(I can’t just leave him here. How will he get free?)
// Likelihood: he will be freed when he is freed. Likelihood: whatever intelnet agent detected and trapped him will release him again when it chooses. There is probably nothing you can do. //
Legroeder circled around, studying Deutsch from various angles. (Freem’n, if you can hear me—if I knew how to free you, I would. If you can speak, now is the time.)
Deutsch, unblinking, appeared to drool.
Legroeder made his decision grimly. (I have to go ahead with the job, then—as we’d planned, in case of problems.) He hesitated, afraid to say too much. He started to turn, then swung back. (I’m sorry I doubted you for a moment back there, Freem’n. If I can find a way to help you—inside the intelnet or out—) He ran out of words. What more could he say?
With a final wave, he rose on the clouds of steam and looked for a place to hide himself while he sorted out what to do next.
The plan, at this point, was of necessity vague. But he could feel, welling up through the augments, a series of datapacks intended to help him.
// We have prepared all the elements of a working ID for you. Are you ready to assume your new identity? //
(As ready as I’ll ever be. Do you think it will work?)
// We analyzed the situation while you were exploring. Recommended action: create the impression that you set off the alarm against the Narseil. We can plant tracking indicators in the intelnet to convey this. Shall we do so now? //
He swallowed hard. It was one of the options in the plan—but it was difficult. (All right.)
// Please stand by. We will attempt to establish your ID in the system. //
Legroeder held his breath, as a flower of light blossomed out from where he stood and rose into the upper layers of the intelnet interface. Its shoot vanished into the mists like a beanstalk.
A moment passed. There were flickerings of light at the top of his vision—the implants at work in his skull, doing whatever the hell they were doing. He felt a sudden blip between his eyes, and the space around him seemed to brighten suddenly, as though a dimmer switch had been nudged up.
// ID established. //
// Attempting to place tracking records. One moment… //
He waited anxiously, as a pattern of streaks shot up and out, twinkling as it spun a spiderweb path through the surrounding matrix. An instant later, it all came back, like a holo in reverse.
// Done. //
He felt a chill up his spine. (What now?)
// For your own protection, you may wish to inspect your physical surroundings. //
Physical surroundings. Christ. Legroeder started to back out of the intelnet, then realized he could check from here. A series of windows opened around him like shutters: monitors showing the room he was sitting in and the surrounding corridors.
Full of raider commandos.
Full of Narseil with their hands clasped awkwardly behind their heads. Their face masks had been removed.
And seated at the console, two motionless figures. He recognized Deutsch first, then himself. He had nearly forgotten what he looked like, with his flaring, umbrella-cut grey hair.
Surrounded by the enemy.
// Reminder: you have an ID now. You are a member of this society. //
There was a brief flash of images. When it was over, he knew that according to his ID, he was a raider being transferred to this outpost, by way of having served as a spy on the Narseil ship. It should not be surprising if he had trouble finding his way around the station.
He drew a breath and pulled out of the intelnet. He found four cyborg commandos aiming laser weapons at him. Several others were flashing bright handlight beams around; all but the emergency illumination had been cut off. Beside him, Deutsch sat motionless as a statue, still plugged in. A raider gestured sharply. Legroeder raised his hands and lifted the com-helmet from his head. He glanced around, moving only his eyes. Fre’geel and several other Narseil were being held on the other side of the room. They were watching him closely.
An amplified baritone voice said, “Did you sound the alarm?”
It took him a moment, squinting through the shifting beams of light, to find the raider who had spoken—to make sure he was the one being addressed. He started to answer, then simply nodded, swallowing his words. His gaze drifted back to the Narseil. Some of them knew the role he was to play, but not all of them. Would they believe he’d betrayed them? It was necessary, to be convincing. His face burned as he forced himself to speak. “Yes. I set off the alarm. Along with him.” He nudged Deutsch.
“You’ll come with us, then,” said the raider. “What’s wrong with him?” He pointed his weapon at Deutsch.
“He—” Legroeder’s voice caught as he tried to formulate an answer “—he got caught in a system loop, trying to help me get the alarm out. He… needs to be released. I don’t know how.” Legroeder hesitated, looking away from his crewmates as he uttered the words of betrayal. “I… was planted with the Narseil. Undercover. I’m from another outpost.”
“Is that so?” The Kyber made a squawking sound and stepped up to slap his palm to a connector on the console. A second later, Deutsch slumped forward. A pair of guards lifted him effortlessly and carried him from the room. “We’ll see to him,” said the lead Kyber to Legroeder. “You come with me.” He turned and made a sound like a grate opening. The other guards barked commands and raised their weapons—and for a terrible moment, Legroeder thought they were going to kill his friends on the spot. To his relief, they began herding the Narseil from the room.
Legroeder was escorted separately. Out in the corridor, he was pushed to the right, away from the Narseil. He felt a lump in his throat as he turned his back on his shipmates.
// It is part of the plan, // said a voice in his head.
(Yeah,) he muttered, and after that, the implants were silent.
The raider soldiers marched him through a maze of corridors and finally into a transport capsule set in a large vertical tube. He glanced at the stoic faces of the soldiers and wondered if, with experience, he could learn to read the expressions on those cyborg faces. He suddenly thought once more about what he was doing. It had taken him seven years to escape from a raider stronghold. Now he was walking into another.
The transport doors irised closed, and with an upward surge, they were moving.
Chapter 21
The Kyber Law
Legroeder felt a steady vibration through his hands, pressed to the back railing of the transport capsule. He couldn’t tell where he was going—there were no windows in the capsule—but he could feel it streaking in a great long arc, and he imagined that they must be shooting away from the docking station toward some other part of the Kyber outpost. He glanced around, trying to gain some clue from his three escorts.
There was little expression on any of their faces, nor had anyone spoken to him since they’d left the control room. But the leader was busy talking to someone; his lips were moving silently but continuously, his gaze shifting back and forth between Legroeder and a small control panel near the door. Finally he nodded and touched a control, then settled into an alert stance with his eyes on Legroeder.
After several long minutes, the movement of the transport slackened. Legroeder gripped the rail as deceleration kicked in. No one stirred until the transport came to a stop.