“This.” Nukolo zoomed in. “I noticed it, but I didn’t know what it was for. Lock-safe, you say?”
Fee shrugged. “That’s what the Class 5s call it.”
“The slot looks smaller in this blueprint, but as we’ve discovered, the original set that Professor Fayir created isn’t always accurate. The Tecran made tweaks, and didn’t note all of those tweaks down. Mainly because they were in such a hurry to get the battleships built.”
“So you’ve got what you need from her?” Vira asked.
“I don’t suppose you know how the thinking systems were contained once they were plugged into the system?” Nukolo asked.
Fee shook her head. “With difficulty, is my understanding.”
“There are instructions on how to accomplish it, but as you say . . .” He gestured with a hand. “The program was only about five years old when it started to run into trouble.”
Vira was vibrating with impatience, and Nukolo sent her a sour look and then gave a nod. “I’m done, for now. Once we get the outer frame into nearspace and can start building the interior, I’ll probably have some more questions.”
Vira shook her head. “We’re not keeping her that long.”
“I don’t know what I don’t know, Vira.” Nukolo went red in the face. “We’re literally just finishing the outer skeleton. I’m going to come across a hundred things that don’t make sense on the plans as we progress.”
“We’re not taking her up with us. There’s no place to keep her.” Vira shook her head. “And the Garmman won’t put themselves in the situation of having one of the famous oranges as a prisoner on their ship. That led to the end of the Tecran, if you remember.”
“Well, at least give me a few hours to look over the plans and organize a list of the most obvious issues.” Nukolo’s flitted about the room, as if cataloguing the impossibility of his task.
“You have until the Garmman lift the frame.” Vira turned for the door.
“I should be helping organize the lift, not thinking up questions,” Nukolo called after her.
“Not my problem.” Vira opened the door.
Bart finished the last of his water and as he pushed Fee out after her, the look he shot her was pitying.
Somehow she didn’t think Vira was planning to deliver her back home when they’d wrung what they could out of her. Fee didn’t know whether she planned to kill her or just leave her at the base when they were done, and she wasn’t planning to throw the dice on which way Vira decided to go.
CHAPTER 36
“I can pickup three small convoys,” Voa said. “All in this vicinity, and that’s not an unusual number of Garmman traders.”
“So now we have to find out if any of them are theCiollo.” Chel stood braced with his hands behind his back.
“Maybe all three are Garmman warships,” Hal said. He wanted to be down on Balco, looking for Fee, but there was no way he could do that when there was a credible threat to Larga Ways. It was the whole point of theIllium’spresence in this part of Grih airspace.
Voa spun in her chair. “You think there could be three?”
Hal shrugged. “Why not? They can’t think we won’t call for reinforcements—Admiral Hoke already has—which means they’d be at a strategic disadvantage with only theCiollo.”
“Not to mention the moral disadvantage,” Gerbardi muttered.
“I don’t think whoever is behind this cares about that,” Hal told him. “What we won’t know until it’s over is whether this is a breakaway military group like in the case of the Tecran, or whether the full Garmman government is behind the plot.”
“The closest convoy showing is on the other side of Balco,” Chel said. “Do we go there first?”
“Go find the furthest one, and work our way back,” Hal said. He’d rather make sure there wasn’t a battleship coming up behind him than take a risk of being ambushed.
Chel sat, and Hal felt the ship surge forward.
“Captain, the admiral wants a word.” Gerbardi lifted his head from his comm screen.
“I’ll take it in my office.” Hal moved off the bridge to the small office beside it, and sat down.
