“I would not have let any other mark me so.”
“You let her?”
“Of course. What else would slake her anger, shame her, and bring her slinking back to my bed?” Trissk smiled a closemouthed Ryss smile.
Rick said nothing, mulling this over, and then opened his mouth.
Trissk spoke first. “Klis wanted another litter. We had already agreed to stop with the two – that is, nine kits – we had, and that she would get the blocking implant. She was angry, and I was adamant. She threatened to leave me for another, and I reminded her of her vows of monandry. She threatened to kill herself, and I told her she must kill me first.”
“That’s very…”
“Ryss?”
Rick snorted. “I was going to say ‘weird,’ but yeah. I guess so. That’s when she slashed you?”
“Yes, when I bared my throat to her.”
“I hope there was some great make-up sex.”
“Oh, yes. The scent of blood is intoxicating.” Trissk finished off his grog and called for two more.
“I can’t drink more than this one,” Rick protested. “I’ll have to walk home.”
“You will stay with us. We can send a computer message to your Wife so that she knows.” Trissk took the two new grogs off the server’s tray and tossed a coin onto it, and then pushed one over to Rick. “Drink, and get drunk. In the morning your head will pound, and we will go to the hot springs, and when the sun is high we will run back to the city of blocks together.”
“How is that going to help me figure out what to do?”
Trissk sighed. “How is it that I am not yet thirty human years old and you are more than one hundred, but I feel like I am your older brother and must teach you how to live life?”
Rick suggested Trissk do something anatomically impossible, causing him to laugh.
“I am glad I am not a Human, for all your long lives. Or perhaps it is a thing of warriors. Your Wife seems to understand the need to live.”
“Oh, now you’re taking her side?”
Trissk rumbled in his throat. “No, but I understand it. I don’t see yours. What does it matter if your kits are ten or twenty when you part? Eventually offspring move on and make their own way. Only your brother-warriors and your mate are yours for life.”
“So I should say yes? That we should volunteer for Conquest?” Rick finished the first grog and took a large drink of the second, feeling the effects. “Or argue for the next warship to be built in a few years? I hear now that Desolator is repaired, he will be building and refurbishing ships.”
“Somewhere within you is an answer, Rick. We just have to drink until you find it.”
***
By the time Rick returned home he had fully sobered. He’d passed out and then woken up around noon still stumbling drunk, but the hot springs and the kilometers of walking back to the city cleared his head. Trissk left him at the edge of the city with a wave.
Jill opened the door for him with uncertainty in her eyes. Rick knew it was not like him to take off for a night with the boys, but then again, they seldom fought about anything. Hers was the stronger personality by far, more driven, and his the more flexible.
I knew who she was when I married her, he thought. I can’t expect her to change now, though I had hoped motherhood would have done it.
“Hey,” she said. It looked to him as if she hadn’t slept, and he felt a perverse pleasure at her pain, as if that proved that she cared. That was what he had realized last night, what bothered him so much: it felt like she cared more about her career than about him or their children. He’d also realized that this was not true; that the long lifespans and communal child-rearing had given her an excuse – no, to be fair, a reason – to put duty to the god of war first.
“Hey.” Rick reached for her and they embraced.
“You smell like Ryss grog.”
“Spot on. I went to see Trissk.”
Jill broke the embrace and flopped down on the sofa in the tiny living room. “And?”
“And I’m going. We’re going.”
Her face lit up with relief. “Thank you, Rick. I know it wasn’t an easy decision.”
Rick shook his head. “Not easy, no, but simple, once we talked it through. I realized children come and then they go and make their own lives, even more so with our longevity. I hate to miss their teenage years, but they are children of the community now. They won’t suffer much without us gone, even if I will.”
“I’ll suffer too, Rick, but I’m used to suffering. However, there are different kinds of misery, and once I racked and stacked the pros and cons…I wanted to go.”
“Pros and cons?” Rick moved into the tiny kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water, pouring himself a tall glass.
“We need to send the best on Conquest. I’m one of those. So are you. In fact, you’re better at your specialty than I am at mine. You’re the best damn CyberComm officer in EarthFleet by far, while I may or may not be the best Marine.”
“So you’re doing this for me and the fleet?” Rick drank, hiding his smile.
“It’s one of the reasons. Also, it gets me away from Spooky.” Jill made a face.
“He bugging you again?”
She nodded. “He’s built up the Nguyen Conglomerate to compete with the Hippos and to provide a smokescreen for his covert activities, and he always needs good operatives. And…”
“And every year or two, you give in and go on a mission for him.”
“Yes. I get bored, Rick, with no one to fight and no troops to lead. Asteroid assault exercises just don’t cut it after a while. But every time I do, I come back feeling dirty. The Hippos are supposed to be our allies – okay, they are – but this is their world. They have their own agendas, and ten years after we freed them, their gratitude is wearing thin. Instead of one planet with three united races, we’re turning into a world with three nations, and humans are the minority race with the power. Or if Desolator stops following human orders, then the Ryss are. The honeymoon is over, and I don’t want to spend the next century on the part-time dirty tricks squad.”
“Things will change soon,” Rick replied, mostly for the sake of argument. “The entire human or Ryss population could easily live on the moon Enoi now that the economy is humming along, or on Desolator for that matter. Or the new twin he’s building. In a few decades, one of the moons of New Jove could be terraformed and colonized. We could have our own planet, and leave Afrana to the Hippos again.”
“Those are things you would enjoy doing, I know. You’re a builder. I’m a warrior. I like blowing shit up, Rick. Some of our kids will do all those things, but for now…I have to go, and I’m really glad you’re coming with me.”
Rick went over to sit down next to her and put his arms around her. “If I didn’t, I’d wait for you, you know.”
“You say that, but…”
He pulled her close. “I guess we’ll never have to find out.” They held each other that way for a while. “Trissk and Klis are going,” Rick said suddenly. “On Conquest.”
“Really?” Jill pushed him away to look in his face. “Is that what changed your mind?”
“Partly, I guess. Maybe it tipped the balance. He’s my best friend, after you.”
Jill snorted. “Funny how you have to go to another planet and meet an alien before you make a BFF.”
“I may not be a warrior like you, Jill, but he and I did fight a battle together, there on Desolator. It changes you.”
“I know, believe me. You’re blood brothers. That’s beyond price.”
“I believe you.”
“I hear Vango is going,” Jill said with studied casualness. “Aerospace squadron commander.”
“Really? I’m surprised he got Dannie to agree to that.”
“She didn’t. They’re splitting up. At least, for the next century or so.”
Rick swallowed, surprised. “Wow. Didn’t see that coming.”
“It’s what would have happened to us.”
“Ouch.”
Jill grabbed Rick’s hand. “Please don’t resent me for this. I know it’s a lot to ask, but…”
“I’ll get over it. I always do, don’t I?”
Jill sighed. “I really don’t deserve you.”
“Damn right you don’t. Want to show your gratitude?”
“Sure.” Jill smiled and leered.
“I really need to clean up, and I hate to shower alone.”
Jill smiled wider.
Chapter 12
Conquest cruised into Afrana orbit with exuberant fanfare, ending her journey only a hundred kilometers from Reloi Station, the Sekoi orbital fortress that dwarfed even the dreadnought. Absen had to put up with the excitement. All of Afrana’s media trumpeted the arrival, as well as the coming refits of Flensburg and the other warships in the system. Desolator had given assurances he could handle becoming a mobile shipyard for a time, upgrading defenses.
Shuttles stacked up nearby, queuing to dock with the dreadnought and disgorge personnel and supplies. The partial crew soon swelled with those reporting in, as well as visitors. Absen had to give orders to make sure no one stowed away, especially Marines. In fact, he turned over the task of keeping track of all visitors to Bull ben Tauros, who in turn enlisted Michelle. Absen ordered that the AI be given access to most of the internal sensors.
Some didn’t want to be left behind. Some were just stupid, and some snooped a bit too much and were politely sent packing. Most of those were probably corporate spies, looking for new technology to commercialize, but none were allowed to access anything vital.
Absen spent most of the first two days receiving delegations of dignitaries congratulating him on the new ship – boat, he reminded himself – touring the refitted technology, and generally making nuisances of themselves. He had to set a cutoff date for all but the highest level visits. Once that nonsense was over and done with, he got to organizing the expeditionary crew.
Unlike warships of his experience, the complement of Conquest would have to cover as many bases as possible. Science as well as engineering. Xenobiology as well as BioMed. Special operations and small craft as well as capital weapons. Marines and Aerospace as well as Navy. Three races, and the possibility of contact with more of them.
Just in case.
First he finalized his prime watch roster, the best bridge crew he could select. Okuda at the helm, of course, and Ford and Scoggins on weapons and sensors. He was ecstatic to see that Rick Johnstone had accepted a position at CyberComm, and Jill Repeth was a bonus for the Marine contingent.
Lieutenant Fletcher had picked up an unusual assistant at the Engineering station: Klis. One Ryss and one Sekoi on the bridge had been a condition of Conquest’s refit, and as a technologist, she was the closest thing to an engineering officer they could provide.
A Sekoi Blend named Bogrin would take the BioMed station, with Doctor Horton backing him up. While he’d been assured that the Hippo was an extremely competent xenobiologist and xenomedic – his race made no distinction between the two – Absen wasn’t going to fully trust an alien with human medical decisions.
That arranged, he moved on to the rest of the five hundred or so crew. He could have taken many more, given Conquest’s size, but his instinct for this mission was the fewer the better. With the bots and telefactors provided by Desolator, they already had better damage control than the crew of thousands had provided before, and the warbots provided force multipliers to the Marines.
And face it, Henrich. The fewer go along, the fewer will die if you screw up this all-new mission with all-new tactics and mostly new weapons. Not to mention Michelle Conquest, the wild card.
Deep in the bowels of the boat, Ekara had Engineering and Nightingale ran Weapons Systems, of course. Johnstone and Scoggins each had a good warrant officer working for them to head up their Sensors and CyberComm Systems subsections. Doctor Egolu and her team would stay aboard to deal with any AI or computer issues, and Flight Major Vincent “Vango” Markis would lead the Aerospace squadron.
Major Bull ben Tauros would have the Marines, with Jill Repeth as his battalion sergeant major. Chief of the Boat Ray Timmons had charge of damage control, and Absen quietly promoted him to Chief Warrant Officer Five, so that he outranked every other warrant officer and NCO aboard. That should forestall some difficulties.
It’s nice to be the Supreme Commander of Gliese 370 system, as well as the ranking admiral. Still, I’d rather be captain of a boat.
Absen spent the rest of the day discussing dispositions with his section heads, and the next morning gathered a working group to discuss special promotions for all the EarthFleet officers left behind. Captain Mirza would be promoted straight to full Admiral, and would become the military governor. While there was some agitation starting for a transition to civilian rule, it hadn’t turned into a groundswell yet.
And anyway, that would be Mirza’s problem. Conquest couldn’t return for at least eight decades, probably more, and he could put away the politics of governing and go back to the far simpler command of a vessel of war.
Next, he and his officers reviewed the latest news from Earth System. Of course it was all from 2089, thirty-six years old even at lightspeed, and told of preparations for the expected year-2110 arrival of a force of at least 64 Destroyers.
Yet, the year was 2125 now, and the attack had already taken place. Gliese 370 would not find out what had happened for 21 more years.
And even if Conquest headed straight there, they would arrive in the year 2161, though inside the time dilation of the near-lightspeed ship they would only age a few weeks.
It made Absen’s head ache.
If humanity had won the battle for Earth, there was no telling when the next enemy fleet would arrive to attack it. Meme strategic doctrine was to gather successive waves, join together in interstellar space, and assault any threat. As the news of enemy resistance advanced outward in a sphere around the system, larger and larger fleets of Destroyers would be dispatched, while the Monitor Guardians left behind generated replacements. It was a setup that had served them well for millennia.
Only the presence of the Bite on the edge of Earth’s space, the interstellar wasteland left by the battle between the Ryss and the Meme, might slow the Empire down. According to the Sekoi Blend agents of the Meme interrogated by Spooky Nguyen, there simply wasn’t much there except a few patrols.
By the end of that meeting it was common knowledge that they were headed toward Earth. It had been an open secret anyway, but now it was official. Absen didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, and he certainly was glad he had avoided the flood of requests for passage from civilians that now arrived. He simply denied them all with a memo that pointed out quite firmly that this was a military mission, and only once it was deemed safe would travel between the two systems be reopened.
Afterward, he crooked a finger at Commander Johnstone, pointing at the seat next to him as the others filed out. “Commander,” Absen said, “I want a read-only of everything that comes through the bridge to be fed to our AI. Make sure the information can only go one direction, to her, and put in as much ICE as you think is necessary to block or at least alarm if she tries to circumvent.”
“All right, sir. May I ask why?”
“If I do have to give her more control, I want her fully informed.”
Johnstone cleared his throat. “Sir, she makes me very uncomfortable.”
“Me too.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but it’s not the same. Inside cyberspace, well…I’m the best there is, of the organics, but Desolator and Michelle can run rings around me. I’ve built up walls of ICE to defend my VR space inside Conquest’s computers, but those won’t keep her out. They will probably just give me time to unplug the link and save my chips from being hacked, if she’s allowed full access.”
Absen nodded. “All right. Do your best. If it’s any help, I’ve set myself to treat her as I would any other dangerous person – Bull, for exa
mple. If he ran amok, he could cause a lot of damage, but I don’t ever worry about him, do I?”
“But we know Bull. Michelle is new.”
“The scientists say she’s lived a whole virtual life of twenty-one years or more, and still lives at ten times our time sense. I have decided to trust them, and Bull – he trained her in VR, after all – and trust her, at least to the point that I am not going to worry too much about it.”
“But you want fail-safes.”
Absen shrugged. “Trust but cut the cards anyway, a great President once said. Speaking of fail-safes, set up a separate program so that if any major crew section is knocked out, or both control centers, she takes over automatically to run the systems.”
“So she’ll be the ultimate backup.” Johnstone rubbed his neck, but eventually agreed. “That makes sense. I guess if things are that bad already, we might as well gamble on her…uh…”
“Good will?”
“I was thinking ‘sanity,’ sir.”
Absen laughed. “All right. Get to work on that. Dismissed.”
The next and final day before departure, Absen was awoken in the middle of mid-watch by the insistent beeping of his door. He shook himself awake and pulled on his trousers. “What is it?” he asked the intercom.
“Commander Johnstone wants you, sir. Says it’s urgent,” came the bridge watchstander’s reply.
“Johnstone’s not on shift,” Absen mumbled, and then said, “Put him through.”
“Sir, we’ve just caught two people trying to sneak aboard,” Johnstone said.
“So, send them packing. You read my memo.”
“Ah, yes, sir. I think you need to know who they are before you decide to do that.”
“Spit it out, son.”
Johnstone cleared his throat. “It’s Spooky Nguyen and Ezekiel Denham, in the little Meme ship.”
Absen grunted. “Good work. I was having nightmares about the little bastard showing up in my quarters unannounced again. How did you catch them?”
“It wasn’t me, sir. You put Michelle in charge of making sure only authorized personnel remained aboard, and you never rescinded that assignment. When she detected them, she put out an alert. The CyberComm watchstander logged it, which notified me.”
Tactics of Conquest (Stellar Conquest) Page 10
