If the designers of Lèger Nuage had actually considered moving long, narrow objects into the warehouses from the loading bay, their plans completely eluded us. What should have been a twenty minute task turned into two hours of a complex series of twists, lifts and slides.
I awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee. When I opened my eyes, I saw Tabby sitting on the bed, staring at me. I pulled up onto my elbows and accepted the cup from her.
"What's up?" I asked.
"We're ready to sail. Want to join us?" Tabby asked, handing me my earwig. "I let you sleep in, but it's 1300 and your cargo's loaded in the bay."
I leaned forward and kissed her. "That's awesome."
"Ada wants to take us in," Tabby said. "She wants more time flying in the heavy gravity."
"Fine by me," I said. "I'll catch a shower, but tell Ada to take off whenever she wants."
Tabby hopped up and jogged out of the room. First priority was a shower. After that, I'd reach out to my contact for the load we were delivering.
It was pretty obvious when we dropped into the cloud bank, the inertial damper struggled to keep up with the quick drops and sudden changes in atmospheric pressure. Rain hammered against the hull and I hoped Ada wouldn't have too hard of a ride. My contact replied that they'd have porters waiting for us once we landed.
"How's it going, Ada?" I asked flopping onto the couch of the bridge.
"What a pain in the ass! I love it," Ada said. "I might avoid the lightning vines, though."
Twenty minutes later, Ada spun Hotspur around and dropped us lightly onto the landing strip. Unlike the last time we landed, this time there was a small atmospheric ship pushed to the side.
Marny and I had dressed for the cargo load in our armored vac-suits and once we were on the strip, we dropped the loading ramp.
"No more stowaways," Marny said.
"Copy that," I agreed.
We unloaded the cargo in only a few minutes. The dripping wet porters picked up the loosely packed packages and stacked them next to the ship, along the vegetation wall. At 1400 exactly, Ambassador Turnigy approached the loading ramp.
"Permission to board, Captain," he called out.
"Permission granted, Ambassador," I said. "Are you ready to get going?"
"There's been a small change of plans. Probably best to discuss it with your business partners," he said.
I nodded. "This way," I said.
"Nick, the Ambassador is on board, but he said there's a change in plan. Can you bring everyone down to the galley so we can talk about it?" I asked over the comm.
"Yup," he said.
We waited for the ramp to close and then showed the Ambassador to the galley where Nick, Tabby and Ada waited for us.
"Ambassador, meet Ada Chen," I said, remembering that he hadn't met her yet.
"My pleasure," he said, kissing the back of her hand.
"What kind of change?" I asked. "I was under the impression King Kostov wanted to meet with us."
"I assure you, he does," Turnigy said. "The change is that the Captain of the Guard is not willing to allow your ship into our sovereign air-space. Apparently, the tale of how you all destroyed an Oberrhein cruiser has become something of a legend."
"I was under the impression that Oberrhein has an overwhelming anti-aircraft capability," Nick said.
"We do. But, we'd be allowing a warship into our capital. If something were to happen, the King would appear weak and it is a sensitive time," he said.
"How do you propose we get there?" I asked.
"I've requisitioned an airship. I'm afraid it's only large enough for four of us, though," he said.
"Forget it," Tabby said. "We don't need this crap. We'll take care of Petar on our own."
"Aye, Cap. We have no assurance of safety. Without our ship, we'd be completely defenseless," Marny said.
"King Kostov has specifically requested Ms. Masters, Mr. James and Mr. Hoffen. I understand your reluctance, but I also believe he would see it as a sign of weakness if you turned him down. And Ms. Bertrand, I will give you my assurance, as a representative of Oberrhein, of their safety."
"Why Tabby?" I asked.
"To be truthful, I believe it is because of a vid that is being circulated of when she broke the wrist of one of Lord Kiirilov's crew. Otherwise, I am not sure," he said.
"I don't like how this feels, Nicholas," Marny said.
"I know, but we've talked about it. We need an ally. If we can enlist the help of the King, perhaps we can just end this," he said.
"What do you want to do, Liam?" Ada asked.
"I think we should go with the Ambassador," I said.
"On one condition," Ada said.
This got everyone's attention.
"What's that, my dear?" Ambassador Turnigy asked.
"Turn over complete control of your ship to Loose Nuts. When you bring them back in one piece they can turn it back over to you. If you attempt to deceive them in any way, or bring harm to them, the ship remains our property," she said.
"I can't do that, it's the property of Oberrhein, not my own," he said.
"But, you're the Ambassador. It will give them the security net they need," she said. "If something goes badly, at least they have some chance of getting out of there."
"I assure you, you're worrying about nothing," he said.
"So, it's an easy call," she said.
I looked at her, surprised. What had happened to our doe eyed Ada?
Turnigy looked to me, then to Nick. When he didn't getting a response, he sighed. "Very well. We'll do as you say. Now, may we go?"
"Tabby, Nicholas, put on armored vac-suits. Oberrhein has a tradition of respecting strength," Marny said.
"On this, Ms. Bertrand, we agree," Turnigy said.
Marny insisted that we bring our heavy blaster pistols, as well as nano-blades and several grenade marbles. She even insisted that I hide my junior-sized nano-blade in my prosthetic foot. It wouldn't be difficult to find if I was thoroughly searched, but a casual inspection would miss it.
"Ada, you'll take Hotspur back to Lèger. You'll both have to use your best judgement if you think things are going south," I said. "Give us at least forty-eight hours, though."
We disembarked and made our way to the waiting ship. As far as airships go, it was beautiful. Unlike Hotspur with her stubby wings, this small ship's wings were long and swept back in a deep v-shape. I ran my hands along the shiny, medium-blue painted hull, finding it smooth to the touch. A single, small gun port on the bottom appeared to have an extremely small range of motion. The pilot would have to be directly lined up before it would be usable.
Turnigy palmed a panel on the side. A narrow stairway slid out just in front of the wing, locking in place above the surface of the landing strip.
The interior was surprisingly comfortable looking with glossy wood-paneling and synth-leather upholstery. To the aft of the entry, the cabin had three seats on each side arranged to best allow conversation with the forward seats pointing back. A single pilot's chair was forward of the entry hatch.
"Captain Hoffen, I believe you'll be flying, given Ms. Chen's proposal," Turnigy said as he dropped into a chair.
I turned forward, sat in the chair and attempted to interface with the ship. My HUD displayed a disconnected message. I waited for Nick and Tabby to get settled and then pointed out the obvious.
"I'll need you to hand over the controls and security lockout," I said.
He pulled up a virtual console and my HUD displayed the transfer of pilot's access to the ship. It was a clumsy attempt. I wasn't sure why he was playing games, but I could imagine it would be embarrassing if the Ambassador had to explain why he'd given us control of his ship, even if it was only for the duration of the trip.
"I'm not seeing the security administrative functions," I said, choosing to act like it was simple oversight on his part.
"Ah, yes," he answered.
A new set of functions popped up and I ran a quic
k audit. I had almost complete control of the ship, but Oberrhein security still had the ability to lock us out, if necessary.
"Almost there," I said. "I still see lockout capacity for your security forces."
"I'm afraid that's the best I can do," he said.
Nick got up from his chair and palmed the panel to re-extend the entry stairs.
"Mr. James, what are you doing?" Turnigy asked.
"We have a busy schedule and it doesn't seem like you are serious about this meeting. We'll have to reschedule in a neutral location," he said.
I stood up. I wasn't sure if Nick was serious, but I'd back his play.
"Come now," Turnigy said. "You can't expect us to give you a ship on your word that you'll give it back."
"I'm not negotiating," Nick said and continued down the stairs. Tabby was right behind him.
"Very well. I'll concede your point," he said.
I sat back down and looked. The final security block had been lifted. I added Loose Nuts to the security profile and notified Nick, who turned around and walked back up the stairs. I could see that even as he was walking, his AI was running an audit on the ship's systems. Several stealthed security programs were exposed and deactivated by the time he'd returned to his seat.
"We need to be able to trust each other, Ambassador," Nick said. "We're putting a lot of faith in your word."
"Trust me," Turnigy said. He had a strong, charismatic charm and I didn't have a difficult time understanding why he was a top level political operator within Oberrhein.
A destination popped up in a message from Turnigy. I hadn't seen him make a gesture to send it to me, but I was trying to familiarize myself with the new cockpit. My AI had done a very good job of rearranging all of the virtual controls. The ship's interface was more like the ore sled I was used to flying than that of Hotspur.
"All hands prepare for departure," I said.
My AI pulled up a modified checklist and I verified our fuel, small amount of O2, inertial systems and energy stores. I noticed that the gun-port powered a light blaster. I pulled a virtual stick from the left arm of my chair and extended the blaster. It had sixty degrees of freedom. It was more than I'd expected but we wouldn't be winning many dog-fights with this shuttle.
"Ready," Nick said.
"Good to go," Tabby agreed.
"Ada. We're set over here. We'll see you back on Lèger sometime tomorrow."
"Copy that, Liam. Stay safe," she said.
I pulled on my flight stick and the shuttle popped from the deck of the landing strip. I nudged us forward and we glided gracefully. My AI indicated that our minimum speed for unassisted flight was twenty-five meters per second. Under that speed the modified arc-jet system would be required to keep us aloft. I pushed gently and the shuttle accelerated, slicing through the atmosphere, the large wing surface responding to the heavy atmosphere.
The sensor package showed Ada in Hotspur following us and I pushed the stick harder, putting distance between us. I tipped the stick over, pulled it back so that we doubled back toward her and then dropped the hammer, executing a close fly by while waggling our wings.
"Ambassador, do you need to let them know we're coming?" I asked.
"I don't think you're headed in the right direction," he said. "We'll make contact when we're within three hundred kilometers."
"True enough," I agreed.
I pulled back on the stick and flipped around. I loved how responsive the small ship was in the atmosphere.
An hour later, as we continued our pass around Grünholz, we received a hail from Oberrhein control. Turnigy informed them of our mission and his diplomatic status and we were given a wide approach vector to their flight deck. I slowed to the speed requested and looked with anticipation in the direction of the city of Solnste. In the distance, a shiny, gray steel dome came up out of the sea, its top open as if cut off some fifty meters from sea-level.
"Sensors indicate four turret weapons tracking our approach," the ship's AI informed me. I forwarded it to the ship's speakers for everyone to hear.
"Ambassador?"
"Standard welcome. I suggest you don't do anything too provocative," he said.
CHAMPION
The navigation path directed me to fly in through the opening at the top of the city's protective outer shell. For a nation without good access to steel, they'd somehow constructed a shell that was ten kilometers in diameter. The opening at the top was a full kilometer wide. We passed over a fleet of ships, which from the air, looked like they were not in the best repair, but certainly boasted some of the largest projectile turrets I'd ever seen. I wasn't sure who they were defending the city from, but I couldn't imagine they'd be unsuccessful.
We slowed and landed on an airstrip protected by the curve of the dome. Eight other airships were currently parked and the strip looked like it would be good for possibly twice that number. A cadre of soldiers, dressed in spartan, dark-blue uniforms approached upon our landing.
"I've got to say, I'm not sure what there was to worry about with Hotspur. It looks like this city is well defended," I said.
"All about appearances, my boy. King Kostov would be embarrassed if a ship were allowed in and was able to cause trouble," he said.
I nodded and palmed open the hatch, allowing the stairs to descend. I walked out and looked across and down into the city that had been built beneath the giant dome. It extended downward for what my AI informed me was two kilometers. Not unlike a space station, there were habitation complexes neatly arranged in tall buildings. There were also a few green areas where short trees and grasses had been given a foothold. All along the interior wall of the dome were level platforms like where we'd landed.
"How many people live here?" I asked.
"There are twenty-five thousand free men," he said.
"Free men?" Tabby asked. "What's that mean?"
"It is a self-explanatory term," he said.
I stepped up next to Tabby and held her hand.
"Are women not free?" she asked.
"Oberrhein families are different than you might expect. As an outsider, it will be easy for you to judge us. I suggest that you keep these judgments to yourself. King Kostov and other members of the court have little patience for impertinence. As our guest, though you are a woman, you are certainly free," he said.
Tabby stiffened but didn't respond.
"For our benefit, how can we recognize the different castes?" Nick asked.
"A wise question, Mr. James. Anyone with metal bracers on their forearms are in a lower caste and won't speak to you without their owner's permission and only then if you recognize them," he said.
"Slavery?" Tabby asked.
"No, not strictly speaking. We provide an environment where people's needs are provided. If one desires to leave, they simply need ask and they will be released at the end of their contract. But, we're not here to discuss Oberrhein's social structure and we shouldn't keep King Kostov waiting," he said.
He approached the uniformed guards that had been standing at attention during our conversation. They all wore bronze bracers.
"Where are we headed?" I asked.
"Kostovgorod Castle is just there," He pointed out across the open area under the dome.
My eyes followed his gesture and I saw what I'd missed before. A fortress, complete with pointed towers and tall walls, stood separated from the rest of Solnste. A green band of grass and trees completely encircled it. Kostovgorod wasn't the tallest structure within the dome, but it certainly was the most unique architecturally. It looked like it belonged to an age long ago and that at any moment we might see men on horses riding forth, holding tall lances with banners atop them to quell a peasant uprising.
"This just keeps getting better," Tabby muttered.
"Inspiring, don't you think?" Turnigy asked.
We followed our guard to an awaiting gravity-assisted transport. It was just large enough to fit us and our guard.
"It doesn't seem that Sol
nste suffers from the same technological problems as Nannandry," I said.
"It's the dome. The founders of the city knew very well about the electromagnetic pulses and built this dome to shield the occupants. It was quite the undertaking," Turnigy said.
"Are there more domes like this?" Tabby asked.
"Perhaps we should save our questions," he responded.
The grav-shuttle dropped from the high perch we'd arrived on and fell into the light traffic of other similar shuttles. As we descended, my understanding of the size of the city changed. Solnste had to be twenty times the size of Nannandry. I wondered what kind of trade they had outside of their walls - certainly, not much with Nuage, as far as I could tell.
The buildings we passed looked ancient. The steel at ground level was deeply pitted and rust stained the exterior of everything. The dome might be keeping back the EM waves, but Grünholz appeared to be winning a much longer-term war of attrition and destruction.
The people we saw running around, doing their business, all appeared to have bracers on and I started to wonder just what the ratio of free to enslaved might actually be.
The shuttle we were in finally pulled to a stop on the edge of the green band of semi-forested gardens that separated Kostovgorod from the rest of the city. Unlike the dilapidated structures of the city, the scene in front of us was more like a storybook. The green grass was neatly cut, trees were well-groomed and flower beds were blooming. Even as we approached, we could see at least a dozen workers maintaining the grounds.
The castle towered fifty meters above us as we approached. Embrasures lined the top of the wall and it didn't take a lot to imagine men leaning out, raining arrows down on us as we rushed the besieged castle. It seemed excessive, but caused me to wonder if the heavily fortified structure had ever been attacked.
I wasn't disappointed in the décor of the interior, as it continued the theme of an ancient castle. Tapestries hung from the walls and shiny suits of armor stood at key locations. We followed our guard up an expansive central staircase to a grand hallway. The ornate doors at the end left no doubt in my mind as to where the king's court might be held.
Before we reached the doors, however, we were led into a side room where a buffet of food was set out along one wall.
Buccaneers (Privateer Tales Book 8) Page 30