Jirik nodded. "That's another good reason for us to get the hell off of this rock. C'mon, Valt, let's get to work. I'll give you a hand on laying out the best course." They rose and dispersed to their duties.
They were two hours from lift-off, and Jirik had just finished the Trivid interview giving Fanlin credit for everything, when the Vidphone chimed. When he answered it, Jirik was startled to find the picture blanked from the other end, and to hear Tomys' voice come from the screen.
"What the hell are you doing on Boondock?" Jirik asked,
"Never mind. Come to the office that you used to rent, now!" the little man demanded.
Jirik was puzzled. "Why? We'll be lifting off in two hours."
"I know," Tomys replied, "That's why it must be now. It's important!" The small man terminated the connection before Jirik could reply.
Suspicious, Jirik alerted the others and donned the Spacer Guild's recorder before leaving the Lass
When he knocked on the door of his old office, Jirik was surprised to hear a woman's soft contralto invite him to "Come in." When he entered, Tomys was nowhere to be seen. The only occupant of the office was a rather small, fat woman whose features, he suddenly realized, closely resembled those of the agent.
"Don't tell me that it's you!" He said with a chuckle, not wanting to use the agent's name in case he was wrong.
It was incongruous to hear the agent's masculine voice emanate from someone so obviously feminine. "Yes, it's me. As you probably realize, my cover on Boondock has been blown. It's very dangerous for me here, so I had to resort to these Trivid tricks to see you."
Jirik was puzzled. "But, why risk it? What could you possibly have to tell me that's worth the risk?"
Tomys shrugged, causing interesting secondary motions. "I had planned, of course, to shift my operations to another rim world. I did not intend to return to Boondock. But, I have two good reasons for risking it. First, you're still my best hope of blowing this terrorist plot; Second, I had to warn you."
"Warn me? About what?"
"I got to thinking," the agent said. "I think I know why Cony wants the Lass, and I think that you and your crew are in deadly danger!"
Jirik snorted. "Well, if he's going to kill us, he'd better hurry. We lift in less than two hours."
Tomys shook his head. "No, Captain, he won't kill you on Boondock. You've got cargo to deliver, remember? But, I think that that cargo is what has kept you alive so far. Look, let's stop fencing. Let's go back to before you got here. Cony spends over a year and a lot of credits to lure a large cargo vessel to the rim. Why? I think he wants to arm her and make her a Command and Control vessel."
Jirik started to laugh, then sobered. "Go on."
Tomys smiled. "I knew you weren't stupid, Captain. All right, here goes. Those battle comps that you smuggled the software for would almost fill the holds of a Rim Tramp. Add to that the massive communications arrays that a Command and Control ship requires, and there's no ship on the rim that could handle it."
Jirik nodded. "But a DIN Class Combat Hauler could handle it easily."
"Exactly!" Tomys continued. "I suspect that the original plan called for luring you out here, then killing you all off plausibly, possibly in some staged free-for-all, and buying the Lass for salvage. But things didn't go right for Cony. First, you sustained damage exiting supralight. Cony had to wait to see if she was repairable, and then probably decided to let you go ahead and finance the repairs.
"Then, you threw another spanner into the works, by getting a high government official involved in negotiations for that damned book deal. He had to wait, hoping that the negotiations would fail. Fortunately for you, they didn't fail. He must've been furious. After all his work, you were going to be leaving the rim.
"Worse yet, word of the deal had leaked out, and he knew you would be running a pirate gauntlet and might not make it back. All that he could do was make sure that one of his people went with you, and hope that you made it.
"After all the time, effort, planning and money that he invested, these last nine months must have been agony for him. Now you're back on the rim, and I think that he wants to pick up where he left off, with one possible exception."
Jirik was grim. "Okay, drop the other shoe. What possible exception?"
Tomys' grin was clearly his, despite the elaborate disguise. "I suspect that he's discovered that there is a severe shortage of captains and crews with experience in vessels as large as the Lass. Especially captains and crews who are 'politically reliable', to use an old phrase."
Jirik shifted irritably in his chair. "I appreciate the warning, but is there another point to all this? If not, I've got to get back and warn my crew."
"Yes, there is." Tomys' tone had turned cold. "I think that the smuggling was as much a test as a mission. I think that he wanted to see if you could be bought. I suspect that when you deliver the software and weapon specs, you'll be approached to supervise the arming and refit, and captain her as Cony's C-and-C ship. After all, you've shown yourself mercenary enough to smuggle for money, despite a million-credit deal. I think that he'll want to see if you're mercenary enough to commit treason for money."
Jirik snorted. "I'd have to be a fool to get involved in a deal like that!"
Tomys shrugged. "If you don't, I don't think that he'll let you leave Wayoff alive. That is your last port of call, isn't it? Wayoff?"
Jirik nodded glumly. "Yeah. That's where we're supposed to collect our payment. Something tells me that you're about to make me a proposition."
Tomys' genuine grin was back. "You're right. Oh, I know that your damned Guild lawyers told you that I can't force you to risk your ship or crew. They're right. I can't do that, without written authorization from the Alliance Council. But, maybe I can make you see that your best chance of surviving Wayoff is to help me."
He shrugged. "I'll freely admit that without your help, It'll probably take years to pin Alliance charges on Cony and his friends; and I don't think that we'll have years. I've talked to the Council, and they've given me carte blanche to deal with this threat. But, they stopped short of giving me that written authorization. The only option that I have is to hope that I can make you see that my best hope is also your best hope. If you refuse Cony's offer, I think that you'll all be dead within a local day."
"So, you don't want me to refuse." Jirik's tone was ironic "What makes you think that our chances of survival will be better on some hidden terrorist base than on an open planet?"
Tomys ignored the ironic tone. "I believe that I've worked out a way to follow you to that base. Once we've located it, I've got an Alliance Battle Cruiser with embarked Marines standing by."
Jirik snorted. "You can't follow a ship through Supralight. And we won't be able to transmit the coordinates, because unless he's a total idiot, he won't give them to me. He'll put a Terrorist Astrogator aboard, and probably others as guards. I would, and he's certainly no stupider than I am!"
Tomys nodded. "I agree. I said that I believe that I've figured out a way. Alliance experts are evaluating my scheme as we speak. By the time you make your other deliveries, we'll know for sure. I need you, Captain; and I need you alive. Please believe that if this plan fails, I honestly think that there will be civil war on the rim."
Jirik shrugged. "Oh, I believe you. I'm just not as sure as you are that we can stop it. But, it does look as if we're dead if we do, and dead if we don't. I'll put it to my crew.You know that I've recorded this conversation?"