Defender

45

Dinner with Jack was beyond nice. They were ushered to a quiet corner and left alone for the evening. The meal was unrecognizable, but Kris enjoyed what the chef had done with meat, roots, and sprouts that had never seen Earth’s sun. And there was a band.

They danced to tunes from the present to long before humanity ventured from its home. “You know, we don’t have our song,” Jack said.

“I’m sure we’ll find one sooner or later,” Kris assured him.

They returned to Kris’s quarters and soon needed a shower. “You know, you have your quarters and I’m down a deck and around the other side, but I really don’t think we’ve quite got the spirit of the policy correct,” Jack whispered in Kris’s ear as he scrubbed her back.

“We’ll see what the policy is tomorrow,” Kris said, and started on his front.

Still, before 2100, Jack was on his way to his quarters and Kris was back at her desk going through reports. One caused her pause. Professor Labao thought they had matched the star fields that always decorated the overhead of sacred places on the alien ships. If true, it was about three thousand light-years back the way Kris and the Fleet of Discovery had come.

Interesting.

Kris pondered what to do. Knowledge was power. Would a visit to the alien home world give them power? Would any ship dispatched on such a recon mission survive? Kris would have to balance the risk against the return.

If she did choose to send someone, who should it be?

It would be nice to give Sampson another ship and get her out of Kris’s hair. The problem was, she was more likely to take off for home, whining all the way, rather than risk her neck to answer any questions.

Kris could think of at least one person who was good at asking and answering questions. The only question was, could she risk her?

Kris fell asleep at her desk, reviewing food production projections from both the colonial farms and Alwan.

Next morning, on her way to breakfast, Kris found a bleary-eyed XO with two senior chiefs at her side waiting outside the wardroom. “Here’s our draft policy.”

Kris flipped through it. “You left a place for me to sign?” she pointed out.

“Captain Kitano said we might as well do a full staff job. Whatever draft you sign will need a place to do it at, right?”

Kris thanked the chiefs for their effort and led the XO into the wardroom. She read the policy through, with Jack looking over her shoulder.

“You see a problem from the Marine side?” she asked him.

“Nope. I trust my Gunnies. Besides, if there is a problem, that’s what mod 1 and mod 12 are for.”

Kris signed it and handed it back to the XO. “See that this is published before noon today.”

The young lieutenant was grinning from ear to ear. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. “There is an upside to having a Longknife for a commander.”

“Not many,” Jack assured her, “but a few.”

The exec saluted and headed off at a jog.

“Is that your first policy?” Jack asked.

“Maybe,” Kris said around a bite of bran muffin. “Certainly my first to supplant a Navy reg. We’ll have to wait to see how that goes.”

“Yes, we will.”

Kris was back at her desk in her day quarters when the screens on her walls came to life. “Commodore,” Captain Kitano reported, “we’ve got activity at Jump Point Beta. Lots of it.”

“Show me what you’re getting.”

Jack, who had been going over his Marine reports on the couch, stood up to join Kris in front of her screens.

“Ships are coming through. U.S. registry out of Wardhaven,” Kitano reported. “Renown, Repulse, Royal Sovereign, Resistance, and Resolute. The chief thinks those are heavy frigates. They’re followed by the Supply and Ajax. Auxiliaries, but none of them are in our recognition books, nor are their pennant numbers ones we have.”

“Send my greetings. If we don’t hear something friendly from them in two hours, we’ll take the squadron to general quarters and sortie. Issue a preliminary order for a sortie.”

“Aye, aye, Commodore.”

Then another section of Kris’s screen lit up. “Commodore Hawkings, here. I hope we didn’t scare you, Admiral. Yep, it’s admiral. The king sends his compliments and your official promotion to captain and frocks you up to rear admiral. You’ll need the rank, I’m just the first division through the jump. Wait until you see what’s behind me. Over to you.”

KRIS, THERE IS A COMMANDER HAWKINGS IN OUR DATABASE. FACIAL RECOGNITION GIVES A NINETY-NINE-POINT-EIGHTY-NINE-PERCENT MATCH TO HIM. HE WAS ON THE FAST TRACK, AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY MOVED HIM AHEAD OF A LOT OF SENIORS TO COME HERE.

LET’S HOPE HE’S AS GOOD AS THEY THINK HE IS. “Commodore Hawkings, good to see you. We’ve got plenty of seats by the fire. Come on down.”

Kris knew there would be a long wait for any reply.

“More ships,” Captain Kitano reported. “Triumph, Swiftsure, Hotspur, and Spitfire. All from the Helvetican Confederacy. They’ve got two ships following them, North Star and Enchanter. Heavy frigates and supply, too.”

“Let’s hope these Triumph and Swiftsure have more luck under my command than the last two,” Kris muttered. Jack came to rest a supporting hand on her shoulder.

“Captain Kitano, are all these ships Smart Metal?” Kris asked on net.

“Sensors say they are. Why?”

“Because we’re going to need more docks real soon. I hope some of the auxiliaries can be merged into Canopus Station, or it’s going to get downright cozy here. Pass that along to Admiral Benson.”

“Doing so, ma’am. Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your promotion, Admiral.”

“Let’s wait until we see the orders that come with it. I no longer trust my grampa, your king.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the captain said with equanimity. Apparently, she was getting used to Kris’s attitude toward the large herd of elephants she descended from. If she kept up with Kris, she might find herself commodore of a frigate squadron since there was now an opening for a new boss for the eight frigates who had held down the fort for six weeks.

“More ships coming through,” Kitano reported. On Kris’s screen, more green dots popped into view. Names quickly appeared next to them. Haruna, Chikuma, Atago, and Tone. There was a pause, then more appeared. Arasi, Hubuki, Amatukaze, and Arare. Musashi was making a major contribution.

Again, Kris’s screen came to life. “I am glad to greet you in a better space, Admiral Longknife,” said now Commodore Miyoshi. “I see something huge and mangled approaching your station with a ship I don’t recognize, but engines my sensor people say are Mitsubishi built. I hope you have left something for us to hunt.”

“I’m very glad to see you again, too, Commodore, as well as the ships you’ve brought. And yes, the space around Alwa is still a target-rich environment. Glad to have you aboard.” That message would also take a while to be received and responded to.

“Following those large frigates are four more ships. Taigei, Soyo, Zingei, and Kagu Maru. That last one is huge. As in Canopus size. They may be bringing their own space dock.”

“I’ll talk to Commodore Miyoshi about merging it with Canopus Station,” Kris said. “Or they can do what they want; I’m just glad to have them.”

“I heard there was a lot of fun going on,” Penny said, joining Kris and Jack in Kris’s day quarters.

“It looks like the cavalry just arrived,” Jack said. “Hope it’s enough.”

“Ever the pessimist,” Kris said.

“We need at least one in this shop,” Penny said.

“Be nice to her,” Jack said. “She’s now a permanent captain and a frocked-up rear admiral.”

“They’re fattening the calf before the slaughter,” Penny said wryly.

“The bastards will certainly know they’ve been in a fight this time,” Kris said.

“When we were picking the bones of the last mother ship, I didn’t notice that they hadn’t been in a fight last time. Don’t think we did either,” Jack said.

“Quiet in the peanut gallery. More ships coming through,” Kris said.

“U.S. from Lorna Do. Warrior, Warspite, Nelson, and Churchill. How very British of them,” Katano said. “Argus and Activity are their supply ships. Good show.”

“You think that’s the last of the parade?” Jack asked.

“I hope not. What’s that give us? Nine Wardhaven ships to start with plus five more. Eight Musashi, and four each from Lorna Do and Helvetica. Thirty to face two hundred or more, depending on how many mother ships hit us next time.”

“Now who’s the pessimist?” Jack asked.

“So we take turns. For the next five minutes, you be the optimist,” Kris said.

“Hold it, there are more,” Penny said. “Another U.S. ship, the Lion, from Savannah. That sounds familiar, but . . .”

“An industrial planet we helped train fast attacks for,” Kris said. “Until someone tried to bomb me, and we got the boot.”

“Right, I remember them. It was the second place we got bombed,” Jack said.

“And the fourth place we got the bum’s rush out of,” Penny recalled. “That was before we ended up on Chance. Now those were good times.”

“Good times,” Kris said. “The only thing good about them was we didn’t get suddenly dead.”

“Yes, but we survived,” Jack said. “And we went on to greater and more fun things, and now we can look back on them fondly. Just think. Five years from now, we’ll be looking back on this and saying, ‘Now those were the good times.’”

“Because we’re in worse trouble than this?” Penny said. “God help us.”

“Rest assured, He will,” Jack said.

“She will,” Penny shot back.

“Crew, crew, look at what Santa brought us. Lion, Tiger, Jaguar, and Puma.”

“What, no skunk?”

“Trust me, Penny, if it would get me another 20-inch frigate, I’d make it my flag.”

“Well, Savannah is adding a Cougar, Cheetah, Lynx, and Leopard,” Jack said.

“Still no skunk.” Penny sighed.

“No, but Sirius, Regulus, Polaris, Castor, and Pollux should help keep us supplied.

“Thirty-eight frigates and fifteen auxiliaries,” Jack said. “Now tell me, how are we going to feed them all?”

“You were supposed to be the optimist,” Kris pointed out.

“My time was up. I can go back to my default mode. An optimistic Marine is usually a dead one. You want me pessimistic. Pessimists are cautious and stay alive.”

“Okay, my love, you may be a pessimist if it will keep you coming home to me,” Kris said, and gave him a quick kiss.

Penny raised an eyebrow.

“Haven’t you read my first policy memo, Penny?”

The new lieutenant commander shook her head.

“Fraternizing is now allowed, so long as it is not harassment. If he harasses me, I get to shove him off to another ship.”

“But she only fraternizes with me,” Jack put in.

“You’re biting the bullet,” Penny said.

“Will this change anything between you and Iizuka Masao?”

“I don’t dare. The last time I loved a guy and married him, he got killed. I almost got killed, and Wardhaven nearly got pounded to dust. I’m unlucky at love for all those around me.”

“More ships coming through,” Captain Kitano announced on net.

“We’re not done,” Kris said, turning from her friend to the screen. More blips appeared identified as Altair, Algol, Andromeda, and Diphada of the Star Line.

“They’ve only got two reactors,” Senior Chief Beni, ret., announced on net. “I’m showing no lasers, but they’re big. As an old chief, I’d bet they’re transports. Big ones.”

“What has Santa Claus sent this good little girl?” Kris asked with a grin.

“Are you a good little girl?” Penny shot back.

Kris gave Jack a sideways glance.

“Well, she’s certainly a good girl,” her loving husband supplied, right on cue.

Kris rewarded him with another quick peck before turning to Penny. “We’ll find out what they are when they get here. Now, Penny, girlfriend to girlfriend, you can’t really believe you’re responsible for what happened at Wardhaven. Vicky Peterwald as much as told us that her old man was behind the whole attack.”

“I know,” Penny said. “In my head, I know. But somewhere between there and my heart, my gut, and lower down, I can’t seem to get it.”

The jump point had finished disgorging presents for Kris. She pointed Penny at the couch, and the two of them adjourned to the comfortable seats. Jack seemed to sense girl talk was on the schedule and excused himself for Marine business.

“Penny, how well is your head screwed on?” Kris asked. She’d planned to give Penny a job. A critically important and very dangerous job. However, if her friend was only holding on to herself by her fingernails, Kris might have to look elsewhere.

“Kris, I’m fine,” Penny said, folding her hands into her lap. “Have you had any problems with my work?”

“None whatsoever,” Kris said. “Are you up to commanding a ship?”

Penny made a face. “The last time I commanded a ship, I think I killed Hank Peterwald. Have you got another old boyfriend you want popped?”

“He was never a boyfriend, and you didn’t kill him. Whoever sabotaged his survival pod did that. But actually, this time, I would most definitely not want you to get in a fight.”

“You’re ordering me to command a ship but not get in a fight? Strange words from a Longknife. What’s my potential command, a garbage scow?”

“I’m not sure what your command is, at the moment, though I’m sure it will have the six 18-inch lasers we took off the Wasp. Three pointing forward, the others aft.”

“So I’ve got just as much firepower running as chasing, huh?”

“Pretty much. Here’s the situation. Professor Labao thinks he’s narrowed the location of the alien home world to four or five stars. Assuming the stars we saw in several places on the overhead of the alien mother ship is actually a night sky of their home world. I need someone to go look, see, and run back home fast to report.”

“You’re not sending me with any Hellburners, are you?”

“No. And I mean no. Take a peek. If you see any ships, run. That will tell me as much as your seeing the planet. I have a hunch that these folks have all but abandoned their home world. However, if you start running into heavy traffic, that tells me to forget that hunch.”

“I see,” Penny said, thoughtfully. “I poke my nose under the tent but keep one eye on the exit the whole time.” She paused for a moment to think. “I can be that timid.”

“This really has to be a recon. One where I learn what you see. Heroes need not apply.”

“I get the point, Kris. I’m your coward.”

“I don’t think any coward would take this mission. It takes a lot of guts to stick your head where the lion’s mouth may be.”

“What ship can you give me? The Wasp?”

“Sorry, I can’t let a 20-inch laser out of orbit here, Penny. I was thinking of patching some of our ‘spare’ Smart Metal to the leftover Hornet reactors and six of the 18-inch lasers, but these new ships arriving may give me other options.”

“As in respinning a Smart Metal transport into a scout ship?”

“Something like that.”

“How do you think the crew will take to that?”

“Part of me says not well, but another part of me wonders why anyone would agree to come out here if they weren’t overstocked on a spirit of adventure.”

Penny smiled as she shook her head. “You expect a lot out of folks, Kris.”

“And sometimes they give me more than I have any right to ask for. Like you, Penny. Will you take Iizuka Masao with you?”

“The man is waiting with more patience than I deserve for me to get my act together. Will he follow me into the lion’s den? I’ll have to ask him.”

“You go ask him, and Nelly, make sure Mimzy gets a copy of my new fraternization policy.”

“My kids already have it, Kris. It’s you humans who haven’t opened your mail.”

“I’ll read it. I’ll read it,” Penny said. “Now, don’t you have some other fine person’s life to ruin?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Have a good one, Penny, you deserve it. And change your shoulder boards. A frigate skipper is a commander’s billet.”

Penny was already making for the door. “Thank you, Kris. Good-bye, Kris.” Leaving Kris smiling . . . and wondering whose day a princess should mess with next.

Nelly settled it. She had the manifests from the Star Line ships.