by neetha Napew
It was only then that Sassinak remembered that Huron’s navigational computer, on the transport, was still slaved to the Zaid-Dayan’s. She dared not contact him - had no way to warn him that the violent explosion about to occur was not the mutual destruction of two warships. The Fleet beacon would convince him - and he was not equipped to detect that the Zaid-Dayan’s tiny IFF was not in the wreckage - only a Fleet ship could enable that. She looked at the navigational display - there, still boosting safely away, was the transport. She tapped the Nav code, and said, “Break Huron’s link.”
A startled face looked back at her. “Omigod. I forgot.” Bures’s thumb went down on the console and the coded tag for Huron’s ship went from Fleet blue to black neutral.
“I know. So did I - and he’s going to think the worst, unless it occurs to him that the link went quite a while first.”
On the main screen, the situation plot showed the cruiser’s rapid descent to the moon’s surface. Navigation were all busy, muttering cryptic comments to one another and the computer; Helm stared silently at the steering display, with Engineering codes popping up along its edges: yellow, orange, and occasionally red. Sassinak called up a visual, and swallowed hard. She’d wanted broken ground, and that’s exactly what she saw. At least the radar data said it was solid, and the IR scan said it had no internal heat sources.
They were down, squeezed tight as a tick between two jagged slabs on the floor of a small crater, within eight seconds of Nav’s first estimate. Given the irregularity of the moon, this was remarkable, and Sassinak gave Nav a grin and thumbs-up. Ten seconds later, the escort blew, a vast pulse of EM, explosion of light, fountains of debris of every sort. And on the outward track, the Fleet distress beacon, screaming for help in every wavelength the designers could cram into it.
“That had me worried,” Hollister admitted, grinning, as he watched it. “If that damn thing had blown this way, they might have decided to come get it and shut it off. I had it wired to the far side, but still - “
“The gods love us,” said Sass. She looked around, meeting all their eyes. “All right, people, we’ve done it so far: now we’ll be hiding out silently for awhile, until they’re convinced. Then repairs. Then I suppose we’d better explain to Fleet that we weren’t actually blown away.”
They looked good, on the whole, she thought: still tense, but not too stressed, and confident. “Full stealth,” she said, and they moved to comply, switching off non-essential systems, and powering up the big gray canisters amidships to do whatever they did however they did it.
There was still the matter of the person who caused the first disturbance, and Sassinak wondered why more trouble hadn’t surfaced during the fight. Surely that would have been the perfect time . . . unless she’d sent the subversive off with Huron, part of the boarding party. Her heart contracted. If she had - if he didn’t know, if he were killed because - she shook her head. No time for that. Huron had his own ship; he’d deal with it. She had to believe he could do it - and besides, she hadn’t any choice. Here, though - what about that cargo lift?
She called Major Currald, the marine commander, and asked who had been assigned to secure the cargo lift when they cordoned the area.
“Captain, it’s my fault. I didn’t give specific orders - “
She looked at his broad face in the monitor. Subversive? Saboteur? She couldn’t believe it, not with his record and the way he’d handled the rest of the engagement. If he’d slipped much, the enemy would have won. “Very well,” she said finally. “I’m holding a briefing in my quarters after the overpass - probably about four hours - we’re going to need your input, too.” So. The cargo lift could be pure accident, or “Once is accident, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action.” That reminded her to take it off bridge voice command, now that the fight was over. Once could be enemy action, too.
Sassinak had taken what precautions she could to ensure that only a few senior officers had access to controls for exterior systems. If her bridge crew wanted to sabotage her, there was really no way to prevent it. Now, with the ship on full stealth routine, all they could do was wait as the enemy’s ships appeared, and see if they accepted the evidence of a fierce and fatal struggle. Every kind of debris they might expect to find was there, and surely none of them had any idea what, precisely, the Zaid-Dayan was. They would not know what total mass to expect. Besides, that Fleet beacon screeching its electronic head off was not the sort of thing a live captain wanted reporting on his or her actions. She winced, thinking of what would happen when its signal finally reached a Fleet relay station, if she hadn’t managed to get word through on a sublight link earlier. She had better have a whole ship, and a live crew, and a good story to tell.
In the meantime, they had another hour and a bit to wait until the first of the enemy ships came into scan. Miserable as it was, they should stay in their protective gear until it was obvious that the enemy had accepted the scam. Not that a suit would really keep anyone alive long on that moonlet, but -
“Coffee, captain?” Sassinak glanced around, and smiled at the steward with a tray of mugs. She was, she realized, feeling the letdown after battle. She waved him toward the rest of the bridge crew. They could all use something. But she had something better than coffee ... a private vice, as Abe had called her leftover sweet tooth. She always kept some in her emergency gear, and this was just the time for it ... chocolate, rare and expensive. And addictive, the medical teams said, but no worse than coffee. She left her mug cooling on the edge of her console as the thin brown wedge went into her mouth. Much better. As they waited, the crew settled again to routine tasks, and Sassinak assessed their mood. They had gained confidence - she liked the calm but determined expressions, the clear eyes and steady voices. Most of the bridge crew made an excuse to speak to her; she sensed their approval and trust.
The first enemy vessel appeared on scan, high and fast, a streak across their narrow wedge of vision. It continued with no visible sign of burn or course change; the computer confirmed. Another, lower, from the other side, followed within an hour. This one flooded the moonlet with targeting radar impulses . . . which the Zaid-Dayan passively absorbed, analyzed, and reflected as if it were just another big rock. Over the next couple of hours, three more of the small ships crossed their scan; none of them changed course or showed any interest in the moon.
“I don’t expect any of them carrying the fuel to hang around and search,” said Hollister. “If they were going to, they’d have to get into a stable orbit - which this thing doesn’t encourage.”
“And I’m glad of it.” Sassinak stretched. “Gah! I can’t believe I’m stiff after that little bit of running - “
“And getting shot at. Did you know your back armor’s nearly melted through?”
So that had been the hotspot she’d felt. “Is it? And I thought they’d missed. Now - do you suppose that other escort is going to show up - and if it is, do they have it crammed with as much armament?”
“Yes, and yes, but probably not for another couple of hours. The little ships will have told them about the explosion. Wish we could pick up their transmissions.”
“Me, too. Unfortunately, they don’t all speak Standard, or anything close to it.”
Finally, the steward came again to pick up the dirty mugs, and gave Sassinak a worried look. “Anything wrong, captain?”
“No - thanks for the thought. I just indulged my taste for chocolate instead. Tell you what - I’m briefing the senior officers in my office in - “ she looked at the chronometer, “ - about fifteen minutes. Why don’t you bring a pot of coffee in there, and something to eat, too. We’ll be there awhile.” The steward nodded and left. Sassinak turned to the others. “Bridge crew, you can get out of armor, if you want: have your reliefs stand by in case. Terrell - “ This to her new Executive Officer, a round-faced young man.
“Yes, captain?”
“Take the bridge, and tell the cooks to serve the crew coffee or some other
stimulant at their duty stations. As soon as we’re sure that cruiser isn’t onto us, we’ll stand down and give everyone a rest, but not quite yet. I’ll be in my office, but I’m going to the cabin first.” Sassinak went aft to her cabin, got out of the armored suit, and saw that the beam had charred a streak across her uniform under it. Grimacing, she worked it off her shoulder, and peered at the damage in her mirror. A red streak, maybe a couple of blisters; she’d peel a little, that was all. It didn’t hurt, really, although it was stiffening up. She grinned at her reflection: not bad for forty-six, not bad at all. Not a silver strand in that night-dark hair, no wrinkles around the eyes - or anywhere else, for that matter. Not for the first time she shook her head at her own vanity, ducked into the stall, and let the fine spray wash away sweat and fatigue. A clean, unmarked uniform, a quick brush to her curly hair, and she was ready to face the officers again.
In her office, her senior officers waited; she saw by their faces that they appreciated this effort: nothing could be too wrong if the captain appeared freshly groomed and serenely elegant. Two stewards had brought a large pot of coffee and tray of food: pastries and sandwiches. Sassinak dismissed the stewards, with thanks, and left the food on the warmer.
“Well, now,” she said, slipping into her chair behind the broad fonwood desk, “we’ve solved several problems today - “
“Created a few, too. Who let off that firecracker, d’you know?”
“No, I don’t. That’s a problem, and it’s part of another one I’ll mention later. First, though, I want to commend all of you: you and your people.”
“Sorry about that cargo lift - “ began Major Currald.
“And I’m sorry about your casualties. Major. Those here and those on the transport both. But we wouldn’t have had much chance without you. I want to thank you, in particular, for recommending that we split the marines between us as we did. What I really want to do, though, is let you all in on a classified portion of our mission.” She tapped the desk console to seal the room to intrusive devices, and nodded as eyebrows went up around the room. “Yes, it’s important, and yes, it has a bearing on what happened today. Fleet advised me - has advised all captains, I understand - of something we’ve all known or suspected for some time. Security’s compromised, and Fleet no longer considers its personnel background screening reliable. We were told that we should expect at least one hostile agent on each ship - to look for them, neutralize their activities, if we could, and not report them back through normal channels.” She let that sink in a moment. When Hollister lifted his hand she nodded.
“Did you get any kind of guidance at all, captain? Were they suspecting enlisted? Officers?” His eye traveled on to Currald, whose bulk dwarfed the rest of them, but he didn’t say it.
Sassinak shook her head. “None. We were to suspect everyone - any personnel file might have been tampered with, and any apparent political group might be involved. They specifically stated that Fleet Security believes most heavyworlders in Fleet are loyal, that Wefts have never shown any hint of disloyalty, said that religious minorities, apart from political movements, are considered unlikely candidates. But aside from that, everyone from the sailor swabbing a latrine to my Executive Officer.”
“But you’re telling us,” said Arly, head cocked.
“Yes. I’m telling you because, first of all, I trust you. We just came through a fairly stiff engagement; we all know it could have ended another way. I believe you’re all loyal to Fleet, and through Fleet to the FSP. Besides, if my bridge crew and senior officers are, singly or together, disloyal, then I’m unlikely to be able to counter it. You have too much autonomy; you have to have it. And there we were, right where you could have sabotaged me and the whole mission, and instead you performed brilliantly: I’m not going to distrust that. We need to trust each other, and I’m starting here.”
“Do you have any ideas?” asked Danyan, one of the Wefts who had been in the firing party. “Any clues at all?”
“Not yet. Today we had two incidents: the firing of an unauthorized missile which gave away our position, and the cargo lift being left unlocked in an area which could easily be penetrated. The first I must assume was intentional: in twenty years as a Fleet officer, I have never known anyone to fire a missile accidentally once out of training. The second could have been accidental or intentional. Major Currald takes responsibility for it, and thinks it was an accident; I’ll accept that for now. But the first. . . Arly, who could have fired that thing?”
The younger woman frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve been trying to think, but haven’t really had time - things kept happening - “
“Try now.”
“Well - I could, but I didn’t. My two techs on the bridge could have, but I think I’d have seen them do it - I can’t swear to that, but I’m used to their movements, and it’d take five or six strokes. At that time, the quadrant weaponry was on local control - at least partly. Ordinarily, in stealth mode, I have a tech at each station. That’s partly to keep crew away, so that accidents won’t happen. That went out of quad three, and there were two techs on station. Adis and Veron, both advanced-second. Beyond that, though, someone could have activated an individual missile with any of several control panels, if they’d had previous access to it, to change its response frequency.”
“What would they know about the status of any engagement?” asked Sass.
“What I’d said today, was that we were insystem with those slavers, trying to lie low and trap them. Keep a low profile, but be ready to respond instantly if the captain needed us, because we probably would get in a row, and it would happen fast. I’d have expected them to be onstation, but not propped: several keystrokes from a launch, though not more than a five second delay.”
“The whole crew knew we were trailing slavers, captain,” said Nav. “I expect the marines, too - ?” The marine commander nodded. “So they’d know when we came out of FTL that we were reasonably close. Full-stealth-mode’s a shipwide announcement . . . easy enough for an agent to realize that’s just when you don’t want a missile launched.”
“Arly, I’ll need the names of those on duty, the likeliest to have access.” She had already keyed in Adis and Veron, and their personnel records were up on her left-hand screen. Nothing obvious - but she’d already been over all the records looking for something obvious. “And, when you’ve time, a complete report on alternate access methods: if an exterior device was used, what would it look like, and so on.” Sassinak turned to Major Currald. “I know you consider that cargo lift your fault, but in ordinary circumstances, who would have locked it off?”
“Oh . . . Sergeant Pardy, most likely. He had troop deck watch, and when the galley’s secured, he usually does it. But I’d snagged him to supervise the mounting of those barrage mirrors, because Carston was already working on the artillery. That would have left . . . let’s see . . . Corporal Turner, but she went with the boarding party, because we needed to send two people with extra medical training. I really think, captain, that it was a simple accident, and my responsibility. I didn’t stop to realize that Pardy’s usual team had been split, when the boarding party left, and that left no one particular assigned to it.”
Sassinak nodded. From what he said, she thought herself that it was most likely an accident - almost a fatal one, but not intentional. And even if it had been - even if one of the marines now dead had told another to do it, in all that confusion she would find no proof.
“What I’m planning to do now,” she told them all, “is sit here quietly until the fuss clears, then do our repairs as best we can, and then continue our quiet surveillance until something else happens. If the slavers decide to evacuate that base, I’d like to know where they go. Even if they don’t leave, we can log traffic in and out of the system. Huron’s taking that transport to the nearest station - a minimum of several weeks. If something happens to him, our beacon is ... mmm . . . telling the world just where the Zaid-Dayan was. It’ll be years before anyone picks it up,
probably, but they will. If we see something interesting enough to tail, we will; otherwise, we’ll wait to see if Huron brings a flotilla in after us.”
“Won’t he think we’re destroyed?” asked Arly.
“He might. Then again, he might think of the trick we used - we both read about a similar trick used in water-world navies, long ago. Either way, though, he knows the base is here, and I’m sure he’ll report it.” Sassinak paused, her throat dry. “Anyone for coffee? Food?” Several of them nodded. Nav and Helm rose to serve it. Sassinak took two of her favorite pastries, and sipped from her full mug. Her nose wrinkled involuntarily. Coffee wasn’t her favorite drink, but this had a strange undertaste. Major Currald, who’d taken a big gulp of his, grimaced.
“Somebody didn’t scrub the pot,” he said. He took another swallow, frowning. The others sniffed theirs, and put them down. Nav sipped, and shook his head. Helm shrugged, and went to fill the water pitcher at the corner sink.
Sassinak had taken a bite of pastry to cover the unpleasant taste when Currald gagged, and turned an unlovely shade of bluish gray. His eyes rolled up under slack lids. Hollister, beside him, quickly rolled him out of the seat onto the floor, where the commander sprawled heavily, his breathing harsh and uneven. “Heart attack,” he said. “Probably the stress today - “ But as he reached for the emergency kit stowed along the wall, Sassinak felt an odd numbness spread across her own tongue, and saw the frightened expression of those who had taken a sip of coffee.