"Where's Conley?" DeLayne asked, his voice concerned. "Is she all right?"
"She's fine," Cortin assured him. "She asked for a bathroom, then Lieutenant Chang's taking her for a brief tour. They should be back in a few minutes. It's thanks to Miss Conley's cooperation that you're free and Ranger Medart will soon be on his way to the Kingdom Systems."
"Huh?" DeLayne, Cortin thought, looked like he'd been hit with a sledge-hammer.
"You heard me correctly," Cortin said. She explained briefly, amused by the changes in his expression from disbelief to comprehension, then to determination.
"For someone who's afraid of the Empire," he said when she was done, "you're making one hell of an effort to bring it in. If you'd like some help, I'll ask for a temporary assignment here when I report we've been released."
Cortin considered that briefly, then nodded. "Any preliminary groundwork we can lay should help reduce transitional problems. Thank you for your offer, Captain." She paused, then said, "The troopers who brought you in mentioned you were the first group. How many of you are there in all?"
"Four hundred ninety-eight. Except for me, they decided to bring you a random sample; the only Navy ship class that has this small a crew is a courier."
"I can't offer all of you rooms here, then. Is your ship small enough to fit on a ten-acre estate?"
"Yes—equatorial diameter's two hundred meters—but since you can't have a dock, we'd leave a rather large hole. Just how big depends on how solid the ground is."
"Fairly solid, and if the Kingdoms survive this, filling a hole will be no problem. As soon as King Mark makes his announcement, then, it might be a good idea to bring your ship here."