“Speaker,” Ferrero snapped.

“Jessica Epps, this is the Andermani merchant ship Sittich! What seems to be the problem? Sittich, clear.”

“Another from Hellbarde, Skipper,” McKee said, and Ferrero gestured for her to put it on speaker, as well.

“Jessica Epps, this is Hellbarde. Shut down your targeting systems now!”

“Got her, Skipper!” Harris announced, and Ferrero looked back down at her plot as a bright red icon abruptly appeared. It was no more than ten million kilometers behind Jessica Epps, only a little over half a light-minute, and Ferrero swore mentally. No matter how good the Andies’ new stealth systems might be, there was no way Hellbarde should have been able to get in that close without being detected on passives even with Jessica Epps under complete em-con!

“Skipper, Sittich is transmitting again,” McKee reported.

“Her acceleration is climbing, too, Ma’am,” Harris added. “She’s up to three-point-two KPS squared.”

“Instruct her to heave to immediately, Mecia!” Ferrero snapped.

“Aye, aye, Ma’am.”

Ferrero rubbed her forehead, her brain racing. Obviously, Hellbarde had followed them to Zoraster—probably to continue her provocative harassment. And because Jessica Epps had been concentrating so hard on being unobtrusive while she lay in wait for the slaver, she hadn’t realized Hellbarde was even there. But why was she interfering like this? Unless—“Tell Hellbarde to stand clear!” she said sharply. “Inform her that we’re stopping and investigating a suspected slaver!”

“Aye, aye, Ma’am.”

McKee started speaking rapidly into her microphone once again, and Ferrero grimaced at Llewellyn.

“Gortz is looking for another opportunity to harass us, and I’m not in the mood for it this time,” she half-snarled.

“Skipper,” the exec said, “it’s possible he thinks we’re the ones doing the harassing.”

“Give me a break, Bob! We’re conducting a completely legitimate search of a suspected slaver using a false transponder code, and Gortz damned well knows it! Unless you want me to think we have better sensor data on Andie merchant ships than an Andie warship does!”

She snorted contemptuously at the notion.

“Jessica Epps, shut down your fire control! We will not warn you again!” the voice from Hellbarde snapped.

“Skipper,” McKee said urgently, “we’ve just picked up another transmission from ‘Sittich’! Hellbarde’s transmitting omnidirectional, and they must have picked it up. They’re hailing her and asking for protection.”

“Well,” Ferrero said, “they’re nervy bastards, I’ll give them that!”

“What if Gortz believes them?” Llewellyn asked.

“Ha!” Ferrero replied. Then she shook her head. “On the other hand, it would suit the Andies just fine to pretend they believed it. Long enough to twist our tails, anyway! Record for transmission to Hellbarde, Mecia.”

“Recording, Ma’am.”

“Captain Gortz, this is Captain Ferrero. I don’t have time for your stupid games today. I’ve got a slaver to board; if you want to talk about it later, I’ll consider it then. Now break off and get the hell out of my way!”

“Recorded, Ma’am,” McKee said, and Ferrero hesitated for just an instant as she realized she was even angrier than she’d thought. It showed in both her choice of words and her tone, and a small voice in the back of her brain told her she should reconsider before she sent it. But it was a very small voice, and she decided to ignore it. It was about time Kapitän zur Sterne Gortz and the other arrogant pricks aboard IANS Hellbarde got a dose of their own enlightened communications technique! What were they going to do about it at this range, anyway? With Jessica Epps’ overtake advantage, she’d have reached and boarded ‘Sittich’ by the time Hellbarde could get into her missile range of Ferrero’s ship.