Pandora's Box. Страница 3
Kane leaned closer to the image of one of Vriin’s chief councillors and greeted him politely.
«Nice outfit!» Kane said. «Back home, that’s exactly how the great Merlin used to dress. Did John send you that book about the Knights of the Round Table?»
«Like it?» Kvaon smiled. «I’ll send you a cloak just like this one – you can make two out of it. One for yourself and one for John.»
«Hey, we’re almost the same height, for the record!» Kane protested indignantly.
Iida cleared her throat with a nervous cough. «If you two are done exchanging compliments», she said dryly, «perhaps we could get back to the matter at hand?»
«When else would I get the chance to chat with old friends?» Kvaon winked at them from the screen. «All right, all right, the matter is serious indeed. I’ve gathered reports from all our most secret services, who’ve been searching through every possible channel for details about the attack, but in vain! They found no mention of Tarion whatsoever.»
Kvaon paused for a brief, dramatic moment before continuing. «However, yesterday my scouts – some of them real slackers, I must admit, reported something rather interesting.»
The friends froze, leaning closer to the screen.
«One of my long-range transports happened to stop for resupply in the remote Mion system, at the market on the planet Bajjar», Kvaon went on, leaning a little closer to the screen and gesturing with one elegant hand as though tracing the route on an invisible star map. «The planet is famous for its spices from every corner of the galaxy and for its fistfights. The captain, a great admirer of both, decided to place a few bets at the local arena. After all, everyone there was raving about a new wonder-fighter who’d appeared recently – ‘knocks everyone down in a single round and hasn’t lost a single fight yet!’»
Kvaon smiled faintly, eyes glinting with the pleasure of a born storyteller. «Well then, something about the look of that undefeated gladiator reminded him of… guess who?»
He raised an eyebrow, letting the suspense hang for a heartbeat. «That’s right! Our mutual friend, councillor Tarion.»
He paused again to clear his throat, reaching for a glass somewhere out of view. The Vriinian community, like every allied world, had certainly lost a gifted historian and raconteur in him, one who could weave intrigue out of any scrap of information.
«And then?» the friends burst out almost in unison. «What happened next? Did your people get him out of there?»
Hearing the news that Tarion might, after all, still be alive, though for some strange reason somewhere at the far end of the galaxy, the friends nearly leapt for joy.
«Unfortunately, they didn’t succeed», Kvaon replied. «The captain made several attempts to speak with the tournament organizer to reach the presumed Tarion, but they wouldn’t let him anywhere near. Still, by his account, the spectacle was magnificent. Tarion, if it truly was him, is a fighter of the highest order.»
«Well, looks like such details may not interest you much», Kvaon chuckled, «anyway, I’ve sent the coordinates to the Armaon. It’s up to you now to figure out how to get him out of there.»
«Sadly, trying to negotiate with those Bajjar swindlers in advance is pointless», Kvaon continued after a brief pause. «They rarely honor agreements and always act in the interest of immediate profit. So keep your wits about you – it’s a dangerous world. But then», he added with a sly smile, «you’re hardly amateurs yourselves.»
«Thank you so much, our good old friend Kvaon!» Kane exclaimed warmly, giving voice to what all of them were thinking, for Iida and Maarv were still too deeply impressed by what they had just heard. «You’re, as always, on top of things – metaphorically speaking, of course!»
The screen had long since gone dark, yet the friends remained seated at the table, each lost in silent thought.
«Well then, back to the Armaon», Maarv said at last, shaking himself from his reverie. «At least now I might finally get a decent night’s sleep!»
«Isn’t it a bit too early to relax?» Iida asked. «We still don’t really know anything for certain. And we can’t even be sure it’s him!»
«First of all, I’m not relaxing», Maarv replied, squinting at her good-naturedly. «For your information, captains never relax! And second, did you see the kind of moves Tarion pulled off when we got you out of that pack of vicious Tiavrans on DL-254? It all fits! Who else but him could be that unbeatable fighter terrifying every arena on Bajjar?»
«I saw the ‘moves,’ all right», Iida answered dryly. «But there’s one thing I can’t understand. If that really is Tarion, then why would he, a member of the Galactic Council, suddenly vanish from Ilion and end up on Bajjar, of all places, and in the guise of a gladiator? That simple thought just won’t let me rest.»
«You think the people under Kvaon might have been mistaken?» Kane asked anxiously. «Knowing their boss, they wouldn’t risk their skins and report anything uncertain unless they were completely sure. On the other hand, your logic’s hard to argue with…»
«Anyone can be mistaken», Iida replied. «Despite how strange this all seems, at least we’ve got some hope now. But since we’re speaking of logic, until we see the councillor with our own eyes, there’ll be no real clarity.»
As she spoke, Iida was already booking three seats on a hydro-transport that would soon take them from the embassy to the Armaon’s docks.
Chapter 3
After Arma received the Bajjar coordinates through a one-way government channel from Vriin without a single comment or explanation, Draam, John, and Smorg could hardly contain their curiosity. When the rest of the crew returned to the Armaon, they were immediately bombarded with questions.
Everyone, without exception, voted in favor of organizing an expedition, though Maarv’s optimism once again ran headlong into Iida’s skepticism. They all understood perfectly well that, however much Iida might wish to believe the best, a woman’s logic and her life experience simply would not allow her to take dubious facts on faith. In other words, the general optimism of the crew urged them to hope for the best, while Iida’s logic quietly reminded them to prepare for the worst.
The ship was fully equipped with everything necessary – the friends who had remained aboard had hardly been idle. Draam, true to habit, had filled every storage bay with food supplies of the finest quality, making full use of his newfound fame and the generous discounts eagerly offered to him.
Smorg and John, for the first time in their lives, took a proper walk through Ilium visiting cozy little shops, strolling across sunlit squares, and even stopping for a few snacks along the way. Smorg, long accustomed to the wary looks that used to follow him wherever he went, was genuinely astonished to find passersby recognizing him, asking for autographs, trying to give him small gifts, or simply smiling and bowing with warm respect.
They returned to the ship in high spirits, followed by a large air carriage laden with valuable instruments, chemical compounds, and laboratory materials along with an assortment of local gifts and souvenirs for the entire crew.
The Armaon lifted off from Ilium’s spaceport and, after activating its access codes, passed through the planet’s energy barrier before setting a direct course for Bajjar, in the Mion system.
«Did you know», Arma’s voice chimed in, «that Bajjar means ‘receding water’ in the Miwot language? The remnants of the once-great Miwot race, extraordinary architects, were wiped out by the Krop plague several millennia ago. After the Great Galactic War, one of their expeditions discovered this long-abandoned planet. They settled there, establishing a colony and rebuilding several cities. The name Bajjar became fixed on the star maps ever since.