Power Play - Anne McCaffrey [46]
How had Marmion let an abduction occur? She’d promised they’d all be safe for that “short time” it would take to satisfy the CIS Committee about the nature of Petaybee. They’d been gone long past the original estimates. So the kidnappers could set it all up? And start swamping the planet with drug merchants, hunters, religious orders, orphans, homeless relatives, and all sorts of human flotsam and jetsam? And no facilities to handle such an influx!
The comm link buzzed and Sean pounced on it like a hungry mink on a roosting chicken.
“Sorry to tell you this, Sean,” Whittaker Fiske said, “but the kidnapper has been identified as Onidi Louchard, a well-known and clever pirate with a well-equipped outfit and a base no law-enforcement agency’s ever been able to discover. Louchard is ruthless, and has formidable resources.”
“Do they have a medic?” Sean demanded savagely, the sound of Yana’s coughing echoing in his ears. Damn! She’d only just gotten over the aftereffects of the Bremport gassing. How could she be subjected to another episode?
“Huh?” Whit was taken aback by the unexpected question.
“Yana’s got a cough again, bad enough so they use it to threaten me with.”
“They lose her as hostage and they’ve no leverage . . .”
“Damn it, Whit, what d’you mean by that?”
“That if she’s sick, they’ll bloody well see she gets better! Of course. What’d you think I meant?”
Sean murmured something but Whit went on: “The commander of Gal Three’s organized a massive search of and contact with every vessel that left the docks since before Yana, Marmion, and the kids went missing. They’re leaving nothing to chance.” Whit gave a groan. “But it’s going to take time. That’s one of the busiest stations in the whole Intergal net. I’ve also had a word with Anaciliact, and he’s none too happy with that PTS group. He’s going to get an injunction against them to prevent any further unauthorized trips to the surface. I’m going one better. I’m getting permission for you to have a representative in the SpaceBase control tower, so you can trace any drops they might make before that injunction is served. We gotta find them first.” Whit made a noise of total disgust and annoyance at the obstacles. “We don’t need any of this right now!”
“Precisely why we have it,” Sean said bitterly. “Can you spare Johnny to watch the screen?”
Whittaker shook his head regretfully. “Much as I’d like to, he’s far more useful elsewhere than sitting on his duff looking at a screen for hours on end.”
“Yeah.”
“Get Una to see what she can come up with.”
That was a good notion: Una possessed a knack for finding people with unusual, and useful talents. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of it.
“I’ll ask her.”
“I’ll keep in touch, Sean, and see what else I can learn that’s going on at Gal Three.”
“Find out where Luzon is,” Sean said dourly.
“I did. He’s doing intensive therapy in some fancy spa to get active again.”
“Again? He’s never stopped being active—against Petaybee.”
“If we could prove that, Sean,” Whit said in a savage and none-too-hopeful tone, “we’d do Intergal a big favor.”
“Count on me.”
As soon as the link broke, Sean explained to Una what was needed and why.
“One of my first group, I think, had some station-keeping experience,” she said after a long moment’s thought. “I thought it very odd indeed that we were landed so far from any place civilized . . .”
Sean burst out laughing. She regarded him in some surprise.