Double Spiral War Trilogy

by Warren Norwood

  By the time he got to his office the day after receiving that message, he was tired and irritable. Melliman had tried to put him in a better mood with tenderness and affection, but her efforts only seemed to make things worse. As usual, his microspooler was loaded with information, but he wasn’t ready to turn it on. All he could do was stare at it and wonder if she had broken into it again and left another surprise for him.

  She. Barra. Was that what she was calling herself these days? Or was she using that name in the message to mock him? With an angry swipe he flipped on the microspooler, and then chided himself for his actions. If he wanted to do something useful, he should have called the Comnet Security people as soon as he got the first message and told them to change all access codes as quickly as possible. Then she might never have gotten to him a second time.

  He smiled ruefully, thinking that he probably had not called in Comnet just so she could reach him. Might as well do it now and stop this harassment, he thought.

  As he reached to turn off the microspooler, his smile faded.

  It was too late. She had reached him a third time.

  Admiral, however much I might once have hated you, I am still a daughter of the U.C.S., and as such, I understand where my duty lies. If you did not believe my last message, I understand, but if you check with your spies on Mungtinez, you will discover a large buildup of Planetary Forces there destined for the invasion of the Ivy Chain. I cannot send much more than this in one message. Please trust me – Barra.

  “Melliman,” Frye said loudly into his lapelcom, “get the head of Comnet Security up here immediately.” He paused for a long second. “No. Never mind. You get in here.”

  “What is it?” Melliman asked moments later as she stood in front of his desk.

  Frye pointed silently to the message on his screen. “Come around here and look at this. It is the second one that has come in like that. Do you know what that means?”

  Melliman moved around the desk and bent over slightly so she could see his screen. “I have no idea what it means,” she said after reading the message. “Who is Barra?”

  “That’s a long story, Clarest, one I’ll tell you as soon as we have time. For now, let’s just say that Barra is someone I used to know who is apparently living in Sondak – where I don’t know. But she appears to have access to some of Sondak’s important military information.

  “A spy, sir?”

  “No. At least not an official spy. Perhaps she’s a distant relative with good intentions.”

  “So why are you so upset?” Melliman asked letting her had brush against his arm as she straightened up.

  “Ah…I was hoping it didn’t show. Part of the reason I’m upset, Melliman, is that this Barra has found a nice little crack in our communications security network through which she is sending these messages.”

  “And you want Comnet Security to close the crack? But something, or someone, is giving you serious second thoughts. Am I right?”

  Frye smiled up at her with a great deal of affection. “You are, Clarest. That’s one of the reasons I value your assistance so much. You have a talent for getting directly to the center of things. The problem for us is twofold-first, determining if this information is valid, and second, finding the crack through which it comes.

  “How well do you know this person, sir?”

  “Not very well, why?”

  Melliman knitted her brows as she answered. “Because, sir,” she said slowly, “if you don’t know her very well why should you have any reason to trust her at all?”

  Frye paused before he answered but decided it wasn’t time yet to tell Melliman the truth. “A valid question, AOCO, to which there is but one answer – she is a relative who might well be worth trusting.”

  “Hardly a valid answer, sir. I think you should call Comnet Security and let them handle this. And if you don’t–“ she hesitated, and then quickly went on, “well, by the rules and regs if you don’t report it I must. You know that, don’t you, sir?”

  “Yes. Of course,” Frye said slowly. There was no way of hiding the truth now. “She’s my daughter, Melliman.”

  “Captain Yednoshpfa, sir? How would she–“

  “My other daughter,” Frye said softly.

  “Pardon, sir?”

  “My other daughter,” he repeated, “the daughter only three other people in the galaxy ever knew about. And two of those people are dead. You see, Clarest, this Barra claims to be my illegitimate daughter, and I believe she is. Now do you understand the problem?”

  Melliman gently put her hand on his shoulder. “Yes, I do. But if I am going to help you, I have to ask you something.”

  “Go ahead.”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she resumed. “I am assuming that Vinita is not Barra’s mother but that Vinita was one of those who knew, and Barra’s mother knew, and both of them are dead.”

  “You are correct.”

  “Then the question is: Who is the other living person who knows about her?”

  Frye almost smiled when he looked at her. “Meister Hadasaki,” he said, watching her reaction, “and I don’t believe for a minute that he is involved in this.”

  “Nor do me, at least not yet, anyway.” She paused and rubbed the end of her nose with the knuckle of her thumb. “There is another alternative, of course, that someone completely unknown to you discovered that she was your daughter and is –“

  “That would have to be pretty complicated,” Frye said pensively. “Wouldn’t it? That person would not only have to know about Barra and how to penetrate our communications but would also have to know about our spies on Mungtinez and about a troop buildup there that could be verified.”

  “Then it has to be Hadasaki,” Melliman said quickly. “He is the only one with access to all that information. He doesn’t have to penetrate security. He has access to the information from the spies, and he knows about your daughter.”

  “I thought about Hadasaki last night and rejected him immediately for one simple but important reason. He never knew my daughter’s name. Even if he had found that out, he wouldn’t know to use the ekename, Barra that I gave her mother. Only Barra’s daughter would know that.”

  Melliman sat on the edge of the desk. “All right, sir. If we assume that these messages are from your daughter, what do we do about them?”

  “Nothing. Not yet, anyway. For the time being we must proceed without taking the messages into account. Even if the Saks are increasing troop strength on Mungtinez, we have no confirmation that they are planning to invade the Ivy Chain.”

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  “There are times, Admiral,” Mica said, “when the service’s demand for secrecy seems to get out of hand.”

  “You think your father should have told us more?” Pajandcan asked. “You think that just because you’re his daughter you should be treated differently than –“

  “Go easy on her.” Dawson smiled. “I don’t think that’s what she meant at all.”

  “He’s right. I didn’t mean that, Admiral,” she said quickly. The last thing she wanted now was for Pajandcan to be angry with her. “What I was, and still am concerned about, is how do Admiral Dawson and I prepare for our new assignments when we don’t know what they will be.”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Pajandcan felt some of the same frustration, but she knew better than to share it with her subordinates. “I’m sure that when you two join BORFLEET, all your questions will be answered.”

  “Sounds like you quoted that from the book,” Dawson said.

  “No, sir,” Mica said to Dawson, “she is right about all that.” For some reason Mica thought about how much she was going to miss POLFLEET’s officers and crew. No, that wasn’t it. She hadn’t really made any close friends in POLFLEET. It was Pajandcan she was going to miss. Now she understood what had been bothering her since she had gotten her orders.

  Pajandcan saw the strange look on Mica’s face and wondered what it was
all about. “Something else, Captain?”

  “Uh, not exactly, Admiral, but, well, I would like a few minutes of your time before Admiral Dawson and I leave.”

  “Certainly. In fact, you can have it right now if Dawson doesn’t have any further questions.”

  Dawson shook his head. “No questions, Admiral, not from me. Remember, I’m just a civilian you tricked into this position. Since I can’t get out of the system until the war is over, there’s no sense in arguing with it.”

  “You like it, Dawson. Admit it,” Pajandcan said. “If you didn’t have a war to fight, you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself.”

  “Not true,” Dawson said, holding up his hands. “I was once a happy tree farmer on Granser’s Planet before Sondak forced us to fight for our rights. You still don’t see it, do you, Admiral? Sondak – namely, the Joint Chiefs and their militaristic government – is the cause of all this.”

  Pajandcan had heard this speech from him before. “That doesn’t change what I said. You like what you’re doing because you’re so good at it.”

  “Eat dirt,” Dawson said as he stood up.

  Mica was surprised by the anger in Dawson’s voice. She had never seen him this way before.

  “Go pack,” Pajandcan said quietly. “Captain Gilbert and I still have some business to attend to. Oh, and Dawson,” she added as he was halfway through the doorway, “just for the record, I do understand.”

  Dawson mumbled something unintelligible and was gone.

  “He’s a good man,” Pajandcan said absently, “but a very bitter one.” With a quick shake of her head she let go of Dawson and turned toward Mica. “Now, Captain, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “Well uh I –“Mica shut her mouth. Just say it, she told herself. “It seems to me, Admiral, that, well, that there is some unfinished business between us, and I didn’t want to leave without trying to clear it up.”

  “Like what?” Pajandcan suspected that Mica was talking about their personal relationship, but it wouldn’t hurt to let her introduce the subject.

  “Well, for one thing, I wanted you to know that I never said anything derogatory about you in my reports to Father.

  “I never thought you did.”

  “You’re not going to make this any easier for me, are you?”

  Pajandcan hesitated. “Until you make it clear to me what it is you want to talk about, I don’t know how I can do anything but listen, Captain.”

  Something about Pajandcan’s attitude made Mica feel awkward and uncomfortable. “Look, Admiral, I know you haven’t exactly appreciated my presence in your command, but I think we just started off on different frequencies. I have a great deal of respect for you now that I didn’t have before, and…and…”

  “And what? If you’ve got something else in your exhaust, so blow it out.” The subtle hostility in her voice made her wonder just how much Dawson had gotten to her.

  It was as though Mica’s mind were blank, as though she had never really had anything to say at all – but she did. She knew she did. “I never really knew my mother,” Mica said suddenly, surprised by the words coming out of her mouth. “Oh, I mean, she was around, but she was never quite there, if you know what I mean. She had a problem coping with everyday life, so we tried to protect –“

  “What does this have to do with us?” Pajandcan asked tensely. The last thing she wanted to hear about was Mica’s mother.

  “Please, Admiral.” Mica didn’t know exactly why she had brought up her mother, but she knew intuitively that by talking about her mother, she might be able to make Pajandcan understand what she was feeling. “This is very difficult for me,” she continued. “I have to tell you in my own way.”

  “No.” Pajandcan was angered. How dare Mica presume that she had a right to discuss her mother? Pajandcan knew no reason why she should have to listen to this. “Either tell me what all this has to do with me – and us – or keep it to yourself.”

  Mica felt a tremor under her ribs and did her best to steady herself. “All right. I’ll try to say it as simply as I can. My father is going to Bakke, and you are going to meet him there, right?” When Pajandcan nodded, Mica rushed on, desperate to get it out. “When you see my father, if anything happens – between the two of you, I mean – tell him I love him and I think you’d be good for each other.”

  For a long moment Pajandcan didn’t know what to say. Her anger was gone, and she was touched and a little amused. Mica was giving her permission to resume her affair with Josiah! If Mica hadn’t been struggling so hard and so seriously to get it out, Pajandcan would have laughed. This child, his child...and suddenly it made sense. Pajandcan’s heart tingled with an emotion she couldn’t identify.

  Mica watched Pajandcan’s expression go from amusement to something else that ended in a slight reddening of her face. “Do you understand what I mean?” she asked, needing to have some assurance that Pajandcan hadn’t misunderstood.

  “I’m not sure,” Pajandcan said finally, “if you are giving your father and me permission to have an affair, or if…”

  “Not just that,” Mica said. She leaned forward and touched Pajandcan’s hand for a second, then sat straight in her chair and pulled her hands into her lap. “More than that.”

  With a quiet laugh Pajandcan said, ‘’Mica Gilbert, I believe you’re playing matchmaker.”

  It was Mica’s turn to blush, but the laugh had broken the awkwardness she felt. “A woman could pick a lot worse for a second-mother.”

  “Thank you, Mica.” She felt the moistness in her eyes and hoped she could hold her tears in check. “That’s probably the highest compliment I could ever expect to receive.”

  “I’d better go pack,” Mica said, standing up quickly. “Good-bye, Admiral.”

  “Good-bye ... Mica. Be good to yourself.

  “I will. You, too.” As she left the office, Mica thought she would always remember the smile on Pajandcan’s face.

  18

  SOMEWHERE DEEP IN HER DREAMS MARSHA had been aware that the ship was braking, but it was only when that awareness stopped that she awoke. She pulled on her jumpsuit, zipping it closed as she headed for the cockpit, where she found Lucky still at the controls. “Where are we?” She asked sleepily as she moved up close beside him.

  “Unless we’ve made a severe navigational error,” he said, putting his arm around her waist and giving her a little hug, “we are sunside of the ninth planet from the star designated –“

  “Are we here?”

  “If we’re not here, Mars, we’re nowhere!” Lucky cried as he checked the nav-readout in mock panic.

  “Don’t tease me. I’m not awake yet. Is this where Xindella told us to meet him?”

  “It is indeed, my sleepyheaded partner,” he said with a grin “and it looks like we’re the first ones here. Now, go wake yourself up and then come back and take over so I :an get some sleep.” He slid his hand down and began rubbing the back of her thigh in the way he knew she liked.

  “Did you try calling him?” Marsha’s brain was slowly registering the facts as her body responded to Luck’s caressing massage of her leg.

  “I did, all the way into the system. No answer. That’s why I assume we are the first to arrive.”

  “All right,” she said, yawning. “You go get some rest. I’ll watch the ship.”

  “Are you awake enough?”

  “I’m awake enough,” she said, pulling him up and giving him a quick kiss on the nose. “Go. Sleep. You’ll need it. I’ll put out a call every hour or so on the frequencies he gave Delightful Childe. Now, go. Go.”

  Lucky kissed her, thought momentarily of doing more than that, then headed for bed, suddenly very aware of how tired he was. He had meant to eat something first, but now the only thing that really interested him was sleep.

  Five long, boring hours later Xindella finally responded to Marsha’s call.

  “Welcome, Captain Yednoshpfa,” Xindella’s voice said over a steady cra
ckle of static from the speaker. “Am I correct in assuming that you and Captain Teeman are here as representatives of my cousin and the neutral alliance?”

  “Correct,” Marsha answered, wondering exactly where Xindella had hidden his ship, “but I’m no longer a captain, remember? If you’ll broadcast a beacon, we’re ready to join you.

  “Please, then, Citizen Yednoshpfa, how foolish do you think I am? I have no intention of conducting this festbid, uh--how do you humans like to say it?-face-to-face? Yes. This will not be conducted face-to-face.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do? Just sit here?”

  “Another of your quaint phrases, but an accurate one. Yes, Captain Yednoshpfa, keep your ship where it is right now, and as soon as all interested parties have assembled, I will give you all the rules and the festbid will begin.”

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Inspector Thel Janette had been sitting in her small Sci-Sec Lightspeed-Packet-Runner monitoring Teeman’s ship since it had entered the system, waiting for Xindella to reply so she could move against him before the Ukes arrived.

  Now as she listened to Xindella’s conversation with the woman Yednoshpfa, she cursed aloud and tried to get a fix on Xindella’s transmission. What she discovered gave her cause to smile. Xindella was smart. His ship was somewhere directly between the ninth planet and the sun. It would be impossible to get a fix on him because of all the radiation interference from the sun itself.

  She had not accounted for this possibility in her hasty planning. Foolishly she had assumed – as Yednoshpfa and Teeman had apparently assumed – that Xindella would conduct the festbid face-to-face, as he said. His way was much safer for him because no one need see him at all, and no one was going to be able to track him down until he moved.

  “But wait,” she said aloud, “there is something else I could do. If I could take readings from five or six different locations, I might be able to get a close approximation of where his ship is –assuming it isn’t moving and that I have time to shift at least three times to locations enough apart without being detected getting there.”