"Bless my buttons, what a haul!" Fyrdenna exclaimed. "You must have come away with just about everything they threw at you. My compliments to your pilots. They must be the best."
"Thank you," Valthyrra replied graciously. "But the truth is, I had only two packs out during most of the battle. They had things well under control before I could get anything else out."
"You ironclad hulk of a bragging bitch!" Mayelna muttered under her breath without looking up from her screen, privately glad that Velmeran had not been present to hear all this. Valthyrra heard that, however, and quickly cut the audio, keeping the conversation private at least on her end.
"Do you want this credited to your account?" Fyrdenna asked.
"Just make sure that they knew where it all came from," Valthyrra replied. "I am going to be coming in for a complete overhaul before long."
"Oh, ho! Valthyrra Methryn is getting old!"
"We are all getting old, my dear. Some of us simply do not show it. By the way, do you know if Home Base might have any plans for these ships? Balgan might be in the market for a few, if they are getting that rich."
"Balgan would get all they can afford, certainly," Fyrdenna said. "Our prices are always low, and our rates reasonable. This wealth of star drives will put a great many other ships in service as well. The trouble is that we still do not have a fourth of the ships avadable for delivery that are needed. Things should be improving, though, if I continue fetching home loads like this. And that seems promising, with things heating up all over."
"Of course, half of our carriers will be wanting overhauls in the next few years," Valthyrra pointed out.
"No problem!" Fyrdenna insisted. "How long has it been since you were home? Our support worlds have been prospering, and they are all behind us. Home Base is expanding. There is going to be a new construction airdock, and more carriers. There is even talk of a final push to defeat the Union."
"The rest I can believe, but not that," Valthyrra said doubtfully. "We lost too much when we lost Terra, and that was a long time before you or I came out of the construction bay. We would have to get back what we lost before we can seriously consider making an end to this war."
"So?" Fyrdenna asked. "You send your crack pilots into Vannkarn after the Vardon's memory cell, and we would have Terra back in a year to two."
Valthyrra hesitated in her response, since the idea had definite appeal. Of all the big wolf ships, the Vardon had been the last to know the location of Terra. She had been destroyed when Valthyrra had still been very young; one of her memory cells, the big information storage units of her computer mind, had been found by the Union centuries later. Their attempts to access that wealth of information had proven futile, and at last the unit had been placed on display in Vannkarn, the capital of the Rane Sector. The Starwolves had long believed that they would one day get it back and find the way to Terra, where the big carriers had first been built. Perhaps that time would be soon, Valthyrra thought, if a certain pack leader could be trained to the task.
Thenderra Delvon arrived slighty ahead of schedule, coming out of starflight at Boulder barely an hour after the Methryn. Valthyrra Methryn turned immediately and accelerated; she had given up every spare ton of cargo to the Lesdryn and now felt light and quick and just a little mean. The second carrier fell in behind her and began to close quickly. Two small ships shot out from beneath her, a transport and a single fighter, both as black as space itself. The two little ships shot along a straight line toward the Methryn, slowing to match her speed as they dropped down slightly to pass below her star drives as they approached her left landing bay.
Only a small group had gathered in the bay to welcome them. Most of the crewmembers had to remain at their posts, with an immediate jump to starflight coming. And none of the pilots, even the pack leaders, had dared to show themselves in the past two days. Out of sight was not necessarily out of mind, but it was a good deal safer.
Mayelna, in white armor, led the delegation. Consherra waited nearby, wearing the white tunic and pants that were the general uniform of an officer. Valthyrra was present in the form of a probe, a special type of remote, a simple streamlined shape barely a meter long, with folding wings and a retractable neck with a pair of cameras inside a protective cowling. Despite its small size it could outfly and outshoot a Union fighter and yet hover motionless on projected fields, and it even had a pair of arms folded inside of narrow bays along its underside. Velmeran, uninvited but not unwelcome, wore the black armor of a pilot.
Side by side, the two ships entered the bay. Flying with an easy precision that would have put most ptiots to shame, they moved to the front of the bay and landed gently. A rack was immediately lowered behind the fighter and locked into place. Benthoran had the boarding platform folded down just in time to assist the pilot out of the cockpit.
It was then that Velmeran saw that the pilot, who he assumed to be the pack leader, was female. There was no guessing her age, since Kelvessan did not change in appearance from early adulthood to old age three hundred years later. But there was something about her that made him think that, however long she had lived, she had seen and done quite a lot in that time. She looked to him very capable and very dangerous. And his first reaction was one of shame, that this was the type of leader he could only pretend to be.
She was joined by three others from the transport, one male and one female in black armor, and another male in regular clothes who carried both of his left arms in a sling. That, at least, was some indication that this group did fight. The pilot was clearly the leader, for the others waited for her, and she went first as they approached the waiting group from the Methryn. She stopped before Valthyrra's remote and bowed her head in respect.
"Valthyrra Methryn, I am pack leader Dveyella of special tactics. This is my second, Baress." She indicated the injured member first, then the armored male and female. "Threl and Marlena."
Valthyrra dipped the probe's camera pod in response. "I welcome you. This is Commander Mayelna, First Officer Consherra and pack leader Velmeran. We are grateful for your assistance…"
Dveyella held up a hand to interrupt. "Please, before we go any farther, I must tell you that my pack is temporarily shorthanded. Baress, the only other fighter pilot I have, is recovering from a recent accident and will not be able to fly for at least another week. His fighter was hit and damaged, so that his field drive controls failed on approach…"
"I bounced twice," Baress admitted guilttly. "Once off the Delvon's lower hull and again off the side of her landing bay. Thenderra was so mad she almost begrudged sending out a capture ship to get me."
"I can imagine," Valthyrra remarked softly.
"Then you cannot fight?" Mayelna asked impatiently.
"I thought I made this plain when you contacted us," Dveyella said with some surprise. "I said that we could fight if you could loan us a good pilot to take the place of Baress. Valthyrra indicated that we could have Velmeran, that he is the best you have."
Velmeran's surprise was nearly as great as Mayelna's. Both were greatiy astonished that Valthyrra would go so far to have her own way, surprised that she had managed to trick them both, and surprised at themselves for not expecting it. Velmeran at least was spared Mayelna's indignation, since he obviously had no prior knowledge of this. But he quickly decided that if fate, or a conniving computer, was going to give him the opportunity, then he was going to seize it. For herself, Valthyrra was glad that probes were practicatly indestructible.
"The best pilot you have is good enough for me… assuming that he has the endurance," Dveyella continued after a moment of profound silence. "Most people cannot maintain hypermetabolism long enough to work in special tactics."
"I can recommend no one else," Valthyrra declared.
Dveyella crossed her arms as she looked Velmeran up and down very closely. "What about strength? I am strong enough myself, but I do like to have a second who can assist in matters of… lifting and removing obstacles."
&n
bsp; Valthyrra turned her pod to look at Velmeran. "Do not fail me now."
"Do you have something in mind?" Velmeran asked.
He was not worried, for he was sure that Valthyrra knew his strength.
Indeed she did. The fighter was quickly unracked and Velmeran approached it quickly and confidently. It was, of course, no secret that he proposed to lift the nose of the little ship. That was no small task, for a Starwolf fighter was twenty meters of heavy machinery, dense plastics and spun carbon filaments. A great deal of its weight was in the very back; in order to tilt it back on its rear struts, all he had to lift was about six tons. But he did that easily with only his upper arms.
"He is stronger than I am," Baress admitted quietiy to his captain.
That was saying a lot, and Dveyella did not answer. Among their own kind, size and sex were not good indications of strength. Baress was about the strongest person she had ever met, and she was herself just a little stronger still. But Velmeran was even stronger. There was no longer any question about whether she would allow him to go. Indeed, Valthyrra Methryn might have a hard time getting him back.
"Suits me," she admitted casually. "Commander?"
"It seems to have already been decided," Mayelna answered slowly, still loath to agree. "If you are going to run our errands for us, then we should at least offer you any help we have to give. I had meant to have Velmeran's pack standing ready to help you get clear…"
"Velmeran's pack is shorthanded," Valthyrra pointed out, as if some automatic relay had failed to note that the argument was over. She turned her camera pod to Dveyella. "My drone reports that the Union carrier is approaching its predicted port. I should have all the information I can get for you coming within the next few hours."
"If you would care to shed that armor, my first officer wid show you to your rooms," Mayelna said, her behavior improving quickly as her good humor returned. "If Valthyrra has your luggage ready."
"Coming!" Valthyrra announced. A remote, a small flat-topped freight carrier, emerged from the other side of the transport, piled with boxes and bags as it rolled off toward the lift. Mayelna quickly took Velmeran by the arm and led him on ahead of the others. Consherra flinched when she saw that; Mayelna might not be able to stop this — indeed she had not really even tried — but she would certainly lecture him long and hard until it was done, and then start over by pointing out his mistakes. She did not notice Dveyella until the pilot fell in beside her.
"I seem to have walked into the middle of something."
"Oh, do not let those two bother you," Consherra assured her. "Unfortunately, this is an old argument. Can you keep a secret?"
"Better than you."
Consherra smiled. "I am hoping that the end justifies the means. To put it simply, Valthyrra wants Velmeran for Commander-designate, and Mayelna refuses to name him. Velmeran gained quite a beginning of a reputation as a capable leader during our last battle. Now Valthyrra is obviously contriving to help him win as much favor as she can, so that Mayelna will have no reason not to approve the appointment."
"Ah, I see. Well, I have no objection to my part in this game, so long as Velmeran delivers as promised."
"Do you doubt?"
"If I doubted, he would not be going," Dveyella replied casually, although she obviously meant it. "But why should your Commander question his abilities?"
"It has nothing to do with his abilities," Consherra replied. "Commander Mayelna is his mother."
"Oh!" Dveyella exclaimed with a look of both comprehension and horrified dismay.
As soon as she was settied into her cabin, Dveyeda asked Velmeran to meet her as soon as he could, in full armor, on a high observation platform in the left holding bay. She did not tell him what she had in mind, but he could guess easily enough; she meant to teach him what she could of the special tricks he would need to know for this mission. Velmeran found her already waiting on the platform, leaning with her upper set of arms on the rail, her lower arms braced wide as she stared down into the depths of the vast bay.
"You know, we Kelvessan are truly amazing fighting machines in our own right," she began almost absentiy. "I have been told that we can be over a hundred times stronger than an ordinary human of the same size, and our reflexes are thousands of times faster. And yet most of us know little of just how much we can do. For the purposes of today's exercise, Valthyrra Methryn has consented to turn off the buffer fields in this bay. Let me begin with a simple demonstration."
With that she casually leaped over the rading. Velmeran was not caught by surprise; he had figured out what she intended to do, and watched with interest. The static field that took the place of gravity was only a fair substitute for the real thing. It seemed like one standard gravity only to stationary objects, but decreased as objects moved faster relative to the motion of the ship. An ordinary human could have easily taken a fall of five meters. But Dveyella was jumping nearly the entire height of the bay, almost one hundred and fifty meters. As easily as she landed, it might have been only two.
Velmeran followed without waiting to be asked. The long fall was not so bad as he had anticipated, for it gave him time to prepare for his landing. Since he had the strength to kick open an airlock, he wisely allowed his legs to catch him. He landed almost gently, just slightly off-balanced by the top-heavy burden of his armor.
"Very good," Dveyella remarked. "That is about the most that you should ever try to jump under one real standard gravity. Remember that it is not how far you jump, but how hard you hit that limits you. Higher gravity decreases the height you can jump."
"What is the most I should be able to take?"
"Oh, you should be able to survive an impact speed of three hundred kilometers per-hour or more," she said, looking him over. "And by survive, I mean that you should be able to pick yourself up and continue on without pain. You can endure more, but it will hurt. We do have our limits, one of them being our suits. Do you know that we can actually take more stress than our armor? Well, what goes down must often come back up."
Dveyella indicated a docking tube about fifteen meters to Velmeran's left and thirty straight up. She jumped from where she stood. Her body rigid and her arms spread wide for balance, she seemed almost to be flying for the long moment that she was in the air. She caught hold of the edge of the tube and flipped herself atop in a graceful move. Velmeran, knowing that he lacked the experience for anything that elaborate, made a much simpler leap from almost directly below the tube. He overshot by nearly ten meters, but arched gently over to land in the very middle of the tube.
"Well, you made it on your first try," Dveyella remarked. "Most people need a little practice to be able to jump that far. You seem to have a natural talent for this."
"Talent has less to do with it than common sense," Velmeran answered as he peered over the edge. "The easiest way is always the surest."
"Words to live by," Dveyella agreed. "That is why I jumped at an angle, showing you one of my fanciest tricks from the start. Most people would have tried to do it the hard way, and they learn their limitations very quickly."
"I prefer to face my limitations from the cautious side. I like surprises as well as anyone, but a limitation becomes a failing when it catches you by surprise."
Dveyella laughed. "That is the lecture that I was supposed to be giving you. Is there anything you do not know?"
"I just indicated that there is," Velmeran said. "All this business is new to me. Is it very likely that we will have to fight?"
Dveyella shrugged and sat down on the machinery that joined the docking tube to the wall. "That depends upon how chance works for us. Sometimes everything goes as smoothly as you could want. Other times everything seems to go wrong. Usually it falls somewhere in between."
"What about my armor and my fighter?" he asked. "Will they be good enough for what I need?"
"I have already requested a new suit for both of us," Dveyella said, glancing down at the burnt scoring on her lower right arm that could
only be bolt flash from a deflected hit. "There is really nothing better than ordinary flight armor, since anything sturdier would also be heavier. Our fighters are exactly the same, since we use the same auxiliary guns and other accessories as we need. Your fighter will be good enough, as long as she is in prime condition. How long have you had her?"
Velmeran shrugged. "As long as I have been flying."
Dveyella only sat and stared at him.
"She has never taken a hit or had a major breakdown in any component," he continued, somewhat defensively. "I consider her as good as the day she was built."
Dveyella could only assume that either the ship must be getting shabby or else he had not been using it all that long. She suspected the latter, and now she was sure of it. "Velmeran, how old are you?"
"Twenty-five."
"And you already lead a pack?"
"Because I am about the best pilot on this ship."
Dveyella laughed. "At least you believe in being straightforward about it!"
Velmeran only shrugged. "I have no false vanity. I cannot take credit for being what I was designed to be. My mother was the best pilot that this ship has seen for some time."
"And your father?" Dveyella asked.
He shrugged again. "Mayelna has never seen fit to enlighten me. But I do not doubt that my father was… worthy, considering how discriminating she can be. Do not worry about me. I know what I can do and what I cannot do."
Dveyella shook her head slowly. "I still cannot help but think that I have been flying twice as long as you have been alive. But Valthyrra Methryn does recommend you highly."
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