Mutiny in Space by Rod Walker Page B

why junk DNA?” I said. “That seems like a horribly over-complicated way to do it. Why not send an email? Why not just write it down on a piece of paper and mail it the old-fashioned way?”
    “Politics,” said Corbin.
    Murdock groaned. “Oh, for God’s sake. Always with the politics. This is why I got out of the navy, you know.”
    “The situation is complicated,” said Corbin, “but to sum it up, the Social Party can’t attack New Sibersk without drawing serious repercussions, nor can any of the Party’s clients or proxies. Furthermore, the Party knows that some of its sensitive information has been lost… but it doesn’t know how much of it, so the Reds haven’t really been able to prepare. They’ve been spying on New Sibersk for years, so the exiles don’t dare to send the list out electronically. A paper copy can be stolen or destroyed. So some of the exiles hit on the idea of encoding the list in the junk DNA of the grain harvest.”
    “Why junk DNA?” I said.
    “Because the Social Party lacks the scientific expertise to decode it,” said Corbin.
    “Really?” I said. “Why?”
    Corbin’s cold smile held no mirth. “Because a few years ago, they purged most of their competent geneticists for political disloyalty after a failed harvest.”
    “Typical,” said Murdock with a contemptuous snort.
    “We arranged for Starways to get the contract for the harvest,” said Corbin, “and for the harvest to go aboard the
Rusalka
. The easiest solution for the Social Party’s problem was to simply blow up the ship, but the
Rusalka
has the armaments of a small capital warship, and the blockade runners and stealth frigates the Socials use on missions like this wouldn’t have a prayer against her guns. In a straight fight, the
Rusalka
would have blasted the
Vanguard
and the troop transport out of the sky in about a minute.”
    “Except,” I said, “you didn’t know that Williams was Social.”
    “Or did you know that he was one of them?” said Murdock, a dangerous edge in his voice.
    “I didn’t,” said Corbin. “I knew he was crooked. I knew he was selling information to some shady agents with Social connections, but he was selling it to anyone who would pay him. That was why I had you and Hawkins keep track of him. I never thought he would leak information that would endanger his own ship to someone like Ducarti. I thought he was corrupt at best and an embezzler at worst. I didn’t know he was actually a revolutionary.”
    “I bet it was Ducarti,” I said. “Ducarti sold him on it.”
    Nelson frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “I heard Ducarti speak on New Chicago before the bomb went off,” I said. “He’s persuasive. I thought he was full of it, but my mom didn’t and my brother didn’t, and he got both of them killed. The audience for his speech was full of guys like Captain Williams. Fat old professors and bureaucrats with easy enough lives, but they all thought they’d been screwed. Then along comes Ducarti with his big words, and they think they get to be heroes of the revolution or something. He takes advantage of that.”
    “So why didn’t you fall for it?” said Murdock.
    “Nothing he said makes sense,” I replied. “I mean, engines make sense. Fuel goes in, thrust and power come out. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for. Ducarti just talked a lot of nonsense that he made sound good.”
    “The Socials usually do,” said Nelson.
    Murdock shook his head. “You should have warned us, Rovio. You shouldn’t have gotten us involved in this sort of thing.”
    “I didn’t know it was this sort of thing,” said Corbin. He sighed. “If I had known Williams was with the Socials, I wouldn’t have risked this. I thought we would just transport the grain to people who could decode it, and that if a troublemaker like Ducarti showed up, we would blow his ship away. All our lives are at risk, and I’m sorry about that, but right now it’s