Intrepid

Those ''things'' included affidavits that everyone involved in the capture of a pirate had to make concerning everything they did to capture said pirate. Luckily, the crew of the Wasp managed to account for every pirate.

There was also the matter of loading fifty more containers on a ship that really wasn't intended to load and unload any. When Kris asked how they would unload the containers to a planet with no station, Captain Drago assured her he was leasing two shuttles specifically designed to make easy work of lifting the containers from orbit down to a planet's surface.

That was something Kris wanted to see. Or better yet, actually fly herself.

And the local Nuu Enterprises came up with a dewar holding a hundred pounds of Smart Metal™ to replace what they'd lost in the fight and to reinforce their shields. Even the crew that winched the dewar into place on their bow and programmed the Smart Metal™ to flow smoothly into place called the use they put it to ''shields.'' Kris gave up. Let someone else fight it out with the copyright lawyers.

Kris didn't have a moment to herself until they locked down ship, slipped their mooring cables, and backed out of dock. Only then did she breathe a deep sigh of relief.

Jack caught her doing it. ''You spend a couple of days with lawyers, station hands, and cops doing things where all you risk is breaking a nail, and sigh like you're free from the labors of Hercules when we cast off. We're headed for a bunch of crazies armed with who knows what, and you look delighted at the prospects. Woman, you are crazy.''

Kris thought about that for a moment, then gave her Marine the best imitation of one of Abby's disapproving sniffs. ''Who's the crazy? The nut leading you, or the nut following?''

Jack turned away, muttering to himself.

Abby watched the station recede on the monitors. ''I see that the Surprise is still docked on the station. What do you think they're up to?''

Kris eyed the planet below and the cruiser above. ''Cuzco is a big place, and last I heard it's part of the Iberium Association. Surely they can hold their own against one cruiser.''

''It ain't the cruiser that worries me. It's that redheaded harridan on it. Vicky Peterwald.''

''You mean Ensign Vicky,'' Kris said. ''Last I noticed she was learning how to stand a comm officer's watch. You keep a boot ensign properly busy, and even Vicky's gonna have trouble scheduling enough free time to sleep and conquer the universe.''

''Humph'' was Abby's conclusion.

Kris let her have the last word. Unless you've been a sleep-deprived boot ensign, it's hard to describe how much trouble you have juggling all the absolutely-must-be-done-now minutiae that seniors dump on those poor, damned JOs.

* * *

Kris was on the bridge three days later when they completed their second jump. Initial reports on the system were all negative. ''Where's that farmer? Fronour, isn't he?''

Two minutes later he was on the bridge. ''Is this Xanadu's system?'' Kris asked.

''Are you picking up anything on the radio?''

''Not a thing,'' Chief Beni reported from Sensors.

''Then I guess it might be. Skipper I rode out with said he wouldn't have believed that a planet could have people on it and be so quiet.''

''I guess if you were afraid of the boogeyman, you wouldn't be sending out any ‘hellos' either,'' Jack observed.

''There is one planet in the habitable zone,'' Sulwan said.

''Let's see what it looks like up close,'' Captain Drago said.

That would cost them two days, even at 1.5 gees.

As they went into orbit, the planet was still silent as an undiscovered tomb. ''They aren't transmitting anything,'' Chief Beni reported. ''Either there is nobody down there, or every one of my sensors has gone bust or''—Beni paused a moment to scowl at those instruments—''somebody has dug a very deep hole in a planet and hid better than my daddy ever thought anybody could.''

''Professor mFumbo,'' Kris said to her commlink, ''you've got two orbits to tell us where the inhabitants are hiding on this planet. Let me know when you find them.''

''I can tell you that we haven't found them. I'll call you when I have.''

''Thank you,'' Kris said, then turned to the bridge crew. ''Shall we start a pool to see how long it takes our boffins to find the Abdicators? I want the full three hours.''

''No fair,'' Jack said, ''I wanted that, too.''

''Me three,'' said Drago.

''Oh ye of little faith,'' Sulwan said, studying her navigational board. ''Even if you aren't operating in space, still you need navigational aids to sail the rivers and seas. Roads to carry the freight.'' She studied her board some more. And then some more. ''At least every other planet needs them.''

Sulwan looked up from her instruments. ''Maybe we will be doing well to find any hint of them in three hours.''

* * *

Three and a half hours later, Professor mFumbo opened his briefing in the captain's in-port cabin with a sigh and an admission. ''The Abdicators do not want to be found.''