“Aye, sir.”
William leaned back in his chair. In truth, he didn’t know if the StarCom network could be trusted. In hindsight, he and Kat should have set up a code to deceive any unwanted listeners, but it was the only way to summon the fleet quickly. Flying straight to Ahura Mazda would add too much time to the journey. Who knew what mischief the enemy fleet would get up to if left alone for a couple of weeks?
Even if we don’t catch them, we’ll smash their base, he thought. That might just buy us some time.
“Admiral,” Askew said, once he was seated in the office. “I was able to obtain a number of missiles for you.”
Admiral Zaskar glanced at the datapad. “This isn’t enough.”
“Merely getting these was not easy,” Askew said shortly. The agent sat down without being invited. “I got a line on a collection of older missiles, but they wouldn’t meet your standards. The ones en route are the last ones compatible with your systems.”
“It depends on what we’re fighting,” Admiral Zaskar muttered. Older missiles would be useless against the Royal Navy, but they’d be quite effective against pirates, insurrectionists, and tin-pot navies. “When will they arrive?”
“In two weeks,” Askew said. “Things are a little tighter now. The Commonwealth is throwing its weight around.”
And you’re making excuses, Admiral Zaskar thought. Are you telling the truth, or are you setting us up for a fall?
He looked at the chart. “There’s no way I can risk an engagement as long as I don’t have new missiles,” he said, partly to see how Askew would react. “We can keep raiding their shipping, such as it is . . .”
“Insurance rates for this sector have gone through the roof,” Askew said blandly. “It will be a long time before any of the midsized shipping firms clear their people for working here.”
“And the bigger firms have other problems,” Admiral Zaskar said. “What do you want us to do?”
“Keep the Commonwealth busy, keep convincing them that you’re going to win,” Askew told him. “And focus on recovering your homeworld as soon as they withdraw.” He rose. “I’ll discuss the rest of the matter with you later, Admiral,” he said. “Right now, I need to hit my bunk.”
And we may no longer need you, Admiral Zaskar thought as the hatch closed behind Askew. If you can’t get us any more missiles, what good are you?
He looked at his datapad. The plan for transferring supplies to the freighters was well underway. Askew might notice something, if he kept an eye on their work, but . . . but what would he do? What could he do? Try to sabotage the escape plan? Or simply let them go?
We know too much for his comfort, Admiral Zaskar thought. The risk of discovery was incalculable but ever-present. He had nothing to lose, if they were caught, yet Askew and his backers certainly did. The Commonwealth would see them as war criminals, at best, and their actions an act of war.
Askew may simply plan to dispose of us before too long. And if we’re not ready to leave . . .
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
UNCHARTED STAR SYSTEM
“Admiral,” Lieutenant Kitty Patterson said over the intercom, “we will reach the RV point in thirty minutes.”
Kat sat upright. “Are there any signs we’ve been detected?”
“The ship’s sensors haven’t picked up any contacts,” Kitty said. “This entire section of space appears to be clear.”
“Which proves nothing,” Kat said as she climbed out of bed. “We just have to hope our approach hasn’t been noticed.”
She reached for a towel, then walked into the shower. She’d taken every precaution to keep the enemy from learning that she was coming, including sending fake messages and ECM drones to suggest that she was heading in the other direction, but she was grimly aware that all her preparations might be for naught. If someone really was leaking information to the Theocrats, someone who had remained undetected since the convoy’s destruction, the enemy might already know she was coming. She’d seriously considered not informing the Admiralty of her deployment, just in case. But that would have ended with her facing a court-martial board . . .
They wouldn’t care about why I’d done it, she thought as she turned on the water. She hadn’t slept well. The admirals would just be angry that I’d treated them as potential spies.
She cursed under her breath. Ahura Mazda was, at least in theory, far away enough not to be affected by the political chaos on Tyre, but she had her doubts. Everyone had seen the news reports, everyone had their own take on the situation . . . Kat couldn’t help feeling that the navy’s unity was a thing of the past. She wondered, sourly, if she should have cracked down on political discussion right at the start. But who could have imagined that things would go so bad so quickly?
The tensions were with us all along, she reminded herself. The war merely brought them into the open.
She washed thoroughly, then turned off the water and dried herself before stepping back into the cabin. Lucy had laid out a clean uniform already, along with a pot of coffee and a tray of sandwiches. Kat dressed rapidly, keeping one eye on the display. The local region of hyperspace still looked clear, but she didn’t like the look of the energy distortions in the distance. They might turn into full-fledged storms at any moment. The Theocrats might have relied on the distortions to help cover their path.
Her terminal bleeped, reporting that a new message had arrived. Kat glanced at the header and the string of reports waiting for her attention and ignored them. Catching up could wait until they were on their way back to Ahura Mazda, where she was certain there would be thousands more reports waiting for her. If there was
