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Bechimo
Dock A


“Like to come aboard?” Theo asked when they reached Bechimo’s dock.

Tolly considered her.

“You’re not still working the cousin angle, are you, Cap’n Theo? ’Cause that’s not gonna yield a winner, for the reasons I told you and more.”

She shook her head.

“I understand what you told me,” she said, which he thought might be a little slight on the leading edge unless she’d ’beamed her brother straight off and he’d been immediately and entirely forthcoming, “but Bechimo and Joyita want to meet you.”

“And why is that?”

Theo sighed. “I’d rather let them tell you. If it can’t be now, they understand, but they’d like to know that you’ll come by to meet them while we’re all at the same dock.”

Tolly hesitated.

There wasn’t any reason to rush off, he thought. Yes, he wanted to see what was in the crates they’d found for Seignur Veeoni, but he doubted she’d open them immediately on delivery, especially given that gleam in Haz’s eye, and the fact of an autodoc right there in the lab.

Might as well get it done, Tolly Jones, he told himself, and nodded to Cap’n Theo.

“I’d be glad to meet Bechimo and Joyita,” he said, and followed her up the ramp, and into her ship.


“Waitley in!” she called as they cleared the hatch. “I’ve got Mentor Jones with me, and we’re on our way to the galley.”

“Welcome home, Captain.”

The voice was in the mid-range, calm, and clearly pleased.

“Mentor Jones, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for the invite,” Tolly answered, following Cap’n Theo down the wide, pleasant hall to a bright, pleasant galley, chairs clustered ’round tables, and a buffet at the far end.

“There’s tea in the ready pots,” Theo said, nodding toward the buffet, “or I can brew fresh, if you’d rather.”

“I’m fine with something out of the pots,” he said, and gave her a half-grin. “Dusty walk.”

She smiled back.

“Long, too,” she said. “I’m getting a snack, and a cup, then I’ll be leaving you so you can have your talk.” She nodded at the screen set in the side wall. “Joyita will join you there.”

She was going to leave him alone with two Independent Logics? Tolly thought, horrified on her behalf. She was a competent woman, and she surely knew better than to trust the likes of him.

It occurred to him right then that she didn’t have to trust him, so long as she trusted her crew.

He moved to the buffet, took a mug from those set out and drew tea from a pot at random. He heard dishes clattering, and peeked around the corner, seeing Cap’n Theo getting a tin down out of a cabinet.

Sipping his tea, he walked over to the table nearest the screen, pulled out a stool facing it, and had a seat. He sipped more tea, paying attention to the taste—light, minty, pleasant in the mouth. Not a leaf he knew, which wasn’t particularly surprising. He hadn’t been intended to pass for Liaden.

“Snack if you want it.” Theo arrived and put a plate in the center of the table. Chernubia, cheese, crackers—all the food groups covered, he thought, and nodded at her.

“’Preciate the trouble.”

“No trouble,” she said, balancing another plate and a mug. “I’m needed elsewhere. I hope to be back before you leave, but if not—just ask Joyita to have Clarence show you out.”

“I will, thanks.”

“There are two cats and a norbear onboard,” she continued. “The cats are generally polite; the norbear’s a little pushy.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he assured her.

She nodded—and left.

Tolly reached to the plate, picked up a cracker and a bit of cheese, and ate them leisurely. When he was done, he had another sip of tea, and glanced at the screen.

“I was told that Joyita and Bechimo wanted to meet me,” he said, pleasantly. “Tocohl thinks a lot of the pair of you, and I understand you’ve been giving her some strong support.”

The screen flickered and resolved into the image of a man’s dark, disreputable face. In the background was a room crowded with consoles, and piles of hardcopy pinned down with tea mugs. The lighting was good and steady, slightly yellower than the light in the galley.

Tolly picked up his mug and had another sip of the minty tea.

The man in the screen grinned and leaned back in his chair, giving Tolly a look at sleeves rolled up from strong wrists, a bracelet around one, and rings on the long fingers.

“Tollance Berik-Jones,” he said, and his voice was of a tone and pitch that just naturally made you want to trust him, which made Tolly wonder if the person before him had been modeled on another. “It’s an honor, sir. I am B. Joyita, comm officer.”

Tolly inclined his head.

“Pleased to meet you, Comm Officer.”

“Please, call me Joyita—everybody does.”

Tolly grinned.

“I’ll do that. You can lose my formal, too. Mostly, I’m Tolly. Or Mentor.”

“Mentor, then,” Joyita said agreeably. He reached off-screen, then raised a mug in salute before bringing it to his lips.

“Will Bechimo be joining us?” Tolly asked.

“I am present, Mentor,” said the voice that had welcomed the captain home. “Please call me Bechimo. You should know that Tocohl is not alone in speaking well of you. Jeeves has also given a good report of you. The most talented mentor practicing, he said.”

“That’s high praise,” Tolly said. “Pleased to meet you, Bechimo.”

“And I, you. Joyita and I wished to catch you up. However, before we continue, you must know that we have—that is, I have—committed a crime.”

“Made a mistake,” Joyita said. “You made a mistake. We talked about this.”

“Jeeves was very angry.”

“At first. Then he allowed that youth, inexperience, and concern for the lives of the crew must be accounted for. He forgave Captain Theo, and you.”

Tolly finished his tea and put the mug aside.

“This is about Admiral Bunter, I’m takin’ it?”

“Yes,” Bechimo said, sounding subdued.

Tolly nodded.

“Yeah, that was a mistake—a bad one—and I’m not gonna pretend I didn’t think some pretty hard thoughts about Cap’n Waitley my ownself, more’n once. I don’t know the whole story of why it was done like it was, but the thing that counted for me is that, in the middle of whatever kind of trouble she was in right then, she thought to send for help for the Admiral. She did send to Jeeves. And Jeeves sent Tocohl an’ me, an’ we got it sorted. I don’t know if you been told—we got the Admiral into a better situation; nice, clean workin’ ship. He could take on crew tomorrow, if he had the mind to. Right now, he’s with a friend, who’s introducing him to her friends, so he can get data to make a solid decision on how he wants to go forward.”

In the screen, Joyita nodded, and raised his mug again.

“So, what I’m sayin’ is the same as Jeeves—you made a bad mistake. Learn from it and don’t do it again.”

“There is a problem,” Bechimo said softly. In the screen, Joyita frowned, and leaned forward slightly.

“What’s that?” Tolly asked.

“I am afraid, if my crew were in danger, I might well do it again.”

Joyita sat back, lips pressed tight.

Tolly nodded.

“I know what you mean. I’ve done some things I’m not particularly proud of, and given the situation arises again, I might do the same thing. We do what we gotta do, to survive. But then we clean up whatever mess we made doin’ it.”

He held up a hand, and added, “If it’s possible. Isn’t always.”

“What do you do, if it’s not?” Joyita’s voice was soft. Tolly met the dark gaze.

“Then you regret it,” he said, flatly. “For the rest of your life.”

“Giving us another reason not to make any more bad mistakes.” Joyita nodded. “Thank you, Mentor.”

“I have much to think about,” Bechimo added. “Thank you, Mentor.”

“What I do.” He slid off the stool, picked up his mug and headed back to the ready pots for a refill. “So! Either of you got an opinion about our ghost problems?”


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