It didn�t even occur to me to wonder if my punishment would be worse if the Board caught me trying to escape�not until the console on my chair�s armrest beeped. I hadn�t made it past Jupiter�and already they�d caught me.

     For an instant of insanity, I considered ignoring the beep. But whatever punishment the Board had in mind, it couldn�t be worse than having hundreds of the Board�s ships descend on me and evaporate my ship in a dust cloud of insubordination.

     �Yes?� I said, touching the contact on my armrest and trying to make my voice sound casual.

     Admiral Potrowski�s face appeared on the main screen, looking nowhere near as angry as I expected.

     �Captain,� he said, his voice mild and curious. �Didn�t I give you strict orders to remain on Earth?�

     �Yes, Sir,� I said. �But we were getting anomalous readings from the ship�s engines; I wanted to run them around for a while, to discover the source of the problem.�

     The Admiral looked unconvinced for a moment, but then he shrugged it off. �Whatever, Kollins,� he said. �Not even your regular insubordination can make me angry with you right now. All thanks to your First Officer.�

     �Winston?�

     �Do you have any other First Officers you haven�t told us about, Captain?� the Admiral said. I had never before heard him make a joke. �Yes, of course, Winston. Put him on, will you?�

     �I can�t,� I said, cringing as the Admiral�s face clouded over. �Due to the dangerous nature of these tests I�m running on the ship�s engines, I ordered my crew off the ship.�

     �Well how do we reach him?� the Admiral said, full of enough excitement and happiness to make anyone�even someone as equanimous as myself�want to burst with anger. �There�s a celebration in his honour and a Captaincy waiting for him, his choice of any ship in the fleet!�

     �What? What�s happened?�

     �What�s happened, Captain? What�s happened is that the ship Winston captured and brought back to the Board�the ship that you would have returned to Other Side space�was not a research vessel at all.�

     �No?� I said, gulping.

     �No,� the Admiral said. �Do you know who we found aboard the ship?�

     �Who?� I said. I closed my eyes and prayed that the Admiral would name any name except �Dr. Evan.� �Dr. Evan, that�s who! He was disguised, of course: different skin color, different height, different build. But DNA isn�t so easily disguised. And I think I can tell you, Captain, without prejudice to my modesty, that it was my idea and my order to run everyone through the tests.�

     �Evan!� I said, cursing. One of our top-ranking military scientists, Evan had gone missing a few weeks before. It was hoped that he�d been murdered and dumped in a river; it was feared that he had defected to the Other Side. Too recently, another research scientist named Urth had tried to defect to the Other Side. I myself had entertained hopes of capturing Dr. Urth and bringing him back, but that honour went to my long-time friend, and once fellow Captain, Ed, who for his efforts got an immediate promotion to a nice, cushy Admiralty, where he could sit on his butt all day and watch episodes of �Captain Courageous.�

     �We�ve already contacted the Other Side and they�re disavowing all knowledge of the ship and its crew�sure confirmation that this mission to help Dr. Evan defect goes all the way to the top levels of the Other Side government.�

     �Evan!� I said. His capture was a gold-find, an instant promotion�but now my witless First Officer was getting the credit and the reward, even though both rightfully belonged to me.

     �Get in touch with your First Officer, Captain,� the Admiral said. �You can tell him the good news yourself.�

     �Admiral,� I said, forcing my voice to sound calm and steady. �There�s something I have to tell you about my First Officer Winston.�

     �Yes?�

     �He�s dead, Sir.�

     �Dead?�

     �Yes.�

     �How?�

     �By his own hand. Winston had many faults, one of which was a cowardly disposition. Unable to live like a man, facing the consequences of his actions as we all must, he chose instead to end his own life.�

     �No!�

     �Yes.�

     �What a tragedy.�

     �Indeed, Admiral,� I said. �Very tragic. But we need to keep this quiet, to protect his memory and his family. As luck would have it, Winston has a twin brother I can hire for the post of First Officer; no one need know about Winston�s�the dead Winston�s�act of shameful cowardice.�

     �Winston has a twin brother?�

     �Yes.�

     �A twin brother you�re going to hire to be your new First Officer?�

     �Yes.�

     He stared at me for a very long time; I could almost hear his thoughts. Maybe Winston hadn�t committed suicide�but maybe he had. Maybe Winston�s suicide wouldn�t be blamed on the Admiral and his ominous threats�but maybe it would. In cases like this, it was best not to ask too many questions and just leave things nice and covered up.

     He shrugged. �As you think best, Captain.�

     �Thank you, Sir,� I said.

     When the Admiral�s face disappeared from the screen, I sunk into my Captain�s chair with a sigh. That was close, but I had managed to save Winston�s immortal soul. Had I allowed Winston to attend a celebration in his honour and receive a Captaincy and his choice of ship in the fleet�all on false pretences�I would have made out of him a liar and a thief of the credit that rightly belonged to me.

     Yet I couldn�t deny that I was disappointed. Once, I had missed my chance to be rewarded in Urth; now, I wouldn�t be rewarded in Evan either.