Blackbeard Superbox, page 110
“Oh no, you don’t. I’m not going after them.”
“You’re in no shape to carry on the fight. Rodriguez can patch you up. And I want those fugitives.”
“Admiral, please.”
Drake nodded, more decided now. “I’m giving you a second plasma engine and sending you back for full-scale repairs.”
“And what are you going to do when I’ve left?”
“I’m still figuring that part out,” Drake admitted. “Most likely try to pick a fight with the enemy.”
“Then you can’t afford to send me away. You’re way out here, no way to supply yourself. You need all the fire support you can get. Blackbeard’s guns—”
“Blackbeard is a liability, Tolvern, not an asset. I can cobble you a quick engine repair, but you’d still be the slowest ship in my fleet. I can’t be waiting around for you, can’t be sending you hiding behind the lines whenever the enemy appears. You’re no help to me until you’ve seen the yards.”
Tolvern thrust her chin out and crossed her arms. “Hardly unprecedented. Happens every time someone takes damage. When is the last time you went into battle with every ship in perfect shape?”
Drake hardened his voice. “Tolvern, you will take HMS Blackbeard to Samborondón for repairs. While there, you will search for Djikstra and Megat and bring them into custody. Are we understood?”
The fight went out of her expression, though her tone remained grudging. “Yes, Admiral. As you command.”
“Good. We’ll be docked here for a few days while we get that new engine installed, and we can figure out how to get you safely through. The general might have some ideas. Meanwhile, Commander Li,” Drake added, “I want to see these weapon systems you’ve devised, and if there’s any way we can put them to immediate use.”
Li cleared his throat. “Yes, well. There’s still the matter of securing our cooperation.”
“Oh, yes.” Drake had forgotten all about Li’s conditional offer for assistance. “Your so-called conditions.”
“I will aid you in any way possible, of course. But first, you will use your fleet to liberate Singapore and save it from extermination.”
Chapter Eight
A few hours later, Tolvern was on Blackbeard, together with Admiral Drake, who’d come back with her in the pod. Blackbeard had just snagged a second away pod, and Tolvern and Drake waited in the engineering bay while it was hauled in. The pod popped open, and a long, slender figure unfolded himself.
Drake leaned over and whispered in Tolvern’s ear. “He’s in a foul mood. Give him plenty of space.”
One look at Mose Dryz as he stomped toward them and she wondered why Drake felt he needed to be explicit. The Hroom general muttered to himself in a series of whistles, squeaks, and grunts that passed for Hroom language, and his long limbs flailed as he walked, making it dangerous for anyone who stood too close.
The bay was filled with engineers and boatswains, who had a plasma engine disassembled on the floor and hanging from chains. The heat shields were in place, but the rest of it was a mess of parts large and small. This spare engine, such as it was, had come from a missile frigate in Drake’s fleet that had kept overheating every time it accelerated for a jump. Drake had stripped it out and replaced it with a spare, and now it was Tolvern’s replacement. Assuming they could get it operational again.
Several of Li’s technicians had come over to assist in the repair, and they stared as Mose Dryz approached Tolvern and Drake. The general seemed to feel their gaze and turned to glare.
“He’s a Hroom,” Barker growled nearby, “not a buzzard. He’s not going to eat you for lunch.”
The general looked down on the chief engineer. “I would not be so confident about that, human.”
Barker grunted. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind, Barker,” Tolvern said. “Keep to your work.”
Mose Dryz fixed his gaze on Tolvern, his entire nose flattening against his face as he breathed heavily. He loomed above her, well over seven feet tall. His mottled pink skin flushed with every breath.
“We are honored by your visit, General,” Tolvern said, “but a warning would have been nice.” “So you need an escort through the Getzus System. Is that accurate?”
“That was the admiral’s decision, not mine. If you have an issue with the . . . instructions”—she was careful not to say “orders”—“then you’ll need to talk to Drake, not me.”
Mose Dryz glanced sideways at Drake, who didn’t speak, only gave a slight nod.
“And once that is accomplished, I am to take position near the Kettle and wait for the Albion fleet to return,” Mose Dryz continued. “If Apex approaches, I am to sacrifice my fleet to protect the sentinel base.”
“Again, General,” Tolvern said, “these are not my decisions.”
“You humans stand in solidarity,” he said bitterly. “There are harvester ships in Hroom territory, hovering uncontested above our planets. Who worries about them? They’ve killed millions already, laid waste to several systems. No human will do a thing to help us, but Albion will fly to the other side of the sector to rescue a human colony at risk.”
“We need this battle station, General. They will only share their charts and technology if we agree to drive off the buzzards.”
“Oh, you need it, do you? If it were a Hroom base, you would simply take it. And then you would probably sell us into slavery as our reward.”
Drake had been silent during all of this, but now he seemed unable to hold his tongue. It was largely because of his actions that Hroom slavery had been abolished.
“That is a dark insult, General,” he said. “We are not slavers, as well you know.”
“You would still take what you wanted were it a Hroom base.”
“Go ahead, then,” Tolvern said. “Take the technology yourself. Sentinel 3 drove off a huge fleet of Apex ships, but I’m sure your six sloops of war can manage.”
The general stared back. Then he turned on his heels and walked away from the work on the plasma engine. There was visible relief among the Singaporean workers, and a few grunts from the Blackbeard engineers. Tolvern and Drake followed.
Tolvern spoke at his back. “We’re negotiating with the Singaporeans because we have to.”
“So you claim.”
“It may not be apparent,” Drake said, “but Captain Tolvern is against the plan.”
Mose Dryz turned. “Against it in what way?”
“Tolvern doesn’t want to go to Samborondón, she wants to stay in the fight. I want her to stay in the fight, too, but her ship is no good to me now, and I won’t sacrifice her. I won’t sacrifice you, either.”
“If you want the Hroom as an ally,” Mose Dryz said, “you need to defend our territory, too. And it isn’t just decent behavior, it is a wise strategy as well. Those harvester ships are feeding on us, but they won’t stop there. They will multiply in number and carve a path right through the empire, and then they’ll be on your doorstep, too.”
“They’re already on our doorstep,” Tolvern said. “We’ve been attacked in Albion space.”
“Nibbled at, probed. Nothing like the wholesale slaughter we’re suffering. They’ll soon be feeding on us like scavengers on a corpse. Then it will be your turn.”
“You have a point,” Drake said. “It helps us if the Hroom stay strong enough to fight. That’s one reason I turned over the sugar antidote.”
Mose Dryz looked solemn at this. His pale complexion showed that he’d continued as an eater, and Tolvern guessed that the small satchel at his waist carried packages of sugar. The general somehow maintained enough discipline to keep from gobbling so much of the white stuff that he suffered swoons in the middle of combat, but he didn’t have enough to rid himself of the addiction entirely by taking the cure.
“I need more than that,” he said at last. “I need you to fight for me. You have made a promise to this base commander. You will attack the harvester ship feeding on Singapore, and he will give you technology. I will make a similar arrangement. That is, if you want my help in reaching Samborondón.”
“I don’t need you,” Tolvern said. “Blackbeard can get to Samborondón without you.”
“Maybe you can, maybe you cannot, but I do not think your admiral will risk it.” Mose Dryz held Drake, who suddenly looked uncomfortable, with his gaze. “He will not see his former ship destroyed.”
Tolvern studied Drake to see if it was true. Her heart kicked at what she saw. It was worry, all right, but not just for the ship. He glanced at her, looked away, then glanced at her again. He was thinking about her, too.
“Blackbeard is an important ship for the fleet,” she said carefully. “Admiral Drake has legitimate concerns. Some of his reasons may also be personal. Is that fair to say, Admiral?”
“I want my hands on those two traitors to the human race,” Drake said, sidestepping the question. “And if I can get my beloved . . . ship out of harm’s way at the same time, so much the better.”
That pause and his emphasis seemed obvious to Tolvern, but the general would miss the misdirection, of course. Hroom always did.
“Tolvern needs to get through, and the two of you want my help,” Mose Dryz said. “And I am telling you that my help comes with conditions.”
“Which are what?” Drake asked.
“There are five harvester ships in Hroom territory. If you are willing to fight the one at Singapore, you can do the same for us.”
“To escort me through one potentially hostile system?” Tolvern asked. “I don’t think so.”
“Plus, you’ll have continued use of my fleet. If not, I will take them elsewhere.”
Tolvern scoffed. “Hah. Where?”
“She’s right,” Drake said. “You’ve given me six sloops, which is a nice gesture, but it won’t turn the tide of the war. Give me a real fleet—that’s how you can help me. You do that, you put your ships under my command, and I’ll take the fight back to Hroom territory.”
When the general didn’t answer, Drake shook his head with visible anger. “There you have it. The rest of your forces are fighting the civil war, chasing each other instead of battling Apex harvesters. You’ve repeatedly assured me you cannot offer more than six sloops. You also say you won’t put yourself under my command. Very well. Help me escort Tolvern, and then you can be on your way. But don’t cry to me in another year when there’s nobody to stop the buzzards from feasting on your empire’s rotten corpse.”
Tolvern thought Drake was taking a big risk. Those six sloops might not be an entire fleet, but they might prove critical in the fight at Singapore. If the general flew off in a huff, Drake’s forces would suffer a great loss.
“Perhaps my original proposal was overly demanding,” Mose Dryz said at last. “Let me propose a new agreement.”
They’d come to a halt on the far end of the engineering bay, near stacks of tyrillium armor shipped over from Dreadnought’s hold. Enough to cobble together some second-rate shields until they could reach Samborondón. The general put his enormous hand, with its long, thin fingers, on top of his head in what was a curiously human-like gesture of thought. He was obviously still working it out.
“I will escort Captain Tolvern to Samborondón while you approach Singapore. Do not fight the enemy fleets on your own.”
“That is not your decision,” Tolvern said. “We don’t command you, and you don’t command us.”
Mose Dryz continued as if he hadn’t heard. “While Tolvern is repairing the ship and taking the fugitives into custody, I will collect more warships.”
“How many?” Drake said, tone cautious and uncommitted.
“I can promise thirty sloops.”
Tolvern blinked. “That’s . . . a good fleet.”
“You have this many ships?” Drake asked.
“Yes, if I take everything under my command. And I do mean everything. I would have nothing to fight either Apex or the Hroom death cult. When I come back, we will fight to free Singapore from the harvester ship. I will place myself and my ships under your command, Admiral.”
“And in return,” Drake said, “I will be obligated to return to Hroom territory as soon as Singapore is free?”
“Yes, you will use all of the resources of Albion to cleanse the Hroom worlds of Apex.”
The admiral looked thoughtful. “You know this wasn’t my plan. We discussed it last time you visited me on Dreadnought.”
“I know. You want to hunt down the Apex home world and devastate it.”
Tolvern drew a breath. Was that Drake’s idea? It was audacious, but if what they knew about the buzzards was accurate, such a victory would win the war. A species that considered itself the apex predator, feeding on the weak while it gained strength to attack the strong, would see a successful attack on its home world as the ultimate act of defiance. It would buy Albion respect, and with it, time.
“And I still believe in that plan,” Drake said, “as you must know. Aren’t you afraid that I’ll make a promise and back out of it?”
“Of course I am worried. Humans are notorious liars. But you seem to be an honorable man, James Drake. We have worked together, and you have told me the truth several times where lies would have served you better.”
“What do you think?” Drake asked Tolvern.
The easy answer was that she preferred the idea of thrashing Apex in their home system. The thought of flying Blackbeard among a powerful Albion force with thirty sloops of war to lend additional firepower was exhilarating. Throw in the Singaporean technology, and they’d smash the buzzards once and for all.
But if they first crushed Apex at Singapore and swept the buzzards from the Hroom systems, that would be a great victory, too. Bring the Hroom civil war to an end, then send a massive fleet into enemy territory to finish the job. Forget buying a few generations, how about wiping the buzzards out altogether? The universe would not miss them.
“How do we know you can deliver?” she asked the general.
“Hroom are poor liars,” Mose Dryz said. “We rarely attempt it, and we succeed even more infrequently.”
“You’re sincere—I can hear it in your tone. But I doubt you can deliver thirty sloops of war. You told us that your entire fleet only numbers twenty sloops.”
“Eighteen. But I believe I can get as many as fifteen more if I can convince a neutral faction to join me.”
Tolvern laughed. “So you were lying.”
The pink color faded from the general’s face, leaving him almost white for a moment before his color returned. “I did not lie.”
“You made it sound like you had thirty sloops to turn over, when you’ve only got eighteen, and that includes the six we can already see.”
“I truly believe I can convince them to join us. I have a plan!” He sounded outraged and humiliated at the same time.
“Maybe it wasn’t a lie,” Drake said with a smile, “but you were dissembling. I’ll make a strategist out of you yet.”
Mose Dryz made a curious whistling sound. “Well? What about it?”
“If we make a deal,” he said, “how long would it take you to deliver on your end of the bargain?”
“I will be back in three weeks with your sloops. You and I must work out a way to learn of your whereabouts before I depart or we will never be able to rendezvous.”
Drake held out his hand, which his counterpart took, enveloping the admiral’s hand with his long fingers.
“General, if you can get me thirty sloops of war in three weeks, you’ve got a deal.”
#
“You can’t be happy to lose the six sloops you already have,” Tolvern told Drake after the general had returned to his command ship.
“Not happy at all. But I’ll manage. HMS Dreadnought can hold her own.”
“So I have noticed.”
The admiral and his captain walked the corridor toward the bridge. Most of the crew had served under Drake, and they greeted him warmly whenever they passed. Some forgot to salute, but clapped him on the shoulder and grinned like they were old friends instead of admiral and subordinate.
“Besides, I’m not looking for a major naval engagement,” Drake said when the two of them were free again. They stopped in front of the door to the bridge. “Not yet. I’m attempting to stay alive until the rest of you get back. Do just enough fighting to convince Li that we’re serious. I won’t get into a full-fledged battle until I have all available forces. Or so I hope.” He hesitated. “I sent a subspace to Captain McGowan, ordering his task force to this system.”
“Then the enemy knows, as well,” she said.
“I know, and I hope it wasn’t a mistake. Not because I’m worried about giving ourselves away—Apex already knows we’re here, and soon they’ll have a good idea that we intend to free Singapore. My worry is about McGowan. Have I set Peerless up for an ambush?”
“McGowan is clever,” Tolvern said. “He’ll know the risk and take precautions.”
“McGowan’s fleet is protecting the home worlds. As soon as Peerless ships out, there will be nothing but a few orbital fortresses and a handful of destroyers standing in the way of a direct assault on Albion. We might win at Singapore only to find the kingdom devastated and harvester ships feasting on the remnant.”
Drake led her onto the bridge. Tolvern studied his face as they entered and he settled into his old seat with a sigh. The others on the bridge sprang to their feet and surrounded him, chattering excitedly.
“It is very good to see you, Admiral,” Smythe said, saluting. “Wait until you see the modifications to the defense computer. Lomelí is a genius.”
“Oh, don’t exaggerate,” the young woman said, blushing. “It’s only—”
Someone else talked over her. “Barker has a new torpedo array that—”
“. . . logical to arrange it that way because—”
“. . . the buzzards’ deficits in detection—”
Everyone was shouting at once, except for Nib Pym, and he was making an excited humming noise in the back of his throat that provided a soundtrack to the other noise.
