulzein Lodge, but not much. How'd you ever get an aircar over here-special
model, or did Tregare bring it in his ship?''
Rissa laughed. "I will not tell you just yet. I may have the chance to show
you, instead-and I
would not want to spoil the surprise."
The sun neared the high-flung horizon. They returned to the cabin, found it
empty, and went to the scout. Deverel and Kenekke were absent; Tregare worked
at a sheet of scribbled calculations.
He looked up. "You see all the sights, Felcie?"
"Yes, and I'm really impressed." She paused. "I almost forgot-could you give
me a circuit to
Ami? I haven't reported in yet today."
"And how about yesterday?" said Rissa.
"Oh, I called her in the afternoon. You were busy; the tall
man-Kenekke-arranged the circuit for me."
"All right," said Tregare. He punched for Hulzein Lodge and asked for the
relay; an unfamiliar face appeared briefly and then Ami Gustafson came to the
screen. "Hello," he said. "Ms. Parager's here to talk with you."
Felcie moved to the screen. "Everything's fine, Ami. The equipment behaved a
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hundred percent snooky, and now I'm up at a different place. Wow-was there
ever a fight here! Oh, not now-before I
came, I mean. You should see-"
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