Some idiot broke radio discipline with a cheer, and suddenly the frequency was overwhelmed with noise. Boats began pouring from Valkyrie, Fearless, and all the tramps. Even Predator was spewing black dots. There was no semblance of formation; the boat pilots weren’t that disciplined. Nevertheless, I knew what Bon-Lor was seeing on his viewer: a cloud of glowing dots closing head on at amazing speed.
It took slightly less than two hours for the boats to close the shrinking distance to the oncoming cruiser.
They englobed Relentless, and began swirling, darting and diving, slashing and retreating. It soon became obvious, though, that their weapons could do only minor damage to the Fleet battle cruiser.
Bon-Lor called me. “If that’s the best your rim rabble can do,” he crowed, “maybe you’d better surrender to me!”
I shrugged. “Don’t be ridiculous, Captain. Of course, the boats are lightly armed. They can’t do more than sting you — but enough stings can be as fatal as a bullet. And you don’t seem to be exactly wiping them out.”
He flushed. “Whatever those… things are, we’ll get them eventually.”
I shook my head. “No, Captain, you won’t. Within two hours, you’ll be busy with a battle cruiser, a destroyer, and more than twenty armed tramps.”
He looked triumphant. “Pah! Fearless was damaged at Thaeron. You may have limped her here, but I’m not worried about her. And I have nothing to fear from a destroyer. As for those… those ridiculous tramps, I have nothing to fear from anything your rim rabble can cook up.”
I shook my head. “You’re whistling in the dark, Captain, and you have a very painful lesson coming about the capabilities of rim rabble. I just hope that the lesson won’t cost too many of your people’s lives. I’ll leave this channel open in case you change your mind.”
Both Relentless and our flotilla were slowing to battle speed, to avoid having to maneuver for hours to return to contact.
I keyed my microphone. “Flag to all tramps. Prepare to engage by flights. You are cleared to attack.”
The armed tramps were organized in flights of four ships each. Though some shifting had occurred due to personality differences, most of the flights had been training together since their ships were armed. The tramps broke from their loose formation around us and began driving toward Relentless. It would be another half-hour before Fearless, Predator and Valkyrie could engage.
We never got the chance. The tramps drove in, reversed course, and began raking Relentless with their quick-firing guns. Almost immediately, Relentless ’ shields were overloaded, and collapsium-plated projectiles began penetrating her hull. Her lasers and particle beams replied, of course, but the empire battle comps weren’t up to the job of locking onto the darting, swirling tramps and boats.
In less than five minutes, Relentless surrendered. It wasn’t Bon-Lor that surrendered her, though. A projectile from one of the rim tramps had removed his head. His executive officer surrendered immediately.
As with all battles, the aftermath took more time and effort than the battle itself. Casualties on both sides had to be found, treated, and identified. Drifting debris had to be run down and checked for bodies. Bodies and body parts had to be identified and stored.
Most urgently, we also had to find a way to deal with over three thousand prisoners, and we had to do it before they got any ideas. I called Captain Vidsen on ship-to-ship. “How quickly could you remove critical components from your weapons systems, and route all ship controls to your rim tramp?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Less than two hours, I’d guess. My Engineer could give a better estimate.” The Engineer was cut in on three-way and agreed that the weapons could be disabled and the bridge functions rerouted to the rim tramp attached to Fearless ’ hull in relatively short order.
I nodded. 'Very well, here’s what I’m planning. We have more than three thousand prisoners. There's no way that we can guard that many without trouble. I suggest that we simply swap ships. Fearless ’ crew will disable her weaponry, re-route all bridge functions, and weld and alarm the bridge hatch. They will then move to Relentless, and Relentless ’ crew will be shipped over to Fearless. The tramp will control her operation, and can carry a load of boats to help with security.”
Vidsen frowned. “It’s far from foolproof, sir.”
I nodded. “I know. However, I suspect it’s the best we’ll be able to do, at least until we get to Bolt Hole. They’re Fleet, and they’ve surrendered, so we can at least hope that they’ll behave honorably. I'll talk to their officers before the transfer.”
Vidsen sighed. “I confess I’d like to have a ship that can fly herself and doesn’t need a hitchiker,” he admitted. “I also don’t see any better options. I guess we’d just better be lucky.”
Vidsen and his engineer began preparing Fearless and her crew for the switch. I went over to Relentless to meet with the ship’s officers.
“Ten-shun!” The officers crowding the wardroom jumped to attention. At least they were granting me the customary military courtesies, a very good sign. “At ease, gentlemen,” I said. I closed the hatch behind me as I entered, making the point that I was unaccompanied by bodyguards.
An elderly Commander approached and saluted smartly. “Commander Rigslan, Admiral, in command of Relentless.” I regarded him sympathetically. At his age, he’d obviously been sent to the rim sector to wait retirement. Instead, he now faced court-martial for mutiny and treason. I returned his salute, and then turned to the others. “Be seated, ladies, gentlemen. I’ve come here for some frank talk. You’ve noticed that I have come alone. Anything said during this meeting will be off the record.
“I asked if Relentless ’ officers or crew had seen the tapes of the Emperor’s visit to Haven. I was assured you had not, that Captain Bon-Lor thought it would be prejudicial to good order and discipline.”
A buzz had broken out at my mention of the emperor's visit. Voices began asking if the Emperor himself had really visited. The babble threatened to become a roar. I held up my hand for silence, and the babble subsided to a quiet mutter, then silence.
“Yes,” I continued. “The Emperor himself visited Haven. Because of Admiral Jonas and you, he was forced to virtually sneak into a sector of his own Empire. Before we continue, I want to play the tape for you. I ask that you watch carefully for evidence of tampering. You won’t find any. By the way,” I added, “this tape is also being shown to the entire crew.”
The room darkened, and the tape began running. It was uncut, from the welcoming ceremonies to Cord’s address to the people of the rim.
When the tape ended and the lights came up, there was dead silence in the wardroom. Every man and woman there had no doubt they’d been on the wrong side.
“Well, So what?” a voice rose from the back of the room in a sullen tone. “They were going to abandon us out here! We had a right to try to make them send us home!”
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you what the Viceroy told Captain Bendo of Predator when he asked for guarantees of repatriation. He told Captain Bendo that he would give those guarantees easily, but that he was ashamed of Captain Bendo for asking. The Viceroy was outraged that Fleet personnel could believe that he or the Emperor would violate the Round Trip Ticket, and that Admiral Chu-Lo would permit it if they did. His exact words were, ‘The entire fleet would rebel first.’ Is there anyone here who doubts that is true?”
Silence. After a moment, I nodded and continued. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake. You and the rest of the crew are all prisoners. Some of you will be charged with serious crimes. I will be quite honest with you. I don’t have enough people to effectively guard more than three thousand people. I will take what precautions I can, but for the most part, I rely on your honor as fleet officers to control your people, and to honor your surrender. I assure you that your actions now will have much to do with your fates later.”
“I am asking for your personal parole,” I resumed. “I’m asking each and every one of you to give me your word as an officer and gentlebeing to make no attempt to escape, and to control your hotheads to keep them from doing anything stupid. Is there anyone here who feels that he or she cannot extend that parole?”
A tight group of three men and two women stood. The senior was a Lieutenant Commander. “You were lying on Thaeron and you’re lying now!” he proclaimed. “These others may turn coat, but we will not betray our Admiral!”
There was much groaning and rolling of eyes. Evidently, these were not the most popular officers aboard. I turned to Rigslan. “Captain,” I asked politely, “Do you think that you could find a few volunteers to escort these officers to the brig?”
“Of course, sir,” Rigslan replied. He turned to the group, and over twenty hands went up even before he asked for the volunteers. He selected ten, and for several minutes confusion reigned in the crowded room as the
