“You’ll be interested to hear that you’re some sort of madman or arch-villain. It seems they got hold of a garbled account of your little fracas with Lu-Jenks. There are several versions being bandied about, but the most popular says that after going insane and attacking your own Admiral, you escaped custody, vowing to destroy the Empire. Somehow, you learned about the Rekesh, and you gathered a gang of renegade outies to go get her, bring her back to the Empire, and travel from system to system-spreading plague. Another version has you headed for Prime with armed planetbusters. Still another has you plotting to turn an armed battle cruiser over to the Alliance. Lu-Jenks has been interviewed almost daily; and you can imagine what he’s saying about you.
“We denied it as long as possible, but finally had to admit to the Senate that there actually was an undercover mission to recover the Rekesh. That set off even more howls of outrage. Naturally, the newsies found out a few minutes after our ‘secret’ Senate briefing.
“We knew that endangered your safety, so the Emperor ordered the State Department to register Starhopper as a diplomatic auxiliary. At least you won’t be shot as spies. Moreover, there is one small bright spot. They don’t seem to have learned Starhopper ’s name — at least, not yet.”
Pankin sighed, and leaned forward. “So, that’s what’s been happening. Whether you’ve managed to salvage the Rekesh or not, you and your people are in very real, serious danger. As these plague stories spread through the independents, they are bound to grow more and more bizarre. I find myself hoping you contact an Empire embassy soon. Very soon. Once your ship’s name leaks, you may very well be attacked without warning as soon as you enter a system. And it will leak; too many people worked on it to keep the secret.”
The Fleet Admiral sighed again, and then hesitated. His face became sad. “I’m very sorry, Kas,” he continued. “I’m very sorry for what I’m being forced to do. It violates everything I hold dear. However, I have no choice.
“We’ve been spending nearly all of our time lately with senators, especially that weasel Ta-Lank, trying to make them understand the real situation. We have had some success, but I’m afraid it’s going to take quite some time for this thing to settle down and get out of the headlines. So, we have had to give in and deal with Ta-Lank and his cronies.
“I’m not proud of what I’ve had to agree to. And I am not happy to be dictating these orders. But concern for you and your people and, to be honest, the Emperor’s orders compel me.”
He straightened his expression still troubled. “A route has been planned for you to return to the Empire. It is quite roundabout, and it does not lead to Prime. The course is mostly through unclaimed space, and completely avoids inhabited systems. It terminates in an uninhabited system on the edge of the Empire.
“The Senate has agreed to appoint a medical committee. This will consist of a bunch of doctors in various medical and scientific specialties. They will review the work of Doctor Ro-Lecton and his staff. If, and only if, they agree there is absolutely no danger from the plague, you will be permitted to return to Prime.
“It was the best deal we could get. There was a lot of support for ordering you to an isolated system and just blowing you out of the sky.”
He shrugged. “If I were you, the question going through my mind right now would be, ‘well, you are ordering me to an isolated system. How do I know you’re not going to destroy me when I get there?’ Well, I am embarrassed to say that you don’t know it. All I can do is give you my word.”
Pankin sighed. “Six months ago, if someone had told me that one of my crews would feel threatened by their own Fleet, I’d have referred him for psychiatric evaluation.” The Fleet Admiral slumped in his chair, shaking his head. He suddenly looked very old.
After a moment, he raised his head, an agonized expression on his face. “These are orders, Kas. Whether or not you have the Rekesh, you are to follow your assigned course. It is going to take you awhile; I understand it involves over twenty jumps. Neither of your ships is to attempt to enter any inhabited system, and none of your people are to have any physical contact with anyone not presently aboard your ships.”
The Grand Admiral’s eyes narrowed. “I know you have a rather, uh, cavalier attitude toward orders. But please, don’t get imaginative, and don’t look for loopholes. Play this straight, Kas. We’re trying to save your lives.
“Yes, we’re wasting a lot of time on hysterical nonsense. But this is a situation where time is on our side, for a change. The longer we drag this out, the better the chances of the whole thing settling down and dropping out of the news. Once the newsies and some of our more hysterical senators calm down and move on to the next crisis, we can get back to normal. I hope.” With a sorrowful shake of his head, Pankin signed off.
Kas sat silent, staring at the empty screen. He marveled at his lack of emotion. Why wasn’t he furious? His personal reputation was being smeared all over the Empire and the independents. Despite what Pankin said, Kas knew that from now on, whenever his name was mentioned, it would bring visions of madness and plague to peoples’ minds. He winced as he realized it also meant he would never be able to put the Lu-Jenks incident behind him now.
Finally, he realized. Fleet people would know better. They wouldn’t be infected by the hysteria. And Fleet people were the only ones whose opinions mattered to him. He realized he didn’t really give a damn what groundhogs thought of him. Even billions of groundhogs.
He shrugged. Certainly, one day he would retire. So what? He could always change his name. Especially since it wasn’t really his in the first place.
He waved a hand dismissively. He had no right to sit here worrying about something as trivial as his reputation. He was responsible for the lives of more than three hundred fifty people. And most of them would not be as detached as him. They would be angry. And scared.
He keyed his intercom, and summoned To-Ling from the bridge and Ler-Traken from Starhopper. He had some decisions to make, and he would need their input.
“Well,” he said as he snapped the viewer off after playing Pankin’s message for them. “There it is. Comments and suggestions, please.”
His eyes moved from one to the other. To-Ling’s face was expressionless, stony. Ler-Traken, on the other hand, was open-mouthed in shock and dismay.
Starhopper ’s captain shook his handsome head. “I don’t believe it.”
“I do,” To-Ling put in. “We’re lucky Ta-Lank was willing to deal.”
Kas frowned. “Who is this Ta-Lank? And why does he have so much to say about it?”
To-Ling looked startled. “How could you not know Senator Ta-Lank? Besides the Emperor himself, he’s probably the most powerful man in the Empire.”
It was Kas’ turn to look surprised. “Really? I thought Grand Admiral Pankin was the next most powerful.”
She shook her head. “It’s not even a contest, sir. Pankin’s power is only military…”
“Only military?” Ler-Traken interrupted.
To-Ling looked irritated at the interruption. “Yes, only military. The Emperor could dismiss him in a microsecond, and he would have no power at all. Oh, he might be able to set off some sort of uprising in the Fleet, but I don’t doubt any insurrection he started would easily be put down.
“But Ta-Lank has real power. On second thought, I’m not too surprised you’re not familiar with the name. So many Fleet people think there’s some sort of virtue in ignoring the political realities.”
Kas flushed slightly. He had always made a point of dismissing the goings-on in the Senate as political posturing. “All right,” he grated. “Educate us.”
The small woman shrugged. “Actually,” she resumed, “Ta-Lank isn’t that well known off Prime. He is not interested in the spotlight — he’s more of a behind-the-scenes type. But he directly controls more than a third of the votes in the Senate, and through blackmail and deal making he can influence enough additional senators to make sure that anything he wants passed get
s passed. And anything he doesn’t want to pass never sees the light of day. And he is utterly ruthless and conscienceless. That means that every wheeler-dealer and special interest in the Empire is willing to give him anything he wants.”
Ler-Traken was frowning. “If he’s that powerful, I’m surprised the Emperor hasn’t sent a couple of his spooks around to arrange a funeral for him.”
To-Ling shrugged again. “Rumor has it he’s tried, twice. Then Ta-Lank let him know that if anything happens to him, all the dirt and blackmail evidence he’s collected over the years will go straight to newsies all over the Empire.” She sighed. “Ta-Lank probably has dirt on enough senators to bring down the entire government. So, I understand they have a sort of armed truce.” She sighed and shook her head. “It must have cost the Emperor a lot to make this deal.”
Kas frowned. “Then you think it’s safe for us to follow orders — that we won’t be met by a battle group and blown to emm-cee squared.”
She smiled grimly. “Where Ta-Lank’s involved, there’re no guarantees, sir. However, if he’s made a deal, he will go through with it. The only thing Ta-Lank has to sell is his reputation for honoring his word and his deals.
“Besides, I don’t think Rajos IX would make a deal with Ta-Lank involving the murder of Fleet people. Ta-Lank has no honor, but the Emperor certainly does.”
Kas nodded. “I agree. And Grand Admiral Pankin would resign before giving such an order, even if he thought he could find crews willing to carry it out.”
Ler-Traken snorted. “Oh, I think he could find the crews. All he’d have to tell them is that we’re plague ships.”
Kas shrugged. “Perhaps. But I still think he’d resign before giving an order like that.”
To-Ling nodded. “I agree. Anyway, it seems we have no option but to obey our orders.”
Ler-Traken snorted again. “Wrong. There is one option that has not been mentioned. We could send Starhopper to To-Han and negotiate with the Alliance.”
To-Ling sprang to her feet. “Traitor!” she hissed. “How could you even suggest such a thing?”
“Sit down, Commander,” Kas said mildly. “Captain Ler-Traken is right. It is an alternative, and should be considered. I asked for suggestions, and it is your duty to advise me. Besides, I don’t think the Captain was advocating that course of action. Were you, Captain?”
Ler-Traken’s face split into a grin. “No, sir. However, it is an option, and needed to be discussed. And rejected.”
Kas nodded. “I agree. Even if I ordered it, I doubt we would be able to get enough of the crew to agree to even fly the Rekesh there. And we really do not want to touch off another mutiny.
“So don’t worry, Commander. We’re not going to commit treason.”
To-Ling sat back down, a puzzled expression on her face. “So, what are we going to do, sir?”
Kas shrugged. “I guess we’re going to follow our orders, Commander.”
They sent for charts, and the three pored over them.
Finally, Kas straightened and stretched. “They’re sure sending us the long way around. I think some idiot just drew an arc around man-settled space, and decided that should be our course.”
“D’you think they’ve negotiated passage, Commodore? Or are we still likely to have to fight our way through?”
Kas shook his head. “I don’t know. A lot of this course lies through unclaimed space. I’m sure they have negotiated passage through those areas that are claimed. But you will notice we go nowhere near the Glory. That means they haven’t signed onto any free passage agreements. Moreover, they aren’t the only independent without discernable morals. I wouldn’t trust Maximum Leader S’ran T’kando of Libertad as far as I could throw him.”
Ler-Traken snorted. “That wouldn’t be far. He must mass 200 kilos in a one-gee field!”
Kas shot him a quick grin. “I know. The point is that there are k'nith in this pond, and by now they know our route. Moreover, T’Kando and the Glory’s Council of Elders, among others, aren’t going to let a little thing like a plague keep them from getting their hands on a battle cruiser. A schoolchild could plot this course backward and locate this system. Sheol, a Glory battle group could be heading for this system right now.”
The two Commanders exchanged troubled glances as Kas continued. “And as you, Captain Ler-Traken, learned, we can’t expect to be met and escorted by a fully armed battle group. Therefore, we cannot relax. In fact, any time we’re in normal space, we’ll have to be at full alert. The only time we’ll be able to relax will be during Jump, when we’re supralight.”
Ler-Traken straightened. “Are we going to full alert now, Commodore? If so, I need to get back…”
His voice trailed off as Kas shook his head. “Not yet, Captain. We still have the detection buoy at the jump point. We’ll have at least two days’ warning if anyone shows up here.” He shook his head again. “No, I’d rather concentrate on getting Rekesh ready to get underway.”
He turned to To-Ling. “How long, Commander? I know the new nav comp has been installed. Have the files been downloaded?”
To-Ling nodded. “Being done as we speak, sir. We had to wait for Starhopper to get back, since her nav comp contained the data.
“The only other holdup is the AI. The tech in charge told me this morning that it should be ready to activate in a day or two — at least for testing.”
Kas frowned. “We don’t have time for fancy testing. Tell the… no, I’ll tell him. They can debug the damned thing in Jump. We’ve got to get out of here!” He paused as a thought struck him. “One other thing, Commander. I will want to talk with those civilian techs. I want to see if they can rig controls so that three or four gunners can control most or all of our weapons systems.”
To-Ling frowned. “Is that possible, Commodore? I mean, the weapons control stations are scattered throughout the ship so a few lucky hits can’t disable them all.”
Kas shrugged. “True. But we have to take the chance. And those techs’ lives are on the line, too. Sheol!” He continued, “I don’t know if it can be done. But in this case, unless we can centralize the weapons controls, we’ll only be able to use half or less of Rekesh ’s weapons.” He shrugged. “With only a tenth of a crew, we still can’t beat much of a battle group. But we can damned well let them know they’ve been in a fight!”
“May I make a suggestion, Commodore?”
Kas turned to To-Ling. Irritation tinged his tone. “Of course, Commander. That’s what we’re here for.”
She flushed slightly. “Yes, sir. Sorry. Uh, well, I was just thinking. We are so short-handed that if we are attacked by any decent-sized battle group, we’re going to lose, fancy controls or not. It would be bad enough if the Glory got their hands on the Rekesh. How about we at least get rid of those two planet-busters? Send ‘em into the sun, or something? I mean, just as a precaution.”
Kas shuddered at the mental image of a Rekesh in the hands of the Glory, launching a planet-buster at Prime. “You have a good idea there, Commander. But can we do it safely?”
To-Ling frowned. “What do you mean, sir?”
“Well,” Kas replied, “Planet-busters are matter/antimatter bombs. Pure Emm-Cee squared. Is there any chance two of them might actually be powerful enough to affect this system’s sun?”
To-ling looked troubled. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Ler-Traken snorted. “What difference does it make? It’s an uninhabited system. It doesn’t even have planets in the liquid water belt. I mean, if we toss ‘em into the sun just as we’re Jumping, it won’t matter if the damned star goes nova!”
“Good point, Captain,” Kas replied. “Commander, Get with Lieutenant Commander Raskin and start working on orbits to launch both planet-busters into the sun. And plan a schedule that won’t let them hit the photosphere until we’re nearly at the jump point.”
She winced, but nodded. Obviously, Raskin’s purposely-coarse manners bothered the innerworlder.
Kas sighed. “Well, fighting or not, we’ve got a very long trip ahead of us.”
“Very long, indeed, sir.” Ler-Traken shook his head. “It’s not going to be easy keeping morale up.” He smiled faintly. “Even mine.”
Kas grinned. “Nor mine.” the grin faded. “But you’re right,” he continued more seriously. “We already have morale problems, with the nasty cleanup and rigid discipline we’ve been enforcing.”
To-Ling shrugged. “We don’t have to tell them everything, sir. In fact, we don’t have to tell them anything.”
Kas shook his head. “I don’t work that way, Commander. Besides, I don’t think we could get away with it. “Oh, we could pretend nothing is wrong for awhile. Only the Astrogators and senior officers would have to know.
“But Fleet people aren’t stupid. Before long, crewmembers would begin to wonder why all our recal stops were in uninhabited systems and why they weren’t getting liberty. Even before that, there would be questions about why we hadn’t reprovisioned — why they still had to eat reconstituted ship’s rations. Sooner or later, probably sooner, we’d be forced to tell them.”
To-Ling frowned. “So what do we tell them, sir?”
“The truth, Commander. Almost all of it.”
“May I have your attention, please?” Kas’ voice reverberated throughout both ships. “I have an important announcement that concerns everyone aboard Vir Rekesh and Starhopper, Fleet and civilian. As you all know, Starhopper has just returned from contacting Empire diplomatic personnel. You also know that it is necessary to negotiate passage for us through the independents.
“But news of our mission has leaked to the media. They, in turn, have spread the word throughout man-settled space. They have also fueled a plague hysteria.
“Now, we know that a cure has been found. If it had not, all of us would be sick by now and most of us would be dead. Unfortunately, the people of the Empire and the independents don’t know it.
“We’re almost ready to begin our run home. Passage has been negotiated. However, due to the excitement over the plague we are not going to be allowed to approach Prime or, indeed, any inhabited system. The course we have been given is roundabout and ends in an uninhabited system near the Empire/Alliance border. Moreover, we will be quarantined when we get there until the authorities are convinced the plague is no threat. So, it’s going to be a long, boring trip.
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