::So far, so good,:: Martin said, when Chatterjee’s body was halfway across the breach.
Chatterjee’s body shattered as the projectiles from the scout craft blasted through his frozen body. Limbs twirled violently and then were shattered themselves as another volley coursed through the breach. Jared could feel the impact of the projectiles on the far wall of the corridor.
Jared felt a peculiar sensation, like his brain being picked. The scout’s position shifted slightly. ::Duck,:: Jared tried to say to Martin, but the communication didn’t make it through. Jared dug in his heel, grabbed Martin and yanked him down as a fresh volley ripped through the corridor, shredding the hull breach wider and passing dangerously close to Jared and Martin.
Bright orange blazed outside and from his position Jared could see the scout tilt wildly. From below the scout, a missile arced its way up and impacted on the scout’s underside, cracking the scout in two. Jared noted to himself that the Gamerans did indeed shoot fire.
::—was sure a lot of fun,:: Martin said. ::Now we’ll get to spend a week or two in hiding while the Obin scour around looking for whoever blew up their ship. You’ve made our lives very interesting, Private. Now, time to go. The boys have shot up the tow rope. Let’s get out of here before any more show up.:: Martin scrambled up and over and then launched himself out of the breach, toward the tow cable hovering five meters beyond it. Jared followed, grabbing the cable with one hand and holding on for dear life, while Babar stayed clenched in the other.
It was three days before the Obin stopped hunting for them.
“Welcome back,” Wilson said, as he approached the sled, and then stopped. “Is that Babar?”
“It is,” Jared said, sitting in the sled with Babar secured in his lap.
“I’m not sure I even want to know what that’s about,” Wilson said.
“You do,” Jared said. “Trust me.”
“It has something to do with Boutin?” Wilson said.
“It has everything to do with him,” Jared said. “I know why he turned traitor, Harry. I know everything.”
TEN
One day before Jared returned to Phoenix Station, clutching Babar, the Special Forces cruiser Osprey skipped into the Nagano system to investigate a distress call sent by Skip courier from a mining operation on Kobe. The Osprey was not heard from again.
Jared was supposed to report in to Colonel Robbins. Instead he stomped past Robbins’s office and into General Mattson’s before Mattson’s secretary could stop him. Mattson was inside and looked up as Jared walked in.
“Here,” Jared said, thrusting Babar into the hands of a surprised Mattson. “Now I know why I punched you, you son of a bitch.”
Mattson looked down on the stuffed animal. “Let me guess,” he said. “This is Zo? Boutin’s. And now you’ve got your memory back.”
“Enough of it,” Jared said. “Enough to know you’re responsible for her death.”
“Funny,” Mattson said, putting Babar down on his desk. “Seems to me that either the Rraey or the Obin are responsible for her death.”
“Don’t be obtuse, General,” Jared said. Mattson raised an eyebrow. “You ordered Boutin here for a month. He asked to bring his daughter with him. You refused. Boutin left his daughter and she died. He blames you.”
“And you do too, apparently,” Mattson said.
Jared ignored this. “Why didn’t you let him bring her?” he asked.
“I’m not running a day care, Private,” Mattson said. “I needed Boutin focused on his work. Boutin’s wife was already dead. Who was going to take care of the girl? He had people at Covell who could do it for him; I told him to leave her there. I didn’t expect that we’d lose the station and the colony and that the girl would die.”
“This station houses other civilian scientists and workers,” Jared said. “There are families here. He could have found or hired someone to watch Zo? while he worked. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, and you know it. So, really, why didn’t you let him bring her?”