“You did a good job, Commander,” Kruger said. “It must’ve been a tough call to make, joining forces with the pirate who was probably the guy who tried to take out your uncle. But you did the right thing. It was the pirate carrier that turned the tide, but they wouldn’t have gotten through without your fighters for escort. Congratulations are in order, Captain Tolwyn, for a job well done.”
It took Tolwyn a long moment before he realized he’d just been promoted. Kruger’s off-hand manner made it seem like something of no great importance.
Commander Hiro Watanabe, Independence’s Chief Engineer, stirred in his seat nearby. “If you hadn’t arrived when you did, Mr. President, I’m afraid things wouldn’t have turned out this well.”
Kruger glanced at Galbraith with a look Tolwyn couldn’t quite place. Anger? Or contempt? “I wish I could say it was all part of my grand plan,” he said, flashing a smile in Watanabe’s direction. “But the fact is I wanted a first-hand look at this pirate base, so I ordered Arbroath out of spacedock for early spacing trials. She has a skeleton crew and less than two full squadrons of planes on board-most of those noncombatant types. Not much of a reinforcement. But of course the information that brought us here in the first place didn’t say anything about us needing reinforcements, did they?“
Galbraith flushed. “The data on the pirate base was completely accurate, sir,” he said stiffly. “I don’t know my father’s source, but it was right on the money. How could we have predicted a Cat attack? For a while there it was starting to look like our problems really were with pirates, and not Ragark’s crew.”
“Well, today puts that notion right out the airlock, doesn’t it, Captain?” Kruger shrugged. “These pirates have been a complicating factor, I’ll admit, but we’ve had plenty of proof of Cat activity for a long time. This gives us more. Maybe after today that fat-assed bastard Williams will listen to us. You have gun camera footage, Captain Tolwyn?”
He nodded. “Plenty of it, Mr. President. But I really doubt there’s much point in taking it to Williams. You know he’ll just accuse us of faking it, like he did last time.”
“Suppose you leave the politics to me, son,” Kruger said. “Since that’s about all I’m allowed to do any more.” He paused. “What about Banfeld?”
Commander Roth answered him. “The scoutship wasn’t worth keeping even for spare parts, but about half her crew survived. Including Mr. Banfeld. He’s in Sick Bay now undergoing treatment for decompression sickness. The Doc thinks he’ll be able to start singing in a day or two.”
“Zachary Banfeld,” Kruger mused. “You know, I helped set him up with his Guild, way back in the beginning. Sounded like a damned good idea, letting the merchants provide their own protection. I didn’t even mind it much when he branched out into mercenary and privateering work. It was all directed against the Cats anyway. But now…damn it all, he could have been part of the team even yet. Instead, he turned on us. I’m getting heartily sick of having the people I’ve trusted turn on me.“ He looked at Galbraith. ”Next time you see your father, Captain, you tell him from me that his political party’s done more to undermine our chances of stopping Ragark and his crew than the pirates or even the Cats themselves!“
“Sir?” Galbraith made a show of looking innocent. Tolwyn didn’t believe it.
“Yesterday he revealed the details of the entire Goliath project to a closed session of the Council,” Kruger said. “His same unimpeachable sources at work, no doubt. At least he didn’t bring it up in front of the holo-cameras. If it went public, the Cats would know about it and any hope we had left of surprising them would be over. But he’s done well enough without letting the public get hold of it, damn him.”
“What is it, Mr. President?” Tolwyn asked. “What’s going on?”
“I’m accused of wasting Landreich resources and funds on a hopeless project, and it looks as if he’s finally going to get that vote of no confidence he’s been wanting for all this time. Before the month is out, odds are I’ll be out of office.” Kruger gave Tolwyn a wan smile. “You got any place for an aging navy man in your flight wing, son? I might be needing a job pretty soon.”
The words were bantering, but behind the old man’s eyes Tolwyn could see the pain of a man who was watching his whole life’s work crumbling around him.
Audience Hall, Brajakh Kar
Baka Kar, Baka Kar System
1228 hours (CST), 2671.024
The body of Ghadhark nar Voiles lay sprawled on the rug in front of the raised dais that held the Governor’s throne. Ukar dai Ragark looked down from his seat with a sneer.
“The rewards for interpreting orders without winning a victory,” he announced, nodding to the bodyguard who had plunged his knife into the captain’s back on Ragark’s signal. “Have the prey removed. We will clean the carpeting later.”
“Yes, my Lord,” the guard responded, signing for two of his men to help him with the corpse. They gathered up the body and backed away hastily, as if thankful to be out of Ragark’s reach for the moment.
He bared his fangs. It was a good idea to be afraid of Ukar dai Ragark today. The news of the damage to the Klarran and the failure of the pursuit mission had left him ready to lash out at anyone, everyone, who had the misfortune to attract his ire. The crowd of nobles, officers and ministers packed into the Audience Hall, stirred restlessly under his glare.
Ragark wished he could vent some of his rage on the unfortunate Ghraffid nar Dhores, but the Economics Minister had expired while being questioned regarding his smuggling contacts with the humans. The interrogator assigned to the case was also dead, for allowing his subject too easy a death.
He beckoned to Dawx Jhorrad. “Well, Captain, it seems we have lost the advantage of surprise,” he said, forcing himself to quell the rage and speak coolly. “The Terrans must surely know about Vorghath by now.”
“Does that matter, my Lord?” the commoner asked, his face hard to read behind the metal-and-plastic prosthetic mask that obscured half his face. “What, exactly, can the apes do about a dreadnought? Even before he reached your docks, he could have fought their entire Landreich fleet to a standstill. Give us another three eight-days to complete resupply and refitting, and Vorghath will defeat anything they send against him. Nothing will stop you from orbiting Landreich and forcing their capitulation.”
“True enough, I suppose,” Ragark admitted. “Still…the apes are dangerous. Inventive. I think we must do something to distract their attention from Vorghath for the time being. Bring pressure to bear on them so they don’t entertain any thoughts of attacking the dreadnought while he remains in dry-dock.”
“They couldn’t get past the jump point garrison!” That was Akhjer nar Val. If that skeptic was now so confident, perhaps Ragark’s cause really was prospering despite the setbacks they had suffered. “How could Terran ships even get into position to threaten the orbital dock, or Vorghath?”
Ragark looked at him. “How did the Terrans destroy Kilrah, with the whole fleet preparing there? How did they get within two light minutes of the orbital dock? Cloaked ships could penetrate our defenses.”
“They have no cloaked ships larger than scouts,” someone protested. “Certainly no capital ships that could evade detection.”
“None that we know of,” Ragark corrected. “And the Temblor Bomb was delivered by a mere fighter. No, we must not take chances. We know the strength of Kruger’s fleet. We must send a strong enough raiding force against a key world, one that will guarantee that they will have to commit their full force to defending against us. In the meantime, we maintain a strong garrison here…just to be sure. If we stalk the prey correctly, they will never have a chance to strike at Vorghath before he is ready to sail again. And once we reach that point, the two strike fleets can converge on Landreich and end this farce once and for all.”