by A. D. Bloom
A patrol of the Doxy's few remaining Shediri raiders cut a turn across the Doxy's bow together and showed Garlan and Devlin the aft ends of their 27-meter chitin hulls.
"You hear me, Mr. Devlin?"
Ram Devlin faced away from Alcyone's light, but what bounced off the planet lit his face enough for Garlan to see the man shaking his head as he stared at the clouds and continents of the planet. "No... No. After the way this whole thing has gone, I don't think anyone down there wants to hear from me. If you think they do then I don't think you understand the degree to which I have fucked this up. I'm not the choice for the face of our new government."
Garlan wondered if all great men were such a pain in the ass. "What does my ship look like from this angle?"
"What?"
"My ship. What does it look like from here."
Devlin shook his head again and looked up from the protruding command module at the chitin-hulled superstructure they'd built onto the 600-meter Doxy so long ago. The Commodore's eyes followed the curving lines of its stacked flight decks and the lights of the knuckledragger mechs moving small vessels around them like tugs. "Command module looks like a head," said Devlin. "The whole thing looks like a big turtle with an alien castle stuck on its bow and keel. That what you were looking for? I don't get it."
"The Doxy is my world. It's been mine for two decades now, steaming in exile as a pirate tender. This ship has been the only home some of your crews have known for a long time. As the man running the Doxy, I've learned a few things about leadership maybe you forgot. One of them is that the people on your ship don't know or give a fuck how you feel about your fuck-ups. Right now is when they need you even if you don't think much of your leadership. Down on the planet they need to hear from you. There's political chaos on the surface. They want to know if they're under martial law and who's in charge."
"The Legio-"
"I'm not talking about the Legion or the veterans and your rebels. I'm talking about the regular people with regular lives caught up in all of this. They don't have any orders and maybe they don't want them, but they need to hear from Ram Devlin, Governor Ram Devlin...understand?"
Garlan saw the reflections in Devlin's helmet visor and the pale blue flashes over the Doxy and all the ships circled 'round her. At first, he thought they were warhead dets. By the time he looked to his right and saw they were starburst flares fired from a Staas Company cutter, three of them had broken the limb of the 2nd moon accompanied by what was left of Devlin's Privateers. Only the Ketok, Split Aces and five of the others returned intact. The forward half of Absolom came in under tow behind Sajjada, her spine severed with all her sections aft of the command tower burst open and charred.
What appeared to be the single, remaining operational battery on the lead cutter launched a full spread of six flares this time. "The hero returns," said Devlin grimly. "That's Hank in that lead ship."
Garlan checked local comms and heard them cheering from the flight decks above and from the ships all around the Doxy. "They captured three ships from the company," he said.
"We lost eleven. Over five hundred sailors died today. It didn't have to be this bloody, goddammit." The words came out through almost grit teeth and as Devlin finished, Garlan glanced his way to see the man's eyes fixed on the lead cutter firing starbursts and leading the victory parade.
Garlan didn't envy the man. "Mr. Devlin, I know you have pressing business, but if you don't address the people of this planet quickly, then I guarantee you your son, Hank, will."
25
Absolom's Revenge
(formerly SCS Cornwall)
Hank Devlin opened a bottle from Commodore Grieve's bar and drank to victory with his crew once more as his rechristened company cutter led Devlin's Privateers in their return to Otherworld. He celebrated with Scilla in the Captain's quarters while their ships came around the limb of the second moon and returned to the bridge in time to see the flares fired by his last gun battery burst over the Doxy, the stolen destroyers, and hundreds of other ships and small craft bringing materials or labor or looking to be armed themselves. Now that they all knew a victory had been won, they'd all want to fight. He heard their cheers on local comms and it brought up memories even Harry Cozen had forgotten, memories of victory in Istanbul ten years before Hank was even born.
He selected two more bottles from the Captain's bar. He drank from one with Zi'vt before the Shediri piloted their salvaged skiff out the rear-facing bay of the captured ship and made for the Doxy. The other he brought as a gift for his father. He looked out the canopy of the skiff at the command-module of the converted carrier, stuck on the Doxy's bow and imagined Ram Devlin smoldering inside it, torturing himself over what had already happened, as always.
Zi'vt gestured for Hank to patch in a new comms channel to his helmet.
"What frequency?" he said, and the Shediri drew a sweeping arc over the console with one of its chitin hands as it clacked and hissed.
"All of them," said the voice of the translator. "On all channels. Your father."
Ram Devlin sounded as if he needed a drink himself. How he pattered on. "This world is ours and we're not giving it up. This message will repeat." Five seconds later, it did. Hank pictured the humorless face of his adopted father as the man addressed the planet. "This is Governor Ram Devlin. The Otherworld Rebellion has begun. Our people on the ground, the Legion, and the ships in orbit all have their orders. This message is for the rest of you.
"Four hours ago, Staas Company ships opened fire on a civilian vessel running from a customs check and pursued it halfway to the Draconis Transit. I authorized ships of Devlin's Privateers to intercept and defend the civilian vessel. cosairs under the command of my son, Hank Devlin, have engaged and defeated 14 company ships, capturing three. In addition, we have commandeered the 12 newly-completed destroyers from the shipyards in orbit after a brief battle with Staas Security. Legion NCOs have taken control from the Company Officers and are now operating under my command in orbit and on the surface.
"The time has arrived in which we must seize our fate by our own hands or we, our children, and all that we have built together will die slow deaths, strangled by Staas Company and ignored by the UN. Let me make one thing clear. We are not fighting to secede or end our alliance with Earth. The Legion intends to fight the war against the Imperium and Otherworld will continue to supply the labor and materials that win battles.
"Otherworld fights for the right to control its own destiny. The monopoly on our minerals and the Company's brokerage of the Legionnaires' lives will continue unless we put a stop to both. After two decades of busted strikes and Staas Security sweeps, you know this to be true.
"I have been a fugitive for so long, many of you do not remember me as your Governor. When I held that title last, I was, in fact, a prisoner - the penal colony's first. Now, I have returned to the role as a free man. Our ships large and small will fight and die to defend this world. The Legionnaires stationed here will give their last drop of blood to protect it.
"Our neighbors, the Ekkai, will likely remain neutral as will the Homeworld Regent of Shedir. Otherworld rebel forces including our own Shediri ships currently control the orbital space above Alcyone-3 and we now prepare for further battle when Company carriers and gunboats arrive. We estimate you have 16 hours or more to evacuate the cities. My only regret is that our actions must put you at risk. I'm ordering the evacuation of the penal colonies as well. Any ships attempting to land on their islands off the northernmost continent will be fired upon by the Legion. Maintain order. Fight if you can. This world is ours and we're not giving it up. This message will repeat."
Zi'vt clicked softly. The translator said, "Your lie is now his lie."
Hank couldn't help but grin. He thought he'd have to face senseless blustering about falsification of orders and idle threats of retribution from his father, but nobody would accuse him of falsifying orders now, not even Asa Biko. "My father has taken responsibility for the decision
to fight so make sure when you tell the story, you get it straight."
The Shediri gave a wet hiss and chatter-clacked. "Company ships chased us. The Company ships fired first. Ram Devlin gave the order to fight."
"That's right," Hank said. He leaned into the button on comms as he hailed the Doxy. "Doxy, this is Hank Devlin on the skiff from Absolom's Revenge. We have two aboard and request you open your bow doors so we can land."
"Absolom skiff, this is Doxy," said old Graves' voice as the chipped blue-painted doors cracked and spread to reveal the small bay stuffed with longboats and skiffs from other vessels. "You are cleared to land. Park it wherever you can. Your father wants to see you right away."
All through the Doxy's busy passages, Hank and Zi'vt were greeted as heroes. He made people drink with him on the path down the ship's mainsway to the Doxy's secondary mess, the one they'd made in a converted hold to feed the crews of the ships that called her their home port in exile. Even now, there were over a hundred eating drinking and raising hell in celebration of the first victories.
He stood on one of the tables in there and held the bottle high and drank while they roared and screamed and clacked and beat their chitin chests. Hank made a show of taking his prize. He stole a whole chicken from a table of four and held it high until the volume of the approving cheers made even the men from whom he'd taken the meal applaud him. He let the whole compartment see the full bottle of Commodore Grieve's ten-year Scotch he pulled from the helmet under his arm and gave the table in return.
Hank knew showmanship; it was time to go. He took a single, great bite of the breast and tossed the roasted bird back at them. Hank left them cheering as he wiped the grease from his face with the back of his glove.
Finally off to see his father, he considered slapping on a clearzine patch to clean out his blood, but he wasn't that drunk and somehow it seemed like an affront to the spirit of the moment. This was the beginning of his second rise; it was no time to hold back. This was a time to push forward and push hard.
Once on B-deck he ran into Garlan. From the instant Hank saw Foet's eyes it was clear to his the man knew the real story of what had happened. Garlan Foet had no smiles or claps on the shoulder for him.
"Ah, Mr. Fo-et."
Foet said, "He's just left the bridge. He's waiting for you in my cabin."
One deck down, Hank knocked on the hatch harder than he'd meant to. The armored phalanges on his glove made it sound like he was beating it with a tool as the hatch swung open. Ram Devlin sat at Garlan Foet's chaotic desk with barely enough room for the bottle.
"At least you're celebrating," he said. "Mr. Foet seemed utterly morose when I ran into him."
"I'm not celebrating. Get in here and close that hatch."
Devlin rose while Hank's back was turned and from the sounds he heard, Hank knew his father was deploying a set of counter-surveillance devices on the bulkheads, deck, and ceiling to provide some minimal privacy. The way they vibrated the teeth and shook the inner ear hadn't ever bothered Hank. He'd gotten used to it over time, but not his father. Ram Devlin cringed as he activated the last of the small devices. It was as if the man never got used to anything he had to do. The Governor stood in front of him, hands at his sides and searched Hank's eyes for something; Hank had no idea what.
"I liked your speech. It was concise. Perhaps a bit short on righteous fury, but concise and too the point."
"You falsified my orders."
"Not now that you've confirmed them publicly. You always wanted to make an honest man out me. Looks like you've finally succeeded."
"This didn't have to become a war. There were 54 crewmen on each of those Company Cutters. How many did you hull?"
"Eight. Only six of them were destroyed without any sign of lifeboats."
"Over 300 confirmed Company casualties...probably much higher. And we lost how many?"
"Seven corsairs and one Shediri corvette."
"Another 250 or more. Over five-hundred-fifty dead on both sides. 550 that didn't have to die, not like this, not today."
Over the years, his father had stared at Hank in a certain, very specific way many times. The first time had been when Margo told Devlin who he really was. His father had been trying to figure out if he was Hank or Harry Cozen, if the memories and DNA destined him to live the old man's life again. When Hank looked at his adopted father then, he expected to see the same, confused and bewildered look, but it wasn't there. Instead, there was no question in his gaze, only eyes that recognized an old adversary. "You've started a war that didn't have to be...again."
Hank had listened to Devlin prattle on about Harry Cozen's decisions for years as the man tried to raise him to be anything but his true self. This was the first and only time Hank had ever heard his father blame him for Cozen's choices, the first time he'd ever seen the man look at him the way he remembered Devlin looked at Harry Cozen. It wasn't just spite. It was a bitter hatred.
"Once again, Mr. Devlin," said Hank. "We started a war. It's always you and I; it's always the two of us."
"You don't have to be Harry Cozen," Devlin said.
"I am very much Harry Cozen, dear father. And despite all your attempts to steer me from my true path, once again, I've saved you by doing what you knew needed to be done, but hadn't the nerve to undertake. Tell me. Did you plan on seeing hundreds of small ships show up just on the off chance we could arm them? Your plan didn't include that, did it. Why? Because if we'd done it your way, without winning a major victory like I did, then none of the people in those small craft out there would have believed we could win. But they believe now. Now that I've defeated the enemy's warships in a major engagement and steamed home with three captured vessels as a prize."
"You've turned us into the pirates they called us."
"A pair of haulers will be arriving from the surface. Watch for the Austin and Helga's Hex. Both of their holds are full of surplus scatter guns, tripod-mounted heavy weapons, and a few, full-size Shediri ion cannon modules with power converter units attached so they can take the feed from any reactor."
"Don't you understand the magnitude of the military response your actions have demanded from Staas and the UN?They'll be coming to crush us. And they won't just sweep our vessels from orbit and hunt us across the system until we're found. They'll bombard the planet and destroy the cities we built just to make an example of us."
"And what should we do? Surrender?"
"If I could stop this now, I would."
"Oh, god. You actually considered it. I can see it in the gravity with which you hold your brow. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I've known you for a very long time from two different perspectives. Before you eventually do what needs to be done, you always prattle on, winging about the stain it will make on your soul. I know what you will do, but the same question haunts your mind now as it has from the very first day we met on the decks of SCS Hardway: Will you do what is required to best serve the people you lead or will you do what you want to do, what you think is human and right somehow, what will make you the man you wish to be. Oh, vain Mr. Devlin. That's been your question all along, hasn't it?"
"I've always done what I had to do."
"Not all of it. I'm the one that made sure your opponents all fell to the wayside. Do you really think you're so popular as to have risen uncontested? Many have opposed you. Have you forgotten Kravitz and Markinson? I made sure they were in no position to oppose you."
"They both died in accidents."
"Commitment is everything, Mr. Devlin."
"Are you telling me you killed them?"
"You were committed when we first met, during the first war when I was there, when good ol' Harry was around to keep you on track. Under my tutelage you flourished and became what Humanity needed - a man willing to sacrifice."
"Sacrifice what? The truth? Human lives? Alien lives? That's what we sacrificed."
"Good men never like what they must become, but to your credit, you pushed on to victory, d
espising yourself as you pushed the button that killed 80 billion of our enemies."
"They weren't all combatants. It was an entire homeworld moon."
"Yes, with me around to guide you, you did what you had to do, but after my mysterious death, you ran from the disgusted apprehension of what you had become, and you took a wrong turn. You began to push back against Staas Company and the UN. At Shedir, you first came into conflict with the powers that be."
"I'm not going to justify my decisions to you."
"Anton Cyning was a poisonous worm and Hive Hrt'ee's treachery is legendary among the Shediri, but did foiling their plan for regime change prevent said change in the end? You can tell yourself Regent Kesik's death was natural, but we both know once you were in prison, she was killed and replaced with the current regent at the behest of the Board of Directors and the Secretary General's Office."
"I couldn't stop them."
"Earth is an empire. You fought it. You defied orders and took on the entire Ekkai fleet in order to save their world and where did this leave you? Your ruined ship was beyond repair. She was melted down. You went to prison. Chun went for longer than you."
"I did what I had to do."
"You fought the powers that be, but you destroyed what power you had in the process. Did you not fully understand that the Company and the UN were the entities that gave you your power in the first place? Warships have never been made to enforce one man's moral will. They are the product and the tools of the largest, most advanced, often avaricious and aggressive of Human collective entities." Hank shook his head at Devlin. "Now you find yourself in direct conflict with them, going to battle the same fleet you once served. What ironic and unfortunate symmetry you've created in your career. It amazes me that even after you lost all your power and your ship, the people of this world still put their faith in you. It amazed me as a boy until I realized a man walking your path would only ever know defeat. I said nothing. I endured your attempts to make me into someone other than who I am and I didn't attempt to take power from you when I first grew capable of it. This was out of gratitude, I suppose for taking in Margo and me when Staas and the UN were hunting us. But understand this, Mr. Devlin. Your weakness endangers us and the only reason I do not take power from you now is because I do not wish to disrupt the cult built around you. We need it to secure victory."
