Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) Read online

  When he got off the airlift he didn’t notice any difference at first, but soon he began to see doorways that were wider, or taller, or shorter; windows that were so heavily tinted or polarized as to be opaque to the human eye, though some alien species were clearly looking through them; restaurants with odors he’d never encountered before; aliens speaking to each other in their native tongues, rather than Terran or the translated Terran of the omnipresent T-packs. He looked in store windows that displayed items that made absolutely no sense to him, side by side with items that were clearly of human origin or based on human design.

  He couldn’t really say that it was enjoyable—it had been quite a while since he’d actually enjoyed anything other than an occasional non-soya meal and his time in bed with Sharon—but it was interesting. Most of his experiences on alien worlds were limited to attacking the enemy or defending himself; very rarely did he have time to explore the world he was liberating or assimilating.

  Finally he decided it was time to head over to the Glowworm. It was in the human section, so he took an airlift back up, stepped out, and walked to the casino where Forrice was engaged in the stort game. The place possessed a certain trendy seediness, and Cole made his way among the human and non-human gamblers until he was finally able to spot his tripodal First Officer.

  “How’s it going?” he asked.

  “Don’t distract me,” said Forrice. “I’ll be just a minute.”

  “Your call,” announced a Hesporite who seemed to be a dealer or croupier.

  “All right,” said Forrice. “Warrior to level two, lane three, and”—he slapped an octagonal card down on the table—“I play the purple empress.”

  The croupier studied what Forrice had done, and waited for two others to move pieces in ways that were incomprehensible to Cole and play cards that he could not identify. Finally the croupier rolled a twelve-sided pair of dice that had icons rather than spots on their faces, studied them, and pronounced Forrice to be the winner of this round. The Molarian emitted a hoot of triumph.

  “You see?” he said as he collected his winnings. “I told you that I just needed a little more time to work out the subtleties.”

  “It looks like one hell of a complex game,” noted Cole.

  “They all do—until you start playing them.”

  “So how do you stand compared to the house?”

  “I’m about two hundred pounds ahead.”

  “That much that fast?” said Cole, impressed.

  “Why not?” replied the Molarian. “I lost it just as fast.”

  “Okay, you’ve got a point. Let’s go over to Duke’s and you can buy me a disgusting stimulant and then watch me destroy my health by drinking it.”

  “Fine,” said Forrice. “Now that I’ve doped it out, I can come back here and break the bank any time.”

  “Don’t make it look too easy and don’t brag about it,” cautioned Cole, “or they’ll find a way to ban you from the tables.”

  “You think so?”

  Cole nodded. “Societies have been penalizing excellence ever since there were societies.”

  They left the Glowworm and walked over to Duke’s Place. It was crowded, as usual, and Cole sensed a certain tension in the room as he and Forrice made their way to the Duke’s table.

  There was a Teroni sitting at it—tall, lean, with the piercing golden eyes that were so distinctive to the species. Like most Teronis he wore wide boots over his splayed feet, the rust-colored jumpsuit that formed the standard Teroni military uniform, and the usual weaponry bonded to hips and midsection. Teronis had thick, glistening hair that always reminded Cole of worms, and this one was no different. Cole looked for an insignia of rank, but they had all been removed.

  “Come join us, Wilson,” said the Platinum Duke. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

  Cole walked over and stood before the Teroni.

  “Captain Cole and Commander Forrice,” said the Teroni in lightly accented Terran. “We meet again.”

  “Again?” said Cole, frowning. “I don’t recall ever seeing you before.”

  “We have not met in the flesh, Captain Cole, but we have communicated.”

  “We have?” asked Cole.

  “The Cassius Cluster?” suggested Forrice.

  The Teroni nodded. “I am Jacovic, Commander of the Fifth Fleet. I believe we spoke to each other mere moments after you deposed your captain.”

  Cole stared at him silently for a moment, and Jacovic and the Duke both grew visibly tense—and now Cole understood the tension in the room. Two captains who had previously met as enemies were in the same room for the first time since that meeting.

  Finally Cole smiled and extended his hand.

  “Allow me the privilege of shaking your hand, Commander,” he said. “It’s a human custom, but I hope you’ll honor it.”

  Jacovic, visibly relieved, took Cole’s hand.

  “Honor isn’t confined to any one race,” Cole said, “and you displayed it in abundance.”

  “What are you referring to?” asked the Duke.

  “The Teddy R was sent to patrol the Cassius Cluster, an exceptionally isolated area. Our sole duty was to protect a pair of fuel depots and not allow the enemy access to them. It was just a way to get us out of the brass’s hair. No one ever expected the Teronis to actually show up there.” He paused, recalling the situation. “Then suddenly the Fifth Teroni Fleet entered the Cluster. We were one ship, and Commander Jacovic had perhaps two hundred.”

  “Two hundred and forty-six,” Jacovic put in.

  “Our captain, a Polonoi named Podok, knew that she couldn’t hold the Fleet off, so she interpreted her order to mean that we were to prevent them from appropriating the fuel at all costs.” The muscles in Cole’s face tightened inadvertently. “So she turned our cannons on one of the two planets, killing about three million inhabitants, just to make sure that Commander Jacovic couldn’t make use of the fuel. She was about to do the same to the second planet and kill five million Men in the process when I relieved her of command.”

  “I knew you had mutinied,” remarked the Duke. “I never knew why.”

  “Anyway, I contacted Commander Jacovic and told him he could have the fuel if he would promise not to harm the inhabitants. He agreed, he kept his word, and he gave us safe passage out of the Cluster.”

  “Actually, you told me that I could accept your terms or you would destroy the planet as your captain had destroyed the first,” said Jacovic. “From what I have learned of you since that day, I do not believe you would have done so. But I would like to hear it from your own mouth. Were you bluffing?”

  Cole smiled. “Possibly.”

  Jacovic returned his smile. “I am very glad to finally meet you, Captain Cole.”

  “What are you doing here?” asked Cole. “And why are you traveling incognito?”

  “I am not traveling incognito,” said Jacovic. “I am no longer a member of the Teroni Navy, or even the Teroni Federation.”

  “What happened?” asked Forrice.

  “I opened my eyes.”

  “I beg your pardon?” said Cole.

  “You probably have not yet heard of the Battle of Gabriel,” said Jacovic.

  “No, not much news of the war makes it to the Inner Frontier, and what gets here is usually pretty old.”

  “It took place some forty days ago, and it lasted for twenty-two days.”

  “Where is Gabriel?” asked Forrice. “I’m not familiar with it.”

  “There is no reason why you should be,” answered Jacovic. “Why anyone should be. The Gabriel system—that is your name for it; we have another—consists of seven uninhabitable gas giants circling a class-M star that is neither in the Republic nor in our Federation.”

  “So who won?” asked Forrice.

  “Let me guess,” said Cole, studying Jacovic’s face. “No one did.”

  “That is correct,” said Jacovic. “By the time it was over, we had lost fifty-three ships and
the Republic had lost forty-nine. One hundred and two ships, and perhaps twelve thousand Teronis and Men, and for what? For a system that did not possess a single habitable planet, or anything either side could possibly use. It was then that I realized the idiocy of this war, the utter madness that led each side to sacrifice thousands of lives for a totally useless system simply so the other side could not lay claim to it—and on that day I tore the insignia from my uniform and made my way to the Inner Frontier.”

  Cole turned to Forrice. “I told you a year and a half ago that he had more sense then any of the politicians and admirals on our side.”

  “Commander Jacovic has just arrived here at Singapore Station in the past hour,” the Duke informed them. “I gather he brought no one with him.”

  “Each Teroni is free to make his own decision,” said Jacovic. “I have made mine. And do not call me Commander; I am just Jacovic now.”

  “What are you going to be doing with yourself?” asked Cole.

  “I haven’t had time to consider that yet,” replied Jacovic. “I have spent my entire adult life in the military. I shall have to discover what else I am good at.”

  “Not necessarily,” said Cole.

  Jacovic looked at him questioningly.

  “I know a former military vessel that’s in need of a competent Third Officer,” continued Cole. “And a Captain who’d be proud to have you serve with him.”

  “Who is this military vessel at war with?” asked the Teroni.

  “Fate.”

  “That is the perfect answer,” said Jacovic. “I am more than willing to take up arms against Fate. I will be honored to join the crew of the Theodore Roosevelt.”

  This time it was Jacovic who extended his hand, and Cole who took it. But it didn’t really matter who reached out first. It was the first time in twenty-three years that a Man and a Teroni had willingly touched each other in friendship.

  22

  Cole had just finished giving Jacovic a tour of the Theodore Roosevelt, and now they stood on the bridge of the almost-empty ship.

  “Well, what do you think?” he asked.

  “It’s old.”

  “So are you and I,” said Cole with a smile.

  “Not this old,” replied Jacovic, returning his smile. “When was the last time it was re-outfitted?”

  “Probably before a few of my younger ensigns and crewmen were born.”

  “Still,” said the Teroni, “old or not, it is probably the most famous ship in the galaxy.”

  “The most notorious, anyway,” said Cole. “By the way, you seem comfortable with the air content and gravity here and on Singapore Station. I can give you a cabin in the human quarters, or if you’re simply being stoic, we can adjust any of the alien rooms to your speculations.”

  “The oxygen content is fine, but I think I would like a greater gravity.”

  “All right. Our Security Chief, Colonel Blacksmith, will debrief you when you’re ready to move your gear aboard. I’ll tell her to give you a cabin on Deck 5, and to adjust it to your specifications. How about dietary needs?”

  “I can give a list to your Colonel Blacksmith.”

  “Fine. If there’s anything else you need, come to me if I’m available, or to Four Eyes or Colonel Blacksmith if I’m not.”

  Jacovic frowned. “Four Eyes?”

  “A bastardization of Commander Forrice’s name,” said Cole. “We’re old friends. I’ve been calling him that for years. Besides, he does have four eyes.”

  “Will there be much resentment, not just at having a Teroni commander who used to be your enemy, but at making me your Third Officer?”

  “Probably,” said Cole. “They’ll get over it.”

  “I hope so.”

  “They didn’t think much of the officer you’re replacing when I brought her aboard,” said Cole. “Within a month she was the most popular person on the ship. You’ll have an even easier time of it. Almost all of them were aboard the Teddy R when you spared the citizens of New Argentina and gave us safe passage out of the Cassius Cluster.”

  “Any reasonable commander would have done it,” said Jacovic.

  “Our own captain was prepared to destroy the whole damned planet before I took over the ship,” said Cole. “Reasonable commanders are in shorter supply than you might think. Otherwise, why would we both be on the Inner Frontier?”

  Jacovic’s jowls fluttered as he sighed. “You have a point, Captain Cole.”

  “Call me Wilson.”

  “I’d better continue to call you Captain Cole,” said the Teroni. “I might forget in front of the crew.”

  “They’re welcome to call me anything they want, though most of them do stick to Captain.”

  “Might I ask why? On the surface it seems like a lack of discipline, but I am sure you have a reason for it.”

  “It’s to remind them that we’re not in the Republic or the Navy any longer,” said Cole. “I insist on obedience and competence, but I never saw any reason for saluting each other. It’s some holdover from a couple of thousand years before my race even developed space travel.” He paused. “I suppose the gist of it is that we’re here forever. No one’s tour of duty will ever be up, we can never go back to the Republic, and of course we’ll draw instant fire if we enter the Teroni Federation, so I want them to be as comfortable as they can be, since they’re stuck here for the rest of their lives.”

  “Now I understand, and I approve,” said Jacovic. “But I think I’ll still call you Captain Cole.”

  “Only on the ship and Singapore Station,” said Cole.

  Jacovic stared at him curiously.

  “If I join my crew on a covert mission,” continued Cole, “a salute or a ‘sir’ tells the other side who to shoot first.”

  The Teroni smiled. “I never left my ship, and I would never have thought of that. Now in the future I will know better.”

  “Well, you’ll be leaving the Teddy R more than I do. I’ve got some officers who are convinced that their job is to protect me, even more than protecting the ship.”

  “Clearly they care for you.”

  “I could do with a little less care and a little more servility,” said Cole.

  “You don’t mean that, of course.”

  “No, I suppose I don’t,” said Cole. He looked around. “Okay, you’ve had the cook’s tour. I suppose we might as well get back to the station. I guarantee you’ll get a better meal and a more comfortable bed there than here.”

  The two walked to an airlift, took it down to the shuttle bay, saluted Idena Mueller who was standing guard, walked onto the dock, then caught a transport to the interior of the station. A few minutes later they were back in Duke’s Place, where Cole spotted Val, Forrice, and the Duke all sitting at the Platinum Duke’s usual table.

  “Ah, Captain Cole and Commander Jacovic!” said the Duke. “Come join us!”

  “Happy to,” said Cole as the two of them sat down. “Val, have you met your replacement yet?”

  “I’ve heard about him,” she said. “Welcome to the madhouse.”

  “Thanks,” said Jacovic. “And you are . . . ?”

  “I’m Val this month. If you’ve got a name you like better, I’ll probably answer to it.”

  “You’ve had other names?” he said, surprised.

  “I’m not Navy,” she replied.

  “I don’t understand,” said the Teroni.

  “You’ve only been on the Inner Frontier for a few days,” said Cole. “What you’re going to find out is that the people here change names the way you and I change clothes. For example, I’ll lay odds that our host wasn’t always known as the Platinum Duke.”

  “I am now, and that’s all that counts,” said the Duke.

  “As for Val, she went a little overboard on names,” continued Cole.

  “There are so many good ones, why stick with just one?” said Val.

  “Or ten, or twenty,” said Cole.

  “Well, once they put a price on your head, you
’d be crazy to keep the same one.”

  “So she’s been Cleopatra, and Jezebel, and Salome, and the Queen of Sheba, and the Dowager Empress, and a dozen others,” said Cole. “She was Dominick, which is a man’s name, when I met her.”

  “I was working my way through my lovers’ names,” said Val. “He was my eighth.”

  “And Val was your ninth?” asked Jacovic.

  “No,” she answered. “He gave it to me.”

  “Well, almost,” said Cole. “I likened her to a Valkyrie. She shortened it.”

  “I’ve kept it for almost four Standard months now,” she added. “It’s past time for a change. If you know a nice Teroni name, tell me before we take off again.”

  “Why would you want a Teroni name?” asked Jacovic curiously.

  “Why not?” she replied. Suddenly she got to her feet. “I see a spot opened up at the jabob table. I think I’ll try my luck.”

  She began walking, and the crowd parted before her like the Red Sea before Moses.

  “It must be nice to be that intimidating,” said Forrice.

  “It has its advantages,” agreed Cole.

  “Why am I replacing her?” asked Jacovic. “Has she done something to displease you?”

  “No, not at all,” answered Cole. “We captured five ships on our last job, and since she captained her own pirate ship for years, I gave her one.”

  “She was a pirate?”

  “The most notorious,” said Cole. “Well, one of the most notorious,” he amended. “She wasn’t kidding about all the rewards they posted for her death or capture.”

  “And yet you took this pirate and made her your Third Officer,” said Jacovic. “That is surprising.”

  “If you’re as good an officer as she was, and I expect you to be, everyone will be happy,” said Cole.