charter, how about one hundred Alliance credits for the duration?'
Jessica looked surprised. 'And if she's destroyed?'
Cale shrugged. 'She was already scrap, madam. We can add that into the charter, if you'd like.'
She nodded firmly. 'I'd like.' She paused, regarded Cale narrowly. 'What I'd really like is to know why you're going to all this trouble and expense for us. And please, no more crap about Johnny. You've barged in here and given us a way to maybe win a war that had already been lost and broken a stalemate that was almost a year old. You don't seem to worry much about money, and you're very mysterious about this 'scrap yard' of yours. You're a real mystery man. I don't trust mystery men.'
Cale felt his face grow warm. 'All right, madam,' he said, 'I'll level with you. I've been a slave. I've been a mercenary (well, he told himself, pirates fight, and kill for money!). I've done some terrible things. Things that interfere with my sleep. I really do know John very well, and we were slaves together. He used to tell me stories about his favorite aunt, and the beautiful place she retired to. When I heard about the war, I decided it was my chance to do some good; to make up for some of the evil I've been part of. I've fought for nothing but money. It feels really good to fight for something important; something that matters. As for my scrap yard, I'm secretive about it because it's my bolt hole, if I ever need one.'
'Why should you need one?'
He shrugged. 'I don't know that I ever will. But as both a slave and a mercenary, I've learned that it's wise to have a place to run to, in case you have to jump out a window in your underwear and leave everything else behind.'
She shook her head. 'It sounds like a pretty grim existence to me. Maybe Ilocan can fix it so you won't need that bolt hole.'
Cale sighed. 'It would be nice to feel that there's somewhere I actually belong.'
The paperwork for the charter went through quickly, and Mong promptly formalized the renaming of the ship Ilocan's Revenge. The name made Cale wince. The new name was uncomfortably close to the Terror's Revenge. He kept silent, though. They could call it anything they wanted. After the war, she would probably go back to the scrap yard, though Mong had been hinting that Ilocan might want to buy her.
As soon as the minefield at the Santiago jump point had been cleared and Furioso and the converted tugs moved to the next jump point, the system's Din-class moved in and her workboats reseeded more mines and another beacon.
There were spirited arguments at the mine over whether Ilocan's Revenge should attack Furioso. One side felt that destroying the destroyer would reduce the fleet available to Admiral Gonzalez-Villareal. The other side felt that, first, Ilocan's Revenge was not a true warship; that in a fight, Furioso might just destroy her, and second, that the loss of another destroyer would entice the Admiral to leave a small rear guard, and come hunting with nearly all his force. They felt that Ilocan's Revenge would be better used to attack the Santiago system.
It was now dawning on Captain de la Vega that El Cid was missing. While the vagaries of jump physics often scattered the arrival times of ships that jumped at the same time, far too much time had elapsed. It had taken more than a week to creep through the minefields at each jump point. His final jump to Santiago's system had taken ten ship-days, and the trip from the jump point to planetary orbit had taken four days. Then the return, the tedious two weeks clearing the first minefield, and the same clearing the path to the second jump point. Certainly, if El Cid had survived, they would have encountered each other by now.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief as they jumped toward the second recal system.
Only to find yet another minefield. Only an excess of caution had prevented him from blundering into it. He sighed, and put the converted tugs to work clearing the mines. This war was getting less simple by the minute!
They were less than halfway through clearing the mines in their third minefield when there was an emergency transmission from one of the tugs. ' Capitan! It is a trap! This mine is not deac…' An actinic glare in his viewscreen told him that the last word would never be completed. Damn! They were devils! Obviously, they had sown some traps; fake mines containing bombs that would go off only when taken aboard a ship or subjected to normal deactivation procedures.
Captain de la Vega was faced with both a professional and a moral dilemma. He had already lost one of his two converted tugs. His sense of duty and his own machismo argued that he should continue his mission.
However, there was a nagging feeling that he should drop the mine clearing for the moment, and run for Ilocan. Admiral Gonzalez-Villareal knew nothing of recent developments. He did not know of the loss of El Cid and all the minesweepers. Nor did he know of the conditions at home on Santiago, or that there would be no supply shipments for the foreseeable future. More to the point, the Admiral had no minesweepers either. De la Vega had only one of his converted tugs left, and there was a feeling that perhaps he should not put it at risk without at least giving the Admiral a chance to override his orders.
Finally, he decided. He recorded messages in which he tried to explain everything, and placed them in two message torps, which he then sent through the Ilocan jump point. His sensors detected no explosions, so he assumed both torps had made jump. Nagging voice in his head stilled, he returned to the mine clearing operation.
The mines were cleared and he'd jumped for Ilocan before the Admiral's answer arrived; but since the reply instructed him to immediately report to the Admiral at Ilocan, no harm was done.
Except that the Admiral's message torp was intercepted by a gunboat. The base ship immediately informed the mine that Furioso was returning to Ilocan, and would probably remain there while the Admiral considered his next move.
'Cale! Cale!' Zant clumped into Cheetah 's lounge still suited, except for his helmet. 'There you are! This is it, Cale! This is our chance!' He was waving a printout.
'Calm down, Zant,' Cale soothed. 'What is it? Our chance for what?'
Zant waved the printout again. 'There are no, repeat no, major warships in the Santiago system at the moment. Furioso just jumped to Ilocan. If you're serious about raiding Santiago, this is the time!'
Cale snatched the printout. It was a translation of Admiral Gonzalez-Villareal's orders to Captain De la Vega. De la Vega was ordered to report to Admiral Gonzalez-Villareal to report and 'for consultation on future actions'. Zant was right. Both of Gonzalez-Villareal's destroyers would be tied up for weeks at Ilocan while their Captains attended meeting after meeting, 'consulting' with the Admiral. This was their best chance. Besides, the number of prizes had tapered off as Santiago's trade dried up. Most of the remaining Santie-flagged ships were in orbit around Santiago itself. Even those that could find a cargo were reluctant to brave the minefields and gunboats.
Cale hurried to find Mong. He showed Mong the message, and touched off a flurry of activity. Ilocan's Revenge was readied, as all available boat pilots were rounded up, sobered up, or just poured into their bunks aboard.
Meanwhile Cale was making sure that Cheetah 's ammunition supply for the quickfirer was replenished and that her fusactor was at peak output. For the most part Tess managed to keep him from obsessing over details. Zant's Strengl had been in Cheetah 's small hold since their arrival from Torlon, but it would be released before the final jump to Santiago. Strengl s were equipped with jump engines, and both the Ilocan's Revenge's astrogation comp and Zant's would be slaved to Tess's so they could be certain of arriving in the Santiago system simultaneously. This would give them a better chance of survival in the almost certain case that the jump point was picketed.
Privately, Cale was glad for Zant's Strengl. He hoped that the fighter's small jump engine would be able to spin down, and her inertial drive spin up much faster than either the Ilocan's Revenge 's or Cheetah 's, which should give the fighter weapons and shields before the picket could man its own weapons.
Cale didn't even bother trying to leave Dee behind, since he preferred to fight battles he had at least a small chance of winning. Besides, he needed a gunner, and she was experienced.
After a short, hurried briefing, they lifted off; Ilocan's Revenge 's astrogation comp slaved to Cheetah 's. Zant's Strengl remained in Cheetah 's small hold until just before the last jump into the Santiago system.
The tech manning Diego Del Florio 's sensor suite monitoring Santiago's jump point was bored. It was 0400 ship's time, and he had a seemingly eternal two more hours on watch. When he had been assigned to Del Florio a year ago, he'd been mildly disappointed not to have been assigned aboard a destroyer, but pleased that at least he
