“So they think we went somewhere else.”
“We give off a false heat signature in another direction. It will show up on Khalid’s instruments as if that were the real direction of the rocket blast, so they’ll search for us in the wrong part of space.”
“Won’t they detect our jink rocket?”
“It’s as focused as possible, so it can’t be picked up unless you’re in a very narrow range, while the heat bomb is large. It looks like a rocket firing once and quickly. But actually it makes no change in our trajectory because it’s detached from the ship before it blows.”
“Clever,” said Rena. “I’m assuming this has worked before.”
“I’m alive, aren’t I?” He regarded Abbi, who was fully conscious now, the other women crowded around her, consoling her.
“Now what?” asked Rena.
“Now the real work begins. Now we sort through everything and get rid of what we don’t want.”
“We can’t simply jettison things of little value,” said Rena. “That’s dangerous. Other ships will fly into it. Debris like that is the equivalent of a landmine.”
“I am not like other crows, Lady of El Cavador. Other crews may do this, but not us. We carefully put unwanted items on the surface of asteroids so as not to leave a trail of ship-wrecking debris.”
She nodded, impressed with him yet again.
“I did not mean to frighten you back there,” he said. “Khalid came out of nowhere. He must have been following us. He will not follow us now. I am glad you made it back.”
“Makes two of us,” she said.
“Are you all right? How do you feel, Lady?”
Rena’s heart was still pounding in her chest. “Alive,” she said. “I feel alive.”
CHAPTER 23
Camouflage
As soon as their shuttle was close enough to Luna to send and receive transmissions, Victor sent a laserline and contacted Yanyu. It was sleep-shift on Imbrium, and when Yanyu appeared in the holofield above the dash she looked unkempt and half asleep. Then she realized it was Victor and Imala on the other end, and she was awake in an instant. “They told us you were heading to the Belt.”
“We were,” said Victor. “The situation changed. We turned back at Last Chance. We haven’t had any contact with anyone in seven days. We were hoping you could bring us up to speed. We didn’t know who else to call.”
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“Actually no,” said Imala.
“Then you will stay with me. Where are you docking? I will meet you there.”
“We don’t want to impose,” said Imala.
“You must stay here. Where else will you go? Which dock?”
“Lunar Guidance hasn’t grabbed us yet,” said Imala. “We can go to whichever is nearest you, though we’d rather not go to a Juke dock. We were supposed to take this shuttle to Midway.”
“There is a public dock south of Old City in Covington Square. Do you know the place?”
“I know it,” said Imala.
“Meet me there in one hour,” said Yanyu.
Imala flew them toward Old City, and Lunar Guidance brought them in the rest of the way. They docked, deboarded, and found Yanyu waiting for them in an all-night café, dressed and presentable. They took a booth in the back away from everyone else.
“You left without saying good-bye,” said Yanyu.
“Ukko was eager to get us on our way,” said Victor.
“That is what we assumed,” said Yanyu. “He would not want you talking about Lem. Lawyers came to Dr. Prescott and me when you left. They made us sign nondisclosure agreements saying that we would never speak of Lem or of any attack his ship may have made.”
“Is that legally binding?” asked Imala.
Yanyu shrugged. “We could argue that we signed it while under duress, but it would not matter anyway. It would never get to court.”
“I’m sorry you got involved,” said Victor. “I didn’t mean to drag you into it.”
Yanyu shrugged again. “I do not think about it. There are more pressing matters elsewhere.”
“Tell us about the past seven days,” said Imala.
Yanyu frowned, grim. “First there was the nuclear strike.”
Victor and Imala stiffened. “Against the mothership?” asked Imala.
“Do not get excited,” said Yanyu. “It was a failure. The Formics destroyed the missiles long before they reached the ship. Their guns hit them, and the bombs exploded. The blast of electromagnetic radiation destroyed dozens of satellites and damaged much of the existing communications grid. It is a miracle Luna can still contact Earth. It could have wiped out the whole system.”
“The Formics weren’t hurt at all?” asked Imala.