A Covenant of Justice

by David Gerrold

  “This close to a gravity well?” Captain Campbell looked at Sawyer as if astonished at his foolhardiness. “Just what do you use for brains, tracker? If we tried anything that foolhardy, we’d shred the vessel.”

  “I beg your pardon? You have the audacity to say that—after that little escape maneuver off of Dupa?”

  “We only take calculated risks,” Campbell said stiffly. “Go take a look in the engine room and then tell me how you feel about otherspace.”

  At first, Sawyer didn’t realize the import of her words. Then it sank in. “The Lady MacBeth has a singularity stardrive?! Good God!”

  “You have a problem with that?” Her eyes narrowed and her expression hardened. “Would you like to visit the airlock instead?”

  “No, no, not at all,” he protested. “I apologize. Forgive me for my stupidity. Perhaps I misremembered what I’d learned about stardrives. I’d heard that singularity drives have . . . uh, sometimes demonstrated a notorious finickiness, a tendency to collapse the surrounding vessel. I suppose that some people get nervous in the proximity of a pinpoint black hole and just can’t accept reality of a very tricky piece of applied physics at faster-than-light velocities. I know I have a great deal of trouble with it myself, and I studied otherspace mechanics once.” Sawyer began to feel embarrassed. His mouth seemed to have taken on an embarrassing life of its own.

  Captain Campbell allowed herself the slightest of smiles. “You may relax,” she said. “I don’t take responsibility for what other singularity vessels have done. But this one will not go fwooop! any time in the near future. Not while I have anything to say about it.”

  Sawyer nodded politely. “I find that very reassuring. Thank you, Captain. I’ll certainly feel a lot better about this voyage now.”

  “Good!” Captain Campbell patted his arm and smiled sweetly. “Oh, by the way—you do know that I’ll have to bill you for that missed rendezvous on Thoska-Roole. We had a great deal of trouble arranging that, you know.”

  Sawyer gritted his teeth. “I had hoped we could talk about that. . . .”

  Captain Campbell remained smiling. “We just did.”

  “Um . . . right. Thank you.”

  “Whatever else we can do to make your journey as pleasant as possible, don’t hesitate to ask me or any of my crew members. Now, if you’ll excuse me—” She nodded and made her way forward.

  Sawyer stared after her, puzzled. Had she made that last statement in earnest or had he detected the slightest bit of mockery in her tone?

  Damn! But he did find her attractive. Very attractive.

  Challenge

  Aboard The Golden Fury, a bright red messenger lizard came running to the Dragon Lord’s quarters with an urgent message.

  Sensors showed a freebooter vessel trying to break the blockade. Furthermore, the suspect ship, The Lady MacBeth had brought the Lady Zillabar to Thoska-Roole on her last journey; her Captain had since resigned from the Spacer’s Guild and (according to reliable intelligence on both Thoska-Roole and Dupa) had sworn vengeance against both the Lady and the Regency. Captain Neena Linn-Campbell also helped several rebels escape from Thoska-Roole, including her own first officer. “We also have reason to believe that she harbors considerable resentment against the Dragon Lord over the recent confiscation of a warehouse of prime pfingle eggs.”

  The Dragon Lord didn’t need to have it all explained to him. If the rebels who’d captured Lady Zillabar needed a freebooter willing to break the blockade, Captain Campbell certainly met the necessary requirements of skill and rebelliousness.

  As the Dragon Lord stumped heavily toward the bridge of the starship, the little red lizard continued to brief him on the situation. “The Lady MacBeth performed several unusual—and extremely dangerous—upper atmosphere maneuvers to retrieve her shuttleboat and evade the orbital marauders. She has a singularity stardrive so she’ll need to get quite a ways out of the gravity well before she can risk a transit to overdrive. Captain ‘Ga Lunik has anticipated your orders and already put us on an interception course.”

  The Dragon Lord grunted. At the moment, he cared less about the fate of Zillabar, or even of the possible interception of the freebooter. Getting free of the oppression of d’Vashti pleased him more. Someday, Dragons would no longer have to kneel before Vampires. He hoped to live long enough to humble d’Vashti himself.

  It could happen. He had deliberately fostered the rebellious Alliance of Life, by carefully not targeting its leaders for many years; and as a result, they had taken Zillabar out of the picture for him. Perhaps soon, they would take down d’Vashti—and the Dragons could assume their rightful role of leadership over the Cluster. Who else had the strength to rule? If history taught anything, it taught that strength always ruled.

  The Dragon Lord entered the command level of the bridge of The Golden Fury, looking almost pleased. Captain ‘Ga Lunik even advanced to meet him and brief him directly, a sure sign that the politics of the situation had begun to improve again. “We’ve powered up, but we have so much more mass than the freebooter that it significantly affects our ability to maneuver and accelerate. Nevertheless, they have to get well out of the gravity well before they can risk a transit. Our best calculations suggest that we will overtake them in ten minutes. We have a very short window of opportunity, but we have an excellent chance to put a tractor beam on them.”

  “Good,” rumbled the Dragon Lord. “Let’s take them alive. It will suit both of our purposes to have this triumph.”

  “An excellent thought,” agreed ‘Ga Lunik, careful not to assign it the credential of an order, or even the value of a suggestion. He had learned this lesson well and would give the Dragon Lord nothing to take home again except only the barest of victories that would suit his own purposes as well.

  ‘Ga Lunik stepped over to the astrogational display and studied the sweeping curves, lines, and shaded triangles. Despite The Lady MacBeth’s rapid approach into the ellipse of possible interceptions, The Golden Fury had the advantage of position. They did not have to overtake The Lady MacBeth. Rather, the freebooter vessel would do most of the overtaking itself; the Imperial vessel needed only to use its forward position to maximum advantage, making it impossible for the smaller vessel to elude their greater power and weaponry. The freebooter ship could not change course to avoid them without losing valuable time and distance and making itself even more vulnerable to interception; they had no choice but to accelerate fiercely ahead.

  ‘Ga Lunik turned to his executive officer. “Signal The Lady MacBeth. Tell them to shut down their engines immediately. We intend to intercept, board, and inspect. Tell them we will destroy them if they resist.”

  A moment later, a very embarrassed executive officer returned to report to his Captain. “I regret to inform you, sir, that they have rejected your signal.”

  “What did they say?”

  “I would prefer not to repeat it on the bridge of an Imperial starship, sir.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “Sir—” The exec looked very uncomfortable.

  The Dragon Lord stumped over angrily to loom over them both. “Speak it!” he roared to the exec.

  “Yes, sir.” The exec cleared his throat. “The Captain of The Lady Macbeth says, and I quote this, sir, she said, ‘Tell your lizard-sucking Captain and his egg-stealing Dragon Lord that they can go straight to the handmaiden’s hell where they both belong.’”

  ‘Ga Lunik kept his outer face bland. He avoided looking at the Dragon Lord, but he could tell by the sudden rush of hot breath on his back that the Dragon Lord had not appreciated the sentiment either.

  “Did you tell them that we would destroy them if they resisted?”

  “They said—” the exec swallowed hard. “Captain Campbell said, ‘Go ahead.’ Actually, she said, ‘Go ahead, you pig-brained, thieving, Regency whores.’ She also said, ‘We have the Lady Zillabar. Fire on us at your own risk. If you take any hostile action against this vessel, we will kill her immediately�
�’” The exec stopped himself, took a breath, and started again. “Actually, she said, ‘We will kill the bitch painfully and then self-destruct. Do not approach under any circumstances.’”

  Captain ‘Ga Lunik considered the import of this message for three long seconds, wondering if he had just reached the limits of his ability to wend his way through the labyrinthine politics of the Regency. He turned around and looked up at the Dragon Lord behind him. “I have always appreciated the value of your thoughts, your excellency. . . .”

  The Dragon Lord grunted without thinking. “So what? If she dies, she dies. Perhaps she has outlived her usefulness to the Regency.”

  “My lord—?” ‘Ga Lunik’s face went pale with astonishment.

  “You heard me!” the Dragon roared. “Who do you serve? The Lady or the Dragon? Or do you wish to kneel to d’Vashti’s sons the rest of your life?”

  ‘Ga Lunik considered his alternatives. None had promise. But clearly, the Lady Zillabar had somehow lost her influence. Without her, d’Vashti’s power would crumble too. In that vacuum that came after, a new leader would have many opportunities to rise to power. Who better than the loyal commander of the Imperial flagship? Hm, yes.

  ‘Ga Lunik turned back to his exec. “Intercept them. As soon as you have them in range, grab them with a beam. Pull them in. If they fire, hit them with low level disruptors. Don’t breach hull integrity—and watch out. They’ve got a singularity stardrive. Don’t bobble their fluction. I don’t want a pinpoint running loose.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Oh, and one more thing.” ‘Ga Lunik added, “Send this signal. Whatever harm befalls the Lady Zillabar, every person aboard that ship will experience the same thing, ten times over. A hundred. A thousand.” Privately, he added, but no matter what else happens, I intend to personally break the spine and drink the blood of that insolent bitch, Captain Neena Linn-Campbell.

  Interception

  Standing on the bridge of The Lady MacBeth, Star-Captain Neena Linn-Campbell chewed on a nail thoughtfully as she considered her options.

  Unfortunately, she had no options.

  The mechanics of acceleration, vector, and trajectory made interception inevitable. The laws of physics had a certain irrevocable nastiness. If you stepped off the top of a cliff, sooner or later you would bump up against a very unpleasant and very hard fact; sudden changes in velocity or direction, while theoretically possible, carry an impossibly high price in practice.

  She had gambled that The Lady MacBeth could outmaneuver and outrun the orbital marauders and she had won that gamble. She had gambled that The Golden Fury would not pursue, or that its position would prevent it from mounting an effective interception. She had lost that gamble. The great Imperial starship had powered up almost immediately for interception. In only a few moments more, the final confrontation would occur.

  Her crew stood at their posts and waited for her decision. Ota, the panda-like First Officer; Robin, the android exec and astrogator; Gito, the high-gravity dwarf and chief engineer; Shariba-Jen, the robot who didn’t need a title and simply performed every job required of him—all of them represented a responsibility that she had never acknowledged with words, and certainly never in their presence; but she held her commitment to their welfare as sacred as she held her commitment to the profitability of the Shakespeare corporation. They trusted her with their lives. In return, she held no higher priority.

  She didn’t dare let Zillabar live. Once restored to power, Zillabar would take the most ferocious revenge against her and everyone else aboard The Lady MacBeth. On the other hand, so would the Dragon Lord. She really had no choice. As a dead freebooter, she could deny them even the luxury of revenge. “EDNA,” she said. “Stand by for self-destruct, on my command.”

  “Aww,” said the A.I. engine, petulantly. “Not again.”

  “This time I mean it.”

  “Sure, Captain—just like you meant it all the other times.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  EDNA didn’t answer.

  “I thought so. If anyone from The Golden Fury attempts to board this ship, or if they attempt to disable us, I will give the final self-destruct authorization. Additionally, I grant you authorization to destroy this ship within 60 seconds of my death or at the forcible removable of myself or anyone else currently aboard. Unless I countermand the order. Have you got that?”

  “Don’t I always get it? Do you prefer a specific method of dissolution?”

  “The usual.”

  “Hm.” EDNA considered that for several thousandths of a second. “I believe that The Golden Fury intends to intercept us, connect with a tractor beam, and board us with armed troops. In such an event, a deliberate malfluction of the singularity would also destroy The Golden Fury and all aboard her. My sacredness of life programming demands that I request a specific override command from you before I can activate such a self-destruct sequence.”

  “Right,” said Neena Linn-Campbell. She rubbed her ear and frowned. “I grant you full authorization to override all of your sacredness of life routines if necessary in order to destroy this vessel and any other vessel in close proximity, including all hostiles. This order shall remain in effect until one of two events occurs, either I countermand it directly, or you execute the self-destruct. After executing the self-destruct, you may re-enable your sacredness of life routines.”

  “Aye, aye, Cap’n.” After a moment, EDNA reported. “The Golden Fury will have us in range of her tractor beams within three minutes.”

  Captain Campbell looked to her crew. “Does anyone object to my decision? Does anyone here wish to surrender?”

  Ota looked to Robin. Robin looked to Gito. Gito looked to Shariba-Jen. Shariba-Jen looked back to Captain Campbell. “Did you intend that question for anyone on this bridge, Captain?”

  “Thank you,” said Neena Linn-Campbell. “I appreciate the acknowledgment.”

  “Acknowledgment, hell,” grumbled Gito. “I just don’t want to end up on the Dragon Lord’s plate.”

  “Ota, take the Conn. I’ll go tell our passengers.”

  As Captain Campbell entered the main salon, she felt a dull thump that resonated throughout the starship. “I assume you all felt that,” she said. “The Imperial Starship, The Golden Fury has caught us in a tractor beam. We will attempt to make it as difficult as possible for them to reel us in, but you may expect that they will clamp onto this ship within the hour.”

  Sawyer and Lee both started to protest. William Three-Dollar stood up alarmed. Finn, still looking weak and frail, shook his head vigorously. Azra held Nyota tightly on her lap; M’bele stepped close to his daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. Ibaka wept in fear, but the Dragon Kask picked the dog-child up in his huge hands and cradled him gently. Arl-N stood resolutely still.

  She held up a hand for silence. “I have made a decision,” Captain Campbell said firmly, “based on my situation and my knowledge of your situation. If they try to board us or disable us, this vessel will self-destruct through a singularity fluction. We should also destroy The Golden Fury at the same time, a result that may afford some of you some comfort. We have informed them of our intent; I don’t know if they believe my threat or not. They have underestimated all of us in the past. At this point though, I would expect that they will try and take us under tow and return us to orbit around Dupa.”

  She allowed her exhaustion to show. “If that happens, then very quickly, we will have a standoff. A state of siege. If they believe my threat to self-destruct, they won’t dare try to board us or disable us. We can’t give up. We know that. On the other hand, they can’t let us go without making the Regency look ineffective. The standoff can only continue as long as we can maintain air, water, food, and associated life support functions. They will get stronger with time. We will get weaker. Whatever advantage we might have in such a situation will erode quickly. In this case, both sides have a Dragon by the tail. Neither can hang on. Neither can let go. Theref
ore—” she ran a hand through her hair. “—I will not let the siege continue more than twenty-four hours. I’ll set a deadline. If they don’t release us, we’ll trigger the fluction.”

  Harry Mertz spoke first. “We have no chance at all then?”

  Captain Campbell shook her head. “I don’t believe in miracles. Although occasionally, I’ve had to depend on them. You might pray. If anyone aboard believes in the power of random happenstance, you might want to cast some hexagrams now. Beyond that—” she shrugged, helplessly. “If anyone else has any ideas, let’s hear them.”

  No one spoke. Even the two TimeBinders remained thoughtful and silent.

  “I thought not.” She went to the rear wall and opened a hidden panel, revealing an impressive brace of weaponry, enough to start a small war. “If by any chance, the plan fails and Dragons and Vampires somehow gain access to this vessel, feel free to defend yourselves appropriately.”

  Lee and Sawyer and Arl-N moved first to the cabinet. They began selecting equipment. Sawyer noticed Finn waving weakly at him and pulled down a small hand-weapon that his brother could manage effectively, considering his still-weakened condition. Lee passed out weapons to the others, leaving out only Nyota and Ibaka.

  Even Three-Dollar took a rifle, though he seemed to have a different purpose than the others. If it became necessary, he intended to destroy the TimeBands. First Nyota’s, then his own.

  Captain Campbell returned to the bridge slowly, finally feeling her age.

  As she stepped out onto the command deck of her vessel, she felt the clang of the first grapples. She grabbed hold of the railing with both hands and hung her head in despair. She bit her lip and waited for the sound of a docking tube connecting to the rear airlock.

  The Pfickle Pfingle of Pfate

  Seemingly motionless, The Golden Fury hung silent in space, with the tail end of The Lady MacBeth held firmly in its tractonic grapples. A long thin docking tube extended, matched sockets with the airlock of the much smaller vessel, and connected to the harness ring with a solid set of clicks and thunks. Air filled the tube and it inflated with a whoosh, becoming purposefully erect.