by Ian Miller
"You mean. . . ?"
"What I said."
"That's virtually proof that Gerenthe changed them. He must be . . . " She paused, as another thought struck her.
"He must be what?" Antonia said calmly, then added, "Gerenthe did not change them. First, if he was going to change them, why put in a blank, which is effectively a guarantee that it has been replaced. And in any case, why should he change it?"
"They prove his guilt."
"Perhaps," Antonia said, "but if it were left on the ship of a Space Marshall, who's going to know? And if he did remove it, what would he do with it? A warship's log is extremely difficult to destroy. If he kept it on the same ship, it would be just as easy to find as if it were in the correct place, and why would he bring it down to Ulse?"
"Perhaps he didn't," Lucilla mused.
"Explain?"
"Perhaps one of the crew did," Lucilla said. "Perhaps the story about the log being in that building was truer than we thought. Perhaps the bomb was to destroy it, as well as kill me and Vipsania."
Antonia nodded. "That makes sense."
"The story given to me could have been true," Lucilla said, "at least up to a point. Gerenthe could have found out, and −"
"We can check!" Antonia interrupted. "Come over to this screen, and see if you recognize any of the faces."
Lucilla sat down, and the screen came to life. Antonia did something, and then the image of an Ulsian face came to the screen.
"Do you recognize him?"
"No."
"Then try again."
Again, the image was not recognizable, nor the next, then . . .
"That's him!" Lucilla said excitedly. "The one who talked me into going to get the logs."
"Interesting," Antonia said. "That Ulsian is the engineer from one of the other ships. It's also one of the Ulsians who were in that room when the bomb went off." Antonia paused, then sensing that Lucilla did not understand, added, "Everything that my double saw, I saw. However, the ships' log was definitely not there."
"It doesn't prove the engineer didn't have it, though," Lucilla said softly. "That's his bargaining chip. He may not have brought it with him."
"An excellent point," Antonia said. "We must find out as quickly as possible where he went while on Ulse."
"Wouldn't he have his own quarters set up for him?" Lucilla asked.
"Since Gerenthe didn't let his troops down, no," Antonia said, "and since he hadn't been on Ulse for nearly four hundred years, he would hardly have friends."
"Then it's impossible to trace where he went," Lucilla said in a saddened tone.
"Oddly enough, the very absence of even acquaintances makes it easier," Antonia said. "Anyone taking a new residence has to have a certificate proving they've relinquished the old one. Not having one to relinquish starts a new process. I'll check the records."
Checking the records took ten minutes, with the overall result the engineer had not legally taken a new residence.
"There's one interesting point, though," Antonia said. "There's already been one of these checks on where this engineer went, and guess who initiated it?"
"Gerenthe!"
"Actually, the executive officer, but you can assume with his commander's approval."
"So Gerenthe eventually caught up with this engineer," Lucilla remarked, "and presumably recovered the log."
"The evidence is to the contrary," Antonia said. "Let me search further."
After another hour, during which Lucilla almost fell asleep with boredom, Antonia finally announced that it was unlikely that Gerenthe had recovered the logs. The search had restarted the day after Lucilla's arrest, and was still going on. As Antonia noted, it raised interesting questions, some of which would soon be answered when these searchers were arrested.
"If Gerenthe had no contact with this engineer," Lucilla frowned, "how did he know where to plant the bomb?"
"My guess is sheer bad luck," Antonia suggested. "The engineer had to have somewhere free from prying eyes, and, for that matter, surveillance so he chose that dive. What he must have done is reserved the room, found you, then went back."
"And the bad luck," Lucilla offered, "is that Gerenthe frequented that place as well, must have seen the engineer, found out what had happened, and, well, the rest we know."
"If he'd been generous to the owner, and mentioned that he had an officer on the loose, the owner could well have informed Gerenthe immediately after taking the reservation," Antonia said.
"And the owner would have been elsewhere, so if we can question him . . ." Lucilla said enthusiastically.
"You made an incorrect assumption," Antonia said in a flat tone. "The owner died in the blast."
"Gerenthe presumably killed him to tie up loose ends," Lucilla suggested.
"But by doing so, may have lost control of events," Antonia said. "It's difficult to get someone to ensure everything's in place before setting off the bomb if the someone has to be in place too. So, I'm afraid, we're back to looking for a clue."
"It occurs to me," Lucilla said, "and forgive me for saying this, but you too may have made an incorrect assumption."
"And what do you think I've missed?"
"You said that the engineer would have no friends."
"Any friends he had from his previous time on Ulse would have been dead for several hundred years," Antonia pointed out.
"Not if they went out on a different space ship to an equivalent distance," Lucilla pointed out.
"That is quite true," Antonia said. "There have been no other ships in the recent past, but it might be worth considering such a return over the previous decade or so."
"There could be a lot of ships," Lucilla pointed out.
"Yes," Antonia beamed, "and an awful lot of crew's histories to track. Truly an enormous amount of data to sift through. At last a task to get the ship's computers out of their slumbers. I shall work on it."
"I'm pleased you're enthusiastic about data sifting," Lucilla smiled.
"What I'm enthused about," Antonia said, "is that we are working well together. You are letting me get on with it, and you have shone in your correct role."
"What do you mean?" Lucilla asked cautiously.
"It can be summarized this way. You should leave the perspiration to me, but provide the inspiration. You cannot compete with me in sifting trivial data, and your strength is thinking of the unexpected."
* * *
An hour later Antonia apologized to a bemused Lucilla for the length of time taken to get this task done. However, progress had eventually been made and one and only one correspondence had been found, an executive officer who had previously been on a deep space flight with the engineer. Moreover, surveillance indicated this now retired space pilot had been visited by someone who had managed to conceal his identity by using the identity of a relative of a space pilot who had recently left Ulse.
The military police visited this executive, and when it was established that these police were not from Gerenthe, but were directly controlled by an investigator looking into Gerenthe, the retired pilot took the investigators out of the city and up to the surface. They went up a valley, and to a cave hidden behind a number of rocks. The cave seemed empty, however a large rock could be moved, with some effort, and behind that was a cavity containing the missing log.
The ship's log made disturbing viewing. The battle started a little as Gerenthe had stated, except that Gerenthe, and a few ships, stayed out of it. The difference between Gerenthe's account and the actual battle was soon established: the Ulsian fleet was thrashed, in part through Gerenthe not properly committing his full force at the same time. Just before the fleet was totally wiped out, the M'starn stopped, and it appeared Gerenthe made contact with them. Exactly what happened next was unclear, but the remaining Ulsians still alive were transported to the surface of the planet then the ships were destroyed. The M'starn fleet then appeared to depart, and Gerenthe, after altering the crews, ordered the remaining undamaged shi
ps to return to Ulse.
"Where he claimed victory," Lucilla snorted.
"So it would appear," Antonia agreed. "This is most disturbing. It appears that even you underestimated the problem."
"We have to set off at once!" Lucilla said with a sudden urgency in her voice. "Gaius must be warned."
"No," Antonia said. "It is even more important we wait just a little longer."
"We have to take this information!" Lucilla countered. "Otherwise it's totally unfair to the others there."
"No," Antonia replied. "It's more important we take authority. If we just go there now, it's our word against his, and just stop and think what will happen if a Terran arrives and accuses the Ulsian commander of being a fraud? The Ulsian commanders have to take sides, and where do you think their prejudice will settle?"
"With the Ulsian side," Lucilla nodded."
"It's even worse if the fleet splits," Antonia warned. "They'll end up fighting each other, and the enemy don't have to do anything."
"But he could betray the fleet," Lucilla warned.
"Yes, he could," Antonia agreed, "but even then, at least all the Ulsians will be fighting together against the enemy. It may look no worse than inept command, and in any case, Gaius will have half the fleet. It's better to have half the fleet fighting ineptly than fighting the other half. We must wait to take sufficient authority to remove Gerenthe from command. It will only take an extra day, and it will guarantee that if we do get there in time, we shall be effective."
Chapter 41
For the second time in a month, the citizens of Plotk had their evening skies lit up as a major battle fleet, this time the Ulsian fleet, began to step down from relativistic speed. The Ulsian fleet was so huge they would only be outnumbered by sixty per cent. The Plotkynn bookmakers began to see a rapid increase in self-styled military experts, keen to place bets to back up the positions taken over too much alcohol. And the betting was interesting, as there were many positions to take.
The M'starn outnumbered the Ulsian fleet, but the value of this numerical superiority would depend on how their fleet was deployed. The first problem for the M'starn would be that a relatively high per centage of their fleet comprised the more lightly armed space cruisers. Furthermore, all their ships were over a millennium old, and most had been in battle. Their crews were therefore more battle-hardened, their commanders were familiar with victory, albeit over relatively unprepared opposition, but equally their ships had been repaired sufficiently often that their functionality and their ability to take prolonged punishment could be questioned.
The Ulsians, on the other hand, had relatively inexperienced crews, most of whom had never seen battle. However, they also had the most modern of ships in prime condition. Then, to throw confusion into the pot, rumour had it that they had two commanders, each of which had had a recent victory over the M'starn. Two commanders? That meant the Ulsians might fight two separate campaigns. How could that conceivably work? Nevertheless, while it may seem strange, when the word from the returning Plotkyn delegation to Ulse brought this news, there had been consternation amongst the M'starn. They too had divided their fleet, and had concealed each part.
Overall, the Plotkynn were divided. The majority seemed to be betting on the M'starn. Since their fleet had arrived before the delegation from Ulse, it was clear that their government favoured the M'starn. But there were a minority who felt that the Ulsians had been misled. Since they had been forced to arrive at best almost a month after their enemy they were at a disadvantage. Some felt the Ulsians should be warned. Others attempted to warn the Ulsians. They had taken advantage of the better odds on an Ulsian victory, and they were not going to let a little cheating by their military lose them money.
* * *
The Ulsian ships chose to drop down to an orbit at the trailing Lagrange point of the inner of the two major gas giants. There were no visible signs of the enemy so the question was, what to do next? Gaius was only too well aware that most of the Ulsians in his force were somewhat apprehensive about having an alien as an overall commander, and an alleged primitive at that, so he decided to order the ship's commanders to form committees to discuss what the next action should be. Recommendations from each group of ten ships would be referred to him. In response to Marcellus' query, he pointed out that while he did not expect any important possibilities to be advanced, he would at least have the chance to gain the crew's respect for following Ulsian custom. Following the committee reports, there would be a meeting of all senior commanders.
Soon the reports poured in. Invariably they all suggested hiding the ships, to give the enemy a surprise when they arrived. There was one exception, a group that refused to report. Gaius decided to pay them a visit. When Gaius boarded the ship, the senior officer present, a clearly nervous Wing Commander, greeted him. As Gaius returned the salute, he explained as calmly as he could, that he was there to see why they had not reported.
"It's not that we refuse to obey," the Wing Commander explained very nervously. He clearly felt that he had failed his responsibility as Committee Chairman and that something bad was soon to follow. "It's just that, well, we can't agree."
"That's good," Gaius nodded appreciatively.
"It is?" the officer asked, in something approaching disbelief.
"It means you have two opinions," Gaius smiled, "which is at least one more than everyone else. Let me hear the discussion."
"Sir, I . . ."
Gaius looked at the young officer. "What's wrong?" he asked, in as kindly a tone as he could.
"Well . . ." He paused, and noting a frown start to develop on Gaius' face, he took a breath and blurted out, "There's a couple of older captains, and, well, they're not very polite, and . . ."
"I doubt that'll worry me too much," Gaius smiled, and gave the Wing Commander a reassuring pat. "And I assume you haven't tried to bring them into line."
"I thought the instructions were to reach an agreement," the Wing Commander said. "There's no emergency, so . . ."
"You are doing exactly what I wanted," Gaius nodded. "Now, let me hear the discussion."
The debate, it seemed, had gone along two lines. Some felt, as did the rest of the fleet, that they should hide and prepare a surprise for the fleet. The others, led by an older Ulsian who had apparently seen battle previously, argued that they had no idea whether they were there first, and if they were not, any attempt at hiding under enemy observation would merely immobilize their ships.
"Gerenthe seems to think we're here first," Gaius remarked, without any particular conviction in his voice.
"If he's going to base his strategy on that belief," the older captain said, "he's a prize arse-hole."
There was a stunned silence. That was not the way to address a senior officer, even in absentia.
"I know," the older Captain said to Gaius. "Nobody likes to hear the truth. So demote me."
"You," Gaius turned towards the Wing Commander. "They've made recommendations. Suppose you had to make the decision. What do you do?"
"I'd try to find out whether we are first," he replied cautiously.
"How?"
"I suppose, send reconnaissance ships around all the moons where the enemy could hide. I'd have equipment look for energy leakages, and so on."
"And what would you do?" Gaius said, turning to the older captain.
"Try to bribe a Plotkyn trader."
"Two excellent suggestions," Gaius nodded. He turned to the Wing Commander and said with a smile, "Find a replacement for yourself, and don't appoint him," he added as he pointed at the captain.
"Yes sir," came the resigned look of an Ulsian heading to the brig for something he had not even done.
"And for the sake of the troops, try to look a little bit pleased with yourself."
"I don't understand?" came the puzzled response.
"Field promotion," Gaius grinned. "The two of you are Commodores, as from now. You will control small fleets, which will be designated to you in a f
ew minutes. One of your first jobs will be to organize the execution of what you each proposed." He turned towards the older Captain, and said, "You will find some way of getting someone into position to do what you suggested. I do not wish to hear any details, and you are forbidden to discuss what you do with anyone else. You will enter no details into any logs, and you take particular care that there is no way Space Marshall Gerenthe has any idea that you are even up to anything. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir!" The older new Commodore said, almost in disbelief, but obviously pleased with this unexpected attitude.
"And, er, one more thing. You've got to stop calling Space Marshalls arse-holes," Gaius said, then muttered, with a wink, "even if it's true."
"Yes sir!" came the even more surprised response.
"You," Gaius said to the ex Wing Commander, "will soon receive orders for exercises, which you will carry out around all the moons in sequence. While doing so, observe and try to detect enemy. If you do, give absolutely no indication. Neither of you will send any messages back unless you are under attack, and there is no other option. If attacked, you will evade and try to return, and when you return you report solely to me. Understand?"
"Yes sir!" came the bemused replies.
"Good!" Gaius said, then grinned as he said, "Well, don't just sit there. Get on with it!"
"We're onto it," the older soldier nodded, "and you can count on us not letting you down."
* * *
The commanders of all ships saluted as Gaius entered, and then sat down. Gaius returned the salute, then began to speak. "I have brought you all here to announce the further drills. Not a moment will be wasted, and we must get into the best operational condition that we can, so I am sorry, but your days are going to be extremely full." He paused and saw a look of irritation over the faces of his recent promotions. "Any objections?" he pointed at the older Commodore.
"Sir, is it wise to show the enemy . . ."
"Indeed it is," Gaius nodded appreciatively. "It's what we show them that counts. What you will get are orders to carry out some fairly standard manoeuvres very incompetently. The drill is to do them precisely in the designated fashion, so that will tone up your skills, but any of the Plotkynn that see them and report to the enemy will convey the message that we're easy beats. That might make the enemy careless.
