– Endeju, I’m fine! – Tana replied, undoing the straps holding her in place. – What’s wrong with the guys?
– We’ll find out! – Holdum limped toward the other members of the boarding team. – Oh! My dear Uabju are alive… And even, if I’m not mistaken, practically healthy. Dak, Abis – let’s wake up.
The team leader patted them on the cheeks. Almost immediately, they stirred next to their chairs.
– Where is Jum? – Abis and Dak asked at the same time.
– As I recall, he was standing by the console when it happened.
Holdum, shining his flashlight in front of him, approached the mangled console. A faint groan came from under its cover, which lay in the far corner, partially crumpled by Jum’s fall.
Holdum and Tana, freed from her restraints, rushed toward the sound. Under the cover, face down, with his right arm unnaturally twisted, lay Jum. His clothes had burned through in several places and scorched and burned skin peeked through the holes. But he was alive.
Holdum, with the help of Abis and Dak, pulled the panel cover aside and rolled Jum over onto his back. He opened his eyes almost immediately and tried to smile.
– Here we are! – he whispered faintly. – Quite noisy, though. Did I break the boat?
– My dear! You saved us all. We’re on the surface of the planet. It’s an honorable thing to do. Really, I see it didn’t go well for you, did it? – Holdum jerked his head towards Jum’s hand. At that moment Tana tried to examine his hand with the utmost caution.
– We’re going to need an anesthetic and a splint. It looks like a fracture! – Tana said in a businesslike tone.
Everyone looked at her face, which was illuminated by the lantern beam.
– Why are you looking at me like that? It’s okay to know ancient first aid techniques. There won’t always be regenerators and medical analyzers around!
Jum winced in pain during all these manipulations, but did not utter a sound.
Finally, the anesthetic was given, and with the help of a piece of the long-suffering dashboard and the emergency first aid kit, Jum’s arm was secured in the area of the likely fracture and strapped to his body with two straps cut from the seat.
The emergency food kit lifted everyone’s spirits and gave them strength.
– And now let’s think quickly how to go on living, – said Holdum, who was still in good spirits. – Thanks to our hero’s efforts we are alive. And we are on the planet. The runabout, by all appearances, will not be able to take off. To get out through the warped hull, we’ll have to open the hull plating. We don’t know what’s waiting for us out there. I don’t think we’re in any danger of fire, so let’s have a good discussion before we stick our noses out.
The team sat down on the floor. The lantern was placed in the center of the cabin. Its light struck the ceiling. Dust flecks played in the beam, and a haze still lingered beneath the ceiling. Jum was leaned with his back against the wall.
– No one, I hope, had any doubts that they were trying to destroy us? So? So! Any thoughts? – Holdum said in a completely calm voice.
– Well, yes, there are thoughts, – said Jum, with a sidelong glance at his friends. – Since they tried to kill you, too, I think we can trust you. You see, we witnessed the murder of Captain Benaip during the flight. Not only that, but it turns out that most of the ship’s crew are conspirators involved in some kind of global operation to eliminate the Emperor. We think this is the reason for the staged runabout crash. Although we were very careful!
Tana, Dak, and Abis nodded in agreement. From the look on Holdum’s face, it seemed to the boys that he obviously knew something.
– Okay… so it’s likely that they think we’re dead. The question is… didn’t you think that it wasn’t really because you?
– What do you mean? – Jum raised his eyes in bewilderment.
– I suppose they might not have known that you’d heard or known anything. You haven’t been on their radar, have you? Maybe it’s something else. And that scares me even more. They could have tried to destroy all the landing boats!
– Endeju, – Abis interrupted him, – when we witnessed the crime, we heard another strange phrase from the mouth of the ‘new’ captain. He spoke of some mysterious person, who is, as we realized, among the members of the expedition. This unknown person himself does not know – who he is and the conspirators certainly do not know him, so to speak, “in person”. But he is in danger from them if he is discovered.
– It doesn’t get any easier from hour to hour! – Holdum muttered. – So, they’re planning to solve several problems at once?
The boys looked at each other in bewilderment.
– What do you mean, Endeju? – Dak expressed a general question.
– Just thinking out loud… Good! Since things are moving so fast, I don’t see the point in hiding it from you… Allow me to introduce myself – an employee of the Investigation Department of the Imperial Counterintelligence Holdum.
The whole team’s mouths dropped open at that confession.
– Of course, I can’t tell you everything yet. I’ll just give you a general outline, so to speak. You’re right. There is a deep-cover anti-government conspiracy. It involves many of the highest ranks in the metropolis. Army units are no exception.
– Tell me, is Admiral Obahh a traitor? – Abis inquired casually.
Holdum shuddered and looked carefully at the young climatologist.
– What makes you think that? Oh, yes, I was told about your team’s analytical skills. Don’t be surprised, we brought you together on purpose. Why? I can’t tell you yet. But I promise you’ll find out soon enough. The conspirators have enough money, but not enough influence to commandeer large ships to move troops to the center of the Empire. They don’t have much time either. Apparently, they felt they might be exposed soon enough, so they rushed in. Decided to expropriate the ships of long-range expeditions, so to speak. Wouldn’t you agree that’s a good move? By the time the information about the takeover reaches the edge of the Galaxy… According to my data, almost all such ships have embedded conspirators. Eighteen! Eighteen big ships could already be in their hands! That’s why we’ve had to look into these cases. I will not deny that I have something to counter the traitors. But in order to do that, I have to make sure that the expeditionary part of the crew is dead. That’s the way things are.
– Tell me, but you could have died, too, couldn’t you? Didn’t you realize that? What good is a dead scout? – Tana said hotly.
– Unfortunately, I didn’t see any other way to keep the conspiracy alive. I wish I had the information you have. I mean the information about the captain’s murder. Then surely, I would have acted sooner. If you had informed Thabit…
– Yes, we wanted to, but you must also understand. We didn’t know who was friend and who was foe! – Jum said in an apologetic tone, making his sore arm more comfortable. – What if Thabit had been a traitor?
– I’m not accusing you of anything. It’s just the way it is. All right. The general situation is clear. Let’s get back to reality. We need to get off the runabout, locate our position and the rest of the expedition. Only two of them have a medical regenerator. I foresee a long and dangerous hike through an area with unfamiliar flora and fauna.
Leaving Jum, despite his protests, to sit near the wall and ordering Tanya to take care of the “temporarily disabled member of the expedition”,