Space Stations

Alonza stared at him; he glared back. She kept her eyes on him until he finally looked down, then said, “I checked on how the repairs were going just a short time ago, and by now the components have probably been replaced. As soon as I verify that, we'll get all of you aboard the Habber ship as quickly as we can. If this woman here is cleared by then, as the doctor expects, she'll join you, and if not, you'll be on your way without her.”

She waited for somebody in the group to object, to ask what would happen to Sameh Tryolla after that, but no one did. They probably assumed that she would be sent back to the camp, or maybe given some job on the Wheel to earn her keep until another ship arrived to carry former camp inmates to Venus. As Alonza studied their indifferent and bored faces, she realized that nobody here particularly cared what happened to her. Just as well, she thought, since it made her task easier.

“I have to get my pack,” Sameh Tryolla whispered, at last sounding worried.

“Get it, then,” Alonza said. The woman went to the back of the room, picked up a duffel, and slipped the strap over her shoulder. Alonza pressed her hand against the comm next to the door. “Lemaris to Starling.”

“Starling here,” the voice of Darlanna Starling replied.

“How are those repairs coming along?”

“We'll be done in a hour, Major.”

“Good. We'll get the passengers ready to board.” She turned to the men at her side.

“Zaleski, go fetch our two Habber guests. Achmed and Jeyaraj, get all these people to the hub. I'll let you know if this woman will be joining them or not by the time they're ready to leave.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Sameh was silent during the walk to the infirmary. Tom would stall for a while, doing another med-scan and taking his samples, and then Alonza would give the young woman the word. “You won't be going to Venus; I have to detain you. Those are my orders. No, I don't know why; all they told me was to hold you until my commanding officer returns.”

Maybe it would be better to simply put her under restraint without explaining anything, but something in Alonza rebelled against that; an operative working for Guardian Commanders deserved more consideration, and it might count against Alonza if the woman complained that she had been badly treated.

Again her doubts nagged at her. Why all this trouble that risked attracting unwanted attention? Why hadn't Sameh's superiors found a simpler way of aborting the woman's mission? Surely they had some way to alert Sameh that her mission had been canceled.

They might have given Alonza a password or some other coded message over a private channel. She would not have to be told what the operative's original assignment was in order to pass such a message along.

They entered the infirmary. The beds in the ward were empty; the two paramedics on duty greeted Tom with quick nods of their heads. They walked through the ward and continued down a narrow hall with five doors on either side, then stopped in front of one room. The door slid open and the ceiling light brightened to a soft glow, revealing a small room with a wide bed and a wall screen with a holo image of a forest clearing.

“Kind of luxurious quarters,” Sameh said, “for somebody like me.”

“Normally we put Linkers and other dignitaries in the private rooms,” Tom said.

“I guessed that.” Sameh sounded unimpressed.

“We want you to be comfortable,” Alonza added, “and if we should have to isolate you

—”

“Can't think why you should have to do that.” Sameh went to the bed, dropped her duffel on it, and sat down. “If you really thought it was catching, you'd have everybody else in here with me being checked.”

“Not necessarily,” Tom said. “I'll have to get some more equipment to run the tests, so just rest here until I get back.” He shot Alonza a dubious look before the door slid shut behind him.

Sameh began to rummage in her duffel. Alonza leaned against the wall, resting her hand on her wand. “How long is this going to take?” the young woman asked.

“I don't know. That's up to the chief physician.”

“I better be on my way with the rest of them.”

“We'll do our best to see that you are.”

The comm on the table next to the bed chimed. “Alonza,” Tom's voice said, “one of the Habber pilots is here. Calls himself Benzi, and he wants to talk to you.”

“Bring him here, then.” Alonza closed the comm's channel and turned to Sameh. She had known that this might happen, that the Habber would have questions about his passenger. She hoped that he would be satisfied with whatever answers Tom was probably already giving him.

“Dr. Ruden-Nodell and Habitat-dweller Benzi,” the door's voice announced.

“Let them in,” Alonza said.

The door opened and Tom entered, followed by Benzi. “I think you know why I'm here,”

Benzi said. “I came here with thirty people to transport. I expected to leave the Wheel with thirty.”

“The doctor said—” Alonza began.