Warhorse Read Free Page B

this troublemaker.”
    Arachne to Solomon to the yishyar. This just got better and better. “I appreciate your attempts to soothe the Tampies, Ambassador—”
    â€œMy job is not to soothe Tampies, Captain,” Pankau cut him off, his voice frosty. “It’s to carry out the orders and wishes of the Supreme Senate of the Terran Cordonale—and in this case, the Senate’s codified wishes are that unauthorized human ships stay the hell out of Tampy space.” He eyed Roman coldly. “Or are you suggesting that I don’t have the authority to send you on such a mission?”
    That much, at least, wasn’t in question. Roman had seen Senate cartes blanches before, and was fully aware of the range of powers such papers held. “I don’t question your authority at all, sir,” he told Pankau. “But we’re talking a pretty long tour here for a ship the size of the Dryden. Two weeks to get you back to Solomon, six weeks or more from there to the yishyar system, plus the six-week return trip. That’s three months right there, plus whatever time we have to spend waiting at the yishyar for your poacher to show up.”
    â€œAre you suggesting your crew can’t handle a few weeks in deep space?” Pankau asked, his tone challenging.
    â€œNo, sir,” Roman said evenly. “I’m suggesting that it would save us a couple of those weeks if you’d ask Ccist-paa to take a side trip to Solomon and drop you off.”
    Pankau seemed a little taken aback. “Ah. I see.”
    â€œUnless, of course,” Roman said, looking the other straight in the eye, “you don’t think you can handle a few hours in a Tampy ship.”
    For a moment he thought the professional facade was going to crack. But Pankau had better control than that. “That will hardly be a problem, Captain. If you’ll set up the radio…?”
    Ten minutes later, it was all arranged. An hour after that, Roman sat at his bridge station and watched the space horse Jump.
    It was about the only thing about space horses that was, at least visually, totally unspectacular. One instant the space horse and ship were on the displays; the next instant they were gone.
    â€œI wish to hell we could do that,” Trent muttered.
    Roman gazed at the display, at the empty spot where the Tampy ship had been. “You and everyone else in the Cordonale,” he agreed soberly. Totally unspectacular…until you stopped to think about what had actually happened. Instantaneous travel, over interstellar distances…and with no known distance limit except the ability of the space horse to see its target star. The whole concept sent a shiver up Romans back. “Maybe when the Amity project gets started we’ll pick up some insights on how to tame and control them.”
    Trent snorted. “Fat chance. Sir.”
    Roman eyed him. “You don’t think humans and Tampies can learn to work together aboard the same ship, Commander?”
    â€œI don’t think it’ll ever come to that, sir,” Trent said bluntly. “In my opinion, Amity ’s nothing but a smoke screen the Tampies and pro-Tampy senators dreamed up to try and look like they’re doing something about the shared-worlds problem. The Starforce’s never going to finish fitting out the ship; and even if they do, odds are the crew will be so badly biased that the results of the test voyage will be completely fraudulent.”
    â€œAnd if neither happens…?”
    Trent looked him square in the eye. “ Then , sir…no, I don’t believe humans and Tampies can work together. Not without killing each other.”
    Roman grimaced. “You leave the Cordonale very few options.”
    â€œAppeasement, or war,” Trent agreed quietly. “And even a Senate as spineless as this one won’t appease them forever.”
    Roman looked at the display, at the place where the space