Double Spiral War Trilogy

by Warren Norwood

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Captain Mica Gilbert cursed silently. Then, instead of destroying the directive per her instructions, she made a decision that went against all her military training. With very little hesitation she contacted Admiral Pajandcan’s office and requested to see her.

  Two hours later .she was ushered into the planning room where Admirals Pajandcan, Dimitri, and Dawson were huddled around a holomap of the polar sphere.

  “-and I still say there has to be some logic to these skirmishes,” Dimitri was saying.

  “Come in, Captain,” Pajandcan said when she saw Gilbert

  “Torgy said you needed to see me about something?”

  “Yes, I did,” Mica said, “but I believe it will have to be in private, Admiral.”

  “More of your father’s secrets?” Dimitri asked in a teasing voice, “or a spy report to send back to him?”

  “What are you talking about, Dit?” Admiral Dawson asked.

  “Didn’t you know she was a spy for her father?

  “Please, sir, I really don’t think-”

  “That will be enough, Dit. You and Dawson keep working on this. Project all the known skirmishes and see if you can figure it out. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Pajandcan welcomed the break from the planning. Standing still for any length of time made her injured back ache, and more than once she had been forced to sleep in traction. The doctors had told her it would probably be like that for the rest of her life, and she didn’t relish that thought at all.

  Mica followed Pajandcan into a small office off the planning room and was surprised when Pajandcan grabbed an overhead bar, swung her feet up, and proceeded to hang upside down.

  “Forgive me, Mica, but this is the only way I can get relief. I hope you won’t mind talking to me like this.

  “I just hope you don’t fall when I tell you why I came here” Mica said with a smile that crept past the seriousness of this meeting. ‘’Admiral, you’ve seen the reports to my father, but what you haven’t seen and didn’t know was that I am an honor trustee.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me.”

  Pajandcan’s face looked strange when she spoke upside down as though the wrong part of her mouth were moving.

  “You mean you knew?” Mica asked.

  “I guessed. But I am surprised that you are telling me. Isn’t that against regulations?”

  Mica sighed and sat down, bringing her face closer to the level of Pajandcan’s. “Yes, it is, unless I have determined a need to confide in the overall commander-you-and the directive I received today made me feel like that need had arisen.”

  “Stonefield laid this on you, didn’t he?”

  “Yes. And now he wants me to increase my surveillance of you and Admiral Dimitri, and I just can’t do it.”

  “Why? If that’s what your orders are, why can’t you spy on us more than you have been?”

  Mica hesitated. “Please, Admiral, I don’t mean to deprive you of your relief, but it really would be much easier to talk about this if you were rightside up.”

  “All right,” Pajandcan said, pulling herself up to the bar and freeing her feet. “My head was beginning to fill up with blood, anyway.” She lowered herself gently to the deck then sat on the desk, facing Gilbert. “So, go on. Why are you breaking all the honor trustee regs like this?”

  Because, Admiral, I thoroughly despise spying on you for Father, much less for Admiral Stonefield. I hate being an honor trustee. I hate what Stonefield keeps asking me to do and I hate myself when I do it. There’s no way I can go on like this, Admiral. I just can’t.”

  Pajandcan felt sympathy for Mica Gilbert but wasn’t sure how she could help her. “So? What do you want me to do?”

  “Can t you get me out of it?” That was what Mica really wanted, relief from this onerous duty.

  “No. Only Stonefield can do that. The only thing I could do would be to – No! Wait, Mica, there is something, something we can both do if you’re willing.” Pajandcan only hoped

  Mica was woman enough to accept her idea.

  “I’m ready to try almost anything,” Mica said.

  All right, then, listen to me while I talk this out and remember that I hate this spying business, so I may not be seeing things as clearly as I should. If you force Stonefield to release you as honor trustee, that only means he will find someone else to take your place. However, if you were to keep the assignment, then you could continue sending Stonefield your reports, only Dimitri and I would help you with them.”

  “You mean falsify reports?” Mica asked

  “No. I wouldn’t ask you to do that. We wouldn’t tell him anything that wasn’t true. The three of us would just agree on what to tell him.”

  Suddenly Mica grinned. “You know, Admiral, I think I like your idea. Let’s do it.”

  “The three of us will have dinner in my cabin and can do our first report then. You can even tell Stonefield you had dinner with us and were privy to our conversation.”

  Mica’s grin turned into laughter. Oh, if Stonefield ever found out, the garbage would really hit the backblast, but there was no reason he should ever find out.

  11

  FRYE HAD BEEN SURPRISED TO SEE LIEUTENANT OSKA following Judoff into the Bridgeforce meeting. As the discussion of the attack plans ranged around the table, he had been even more surprised when the lieutenant had caught his eye for a second and given Frye a slight nod.

  Perhaps Oska and his mother were to be trusted, but Frye was going to have to ensure that Oska never again allowed himself a public acknowledgment of any connection between them. If Judoff ever suspected that Oska was feeding information to Frye, there was no telling what she would do to the lieutenant. Frye refused to let himself think about that. He had to make sure Oska understood the danger he was in. Bridgeforce was arguing about the bombships again, not only because the ships still were nowhere near completion, but also because they had become so psychologically linked with the concept of victory that even some of those who had originally opposed their construction now felt reluctant to approve the final attack plan without them.

  Frye was bored by all Bridgeforce’s repetitious arguments and let his mind drift back to the meeting with Oska’s mother just a short six days earlier.

  He had risen to meet her when Melliman ushered the tiny woman into his office, too surprised to speak until she gave him the traditional bow from the waist. Only then had he recovered his composure.

  “Please, be welcome Anshuwu Tashawaki...”

  “My honor to be in your presence, distinguished sir.” Melliman had prepared tea for them while he and Madame Tashawaki exchanged pleasantries, and it was only after they had drunk their first cup of tea that Frye dared to ask about the letter concerning her son.

  “He is a good son, distinguished sir,” she had said, “and he works for the honor of our family and the U.C.S. The shame would be if Marshall Judoff, under whose command he is forced to serve, did not work for the same honor.”

  “I understand your concern, Madame Tashawaki; however, I must know if your son is aware of what you have done.”

  “It was he who asked me to do this thing. Were his father, the honorable Sezua Oska – may his soul soar in peaceful winds – still alive, this duty of informing you would fall to him. Since he is not alive, and since by tradition I cannot ask my new husband to assume such duty, I must do as best as a humble woman can to assist my son in keeping his honor.”

  Frye had marveled at the strict, almost archaic formality of her speech and attitudes, and he had admired her for them at the same time. “You are a noble woman,” he had replied.

  “You are too kind, Admiral Charltos, yet I must presume upon that kindness on behalf of my son and ask that you accept this honorable commitment he would make to you.”

  “Most certainly I accept it. You have but to tell us how it may be arranged, and I will attend to the details.”

  “Sir, since my son dares not communicate directly with you, he asks that
you accept my services to forward his communications and return your responses. The difference between his name and mine keeps all but members of our family from knowing our relationship, and none in Marshall Judoff’s command are aware of it. Would that arrangement be satisfactory, distinguished sir?”

  “Yes, Madame Tashawaki, it is a satisfactory arrangement, but I must caution you that no one discover what it is we do or your son could be in grave danger.” ‘

  “He and I both understand that and are prepared to be most cautious and circumspect in our dealings with one another. His communications to me will come through his father’s cousin who will believe he carries only personal correspondence. Unless my son tells me of some great urgency, I will wait several days after receiving each letter before bringing it to you.”

  “Perhaps your arrangement should be with Captain Melliman someplace well away from here,” Frye had suggested.

  And so it had been arranged, with the unknown cousin as the ignorant go-between for Lieutenant Oska and his mother and Melliman between her and Frye. He had warned Madame Tashawaki that Oska should not use the channel he used for first contact again unless it was an emergency. She had agreed to everything he suggested, and after a ritual serving of ice water, Melliman had taken her home. All in all it had been a remarkable experience.

  Now as Frye listened once again to the arguments around him, he wondered what could come through this channel of secret information from inside Judoff’s headquarters.

  “And I insist” Meister Hadasaki was saying, “that it is imperative for us to proceed with Admiral Charltos’s plan as quickly as possible.”

  “If we have not lost the initiative already,” Vice-Admiral Lotonoto added.

  “Well,” Frye said, unexpectedly entering the discussion, “one thing is certain. If we continue arguing instead of taking action, eventually either the bombships will be ready or Sondak will have won this war.”

  ”That’s a treasonous statement,” Marshall Judoff said.

  “It is factual statement,” Frye said, letting out the anger and frustration he felt. “I warned Bridgeforce in the beginning of this war that if we wanted total victory, we must never lose the initiative. Then, as now, my warnings seem to go unheeded by the majority of this body.”

  For a long moment there was silence in the room. Then Meister Hadasaki said, “I move we accept Admiral Charltos’s plan and begin executing it at once.”

  A second was heard, and the motion was approved by a vote of four to three. Lotonoto immediately moved that the vote be made unanimous, and when Judoff seconded the motion, everyone voted affirmatively.

  Suddenly Frye felt much better than when he had entered this meeting. “Thank you all,” he said. “I will have additional detailed copies in your hands within the hour which we can discuss tomorrow. Until then, this meeting is adjourned. ‘

  As everyone was preparing to leave, Marshall Judoff walked to the head of the table and in a barely audible voice said, “I would be careful tomorrow, Charltos.” Then she turned her back on him and left, with Kuskuvyet and Lieutenant Oska following close behind her.

  Frye smiled at her retreating entourage and thought, I certainly don’t need your caution to be careful, Judoff. Your presence is warning enough.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Henley picked up the com unit on one side of the glass wall, and Kinderman picked up an identical unit on his side of the wall. “This is not at all what I intended, Kryki” Henley said.

  “I know that, old son, but your intentions do little or nothing to make my imprisonment more bearable. Besides, you have already apologized for this injustice. Surely you did not think it was necessary to do so again.”

  “No, that’s not the reason I came. I just wanted to tell you that I’m going to talk to Admiral Gilbert again and try to get him to change his mind.”

  “He will not do so, I assure you.”

  “Perhaps not, Kryki, but I must try, and since I think I’ll be leaving soon, I have to do it now.”

  “You’re leaving, old son? To where are you bound?”

  “I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that I’m going to be much closer to where the real war is taking place.”

  Kinderman smiled. “Yes,” he said slowly, “I should have suspected that. There is a tone of attraction in your stories about the war. Be careful of that, my friend. Those who are attracted to war often die for their attraction.”

  “I’ll be careful. Getting shot once was enough for me.” Henley hesitated. Look, Kryki, if you would promise not to tell anyone what you told me, I think that would go a long way in getting Admiral Gilbert to change his mind.”

  “Sorry, old son, but I have already explained my position to you on that subject. I am honor bound to do that for which I have already received recompense. “

  “You could give the credits back. Gilbert could probably even find a way to make up for your loss.”

  “Good-bye, old son,” Kinderman said. Then he turned off the com unit and set it gently in its rack.

  “Wait, Kryki! Wait!” Henley waved frantically for Kinderman to pick up the com unit again, but all he got for his efforts was a smile and a wave as Kinderman walked out of his side of the visiting room with a guard behind him.

  Damned idealist, Henley thought. He put his com unit in its place and left feeling depressed. Colonel Ingrivia had broken two dinner engagements and then told him she “just di’not have the time to be goin’ out socially.” Gilbert had put Kryki into protective custody and had indicated he might not let him out until the war was over. And Mica Gilbert had responded to his last message with a cryptic note that did not make him feel she was eager to see him again.

  The only thing that had gone the way he had hoped it would in the last ten days was getting Gilbert’s approval to join one of the new legions that were being formed for Sondak’s next major offensive. Gilbert had hinted that this legion would be leading the counterattack against one of Sondak’s systems now controlled by the Ukes. He couldn’t tell Henley which system yet, but from some of the rumors Henley had heard floating around, most bets were on one of the systems in the Ivy Chain. Wherever it was, Henley was ready to go.

  It isn’t that this place is boring, he thought as he walked through the connecting tunnel between the military prison and Sondak Supreme Headquarters. It’s just that my stories are beginning to read like headquarters stories. And he didn’t like headquarters stories. In spite of the death and pain and dying and fear, combat reporting was still the most attractive thing he had ever done.

  Maybe Kryki was right. Maybe he was too attracted to combat. There was certainly something about combat that made a man feel more intensively alive than anything else he knew. Regardless of the dangers, combat was a thrilling experience that was hard to replace in normal life. Kryki was right. He would have to be aware of his attraction just to make sure he wasn’t careless when the guns were firing and the adrenaline was flowing.

  After being passed by the guards, he caught an elevator and made his way to Admiral Gilbert’s office. Much to his surprise, he was told to go in as soon as he arrived

  “Ah, Henley, I have something for you,” Gilbert said. “It’s a message from Mica.”

  “For me, sir?”

  “Well, through me to you. She said, and I quote: “tell that mature Chief Warrant that I understand why he likes it out here so much and give him my love.’”

  Henley just stared at Gilbert.

  “That’s what it says, Chief. Why do you look so surprised?”

  “Because,” Henley said slowly, “the last message I got from her didn’t give any indication that she ever – uh, well, sir, let’s just say it was worded far more formally.”

  Gilbert waved Henley to a chair and sat in his own behind his desk. He didn’t know what had happened between his daughter and Stanmorton out in the polar systems, but he was sure there was a great deal of emotion tied up in it. “Are you in love with my daughter, Henley?”


  Henley fought to control the blush that started to rise in his cheeks. “Sir, I don’t know how to answer that. Love is a word she and I have skirted around. I’m not sure I can love anyone-at least in the way that Mica talks about love.”

  “In other words,” Josiah Gilbert said, “you are in love with her, but you don t trust your emotions?”

  “Look, Admiral, I’m almost as old as you are and I’m certainly old enough to be her father. What I feel for Mica could be the same thing I’d feel for my own daughter.” As soon as he said that, Henley regretted it. Linking his own daughter and Mica uncovered a dark layer of emotions and desires he would just as soon keep buried.

  “I see. Well, then, I won’t ask you any more, Henley, but I want you to know that the difference in your ages doesn’t seem to bother her, and it doesn’t bother me – now that I’ve had time to think about it.”

  Henley laughed suddenly. “You sound like a father talking to a prospective son-in-law.”

  Gilbert smiled. “I could be, Henley – someday. But for now we’ll just consider the subject closed until you two bring it up again. You’re here about Kinderman, I suppose?”

  “Correct, Sir.” Henley was glad for the change of subject.

  “The answer is the same. As I told you before the Service and the civilian government have no comment to make on his information, but we do not want rumors about the Ukes having some terrible new weapon circulating throughout Sondak. That would be very bad for morale. So, until we have Kinderman’s assurance that he will not start such a rumor, we have no alternative but–“

  “He won’t give that assurance, sir. He says it’s a matter of honor.”

  “Then he will stay in protective custody. You understand that, don t you?”

  “Yes, sir, I do.”

  “Good. Now, how soon can you be ready to space out?”