RAEFF (Jim Able: Offworld Book 6)

his mouth. It was clear the food was not enjoyable.
Jim took a deep breath and tried the drink. It tasted as it smelled. Tella drank without comment.
“Who are these guys?” asked Jim.
“I don’t know,” replied Marhan quietly. “They are a match for your Rapaxan masters in their arrogance. They can speak Standard, but they choose not to. I have never seen one without its visor down. I suspect they keep this area lit for my benefit. There are other areas I am not allowed in, where the light is very low.”
“It’s dim enough here,” said Jim.
“Huh? This is low for you? Earth must be very close to its star. You will find Gul darker and colder than this. You are like the Jorrs, blind and coddled in warmth! These are space-born. They have all been bred, I’d guess, in long-range ships, or holes like this one.”
“If they do not use this place normally,” said Tella in a whisper, “why are so many of them sitting around here?”
Jim looked round the mess hall. There were four groups totaling nineteen aliens, including their guide. He noticed they were all armed. “Are we that dangerous?”
Marhan shook his head. “You puppies! Of course you are ‘that dangerous’! The Rapaxans are liars and cheats. These maggots here did not know what you were. If they had thought a single monkey would come, I might have been made to deal with you myself and not waste their time. But you...” For the first time, Marhan looked directly at Tella. “You are a different matter. Once they knew that you were on board, this place locked up tighter than a Jorr’s ass. I had no idea the Praestans Rapax would be so stupid as to send such a one to a place like this!”
“How did our hosts know? We didn’t advertise it,” Jim asked.
“As soon as you took off your suits! It’s a wonder they didn’t simply open the airlock again.” Marhan smiled and tore another lump of food.
“Do you know what they do here?” asked Tella.
Marhan shook his head, his mouth still full of fungus. Swallowing, he said, “My guess is they watch the Stap-Bal-Ird Alliance. Who for, I don’t know. As I said, I have limited range here.”
Jim sat and thought. He felt a calm about where he was and what he was doing. He remembered Madhar Nect, the Turcanian scientist, and a beautiful morning spent on the dock of her waterside house. The memory echoed deep inside him; he had been happy for a few minutes then. He wondered if he was feeling something similar here. As he thought about that, several things seemed to fall into place.
The Praestans Rapax had no need to support Marhan’s revolution. They already had him where he could do them no harm. Marhan was a fool, but not that much of one. He knew his danger and yet did not seem to be afraid. If he was no threat to them, then he was no threat to Jim or Tella. Jim noticed the aliens around him. Several were watching them, probably monitoring, or perhaps in some way recording their conversation. The interview room, of course, was bugged. They would not miss a trick as far as knowing what transpired there. He filed away for later reference the idea that a team of space-born aliens, who thought themselves above using Standard, was currently employed to spy on a leading industrial power. That, and the fact that the Rapaxans held some sway over them.
Jim had an image in his mind, a fleeting image of the Praestans Rapax sitting at the center, untouched, while a circle of their surrogates wove their web for them. It was clear why they suddenly revealed an interest in Earth and its External Intelligence Agency. The idea of being just one more alien used by the Rapaxans dissipated the happiness he was feeling.
Another image that slipped into focus was of Tella, some months before, lecturing him about how he had been in the wrong job. Marhan fit into the same picture; perhaps he, too, had been someone in the wrong job. Perhaps Guls had the same problem managing resources that Tella felt humans had. He saw Marhan as potential wasted, like himself.
“Jim?”
It was Tella, leaning toward him, a frown of concern on its normally bland face.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
“Sure, why?”
“You were gone with the cobblies!” laughed Marhan.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something. I’m fine.”
Marhan was watching him, his nostrils rippling.
“Marhan, can I have a few minutes with Tella before we resume?”
Marhan nodded, slid off the bench, and strode off.
“What is it, Jim?”
“I think, maybe, we should just be honest with Marhan—tell him we don’t know what we’re doing.”
Tella’s pale color deepened, but it said nothing, waiting for Jim to explain.
“I don’t think it can do any harm.”
Tella was silent for a few seconds more. “I’ll trust your instincts, Jim. What makes you change your mind?”
“The Rapaxans. They’re not going to let Marhan out of here, are they?”
“I do not see why they would. He knows too much about them.”
“Obnoxious and arrogant though he is, he deserves better.”
Tella shook its head and smiled. “Humans are strange creatures.”
Their guide returned them to the interview room.
***
“Just a couple of things, Marhan, if you don’t mind.”
“Quickly, Able. Time is passing.”
“How did you confront the Praestans Rapax?”
“I went there.”
“Where?”
“Beta Oraga Rap. I took a ship and went to them.”
“They let you nearer than a few light-years?”
“I had a functioning craft. I had the correct sink created. I was flying something they recognized. What else?”
“If we go to Gul, where will the original plans be?”
“In the design shed of the Traknho’ flight range, building Forty-two. They are under constant guard. The engineers use copies—many, many copies. You will not retrieve every one.”
“How will we find this Trakenhow range?”
“Traknho’, Traknho’, Earth-monkey. Get it right or be lost in the wastes.”
“How do we find it?”
“It is not visible from above. North of the equator, some thirty degrees. We have three continents. One