by Chris Bunch
“Any ‘casts?” Garvin asked the com officer.
“There’s a lot of clutter from the craters, sir,” the man reported. “We’ve blanked all that come from obvious bomb sources … and there’s nothing left. We thought for a minute we were getting some sort of code from one of the moons, but it’s pure random noise.
“Nothing else, sir.”
Njangu scratched his chin.
“The whole goddamned system gone,” he mused. “The book said it had a population of five billion.”
He shuddered a little. “Guess there’s things worse than Empire, huh?”
“Maybe,” Garvin said. “Unless the Confederation was the one who decided to break policy first. Watch officer!”
“Sir!”
“Take us the hell out of here. Next possibility.”
• • •
“I’ve got a question,” Maev asked.
“I’ve got an answer,” Njangu said, yawning. “Your head is very comfortable on my chest, by the bye.”
“I got that notion,” Stiofan said, “that you and Garvin had the idea, at one time, of deserting, the first time you hit a world where there’d be some kind of main chance.”
“Ah, but that was in the sinful days of our yout’,” he said. “Before we became aware of the stellar virtues of serving the Confederation forever and ever or at least until somebody shoots our asses off.”
“I don’t suppose this whole thing” — and she made a circle in the semidarkness with her hand — ”is some elaborate con to get you two to somewhere profitable, at which point you’ll exit stage left.”
“I’ll be a son,” Njangu said, sitting up abruptly. “You know, I never even thought of that possibility. What a dummy.”
Maev also sat up.
“I’m afraid,” she said. “You actually sound like you were telling the truth. If I can’t tell …”
“I was telling the truth,” Yoshitaro said with an injured tone. “I hardly ever lie, and never ever to the woman wot I adore.”
“ ‘Kay,” Maev said briskly. “But assuming you’re not lying … which is a big assumption … let’s say we run across somewhere like a nice Eden in our travels, where there’s connable marks left and right, and nobody has ever heard of a truth scan. What then?”
“What an interestin’ possibility,” Njangu said. “Naah. Anything like that would’ve been kicked over in the early days after the Confederation did whatever it did to itself. All those wonderful little sheepies would be shorn bare by now.
“Besides,” and he sounded serious, “even if we found such a hog heaven, I’ve got to assume that there’s wolves out there in the darkness, to really screw my analogy up. So we’d sit there makin’ credits up the yinger, and sooner or later, probably sooner, given my luck, some baddies with lotsandlots of guns would swoop.
“No, Maev my love, I’m afeared you’ve cast your lot with an honest dullard. At least for the moment.”
“What, the lot, or the dullard?” she asked.
“Probably both. Now, if you’d be good enough to hand me that knotted cord again, I might find the energy for one more round before my engine runs out, since it’s evidently the raw, nekkid trut’, honesty, and loyalty of a Confeddie ossifer is wot powers me to new heights.”
• • •
The next system was still inhabited.
Dill brought his aksai out of hyperspace, and his sensors were already buzzing. His briefing had said there were supposed to be four inhabited worlds in this system, called in the star catalogs R897Q33, with an archaic designation of 2345554, and a system name of Carroll.
Three … no, five ships were homing on him, two of them sweeping the com bands for a frequency this unknown ship would be on.
He obliged them by opening on the standard Confederation emergency frequency:
“Unknown ships, unknown ships, this is the Scoutship, uh, Dill,” as he realized nobody ever got around to naming any of the aksai, and he wasn’t interested in being One, Two, or Three.
Another com beeped, announcing the arrival of a patrol boat from Big Bertha, then Boursier in another aksai.
“Scoutship Dill, this is the destroyer Lopat,” came a return com. “Be advised you have entered into Confederation space.”
Dill’s eyes widened, and he broadcast a second message to Big Bertha.
A secondary screen that had been added before Big Bertha left Cumbre started scrolling:
JANE’S ID positive … three ships positive ID … Confederation Diaz-class … the borderline obsolescence at time of final Confederation revision this file …
Dill ignored the weapons and crew entry.
Sumbeech, sumbeech, we’re home, we’re home, he thought gleefully, ignoring the sarcastic part of his mind that asked what and where the hell home was, anyway.
He started to ID himself correctly, stopped, remembering belatedly that anyone could say he was Confederation.
“This is Dill,” he said. “Understood your last, that we are in Confederation space. Extreme approval on this side.”
Another, larger ship blinked into existence.
The ever-watchful Jane’s told him it was a completely obsolete light cruiser, Daant-class, probably Quiroga.
“This is Fleet Commander von Hayn,” was the com. “We do not recognize your ship class at all for leading two ships. No linkage shown to Confederation. Third ship identified as standard-manufacture planetary patrol craft. Explain. Over.”
“This is the Dill,” Ben said. “My ship is locally built, and you have correctly ID’d the patrol ship. Over.”
“Neither of you look long-range capable,” the grating voice said. “Suspect you are outrunners of larger ships. Give system of origin at once.”
“Uh … Erwhon,” Dill said, wishing to hell Garvin was here, or maybe Froude. “And we do have other ships in hyperspace, waiting assessment of the situation.”
“That system you named is unknown to us.”
“We were just being colonized when we fell out of contact with the Confederation. I guess nobody sent the proper bulletins around. What happened to our Empire, anyway?” Dill couldn’t hold back the question.
There was a long time of dead air.
“This is Fleet Commander von Hayn,” the voice came reluctantly. “We are not in contact with the Homeworlds, but have sustained order through our own devices for some years, maintaining peace and the rule of law and order.”
“As have we,” Dill said. “And now we’re trying to reestablish contact.”
Again, a long silence, and Dill was about to rebroadcast.
“We have communicated with our superiors,” von Hayn’s voice came. “Permission to enter the Carroll system is denied. Be advised a full launch of our fleet has been made, and any other ships appearing in normal space will be treated as enemy and fire will be opened on them immediately.
“Again, you are refused entry. Leave this system at once, or face immediate attack.”
“You paranoid old poop,” Dill muttered to himself, not knowing age or sex of the fleet commander, and opened his mike.
“Von Hayn, this is the Dill. We come in peace, I say again, meaning no harm, but wishing only supplies … and you rotten bug diddler!”
The Quiroga had just launched a pair of missiles at the aksai.
Ben wanted desperately to make a counterstrike, but remembered his orders and fled back into hyperspace, even as the patrol ship disappeared with him.
He locked aboard Big Bertha, and steamed for the bridge.
Garvin, Froude, and Njangu were waiting.
“Thor with an anvil up his ass, but those bastards were unfriendly,” he snapped.
“We know,” Froude said. “Remember, we were monitoring all ‘casts.”
“Well what the hell are we going to do?” Dill asked.
“We’re going to make another jump, far, far away from here” Garvin said. “Listen. Here’s a couple of selections the patrol boat’s com picked up. Both came from the
homeworld.”
He touched a key.
A harsh voice grated:
“Meal hours for all Zed-, Extang-, and Hald-class citizens have been changed by point-one-five tics. Be advised the grace period for change will be four shifts, then penalties may be assessed. Further — ”
Static, then a woman’s voice said:
“Due to compliance with voluntary work output, issuance of rapture tabs are authorized for the following districts: Alf, Mass — ”
“Oy yoy,” Ben Dill said. “They tells you when you can eat, get your head ruined. How much you want to bet they let you know when it’s ‘kay to screw?”
“I don’t think we need to trouble ourselves with these people,” Froude said. “At least, not until we’re prepared to come back in force and discuss this system of peace, law, and order.”
• • •
The three aksai pilots sat in their ready room, waiting for either mess call or another alert.
“I’m starting to think,” Ben Dill mused, “this universe might not be that friendly a place.”
“When was it ever?” Boursier asked. “Or weren’t you paying attention in Astronomy One?”
“I don’t mean black holes and wormholes and ghosties and goblins and that,” Dill said. “I’m talking about people.
“Not to mention we ain’t found squat beside ruination.”
“Do not despair,” Alikhan said. “For I remember the tale of a great Musth warrior who was once lost in a trackless forest. But he kept on looking, trying different trails, different signals. His belief was ‘seek a thousand tracks, and one of them will lead to home.”
Dill looked at the alien thoughtfully.
“Be damned. I didn’t think you Musth ever said anything reassuring.”
“Neither did I,” Boursier said. “How long did it take this warrior to reach his home?”
“He never made it,” Alikhan said. “They found those words scratched on the outside of a tree, next to which he had starved.”
CHAPTER
5
Salamonsky
“Take it in closer, Ben,” Garvin said, his voice showing no emotion.
“Yessir,” Dill said, and dived into Salamonsky’s atmosphere.
Garvin turned away from the projection.
“What sort of lousy bastard would attack a circus world?” he asked no one in particular. “We never did anything to anyone … gave them something to laugh at, something to wonder about, sent home with stars in their eyes and a smile on their lips.”
The enlisted woman on one of the radars turned. “You ever hear of some people called Jews, sir?”
Garvin looked at her, then away.
Dill was coming in fast a thousand kilometers below — even at his height above land, there was perceptible ground rush.
“Captain Liskeard,” Garvin said, “bring it in-atmosphere. We’ll have a look, maybe get some idea of who the bad guys could have been. Put two patrol boats out now for top cover.”
“Sir.”
“As soon as we’re below the stratosphere, launch the other aksai and the patrol boat. Keep them sweeping, looking for trouble.”
Njangu came up to him.
“You got a crawly feeling?”
“Not necessarily,” Garvin said. “I’m probably just hoping there’s something to shoot at, no more.”
Dill flared the aksai two hundred meters above the landing field he’d targeted. Small carpet bombs had knocked the tower askew and set fire to hangars and admin buildings. Then strafers must have come in to finish the job. There were remnants of ships scattered around the field, some that would have been modern, others beyond-belief rust buckets that transported small dog-and-pony acts or even sideshows around the region. All of them had been anodized in the most garish colors that were now just beginning to flake.
“I’d guess,” Njangu said, “whoever hit them came in less than an E-year ago. There’s still cables dangling, looks like some rope that’s not rotted hanging from that drive stand, and that old hovercraft cushion’s still inflated.”
The image on-screen changed as Dill’s aksai banked over the port’s small city. It sprawled for some kilometers, and was mostly separate houses of wildly varying styles and sizes.
“I wonder,” Garvin said absently, “if any of those houses belonged to any little people. I remember, when I was a kid, going to one family, and everything was built to scale, and they were smaller than I was, so for the first time I felt like a giant.
“All of them but their daughter,” he went on. “She was, oh, maybe thirteen, and as pretty as I’d ever seen. I fell in love with her … but of course she didn’t know nine-year-olds existed.”
The city’s business center was a cratered ruin.
“I hope they fought back,” Garvin said. “It would’ve been — ”
The watch communications officer came into the bridge.
“Sir. We’re getting a transmission, in Common, on a Confederation guard channel. Shall I pipe it through?”
“Now,” Garvin ordered. “And get DF finding out where it’s coming from.”
The transmission quality was wavery, and the woman’s voice was flat, tired, as if she’d done the ‘cast a thousand thousand times:
“Unknown ship … our detectors picked up a disturbance entering atmosphere … unknown ship … we are refugees in hiding after our world was looted … we’re only a handful of survivors … oh Allah, be a ship, not another damned meteorite. Please.”
The emotion stopped, and once more the woman said her plea.
Garvin was reaching for the mike, when Njangu caught his arm.
“Let her run on for a minute. It won’t hurt.”
“Why?”
“It might not be a bad idea … once we find out where she’s ‘casting from, to drop a drone down before Big Bertha wallows over there, don’t you think? Since I’m the only me I’ve got, I’d like to take precautions.”
Garvin’s lip thinned, then he caught himself.
“You’re right. Sorry.”
Njangu ordered one of the patrol ships to launch a drone in-atmosphere. Moments later, the direction finders had a location for the plea for help.
“Nap of the earth,” Njangu ordered the drone’s pilot on the patrol ship. “I want a realtime normalvision transmit, and metal detection patched to me.”
“Sir.”
A tech moved a screen down, and it lit up, showing the drone’s point of view, approaching the ground.
Njangu told Dill what was going on, ordered him and the other ships to low altitudes.
The drone was flashing over wooded hills, then a lake, a small valley, then more woods.
“That was where she DF’ed from. Nothing to see,” Liskeard said. “The poor scared bastards must be hiding.”
“Look at that display, sir,” a technician said.
Garvin looked as well … and saw high-zigging lines.
“Nothing but brushes and woodses down there,” Njangu said. “And a lot of hidden metal. Like ships under camou nets maybe?”
“Shit!” somebody in the control room swore as ragged black smoke dotted the sky on-screen.
“Most poor scared bastards don’t have antiaircraft guns … or use ‘em on rescuers,” Liskeard said wryly.
“No,” Garvin said. “No, they don’t. Commo, give me an all-channels.”
“Sir. You’re on.”
“All Bertha elements. Target Acquisition on our main screen. Indicators show hidden ships … and we got fire. Suspect cannon, not missiles. Nana elements, to ten thousand meters, stand off two kilometers. Goddard launch on command.
“Aksai, stay clear until we open things up a little, then we’ll send you … cancel that for the moment.”
Garvin hadn’t needed the technician’s warning. He’d seen a ship lift through trees below.
“Nana Flight … take him out.”
“Sir,” Alt Rad Draf said. “Two, do you have that ship?”
“Affir
m …”
“I’m firing. Two shadows … on command … FIRE!”
The meter-long Shadow antiship missiles spat from their pods.
“We have a counterlaunch and countermeasures in effect,” Draf’s ECM officer reported. “Divert one … two … hit! Hit!”
The seething ball of flame that’d been a small starship spun back toward the ground.
“Nanas … proceed with Goddard launch!” Garvin ordered.
“On my command,” Draf said, still calm-voiced. “All elements … target from flagship … one Goddard per Nana … FIRE!”
The Goddards were heavy shipkillers, six meters long, sixty centimeters in diameter, with a five hundred-km range. They drove toward the valley at full speed.
AA guns on the ground yammered up, but struck wide.
All four targeted within fifteen meters of each other, and the ground roiled, bucked, and net covering guns and two more ships on the ground burst into flames. Secondary explosions sent flame waves boiling into the air.
“Aksai,” Garvin said, “if there’s anything left to kill … go on in.”
The fighting ships dived down, swept the small valley. Boursier’s chainguns yammered once, again.
“Half a dozen men … with guns,” she reported. “No more.”
“That’s it,” Garvin said. “All Bertha elements … recover.”
He looked again at the screen showing the destroyed valley, then at Njangu.
“Hope none of the people they captured were down there,” Yoshitaro said.
Garvin flushed.
“Goddammit, if they were … they were leading us into a trap!”
“True,” Njangu said. “Sorry. Boss.”
Garvin’s face returned to normal.
“No. My turn for the apology. This one got to me a little.”
“Forget it,” Njangu said. “I suppose you’ve got another place to look for your elephants.”
“I do. Two more, if it comes to that,” Garvin said. “But number three is halfway to hell and gone.”
“Then … unless you want to land, and sift some ashes trying to figure out where those raiders came from, and do a few paybacks … I guess we should depart this fair clime.”
