d'Alembert 07 Planet of Treachery by E.E. "Doc" Smith

Author:E.E. "Doc" Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780425053010
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 1983-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Betrayal

When Yvette left the Paradise on the planet Bromberg, she took with her a great deal of specialized equipment-including a miniaturized nondirectional subcom transmitter. The pirates’ appetite had been whetted by their disastrous attack on the Bavols’ vessel, but the interest would have to be maintained. Left to his own devices, the pirate leader might decide that the Paradise was not worth the effort for further forays. It was Yvette’s job to convince him otherwise-and for that, she needed inside help.

Naval Intelligence had already managed to infiltrate the pirates’ hierarchy with one of their own men, a Commander Paul Fortier. The Navy’s spy had worked his way into the position of the pirate leader’s chief lieutenant, and was sending back useful information at irregular intervals-whenever it was safe to broadcast-that had allowed the Navy to keep the pirate menace at least under control. The Navy had been on the verge of closing this gang down for good when Fortier sent word hinting at a larger organization extending throughout the Empire. The decision was made back at Headquarters to allow this gang to continue while Fortier probed deeper into the subject of the overall conspiracy. At about this time the Gastonian connection came to light, and now SOTE was involved as well. Yvette hoped to work with Fortier to smash this treasonous network before Edna’s ascension to the Throne. There was not much time left.

Once she had set up her base of operations in a small hotel room on Bromberg, Yvette set about the tricky task of signaling Fortier. This was not easy, because the naval officer could not stand by his subcom unit waiting for calls. His communicator was probably well-concealed somewhere on or near the pirate base, recording all incoming messages. Whenever it was safe to do so, Fortier would play them back and learn what was expected of him. In this case, Yvette gave him instructions in a high-level code to rendezvous with her as soon as practical at The Black Hole Caf‚ on Bromberg at ten any evening. She described what she looked like and told him she’d seen his photo, so she could identify him.

With that accomplished, there was nothing to do but wait. As an important officer in the pirate force, Fortier would have more freedom of movement than most of the men-but even so, he could not come and go as he pleased. To avoid suspicion he would have to wait until there was a logical reason for him to go to Bromberg-either to sell some of the pirates’ stolen goods, to buy supplies or to recruit more people for their band; then he would have to find a reason to slip away from his companions and meet her at the designated spot. It could be days or weeks before he showed up, but Yvette forced herself to be patient. She knew all too well the hazards of an agent working in the field, and she knew Fortier could not afford to hurry; it was his neck on the line, after all.

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