Liaden Universe [19] - Alliance of Equals - eARC Read Online Free Page A

asked. It was, in fact, necessary.
    “Yes,” she said, and managed a smile. “But quickly, or I will not finish my shift-work.”
    Faw Chen smiled.
    “Quickly, then: you are the child of the master trader?”
    “Yes, I am.” She licked her lips. “Again, melant’i comes into the matter. On this ship , I am the master trader’s apprentice , and anyone who thinks that Master Trader yos’Galan will permit error or sloth from his heir, his apprentice, or anyone who is under his hand, must…must not know him very well!”
    Faw Chen laughed.
    “Well said! And now, having done with my work, I will leave you to yours. I will note in the log that I diverted you to my own purposes, which will placate the head tech, should you not finish.”
    “Thank you,” Padi said. “But I would, really, rather finish.”
    Faw Chen smiled.
    “Of course you would,” she said.
    —•—
    Vivulonj Prosperu stopped at Gilady to take on supplies. Leaving those details with Dulsey, the Uncle went below to check on their guests.
    “How fare the pilots?” she asked when he returned to the galley.
    Uncle tipped his head, frowning slightly.
    “Progress is satisfactory. He rushes headlong toward waking while she prefers a more deliberate pace. I have amended his speed somewhat, though more for the comfort of the ship than because I fear he will do himself harm. With such an abundance of pure material, there is very little chance, now, that he will fail. Still, I would not have him proceed her by too many days. Enough so that he might guide her, but yet not so much that he…becomes bored, shall I say?”
    Dulsey laughed.
    “A pilot at leisure is a fearsome creature, to be sure!”
    “Just so,” said Uncle, with a slight smile. “And a bored Dragon twelves times more so!”
    “There is that,” Dulsey acknowledged, and used her chin to point at the entertainments screen.
    “There is a news packet,” she said. “It might make for an amusing hour.”
    They had, of course, received a news packet, as part of the station’s service. It would be old news, space being wide, and Gilady not well positioned within it. Still, there was sometimes something of interest in such packets, and they were, as Dulsey said, often amusing.
    “It might, at that,” Uncle said. “I will brew tea.”
    * * *
    “Ynsolt’i,” Dulsey murmured, scanning the items list.
    “One is hard put to suppose that anything of interest could have happened at Ynsolt’i,” Uncle said, pouring tea.
    “That is precisely why we must view it,” she said. “Imagination clearly fails us.”
    “I agree.”
    Dulsey cued the proper episode, and the two of them gave the screen their attention.
    The nightmare of congestion that was Ynsolt’i’s normal traffic state unfolded before them, as seen from the angles of perhaps a half-dozen ship-eyes. It was a moment before it became apparent that it was not merely the crush of ships, but one ship in particular that was being followed.
    “ Bechimo ,” said the Uncle, who had reason to know those lines well, and leaned forward slightly in his chair, watching as the ship was maneuvered into a tight approach, with scarcely room for even a mathematical variation.
    “If the pilot sneezes, Bechimo will bounce off of that rig,” Dulsey said, apparently forgetting that whatever had happened there had been finished long ago.
    Behind the tightly boxed ship, another phased in—a corsair with the lines of predator. Breath caught, they watched as more hunters appeared. Orders were issued; Bechimo was to yield to escort, and prepare to surrender to authority.
    The answer to that was remarkably clear, as if the pilot had spoken directly into the comm of every ship about Ynsolt’i.
    “Orsec Twelve, First Class Pilot Theo Waitley, on Bechimo , flying for Laughing Cat, Limited, here. Be advised that we’re targeted by three unannounced ships and that we are targeting in return. I am directing my Exec and my ship to take immediate defensive