"And what if it isn't a stardrive?" Shawn asked. "How do we get everythingback in again?"
"We don't," I said. "That's why we only toss stuff we know we can do without."
"And what if it doesn't work?" he persisted. "We'll have lost a lot of timeand won't be any better off than when we started."
"But we won't be any worse off, either," Nicabar reminded him.
"And if we can get it working, think of what it'll mean for all of us,"
Everett added thoughtfully.
Shawn sniffed. "Borodin will do great. Us, we'll be lucky to get the lousy twogrand he promised us."
"We'll get it," I promised. "That, plus the bonus he mentioned in his note."
Shawn snorted. "Yeah. Right."
"Actually, we may be able to do even better than that," Everett said. "It alldepends on who ends up shoveling out the money."
"I thought we'd already decided the Icarus belongs to Borodin," Tera said. Themenace in her voice was subtle, probably too subtle for the others to notice.
But I heard it, and I was sure Ixil did, too.
"We did," Everett assured her, throwing a look at Nicabar. "Mostly. I'm justsuggesting that we've already earned a lot more than the two thousand hepromised us on Meima."
"Fair compensation for services rendered," Shawn put in. "See? I can talklegalese, too. Here's another great legal term for you: extortion."
"And what's the 'or else'?" she countered. "Every demand has to have thethreat of an 'or else' along with it. Who are you planning to offer the Icarus to ifBorodin doesn't feel especially extortable that day? The Patth?"
"Let me just mention that anyone who wants to deal with those slime is goingto have to go through me to do it," Nicabar put in.
"The Patth are hardly the only players in this game," Everett reminded him.
"Potential players, anyway. If Borodin won't play ball there are a lot ofother people we could sell it to."
"Maybe even the Crooea," Shawn said, throwing a sly grin at Chort. "You'd likethat, wouldn't you, Chort?"
Chort's feathers ruffled, and he delivered some no doubt innocuous-soundingreply. But I wasn't listening. Suddenly, Everett's comment had sent the piecesfalling into place with such loud clicks it was a wonder the rest of themcouldn't hear them. Suddenly, the inconsistencies and random illogic of the Icarus's entire voyage were making sense. Suddenly, small bits of data andcasually odd comments were connecting together with the ease of children'splaying blocks.
Suddenly, I knew why Jones had been murdered. Not who had done it, not yet.
But I knew why.
"McKell?"
I blinked, dragging myself out of the depths of my introspection. Nicabar wasgazing at me, a speculative look on his face. "Sorry," I apologized. "Mindwandered for a minute. What did you say?"
"I asked if that was it for the meeting," he repeated. "We've got a lot ofwork ahead of us."
"That's it from me," I said. That was it for right now, anyway, I amendedprivately. The next time I held court like this it would be to expose amurderer. "Unless anyone else has something to add?"
Chort half lifted a hand. "I have a thought," he said, almost apologetically.
"Though I hesitate to mention it, as it will mean even more work for us all."
"We're facing a ton of work as it is," Ixil said. "Another half ton on top ofit will hardly be noticed. Please; speak."
"As Electronics Specialist Shawn pointed out earlier, the Icarus has a mostdistinctive configuration," Chort said, still sounding a little uncertain.
"And our experience at Utheno has shown that that configuration is now known. Mysuggestion is that we attempt to alter it."
"Straightforward enough," I said. "How do you suggest we do that?"
"The main body of the Icarus consists of two spheres," he said, drawing theshape in the air with his fingers. "My thought is that we could use the castoff interior plates to build a cylindrical sheath running between them at theirwidest points. From the outside, the main body will then appear to be ataperedcylinder with rounded ends instead of two joined spheres."
"With just the nose cone and engine sections sticking out on either side," Isaid, a tingle of cautious excitement running through me as I looked over atIxil. "Possible?"
"I don't see why not," he said. His voice was its usual calm, but the ferretswere twitching again. "At least in theory. We've got the equipment to spot- weld the plates to the spheres, and the plates themselves can be connected togetherwith the same fasteners that are holding them together now."
"I thought the cutting torch was dead," Shawn reminded him.
"We also have an arc-welding torch," Ixil told him. "It's still functional."
"What about supports?" Nicabar asked. "You're not going to have any structuralstrength to speak of here."
"We could add some braces in from beneath," Ixil said. "Assuming the weldingrods hold out, we ought to have enough material."
"And assuming we don't run out of power to run the welder," Tera said. "Howare we on fuel, McKell?"
"We've got more than enough to drive the generators as long as we'll need," Iassured her. "My question is how long Shawn's medicine is going to last."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Apparently, that aspect hadn'tyetoccurred to them. "Yes, that is rather a limiting factor," Everett conceded.
"I'd say we have no more than eight or nine days left on this supply. And that's if we stretch it out."
"Doesn't give us much time," Tera said. "Especially since we also have to get to a port once all this conversion work is finished."
"True." I looked at Shawn. "What do you think? Can you handle a week on low doses?"
He snorted. "I'll handle a week on no doses if I have to," he said bitterly.
"You probably don't know it, but the Patth had some major harvesting operations on Ephis, and were furious when the Commonwealth closed them down by interdicting the place. I don't think I'd get any sympathy from them if they grabbed us. And no borandis, either."
"Though they would probably consider that you had done them a small service,"
Chort said quietly. "You, at least, they could allow to die naturally."
Tera shivered. "And on that note, I vote we get going on this."
"Seconded," I agreed, standing up. "Ixil, let's go break out the tools."
CHAPTER 15
IT WAS ONE thing, I discovered, to suggest disassembling an entire starship from the inside out. It was another thing entirely to actually set about doing it.
Still, it was quickly apparent that the very nature of the Icarus's odd design was going to work in our favor. On a normal starship all the bulkheads and decks were solidly riveted or welded together, with most of the various sections cast or molded to the specific fit required. Our bulkheads and decks, in contrast, were fastened together with the same connectors Cameron's people had used on the inner-hull plates, which made disassembly a fast and simple process.
Furthermore, all the interior framing had been created from the same meter-square plates: a single thickness for the inner hull and most of the walls, double or triple thickness for the decks and supporting bulkheads. In one of my rare moments alone with Tera I asked about that, and she confirmed my guess that Cameron's techs had designed it that way on purpose. Shaped or molded bulkhead sections might have raised eyebrows with Meima's customs inspectors, but simple meter-square building plates wouldn't even rate a yawn.