The Pride of the Damned

by Peter Grant

  “Let it combine over a low heat for ten minutes, then we can eat. I brought some wholewheat seed bread to go with it. Let’s cut and butter that, and set the table.”

  They ate in silence for several minutes, savoring every mouthful. As Sue reached for the ladle to help herself to more, she said with a sigh, “And you reckon you’re not a blue ribbon chef? This could stand comparison to anything I’ve ever eaten at a fancy restaurant. If you go on feeding me like this, I’ll have to marry you for your cooking’s sake, never mind for love!”

  He blushed scarlet, and was unable to find words to reply. She looked at him quizzically, sensing his discomfort, and reached out to touch his hand. “I’m sorry, Jock. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  He met her gaze silently for a moment, then said softly, “Och, it’s all right, lassie. Just don’t get my hopes up. You might be surprised!”

  A slow smile came to her lips, and she squeezed his hand. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  “I haven’t said it to anyone since I was much younger than I am now. I haven’t given a thought to anyone for a decade or more. I had too many disappointments.”

  “Why, for heaven’s sake? I’d have thought a strong, steady man like you would be a prize catch.”

  He shrugged. “Not enough money, no fancy degrees, and I didn’t give a damn about rank and social status. Most women seemed to want more of all of them than I had.”

  She shook her head. “They’re fools, then. You’re a good, solid man, with a sense of honor and all the grit in the world. You’ve stuck by me when others left me to stew in my bad memories, and helped jolly me out of them. I’m grateful – and I’m glad you’re here.”

  He blushed again, and sought to change the subject. “Speaking of weddings, you know the boss will be heading for Qianjin in a few weeks? He and Hui will tie the knot in front of her family.”

  “Well, it’s taken them long enough, hasn’t it?”

  “It has, but it looks like they’ve got it right in the end. They’re a great couple.”

  8

  Council

  PATOS

  “That concludes my report, Mr. Chairman, councilors.” Pal half-bowed in Agim’s direction, but remained at the podium, ready to take questions.

  “Thank you, Pal Sejdiu,” Agim acknowledged with a small nod. “We are fortunate to have someone with your ability and skills. The Patriarch chose well when he appointed you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

  A councilor raised his hand. “I have a question. Mr. Sejdiu, you said you were initially against buying a surveillance satellite, just as some of us were at the time. However, you have changed your mind. What led you to do that?”

  Pal shrugged. “I suppose I was too focused on the Patriarch’s insistence that our funds should go toward the Fatherland Project whenever possible, rather than to our short-term needs. The four-satellite constellation cost us almost a billion Neue Helvetica francs. I resented spending that much.

  “However, we have only one destroyer instead of the two we expected, and the next two – and those following them – will be, at best, long delayed, if they arrive at all. That makes the satellite an essential part of our defenses. It helps us make the best use of the ships we have. We can use it to guide them to intercept an approaching enemy, long before he reaches our base. That is what Hawkwood did when it intercepted our Patriarch and his two destroyers. That is a priceless tactical advantage. Our Chairman showed wisdom and foresight in insisting on this purchase.” Again he nodded to Agim, who half-smiled as he returned the gesture. Clearly, he was pleased to receive so public an acknowledgment. Several of the councilors murmured and nodded their approval.

  Pal waited, but there were no further questions. He stepped back from the podium, looking at Agim inquiringly. The Chairman nodded toward a chair at the window, in wordless invitation to remain for the rest of the meeting – a privilege extended to few non-councilors. Pal grinned inwardly as he sat. He had hoped for this. Agim would welcome the presence of one who had just delivered a very favorable report, and complimented him on his foresight. He would serve as living evidence to the Council that, in one area at least, their Chairman was on top of his game. Now, if he could just get the opening he needed, he had his proposals ready.

  “Brothers, it is time to turn our attention from defense to offense,” Agim began. “We told you about United Planets interference in the delivery of our new warships. This can only have been caused by Hawkwood. Who else would have informed the UP? Certainly it was no-one on New Skyros. They are making too much money out of us to want to spoil that. Therefore, we must strike back at Hawkwood again, to demonstrate that no matter what they do, we shall never submit, never be cowed, never falter. We must show them our steel!”

  There was an uneasy rustle among the councilors. One raised his hand. “Agim, twice we have attempted such retaliation. On each occasion, Hawkwood hurt us badly, even though we achieved some successes; and their sabotage of our first destroyer shipment hurt us even more. Would we not do better to wait, and consider more carefully when will be the best time to strike?”

  Agim shook his head vehemently. “I understand your concerns, Perparim, but remember what our Patriarch taught us. At the last Council meeting before his death, he said – and these are his exact words – ‘Redouble your efforts! Do not let your enemies strike fear into you. Instead, strike fear into them! Hit back at them! Show them that for every blow they direct against us, we shall return it ten times harder!’ What clearer guidance could our Patriarch have left us, by word and by example?”

  Perparim looked dubious, but sat back in his chair. Agim waited a moment, then went on, “I have discussed this with Endrit and Fatmir, my lieutenants and fellow councilors. We believe we should strike at that part of Hawkwood’s fleet in orbit around Constanta.”

  There was an immediate babble of objection from more than half those present. One voice rose above the others. “But Constanta is a neutral planet! It is not our enemy!”

  Agim tried to suppress his visible irritation at their dissent. “You are right, Skender; but if we make sure to strike only Hawkwood’s ships, avoiding other vessels and planetary facilities, there is no reason Constanta should become our enemy. It will not even know who is behind the attack. We shall leave no evidence.” He explained how they planned to strike. “With no gravitic drive emissions to analyze, and no physical identification of our ship, how will they know who to blame?”

  Many of the councilors shook their heads. They were clearly not satisfied with Agim’s explanation. In his seat at the window, Pal thought furiously. This will be a disaster! How can I stop it? He slowly, visibly, shook his head, hoping someone would notice. He was not disappointed.

  Gjerg Hyka raised his hand. “We have heard from Pal Sejdiu about the state of our defenses. He is clearly very competent. I should like to hear his opinion of this proposal.”

  “But he is not a councilor!” Agim objected. “He has no say in the matter!”

  “You gave him a voice in this Council earlier, did you not? And am I not a councilor? I can ask for anyone to provide information if I think it will help us. I think Pal may have insights that would be useful. I request that he be allowed to speak.” Several other councilors nodded their approval.

  Agim seethed internally, but knew he had to tread carefully. “Very well. Pal Sejdiu, what is your opinion?” He did not step away from the podium, a clear signal to Pal that he was supposed to say only a few words, then sit down and shut up.

  Pal did not take the hint. He rose slowly to his feet, a frown on his forehead. “I understand and applaud our Chairman’s desire to take the offensive against Hawkwood. The Patriarch would surely approve of this.” He saw Agim’s face begin to relax. “However, I respectfully submit that there is one factor we have not taken into account. Hawkwood will ensure that Constanta blames us for the attack. After all, they are paying off Constanta’s government to allow them to operate ther
e, just as we are paying off Patos’ government. Hawkwood will manufacture enough evidence to convince investigators that we were responsible for the attack. If Constanta takes that to the United Planets, it might declare us an interplanetary terrorist organization. We would be outlaws, with every man’s hand against us and no safe refuge for our people – not even here on Patos.”

  Agim’s face was bleak once more, anger at such opposition hovering in the back of his eyes; but also a reluctant respect. “You may be right. I had not considered that. It makes it much more risky to attack Hawkwood at Constanta. We shall have to find a better way to strike back.”

  Pal said, almost diffidently, “There is such a way, Mr. Chairman; one that will not only hurt Hawkwood deeply, and waste a great deal of their bribe money, but also double our strength.”

  “What? How?”

  “We should seize our destroyers from New Skyros.”

  There was an instant hubbub, councilors standing, yelling, objecting. Agim had to reach for the gavel and pound it on the podium. “Councilors! Order, please! Order!” He waited until relative quiet had returned, then looked at Pal, his face eager. “Tell us more.” He stepped back from the podium, gesturing to Pal to take his place.

  “Metaxas Shipyards are currently building the fifth and sixth destroyers of our order,” Pal began as he moved forward. “We have paid for them, and for their missiles, so they should be completed in eight months’ time, as scheduled. However, unless the UP releases them, the destroyers will join the other two in detention, and their missile pods will be loaded aboard our depot ship there.

  “The question is, will we ever be allowed to take delivery? If Hawkwood has bribed UP inspectors to forbid that, we shall have to find one in a more senior position, and bribe him to override his subordinates. It will be risky for him to take such a position, against all the evidence. Hawkwood might make so much trouble over it that he loses his job. He will demand a lot of money to make that risk worthwhile. We shall have to pay millions, perhaps tens of millions, even if we find someone at the right level willing to take our bribe – which we may not, of course.

  “That being the case, why not take the bull by the horns, and steal our ships? If we wait until the next two destroyers are ready, then take all four of them and their depot ship, we shall double the striking power of our fleet. Instead of one modern destroyer, with no reloads, and four armed fast freighters, we shall have five destroyers, with plenty of extra missiles, plus the freighters. Hawkwood operates only corvettes and frigates, far inferior to destroyers. With such a fleet, we could take the fight to them, and laugh at their attempts to defend themselves against us.”

  Another rumble of comment broke out. “What about the last two destroyers of our order for eight warships?” a councilor asked.

  “What about them? If we will never be allowed to take delivery, are they any loss to us? I would rather take the money we would have spent on them, and use it to buy other ships somewhere else.” There was a rustle of agreement.

  “One thing,” Endrit said thoughtfully. “Our ships at New Skyros are not allowed to load enough reactor fuel and reaction mass for anything except maintaining their powered orbits, and short local hops. They probably do not have enough for even one full-power hyper-jump. How would we get around that problem?”

  Pal was unfazed. “First, we should say nothing at all about this plan to our skeleton crews already aboard the ships. There is too great a risk that they might talk, or be interrogated. We shall have to smuggle in additional crew members aboard commercial shipping. When the time comes, they can join our crews and tell them what is about to happen.

  “Some of our ships will sneak up to the New Skyros system and wait at an agreed rendezvous point. The deserted outermost planet in the system would be ideal, as it provides a natural beacon for our navigators. Our ships will bring enough stores and reaction mass to replenish all those at New Skyros. Our fresh crews will board the destroyers, overpower the guards – taking care not to kill or badly hurt anyone, if possible – and head for the rendezvous, leaving false transponder beacons in place to deceive the System Patrol Service as long as possible. If the alarm is raised, the guards can be released aboard lifeboats. Planetary forces will have to rescue them, which should delay any pursuit. They do not have enough patrol craft in service to do both at the same time.

  “The destroyers will proceed to the rendezvous, where they will be resupplied and refueled, and release the guards if that has not already been done. While that is going on, our armed ships will fend off any interference from New Skyros. It might come to fighting, but if necessary, I think a suitable demonstration – perhaps firing a missile or two, programming their warheads to explode in a threatening display – will persuade planetary forces to keep their distance. They only have small patrol craft, after all.” The councilors laughed. By now they were sitting on the edge of their seats, eyes alight with excitement. “As each destroyer is refueled, it will hyper-jump out of the system. When the last one has departed, the rest of our ships will follow, to rendezvous at our base.”

  “If we take so many ships to New Skyros, will that not leave our base poorly defended?” Fatmir asked.

  Pal shrugged. “It is a question of priorities. If we want to have a strong fleet, we must take risks to get it. I think we can send our destroyer and two armed freighters to New Skyros, escorting two freighters carrying supplies for our new warships. One would be enough, but two can resupply them faster, and speed will be important. That will leave two armed freighters to defend our base. Hawkwood does not appear to have discovered it yet, and even if they do, our surveillance satellite should provide ample warning of any approach. On balance, I think that is a risk worth taking. It would only be about a month between the departure of our ships and their triumphant return, greatly reinforced.” He suddenly grinned. “Just imagine the heartburn among Hawkwood’s officers when they find out!” The councilors laughed again.

  Agim stepped forward, nodding to Pal to return to his seat. “I thank Pal Sejdiu for a most interesting and promising suggestion. With the Council’s permission, I shall pursue it with my lieutenants, and draw up plans for action as soon as our next two destroyers are ready.” He frowned as he noticed Pal had not stepped back. “Was there something more, Pal?”

  “With your permission, yes, Mr. Chairman.”

  “Proceed.” He stepped back again.

  “Mr. Chairman, councilors, I suggest that there is another path we can also follow, even as we prepare to recover our ships and take the fight to Hawkwood. We should implement the Fatherland Project at once, rather than wait until we have more funds.”

  The council again erupted, voices clashing as its members strove to make themselves heard. Agim gaveled for silence. “What are you talking about?” he demanded, his voice incredulous. “We have drawn down our reserves to buy weapons and defend ourselves. We have only about seventy billion francs available, but a planet worthy of our Patriarch’s vision will cost at least double that.”

  “Yes, Mr. Chairman; a desirable planet, rich in resources, will cost that much. However, there are often cheaper planets available. They may be smaller, able to accommodate and support fewer people; or they may lack mineral wealth; or their stars may lack rich asteroid belts. For all those reasons, they are less in demand, harder for exploration companies to sell; but they are available at a price we can afford – sometimes as little as thirty to forty billion francs.

  “When we take back our destroyers, the UP will be looking for them – and us. They do not know who we are, but Hawkwood will surely tell them, and alert them to our presence here, and assist in the search for our base. Given that, would it not be good to have a planet of our very own? We can disguise its ownership behind the name of a front company, through which we can register it as a corporate planet. Our ships, spacers and people can disappear from Patos, if necessary going to our base for a few months while the purchase is finalized, then to our new planet. It will nev
er be publicly associated with the Albanian Brotherhood, so no-one will look for us there.

  “There will be hardships at first while we establish ourselves, but our greater security there will compensate. In particular, it will make it much easier and cheaper for us to obtain modern warships. After all, a legitimate planetary government can order them on the open market, and issue its own end-user certificates for them. That will avoid our having to pay a black market premium for illegal arms purchases, as we have been forced to do in the past. It will also eliminate the risk – as we have already learned to our cost – that the United Planets might intervene if it learns of anything suspicious.

  “Are we not letting our desire for the best blind us to what may be good enough, at least for now? Why not buy a smaller planet, one we can afford, and begin building the Patriarch’s dream? It opens a new future to us without further delay. We can always look for a bigger, richer planet later.”

  Agim closed his eyes as renewed hubbub spread among the Councilors. Why did I not think of this? he demanded of himself. It will galvanize our people, and this Council, into action like nothing else! He opened his eyes and gaveled for silence. “Pal, I thank you with all my heart for your suggestion. I think, if the Patriarch were with us today, he would be proud of you. I am only sorry I did not think of this myself.”

  Pal shook his head. “No blame attaches to you, Mr. Chairman. You have been, and must continue to be, focused on defending us. I doubt whether any of us could do that as well as you and your lieutenants. Perhaps some other member of this Council can pursue the question of a planet, reporting back to this body as needed. That would leave you free to defend us against Hawkwood.”

  Applause broke out among the councilors. Clearly, Pal’s idea met with their overwhelming approval.

  Gjerg raised his voice, and stood. “Mr. Chairman, may I speak?”