The Tanith Gambit

by Dietmar Wehr

  “Thank you. The Gilgamesh transport has to stay here for the time being. We’ll need her to take back the troops that she brought here in the first place. I’ll be meeting with Prince-Protector Simon in about an hour. I’ll inform him of your concerns regarding a Space Viking attack on Marduk and I may ask him what he thinks of plans B and C.” Trask paused then said.

  “I’d like to get our ships back to Tanith so that they can be repaired as soon as possible. Check with Simon’s military staff and see if they still need our troops for mopping up. If not, then we can send the troop transport back in convoy with our damaged ships. I’ll be staying here for a while longer and I’ll keep one of our pinnaces here to take me home later. As my Second in Command, I’d like you to take charge of things at home until I return. I’m sure that Paytrick Morland is doing a fine job of keeping an eye on things but I’d feel better if you were looking after my planet for me.” Before Trask could say anything else, Harkaman, with a smile on his face asked.

  “Does that mean I won’t be invited to the wedding, Lucas?” Harkaman’s smile broke out into outright laughter as he saw the surprised expression on Trask’s face.

  “I’ve only just decided a few hours ago to ask the Lady Valerie to marry me! Is it that obvious to everyone around here?” Harkaman chuckled.

  “What’s obvious is how you feel about her and she you. I’m surprised that you hadn’t already decided that before the Battle of Marduk but I guess you were pre-occupied with balancing the books on Andray Dunnan.” Both men turned serious again.

  “Yes. I didn’t want to even think about marrying again until Elaine’s murder had been avenged. As for the wedding, it may be here on Marduk or it may be back on Tanith. If the Lady Valerie says yes then she and I will decide together where the wedding will be held.” Harkaman had a twinkle in his eye when he said.

  “Oh she’ll say yes and if you two decide to wait until you’re back on Tanith to get married, you both should have your heads examined!” Trask nodded and pointed his finger at Harkaman.

  “Well, Admiral…I guess that means that you WON’T be able to attend the wedding!” Both men laughed and Harkaman raised a toast to the new Princess of Tanith. When they were finished toasting Princess Valerie, Harkaman said.

  “I’ll be sorry to miss that wedding, Lucas but I understand why. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave and carry out your orders.”

  “Thank you, Otto. I’ll let you know how my meeting with Simon went.” After Harkaman left, Trask left his quarters and walked quickly down the corridor to where the Lady Valerie’s quarters were. He activated the buzzer and when he heard her ask who it was, he told her. Seconds later he was inside and she was in his arms. After a long, tender kiss, she said.

  “I’m glad you’re back safe. I was worried about you when I heard that you had to attend to an urgent matter that none of your officers was willing to tell me about. Did it have something to do with that man, Dunnan, that you’re hunting?” Trask’s final confrontation with Andray Dunnan had left a sour taste in his mouth and he really didn’t want to talk about it but brushing her off now wouldn’t create the right atmosphere for asking her to marry him.

  “Yes…his own men gave him up to save their lives.” When it was clear to Valerie that he wasn’t going to say any more she asked.

  “Is he…dead?” Her voice was hesitant. It was almost as if she didn’t really want to know the answer but felt compelled to ask.

  “Yes.” A pause followed by. “I shot him.” He felt her embrace tighten as she hugged him fiercely. Then she pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes.

  “You’ve changed. I can see it in your face…your eyes. Even when you smiled I could see that there was a sadness around your eyes. That sadness is gone now and I’m glad it is. We can put that behind us now, can’t we, My Lord?” Trask looked into her deep blue eyes and felt at peace with himself and with his ghosts.

  “Yes. I have changed. I’m no longer a Space Viking Prince. From today on, I’m the Prince of a Civilized World and I want to build instead of destroy. My thirst for vengeance is gone. The madness is indeed behind us.” He took a deep breath and said.

  “I know that Tanith can’t compare with Marduk in terms of the size of our cities or population but I’m hoping that you’ll agree to be my wife and help build my realm into a prosperous and peaceful world. What say you, Lady Alvarath?” She pressed her cheek up against his and whispered.

  “Yes, yes! A thousand times yes! Let’s have the Wedding as soon as possible. My body and soul aches for you, My Lord.” They kissed passionately and then again tenderly.

  “I have to go now to meet with Prince-Protector Simon but when I come back, we’ll discuss the wedding and set a date.” She reluctantly let go of him and he of her as she said.

  “I’ll be praying for your swift return, My Lord.” One more quick kiss and Trask turned to leave.

  Trask had talked with Prince-Protector Simon by vid-screen several times since the Battle of Marduk and the ground fighting was over but this was the first time they’d meet in person since the battle. As Trask was shown into the office where the meeting was to be held, he realized that it was the same comfortably shabby office where he’d had his informal meeting with Queen Myrna’s now dead grandfather, the old king. Trask sat down and waited. It wasn’t long before a tired looking Simon entered the room, walked over to Trask and shook his hand. Trask started to get up but Simon stopped him.

  “No, no. Don’t get up. We may both be planetary heads of state but in private let’s just dispense with all that protocol, alright?”

  “Alright. I was planning on asking how things are going but I think I can guess from your expression. Is it that bad?” Simon let himself fall into the comfortable chair that was clearly reserved for him and shook his head sadly.

  “You’d think that after experiencing life under that lunatic Zasper Makann, the senior administrative officials would be glad to co-operate with a mentally stable regent, wouldn’t you? But no. After most of the ground fighting was over, I came to the Palace and started issuing orders. One of my first orders was for the most senior people in each of the government’s departments, that were still alive, to come to the palace for a meeting. That took a whole day to arrange. Then when they did show up, instead of briefing me on the situation within their own departments and getting direction from me as to what they should be doing now, they spent the entire meeting arguing with me that I needed to appoint a temporary Prime Minister to handle the day to day affairs of the government until a new election could be held. When I told them that I was dispensing with the position of Prime Minister and that I would be taking direct control of the government machinery, they nearly fainted with indignation! How dare I, a mere Prince of the Realm, ignore centuries of tradition! They refused to see that Marduk’s old constitutional monarchy was fundamentally flawed and had to be replaced with something more flexible.”

  “So how did you resolve the situation?” Simon was smiling as he said.

  “Well…when I’d had enough verbal abuse and obstruction, I informed them that they were all fired and that their deputies were now in charge of their departments and if they accepted their terminations and didn’t raise a fuss, I’d allow them to keep their pensions. Then I ordered the Palace Guard to escort them all out the door. Needless to say, their Deputies got the message and were more co-operative but that just meant that I found out how chaotic the current situation really is. Even the Navy is barely functioning administratively. Too many key people in the government are missing. They’re either dead or have fled to the countryside to avoid the fighting. My staff, what there is of them, is trying to convince the TV station owners to make public service broadcasts asking civil service people to return to work but they want to be paid to do it and are trying to haggle over the price! If the Army wasn’t in such awful shape, I’d order them to take over the TV stations but they are so I can’t.”

  “What about my regimen
t of ground troops? You tell me where the TV stations are and my troops will take control of them for you.”

  “Thank you, Lucas. When I think of how close Marduk came to suffering under Dunnan’s reign of terror, it makes me physically ill. We were so proud of our planet and look how low it’s fallen. If it wasn’t for your ships and troops, my family and I would either be dead or in exile. Thank you again.”Trask raised his hand and shook his head sadly.

  “Don’t thank me too much. Some of those ships I brought with me are very likely to put everyone on Marduk in serious danger. I’ve just finished a strategic planning session with Admiral Harkaman. He’s of the opinion that those three Viking ships that we sent to loot Drepplin, will eventually reach one or more Viking bases, most likely Xochtil, and Prince Viktor will learn that the Royal Marduk Navy has taken heavy losses with the planet trying to recover from a civil war. Those three Viking captains will also pass on to him and any other Viking captain, how wealthy Marduk is and how full of potential loot it is. Otto is convinced that Viktor will try to assemble a fleet of Viking ships to raid Marduk. With his successful mission to Gram under his belt, he’ll have the credibility to convince enough other Viking captains to follow him here. The more ships join this new mission, the easier it’ll be to overwhelm your fleet and Marduk would be the target for multiple waves of Vikings because you won’t have enough time between raids to build up your defenses.” Simon’s face lost all its color and his expression changed from weariness to shock.

  “That’s terrible! Can anything be done to prevent it?” Trask told Simon about Plans B and C. By the time he finished, Simon’s face had regained its color.

  “Yes, a Mutual Defense Treaty makes a lot of sense although in the short run, it appears that Marduk will benefit more from it than Tanith will. Have you decided which of the two options you want to take?”

  “Yes, I have. Space Viking Prince Lucas would have chosen Plan C but Civilized World Prince Lucas is going to go with Plan B. Tanith already has defense treaties with Amaterasu and Beowulf. With a treaty between Tanith and Marduk, I think the older and wiser Viking captains will decide to look for easier pickings elsewhere. Prince Viktor might have King Konrad to back him up but I don’t think Konrad will thank his cousin if Haulteclere ends up in a war with four Old Federation worlds.”

  “I hope you and Admiral Harkaman are right about older and wiser heads playing it safe. The Admiral was right about our naval academy and technical schools being able to train crews quickly. All our ships have double crews. Did you know that?” Trask shook his head. “We found that crew morale improved considerably if crews had equal time off from duty so instead of having half the fleet on the ground at any given point in time, it was decided to have two complete crews for each ship. When one crew returns from a patrol, the other crew takes the ship back out again. It isn’t quite that simple but it means our ships can be operational over 90% of the time. That’s also how Makann was able to find enough turncoat navy people to operate those four navy ships. I was able to find out that most of the personnel assigned to those ships stayed loyal and were dismissed from the Navy. Naturally, we’ll encourage them to come back. But if you did want to go with Plan C, we could stretch our existing ship crews to man another 4-6 ships while the naval academy and the technical schools institute a crash program to graduate people faster. You know, Lucas, if my planet wasn’t in such a mess…” Simon didn’t finish the sentence but the sentiment was clear.

  “I think you’ve made the wise choice, Lucas and I’ll have a draft treaty for you to look at before you return to Tanith. I assume that you’ll want to get back as soon as you can.”

  “Well, yes and no. Lady Valerie has accepted my proposal of marriage and we’ll be having the wedding here on Marduk.” He was about to say more but was interrupted by Simon’s roar of approval. The two men stood and shook hands again.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! That’s wonderful news. I was wondering when you’d get around to that. Lucile will be pleased too.” He paused, his smile becoming slightly less so. “Hmm. Princess Myrna might not be so happy when she realizes that her favorite companion will be leaving her to go live on Tanith but she’ll understand when she’s older. Have you set the date yet?”

  “No, not yet. I’ve only just proposed within the last hour!” Simon laughed and called for a servant to bring champagne. When the champagne arrived, Simon raised a toast to Lucas’ and Valerie’s happiness and Lucas echoed that toast. Simon insisted that the wedding take place at the Palace and that he’d have his staff confer with Lady Valerie to work out the details. Trask wondered if that would delay the actual date of the wedding, given how overworked Simon’s staff was but kept his doubts to himself. After a few more minutes of pleasant chitchat, Trask took his leave and Simon sat pondering what his friend had told him about a possible Space Viking attack on Marduk. Getting the Navy functioning smoothly again was now even more of a priority. He wondered when Admiral Bargham would arrive from Gimli with the rest of the fleet.

  As it turned out, the Lady Valerie had similar doubts about the involvement of the Palace staff and a quick wedding but agreed that Trask had no choice but to accept the offer. She promised him that she would try to get as early a date for the wedding as possible. As they held each other in her quarters, Trask was tempted to suggest that they not wait for their wedding night to become intimate. Sexual mores on Gram were not as conservative as on Marduk from what he could see, although he and Elaine had refrained from engaging in sexual intimacy, prior to the wedding, out of respect for her father’s wishes on the subject. While Trask was not inexperienced when it came to sex, he’d been celibate since meeting Elaine for the first time and that was how many years ago now? It took him a few seconds to remember. He was about to put his hand on Valerie’s derriere when he remembered that Boake and Captain Trevord were waiting to meet with him. He could make them wait but he didn’t want his and Valerie’s first time to be rushed so he kissed her instead and told her that any date she could arrange would be fine with him.

  Chapter II

  As Trask entered the Wardroom, he saw that both Captains were there as was Harkaman. Trask wondered how his two captains would react to the news that Tanith was out of the Space Viking base business. After sitting down at the head of the table he said.

  “I’ve just come back from a meeting with Prince-Protector Simon. He’s agreed to my suggestion that Tanith and Marduk sign a Mutual Defense Treaty and his staff will be getting a draft ready for me to look at as soon as possible. I also informed the Prince-Protector that Tanith will cease operating as a Space Viking base. As soon as we get back, we’ll turn away any Viking ship that arrives wanting repairs or to sell loot. Tanith is a Civilized World and Civilized Worlds don’t support Space Vikings. Nemesis and Corisande will become part of the Royal Navy of Tanith and I’m hoping that both of you and your crews and your two ships will do the same.” Valkanhayn and Trevord looked at each other. Trevord was clearly shocked by the decision. Boake’s expression was more sad than shocked. It was he who spoke first.

  “Prince Lucas, I owe you a lot. You helped me regain my self-respect and the last few years in your service have been profitable. I personally would be willing to pledge my allegiance to you and join your navy. I think that most of my officers and some of the crew would feel the same but the rest won’t. They’ll want to continue raiding other planets and as you know, my ship is owned collectively by the whole crew. If the majority decides to leave Tanith and continue raiding, I won’t be able to stop them.” Trask was expecting to hear something like that and he’d already figured out his response.

  “I realize that if your crew elects to leave Tanith, and you stay in my service, that you’ll suffer a financial loss of your partial ownership interest in the Space Scourge. I’ll compensate you and any of the others, who join my Navy, for that loss but I’d rather have the ship and all of its crew. If the crew elects to join my Navy, I’ll buy the ship outright from you and the cre
w. Most of that price would have to be in land or buildings but it’ll have value nonetheless and as Tanith’s population increases over time, that value will increase. I think your crew should understand the situation they’re in. Right now, the Space Scourge is heavily damaged. Normally, she’d be repaired by my shipyard on Tanith, no questions asked. But if the crew elects to go their own way, not only will they have to figure out how to run the ship with most of its officers gone, they’ll also have to figure out how to get the ship repaired when they don’t have any loot in the cargo holds to pay for those repairs and since Tanith will no longer repair Space Viking ships, they’ll have to get those repairs done somewhere else. I somehow don’t think that Prince Viktor or Nicky Gratham or any of the other base owners will give them credit towards repairs, do you?” Valkanhayn shook his head.