I was talking to that darling Dr Chase when the storm hit. Oh, she was but lovely. That whole family, I thought. It was a shame to get them caught up in all that. Oh, you covered this with the Captain? Don’t you want to get my side of it? Oh, fine. Fine! Where did you get up to? Alright.

So, that speech. Yes, yes. I just spoke to the captain, just before she got called away to deal with the radio message. I suppose that was you? Of course, it’s always you. Even when it isn’t anything to do with you, somehow you get involved! That’s your way, I suppose. Anyway, I had some other business to attend to, so I didn’t hang about waiting for the Captain to come back. That man of yours was still snooping as usual, and I didn’t like the way he looked at me, as if he suspected something. I made my exit. Hmm? Oh, my daughter is always by my side. I didn’t even think to mention her! How silly. How is she, by the way?

Back in my cabin, I re-dressed for dinner. Yes, that’s all. Oh, yes, I did check on my things, to make sure they weren’t thrown about too much in the storm, you know? The old jewels and what not. Went through the jewellery-boxes. Yes, well, you’ve taken your sweet time investigating them, haven’t you? I should involve my lawyers. On Huln I wouldn’t have to stand for this, you know. Legally, they have to give you a chair there. I’m not so steady on my feet as I used to be. I could make a complaint, couldn’t I?
The compassionate defenders of the Empire letting an old woman exhaust herself on her feet? Pah! You people. And all this to catch one woman? Just how dangerous can she be? Oh, your man didn’t let us miss it. Black, was his name? Holness Black. That’s him. Awful man. He told us all about this woman, this Lydia Marsage. I suppose he was trying to get us to snoop on each other? Do his job for him? Going around from group to group, sowing discord and suspicion?
So dangerous, this Marsage, but not so dangerous that you’d send more than one man to bring her in. Or gods forbid, a woman. What a joke.
Oh, I can cooperate. Certainly I can cooperate. I have quite a piece of information for you. Well, I’m an observant person, you know. I stepped into the kitchen once, when that idiot cook burned my soyloup – really! How does one burn a soup? – and I happened to notice something very strange.
The freight elevator – the one they use to bring food up out of the refrigerated storage containers in the hold – it was laden up, but not with raw food, not with waste. It was full of prepared stuff. It didn’t look up to our standards, not exactly cuisine, but perfectly serviceable food. I came to wondering… what could be down there that needs that much food? My first thought was some kind of animal smuggling – Elephoids or Lanternivuses (which I hear are very in vogue at the moment on certain worlds).
With the whole ship locked down, my perfect moment had arrived, I thought, to do a little investigation. As a conscientious citizen of the Empire, that seemed to be my duty. Well, it’s easy to make judgements in retrospect. That’s all I’ll say to you about that.
I slipped into the kitchen, which was quite easy considering the supposed dire state of things. I suppose a kitchen thief was low on the priority list compared to the notorious saboteur who was planning to hijack the ship and crash it into the Coulur Fros Opera House. So I went down into the hold, I steeled myself, I gathered my considerable wits, and you know what I found? I found – oh, my daughter was back in the cabin. Come now, don’t interrupt. What I found was, among the frosty refrigerated containers, one that was warm to the touch. It was double- or maybe triple-size. Fearing what I might find, I pressed the handle-

Why are you looking at me like that?

Oh… The Opera House. Damn. Your man wouldn’t have told me that. Well, well, well. Good job. Well, I won’t need this disguise any more. Ahh, feels good to breathe fresh air again… to feel it on my eyes… “But Lydia!” I hear you cry: “How are we going to preserve the suspense now! We already caught you!”
To that I say: let me finish, and we’ll see. I was down below. This is the part that will be of particular interest to you, oh Imperial lapdogs that you are, because there is nothing you can do about it now but growl and yip impotently at my heels. The damage is already done. I turned the handle of that big, big, double-or-triple container, and I found what I always knew I would.

They were huddled together, almost hidden from view. But there were so many that they couldn’t help but betray themselves. There was a cart full of cold meat, leftovers and the like from dinner up above, oat cereals and a little wine. Animals don’t eat like that.
“Are you… with the Agency?” said one, a frail-looking woman. There was such terror in her eyes! It moved me. Yes, even I have a heart, Imperialist scum, and it broke. The conditions these people endured! And all of it, but all of it, to flee the joke of Imperial Safety. The choking collar you laid around their necks. They broke free! Does that make your blood boil, you pig? You’ll never have them, not where they’ve gone!

At that moment, I had other things to consider. I shook my head to the woman’s query and quickly made my exit. It was easy to escape back to the passenger deck without meeting another soul. Now I had a lever, you understand. The Captain had to help me, or I could burn her. I rang my bell and asked to speak to her. That was the easy part. I just had to make some noise about seeing the Agent skulking around outside, and she came running as if I’d told her my room was on fire. Tell the truth, I think she had a thing for me.
My daughter? Haven’t you caught on yet? Hologram. Check your cells. Entirely under my own control. I’ve known women who wished they could say the same of their own offspring.
I showed the Captain some of my photographs – not very professional, but they did the trick. She was wrapped around my finger, then. What other choice did she have? She burned me, I’d burn her. Making sure I had the upper hand there was key, making sure she didn’t think of the fact that I couldn’t possibly hijack that ship with all those people on board. Maybe she thought I was so cold as to kill my own people for the Cause. Then I’d be as bad as you.

Are you getting hold of what’s happening here? You thought you’d walk in and beat the evidence out of an old woman, and instead you found public enemy number one sitting in front of you and – yes – smiling! Why? Because I know something you don’t, little pigs, and I’m not telling! Doesn’t that burn you up? I’ll walk you to the door, but I can’t show you through. You have to work it out yourself.

The Captain went off, I think to the radio room again. I decided I would go out and see what I could learn from my fellow passengers and if I couldn’t make some more friends. Dr. Chase’s husband opened the door in a white bathrobe. Behind him, I could see Chase and her lady friend sharing a bottle of wine.
“I’m not interrupting?” I said.
“You are, actually,” said the man, brushing water from his browless forehead – that’s a religious affectation, I believe – “but it’s a perfectly welcome one.”
“Oh, I’m flattered,” said the other woman. She and Chase laughed, and I noticed another bottle lying down beside the table, empty.
“Company is always welcome, Jann,” said the man reproachfully.
“Don’t I know it,” Jann quipped, laughing.
I got to know them quite well over the next few days of avoiding the Agent on the ship. Dr. Chase in particular had some very interesting ideas. I’ve shared them widely with my contacts on the nearby worlds. Don’t worry yourself about them. They’ll make themselves known. Eventually.

I see that’s all we have time for tonight. Let me leave you with something – hey, hands off the shirt, this is real Huln silk! Let me leave you with this: Your man, Holness Black. Do you trust him? I’d be seriously considering the purity of his intentions right about now.