"Did you find it in yourself to forgive your adoptive father for beating you?" Joat asked.
"Well, after I accused him of raping me and he got convicted and hanged himself in prison, yes, I did. After all, who needs to carry all that emotional baggage through their life?" She smiled at Joat. "You and I are survivors." She touched Joat's knee lightly. "We know how to travel light."
Joat considered her, then she said, "You have had a hard time. And I'm sorry that you have. But there's a difference between your story and mine that seems insurmountable to me."
Silken cocked her head curiously.
"Your adoptive father is dead. When Ciety is dead, maybe I'll be able to forgive him too. But I think that's what it's going to take."
Silken sighed regretfully, then she frowned.
"I can't allow you to kill Nomik, he means too much to me. I mean to marry him one day."
"You're going to change your name to Silken Ciety? It sounds like naughty underwear."
Silken's green eyes narrowed thoughtfully and she stood.
"Joat, I would very much regret having you killed. But I will, if you endanger my-"
Meal ticket, Joat thought.
"-associate. On that note, let us part," she said. "You'd be happier if you could forgive and forget. Because you are legally indebted to your uncle and the past has no bearing on that fact."
"It ought to," Joat said grimly. "Thanks for the tea."
"Oh," Silken called out when Joat had reached the door. "We'll have an assignment for you soon. Don't leave your ship until you've heard from us."
Joat nodded crisply and left.
Nomik entered the room frowning and Silken reached out to him from where she sat on the couch. "I'm so sorry, Mik."
He hastened to take her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's not your fault, Silky. You did your best."
"I know, but I brought her here."
"Well," he sat beside her and cuddled her against him, "you couldn't know she was my niece. And you had no way of knowing how unreasonable she'd be. Did you? Hmmm?"
Silken laid her head on Nomik's shoulder.
"No. But I'm also sorry because I know you must be disappointed."
He shrugged, then smiled.
"I guess it's a good thing I didn't buy her debt after all," he said.
Silken spluttered laughter. "Oh, that's wicked!" she said. "And I was so sure you had."
"After the way she acted yesterday, I thought maybe I'd better feel her out before I did anything drastic." He grinned. "Even you do not fathom the full depths of my duplicity, my sweet. Your natural innocence, no doubt."
"You're sooo smart." Silken pinched his cheek and kissed him. Then she grew serious. "It might be best to consider her entirely disposable," she said. "In fact, I recommend it. It's a pity, but some people just don't take to teamwork."
"I agree." Nomik looked thoughtful. "She's a lot like my brother, and I remember well the time I decided he had to go."
His mouth tightened to a thin line. "I've got a little job she can do for me. I was asked specifically for someone expendable." He smiled puckishly. "And I think she'll be perfect; eager, even, if I offer to write off the whole debt. The danger will make that credible. And since I'll also send along one of those please execute bearer messages, well…"
They looked at one another in affected shock. "Ooooo, that's baaaad," they said in unison and then embraced each other, laughing.
Joat put down the micromanipulator and sighed listlessly. The plasma shield was an intriguing concept, but she couldn't generate any real enthusiasm. Mechanically, her fingers picked up scattered parts from the table and slotted them into the pockets of the holdall. The galley/lounge of the Wyal was crowded, with all of them-and the Sondee kept humming. She felt too apathetic to work, but not enough to avoid irritation at the minor-key melody. Joseph looked up from the chess he was playing against one of the AI's subroutines.
"I believe I've found something useful," Rand said.
"What've you got?" she asked wearily.
"The transmission I obtained from Ciety's comp said nothing more than 'Goods received. Balance deposited.' But, it came from a ship that transmitted from a different quadrant of space each time it sent a message to Ciety."
"Hey, that's helpful," Joat said sarcastically.
"However," Rand continued. "Within a few days of sending their messages, never more than two weeks Earth standard, its passage was recorded by the same buoy. Indicating that somewhere in the vicinity of that buoy is its point of origin."
"Well that only leaves us a few billion parsecs to worry about," Bros said.
"This is a very good beginning," Rand insisted. "We can leave a drone there with instructions to follow this ship sending the messages. Even if it's not Kolnari, it could lead us to them."
"Not a bad plan," Joat said perking up. "Congratulations, buddy. How did you find these connections so fast without raiding Ciety's comp?"
"They were a matter of public record," Rand said. "And I am a computer; humans do not notice patterns of that sort. I simply searched Rohan's routine reports from their marker buoys and matched the call signs against the message we stole from Ciety."
It paused a moment, then continued, "Which I couldn't have done very effectively if I hadn't erased that frustration subroutine you gave me."
"You erased that? After all the time it took me to write it?" Joat was a little hurt; that program had taken real ingenuity. And she'd written it at his request, so that he could learn why it was that humans became so easily bored by repetitious tasks.
"Why not? I believe that I very quickly got the point… and I now really understand why humans invented computers to do this kind of work. I even understand why they practice slavery-I too would not suffer so unless compelled. That accomplished, I saw no reason for my efficiency to be degraded further."
"You're starting to sound like your old self," Joat said, relieved.
"I am reconfiguring from ROM backup," Rand said. "With a few alterations."
The com chimed. "Can you filter that?"
"Yes."
Joat nodded; now the pickup would show only what Rand wanted it too. In this case, herself.
Nomek Ciety's face filled the screen. Silken was curled on a settee behind him; she supposed it was their private quarters, from the hangings and rugs.
"I'm relaying instructions regarding your first assignment," he said.
A light on the com lit up indicating that her comp was processing incoming information.
"Wait a minute," Joat said. "I intend to protest the sale of my debt to you. I'm not going anywhere until I've heard back from New Destinies."
Nomik folded his hands before him with an exaggerated calm. "I have all the rights in this case. You make a stink, you try to leave, you give me one more minute of aggravation and I will have the Family's enforcers remove you and your crew from that ship and dump you on the dock with just a change of underwear and the clothes you stand up in. And if one of you gets hurt in the process you'd better believe that no one on Rohan will shed any tears over you." He stared at her for a moment before continuing. "Are we clear on that?"
Joat chewed her lower lip. Her hands opened and closed and her breathing deepened.
"I'm waiting," Nomik said.