Give No Quarter (Privateer Tales Book 10)

by Jamie McFarlane

  "I see you, Liam Hoffen," the Overlord said, its horizontally opposed jaw not moving in any way I associated with making sound.

  "The audio sensor is not currently turned on," Munay said. "Like I said, lab-coats are already going nuts."

  "How can we help?" I asked.

  "You can't," he said. "I just wanted you to see that we caught these guys - help put a bow on it for you. Admiral Alderson sends his regards and thanks you for your service."

  "Really?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a clown."

  "You're misreading him," Munay said. "Everything that man says is calculated to elicit a reaction. What'll drive you nuts is when you realize that and then try to figure out how many people he's targeting or what he's trying to accomplish. One of the smartest men alive."

  "You're frakking with me," I said.

  "He's the top-ranked admiral in Mars Protectorate," he answered. "Just led the biggest mission in its history, rescued ten thousand orphans and defeated and captured a powerful alien race no one knew existed. Play it anyway you want, he got what he was after."

  "But …" I started, only to be interrupted.

  "We are not defeated, Liam Hoffen," the Overlord said. I looked around and tried to discern where its voice was coming from. "I may have underestimated your resolve in the matter of our livestock, but there are tens of trillions of us and your scent has been communicated. Humanity thinks too much of itself, winning such an unimportant battle and for what? Food? You are all weak. Go home. Celebrate. For we are coming soon and there will be no joy when that day arrives."

  "You underestimated us," I said, looking straight back at the Kroerak Overlord and its companions. "The message you should be sending to your empire is to flee. But I suspect that's just not in your DNA. What you don't understand is that by attacking us, you've done something no person has ever managed. You'll unite all of humanity against your precious bug empire. And if you do come for us, God help you, because nothing else will."

  EPILOGUE

  To say Mom was shocked when we showed up in local-space next to Petersburg Station with the George Ellery Hale and personnel transports, was something of an understatement. Munay had sent Messier and the destroyers back to Sol, but had been given instructions to personally check out Ophir.

  "Lieutenant Hoffen," Munay smiled as he shook hands with Mom. "I'm surprised your boy didn't rope you into this last mission. I believe it was right up your alley.

  "My days of dropping boys and girls out of perfectly good transports are long gone. I much prefer the anxiety of carving a space station out of an asteroid and convincing small minded people to share with their neighbors because it's the right thing to do."

  He smiled. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I see."

  "Coffee?" Mom asked as she led Munay, Nick, Tabby and me into the galley Merrie insisted on calling a kitchen. Katherine LeGrande was already seated, talking with Jonathan, but stood to greet us. I crossed the room and hugged her in greeting.

  "I have a proposition to discuss with you all," Munay said.

  "How can we help?" Mom asked.

  "Mars Protectorate would like to formally colonize Ophir," he said, looking at me and then to Mom. "We wanted your feedback on the idea."

  "Not really much for small-talk, are you?" Mom asked.

  "Strategically, Ophir is perfectly aligned for travel to the Dwingeloo galaxy. More importantly, Mars population is bursting at the seams. We need a colony."

  "It doesn't seem like we could stop you," I said.

  "True. However, if the human settlements of Ophir endorsed the colonization, it would eliminate future legal challenges," he said.

  "I think you just said you're coming either way," Mom replied handing him a cup of coffee with a smile I recognized as anything but friendly.

  "With our recently gained knowledge, we believe we could establish a TransLoc gate system between Mars and Ophir."

  "Would Ophir be given a seat in the Senate?" Jonathan asked.

  "That's something that would have to be discussed," Munay replied. "If not, there are protections for colonies. I believe you're already familiar with the political structure of Colony-40."

  "Yeah. M-Cor charged so much in delivery that miners barely survived," Mom said. "All legal within Mars Protectorate. Pick a better example, Mr. Munay."

  "Those rates were negotiated with the colony," Munay said. "You'd have the capacity to shape that policy, Mrs. Hoffen. I'm authorized to put that in writing."

  "A TransLoc gate would bring a lot of change to Ophir," Jonathan said. "What about protecting the indigenous species?"

  "It is a primary concern," he agreed. "Look, I'm not asking you to sign something right now, but rather to start a conversation. Surely, you understand that if it's not Mars Protectorate, it will be the North Americans or the Chinese."

  "We do understand that," Nick answered. "We also know we have no expertise in negotiating this type of deal."

  "To me, it's fairly straightforward," I said. "For the same reasons we needed help rescuing the people of Cradle from the Kroerak, we need help integrating Ophir with the rest of humanity. I have one question, though, is this the reason M-Pro was so quick to authorize the Cradle mission?"

  "You're asking for a simple answer to a complex question. It certainly weighed heavily," he agreed. "Can I report back to Alderson that there is enough agreement to move forward on negotiations?"

  I looked around the large table and caught the eye of each member of my family and crew. To a person they agreed.

  "We're in, Commander. I appreciate that you're not just rolling over the top of us like you did the Kroerak. Which, by the way, I'd like to understand better. I thought the idea was for you to drop in at some distance and engage more slowly, not jump on top of them," I said.

  "The first rule of battle is to know that no plan survives first contact with the enemy," Munay said. "When we received the data you and Ms. Masters gathered, our engineers quickly recognized a flaw in the Kroerak armor. A flaw we were prepared to capitalize on. By jumping in close, we were able to engage before the Kroerak battleship recognized our plan. It was a measured risk, but there is another axiom you should not forget - Audentes Fortuna Juvat."

  "Fortune favors the bold," Marny translated for us.

  "Quite," Munay replied. "There was some chance the Kroerak would adjust to their discovered weakness. By jumping on them, we eliminated that possibility."

  "I sure wish I could have seen that," I said.

  "Will you join us for the celebration in Libertas tonight, Commander?" Mom asked. "I understand substantial progress on habitats has been made."

  "Last report I received was temporary housing would be complete within the next month," Munay said. "What we really need is a steady supply of ore. You wouldn't happen to know any miners who are looking to set up operation on the third moon, would you?"

  "I suspect we could find interested parties," I said.

  "Mars Mineral exchange rates?" Nick asked.

  "Whoa, getting a bit ahead of things aren't you?" I asked.

  Nick raised an eyebrow which I knew meant I should shut up.

  "We'll accept the mineral exchange rates," Munay held his hand out to Nick. "How quickly can you ramp up production?"

  "We might need some help from an industrialist who has access to ready capital," Nick said, turning to Jonathan. "Do you have any interest in investing in a startup?"

  "If you give me a ride back to Tipperary so I can transfer to a body of my own, I'll fund your project, but I'll expect a significant ownership stake," he said.

  I gave Nick a pinched - things are moving too fast – look.

  "We'll set up a new company," Nick said. "I'll send you a proposal, but we need fifty-one percent control."

  "We can work that out," Jonathan/Anino agreed. "And we were wondering … any word on that missing fold-space generator?"

  "What?" I asked.

  "Happened while we were training on the Tisons
," Nick said. "The fold-space generator from Justice Bringer went missing while we were on Freedom Station. Everything was happening so fast that we couldn't run it down. M-Pro knows about it and they're looking into it."

  "Xie Mie-su," Tabby said. "I told you she couldn't be trusted."

  "We'll find it," Munay replied, with ice in his voice.

  "Good luck with that," I said. "If it was Xie Mie-su, you never will."

  Munay smiled but didn't take the bait.

  "So, tell me, Captain Hoffen. What's next for you? How do you top this adventure?" he finally asked.

  "Well, we've only scratched the surface of Belirand's abandoned missions. I've got an entire trunk of comm crystals I promised to run down," I said. "There's one that's transmitting what sounds like bubbles …"

  But that's another story entirely.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jamie McFarlane is happily married, the father of three and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. He spends his days engaged in a hi-tech career and his nights and weekends writing works of fiction. He's also the author of:

  Privateer Tales

  1.Rookie Privateer

  2.Fool Me Once

  3.Parley

  4.Big Pete

  5.Smuggler's Dilemma

  6.Cutpurse

  7.Out of the Tank

  8.Buccaneers

  9.A Matter of Honor

  10.Give No Quarter

  11.Blockade Runner (end of 2016)

  Witchy World

  Wizard in a Witchy World

  Dark Folk (Coming Fall 2016)

  Guardians of Gaeland

  Lesser Prince

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  CONTACT JAMIE

  Blog and Website: fickledragon.com

  Facebook: facebook.com/jamiemcfarlaneauthor

  Twitter: twitter.com/mcfarlaneauthor

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To Diane Greenwood Muir for excellence in editing and fine word-smithery. My wife, Janet, for carefully and kindly pointing out my poor grammatical habits. I cannot imagine working through these projects without you both.

  To my beta readers: Carol Greenwood, Matt Strbjak, Linda Baker, Kelli Whyte, Robert Long, Nancy Higgins Quist and Dave Muir and for wonderful and thoughtful suggestions. It is a joy to work with this intelligent and considerate group of people.