But while the bridge provided all the privacy we could want, or at least allwe were likely to get on the Icarus, it didn't offer anything in the way ofeither inspiration or answers.
"Hard though this may be to believe," I commented to Ixil as I watched hisferrets climb nose first down his legs and scamper off to their corridor andbulkhead sentry duties, "I think this whole thing is more confused now than itwas before we talked to Tera."
"I don't see how," Ixil said. "Instead of having a mysteriousmurderer/saboteuraboard the Icarus, we now only have a mysterious murderer."
"Oh, that's a great help," I said sarcastically.
"And we've also eliminated Tera as a suspect," he continued, ignoring thesarcasm. "Which leaves us only Chort, Nicabar, Shawn, and Everett. That shouldcount for something."
"Only if everything she told us was true," I cautioned him. "Don't forget thatphoto Uncle Arthur sent was not exactly definitive. She could simply be a veryaccomplished liar with a gift for improvisation."
"Really," he said, his polite voice edging as close to sarcasm as Kalixiriever got. "And does the large sphere's gravitational field come under the liartalent or the improvisational talent?"
"Fine, then," I growled, giving up. "Tera's as pure as the driven snow. Justbear in mind that even if she is who she says she is, her goals here may notcoincide completely with ours."
"Granted," he said. "So where does the extra confusion come in?"
"It comes in the same place Cameron went out," I said. "With all due respect, I
don't think much of your kidnapping theory. If they knew enough to get in hereand snatch him, why didn't they grab the Icarus while they were at it?"
"Maybe they don't know its actual significance," Ixil said. "Maybe they stillthink the prize is in the cargo hold and didn't think they had time to get toit right then."
"Then why let us leave the planet?" I countered. "Anyway, they have to have atleast an idea of what it is they're chasing. You don't offer hundred-grandfinder's fees completely on speculation."
"That doesn't necessarily follow," he said. "Maybe all they know is that theIcarus is carrying something Cameron desperately wants to get to Earth, whichthey want to take a look at simply on general principles. Perhaps that waswhat the anonymous gem-smuggling tip was all about, to give them an excuse to getinto the cargo hold."
I ran that one a couple of times around in my mind. It was not, I decided, as ridiculous as it seemed at first blush. "If so, they've got terriblecoordination problems," I pointed out. "The Najik let us go without evenblinking an eye."
"So did Director Aymi-Mastr on Meima," Ixil said. "I don't think the Patthhave quite made up their minds just how public they're willing to make theirinvolvement with this."
"It's certainly public enough at the top levels," I reminded him darkly. "Halfthe governments in this region have already been threatened with sanctions ifthey don't find and deliver us."
"True, but that's not the same thing as working directly with localadministrators and customs agents," he pointed out. "Top-level governmentalofficials can usually be trusted not to leak that kind of information, especially when it's something that might cause economic panic among theirpeople."
I scowled at my displays. "So where does that leave us?" He shrugged. "Atleast we're not as much in the dark as most of the people looking for us," he said.
"Whatever the Patth themselves know or don't know, they most certainly haven'tgiven the details to any of their searchers. If they knew what we wereactuallysitting on here, there wouldn't be a government in the Spiral who would giveus up to them."
"I suppose I should be grateful for small favors," I said, trying to think ofhow exactly all this knowledge gave us an advantage. Offhand, I couldn't seeany. "And that brings up another point. We might want to consider makingourselves a list of governments we'd be willing to surrender the Icarus to asa last resort, just to keep the Patth from getting it."
"We could," he said doubtfully. "The problem is finding someone who'd be lessof a threat than the Patth themselves."
I cocked an eyebrow. "You are joking."
"Not at all," he said, his face deadly serious. "As far as we know, the Patthhave no real military other than their own defense forces."
"No, they subcontract the muscle jobs out to the Lumpies," I said sourly.
"Perhaps," Ixil said. "My point is that the Patth would use the Icarusstardrive to cement their stranglehold on civilian shipping. Someone else might insteadput it to military uses."
I chewed a corner of my lip. A faster stardrive certainly wouldn't help inspace-normal combat, and of course there was no combat possible in hyperspace.
It would make it easier to ferry troops, materiel, and warships around, butthat wouldn't be that much of an advantage in the small brushfire conflicts thatstill flared up now and then. Unless we got into another of the huge regionalwars that we all hoped were safely in the Spiral's past, the Icarus stardrivewouldn't gain an aggressor very much.
But then, maybe something like the Icarus stardrive was just the edge apotential aggressor was waiting for. Not a particularly pleasant thought.
"We still ought to make ourselves a surrender list," I said, getting up fromthe command chair and crossing to the plotting table. "Maybe try for a consortiumof governments, just so no one's got a strict monopoly."
"Particularly a consortium that would allow the ship's crew to live," Ixil said.
"Preferably in something less confining than a small lonely cell somewhere."
"That one's at the top of my wish list, too," I assured him, keying the tableon.
"It's always nice to have a common goal. Where exactly are we headed at themoment?"
"I don't know," I said, peering at the possibilities as they came up. "We'recurrently heading for Utheno, on the grounds that having a legitimate exitrecord from Potosi would make it easier to get in and out of another NajikiArchipelago world."
"Utheno is only, what, seventy-five hours away?"
"Seventy-three," I said. "And since that's only about half the Icarus's range, I
also thought a stop there might throw off anyone who might be tracking ourmovements."
I waved at the table. "But now I'm starting to wonder if it would be better tonot get within any single government's grasp more than once."
"Perhaps," Ixil said slowly. "Still, at this point, I'm not sure it reallymatters. The Patth have surely alerted everyone along our vector, and whetheror not we've crossed paths with any particular government agency is probably moreor less irrelevant."
"Do you think we should get off this vector, then?" I suggested. "Veer off tothe side, circle around, and try to sneak up on Earth from behind?"
"No." He was definite. "The Patth aren't going to be fooled that easily—
they'llhave the word out anywhere the Icarus can get to. All that would do isincrease the number of fueling stops we would have to make, which is where we're mostvulnerable, and give the Patth more time to learn what exactly the Icaruslooks like."
"And if they really do have Cameron, to get a complete crew list, too," Iagreedglumly. "All right; Utheno it is."
"Utheno it is," Ixil agreed, snapping his fingers to recall his ferrets. "I'mgoing back to my cabin to get some sleep," he continued as they bounded up hislegs and clawed their way to his shoulders. "I'd like to finish healing beforewe hit Utheno."
"Watch yourself," I warned. "Our murderer may not content himself with leavinghis next batch of poison gas unmixed."
"I'll have Pix and Pax on alert," he assured me. "And there are a couple ofdoor-guard tricks I know. You just watch yourself."
"What, me?" I said, snorting. "The only one we know can fly this monster? I'mthe safest person aboard."