Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen R. Donaldson Read Free Book Online Page A

compact, not overweight. Like his face, his eyes were circles. They were a gentle shade of blue Morn had never seen before. Combined with his fine, sandy hair and steady smile, they made him look friendly.
    He glanced up as soon as she appeared. When he saw her, his eyes and his smile showed mild surprise. She obviously didn’t disconcert him, however. He gave her a moment to move if she could. Then he said, “You look like what you need most is sleep, but you’re too scared to get it.” His voice was mild, too. “Come have a cup of coffee. It’s fresh. Maybe I can give you a reason or two to be less scared.”
    Morn stared at him. She wasn’t prepared to trust anything aboard Captain’s Fancy —especially not mildness from a total stranger. It might be camouflage, like Nick’s air of relaxation. She stood where she was, with her elbows locked and her hands buried.
    Controlling her voice as well as she could, she said, “You know who I am.”
    The man’s smile held. “I should,” he replied without sarcasm. “I saw you in Mallorys often enough. And you’re the only passenger Nick invited to go with us this time.
    “That’s one reason you’re scared. We all know who you are—we know that much about you. You don’t know any of us. You only know Nick, and that may seem like it’s not much help.”
    He paused, giving her a chance to say something or move. When she didn’t do either, he resumed.
    “Well, let me introduce myself, at any rate. I’m Vector Shaheed. Ship’s engineer. Off duty at the moment. My second is a pup off Valdor Industrial, where they don’t teach you anything, but he’s competent to keep us going under this much thrust. So I’ve got time to exercise my only real talent, which is making coffee.”
    Morn continued staring at him. Her hands were damp with sweat, but she kept them curled in her pockets.
    Stiffly, as if all his joints hurt—but still smiling—Vector Shaheed stood up to get a mug from one of the cabinets. He filled it at the steaming pot and set it on the table for her. Then he seated himself again.
    “That’s not a reason to trust me, of course,” he continued. “We’re all illegals, and you’re UMCP. You would have to be crazy to trust any of us. But we’re alone here, and I’m willing to talk. You really can’t afford to miss an opportunity like this.”
    That made sense. Morn shook her head—not rejecting what he said, just trying to break herself out of her paralysis. She felt a visceral desire to pull away from him. His mildness was seductive: he was a trap. But she was trapped anyway; and whatever he chose to reveal might be useful.
    With a stiffness of her own, she entered the galley.
    She didn’t take her fists out of her pockets until she was sitting at the table. Then, abruptly, she pulled up both hands and cupped them around the coffee mug. She needed something to steady her so that she could think. The coffee was seductive, too, but she was prepared to trust it.
    He was right about one thing, anyway: he had a talent for coffee. A couple of hot sips made her feel almost instantly stronger. In simple gratitude, she said through the steam, “Thanks.” Then she sipped again.
    “That’s better.” To all appearances, Vector Shaheed’s approval was genuine. “I don’t like to see anybody scared—especially not a woman like you. Out here, there’s many an old spacer who thinks women are worth dying for. I myself”—his smile became rueful for a moment—“am gratified just to have you sit here and drink my coffee.”
    “What would you like to know about us?”
    Without thinking, Morn asked, “Where are we going?”
    Vector’s smile lost none of its soft ease, but the muscles around his eyes tightened. He drank some of his coffee before he replied, “You can probably guess that that’s not one of the subjects I’m prepared to talk about.”
    She shook her head again, chagrined by her own weakness. She shouldn’t have asked that