Cale and Jessica had decided that this time, the privateer idea would not work. Ilocan's Revenge was designed for heavy destruction; she wasn't built for the more delicate mission of capturing merchantmen. There would be no prize money for her crew.
"So, what do you suggest?" she asked with a smile.
"I recommend that the government charter her, and assign your own people to run her," he replied. That way, they won't be expecting prize money."
She gave him an indecipherable look. "That must be a fascinating junk yard you have," she said. "What'll you come up with next, a battle cruiser?"
Cale grinned. "Don't need one. We've got Ilocan's Revenge."
Mong had thoroughly inspected Ilocan's Revenge during the return trip to the mine. All the air leaks had been found and sealed, and his shorthanded crew had spent almost the entire trip cleaning the big ship. He reported, "She's an abortion. Silliest damned thing I've ever seen. She's slower than a grat, and about as maneuverable as a planet. And if she doesn't get her target with the first shot, it'll take almost a minute to recharge that… that monster. I like her." His smile was predatory.
"Can we get enough crew to run her?" Jessica asked.
Mong shrugged. "We'll have to run the mine on a skeleton crew, but I'll be surprised if more than a couple don't volunteer. No crew in space has ever flown anything like her, and I doubt there's an Ilocano here who doesn't want to see that big laser fire!"
Jessica turned to Cale with a weary expression. "Something tells me that the government of Ilocan wants to charter your ship, sire Rankin. What is it going to cost us?"
Cale smiled and bowed. "Madam," he replied formally, "I have what I need. However, to make it a legal charter, how about one hundred Alliance credits for the duration?"
Jessica looked surprised. "And if she's destroyed?"
Cale shrugged. "She was already scrap, madam. We can add that into the charter, if you'd like."
She nodded firmly. "I'd like." She paused, regarded Cale narrowly. "What I'd really like is to know why you're going to all this trouble and expense for us. And please, no more crap about Johnny. You've barged in here and given us a way to maybe win a war that had already been lost and broken a stalemate that was almost a year old. You don't seem to worry much about money, and you're very mysterious about this 'scrap yard' of yours. You're a real mystery man. I don't trust mystery men."
Cale felt his face grow warm. "All right, madam," he said, "I'll level with you. I've been a slave. I've been a mercenary (well, he told himself, pirates fight, and kill for money!). I've done some terrible things. Things that interfere with my sleep. I really do know John very well, and we were slaves together. He used to tell me stories about his favorite aunt, and the beautiful place she retired to. When I heard about the war, I decided it was my chance to do some good; to make up for some of the evil I've been part of. I've fought for nothing but money. It feels really good to fight for something important; something that matters. As for my scrap yard, I'm secretive about it because it's my bolt hole, if I ever need one."
"Why should you need one?"
He shrugged. "I don't know that I ever will. But as both a slave and a mercenary, I've learned that it's wise to have a place to run to, in case you have to jump out a window in your underwear and leave everything else behind."
She shook her head. "It sounds like a pretty grim existence to me. Maybe Ilocan can fix it so you won't need that bolt hole."
Cale sighed. "It would be nice to feel that there's somewhere I actually belong."
The paperwork for the charter went through quickly, and Mong promptly formalized the renaming of the ship Ilocan's Revenge. The name made Cale wince. The new name was uncomfortably close to the Terror's Revenge. He kept silent, though. They could call it anything they wanted. After the war, she would probably go back to the scrap yard, though Mong had been hinting that Ilocan might want to buy her.
As soon as the minefield at the Santiago jump point had been cleared and Furioso and the converted tugs moved to the next jump point, the system's Din-class moved in and her workboats reseeded more mines and another beacon.
There were spirited arguments at the mine over whether Ilocan's Revenge should attack Furioso. One side felt that destroying the destroyer would reduce the fleet available to Admiral Gonzalez-Villareal. The other side felt that, first, Ilocan's Revenge was not a true warship; that in a fight, Furioso might just destroy her, and second, that the loss of another destroyer would entice the Admiral to leave a small rear guard, and come hunting with nearly all his force. They felt that Ilocan's Revenge would be better used to attack the Santiago system.
It was now dawning on Captain de la Vega that El Cid was missing. While the vagaries of jump physics often scattered the arrival times of ships that jumped at the same time, far too much time had elapsed. It had taken more than a week to creep through the minefields at each jump point. His final jump to Santiago's system had taken ten ship-days, and the trip from the jump point to planetary orbit had taken four days. Then the return, the tedious two weeks clearing the first minefield, and the same clearing the path to the second jump point. Certainly, if El Cid had survived, they would have encountered each other by now.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief as they jumped toward the second recal system.
Only to find yet another minefield. Only an excess of caution had prevented him from blundering into it. He sighed, and put the converted tugs to work clearing the mines. This war was getting less simple by the minute!
They were less than halfway through clearing the mines in their third minefield when there was an emergency transmission from one of the tugs. " Capitan! It is a trap! This mine is not deac…" An actinic glare in his viewscreen told him that the last word would never be completed. Damn! They were devils! Obviously, they had sown some traps; fake mines containing bombs that would go off only when taken aboard a ship or subjected to normal deactivation procedures.
Captain de la Vega was faced with both a professional and a moral dilemma. He had already lost one of his two converted tugs. His sense of duty and his own machismo argued that he should continue his mission.
However, there was a nagging feeling that he should drop the mine clearing for the moment, and run for Ilocan. Admiral Gonzalez-Villareal knew nothing of recent developments. He did not know of the loss of El Cid and all the minesweepers. Nor did he know of the conditions at home on Santiago, or that there would be no supply shipments for the foreseeable future. More to the point, the Admiral had no minesweepers either. De la Vega had only one of his converted tugs left, and there was a feeling that perhaps he should not put it at risk without at least giving the Admiral a chance to override his orders.
Finally, he decided. He recorded messages in which he tried to explain everything, and placed them in two message torps, which he then sent through the Ilocan jump point. His sensors detected no explosions, so he assumed both torps had made jump. Nagging voice in his head stilled, he returned to the mine clearing operation.
The mines were cleared and he'd jumped for Ilocan before the Admiral's answer arrived; but since the reply instructed him to immediately report to the Admiral at Ilocan, no harm was done.
Except that the Admiral's message torp was intercepted by a gunboat. The base ship immediately informed the mine that Furioso was returning to Ilocan, and would probably remain there while the Admiral considered his next move.
"Cale! Cale!" Zant clumped into Cheetah 's lounge still suited, except for his helmet. "There you are! This is it, Cale! This is our chance!" He was waving a printout.
"Calm down, Zant," Cale soothed. "What is it? Our chance for what?"
Zant waved the printout again. "There are no, repeat no, major warships in the Santiago system at the moment. Furioso just jumped to Ilocan. If you're serious about raiding Santiago, this is the time!"