Admiral Strauss tapped a button on the desk then looked back to the screen. Shortly, the clerk walked in with a tray. He poured a cup of coffee for the admiral and offered a cup to Ellis. Ellis nodded and the clerk poured a cup then quietly left. Finally, the admiral turned her attention back to Ellis. "Captain MacPherson's report credits you with naming the Cluster."
Ellis flushed red. "Yes, ma'am."
"You've also seen the death and destruction they cause. You know first hand what a danger they represent." She sipped her coffee.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Between ship losses and the need to respond when Cluster ships appear, construction has increased
substantially," she said. "Erdonium for ship hulls is at a premium. Unfortunately, shipments from our largest supplier, Sufiro's World, have been slowing down."
Ellis swallowed too much coffee at once. The hot liquid burned a path down his throat. He nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am," he rasped when he could finally speak.
She detailed the situation on Sufiro for the lieutenant and explained about the miner's revolt. She mentioned the destroyed warehouse. "Now Tejo is talking about filing a legal land claim on the other continent. At the same time, that continent, New Granada, appears to be working with some renegades from Rd'dyggia. Full scale war may break out." She paused. Her eyes narrowed, evaluating him evenly. "Your mother is from Sufiro's World isn't she?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Ellis. "She was born in New Granada shortly after the planet was settled."
The admiral nodded slowly. Ellis wondered how much she knew about his personal history. The lieutenant did not advertise the fact that his grandfather was a notorious pirate. "What goes on at Sufiro's World is its own business, as far as I'm concerned. That is, until the Erdonium is affected. I am promoting you to commander and sending you out to Sufiro. I want you to get the Erdonium moving again."
Ellis' heart was beating rapidly. He never doubted that some day he would command a ship, but this soon was more than he expected. Being pulled off Astrolus, he had expected to be promoted to first lieutenant. His heart sank when he realized the promotion implied that a number of captains must have died. Still, new ships were being built each day. The admiralty needed experienced lieutenants to command them. He knew also that he was chosen because of his ties to the planet. As such, he may well find himself a lieutenant again once the mission was complete. Finally, Ellis remembered protocol. "Thank you, ma'am."
"You will take command of the destroyer Firebrandt," she said. Ellis started at the name. "I want the Erdonium moving again. If you have to stop the war, do. If you need to use intimidation, let me know. I'll send more ships."
"Aye aye, ma'am," said Ellis. "Thank you."
Strauss nodded. "There is a launch at the bay. It'll take you to your ship. Your official orders are on the shipboard computer." She paused and stood, then extended her hand. Ellis took it. "Good luck, Commander."
Captain Arepno led a team of Rd'dyggian warriors to the open pit mine at Raton Mesa. Arepno stared at the mine with both awe and terror. The opened ground showed many wondrous colors—red, orange and purple among them. The scale was monstrous, almost the entire mesa top was open. Only a few trees and brush covered the rim. Arepno was reminded of a wide-open human mouth with the lips sticking out. He looked into the mine itself. It was carved into beautiful symmetries that were violently slashed by roads for hover vehicles. Arepno was in awe of the order man had imposed on this place.
Still, Arepno felt vaguely terrified as well. Man was a wildly arrogant species. This pit was a symbol of how they thought they could dominate a planet, just as slavery was a symbol of how they thought they could dominate their own kind. Arepno held a sonic grenade in his hand as he thought that the planet really did not belong to humans. The planet was Rd'dyggian. Arepno and his warriors stood on the mesa top and vowed to end the slavery.
Arepno brought the miners three sonic grenades. The New Granadans laughed when they thought of the epithet applied to them by the Tejans. They used the grenades to collapse the walls of the pit they had worked in for the past year, destroying all the mining equipment. Arepno gave the miners food and water so they could make it to Roanoke and from there find their way to New Granada.
The next day, Arepno sat with Swan and Raton again. Swan held up his bottle of beer. "Here's to the best damned ally we could ask for." Manuel and Arepno clinked their drinks together.
"But what I don't understand," said Manuel. "Is why don't you just rescue the people there."
"Ah," said Arepno, holding up his forward most finger on his right hand. "That would be interfering. Interfering with a planet's internal politics is frowned upon."
"But aren't you interfering by supplying the miners with sonic grenades?" asked Swan, confused.
"Who's supplying miners with grenades?" countered Arepno. "I'm monitoring the surface. Occasionally sensors don't do a good job, so we scout the continents. It's always possible that a trooper might drop a grenade near a mine. What the miners do with it is not my concern."
Raton and Swan nodded approvingly. Arepno seemed to be getting the hang of human expression more and more each day. The group sat in silence for some time.
Finally, Arepno nodded slowly. "I had better check the cargo systems on the ship. It is possible that something else may drop accidentally."
Swan and Raton looked at each other, then back at Arepno. Each of them wondered what the captain was sending down from the ship. The next morning, they each felt like children on Christmas as they rushed out of bed. They looked out Manuel's front door and saw six immense crates. Each crate had a thousand hepler pistols and ten times as many energy packs. If war started, they would be ready.
John Mark Ellis stooped in the launch docked to the Barbara Firebrandt. His heart raced. The weight of the single epaulet felt strange on his left shoulder instead of the right where it had rested since his promotion to lieutenant. It was a small ship, but it was his. That was a feeling that could not be paralleled. When Ellis first heard the ship referred to as the Firebrandt, his heart sank momentarily. He resented the irony of being placed on a ship named after Ellison Firebrandt. He was relieved to find that the ship was, in fact, named for one of his heroes. He remembered the stories of how Admiral Barbara Firebrandt of Alpha Coma Berenices had united humanity's legitimate navies against the marginally legal privateers. Ellis secretly wished he was related to Barbara Firebrandt. In fact, he knew it was possible given the extreme rarity of the name.
The launch's airlock door parted slightly. The somewhat warmer air of the Firebrandt rushed in. The ship's computer began piping the captain aboard and the door opened the rest of the way. Ellis stepped through. A Commissioned Officer (BGrade) and two petty officers stood in front of a crew of eleven jammed into the tiny bay. The B-Com stepped forward. Ellis stepped toward him. "I, Commander John Mark Ellis, by order of the Gaean Alliance and the Admiralty of the Confederation of Homeworlds assume command of the Homeworld's Destroyer Barbara Firebrandt this date."
The B-Com had a voice deep for his years. "I, Francis Rubin, stand relieved. Welcome aboard, Commander Ellis, sir."
At that point, Ellis was expected to address the men. The commander was embarrassed when he realized he hadn't written anything. He cleared his throat. "Well men, batten down the hatches and secure the tops'l, we're in for rough weather." The men stifled grins. Ellis nodded to the senior petty officer.
"Dismissed," she barked. The ship came to life with activity.
"Mr. B-Com Rubin, please show me to my quarters."
"Aye aye, sir." replied the young man. He led the commander to a small alcove with a curtain that could be drawn around the bed and a tiny fold-down desk. It was a typical commander's accommodations on a destroyer.
"Mr. Rubin, please see to preparations to leave Saturn's orbit," ordered Ellis. He wanted to show his second-incommand both that he was firm and willing to trust the young man.
"Aye aye, sir," said Rubin with a salute. He turn
ed on his heel and went ten more feet to the bridge.
Ellis sat on the bunk for a moment, his duffel beside him. He listened to Rubin give commands. He was young, with little experience, but he had a firm grasp of command. He pondered the reason why the name Barbara Firebrandt was given to a mere destroyer. As he got up to go to the bridge, the answer occurred to him. Barbara Firebrandt had not been a Gaean officer. The fact that an Earth ship was named after her was quite an honor indeed.
Commander John Mark Ellis made his way onto the tiny bridge. He noted the stations. B-Com Rubin was the pilot. The senior petty officer was the gunner. The other had a recent scar on his head indicating that he had been newly chosen to be a communicator. Ellis put his hands on the back of the command chair. He looked at the tiny control panel designed for the right hand. The commander nodded satisfactorily.
"Request permission to depart Saturn's orbit," barked Ellis.
The communicator touched his forehead. He was still getting used to the communication's implant. "Permission granted," the communicator replied.
Ellis moved around the chair and sat. "Mr. Rubin, make for jump point to Sufiro. We have Erdonium to move."
On Sufiro's World, a second mineshaft exploded, throwing Erdonium rock twenty miles into the air.
NEGOTIATIONS
Colonel Clyde McClintlock frowned as the shrill alarm went off. Another ship had appeared over Sufiro. He adjusted the holographic monitor to view the newcomer. His worry turned to curiosity when he noticed that the ship was a
Confederation Navy vessel. As with all Navy vessels, it was a simple black cylinder. The only things that distinguished the classes of ships were their sizes and armaments. McClintlock studied the image. Though there was no direct way to tell size, he could see that the main hepler took up the entire bow of the vessel. Therefore, she was a small ship. As the ship got closer, he could discern more weapon mounts on the surface. She was built for battle—a destroyer.
The colonel sighed. There was no way a small ship like that—no matter how well-armed—could intimidate the Rd'dyggian war ship hanging over New Granada. The colonel's thoughts were interrupted as Major Ellwood stepped into the office. "Sir, a Commander J. M. Ellis is signaling. He would like to meet with Governor Hill and yourself."
McClintlock nodded. "Have you contacted the governor?"
"I have. He would like to meet with the Commander this afternoon," said the major.
"Okay," sighed the colonel. "I presume he wants to meet in his office."
"Actually," said the major, shifting from one foot to another. "He wants to meet here."
McClintlock looked around the large office. The sizable holographic viewer sat on the floor to one side of the colonel's government-issue steel desk and monitors lined the metal walls. The room was designed so that a conference table could be brought in, converting it into a war room. The governor apparently thought he would impress the Navy man by meeting in the room. There was also a practical side to meeting in McClintock's office. The governor could show the ship's commander what was happening around the globe. Major Ellwood tapped her foot impatiently.
"Yes, of course," said the colonel, forcing himself away from his thoughts. "We can have the meeting here this afternoon." He looked at the Navy ship in the holographic viewer for a moment, then turned back to the major. "Make sure the necessary chairs are brought in."
"Yes, sir." The major turned on her heel and left.
Shortly after the major left, the sanitation staff flew into the office, picking up trash and putting things in their place. The colonel was pleased that the major thought ahead. Several light bulbs were replaced and suddenly the office was much brighter. The colonel had liked it dark, allowing him to focus on the video and holographic screens.
While the office was tidied up, the colonel left to change into a dress uniform rather than the scruffy field garb he preferred. The gray dress uniform was very neatly pressed but held only three decorations. All of them came from his days in the Gaean Navy. Even then, he had not especially distinguished himself. The Tejan military mostly served the purpose of security guards. They stepped in when a problem went beyond the purview of the police force. Usually that meant a national from another human world was causing trouble in a bar and the police wanted to avoid getting involved with something that could become a diplomatic incident. McClintlock never dreamed that his superiors had been contemplating a war between New Granada and Tejo for some time.
Colonel McClintlock returned to his office. Governor Hill arrived half an hour later. He, too, was dressed well, wearing his best gray suit with a collar that clasped at the top and buttons down the side. It was much the same as the colonel's uniform.
Half an hour later, Commander John Mark Ellis arrived. He wore his duty uniform: a gray body suit with a blue uniform jacket over that. A silver epaulet hung askew on his left shoulder. The commander's hair was combed, but not very well and his moustache needed trimming. At least he had taken time to shave. As the governor reached out to shake the commander's hand, he caught a strong odor. It took him a moment to identify, but he realized that the commander had been smoking a cigar.
The three men sat down. The governor smiled broadly to cover disgust. He wasn't going to look a potential gift horse in the mouth. "So, what brings you to our little world, Commander?"
"Erdonium," said Ellis bluntly. "I'm here to find out why production has slowed down."
The colonel brought out a bottle of bourbon and poured three shot glasses. He passed one to the governor and moved a glass toward Ellis. While a fan of bourbon, Ellis declined. The meeting was too important to miss the slightest detail and the commander knew he did not handle alcohol very well.
The governor shifted uncomfortably. "Production has slowed because of sabotage from terrorists." He drank the bourbon and continued. "They have destroyed mines and a warehouse."
The colonel nodded. "We think they are being supplied by Rd'dyggian pirates?"
Ellis flinched a little at the mention of pirates. Hill was pleased—the colonel had hit upon a sensitive nerve. "We scanned a Rd'dyggian trading vessel in orbit. What makes you think they're pirates?" asked Ellis.
The colonel sipped his bourbon. "They've made several excursions to the surface. There have been trips to Tejo and New Granada."
"And," piped in the governor, "they have never made a diplomatic courtesy call on the Tejan Government."
Ellis frowned. "You would expect the captain of a trading vessel to make a courtesy call?" Ellis shook his head. "I don't see any reason to suspect them of piracy."
"Just before the first mine was destroyed, a Rd'dyggian launch landed near the mine," said the colonel.
"Were any of the miners killed?" asked Ellis.
"No, they all esca..." the colonel started too quickly. The governor cut him off with a glare. "They were not on duty. It was night, you see."
Ellis studied the colonel's face. "Escaped," he said slowly. "Why would miners want to escape? You're not using prison labor are you?"
The governor beamed again. "He probably meant to say they escaped the explosion." He sat back and folded his arms. "Commander, you are awfully suspicious for someone who has come to help us."
"I didn't say I came to help you," said Ellis evenly. "I came to get the Erdonium moving."
"Well if we get the Erdonium moving again, you'll be helping us," said the governor tensely. His large ears flushed slightly. "It'll get our economy moving again." He relaxed and smiled. "We've strayed away from the point. It's clear from what we've found that the New Granadans, with or without the help of the Rd'dyggians, are trying to stop Erdonium production."
Ellis shook his head. "Why would New Granadans want to sabotage Erdonium production? It doesn't make sense. There are only trace amounts of Erdonium in New Granada. The two continents don't compete."
"Not for Erdonium," said the colonel. "For land." He downed the rest of his bourbon and refilled the two empty glasses. "I believe it's a protest
action against our land claim. Though it hasn't been approved by the Gaean Alliance, the claim's extremely unpopular with New Granada's small citizenry."
Ellis held up a hand. "You see, that's another thing I don't understand. Why did Tejo file the land claim to begin with? There's hardly a shortage of land here and little of commercial value there."
"But there are mineral resources in New Granada we don't have here, like coal and diamonds," said the governor.
"Okay," said Ellis unconvinced. He decided argument was pointless. Even so, he knew something was wrong. Coal was not an important resource. Wind and water provided electricity on Sufiro, for the most part. Heat was provided through solar power. Likewise, synthetic diamonds were less expensive and higher quality than real diamonds. Almost no planet remained where those commodities were mined. Most planets needed food, or practical minerals like Erdonium.
"The bottom line," said the colonel. "Is that the New Granadans are sabotaging production. It's possible that the Rd'dyggians are helping them. If you want production to continue, you can start by chasing that Rd'dyggian ship away."
"Chase away an allied ship ... a big allied ship, I might add ... with a destroyer?" Ellis coughed, suppressing a laugh. "What I will do, is talk to the leaders of the New Granadan Government and find out why they are sabotaging you. I'll try to persuade them to stop. If that doesn't work, I can bring in more force."
"Now that's what we like to hear." Hill tapped his thin index finger on the desk. "However, I think talking to the New Granadans is just going to be a waste of time. Once our land claim is approved, it would be more helpful if you and the Confederation sent ships to help us enforce our claim." The governor shrugged. "That, in conjunction with stopping the sabotage, of course."
"I'll stop the sabotage," Ellis said firmly. "But, if you haven't noticed, there's a war going on in the rest of the galaxy. Once Erdonium is moving again, I don't care what happens on this planet." Ellis stood, straightening his jacket. He started to leave, then turned around, grabbed the shot glass, tossed down the contents, and set it back on the table. "Good day, gentlemen," said Ellis through gritted teeth. He turned on his heel and marched out of the office.
The Pirates of Sufiro (Book 1) (Old Star New Earth) Page 22