The Service of the Sword

So what exactly had Hereditary President Harris offered this man that could make those consequences worth risking? Untold wealth? Unbelievable power? A nice villa with a view and a different woman for every day of the month?

His eyes traced along Charles's slightly receding hairline. Given the effects of prolong, his age was as nondescript as everything else about the man. What were his desires? His ambitions? His appetites?

Vaccares didn't know. He just hoped like hell that someone farther up the chain of command did. And that they'd found some leash with which to hold the man firmly in check.

Because with this weapon, the defeat and subjugation of Manticore was absolutely guaranteed . . . unless, that is, Charles took Haven's money or power or women and then turned around and sold the Crippler to the Manties, too.

'All right, fine.' Dominick straightened up and pushed the memo pad back toward Vaccares again. 'Now. What's our next target, Captain?'

With an effort, Vaccares tucked his concerns carefully out of sight. Surely someone was keeping an eye on this man. 'There are two possibilities on the list, Sir,' he said. 'If we have to choose one, I'd recommend the Doppler's Dance, which we could intercept on its way in to Telmach.'

'Doppler's Dance,' Dominick repeated, frowning. 'That doesn't sound right.'

'It isn't,' Charles agreed, his forehead creasing at Vaccares. 'The ship we want is called the Harlequin, with an intercept point at Tyler's Star.'

'That's the one,' Dominick nodded. 'Sister ship to the Jansci. When is it due, again?'

Vaccares braced himself. 'With all due respect, Commodore,' he said carefully, 'I believe that attacking the Harlequin would be unnecessarily pressing our luck. The more often we hit the Manties, the worse our odds become of being spotted and identified.'

'Our odds are doing just fine, Captain,' Charles soothed.

'Odds always look fine up to the point where they crumble on you,' Vaccares pointed out. 'In fact, to be blunt, Commodore, my recommendation would be to ignore the Doppler's Dance, too. I think we should head to the Walther System, get ourselves settled in, and wait for the Jansci to arrive.'

'And, what, just let the Harlequin go?' Dominick asked, an edge of contempt creeping into his voice. 'This is a strange time to be getting a case of the nerves, Captain.'

'The Jansci is the real target, Sir,' Vaccares continued doggedly. 'The Harlequin's cargo won't be nearly as valuable as hers.'

'We don't know that,' Dominick disagreed tartly. 'We thinkJansci has the more valuable half; but all we really know is that together they make up the complete supply run.'

'And what if they decide to reroute the Jansci because we've hit the Harlequin?' Vaccares pointed out. 'If they shift Jansci to a different convoy, it won't come into Walther from the right direction. Either that, or they'll load it with so many escorts we won't be able to punch through even with the Crippler. Either way, the game will be finished.'

'No.' Charles was quietly certain. 'There's no way for them to get word to Jansci in time to alter her course. And if they can't warn her, they can't shift any warships quickly enough, either.'

He shrugged. 'Besides, we've already hit a target in Walther. They'll believe their ships will be safe there.'

'That's an assumption,' Vaccares warned.

'But a valid one,' Charles said in that same confident tone. 'I know how military people think, Captain; and I'm certain that by now Manticoran Intelligence has a fairly good bead on our past activities. They'll surely have noted our meandering course across Silesian space, and they'll be expecting us to hit Brinkman or Silesia itself. Anywhere but Walther.'

'Which is another point in favor of hitting the Harlequin,' Dominick added. 'An attack at Tyler's Star will help confirm that drift toward Silesia, putting Walther that much farther off their calculations.'

'Only if they figure out it was us before the Jansci arrives,' Vaccares said. But it was a losing argument, and he knew it. The commodore was so in love with this convoluted plan he and Charles had constructed that he would never believe the Manties wouldn't dance the proper steps to the tune Charles was piping for them.

But it was still his duty to try to inject some caution here. 'Regardless, Sir, the fact remains that we'll be risking contact or possibly a direct confrontation for only questionable rewards.'

'Wait a minute,' Charles said, suddenly cautious. 'Confrontation?'

'The Tyler's Star solar research station has been known to play host to Manty warships on occasion,' Dominick told him. 'Didn't I mention that?'

'No, you did not,' Charles said darkly. 'I trust you'll be positioning our attack well out of range of both the station and any guests it might have.'

'Why?' Dominick demanded. 'I thought you just said you were pleased with the crew's performance.'

'I said they had performed their duties well,' Charles corrected. 'They're not ready to try the Crippler against a warship quite yet.'

'And how much longer before this elusive bar is reached?' Dominick pressed, starting to sound angry. 'First you said it would take five trials against merchies. Next it was seven. Now we've done eight, and you're still not satisfied.'

'The ability of this crew to climb a learning curve is not under my control, Commodore,' Charles said icily. 'A warship's impellers are more complex than those of a merchantman, and that reduces the Crippler's effective range by anywhere from twenty to thirty percent.'

Dominick drew himself up in his chair. 'May I remind you that the primary goal of this mission is to confirm the effectiveness of this weapon you're so eager to sell us?'

'And may I remind you that President Harris put that decision in my hands?' Charles countered. 'Besides, you have confirmed the Crippler's effectiveness. Eight times in a row, in fact.'

He lifted a hand, palm toward the commodore. 'You'll get your chance at a Manty warship,' he said, all calm and quiet and soothing now. 'But not until you're ready. I'm sure none of us wants to have the ship we're riding in blown out from under us.'

Dominick took a deep breath. 'No, of course not,' he said, his voice still edged with impatience. 'And I'll be the first to admit your plan has worked perfectly so far. But there were three prongs to this mission, and as yet I'm not sure we've achieved even one of them.'

'I understand your frustration, Commodore,' Charles said. 'But when your goal is to take out two birds with one stone, the birds must come together at the right place and the right time. Patience is a necessary virtue.'

He waved a hand. 'And actually, Bird Number Two has almost certainly already fallen. The Manties will have penetrated our emission disguise by now and concluded an Andermani is running amok among their shipping. Once we've taken the Jansci, they'll be all primed to look the wrong direction for those responsible.'

'I hope you're right,' Dominick said with a sigh. 'Looting Manty merchantmen can make for a satisfying afternoon's diversion, but it's hardly enough to return triumphantly to Haven with.'

'Oh, you'll have your triumphant return, Commodore,' Charles assured him, smiling tightly. 'After all, it's not every day when a PRN officer brings home the weapon that will spell Manticore's death.'

Dominick drew himself up again, this time with pride, and Vaccares mentally shook his head. Charles knew the buttons to push, all right. Knew them backwards and forwards, and could hit them with his eyes closed.

Who was this man, anyway?

'Captain, return to your bridge,' Dominick said, his voice suddenly sonorous, as if he were speaking for