Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [144]
The soldiers drew their twitchers, as if they thought he was about to attack them, but Rlinda enfolded him in a bearish hug. “I always knew your heart was bigger than your brain, BeBob. You walked right into a trap.”
He shrugged, his hangdog face showing a real smile for what must have been the first time in a while. “And what was I supposed to do, Rlinda? Did you see that girl’s eyes?”
“You didn’t need to make such a spectacle of yourself. You could have dropped off the two refugees at any Hansa planet, left an anonymous report.”
His eyes flashed with a burst of impatient anger that burned through his misery. “If somebody’s attacking our new colonies, I had to sound the alarm! What if poor Orli thought she was safe on a new planet, and those battleships came again—” Before he could splutter any further protests, she kissed him. He quickly stopped complaining.
When they separated from their embrace, Rlinda saw that the guards had sealed the cell door and left her alone with him. She hadn’t even heard the door close.
BeBob sank back onto his cot, rested his elbows on his knees. “I’ve faced worse than this. In fact, General Lanyan himself gave me a bunch of assignments that were virtually suicide missions. I had narrow misses with hydrogues. I survived the Orange Spot plague on Crenna. I just landed in a massacred colony and rescued an old man and a girl. I can handle cooling my heels in a little room. Right now boredom seems to be my greatest enemy.”
Rlinda’s nostrils flared. “In a fair universe, all those things you did should count for something. Hell, for the past half year you’ve been delivering supplies to Hansa colonies and helping the Klikiss transportal expansion initiative. But General Lanyan won’t cut you any slack. Maybe there’s some other way we can talk them into leniency.”
BeBob looked up at her with a wan smile. “Rlinda, you always said I was the one with a bubblehead. Don’t you see what’s going on here?”
She sat beside him, crowding the cot. The mattress supports creaked. “Just trying to keep your spirits up. What’s wrong with a little optimism?”
Roberts scratched his smoky frizz of hair. “They’ve already scheduled a military tribunal for me two days from now, preliminary to an official court-martial. If they find me guilty of desertion, you know Lanyan will want to make an example out of me just the way he did with Rand Sorengaard.”
“You were an EDF scout pilot, not a Roamer pirate.” Rlinda did not have the heart to mention that the tribunal already seemed to be operating on an assumption of BeBob’s guilt.
“And? I’m sure the General thinks that’s even worse.”
“Terrific. What do we do to celebrate, get a lawyer?”
“They’ve assigned me a military-issue advocate, with all the confidence that inspires. He hasn’t even talked to me yet.”
“Doesn’t sound promising.” Racking her brain for a solution, Rlinda hurried to reassure him as best she could. “I’ve made a few calls, BeBob. I’m pulling in all my favors.”
“Good luck. Who have you contacted?”
“Well, first I spoke with the Hansa Chairman.”
BeBob made a rude noise and leaned his head against the wall. “He won’t do anything.”
Rlinda sighed. “No. He got me in here to see you and then washed his hands of this whole mess. But that was just one of my options. I’ve got feeler messages out everywhere I could think of. You’d be surprised at the number of people who owe me one. I’m even trying to reach Ambassador Sarein, my friend from Theroc, remember? And Davlin, if I can find him. He may still be on Earth, but I haven’t managed to track him down.”
“Lotze? What can he do for us now?”
“Hey, I’m still at Step One of the plan here. Don’t rush it.”
“I have to rush it, Rlinda. There’s not much time left.”
Chapter 69—DENN PERONI
After leaving Yreka and flying into Ildiran space with the rest of their cargo, Denn and Caleb could see that one of Ildira’s seven suns was dying. The battling hydrogues and faeros had nearly extinguished it.