"And who will that be?" Velmeran asked.
"The one who makes the fewest mistakes, of course."
"Well, what do you make of it all now?" Dveyella asked as they made their way quickly to the tram port.
"I think that Councilor Lake was telling us the truth after all," Velmeran replied absently. "Donalt Trace has something very much on his mind, something far beyond the petty mischief that Sector Commanders have always made for us. He is making plans for that last big battle. Götterdämmerung."
"What?" Dveyella asked.
"Ragnarok," he added, to her complete mystification.
He seemed to have resorted to a language that was neither human nor alien.
Dveyella would have asked for further explanation, but they were within sight of the tram platform and their packs were waiting. They had been in port less than a day, but to Velmeran it seemed like several. He wanted to collect his students and retreat to the ship before anything else could happen.
The first thing he saw was that Tregloran had ignored the warning about bringing home small, furry animals. Then he saw that this particular animal was neither alive nor real.
"Treg, what is that… that beast?" he demanded.
"Ah, Captain!" Tregloran replied jovially. "This is my wolf."
"Your what?"
"My wolf," the younger pilot replied. "An authentic replica of a real Terran red wolf, about one-tenth life-size and handmade by the nicest lady you could ever hope to meet… for a human."
"That is a fox, authentic in detail and about life-size," Dveyella said.
Tregloran returned an exaggerated look of indignation. "I have her word!"
"Let me tell you a story," Dveyella said, indicating for them to proceed up the ramp to the tram. "I read this many years ago, although I do not recall who wrote it. I am inclined to say Aesop, although I know that it was one of the Roman poets.
"It seemed that there was once a nursemaid who was having trouble with an unruly child. Finally she threatened to feed him to the wolves. A credulous wolf, passing by at that moment, overheard and sat by the door all night, waiting for a free meal that never came."
Tregloran glanced back. "Meaning?"
"Meaning that if you are a gullible wolf, do not believe everything a human tells you. Especially if it sounds like a bargain."
The Starwolves filed into a tram waiting at the bottom of the inclined shaft, the other passengers allowing them a car to themselves. The students' first port leave was drawing to an end.
"What does this do to the Councilor's theory of the decline of human intelligence?" Dveyella asked as the tram began its rapid ascent.
"Humans have always had a gift for deviousness and an ability to he shamelessly," Velmeran replied. "And we have always been uncomplicated souls, our gullibility at odds with our own intelligence. It seems that human duplicity is still as great as Kelvessan simplicity."
Tregloran, in the seat ahead, glanced back over his shoulder. "If it gives you two any peace of mind, I should tell you that I was not fooled for an instant. I know a fox when I see one."
"Then why did you buy it?" Velmeran asked.
Tregloran shrugged. "Because I like it."
Mayelna glanced up as a pair of freight tenders emerged from the bottom of the monitor screen. Valthyrra Methryn had more than her share of audacity, setting herself in orbit just ahead of the station and then flying backward to face it, the cannons of her main batteries open and extended. Valthyrra seemed to court trouble, and yet her record was surprisingly clear of such undesirable incidents. She knew exactly how to play the game, and Mayelna knew better than to interfere.
"That is the last of it," Valthyrra reported as she swung her boom around to the recessed area of the upper bridge. "I am securing the holding bays."
Mayelna nodded, not looking up from the readout on her main console monitor.
"The last of the packs are in," Valthyrra continued. "We have fourteen crewmembers planetside due to come up on the last two transports within the quarter hour."
Mayelna nodded again.
"Velmeran and Dveyella are on their way up to the bridge."
Now that was news! Mayelna hit the hold button on her monitor and indicated for Valthyrra to bring her camera pod in a little closer. "Do they seem to have reached an understanding?"
Valthyrra chuckled mischievously. "That is an interesting way of putting it! Dveyella has moved her belongings into the cabin that Keth vacated a few days ago — the one adjacent to his own."
Mayelna only stared with open amazement. "Do you mean…?
"Their understanding appears to be a personal one," the ship explained. "As, I believe, I did warn you it would be. Sheesh! If I had had my wits about me, I would have planted a bug on that boy. Then we would have heard some very interesting conversations indeed."
The result of that came as a surprise to them both.
"Son of a bitch!" Consherra, seated at her station on the middle bridge, declared. She gave her console a four-fisted thump that threatened to demolish it. "Son of a bitch!"
Then, to the speechless astonishment of the entire bridge crew, she leaped from her seat and left the bridge in a cold rage.
"I must say that I do not care much for her choice of terms," Mayelna remarked in the stunned sdence that followed. "Makes it sound like I had something to do with it, and I do not like this any better than she does."
Valthyrra's pod turned to face her so sharply that the boom rattied. "What are you complaining about? You are only losing a son. I am losing the best would-be Commander this ship has ever had. When I think of how hard I worked to get that… girl on board. And if you had named him Commander-designate when I asked… "
"I wish I had! Great Spirit of Space, I wish I had!" Mayelna returned, then shook her head and sighed. "Where did I go wrong?"
"Twenty-six years ago, when you thought you were too old to get pregnant," Valthyrra offered. "Quiet, now. Here they come."
"Act natural," Mayelna warned as she bent over her monitor. Valthyrra aimed her pod upward as if she were giving the ceiling a cursory inspection, and a whistling sound came from her speakers. Mayelna silenced her with a sharp rap on the underside of her camera pod.
"I want you to meet my mother," they heard Velmeran say teasingly from the corridor outside the right wing of the bridge, speaking louder than he was aware.
"I have met your mother," Dveyella teased in return, "She is a real bitch."
Valthyrra turned her camera pod to the frowning Commander. "That would seem to make it unanimous."
Velmeran and Dveyella marched into the bridge, well pleased with themselves and each other and totally oblivious to everything that had occurred prior to their arrival. Mayelna and Valthyrra both returned to their roles of complete innocence, the ship's cameras glancing about the bridge at everything except the approaching couple. But Valthyrra's impatience quickly got the better of her; she focused on the two Starwolves as if they had materialized out of the very air.
"Ah, Meran!" she exclaimed. "Pack Leader Dveyella. Did you have a good time?"
"Excellent!" Dveyella agreed happily. Mayelna made a rude noise.