"What is it we're looking at?" Bedros asked.
"Prepare to be impressed," Gian said as the quad lifted from the wall.
"How are you doing that?"
"It's another of Merrie's discoveries. See that broken machine on the table? Merrie is flying one of them up the mountain. We've been working for the last tenday to map out a route and extend its range," Gian explained.
"It was really Eliora," Merrie explained as she manipulated the joysticks. "She's been installing equipment that sends the video signal back to us, all the way up the hill."
"Not all the way," Gian said. "Today, we're going to try to finish the last few kilometers. It's too dangerous for our people to get that close."
"How fast are you flying?" Bedros asked.
"Thirteen or fourteen meters per second," Merrie said. "Slower if we get a headwind. We're lucky, the original design of these quads used really old power systems. They could only fly for fifteen or twenty minutes. My girl will stay up for several days if I want."
"The downside to this technology is that the Ophie's hearing is such that they know when we're coming," Gian said.
"Do you think they know it's us?" Bedros asked.
"I believe so. They're very quick to knock one down if they see it."
They watched quietly as the quad flew across the tops of the trees, occasionally buffeted by winds. Merrie's flying skills had improved to the point that she easily adjusted.
"Now we have to get to work," Merrie said. "We're about to leave communications range."
"How will you fix that?"
"The first thing we do is make sure we don't have any Ophie standing right next to where we want to plant a repeater. Learned that the hard way. Then it's not too hard. We launch it from the quad and it will stick in most trees. We need one every half a kilometer or so."
As she'd been talking, Merrie made a sweep of the area, bobbed down, lined up on a sturdy limb and fired a small dart. She inspected her handiwork, pulled back and quickly gained elevation. She kept moving and repeated the process several more times before she started attracting attention.
"This one's going to be dicey. We could be done for the day if I screw this up," Merrie said.
A group of adolescent Ophie had started chasing the quad and were ineffectively throwing rocks at it.
"They don't look like much of a threat right now, but believe me once I get lower, their accuracy improves. I'm going to have to bust out some of my ninja moves," she said.
"Ninja?"
"Sorry, been watching old vids from the same century when these quads were invented," Merrie said.
The quad accelerated and swept around a tree, erratically dodging from side to side as she did. At the last moment, she leveled out, fired a dart and used the momentum gained from the dart to accelerate backwards and up.
"We'll need to inspect that one later," she said. "They're getting too close. Ready to get a good look, Captain?"
"You think we're close enough?"
"I'm going to drop a few repeaters on the ground and sprint in. We're recording, so if I go too fast, we can replay. Don't worry," she said.
Merrie flew forward and dipped down when the signal started to dip. She launched a dart at the ground and then flew forward, finally clearing the ridge they'd been working toward.
"My God. Is that what I think it is?" Bedros asked as the quad gained elevation.
"It's worse than I feared. We're out of time," Gian said.
BRAWL
Lèger Airspace, Grünholz, Tipperary Solar System
Hail Meerkat Shipyard.
"Meerkat. Who might I have the pleasure of speaking with?" A holo rendering of Bing, Meerkat's foreman, popped up on the display.
"Bing. Any chance you could clear a deck for us? I need you to take a look at something and give us your professional opinion," I said.
"Captain Hoffen, my favorite scallywag. I wasn't expecting to see you until next week."
"No. That's Kestrel. Captain Norris is sailing her out from Curie. We scraped up Hotspur a little and were hoping you could squeeze us in," I said.
"You been mixing it up with those Oberrhein boys again?"
"Nah, something outside of Curie," I said. It was as close to the truth as I could tell him.
"Bring her in. We'll clear the deck and take a look. I can't promise anything on the schedule, however. It might be a week or so," he said.
"We'll see you in ten," I said and closed the comm.
"That doesn't sound hopeful," Ada said.
"I guess we'll just have to see how deep Jonathan's pockets are," I said. "Any change in Stark Justice's attitude?"
"He's falling back some. I dropped into the atmosphere of Grünholz," she said. "He'd have to really want us."
"You suppose he can even dock at Gros with that thing?"
"It would take constant monitoring, but Luc said they have a high altitude wharf for bigger ships. I'll bet they're headed there," she said. "What do you think he wants to talk about?"
"My guess is he wants to threaten us."
"With what? If he wanted to put us down, he could have already," she said.
"Not in front of Nuage Air Defense. They want to keep us quiet until they can catch us in the open. I have a hard time believing he wants to see Cape's crew die, though," I said.
"I hope you're right. We don't stand a chance against those heavies," Ada said.
"Meh, we can still outrun 'em."
"Can't outrun missiles, Liam," Marny said. I hadn't heard her come up to the bridge.
"True enough."
Tabby walked up behind me, placed her chin on my shoulder and looked out the armor glass. "Never get tired of that view," she said.
I looked forward and took in the three towers of Nuage Gros. It was the capital and largest of Nuage nation's eighteen cloud cities, all of which floated above the planet Grünholz.
"You think Belirand can make trouble for us with Nuage?" Tabby asked.
"They can try, but they'd have to risk us spilling the beans to Nuage. I'd expect something a lot more clandestine," I said.
"Cap's right," Marny said. "Belirand hasn't made any friends out here. I doubt anyone will stand up against 'em, but they won't be bending rules for them either."
Nick, Jonathan, we'll be landing in less than five.
I enjoyed watching Ada bring a ship into close quarters. Tabby and I were both excellent pilots, but neither of us could compete with Ada's fine control in-close, which she attributed to spending most of her youth maneuvering giant barges with her mom.
Meerkat was located in the main center tower, on the first habitable level. As we approached, I saw that Bing had opened their main doors. There was only three meters of clearance in either direction, but Ada flew in and set her down softly on the crowded deck. Bing had made room for us by scooting other jobs out of the way.
"Nice control, Ada, I'd have let the AI bring me in if I had the chair," I said.
"Best you remember that," she said and got up.
"Tabbs, you mind grabbing our bags? I'll see if I can get Bing to find us a slot," I said.
"What? Now I'm your butler?"
I looked over to her, surprised. "No. Sorry," I said quickly.
"See? Now, that's nice control." Tabby looked at Ada and they giggled as they walked toward the back of the bridge.
I felt an arm around my shoulder. I'd momentarily forgotten that Marny had been seated at the couch.
"Cap. You've much to learn about women," she said.
"Tell me about it."
I grabbed Tabby's and my bags from our quarters and met the crew on Meerkat's deck.
Tabby looked at her bag in my hand and smiled. She then handed me my favorite heavy flechette with a waist mountable holster. "Get strapped. Who knows what kind of shenanigans we might run into."
"Aye, Tabitha, mischief is afoot and I don't want anyone out in the open without an escort," Marny said, clearly excited to be resuming her role as head of
security.
"Aww, Marn, I've got plans," Ada said.
"Would that be Nuage's very own eligible bachelor, Captain Luc Gray, you'd be referring to?" Marny asked.
"Perhaps."
"If you give me two minutes to read him in on our security situation, he'll be a fine escort," Marny said.
"Okay, he'll like that anyway. I think he's got a thing for you," Ada said smiling.
"Not what I'd call just a few scratches!" Bing said as he walked up holding a reading pad. "And who in Hera's name did you have pasting those patches on? My kid makes less of a mess with her modeling clay."
"Can you fix her?" I asked.
"Anything's possible with enough money, Captain Hoffen."
Marny, Tabby and Ada split off from the group and walked toward the lift that would take them up into the rest of the city.
"Hold on a second, Bing. Tabby, where are you guys headed?" I asked.
"It's 1500 and we skipped lunch. We're headed to de Laroche. Don't worry, I'll order you a burger and a Guinness," she said.
I turned back to Bing who was flicking through a reading pad.
"What's the bottom line?" I asked.
"You're not going to like it. I've looked at the scans we took as you flew in. Eight days, six-hundred forty thousand. We could start on it in six days if we push off your other ship, Kestrel," he said.
"That bad?"
"No getting around it."
"Do you have access to missiles?" Jonathan asked.
"No armaments here… and I don't believe we've been introduced," Bing said.
Jonathan held out his hand and shook. "Jonathan of Anino Enterprises. We'd like to be ready to sail in five days. Would you be willing to negotiate a premium for appropriate consideration on your schedule?"
"I'm afraid that might be above my pay grade," Bing said.
"How many jobs do you have in front of Hotspur?" Jonathan asked.
"There are four," Bing said, rubbing his neck. A flush rose in his cheeks.
"Perhaps if you were to provide an incentive to these customers?" Jonathan pushed.
Bing looked back to me. "Look, I appreciate your business, Captain Hoffen, but these smaller jobs keep me in business. I can't be jacking them around," Bing said.
"We'll pay fifty thousand to step to the front of the line," Jonathan said.
"I don't know…. "
"And an additional hundred thousand if the work is complete in ninety-six hours," he said.
"We'll run double shifts."
"One more thing. This is off book until we take possession."
"That might be tough," Bing said.
"If it were easy, we wouldn't need to pay a premium," Jonathan said as he mimed pinching a contract and flicking it at Bing. The last part was for show, as I doubted Jonathan needed to use a HUD to accomplish anything.
Bing's eyes didn't actually bulge out of their sockets, but he was suitably impressed. "Right you are. See you in ninety-six hours then," he said, signing the contract.
"Thanks, Bing," I said.
"Always a treat when you're in town," he said. I wasn't sure if he was sincere or not.
With bags in tow, Jonathan, Nick and I made our way over to the lift and climbed on.
Level Twenty-three, I requested and watched the levels blink by through the transparent doors.
"If you don't mind, Captain, we've tasks to attend to while your team refuels," Jonathan said.
"Now that you mention it, I need to spend some time working on supplies for Cape and see about the rest of our business. We've been out of contact forever," Nick said. "Would I be in your way if I accompanied you, Jonathan?"
"Not at all, Master James," he said.
"Nick, you want me to have Marny bring you anything to eat?" I asked.
"Something fried and a chocolate shake. Tell her I'll eat healthy for dinner," he said.
I smiled. "I'll pass it along."
They dropped me off at the entrance to de Laroche and took my bags with them back toward the lift. I made my way through the ancient aircraft-themed bar and found Ada, Marny and Tabby lounging at a large round table.
"Where'd you lose the boys?" Ada asked.
"They wanted to spend some time alone," I said, chuckling.
"Let me guess. My little man didn't get enough screen time because we were stealthed on the way in?" Marny asked.
"That's probably right," I said. "But I can't imagine why anyone would want to dust off having lunch with you three beauties."
"Is that what you were dreaming about last night?" Tabby asked suggestively. "Remember you sleep naked so your dreams aren't always that subtle."
"No…" My cheeks started to burn as Marny shook her head back and forth.
"I think he's feeling guilty, Tabbs," Ada giggled. "Cut a little close to the truth there, Liam?"
"You're all so naughty," I said. "You'd kill me if I ever said anything like that."
"Not kill - you'd just be another good looking female crewmember, that's all," Tabby said.
Fortunately, a waiter showed up in time to cut the conversation short. They hadn't ordered yet, so I asked for a soy-based burger with extra sharp blue cheese and a basket of hot pepper and nacho covered potato wedges.
"Just a glass of white for me," Ada said. "Luc's on his way down."
"That was fast," Tabby said. "I think he's got it bad for you."
"We're just friends."
"You sure Luc knows that?"
"Knows what?" Captain Luc Gray of the Nuage Air Defense, still in uniform, approached the table.
Ada jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. "Luc!" she squealed.
"I heard you were back in town. You have anything to do with that Belirand cruiser docked in high orbit?" he asked.
"Wish I could say no," I said.
I shook his hand and pulled him in for an embrace. He'd been there more than once when I'd needed him and I considered him a good friend.
"Not good enough to have Oberrhein after you? So now you've pissed off Belirand too?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said.
"Try me."
"Wish I could, my friend. Suffice it to say, we've run into some problems with the way they do business and we're working through our differences."
"I know you've dropped a few cruisers in your time, but that Belirand ship is in a different league," he said.
"That's an understatement. Hotspur has nothing that'll get through her armor," I said.
"Do I want to know how you know that?" he asked.
"Join us for a drink?" Tabby cut in.
"Can't hurt," he said and sat in the chair I'd pulled over for him. Ada wrapped her arm around his neck and sat sideways in his lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Luc. Are you carrying a service weapon?" Marny asked.
"I am. Why?"
"The threat from Belirand is real and we're taking precautions. I'd appreciate it if you didn't spend too much time in public venues with Ada. I'm also requesting you carry a weapon," she said.
He looked from Marny back to Ada who nodded her head affirmatively. "Let's say things are strained," Ada said.
"You think they'd attack an officer of the Nuage Air Defense in our home base?"
"Probably not. We're just taking precautions," Marny said.
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"We are," I said. "Fact is, we're still trying to figure it out. Just be careful, please?" Marny asked.
"Sounds, horrible. We'll have to stay inside, watch vids and order takeout." he said, grinning.
"If by stay inside and watch vids, you mean go shopping, then yes," Ada said.
"Ada," Marny said, caution in her voice.
"Just a little shopping. Hardly any at all," Ada said.
By the time we'd finished eating, Luc and Ada had taken off and we still had an hour before MacAsgaill would arrive.
"I'll run Nick's food up," Marny said. "You want to come along or wait here?"
; "We'll see you to the lift, but I, for one, could use another beer," I said.
Tabby and I walked Marny out and turned back to the bar. A red haired man, accompanied by a smaller dark haired woman and a giant man turned into the bar in front of us.
"I think that's MacAsgaill," I said. I wasn't completely sure, having only seen his bust on a holo display.
"So much for not bringing an army," Tabby said
Send Nick a priority message – "MacAsgaill arrived early. We'll stall, but come down as soon as you can."
"You want to wait out here for Nick and Marny?" Tabby asked.
"Nah, I don't think he'll pull anything inside a bar, do you?"
"They came at us with everything they had in the deep dark," Tabby said, looking at me skeptically.
"Right. It's a bar. There are rules," I said and strode forward.
The small woman was the first to sense our presence and she turned to intercept us. The look in her eye and the fluidity of her movements told me what I'd suspected. She moved much like Tali Liszt, our ex-special forces friend and 'the old-girl' as Marny called her. She would be a problem if push came to shove - as I suspected it might.
"Mac," she hissed.
Captain MacAsgaill and his giant companion turned at her word. Nothing subtle about the giant, although he had as much fat as he had muscle. He brought a certain immediate visual deterrent quality to the party. I couldn't imagine what kind of damage he could do when angry. Well, to be truthful, I could imagine it and that was the beauty of bringing him along.
The Captain wasn't much to look at, pasty skin, blue eyes and thinning gray-red hair. He looked Tabby up and down with a smugly lecherous grin. The disrespect was an obvious attempt at putting us on-tilt and I had a bad feeling about our meeting.
"Liam Hoffen and Ada… no… Tabitha Masters," MacAsgaill said and held out his hand to be shaken.
"What do you want, MacAsgaill?" I asked, ignoring the requested handshake.
He wiped his hands together as if that's what he'd always planned and returned them to his side. The woman and the giant, I'd started calling André in my head, stepped around to stand just behind MacAsgaill.
"Like I said, I just want to talk."
"My partner is on his way down, we'll wait," I said.
"Sure. Although, I have something that I believe you might like to see before he arrives. Do you already have a table?"
A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Page 21
