battle stations?”
He shrugged again. “I doubt it. It wouldn’t make much difference in the ultimate outcome, and would just make us angry. I think he’s trying to surrender.”
“Then why doesn’t he just say so?” I muttered, irritated. Just at that moment, the com ceased its pleading not to fire. The voice was replaced by one with much more authority, and the Ensign's face was replaced by that of an elderly man with Captain's bars on his shoulder boards.
“Forlorn Hope to commander, unknown ships. Please respond.” He didn’t repeat himself. He knew I’d hear.
I flicked the switch to intership. He straightened slightly as my image formed on his viewscreen. “You’d be Kedron,” he began. “I’m Captain Chard Danought. It seems patience isn’t one of your virtues.”
I nodded. “I’m Vice Admiral Val Kedron. Are you surrendering?”
He grinned. “No need, now that you’ve held fire. No battle, no surrender!” He waved a hand. “Welcome to Thaeron, Admiral. Feel free to kick the cat and drop ashes on the carpet.”
I chuckled. I liked this man. “Thank you, Captain,” I replied dryly. “Am I to assume from this that you’ve heard from your courier?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not yet. However, I did come across a couple of interesting prisoners in the brig on the base. Two officers from JAG. Together with that tape your spy left, I knew my duty.” He sobered and his voice went soft. “How many Fleet people did Jonas kill, Admiral? How many ships?”
I shook my head. It wasn’t a pleasant memory. “ Nemesis and Dauntless died with virtually all hands,” I reported grimly. “But over three thousand were saved from Relentless, and Raptor surrendered intact.”
He blanched. “That’s more than eight thousand people!”
I shrugged. “I couldn’t take chances with a dreadnought.”
He sighed. “I know, Admiral. But it’s still a tragedy. All because of one man’s greed.” He straightened. “Well, Admiral, I’d ask you aboard my ship while we proceed to Thaeron, but my ship, such as it is, lacks a few amenities like engines.”
I chuckled. “Captain, I’d be honored to offer you a ride on my flagship, such as it is!”
We secured from battle stations. The boats returned, and we buttoned up and headed for the planet.
Captain Chard Danought was excellent company. Urbane and witty, he captivated everyone he met. There was more to him than a sense of humor, however. His chest held an impressive display of ribbons. I recognized most of them, and they weren’t for good attendance.
We had almost reached planetary orbit when he received an urgent message from his headquarters. He took it in my cabin. When he emerged, his normally cheerful face was grim.
“We have a small problem, Admiral,” he began. “You may get your battle after all.”
Uh oh. “What is it, Captain?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, perhaps we’d better go to your cabin, sir,” he replied. Captain Danought was back on duty.
In my cabin he continued. “It’s one of the moon forts. Admiral Jonas pretty much stripped the system to get his fleet underway. I was left with responsibility for the defense of the system, but without much in the way of real firepower or battle-ready personnel.
“I had the cruiser hulk towed to the jump point, and I retained command. But I had trouble finding sufficient officers to man the defenses. I drafted nearly every officer I could find.”
He sighed. “Evidently, I wasn’t selective enough. The Lieutenant Commander that I assigned to one of the fortress moons turns out to be a Jonas loyalist. He’s seized control of the moon and its weaponry.”
“What’s he got?” I asked tightly. A lot of lives could be lost attacking a fortified moon. And if he controlled armed satellites, we could be in danger even now.
Chard grimaced. “Heavy lasers, for a start. He could hit and hurt any ship on his side of planetary orbit. Then, he has particle beam weapons, mass drivers, and missiles.” He sighed again. “Sheol! He could damage the base on the planet itself. He could do a lot of damage.”
I thought furiously. “Does he have control of automated armed satellites?” I sighed with relief when Chard shook his head. “He must have some reason for doing this. Any ideas?”
Chard shook his head. “Not a one. I can’t see that he could accomplish anything except kill a lot of people. He couldn’t win; a fortified moon is a defensive weapon, not offensive.” He sighed again. “I guess I’d better talk to him. Would you like to listen in, Admiral?”
Good manners would probably have called for me to bow out and allow Chard to talk to his man in private, but manners be hanged. The lives of my people were at stake. “Yes, Captain, I certainly would.”
The man must have been waiting for Chard’s call; he responded almost immediately. The man who appeared in the vidscreen was in late middle age. Old for a Lieutenant Commander. He had to have been passed over for promotion at least once. His sour expression and insolent manner seemed to confirm that.
“Hello, Captain!” he said with sarcastic emphasis. “I see you’ve got the imposter with you!”
Chard replied, “Admiral Kedron’s no imposter, and you have to know it. What do you think you're playing at?”
The man's face flushed with anger. “You might have betrayed your oath and your people, but I haven’t! You've surrendered without a shot to this rim rabble, and condemned your people to abandonment by the Empire.”
Chard was stung. “Ridiculous!” he snorted. “You’ve seen the tapes of the Emperor’s visit to Haven. You have to know Jonas lied to us.”
“NO!” the man shouted. “A crude fake! You’ve betrayed us for a fake and an imposter!”
Chard started a hot reply, but I put a restraining hand on his arm. “And just what is it that you want, Commander?” I asked calmly.
“Nothing from you, rim scum!” The man yelled. “But you’d better tell your tame Captain to see to it that we get a ship. We’re going home! We’ll let His Majesty know what’s being done out here in his name. If we don’t get a ship within twenty-four hours, we’ll start picking off those juicy targets orbiting Thaeron!”
Chard was about to reply when both his and my signalers went off at once. We each answered our own, while the Lieutenant Commander scowled at us from the vidscreen.
“Ships, Admiral,” Jax, my comm officer, reported. “Two ships just emerged; well, they must have emerged half an hour ago, but we’ve just detected them.”
“Tell me,” I ordered.
“One’s small and one’s large. The small one’s ID signal identifies her as Greyhound, a courier. The other's a cruiser, Ruthless. The cruiser is signaling ‘Flag on board’.”
I looked at Chard, whose face echoed my own surprise. “A Flagship? Whose?”
Jax looked puzzled. “Uh, that’s got to be a mistake, sir, but I’ve reconfirmed twice. Her ID signal says CINCFLEET!”
My astonished gasp was echoed by Chard. “But that’s Chu-Lo!” cried the Lieutenant Commander.
I whirled to the vidscreen. “I hope so!” I hissed. “Maybe you’ll believe the Commander in Chief of the Empire Fleet himself — and I won’t have to fire on any more Fleet people!” I cut the connection, and spun to Jax.
“What’s happening?” I demanded.
“Sir, a signal from Ruthless. ‘I am downloading safe path through mines, and will boost maximum. CO, Thaeron report to CINCFLEET upon arrival. Request presence of Vice Admiral Val Kedron. ETA twelve hours. Message ends.’ That’s all, sir. Latest fixes show Ruthless inbound at maximum boost.”
Chard turned to me. “If you’ll excuse me, Admiral, twelve hours is hardly enough to get ready for a visit from CINCFLEET!' I nodded, and he hurried off.
I spent most of the next twelve hours trying to figure out how a Vice Admiral in a nonexistent rim Fleet should greet the Commander In Chief of the real Fleet. I wanted to go put on my merchant Captain’s uniform and be done with it, but I knew that was impossible. I even considered trying to locate a marine major’s uniform — which shows how nervous I was. Vinlen Chu-Lo had been CINCFLEET for five years before I quit. During that time, he’d seemed almost a god to me, remote and omnipotent. Now he’d had the job for fifteen years, and he was the fleet. It was impossible to conceive of a fleet without him.
In the event, it was much easier than my fears had led me to believe. When Chard and I arrived aboard Ruthless, a flag Captain in an impeccable uniform met us. He barely nodded to Chard, and then awarded me a slight
