“Ah, Bondarevsky, maybe you missed the significance of Murragh’s full name,” Graham said, stepping into the awkward silence. “The dai Nokhtak hrai is a distaff branch of the Imperial Family. Murragh here is a distant cousin of the Prince Thrakhath’s…maybe the last one alive. His grandmother was sister to the late Emperor. That makes him a legitimate heir to the Kilrathi throne.”
“What?” Bondarevsky almost stood up, taken aback by Graham s quiet announcement. “I didn’t make the connection…I guess somebody mentioned Admiral Cakg was a cousin of Thrakhath’s, and you…”
“I am his nephew,” Murragh said quietly. “And possibly the only living kil with a claim to the Empire. As such, since you ask me whose side I am on, I can only say that I am wholeheartedly in favor of my own side.”
Bondarevsky shook his head slowly, his expression a mix of wonder and embarrassment that made it hard for Graham to keep a straight face. “My God, I’ve just had breakfast with the rightful Emperor of the Kilrathi. My memoirs are going to be a bestseller, I just know it.” He grinned. “I guess you never know who you’re going to meet out here on the frontier.”
Graham laughed. “Surprised the hell out of me, too, when I found out,” he said. “And I thought all Cats were pretty much alike…until I started hanging out with royalty!”
VIP Quarters, FRLS Independence
Orbiting Vaku VII, Vaku System
1442 hours (CST), 2670.316
Jason Bondarevsky cradled his head in his hands and stared at the overhead above his bunk. It was good to be back aboard the escort carrier, the rescue mission completed, but now that he was back he couldn’t help but worry about what the future might hold.
The leaders of the Goliath Project had spent a stormy hour that morning discussing the situation on the Karga. For the most part, the consensus was that it was hopeless to try to salvage the ship. That self-destruct system made the whole prospect entirely too dangerous, and the extent of the damage was such that it seemed unlikely they could get the ship back into fighting trim even if they could circumvent the computer’s deadly last program.
Of them all, only Admiral Tolwyn had been in favor of going forward with the project, but he’d made up in vehemence what he lacked in support.
As for Bondarevsky, his worries centered more on what would come next. Kruger had recruited him with this Goliath scheme in mind, and now that it looked to be a dead letter he had to wonder if there’d be a place for him in the Landreich after all. There weren’t that many decent military commands available, and somehow he couldn’t see himself ending up as some supernumerary staff officer pushing computer keys for the greater glory of Max Kruger and the Landreich.
The door buzzer sounded, interrupting his reverie, and Bondarevsky raised his voice to order the computer to open it. Sitting up in the bed, he was startled to see Admiral Richards framed in the opening. The admiral held up a hand as he started to scramble to his feet.
“Don’t get up, Jason,” he said, looking weary. “May I come in for a few minutes?”
“Of course, Admiral. Please. Can I get you something?”
Richards pursed his lips. “How about a sane assistant?” he muttered darkly. “Or a laser pistol so I can shoot the insane one I’ve already got.”
“Sir?”
“That idiot Tolwyn went over my head!” Richards exploded. “Got on a hypercast channel with Kruger and talked him into authorizing a go-ahead on Goliath. And all this before the meeting this morning!”
“What?” Bondarevsky couldn’t believe the admiral’s words. Even Admiral Tolwyn couldn’t be so set on this operation as to ignore the danger of trying to work on the supercarrier. “That’s impossible! That ship is a bomb waiting to go off. We can’t hope to work on her. I assumed we’d launch a spread of torpedoes, cut our losses, and head for home base.”
“That’s what I planned on doing,” Richards said heavily. “But Kruger’s adamant. We’re to use all means available to try to save the carrier, whatever the risks may be. That’s a direct presidential order, no less.”
“But Admiral Tolwyn’s behind it?”
“That he is,” Richards said. “I went stomping across to his cabin as soon as I had Kruger’s message, and the bastard actually boasted about getting Old Max to come on board. Said it was too important to back off now, and then clammed up on me. I’m telling you, Jason, I just don’t know what to do! Part of me wants to out-Kruger Old Max, invoke my superior rank over Galbraith and take us out of here no matter what our orders are. But…” He shook bis head. “Damn it all, we’ve invested a hell of a lot in Goliath. It really was the best chance we had of evening the odds. I know how Tolwyn feels. I’d like to take a crack at it too. But not when repairing a single circuit could bring the self-destruct countdown back up and kill the whole salvage team. This is asking too damned much!“
“I agree, sir,” Bondarevsky said softly.
“I didn’t think Geoff Tolwyn had it in him, to be this callous about men’s lives.” Richards locked eyes with Bondarevsky. “You know, I heard a lot of nonsense about how he’d turned into a cold-blooded killer when he started work on Behemoth, but I wouldn’t buy into it. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe when you’ve seriously contemplated genocide as an option a few more lives one way or another aren’t going to matter any more.”
Bondarevsky looked away, remembering some of his own thoughts about Tolwyn’s involvement with Behemoth. But some perverse part of him rallied to the admiral’s defense. “Sir, I don’t like the sound of this any better than you do,” he said slowly. “But I’ve known Admiral Tolwyn for a lot of years now, and I’ve never known him to do anything without a pretty damned good reason behind it. Maybe we should try to find out what the reasons are for this, too.”
“You do what you like,” Richards said. “I don’t know if I can trust myself not to punch the bastard out the next time I see him.”
Bondarevsky understood exactly how Richards felt.
VIP Quarters, FRLS Independence
Orbiting Vaku VII, Vaku System
1934 hours (CST)
Bondarevsky touched the stud by the door to Admiral Tolwyn’s suite and waited with mounting concern. The admiral had not stirred from his quarters all afternoon, and now, when Bondarevsky had finally decided to seek him out, it seemed as if he wasn’t planning on seeing visitors. There wasn’t even a query from the intercom.
Finally, though, the door slid open.
The room was dark, with all the lights out except a single worklight by the computer terminal, and the glow of the monitor screen. But Tolwyn wasn’t at the desk. It took a moment for Bondarevsky’s eyes to adjust to the darkness and pick out the shadowy figure of the admiral slumped back in an easy chair facing the door.
“Sir?” Bondarevsky ventured, uncertain of himself.
“Come in, Jason,” Tolwyn said softly. “I suppose Vance Richards sent you.”
“He…talked with me earlier, sir, but it was my idea to come, Admiral,” Bondarevsky said.
Tolwyn chuckled, but there was precious little humor behind it. “You missed your calling, Jason. You should have been a diplomat. What Vance did was rant and rave, scream bloody murder, and call me everything but a Cat-lover, right?”
Bondarevsky didn’t answer that. “I came because I think it’s a mistake to go ahead with Goliath, sir. A big mistake. You’re putting hundreds, maybe thousands of lives at risk on a project that had damned little chance of success from the very start. And going outside the chain of command to Kruger instead of working on a report with Admiral Richards…” He paused. “I’ve known you for most of my adult life, Admiral, and I’ve always thought of you as a second father. But you’ve not been acting like the man I remember…not since Behemoth. And that scares me, sir.”