Jeffrey Carver - Eternity's End

“I did not say attack. A Narseil ship is being readied to go undercover, in search of information.”

Legroeder blinked uncomprehendingly.

“The intent is to be captured. Or to seem to be captured.”

“You must be joking.”

“I am not. There will be danger, obviously. However, considerable preparation has gone into the mission. We have found—” El’ken hesitated, and his eyes closed to vertical slits for a moment “—sympathetic connections within the raider organization, which lead us to believe there may be hope of success. But clearly the mission would benefit from the assistance of someone who has spent years among the pirates, and who knows much about their methods and systems.” His yellowish eyes widened again, which had the effect of making his entire face seem to glow.

“No doubt it would,” said Legroeder. “But how would this be anything but a death sentence for me? I’d not only be an infiltrator and a spy, I’d be a returning escapee.”

“To put it mildly,” Morgan interjected. “Legroeder! You’d have to be crazy!”

“Perhaps he would,” El’ken agreed. “However, a great many Narseil naval personnel are crazy too, perhaps. Because they are preparing, even as we speak—and the mission will soon be off.”

“Forgive me, Academic,” said Harriet, “but this is a rather sudden proposal—and not one that I feel at all—” she struggled to find the right word, and finally shook her head “—happy with.”

“None of us is happy with it, Mrs. Mahoney.”

“No, but I’m here to advise and protect my client’s interests. Before I could even think of allowing him to do this, I’d have to know a lot more. Academic, what hope is there really that this mission will succeed—and that Legroeder would come back alive?”

El’ken pressed his hands together and took a seat on the bench. “I will tell you what I can.” He glanced from one to another; no one was breathing. “You see, it seems there may be an underground within the pirate organization. Our contact has advised us that we might, surprisingly, have some needs in common. Interests to be shared. You would not altogether be walking into a hostile situation…”

El’ken talked for a long time, even calling for refreshments midway through their discussion. He described a daring (far-fetched?) plan for penetrating a raider stronghold—one well away from the area of DeNoble, the outpost from which Legroeder had fled. Legroeder listened, but distractedly. He cared about the particulars of the plan, and yet in a sense, he didn’t. A part of him was willing to trust the Narseil to put together a viable scheme—it was either completely crazy, or wasn’t, but he doubted that he would have much to add to it one way or another.

He wondered which was the crazier prospect: embarking upon a dubious Narseil undercover operation, or turning himself back over to the Faber Eri Spacing Authority, who would lock him up and throw away the key. Which would give him the better chance of proving the existence of Impris and still being alive at the end of the exercise?

“…and so you see, we will be depending upon stealth, meticulous planning, and judicious use of connections within the Free Kyber organization. Rigger Legroeder, are you following me?”

Legroeder blinked and nodded to the Narseil. “Get captured, get information, get out.”

El’ken rocked slowly on his bench. “Put simply, yes. You understand the steps leading to it?”

Legroeder shrugged. “More or less. It sounds like an astronomically long shot to me. But maybe not absolutely impossible.”

“It sounds insane to me,” Morgan said.

“I would have to agree with Morgan,” said Harriet. “And yet—”

“What?” Morgan asked, in disbelief.

“Well, if his only alternative is to surrender to that Spacing Authority cruiser out there…” Harriet lowered her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Academic, is there no other option? No way you could get Legroeder out of the Faber Eri system to go searching for information, short of going back to the pirates?”

The Narseil rose and walked to the edge of his pool. He turned back. “No other way that I know of. No way to get him protected on one of our ships, without his participation in the mission. I’m sorry.”

Harriet sighed. “What do you think, Legroeder? We’re talking about your life, here.”

Legroeder nodded without answering. He had no answer. For a few moments, the only sound was the chuckling of water in El’ken’s pool. Finally Harriet spoke again. “I think this is a decision not to be made in haste. Academic, could we have some time to think, and talk, about it?”

“Of course,” said El’ken. “But not too much time. We can stall the Spacing Authority for a while. But once diplomatic pressure is brought to bear…” He raised his hands in something like a shrug. “Thank you for considering the proposal. I will await your choice.” And with that, he stepped into the water and vanished beneath the surface.

Lunch was a somber affair. Legroeder had more or less made up his mind, without voicing it. He went through the pros and cons with his friends, perhaps hoping to be persuaded otherwise. But so far, nothing led him away from the inevitable choice.

He was depressed by the conclusion he had come to, but he didn’t see any other way. “Whatever happens,” he said, “I’m not going to be able to do much to help Maris. Promise me that you’ll do everything you can for her?”

“You know we will,” Harriet said. She peered at him, frowning. “You’ve decided to go, haven’t you?”

Legroeder saw Morgan’s eyes widening, and he looked away, staring at nothing for a few moments. “I guess we should go tell El’ken.”

“Legroeder, you’re not—” Morgan began, then caught herself as he smiled at her.

“What else can I do?” he asked gently. He turned to Harriet. “I promise I’ll try to find out about your grandson.”

Harriet nodded. She fiddled with her glasses, trying unsuccessfully to disguise her anxiety. “Legroeder, if I knew another way… even giving yourself up to the authorities…”

“Forget it, Harriet. There is no other way. By the time we get the evidence we need on Faber Eridani, they will have brainwiped me six ways from Tuesday.” He drew a breath and bared his teeth. “So… can we please smile, everyone?”

El’ken was unavailable that afternoon, but sent a message to Harriet, informing her that the Faber Eridani authorities had made an initial filing for Legroeder’s and her own extradition with the Narseil government. Time was growing short. He would speak to them first thing the next morning.

Legroeder retired to his room to think; to sleep, if he could. Instead he ended up pacing round and round in the tiny, stone-walled bedroom. Memories of the pirate outpost kept surfacing in his mind: the slamming of gates, shouts as new captives were brought in…

The door hummed. He stopped pacing and tried to force that mental image out of his mind. “Who is it?”

“Me. Morgan. May I come in?”

He turned and swung open the stone-and-metal door. “I thought you’d gone to bed.”

“I thought so, too. But I have a message for you. Mother was going to bring it, but I offered to.” She took a folded mylar paper out of her breast pocket and handed it to him. “It’s from El’ken.”

Legroeder opened the paper.

“Barrister Mahoney:

I have been in contact with appropriate elements of the Narseil Navy. They are willing to accept Renwald Legroeder as a member of the special services undercover mission, provided he agrees to certain temporary, but essential, surgical alterations and augmentations. We are to transmit an answer by 0900 tomorrow. In the event Rigger Legroeder does not wish to accompany the team, the three of you may remain on this asteroid as our guests until such time as the extradition negotiations have run their course.