Dee seemed only somewhat mollified. “At least you had the decency to report it and send S amp;R. They may still be able to save some of those poor souls’ lives.”
Cale shook his head in disgust. “Those ‘poor souls’ were intent on robbery, kidnapping, rape, slavery and murder,” he replied acidly. “And if any of them are found alive, they will be executed after some of the shortest trials in history.” He scowled. “But, that doesn’t matter to you, does it? Someone else will be doing the work. All that matters is that you don’t get your own dainty little hands dirty. I hate bleeding hearts like you!” He spun on his heel and stamped into his stateroom.
As soon as he entered, Tess notified him that they were cleared to proceed, and that she had programmed the assigned vector. At his muttered “Go,” she began moving away from the station. Cale was angry, morose, sad, and ashamed, all at once, and would need time to deal with it. She had his approval to maneuver. She could handle everything else for a while.
Cale was not the only human on board dealing with emotional turmoil. Dee was dealing with the reactions of the people Cale had talked with. Where was the outrage at the presumed deaths aboard the pirate? Even the rescue agent had congratulated Cale on his decision to run away. Pirates were just thieves, robbers, weren’t they? Why this unbridled hatred? Oh, sure, there were many horror stories, but those were just for vids and frightening children, weren’t they?
Like those pictures and vids supposedly from Atlantea. A pirate gang had supposedly raided the entire planet! It was claimed that they had looted the major cities and escaped with three shiploads of loot while committing horrible atrocities. It had to be fiction, of course.
But the newsies were all over it, with pictures and vids supposedly showing the actual raid. It was horrible, unthinkable stuff. All it proved was that some writers had insanely lurid imaginations. Human beings simply could not do those things to other human beings.
Could they?
She asked Tess for official records of pirate activity. Not sensie vids, not horror vids, but real, authenticated records.
There were plenty. The records on Atlantea were not yet complete, with post-mortem investigations continuing. But there were plenty of other records. Overwhelmed, she told Tess to limit it to the last twenty years. Even so, it ran to thousands of screens of information.
It appeared she had been wrong. In their own way, the cold, bald official pictures, descriptions, and vids of torture, mutilation, and murder were even more horrifying than the slick vids the newsies produced.
She had been wrong. Humans could be that inhuman. She still didn’t know why Cale hated them so much, but she was coming to understand the general hate and repugnance toward pirates. Dee closed the files with a grimace. It was a whole ugly world of which she had been ignorant, and her black and white “life is priceless” attitude was beginning to show shades of gray.
No, they weren’t just thieves and robbers, or street gangs in starships. They were monsters. You cannot reason with monsters. No amount of psychobabble could rehabilitate them. It had been tried in the Old Empire, as had conditioning and even machines that “adjusted” them — by reducing their IQ to 80 and conditioning them to be content with menial jobs. That last one had worked, but had quickly been stopped on grounds the treatment was “inhumane.” So mankind settled on the time-honored solution used with other forms of deadly animals: shoot on sight.
But what about Cale? What did he mean he’d ‘dealt with them before’? He was obviously familiar enough with pirates to put up with her disgust rather than chance following her wishes. Could he have been right? The S amp;R agent seemed to think he was.
Her thoughts in a whirl, she stayed in her stateroom through the 42-hour trip to Angeles, the system’s fourth planet.
Her musings were interrupted by Tess’s quiet voice. “Mistress Raum, please join the Captain in the lounge. We are approaching Angeles, and have received instructions.” Her tone was formal and neutral.
Cale greeted her with a curt nod. “Mistress Raum, we have received instructions from Orbital Control. We are directed to ground at the government starport rather than the orbiting commercial port. I assume this relates to our incident with the pirates.
“I do not know what to expect,” he continued. “However, I think we can expect to be detained, or at least our freedom of movement to be restricted until the S amp;R mission returns, which may be two to four weeks. We are certain to be questioned. Please answer all questions fully and truthfully. Do not try to defend our conduct, and please try to avoid being judgmental.”
He presented her an envelope. “Technically, my contract with Faith’s government is complete. We are two jumps from Faith, and you are no longer in my custody. That envelope contains the check your father sent along. If you wish, you may consider our business concluded, and go your way.
“However,” he continued, “Angeles is not the mutual choice I promised you. I would like to offer you transport to any other system within two jumps of Angeles, if you so desire.” He sighed deeply. “I very deeply regret the difference in outlook that divides us, and that prevented us from becoming better acquainted. I hope you will consider my offer.”
Dee was numb. It was so sudden! Just like that, everything is over. She had lost her home and family, her whole planet, and now his cold, formal tone suggested she had lost the only person left that she was beginning to consider a friend. She was on a strange planet with no one she knew. All she had was that damned envelope, and money was no substitute for a friend. She suddenly felt very small and helpless. Tears started to well in her eyes, and she clamped down on them mercilessly.
She swallowed. “Thank you for the offer, Captain,” she replied in the same formal tone he had used. “I will certainly consider it.”
She paused, and then rushed ahead. “I have been doing some research, and have come to conclude that my reactions may have been hasty and ill-advised. I would like to apologize for some of the comments I have made and the tones I have used. I now realize that you had only our survival in mind, and that my demands might have resulted in our deaths, or worse. I shall try to be as objective as possible when questioned.”
Cale smiled with genuine warmth. “I think I know what a difficult admission that was, Mistress. Please consider my offer seriously. You would be most welcome.”
Dee started to reply, but Cale was called away for the landing formalities. Dee returned to her stateroom. She began gathering her belongings in case she was removed from the ship. In only moments, she was finished, her pitifully few belongings fitting easily into the small bag the police had sent with her. Tears welled again, and this time she didn’t stop them.
Some half-hour later, she was aroused by Tess’s voice. Dee was too emotional to notice, but the cold formality was gone from the AI’s tone. “Dee, the captain wanted me to let you know that we are on final approach, and will be grounding at the government port in ten minutes. He suggests you gather your belongings, since either or both of you may be removed from the ship.
Dee sniffed mightily. “Tess! Do you suppose I could take the shipsuits with me? You know, the ones we tailored?”
“I am certain the Captain considers them yours,” Tess replied. “Particularly since you have so few other outfits. Should you have the opportunity, I recommend some serious shopping.”
Dee grinned through her tears. “An excellent suggestion, Tess,” she replied. She sobered and sighed. “Oh, how I wish you could come with me!” She wailed.