Alan Foster - The Icerigger Trilogy

“I sure hope so,” September commented, “or there’s going to be a lot of corpses lying in Yingyapin harbor, and they won’t be of ice.”

Ethan eyed him in surprise. “I thought you liked fighting, Skua.”

“When it serves a purpose. A little war between our people and the citizens of Yingyapin won’t do anyone any good. The Tran would be the ones to shed the real blood, and for what? You know, we’re supposed to be the advanced race on this world. It would be to our credit to settle this trouble without spilling any more local blood than absolutely necessary.”

JUDGING BY THE LOOKS he drew from passing humans as he trudged toward the administrative complex, Williams knew he must have looked rather like a Tran himself. Weeks out on the ice ocean could do that to a man. His survival suit was battered and discolored, the face visible behind the ice-scoured visor haggard and unshaven.

His companions from Poyolavomaar drew equally curious stares from the local Tran, garbed as they were in their strange attire. For their part, the Poyo sailors valiantly if unsuccessfully strove to gawk at the peculiar alien constructs as inconspicuously as possible. They were fascinated by the distant shuttle port and the smooth, seamless buildings.

The first thing he’d noted upon their arrival was the presence of a shuttle on the ice landing strip. It was in the process of being lowered to the underground hangar dock. He badly wanted to spill his story to its pilot, who could then relay the details to the interstellar vessel lying in orbit overhead, but decided to follow protocol and talk with the Commissioner first. They would be in touch with the proper authorities soon enough.

If anyone had a right to know what was going on, it was the members of the outpost scientific establishment. But what was right and what was necessary didn’t match up at the moment. He had to meet with the Commissioner so she could disburse the crucial information via the deep-space beam. Friends could wait for news of their comrades until the forces of law had been goaded into motion.

Contrary to Ethan’s belief Williams didn’t think they would need a peaceforcer to drive Bamaputra and his team off the planet. The mere fact that their presence and intentions were now known to the rest of the Commonwealth should be enough to send the would-be deluge makers packing. He could see Bamaputra and Antal scrambling to destroy incriminating records as they called frantically for a ship to evacuate the installation. It was an image he relished. Even so, he was willing to forgo the pleasure of seeing their faces again. It was good to be back in what passed here for civilization, good to be able to relax knowing that whatever else happened from this point on, Tran-ky-ky and its people were safe.

The single security guard seated outside the elevators hardly knew what to make of Williams as the teacher stumbled into the building and threw back the hood of his survival suit. Though the temperature inside was maintained at human optimum he found it almost unbearably hot. Maybe he’d acquired more than just the Tran look. He walked over to the small desk with its garland of advanced electronics, put both fists on the synthetic wood, and leaned forward.

“I insist on seeing the Commissioner immediately. It’s a matter of life and death.”

The guard eyed him as though he were some peculiar life form which had wandered in off the ice—which wasn’t far off the mark, Williams reflected.

“I’ll see if Ms. Stanhope is available.”

“You do that.” Williams stepped away from the desk, a bit taken aback by his uncharacteristic forcefulness. The result of spending more than a year in the company of one Skua September, he told himself. When this was over and done with, he would have to learn how to act civilized all over again.

The guard spoke into a pickup, listened quietly for a moment, then put the earpiece aside. “Marquel says for you to go right up.”

“Marquel? Who’s Marquel?”

“The Commissioner’s secretary. She’s over in Hospitality right now. He’s calling her and says for you to go ahead and come up.”

“Thanks.” He turned and headed for the lift, feeling the guard’s eyes on his back.

Guess I am something of a sight, he told himself as the cab ascended. By the time it reached the apex of the pyramidal structure he found himself wishing Skua and Ethan were there to back him up; Skua with his imposing physical presence and Ethan with his glib talk. He didn’t feel comfortable with people like Stanhope, bureaucrats and exercisers of power. He was much more at home with Cheela and Blanchard and the other scientists. They’d treated him as an equal despite the fact that the degrees he held were considerably less impressive than theirs. Good folks. They were depending on him and here he was wasting time as he had so often in the past on useless second thoughts. Just talk, he told himself. The story would take care of itself. He was a teacher, wasn’t he? It was time for a personal tutorial. Time to educate a Commissioner. She wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

Tough. Standing a little taller, he pushed through into the reception area.

It was empty except for a man not much bigger than himself. Instead of waiting at his desk Marquel had apparently been pacing the floor waiting for Williams to arrive. Now he rushed eagerly forward, the questions coming thick and fast.

“Ms. Stanhope will be here shortly. What happened out there? Where are your companions? What’s going on?”

Anxious as he was to see the Commissioner, Williams saw no harm in giving her secretary a quick rundown on his experiences, concluding by explaining that Ethan and Skua had returned with Hunnar and Ta-hoding to help the Slanderscree ’s defenders hold off any further attacks by the renegade humans and their Tran allies.

“You understand how imperative it is that this information be transmitted immediately to the nearest military base so that armed assistance will be forthcoming.”

“Of course, of course.” The secretary was thinking hard. “A terrible situation. No one here had the slightest idea anything of this nature was going on. You know, when you all sailed off in that native ice ship there were a lot of us here who never thought you’d be seen again, and those who thought you would return didn’t expect you to find anything.”

Williams nodded at the door that led into the Commissioner’s office. “Would you mind if we waited in there? I remember there being some soft chairs and I wouldn’t mind sitting down while we wait.”

“No, of course not. Please forgive me.” He opened the double doors and led Williams inside. “It’s just that I was so enthralled by your story.” The doors shut behind them.

“After I tell the Commissioner everything I just told you I’ll need to meet with the heads of the various science departments to inform them of what’s going on. Then I think I’ll sleep for about two days.”

Marquel was nodding sympathetically. “You look like you could do with a long rest.” He pushed open a smaller door leading to a side room. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

Williams settled down in one of the chairs that faced the Commissioner’s desk. Thick insulated windows looked out over the outpost. Beyond lay the harbor of Brass Monkey with its Tran community and ice ships tied up at the three docks.

Marquel was not long absent. When he stepped back into the office Williams saw that the secretary had changed his clothes. His eyes widened. He didn’t need to ask about the reason for the change. The new attire was self-explanatory.

He spun and bolted for the doors. They were locked. He started pounding on them and yelling.