Out of This World
Laurell K. Hamilton, Susan Krinard, J. D. Robb, Maggie Shayne

Excerpt

Kinsman by Susan Krinard

"There was no Kinsman on board."

Shaauri did not laugh, not as humans did. The sound Jonas made was more of a snarl. "You said the ship went into the shaauri zone."

"Yes."

"No human ship enters shaauri territory without a Kinsman."

"This one did." She lifted her chin to meet his stare. "It hasn't been announced on the newscasts. The royal family must know, but they're keeping it secret. My brother-- Acteon--told me before he left, and swore me to silence. He promised to send me word when they reached the Nine Worlds. I know something's gone wrong."

Jonas caught her by the arm and pulled her after him toward the observation deck. He sat her down on a bench overlooking the rows of small ships in their berths, his sleek shaauri craft among them.

"I have been away for seven years," he said, "but seven years doesn't change the nature of the universe." Even though he stood over her, menacing and grim, she showed no sign of fear. After a long moment he sat beside her. "Start from the beginning. Tell me how a human ship dared to enter shaauri space without a Kinsman, and how it has gone unnoticed."

A frown settled between her brows. "Lord Miklos--the heir presumptive--captains the Royal trade flagship, Eurydice. Acteon told me that he decided to cross space without a Kinsman. He picked a special crew of volunteers. Acteon considered it a great challenge."

"A challenge." Suicide. "Why?"

"I don't entirely understand. Something about . . . problems with other Persephonean ships. Problems with--I'm sorry--with Kinsman delaying important trade to the Nine Worlds, upsetting schedules. Rumors. We'd all heard them. But my brother knew more. He said that Lord Miklos was angry and planned to make a stand--to prove that humans were ready to deal directly with shaauri instead of relying on Kinsmen. Acteon believed Lord Miklos could get them across." She twisted her fingers in her lap. "People don't know Lord Miklos is missing. He's supposed to be on a diplomatic trade mission to Hanuman. But I'm afraid something happened to the ship. The shaauri--" She broke off, eyes pleading. "The other Kinsmen won't help. They act like they don't know, but they have to, don't they? Could a ship cross shaauri space without Kinsmen learning of it?" She reached out, almost touched him. "I need to know if my brother is dead or alive."

Jonas felt an upwelling of nausea tighten his chest. The implications of Téa's words would have been stunning . . . if not for what had happened seven years ago.

Kinsmen delaying trade. Why? Persephone was one of their major clients, with the highest percentage of trade ships crossing to and from the Nine Worlds. Persephone, like other worlds in the Concordat, relied on the raw materials of the frontier Nine Worlds to feed their populations and need for fuel, and the Nine required the Concordat's expertise and advanced technology. Their dependence upon each other was the reason that Kinsmen were necessary.

Miklos Challinor was a high-spirited young man, but it would take some great provocation to make him attempt something so flagrantly dangerous. Defying a century of custom, tradition, the very rules that made human-alien peace possible. Would Thetis Challinor have known of this, and approved, even at the risk of provoking the shaauri into a second war?

And why wasn't the Kinsman grapevine ringing with news of this outrage? Kinsmen had to know about it, had to have caught the transgressors at one of the many stations scattered at every wormhole that led into shaauri territory. Shaauri wouldn't have been left to deal with the intruders.

But if Kinsmen had caught the ship, and no one else knew . . .

Either his people had lost the Eurydice, or something else had happened. And Kinsmen didn't want that something known.