The Price of Conquest

"So, tell me about this new guy of yours." Commander Vel motioned Kressa into a chair at the small table that had been set up in the corner of the Vsunan's office.

Kressa studied the delicious-looking spread of meats, cheeses, and fruits spread before her. "What's there to tell?"

"He must be something special for you to run out on Jarrel and then take off to Vaxua with him for two days."

"I told you I didn't run out on Jarrel." She transferred a sample of the foods from each tray to her plate. "He'd already found himself a couple of other girls. He wasn't my type anyway. Devin is."

"Devin? That's your new friend?"

She nodded. "Devin Tyler. He's— I don't know. We just sort of… clicked."

"Love at first sight, huh?" Vel asked with a smile.

Kressa returned her smile. "Well, lust anyway."

"He obviously knows how to treat a girl right. I hear the two of you were seen in some pretty upscale places in Vaxua."

Kressa looked at her askance. "Are you sure you aren't keeping tabs on me?"

Vel's only answer was a smile. "Did he give you those?" she asked, indicating the bracelets Kressa wore.

She nodded and held them out for Vel's inspection.

The commander gave a low whistle. "Those must've set him back quite a bit. Hang onto him, he's a good one."

Kressa sighed. "I'm not interested in his money, Dani. He doesn't have any anyway."

"Those say otherwise," she said, indicating the bracelets.

"Take it from me, he's in maximum debt."

"Then how do you explain those beauties on your wrists?"

"I don't know. Maybe he already had them. Or maybe he's just so far in debt that it no longer matters."

"No expense too great to impress his new girl, huh?" Vel chuckled.

Kressa shrugged. "Whatever the truth, I was hoping you could help him out."

Vel gave her an inquisitive look, and Kressa quickly explained the situation with Devin, Imurha, and the Gamble, including details about their encounter with Lauden.

"You want me to look into shutting this Imurha down?" Vel asked.

"At least check into his business to see what else he's into. Maybe slow him down a bit until we can get the money to pay him off."

"'We?'"

Kressa nodded. "I'm thinking about taking Devin on as a partner."

"That's pretty serious."

"I know, but… I think we'd make a great team."

"What about the Gendzets?"

Kressa's shoulders slumped. "That's one of the other things I wanted to talk to you about."

"Nait says he's found someone on Ilek who's willing to work with you. There is a bit of a price, but it should be easy for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard of Ramoc's disease?"

Kressa shook her head.

"It's a degenerative neurological disorder, apparently hereditary and extremely rare. There's no cure, but there is a drug available that can slow the effects. One of the only sources of the drug is here on Vsuna, but it's rather rare itself, and it's on the United Galaxy's list of banned substances."

"Why?" Kressa asked. "If it's the only known treatment, wouldn't the Pattys want it for their citizens who have the disease?"

"They do, and they always seem to be able to get it when they need it. We used to think the drug was outlawed because the United Galaxy wanted to keep it from Free World citizens who have the disease—just one more little blow to the Free Worlds. Now we think there might be another reason. The United Galaxy may have bio-engineered some sort of virus to cause Ramoc's, particularly in people with high psi potential. A number of Ilekian Adepts have been diagnosed with Ramoc's. It's not a fast killer, but without medication, it is effective."

Kressa shook her head in consternation. She knew the United Galaxy had been trying to discourage the use of psi abilities for decades, but for them to resort to a method that amounted to biological warfare was a new low, even for them.

"Fortunately," Vel continued in a lighter tone, "now that we control Vsuna, we also control one of the few sources of the drug. We can provide it to anyone who needs it, but we need to get it to them."

"Which means you need someone to smuggle it onto Ilek," Kressa said, realizing where the conversation was leading.

Vel nodded. "We can supply plenty of legitimate cargo as a cover, along with all of the necessary documentation, and Nait has already lined up several people to help distribute the drug on Ilek. But we need you, or someone with your experience, to get the stuff to Ilek without the Patrol catching on."

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"That's a hell of a price," Kressa said. "Is this virus contagious?"

"We're not sure. We're not even sure there really is a virus. It could just be that the disease is genetically linked to whatever gives an Adept their abilities. As far as we know, no Gendzet student has suddenly come down with the disease, if that's what you're worried about."

"That's one of the things," Kressa said. "That and smuggling an illegal substance onto a United Galaxy world with a twenty-five kay price on my head."

"I don't think anyone will be expecting you to go to Ilek."

"Maybe, maybe not. If anyone knows about Nait's ties to the Gendzets and can put the two of us together, they might be able to figure it out."

"The only time you and Nait were together was during the uprising, and you both had reasons to be together then that had nothing to do with the Gendzets. And no one's seen the amulet, right?"

"Only Devin, but I don't think he knows what it is."

"Then you should be safe enough. As safe as can be expected, anyway. I've got a six-month supply of the drug ready. You could take it to Ilek, find your teacher, and hole up for at least that long, longer if I can find someone to bring in the next shipment. That should be enough time for things to cool down. Bounty hunters don't tend to stay on a trail too long if there aren't any clues to follow, not when there are others they can go after."

"Others like you?" Kressa asked. "You said the Pattys put a price on your head, too."

"Don't worry about me. I've got an entire fleet for protection. If you want to stay on Vsuna and join up with the Free World Guard force we're setting up here, we'll do our best to protect you, too."

Kressa shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm done being a soldier."

"Then will you take the run to Ilek?"

"I don't know. What about Devin? I doubt he's going to want to hide on Ilek for the next six months, assuming I even decide to take him on a run this dangerous. I doubt he has a record with the Patrol, and he'd probably like to keep it that way. Even if he does have one, I'm sure he'd like to keep 'transporting an illegal substance' and 'aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive' off of it."

"I could check for you," Vel said.

"Check what?"

"See if he has a record with the Patrol. We captured all of the local UG computer systems during the uprising, so we have access to a lot of their data. If the info isn't there, I could get in touch with some of my Patrol contacts and have them check the main archives."

Kressa considered that. It wouldn't be a bad idea to see if Devin had any shipping violations or similar infractions, maybe something that would indicate what he had stored in the back of the Gamble.

"Sure," she said to Vel. "Go ahead and check."

Vel rose from the table and went to her desk. She typed into the computer set in her desktop, waited a moment, and then shrugged.

"He comes back clean from our records. My intelligence people will run a more thorough check. I'll let you know if they find anything interesting."

"Thanks," Kressa said. "Even if Devin does have a record with the Pattys, though, so what?" She met Vel's gaze and smiled. "Who here doesn't?"

"True." Vel chuckled and returned to her seat at the table. "So, what about that run to Ilek?"

Kressa sighed. Vel was probably right about the wisdom of finding a place to hunker down until the worst of the heat was off, and Kressa did like to do the unexpected when dealing with the Patrol. Going to Ilek would certainly fill that requirement. But there was still the issue of what Devin would want to do.

"I'm not sure yet," she said. "When do you need a decision?"

"Take your time. We're going to keep trying to find someone to take the run, but I don't expect to succeed anytime soon."

"Then I'll let you know as soon as I've made my decision."

* * *

"I need to know everything about her," Tyler said to the wiry, gaunt-faced man behind the desk. "Everything. Her background, habits, anything about her ship. Does she have a crew? Anything you can dig up that isn't listed on a standard warrant."

He had checked the files on the Gamble for additional information on Kressa, but there hadn't been much. Considering the release date of her former warrant, he was not surprised, but he needed up-to-date information.

If Vsuna were still a United Galaxy world, he could have requested the information from the nearest Patrol branch, but that was no longer an option. However, he'd had plenty of contacts before the rebels took over the world; he did not think they could have all been found and eliminated already. He was right. After several hours of searching, dropping credits, and making inquiries, he located one of his former contacts who remained active and able to link into the Patrol data network—for a price. Fortunately, Serus Navinatu, information broker extraordinaire, owed Tyler several favors for information Tyler had provided in the past. This visit would likely cost him all of those favors, but it was worth it.

"I want to know about Vel, too," he said. "And this other guy, Nait, the Gendzet."

"Sounds like you're putting together one hell of a job, Tyler," Navinatu said, already beginning to feed Tyler's information request into his system. "Pull this off and you're going to be able to retire in style."

"I'll be happy just to get out from under Imurha."

"Atkins' debts still haunting you?" Navinatu asked.

Tyler nodded.

"What happened to Garth anyway?"

"His stupidity happened to him," Tyler said and fought down a shudder as he remembered the sharp snap of the laser pistol going off as he and a drunken Garth Atkins struggled for it, then the smell of seared flesh, terror, and finally death as his partner collapsed and died in his arms, too drunk to understand what had happened and who it was that had killed him. And why. "I'm better off without him."

"If you can get rid of his debts."

Tyler sneered. "Getting rid of the Gamble would be nice, too, if I didn't need it so damn badly. The payments and repairs are going to ruin me."

Navinatu turned his attention to his computer readout. "You could always take Bryant's ship," he said after a moment's study. "None of this is confirmed, but rumor has it that she flies a heavily modified four-on freighter solo. Apparently, the ship's computer fills in for the missing crew."

Tyler recalled that Kressa had mentioned something about her ship's computer being "special." Is this what she meant? He had never piloted anything bigger than the Gamble, but if Kressa could fly a four-man ship with nothing more than a computer to help her, Tyler felt certain he could do the same. Assuming it came to that…

"I haven't actually decided if I'm going to take down Bryant," he admitted, thinking again about what the Patrol would do should they get their hands on her. "We've got a bit of a—relationship going."

Navinatu gave him a surprised look. "You've got a relationship with Kressa Bryant? How in hell'd you pull that off?"

"Completely by accident, I assure you."

"Sounds like you're playing with fire there, Tyler."

"We'll see. What else have you got on her and the others?"

Navinatu turned back to his screen.