moron to keep quiet until the two of them are someplace where they can talk without being overheard.”
“Right, Chief,” the ship agreed uncertainly.
“And use the achronic channels,” he reminded her.
“At this distance, I would anyway,” Valthyrra said, then remembered that the Union had no way to intercept achronic transitions. “Right away, Chief.”
“I was hesitant when you had Bill fitted with an achronic transceiver,” Consherra said, stepping down from the middle bridge to join him. “It has had its uses, I must admit, but I worry about the Union getting their hands on it.”
“Do not tell Lenna, but Bill also has an automatic self-destruct triggered to detonate if he is dismantled or tampered with past a certain level by anyone he does not know,” Velmeran said quietly. “Besides, they get their hands on our technology often enough. So far, they have never been able to reproduce it.”
“Bill says that they are alone in their apartment,” Valthyrra interrupted. “Lenna Makayen is standing by.”
“Their apartment? She says that this is the end of civilization as we know it, and the two of them have set up housekeeping in the middle of a secret Union installation,” Velmeran commented as he ascended the steps to the commander’s station on the upper bridge, swinging himself into the seat with the overhead supports. “Lenna? What are you doing?”
“Talking to you?” her voice returned through his private com.
Velmeran rolled his eyes. “Smartass. What have you found down there? Are you ready to come up to the ship, or do we really need to come down?”
“I think that you really should come down, if you can at all manage it.”
“Is that going to be easier said than done?”
Lenna had to think about that for a moment. “Commander, the bad news is that this is a very, very large base. The good news is that the place is all but deserted. Things have been hopping here, but that came to a sudden end right before I arrived, and they are still in the process of shutting down their operations. This place is going back to sleep, but there is still quite enough for you to see. I think that you should see this for yourself. You might see something more in it than I do.”
“Lenna, things are very bad out here,” Velmeran said. “We now have a whole new war to fight.”
“You have just lost both wars, if you do not get down here.”
Velmeran sat back and saw Valthyrra looking down at him, her camera pod moved well back into the upper bridge. He thought about it only briefly. “Lenna, could you arrange a distraction?”
“I just love distractions. Can I make a really big one?”
“Do you have something in mind?” Velmeran asked.
“There is all manner of havoc down here, just waiting to happen,” she replied. “I could find something to entertain myself easily enough.”
“How soon? We need to get this done.”
“Get in your fighters in two hours and be ready to move as soon as things begin to happen,” Lenna told him. “I will have Bill tell you where to find me when you get here.”
Velmeran sat back, looking up at Valthyrra. “That girl worries me. She reminds me of a bomb with a very eccentric detonator.”
“Well, yes,” Valthyrra agreed uncertainly, then glanced up hopefully. “Of course, she is also very efficient.”
“What about that time two years ago? She stole a bulk freighter, then scattered its entire cargo of magnesium canisters overboard in the path of the Union fleet following her as if they were space mines. At a quarter light speed.”
“Yes, there is that. Then again, it did work.”
“A major freight lane is useless because two-thirds of the things are still floating around out there,” Velmeran reminded her as he pulled himself out of his seat. “Have Baressa and my special tactics team ready for flight, including accessory cannons on the fighters. Three fighters and a transport should be quite enough. Any more than that and we will just be getting in each other’s way. Have all the other packs standing by, also with accessory cannons. Yourself as well. I will determine what I can about the situation, and then we will simply blast that installation out of existence.”
“You plan to go along?” Consherra asked, waiting for him as he descended the steps from the upper bridge.
“I suppose that I have to,” he answered. “Lenna seems to think that this is very important, and that I should see it for myself. This is another dragon that I am going to have to face myself and look straight in the teeth.”
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. At that very moment the lift door on the right side of the bridge opened, and Venn Keflyn loped in. Her dragon’s form with a spider’s abundance of arms and legs was encased in her own white armored suit, in most ways like the suits worn by the Starwolves, her neck and tail encased in flexible sheaths of overlapping plates. Although her primary duty on board the Methryn was instruction in the psychic arts and ancient history, she was also an occasional member of Velmeran’s special tactics team. She seemed an unlikely addition to that group, but she was full of more tricks than Lenna Makayen.
“I think that I should go along,” she explained simply before anyone could ask.
“So I see,” Velmeran commented, staring. “Could I ask why?”
“Because I really think I should?” she suggested, running that answer by a second time to see if it was good enough.
Velmeran closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
“Oh, sure. The more the merrier. I really thought I should go, too.” He turned to Consherra. Do you think you should go?”
“Really?” she asked incredulously. “You never ask me out any more.”
“Do you want to go?”
“No. I still remember the last time.”
“Good. I need you to watch the ship.”
“The ship is quite old enough to take care of herself,” Valthyrra remarked tartly.
“I am going to put on my business armor and check the condition of my fighter,” Velmeran said as he turned away, indicating to Venn Keflyn the direction of the lift. “So, what do you think? What could cause the end of civilization as we know it?”
“That depends upon how you define civilization,” the Aldessan explained in a scholarly vein as they walked slowly together toward the lift. “You define civilization as one thing, and your enemies as another. To truly understand that question, you must first ask yourself what your enemy believes that civilization means to you, and then how he would attempt to destroy your concept of civilization.”
“I doubt very much that Donalt Trace entertains any thoughts of defeating me with philosophy. He believes in things that go
“Yes, there is that.”
Lenna Makayen had to think, and she had to think quickly. She had to find some way to distract the Union base from repelling the unexpected arrival of a pack of Starwolf fighters. Ideally, that distraction should be enough to keep an entire base the size of a city from even being aware of the arrival of the Starwolves. That made the answer seem simple enough. She had to arrange an accident that would take out the installation’s surveillance coordination system, particularly that part which correlated scanners and the defensive systems.
That was a really good idea, but she had never found that particular section of the base.
Unable to do the damage she wanted, Lenna had to consider other distractions. The best solution seemed to be something that would frighten Union Command, something that would threaten to be very nasty if it got out of hand, something that would draw a lot of attention to itself and cause a fair amount of concern and confusion. Considering the rather stripped and deserted condition of the base, there were very few alternatives. She would have to do something with the warehouses or adjacent underground hangar bays that were still in use.
Once she determined that, matters became fairly simple. There was one little supply and munitions freighter that had her name on it. Actually, it was named the
