Having long range weapons aboard meant neither of the DSEs would ever be allowed inside the Earth/Moon system again without unloading the weapons under supervision well away from Earth and the Moon. There was no need now for those ships to carry word of their finds to the Claims Commission.
It also meant they could fire a bigger single salvo of missiles than the destroyer Sharp Claws. But once they were shot the DSEs had no spares to reload the tubes, so they would be held back for defense after the warships expended theirs.
Admiral Hawking called soon after the warships were rearmed. "Gordon, do you suppose you could be a good fellow and rotate your escort ships back to Derfhome now that they are stocked and armed?"
"We could. No reason the whole expedition can't depart from there. But why? It's not like you are short of parking space."
"This is stupid and embarrassing, but I have to deal with it. There are Captains in our navy all bent that you have such a formidable force parked around Fargone. Some of the idiots are complaining we should have a defensive watch on your movements and park you much further from the planetary surface. It would just be much easier to have you rotate out, than deal with their paranoia."
"Are they aware there are only a couple crewmen on board for a security watch and the duty crews are all enjoying the last of their leave on a world?"
"Yes, I pointed that out and also the fact you'd just unloaded almost all your ground strike missiles. They countered how slickly you suckered the North Americans during the war and captured the USNA ships at dock without a shot. You seem to have gathered a bigger than life reputation as an exceedingly sneaky bastard. A pretty tough thing to do given your personal scale," he quipped.
"Well then, I guess the crews can finish up their last liberty as well at Derfhome as Fargone. What's one more shuffle back and forth? The local merchants aren't going to thank you I predict; they are doing a brisk business from our crews spending their signing bonuses, but I'll broadcast a recall and make ready to move both escorts," he agreed. "We shall all wait at Derfhome for the deep space explorers to join us and depart from there."
* * *
"Were there any serious objections from the crews to being shuffled off to Derfhome?" Gordon asked Thor later, after enough time had passed for the orders to propagate down through the lines of command.
"It's the oddest thing. I thought they'd resent it. But the common crewmen are taking perverse pride in the fact they are regarded as too dangerous to have around. Sneering at the Fargone crews, saying their brass are afraid of our little fleet. Even the Fargoers in the cruiser Murphy's Law seem to have picked up this superior attitude and staunchly integrated with the 'Little Fleet' as they are calling themselves. They've all taken up wearing a black brassard or neck cloth, since we don't share any uniform, even the Hinth! And strutting like they are special forces. I asked, but damned if any of them will tell me who's idea it was. At least they didn't take up something even more provocative, like the Jolly Roger."
"If you take the Fargoer's complaint literally, then it's true," Gordon pointed out. Thor just rolled his eyes. He didn't say anything when Gordon wore a black silk scarf worn as an ascot next shift. A day later Thor too had a black wrist band, rather than appear to reject his own crew's custom. The Fargone General staff couldn't have found anything more damaging to their own forces' morale.
The move back to Derfhome allowed Gordon and Lee to make one last visit to the Red Tree Keep. There wasn't time to travel by surface like their last visit. They arrived by air car and if anyone thought it too fancy they'd just have to swallow it.
Lee was shocked when they arrived to see all the trees near the Keep dead, bare limbed in mid-summer, killed during the war when the USNA landed four combat shuttles full of Space Marines in front of the empty Keep. The Great Champion of Red Tree , William had stayed to challenge them and when the Marines refused to surrender William had triggered the enhanced radiation weapon killing them all, himself included and the trees across a couple kilometer circle. Lee knew the soldiers were dead, but hadn't realized trees were that delicate.
At least most of the grasses and weeds survived, but there was still a charred circle in front of the Keep where one pilot had tripped the self destruct charges on his shuttle after he knew the Fargone supplied neutron bomb had doomed them. The wreckage had been cleared, but the locals took up bringing stones to the scorch mark and making a cairn. It was growing to be a memorial to both William and the battle. Lee approved and found a stone she could lift and lugged it to the pile. That gesture didn't go unnoticed by the Derf. The Mothers said nothing either way about the growing stone pillar, content to let the people follow their feelings on the matter.
The other three intact combat shuttles had been temporarily moved, lined up neatly as far away from the Keep as the area of flat ground allowed. Gordon asked the Mothers permission and was allowed to recover the three combat shuttles. They seemed pleased to be rid of them, asking nothing of Gordon for them. Two went to the Retribution and one for the Sharp Claws to be externally grappled and taken along on their expedition. They only had room inside for Human crews, but that was fine, a majority of their personnel were Human.
A Derf crew was systematically felling the dead trees, saving the main trunks for lumber and planting replacements that would take years to mature. There were several square kilometers of dead trees, so it looked as if they would be busy clear through the winter and into the spring.
As the fleet's departure date approached there was a steady stream of news people and academics asking to go along. The news people seemed to be of an opinion that none of the fleet personnel could operate a common video camera competently. The academics all seemed to be of obscure disciplines, unrelated to any need they had as an expedition. They'd have welcomed a really good linguist or an historian dealing with the modern space era, but none volunteered. Nobody from the news organizations or academia was willing to work a necessary menial job when their expertise wasn't needed.
On literally the last day, their number two cook and missile magazine technician for the Retribution announced he had sudden remorse for his enlistment and didn't want to be isolated from society for several years. The number one cook privately informed Gordon that the real reason was the fellow had acquired a new and very serious girlfriend the last week he'd spent on Derfhome. The man had also blown most of his enlistment bonus on said Honey, so they pretty much had to write that off too. There was no point in being vindictive about it, and Gordon certainly didn't want anyone with them for who knows how long who didn't want to be there. The cook would find out nobody on Derfhome would give him credit, or take his contract, with the squandered debt hanging over his head. The consensus aboard the Retribution was that the sudden relationship would come to an abrupt end when the rest of his money ran out.
This last minute emergency would have required a rush recruitment, but the Mothers decided on the last day that there should be one of their number in the expedition to watch their interests and provide a voice of Derf law to counter balance the Fargone spox being taken along. The duty of course fell to the third and youngest Mother. She called herself Madonna for Humans and was young, fit, strong, and too inexperienced to be afraid. Best of all she'd come up through the kitchen. Madonna didn't think herself too special to cook and they could easily teach her to sort and load missiles under way. The Mothers hoped she'd serve on their own Sharp Claws, but Gordon dashed those hopes citing necessity, his fleet authority prevailing, and sent her to the cruiser Retribution.
The Retribution kept quite a few of the crew who had served on her during the recent war, there not being room for many to follow Gordon and Thor to the High Hopes. Fred Pierson and Bob Colburn were all of the old crew who moved over. The other explorer The Champion William was crewed mostly by recruits from Fargone and a few war vets. All solid people, but not well known yet by Gordon.
When the two refitted explorers joined them in Derfhome orbit, they had everything neede
d stowed aboard. The entire fleet was all assembled now in the same orbit well above Derfhome station. Notice was given to all crew and last minute suppliers that departure would be the next day, several shuttle lifts being needed to lift everyone to the new fleet. That night there was much serious last chance partying and tearful sayings of goodbye. Particularly there was heartfelt weeping by a number of bar owners and restaurantuers seeing the end of the signing bonus money.
Clare came to Lee before supper and dragged her away for a private talk. Lee knew something was wrong. It was written all over her face and in her tense stance.
"I've tried to find some department or supervisor in the fleet who really needs me. People were passing me around trying to find something for me to do just to please you. I'm ashamed to say my Earth education is really lacking. The more people interviewed me the more I realized I don't know how to do anything. They took me in the galley and I had no idea what the cook was talking about when he asked me do a couple things. The maintenance guy gave me a screwdriver and asked me to remove a filter and bag it. I had no idea what lock tags were or which way to turn them. They would have to train me to do the simplest things and none of them felt I was safe to turn loose in a ship unescorted. There isn't a department that has people with free time to train someone.
"I thought I'd found a home when one department head said I was the perfect supernumerary, but then I found out what it meant. But he was right. Not only that but the more I think on it, if I go, I will still be as useless when we return. I'll spend the whole voyage changing filters or being a prep cook and not getting better schooling. I've figured out it's going to take more than a little private study in my off hours to catch up."
"I honestly didn't realize there was a problem. Nobody came to me and said anything. They wouldn't would they?" Lee suddenly realized. "I haven't looked at your résumé myself. What can we do?" Lee asked. There wasn't any time left to fix this.
"There will be other voyages," Clare said, pleading in her voice. "I propose I stay behind on Derfhome for now. There are several small schools for humans in the capitol. I'd like to stay here and study if you will let me, maybe spend some time at Red Tree if I'd be welcome. By the time you get back I'll have more practical schooling and I hope, speak Derf fairly well. I'll be worthy of partnering with you then, when I can do something of value instead of simply be the owner's pet." She looked really miserable.
"Let you? I'd never insist anybody come along with the fleet. Lots of people think we're all crazy to want to go off where there's no civilization and help if we get in trouble. That's what you really want? Are you going to be OK here with the only people you know going away, maybe for a couple years?"
"It'll take me that long to catch up to you enough to matter. You have no idea all the things you learned, the way you were living, Earth kids aren't taught anything practical. Especially negative tax people. I can see now I was taught mostly not to make trouble and not to expect too much. Do you know I have simple algebra one year and that's it for math? It wasn't even required. My mom suggested I take it."
"No," Lee said, actually embarrassed for her. Why had she told stories and wasted time on the courier and not found any of this out? She was upset with herself too for assuming things. Instead she'd been telling stories and giving Clare pistol lessons. Not that that wasn't important to know too.
"Alright, that's easy enough to do. Do you want to try to live by yourself in an apartment? You've never done that have you? Or should I find a couple to show you how to cook and shop and at least temporarily be housekeepers for you?" Lee asked scrunching up her nose and thinking really hard. This was outside Lee's experience.
"I'd be much more comfortable if you could find a single woman, well educated herself, who could live with me and both tutor me on some things and ease me into local customs and living alone eventually."
"OK, I'll have our bank arrange it," Lee decided. "There's no time for me to do it before the fleet leaves, so they can do it for us."
"Your bank?" Clare asked, looking at her strangely.
"Banks do all sorts of things here. They're like a really good concierge service. And I'll instruct them to find a good roomie, pay her and give you an allowance. You can ask for extra funds too, if you want to experiment with business, or go to Fargone for classes you can't find here. I'll tell them to advise you but instruct them to try to be open handed. I'll ask the Mothers to extend hospitality to you at Red Tree. But I strongly suggest from my own experience that you not ask for adult status. It requires too much responsibility for you right now. If they treat you as a cub it will not be unkind, although you might find it restrictive at first. It will teach you much about how a Derf comes to adulthood however. If you find it too burdensome you can always thank the Mothers and return to the city."
"Thank you," Clare said, getting up and hugging her, tearing up. "That's a burden of worry lifted from me."
"Study what you want, but if you ask what subjects spacers should know and what sort of things would make you useful to me, then perhaps we can work together again after this voyage. If not, if you find out spacer type subjects aren't your thing, it wasn't a condition of helping you leave Earth to work together. We'll always be friends."
"Friends for sure. You gave me a life when I didn't have much to look forward to but living off the negative tax."
"At least you weren't in the city," Lee told her. "From what I saw, even on the negative tax living out in the country beat being in a big city."
* * *
Late the next day everyone was reported aboard their assigned ships. Gordon demanded from each ship that they do a full head recount after they reported nobody was missing. He didn't want to accuse anyone of falsifying a report, but was secretly skeptical that they hadn't lost any crewman too drunk or distracted or even jailed to make the shuttle. Gordon wasn't going to go search for anyone or delay leaving orbit unless it was a very important specialty for which someone was unaccounted. For a miracle even after a recount nobody was absent and unaccounted for. Gordon was disposed to believe them after a second count.
The captain of the Retribution, Aristotle, may have sensed his apprehensions. "We have all hands aboard," he confirmed. "Not all are ready for immediate duty. My XO, Napoleon, told me that the last shuttle was on close count to lift when a Derf trooper came staggering in with the last Hinth carried in his arms, too drunk to walk, and a Human in swimming trunks and black brassard riding his shoulders wearing the Hinth's mask, sound asleep. I seriously doubt any of that bunch will be worth a damn to do any duty this shift, but they are aboard. I'd give them all filter duties but I'd have to give it to all the Hinth to keep them together, the Derf wouldn't fit most places to access the filters, and the Human has vital duties I shouldn't take him from. But by your leave I decided it was too much trouble to get all worked up about it, they won't have opportunity to repeat the behavior underway, and I would prefer not to take official notice."
"I'm encouraged you have enough command wisdom to know when a little selective blindness is appropriate. Good job and carry on," Gordon told him. He could hear Lee behind him trying to stifle laughter with both hands. He applied a little selective deafness himself and ignored her.
* * *
The command ship, the High Hopes, had the bridges of all five ships tied in a tight little com net, nobody having a full tenth of a second lag to his signals.
"High Hopes will depart orbit first," Gordon announced, "with The Champion William to follow, then Murphy's Law and the Retribution. Sharp Claws will bring up the rear. That will be our normal order until I find some reason to alter it. In deep space, beyond the frontier, I may send in the Sharp Claws first, as the fastest most nimble armed ship, before entering as a group. Unless I am really paranoid about a system, in which case I may even send in the fast courier Roadrunner, which would normally be carried grappled and unmanned on the Murphy's Law. It is unarmed, but nothing here can touch it for speed." The Roadrunner was unmanned,
held in reserve and grappled on the Retribution because it was far too small to force somebody to endure a long voyage in it by choice.
"We shall transition in sequence this first jump to a known system, Survey System 2723. It has no particular navigational hazards. Each ship will transit at thirty second intervals, spaced a hundred kilometers laterally. After comparing notes and transit clock settings we'll jump to our last surveyed point, Survey System 2754. It has a gas giant and a few minor navigational hazards to anyone going deep in system. However, we shall transit the fringes of 2754 and exit to our first uncharted system."
"That exit will be our first exercise in coordinated jumps. We'll do so with the same physical spread for safety during training, but making every effort to exit and arrive within the microsecond of each other. Any time you need a quick answer on jump coordination you may bypass me and inquire of my navigator Brownie directly. Eventually I expect us to have the capability to jump together within a kilometer of each other, even if for some reason one or more of us has a speed differential. Emerging together as one radiant point in a new system masks our numbers and size. The military does this all the time, there is no reason we can't do so with the same nine nines probability of arrival a standard jump demands. I am having Brownie ping your clocks and starting our run. See you on the other side."
"Ready," was all Captain Priceless Fenton of The Campion William had to say.
"The military does it two ships at a time and counts it a damn hot piece of piloting!" The navigator Parsimony Cho on the Murphy's Law noted to his Captain Precocious Henry. "Does Gordon really intend to have all five of us jump in a bloody fur ball together to show off to any natives we meet?"
"I doubt it Mr. Cho," Captain Henry said, amused. "If I read our commander right, I expect after we have the trick of five ship jumps down, he'll cut the Roadrunner loose and make us jump with it overtaking us a few hundred kilometers per second off our group speed so that it sprints ahead on transition."
Family Law 2: The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet Page 3