by G. J. Koch
“Well, I don’t want to get captured, chased or blown up. We can’t cloak because they’ll just turn on their Ultrasight, if it’s not on already. They’ve got superior firepower and my weasel of a brother leading them.” Nice to have that confirmation. Figured they’d been having a sibling chat while I was busy.
“Meaning he’ll know where you’ll go.”
“Most likely. He radioed to tell me he was going to blast me out of the ether if I didn’t cease and desist and agree to surrender.”
“Well then, we’re just going to have to go with my plan.”
“And just what plan is that?”
“Simple, yet effective. We’re going to surrender.”
CHAPTER 84
There was silence again. Presumably only because my crew were cut off from saying anything. Figured there was a lot of chat happening in the Sixty-Nine. Charmaine’s silence I put down to shock.
I looked at the Governor. He nodded. Good, the old fox was clear on where I was going. Took the assumption he was the only one. At least, I hoped so.
Charmaine cleared her throat. “Did I hear you right?”
“Yes. Surrender. Now. Oh, does Nigel Dearest know I’m flying with you?”
“Yes.”
Resisted the desire to curse or groan. “Why did you tell him?”
“He guessed. Apparently you have a ‘flying signature’.” Meaning I could fly better than the rest of this armada put together.
“Fine. Just agree to the official surrender, and insist that all your ships be pulled into the belly of whatever ship he’s on.”
“What if he asks why?”
Found myself wondering just how Charmaine had managed to lead this armada to do anything. Had to remind myself that she was following a successful blueprint and Lucky Pierre probably hadn’t had time to write the “what happens when it all goes wrong” portion before the Governor had blown his brains out.
“Tell him it’s so you can be sure he isn’t trying anything sneaky. Demand clemency and also demand to speak to the man in charge.”
“Nigel’s the man in charge.”
Took a deep breath. Let it out. Counted to ten. Got myself under control. “Do you want me to talk to him?”
“Well, it’s your plan. Whatever it is.”
“Fine. Please put us onto two-way communication that will pipe into all the ships of the armada. Please start by demanding to speak to the man in charge. He’s not on a private channel with you, not if he’s telling you to surrender in an official manner. You’re demanding so that the rest of Herion Military who are listening pay attention to this request. Broadcast to the rest of the ships in your armada so they know what you’re doing and be sure to tell Nigel that I’m speaking for you as your second-in-command.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise your people won’t do what I say, will they? And we want everyone to hear what I’m going to say, and I do mean everyone.” I looked at the Governor. “Really. I mean it. Everyone.” He nodded. Whether this meant anyone else was clear on what I wanted or he was just agreeing with me I couldn’t tell. Figured I’d find out soon enough.
“Oh. Okay. What’s your plan?”
“Just put me on the two-way!”
Interestingly, shouting at her in an authoritative manner did the trick. Really wondered what kind of mind games Junior had played on his kids—if I’d used that tone on Slinkie, I’d be nursing my groin.
“Herion Military, this is Commander de Chance.” Charmaine’s voice came over the com—assumed this meant the rest of the armada were hearing it, too. She sounded pretty good, all things considered. “I would like to speak to the officer in charge.”
Happily, Charmaine’s com being open meant Nitin’s response was also piped through. “That would be me, Commander.” Nitin sounded amused.
“Excellent. My second-in-command will be speaking to you on my behalf. Go ahead, please.” She sounded formal and cool, like she was totally in charge of things. I confirmed my initial impression—she was a really good actress.
“Nigel, buddy, how goes it?”
Thudding silence, followed by a clearing throat. “Outland, is that you?”
“Small galaxy, isn’t it? Look, I want to talk to the man in charge.”
“That would be me.”
“Really? You’re moving up in the military chain of command, aren’t you? One day, a major, the next day, a commander. Impressive.”
“Commander de Chance said you were speaking for her, Outland. Just what is it you have to say?”
“Aside from mentioning that your spaceport blowing up wasn’t my fault? We want to surrender.”
“What?” He sounded shocked. As before, belayed congratulating myself. We were nowhere close to being alive and victorious.
“I said, we want to surrender. We accept your superior firepower and give up. You got us, we’re scared, don’t shoot, we’ll be good. However, we also ask for clemency, would like to dock our ships within your battle cruiser, and would like to plead our case with the officers in charge.”
“What we?” Nitin continued to sound shocked and like he was stalling. This was clearly not what his blueprint indicated should be happening.
“Me, Charmaine—oh, sorry, Commander de Chance—a couple of others, you know, the head gang. We want to meet with the head officer—who is supposedly you even though you seemed shocked by the success of your offensive—and do the whole beg for mercy thing. And, like I said before, we want to dock our ships within yours.”
He cleared his throat. “You’re surrendering?”
“You told us to, we’re doing what you want.” I spoke with exaggerated slowness. “We’d like to surrender, have our ships docked within your cruiser, and have a face-to-face with you. Is there a problem, or are you just having trouble grasping the concept? I can talk even slower than this if that’s the case.”
There were voices murmuring in the background. Got the impression Herion Military was starting to question why Nitin wasn’t taking this offer immediately. It was standard HM policy—any offender surrendering and asking for clemency had the right to request to see the officer in charge. They also had the right to ask that their ships be docked within the main battle cruiser. This was supposed to prove the surrendering party had no intention of escaping. It had always seemed like a great way to get your main battle cruiser blown up to me, but apparently those kinds of things didn’t happen to HM.
Nitin cleared his throat again. Apparently this was a family trait when they were out of their depth. Good to know. “How do we know this isn’t a ploy?”
“Well, you have superior firepower, more numbers, and have asked for our surrender. We’re trying to comply. Why don’t you want us to surrender, Major Nitin?”
“I don’t trust you.”
“We don’t trust you, either. Let’s all not trust each other together. It’s chummier that way.”
“Don’t try any tricks, Outland.”
“Which ship are we supposed to head for, Nitin? Just asking because you seem so hesitant to make the capture of a career. I’d bet Major Lionside wouldn’t be sitting on his hands if he had the opportunity to capture the pirate armada that’s choked off Herion from the rest of the galaxy. Then again, he’s from Herion, so maybe that matters more to him than it does to you.”
Nitin didn’t just clear his throat, he practically coughed up a lung. “Just what are you implying?”
“Implying? Nothing. Flat out saying you’re not from Herion. You were born on Earth. But, truly, your being a deep-cover Earth spy isn’t important now. We’re trying to surrender. You going to let us or should we discuss your genealogy a little more?”
There was a lot of louder murmuring in the background. “Fighters will escort your ships into the cruiser.” Nitin sounded stressed. Good.
“Will that be the cruiser you, yourself, are on, Major Nitin? I’m asking under Herion Military procedure and by Herion law. You are going to follow Herion law, aren�
��t you? Even though you’re from Earth, really, you should be following the laws of the planet you’re spying on.”
“Outland, your accusations are ridiculous.”
“What accusations? I’m just stating fact, filling the time while we wait for you to accept our surrender by shooting the asteroid dust with my old buddy, Nigel Nitin, or, as I also know him, Nigel de Chance.”
“I’m not your buddy, Outland. You’re a pirate.”
“Gosh, so’s your sister. And all your relatives. Come to think of it, so are you. After all, we pirates do know each other. Charmaine, I can see why you’re upset with Nigel. He’s pretty rude. Didn’t even introduce you to the other officers with him.”
“How can you possibly think anyone would believe this insanity?” Nitin sounded like another throat clear was just around the corner. The noise in the background was getting louder and more insistent, too.
“Well, how else do you explain why you let me escape from Herion Military HQ? And why you let us blast out of Spaceport City, while you blew up the spaceport to cover our escape? And why you didn’t let your fighters actually shoot any of us? I mean, it seems sort of obvious, if you ask me. Guess that’s why you had to get rid of Lionside—he was on to you.”
“I didn’t do anything to Lionside!”
“Really? Then, where is he?”
CHAPTER 85
“Major Lionside defected and he’s with you!” Nitin’s voice was raising.
“I’m on a Chatouilleux Français Armada vessel and there is no Major Bryant Lionside anywhere near me. If you ever let us dock, we can prove that pretty easily, too.”
A different voice came through. “Captain Outland, this is Major Crissell. You and the rest of the surrendering vessels are cleared to dock within Cruiser HMV Reliant.”
“Which of the planet-sized ships is that, Crissell? They all look alike.”
“Flashing lights now.”
Some of the armada vessels started to move forward. “Belay those movements, Chatouilleux people. Crissell, are we being sent to the vessel where the officers leading this offensive are housed?”
“No. We’re sending you to the cruiser capable of housing all your ships.”
“So sorry, when did Herion Military policy change?”
Crissell sighed. “Look, fine. Send the majority of your ships to the Reliant. Yours and the command vessel head for Cruiser HMV Endeavor. Flashing red lights.”
I looked at the Governor. He nodded. “Will do.” Couldn’t have everything. “Which vessel are you on, Crissell?”
“The Reliant.”
Good. Crissell was probably a lot like Lionside. I didn’t want to get rid of Crissell. He wasn’t my enemy, he was just a guy doing his job. “Charmaine, let’s head for the Endeavor. Everyone else, head for the Reliant. Turn over all weapons to the Herion Military personnel as soon as you disembark.”
“Outland, are you crazy?” Charmaine sounded a lot like Nitin—stressed.
“We’re surrendering, Commander de Chance. Part of surrender is giving up your weapons. I could add a ‘duh’ in here, but I’m trying not to be insubordinate.”
“Fine. All Chatouilleux personnel, follow Captain Outland’s orders.”
I waited until the ten other armada ships were swallowed up by the Reliant. “All pirate vessels docked within the Reliant, Captain Outland.” Crissell seemed to be on my wavelength. Hoped this wasn’t a bad thing.
“Thanks. Charmaine, let’s head for the Endeavor. Ladies first.”
“What a gentleman you are.” She wasn’t up to Slinkie’s standards on sarcasm, but she held her own.
The command ship flew into the belly of the big cruiser. I followed. Every instinct I had wanted me to run. I didn’t because my brain was still in charge, and it knew we had to defang Nitin or everything else we’d done was worthless. Besides, I wasn’t giving up the Sixty-Nine to Herion Military. I was giving up an armada vessel.
Everyone’s seen the holos where some smaller ship is dragged into the belly of the big imperial cruiser against said smaller ship’s will. We weren’t being dragged, but I could still hear the ominous music playing in the background.
“Outland, are you humming?” Charmaine sounded upset and annoyed.
“What of it?”
“It’s creepy. Cut it out.”
“Oh, yes, ma’am.” What was everyone’s problem with humming?
While we were docking the fighters started to come in as well. Realized Crissell hadn’t been kidding—there wasn’t a lot of room in the docking area. In addition to our two ships and the myriad fighters, there were evacuation ships. Nothing fancy, just enough to pack your people in and fly off or make a jump to safety. Just as well. I wanted more than just Charmaine’s side of things crippled, but I might be able to do it without that whole pesky mass murder thing.
Docking inside a cruiser’s a lot like docking at a spaceport. In some ways, it’s easier. The GravCreates on ships generate optimal landing conditions, cruisers have a variety of failsafes built in to prevent landing crashes, and the emergency systems are normally faster and better maintained than those planetside. There’s more terror involved in blowing up in space.
As with everything else about Herion, their cruiser docking ran on extra-crispy. We were in and hooked to cables within a matter of minutes. “All crew, disembark and provide your weapons to Herion Military personnel.” Well, all crew other than me. Slid my laser into my inner jacket pocket.
The Governor and I waited until sensors showed our entire crew was off the ship. Then he shut all communications down. “I know what you’re planning. But it’s at least a two-man operation.”
“Yep.” I handed him everything else that mattered, weapons-wise, other than the Plastiques. Who knew when someone would want a treat? I took the matter-shifter off and put it over his head. “You stay here and take care of things. Get back to the others as soon as you’re done.”
“How do you plan to get back? I know you aren’t planning to die nobly.”
“Why the sarcasm? Like you’re ever planning to die, let alone nobly?”
“Your plan for escape, Alexander. What is it?” He sounded annoyed and worried. Nice to know he cared.
I grinned. “You don’t tell your Uncle Oldie your entire plan in case he gets captured, is going senile, or just has a senior moment. You tell him just enough to make sure he can do his part.”
The Governor gave me a long look. “Out of all the miscreants in all the galaxy, how is it I’m saddled with you?”
I shrugged as I headed out of the cockpit. “You’re attached to staying alive. And, like everyone else, you love the Outland.”
CHAPTER 86
Walked down the ramp to see a whole lot of Herion guns pointing at me. I’d found a couple of stray lasershots on my way out of the ship and tossed them to the nearest military goon. Looked around. Didn’t see any familiar faces in uniform.
“Where’s Nitin?”
One of the Herion officers stepped forward. “Major Nitin’s orders were to bring you and Commander de Chance to him, only. All others needs must go directly into custody.” So Nitin still had the major title, not commander.
“I protest,” Charmaine said.
“Works for me,” I said. Charmaine glared at me—nowhere close to the eagle-glare, let along vulture. Slinkie pretty much outbid this girl’s ante in all ways. I was relieved Charmaine was keeping her mouth shut about the Governor. Hopefully she realized he was going to be our secret weapon. “Let’s go. Let the troops deal with the, uh, troops. We need to chat with your brother.”
She rolled her eyes, but nodded. A small cadre of officers surrounded us. The rest of the military goons took the rest of the de Chance goons into custody.
I was fascinated that no one searched us. Didn’t want to question it, since I didn’t want either my laser or the Plastiques found, but it was still surprising. Wasn’t sure if they were following Nitin’s or Crissell’s orders, or if Herion didn’t believ
e in on-ship strip searches. It would make them the only law enforcement I’d ever heard of that didn’t. Maybe it was the steroids.
Paid careful attention to where they took us, noting shipmarks and such that would identify how to get back to the docking area. Conveniently, we took an elevator to the command bridge. Inconveniently a code was required to make the elevator work and my view of the keypad was obstructed. On purpose, as near as I could tell.
Herion did command bridges just like all the other successful, highly militarized planets—impressive two-story structure, complete with metal stairs and railings, lots and lots of bells, whistles and view screens, nice walkway/viewing area for the commander to stand picturesquely and look all commanding and impressive. Needless to say, Nitin was up there, staring out into space. I looked around. Nope, no one was doing a portrait or taking a picture of any kind—the display was for me and Charmaine. Lucky us.
Nitin wasn’t alone, however. There were several other officers with him. I got the impression they weren’t sure if they could trust him. Good, hopefully this indicated my plan was working so far.
We were led up the stairs. It was a decent drop to the lower level, but you did have a clear view of pretty much everything from here. The other ships in the fleet were on a block of screens on the opposite wall. Looked like all the de Chance Family Players were in some form of custody.
The entire Trennile system was on-screen as well. The only ships were Herion Military. Good. My crew were still on Trennile 7. I spotted the usual command center paraphernalia, including communications, which I hoped were on two-way, a variety of weapons and tactical monitors and equipment, and the bay of escape pods. Wanted your head guys to be able to get away, after all.
Nitin turned and gave me a very satisfied smile. “Nice to see you, Outland.”
