An Airless Storm: Cochrane's Company: Book Two

by Peter Grant

  “Yes, sir. May I make a suggestion, please?”

  “Of course.”

  “Sir, why not send regular reconnaissance missions through the Mycenae system, and through Constanta too? We did so twice during the battle where Ilaria vanished. Neither was detected by the enemy. If we send a ship through at high velocity, in complete emissions shutdown, she should be able to pass close enough to our enemy’s bases to count their ships, and get some idea of what they are doing. If we could do this every month, or at least every quarter, it would provide a valuable baseline of intelligence when we have enough ships to strike them at last. At that time, we could ramp up our intelligence-gathering efforts to obtain more recent information.”

  “That is an excellent idea, Captain!” Agim looked at him with approval. “Kindly dispatch a suitable vessel to make such a reconnaissance at once. Can she reach both planets on the same voyage?”

  “Yes, sir, although that will take longer. She will be gone for up to a month.”

  “I understand, but we must conserve our available fast ships against future need. Send a ship every second month for now. Keep me informed of what they find.”

  “I hear and obey, sir.”

  “Thank you again. You may return to our base. I will send more orders to you in due course.”

  That afternoon, walking slowly among the trees in the park, as had become their habit, Agim told his lieutenants, “I received a letter yesterday from the Consulate of Neue Helvetica. It said they had a message for me from their Consul on Constanta, via their Foreign Ministry on Neue Helvetica itself.”

  Endrit drew in his breath with a sharp hiss. “Who sent it?”

  “Need you ask? It was personal from Commodore Cochrane, addressed to me by name.”

  “But – but how did he know who you are?” Fatmir demanded, aghast.

  “He has captured enough of our people, and interrogated them, to learn that. Also, we know his agents have been busy here for some time.”

  “What did he say?”

  Agim sighed. “He says that Sub-Lieutenant Alban Sejdiu and eight Kedan spacers survived the destruction of Ilaria. They are now prisoners of war, as he terms them. He assures me that they will be well treated, and not harmed in any way. Apparently Sejdiu was severely injured, and underwent surgery to treat a depressed fracture of the skull, but is expected to recover fully.”

  There was a moment’s silence as his aides absorbed the news. “We have not announced Ilaria’s loss,” Endrit pointed out. “What if they do so, and produce their prisoners as proof?”

  “They have not done so yet, as far as we know. Given that, I do not know why they should announce it now, so long after the fight. Perhaps they hope to exchange their prisoners for any of their people we capture.”

  “That makes sense,” Fatmir agreed eagerly. “Will you allow such a swap?”

  “I… I do not know. I shall have to think about it.”

  “Is it not time to announce Ilaria’s loss ourselves, to forestall any statement they may release?” Endrit asked.

  “I am considering it. What do you think?”

  Endrit squared his shoulders. “It will undoubtedly hurt our people’s morale. On the other hand, if it is presented properly, it will also stiffen their sinews, and lead them to greater commitment and dedication. What if you announce she was ambushed while on a secret mission to learn the enemy’s plans against us, but destroyed three of the enemy’s ships before she was lost? That stretches the truth only slightly. You can extol her crew’s bravery against impossible odds.”

  “That… that could work. Yes, I think you have it. I shall prepare an announcement.”

  “I suggest you do not mention survivors,” Fatmir cautioned. “We order all our spacers to fight to the death. If they learn that an officer, and a direct descendant of the Patriarch, has surrendered, they might waver in their resolve.”

  “A good point. It would have been better for all of us if he had died. I shall not mention him.”

  Agim repeated what Captain Toci had told him about the odds against the two ships’ disappearance being happenstance. “I think our enemies sabotaged them. There is no other reasonable explanation. However, the Captain warns that our forces are too weak at present to mount any meaningful revenge strike. We must wait, and build up our fleet, and look to a climactic battle later.”

  Endrit asked, “Can we not mount quick raids? We might destroy a ship here or there, and we can surely keep Hawkwood’s people under stress, not knowing when or where we shall strike next.”

  “That may be possible. I shall consider our options. I shall be happier when we have at least four new destroyers on hand, to supplement our remaining armed fast freighters.”

  Fatmir said eagerly, “Could we buy another fast freighter, and load her with the missiles from our old destroyers? That would give us four of them, plus several modern destroyers, within two years from today. Such a force should be able to defend against anything Hawkwood can throw at it. Once the rest of the destroyers are here, we shall be powerful enough to settle our account with them once and for all.”

  “That is a good idea. I shall consider it. However, between Aries and Rades, and the missile cargo the freighter carried, we have lost over seven billion Neue Helvetica francs, thanks to the ruinously inflated prices the shipyard charged us. We had no choice but to pay them, of course; and we shall have to pay as much again to replace what we have lost. Another fast freighter will be an additional expense.” He sighed. “I had hoped to avoid drawing down the Fatherland Project’s reserve funds even more, but I fear we have no choice.”

  After a few more issues were settled, the three men separated. Agim walked slowly back to the new offices they had recently occupied, replacing their old premises that had been so thoroughly bugged. His head was down, deep in thought, so he didn’t notice the moths that flew from tree to tree, keeping up with him, or the one that flew away from where they had met, heading for the parking lot.

  I must make the announcement. It is now more dangerous to conceal Ilaria’s loss than to reveal it – but what about Jehona and Pal? I cannot tell them their son is alive, and a prisoner. Pal will be distraught at Alban’s death. He will insist that Jehona must be told, but her mission is too important to allow her to mourn. I shall have to tell him that I have sent word to her, even though I dare not. I must also reply to this Commodore Cochrane, acknowledging receipt of his message, but not committing us to anything or asking any favors. I wonder if I should send agents to locate and kill young Sejdiu, so he cannot be used for propaganda purposes against us?

  He physically flinched as another thought came to him. What if his mother should see him on Constanta? God forbid! We cannot allow that. Her mission is beyond critical for us. It is vital. Her son cannot be allowed to distract her from it in any way. No, he must die. It is the only possible solution!

  As for our ships… Captain Toci is right. We must build up our strength until we can be sure of victory. Let us see what his reconnaissance shows. If we notice an opportunity, by all means let us take it. If not, we shall watch, and wait, and plan. Sooner or later, our time will come.

  16

  New tools

  CONSTANTA

  “But what good are they without cargo compartments?” ‘Antonia’ asked, staring in bewilderment through the viewport of the orbital shipyard’s corridor. Three cargo shuttles were ranged along the maintenance way. Workers directed robotic constructors as they cut away the ten-thousand-ton-capacity holds that took up most of the small crafts’ hulls, leaving only an abbreviated stump containing the engineering systems and crew quarters. They were adding some sort of clamps around the front of the stump, and a new compartment at the rear of the hull.

  “I’m told they’re going to mate with cargo pods,” Grigorescu informed his accountant. “It’s a new idea. Instead of loading and unloading cargo from big containers in freighter holds into the cargo shuttles, the big containers will be loaded with pre-packed p
ods. They’ll be taken out of the container and floated out of the hold into space, where one of those things will latch on to them and take them to wherever they’re needed. They’ll be tethered there using tractor and pressor beams, and unloaded at leisure while the cargo shuttle goes back to fetch another cargo pod.”

  “That’s an interesting concept. What about ballast? I mean, their center of balance and flight characteristics must be messed up without a cargo compartment. I don’t see how they can move unless some sort of counterweight is installed up front, where it used to be.”

  He looked at her with new respect. “Not many people would think about that. Are you sure you don’t have any background in space?”

  Mentally she cursed herself. Don’t show too much knowledge, you idiot! Aloud she said merely, “Oh, I’ve sailed a little on small boats. Center of balance and ballasting are critical to that. You can’t alter one of them without all sorts of problems, so it seemed logical that the same would apply to these.”

  “Yes, it does. We’ll get around it in two ways. We’ll build ballast tanks fore and aft underneath the rear hull. Reaction mass can be pumped between them to lend at least some stability. That won’t be enough to fully solve the problem, so we’ll modify their flight software to take account of their unbalanced state. They’ll need to use their maneuvering thrusters constantly at low power when they’re unloaded, to keep them stable while moving. We’ll reposition the thrusters, and install a couple more at their extremities, to make that work.”

  “That sounds like it’ll be expensive, wasting all that reaction mass.”

  He laughed. “Trust an accountant to look at that angle! Yes, it will, but like everything else in space, it’s a trade-off. It wastes money to have cargo shuttles and their crews sit idle while they’re being loaded and unloaded. If they can keep busy, taking containers to and fro, they’ll have less idle time, so the investment in craft and crew will be used more efficiently.”

  “I get it. I’d like to see a cost-benefit analysis on that. May I ask Hawkwood for their figures?”

  Her boss shook his head. “I’m afraid not. They’re extraordinarily vigilant about security. We need to know quite a lot about them, by the nature of the work we do for them, but they absolutely insist that anyone getting access to any of their files must first go through their security clearance procedures. They include a very intrusive truth-tester examination. I undergo it every year, just like all their officers and senior personnel, from the top down. Junior employees and spacers do it every two years. I wouldn’t like to put you through that for no good reason.”

  She made a moue of distaste. “That’s an unpardonable invasion of privacy! I mean, it’s not like they’re some sort of government agency. I’d never allow a private company to rummage through my deepest, most private, most intimate thoughts. The very idea is repellent!”

  “They may be a private company, but they conduct themselves as if they were a military fleet. Given the opponents they’ve come up against, I’m not surprised.”

  She tried to look surprised. “What sort of opponents?”

  “Oh, smugglers, pirates, that sort of thing.” Her boss tried to look and sound casual. “I’ve seen the damage to some of their ships – but I’m not supposed to talk about that at all. Forget I said anything.”

  “All right.”

  As they continued down the passage, she thought to herself in frustration, I daren’t go through Hawkwood’s security procedure. Any competent truth-tester operator – and theirs are bound to be competent – will realize something is wrong, and then it’ll be all over for me. I’ll have to find another way. I wonder how much information the shipyard has in its confidential files on Hawkwood and its ships? We need to know how many they have, and of what type, and how they’re armed and equipped. I don’t have access to those files as an accountant, but… maybe there’s a way. I must try to get an inside look at the shipyard’s computer security system.

  “Hello, darling,” Hui said as she walked into Cochrane’s office.

  He looked up with a smile. “Now that’s a greeting I’ve never had from any previous Chief of Staff!”

  “That’s because I’m the first Chief of Staff you’ve ever had,” she said unrepentantly, sticking out her tongue at him.

  He laughed. “You’ve spoiled me for any others. Good morning, darling. What’s up?”

  “Quite a lot, actually. Do you have a few minutes for me?”

  “This can wait.” He blanked his terminal screen, and stood. “Let’s sit in the comfortable chairs.” They walked over to the group of armchairs in the corner and sat down. She activated her tablet and scanned it as she talked.

  “First off, Admiral Kwan says he owes you an apology. It seems the Second Battle of Mycenae was sparked by the Albanians discovering one of our spy rings on Patos. The lead agent was killed, but he was able to warn the rest of his team in time for them to use their escape plan. They got off-planet safely, and brought back their latest intelligence with them. The Albanians don’t know about our involvement, so they blamed Hawkwood for the spy ring, and wanted to send a message by hitting back, hard.”

  Cochrane’s face fell. “They certainly did that. I’m very sorry your people lost an agent. I hope the Albanians didn’t take him alive, to interrogate him before he died.”

  “I hope so, too. The Admiral is still sending us intelligence, so I daresay that wasn’t the only ring we had on Patos. I won’t speculate, for obvious reasons.”

  “I should say not!” He hesitated. “Would you please tell Admiral Kang that if the dead agent left behind a family, or anyone who needs help, Hawkwood will be honored to contribute to their support? I’m not putting an upper limit on that. He can let me know, and I’ll send the funds to him for onward transmission.”

  “Thank you, darling. I know he’ll appreciate it very much. I’ll tell him.” She reached forward and placed her hand on his knee for a moment. “Just so you know, I appreciate it very much, too.”

  He shrugged. “It’s the least we can do. He was helping us, too, after all.”

  “Yes, he was. All right, next thing. Kang is working hard. They’re testing a new battle computer, more powerful than the previous model. Its software has been upgraded to use our revised datalink interface. It’ll be able to control up to three hundred missiles of any type in a single volley. It’s a big job, and they say they’ll need another three or four months to test it thoroughly, but it should be a plug-in retrofit for all their ships, up to and including destroyers.”

  He exhaled in relief. “That’s great news! If we can remove that bottleneck, it’ll give us a lot more capability, offensively and defensively.”

  “Next, they’re building your new defensive missile pods for the cargo shuttles. Mr. Kim says, if you keep coming up with good ideas like that, he’s going to have to start paying you design royalties.” They laughed. “He’ll have thirty-six of them ready for collection in two months. Each will carry fifteen of their corvette-size defensive missiles, plus an auxiliary reactor and generator to power them up and launch them on command via datalink, just like the arsenal ships’ missiles.”

  “Good. Those cut-down cargo shuttles will have decoy beacons built into their new rear compartments, and missile pods up front. They’ll simulate our ships in orbit around Mycenae Secundus Two, and thicken our defensive barrage if necessary.”

  “That’s what you and Dave were working on a couple of years ago, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes. We’ve been noodling over it ever since then. Earlier this year, we sent our final design proposals to Kang. They agreed to build the pods, and we’re modifying cargo shuttles here to carry them. We’re concealing their purpose by telling the shipyard they’re to move cargo pods.”

  “So that’s why you went and bought all those extra cargo shuttles! You didn’t tell me about this, darling?” Her voice was questioning.

  “Compartmentalization, dear. There’s a lot I don’t tell you – not because I
don’t trust you, but because you don’t need to know. You know how serious we are about that.”

  “Yes, I do. I suppose it’s the conflict between being both your Chief of Staff, and your lover!”

  “Well, guided missiles and suchlike aren’t exactly pillow talk, are they?”

  “No, although you seem to guide your missile awfully well.” She let out a peal of laughter as he flushed slightly. “You’re embarrassed!”

  “A little, yes.” He strove to regain his composure. “All right. Next?”

  “Beluga’s datalink has been upgraded at Grigorescu’s shipyard to incorporate the same improvements that were made to Narwhal’s at Mycenae. The next two arsenal ships will arrive next week, and Grigorescu will build it into them, too, while making the other modifications. We have enough missile pods for both new ships, and Kang will have another thirty-six ready for collection along with the cargo shuttle missile pods.”

  “If you keep giving me good news like this, I may declare a half-day holiday and take you out for a long, liquid lunch!” He scratched his chin. “I think we’re going to have to rename our arsenal ships. We’ve been using the names of whale species from Earth, but we need to distinguish between freighters that are freighters, and freighters that carry missiles.”

  “Why not leave freighters as whales, and reuse your old patrol craft names for the arsenal ships? NOE renamed the patrol craft after you handed them over, so there won’t be any confusion.”

  “That’s a great idea! All right. We had five, all named for predatory fish of the Amazon River: Piranha, Payara, Trairao, Arapaima and Bicuda. We’ll reuse those, with the suffix ‘II’ added, plus a sixth, Sorubim. I had that name in mind for another patrol craft, but we never got it into working order. I’ll assign the names to our existing and new arsenal ships, and notify Mycenae.”