Crystal Heat

3

Worm set the keph to fiddling the exit point until he was above the ecliptic and, he hoped, away from any patrols. He surfaced to realspace and sent Kanti slipping toward the asteroid belt where he could bide unseen and do a manual reactivation of the beacon to trace the Spy and slip up on her when she whipped her net over Harmon.

He watched her come sneaking along and cheered silently as she settled in the shadow of a rock only a few shiplengths from his hidey hole-though he was startled to see two ships, not one, Lylunda’s little darter tucked up against the flank of a bigger one. Just as well the Spy was into umbilicals, meant he could track her some more if this didn’t work out. He wriggled in his seat. On the good side, taking Lylunda’s ship along should mean she was expecting to run across the smuggler sometime soon; on the bad side, this could get real tight real fast. Watch how she works, he thought. Gotta know what I’m going against.

He settled in to brood over what the Spy was planning and to wait for events to unfold.

When he saw the Spy’s sled come slipping through the shield round the ships, Worm left the chair and hurried to get himself dressed to follow her.

By the time he was out the lock and riding a hand impellor toward Harmon’s ship, she was already at the maintenance inlet and working on the latch. That was a datapoint of sorts; she knew what he knew-that it was the least regarded area on any ship, forgotten or ignored until it was needed. He blinked as he realized suddenly that he was as bad as everyone else at protecting Kanti’s flank. He’d never thought about being boarded, so he’d never done anything about alarming or trapping that hatch. He made a note to do it during the next trip to wherever.

When he reached Harmon’s ship, the Spy had been inside for several minutes. He was happy about that; he didn’t want to be treading too close upon her heels.

He followed the slight sounds she made and the marks in the grime on the walkway, hesitated outside the hatch to the aux com. If she was inside, she’d pick up what was happening and be waiting for him. He edged back until he reached the first of the locks he’d passed up, cycled through, and found himself in crew quarters, a sixer once but little more than a stinking hole these days, with the remnants of a crate in one corner, a busted dolly beside it, stains and scratches on the floor. He eased the door open and stood listening by the crack.

Voices came up from the hold, briefly, as if a hatch had opened. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there was a certain urgency about it that told him the buyers had finished loading and wanted to get away from here like ten minutes ago.

He slid out and began making his way to Bridge level.

“What femme’s this and how come you want to know?”

“The Kliu bounty, fool. Ten thousand gelders alive, zip dead…”

Worm knelt in the shadows of the corridor outside the lighted arch that led onto the Bridge. Though he could hear well enough, he couldn’t see either Harmon or, the Spy. Kliu bounty? Truth isn’t in the femme. At least 1 don’t… no… not the Kliu… not when they’re using me to get out of paying Digby, trying to get out of paying me even with Mort and Xman. Too mean to put down good coin for what they could get free. Another datapoint. She was good at laying down false tracks, voice distorter, too. Hm. Didn’t want Harmon. to know she was female. Interesting. Meant she was squeamish. Planning to leave him alive or she wouldn’t bother. He blinked as he heard her buying the truth of Harmon’s denial. Why? It didn’t make sense.

“Ee! Don’t leave me tied like this.”

“Time keyed, Harmon. So contemplate your sins and…”

Worm got to his feet and hurried as silently as he could to the galley accessway, ducking into it as he heard the sound of running feet.

Harmon was tugging at the ties and cursing with a deplorable lack of imagination as Worm walked in. He stopped, scowled at Worm. “What you doing here?”

“Got the same question you been hearing. Where’s the woman?”

“I told him and I’ll tell you. I don’t know shays about no femme.”

“That’s what you said, yeh. Maybe she believed you. Me, I don’t. So we’re gonna find out the hard way.”

“She?”

“Uh-huh. Delicate little femme, barely old enough to vote like they say. Whipped you good.” Worm stepped close, pushed the shotgun against Harmon’s neck, and triggered it.

When the babble had him, Worm leaned close, spoke slowly and carefully. “A woman was brought aboard your ship.”

“No woman. No.”

“You were told to take her somewhere.”

“No told. Told nothing.”

“Where did you take her.”

“No woman. Nowhere.”

“Where did you go when you left Hutsart6?”

“The Accord.”

“Why?”

“The pay for cargo transfer on Hutsartd. With what I got laid aside, it was enough.to buy loan and stock. Make contract with Yobany Fitz. Get back in business.”

“Zolll She was right. And she’ll be hitting, her other leads now. I’d better…” He shoved the shotgun into his belt sac, scowled at Harmon. “You know me and you’re worse’n Mort for holding a grudge till it squalls. Sorry ’bout this, Harm, but I gotta protect myself. I’m all Fa’s got till I can ransom Mort and Xman.” He took hold of Harmon’s hair and used his cutter to slice neatly through the dealer’s throat. Then he collected the satchel of coin that the Spy hadn’t bothered to take and went running for the nearest lock.