Jellico gave a short nod. "And you, Karl?"
Kosti jerked his thumb in Van Ryke’s direction. "Jan hasn’t pushed us into a nova yet."
The captain looked from face to face. "I’m hearing a consensus," he said. "Anyone against keeping the Starvenger! Now’s the time to speak up."
Mura lifted his hand. "I don’t know. my own feelings are mixed, but like Karl said, we’ve trusted Jan’s hunches before, and they’ve played out.
I’m in."
Stotz laid his hands flat on the table. "I’ll admit I’d like more time to poke around that engine. I suspect there are some nice improvements on our old drives I can learn from and improvise. Why not keep her for now? As Jan said, we can always sell her if need be. But getting out with some cargo now will be tricky."
"Leave that to us," Van Ryke said, thumping Dane’s shoulder.
Jellico looked around again. "Then it’s settled."
"What I want to know is," Mura said, "how in the Five Hells of Krantuvi we managed to hook up with her out in space?"
"Pure luck," came Steen Wilcox’s voice over the com.
"And about time," said Kamil.
Wilcox continued as if Ali hadn’t spoken. "We just happened to intersect her realspace position during engine windup, when the ship is most vulnerable to gravitational knots."
"The engines seem to be intact," Kosti said. "No signs of tampering or sabotage."
"No signs of violence anywhere," Rip’s voice came over the com. "I checked all the cabins. Belongings were all gone, no signs of any scuffles or breaks."
Jellico’s eyes narrowed. "But the comps were stripped, which contraindicates an emergency evacuation. That takes time."
"All the comps except that little auxiliary one in hydro," Ya spoke up for the first time. "I’ll get to work on that right away."
"Everything gone," Tau said, "except the cats. That’s puzzling—even if they had an emergency, it seems to me any crew would take the time to scoop the cats into their suits, if nothing else."
"We’re not talking about Terrans here," Stotz said.
"But they had cats, which is a human and humanoid custom," Rael
countered. "And despite the shape Alpha and Omega were found in, we think they were well cared for."
Tau nodded, tapping his fingers on the table. "They were overlooked. This, with the computer wipes, bothers me." He looked up at the captain. "From what I remember of salvage law, we are required to report any sentients on board a derelict, whether alive or dead."
"True," Van Ryke said. "There’s always an investigation to make certain the salvagers didn’t get their ship through foul play."
"We don’t have to mention the cats, then," Tau said. He leaned back and folded his arms. "We’ll need to keep them here in any case, for it’ll be a while before they’re strong enough to set free again. When we make our report, I really think we should sit on this particular item."
Jellico’s brows lifted slightly. "Then you do suspect foul play."
Tau shook his head. "I just think we ought to keep the cats to ourselves."
Rael Cofort said quietly, "I have to admit I really dislike the idea of acquiring a ship that might have been abandoned under coercive or suspicious circumstances."
Jellico’s chin lifted slightly in a dismissive gesture that his crew knew welclass="underline" his mind was made up. "No sentients on board, we found and rescued her fair and square. Salvage Law says she’s ours."
"We may as well benefit," Ali said with a rakish smile. "If we don’t, someone else will eventually come along and get her—and I really think we’re about due for some luck."
Several of the others nodded, and Dane watched Cofort concede the point. Her eyes stayed serious, though, her expression reflective. He felt the impulse to ask her what she was thinking—but he was too embarrassed to speak and have that jewel-bright blue gaze turn his way. She might think he was an idiot.
"Let’s have a formal vote, then," the captain said. "All in favor of keeping the Starvenger ?"
The crew members spoke their ayes, and Jellico said, "Then that’s it. We’ll fly her in, dock her outside, and rotate crews of two out to guard her until we’ve finished our business and found ourselves a cargo."
"Then, my boy, we have lots to do before we dock," Van Ryke said to Dane. "No time to dawdle. Let’s suit up and find out what we’ve inherited."
4
"That's the last of them," Van Ryke said, three fingers tapping with practiced speed on his hand comp. "Twelve cases of stridulation unguent."
"Seems most of this was meant for Kanddoyd trade," Dane said.
The cargo master nodded. "Certainly the unguent."
Dane ran his gloved hand over the cases of small containers, trying to recall what he’d read about the insectoid race. "What’s it for? Alterations in stridulation tones, isn’t it?"
Van Ryke gave a nod. "Indeed: a sonic analogue of perfume. Kanddoyd fashions also run to these carapace jewels." He held up a large, faceted jewel mounted on a kind of small corkscrew whose sharp tip glittered coldly in the yellow light from overhead. Dane shuddered even though he knew the Kanddoyd carapace was largely nerveless.
"And these cosmetic rasps, as well." Van Ryke grinned at him. "It might help if you thought of them as oversize fingernail files—that’s pretty much their function."
Dane returned his grin as he pointed at another row of containers. "What about those?"
"My guess is that the metallo-paints are used by the Shver for clan rituals. Those scented wood chips are somewhat of a mystery, but I doubt they are a high-pri item. The solvents and alloys and friction preventives are standard trade for habitats."
"So it all came from Exchange," Dane said.
"Logical," Van Ryke murmured as they crossed the bay a last time.
Dane could feel the extra quarter-gee in his thighs. Free Traders rarely boosted over one gravity except in emergencies, which this was. But at least their trajectory was now aimed away from the Kanddoyd habitats, so they need not fear destruction by the habitat antimeteor defenses.
"After all, the fuel was full, so they had to be starting their journey, rather than ending it. And since there is nothing here of startling value, one must assume something went amiss with the crew. Sickness, or a parasite—"
"Unless it was an attack," Dane said. "That scar on the hull."
"Could be old," Van Ryke said. "They wouldn’t necessarily need to fix the fairing if they transported between habitats. It would only be dangerous if they attempted to enter a planet’s atmosphere."
"Then there’s the empty bay." Dane indicated the deck below them.
"Something might have been removed from it," Van Ryke conceded, "or it might have been empty all along. Unless Ya can read the script, we won’t have a clue, I’m afraid. But more to the point, with this minimally valuable cargo, we’re going to have fewer options for dealing." He sighed and looked at his chrono. "My time is up. The captain will be cutting boost in a moment, and I’m for the Queen. I’ll tally the numbers, and start researching these items more thoroughly." He smiled at Dane. "Disappointing as our cargo seems to be, our experiences on Sargol should serve as a reminder of the potential of the most unexpected items."
"Catnip," Dane said. Inwardly he winced. He knew that Van Ryke was thinking only of the advantage the Queen had gained over their rivals of Inter-Solar when the indigenous people of Sargol had discovered the Queen's catnip—but Dane’s memory went right back to the near disaster he’d avoided only by luck when he’d thoughtlessly given the native youngster the sprig of catnip without even thinking about its possible lethal potential to another species.