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

question: it exposed too much. And she certainly couldn’t ask what exigency had called Nick to the bridge. Groping for some sense of poise, of being in control of herself, she tried again.
    “How bad is the gap drive?”
    His eyes relaxed. “Bad enough. Bad enough so I can’t fix it myself, anyway. If I had to stake my reputation on it, I would say we can get into tach and out again one more time. If I had to stake my life on it”—he chuckled gently—“I would say it’s too dangerous.”
    “How long can you last without it?”
    “At least a year. We’ve got that much food and stores. Not to mention plenty of fuel. At the rate we’re traveling, we’ll starve before we run out of fuel.”
    Vector’s manner didn’t give the words any special importance. Nevertheless Morn knew they were important. As long as Captain’s Fancy used only this gentle thrust, there was only one destination Nick could reach in a year: the belt. And of course there was no place in the belt to get a gap drive repaired. But even at much higher velocities, Captain’s Fancy had nowhere else to go in human space.
    Forbidden space was another matter. Its proximity to the belt and Com-Mine Station was a large part of what made them so crucial to the UMC—and to all humankind. Running hard, the ship could probably get there in a few months. But then what? The possibility that Nick might be headed for forbidden space was too complex for Morn to evaluate. In any case, Com-Mine Center would never have authorized a departure trajectory in that direction.
    Vector watched her think for a while. Then he started talking again. “I offered you a reason or two to be less scared. I can see that wasn’t one of them. Let me try again.
    “There are twenty of us aboard, and from your point of view we probably all look like reasons to be scared. But that isn’t true. I don’t mean you can trust us. I mean you don’t need to worry about whether you can trust us. The only one of us you need to worry about is Nick. You see”—Vector spread his hands—“he isn’t just the captain here. He’s the center, the law. None of us is a threat to you, as long as he’s happy.
    “And I’ll tell you something else about him. He never gives away his castoffs. You don’t need to worry that he’ll get tired of you and pass you off to one of us. You’re his. On this ship, you’re either his or you’re nothing.
    “That’s why it doesn’t matter whether you can trust any of us. We’re no danger to you. We never will be. All you have to worry about is Nick. Everything else will take care of itself.”
    Morn was stunned. Hearing her dilemma stated so nakedly made her brain go blank. He’s the law. He never gives away his castoffs. It doesn’t matter whether you can trust any of us. But because Vector was smiling at her, and she knew she couldn’t afford to be paralyzed, she forced herself to ask, “Is that supposed to help me feel better?”
    “It should,” he replied promptly. “It simplifies your situation.”
    Her mind was practically useless. “I guess you’re right,” she said slowly, struggling to think, to articulate her incomprehension in some way. “But it would help me more if I understood it. Why—” Why are you so loyal to him? “Why is he my only problem? You’re all illegals, you said that yourself. I don’t know why you do it, but you all want to get away from law somehow. That’s got to be true.” The only pirate she knew personally, Angus Thermopyle, would have committed any conceivable atrocity to make sure nobody else had power over him. “You don’t want rules, you want opportunities. So why is he the law? Why do you let him do that? Why does what he want take precedence over what the rest of you want?”
    Vector Shaheed seemed to consider that a good question. His eyes appeared inordinately blue and clear as he answered, “Because he never loses.”
    Then he grinned like a man with a secret joke. “Besides, it’s