Have Tech, Will Travel (SCE Books 1-4) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [39]
Sonya tensed. After relaxing around Geordi for the first time since they had picked him up at Blossom IV last week, Sonya found herself back on eggshells again. Geordi obviously noticed this—if nothing else, his ocular implants allowed him to notice biological shifts that normal vision couldn’t detect—and said quickly, “Hey, don’t worry, I’m not trying to horn in on you or anything.”
“I know, it’s just— This is my team, not yours.”
Nodding, Geordi said, “Don’t worry, Sonya, I know this is your show.” He added, with a smile, “And, for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a great job.”
Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, Sonya said, “Thanks. Coming from you, that means a lot.”
“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
Sonya nodded in reply and entered her quarters.
CHAPTER
4
Five of the Speakers had managed to assemble in Valandriw Hall. Ansed was impressed with their fortitude. Three of them, including Ansed herself, lived in the capital city; the other two had happened to be in Valandriw Hall, working. Another Speaker lived in the capital city, but he was not present; he had sent his son with the message that he’d broken his leg tripping over his furniture when the lights went out.
Rather than take their usual seats, which were spread around the large table intended to seat all thirty-one Speakers, the five of them bunched up at one end of the table, around the head, where Ansed traditionally sat.
Also present in the Hall was a heavily bandaged Undlar, who sat to Ansed’s right. He was no longer shaking, but Ansed thought the young man still seemed a bit out of it.
The first order of business was to discuss how Enforcement was dealing with the crisis—and, also, the investigation into the murder of the priests. Both were proceeding as well as could be expected. A clever Enforcement officer had found some old radios and they’d been issued, allowing communication; a top investigator had been assigned to the slaughter.
After that, they turned to the issue of Ganitriul.
“I’ve just come from the transportation center,” said Speaker Biral. “They’ve been doing tests with inanimate objects. Every attempt has failed—and it’s a different failure every time, too. Sometimes the object goes to the wrong place, sometimes it’s inside out, sometimes it never rematerializes, sometimes the console goes down, someti—”
“The point is,” Ansed put in—Biral had a tendency to babble—“that transporting to the moon is not an option.”
Speaker Miko said, “We can’t risk taking a ship, either. Even if some of them do work now, what if they fail en route?”
“And who do we send?” asked Speaker Torin. “Reger Undlar here is in no shape to travel.”
“I can make the journey,” Undlar said quietly. “And I believe there is also a way to get me there.”
Ansed whirled in surprise. “There is?”
“I believe so.”
Miko said angrily, “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I’m sorry,” Undlar said, and the sardonic tone Ansed had noticed earlier returned. “But I’ve been a bit preoccupied with the brutal murder of my brothers.”
Softening, Miko said, “Of course, I’m sorry, Reger. These are troubling times, and I forgot myself.”
“That is all right, Speaker,” Undlar said, his voice getting more subdued again. “It’s just that—there is a Pevvni trading ship in Brioni Port that might be able to make the journey. It is an experimental ship that has circuitry independent of the Great One.”
Ansed’s already-wide eyes went wider. “What?”
Shock spread around the table as the other four Speakers expressed similar outrage. “Who approved this?” Biral asked.
Undlar straightened. “We did. The Pevvni came to the clergy with a special request to construct this prototype. They built it as an experiment, in case further dealings with the Federation led to more out-of-system travel beyond the Great One’s ability to control.”
Angry once again, Miko said, “That should never have been approved without consulting the Speakers!”
“I don’t see how that