"Commander Ladade, this is my mate, Lady Emassi Kris Bjornsen, and this is Emassi Captain Kathy Harvey."
The commander waved a blue sheet of paper. "You are officially released as unfairly accused."
"I told you we didn't do anything, Kapash," Kathy said, her voice croaking from her dry throat. She hated that display of weakness in herself. She would rather have stood unmoved by Kapash's attempt to debase her.
"You are free, are you not?" Kapash replied with a nasty smile on his face.
Kris gave him a long, contemptuous glare. "We did not misrepre-sent our product and you know it, Kapash:"
He gave a shrug, lifting both hands in a disarming gesture, sug-gesting that he had only been doing his duty.
"Commander Ladade," a voice crackled from the ship's commu-nicators, "to the control room. Ship X11-233 requesting permission to depart?"
The commander gave a little smile. "If you will follow me." He turned to port. They did, with Kapash trailing behind them.
Zainal had Kris tightly by the hand, his thumb stroking her fin-gers. "Be easy, dear heart. I have wanted a chance to be in the control room. Humor me."
It took all her concentration to make her legs manage the pace Ladade set and she suspected that both she and Kathy were operating on an adrenaline high that she hoped would last long enough to get them off this wretched station and safely among friends. But they were out of that hideous prison ship. They were safe with Zainal.
Then they were in the control tower of the space station, looking out at the parking lights of ships. One set of lights was blinking, evi-dently to attract attention.
"X11-233, this is Commander Ladade. Your affairs are now in or-der and you may depart."
The usual gravelly Catteni voice, remarkably polite, graciously ac-cepted the permission. Within moments, Kris could see the flare of inter-system thrusters igniting and the ship ponderously moving toward full space-without her and Kathy aboard. She leaned into Zainal, almost fainting with relief. Kathy had taken the nearest free chair, ignoring a dirty look from a subordinate for such impertinence.
"Where is it bound?" Zainal asked, as if he felt required to make some comment. She could feel the tension through his body and wondered what he was after. She realized that his gaze was fastened on the nearest screen.
Shrugging indifferently, Ladade directed someone to bring up the file. Only Kris knew how important that file was to Zainal. She could feel the small sigh he released.
"Zerion 28.4.32. One of the mining colonies," Ladade said. "A resource planet that I believe you yourself discovered for the Eosi." "I believe you're right, Ladade," Zainal replied equably. "I did dis-cover the planet. Too bad it had such rich metal lodes. It would have been suitable to colonize."
"Please." Now Ladade gestured for them all, Kapash included, to proceed to the portside door, which turned out to open into his pri-vate office, just off the command bridge.
"Perhaps you ladies would like some refreshment," Ladade said, all courteous.
"Water would be welcome," Kris said with great dignity, and he waved her to serve herself at the small catering unit. She poured two glasses of water from the pitcher and gave one to Kathy. She finished her glass, trying to sip slowly so as not to upset her stomach. Then, with a movement she hoped would be graceful, her sore knee barely supporting her, she sank into one of the chairs.
"Where would you put the parameters of Eosi Pe's possible stops, Zainal?"
Zainal pointed to the screen on Ladade's desktop. "If you will bring up his file," he said, moving to stand behind Ladade so he could see the screen. "Ah yes, well, if you notice, he makes quite a few trips to those coordinates." He tapped the screen with a finger.
"Yes, yes, but there's nothing there. Not even a moon," Ladade protested.
"I think you will probably have to achieve those coordinates and then see what might be in space nearby."
"But, in space?"
"Where else to secrete something when only you know the place you left it?"
"But: but..:'
"I'm sure it will take some searching, but think of the rewards, Ladade."
"Where? Where?" Kapash came around the desk but before he could see the screen, Ladade altered the display, glaring at Kapash. Zainal straightened, but Kris, knowing him as well as she did, saw a gleam in his eyes. Whatever he had wanted to find, he had. She won-dered what it was.
"What about Au? Where would he have hidden his treasure?" Eosi Au had once commanded both this station and the Barevi market.
Zainal shrugged. "You knew him better than I did, Kapash, Ladade. Probably even his habits, if you will stop to think, instead of being blinded by greed, Kapash."
"You owe me." Kapash waggled a finger at Zainal, barely able to contain his aggravation.
"Then let us discharge that debt to you with all possible dispatch, Kapash," Zainal said in such an ominous tone that even Ladade, fasci-nated by Zainal's theory, looked up from his screen.
"Indeed, Kapash," Ladade said. "I will detain you on the station no further." He motioned toward the door, and Kapash had no op-tion but to leave at such a curt dismissal. He did so reluctantly, despite Zainal's guidance.
"What did you give for our release?" Kris asked in Zainal's ear as they strode along the corridor to the airlock where Kapash's gig was docked.
"The coffee," he muttered.
Kris was both appalled and pleased to hear that her life had been ransomed by coffee beans. She really did mean a lot to him. But did he mean all the coffee? For someone who had given away one of their most important commodities, he looked oddly pleased. She hoped whatever he had found here was what he had wanted to discover.
She found that she had barely enough strength in her legs to get inside Kapash's gig. Kathy looked frightfully pale and sank instantly into the nearest seat. Pride kept Kris erect on her feet.
"Zainal, is there anything to eat on board? And I'm still thirsty." "I'll see. " He rummaged in the small alcove, finding only some Catteni dry rations. He gave one packet to her and another to Kathy and then brought them water. Kathy found a small packet of coffee beans in her tunic pocket and handed them to Zainal.
"Do you have a grinder on board, Kapash?" Zainal asked. "Why ever would I?" Kapash replied in a surly voice.
"We have some beans."
"They are all mine, Zainal. Remember that!" He snatched the packet from her fingers. "And we go immediately to your ship so I may see that no more of my beans are distributed on Barevi."
"Oh?" Kathy looked up at Zainal, her eyes wide with alarm. "It's all right, Kathy."
But on Kathy's face was the dismay he was going to see from everyone else involved in their Barevi mission. Not that he felt any would rebuke him for bartering the beans for the lives of the two women. Zainal winked at Kathy, who was so astonished that she dropped her eyes and continued to chew the hard Catteni rations. Kris managed to eat enough to let her stomach work on some-thing useful and then leaned back in a seat and thought of the long shower she would take to get rid of the stench of the prison.
Chapter Nineteen
Natchi and Erbri appeared at the gangway of Kapash's gig as they disembarked. Ferris was with them, and so relieved was he to see the women being escorted by Zainal that he let out a ululation that startled everyone on the dock. Then he raced away to find trans-portation.
It was Natchi who helped Kathy onto the small motorized cart that arrived, and it was actually Natchi who paid for the hire when they reached the KDM. Jax and Floss wept with relief when they saw their friends gliding past the berths. Then Clune and the Doyle brothers appeared. Ninety all but carried Kathy on board, seeing that she was by now so weak with shock.