A week later they reached the outer orbit of Betafarl, and during that time had told each other their history and all the information they had of their respective missing parents. Kerran found Veril to be a comforting presence; calm, kind, a gentle soul. Veril, in comparison, found Kerran a lively companion; with a fierce joy in living, and she boosted Veril's flagging hopes. Their cover story held during the cursory interrogation from the flight control and they landed safely. Again, their forged papers passed the test and they were then relatively free to roam Betafarl.
They cautiously looked around, being careful not to draw attention to themselves. A goodly number of the people around them walked with a vacant expression; a sure sign of the Federation mind control through suppressants. Both girls had come across it before.
"We're not going to learn much from them." Kerran said quietly, looking at the vapid faces around them.
"Not all of them can be like this." Veril said just as quietly. "No population is totally subdued. There's bound to be a break-away group somewhere."
"How do we get in touch with them?"
"You were a rebel. How would you?" Veril asked her bluntly.
Kerran grimaced. "I didn't have much to do with that. Other people would have all the recognition codes." She chewed her lip for a moment and looked around again. "If there are any groups, we'll probably find them on the outskirts of the city where people are less likely to be affected. Being off-worlders, we may find they will approach us. Otherwise we can start making judicious enquiries."
"Sounds good to me." Veril agreed, having complete faith in Kerran's reasoning
So together they wound their way through the streets and lift tubes to where cheap accommodation was advertised on the outskirts. They quickly haggled a price for a room, and then sat in the common room for a meal, watching the regulars enter and seat themselves. They ate and finished their meal uninterrupted and lingered over their drinks. Just when they were thinking they were wasting their time, Kerran spotted two older men nudge each other and motion in their direction.
She kicked Veril gently under the table and raised her glass to her lips, breathing out quietly "Those two." Veril, as unobtrusively as possible, also raised her glass and tried to catch a glimpse of the men Kerran had noted.
They waited a few more moments and then one of the men came over towards them. "Strangers are you?" he said, by way of opening the conversation.
"Just come in this afternoon." Kerran replied noncommittally. There was no point hiding that fact - it was easily accessible through the data banks.
"Staying long?"
"Maybe." She replied off-handedly, taking another drink and pointedly looking at her empty glass. The man took the hint. If he intended to have a conversation with them, he would buy the next round of drinks; if not, he didn't. It was an old method of business. That way you knew if business was to be discussed seriously or not. He quickly placed an order for them, even though Veril was only halfway through hers. He seated himself in the third seat at their table.
"Here on business or pleasure?"
"Perhaps a little of both." Kerran answered. Veril was content to let her do the talking. This was Kerran's world.
"Didn't know any passenger ships arrived today?"
"They didn't as far as we know." Kerran took a sip of her new drink. That let him know they had their own transport.
"Been in this sector long?"
"Just passing through."
"Not got any work yet?"
"Not yet."
Veril watched this interplay silently. Each innocent question and equally innocent answer, told both parties another bit of information. So far the man knew they had their own transport, they were in business and willing to take some on, and they had no intentions of staying in the area. All of which added up to 'smuggler'.
He was watching Kerran appraisingly, but she made no outward show of discomfort at his scrutiny. In fact she was watching him just as closely, and it was he who shifted his eyes away from hers first. In doing so he found Veril watching with her beguiling blue eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her. She was a pretty girl, blond and blue-eyed, so sweet-seeming. A quick sideways glance brought Kerran back into focus. As a foil she couldn't have been better. Veril's whole persona radiated 'trust me'. Kerran's said 'dangerous'. The man mentally nodded to himself. They may appear young but these two women were what they seemed, especially the dark one. She was an authentic smuggler, right to her fingertips. He still wasn't completely certain of the blond, but they wouldn't be partners if she wasn't to be trusted also. He made up his mind. He had to get them to come with him somewhere private and discuss things.
"Business could be slow."
"Or busy."
"If there's lots of work, you could earn a reasonable salary."
"Could do. But it would have to be worth our while."
"I'm sure it would be."
Kerran took another sip. If she was reading him rightly he had a proposition he wanted to put to them and would suggest they go elsewhere. He had already laid his fears about them to rest.
"Gets quite noisy in here about now. You may want to try the next place. It's two streets down on the left, called 'Embankment'. Quite a nice place."
Kerran nodded, as though considering. "Might just do that."
He nodded, stood and left them, returning to his friend at the bar. They finished their drinks and left.
"So?" Veril finally asked.
"What did you get out of that?" Kerran asked her new friend.
"I gather he just set up a meeting with us at this other place."
Kerran nodded approvingly. Veril may not be worldly-wise but she was by no means stupid. "Exactly"
"So, do we go?"
Kerran nodded. "I think so. He wants a smuggler so we may as well pick up a cargo whilst we're here, and any rebel groups may have information for us."
Veril nodded agreement. "Do we go now?"
"Finish your drink first."
Veril choked the rest down whilst Kerran unobtrusively poured the second out on the floor. Then they unhurriedly rose, and left. They walked just around the corner when Kerran pulled Veril into the shadows and motioned silence. They stood there for a few minutes whilst Kerran watched up the street.
"Okay." she whispered and they set off.
"What was wrong?" Veril asked.
"Nothing. Just being certain. I don't know if the Federation keep track of strangers. We could have had someone assigned to watch us. If so, they would have followed us out of that place. I think we're okay. Let's go meet our appointment."
They reached the allocated place and walked in. Veril noticed that Kerran had her hand inside her jacket, no doubt clutching a gun. Veril suddenly wished she too had a weapon. It would have given her some small measure of comfort. They went to the bar and ordered drinks, before finding a table.
Glancing around, they spotted their prior contact and his friend. They were sitting at a table with three others. Kerran glanced around the entire room, trying to analyse the situation. She could perceive no immediate danger although she was fairly certain a number of the other patrons in the room belonged to the other group. Soon their contact came over.
"Glad you could make it."
"I like a good recommendation." Kerran replied.
"Can we stop the double talk and get down to business?"
"Fine by me. What have you got?"
"A cargo."
"What?"
"You really want to know?"
Kerran nodded. "Let's just say I'm selective in what I do. I may not like your cargo."
"Fair enough. It's mainly information. Computer disks."
"Going where?"
The man spilt some drink on the table. The thick liquid spread over the table top and he quickly wrote a name in it, then the fluid rolled back in until it was smooth again. Kerran nodded, although she wasn't about to admit that she had no idea of where the place was. She could call it up in the computer banks back on the ship.
"Time?"
"As soon as you can. It will take a couple of days for us to get it together."
"Price?"
Again he wrote something in the spillage and Kerran had to fight the reflexive action of raised eyebrows at the figure quoted. So far she couldn't find anything wrong with this deal, and that in it self made her feel suspicious. She glanced over at Veril, who half shrugged. Kerran looked back at the man and nodded.
"Okay. You have a deal. Two days from now you meet us at our hotel with the cargo." She held up her hand to forestall his thanks and continued. "Conditions are; we examine the cargo so it's not to be all carefully packed up or the like. Payment is in advance, nothing extra is added to the cargo; the price is fixed, no changes; if you're not there with the cargo in two days, we're leaving anyway, we don't wait; the slightest whiff of the Federation and we're gone. And we'll let everyone know you double-crossed us and no other smuggler will come within a million spacials of Betafarl. Understood?"
The man had listened quietly to her list of demands and now nodded agreement. "I understand. We'll send a liaison to you tomorrow to keep you up-to-date with our movements. If anything goes wrong, we'll let you know immediately."
"If anything goes wrong," Kerran said with a feral smile. "I hope you don't want your liaison back."
The man looked at her, at first thinking to laugh that remark off but the intensity in the eyes of the girl opposite convinced him not to. She was making no idle threat and her eyes told him it wouldn't be the first, or last time, she had killed.
"It's a deal." He reached out his hand, which she clasped, sealing the bargain. They waited till he had left them before standing and leaving. Again Kerran made Veril wait for a moment to see if they were followed. When no-one appeared, they made their way back to their hotel. Kerran covered a yawn. She felt extremely weary and looked forward to her bed.
"Tired?" Veril asked.
Kerran nodded as they climbed the stairs. "It's been a long day."
Veril agreed "Well, tomorrow will be interesting. We'll get to meet this 'liaison'."
Kerran grunted as she rolled into her bed. "Huh! Probably a doddering old man who's out lived his usefulness in any other area."
Veril's voice came out of the darkness. "You may be surprised." and then there was only silence.
They slept late the next morning, both waking at the same time and feeling much refreshed. After quick ablutions, they went downstairs to have breakfast and discuss their plans.
"How should we go about getting information?" Veril asked.
"Could ask our liaison when he arrives?" Kerran said. "Try and get some background information on this place that way."
They carried their meals to a table and sat. They were halfway through when the door opened and admitted a tall young man, his curly, red-streaked hair brushing his shoulders. He came directly to their table and sat, ignoring their raised brows. He flashed a toothy smile at them both.
"Thought you were both going to sleep all day." he said. Kerran almost choked at his arrogance but Veril returned the smile.
"Do we know you?" she asked sweetly. Kerran would rather have wiped his smile off with her plate.
He responded to Veril's sweet nature and replied. "I'm your liaison. Which one of you was going to kill me if things go wrong?" He looked between them, at Veril's open smiling face and Kerran's scowling dark looks and answered himself. "Don't worry, I can guess." He put out his hand to Veril. "I'm Zev."
"Veril." she replied, placing her hand in his.
He smiled engagingly at her again and raised her hand to his lips to place a gentle kiss on its back. "Charmed." Veril blushed prettily.
Kerran cleared her throat, and he was forced to tear his eyes from Veril's, to face the glowering countenance opposite.
"Are you quite finished?" she asked sarcastically.
"Just trying to be friendly and polite. Do you mind telling me your name? Or is it a secret?"
Kerran looked at him a moment more and then offered her hand. "Kerran." He took it in his and she continued mildly, "And try kissing it and I'll thump you."
He looked at her face in startlement. He was used to his charm working well for him and the pretty blond certainly responded, but looking at Kerran's face he had no doubt that she meant it. Then he caught the twinkle in her eye, so he smiled back and contented himself with shaking her hand. At least she did have a sense of humour!
"Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise. So what can you suggest we do for the next couple of days while we're waiting?"
He pursed his lips. "There's not a great deal to do The city people are mainly on suppressants and so you would stand out rather a bit and that would probably draw the attention of any Federation personnel nearby. You're much safer staying here on the outskirts."
"So things are that bad?" Kerran said leaning back in her chair, watching him.
"It wasn't always like this." he said through clenched teeth.
She raised an eyebrow. "'Course it was. Well," she amended. "For at least the last 20 years. Ever since Betafarl sold out to the Federation."
"We didn't…" he snapped too loudly, eyes flashing and then clamped his jaw shut but still glaring at her.
Veril realised what Kerran was doing. She had got him riled up and now it was time for her to be nice to him. She reached out and softly touched his clenched hand. "Zev." He turned his attention to her. "So what happened?" she asked. "We only know what we've heard and been told, and most of that has come from the Federation."
"Look, in a way Betafarl did sell out. At least, the leader at that time did."
"Who was that?"
"Zukan." Zev said the name with an intense hatred and Kerran's eyes narrowed. That sort of intensity usually came from something personal. How could this young man have anything against someone who was probably dead before he was born?
"What happened then?" Veril pushed on.
"Who knows?" Zev said, shrugging his shoulders in frustration. "We don't even know all the truth. We just know Zukan got tricked by the Federation, and as a result he died and Betafarl was occupied. It was all a trap by the Federation and Zukan was stupid enough to fall for it."
"I though Betafarl was occupied because it refused to fall under Federation rule?" Veril said artfully.
Zev shook his head. "No, there was nothing like that. Zukan did have some dealings with a rebel group." He didn't see the quick glance that passed between Kerran and Veril, "but he actually sold them out to the Federation. He tried to kill them."
"Did he succeed?" Veril asked softly.
Zev shrugged. "Don't know. We heard some rumours that they had survived and were seen elsewhere. I don't know. I intend to find out sometime - soon."
"Where were they seen next?" Kerran asked intently.
"Don't know. I know where their old base was."
"How do you know that?" Kerran asked suspiciously.
Zev looked up at her and gave a crooked smile, as though embarrassed at saying too much. "My secret." he said easily. She frowned at that answer, and glanced at Veril who imperceptibly shook her head.
They then let Zev take them around the township, all the time pumping him for more information about what had happened twenty years ago, but Zev was letting little more out. At the end of the day, Kerran was almost champing at the bit in frustration. Veril calmed her.
"Zev knows more than he's saying, but something's holding him back."
"What?"
Veril shrugged "I don't know. It's obviously something personal."
"But how can it be? We're talking about things that happened when he had barely been born!"
"I know, but it's linked to him somehow."
The next day Zev returned again and once more Kerran and Veril attempted to pump him for information. Sometimes he was forthcoming, others not. They did learn more about the hiding population of Betafarl.
"We wont wait for much longer." Zev said. "The first thing is to try and find an antidote for the suppressant and then hopefully a way to nullify it altogether. It's no good beginning an open fight until that's done."
"I agree. The drug is the worst enemy at the moment, but there has to be a way to stop it. Surely by now scientists have come up with something?" Veril said.
"Oh, there was an antidote long before." Zev answered.
"What do you mean?" asked Kerran looking up.
"That was why Zukan was in touch with a rebel group. They had the formula for the antidote but needed the resources to manufacture it. Zukan and the other border lords were approached to provide this. An alliance was made, with Betafarl supposedly providing the natural resources."
"So what happened?"
"Zukan betrayed the alliance. He went to the rebels' base and set a trap for them." Zev grimaced. "He was so stupid. Right from the beginning it all began to go wrong."
"So he was killed himself and they survived." Kerran put in.
Zev nodded. "As far as we know they survived his trap. Zukan died knowing he had failed, that it had all been for nothing. He had never failed before and couldn't accept that this time he had. He wouldn't even accept that he was killing his own daughter." Zev's teeth clicked shut.
Veril looked startled. "His daughter? She was one of the rebels?"
For a moment they thought Zev would not answer then he shook his head. "No, she wasn't a rebel. She had gone there secretly to help. She didn't know it was all a trap. None of those who went with Zukan to the base knew, even though they all died. She was still on the base when Zukan's trap sprung."
"So she died there?"
"I think so."
"What was her name?"
"Zeonna."
The soft gentle way Zev said this name made Veril realised something. It was the way you spoke of a good friend, a lover, or… family. With this insight, she asked quietly. "Was she your mother?"
Kerran glanced at her in surprise before looking back to catch Zev's reaction. He was thrown off-balance, opening his mouth as though to deny it, and then not being able to. He had had enough of lies. Just once, he wanted to be able to acknowledge his parentage. "Yes. But don't say anything to anyone else. It would be the death of me."
"Why?" Kerran asked.
"Because I come from Zukan's line, and he is not widely liked. I have no wish for the Federation to develop an interest in me."
"Fair enough." Kerran said and then leant forward deciding to take a chance. "Look, Zev, tomorrow we're leaving, with or without your peoples cargo. We're doing something for you, we want you to do something for us."
"What?" he asked warily.
"Information. You say you know where the rebels' old base was. We want you to tell us its location."
"Why?" he wanted to know.
Kerran pursed her lips. "Personal."
Zev looked at her and it was clear he was going to refuse again, when Veril spoke up. "Kerran, Zev is living a secret that could get him killed. He told us, he's trusted us."
Kerran looked over at her, clearly not happy, but then opened one hand, palm up, to indicate her willingness for Veril to continue. Veril nodded and turned to speak directly to Zev. "Kerran is telling the truth when she said our reasons for wanting to find the base is personal. You see, we know who those rebels were." Zev raised an eyebrow, yet said nothing so Veril continued. "Two of the rebels were Avon and Vila, yes?"
Zev nodded slowly. "Who were the others?" he asked her.
She frowned a little. "At that time the list stated two other names which I don't know."
"Neither do I." put in Kerran.
"Someone Melanby and … " Veril frowned as she though. "Tarrant, Del Tarrant I think."
Zev nodded again. "So how do you claim to know anything about them, or be connected to them?"
Kerran looked at Veril who nodded so she answered. "Avon and Vila are our fathers."
Zev's jaw dropped. This was obviously the last thing he had been expecting to hear. He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe it."
Kerran shrugged. "It's the truth. We both found out and have been trying to find out what happened to them. For our own safety we've been kept away from everything that was going on. Our fathers didn't even know we existed."
"So is that why you came to Betafarl?"
Veril nodded. "This was the last place we knew of as a definite one they had been to. We had hoped to find out something here. We hadn't expected to meet you though."
"This seems so bizarre." He glanced at them both. "It's got to be a trap."
Kerran leant forward. "Zev, I can understand your doubts - we've had them too. When you think of how many people and places there are in the universe, what are the chances we are likely to meet on the same quest? The odds seem astronomical. Yet, looking at it another way, it doesn't seem so strange. Look at us," waving her hand to include all three of them. "We're all around the same age, give or take a year or two. The age when we're all going to go looking for what we think is important in our lives. For Veril and I, it was to find our fathers. We were too young to do it any earlier. So the time frame is right. And how many other people would be searching for a rebel group reportedly destroyed about 20 years ago? You would have to have some very important reason to be doing so, and we're the only ones with that reason. We've all got the same information to work on, so sooner or later we would have ended up here on Betafarl. It does make sense in a way. So, will you tell us where the base is?"
Zev chewed his bottom lip. "I'll tell you, on the condition you take me with you."
"Why?" Kerran asked sharply, not really wanting a passenger on their search.
Zev then gave one of his blinding smiles, the type that lit up his entire face. "My mother was Zeonna of Betafarl. She supposedly died there."
"Okay," Kerran grudgingly acknowledged that he might want to make pilgrimage there for his mother's memory.
"But," he continued "I want to keep searching with you." Kerran began to shake her head in the negative at this but he didn't let her speak. "My mother is supposed to have died at the base." He paused. "But my father was supposed to have survived."
"Father?" Veril queried, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
Zev looked at them both intently, lips crinkling in a smile. "My father - Del Tarrant." The girls could merely stare.
So it was, that the following day when the freighter, Wasp, lifted from Betafarl's barren surface, computer disks safely stored, the crew now numbered three.