Free Was Once a Hero by Edward McKeown

schedule
helped.   He long ago learned never to get
between the Olympian and chocolate.
    When
she finished, Fenaday drained his coffee and they bade Duna and Telisan good
night.
    *****
    After
they left, Telisan turned to Duna.   “You
are not going to tell them?”
    “Tell
them what, youngling?   The mad musings of
a lonely old scholar?   I have no shred of
proof for this suspicion.   It is not even
an old story, but the corruption of a story so old even the Enshari have
forgotten the tale.   How would it help
them to know?
    “I do
not believe either of them would heed such a warning.   You’ve spoken to them both.   Do they strike you otherwise?”
    “No.   Yet, already I feel my oath bent, if not
broken,” Telisan replied distantly, as if in some small pain.   “He took me unaware with the request to be
his officer and I do not believe that he has any idea what he has asked of me.   I saw no honorable way to decline as they
have been forced into serving our needs, something I would have stopped if I
could.   Now I must balance my duty to my
captain with the secret we share.”
    “Let
them prepare for such enemies as they can imagine,” Duna said.   “We will be there if there is anything to my
thoughts, not that I have any idea what to do about it.
    “Yes,”
Duna continued, “you will find yourself, as you grow older, burdened more and
more by the necessity of keeping secrets.”
    “I
have already found it so,” Telisan said sadly.   “Come, let us go to rest.   We
begin the final leg of our journey in the morning.”

 
 
 
    Chapter Six
    Telisan
appeared outside Sidhe in the bitter
cold of early morning.   Fenaday met him
at the main hatchway.   He saluted Fenaday
in crisp navy style.   “Reporting aboard,
sir.”   Breath steamed from his breather.
    “Glad
to have you aboard, Mr. Telisan,” Fenaday replied, returning the salute.   The Denlenn followed him and they resealed
the hatch.   Fenaday knew the Denlenn had
other names, but only his closest family would know those.   To others, the Denlenn would be known only as
Telisan of the Selen clan.  
    Telisan
immediately took charge of the thousand details of preparing a starship for
deep space.   The Denlenn displayed a
solid working knowledge of the Conchirri Frigate-leader’s design.   Of course, thought Fenaday, he’d attacked
enough of them during the war.   Fenaday’s
opinion of the Denlenn went up a notch after he discovered Telisan had been
studying the interior design of the frigate for over a month, since he and Duna
settled on Fenaday’s vessel as a candidate for the desperate voyage.  
    Since
Mandela’s contingent knew of their destination, Fenaday kept them off the
ship.   After stowing their equipment and
belongings, the scientists occupied an entire floor of a nearby hotel, kept
under guard by Rigg and his Air Space Assault Team.   Fenaday posted Mmok and his various robots,
including the HCRs, around the ship’s exterior as guards.   He also sent out Shasti’s best Landing
Expedition and Assault Force troops: Gunnar, Chan, Connery and the Toks to keep
an eye on Mmok.
    Reporters
began to catch wind of unusual doings at the port.   Telisan and particularly Duna were too well
known to escape attention entirely.   Apparently the bartender had talked to someone about Duna’s meeting with
Fenaday at Luchow’s.   Fenaday despised
reporters and knew that if word of their destination got through to the regular
crew, he would never find enough people to lift ship.   Shasti doubled security and referred all
calls to Duna.   The Enshari’s staff issued
innocuous press releases about an archeological dig in the Altair system.   Fenaday hoped the ruse would gain him the few
days he needed to escape their attention.   Mandela wanted the government’s involvement concealed, which meant there
was some force, either public or within the government itself, that opposed the
expedition.
    Regulars
among the