Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) Read online

  “I must talk to her and learn more about how she adjusted to life on a ship that would have been her enemy if they’d ever met while you were still in the Navy.”

  “Fine,” said Cole. “Two warnings.”

  “Yes?”

  “Never gamble with her, and never get into a fight with her.”

  “Formidable?” asked Jacovic.

  “Formidable is an understatement,” put in Forrice.

  “I’ll add a third warning,” offered the Duke.

  “Oh?” said Cole.

  “Never try to drink with that lady.”

  “Yeah, she’s got quite a capacity.”

  “She has downed a bottle of Altarian rum, a bottle of Cygnian cognac, and close to a bottle of some hundred-and-thirty-proof whiskey from the Deneb system since she came in her. And look at her.” He shrugged. “It’ll probably hit her all at once.”

  “She holds it pretty well,” said Cole.

  “No one can hold that much alcohol,” said the Duke. “It’ll be a delayed reaction. We’ll be cleaning up the table and floor here, and you’ll be carrying her back to her ship.”

  Suddenly the Duke stopped speaking and tensed noticeably.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Cole.

  “Nothing, I hope,” said the Duke, staring across the casino.

  “Who are you looking at?”

  “Do you see that Djarmin?”

  “I don’t know,” said Cole. “What’s a Djarmin?”

  “A native of Visqueri II,” said the Duke. “Tall, burly, humanoid, biped, light blue skin, no visible ears, prehensile lower lip.”

  “Yeah, okay, I see him,” said Cole. “Weird-looking. What about him?”

  “Unless I’m wrong, that’s Csonti.”

  “Who’s Csonti? Should I know the name?”

  “If you don’t yet, you will soon enough. His full sobriquet is Csonti the Vengeful.”

  “Sounds like a bad cartoon.”

  “Well, you’ve got the ‘bad’ part right,” said the Duke.

  “Tell me about him.”

  “Not much to tell,” answered the Duke. “He’s a warlord, and he controls, oh, it must be forty worlds by now.”

  “Then he should be Csonti the Collector,” said Cole lightly.

  “Nothing lives on twenty-three of those worlds,” said the Duke. “If a world resists, there is no bargaining, no accommodation. He destroys it.”

  “Sweet fellow.”

  “I just wonder what he’s doing here,” said the Duke. “He’s said to be the best freehand fighter on the Inner Frontier. I hope he isn’t a mean drunk.”

  “Well, if he is, he’d better not pick on Val,” said Cole. “He’ll never know what hit him.”

  “She’s that good?” asked Jacovic.

  “She’s that good,” said Cole.

  “I wonder that you let her go.”

  “Why?” Cole seemed amused. “The only people she could fight on the Teddy R were the Good Guys.”

  “The Teddy R?”

  “A term of endearment,” explained Cole. “Teddy is a nickname for Theodore, and R is the initial for Roosevelt. So if you hear anyone referring to the Teddy R, as most of our crew will do, it’s the Theodore Roosevelt they’re talking about.”

  “I see.”

  “Where did he go?” said the Duke, looking across the room.

  “Probably he’s sitting down,” said Forrice.

  “Or answering a call of Nature,” suggested Cole.

  “No,” said Jacovic. “He walked out the side door a moment ago.”

  “Just as well,” said Cole. “If he and Val got into it, there wouldn’t be much left standing.”

  “Why would he fight her of all people?” asked Forrice.

  “Because if he started feeling aggressive, she’s the one who wouldn’t back down from him.”

  They ordered a round of drinks, alcoholic for the humans, other things for the Molarian and the Teroni.

  “Where’s David?” asked Cole. “I thought he’d taken up residence here.”

  “He was here about twenty minutes before you arrived,” said the Duke. “He’s around somewhere.”

  “Why does he dress like a Man and mimic human mannerisms?” asked Jacovic.

  “He fell in love with a human author named Charles Dickens at an early age and never got over it,” said Cole. “He dresses and acts, or tries to act, like a Dickens character; he took a Dickens character’s name; he built his house to resemble a house Dickens once described; he even calls me by the name of another Dickens character.” Cole paused. “If you want to know why I put up with it, it’s because David put his life on the line for us a while back. It cost him his business—he was a very successful fence with outlets on half a dozen worlds—and damned near his life. The only place he was safe was on the Teddy R, and the Teddy R pays its debts.”

  “And of course,” added Forrice, “like Val he has a lifetime of contacts on the Inner Frontier, which is pretty handy for a ship and crew that have only been here about a year.”

  “But he does cut quite a figure,” said the Duke.

  “You’ve known him longer than we have,” said Cole. “Was he always . . . ?”

  “More so,” answered the Duke. “And here he comes now.”

  “Hi, David,” said Cole when the dandified alien reached the table. “Pull up a chair.”

  “In a minute,” said Copperfield. He walked around the table until he was standing next to the Duke. “He wants to see you.”

  “Who?” asked the Duke.

  “Csonti.”

  Suddenly the Duke’s entire demeanor changed. “What does he have against me?” he said. “I’ve never refused him docking privileges. He’s always been welcomed in the casino. If he’s been offended in some way, why didn’t he just—?”

  “It’s none of that,” Copperfield interrupted. “He says it’s a business proposition. Given his business, I think there’s every likelihood that you’ll be passing it on to us, but he says this is your world and he insists on making it to or through you.”

  “Oh?” said the Duke.

  “You want me to come along?” asked Cole.

  “No,” said the Duke, recovering his composure. “If it’s just an offer of some kind, I’ll be fine. Unless he wants to buy Singapore Station,” he added with a weak laugh. “Where is he?”

  “The hotel next door,” said Copperfield. “This level, fourth room back on the right.”

  The Duke got up and walked off without another word.

  “Why did he speak to you in the first place?” asked Cole as Copperfield sat down.

  “I’ve done some business with him in the past,” said Copperfield. “Rare carvings and paintings from the museum on Baskra III.”

  “Baskra III?” said Cole. “I remember reading or hearing about it.” He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked up. “Isn’t that the world that was blown to smithereens?”

  “Oh, there’s still a Baskra III,” said Copperfield. “But it used to be Baskra IV, and now there’s a new asteroid belt between it and Baskra II.”

  “Nice playmate you got yourself,” said Cole.

  “A fence doesn’t ask people how they acquired their goods, my dear Steerforth,” replied Copperfield. “Not if he wants to stay in business. Or in this case, alive.”

  “What’s he like?”

  “He grunts a lot,” said Copperfield. “The strong silent type. Although when he’s annoyed he can swear with the best of them.”

  “Well, let’s hope he’s not making an offer for Duke’s Place.”

  Val sauntered back to the table and sat down. Cole noticed a strong odor of alcohol about her.

  “How’d you do?” asked Forrice.

  “Don’t ask,” she said. “I was up against a Picanta. Those bastards can outthink a computer, so I cut my losses and quit.”

  “But it wasn’t crooked?”

  “If it was, they’d have been carrying the Picanta’s bod
y out by now.” She looked around the table. “Where’s the Duke?”

  “Off doing business,” said Cole.

  “Good for him,” said Val. “He’s sure not getting rich off our crews. Most of them hang out at Silver Monte’s.”

  “What has Silver Monte’s got that this joint doesn’t have?” asked Cole.

  “A lack of command personnel,” replied Val. “They don’t necessarily plan to misbehave, but if they wind up doing so, they don’t want their officers around.”

  She downed another drink, they all spent a few minutes talking, and then the Platinum Duke rejoined them.

  “Well?” asked Cole.

  The Duke sat down, looking much relieved. “It was a proposition, all right.” He paused. “Have you ever heard of a world named Prometheus IV?”

  Cole frowned. “What about it?”

  “He’s spread a little thin, and he wants to hire some ships to help him.”

  “Help him do what?”

  “Wipe it out.”

  “Why?”

  “He didn’t see fit to confide in me.”

  “Damn it!” said Cole. “We’ve got two men in the medical facility that’s orbiting Prometheus IV. Is there any chance of talking him out of it?”

  “I’m not aware of anyone ever talking him out of anything,” said the Duke.

  “He’s not the reasonable type, Steerforth,” added Copperfield.

  “We’re going to have to evacuate Sokolov and Moyer,” said Cole decisively.

  “I don’t know if Moyer can be moved, Wilson,” said Forrice.

  “He’ll have to be,” said Cole. “We only need one ship for this, and we’ll run on a ghost crew. Pass the word to Briggs, Christine, Idena, Jack-in-the Box, and Domak. I assume Pilot is still on board?”

  “He’s connected to the navigational computer,” said Forrice. “It’ll take major surgery to disconnect him.”

  “Okay,” said Cole. “Get the crew I named ready to go in two hours’ time.”

  “What was he offering?” asked Copperfield. “Just out of curiosity.”

  “Fifty million Maria Theresa dollars, to be divided evenly among any ships that sign on.”

  “Fifty million?” repeated Val with a low whistle.

  “Ridiculous, isn’t it?” said the Duke. “It’s like play money to him. I guess you lose all sense of proportion when you own forty worlds.”

  Val turned to Cole. “Do you know what we could do with fifty million Maria Theresa dollars, Wilson?”

  “I’ll tell you what we can’t do,” said Cole. “We can’t decimate a world that’s never done anyone any harm.”

  “It must have done some to Csonti, or he wouldn’t want it dead,” said Val, reaching over and appropriating the rest of the Duke’s drink.

  “Probably it refused to pay him half its planetary wealth as a tribute,” said Cole. “Forget about it.”

  “What do you mean, forget about it?” she said. “We’re mercenaries. Someone is offering more for one little job than we could make in two years.”

  “We don’t slaughter whole planetary populations,” said Cole. “It’s not what we trained for, it’s not who we are. Let it drop.”

  “I’m getting sick of your orders and your moralizing!” snapped Val, her words starting to slur.

  “Just how much did you lose at the jabob table?” asked Copperfield.

  “You shut up too, you ugly little alien wart! We’re mercenaries, damn it!”

  “It’s not how much she lost,” said Cole. “It’s how much she drank.”

  “That’s none of your business, Wilson Cole!”

  “When you’re part of my crew, it is my business.”

  “You want to step outside and prove it?”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  She stood up. “Okay, we’ll prove it right here!”

  “I’m not going to fight you, Val,” said Cole. “Go to your ship, sleep it off, and see how you feel in the morning.”

  “Fuck you!” she said. “Now you’re patronizing me!”

  “Val, the last time you fell off the wagon your crew sold you and your ship out to the Hammerhead Shark while you were sleeping it off,” said Cole. “Don’t make another blunder.”

  She blinked her eyes furiously, trying to get them to focus. “I’ve had enough of people telling me what to do. I was the Captain of the Pegasus for twelve years, and no one gave me orders. I’ve got another ship now, and no one’s giving me orders again.” She stared at the Duke. “Where is this warlord at?”

  “Please, Val,” said the Duke.

  “Am I going to have to beat it out of you?” she said. “Don’t look to these guys for help! They know better.”

  “Can’t we just—?”

  “Now!”

  The Duke swallowed hard and gave her the location of Csonti’s room, and she walked off, unsteadily at first but gaining grace and strength with each step.

  “New orders, Four Eyes,” said Cole grimly. “Shore leave is over in two hours. For everyone.”

  “The other ships too?”

  “The four smaller ones, yes,” said Cole. “And pass the word to the crew of the Red Sphinx that we’ll find a spot on the Teddy R for anyone who doesn’t want to stay there.”

  The Molarian got up and began spinning across the room with his surprisingly graceful three-legged stride.

  Cole turned to Jacovic. “Well, you’ve been an officer of the Teddy R for almost three hours,” he said with an ironic smile. “How do you like it so far?”

  “Perhaps she’ll feel differently when she sobers up,” suggested the Teroni.

  “I’m sure she will. But she’s also got a code of honor, though it’s a little better hidden than most. If she signs on with Csonti today, she’ll honor it tomorrow.” He grimaced. “I’ll tell you something else.”

  “What?’

  “I’d rather face ten Csontis than one of her.”

  23

  The Teddy R and its four companion ships entered the Prometheus system and radioed ahead to the orbiting hospital.

  “This is Wilson Cole, Captain of the Theodore Roosevelt,” said Cole. “You’ve got two of my crewmen there, Vladimir Sokolov and Daniel Moyer. We’re here to pick them up. Get them ready to go.”

  “I am not empowered to authorize that, Captain Cole,” said the Lodinite official at the other end of the transmission.

  “Then connect me to whoever’s in charge of the facility.”

  “That’s out of the question, sir.”

  “Listen to me,” said Cole irritably. “The Prometheus system’s going to be under attack within a Standard day, probably a lot sooner. Now put me through to someone in authority.”

  The Lodinite’s image vanished, and for a moment Cole thought the connection had been broken, but then the image of a gray-haired woman popped into existence.

  “I am Bertha Salinas, Administrator of the Prometheus Orbiting Medical Facility,” she said. “What is all this about an attack?”

  “A warlord named Csonti is going to be attacking one of the Prometheus planets, either III or IV,” said Cole. “He’s not coming after the medical station, but if it’s in the way, he’s not going to worry about saving it either. You have two of my men there. I want them ready to go in twenty minutes.”

  “Are you quite sure of your information?” said Bertha Salinas.

  “Yes,” said Cole. “I can’t do a thing for the planets, and I’m sure they have their own defenses, but I can help evacuate the hospital if you can have your staff and patients ready to go in an hour.”

  “This is very sudden,” she replied. “I’ll have to discuss it with my staff.”

  “What you and your staff choose to do is up to you,” said Cole. “But have my two men ready to go in twenty minutes. If Moyer is tied in to any machines, then put them on an airsled; they’re coming with us. If we have to, we’ll pick up a nurse or a doctor from the next inhabited system.”

  “I don’t know if we can discharge
your men on such short notice,” she said. “After all, we have our regulations.”

  “Screw your regulations!” snapped Cole. “Don’t you understand what I’m telling you? A war is about to break out in the Prometheus system.”

  “Even so . . .”

  “I offered to help you evacuate the hospital. That’s your decision. But I’m coming to pick up my men. That’s nonnegotiable.”

  “Are you giving me orders?” she said haughtily.

  “You’re damned right I am,” said Cole.

  “And if we choose not to obey them?”

  “Then you will suffer the consequences,” said Cole. “The Theodore Roosevelt will not be a participant in the action to come, but we are a military ship carrying military personnel, and we will do whatever is necessary to take our men to safety, with or without your consent. If we have to add a few more patients to your wards as a result, the responsibility will be yours, not mine.”

  “I will require a few minutes to consider the situation,” she said.

  “We will be there in seventeen minutes,” said Cole. “Just have our crew members ready to be evacuated. Whatever else you decide is up to you, but if I were you, I’d empty that hospital as fast as possible.”

  “I will give you our decision shortly,” said Bertha Salinas. “Please keep this channel open.”

  Her image vanished, and Cole turned to Christine. “Keep it open, like she says. Four Eyes, put together a boarding party in case we have to forcefully extract Sokolov and Moyer.”

  “I’d like to volunteer to lead the party, Captain Cole,” said Jacovic.

  “I appreciate the offer,” answered Cole. “But the answer is no.”

  “May I ask the reason why?” persisted Jacovic.

  Cole nodded. “The men we’re evacuating don’t know that you have joined us. If they see a Teroni, they may be disinclined to go anywhere with you.”

  “Ah.” Jacovic nodded his head. “I hadn’t thought of that. I apologize for making the suggestion.”

  “There’s nothing to apologize for,” said Cole. “It was an honorable request.”

  “It was a foolish offer which, if accepted, could have had unfortunate consequences. A Third Officer should exercise better judgment than that.”

  Cole smiled. “We could use a few more officers like you on our side,” he said. “Mr. Briggs, is there any sign of Csonti’s fleet yet?”