Shadowed Passage, page 20
"I'll monitor their comms while you look for origin clues."
It turned out the attack originated from two of the operation hubs combined to equal the size of their target. The fourth, and so far, neutral, party was radio silent. Either preparing for an assault from the victor, readying to run or considering their own attack. The destabilizing factor.
Carver did not want to wait to find out. He hailed DualE. "Any sign of a thaw?"
"No."
What more wasn't she allowed to share? Carver came to a decision. "I think it's time we enacted that destabilizing threat. Give the parties concerned an indication of who they're dealing with."
"Give it more time, Renfrew." DualE knew where he was leading.
"How's your life-support?"
"We're good for months."
Whether that was true or for the sake of the besiegers' ears, Carver couldn't be certain. "I'll give them twenty hours, then I talk to the neutrals." He changed frequencies to ensure everyone heard. "Attention non-hostile salvage operation. This is Willie Renfrew aboard the Penance. As you know, two of our people are being held hostage by your fellow salvagers. I suggest you ready an armed shuttle to rendezvous with us in twenty hours if the situation hasn't resolved by then. It will be to our advantage and everyone else's disadvantage."
"What are you planning, Carver?" Cardinal asked. "Why should the attackers let such a ship approach us?"
"Because then they would have a two-front battle on their hands they can't be certain they'd win. I'm guessing they didn't attack the other operation out of fear, not for lack of greed. The neutrals are better armed."
"Another guess?"
"Maybe. We'll know in less than twenty hours. If we see a shuttle headed our way."
"And if our guards don't decide to take the Penance out of the equation."
"Did Pious tell you this mission would be easy? Without risk?"
"No," said Cardinal.
"We'll find out if his faith in your escort agents was justified. I need a short rest."
DualE chafed at the lack of action. Lucienne brought Pious the tea he'd requested. DualE stood.
"What?" Lucienne's hand drifted to her side-arm.
"I'm ex-navy," said DualE. "Maybe I can help."
"You're not Realm navy."
"No. Confluence. I've seen my share of action, large and small. Are you just going to wait them out?"
"None of your business."
DualE held up her hands. "I'm available. For opinion, insight or an extra fighter."
"Noted." Lucienne turned her back and left.
"I'm not sure I like you volunteering for another's battle," said Pious.
"They're too passive. Something's brewing. I'd rather be in the middle of it than stuck here as unwanted baggage. Or battle fodder."
He sipped his tea. "It's possible this isn't a first."
Pious put a finger on it. The absence of immediate defensive response before the transition to offense. Lucienne and the others were waiting. Perhaps offense was already underway. The attackers may have left an open flank.
"Renfrew, still holding tight?"
"Bored but stable. You?"
"Same. Watch your perimeter. Out."
"A necessary warning?" asked Pious.
"For me as much as Penance." She rolled her back against the wall. "Would you refresh my meditation skills? We could be here a while."
Pious put down his flask and sat before her. He took her hands in his. Pious was cold to the touch. Right, she thought, I meant to ask about his health.
He led her into the initial relaxation.
DualE's mind emptied.
Chapter 34
Rowland's shuttle from the Neptune docked into his freshly-arrived frigate. Glad to be surrounded again by significant armory, he hurried to the Rickover's command deck.
His bridge crew were ready for him. "Captain Siebe, our course is with my escort ship. We move out, half speed but long-range sensors engaged."
"We have the signature for the Crossed Swords logged. It won't elude us, sir."
Rowland activated the holographic display for their surroundings. Schoenfeld Eddy twisted Euclidean order. It was chaos but he wasn't arrogant enough to assume that meant vulnerable. 'Bring order to chaos and introduce chaos to order'. His battle formula brought success more often than not. His planned subversion near Argosy Station would be most effective. Disorder at the Realm's brain would galvanize the rebel muster out here. Then the Eddy could be taken.
Two environments, two strategies. The duality of his existence resonated along a hundred battles fought and yet to come. Was there a third set? The skirmishes revealed in spookspace dreams? They were the ones he repressed. Defeat and victory overprinting each other. Not in this universe. Here, he would win.
Chels loved piloting the Crossed Swords. This was her kind of space travel. Not spookspace. Real space, the universe she was born into. The ghosts here were real.
"Change vector to up twenty, port fifteen." Altman looked up from his charts.
"You recognize the area?" Chels checked the view on their new heading.
"What's that?" She touched a fingertip to the screen where a spherical density anomaly glowed in the infrared.
"A salvage eddy. It's near where Perry and I worked. Once we're closer, I can line up our target and calculate the recoil trajectory, though I've no idea how far it could have traveled in the weeks since we fired it."
Chels tasked her console with more data monitoring. "Bit of chatter from that ball. How likely is it you know anyone out here?"
"Likely as not. Listen but don't broadcast or respond. Salvagers, like prospectors, don't welcome uninvited guests."
"How does one get invited?"
"One doesn't. Every guest is uninvited and therefore a threat. Fire first, dispose of the evidence second. And keep quiet."
"'Shoot, shovel and shut up.' Good survival mantra," she muttered.
Chels recognized the voice over the comm and cut their burn. "That's Brother Cardinal." More voices. Unknown. "The Penance isn't alone."
Altman scanned the noise. "Do we have armament?"
Chels activated the Crossed Swords' arsenal catalog. "DualE and Carver did not enter the brothers' service casually. We outgun anything our size I've ever run across in the Realm short of full-military."
"They won't know that. Keep drifting toward the Penance and prepare for hostile reaction."
Reaction came swiftly. "Attention approaching ship. You are invading our claim area. Leave or be fired upon."
Chels raised an eyebrow. Altman responded. "We are a non-salvage vessel."
"Turn around and leave."
"It's coming from the ship close to Penance," said Chels.
"We're having trouble initiating vector change," Altman announced. "We'll comply as soon as we can."
How much time did that lie buy them?
"There will be no warning shot. You will change vector now."
Altman shrugged. He switched on the broadcast link. "I'm out of ideas. You?"
"Ahoy second vessel," said Chels. "Is that the Penance? Thank goodness we found you. The navy's looking for you."
"Ahoy Crossed Swords. This is Willie Renfrew. Thought you'd got lost. Sorry we can't rendezvous at the moment, we're in a situation here."
Renfrew. Denz pre-empted any giveaway. "Tell us where to target and we'll have you free."
"Try it and your friends are vapor," the outsider warned.
"Try us or them and you are scrap for future salvagers," said Chels. "Except there won't be anything bigger than my fist to reclaim."
"You must think we're naïve. You're outnumbered."
"And you're overmatched." To prove her point, Chels targeted a decent-sized, unoccupied rock and vaporized it. "That's one. The next one's coming at you."
"We have hostages."
"And I've got a bigger cannon. Want to trade?"
Denz broke in. "As much as I want to give you carte blanche, Crossed Swords, Pious and DualE are under siege with the salvagers on the location dead ahead. A struggle for limited resources being exploited by too many salvagers."
"I can change the second part of that equation," said Chels.
"Give us an hour. I've made an offer already to our 'hosts'. The time isn't up but your arrival changes the power balance enough to accelerate my plan."
"An hour. Then I start eliminating threats." Chels switched off.
Altman huddled over the astrogation display.
"Familiar?" she asked him.
"I think so. My memory's usually better. Two jumps so close together is jumbling my neurons. But it'll come back."
It better or she'd risked sanity for half a mission. She still had to alert Pious and the others about Rowland. Later, they had enough worries.
DualE's voice was audible but cloaked in static. "Renfrew, Pious is reminding me of our mission. A shooting war won't endear the brotherhood in the Eddy."
Carver weighed his options. "And harming Pious won't endear the Eddy to the brotherhood at large. The order has a long reach and a longer memory, right?"
"Follow your original plan until no longer practicable."
Carver nudged Cardinal. "Any response from the neutrals?"
"Nothing. Your assessment of them waiting to salvage the pieces when this goes sideways is accurate, in my opinion."
Carver hailed the attackers. "Less than an hour. I want the ship behind us to begin withdrawal. Crossed Swords, hold your fire."
Fifty-five minutes later, the nearby ship moved, its course heading to the second operations center. "Good choice," said Carver. "Now for the trickier part." He opened the comm to the first aggressor. "This is Renfrew, I have a proposal for you, an incentive offer you shouldn't refuse. I'm broadcasting to your colleagues and competitors. First one in gets the goods so I suggest you don't hesitate."
"What's this wonderful offer we can't refuse, Renfrew?"
"I have information on the Carver Denz Schoenfeldium discovery which no one else has. I will share this information when you withdraw and my shipmates are back aboard the Penance."
"You must think we're fresh off a jumpfreighter. That con has been circulating for months. We're staying put until your shipmates' life support runs out."
"Well, despite Brother Pious' request not to initiate fire, my backup plan is to allow the Crossed Swords to open up her barrage on your base and then you. Pull out now."
A private message came through from Chels. "Penance, there's a bigger ship on the edge of our detectors. Our adversaries likely see it too."
"A freighter? Mobile refinery?"
"Can't be certain but unlikely. Moving faster than either."
"Reinforcements for someone. Let's get this done." He switched back to open hailing. "Crossed Swords is lining up your base."
"Give us more on Denz, then we'll discuss withdrawal."
"Do you know who found the lode before he did?"
"Denz was first. Legitimate claim. We're salvagers, not prospectors."
"By default, or by choice? Ask your full crew who'd like a chance at duplicating Denz's find?"
"Who got there before him?"
"Nev Mox," said Carver.
"Never heard of him. Why should that make any difference?"
"Because Mox kept a log of his explorations. He missed the main deposit and allowed his claim to lapse. But he was in a quadrant which could hold more before his last stop, twenty-five years before Denz re-discovered his lode."
"How the hell did you come by this log?"
"I'll tell you when you're back in your own hole." Carver cut the transmission. He exhaled. The beginnings of a headache tightened his forehead.
Cardinal passed him cold tea. "You're taking a risk. I see what you have in mind. How can you be sure they won't attack in unison and accept some losses?"
"Because they can't risk killing me."
"You know this for a fact?"
"No. But my charter is to protect Brother Pious. If revealing my true identity is the only way I can do that, then so be it." He opened the comm. "You have twenty minutes. Oh, and if you check your long-distance sensors, our real backup is closing." He switched off before they could reply.
"We don't know that," said Cardinal.
"Neither do they."
Pious followed DualE into the 'lock. He turned to Andre. "I know what Renfrew plans to do. I'll try to include your people as well."
Andre shook his head. "No thanks. We salvage. Prospecting is for the greedy and the desperate."
Pious held out his hand. "I'm impressed by your restraint and commend you. I don't need to prolong my message or my presence."
"You are welcome anytime, Brother Pious. We won't underestimate the value of your words nor underestimate our rivals' dishonesty."
"Good luck. I look forward to my next visit."
"Let's go while we can, Pious." DualE's plea reminded him time was essential.
They jumped back to the Penance. He couldn't see the Crossed Swords until DualE pointed it out but he was thankful for their appearance.
"Welcome home," said Carver.
"We're not home yet," said DualE. "Where are the attackers?"
Cardinal tapped the console screen and a 3D hologram outlined positions.
"We kept our bargain, Penance. Time to fulfill your promise."
Pious addressed Carver. "Are you okay with this?"
"I can't hide forever. It may be worth nothing but it got you out of a jam." Carver opened the external comm. "You're right. I'm sending you the location of Denz's lode's original orbit. It was huge, as you will see. The only reason Denz found it was due to it's return inside the survey quadrant. It has a decades-long periodicity but subsequent calculations added another factor. The moonlet's ellipse was distorted. It was part of a dual system." He waited for the implication to sink in.
"A companion? Why didn't Denz check it out?"
"Other priorities. One bonanza was more than enough."
"Sounds like a fable."
"Are you willing to risk it isn't? No guarantees, but if the companion came from the same origin, it too could be loaded with Schoenfeldium. Enough to satisfy the Realm's jumpspace drive requirements for a generation."
"I think your void happy, Renfrew. Why haven't you gone after it?"
"I told you. I was satisfied with one. Willie Renfrew is Carver Denz."
There was silence for many seconds. Pious glanced at DualE. Her lips were compressed. Carver hadn't cleared this move with her. Were they compromised throughout the Eddy now? The truth had to be the better course. He put a hand on Carver's shoulder and squeezed reassurance.
"We'll evaluate your data."
"I expect a royalty payment to the brotherhood if you strike," Carver added,
"Is that a joke?"
"Hardly. We know where you'll be. Give me your word and I won't broadcast my information throughout the Eddy."
DualE nudged Pious to his seat. "We should leave." She took Carver's comm. "Chels? DualE here. What's your plan going forward?"
"If you're okay with us using the Crossed Swords, Altman and I have our own treasure hunt."
DualE looked at Pious. "They're looking for the alien artifact. Better they find it than some nutter."
"Or worse," said Carver. "The military."
"Agreed. Should we set a rendezvous?"
"Chels. How long before you need to resupply the ship?"
"A month."
"Plan to meet us at the shipyard in one month."
"Sooner if we're lucky."
"Leave word."
Cardinal tugged Pious' sleeve. A low frequency wave swept across his screen. "What is it, Brother?"
"A beacon. Locator signal. I wouldn't normally scan this low a frequency but I thought the attackers might be using off-scale comm links."
DualE asked, "Where's it coming from?"
"The Crossed Swords."
"Hell and over again," said DualE.
Pious didn't see the problem. "What does it mean?"
"They're being tracked. Chels, did you know you're sending a low-frequency locator signal?"
"What? No. We are?"
"Cardinal will send you the frequency. See if you can find it and shut it down. It could be outside."
"Too late," said Carver. "The other ship is still closing. That's no freighter tracking you."
Chapter 35
The Whisper de-barnacled and held a parallel course with the diplomatic ship and its naval escort. Zofie engaged the handshake protocol with the Eddy shipyard's harbor-master software to find a berth.
The small ship eased automatically into dock. Marshall looked worse than Zofie felt from the jump back from the Confluence. To be fair, the info-mule had been running half-empty after her debriefing. "Are you up to hunting up a real meal and drink?" Zofie asked.
"Oh Lord, am I ever."
"I thought Kondradt would be waiting for us. Want to contact him before we hunt and gather comestibles?"
"Screw him," said Marshall. "He can find me."
"I want to alert Brother Remorse as well. And I want to know where Pious and team are." Zofie queried the harbor-master. "Is Penance in port?"
"The Penance left ten standard days ago."
"Is Brother Remorse on station?"
There was a delay in the answer. "He is. The brother is not body-linked to the station communication. Would you like a message delivered to his berth?"
"Thank you, yes. Tell him the Whisper has arrived and Zofie will be in Eddie's Dive for the next two hours."
The pub was nearly empty. Zofie and Marshall downed a rejuvenation elixir before proceeding to select protein and alcohol cocktails. Remorse arrived simultaneous with their food.
"Can you join us?" Zofie asked. "Kondradt's picking up the tab."
The brother's robe was cinched tight and looked like it could go around him twice. "My ministry hasn't garnered much compensation thus far, sister. I would welcome the chance to share a meal."
Once he settled into food, Remorse asked, "How was your mission?"
