“I am ready to record in permanent, read only text, Kris.”
“You will work alone with the Iteeche to construct the maskers that we need to get out of the mess we are presently in. You will work with no human. You will store all data you need to complete this project in temporary storage retrievable only by Ron the Iteeche. When you are finished with this project you will provide a complete data dump to Ron and then you will erase that data when the project is over and reorganize the matrix that you have used.”
Kris paused for a moment, then satisfied with that part of her order, she went on, “You will use Smart Metal aboard both the human and Iteeche battlecruisers to create enough maskers to make it appear that each of our ships are followed by seven ghost ships. The maskers that you create on human ships will be operated by you or autonomous systems you put in place. You will make whatever arrangements you need to assure that the maskers placed on human ships cannot be subjected to any examination, by any means you know to be available to human technology. If such an examination is attempted, you will have the Smart Metal of the masker immediately reduce itself to its basic structure. You developed something like that to operate on any of your children if they were tampered with, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Kris, I have and I can apply the same dead man’s switch to these systems.”
Kris looked around her bridge, then back at the figures on the screens. “Does anyone have any further suggestions? Ron, is there any addition any of your advisors would like to add?”
“If one of your masker systems should shut itself down,” a Navy officer in an Iteeche gray and gold uniform said, “that will make our entire operation fail. Ships that can be seen and lazed do not simply lose their mass in the middle of space.”
“That is true,” Kris said. “That logic will encourage my ship captains to assure that all the maskers are under guard at all times.”
“No, that is not what I meant to say,” the Iteeche officer said. “Any system can fail. If your computer designs a system to ensure that our technology is not tampered with, could it not also activate at the worst time for no other reason than a system failure?”
“Nelly?” Kris said, handing it off to her.
“The admiral is correct,” Nelly began, showing that she could now read Iteeche Navy rank, “if I make a mistake, the entire operation could fail. However, sir, I respectfully propose that I can come up with several fail-safties that will assure that the destruct systems are not activated until and unless there is a breach of your equipment’s security. I had intended to keep myself in the loop to perform an eyes on examination of the situation as it develops. I could also include Princess Longknife as well as an Iteeche in that loop if you wish. That would mean that we would move a bit slower, but, what with the guards maintained around the physical systems, we should know who did what and how.”
Kris eyed Ron. “We could make the destruction sequence work automatically, or we could make it only work after the attempted breach has been reviewed by a human and/or Iteeche in real time. Which way do you want to go?”
“Give us a moment, please, Kris,” and the feed from the Iteeche flag cut off.
Kris took a couple of deep breaths. “That didn’t go down the way I’d expected.”
“Did I help, Kris?” Nelly asked,
“You were outstanding, gal. I thought we were dead there for a moment, then you came up with the save. This legendary Longknife miracle is officially a shared Kris and Nelly miracle.”
“Thank you, Kris, now about my pay . . .” Nelly began, but the take from the Iteeche flag came back on and attention on Kris’s flag bridge turned to Ron and several Iteeche standing around him.
“Kris, we would like to consider going to a destruction loop that would include both me and you in it. However, we would also like to include in the guard around the maskers Iteeche, ah, you would call them Imperial Marines. Is there any problem with a detachment of eight of them going aboard each of your ships that will be using masker technology?”
“I don’t think so,” Kris said slowly, glancing Jack’s way. His eyes were worried slits but he nodded. “We may restrict their movement the same way you might restrict our Marine guards stationed on your ships.”
“Movement restrictions, so long as they don’t involve the area around the maskers, will be acceptable. We would also like to have them take some sensors for alerting us to probes directed at the maskers.”
“What kind of sensors?” Kris asked cautiously.
“Something to detect x-rays and other invasive probing.”
“Now it’s my turn to need to consult with my staff,” Kris said.
Again, the Iteeche screen went blank.
“Folks, I need input and I need it fast. Sensors.”
“Hard to say, ma’am. I don’t know the state of their sensor technology.”
“However,” Captain Tosen put in, “any device that comes aboard to record x-rays could also take readings from the whole of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as any other sensor that was imbedded in the device. We know that they are very curious about the crystal armor that we use to slow down laser hits and then reflect them back into space.”
“Is the risk of compromising embargoed technology high enough for us to gamble this entire diplomatic initiative falling apart?” Jacques asked, coming out of his seat. Kris had forgotten that he and Amanda had been sitting there; they’d been so quiet. “Kris, do you trust Ron, your Iteeche friend?”
Kris nodded.
“Yes,” the chief of staff said, “but can you trust every Iteeche in those squadrons? Can you trust that someone a whole lot less trustworthy has gotten a few intelligences gathering assets aboard those battlecruisers? Will Ron know and approve every Iteeche that boards our ships? How many intelligent assets do you think Admiral Crossenshield has slipped onto your ships or the merchant ships following us?”
Kris scowled at the screen. “Did you have to put it that way?”
“What other way can I put it, Admiral? I’m paranoid.”
“I’ve worshiped at the altar of that virtue many times,” Kris admitted, and couldn’t suppress a smile. I’ve finally met someone more paranoid than I am.
Kris took in a deep breath and made her decision. “Reopen the comm link with Ron,” and three Iteeche immediately appeared on the screen.
“Ron, I see your need to know if your tech is being toyed with. I’m willing for you to send over one of your sensor experts. We will show them exactly what sensors we’re using to keep your gizmo secure. He can watch it with our tech. That’s the best I can do. I’m sure you’d be just as concerned if I asked to put sensors of unknown capability aboard all of your ships.”
Ron turned to the counselor in court garments of green and white. “I told you that she would not accept your wild bid. You should be grateful that she didn’t just slam the door in our faces but instead, she has left us an out.”
The counselor muttered something that the translator did not catch.
“What did he say?” Kris whispered to Nelly.
“Something along the lines of ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’,” Nelly whispered, “but with strong sexual overtones.”
“Add that one to your dictionary,” Kris ordered softly.
“Done.”
Ron had bumped elbows with the counselor and he fled. That bit of drama over, Ron turned back to Kris. “We will use the option you have just laid out. Our Marines will also field strip their weapons for you and you may apply sensors to anything they bring aboard. No doubt, you will expect that someone will attempt to slip something aboard one of your ships. I will do my best to see that no such device leaves our ships and you should feel free to assure yourself that I have not failed to keep my pledge to you, Princess.”
“I trust your pledge to me, Ron. You may trust my pledge to you. Unfortunately, neither one of us can assure that any of our crew are not in someone else’s pocket.
“A gentle phrase, Kris. I
was thinking more of a traitor.”
Kris stored that fact away to discuss further with Nelly. “I believe we are done here. Are you willing to allow Nelly access to your gizmo now or do you want to delay until we are on the other side of the jump?”
“I am not worried about the ships following after us getting anything from your Nelly looking into our gizmo, as you called it. They already know what we all know. Let your Nelly set up a very tight beam to my flag so that they discover as little of what we are about as possible and we shall begin to see if what we are attempting is even possible.”
Chapter 21
Much better drilled, Princess Kris Longknife’s so-called diplomatic fleet drifted up to the jump while their pursuit was still days away. Maneuvering jets took off the last bit of energy and the fleet came to a complete halt.
“I will order two ships through to scout the darkness,” Ron announced.
Kris waited as patiently as she could for several long seconds to go by before a messenger buoy popped back into the space where the jump sat and gave them an all clear.
Kris had spent most of the last two days practicing patience.
Nelly got exasperated with Kris asking over and over again, “Have you figured out the maskers yet?”
After the fourth time Nelly suggested patiently that Kris go play with the children. The fact that Nelly didn’t snap at Kris said way too much. Nelly understood Kris’s need to know what was happening but likely she was have a tough time of it and needed Kris to go away.
With a sigh, Kris took Nelly’s advice and hunted up the children in school and settled herself down in a kid-size chair to help them with their learning.
It didn’t take Ruth long to get tired of the help. “Moo-ther, I know how to do this. Don’t you have some admirally thing to do?”
The look from the young teacher was enough to send Kris on her way.
She wandered back into flag plot and spent a long moment staring at the situation that had developed in their pursuit. No extra ships had appeared from either jump point. Apparently, she could have tried to fight her way through to the jump that would take her to the Imperial Court.
Kris shrugged. Even if Admiral Darlan had attempted it, no doubt the Iteeche rebels would have taken advantage of the nearby planet to provide him with a long, running gun battle.
Would our crystal armor have made enough of a difference? Kris wondered.
She chose to ignore that question; it was a might-have-been. What she did look at were her prospects for fighting her way through her pursuers now. They were drawing together, but they were still well apart.
Could I turn this fleet around and hit the first fleet before the second fleet could haul itself into the fight?
Kris did not want to joggle Nelly’s elbow, so she fed the question into her battle board and let it do the math. Much of it was math. Could her ships jack up their deceleration to 3.5 gees, bring themselves to a halt in space and then hurl themselves back at the first group of rebel battlecruisers? It was, of course, possible, though the transports and merchant ships might not handle it so well. Still, she could give battle that way.
But could the second fleet of rebels come up quickly to turn it into that three-to-one fight that she doubted even her crystal armor could handle. Assuming they also went to 3.5 gees deceleration then turned it into acceleration toward the future battle, they’d arrive when?
The battle board gave Kris a very quick answer. She’d have the first group for just one hour before she had to take on the second.
Maybe that is worth a try.
“But what if,” came in Jack’s familiar voice, “the first fleet jacks up its deceleration and runs away from you until the other fleet can join with it?”
“You came in very quietly,” Kris said, turning to her general husband Marine.
“And aren’t you glad that I’m a good guy and don’t have a knife at your throat?”
“Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?” Kris asked, noting that he did have one or the other.
“I’ll show you, in a minute, but let’s finish this.”
Kris turned back to the battle board and quickly entered in the option for her enemy that Jack had mentioned. Yep, the two forces could join before she caught up with the first.
“Damn, you’re smart,” she whispered.
“And I’m just a dumb jarhead,” Jack said, a chuckle in his voice. “No doubt, the admirals on the other side would think of that as soon as you hiked up your deceleration.”
“So, I’m just scratching an itch I can’t get at anyway.”
“Well, I have an itch that might be able to scratch your itch.”
“Are you setting me up?” Kris said, trying to be angry, but unable to raise the ire. “Did half the ship send you in here to get the old lady off their backs?”
“It was more like three quarters, but none of them said anything about the ‘old lady’. It was more like ‘could you please take that cute young admiral off to bed’.”
So, Kris had let herself be seduced into bed by her dutiful husband.
After a deliciously well-spent afternoon, she found she could spend time with the children without being sent away. Between them, and Jack’s careful ministrations, the tension of the wait was held within reasonable limits.
Nelly still hadn’t given Kris a progress report when they came to a halt before the jump. That itch was galloping back with a vengeance, but Kris held any complaints.
Ron took his squadron through. As he did, Kris issued orders to Task Force 2 to hold the jump at all costs until relieved.
“I will return and support you with my full, reinforced fleet.”
Commodore Afon gave Kris a crisp reply. The comm folks made sure what they said could be picked up by the approaching fleet. They even used a less secure scrambler to pass the word along quickly.
That done, Kris followed Ron into the next system.
A quick scan showed exactly one jump. There were no other jumps, either conventional or fuzzy. Still, the approaching Iteeche would not know that. On that rested Kris’s entire strategy. That, and Nelly figuring out the masker technology, how to duplicate it on the human ships, and them all, Iteeche and human, being able to throw their mass out seven times each.
They’d also need to throw that mass to exactly where the human targets would be following them.
Kris gritted her teeth. She knew what she needed to pull this off. Had the Magnificent Nelly come through with the necessary magic?
“I count eighteen Iteeche ships in the system,” Sensors reported.
“Eighteen?” Kris echoed.
“Eighteen,” Sensors repeated. “Sixteen that stay put and two that kind of wander around, Admiral.”
“Yes, Kris,” Nelly reported in an exasperated voice. “There are two that keep wandering off. It seems the Iteeche have never gotten a solid handle on keeping the maskers in one place. I’m working on that. We also have a second problem. The closer the masses are to one another, the more unstable the signal becomes. And no, I haven’t tried seven in one place or worse, the twenty-eight I’ll need to represent a four ship division making like it’s a task force.”
“We’ve got plenty of time,” Kris said in her most soothing voice. It worked on human subordinates. She doubted it would fool Nelly.
“So, why don’t you tend to your side of the shop and I’ll take care of mine,” Nelly said and seemed to disappear again from Kris’s head.
Kris did have plenty to deal with on her side. The entire fleet, Iteeche, Human Navy and merchants were drifting in space. They had been drifting for a good quarter hour on the other side. No doubt, stomachs were well past queasy.
“Comm,” Kris ordered, “send to merchants, ‘Merchant fleet, get underway at one quarter gee. We will advise you when you need to reverse course.”
“Thank you,” came back from quite a few open mics. Despite them being made of Smart MetalTM for the long run to Alwa, Kris ordere
d the Navy transports to get underway and the merchant ships immediately followed in their wake. Even Grampa Al’s three big ships didn’t quibble over the course and acceleration. One skipper did, however, feel compelled to ask a question.
“Why are we only doing a quarter gee? I and my crew would be a lot happier with at least a half gee.”
“Because,” Kris answered, “I may need for you to return to the jump a lot faster than you went out. Do you want to be left behind when the Navy sails?”
She got no answer to that.
Kris then ordered the battlecruisers to anchor in pairs and begin to swing around each other, creating a decent sense of down. Smart MetalTM battlecruisers could do that. Merchant ships with their regular materials or, even if they were Smart MetalTM, with their cargo load very likely loaded with no thought to balance, could not.
Her fleet now deployed for a long wait, Kris made her way to the sensor team on her flag bridge. She stood behind them with a clear view of what Nelly was attempting. The number of false gravity centers grew, but any apparent control over them only got worse.
Kris found Jack at her elbow. “Nelly has called her kids in to help her,” he said. “Mine is gone as well as Megan’s. I understand from Amanda and Jacques that theirs are also dragooned. I don’t know if Abby and Bruce’s computers are involved.”
Kris pursed her lips, but kept her mouth shut.
“Kris,” Nelly finally said, “I know you know we have a problem. Could you have your ship computers combine their target practice drones into fourteen per ship and see just how good a fake ship you can knock together?”
“We’ll get on it,” Kris said. For a moment, the fourteen per ship stumped her. Then it fell in place. Each of the sixteen human battlecruisers would have to make seven decoys for themselves and seven more for an Iteeche ship.
Kris Longknife - Emissary Page 15