“Not quite,” she pointed out. “They can take ten to fifteen minutes of full vacuum.”
“True, but we are not talking about Starwolves. Kalfethki are amazingly tough, but space vacuum rips up their lungs and kills them in seconds. I know. I had it tested.”
Maeken tried to betray her surprise at that. Union High Command, of which she was a part, privately subscribed to the belief that all life except their own was of no real worth except in service of the Union. She could not accept that herself, but she had learned to pretend.
“Take over, Kea,” Trace said suddenly, rising. “I will be in my cabin.”
With that he was gone, marching from the bridge with a long-legged stride that she would have to run to match. Maeken watched with mild interest. She was sure that, when they had first met, he had still been moving cautiously, even painfully, favoring his reconstructed back. Now he moved with such quickness and grace that he might have never sustained such injuries. Thoughts of revenge were proving to be a strong cure.
Maeken had no sooner situated herself in the oversized seat than she saw Skerri returning quietly to the central bridge. She knew his type well enough, ambitious but not quite smart enough to make his own opportunities, and she knew just how to use him to best advantage. Just now there were two Captains on the bridge, and Skerri wanted to be sure that he was good friends with both. He was kept so busy that he was in danger of falling off his fence.
“Two thousand Kalfethki?” she muttered, as if to herself. That was bait to get the game rolling, and Skerri leaped at it.
“With friends like these, who needs enemies?” he asked jokingly. “I take it that you do not care for the idea?”
“No, but Commander Trace is already aware of that,” she answered, always careful that she never said anything that could be quoted against her. “Perhaps I should have asked to go for a ride before I agreed to accept command of this ship. It seems I find something I should have already known every time I look.”
“True,” Skerri agreed. “But at least you have a choice.”
Maeken glanced at him inquiringly. “You did not?”
“Me?” Skerri asked incredulously, “I’m not Union High Command. Like everyone else, I was assigned.”
“I see,” Maeken commented politely. Then she leaned closer and continued in a soft voice. “What happened to him, anyway? Did Velmeran really shoot him in the back?”
“You had better believe it!” the first mate declared. “That was during the raid on Vannkarn, of course. Trace knew what they were after and went running to stop it, then ran in the other direction when he realized his mistake. You do know of Velnieran?”
“Who doesn’t? He led a two-carrier raid in our sector not six months ago and didn’t leave a ship in the sky. So he expects to fight Velmeran again?”
Skerri frowned. “We are going outside the Rane Sector and Velmeran’s usual hunting grounds, so we are not likely to meet up with him first time. But you can bet that he is going to come running when he learns of this ship. Trace is counting on it.”
“Can we beat him?”
“Well, we have a good chance. A Fortress and a Starwolf carrier are supposed to be evenly matched, so it depends upon whether you and Trace can outmaneuver him,” Skerri said, and looked at her. “They say that you have fought Starwolves before and won. Can you do it again?”
“That depends, I suppose,” Maeken said with exaggerated casualness. “I have never fought Velmeran before, so I cannot say.”
“How did you do it before?”
“Trade secret,” Maeken said with irritating finality. “I will tell you one secret, however. If you want to advance, you have to collect as many command secrets as you can and hoard them jealously. Have you heard the saying that there must be a secret to doing that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, there is. A fair number of secrets, and you need to collect as many as you possibly can.”
“I see,” Skerri replied seriously, believing every word of it. “But how do I go about getting these secrets?”
“Oh, you get secrets from those who have them,” she explained officiously. “Your superior officers have the secrets you want, of course. Be loyal and helpful, and you will be rewarded with a secret or two. Also, secrets can be bought with other secrets. But you have to know the difference between real secrets and gossip. Gossip is fool’s gold; it sounds good to other fools, but it has no value to those who know better.”
“I see,” Skerri said thoughtfully. “How do I learn any secrets?”
“You already have,” Maeken assured him. “I just told you the most important secret of all.”
“Yes, I see what you mean,” Skerri agreed with growing enthusiasm. “Thank you, Captain!”
The first mate hurried off, leaving Maeken to bite her tongue to keep from laughing aloud. But her purpose was accomplished; she had certainly impressed him and won his admiration and loyalty, and he would prove to be a mine of useful information.
“So I ask you, was there ever a ship’s Captain smarter than me?” she inquired aloud.
“Not in my experience,” a mechanical voice replied promptly.
Maeken glanced up impatiently. “Who asked you?”
“You did, of course,” the ship responded in a voice that seemed to hold a note of self-satisfaction. Maeken was wise enough to avoid responding. Controlling people was an easy matter, but a computer was something altogether new. How did one apply psychology to a machine?
Velmeran stirred, waking suddenly but gently. He opened his eyes but saw nothing, for the cabin was completely dark. But other senses told him that he was not alone. Consherra lay wrapped in his arms, her warm body pressed tightly against his own, while he lay in her comforting embrace. Although he could not see her, her face was so close to his own that their small noses touched. He snuggled even closer against her, feeling very comfortable and secure.
When Consherra did not respond, he began to suspect that she slept as well. That surprised him at first, until he considered how worn she must have been from worrying for him… and from that first-rate fit she had pitched. He ran his lower hand gently over the firm muscles of her double shoulders, down the bony inward curve of her back and the softness of her rump, then nuzzled her gently and kissed her in the darkness. She stirred, then tightened her own embrace, returning his kiss while running one of her own hands down the tight muscles of his hip and upper thigh.
“Sherry?” Velmeran asked, almost cautiously.
She laughed. “Who did you expect?”
“I am never certain anymore,” he teased.
Even though they could not see a thing, Velmeran was sure that Consherra was glaring at him. The long moment of silence that followed was certainly ominous. But, in truth, she was really just amazed at him for saying such a thing.
“Oh, ho! Our good pack leader thinks that he is funny!” she exclaimed in mock sarcasm. “I suppose that you have been making comparisons between me and your duty mates.”
“Of course.”
“Indeed? And what have you determined?”
“That you are the only one who can make me happy,” he said with that peculiar innocence he possessed, assuring her that he made a statement of fact of what would have been simple flattery from anyone else. She nestled closer against him, touched by his sincerity.
“Well, you have better luck with your duty mates,” she said as casually as she could. “I have been wondering why we have no child of our own.”
“I was not aware that you desired a child,” Velmeran said simply. Female Kelvessan found it nearly impossible to conceive if they did not desire it. They could, in essence, practice contraception by force of will. If Consherra was not pregnant after two years, it was only natural to assume that she preferred matters that way.