Looking at himself in the mirror, he had to admit, when he considered the effect as objectively as possible, that the Starwolf image was mostly the armor, there was certainly nothing threatening about the person inside. Humans were smaller than they had been when they had first come into space, fifty thousand years before. But Kelvessan were smaller still, averaging little more than a meter and a third, yet, in full armor, they assumed dangerous proportions, tall, powerful and menacing. Male or female, young or old, Kelvessan all looked about the same; partly elfin in appearance, partly innocent waif, anything but threatening. Cute, in a word, and eternally adolescent.
'Ready to rally the troops?' Dveyella asked.
'Gather the children for our little outing, you mean,' Velmeran said in mild disgust. 'Come along, students. Today we learn what it is like to enter enemy territory under the ruse of port leave, putting our necks on the line in the name of having a good time.'
Velmeran fell silent as the door of his room snapped open. The younger members of his pack, who had been ready for some time, had gathered in the common room that joined their suite of apartments. They all looked up at him in surprise and some guilt, the only sound that of seven mouths snapping shut. He assumed that they had been discussing ways to evade their guardians or spend their bonuses in ways they should not. It did not occur to him that they had been speculating on why their pack leader had needed Dveyella's help in getting into his armor, or how forward she would have to be before he realized that he was being courted. And, like everyone else, they wondered whether or not he would go away with her.
'Port leave is supposed to be a time of leisure, of setting aside the dangers of flying with the packs and forgetting fear for a few hours,' he began immediately. 'Unfortunately, if you go into a place like Vannkarn with such an attitude, you are going to be surprised. Remember that you are above the law so long as you act defensively. Remember also that there are also a number of people in a port this size who might attack you for no apparent reason, who can suddenly turn violent at the sight of Starwolves. Religious fanatics, of a wide variety, who consider us abominations. Some think they have to prove themselves superior to us, bullies who have had some type of martial training and are under the mistaken impression that they are stronger and faster than you are. Others lack the courage to face you and will simply try to shoot you in the back when you are not looking.'
'Once in a port like this, a young man thought he knew exactly the right blow to break my neck above the collar of my suit,' Dveyella added. 'He lived just long enough to realize his mistake.'
The students swallowed, wide-eyed with apprehension, as they wondered what she had done to the unfortunate attacker. Especially when they saw that Baress, standing by the outer door, looked sobered by the memory.
'You have checked your guns?' Velmeran asked, and the younger pilots nodded. They had received their belt guns only hours before, and had practiced on scrap metal targets in the holding bay that morning. It had been very little practice, but their native proficiency was adequate to the task.
'Cargo Officer Veyndayk will be waiting for us,' Velmeran continued. 'Now come the general rules of port leave. Do not buy or sell anything before you have compared prices. Do not order anything off a menu unless you know what it is, since you probably will not like it. Stay away from even the mildest of alcoholic drinks, since they will send you into hypermetabolism. You are free to flirt with humans but be careful with them, since you can hurt them — even kill — without meaning to.
'Ignore those who want favors of you, or seem too fascinated with you. Do not buy from anyone who talks too fast and do not give to beggars or charity; you are too easily taken advantage of. Do not brag, or tell anyone a thing about this ship or our business. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend. This above all: to thine own self be true.'
Dveyella looked at him in surprise. 'Shakespeare?'
Velmeran shrugged. 'He was always full of advice. Oh, yes. Treg, I know your passion for furry things. Look all you want in port, but by no means are you to bring an animal back to this ship.'
Tregloran appeared to wilt inside his armor. 'Why?'
'Two reasons. First, Valthyrra would pitch a fit. Secondly, there are very few animals that could survive the accelerations, and many would not be able to take the cold.'
The trip down was the easiest part. The pack members were expected to fly themselves down, so that the black fighters would be very much in evidence. Baressa's pack, the only other one that had been granted port leave, was already down when they arrived. Autumn had come to Vinthra. The sun was bright although there was still a bit of a chill to the late morning air, which was to say that it was pleasant by Kelvessan standards. That would not be the case in the enclosed environment of the city, and they would be dependent upon their suits for comfort as well as protection. They quickly converted their armor into the proper costume, belting on their guns and wearing short black capes attached to metal collars that fastened to clips on their shoulders that ordinarily held the restraining straps of their seats.
The actual city of Vannkarn lay underground. At some time in Vinthra's distant past, an immense pocket of magma had formed beneath the surface only to drain away, leaving a single chamber of immense size, a vast oval twenty kilometers long by twelve wide. Such things ordinarily did not last long, but were soon closed by slips and breaks in the surrounding rock. But this one had endured millions of years, as time and erosion stripped away the rock overhead. Finally, after the planet had long been colonized, an oval section in the roof where it was thinnest had broken and collapsed, revealing the vast underground chamber.
In those days the Union and the Starwolves had been in open war, and the black fighters had continually penetrated planetary defenses to strike at stations, factories and military bases. The sector command had been removed to the bottom of the cavern. The opening in the roof had been enclosed by a grid supporting translucent panels that served as a base for the powerful force screen projected into it, making it nearly impervious even to the powerful cannons of the Starwolf carriers. Its only entrances were the trams and freight lifts connecting it to the port.
Later, when the threat of war eased, the underground base had been slowly converted into the seat of government for the Rane Sector. Then the Trade Company had moved in as well, and a city grew to fill the floor of the rocky chamber. And yet Vannkarn was not some dark cavern, but a jeweled city built by the wealth of many worlds. Here it was eternal spring, and while it never rained, brooks tumbled over falls and splashed along sculptured beds.
Vannkarn was a monument that the Union had built in honor of itself, a tribute to its schemes and grand designs and a celebration of its systematic rape of the fringe worlds under its control. It was the last place in all the Union where Starwolves were welcome, where their very presence was regarded with almost a sense of blasphemy. And, naturally, it was the inner world which the Starwolves frequented most. Sporting in the very lair of their enemy, their presence was a gesture of defiance and a most unsubtle reminder, in the celebration of its own glory and power, that the Union did not always have its own way.
The Starwolves made their way across the landing field to the port terminal where they meant to find a tram to take them down into the city. They entered through the commercial registry, where ship's crewmembers could pass through customs and inspection apart from the confusion of the passenger area. A Class D freighter, just small enough to land, had recently come down, and a handful of her crew was waiting patiently while a rather young and frail-looking duty officer ran their idents through computer check.
The Starwolves had no intention of joining the others in line. They pushed past to let themselves through the turngate, and the duty officer rather pointedly ignored them. But that lack of attention was by no means mutual, for the younger Kelvessan stared in cautious amazement, even fear. This was their first port leave, and none of them had been to the vast carrier facilities at Home Base. And so this was their first glimpse of an actual, living human. They each reacted in his or her own way. To some, men were the legendary creatures of whom Starwolves were only advanced counterfeits. Others saw only the ancient enemy of their race. Such was obviously the case with Tregloran, who stopped short and reached for his gun. Velmeran gave him an impatient shove to send him on through the gate.
They continued quickly down the hall to the wide boarding platform for the trams. This was the main entrance to the city far below, twenty tracks in all. All passengers arriving through the port, either off-world or by air from other cities, entered here, so that there were more people in this one large room than even lived in the Methryn's maze of corridors. The students slowed almost to a stop until the older pilots urged them into the nearest tram. A Starwolf carrier was a curiously sheltered environment, with little direct contact with life outside.
'Were those human?' Tregloran asked uncertainly as they were taking their seats.
