“Good to see you again, as well,” Velmeran returned pleasantly as the guards hurried them along the corridor, with little enough respect for either the Admiral’s age or rank.
“Don’t give me that, Starwolf,” Laroose said sharply. “I’m just here to do what I have to do.”
“I hope that I can understand your position on this matter perfectly,” Velmeran ventured in return.
“It seems that you do,” Laroose responded, with a brief sly glance at the Starwolf.
It seemed that the Methryn was no longer an object of such interest as it had been earlier, since there were now only the routine docking crews in the corridor outside the airlocks. The authorities seemed to feel very certain that they had everything under perfect control. The group marched down the long tube of the docking probe. Baressa and her pack, all dressed in black armor, met them at the airlock. The two guards apparently saw nothing in this to concern them.
“I need you up on the bridge,” Velmeran told his pack leader quietly. “And send Baress up as well. The rest of your pack is to seal this lock and let no one through. Gentlemen, if you will follow me.”
The members of the bridge crew were certainly surprised to see the company that Velmeran was keeping when he stepped off the lift. Valthyrra snapped her camera pod around so quickly that the hinges in the boom popped. Venn Keflyn had put in a rare appearance of her own, standing before the viewscreen with a very thoughtful look on her furry face. Velmeran walked immediately to the center of the bridge.
“I have been told that the Republic is under new management,” he addressed the crew. “There is now peace between the Republic and the Union. The carriers are to be dismantled and the Starwolves put to death. The rest of the Kelvessan are to be sterilized and sold into slavery. These two gentlemen are here to see that we comply.”
“My sentiments exactly,” Velmeran agreed, turning to Baressa. “These two are to be given something to induce pleasant dreams, packed into a shipping container, and left in the corridor outside the main airlock.”
The security officers looked startled and reached for their guns, only to find that they had empty holsters. Shrugging innocently, Velmeran brought a pair of guns out from beneath his cape. “Never trust a Kelvessan. They will take anything they can get their nasty little hands on, and they can move so quick that you may never see them.”
Baressa gathered the pair up and marched them back to the lift. Velmeran stared, waiting patiently until they were gone.
Admiral Laroose relaxed for the first time. “Your enemies in the Senate believe that Kelvessan must instinctively obey orders given to them by their human masters. I assume that they are in error.”
“I should certainly hope so!” Venn Keflyn declared with some indignation. “The Aldessan may have genetically created the Kelvessan, but we would never have programmed any race with an instinctive subservience to another.”
“I cannot imagine where they even got such a ridiculous idea,” Velmeran said as he watched Baressa lead the two guards away. “Just what is going on here? How did these people get in power?”
“By the usual method,” Laroose said, shaking his head sadly and shrugging. “Nothing of what has happened was a part of their campaign platform. It was, if anything, a very dull, low-keyed election. They had been in office for a couple of months, doing nothing of consequence except the usual housekeeping, when they suddenly announced that they had been approached by the Union with an offer to end the war. Considering how long the war has been going on, that came as if they had said they had sold the sky and the stars. Everyone was so shocked that no one has collected their wits enough to protest when they began announcing new policies. They told you that they revoked the Second Amendment of the Charter?”
“They said that it has been revoked by Senate vote,” Velmeran said. “That is not legal.”
“No, not at all. And it was not done by vote, strictly speaking. Delike annulled the Ammendment by Presidential veto, nearly five hundred centuries after the fact, and the Senate was unable to override his veto, with Alberes pulling party support by intimidation. I decided to play along, since it would leave me in a position to intercept you quickly when you came in.”
“Ready and waiting,” the ship replied. “You might be pleased to know that both the Delvon and the Valdayen have kept themselves sealed, refusing to be boarded until they could talk to you. Of course, with their noses pushed up inside their bays, they could not send or receive achronic signals.”
Velmeran nodded. “Tell them to stand by, that we will be getting out of here in a few minutes. Have them copy every order I give, at the very same time. My word, I wish that Treg was here.”
“If you wait a while, he probably will be,” Consherra remarked.
“He promised to guard our patrol until he hears from us.” He turned as Baress entered the bridge. “I have a very important task for you. Your friend Baressa will be bringing a shipping crate full of unconscious guards through the main airlock to leave outside. Valthyrra will arrange to have additional crates — empty — brought out at about five-minute intervals. You, Trel, and Marlena will go outside to stand guard over those crates, which are theoretically filled with our weapons. At my signal, you will go to this bay’s control room and pull the emergency docking brace release and get yourself back on board as quickly as you can manage.”
“What about the docking probes?” he asked.
“You can hardly do anything about that and still get back on board the ship, and may the Great Spirit of Space help anyone we may happen to leave behind. There is no danger to the station, since the bay has its own atmosphere.” He turned back to Valthyrra as Baress hurried to carry out his orders. “Have you relayed those instructions to the other ships?”
“They comply,” the ship agreed. “In fact, they seem to be tremendously pleased.”
Velmeran turned to Admiral Laroose. “So what about it? Would you like to go along with us? We can put you overboard in one of those shipping crates with our two duteous friends.”
Laroose shrugged. “Before I answer that, can I ask what you intend to do about this mess? I cannot see you abandoning the rest of the Kelvessan to slavery.”
“How long can I stay away before they begin this plan of sterilizing and selling the Kelvessan?” Velmeran asked in return. “I was left with the feeling that this is something yet to be.”
The human shook his head slowly. “It’s not even been announced publicly yet, and a long way from being put into effect. They do have to move cautiously on certain points or they’ll have this business blow up in their faces, and they know it. Weeks, if not months. If the Starwolves revolt, public opinion may make it impossible for a long time to come.”
“Two weeks at most is all I need,” Velmeran said, mostly to himself. “You see, I know a few things that your people here do not. There have been rumors bouncing about that the Union has finally found a way to fight and defeat Starwolves for all time. I sent Lenna Makayen to investigate, and less than an hour ago she sent back word saying that it is the end of civilization as we know it. This might sound like the alarmist predictions of a militaristic mind, but I cannot believe that they will keep the peace if they have a way to finally defeat us.”
“But why are they trying to get us to destroy the Starwolves for them?” Laroose asked.
“It would be nice for them if it works,” he answered. “It creates a fair amount of confusion under any circumstances. Did you really expect that the Starwolves would submit to having themselves and their ships destroyed?”
“Not for a moment.”
“Neither would they. But where does it leave us? Either the Starwolves become renegades trying to operate without the support of the Republic behind us, or else we end up fighting ourselves. This was all designed to throw us into confusion, and it has cost them nothing.”
“The first shipping crate has been moved into the station,” Valthyrra reported. “Baress is standing by, with Trel and Marlena to cover him. The Delvon is at this same stage, and the Valdayen will be ready in a moment. Should we have packs standing ready?”
“Standing ready,” Velmeran agreed. “But we will not put out any ships unless we must. Our intention is to catch them by complete surprise and to run before they can mobilize to stop us. My intention this time is to leave them with something to think about.”
