by James Evans
“Marine X,” said Cohen with evident distaste. “Shouldn’t you be on Ascendant?” Cohen looked from Marine X to Warden.
“I’m only here to offer my support, sir,” said Marine X quietly. “I’ll take the troops home,” he said, turning to Warden, “and make sure they’re prepped, just in case.”
Cohen opened his mouth to object but Warden, with longer experience of Marine X’s hunches, nodded. “Best to be prepared,” agreed Warden. The Penal Marine disappeared into the crowd, pinging Milton and the others as he went.
“You’re concerned?” asked Cohen, frowning hard.
“It’s probably nothing, sir,” said Warden, “but he has a fine sense for these things.”
Cohen nodded thoughtfully. Then he leaned in towards White. “Get the team ready, Lieutenant. We don’t want to be caught unawares if there really is something going on.” White blinked in surprise then nodded when he saw that Cohen wasn’t joking. He followed Marine X, leaving Warden and Cohen alone.
“We’ll look like a right pair of paranoid idiots if he’s wrong,” muttered Cohen.
Then a Valkyr aide appeared.
“Prime Minister Haukland would like to speak to you,” he said. “If you would be so good as to follow me.”
“Admiral Tomsk,” acknowledged Giacomo Khan, the eponymous CEO of GK Industries. “It is good to see you in such fine form.”
“Cut the small talk, Khan,” snarled Tomsk. “What the hell is going on?”
Khan raised an eyebrow mildly and lowered his hand to rest it on the head of Vlad, his mandrill bodyguard and butler. “Going on, Admiral? Mine is a grand enterprise. There is so much going on it’s difficult to keep track of it all. You will have to be more specific.”
“Don’t fuck around,” snapped Tomsk. “The Valkyr splitters are screaming about some rock, making all sorts of noise and fuss.”
“Ah, that,” said Khan, a little of his blustering confidence leaking away. He rubbed his hands together. “How much do you know?”
“Not enough,” said Tomsk angrily.
“The Valkyr stole an asteroid, a large one with a high concentration of rare and heavy elements. Our troops took back control. There was a fight; some of the Valkyr died.” He shrugged.
“But that’s not the whole story, is it?” said Tomsk. “You don’t have rights over anything in that system. I checked. So what the hell is going on?”
Khan narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the way this interview was going.
“There was a disagreement, and then a raid,” he admitted. “We dealt with it, but the Valkyr had help from some external party. The raiders were pursued by our frigate, Hostile Takeover. A Commonwealth ship, identified by our people as the stolen Koschite vessel Varpulis, intervened, and Takeover was lost with all hands. After that, things are confused.”
“Varpulis?” hissed Tomsk. “You found Varpulis, and I hear of this only now?”
“We’re dealing with it,” said Khan dismissively. “It isn’t going to be a problem for much longer.”
“Where is Varpulis now?” asked Tomsk, leaning forward, his teeth bared. “No, don’t try to lie,” he snarled, “just tell me where she is.”
“Varpulis is in the vicinity of the Valkyr facility, Child of Starlight,” said Khan, “but our forces are already preparing to–”
“You have already failed once, Khan,” snarled Tomsk. “I will deal with this personally. Varpulis will be recovered and her villainous crew brought to justice.”
“But–” began Khan.
“Don’t get in my way, or you will feel my anger directly. I will let you know when this situation has been resolved.”
The connection ended, and Khan was suddenly alone in his office.
Then Vlad appeared carrying a small silver tray upon which rested a diamond-glass shot of vodka. Khan stared at it briefly as condensation froze on its super-cooled surface. Then he snatched it up and threw it back.
“Tomsk is becoming a problem,” he muttered, replacing the glass on the tray.
Cohen and Warden followed the aide into what was unmistakably a briefing chamber of some sort. The oval room wasn’t crowded, but only because it was large and elegantly furnished. Maybe twenty Valkyr were already seated in a horseshoe shape, with a huge display at the end of the room.
“Still worried we might be paranoid?” whispered Warden as the aide led them to a pair of vacant chairs at the end of the line.
Cohen grunted a response as he fiddled with the data slate built into the arm of the chair.
Then the Valkyr all stood as a door opened and two people came in. Prime Minister Haukland with her deputy, Ove Berdahl. Cohen and Warden stood as well, then sank back into their chairs when Haukland waved everyone to sit.
“I’ll get right to the point,” said Haukland as the chatter died away. “We have received a video message from a representative of the Koschite armed forces.” She nodded to an aide and the lights dimmed. A face appeared on the room’s main display.
“For those of you who may not know, this is Admiral Tomsk. It appears that he is a member of the Progenitor faction within the Koschite Government, as is the CEO of GKI, the organisation that attacked our asteroid mining facility at Oldervik.”
There was a murmur of disquiet around the chamber. It was clear that Admiral Tomsk was infamous amongst the Valkyr.
“Admiral Tomsk sent us a recorded message, part of which I will now play for you.”
She sat down and nodded at her aide. The display changed briefly to show a dark logo of some sort, then Tomsk’s face returned.
“You have made a grave error by hiring mercenaries to attack legitimate GKI facilities. This cannot stand! I will not let it stand! Aggression will not be tolerated. You will surrender your illegally occupied facility and compensate GKI for the loss of their equipment and personnel. You will return the stolen vessel Varpulis and the criminals who crew her. Child of Starlight will be garrisoned with Koschite troops to ensure your continued adherence to the rule of law. You will commit to having no further contact with mercenaries or the fanatical scum from Earth. You will make good all the damage you have inflicted on our peaceful and lawful enterprises, or you will suffer the consequences!”
Haukland paused the video.
“There is more, but after this, his threats become repetitive and ever more elaborate.”
“This is intolerable,” said someone from the far end of the chamber. “We cannot possibly accept this!”
There was a rumble of angry murmuring and agreement until Haukland held up her hand for silence.
“Of course not,” she said firmly. “Tomsk is deluded if he thinks we will agree to any of this. But he has the power to force us to comply and make good on his threats, and the rest of his message makes it clear he is already en route to enforce his demands. We have reached out to our usual contacts in the Koschite government, but communication with them has been patchy at best in recent months and it may be some time before we receive a response.”
More grumbling, and no small amount of shouted anger. Enlightened and liberal the Valkyr might be, but in meetings, they behaved pretty much like everyone else.
“Do you have a plan?” asked someone at the end of the table. Warden looked around and blinked in surprise when he recognised the physicist, Skar. “I see our friends are here,” she said, gesturing in the Cohen’s and Warden’s direction, “and I assume that we do not plan to hand them over.”
“We do not,” said Haukland firmly. “Admiral Tomsk’s statement is wrong in every significant respect, and in any case, he has no mandate to operate in our volume. This is a disagreement between us and the Progenitors, as represented by Admiral Tomsk. Our Commonwealth friends, and in fact the larger Koschite government, are not to be drawn into it.”
“With respect, Prime Minister,” said Cohen, leaning forward and raising his hand. “I think we’re already involved. These battles are only part of a larger conflict between the Commonwealth and the Koschite g
overnment.”
“But you need not be drawn further into our argument, Commander,” said Haukland. “Instead, we prefer that you continue your repairs and leave the system as soon as possible. We will handle Admiral Tomsk.”
“Again, with the greatest respect, I don’t see how you will manage that given the current state of your military readiness,” said Cohen. “And it will be some time – weeks, in all likelihood – before Ascendant is fit to flee, so I’m afraid our paths are linked for at least a little longer.”
Haukland frowned at Cohen.
“Then what do you suggest, Commander?”
Cohen looked slowly around the chamber before glancing at Warden.
“You have friends within the Koschite government?”
Haukland nodded.
“If I have understood the situation, you need time for the government to bring Admiral Tomsk under control. We’ll buy you that time, and keep the admiral from making good on his threats to Child of Starlight.”
“But how, Commander? How will you do all this?” asked Haukland.
Cohen glanced again at Warden, who nodded his support.
“I have an idea, Prime Minister, but we’ll need a little time to develop it.”
26
“The update for this shift, sir,” said Mantle, slipping into the room to deliver her report to Command Cohen. They were in Ascendant’s command suite, from where Cohen had been coordinating the ship’s continuing repair efforts since the Valkyr council meeting three days before.
“Anything surprising, Sub Lieutenant?” he asked, not looking up from his review of the schedule for the next phase of work, which would finally see the hyperspace engine returned to full service.
“No, sir,” said Mantle. “We've restored the main sensors arrays, so you should have solid visibility across a wide angle. And the final tests on the upgrades to the forward railgun array are complete. The system is about twenty per cent more effective, giving you faster projectiles and increased fire rate.”
“Excellent, thank you.”
“The downside is that the barrels will wear out more quickly,” she continued, ignoring Cohen’s praise, “so we’ll need downtime to replace them every four or five hundred rounds.”
Cohen nodded. “For every gain…” he muttered. But this was a price worth paying. Battles were so infrequent that replacing the barrels after every encounter with the enemy wouldn’t be a problem.
“We’ve completed the initial work on the counter-measures systems, but the fabricators aren’t yet working correctly. We think we’re making progress,” said Mantle, but the doubt in her voice was palpable.
“You ‘think’? You mean we have an operational weapon system but without the required ammunition?”
Mantle nodded unhappily.
“When will it be fixed?”
“I don’t know. I’m working on it. It’s a fiddly, one-person job, and it’ll take as long as it takes.”
“So that clears all the other teams to work on the hyperspace engine?” asked Cohen, although he already knew the answer.
“Yes, sir, but we’ve only patched many systems. They’re held together with spit and string. A strong wind might cause them to fail, and if we push too hard, I can’t be sure which will go first.”
“I understand, Sub Lieutenant, just do what you can to keep things ticking over. And get the hyperspace engine working.”
“Aye, sir, I’ll see what–” she began. Then a klaxon wailed.
Cohen closed his slate and double-timed it to the bridge with Mantle a half-step behind.
“What do we have?” he asked, standing behind his chair with his hands resting on its back.
“Proximity warning, sir,” said Midshipman Susie Martin at the helm, the only member of the team currently on the bridge. “Two large Deathless vessels have just exited hyperspace, approximately three hundred thousand kilometres away.”
“Very good, Ms Martin,” said Cohen. “Go to action stations and let’s disembark our friends from Child of Starlight.”
“Aye, sir,” said Martin, flipping up the safety cover and pressing the button that set the battle condition across the ship.
Red lights flicked on around the bridge, or at least half of them did. A second later, an automated message rang out, “Action stations! Action stations!” There was no change on the bridge, but elsewhere on the ship the crew would be packing up non-essential work and hurrying to their combat stations.
The plan that Cohen had thrashed out with Trygstad called for all Valkyr personnel to leave Ascendant within fifteen minutes.
“We must be ready for action with all possible haste,” Cohen had said, overriding Trygstad’s concerns. “Your people must know how to get off the ship if Admiral Tomsk arrives unexpectedly.” Given that they had no idea where the admiral was coming from, an unexpected arrival was about the only type anyone could reasonably imagine.
The rest of the bridge crew arrived at a run, heading quickly to their seats as a timer on the main display ticked steadily upwards.
“Four minutes and counting,” muttered White as he took his own seat. “Not too bad. The Valkyr personnel are clearing out, all except Trygstad, who has chosen to stay on board.”
“No surprise,” said Cohen, shaking his head. “Just as long as she knows when to stay out of the way and when to do what she’s told.”
White snorted. “She could teach a class on how to be stubborn,” he said, “but she’s not daft. I think she’ll do what she needs to do.”
“Channel request from Child of Starlight, sir,” reported Wood at the communications desk.
“On the main screen, please, Mr Wood,” said Cohen, directing his attention to the display as a Prime Minister Haukland’s image appeared.
“Yes, Prime Minister. We are evacuating your people from Ascendant, and we will be de-coupling from Child of Starlight in the next few minutes.”
“And you are set on this course of action?” Haukland spoke Koschite, but her words appeared in English as subtitles.
“I am,” said Cohen. “We’ll update you as soon as we have news.”
Haukland was silent for a few seconds as if considering a final plea. Her lips creased in a tight smile and she gave a short nod.
“Good luck, Commander,” she said in heavily accented English. Then the link was broken.
Twelve minutes later, Ascendant was free of Child of Starlight and powering towards the incoming Deathless fleet with Palmerston safely stowed in her main bay.
“Take us five degrees above their trajectory, Mr Jackson,” said Cohen. Above the bridge, the main display showed the tactical view, with all the ships picked out in different colours and their current flight paths shown as dotted lines. “We’re hoping to scare them off, not ram them.”
“Aye, sir,” said Jackson. “Laying in the course now.”
“Course looks good,” said Martin at the helm. “Attitudinal thrusters firing first, then a thirty-second burn on the main engine at thirty per cent.”
Cohen nodded his approval. Mantle’s instructions regarding the engine were clear: keep the power down, keep the burns short and don’t be surprised if the whole thing blows up and kills everyone on board.
“Incoming communication, sir,” said Wood. “I think it’s Admiral Tomsk.”
“Interesting,” said Cohen, straightening a little in his chair. “Very well, let’s see what the admiral has to say. On the main viewscreen, please.”
There was a brief flicker as the two comms systems established a connection at the protocol layer, then a Deathless face appeared on the screen. For a few long seconds, the two men stared at each other.
“You are Cohen?” The translated words popped up beneath the speaker.
“Lieutenant Commander Cohen, Royal Navy, at your disposal, sir,” said Cohen formally. “How may we be of assistance?”
“You are a war criminal, soon to experience the full weight of Koschite justice. Your vessel, Varpulis, is stolen and you
will heave to and prepare to be boarded.”
“Are you Admiral Tamsak? I don’t believe we have met, and it’s so important to be clear on these things.”
“I am Grand Admiral Tomsk,” corrected the Deathless officer haughtily, “commander of the fourteenth fleet. You are a pirate charged with the most heinous war crimes. Surrender immediately, and submit to judgment and punishment.”
“I’m sorry, Admiral, our translation system is still somewhat flawed. Did you say that you wished to surrender? We are of course happy to accept,” asked Cohen with an expression of mild surprise. Tomsk ignored the question.
“Your ship is in no state to fight. Your bravado fools nobody. Power down your systems and prepare to be boarded,” snarled Tomsk.
“Tempting,” admitted Cohen. “Let me put you on hold while I discuss this with my senior officers.” He nodded to Wood, who blanked the comms channel so that it showed a ‘holding’ message under a gently spinning RN logo. A jaunty version of ‘Drunken Sailor’ played over the image. Cohen smiled. Whoever had added that, it was a nice touch.
“Does anyone wish to surrender themselves to Admiral Tomsk?” The room was silent. “Good. Then let’s make this count. Mr White, please be so good as to put things in motion.”
“Very good, sir,” said White, rising from his seat to leave the bridge.
“Mr MacCaibe, what’s your assessment on the two enemy ships?”
“They’re big, sir, but the closer one is more heavily armed. It's a carrier if I'm any judge. The other one looks,” he hesitated, scrutinising his display as he struggled for the right words, “it looks like a converted passenger liner. It has weapon systems, but they’re strapped to the hull, like warts on a maiden’s arse.”
“A troop carrier, then?” mused Cohen, skipping past MacCaibe’s colourful metaphor.
“Aye, sir, that would seem to be the size of it.”
“The closer ship is Target One, our primary; the other is Target Two,” announced Cohen. “Focus on Target One and ignore Target Two for now. When I give the nod, send them everything we have for as long as we can manage it, understood?”