Andre Norton - Redline the stars

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Notron, Andre & Griffin, P.M. - Redline the Stars [uc].txt

Foreword

In 1954 theSolar Queen series was conceived in answer to

a request from one of the first Sf-Fantasy genre publishers

in the field—Gnome Press. Since I was then reading manu-

scripts for this firm, I used for the books the pen name

Andrew North. The publisher wished to develop space

adventure stories which were not akin to the then steady

flow of militaristic plots.

Because I had long been interested in the historical im-

portance of the merchant adventurers of our own world in

the past I plotted the ventures of the Free Traders—in my

mind linking them to our earlier trader explorers and the

tramp freighters of present day—having traveled on one

such "tramp" myself.

8 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

I tried to create a crew of diverse backgrounds and char-

acter and plunged them into various perils which might

naturally arise from their way of life. Which was done for

four books—Sargasso of Space, Plague Ship, Voodoo

Planet, and Postmarked the Stars,

Ms. Griffin, creator of the justly well-ranked adventure

series of Star Commandos, agreed with me that the Solar

Queen and her crew might well swing back into orbit—

with certain new additions—namely a feminine member

for the crew. Thus the Solar Queen lifts again for some

more fateful voyages.

—Andre Norton

1

"Space Wrack! 'Space Wreck' would've been a more accu-

rate name!"

Dane Thorson shifted his tall frame to better view the

speaker, taking care not to jostle Rip Shannon, who was

standing beside him. The So7ar Queen's mess had never

been designed to hold the full complement of the starship's

crew at one time, and when an assembly like this was

called, the twelve of them had to scramble for space. "She's

sound enough, Ali," he told the Engineer-apprentice qui-

etly, "and she's paid us well up to this point."

"Precisely, my innocent, but now that the Queen's free

of her mail contract, what in space or beyond it are we

going to do with the Wrack? We won't find many buyers

10 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

out here eager to snap her up—that's how we were able to

get her in the first place—we can't keep flying both ships

with half crews indefinitely, not if we ever intend to get

back into real Trade again, and we certainly can't afford to

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hire enough hands to fill out the duty roster on the pair of

them."

Their Medic, Craig Tau, nodded. "All's right about our

not being able to keep on short-handed much longer. The

strain's beginning to tell even now, and we've had no

trouble yet to push either ship. It's time to cut, at a profit,

and not wait for something real bad to happen."

Miceal Jellico, Captain of the So7or Queen, said nothing

as he listened to his crew's discussion. His gray eyes swept

the company. Seated with him at the table were the star-

ship's senior officers: Jan Van Rycke, easily the best Cargo-

Master in the ranks of the Free Traders and maybe in all

Trade; the Mars-born Com-Tech Tang Ya; Steen Wilcox,

the Queen's Astrogator; Chief Engineer Johan Stotz; Tau;

and Cook-Steward Frank Mura. Standing above and

around them were the three apprentices—Dane, who re-

ported to Van Rycke; Rip, who worked under Wilcox; and

Ali Kamil. With them, rounding out the roster, were the

huge Karl Kosti and his slight, almost bleached-pale associ-

ate, Jasper Weeks, both, like Ali, from Stotz's department.

A good crew, the Captain thought somberly. He hoped he

had not repaid their services by effectively ruining the lot

of them on this one.

The gamble in buying the Space Wrack had paid off

short-term. They had been able to grab the Trewsworld-

Riginni run when it had opened up and had more than

recouped their initial investment and expenses, but now it

ReclllnB the Stars 11

looked like they were not going to find disengaging from

the commitment quite so simple.

Damn it to all the hells! The So/ar Queen and her crew

were Free Traders. They belonged in deep space, out rang-

ing the starlanes, not perpetually hopping back and forth

between two planets in the same solar system.

They did not belong on a simple mail run, either. They

had been glad enough to take it in the need of the moment

and had done better than might have been expected with

it, but profits were small, and the work brought little satis-

faction. It was time and past time for them to return to

Trade as they knew it, with all its hardships and with the

chimera of either fabulous fortune or sudden, maybe highly

unpleasant death shimmering over every voyage. If they

were forced to accept another long mail contract because

they could not dispose of their sister ship, it could be the

ruin of them as a crew, a team, but if the careful feelers he

and Van Rycke were sending out failed to pull in a buyer,

they would have no other option. Better that than be un-

able to meet their port fees and have to turn miners in order

to keep body and soul together.

His spirits lightened abruptly when his attention shifted

for a moment to the Cargo-Master. Van Rycke was not quite

whistling, but there was a distinct air of triumph about

him.

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The big man felt his gaze and met it. His brows, white-

blond like his thinning hair, lifted. "Something on your

mind, Captain?"

"Just wondering about what's on yours. You look like

you've just found a fistful of sunstones in a bag of salt."

The other chuckled. "Nothing quite that dramatic, but I

12 Andre Norton &P.M. Griffin

might be able to add a bright line or two to our catalog of

prospects."

"Spill it, then," Jellico snapped. Far be it from him to

begrudge his friend the pleasure of dazzling them all with

yet another of his miracles, but when the welfare of his

ship was concerned, he preferred to be kept informed . . .

Van Rycke's eyes sparkled. "In due time. Captain." He

sobered immediately. "We have a potential buyer for the

Wrack."

"What! — Why in space . . ."

"She only contacted me a few minutes ago. I was on my

way to tell you when you called assembly."

"What's the offer?" Miceal demanded. "And who's the

buyer?" He could not recall any likely immediate pros-

pects. Trewsworld's government was the most logical can-

didate, but the colony planet lacked the trained personnel

to crew a starship, and hiring the needed people would be

an expensive proposition. They were figuring on long and

careful negotiations to convince the on-woriders of the

eventual wisdom of such a move.

"None other than Rael Cofort, acting on behalf of her

illustrious brother, of course."

If the Cargo-Master had been looking to provoke a reac-

tion from his comrades, he succeeded admirably. Teague

Cofort had made so many incredible strikes in what was

not a terribly long career that he was a legend throughout

Trade. When he moved on anything, it was inevitably with

purpose.

Cofort enjoyed the luxury of choice in the charters he

took on or even considered, and his interest in this was

confirmation of the strong base the Queen had laid down

Redllne the Stars 13

here, coming in as she had at the very opening of regular

commerce between the two planets of Trewsworld and

Riginni, and, indeed, in initiating it. Whatever his reasons

for wanting the freighter, the opportunity of picking up the

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local Trade operation was likely a good part of the draw.

Ships like the Space Wrack were easily found on the star-

lanes he usually traveled for those with the credits to pay

for them. The Trader prince had no need to come this far

out on the rim hunting one. Space, he could order one new

from the shipyards!

Jellico's finger pensively rubbed the blaster scar that

marred his right cheek. They would be going into the

negotiations very much on the weaker side, but there

would be no negotiations at all if Cofort did not need or

seriously want the Wrack. He was no philanthropist and

drove a good bargain for himself, but he had a reputation

for dealing fairly. There was no reason to expect less of his

sister. If the Queen's representatives kept then" wits about

them, they could come out of this with something to show

over and above the gains they had already made.

No one spoke again for several seconds. Dane broke the

silence. He had seen the famed Trader once but could not

place the woman with whom they would be dealing. "I

don't recall seeing anyone with Cofort at the Survey auc-

tion. Was she there?"

Tang Ya smiled. "If she had been, put credits down that

you'd remember her."

Alt stirred. "Beautiful?"

Thorson frowned but immediately felt ashamed of his

reaction. The Engineer-apprentice himself was strikingly

handsome, to the extent that he almost seemed a carica-

14 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

ture, the video stereotype of the daring star-roving hero.

Why shouldn't comeliness in others interest him? As for

the rest, Kamil was not to blame that his appearance and

the poise that accompanied it occasionally annoyed Dane,

and no one could fault his competence or his courage when

the need to display either arose.

The Com-Tech shrugged. "Beauty is common in the uni-

verse. She has that, but there's something unique about

her, strange even. — No, she wasn't at the auction. Rael

rarely accompanies her brother when he's conducting sur-

planetary business. That's why none of you children has

seen her yet."

"She does attend gem markets now and then," Jellico

informed them. His usually cold eyes laughed as they

flickered to Van Rycke. The shot was deserved payment for

the surprise he had been given.

The Cargo-Master growled and then sighed. "I had the

misfortune of trying to do some business on a day when the

pair of them were out buying," he informed the others. "I

might as well have stayed home. Between Cofort's store of

credits and her eye, nothing—and I mean absolutely noth-

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ing—of real value remained that was anywhere near being

in a Free Trader's price range."

"Why so many jewels?" Rip inquired curiously.

Van Rycke glanced up at his apprentice. "Answer him."

"Teague Cofort trades with powerful people on some

highly developed planets and with fairly sophisticated,

complex societies even on those less technically advanced.

He has to carry quality goods, not trinkets, or no one would

bother coming to him."

"Precisely."

ReiSllnelhe Stars 15

Thorson breathed an inner sigh of relief. Questions and

testing were every apprentice's lot, part of the process that

would eventually transform the dead material learned at

Training Pool into the ingrained knowledge and experi-

ence of a Master. Still, he hated the feeling of being trans-

ported back to the classroom and hated more the chance

that he might not respond correctly, embarrassing himself

and letting his chief down. He realized with a touch of

pride that it had been a compliment to him that the ques-

tion had been put to him publicly. Van Rycke had expected

an accurate reply.

"When did the Roving Star planet?" Wilcox inquired.

"She hasn't, nor have any of the other Cofort ships," Van

Rycke told him. "Our encounter was brief, and I didn't get

a chance to question our prospective customer about that

mystery. Perhaps she'll be good enough to enlighten us

when she comes aboard to discuss the Wrack."

"Which will be when?" the Captain asked.

"In a couple of hours. I wanted to give us some thinking

time."

He sighed then, to himself. They had best use it well.

This was purely a buyer's market. They had to unload that

freighter, and Rael Cofort would know that every bit as well

as they did themselves.

Miceal was too accustomed to his brown Trade uniform to

be much bothered by it even with all fastenings in place

and the high, stiff dress collar squeezing his neck, espe-

cially not with so important a meeting as this to claim his

attention.

He studied the woman who had seated herself opposite

him and Van Rycke as closely as he could without making

his scrutiny too obvious. Tang had been right in calling

Rael Cofort attractive, and equally correct in saying there

was something unique in her appearance. It was not easy

to place her in one of the major Terran subraces or assign

a planet of origin for her line. She had been space-born

herself.

18 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

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She was of about average height, slender, with the lithe,

tightly controlled body of a veteran spacer. There was no

accompanying tan, however, although her pallor was very

different from Jasper Weeks's. That skin might never ;

darken, but it was alive with a soft warmth of its own.

Her features were delicately formed, fragile looking, ;

making the thickly lashed- eyes appear impossibly large. ;

They were a subtle violet color that seemed to alter with ',

every change of thought or mood. !

The hair was tawny, golden like the coat of a Terran lion. ;

She kept it long, braided and fastened in a coronet to her j

head in the fashion adopted by most female space hounds. S

Her hands, he saw as they shuffled through the contents |

of the slender safe-lock portfolio she carried, were long- I

fingered and beautifully formed. They were also very

small. One of them would not have spanned Van Rycke's

palm, or his own, for that matter.

She chose a document and held it out to them. "My

authorization to act as agent for Teague Cofort of the Rov-

ing Star."

The Cargo-Master accepted the paper and read it, as was

his right in a matter of Trade. "Dated this morning?"

She nodded.' 'He fasmitted it when I informed him of the

possible sale." i

"We hadn't broadcast any interest in parting with the |

Space Wrack," he observed, t

The young woman smiled and shrugged delicately.

"When I planeted, I prowled around, asked a few ques-

tions, and came up with some deductions. Teague told me

to go for it if the deal was reasonable."

Redline the Stars 19

Van Rycke leaned back in his chair. "Ms. Cofort, I con-

fess that I'm finding it a bit difficult to believe you were

sent all the way to Trewsworld on the chance of finding a

small freighter coming up for sale. Trade here isn't all that

spectacular, and similar chances to latch onto a ship aren't

all that uncommon even put here on the rim, much less in

the inner systems you often frequent, not when there's a

good supply of credits on hand to pay for her."

"I was not sent here, of course. I came on the Mermaid."

"The Mermaid lifted yesterday morning."

Her eyes flashed with the anger she otherwise chained.

"I didn't like the way Riff Slate ran his ship."

Van Rycke's brows raised. "He just let you go, or hadn't

you formally signed on?"

"I'd signed. — He didn't dare try to hold me. He doesn't

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keep many hands for long." Her lips tightened in a hard,

cold line. "Most Captains economize when business is

lean, but not on the life-support and emergency systems.

An apprentice died during the voyage in an inconceivable

outcome of an accident that should never have occurred

and would not have occurred on any other vessel. To my

mind, that death was nothing short of murder."

"You can't prove that?" Jellico asked sharply.

"No, and I wasn't vacuum-brained enough to spread my

opinion around, either. I just muttered things about jinxed

voyages, and Slate let me out of my contract before I scared

the rest of his crew away or into making some move that

might start a formal inquiry into the number of hands the

Mermaid's shipped over the last few years. As it is, he has

a lot of extremely unhappy people aboard."

20 Andre Norton &P.M. Griffin

"What did you think you'd do here once you were let

loose?" Van Rycke inquired.

"Stay alive. That's a singulariy appealing idea even if

one has to work as a planet hugger for a time to keep eating.

I knew something would eventually come along."

Rael squared her shoulders. "If you are satisfied, perhaps

we could discuss the Space Wrack instead of delving into

my uninspiring history."

The Cargo-Master made a formal bow with his head.

"What are Cofort's terms?"

It would come down to that. Teague Cofort was merely

willing to pick the ship up if he could conveniently do so.

They would have to work with his terms or be prepared to

reject them outright.

"We'll give what you initially paid for her."

"Plus ten percent for the work we put into her."

The woman shook her head. "Our price is fair. You've

knocked at least that much out of her, and right now she's

chaining you hands and feet. You won't do better, and if

you wait, she'll wind up costing you besides in port ex-

penses and maintenance."

"We've been carrying those costs. We have to get them

back at the least, or we don't deal."

"I'd say you already have. This isn't a wildly rich char-

ter, but it's solid and it's steady."

Van Rycke leaned back in his chair, as if closing the

discussion. "I'm sorry, Ms. Cofort. We have to do better

than break even. If it means we have to wait a bit and take

on another mail run, so be it. The Space Wrack's a good

ship, a fine one for her class. Buyers will eventually come

for her."

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Redllne the Stars 21

She eyed him thoughtfully. "I have my brother's permis-

sion to trade for myself as well."

Van Rycke bent forward again. "We'll be happy to ac-

commodate you in any way consistent with the Queen's

welfare. What do you propose?"

"The expenses you mention in return for passage to

Canuche of Halio, preferably a paid working passage. I

could use a few extra credits, and I don't think you'll be

sorry for my services. You'll be heading for there anyway,"

she added practically, "so I won't be putting you out."

"What makes you imagine that?"

"Canuche's the nearest planet where you'll have a rea-

sonable chance of picking up a decent charter as well as be

able to flesh out your stock of trade goods."

The Cargo-Master took the ID she withdrew from her

portfolio. He looked sharply at her. "A Medic?"

Rael nodded. "Aye. Fully accredited."

Her fingers reached for the disk and closed over it. "I'm

aware that you don't need an Assistant Medic aboard. No

ship of the Queen's class does, or believes she does, unless

the incumbent plans to retire in the near future and wants

to train in his replacement. I'm working my way as a jack-

of-all-trades."

"The So/ar Queen is fully staffed," Jellico interjected.

"I'm not about to let go any of my permanent crew."

"Hardly," she agreed, "but tell me the department that

can't use a bit of help now and then—Mr. Van Rycke's

when cargo's being laded or shifted, the Engineering sec-

tion during preventive maintenance, even the Steward and

Medic once in a while depending on the press of their

particular duties. About the only place I won't volunteer to

22 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

serve is on the bridge. I'm as good as the next and probably

better than most at basic astrogation, but that one is defi-

nitely best left to the experts."

The smile she turned on them was winning. Rael was

sure of getting the passage, but she was out for more than

that. "I want to be part of the So7ar Queen," she told them

frankly, "if only for one voyage."

"Why?" Miceal asked bluntly. "She won't match a Co-

fort ship, especially not the Roving Star, for comfort, and

you can put credits down that we won't be calling at the

Federation's most fashionable spaceports."

The woman sighed. "You talk about our holdings as if

we were a miniature Company. I assure you that is very

much not the case. We have a few frills, aye, but we're Free

Traders like the rest of our kind. We don't live soft.

"My interest in your Queen stems from two sources.

First, your former Cargo-apprentice, Mara Ingrain, is the

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best Cargo-Master we've ever had. She obviously had su-

perb training, and, happy as she is on the Star, she speaks

with nothing but pride and affection of her time as part of

your crew. Second is the response of your apprentices and

Mr. Weeks to the crisis of being framed as a plague ship.

They proved they could think quickly and clearly and then

make and carry through the desperate plan needed to clear

you. Furthermore, at the end, the Queen not only came out

of it all solvent with a relatively good contract but managed

to avenge herself on her enemies as well. I think I could

learn more serving with you for a voyage or two than I

could in ten years bumming around the rim."

The violet eyes studied him somberly. "I have no ulte-

Redllne the Stars 23

rior motive for this. You don't compete directly with my

brother, and even if you did, Teague doesn't deal in back-

alley work."

"No one ever said that he did. Doctor Cofort," he re-

sponded quietly.

She carefully closed her portfolio. "You have our offer.

Take your time to talk it over, but please consider it well.

It's generous since we are seriously interested in acquiring

the ship, and you're not likely to better it, or equal it, either,

in the foreseeable future."

Van Rycke was silent for a moment. "That won't be

necessary. We accept your brother's bid. — You'll want to

inspect the Wrack?"

"Of course, as will our Engineer when the crew gets here,

as a formality in this case. You've been flying her, and none

of you appears to be suicidal. — My request?"

"The Queen will carry you, but if you want to work, it'll

have to be as an unskilled temporary hand with no share

in the ship's profits." They would have to check the rates.

Only the huge transgalactics, most of those passenger lin-

ers, plying the inner-system starlanes, used unspecialized

labor. Out here on the rim, no Captain could indulge in that

luxury. Every crew member had his or her specific place

and could usually back up at least one other shipmate as

well.

"That's all I had in mind, Mr. Van Rycke." She glanced

at Jellico. "If it is agreeable to the Captain. Hiring a crew

member goes beyond a Trade agreement. I'll have to honor

his will."

"It's agreeable, Doctor."

24 Andre Norton &P.M. Griffin

"Excellent! Thank you, Captain Jellico."

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Rael came to her feet. "I won't be long. I'll pick up my

things and have the formal contract drawn up. You can

check it over, and we can seal it when I return."

3

Jan Van Rycke's head lowered. He had done all he could,

the little he could. The senior members of the crew would

appreciate that, but he knew the others had expected in

their hearts that he would pull off some bit of magic for

them. Damn it to all the hells, he had half expected that

himself. . .

Jellico looked at him. "Not bad at all," he announced

with satisfaction. "We'd already made our original cost and

expenses back, so this is clear profit. As nice a pot as the

Queen's seen in many a long voyage."

The tension melted from their comrades, and they

crowded around the Cargo-Master to offer their own con-

gratulations.

26 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin Redline the Stars 27

"The only question now is what we're going to do with

our new hand," Steen remarked.

"No one has to worry about that," Tau responded. "I can

put her to very good use. I've been doing, or trying to do,

a study of interspecies/interracial transmission of viral and

bacterial infections on the planetary, interplanetary, and

interstellar levels. The inputting alone is a galactic chore.

If all Rael Cofort does is take over that, it'll be worth it to

me to ship her, and with a medical background she should

be able to manipulate and interpret some of the data as

well."

"You do believe she's not setting us up for anything?"

Rip pressed, voicing the nagging concern of most. They all

had good reason to recall some of their recent passengers.

"As sure as we can be," Van Rycke answered. "As Doc-

tor Cofort pointed out, we're not of a class to compete

regularly with her brother, and we don't even have a char-

ter at the moment, much less anything he'd want to fight to

get away from us, which he'd do openly anyway. He's

certainly not going to enter into a Trade war over an in-

trasystem mail run like this one. Miceal will have to con-

firm Rael's credentials with him, but if she checks out

there, we should be safe enough taking her aboard. It

shouldn't prove a loss to us, even apart from whatever she

can do on Craig's project. She's at least proven she's able

to trade."

"That she has." The Captain shook his head, as if in

amazement. "Hard as titanone, though she looks as fragile

as one of Loren's ghost lilies."

Craig Tau chuckled. "The habitual errors of our kind! —

Slight build is not the equivalent of either a weak body or

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