Intrepid

''A few; I've alerted them to get down to Engineering. There are several assumptions about the status of the antimatter that we will need to create if they are not already so.''

''You go, gal,'' Kris said, then, confident that the technical was in the best putative hands available, she turned to Captain Krätz. ''Certainly, we'll have to advise the port authorities that we are getting under way.''

''Even a blind man would notice what we're attempting.''

''When do we have to tell them?''

The captain mulled Kris's question for half a second. ''Usually it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.''

''So I've observed,'' Kris agreed.

''However, I'm not sure that I'd apply that rule, what with all the security paranoids running around the station just now. Sudden moves could have very immediate and violent results.''

''If you say so.''

''Let me talk to my political officer,'' Krätz said, and tapped a few buttons on his wrist unit. ''Sooner or later we'll have to bring them in on this.'' Nothing happened for a long moment, leaving the captain frowning at his wrist. ''What call is he taking that is more important than mine?''

He was still frowning when a hurried voice came on. ''Sorry, Captain, I have Lieutenant General Boyng on the line, sir. May I pass him to you, sir?'' hardly sounded like a question.

Captain Krätz turned white as a sheet. Behind him, Vicky went up on tiptoes with glee. ''Uncle Eddie. He'll help.''

Those two reactions told Kris all she needed to know about this new man walking into her life.

''Put the captain's call on-screen,'' Kris ordered.

And found herself facing a thin-faced man whose appearance could make a hatchet look dull. His pristine black uniform was crisp, with more sharp edges than military law allowed. Kris went down his ribbons … they told her nothing. Greenfeld State Security's awards had nothing to do with the rest of their military.

Kris made a mental note to herself to save this call. Ten to one, this would be the first time Admiral Crossenshield got a look at his opposite number.

That, of course, assumed Kris got out of here.

There was no time like the present to start getting out of here. ''General, I am Lieutenant Longknife, Princess of Wardhaven. I and my staff have been examining the behavior of the starliner Dedicated Workers of Tourin. It is our opinion that it is on a suicide dive into South Continent, intent on assassinating your First Citizen. It must be stopped.''

Kris paused. She was getting no reaction from Hatchet Face. No reaction at all. You'd think that announcing a plot was afoot to kill someone's beloved boss would get a blink.

Not from this guy.

''Go on,'' he said.

Not on my dime, Kris thought. ''What conclusions have you and your staff drawn from the behavior of this starliner?'' This is a conversation we're having. I talk. You talk. Didn't your mother teach you anything?

The general finally did blink. ''The liner's behavior is out of the usual. However, the drill presently going on in your ship is also unusual. This makes us wonder if you are not intent on some suicide mission.'' The words came out as cold as ice. Kris had met a few cold-blooded people. Now she faced an ice man.

''There are two faults in that logic, General.''

''Would you care to enumerate my errors?''

Kris raised one finger, not giving in to the temptation to make it the middle one. ''First, you know from all the attempts made on my life that there isn't a suicidal bone in my body. I very much like being alive and will fight to stay that way.''

''So it would seem. However, things might change. High objectives might be worth a high price.''

''Not in my book. Secondly, your First Citizen is down on South Continent. My blowing up this station would hardly ruffle the hair on his head.''

''Yes, but you might be trading a queen for a queen.''

Again the same cold calculations. Kris had had enough. ''That does not even qualify as a jest, General. No offense, Vicky, but I am a full-fledged queen in this game the likes of your general and my admiral play. You are at best a pawn, maybe someday to be a queen, but you have a way to go.''

''No offense taken,'' Vicky said. ''Now, Uncle Eddie, are we going to sit here arguing who might be doing something while doing nothing for my dad? Are the rumors true that you'd just as soon see him dead? Is that why you sit here jabbering while time ticks away from the one ship that could save his life?''

Before, Kris had considered the general stiff as a board. Under Vicky's upbraiding, he became as solid as marble. ''It was necessary for me to assure myself that a treacherous Longknife was not playing us for fools. They've done that often enough.''

''That is why I'm aboard. I have satisfied myself that this ship can do this difficult evolution,'' Vicky shot back.