The Service of the Sword

Seeing her image on a transmission tape had not prepared him for the intensity of her brown-rimmed green eyes, nor for her youth. His introduction to so many of the Sisters during his whirlwind tour had brought home to him that not only was this a pre-prolong civilization, this was also a civilization that used its women hard.

Judith, then, was hardly more than a child. He remembered hearing her declare that Ephraim Templeton had wed her when she was twelve years of age. He realized that she'd meant twelve T-years. She couldn't be more than eighteen now.

How old are you? he thought, then realized to his horror he'd spoken aloud.

She must have found his shock funny rather than offensive.

'I am sixteen T-years,' she said. 'And you? You look the beardless boy.'

'I am twenty-one,' he replied, matching her humor, 'and neither of those figures matter in the least. Captain Judith, could your communications officer contact Intransigent for me? I want to make my report.'

'There is a briefing room,' Captain Judith offered politely, gesturing to a door at one side of the bridge.

'If you don't mind,' Michael replied, 'I'll speak to Captain Boniece from right here. It will save repetition.'

Captain Judith appeared pleased by this indication of trust, and if her mouth tightened as Michael reported the limitations of her crew's abilities Michael didn't blame her. After all, Dinah was right. What the Sisterhood of Barbara had done in achieving this much of their Exodus was remarkable. It couldn't be easy to hear of their abilities spoken of in such a fashion.

Captain Boniece listened with very little interruption, then spoke directly to Captain Judith.

'Intransigent will cover your departure, Captain,' he said. 'I suggest that you raise your accel to the maximum you feel your crew can safely sustain. We have no desire to get into a fire fight with Ephraim Templeton or any Masadans.'

'We will do what we can,' Judith replied. 'I fear, however, Ephraim will feel differently. And there is something I must tell you, something about Psalms and Proverbs.'

Captain Boniece had sent Intransigent to battle stations, so Carlie was at the ATO's station on the bridge when Ephraim Templeton learned that the Manticorans had chosen to support Captain Judith rather than himself.

That Templeton was furious was evident from the moment his thick-set figure appeared on the screen. However, though his blue eyes blazed with cold fury, he attempted to be polite.

'I understand that you were not receptive to Chief Elder Simonds' request that you assist me in regaining my property.'

Boniece replied levelly, 'I was not.'

'That is your right, of course,' Templeton couldn't quite conceal a sneer, 'but what is this Sands tells me, that not only have you refused to assist, you have informed him that you will actively impede any effort to regain Aaron's Rod?'

'It is distinctly possible,' Boniece replied, 'that Aaron's Rod will be returned to you. However, it is currently in use.'

'Currently in use?'

'The question of the ship is a delicate one, I admit,' Captain Boniece said, his conversational tone at odds with the fist he clenched out of sight of the pick-up. 'However, without it the people on board would have difficulty removing themselves.'

'People?' Templeton looked appalled. 'You don't mean those insane bitches do you?'

'Pardon?'

'I have been informed that Aaron's Rod was stolen by Silesian pirates who somehow lured away a large number of Masadan women and children. It is those women to whom I refer.'

Boniece shook his head. Carlie, watching her board, realized that Aaron's Rod was increasing speed. Boniece was obviously talking to buy her time. Carlie watched, waiting to see Intransigent's pinnace depart and bring her wandering midshipman to the relative safety of the light cruiser.

'First,' Boniece said slowly, 'I must disabuse you of the notion that the Silesians had anything to do with the taking of Aaron's Rod. Apparently, they were smugglers whose run happened to coincide with the arrival on Aaron's Rod of her new crew.'

'New crew? Do you mean the women?'

'The Captain Judith to whom I spoke claims birth in the Yeltsin System,' Boniece said. 'She says her companions wish to emigrate from the Endicott System.'

'Judith?' Templeton was so angry that he became momentarily incoherent. 'That green-eyed whore . . . Is she behind this?'

'I suggest you speak with her yourself.'

'Speak with a woman? Are you as crazy as they are?'

'I speak with women on a regular basis, Mr. Templeton. Umeko Palmer, my XO, is a woman. For that matter, I serve a woman—my Queen.'

Templeton's sputter faded into something far uglier, an icy fury that made Carlie shiver.

'Captain Boniece, I advise you to cease interference in something that does not involve you or the Star Kingdom of Manticore. I will reclaim my ship and my property, with or without your assistance. Indeed, there may be others quite eager to assist me.'

'Perhaps,' Boniece replied, his tone equally cold. 'However, I will not. Intransigent out.'

He uncurled his fist and spoke in something more like his usual tones. Then he turned to Maurice Townsend, the tac officer.

'Guns, stand by. Com, get me Mr. Winton aboard Aaron's Rod, I want to know what's keeping him. Then place a call to Moscow. I want her captain to know that we'll view it quite unkindly if they interfere with Judith of Grayson's efforts to return home.'

'Do you think they'll listen?' Townsend asked.

'I think so,' Boniece said, grimly. 'If they don't, then Intransigent is going to be responsible for starting a shooting war with the Peeps.'

Judith had never even imagined someone with skin as dark as Michael Winton's. It reminded her of the night sky without stars. She corrected herself when he smiled at her as she concluded her report to Captain Boniece regarding the upgrades to Psalms and Proverbs. That smile and the brightness of his eyes put stars in the sky.

Perhaps it was because Michael Winton was so unlike any other man she'd seen—more a youth hardly out of boyhood in appearance than a man, his gaze the warm brown of a friendly animal's—but she found him easy to speak to. When he offered to delay his departure from Aaron's Rod long enough to make sure they were getting everything they could out of her inertial compensator, she accepted with ease.

It was at that moment that Intransigent signaled.

'We've had contact from Ephraim Templeton,' Captain Boniece said bluntly. 'I'm squirting a copy for your information. In brief, he's extremely angry.'

'We never thought otherwise,' Judith replied. 'He will kill us all if he captures us, down to the least unborn babe.'

Inadvertently, she cupped her hand over her abdomen as she spoke.

'He wants Aaron's Rod back,' Boniece continued. 'That may offer some protection.'

'I doubt it,' Judith replied. 'He is like God—terrible in His wrath.'

'Is Mr. Winton available?'