Thank you, Kapitan Stein. A pity you don’t seem inclined to celebrate our victory with me in a very inappropriate fashion. Gaiene looked around, weary, sensing the color flowing out of the world once more. They had won. It didn’t really matter, nothing really mattered, but at least the attack had provided a momentary lift to his deadened spirits. And it had provided a victory for Artur Drakon, who had kept him from dying in a labor camp or a gutter. It was all as good as anything could be in a universe that had ceased to hold meaning.
The commander’s seat on the battle cruiser’s bridge lay vacant and somehow forlorn. Gaiene walked over to it and sat down, half of his mind monitoring his soldiers as they went about the business of making secure the battle cruiser they had just captured, and the other half wondering how long it would be before he could get drunk again. Secure the ship, turn it over to the mobile forces people, then find out where the shipyard workers kept their booze.
It was always good to plan things out.
Given how their last private conversation had ended, Drakon was surprised to see Iceni smiling at him when she called on their secure line.
“I wanted to thank you, General, for my lovely new battle cruiser.”
“Your lovely new battle cruiser?” Drakon asked.
“Now, don’t spoil the present by getting tightfisted.” Iceni smiled wider. “I may be a witch at times, but I’m not an ungrateful witch. In all seriousness, I know I owe this to your soldiers and your decision to participate in the operation. Once we get the battle cruiser back in shape and the battleship operational, we’ll have a defense for this star system that will knock Boyens on his butt if he shows up here again.”
“Colonel Gaiene said there wasn’t much damage to the battle cruiser,” Drakon said.
She laughed, a sound he found unexpectedly pleasant after their strained relationship of recent weeks. “That’s a ground forces assessment. Your soldiers, and I know they had no choice, trashed some important equipment, blew out a lot of hatches, and even blew some holes in bulkheads that aren’t supposed to have holes in them. That all has to be fixed. Most of the survivors among the crew appear willing to join us, but there aren’t that many survivors compared to the size of the crew a battle cruiser needs.”
“If we’re lucky, Colonel Rogero and your Kommodor will solve that problem. They should be bringing back enough veterans to crew both Midway and the new battle cruiser.”
“Yes. What should we name it, Artur?” She gave him a happily inquiring look. “I named the battleship. You should give a name to our new battle cruiser.”
“Really?” Gwen was in a good mood. Of course, he couldn’t expect to produce a battle cruiser for her every time she got inexplicably moody, but, hopefully, that wouldn’t be necessary too often. “Do you want to name battle cruisers after stars, too?”
“I think it would be a good idea. But…” Iceni pursed her lips in thought. “If we name the ship after one of the nearby stars, they might either take that as an indication we feel a sense of ownership toward them or give them the mistaken impression that they have some rights to the battle cruiser.”
“That’s a concern,” Drakon agreed. “How about if we name the battle cruiser after a star nobody occupies? Pele.”
“Pele? A star occupied by the enigmas?”
“The enigmas kicked the Syndicate out of Pele,” Drakon said, “but according to what Black Jack’s fleet found, there’s no enigma presence there.”
“Hmmm.” Iceni looked sideways, considering. “We are the frontline defense of humanity against the enigmas. Declaring some sort of tie to Pele would emphasize that.”
“It might not please the enigmas,” Drakon felt constrained to point out.
“Who the hell cares what pleases the enigmas? Who the hell knows what pleases the enigmas? Even Black Jack couldn’t find out. The enigmas just keep attacking us and tried to depopulate this entire planet.” Iceni nodded. “I’m good with Pele. And I will freely admit that you were right in your assessment of Colonel Gaiene. Kapitan-Leytenant Kontos was very leery of your colonel, but was awestruck by how well he and his unit carried out the capture of the battle cruiser.” Her smile became tentative. “I’m going to have to learn to… trust… your assessments.”
Trust? And she hadn’t used the word in a mocking way. “Are you sure?”
The smile faded away completely, replaced by a serious gaze at him. “No. I may never be sure. Can you live with that?”
“I have so far.”
“You’ve lived with far worse than that from me, General Drakon, even if you seem curiously unable to figure out such things. But you pushed me to approve an action that has left me in a far stronger position. Either you truly intend to work alongside me without betrayal, or you are the biggest fool in the history of humanity, or you are far more subtle and cunning than Black Jack.”
Drakon smiled sardonically. “I don’t think I’m a fool. Not usually, anyway. And I know I’m not Black Jack.”
“A man doesn’t have to be Black Jack to be important to— To this star system,” Iceni finished. “Thank you again, Artur.”
It was only after she had signed off that Drakon realized Iceni had been worried. Was that why she had been so upset at their last meeting—because she had known that if the attack on the battle cruiser succeeded, Drakon’s own soldiers would then have control of the most powerful warship in the star system? She hadn’t known for certain that he would abide by their agreement, their partnership, and turn the battle cruiser over to Iceni’s mobile forces personnel as soon as the warship was confirmed secure.
Why didn’t it even occur to me that I could have double-crossed her and ended up with both the most powerful mobile forces and ground forces here? But it didn’t. We made a deal. I don’t break deals. Even when someone is being as unpleasant and cold as…
She’s not going to betray me. If Iceni had planned to stick a knife in me, she would have been all sweetness and light the last few weeks, and especially the last week, trying to lull me into doing what she wanted. Standard CEO tactics. Of course I’m your friend… sucker. Then when she had her hands on the battle cruiser, she would have gone all ice and fire on me. But she did the opposite.
Why didn’t the option of keeping the battle cruiser occur to Malin? Maybe it did, but he just assumed that I must have already considered the option and rejected it. But that doesn’t explain why Morgan hasn’t gone ballistic at the idea of turning the battle cruiser over to Iceni. Morgan hasn’t objected to the operation at all.
Because, he realized, it had never occurred to Morgan that he would give the battle cruiser to Iceni. She assumed I was keeping it. When she finds out I didn’t—
Maybe when she sees that this is working to everyone’s benefit, that this sort of strategy and cooperation makes us all stronger, Morgan will finally make some progress on trusting and accepting other people again. I’ve spent the last decade trying to get her to realize that cynicism and manipulation only gets you so far, and wherever it gets you isn’t worth the price. Besides, it’s the Syndicate way, and she hates the Syndicate much more than I do.
But she is going to raise hell while I explain that all again.
“General?” his comm panel called. “Colonel Morgan is here. She says she needs to see you immediately.”
And, here we go. “Send her in.”