V
The following morning she awoke, alone and confused. Had the previous night really happened? There was no time to investigate, she had slept in and was running late for the Captain ran a tight ship. Breakfast was at eight thirty and she was famished. She showered quickly, threw on her tunic and kilt and made her way down the long corridors to dine at the Captain's table. Yaf was already there, tearing into aplate of scrambled eggs, but he and the Captain stood as she entered. They bowed and she curtsied, setting the tone.
"Good morning, milady," the Captain said, hastily putting down a rasher of bacon he had speared on his fork.
"Did you sleep well? We would have waited but..."
"I was starving and insisted we start," Yaf finished. "I told the Captain here that you don't like to stand on ceremony, so we might as well take advantage of it."
"Most ungallant, I know," the Captain blustered into his greying moustache , but Simla waved them back to their seats and pulled up a chair. The Captain's steward brought fresh food and poured her coffee and soon Simla was pigging in with the others.
They were just finishing their breakfast when a female rating, trim in her sky-blue Pendoran navy uniform came running into the Captain's mess and saluted. "Report from the bridge, sir. Ship approaching fast, from the stern."
"The stern?" the Captain bellowed.
The rating looked shame-faced. "She's catching us, sir."
"Catching us? The Robin's the fastest damned ship in the sector. Who is it?"
"Unknown. There's no ID signal."
The Captain pushed his chair away and rose. "No ID? That's a breach of every space-faring regulation." He looked down at Simla. "Can these be your aliens so soon?"
She thought about it for the merest second before shaking her head. "No, I don't think so, not unless they're specifically pursuing me, which I doubt. We have four inhabited worlds between us and them."
"Yellow alert," the Captain commanded. "And fire a salvo of signals at that ship and ask them what their game is, scaring honest spacemen at their breakfast."
"It could just be a freighter with a damaged transmitter," Yaf volunteered, but the Captain shot him down. "A freighter that can catch the Robin when she's under full steam? I doubt it."
Simla liked the Captain's reference to full steam. She doubted if he'd ever seen an actual steam engine, as she had, in an Old Earth museum. But the term showed a respect for the past which she appreciated.
"I'd best to the bridge, a Captain's place and all that. I'd order you to your cabins as your status requires, but I've no doubt you want to see what's going on. If you've finished."
Yaf and Simla jumped up together and almost collided with each other in their eagerness, but Shap's strong arms reached out and kept them upright.
The rating marched ahead of them to the bridge and Simla noticed Yafs gaze.
"Get your eyes off her ass, you lecher."
"I can't help it, I have a thing for uniforms. And it is a nice ass."
She had to agree, the spacewoman was a well-formed little thing with a perky bounce and made Simla feel heavy and cumbersome. Only for an instant though for Yaf added, "Not as nice as yours, of course."
On the bridge the crew were ranged at their stations and various monitors showed a brightening blip approaching.
"Our pursuer?" Yaf asked.
"That's her," the First Officer replied, "and if she keeps up her speed she'll pass us in half and hour."
The Captain took his chair and scanned his displays. "Are we running on full? No problems with the engines?"
His questions were answered in the positive and made the old man growl. "Still nothing from them?" he asked his comm. officer.
"Nothing, but they're definitely receiving our transmissions."
".Arm the stern guns," the Captain ordered quietly.
"Is that necessary, sir?" Simla asked.
"I'll let him come to within 100,000 miles and then I'll put one across his bow just to get his attention. She may have speed on me, but from the size of her I doubt she's got the firepower to take on the Robin."
"Do not fire, Captain," Shap said, "it is a ship from Old Earth, a Star Skipper."
"A what? And how do you know?"
"I have been analysing its motion on your view screens. Its flight pattern identifies it as a Star Skipper, a new drive technology which rides gravity waves, developed on Old Earth."
"Wait a minute," Yaf interrupted angrily, "Simla said only two days ago that there hadn't been any technological developments on the Twelve Worlds for years. And now we have your weapon-defying armour and a new star drive."
Shap swivelled his metal head towards him. "Research and development amongst the scientific community has not ceased on Old Earth, First Minister. New products have not been brought to market because there has been no demand."
"Well there is now," the Captain said, springing from his chair. "I want a ship with the android's armour and that little gnat's drive. With a ship like that I could ..." he stopped suddenly, realising that the bridge crew had all turned to stare at his outburst. He retreated to his chair. "And I want a new up-to-date crew instead of all these old has-beens."
Simla smiled and turned to Shap. "Can you signal the Star Skipper?" she asked and the android moved towards the comm. desk.
Yaf took the opportunity to whisper in her ear. "Any other modern marvels you're keeping from us old-fashioned colonials?"
"I didn't know, Yaf, I swear. Not about the Skipper drive thing, and I imagined Shap's superior armor was a one-off to protect all us Princesses.
Shap turned from the comm. desk. "They will not communicate save to confirm that they come from the Great Father on Old Earth with a message for the Princess." "I hope it doesn't mean trouble," Yaf said.
"The only trouble could be a Riaz attack and I can't believe they've reached us already. It would mean they had armies and navies on permanent alert, ready to attack whoever they encountered." "I have further information. Mistress. I believe I know who is aboard that craft." "Ye Gods, the bugger's telepathic too," the Captain commented.
"No, sir, I am not. But the codes I transmitted to the little ship identified who I was, and the reply was in rhyme."
"Rhyme?" they chorused.
"It is a fancy of the occupant of that craft. I believe it to be Elfi Vilek."
"Never heard of her," Yaf said.
"Elfi is one of Old Earth's greatest scientists," Simla clarified. "And there is also a family connection."
"From your family?" the Captain said loudly, "Does the Great Father have no concern for his daughters to send them off to wander in droves through open space?"
Simla laughed. "No, Captain, she is not a sister of mine. I meant that she was of Shap's family. She is his mother."
Dr Elfi Vilek, when she came aboard, having parked her tiny ship in the Robin's hold, was a tiny, thirtyish, woman, with cropped blonde hair and Simla was overjoyed to see her. They hugged and kissed each other like the old friends they were, Simla bending down and barely avoiding lifting the little woman off her feet.
Elfi seemed to appreciate her welcome but her eyes never left Shap, standing behind Simla. Eventually, having been introduced to Yaf and Captain Thrane, she asked to have a moment with the android.
"Shap," she said, "Recognise?"
"Dr. Elfi Vilek," Shap replied.
"Sigma, code twelve, thirteen, eighty two, nine, alpha, alpha."
"Received."
"Calculate."
"Insufficient information."
"Gamma, Alpha, sixty eight, fifteen, twenty four, Beta, Beta, Omega."
"Received."
"Response."
The android paused. "No conflict."
Her brow furrowed. "We must speak later. But now I have information for Simla."
"Problem, Doc?" the younger woman asked.
"I will speak to you privately about Shap." She pulled an info-disc from her inside pocket. "I have information on the Riaz, if I could have access to a computer. Privacy would be preferred."
"My cabin, if you wish," the Captain offered.
They made there way there and Elfi immediately took command of the occasion. "I asked for privacy because the information I have brought is not for public consumption unless authorised by Princess Simla. It includes holo images of the Riaz race and some may find them disturbing. The Great Father has decided that you should judge if this information is made publicly available on your travels, Simla. As you know, he is keen to avoid any sense of panic and these images may very well aggravate the chances of that."
"My God, what kind of monsters are they?" the Captain asked.
"See for yourself." Elfi inserted her disc into the computer's reader and it automatically threw an image into the monitor cube. Everyone except Elfi and Shap gasped in horror.
"The image of the human being is, of course, superimposed to give scale. No human has ever actually met a Riaz." She flicked to the next image. "Again, the smaller ship, the largest ever built on Old Earth, is there for scale. The Riaz ship is six and a half times its length."
"Go back to the Riaz guy," Simla ordered.
The Doctor flicked back to the previous image and Simla moved towards the cube and traced the image of the Riaz with her finger tips."
"Over seven feet."
"Nearly eight."
".And those are tusks?"
"As well as fangs. And look at those claws, they look as if they could shear steel."
"He won't win any beauty competitions," the Captain said nervously.
"We shouldn't judge them by human standards, he's probably a very handsome chap."
"That's one of their females," the Doctor revealed.
"Dear God, they are monsters," the Captain hissed. "You can't let the people see this, it'll frighten them to death."
Elfi ignored his interruption. "The males are smaller than the females and seem to exist only for breeding.
The females run their society. Scientists, politicians, warriors, all female."
"Go, sisters," Simla commented humourlessly.
"Very detailed information for an interstellar probe," the Captain remarked.
"Our first probes were designed to gather scientific data only and were never meant to be secret," Elfi explained, "but the ones we send now are tiny and ideal spies. The Riaz have never detected one, which implies that they have no knowledge or fear of covert activities."
"One weakness then," Yaf acknowledged.
"We can't make hard and fast decisions without much more information," Simla said in a tone that was not to be argued with. "All we have are pieces of a jigsaw, but no idea of the final picture."
"Yes," the Captain agreed, "what are their numbers, their population, their weaponry? What size is their fleet? What advanced technologies do they have?"
"We will have it all, in time," Elfi calmed.
The sat and stared in silence at the fearsome Riaz.
"They've made no direct threat yet? Yaf asked.
"No, they continue their friendly overtures. They don't seem to have any idea that we've seen through their façade."
"But what are they?" the Captain asked, "Even the Bron and Telfa are humanoid and mammalian."
"These seem to be some sort of cross between a reptile and an insect."
"The ultimate creepy-crawly. Man's worst nightmare."
"Perhaps they're designed that way then," Yaf shouted suddenly. "Think of it. If they feared us, they'd send us an image of what we feared most. They could be tiny, benign beings, scared by humanity's ferocious history."
"We've thought of that, First Minister," Elfi said, "But if it's a deception it's a massive one. We have holo images of cities, millions of these creatures."
Again they sat in silence.
"What shall it be then, Simla?" Elfi asked, "Shall we release these images to the general population and start a panic?"
"Yes," Simla spat emphatically. "Father might fear panic, but I think it will give our people backbone to see these monsters."
Yaf smiled at her acceptance of his argument.
"Very well. Captain, will you have these images transmitted back to Pendor?" Yaf ordered. "And ahead to Jaip, Simla?"
"No, I want to show them our enemies myself when we arrive. A dramatic touch, perhaps, but I think the situation calls for it."
The ad hoc meeting broke up and Elfi joined Simla in her cabin.
"Now, what is this about Shap?" the Princess asked.
"His programming is faulty."
"Faulty? How? He seems to be performing fine."
"It's the sub-routine that allows him to accept you mating. There's a conflict and he won't accept anyone."
"What?"
"The only way I can describe it is cyber confusion. His programming is telling him no-one is good enough for you."
"Oh my God, he's already broken a Duke's arm. Fix him, Elfi, I intend meeting someone and marrying him."
"I wish it were that easy, sweetie, but this is very experimental territory. I told your father that a cybernetic chaperone might not be possible, but he insisted. That piece of programming was detailed by your father and, as you well know, nobody's good enough for Daddy's little girl."
"The old bugger. Can't you just pull that bit of programming out?"
"Snap's programmed to defend himself, even against me. If I tried to go near his neural net he'd probably rip me in two instead."
"You? You're his mother!"
"Sure, I built him, but if he thinks I'm any kind of threat, that goes out the window. I'd like to keep him in one piece."
"So would I, I like him."
Elfi licked her lips. "Good. Anyway, how many men are on this rusty old bucket?"
"Oh, Elfi, you're incorrigible."
"I'm not the one that has to hang onto her precious honour because she's a Princess and I'm not the one with an unstoppable android defending her, so I reckon I'm allowed to be slutty old me. How many, I've never had a Pendoran?"
"Half the ship's company are women, you'll have competition."
"Naah, Foxy old Elfi from Old Earth will be a very desirable novelty if I know men."
"You're a slut."
"Oh relax, I'll get Shap fixed up and you'll get laid ... eventually."
"I don't want to wait. I've met the one."
"Yaf?"
"That obvious?"
"You were drooling, honey. He's a little scrawny for your usual tastes though."
"You'd be surprised, not so much bulk but wonderful definition. Anyway, a girl can't dream about bulls when a stallion does such a great job."
"Oh my, Shap's not working at all, you have been getting personal."
"Only in my dreams, Doc."
"Poor girl. But don't worry, I shall love Pendorans for both of us. The reputation of Old Earth must not be sullied."
"We're going to all the planets, Elfi. I hope you don't intend romancing your way round humanity's every refuge."
"Oh yes, absolutely," the older woman grinned, "If anything's going to bring Earth's spawn together it's that little piece of my heaven. I know my duty."
"Oh God, I'm travelling with an interstellar nymphomaniac."
"Indeed you are, and one that's eager to get started. The Captain's a bit old, but the First Officer looks quite dishy. Where do they hang out?"
Simla accepted the inevitable and led the oversexed scientist off to the officer's mess.
The voyage to Jaip took two and a half weeks and though Elfi kept herself well occupied, it dragged for Simla. Her only release was in bed when each night she imagined Yaf came to her. She had never had such persistent dreams and the intensity of his passion for her, the way he relentlessly loved her, convinced her that he was the one for her.
She'd woken one night to find him spooned behind her. His hands were on her breasts and he was kissing her shoulders and her neck. The feelings shot electricity down her spine and she longed for the feelings to become real.
Later, she noticed that her behaviour towards him was changing. Where, before, there had been mild flirting, she now found herself breathlessly waiting for him and hanging onto his arm when he arrived. She was declaring, to anyone interested, that this was her man. Yaf took her attentions calmly, neither encouraging nor rejecting them, but holding her at a little distance. She decided that she might end up frightening him off and decided to check his response if she upped the ante. One day from Jaip she had him alone in the observation lounge and said, "I had the wickedest dream about you last night, Yaf."
"You still think it's a dream?"
"What?"
"I've been making love to you since we left Pendor."
"No way. Shap would have killed you."
"What did the dear boy say about our nightly encounters?"
"I was having dreams. I thrashed about in my sleep."
"Oh yes, you do thrash about."
"Stop kidding, Yaf."
"I'm not kidding. Two night ago I bit you on the shoulder. The left one. The mark should still be there."
Her eyes widened as her memory raced. She looked down at her shoulder but was afraid to investigate further. Yaf reached over and gently tugged her tunic down. A small, red mark glowed like a beacon. She grabbed her tunic and pulled it back.
"What does this mean?
"It means that I bit your shoulder two nights ago. You've probably got a matching one on your hip." She turned away from him and stared out into space. "That's impossible. If you'd actually been coming to my cabin Shap would have stopped you."
"I told you once that I was no ordinary Pendoran."
"So you've figured out a way to fool Shap's sensors. The Doc's told me he has faults, maybe this is another one."
"Are you complaining, you seemed to enjoy our trysts."
"Can Shap see you now?"
"Oh, I'm physically here in all my glory."
"Disappear for him and kiss me, then I'll believe you."
"It doesn't work like that."
"You're full of shit."
She walked away, knowing she was being childish and should get to the bottom of the matter with Yaf But his assertion that he had actually been making love to her disturbed her. There was something plain wrong in the fact that he'd kept the truth from her. Why hadn't he just told her he could fool Shap's sensors and been open about it. Then they could have made love as openly as they wished. But this deception didn't seem honourable and made her wonder if she really loved her First Minister. She made her way to Dr Vilek's cabin, needing somebody to unload on and Elfi had long been like an older sister to her. The doctor was lying regally on her bunk, resting her weary bones after an exhausting session with a tall, blonde, gunner. Simla perched herself on the edge of the bunk and spilled her fears and doubts to her friend. The doctor merely laughed.
"Doesn't scan, honey. Shap's sensors can't be fooled. He scans audio, temperature, odour, radiation and a hundred other factors. I know, I designed them and it would take a genius like me to work out a way to deceive them."
"But you said he'd developed a fault."
"Only in his programming. Everything else works fine, I've checked."
"So how's Yaf doing it?"
"Simple, he isn't."
"But he knew about the love-bite."
"Yeah, that's an old mind reader's trick. He says the mark's there and when you check, it is. Bingo, he's a winner. If it's not there he says, oh, it must have faded, and moves on to his next guess."
"That seems very devious."
"That's men for ya."
"But what does he get out of it? Trying to impress me that he can outwit Shap isn't going to raise him in my estimation."
"You admitted you fantasised about him and he's just having some fun with you."
"Fun? With me?" Simla was genuinely startled.
"Oh, forgive the poor boy. Your pomposity could do with pricking now and again."
"I am not pompous!"
"Course you aren't, sweetie, but maybe Yaf's just railing against the reputation of Princesses of Old Earth."
"But I'm not..."
"Listen, kid, flying around the galaxy in a leather kilt doesn't make you any less a product of the system. Why, someone could just take that for a whim or affectation. You've got to give people time to get to know the real you."
Simla ran a hand through her long hair. "Oh, I'm such a clot, I fall in love with every man I meet."
"You'll grow out of it. I did."
And the ship's siren sounded to announce that they were entering orbit round Jaip.