Free Skeen's Search by Jo Clayton

me, I’ve been reading them and transferring them into her files. So. We came across some of those old devices the then-Ykx used to defend against being snagged. Picarefy ran them against what data she had on this day snagships and out of this, that and the other, we think we’ve cobbled together something that just might work, it should induce waves of instability in the gravity sink which we hope would eventually blow the generator. Some hope. Better we don’t have to test it.”
    â€œAmen to that.” Skeen laughed and did a sitting bow, touched head and heart with the fingers of both hands. “And congratulations.” She straightened. “If I put my mind to it, I could wish we’d done some more testing on the Lander. I never got near her top speed.”
    â€œYou were the one in a hurry to get here.”
    â€œSo I was.”
    â€œSkeen …” Timka was frowning at the world analog turning slowly in one of the screens. “That might be mostly water, still there’s a lot of land to search. And a lot of prisoners to search through. I don’t see how we’re going to find one man. I came along this far figuring you knew what you were doing, you always have before, but if you don’t mind, I’d feel easier if I wasn’t jumping in the dark.”
    Skeen grimaced. “Sorry, Ti, I keep forgetting it’s not just me and Tib doing this and other people can’t read my mind like he does.” She edged the floatchair closer to the table, leaned on her crossed arms. “This is how it goes. There’s a hard way and an easy way; we’ll try the easy first. Everyone who knew anything about Burn says he’s a lot like me, in looks and in the way he acts. Buzzard was emphatic about it and he reads people better than most. Burn comes from the Cluster, I come from the Cluster, he acquired an Empire cruiser and escaped in that, I came out in a destroyer. Me, I never got snagged, but there were a couple times those early years when I missed it by the thickness of the sweat on my skin. He’s thin but wiry and he’s young; chances are better than good he was sent to the mines. Me, I wouldn’t stay where the Kliu put me one minute longer than I had to, especially not in the mines. Mines or farms, he’s gone. He’ll be living somewhere in the wild making life hard for the Kliu when he gets a chance. We’ll do a grid-scan of that north bulb …” she waved her hand at the screen, “see what’s there, then I’ll think where I’d go if I was him, go there and look.”
    â€œAnd if he’s not there?”
    â€œI exercise my talents on the Kliu files. Escapee or not, Kliu should know more or less where to find their prisoners. In case there’s someone who wants to ransom one of them. There won’t be all that much security in the headquarters building, who’d they need to keep out? But that Island’s R and R for the guards so it’s always thick with Kliu and there’s not a lot of cover for nosy bipeds. And Burn could be dead already. I hear he has a flash temper. He might have goaded one of the Kliu into stomping him. Or one of the fugitives—they won’t be a gentle lot, that bunch. If that’s what happened, then we’re in for some more inspired guessing on my part, backed up by whatever traces we can find as to where he left the Veil. So. More questions? Right. Pic, clear the table and spread the printouts, we’ll be looking at ins and outs, those are the critical times and I want to be sure I’m not missing something that could come up behind me and bite.”
    Lipitero and Tibo stayed with Picarefy. Tibo was annoyed, but there wasn’t room for him and Timka both and Ti’s shape shifting was more valuable than his talents here. Even on the way back it’d be useful; Burn was another body to fit into a space that was cramped for two. Ti could shift