“DA-CC wants to invest that much in the Farflung System?” Sterling asked.
Johan nodded. “DA-CC and about a dozen other companies, including Germanicus Mining and Minerals, and Maritz Mines of Beloofte. The Amberson Cartel has also shown an interest.”
“Not Amberson’s,” Sterling said before anyone else could. “There’s a bit of bad blood between us.”
“So I understand,” Johan said with a slight smile. “Several of your crew have a more genial relationship with GMM, and, of course, Maritz Mines is based in Beloofte, the closest Confederate system.”
“Have you talked to Aunt Alex about this yet?” Katrina asked. She shrugged and smiled apologetically when Ann and Sterling both turned to look at her.
“No, of course not. I did send her a message concerning your survival and arrival here, as well as what I knew about your claim from your earlier transmissions.” He turned to look at Ann again before continuing. “You’ll understand that we keep close tabs on planetary claims, Captain. All of the big conglomerates do. I am contacting you on behalf of the company in my capacity as the DA-CC Manager for the Georgia System, as well as a voting stock holder.”
Ann nodded. “Given our past association with DA-CC and your aunt, I feel confident that the crew will be pleased to continue that association in regards to Farflung.”
“Excellent. I can have the papers drawn up here and forward them to New Frankfurt as soon as they are signed.” Johan smiled broadly, but Ann froze him in his tracks.
“We will go to New Frankfurt and negotiate with your aunt. But first—do you know where we can unload fourteen thousand tons of nova wheat?”
Chapter 23
A NAVY CUTTER ARRIVED AT THE Savannah Space Harbor and five officers disembarked. The lowest ranking was a Vice Admiral, and the highest was a tie between two Fleet Admirals. A pair of full Admirals rounded out the group.
Their destination was the Admiral Ann’s Revenge. Thom Oslund was on watch at the dock when the uniforms appeared, and quickly called Ann. “Captain, there’s a whole band worth of brass coming up the companionway.”
“On our way,” was her reply, and Thom turned back to see the closest of the admirals step across the line that designated the boundary between station and ship.
“I’m Admiral Teach. Please inform Captain Stevenson that I am here.”
“Done, Sir,” Thom replied, coming to attention from habit more than intention.
“Another ex-sailor?” Admiral Takamura asked.
“All but two of the crew, Sir,” Thom answered without breaking his stance.
“At least she had that much sense,” Admiral Takamura muttered, ignoring the looks the other four admirals gave him.
“Admiral Teach, what a pleasant surprise,” Ann’s voice said from the hatch, drawing everyone’s attention. “And—Hiroshi. I didn’t know that you’d received your fifth star. Congratulations.”
Admiral Takamura spoke in a tightly controlled tone when he replied, “It is a pleasure to see you again, Annie.”
Admiral Teach was looking back and forth between them, and interrupted before they said anything else. “Ann, we’d like to discuss this inadvertent adventure of yours.”
“Of course, Sir. Come this way.” She turned and led the admirals into her ship, pausing at the wardroom to signal Katrina for coffee. “This is my dayroom. It’s cozy, but we shouldn’t be too crowded.”
“Thank you. Is Sterling available?” Admiral Teach asked.
“Right behind you, Sir,” Sterling said, and Admiral Teach turned to face him.
A frown creased his forehead as he said, “I thought I asked you to keep out of trouble?”
“I tried, but it got me when my back was turned, Sir,” Sterling answered with a laugh. Then he saw the rest of the admirals and his laughter dried up. “Admiral Takamura. I hadn’t expected to ever see you again.”
“It was my fervent hope that we would never again share the same air, Mister Stevenson.”
“All right, that’s enough of that,” Admiral Teach said, interrupting what was shaping up to be an ugly scene. “I’m aware that there is an unfortunate history between you two, but this is too important to let it get in the way.”
Admiral Takamura looked at Admiral Teach and nodded slightly. “As you say, Admiral Teach.”
“Why are you all here, Sir?” Sterling asked, transferring his attention to Admiral Teach again.
“Sterling, Ann, let me introduce the rest of the party. Vice Admiral Von Elbe of Fleet R&D, Admiral Carter of Survey and Admiral Meerhof. Admiral Meerhof is being included because her task force is going to be based in Beloofte, and most of our missions will start and return there. Admiral Takamura is CINC of Gamma Quadrant, so your discovery is technically in his bailiwick. Even if you are way outside the Confederacy’s boundaries, Gamma is the closest defined sector.” Each of the admirals except Takamura nodded as they were introduced.
Ann had focused on Admiral Von Elbe. “What does R&D want with an obsolete old tub like the Revenge?”
“You made an incredible jump, Captain. We want to know how,” he answered.
“So do we,” Sterling said. “Got any ideas?”
“No, and frankly, we’re puzzled. There has never been a reported incident like this,” Admiral Von Elbe said, then closed his mouth abruptly when the hatch opened.
Katrina brought in the good coffee service, as well as a tray of small sandwiches. No one said anything until she set the tray down. Then Ann said, “Thank you, Miss Von Rubenstein.” Katrina smiled and turned away, closing the hatch softly behind her.
“It is unusual to thank someone for doing what is expected of them,” Admiral Takamura said as he raised an eyebrow toward Ann.
“Courtesy is due everyone, Hiroshi, of any rank. Like gravity, it costs nothing, yet when applied to everyone it is a unifying force.”
Admiral Teach pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “This is going to be a long day if you two don’t stop sniping at one another. Back to the task at hand. Ann, we’d like the R&D people to go through your drive. I wish you had retained that Johansson coil, but I understand that you didn’t know we’d want it.”
“I’d also like to spend some time with your engineers,” Admiral Von Elbe interrupted. “I’d like my drive specialists to go over all of the repairs they made.”
Admiral Teach cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention back on him. “Ann, we want R&D to scour your hyperspace drive and all of the records you have of your accident. Based on the information you’ve already provided us, it may be possible that this is a common malfunction. We don’t advertise the fact, but nine ships with the same drive as yours have vanished under unexplained circumstances.”
“Admiral Teach, we would be happy to accommodate you in any way we can, but you have to understand our position,” Ann said, looking at the admirals around her table and missing the feeling of camaraderie that used to be part of any such gathering. “We have to get back to work. DA-CC has a cargo for us that will be ready in three days.”
Admiral Takamura spoke in a soft voice as he looked into Ann’s eyes. “There was a time when you were more concerned with duty than credits.”
Ann looked at him, then focused her eyes on the table. “There was a time when I didn’t have to worry about paying and feeding my crew. But that is no longer the case.”
Admiral Von Elbe leaned forward with his elbows on the table and said, “Admiral Stevenson, I’m sure something can be worked out. If we can discover the cause of this malfunction, we may be able to duplicate it. Think of the benefits such a drive configuration could provide. You jumped over a hundred light years in just a few minutes.”
“Think of the ships and crews lost, slowly starving to death and unable to even call for help,” Sterling said, drawing every eye in the room. “We were lucky. We had fuel and food and we weren’t too far out. But you say nine other ships have vanished. What do you think happened to them? How many of them
are still in hyperspace, unable to emerge into normal space? How many of them are in normal space but too far from anywhere to get home? We popped out and nearly ran into a star. If we hadn’t been able to get our thrusters and main drive back on line, we’d have tumbled into the star and you never would have known what happened to us.”
“You don’t have the background to understand how important a discovery like this could be,” Admiral Von Elbe said in a condescending tone.
“I have all the background I need,” Sterling answered in a low snarl.
“Sterling, Heinrich, that’s enough,” Admiral Teach said, interrupting the argument before it really got started. “Sterling’s background is sufficiently diverse that he probably understands the risks better than you do, Heinrich. After all, he just got back from four months of surviving the results of that malfunction.”
“Yes, Sir,” Admiral Von Elbe replied.
“As to the benefits,” Admiral Teach continued, “I think we can all imagine what a quantum jump ahead in drive technology like this could mean to the Confederacy. Ann, Sterling, I’d like you to let the R&D techs run their tests as a personal favor to me. I’ll send DA-CC a message explaining your retention in the Georgia system.”
Ann and Sterling shared a look before Ann nodded. “As a favor to you, Admiral Teach.”
“Very well. You’ll receive movement orders and clearance to the Charleston Naval Shipyard in a few hours. All but a few of your crew are ex-Navy, so I’m not overly concerned with security as far as you’re concerned.” Admiral Teach looked at Admiral Takamura and raised an eyebrow.
Admiral Takamura nodded. “Ann,” he began, focusing all of his attention on her, “we will be sending a survey ship to begin assessing your planet. Survey,” he nodded to Admiral Carter, “has requested one of my long-range scouts ships for the task. I have already assigned the CSS Duyfken, under command of Captain Victoria Janszoon. I believe you know her.”
“Yes, Vicky and I go way back,” Ann agreed with a wry twist of her mouth.
“I thought I remembered something involving the two of you.”
“Admiral Stevenson,” Admiral Carter interjected, “I will be accompanying the Duyfken in assessing your planet, and the rest of the planets in your system. Have you made any commercial contacts concerning mining rights that we should be aware of?”
“We have an agreement in principal with DA-CC, but no contract,” Ann answered. “We had planned on going to New Frankfurt to negotiate with the DA-CC Board.”
“I see. We will monitor the system until such time as you arrive to begin management of your claims. We will not, however, act as a police force for you.”
Ann looked her straight in the eye as she replied. “I didn’t think you would, Admiral Carter, but you and Admiral Von Elbe have placed us in an awkward position. We are being retained here, so we can’t take care of the system ourselves. Poachers are going to be a problem until we know for certain what the planets have to offer.”
“I have a solution to that issue,” Admiral Takamura said, drawing the conversation back to him. “The Duyfken will have orders to warn off any ships that come within their sensor range. That should be sufficient in most instances.”
Ann nodded deeply as she said, “Thank you, Hiroshi.”
Admiral Teach placed both hands flat on the table and stood. “I think that completes what we came here to do,” he said as everyone stood with him.
“I concur,” Admiral Takamura said as he looked at Ann.
“Then we’ll be about our business and let Ann and Sterling go about theirs,” Admiral Teach said and headed toward the door. No one spoke as they filed though the ship to the station. At the dock, Admiral Takamura walked away from the rest of the group with his head bent in concentration.
Admiral Carter stepped forward to catch Admiral Teach’s attention. “Sir, what’s the major malfunction between Admiral Takamura and the Stevensons?”
Admiral Teach shook his head slowly. “Hiroshi and Ann were engaged at one point in time. Hiroshi went on a deployment for seven months, and while he was gone Ann met Sterling. She sent Hiroshi the ring and a message that didn’t catch up with him until after Ann and Sterling had already gotten married.”
“Oof,” Admiral Meerhof grunted.
“He has never forgiven Sterling for stealing her away from him, and he’s never really forgiven Ann for breaking his heart. He felt that if Sterling had been an honorable man, he would have either not taken Ann, or at the very least, he would have faced him and confessed his feelings openly. Instead, Hiroshi didn’t see either of them for three years.”
“Will it cause a problem, Sir?” Admiral Meerhof asked.
“I would like to think they are all more mature than that. But, then again, there are a lot of things I’d like to think.”
*
The Navy spent three weeks tearing the Admiral Ann’s Revenge’s hyper drive apart and putting it back together again. Olaf, Thom, and Balder were in almost constant motion, moving between one group and the next. Admiral Von Elbe had each of them in conference at least every other day, either singly or together. In the end, none of the R&D people could figure out anything specific about what had happened to the drive or how to duplicate it.
Olaf sat at the wardroom table with the rest of the crew as the last of the Navy technicians left the ship. “They didn’t find anything, but at least they did a complete overhaul of the drives. We, um,” he paused as Thom and Balder chuckled, “we convinced the techs to throw in some parts so they could take the others for study.”
“How much of the drive did they replace?” Sterling asked, and Olaf sniggered.
“About sixty percent. All of the Johansson coils except the one we replaced in Beloofte. A lot of the peripheral equipment as well.” Olaf grinned as Ann, Sterling, and Denise chuckled.
“Well, that saves us a bundle in repairs,” Ann said as she looked around. “I’ll contact DA-CC and tell them that we’re available for a cargo.”
The answer to Ann’s message was received within the hour. “Admiral Ann’s Revenge, please move to the Pamlico Space Port, Dock New Bern, to receive your cargo.”
“DA-CC Control, this is the Admiral Ann’s Revenge. We copy your instructions to Pamlico Dock New Bern,” Sterling answered.
“Get our clearance, Denise, and set course,” Ann said and Denise immediately took over the radio.
Three hours later, after maneuvering halfway around the planet, the Admiral Ann’s Revenge nestled into Dock New Bern. “The ship is securely anchored, Captain Ann,” Denise announced.
“Very well. Sterling, DA-CC should have our cargo waiting. Begin loading immediately, and top off our fuel tanks. Have CM top off the stores as well,” Ann said as she stood. “I have some errands to run.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Sterling and Denise answered together, and then they shared a look. Neither had any idea what was on Ann’s mind.
*
Ann left the ship and made her way to a commercial communications center. At the desk, a fresh-faced young man smiled and asked, “May I be of service, Ma’am?”
“Yes. I need a secure line to the Naval Administrative Habitat.”
“Very well, Ma’am,” the young man said. “Who are you contacting?”
“Admiral Hiroshi Takamura.”
The young man busied himself for a moment, and then looked up at her. “Booth Nine, Ma’am.”
Ann went to the indicated booth and closed the door, causing the windows to frost. She inserted her credit chip and accepted the charges. The screen cleared almost immediately. “Admiral Takamura’s office, Yeoman Cleary speaking. This is a secure line. How may I help you?”
“I would like to speak to Admiral Takamura, please.”
“May I ask who is calling, please?” the yeoman asked.
“Reserve Admiral Annette Stevenson.”
“One moment, please,” the yeoman said, and then the screen went blank. When it came to life again, Hiroshi Takamura wa
s looking at her.
“Hello, Annie.”
“Hello, Hiroshi. I got your message.”
“Thank you for calling me. I’ll get right to the point. I have instructed Captain Janszoon to watch out for unauthorized ships, but she has made it clear that her primary concern is finding out if the planet can sustain human life, and if there is a native race that can trump your claim. After the discovery of the Cavellat, and the inherent problems that caused for the Palermo Syndicate, I thought it would be very wise to err on the side of caution. She agrees, and is likely to take the broadest definition of ‘sentient’ that she can manage.”
“I knew Vicky was still mad, but what can she really do? We did a ball-of-twine radar survey of the planet. There were no discernable artificial structures.”
“Annie, you are not that innocent,” Admiral Takamura said as he leaned toward the camera. “She can tie you up in court for decades arguing whether or not some race is intelligent or not. All she has to do is make the claim and submit the report. It will be up to you to refute it.”
“Oh, poo. It would seem that all of the sins of my past are coming back to haunt me.”
Admiral Takamura nodded deeply. “It is always so, Annie. I, too, have faced the misdeeds of my past.”
“Hiroshi?” she asked, stunned by his appearance. He looks like heâs aged ten years since we met on the ship.
Hiroshi nodded as if reading her thoughts. “I am dying, Annie. It is unlikely that I will live long enough to see you return and learn the verdict about your planet. I will say this now: I have never forgotten what you and Sterling did to me. Though I married a good woman and we stayed together until she died two years ago, I have never forgotten nor forgiven your betrayal.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her and smiled slightly. “It has eaten at me, like the cancer that is eating my lungs. I wanted you to know that some things cannot be made right with simple words.”
“Hiroshi, I-”
“It no longer matters, Annie. Perhaps I am a vindictive old fool. Michelle thought so. But I will go to my grave hating you and Sterling.” His eyes took on a feverish gleam. “That’s all I wanted you to know: I never forgave you.” The connection clicked and the screen blanked.
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