'And if I refuse your generous offer?' I asked.
The smile disappeared. 'No, Captain,' He said quietly, 'No threats. It'd be silly to try to draft you against your will. You and your crew will simply be interned here on Haven for the duration.'
'And Valkyrie?'
He shrugged. 'I don't know yet who he will be, but my second choice will need a Command and Control ship, and yours is large enough to hold all the comm gear that entails. Besides, her plans are on file, and have already been sent to the Chilson Shipyard on Outback. They are ready to install all the weaponry removed when she was decommissioned, and do the necessary modifications for C amp;C.
'So, Captain, your choices come to this: I can activate your Fleet Marine commission and promote you to Commodore, or you can sit on your butt here on Haven. You can even join Jonas, if you wish. At any rate, no harm will come to you. But I need your ship almost as badly as I need you.'
I was furious. 'I do not respond well…'
'NO!' Hari shouted, startling me.
'I'm sorry, Val,' Hari continued, 'But you were about to refuse for both of us. You command Valkyrie and her crew, but this decision has to be an individual one.' He turned to Cord.
'You are not the only one to notice the decline of the Empire, Viceroy. Actually, there's quite a body of literature on the subject. I've also noticed the dynamism that you've fostered on the rim. If you need me, I'll be happy to serve, in whatever capacity you find useful.' He glanced over at me again. 'I really am sorry, Val, but this is right. It needs to be done!'
I was dumbfounded. I knew Hari was a good deal more intelligent than I was, but he usually tended to go along with my decisions. I honestly hadn't even noticed I was usurping his free choice. I obviously owed Hari a big apology later.
Cord switched his attention to Hari without missing a beat. 'Certainly, Mr. Carlon. I've seen your record too, you know. I'd hoped you'd agree to help.'
My shoulders slumped. I couldn't just leave Hari. In addition, I knew very well that Cord was as good as his word. He would seize Valkyrie, and probably hand her over to some thumb-fingered idiot who would get her destroyed. He knew I wouldn't permit that.
There was also the fact that Jonas had given me the only really negative fitness reports I'd ever received. He considered me an unlettered barbarian, an upstart who dared presume to advance to the higher levels of the Fleet. I considered him a snob and a foppish dilettante. I wasn't surprised to find he'd been shipped off to a frontier system after his political connections got him his second star. It would be fun to bloody his nose a bit.
Finally, Hari was right. If the Empire was indeed crumbling, creating an oasis of civilization was just about the most important job there was.
I held up my hands in surrender. 'Okay. I assume you wouldn't need me if you were completely defenseless. What do you have to fight with? And even if Hari and I enlist, that doesn't mean my crew will. What about them?'
Cord nodded. 'True. The rest of your crew, though, doesn't have a military background. They should be able to blend into the populace. If you or they prefer, I can buy out their shares and buy them tickets inbound. I'll pay a handsome premium over their shares' value.'
I sighed. 'I'm being shanghaied and I don't like it, but if your people can convince me we'd have a real chance, say 30/70, I'll do it.'
Cord's face split into a wide grin. 'Great!' he said, 'The palace comp rated the chances of success at 21 % without you, and 32 % with you. Apparently, you even impress comps.'
'Wonderful,' I growled. 'Now, you can impress me by letting me know what I've got to fight with.'
The grin didn't waver, but he pressed a button on his desk, and three men entered. Two were obviously security, a 'muttandjeff' team, whatever that was originally. Now, it was a very large man with a thick neck and a battered face, and a very small, thin, foppish companion. The third was equally obviously a spaceman, and out of his element here. He wore a rumpled shipsuit on his pudgy body. His eyes constantly scanned the room. He looked so nervous I had a strong impulse to comfort him.
'Captain Kedron of the Valkyrie, please allow me to present Ralf Tomys, my Security Chief, Jabeth Rawl, his deputy, and Captain Albet Cony of the Rim Trader Too, who has been coordinating the organization of our fleet, such as it is. I'll ask you to go with them to be briefed. As you can imagine, I have a few things to attend to.' Before we left his office, though, Cord reactivated my Fleet commission, promoted me to Commodore, and provided me with the various codes, documents, and memory chips I'd need.
We retired under guard to the security head's office, where Tomys apologized to Hari and me for the armed summons. 'It was important to make it appear that you'd been arrested. There are a number of Military Intelligence agents on Haven.'
Tomys went on to brief us. Since it was important to conceal my involvement with Cord from the Military Intelligence agents infesting Haven, we would be returning to Valkyrie in restraint cord and under guard. The idea was to convince any watching MI agents that we were being thrown off Haven for suspected smuggling. Tomys had arranged official outbound clearances to Galeta in the Omega sector. The idea was to keep the MI agents from noticing that our escort would number six going aboard, but only five disembarking.
The sixth would be Jabeth Rawl, Tomys' deputy. Since Tomys had to remain with Cord, Rawl would serve as my Security Chief, and would brief me on security and planet-based resources. Captain Cony was already scheduled to lift. He was to meet us on a planet called Outback, and assist me with space-based resources. He was also to be my liaison with the free traders of the rim worlds.
We trooped through the frigid Haven afternoon, a freezing wind driving a light snow almost horizontally. Even so, it was hard to miss Valkyrie. Her fat, cylindrical 400-meter body towered twice as high as the few rim tramps on the field. Once aboard, Rawl dismissed the security escort and released our bonds. I eyed him curiously. He was only about 160 centimeters tall and probably massed no more than 50 kilograms. He was dapper, but totally inconspicuous — the kind of man who can disappear into a crowd of three.
Silence dragged. Finally, he said, 'Well, Commodore? Shouldn't we be making sail or hauling anchors or getting underway or something?'
His comment broke the ice, and both Hari and I grinned. 'Or something,' I agreed. Hari chuckled. 'I'll get down to Engineering, Capt… uh, Commodore, and start hauling on the anchor.'
I shouted at his retreating back to check on our other crewmen, and get them to lift stations. Then I rounded on Rawl. 'All right. In a moment, my Astrogator and Comm Officer will come through that hatch, and they know nothing about this whole thing. Since it seems to be important for us to get off-planet, I don't want to spend hours explaining and arguing with them, so I'm simply going to continue this deportation story until we're in space. Cord and Tomys mentioned Outback, so I assume that's where we're going. Is there anything else I need to know before Jax and Con get here?'
Rawl shook his head just as Hari called on the intercom to inform me that Con was passed-out drunk, and wouldn't be doing any astrogating anytime soon, but that Jax, our Comm Officer, was on his way up. In a few moments, a furious Jax came boiling onto the bridge.
Jax was young, nineteen standard years old, seven on his home world of Pascua. He was also new to spacing. This was his second voyage, and he was busy loving every minute of his visits to new planets — even Haven. Jax was tall and gawky. His youthful face was merely typical, and marred by an acne problem that he was fighting valiantly. Somehow, his clothes always seemed a size too small, his shoes a size too large. Even the weathered tan that farm life had given him was beginning to fade. But his features were strong and well formed, giving promise that in a few years, he would be an attractive man. His face was suffused with a simple wholesomeness and lack of guile that inspired confidence. He reminded me of a puppy; he displayed an enthusiasm and a sense of wonder that made the rest of us feel jaded and old.
Now, though, Jax was furious. He glared at Rawl, and then turned to me. 'What's going on, Captain? A security squad grabbed me in the middle of a meal, cuffed me, and dragged me back here. A few minutes later, another squad came in carrying Con. All the cops'd say was that my captain would explain!'
I glanced at Rawl. 'It seems we're being thrown off Haven. Mr. Rawl, here, is coming along just to make sure we really leave. They seem to have decided we're smugglers. We're going to a planet called 'Outback' to ground while we try to figure out what to do next. You don't have anything to tell me, do you?'
Jax snorted in disgust and turned to his console to complete the liftoff formalities.
