Honor Among Enemies

Chapter NINETEEN

Caslet was waiting in the boat bay gallery when Branscombe's pinnace docked. He folded his hands behind him and stood still, hiding his impatience as the docking tube ran out. The umbilicals engaged, and the tube cycled open. A moment later, Branscombe drifted down it in his battle armor, caught the grab bar, and swung over into Vaubon's internal gravity. It wasn't a simple maneuver in battle armor, and more than one Marine's exoskeletal 'muscles' had ripped a grab bar completely off its brackets, but Branscombe made it look easy. He landed on the deck, standing a half-meter taller than usual in his massive armor, and raised his visor.

'We ripped hell out of her aft of about frame eighty, Skipper,' he said, 'and one of our hits blew clear forward to their bridge. It's a mess in there. Everything's down except emergency lighting, and it looks like at least a third of their computer section went up with the hit. But my tech people say they didn't manage to dump their main memory, and Citizen Sergeant Simonson's working on tickling something out of it now.'

'Good. Any resistance?'

'None, Sir.' Like Shannon Foraker's, Citizen Captain Branscombe's vocabulary had a tendency to backslide, and he smiled evilly. 'I figure we killed about half their crew, would you believe only their boarders were even suited?' He shook his head, and it was Caslet's turn to smile.

'Of course they weren't, Ray. We were just a harmless merchie going to the slaughter.'

'That's what they thought, anyway. Some of them seem to feel like we cheated somehow.'

'My heart bleeds,' Caslet observed, then rubbed his chin. 'So Simonson may be able to get something out of their 'puters for us, eh? Well, that's good news.'

'She didn't sound real confident, Sir,' Branscombe cautioned, 'but if anyone can, she can. In the meantime, though, we may have something even better than that.'

Caslet looked up sharply, but the citizen captain wasn't looking at him. Battle armor was designed to be nearly indestructible, and the back of Branscombe's helmet was a solid slab of armor. At the moment, he was looking into the small vision display that covered the area directly behind him, and Caslet stepped to the side to see around him. Two more Marines were coming down the tube, with a man and a woman in filthy shipsuits sandwiched between them.

'Is this their senior officers?' Caslet asked coldly.

'No, Sir, I mean, Citizen Commander.' The Marine grimaced. 'If they're telling the truth, they're not even members of the crew.'

'Of course they're not,' Caslet said sarcastically.

'As a matter of fact, Skipper, I think they are telling the truth.' Caslet looked at the Marine again, eyebrows raised, and Branscombe tossed his head in the gesture someone in armor used instead of a shrug. 'You'll see why in a minute,' he said in a grimmer voice.

Caslet wrinkled his forehead in skepticism but said nothing while the Marines and their prisoners exited the tube. But then he stiffened as the prisoners' appearance registered fully.

Prolong always made it difficult to judge someone's age, but the man had a few streaks of gray in his hair and unkempt beard. His face was haggard, with huge, dark circles under the eyes, and an ugly, recent scar disfigured his right cheek. In fact, Caslet realized, it stretched clear up around the side of his head and his entire right ear was missing.

The woman was probably younger, but it was hard to tell. Once, she must have been quite attractive, and it showed, but she was even more haggard than her companion, and her eyes were those of a cornered animal. They darted everywhere, watching every shadow, and Caslet fought a sudden desire to step back from her. She radiated a dangerous, half-mad aura of pure murder, and her mouth was a frozen snarl.

'Citizen Commander Caslet,' Branscombe said quietly, 'allow me to introduce Captain Harold Sukowski and Commander Christina Hurlman.' The man's eyes flickered, but he managed a courteous nod. The woman didn't even move, and Caslet watched her tense as the man, Sukowski, slipped an arm around her.

'Citizen Commander,' Sukowski said huskily, and Caslet’s eyes sharpened at his accent. 'I never thought I'd be happy to see the People's Navy, but I am. I certainly am.'

'You're Manties,' Caslet said softly.

'Yes, Sir.' The woman still said nothing. Only her eyes moved, still darting about like trapped animals, and Sukowski drew her closer against his side. 'Master of RMMS Bonaventure. This...' his voice wavered slightly, and he dragged it back under control '...is my exec.'

'What in God's name were you doing over there?' Caslet demanded, waving an arm towards the hulk beyond the gallery bulkhead.

'They took my ship in Telmach four months ago.' Sukowski looked around the gallery for a moment, then met Caslet’s eyes pleadingly. 'Please, Citizen Commander. You must have a doctor on board.' Caslet nodded, and Sukowski cleared his throat. 'Could I ask you to call him, please? Chris has... had a bad time.'

Caslet’s eyes flickered to the woman, and his stomach clenched as he remembered what these same raiders had done aboard Erewhon. A dozen questions chased themselves across his forebrain, but he managed to stop them all before they crossed his lips.

'Of course.' He nodded to one of the Marines, who gripped Hurlman's elbow gently to guide her towards the lift. But the instant he touched her, the motionless woman erupted in violence. It was insane, the Marine was in battle armor, with his visor still down, but she went for him with her bare hands and feet, and the total silence of her attack was almost as terrifying as its fury. Had the Marine not been armored, any one of the half-dozen blows she landed before anyone could react would have crippled or killed him, and his companion started forward.

'No! Stay back!' Sukowski shouted, and waded into the fray. The first Marine wasn't even trying to defend himself. He was simply trying to back away from his attacker without hurting her, but she wouldn't relent. She leapt from the deck, wrapped her arms around his helmet, and slammed her kneecap into his armored breastplate again and again and again, and Caslet opened his mouth as Sukowski jumped towards her.

'Watch yourself, she'll...!'

But Sukowski ignored the citizen commander. His attention was entirely on Hurlman, and his voice was very gentle.

'Chris. Chris, it's me. It's the Skipper, Chris. It's all right. He's not going to hurt you or me. Chris, they're friends. Listen to me, Chris. Listen to me.'

The words poured out like a soft, soothing litany, and the woman's fury wavered. Her attack slowed, then stopped, and she looked over her shoulder as Sukowski touched her.

'It's all right, Chris. We're safe now.' A tear trickled down the Manticoran's cheek, but he kept his voice low and gentle. 'Its all right. It's all right, Chris.'

She made a sound, the first sound Caslet had heard from her. It wasn't a word. It didn't even sound human, but Sukowski nodded.

'That's right, Chris. Come on, now. Come over here with me.'

She shook herself and closed her eyes tightly for an instant, and then she released her death grip on the Marines helmet. She sagged back, crouching on the deck, and Sukowski knelt beside her. He put both arms around her, holding her tightly, but she twisted in his grip, facing away from him. She looked up at the Marines and Caslet, and her lips skinned back to bare her teeth. She was poised to attack yet again, and Caslet licked his own lips as he recognized her body language. The brutality her captors had shown her was agonizingly evident, but she hadn't attacked the Marine to protect herself. It was her captain she was defending, and she was ready to take them all on, empty hands against battle armor, if they even looked like threatening him.

'It's over, Chris. We're safe now,' Sukowski whispered in her ear, over and over, until, at last, she relaxed ever so slightly. The Manticoran captain closed his own eyes for a moment, then looked back up at Caslet.

'I think I'd better take her to sickbay myself,' he said, and his voice was hoarse, without the calm he'd forced into it when speaking to Hurlman.

'Of course,' Caslet said quietly. He drew a deep breath and went down on his knees, facing the woman. 'No one is going to harm you or your captain, Commander Hurlman,' he said in that same, quiet voice. 'No one is going to hurt either of you ever again. You have my word.'