"Yes." She was tired, suddenly. "Don't you get bored, being right all the time? Figure out what you want to do, then set it up."
"First we need cover stories...."
Valerena left her seat. "Don't waste time. I want that Guardship for my headquarters. You like the Pylon, you can have it. Blessed can have the place on the Gorge. He needs something better than that old relic in the High City."
Lupo nodded. She thought she detected a hint of strained patience. Every time he talked to her... It hurt. He was worrying about the future of the House again. When he did that, she worried too, wondering if she was incompetent and a peril.
It made her want to scream, "You bastard, I'm trying! I'm doing the best I can! Stop listening to what I say when I'm running my mouth and pay attention to what I'm doing! Help me!"
Provik rose too. "We'll talk again after you've rested. I have a thousand questions about the Guardship."
"When I get the chance."
As he opened the door, Lupo added, "I really would like more information about your Others, Valerena. It could be important."
She went without answering, wondering why the sudden interest.
Lupo stood looking at the door. The family joined him. One said, "I refuse to be amazed by anything ever again."
Lupo said, "I think it's time to grow us some brothers and sisters. Otherwise the workload is going to bury us."
One suggested, "You might consider doubling T. W. a few times, too." T.W. Trice was the second name on the chart of the House Tregesser security apparat. She was the one person Provik trusted completely. She was the perfect manager, taking most of the routine load off his shoulders.
"I've tried. She won't do it."
Two observed, "Valerena was sensitive about her Others. She's worried. Does that mean some of them are out of control?"
"Probably. She had to go churn them out to confuse us, then just turned them loose. We'll have to find them all, tag them somehow, and keep them under surveillance. The workload keeps growing."
"And you love it," Two said. "You're practically running House Tregesser now."
"Just this side. They can keep the business end."
— 78 —
Haget was in a mood where he thought everything he said was funny. Everyone else thought he was being nasty. Jo was tired of making allowances.
They had visited the first two stations. They had come up with zeroes. All right. So it was not going to be a stroll. They had known that. Why get irritable and sarcastic?
The Traveler was coming up on the third station now. Everyone, including Seeker, had a job. This was no time for emotional distractions.
Jo and her squad were convinced. This was the jackpot. They were ready.
Breakaway. Haget went to the bridge to oversee communications with the station. AnyKaat offered Jo a compassionate glance.
"Kark! Look at that thing!" Degas said. "Straight out of the Stone Age." He and Vadja were in charge of plundering station data.
AnyKaat said, "I make it three ships docked. One Hauler and two Travelers."
"Curious." Jo looked over her shoulder. The schematic had Travelers docked side by side around the wheel from the Hauler. "Suggestive?"
"Maybe. But an old station might have a wobble it damps with its porting arrangements."
Jo looked around. Too early to have gotten anything else.
Haget stepped in. "They aren't pleased to see us. You'd think a tramp station would be eager to suck anybody in."
"Wouldn't you?"
"Watch them, Jo."
What did he think she was doing? "Yes, sir. Have they assigned us a berth?"
"Eight. Beside a Hauler."
"Why am I not surprised?"
AnyKaat said, "Lieutenant, I'm starting to get heat readings from both Travelers."
Jo looked. She was only a touch more familiar with the equipment than AnyKaat. "Colonel, can you look at this?" He had been a WatchMaster.
"They're warming up to pull out," he said. "We've made somebody nervous. Yell if they undock." He returned to the bridge.
They would have seen nothing had they been a normal Traveler. Civilians did not need gear that could see such things.
The Probe team began to get results. "Lieutenant, there's a lot of running around going on."
Why? Guilty consciences? Making with coverups they did not feel were needed for a Hauler?
There was a ping. Degas said, "Jackpot."
They had penetrated the station's system, starting with the obvious, records of arrivals and departures. The entry following the departure of the suspect Horigawa Hauler was: dpt sveldrov trav gregor forgotten.
The Traveler that had behaved so oddly at M. Shrilica. Interesting.
"That Hauler is Horigawa," Haget tossed in the hatchway.
Jo felt a touch, found Seeker beside her. There are some of Them there. Mind picture of a Messenger thing. Three. Possibly four. They may sense my presence.
"Would that explain the activity?"
Perhaps.
"Activate the weapons systems. Warm screen generators."
"All right!"
"Hoke!"
"Yes, ma'am," sheepishly. Hoke was on a CT cannon he wanted to try.
"Probe. Do we have anything nonhuman?"
"Three possibles, Lieutenant. Not enough resolution to confirm yet."
Good enough. She went to the bridge hatchway. "Colonel, we have at least three Messenger types on station. One or more in the hub and two headed for the Travelers."
Haget smiled. "That's interesting. We can take off the mask, Smokey."
Jo returned to her post. Degas and Vadja had pinned the identities of both docked Travelers as false. "What do they have for defenses on that dump?"
"Nothing. Not even shield generators."
"Then all they can do is run."
AnyKaat interjected, "Those Travelers are heating up fast."
Probe said, "The alien in the hub is headed for the Travelers, Lieutenant. It's a big one."
Haget stuck his head in. "What're they doing?"
"The Travelers are getting ready to run."
"Shoot their asses off so they can't do anything if they undock. Then suit a team to go take control."
He was having fun now.
So were all the Weapons team. She gave the signal. Twenty-five seconds passed. Time. Twin-fire lilies blossomed. "Hey! All right!"
"Get those targets assessed, Hoke. See if you need to pop them again. The rest of you get suited. Full armor and weapons." The squad hurried out, leaving their stations live. AnyKaat, Degas, Vadja, Haget, and Seeker some, could cover the critical functions.
"Got them both, Lieutenant," Hoke said, rising. "Those suckers want to go anywhere they'll have to put out oars and row."
"Stay. The Colonel may need a trained hand on weapons. Colonel Vadja, it's all yours."
Jo ran to the after-refrigerated hold, which they had converted into an armory. The squad was climbing into their suits. She stripped. "Let's be careful. We don't know what we'll run into. Those Outsiders are fucking crazy."
They got suited, through the activation checklists, armed, and forward in plenty of time. Jo checked her command channels. AnyKaat told her one of the Travelers was adrift. Degas, covering Probe, said station personnel had stopped running around. She had them send schematics.
Haget told her, "We'll offload you and back away. That loose Traveler has a couple popguns. Don't want it butt-shooting us."
"I understand."
"Jo... Do you have to go yourself?"
"I am a Soldier, Colonel. It's my command." Her tone was cool, but she was pleased.