“And what?”
“And—” his eye caught Harriet’s incredulous look, and that made it even harder “—and we’ve got a boss who wants to talk to us, wants to stop the hostilities.”
“And we’re supposed to believe them?” Morgan asked disdainfully.
He drew a breath. “We have to at least listen to them. I can’t vouch for the other outposts. But these people from Ivan… they helped us find Impris, and got us back safely to Faber Eri. They escorted us. As a gesture of good faith.”
Deutsch, beside him, murmured a metallic affirmation.
“They sent Freem’n here as an envoy to share information. And—” Legroeder gasped dizzily, hoping all these promises would be kept “—there’s a shipload of repatriated prisoners on their way back here right now. Right behind us.”
“What are you talking about, Legroeder?” Maris said, holding her head as if it hurt just trying to take in his words. “Repatriated prisoners? Are you serious?”
“I am. Look, I know this is all very confusing. Maris, I don’t know the explanation for what happened to you. But I know someone who does, or can find out. I’m just asking you right now to keep an open mind. When you hear the rest of the story… Do we have time, Harriet?”
“We’ll make time. I’ll have them send in some coffee.”
“Good. Then let me finish telling you what happened…”
Even recounting the events of the Impris rescue in brief, he found his emotions stirring at the memories. “The passage through the flaw was the most astounding experience of my life,” he said in a near whisper, as the rush of dizziness that he’d felt in the retelling slowly subsided. He’d allowed himself to relive the feelings far more intensely in the presence of his friends than he had before. At least for those few minutes, he’d forgotten his other problems.
Morgan and Maris were dumbstruck. Harriet, who had heard the gist of the story before, was the first to stir. “It’s an amazing story. Simply amazing. And I think now you need to tell it again—this time to the ladies and gentlemen of the press.”
Legroeder groaned.
Harriet was not to be put off, however. As she took his arm and propelled him toward a conference room where he could hear the sounds of a crowd, she said, “You might hate this, but if you want to clear the air about everything that’s happened, and you want the Spacing Authority and RiggerGuild off your back, you’ve got to get it all out in public.”
“What do you want me to do?” he mumbled.
She put a hand on his shoulder. “Just tell it the way you did to us. You’ll knock ’em dead.”
The press conference was every bit as chaotic as he’d expected; but through the chaos, he managed somehow to give a coherent summary of his adventure, and convey it as a triumph not only for himself, but for Impris and Faber Eridani as well. His lawyer deftly deflected all but a very few questions, and got him out of the room as quickly as she’d gotten him in. They left the reporters with ample fodder for many days of sensational stories, and the promise of more details to come.
“Superbly done,” Harriet said, as they rejoined his friends in the guest suite he’d been assigned on the station. “You’ve got a big day tomorrow. So I think we’d better all clear out of here and let you get some sleep.”
Legroeder didn’t argue. After everyone left, he threw himself down onto the bed. For a time he felt as if he wouldn’t sleep a wink, but instead would spend the entire night with one thought racing against the next, and most of all remembering the shock in the eyes of his friends as he’d revealed the name of YZ/I.
When he rolled out of bed in the morning, he realized he had, in fact, slept like the dead. Even after rejoining his friends for breakfast, he was still groggy. He drank his coffee in near-silence, trying to reconstitute himself before the start of the formal hearings.
The Special Envoy to the Secretary General, one Martha Clark, had arrived during the night, as had a number of Narseil diplomats. They were all eager not just to hear the details of the mission but to put a shape on it in anticipation of drawing conclusions. The arrival of Impris was not a problem for them; the arrival of the Kyber was another matter. Legroeder was joined by Captain Friedman and by his Narseil shipmates, and he was grateful for the company and the support.
It was astounding how long it could take to tell even the most basic points of a story when one was interrupted and questioned at every turn, and when there were no fewer than three human and four Narseil viewpoints to be told.
The first day of hearings stretched into three, and by then Legroeder was ready for just about anything except another day of questions. Every time he spoke with Harriet, Morgan, or Maris, he imagined the suspicion and betrayal he’d seen in their eyes that first night.
For their part, they seemed at least to be trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Morgan seemed the angriest and most inclined to think he was an idiot for believing anything the Kyber told him. Harriet, perhaps hiding at times behind her professional facade, seemed to be working hardest at trying to maintain an open mind. Maris was still just trying to make sense of the whole thing.
Legroeder was beginning to wonder if he would ever hear from Tracy-Ace/Alfa, who as far as he knew was still in a parking orbit somewhere well out of sight of the station. As the hearings neared their completion on the fourth day, he was stunned to hear her voice coming through the door of the meeting room. Tracy-Ace herself appeared a few moments later, flanked by Captain Glenswarg. They were followed closely by armed Spacing Authority guards.
“Ah,” said Envoy Clark, “our guests from the Kyber vessel have arrived.”
“Thank you for permitting us to address you,” Tracy-Ace said with a bow. “It’s a pleasure to be here representing the Kyber outpost of Yankee-Zulu/Ivan.” She was dressed much as she had been the first time Legroeder met her—spectacular in black and gold. She seemed, if anything, to be taller than before; probably it was his imagination. Her eyes searched the room until she found Legroeder. A smile creased her face.
Legroeder started to rise, then caught himself and made do with a blush and a grin. He was aware of Harriet, beside him, and he cleared his throat.
“Friend of yours?” Harriet murmured. “Very pretty…”
Legroeder nodded, not trusting his voice.
“I see…”
Which was exactly what he was afraid of. He had gone, after all, to gather intelligence against the pirates, not to make love to them. But if Harriet was interpreting his discomfort accurately, she said nothing more.
At the front of the room, Tracy-Ace addressed the panel of officials. “A shipload of repatriates is en route, and should be here in a few days,” she said, causing an immediate stir. “We’ll have names and other information for you at that time.”
“Miss Alfa,” said Special Envoy Clark in surprise, “are you saying—”
“That we are serious about establishing meaningful relations with your world? Yes, we are…”
It was another hour before the session was called for the day and Legroeder got a chance to speak with her. He hurried to the front of the room as people dispersed, feeling a flash of worry that this would be like their arrival back at Ivan, all business. Which perhaps would have been for the better; but never mind that…