Crossing the Line Read Free Page B

isn’t,” he said, eyeing her in evident disbelief. She put the stylus back in her breast pocket.
    Actaeon ’s wardroom was comfortable and quiet, with all the refinements that fifty years of further development could make in a ship. You could hardly hear the constant rush of air or feel the vibration of machinery that had permeated Thetis . But it was still too small for two commanders. All the security she had once derived from knowing her exact place in the service hierarchy had evaporated. Out of rank, and out of time: she wanted to be busy.
    â€œI can’t sit around filing reports forever,” she said. “You need an extra pair of hands.”
    â€œWhat I need is to get this base set up on Umeh, and I need people who’ve had alien contact experience. And I don’t mean Eddie bloody Michallat, either. I won’t have BBChan running the show, even if they do think they’re a government department.”
    â€œThe isenj like Eddie. He might be your best route to Frankland too. Even she liked him in the end.”
    It was too painful to say Shan . It was the way you referred to a friend.
    â€œShe’s just one woman,” Okurt said. “How much trouble can a disgraced copper be?”
    â€œFind out why she was demoted in the first place before you dismiss her.” Lindsay was surprised he hadn’t heard the gossip. Buzzes like that usually flew round a ship fast: the antiterrorist officer who went native. Yes, Shan had enjoyed quite a checkered career. “Civvy police dip in and out of uniform discipline as and when it suits them, and she doesn’t know the meaning of rules of engagement. So don’t give her an inch. She wasn’t always in EnHaz—she’s ex–Special Branch. You name it, she’s done it.”
    â€œGet it in perspective. She’s just another plod with a few more brain cells. She isn’t special forces.”
    â€œDon’t say I didn’t warn you.” Lindsay reached in her jacket and pulled out her sidearm. She laid it on the table. Okurt said nothing but his eyes were a study in amazement. “Promise me this. If we’re ever in a position to take her, let me do it. I let her walk away once and I regretted it. I won’t make that mistake again.”
    Okurt still stared at the weapon. “Perhaps you should stow that in the armory,” he said.
    â€œNo thanks.” She slipped it back into her jacket. “Trust me. I’ve never been more controlled. There’s only one person who needs to worry about me.”
    A plod with a few more brain cells.
    No, Okurt didn’t have a clue about Shan Frankland.

2
    T O: Foreign Office, Federal European Union
F ROM : C DR . M ALCOLM O KURT, CSV Actaeon
    We have been unable to detain Superintendent Frankland as she has been granted protection by the wess’har authorities. The best intelligence we have is that she is still on CS2. Under the circumstances, I believe we have no option but to let the matter rest for the time being: pressing the issue will compromise any later negotiations we might have with the wess’har regarding landings on CS2. The BBChan embed here says that we should start calling the planet by the name Bezer’ej when dealing with the wess’har, and Asht when talking to the isenj, but not CS2 or Cavanagh’s Star 2. Apparently it smacks of colonialism and might offend the local population.
    It was hard being nothing more than an extra pair of hands.
    Shan stabbed the shovel into the frost-hardened ground and turned another spadeful of soil. She made a few rough calculations. Another fifty square meters and she’d be done.
    The claws were really getting on her nerves now. She kept catching them on the handle of the spade, snagging her pants, scratching her face. She couldn’t quite get the hang of them. Sometimes they were worse than the lights.
    But they weren’t worse than the nightmares.
    The