Pushing the throttle, I scraped the doors slightly sliding out of the bay. I turned off the arc-jets that would keep us hovering next to the city and we dropped like a rock, falling freely through the atmosphere toward the clouds below.
Accept hail.
"Hotspur, Captain Hoffen here," I said.
"Captain. This is Nuage Air Defense. We're ordering you to return to Nuage Gros immediately for questioning."
"I'm sorry, we're experiencing some technical problems. Our arc-jet controls aren't firing," I said.
The forward holo showed a squadron of brilliant yellow fighters streaking toward us.
"Return immediately or you risk being fired on," the woman's voice said.
"Just a second, almost have it," I said.
Close comm.
I used the arc-jets to spin the nose of Hotspur over so we were pointed down. We only had to get a couple of kilometers into the clouds and we'd be out of their airspace.
I pushed the throttle to full. I couldn't outrun them, but they also wouldn't chase us into Oberrhein territory.
"Incoming hail, Nuage Air Defense."
Accept hail.
"Captain Hoffen, this is Lieutenant Crépin. We've been given permission to fire if you don't turn around immediately." A severe looking woman's face showed on the forward vid-screen.
"We can take a few hits, Crépin, and you've no jurisdiction to fire on us," I said. "We're no longer in Nuage Airspace."
I pushed the throttle to the max and we squirted into the heavy cloud bank. It wasn't entirely true that we weren't in their space, but we were in a zone where control was contested by the violent nation of Oberrhein. Crépin would have to make a decision whether or not to escalate tensions with their neighbor by shooting us down. I was hoping they wouldn't. It was ironic that I was using tension we'd helped create between the two nations to our advantage. Admiral Marsh wouldn't be as amused.
It was a tense few minutes, but we finally pulled out of the clouds at six thousand meters elevation into the ever present storms that plagued Grünholz. We were relieved to find that the Nuage ships were no longer in pursuit.
"Sorry, Ada. I hope that doesn't put a wrinkle in your relationship with Luc," I said.
"If it does, then he's on the wrong side of this one," she said. "Besides, I can only take Captain Airforce for so long. Don't get me wrong, I like Luc, but he's a little… I don't know… by the book, sometimes."
"Are we still talking about our escape or are there some juicy details you want to share with the group?" I asked.
LAW BRINGER
"Captain, you might want to hear this," Jonathan said.
We'd just escaped the gravity of Grünholz and transitioned to fold-space.
"What do you have?" I asked. I was more than glad to look away from the jittering stars outside the cockpit windows.
"Listen," he said.
"Councilwoman Peraf. Acting protectorate director Shem has asked that you and the remaining council members join him in the upper room." A voice emanated from a small device that Jonathan held.
"It's about time," a woman said amidst rustling, as if someone was on the move.
A few minutes later, the rustling stopped and another voice could be heard.
"Acting director Shem, you requested our presence?" The woman who had been identified as Peraf asked.
"I have. Is this the remaining council?"
"Yes. It is just Bedros and myself," she said.
"Understood. Nurit, Amon, would you excuse us?" Shem asked.
No words were exchanged, but a door closed.
"And, engineer apprentice Merrie. Should she not also leave?" Peraf asked.
"No. I have asked Eliora and Merrie to remain behind so that we may discuss eventual outcomes," Shem said.
"You need to be sending out patrols and pushing back the Ophie," Peraf said. "We cannot remain in the Keep for much longer. We're running low on food and water and the smell is horrendous."
"I believe you've already stated that we have two tenday of food and water as long as we are diligent with our rationing," Shem said.
"Do not change the subject," Peraf said. "It is your responsibility to protect this community and you will end this siege now!"
"Peraf. We have fourteen remaining protectors and there are over a thousand Ophie. There is no possible way we will drive them off." A woman I hadn't yet heard said.
"Eliora, is it?" Peraf asked.
"Yes."
"These Ophie are not sophisticated and we have superior technology. They simply took us by surprise. You will go out and you will drive them off," Peraf said.
"Perhaps I wasn't clear, Councilwoman," Eliora said. "You aren't here to discuss strategy with us. Your comments reinforce the wisdom of that. We are barely holding off the Ophie and you were called up here so you could understand our predicament."
"Councilwoman Peraf is suffering from the same shock we are all feeling," another male voice said calmly. "We have no expectation that you will lead an assault any time soon. Please, tell us what's going on. Eliora?"
"Councilman Bedros. Right now the Ophie are celebrating their victory."
"How do you know that?" Peraf asked.
"Look at the screen," Eliora said.
I could hear what sounded like tapping on an old style keyboard.
"They're animals. They've killed our people and they're having a party?"
"Of course they are. They live for battle. Today was their largest success ever against our people," Shem said.
"Do you have any good news?" Peraf asked. "Or did you just call us up here to gloat."
"That's not fair, Peraf," Bedros said. "If you can't be civil, you should leave. Shem, Eliora, what can we do to help?"
"We're going to be here for a while. Right now, we're hoping to wait them out. The Ophie are not a patient group and, hopefully, they'll start to turn against each other when they have no access to us," Shem said.
"But what? I heard you hesitate. There's something you're not saying," Bedros said.
"We're at risk. If they put enough pressure on the main blaster, they could overrun us," Shem said. "We would not be able to stop them. And there's one more thing."
"Out with it," Bedros said.
"Pele's blaster rifle is at their main camp. Show them, Merrie," Shem said.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Is that one of their leaders? What is he doing with that?" Peraf asked. "Move. He's pointing it at us. Damn it, what happened? The screen went black."
"He's learned how to use Pele's blaster rifle. That's a game changer if he uses it to pick off the gunners on our turret," Shem said.
"When will they attack?" Bedros asked.
"We have no idea," Shem said.
I couldn't take listening to them anymore. We had to help.
"Jonathan, have we tried transmitting? We should tell them we're coming," I said.
"We cannot. Their unit is not set up for bidirectional communication," Jonathan said.
"Would you continue to monitor that channel and tell us if anything of significance changes?"
"Yes."
"Nick, how long of a jump is it from Curie to Ophir?"
"You know it's not a jump, right?" Nick asked.
I just looked at him over my shoulder.
"Fine! In fold-space, thirty-six hours. Almost twice as far as it is to Cape of Good Hope."
"I don't suppose it's in the same direction," I said.
Nick just shook his head. "It's not linear. There is no direction. Regardless, it's eighteen hours in fold-space between Ophir and where the Cape of Good Hope is. And, we're about to drop from fold-space at our half-way point on our way to Curie."
"Joy," Tabby said. "I so love the pastel vomit through the windows."
"Where are we picking up the aninonium?" I asked. I noticed that Jonathan had retired to the back of the bridge and had his eyes closed.
"Anino's platform nine seventy-five," Nick said.
"Oh, right. Belirand would never think to look for us there," I said facetiously.
"He said he has everything all ready. All we have to do is stealth in, pop the ramp, stealth out and be on our way," Nick said.
"How close can you drop us on a jump?" I asked.
"Fold…" Nick caught himself. "Hundred kilometers, give or take."
"That close?"
"Yup."
"Drop us in as close as you can to Anino's platform," I said.
"Are you sure you're not being reckless?" Mom asked from the couch.
"That platform is defended and not within any government's jurisdiction," I said. "By dropping in close, we'll cut off hours."
"Cap, if they have a cruiser patrolling we might not be able to get stealthed before they pick us up," Marny said. "They'd have a good chance of intercepting us before we got to the platform."
"Frak. Right. Good Catch. Nick, I imagine you have a location already identified."
"I do," Nick said.
I glanced back at Mom and she smiled, not even bothering to look smug.
Hotspur dropped from fold space and my stomach lurched uncomfortably.
"Entering fold-space in three… two… one…" Nick said. "Estimated time to Irène is thirty-five minutes."
"Ada, you feel like showing us your new space?" I asked. I needed a change of scenery and some time to think.
"Yes! I haven't even seen it yet," she said.
"I'll take the helm, if you'd like," Mom said.
All of us, excluding Jonathan and Mom, followed Ada down the lift to the berth deck. Instead of turning aft, she turned forward and walked around to Nick and Marny's bunkroom.
"The changes actually started here," Ada said. "Nick and Marny's bunk room was expanded a meter and a half back. It gave us enough room to add a small desk, a little more storage, and a larger bed."
It was surprising how much a meter and a half more did for the amount of usable space. A twinge of guilt hit me as I realized how small their space had been.
"If you'll follow me," Ada said, leading us back around to the hallway that led aft, past the head. "Instead of punching through the aft bulkhead, I just shrunk bunkroom two and moved the armory into the remaining space."
I ducked my head into the new armory where bunkroom two had been. It was about the size we'd had before and had the same neat arrangement.
"You probably saw the big changes when you came in. We added a second, aft bulkhead three meters behind the original and ran it all the way to the top of the hold. This gives us almost sixty meters of usable space, which is equivalent to a new deck. Ultimately, we ended up with a total of two new bunkrooms and a micro-head," Ada continued.
"What'd you do about orientation?" Tabby asked.
"It was a tough call, but I decided to keep things simple and not change orientation. The bottom bunk room is three by four meters and the top two are three meters square with the micro-head joining them. You have to climb up to get to them, but at .6g that's no big deal.
"Pressure barriers?" I asked.
"Yes. The rooms have pressure barriers and hard seals," she said. "Come on up." Ada easily climbed a metal ladder built into the forward bulkhead. The ladder was next to the hatch leading back into the berth deck.
Metal ladders had never been kind to me, but I didn't hesitate to climb up after her.
"That's easy," I said, stepping off the ladder onto a ledge opposite Ada.
The ledges weren't large enough to accommodate more than one person and when Tabby arrived at the top of the ladder she had nowhere to go.
"Which one is yours?" Tabby asked.
"Right here," Ada said, palming open a door that disappeared into the wall.
At nine square meters, the room wasn't huge by land standards. In a ship, it was generous.
"Are they all this big?" Tabby asked, having followed Ada into her room.
I jumped across the hole to the opposite ledge and walked into the room where they were looking around.
"Close," Ada said. "I figured Silver would appreciate a first level room, though."
"This is nice," I said, looking around at the new furniture, paint and carpet.
"It'll be nice to have a place of my own," Ada said.
"It's great," I said. "Thanks for getting this all designed. Was it expensive?"
"No," Nick said looking in from the hallway. "All in about eighty thousand credits and Jonathan insisted on paying for it, since he got a room out of it."
"What's he keep in a room?"
"You'll have to ask them," Nick said.
"It's hard when you do that," I said.
"What, keep surprises?" Nick asked.
"No. Switch back from singular to plural and back when talking about Jonathan."
"It's weird, I agree. They appreciate it though."
I nodded.
"You'll have to bring Mom back to see her new room," I said. "I think she could use some privacy."
"She's holding up pretty well," Marny said. "You both are."
"I'm worried about her. She's putting up a strong front, but she's just holding on. I know she's focused on our mission right now. She said the best way we could honor Dad was to save those people," I said.
"That's right. We can't let Belirand win this one, Cap. We need to make Belirand regret their choices," Marny said.
I knew Marny well enough to hear the unexpressed emotions behind her words.
"Ten minutes," Mom's voice came over my suit's audio.
"Ada, you want to bring us in?"
"You sure?"
"Of course. Tabbs, take second chair? I'd like to show Mom her room," I said.
We trooped back to the bridge where Ada relieved Mom from the helm.
"How'd it look?" Mom asked. I noticed that her eyes were red, but decided against saying anything.
"She added a lot of space. I was thinking we could get you checked into a bunkroom if you'd like," I said. "I think you'll like the finish, it's really nice."
"I could use a break," she said.
I reached out for her hand and we stepped onto the lift down to the berth deck.
"Coffee, first?" I asked.
"I'm fine," she said.
We walked through the aft pressure barrier and I palmed the door to her new room. I smiled. Ada had placed an arrangement of flowers on the small table next to the bed. I wondered how she had managed that given the crazy events leading up to our departure.
On the bulkhead, which was the portside of the ship, I initially thought a porthole had been installed, but soon realized it was a cleverly disguised vid-screen.
"It's wonderful, Liam. And the flowers?" she asked.
"Not sure. I imagine Ada, but we'd have to ask to be sure," I said.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to rest for a bit," she said, sitting on the bed.
"I'll find your bags and bring them in," I said.
"Thank you."
I walked back into the hold and was surprised at how full it was. I knew we had a lot of supplies, but the hold was over sixty percent loaded. The AI directed me to Mom's possessions – all contained in a single, soft duffle - a reminder of the fact that between the Red Houzi and Belirand, she had little left.
"Captain, you should probably come up," Ada informed me over the comm.
I dropped Mom's bag into her room and hurried to the bridge. When I arrived, the lights were low as we were running silent.
I stepped up the stairs into the cockpit and sat between Tabby and Ada. My HUD highlighted two bright white Belirand cruisers steaming toward where we'd just come from.
"That's a quick response," I said in the quiet voice I reserved for silent running. It wasn't as if they'd hear me, but we all did it.
"I cut our engines entirely," Ada said. "I'd like to put some distance between us."
"Good plan," I said. "How long before we reach the platform?"
"At this pace? Too long. I'll kick the engines on once those cruisers clear out a
nd we'll be there in three hours or so," she said.
"Mom appreciated the flowers."
"Good."
For the next twenty minutes we watched as the cruisers grew smaller and smaller as they sailed away from us. Finally, Ada slowly accelerated.
I walked to the back of the bridge where Jonathan still sat on the couch, leaning against the aft bulkhead.
"How much time will we need to load once we get to the platform?"
"Ten minutes. I've arranged to have everything in the loading bay upon our arrival," he said.
"Will we have enough room for all the aninonium?" I asked.
"Yes. The material is compact. We'll be bringing on twenty cubic meters, which is more than Hotspur could use in several of your lifetimes," he said. "I've also arranged to load several construction machines and a Class-F industrial replicator."
"That's a huge replicator, it has to be worth several million credits," I said.
"The Ophir settlement will have to be rebuilt if they've been overrun. That replicator has limited value on the platform now that Master Anino is gone," he said
"You miss him, don't you?" I asked.
"It is like that. I believe the most similar emotion you experience is regret. He had much to offer and his passing was a considerable loss for more than humankind," Jonathan said.
"How much help will you need to get everything loaded?" I asked.
"We have stevedore bots standing by. Your help is not required. Would you like to review the load distribution in the hold?"
"That won't be necessary."
"Would you mind if I asked a very personal question?"
I looked at him and tried to read his face, only to remember he didn't likely have the same tells most people did.
"I don't mind, Jonathan. What's up?"
"Do you regret your decision to get involved with us?"
I considered his question. "I regret that I didn't understand the peril I was placing my family in. It is difficult to see beyond that right now."
"Yet, you are not just continuing on, but have assumed responsibility for the Ophir settlement. Are you not similarly concerned you will come to have regrets about that decision?"
"Are you trying to talk me out of this?"
"Not at all. We are trying to understand your motivations. Humans have a creativeness that is unusual among the sentient species we've run into," he said.
A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Page 26