The Stones of Silence_Cochrane's Company_Book One

by Peter Grant

  Cochrane nodded, a sour expression on his face. “It’s another variation on the Golden Rule. This version says, ‘Do unto others what they’re trying to do unto you – but do it first’. I don’t like it any more than you do, but you’re right. Realistically, what choice do we have?”

  “Yes, sir. With your permission, I’d like to form a ‘hard team’, for want of a better description. It’ll have three or four interrogators, willing to do whatever it takes to learn what we need to know. We’ll give them the interrogation kit we captured last night, and analyze its drugs at molecular level, so we can make more if we need them. I’d like to build up another kit or two like it, if possible. The ‘hard team’ will have normal security duties until the need arises. When it does, they’ll be issued their gear and turned loose on our prisoners.”

  “You do realize that people like that are likely to have at least an element of the sociopath in their makeup?”

  “Yes, sir; but sometimes, a sociopath you can point in the direction of the enemy, then turn loose, isn’t a bad thing to have on your side – if you can keep him under control, that is.”

  Cochrane stared at him for a long moment, tapping his fingers on the desk… then he nodded. “All right, Senior Chief. I’ll authorize your ‘hard team’ – but dammit, I feel sick inside for doing so!”

  “You and me both, sir. Unfortunately, we have scruples. Our enemies don’t, and that gives them an edge. They won’t hesitate, where we will. The only way we’re going to win is to overcome our hesitation reflex and do unto them first, like you said. I guess, in the process, we can’t avoid becoming a little like them.”

  “True, perhaps… but it doesn’t make me feel any better to acknowledge it.”

  “Nor me, sir. Nor me.”

  Cochrane nodded. “Very well. As of right now, we have a new Headquarters department, Security. I’m commissioning you as a Lieutenant-Commander with immediate effect, to command it. Appoint a Lieutenant under you to head up the guard detachment, and another Lieutenant to lead the assault unit. Pick whomever you please. They can have whatever subordinate officers and senior NCO’s you think they need.”

  Tom stared, then grinned. “Me an officer, sir? Are you sure the company wardroom will be able to stand the strain?”

  “I reckon so. If not, we’ll use those who can’t as moving targets for your teams!”

  Frank Haldane arrived three weeks later, aboard a freighter carrying miscellaneous cargo around a circular route of minor planets. He registered at the space station under a false identity as a transient merchant spacer, and booked into the spacer’s barracks. He was not surprised to find five of his team members already staying there, also using assumed names. They celebrated their safe reunion in one of the space station’s restaurants over tocana de vita, a rich beef stew served with noodles, and a passable local red wine.

  He called Hawkwood Corporation next morning. The company, forewarned by Henry Martin, had been expecting their arrival. Planetary visit permits were immediately arranged for the ‘visiting spacers’, complete with rooms at a comfortable downtown hotel.

  Cochrane met with him the following day, and shook his hand in real gratitude. “I’m very glad you made it safely. Your warning helped us deal with some Albanian investigators here. Without it, we might have been caught short.”

  “They won’t be the last, sir. Those buggers are persistent.”

  “So I understand. If you’re going to join us, which Henry said was your plan, you can help us be on the lookout for them. What sort of association with us did you have in mind?”

  Frank explained his dilemma. “We can’t face them alone, sir; but, frankly, neither can you. We need allies, people we can stand beside against the Albanians. We’ll strengthen them just as they strengthen us. I may not have many people in my inner circle, but they’re all qualified spacer officers. About half of us have military backgrounds, including me, and the other half come from the merchant service. We’re all very, very good at what we do.”

  “I certainly need good officers. One question, though; where is their – and your – primary loyalty? If I take you on as part of Hawkwood Corporation, I’m going to want to know that for sure. We use compulsory truth-tester interviews as part of our hiring process. We repeat them every two years for spacers, every year for officers and senior NCO’s, at random intervals. It’s the only way I can think of to ensure security.”

  Frank’s eyebrows rose. “That’s very intrusive, sir. It gives the impression you don’t trust anybody.”

  “Not many. I have few illusions. All other things being equal, most people will look to their own self-interest in the final analysis. We offer high salaries to the right people, and a share in our profits, so we can be selective in who we hire. We reject four out of five applicants. Even so, I know outsiders – the Albanians, for example – might offer a lot more than that to find out what we’re doing. Therefore, in return for high rewards, we demand proof of our people’s trustworthiness on a regular basis. It’s like the two faces of a single coin. You can accept or reject the whole coin, as you see fit, but you can’t choose just one of its faces. The only consolation I can offer is that everyone, including me, goes through the same process. There are no exceptions.”

  “I suppose that does make a difference. Er… what happens if someone fails the truth-tester?”

  “It depends who it is and how he fails it. A low-level spacer who doesn’t know much will probably be fired at once, kicked off his ship at the next stop, and left to make his own way from there. An officer who’s betrayed our secrets would be different. I haven’t encountered that problem yet, but if we found evidence that a betrayal had cost us a spaceship, or the lives of some of our people, I’d probably shoot the bastard myself.”

  Frank’s eyebrows rose. “You’re a harder man than I thought you were, Captain.”

  “Ask the gangsters of Cubbie about that – the surviving ones, that is.”

  “That was you? I heard about what happened there, but the rumor mill only said it was people from off-planet. All right, Captain, I guess you can be hard enough when you need to be. It’s actually a relief to know that.”

  “I’m glad to know you approve, because I’m going to have you meet with Lieutenant-Commander Tom Argyll, my security chief, later today. He’s putting together what we call our ‘hard team’, to deal with people like these Albanians. We captured their interrogation kit, poisons, and other equipment, and we’ll use them ourselves if necessary. Do you still have the interrogation kit you captured at Skraill?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Good. Please give it to Tom Argyll, and tell him what you learned about its use.”

  After further discussion, Frank agreed that he and his team would go through the normal employment formalities, including truth-tester examination, and then be hired as officers aboard either warships or support vessels, depending on their background. They would serve Eufala/Hawkwood for a minimum of five years, irrespective of developments with the Albanian Mafia. At the end of that period, their contracts would be open to re-negotiation.

  “I know about your freighters and repair ship, Captain, but what sort of warships are you going to operate?” Frank asked. “The only ones I know about are those old patrol craft we helped you get from New Westray.”

  Cochrane smiled. “Wait until you’ve been through the truth-tester examination, and you’re officially on board. I think you’re going to be very pleasantly surprised.”

  He would say no more, to Frank’s frustration and intense curiosity.

  18

  Negotiation

  ROUSAY

  “Captain Cochrane is here, sir, and Ms. Stone.”

  Marwick looked up from the document he was studying, and pressed the intercom key. “Thank you, Marti. Send them in, please.”

  He laid the paperwork aside, pushed back his chair and stood as his visitors were shown in. He shook Cochrane’s hand firmly. “Thank you for coming to Rousay so
quickly, Captain. Things are moving fast, and generally well, but a problem has arisen that we need to resolve.”

  “I’m at your service, Mr. Marwick.”

  “You certainly proved that, by refunding our investment in Eufala Corporation so early. That impressed a lot of Directors. It’s why they agreed to meet with you to discuss their concerns, before acting on them.”

  Cochrane’s eyebrows rose. “That sounds almost like a threat, sir.”

  “Not from me it isn’t, but some of them were pretty angry until I calmed them down. Let me explain. Next week, the United Planets will officially announce the grant of exclusive colonization rights for the Mycenae system to Rousay.”

  “Congratulations, Mr. Marwick. That’s been a long time coming.”

  “Yes, it has, largely due to complaints and protests from rivals; but we were able to prove our case in the end.”

  Cochrane couldn’t help smiling as he thought, You mean you were able to afford more and larger bribes than they could. Oh, well. UP bureaucrats have to eat, too.

  “We’re going to ramp up our activities there immediately. That’ll include sending a refinery ship to Mycenae Primus Four to exploit the minerals we’ve found there. We’ll take them up to orbit in cargo shuttles for processing. As soon as we can afford it, we’ll build a refinery on the planet’s surface. Meanwhile, we’ll also collect asteroids, and tow them over to the refinery ship using tractor beams.”

  He sighed. “That’s where the problem has arisen. Your report about discovering two unauthorized fields of prospector bots, and destroying a ship trying to harvest what they’d found, caused a lot of heartburn. It’s bad enough that others are trying to poach on our preserves, but on previous visits, they stole asteroids our robots had beaconed. You see, we expected our bots to have beaconed scores of high-grade asteroids by now. Instead, there are only a few. We’re sure someone’s been stealing them. I’m afraid some of my fellow directors even wondered whether you might be involved in that.”

  Marissa Stone hastened to add, “We took care of that. We pointed out that someone who’d returned our investment, without having to be asked, was hardly likely to steal from us. After all, you could have kept the money, and we’d never have been any the wiser. The two actions – stealing asteroids, and giving us the money – just didn’t add up. After they thought about it, they were forced to agree.”

  One up to you, Dave, Cochrane thought warmly, although he didn’t allow any expression to appear on his face. If you hadn’t suggested that, we might have had a lot more explaining to do.

  “I’m glad you were able to clear up any misunderstanding, sir” he said politely.

  “We have, to a point,” Marwick assured him. “However, there’s a lot of pressure for NOE to take a more active role in securing our investment. Marissa and I wanted to discuss that with you before the board meeting tomorrow, to see if we can work out a solution that’s fair to all concerned. After all, right now we simply can’t afford to spend what it’ll take to provide our own security force for the entire system. We’ll need to rely on your services for some time to come.”

  “I’m at your service, Mr. Marwick. If you could explain what the other directors are considering, I’ll see whether Eufala Corporation can accommodate their wishes.”

  The board meeting had been in progress for almost an hour before Cochrane was finally summoned. He passed the time sipping coffee provided by the Managing Director’s secretary, reading the news headlines on a tablet provided for visitors, and running through in his mind the arguments he’d need to use to persuade the board.

  When he was admitted to the big, luxuriously finished boardroom, it was clear that discussion had been heated. Some directors glowered at him, eyebrows lowered, while others were flushed with annoyance. He ignored them, and took the seat indicated at the foot of the table.

  The Managing Director, a florid, overweight man named MacLellan, said, “Captain Cochrane, there’s been a good deal of friction over how to protect our interests, now that our exploitation of the Mycenae system is assured. Some of our members want to exclude outside interests from access to them, in order to maintain the tightest possible control. That would, of course, include your company. What do you think of that?”

  “The board is, of course, entirely within its rights to make any decisions it sees fit about its commercial operations, sir,” he replied politely. “However, for the record, I’d like to point out that the New Orkney Enterprise entered into a binding contract with my company to provide security services in the Mycenae system. Therefore, whatever NOE decides to do will need to take that into account.” There were a few mutters of discontent around the table at his words, but they weren’t clearly audible, so Cochrane ignored them.

  “But we’re not actually paying you anything for that contract any more, are we? You returned our initial investment, saying you’d earned enough from other clauses in your contract that you no longer needed it.”

  “Yes, Mr. MacLennan. That seemed the honest thing to do.”

  There was a murmur of approval from almost half the directors. Marissa Stone pointed out, from her seat near Cochrane’s, “That money is what helped us finalize UP approval for Rousay’s colonization of Mycenae. Without it, we might still be waiting.”

  “A good point,” MacLennan admitted. “We’re not ungrateful to you, Captain. I’m aware of how you… recovered… certain assets from a rival consortium. Within these four walls, I’ll admit we thought it was no more than poetic justice. However, did you recover enough to fund your operations for the balance of your contract? It still has several years to run, even if we don’t extend it.”

  “Yes, we did, sir. Those weren’t the only recoveries we’ve made in the Mycenae system. For example, there were those two fields of prospector robots I reported to you. Are you aware of the cost of autonomous, self-propelled units like that?”

  “I’m not. Anyone?”

  “The most sophisticated can cost fifty to sixty million kronor each,” one of the other directors put in.

  “That’s correct, sir” Cochrane agreed. “We confiscated over two hundred of them, plus beacons and other gear. We were able to sell them for about three-quarters of their new value. That’ll fund our needs, both capital and operational, for some time to come.”

  He kept his face expressionless, but grinned mentally as he recalled the rows of robotic prospectors stored at Constanta. Jock was already reprogramming them with new algorithms, based on those gleaned from the Albanian bots. In due course, they’d be redeployed to find asteroids for Hawkwood. However, the board didn’t need to know that.

  The directors’ faces showed astonishment as they mentally calculated. “But that’s seven or eight billion kronor!” one protested. “Why haven’t we received any of it?”

  “Because we’re the only ones entitled to it, sir,” Cochrane pointed out calmly. He held up a hand to still the sudden hubbub of protest. “Our contract explicitly authorizes us to use the proceeds of anything we recover from Mycenae to fund our operations. Eight billion kronor won’t go all that far. For example, a single new patrol craft costs approximately one billion kronor. What we recovered has to buy new ships, to allow us to expand our activities, and cover our operating costs as well. We’ve already put down deposits on a squadron of modern vessels. The rest of the money will fund our continuing operations. I daresay we’ll encounter more intruders before long, and seize their ships and equipment too, and dispose of them for our benefit. That way, you won’t have to fund our expansion.”

  “There’s a great deal to be said for that,” Marissa Stone observed, and several directors nodded thoughtfully. “We need all our resources to begin exploiting the Mycenae system. We can’t afford to divert them to other needs right now.”

  “I take your point, Marissa,” MacLellan agreed. “Nevertheless, Captain, a number of us would like to see NOE exercise more direct control over the security of our operations. I’m looking for ways to do that
without spending too much money, and without breaching our contract with your company. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I do, sir. Let me clarify one thing, please. You’re talking about supervision of your actual operations, not the entire Mycenae system, right?”

  “Yes. If we base a refinery ship at Mycenae Primus Four, or build a refinery on its surface and send the refinery ship to the asteroid belt, we’d like to control those locations specifically, and a reasonable volume of space around them. However, we certainly can’t afford to patrol the entire system, not yet at any rate. We’ll need to fund that sort of expansion of our security force by the profits from our operations there. That will take several years, I think.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m willing to offer a modification to our contract with NOE that I think will satisfy both parties. I’m prepared to withdraw our ships and people from areas designated by you as NOE operations. You can patrol them in your own vessels, and provide your own security. Hawkwood will patrol the Mycenae system outside those areas. It’ll provide its own depot ship, orbiting another planet in the system, and continue to have the right to exploit any captured material to fund its operations. I daresay we’ll still run into enough intruders to make that worthwhile. Obviously, there’ll have to be ongoing liaison between your people and ours, to avoid interfering with each other’s operations. Each party will also have the right of passage through areas controlled by the other, given prior arrangement.”