Jeffrey Carver - Eternity's End

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[Newscaster…]

“Here at FaberNews, we’re going live with Commissioner Ottoson North in his first public statement since the potentially damning accusations were released. The commissioner is apparently ready to speak now…”

[An angry North, in full dress uniform…]

“…nothing but vicious, unfounded rumor. Let me state flatly that I am completely innocent of all the charges that have been slung about. I remind you that not a single accusation has been made where it counts—in a court of law. If anyone has evidence, let them confront me with it in person, instead of this cowardly hiding in a foreign embassy and leaking libelous trash to the net. In fact, I call right now upon the Narseil Embassy to turn Mrs. Mahoney over to the police, and let her face the legal charges that stand against her.

“In the meantime, let me assure all the citizens of Faber Eridani that I will tolerate no interference in the affairs of this Spacing Authority by any outsider, including and especially members of any fringe group or the Kyber alliance.”

[Finger stabbing at the camera…]

“If they want to interfere in our business, let ’em come and see how we deal with outsiders. Let ’em come—!”

*

Harriet froze the screen. For a long time, she stared thoughtfully at that angry, righteous image. Was it intuition, or wishful thinking, on her part? It seemed to her that the longer North protested, the more those angry eyes betrayed the soul of a man with a great deal to hide…

Impris emerged from the Flux just inside the orbit of Janus, the largest of the gas giants of the Faber Eridani system. Their destination, the planet that shared the name of its sun, lay half a billion kilometers further in. Legroeder and Deutsch grinned across the net at each other, and Palagren and Ker’sell hooted a Narseil cheer. They left the net together and gathered on the bridge with Captain Friedman and the rest of the Impris crew. “Welcome home,” Legroeder said to the captain.

“Thank you,” Friedman answered softly, his voice trembling with emotion. He gazed silently at the monitors, nodding as the nav officer confirmed the star system and their orbital path. Legroeder could see it on Friedman’s face: Home, at last . Friedman sighed finally, and broke into a smile. “Thank you for everything,” he said to the riggers, extending his gesture to Fre’geel and the other Narseil officers. Solemnly he went around the bridge, shaking hands.

Impris was alone now on the final leg of her return, back in normal-space for the first time since the start of her ill-fated journey one hundred twenty-four years ago. The Ivan escort had stopped at the edge of Faber Eridani territorial space. The time might come when Free Kyber ships could enter that space freely, but it wasn’t here yet.

Legroeder wondered what Captain Friedman and the others were feeling as they approached their home port after a century away. To say that Legroeder himself felt mixed emotions would have been an understatement. His thoughts veered from Tracy-Ace, and a time on Ivan that already seemed a lifetime away, to growing apprehension about his return to Faber Eridani. He presumed he was still a fugitive, and it was possible he was walking right back into captivity. Was it too much to hope that in bringing Impris back from limbo he had exonerated himself in the eyes of the law?

Captain Friedman finished logging the ship’s status, then turned to the Narseil commander. “If you’d like to contact your colleagues now, you may go ahead and do so.”

Fre’geel signaled Cantha, who had been working with Com Officer Tiegs throughout the flight. Cantha placed the call to El’ken’s asteroid.

The plan was to report first to El’ken, and through him to the Narseil Naval authorities. Captain Friedman felt that the Narseil should be the first to learn the results of the mission that they had taken the risk of mounting; and while it would undoubtedly annoy the Faber Eri Spacing Authority not to be told first, Legroeder suspected that it might be to his advantage to have the Narseil already behind him.

“On the com now,” Cantha reported.

“El’ken!” Fre’geel called.

“Is that you, Fre’geel? Are you really still alive?” said a husky voice from the console. Legroeder was surprised how good it was to hear the voice of the Narseil historian.

“This is Fre’geel—and I have Rigger Legroeder with me, and Palagren, and all of the surviving crew that penetrated raider Outpost Ivan. Have you heard from H’zzarrelik? We weren’t able to contact them again.”

“ H’zzarrelik returned safely to base,” said El’ken. “We knew about your battle with a Kyber ship, and that you were attempting the penetration. But that was the last we heard. What success did you have?”

Fre’geel glanced at Legroeder and cracked an almost human smile. “Better than you can imagine.”

“Please elaborate!” El’ken cried, his excitement audible through the com-link. “What ship are you in now? The captured raider?”

“No, not the raider.” Fre’geel started to say more, then waved Legroeder over instead. “Would you like to tell him?”

Legroeder laughed and leaned toward to the console. “El’ken, this is Legroeder! Speaking to you from the deck of a legend…”

The conversation with El’ken was a lengthy one. After bringing El’ken up to date, the Narseil on both ends voiced concerns about whether Impris —or for that matter, Legroeder—would be free to continue on from Faber Eridani to the Narseil Rigging Institute. El’ken proposed that Legroeder be picked up by a Narseil diplomatic ship and brought to his asteroid for safety, a suggestion endorsed by Fre’geel. Legroeder was sorely tempted, but in the end he refused. Perhaps he was being stupid; but having come this far with Impris , he was determined to bring her the rest of the way home. Impris was of Faber Eridani registry and carried nearly four hundred Faber Eri citizens. It seemed unlikely that the ship itself would be in danger, whatever he personally might have to endure. And as for himself, he’d lived under a cloud long enough. It was high time this business was settled.

“Do I still have a lawyer on Faber Eridani?” he asked El’ken.

The historian hesitated, clearly reluctant to give up on his proposal. “Yes, you do,” he said finally. “She has been living in our embassy on Faber Eridani, and working diligently on your behalf. She’s compiled a sizable brief on the misdeeds of your authorities, in fact. Shall I send her word of your return? I can perhaps send more secure messages from here than you can from a civilian liner.”

“Please do,” Legroeder answered, thinking with a pang, Harriet, living in the Narseil embassy? To stay out of jail, on my account?

“And Rigger Legroeder—” El’ken said, interrupting his thoughts. “You might like to know, you’ve been cleared in the matter of Robert McGinnis’s death. At least you won’t have that hanging over you.”

Legroeder closed his eyes and breathed a silent prayer of thanks.

“Rigger Legroeder? Did you hear me?”

“Yes. Yes . Thank you, El’ken. That’s very good news.” He grunted and straightened up from the console, feeling a sudden lump in his throat. Somehow that last item had brought it all back with a sharp jolt of reality. McGinnis’s death, and all the threats that awaited him on Faber Eridani.

Fre’geel spoke a while longer with El’ken, discussing ways they might protect Narseil interests in information gleaned from the rescued starship, including dispatching a Narseil diplomatic ship to follow Impris in. Legroeder left them to work that out among themselves. But as Impris continued its long fall inward toward Faber Eridani, he felt his anxieties rising. Was he a fool not to have taken the Narseil up on their offer of protection?