Generation Warriors by Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon Read Free Book Online Page A

trial. You know, Commander, he can probably make you look like a planet pirate yourself, a villainous sort masquerading as a Fleet officer. Hmmm... you stole the uniform from Tanegli, bribed everyone else to testify against him."
    "It's not funny," said Sassinak, glowering. She had never been one to follow the escapades of fashionable lawyers, but anyone in human space had heard of Pinky Vigal. It was another of the failings of civilian law, Sassinak thought, that someone everyone knew had done something could not be punished if a honey-tongued defense counsel could convince even one member of a trial jury that some minute error had been made in procedure. Fleet had better methods.
    "So," Ford broke in, clearly intending a distraction. "We're responsible for Tanegli until we get to Federation Central... and for Aygar as well? Why Aygar?"
    "Witness for both sides, I suppose," Dupaynil said with a flourish of his hand. "Friendly to one, hostile to the other, but indispensable to both."
    " And registered copies of all the testimony we took, and depositions from all bridge officers, and any other crew members having contact with the said Tanegli and Aygar," Sassinak continued to read. "Kipling's bunions! By now that's half the crew, the way Aygar's been roaming around. If I'd known..."
    She knew from Ford's expression that she must look almost as angry as she felt. They would spend weeks getting in and out of the required transfer points for Federation Central, and then weeks being interviewed— deposed, she reminded herself—and no doubt Fleet Security would have its own band of interrogators there.
    In the meantime, the Zaid-Dayan would be sitting idle while the enemy continued its work. She would no doubt have umpteen thousand forms to fill out and sign: in multiple copies which had to be processed individually, rather than on computer, for security reasons.
    She noticed that Dupaynil was watching her with alert interest. So he had read the message even before she'd seen it—which meant he had a tap on the IFTL link, or had somehow coerced one of her communications officers into peeling a copy to his quarters. What else did he know, or had he been told? She decided not to ask; he wouldn't tell her, and she'd just be angry when he refused.
    "Dupaynil." The change in her tone surprised him; his smugness disappeared. "I want you to start finding out which crew Aygar has been in contact with. Marines, Wefts, officers, enlisted, everyone. You can have a clerk if you need one—"
    "No... I can manage..." His voice was bemused; she felt a surge of glee that she was making him think.
    "I suspect it's too late to restrict his contacts. And after all, we want him friendly to FSP policies. But if the crew know that they'll have to go through paperwork and interviews because they talk to him, some may pull back."
    "Good idea... and I'd best get started." Dupaynil sketched a salute—to more than her rank, she was sure—and left.
    Sassinak said nothing for a moment, engaging her own (surely still undiscovered?) privacy systems. Then she grinned at Ford.
    "That sneak : he knew already."
    "I thought so, too. But how?"
    "He's Naval Intelligence—but I'm never sure with those types if he's Intelligence for someone else, or someones else, as well. The fact that he's planted his own devices—and too cleverly to reassure me of his ultimate aims—is distinctly unsettling because there's no telling why he's doing it. I'm "—and Sassinak pushed her thumb into her chest, grinning—"allowed to be that clever, but not my subordinates.
    "At the moment, that's not the issue. Getting you away to find your dear great-aunt or whatever is the issue, because I don't want you tied up for the time this is going to take. We need information before that trial date." Sassinak pushed the orders over to Ford who noted the date and its conversion to Fleet standard notation on his personal handcomp. "If you can't find anything by then, be sure you're back to