Double Spiral War Trilogy

by Warren Norwood

  “What the tensheiss do you think we’ve been doing while we waited for you, partner?” Lucky asked sarcastically. “Trading with the natives?”

  “My apologies for the delay in reaching you. Remind me later to tell you of the most phenomenal occurrence I took part in on the way here.”

  “We’re just damned glad you’re here.”

  “Certainly you are. I understand that this has been a most difficult task for you.”

  “And a stupid one,” Lucky said. “Once you reach us, I don’t think we’re going to hang around very long.”

  “Hang around? Ah, yes, I see. Well, I would remind you that we have an agreement and would ask at least that you ensure that I have possession of the device before you leave. And where will you go, partner?”

  “I don’t know. Marsha and I haven’t decided that yet.” He reached for her hand and smiled. “Someplace peaceful. Someplace that isn’t involved in the war.”

  “Oina, perhaps?”

  “Hunh. Oina’s involved. Remember I told you once that it was your war? I didn’t realize how true that was going to be. You’re in the war, too, Delightful Childe---you and Oina and the snakes from Cloise and the creepy Castorians. All of you are in the war up to your – up to whatever it is that you have in common. But we’re done with it. Marsha and I want out.”

  “A noble desire, partner, one with which I fully sympathize. Help me get this weapon from Xindella – or destroy it – and we will withdraw from the war together.”

  Lucky covered the microphone. “You hear that, Mars? Do you believe it?”

  “Do you?” She squeezed his hand affectionately, and then released it.

  “Has he ever lied to us before?”

  “Childe, if you’re serious, we have something to talk about. But what about the Neutral Alliance?”

  “The Alliance stays neutral. That was our original agreement, and that is what we shall do. Perhaps you had forgotten?”

  “I hadn’t forgotten. I’m just not sure I ever really believed that you all were going to-”

  “Lucky! I found him.”

  “Wait a minute. Marsha thinks she’s located Xindella’s ship.”

  “I’m sure I have” she said. “Look. It’s a weak signal, but it’s his. Right in the middle of that flat crater.”

  “Partner, how long will it take for you to get to us?” Lucky asked. “We’ve got Xindella pegged.”

  “Six of your hours at the most.” ,

  “Then get in here, because if we’ve picked up Xindella’s signal, Janette can, too. The Ukes overshot us, but if they’ve found their way back to the system, you can bet they’ll be hard after us all.”

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  “What will you be working on?” Caugust asked.

  “Dr. Rizinger wants me to form a team to do some research in his ultra-high-voltage switching lab,” Sjean said, trying to sound enthused by the project. “Basic physics, really.”

  “At least you’re not leaving Drautzlab altogether.”

  “No. I told him I would move down to his end of the lake as soon as I finish all these summary reports on the weapon.

  “Then maybe we’ll get a chance to see each other.”

  He looked like a sad, overgrown child at that moment, and Sjean had to suppress an urge to get up and give him a long bug. “I expect that we will, Caugust. Maybe we could have dinner together sometime.”

  For a few moments he stared over her head, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Finally, he lowered his gaze to his hands, resting on the neat stack of blue folders containing the first half of her reports. “Sjean, did you know that in less than a year C.J. will have his doctorate and be ready to come home? It doesn’t seem possible, does it?”

  “No, it doesn’t. Seems like only a year ago that he left for graduate school on Biery.” She didn’t know why Caugust was talking about his son, but if it would help cheer him up, she could talk about Caugust Junior all day long.

  “How long did he work in your lab? A year and a half? Two years? The dates all seem to run together now.”

  “Two years. He was one of the sharpest interns I ever had in the lab. Takes after his father.”

  “More like Helen – his mother – I think. She was the analyst in the family. I was always the administrator. You never knew her, did you?”

  Sjean shook her head, wondering why he was opening up to her about his personal life after all these He had never talked about his wife with her before. “You told me she died the year before I came.”

  “Cancer,” he said, “the one disease that man never beats. She was strong, Helen was, but not strong enough. By the time she died, it had invaded every part of her body.” He paused, breathing deeply two or three times.

  “She would cry because the pain was so bad. Nothing doctors had could overcome it. I read everything I could about the pharmacology of pain. I found out that on Nordeen they grew opium-poppers, a kind of flower that they made a drug called haring out of. There was some stupid law there that made the export of harwin illegal, but I got some. It cost me almost four thousand credits for a kilogram, but I got it, and our doctors gave it to her…and…at least she didn’t die in pain.”

  Sjean felt embarrassed for him as the tears rolled openly over his ruddy cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I had no idea it was that difficult. No one ever told me.”

  “Only the doctors knew. And C.J. and me. But you know why I’m telling you this, Sjean? Because you’re good – deep down inside you’re a good person, and I was a good person, once.”

  “You still are, Caugust. No one ever said you weren’t.”

  “They didn’t have to. I knew. I knew when I bought the harwin that I was doing something wrong, but I balanced it out by thinking about the good it was going to do Helen. But you know what? Once you’ve bent a rule or broken a law to suit some idea you have about right and wrong – once you’ve done that, it’s like you’ve crossed over some invisible line, and you can never get back. You’re stuck on the wrong side forever.”

  “I don’t believe that. And I don’t believe that you’re bad or evil or anything like that just because you broke a stupid law in order to save your wife from suffering.”

  Caugust wiped the tears from his eyes as though he had become aware of them for the first time and was surprised to find them there. “Well, anyway, that’s not why I came to see you. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate your tying up all the loose ends for us on this project. I know how hard that must be for you.”

  “It is my responsibility,” she said, “as a scientist as well as a employee of Drautzlab.”

  “Thank you,” he said, standing and holding out his big hand across her desk, “for everything, Sjean. I’m proud to have known you and worked with you.”

  “Don’t make it sound so final, Caugust,” she said, shaking his hand. “I’m going to insist that we have dinner.”

  “Yes, of course. It’s just my way. Good-bye, Sjean.” He picked up the reports and walked quickly out of her office.

  “Dinner. Next week,” Sjean called after him as she watched him go, his tall frame bent by some unseen burden. She blinked and suddenly realized that there were tears in her eyes. He had touched her not only with what he said but in the plaintive way he said it, as though part of him was crying for help that no one could give. For a moment she was afraid for him.

  Taking a small handkerchief from her pocket, she wiped away the tears and told herself it was ridiculous to worry about Caugust. He had everything he needed to be continuing success – a thriving business, a brother and sister who supported him, and a brilliant son who would soon be home to join them. Most of all he was one of those people with the will to succeed.

  The war was doing strange things to everyone, and Caugust was only going through a bad time because of the pressure he was under. Soon after coming to work for him, Sjean had learned that Caugust was stronger than most people. His actions had only reinforced that knowledge over the
years, and she was sure that in a week or even less he would be back to acting like his old robust self again.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Knowing that she had little time, Janette decided to gamble and landed her LPR as close to Xindella’s ship as she dared. Then, after quickly suiting up, she grabbed the countergrav sled, went outside, and walked cautiously over to the Profit. Much to her surprise the Profit’s external hatch was open. Then she found her second surprise. Three meters from the hatch lay the freeze-dried corpse of Ayne Wallen. From the looks of him, he had been dead a while before Xindella had thrown his body out.

  Stepping carefully around him, she put the countergrav sled on the ground, entered the hatch, and cycled it to admit her to the ship. Her third surprise was that Xindella was waiting for her.

  “So, Inspector, we again meet face to face. I had hoped we could have avoided this, but fortune has not been too kind to me lately. Tell me, Inspector, is that a weapon you are pointing at me? And if so, why?”

  “It is,” Janette said, “and the why is simple. I can hardly trust you, Xindella.”

  “How sad, Inspector. I had so hoped you might feel otherwise. However, now that you are here and confronting me, can I safely assume that you have some new and persuasive proposition to offer me?”

  “Yes, Xindella, a very simple proposition,” Janette said. “You help me transfer the weapon to my ship, and in return I haul you off this rock and save your life. What better deal could you ask for?”

  “Two hundred thousand credits from the Neutral Alliance,” he said without taking his eyes off the stubby pistol in her hand.

  “The Neutral Alliance has deserted you. The Ukes have deserted you. If you don’t help me, I’ll take the weapon by myself and I’ll desert you. Doesn’t seem like you have much choice if you want to live.” She desperately hoped he would accept her bluff, because she had little faith that she could transfer the weapon by herself.

  “Not true, Inspector. My transmitter is not functioning properly, but my receiver still works. Even now my cousin joins with his partners to claim their weapon as is their right.”

  Janette raised the pistol. “Suit up, Xindella, or pray for your soul, if you have one, because with or without your help I’m taking the weapon now.”

  “I always did think you had a predisposition toward violence, Inspector.”

  She watched him open a large locker and take out an orange suit that looked more like a deflated balloon. He put it on much faster than she expected him to. “What frequency is your radio?” she asked.

  “One hundred Sondak Standard.”

  As soon as he put on his helmet, she tested the radios. “Can you hear me?”

  “Of course I can, Inspector.”

  “Then listen carefully. I have a countergrav sled outside. We’ll move from here to your cargo bay, open its doors and you will bring in the countergrav sled. And don’t try to do something stupid. I’m not as careless as Ayne Wallen.”

  Xindella began opening the hatch to the cargo bay. “Citizen Wallen killed himself because there was no more gorlet, a truly unfortunate occurrence, Inspector, but not one for which I share any responsibility.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  It only took a few minutes to get the sled, pick up the weapon with the winch in the bay, and put the weapon on the sled. When she was sure it was secure, she said, “It will take both of us to maneuver this to my ship, Xindella. I want your guarantee that you won’t try anything that would make me shoot you.”

  His head shook inside the bubble helmet. “Inspector, I have no wish to die.”

  Even with both of them straining against the overloaded sled, they were barely able to get it across the ground and into the LPR. But they did. Janette locked Xindella in the LPR’s tiny sleeping cabin, and then prepared to take off. As the engine warmed, she flipped on the communicator and heard.

  “-a Sondak ship beside his, Captain, and I believe it is preparing to-yes. It is lifting now. Wait. It looks like the Profit’s cargo hatch is open.”

  “Inspector Janette,” Teeman’s voice said, “you are stealing property that belongs to the Neutral Alliance. I demand that you transfer that property to the Housa which is now landing-”

  “Fly it in space,” Janette said. “I have only recovered what has always belonged to Sondak.” She opened full throttle on the meth engines, and the LPR lifted with gathering momentum off the rocky little planet.

  “Inspector, we’ll take it by force if we have to,” Teeman warned.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  “No, don’t,” a new voice said. “Inspector, this is Group Leader Kuskuvyet. You will home on my beacon and surrender the weapon to us, or we will blow you to space junk.”

  29

  PAJANDCAN WAS DEEPLY TIRED AND FRUSTRATED. The Ukes around Buth were putting up a much stronger fight than anyone had anticipated. More and more she was sure her fleet was going to be late for its rendezvous with Schopper’s for their attack on Yakusan. If Buth was hard to crack, Yakusan was going to be next to impossible. The best she could hope for was that this temporary stalemate was forcing the Ukes to use ships they would need more over Yakusan – ships they would ultimately miss in their defense of Gensha.

  “Status report,” she snapped as her senior communications aid” entered the Battle Center.

  “No change, Admiral,” Torgeson answered. “We still haven’t been able to contact either the Hise or the Tweener.”

  “But we still have visual contact?”

  “Yes. The Connally’s captain reports that he should reach Hise in two hours or less, and the Tweener is just beyond-”

  “Dammit, Torgy, what can that space merchant do? That’s what I need to know. Is the Connally equipped to make any kind of rescue attempt?”

  “He claims he is. Thinks he can lock on if he has to and evacuate Hise’s complete crew and salvage some of its equipment. Torgeson smiled. “Don’t like working with these civilians, do you, Admiral?”

  Pajandcan thought for a second, and then said, “It’s not working with them that I mind. Saints know I worked with them enough on Matthews. It’s not knowing what their capabilities and equipment are that grinds my nerves sometimes.” She shook her head. Thoughts of Matthews inevitably led to thoughts about Dawson and Dimitri and the millions who had did on Reckynop. “But enough of that. At least something’s being done for the cripples and the Ukes can’t get to them.”

  “Doesn’t look like that’s what they’re planning, anyway, but they re up to something. Look at this, Admiral.”

  Pajandcan stared at the bank of screens in front of Torgeson and immediately saw what concerned him. It looked as though the Ukes were beginning to mass their ships in three separate locations. “Counterattacks, Torgy? Why would they do that? It’s been all they can do to defend the planet. They counterattack and they’ll be open to a breakthrough.”

  “You’d think that, wouldn’t you, Admiral? But suppose it’s not counterattack they’re thinking of? Suppose they were planning to distract us with one of those groups while the other two escaped?”

  “A retreat?”

  “They’d probably call it a defensive withdrawal. They know our fleet isn’t big enough to attempt an invasion, so maybe they think we wouldn’t do anything more than blockade Buth. Maybe they think they can live with that.”

  “Well, I can’t. Every Uke ship that escapes from here is one more we’ll have to fight later. And if they think we won’t use neutronics against their planet, they’ve forgotten what their Admiral Charltos did to Reckynop. But I’ll tell you what, I damn sure haven’t forgotten.”

  The harsh bitterness of the Matthews system disaster seemed always to be hovering on the edge of her mind. This was Pajandcan’s first real chance for massive revenge, and she wanted the Ukes to suffer under her vengeance. Millions had died on Reckynop, and millions of Ukes could pay for that on Buth.

  “You want the neutronics readied?”

  Pajandcan heard
a hint of censorship in Torgeson’s voice, but she ignored it. “Yes. Prepare the orders for a polar attack, six R-grade missiles from the Mervell against the North Pole and six from the Rath against the South Pole.

  “Six each?” Torgeson asked in disbelief.

  “Affirmative,” she answered sternly. “But first I want all ships except the Mervell and the Rath to prepare for attack and pursuit as soon as the Ukes make their move.”

  Nine watches later two Uke groups moved into their old-fashioned cone-shaped attack formations, and Pajandcan ordered half the ships in her command to make ready for them while the other half prepared to attack the third and largest of the Uke groups.

  Those preparations were not yet complete when the Ukes attacked. Their methods were exactly what Pajandcan had expected, but the ferocity of their attack surprised her. However, neither of those factors was important. The Ukes had left Buth weakly defended, and Pajandcan gave the final order for the neutronics.

  Mervell and Rath maneuvered quickly but carefully toward their respective positions. Eleven hours later they launched their neutronic missiles. As the battle raged in space around it, Buth spouted fireballs that shattered its ice caps at both poles.

  Pajandcan released a grim smile when the fireballs burst like tiny flowers on Torgy’s screens. The Ukes here were much closer to defeat than they realized, and Pajandcan’s heart quietly rejoiced in the knowledge that within a few days millions of Buth’s citizens would join those who had died on

  Reckynop.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  “You know exactly what I mean,” Janette said.

  “How many times must I tell you? I understand little or nothing about – about that,” Xindella said with a contemptuous flip of his proboscis in the direction of the weapon.

  “I don t believe you. You? Xindella? The nastiest, shrewdest broker Patros has ever seen? You want me to believe that you never even inspected the weapon?”

  Xindella snorted as he leaned against the custody straps that held him to the bulkhead. “I looked at it, of course, Inspector, but Citizen Wallen was the one who inspected it for me. I have no technical knowledge. I hire humans for such things. Now will you release me from these bindings?”