echoing hollowly in the chamber.
'I regret the failure, Lord Prince,' Melek said quietly, 'but at least the renegade came to no harm.'
'We must hope that the War God continues to smile on us, Melek,' Thrakhath said coldly. 'The time is not yet ripe to deal with Lord Ralgha . . . but it is coming. As is the day of our final victory.'
CHAPTER VIII
'According to Chief Coriolis, the last of the battle damage should be repaired by this afternoon,' Blair concluded. 'So the wing will be up and running . . . except for the ships we lost.'
'Good job, Colonel,' Eisen said. 'I'd say three days is a pretty good turn-around time, considering the way your fighters looked when they touched down. Give my compliments to the Chief for a job well done by her techs.'
'Yes, sir. They did a fine job.' Blair paused, then cleared his throat. 'About the losses . . .'
'We've already taken care of the situation,' Eisen told him. 'Mr. Rollins?'
The Communications Officer consulted his portable computer terminal. 'No problem at all on the Hellcats, sir,' he said. 'The CO at Tamayo Base called for volunteers from the point defense squadron stationed there. They'll be aboard first thing tomorrow.'
'Fast work, Lieutenant,' Blair commented.
'The commander was pleased with the support he's been getting from the Navy. He was eager to help.' Rollins frowned. 'I'm not so sure about Mad Max's replacement.'
'What's the problem, Lieutenant?' Eisen asked.
'There's a home defense squadron on Tamayo that flies Thunderbolts, sir,' Rollins said slowly. 'Strictly reservists, mostly rich kids who figured it was a good dodge to avoid active military service and still get to wear a pretty uniform and boast about being hot fighter pilots. The squadron was activated into Confed service when the cats moved into the system.'
'Well, we've had green pilots before,' Eisen said. 'I dare say the Colonel can break in one of these kids fast enough. Or are they being sticky about transferring someone?'
'Oh, they're willing to give us a pilot and his fighter, sir, Rollins said. 'A little too willing, the way I see it. I think they're planning on handing us one of their discipline problems.'
Eisen shrugged. 'Hardly unusual. We'll just have to ride him until he snaps to attention. Right, Colonel?'
'Or ground him and find another qualified pilot,' Blair said, nodding. 'What makes you think he's going to be a problem, Lieutenant?'
'Hey, I told you, Colonel,' he responded with a grin. 'Radio Rollins always has his ear to the ground. One of my . . . sources at Tamayo Base was warned by the Home Defense boys that they were looking for a place to dump this guy. I just gotta wonder though, what kind of a screwup gets thrown out of an HD squadron? Know what I mean?'
'As long as he can fly and he's got a Thunderbolt, I can use him in Gold Squadron,' Blair said. 'He can't be any more difficult to handle than Maniac Marshall.'
'I hope you and Major Marshall can work out your little . . . problem, Colonel,' Eisen said quietly. 'I don't like to have this kind of conflict between two senior officers. Marshall's record is impressive, even if it's not quite as outstanding as yours. I'm not sure I understand why the two of you have such difficulties with each other.'
'Part of it's purely personal, Captain,' Blair said. 'We've been competing against each other since the day we met. At least he's been competing with me.' He smiled. 'I, of course, am blameless in the whole thing.'
'Of course,' Eisen said blandly. Rollins chuckled.
'But I do my best to keep the personal problems and the cockpit apart, Captain,' Blair went on seriously. 'I mean, you don't have to like a guy to serve with him. But Marshall's flying style . . . it scares me, sir, and just about everybody else who flies with him. You saw the tactical tapes on the battle?'
Eisen nodded. 'Yeah. Marshall got heavily involved out there a couple of times.'
'He chased anything he could see,' Blair told him.
'Hobbes saved Sandman because Marshall was too busy playing the personal glory game to support his own wingman. He gets kills, sir, but he does it by ignoring the team. You of all people should know that the team must always come first.'
'Sounds like you don't want him on your team at all,' Eisen said. 'I'd rather not try to transfer him . . .'
'I'm not asking you to, sir,' Blair told him. 'Look Maniac is not my idea of the ideal wingman, but he's better than when we were on the old Tiger's Claw together. And despite his lack of discipline, he's a good pilot who knows how to score kills. Right now we need everyone like that we can find.' He paused. 'I know you're concerned about having us clash, but I guarantee that when the Kilrathi come into range we're on the same side. If there's one thing we agree on, it's our duty.'
'Glad to hear it, Colonel,' the captain said. 'I think things are about to get a lot rougher for us, so I want to he sure we're all up to it.'
'Rougher, sir?' Blair asked.
Eisen nodded. 'That's the reason for the big scramble to get the wing up to full strength again. We've been given new orders, Colonel. Seems the situation in the Locanda System is getting tense. There has been a sharp uptick in Kilrathi activity there, even a couple of sightings that could be the Hvar'kann, Crown Prince Thrakhath's new flagship. And we know for a fact the carrier that launched the attack on us, the Sar'hrai, withdrew through the Locanda jump point shortly after the battle. It seems that a major installation of troops will arrive on Locanda, so the High Command wants us to reinforce them.
'Seems a damned strange place for a push,' Blair commented. He remembered the Locanda System: a struggling colony world with a few scattered outposts, all of which had seen better days. 'Twenty years back, maybe, it would have made sense, but they've tapped out most of the really valuable mineral resources. When I was stationed there, they were in the middle of an economic depression because a couple of their biggest industries decided to relocate out-system. I don't see the attraction for the Empire's attention . . . certainly not the Prince himself.'
'Yeah,' Eisen grunted. 'Intelligence hasn't been able to come up with anything yet. But ours is not to reason why.'
Rollins looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't. After a moment's silence, Blair spoke up. 'When do we jump?'
'Two days. Time enough to get our rookies settled and take on fresh stores. Then we're out of here.'
'And smack in the middle of trouble,' Rollins muttered. Blair doubted that Eisen heard the comment.
'The flight wing'll be ready, sir,' he said formally.
'Good. If it's true the cats are building around Locanda, we'll have to be ready for anything.' Eisen looked from Blair to Rollins. 'That's all for now. Dismissed.'
Outside the ready room door, Blair touched the comm officer's sleeve. 'A moment, Lieutenant,' he said.
'Sir?'
'I had the feeling you knew something more about this Locanda op. Am I imagining things, or have you been listening to more of your . . . sources?'
Rollins met his eyes with a steady gaze. 'You sure you want another dose of paranoia, Colonel?'
'Cut the crap, Lieutenant. If you know something about this operation . . .'
