A Covenant of Justice by David Gerrold Page A

moon. On the display, the course looked like the long way around, but Sawyer had a method for his madness. If he had guessed right, they had lost or confused most of their pursuit by now.
    â€œWe’ve found them all then, right? We have no more locater beacons aboard?” Lee asked.
    Three-Dollar nodded. “To the best of my knowledge.”
    â€œAnd mine,” agreed Sawyer. “I’ve scanned this boat, searched its programs, had system analysis look for all transmitters, audited all programming, and listened to six impossible hunches.” He allowed himself a rueful grin. “If we have any more locators still aboard, they’ve earned the right to stay.”
    â€œIn other words,” said Lee, concerned. “We may still have a squad of Marauders on our tail?”
    Sawyer nodded. “Perhaps—”
    â€œHow can you say that so coolly?” Lee’s anger came up sharply. “Perhaps the Dragon Lord expects us to lead him to the TimeBinder of Burihatin. Maybe we missed a locater. Perhaps it only broadcasts intermittently. Maybe the Marauders only veered off to fool us into thinking that our plan has succeeded.”
    â€œPerhaps,” agreed Three-Dollar. He put a calming hand on Lee-1169’s shoulder. “And perhaps not. We’ll know soon enough. We’ve already committed ourselves to this plan. We have to wait and see how it develops.”
    Sawyer scratched his head thoughtfully, then looked to Lee. “I agree with you that paranoia drives the Vampire thinking, but I honestly don’t think they would have prepared every shuttleboat on the Lady’s Imperial Starship for this kind of situation. The Phaestor have too much arrogance to seriously consider the possibility that someone could capture a hostage on The Golden Fury and use one of their own boats to escape. No,” he concluded. “I doubt that the Vampires thought to prepare for this circumstance.”
    â€œAnd what if you’ve figured this whole thing wrong?” demanded Lee.
    â€œThen you’ll get a full refund,” replied Sawyer. “What else do you want? What else can I give you?”
    Lee slammed himself back in his seat, disgusted. Sawyer shrugged at his reaction. He looked to Three-Dollar.
    The memories of a thousand years usually confer a good degree of wisdom on the wearer of the TimeBand. Three-Dollar chose not to get involved. Instead, he replied, “We need to choose a landing site. We still have four hours before we obtain orbit around Fourteen.” He tapped his headband. “I’ve tried several times to contact the TimeBinder of Burihatin. I’ll keep trying, but I haven’t picked up any response.”
    â€œDon’t worry,” said Sawyer. “We’ll find the TimeBinder of Burihatin. We’ll find him before the Lady does, I can promise you that.” His face became serious. “I think I know a man who can save Finn. If anyone can, Dr. M’bele can—if we can find him. But he hates the Vampires as much as anyone, and he willingly serves anyone else who shares that hatred. So . . . maybe he can also help us find your missing TimeBinder.”
    Three-Dollar looked grim. “We don’t even know if the missing TimeBinder still lives.”
    â€œDon’t worry. We found Murdock. We found you. We’ll find the TimeBand and anyone who’s wearing it.” He allowed himself a bittersweet expression. “I always told Finn I could work faster without him. Now I guess I’ll have to prove it.”

Bad News Bearers
    This time, Commander ‘Ga Lunik handled it differently.
    He selected his most junior aide—a pale neuter boy so frail-looking that he seemed inadequate even to the task of carrying a simple message—and sent him back to the Dragon Lord’s quarters bearing a casually scrawled note.
    The Dragon Lord took the note from the aide, scowling in annoyance. He unfolded it clumsily