Power Play - Anne McCaffrey [81]
“We only told you what cures people make on this planet. Animals have their own remedies. A polar bear that hasn’t mated for a while, for instance . . .”
On board the pirate ship
Yana was lying on her bunk listening to Namid give Diego and Bunny an astronomy lesson. Bunny soaked up everything Namid had to say, while Diego made a pain of himself, playing teaching assistant. Marmie was asleep.
The door to their cramped quarters opened and Dinah O’Neill poked her head in. “Yana, could we talk?”
“What about?” Yana asked cautiously.
Dinah smiled sweetly. “Just a little girl-to-girl stuff. I thought you might want to. I’ve been down to see your planet. I think I may have seen your husband.”
Yana was on her feet and at the door so quickly she almost ran Dinah down.
“What did Sean say?” she asked, recklessly grabbing the smaller woman’s arm. “How on earth could he meet your demands?” Surely Sean’s loyalty to Petaybee was more urgent than even his love for her and their unborn child.
Dinah gave her a secretive feline smile. “I didn’t exactly talk to him.”
“But you did see him?”
“Nice-looking guy who turns into a seal?”
How had she learned Sean’s secret? Well, since the wedding, a slightly more open secret. Yana nodded. “That would be Sean.”
“Oh yes, I saw him—quite a lot of him actually. How does he do that?”
For a change Dinah was not accompanied by Megenda or any other heavies. Yana toyed with the idea of overpowering her, but curiosity about what Dinah had seen on Petaybee made her decide to wait. Besides, once she overpowered Dinah, then what? Take on the rest of the pirates? She could hold Dinah hostage, but pirates like Louchard weren’t known for their unswerving devotion to their friends.
Dinah led her into a tiny room that boasted a desk and a double bed. Yana raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t realize Namid was so serious about the divorce when I brought him aboard. I thought I could get him to reconsider. What did you think? I take turns with the crew?”
Yana said nothing, but the eyebrow stayed aloft.
“You did, didn’t you?” Dinah seemed amused, but there had been an edge to her query.
“What you do in bed is none of my business, and I don’t think that’s why you wanted to talk to me. What’s on your mind?”
“Now, Yana—”
“I prefer Colonel Maddock-Shongili, if you don’t mind.”
“Heavens, there’s no need to be so stuffy. You’re coadministrator of a whole planet now. That makes you a politician. I’m a privateer. So you see, we have a lot in common.”
“If you only brought me here to insult me, I’d like to return to my nice, convivial cell, please.”
“You aren’t making this easy,” Dinah said.
“Gee, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was supposed to.”
“I thought you wanted to return to your planet. I’m just trying to tell you that there might be a way, but it’ll be tricky.”
“Getting Louchard to agree?”
“Believe it or not, the captain will be easier to convince than the crew. If it was up to Megenda, you’d all be spaced. You have no idea the personnel problems one has trying to obtain crewmen who are rough enough to do the job but still controllable. It can be a real nightmare.”
“I’m sure you didn’t ask me here to tell me how hard it is to get good help these days, Dinah. Will you get to the fraggin’ point?”
Dinah dropped her confidential air and became very businesslike. “The fraggin’ point, Colonel Maddock-Shongili, is that under certain circumstances I can use my influence to return you to the planet. One of those circumstances is that you must personally guarantee my safety and that of my crew, when and if we release you.”
“I certainly won’t be able to arrange for your guarantee unless I am free to do so,” Yana said acerbically. “What else?”
“I have business in a place called Tanana Bay. I’ve obtained an aerial map which leaves a lot to be desired . . .”
“How? Sean didn’t just give it to you!”
“No, a cunning old devil named Adak pointed it out.”
“Adak is Bunny’s uncle. You didn’t hurt him?”
Dinah shrugged. “Megenda had to give him a love tap. But he was standing in the door of a Nakatira Cube that seemed