The spacecorps hung grimly in the center of the battle with the majority of the civilians fighting beside them. For every ship they lost they seemed to be taking three or four of the Ukes with them. But the odds were just too overwhelming.
“Withdraw to Gracyski,” Zupanch ordered. “All ships withdraw to Graczyski.”
With deadly slowness a long thin swarm of ships followed her command and headed back toward the center of the system, harassed from all sides by the relentless Ukes. The Tiernan was the last to turn as Zupanch used her multiple guns in a hopeless attempt to ward off the attackers.
5
THERE WERE MORE MILITARY PERSONNEL in the hall of Drautzlab than Ayne Wallen had ever since he had begun working there.
The war he thought disdainfully. They hould be out fighting the war instead of hanging around here looking for some magic solution to their problems. He knew for a fact that Sondak was conscripting throughout its domain, even on his sparsely populated Be-Tyaw. If they were that much in need of bodies to fight the Ukes, surely some of these military people hanging around the lab were needed also.
When he entered his office, he was surprised to find Sjean Birkie waiting for him.
“Where are they?” she asked before he could offer his greeting. “You said they would be ready yesterday?”
“Ah, Sjean, my impatient. Good numbers hard to find. Sometimes takes months to find one.”
“Which mean you haven’t done what I told you to,” she said without anger. “Why not?”
“Please to sit,” Ayne said as he moved past her and at down behind his immaculately arranged desk. “Did all that you asked. Did it twice to be sure. Still no –“
“Using Planck’ constant?”
“Certainly, impatient one. Those were your instructions.”
“I want to see your data feed .”
Ayne knew he was in trouble, but did not care. Let her demand anything she wanted to. “Scrubbed,” he aid quietly..
“Scrubbed? Scrubbed! What in Heisenberg’s name is that supposed to mean?”
“Gone. Erased. Deleted,” he said much more calmly than he felt. “Numbers no good, so data feed no good. Erased all junk and am starting with fresh.”
Under the delay of a deep breath of frustration Sjean looked at him in wonder. What was the matter with this man? Was he such a poor scientist that he did not understand the value of a data feed? Or was he up to something else entirely? At the moment it didn’t matter. His actions were beyond her jurisdiction.
“You will have to explain that to Caugust,” she said quietly. “And probably to Scientific Security, too. No one scrubs data on a project this important without having to pay for it.”
Ayne gave her an innocent grin. Behind that front his pulse thumped against his jawbone. He hadn’t thought about Scientific Security when he scrubbed the data feed. All he had thought about was demonstrating to Sjean that he was not some hireman she could boss as she pleased. He hadn’t thought of Caugust either.
“Smile if you want to,” Sjean said as she stepped toward the door, “but hope you have enough credits to get back to Be-Tyaw. Otherwise you might find yourself conscripted.”
“Perhaps,” he said softly. “There is an alternative.”
“Not for you, Ayne. We’ve put up with a lot from you, made adjustments for you we did not have to. But there is absolutely no adjustment we can make for this kind of negligence.”
“Was not negligence.”
“Then it was stupidity. Have a nice trip.” Shse walked quickly out of the office and slammed the door behind her.
As soon as she left, Ayne turned to his computer console and rapidly called up a display of his last equations. They were pristine and empty, waiting for him to enter the appropriate values. He knew they were empty. But they were also valuable.
With those equations he could he could push Guntteray’s theory and Drautzlab’s research a giant step forward. If he scrubbed them, too, it might take Sjean and the rest of them years to discover what he had accidentally stumbled upon the day before.
Ayne smiled to himself. The ultimate weapon might just be possible after all. Simultaneous action at a distance was still a joke, but the backside of Guntteray’s theory might hold a better, more powerful secret – reciprocal action at a distance.
As he stared at the equation, he hesitated. One impulse was to erase them and deny anyone else access to their beauty. The stronger impulse was to take them and flaunt them in Sjean’s and Caugust’s faces. For the moment he could do nothing but gaze them with a fondness only a scientist could have for such abstract balance and harmony.
He pushed aside his personal feelings and considerations. Duty and honor demanded that he do what he had sworn to do. When the combuzzer called him to report to Caugust’s office, he turned the display off and left his office with the air of a man going to sneer at his enemy’s feeble threats.
◊ ◊ ◊
Lucky and Marsha sat perplexed in front of Delightful Childe. “I’m afraid we don’t understand what you are asking of u,” Marsha aid finally.
“Ah, yes, well, that,” Delightful Childe said slowly as he stroked his long proboscis, “that is a point I have yet to make. However, we must first ensure that we totally understand each other’s positions. You wish to contact someone on the central U.C.S. planets. We wish to be relieved of the burden laid on us by Dr. Hachihaguri and his people. Our respective –“
“Pardon me for interrupting,” Lucky said, “but we’ve been over all of that. Why don’t you just tell us what you think we can do to help?”
Delightful Childe suppressed a sigh. “Do you have tillers?”
Marsha laughed. “No. What would we –“
“We do. Do you have planet seed?”
“No,” Lucky and Marsha said together.
“We do.” Delightful Childe said holding up his seven-fingered hand. “We also have enzymes, planthuts, generators, and miscellaneous other equipment which might prove useful to Dr. Hachihaguri. We do not, however, have weapons. Do you have weapons? Lots of weapons?”
When they hesitated, Delightful Childe barred his yellow teeth in what passed for a smile. “Ah! So you do have weapons. Good. Weapon are exactly what Dr. Hachihaguri’s people need to survive. You give him your weapons, and I will send his messages and yours on Nazzarone’s long band transmitter.” Delightful Childe leaned back and hooked a finger of each hand in the folds of flesh hiding his neck. He was pleased.
“We can’t do that,” Lucky said quietly. “We paid a lot of good credits for those weapons and besides – “
“You think our tillers, seeds, and supplies were free?” Delightful Childe asked in a voice somewhat louder than he intended. His pleasure had been short-lived.
“No, but you’re probably insured for something like this. As independent lightspeed freighters, we –“
“You have an obligation. Are these not your own people?”
“They’re mine, not his,” Marsha said quickly.
“Did you not describe yourself to be as partners?”
“Yes, but –“
“Then they are his people, too. And your weapon to give if you so choose. Must I lecture you about moral duty? Did your primitive societies teach you nothing about higher law?”
“You don’t have to lecture us.”
“Someone should!” Delightful Childe caught himself before saying more. Arguing with them would do nothing to resolve his problem or Hachihaguri’s.
“Perhaps he’s right.” Marsha looked straight into Lucky’s pale blue eyes. “Perhaps we do need to be reminded of –“
“Oh, no!” Lucky said as he stood up. “I don’t have to listen to this.” He was suddenly aware of how uncomfortable he was in Delightful Childe’s presence. Now Marsha was siding with the presumptuous alien. “You want to give up your share of the weapons? That’s fine with me. And you can stay here on Alexvieux if you want to.” As soon as he said that, he regretted it. The pained look on Ma
rsha’s face as she rose beside him stabbed his conscience, but it was too late to turn back now.
“Look,” he said as he turned to face Delightful Childe, “you have supplies, and weapons, too, I’ll bet. Why can’t you just take care of these people? What’s the matter with your higher law? Don’t they cover humans?”
“You try my patience, Captain Teeman. Should I choose to do so, in the name of all that is holy, of course, I could take your weapons – and your ship – and serve that which is right without the least thought to your inconvenience. But I was suffering under the misapprehension that I was dealing with a civilized human.”
Lucky glanced quickly around, his body tense with anger. The immensity of the Nazzarone had impressed him when they landed Graycloud beside it. Now the size of this room seemed to reinforce Delightful Childe’s threat. He probably could and would take whatever he wanted, whether Lucky liked it or not.
“Please, Lucky? You said you were willing whichever side paid the higher price.” Marsha grabbed his arms and forced him to look at her. “Don’t you understand? The price we’re talking about here is measured in lives.”
The implication that it was their own lives as much as those of the scientists was not lost on him. With a deep breath Lucky let the tension go. He looked at Marsha, looked into that face which had brought him so much unexpected joy, and knew he was right. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, “I guess I just –“
“There is no need for you to apologize,” Delightful Childe interrupted. “If you will but agree to my suggestion, we can make the necessary arrangements immediately.”
Lucky resented this alien, resented the twist he had forced on their plans, and resented his high-handed threat. But most of all, he resented having said what he did to Marsha. He blamed that on Delightful Childe.
“On condition,” Lucky said as evenly as he could.
“Yes? You have some difficulty we have not discussed?”
“We’ll send our own message through your transmitter – with none of your personnel around.”
Delightful Childe barred his teeth again. “How quaint your suspicions are, Captain Teeman. No, no,” he said with a wave of his hand that barred interruption, “do not get excited again. We accept your condition…and impose one of our own.”
“Which is?”
“That your message include a report of what the Nazzarone has done to whomever you are contacting in the U.C.S Does that meet with your approval?”
When they assented, Delightful Childe felt like a great burden was lifted from him. Yet his training and experience refused to allow him to celebrate until Nazzarone was clear of Alexvieux.
When he was sure he had done all he could and Nazzarone was well away in space, he would report first to his immediate superiors and then to his employers in Sondak. Those two acts would satisfy all the obligations incurred by this annoying side trip to Alexvieux. Then, and only then, would he be able to relax and savor the rewards of benevolence.
◊ ◊ ◊
“No, sha,” Frye said quietly, “there was no way we could plan beyond that point with any certainty. As I explained before, part of our actions will depend on the losses we incur in the Matthews operation.” As he spoke, Frye reminded himself again that these military leaders had been chosen as heads of their respective services based on politics, not on military ability.
“That sounds like a dangerous approach to strategy,” Marshall Judoff said.
“All strategy is dangerous, sha.”
“But as Commander Kuskuvyet noted earlier, this operation of yours will require the majority of our heavy forces. Is that not terribly high risk?”
Frye stared at her for a moment before answering. Tuuneo has said he could control Judoff so – “Everything we decide has its risk factors. Marshall Judoff. The greater the rewards to be gained, the greater the risks which must be taken.” How foolish to have to quote clichés to her, he thought.
“Perhaps I should put it this way, Marshall Judoff. We know we cannot win a prolonged war with Sondak. Their resources and their production capabilities far exceed ours. We have crippled them momentarily, but now is the time to follow up on our success and gain control of central space. Once we’ve done that, Sondak will necessarily be on the defensive and we can –“
“Cornered,” Kuskuvyet said, “and fighting like animals.”
“No, Commander. If we control the Matthews system, Sondak will not be cornered – but they will be outflanked. Their polar systems will be vulnerable. Their refitting base on Roberg will be within easy range of our medium attack ships. And,” Frye said with a chop of his hand, “their morale will be devastated.”
“No need to get so emphatic, Commander,” Judoff said in a silky tone of amusement.
Frye gave her a smile without humor. After two days of defending his plan to the Bridgeforce commanders and their nitpicking staffs, he was finding little humor in anything. “Perhaps not, sha, but there is no need for most of the questions which have been asked today, either.”
A murmur of protest rose from around the table.
“I agree,” Admiral Tuuneo said immediately, speaking for the first time in the last several hours. All heads turned in his direction. “It appears that we are all agreed that the Matthews system should be attacked, captured, and held. I’m sure that Commander Charltos has gained some valuable suggestions that he can use in attaining that goal. But in the end, it is his responsibility to work out the exact details.”
“But, Admiral –“
“Let me finish, Judoff. You’ve had your say.” A quick glance at the other members of Bridgeforce left no question that he had their attention. “When we chose our Joint Force Commander, we agreed that the final strategical and tactical decisions had to be his. Too many of us remembered what happened in the last war.”
“This is not the last war,” Judoff said firmly.
“No, sha, it is not. And so long as I am chairman of Bridgeforce, we will do nothing to let it turn into that kind of war. What in Decie’s name has happened to your memories? Have you forgotten how our services were almost destroyed by the Amarcouncil’s constant attempts to second-guess us? Have you forgotten why Bridgeforce was formed?”
His question hung in the air without an answer.
“Then I say we approve Commander Charltos’s plan and let him begin its execution.”
“But, sir?”
“Yes, Marshall Judoff?”
“Shouldn’t we be kept informed on a daily basis on how the plan is developing so that we can make adjustments to the –“
“If you demand that, I’ll disband Bridgeforce.”
“You cannot do that,” several people said at once.
For the first time Frye felt a real smile rework his lips. Now he knew one of the ways Tuuneo was going to control them.
“I certainly can,” Tuuneo said sternly. “Read the regulations. As senior commander of all the services and as chairman of Bridgeforce, I have the full right in times of armed conflict to disband this body and select a staff of my personal choosing to assist me in directing all war efforts in the UCS.”
“That’s dictatorship.”
“No, just war, Marshall Judoff, and the rules of war tend to get very simple and very strict. But I’d forgotten. You missed the last war, didn’t you.”
Judoff flushed with anger, but to Frye’s surprise she said nothing. Although her allegiance in the last war had never been questioned, there was a fair amount of public evidence that she and the paramilitary force she led at the time had never actually engaged the enemy.
“I call for a vote,” Admiral Tuuneo said quietly. “All in favor of supporting Commander Charltos’s plan so signify.”
The plan carried by a vote of eight to zero. Marshall Judoff abstained and left the room as soon as the meeting adjourned. Kuskuvyet followed in her wake like a dull asteroid caught in her gravity.
Frye watched them go with relief and concern, neither of which explained the sense
of distraction he felt.
“An excellent presentation and defense, Commander.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Frye said, allowing himself the faintest of smiles. “But I have a question, sir. Did you expect Bridgeforce to work this plan over for two days?”
Tuuneo did not return his smile. “Actually, Commander, I expected it to take longer. If Judoff and her puppet hadn’t been so impatient, they might have garnered more support. Their crudeness surprised me.”
Frye knew immediately what the admiral referred to. Judoff had ignored customs and traditions which had formed the heart of Tuuneo’s military background. Nothing she could have done or said would have disturbed him more than that. “To ignore tradition,” he had once told Frye, “is to walk blindfolded into the night of ignorance.”
“Nevertheless,” Tuuneo continued, “we accomplished our goals, and you have your assignment waiting for you. Will you come pray with me before you go back to work?”
“Certainly,” Frye said without hesitation. He had not done much praying since Vinita’s death, but his current lack of spiritual fervor could not be reflected publicly, especially in Tuuneo’s presence. All the traditionalists insisted that the gods and war were interwoven in essential ways. Tuuneo might be too rational to believe that the gods controlled wars, but his belief in them made the gods a part of everything he did.
“Good. We will use my basili.”
As Frya followed Tuuneo from the room and toward the shuttle tubes which would take them up to Tuuneo’s office and his private basili, he wondered why he was being accorded this honor. It was highly unusual for anyone other than family to be invited to use a private basili and – Suddenly Frye knew. Tuuneo’s invitation to pray was not only his personal stamp of approval on Frye’s plan, but also an acknowledgement of how much was at stake for the U.C.S. in this operation.
For Admiral Tuuneo, his prayers for blessing and assistance were more than just a formality. They were a necessity.
6
THE SUN DID A SLOW BOIL INTO THE SEA, casting its last orange light through the single window of the cliffside residence. Hew Rochmon lay sated in the warm glow with his arm around a naked wisp of a woan. Slowly and silently she faded away as her time expired, and his arms collapsed around nothing.
Double Spiral War Trilogy Page 6
