Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) Page 21

  “You have a point,” admitted Forrice. “Maybe I should turn you in for the reward.”

  “It is a shame you don’t have anyone aboard the Theodore Roosevelt who speaks the Teroni tongue,” said Jacovic. “It would lend to the illusion.”

  “I agree,” said Cole. “We’ll just have to make do with what we’ve got. I know you speak Terran fluently, but it’ll make more of an impression if you take a T-pack along, speak Teron, and let it translate you into that annoying monotone.”

  “Ah!” said Christine excitedly. “Now I see!”

  “We’ll have to be clear on some details,” said Cole. “You can’t say you’re still commanding the Fifth Teroni Fleet. It’s too easy for them to check its whereabouts.” He paused and considered the problem. “How many fleets does the Teroni Federation have now?”

  “Fourteen,” replied Jacovic.

  “All right,” said Cole. “You’ve been chosen to head the newly formed Fifteenth Fleet. You’re not up to strength yet, but you’ve got close to two hundred ships with you. You’ve been whipping them into shape, holding maneuvers on the Inner Frontier.”

  “How did we meet?”

  “I contacted you with a proposition. We’ll argue about it once you’re aboard the Korabota.”

  “Should I go there now?” asked Jacovic.

  “Wait until Lieutenant Briggs tells us that he’s adjusted the radio.”

  “Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Christine. “I was so fascinated by what you were saying that I forgot to tell him!”

  “It’s all right,” said Cole soothingly. “Calm down. It only cost us a minute, and the Navy ships are still an hour and a half away.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” she said miserably. “I just—”

  “Contact Briggs now,” said Cole. “Apologize later.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “How long do we wait?” asked Jacovic as Christine was transmitting the instructions to Briggs.

  “We don’t want them getting too close,” said Cole. “They’ve got to be faster than we are, and I’m sure they’ve got the latest in long-range weaponry.” He was silent for a moment as he considered the problem. “If they haven’t bought it in ten minutes, we’d better run hell for leather through the wormhole and hope we beat them out the other end. And we don’t rendezvous. We split up, make them divide their forces, and meet the survivors back at Singapore Station in ten Standard days. But hopefully it won’t come to that.”

  Briggs’s image appeared a minute later and announced that the radio had been adjusted.

  “Okay,” said Cole. “Good luck.”

  Jacovic saluted—Cole assumed it was a salute; it wasn’t like any he’d ever seen before, but he couldn’t think of what else it might be—and headed off to the shuttle bay.

  “Christine, get me the captain of the Silent Dart. And this is an intraship communication, not a subspace message. I don’t want the Navy ships to be able to read it.”

  “I’ll make the signal so weak that no one more than a mile away can pick it up, sir.” There was a brief pause. “You’re connected, sir.”

  “In another minute Commander Jacovic, the Third Officer of the Teddy R, is going to board your ship. I want you to turn over command of it to him for a period of one hour. Should you be attacked, command will automatically and instantly revert to you. Commander Jacovic will have full access to the subspace radio. I want every member of the crew, including yourself, out of holo range, so that when his messages and image are transmitted, no one else can be seen or detected. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” said the captain of the Silent Dart. “Just for an hour, you say?”

  “That’s right. And during that hour, no one contradicts him, no one says a word. If he calls your ship by another name, if he threatens me, if he makes claims that you know to be untrue, you are to remain silent. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Pass the word to your crew.”

  “We only have a crew of six, and they all can see and hear you, sir.”

  “As soon as you know Jacovic is safely aboard, put as much distance as you can between our two ships and then turn over command to him. I’m ending this transmission now.”

  He nodded to Christine, who broke the connection.

  “What do we do now, sir?” asked Domak.

  “Now we wait for about ten minutes, until the Korabota is far enough away to justify speaking to her via subspace radio. And then we see if Commander Jacovic has spent enough time associating with Men to lie convincingly.”

  Cole turned and walked to the airlift.

  “Let me guess,” said Forrice. “You’re going to have another cup of that stuff you’re addicted to.”

  “No,” said Cole. “I’m going to get rid of the last two or three cups. Even your steel-bladdered Captain has to answer the occasional call of Nature.”

  Cole entered the human bathroom that was next to the airlift. When he was done, he slapped cold water on his face, combed his hair (which never seemed to stay in place), had half a smokeless cigarette and threw the remainder in the trash atomizer, and finally returned to the bridge. He came to a stop, hands on hips, and studied his surroundings.

  “Forgotten what the place looks like?” asked Forrice after a moment.

  “Just trying to decide where to stand, in case they can pick up a visual as well as an audio,” replied Cole.

  “Why not your office or the mess hall, which is where you usually conduct business from?”

  “The Navy used to frown on that,” answered Cole. “They believed that important decisions could only be made on the bridge. And since we’re expecting the Navy to intercept this transmission, we want them to know that this is important business.” Finally he walked over to the sensor console. “Here, I think.”

  “Why not by the communications station?” asked the Molarian. “It’s more impressive.”

  “Because we’re not disabling its functions, and I don’t want to pretend I don’t see it lighting up like a Christmas tree when it reports that all our incoming and outgoing messages are being intercepted.”

  “What’s a Christmas tree?”

  “Ask me tomorrow,” said Cole, looking at the ship’s chronometer. “It’s time. Christine, contact the Korabota on the frequency you decided upon. From this point on, nobody speaks except me.”

  Jacovic’s image popped into existence. “Greetings, Captain Cole,” he said through his T-pack.

  “Hello, Commander Jacovic.”

  “I see the Navy ships are closing in on you.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Cole. “I’ve got plenty of time before I have to move.”

  “You are a foolish man, Captain Cole,” said Jacovic. “You have ten Standard minutes at the most.”

  “I’ve got more than that,” replied Cole. “But ten minutes should be enough for us to reach an agreement.” Don’t blow it now, thought Cole. Start arguing so we can let them know what the agreement is.

  “I have already entered into a binding contract with you,” said the Teroni.

  “Well, ‘binding’ is a very elastic word,” said Cole. “The Teddy R’s the ship that’s at risk, not the Korabota. I want more.”

  “We have agreed upon a price, Captain Cole. This is not the time to renegotiate it.”

  “Look,” said Cole. “I heard that you and the Korabota were taking this new Fifteenth Fleet out on maneuvers. Don’t forget—I’m the one who contacted you and said I could lure some Navy ships to the Frontier, get so close to them that they’d claim hot pursuit and follow me right to you, where you’d be waiting for them with your two hundred ships.”

  “I have only one hundred and eighty-seven ships, and some of them are not battle-ready,” replied Jacovic.

  “Fine,” said Cole. “So you’ll only have a hundred and fifty or sixty to their twelve. Big deal. Once I lure them into the wormhole, they’re dead meat and you know it, and the numbers are such that you have nothing to worry about. But
I’m the one who’s going to be bait, who has to let them get close enough to think they’ve got a chance of nailing me. A million credits isn’t enough. I want two million.”

  “First, we do not deal in credits but in New Stalin rubles, as agreed. Second, I will not allow you to extort more money from the Teroni Federation. The agreement was for one million rubles, and that is what we shall pay you. Third, if you abrogate our agreement, if you make any attempt to warn the Navy that the Fifteenth Fleet lies in wait for them, I will consider that an act of war against the Teroni Federation on your part and will respond accordingly. Am I making myself clear?”

  “All right, all right,” said Cole, putting an edge of annoyance into his voice. “I’m going to lead them into the wormhole now. Just make sure you let the Teddy R pass through unscathed—and don’t forget: my money is due the instant the last of the Navy ships has been destroyed.”

  “It will be waiting for you, if you can actually draw the twelve ships into the wormhole,” said Jacovic.

  “Just keep your eyes open,” said Cole, signaling to Christine to break the connection. “Pilot, take us to the wormhole, but don’t reach it for fifteen minutes.”

  Wxakgini increased the ship’s speed. “Fifteen minutes, yes, sir,” he announced.

  Cole then ordered his other three ships to make their way to the wormhole. “Now let’s see if they bought it,” he said.

  The Navy continued closing on the Teddy R for the next seven minutes, then eight, then ten.

  “We will enter the wormhole in five minutes,” announced Wxakgini.

  And then, just as the Korabota disappeared into the wormhole, Forrice, studying the sensor holoscreens over Domak’s shoulder, gave a hoot of triumph.

  “They’re shearing off!” he said.

  “That’s a relief!” said Cole as the last of the Navy ships changed course and headed back toward Meadowbrook. “I think when we retire from the mercenary business, Commander Jacovic and I have a definite future in the theater.”

  “I disagree, sir,” said Christine.

  “Oh?”

  “After today, I see you as snake-oil salesmen.”

  27

  The Teddy R and its companion ships made it back to Singapore Station without any further problems. Cole declared a three-day shore leave for all but a rotating skeleton staff, made sure the galleys were re-supplied, and, accompanied by Sharon Blacksmith and David Copperfield, he soon made his way to Duke’s Place. Forrice contacted the Molarian whorehouse, found out that two of the new prostitutes had come into season, and went off to pay them a visit, promising to rejoin Cole’s party within two hours.

  The casino was crowded as usual, and Cole noticed a certain tension as he entered the place. He spotted Csonti sitting at a Khalimesh table, looked around for Val, saw her at another table, and decided everyone was surprised to see both him and the redheaded Valkyrie alive and in the same place. Clearly they anticipated a fight, but Cole paid her no attention, and wandered over to where the Platinum Duke sat in isolated splendor, surveying this portion of his empire.

  “I’m glad to see you all survived,” he said as Cole, Sharon, and Copperfield approached him. “Have a seat. The first drink’s on the house.”

  “Thanks,” said Cole. “I’ll just have a beer.”

  “An Antarean brandy,” said Sharon.

  “And I’ll have a glass of 1955 A.D. Dom Perignon, preferably from the north slope,” added Copperfield.

  “Come on, David,” said the Duke wearily. “No games.”

  “I was quite serious,” said Copperfield. “However, until you see fit to properly supply your cellar, I’ll have a Cygnian cognac.”

  “How did it go?” asked the Duke, as the table transmitted the drink orders to the bar. “Were you able to get your two crewmen out?”

  Cole nodded. “Yeah. One’s back on duty, the other’s recuperating in our infirmary.”

  “He did more than that,” said Copperfield proudly. “He evacuated the entire hospital station.”

  “I wouldn’t think the whole station would fit on your ships,” commented the Duke.

  “It’s a long story,” said Cole. “I’m sure Val has told you her side of it.”

  The Duke shook his head. “She hasn’t even stopped by to say hello.”

  “Well, with her and Csonti both here, I think we can assume they won,” said Cole as the drinks arrived.

  “I wish Csonti would go somewhere else,” said the Duke. “He’s been drinking and drugging since he got back, and he’s pretty disruptive even when he’s sober.”

  “So throw him out,” said Sharon.

  “The only person who can throw him out is your Valkyrie, and she’s working for him.”

  “She’s not our Valkyrie,” said Cole. “And I very much doubt that she’s working for Csonti now that they’re back from the Prometheus system.”

  Val suddenly noticed them, got up from her table, and began walking over.

  “You’re about to find out,” observed the Duke.

  Cole watched Val approach, and stood up to greet her when she reached the table.

  “Please sit down and join us,” said the Duke.

  “Thanks, I will,” replied Val.

  “How did it go?” asked Cole after she sat down.

  “We won.”

  “That much is obvious,” replied Cole. “After all, you’re here.”

  “We lost six ships,” she continued. “That damned planet was better defended than we’d thought.”

  “How much damage did you do?”

  She shrugged. “As much as we had to. Csonti didn’t want to kill everyone. He just wanted to make sure they changed their minds about not paying their annual tribute.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong,” said Cole, “but didn’t you help us stop someone from doing just that on Bannister II?”

  “Yes,” said Val. “And we were well paid for it. This time it was the extortionist doing the paying.”

  “And you don’t see any difference?”

  “We’re supposed to be mercenaries, remember?” Val shot back. “That means our services are for hire. It’s not our job to make moral judgments.”

  “If we don’t, who will?”

  “You know something?” she said. “This is the same attitude that made you a lousy pirate. You were the one who decided we were going to give up pirating and become mercenaries. Why don’t you look the word up in your computer’s dictionary?”

  “I was there, Val. The hospital station wasn’t threatening anyone, and it had no defenses. There wasn’t a weapon, even a handgun, on the whole damned thing, just three hundred very sick Men and aliens, and some dedicated doctors.”

  “You were there?” she said, surprised. “I never saw you.”

  “We finished evacuating the station before you got there. You didn’t know that, and you blew it to pieces.”

  “Not me,” she said. “I landed and took over the parliament building, or whatever they call the damned thing.”

  “Someone in your fleet hit it. If we hadn’t gotten there first, you’d have killed four hundred people who had no means of defending themselves. Is that the kind of mercenary you want to be?”

  “Damn it, Cole! I told you I didn’t do it!”

  “And I told you the guy you work for did it, or ordered it done.”

  “I’m not my brother’s keeper.”

  “Any guy who goes after a hospital sure as hell needs one,” said Cole.

  “You’re not paying attention,” said Val. “I had nothing to do with the fucking hospital station! I was fighting hand-to-hand on the planet.”

  “Thereby freeing someone else to blow up the hospital station.”

  “Someone else!” she snapped. “Not me! Were you responsible for every bomb the Navy dropped on Teroni civilians?”

  “I don’t think I’m getting through to you at all,” replied Cole.

  “I made three million Maria Theresa dollars for three days’ work,” said Val
. “You have four hundred people who owe you their lives. How much did you make?”

  “Not a single credit.”

  “What happened on Prometheus III was going to happen whether I helped Csonti or not. There’s probably five thousand more people alive today because I helped end the action sooner. If I hadn’t signed on, someone else would have. This place”—she waved a hand to indicate the whole of Singapore Station—“is lousy with people who will hire out to do just about anything.”

  “When we got the Pegasus back for you from the Hammerhead Shark, do you remember why you chose to stay on the Teddy R instead?” said Cole.

  Val shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Situations change,” she said.

  “Some things change, some don’t,” said Cole. “You said you were going to stay because your crew had sold you out, while mine had given up their careers and even their citizenship for me, and you wanted to find out how to inspire that kind of loyalty.” He paused. “They didn’t do it because I side with extortionists. They didn’t do it because I ally myself with people who destroy hospitals. They didn’t do it because—”

  “You’re Navy,” she interrupted. “You were all trained one way. I wasn’t. Damn it, you said we were going to be mercenaries. Well, I’m a mercenary. What are you?”

  Cole was about to answer when there was a sudden commotion across the room.

  “What the hell’s going on there?” said the Duke.

  Suddenly bodies were being flung in every direction, and they could hear Csonti’s deep bass voice bellowing in rage.

  “He’s destroying my place!” exclaimed the Duke, as a pair of tables crashed to the floor under the weight of flying bodies.

  “He’ll calm down in a few minutes,” said Val. “He gets like that when he drinks too much.”

  “In a few minutes?” repeated the Platinum Duke. “In a few minutes he’ll have killed a dozen people and destroyed most of my tables!” He looked around the table. “Will you back me up?”

  “What’ll you pay me to take him?” asked Val.

  Before the Duke could answer her, Cole got to his feet. “Keep your money. I’ll ride shotgun for you.”