Authors: Mike Shepherd
Vicky collapsed again into her bed, gasping for breath.
“I don’t understand. The men who did this. They had just arrived from Greenfeld. Why would someone come out from Greenfeld to try to kill me?
“I am getting better, but they tell me that I can’t fly in a shuttle yet. Here, let my doctor explain.”
A mature doctor, not one of the kids that had helped get Vicky ready for the camera, now came to stand in front of Vicky and deliver a report. They’d made him go through his spiel four different times before he got it right.
“My father does not understand technical,” Vicky had warned him after his first two tries. “You can include a full medical write-up for any doctor he brings in to check on this, but your report to him has to be aimed at a fourth-grade science level.”
His next two tries were better. This, his fifth, was great.
“Your Imperial Majesty, the Grand Duchess has suffered major contusions and cuts, both to her wrists and ankles in her escape from her restraints and to her feet during her walk out. Most of them have become infected. I do not think the restraints were very clean.
“Here on St. Petersburg, we have several insects that bury their eggs inside other animals for them to incubate. When hatched, the larvae eat their way out of their victim. In the event of a high-gee shuttle launch, there is the chance of these eggs being sucked into the bloodstream and carried deep into the body. Larvae eating at heart or lung tissue would be fatal.
“Besides that, we need to care for the blood infection from her foot injuries. I’m afraid I cannot certify the Grand Duchess for flight. I do not know when I will be able to. We are still searching her body for bug bites and larvae infestations. She is a fighter, but all of this is taking a toll on her.
“I will attach my complete report for your own doctors to examine.”
The scribe cut the recording.
“You will give me that report?” he asked the doctor.
“I should have it ready for you in an hour. We’re pulling the photos and tests from other patients’ files and making sure they all fit smoothly into the Grand Duchess’s medical report.”
The scribe grinned. He would be affixing his seal attesting to the truth of everything within. This one was young, and quite excited to be involved in pulling the wool over the reviled Peterwald’s eyes.
And doing it for a Peterwald at that.
“If we’re done here, can you clean me up?” Vicky said, getting her foot down out of the sling, before pulling herself up.
“Oh, please,” Mannie said, covering his eyes from a view that might have been vile except she was now flashing him quite a bit of her lady parts.
“Excuse me,” the commander said, in a voice that froze Vicky’s blood. “I think we have a problem.”
“What kind of problem, and can someone give me something to make my voice sound right.”
“It will wear off in an hour,” the makeup artist said, helpfully.
Vicky scowled, but turned her full attention to the commander.
“Three cruisers and three large attack transports just jumped into the system. They are setting a point seven five gee course for St. Petersburg and refusing to answer our hails.”
“I think we have a problem,” Vicky agreed. “I need this room,” was pure Grand Duchess. “Kit, Kat, let’s clean me up and get me back in uniform. Commander, have a shuttle waiting for me as soon as I am ready.”
“I’m going with you,” Mannie said. “You may need some local political cover for what comes next.”
“Thank you, Mayor,” Vicky said. “Now, folks, clear out. I need to clean up.”
CHAPTER 5
V
ICKY
had her shuttle dock directly on the
Retribution
. She apparently was expected. Admiral von Mittleburg met her at the door of her quarters with Captain Etterlin of the battleship in tow.
“What have you got so far?” Vicky asked as she led them and her entourage into her day quarters.
“Not a lot,” the admiral growled. “What looks to be three heavy cruisers are leading in three ships that have declared themselves the
Golden Empress 1
,
2
, and
3
. The cruisers have throttled their squawkers so we can’t identify them, but the
Golden Empress
es are being quite bold, even if they aren’t talking to us.”
“You can’t tell me anything about the ships but that?” Vicky asked.
“What more could we tell you?” Captain Etterlin countered.
Vicky rolled her eyes. “Computer, get me Lieutenant Blue.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” came immediately in the voice of the enthusiastic young officer.
“What can you tell me about the six ships that just entered the system?”
“The three heavy cruisers are not telling us anything, but we have identified them as
Wittenberg
,
Augsburg
, and
Ulm
.
According to our data files, they carry twelve 9.2-inch lasers. Interesting enough, none of their capacitors are charged.”
“And the three other ships?” Vicky prodded.
“They identify themselves as the
Golden Empress 1
,
2
, and
3
, but they were, until lately, the
Germanica
, the
Europa
, and the
Constantinia
, all eighty-thousand-tonners of the Greenfeld-Earth lines. Our sensors show them armed with six 18-inch pulse lasers and three 5-inch long guns. Their capacitors are charged; however, their fire control systems, assuming they have any, are inactive.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Blue. Will you please report to me in my cabin.”
“On my way, Your Grace.”
Vicky rang off and faced her two superior officers. Admiral von Mittleburg had a quizzical look on his face. Captain Etterlin looked in danger of a heart attack.
“And who is this Lieutenant Blue?” the captain demanded.
“I believe he and his staff and equipment came aboard at Bayern, a gift to me from some retired admirals.”
“Why wasn’t I informed?”
“No doubt you were,” Vicky answered the steaming officer. “No doubt you didn’t know what you had been given,” she added.
“Captain,” the admiral said, stepping between the Grand Duchess and the skipper of her putative yacht. “Why don’t you get the
Retribution
ready to sail. No doubt, there is a good chance we will be in a fight soon.”
The man saluted, happy to have something he understood handed to him, and left.
“He is a good ship handler,” the admiral noted.
“But I need a man of imagination, not a plodding cow.”
“Yes. Now, if you will, just who is this Lieutenant Blue?”
“He heads a sensor team with capabilities that go far beyond what our usual sensor suites can produce. I noticed that Kris Longknife had a major sensor suite on her ship. Her corvette was much better outfitted than one of our battleships. I put that down to the nosy Longknifes wanting to know everything. Then I watched her in action. Information is power, and she had more information at her fingertips than I have ever seen.
“I might have mentioned that to our friendly neighborhood spy. Possible he passed it along to someone in the Navy. Or
maybe I dropped a hint to Admiral Waller. I don’t know how it happened, but I was delighted to be invited into Lieutenant Blue’s inner sanctum and shown what his toys could do. My own computer had told me more about the two
Golden Empress
es we ran into that were intent on recapturing Presov than the ship’s systems. Mr. Blue’s, however, actually stripped data off their computers, which gave me an update on what was happening in the Empire while I was out here.”
Vicky finished with a simple, “It was most informative.”
Tired of standing, she offered the admiral his chair and took hers across from him. Mr. Smith and the commander settled into one couch between them. Mannie took the other. Kit and Kat found chairs against the wall and took up alert stations.
“I want Lieutenant Blue to have a station on the bridge where he can keep me informed of what is happening as it develops. I suggested he do that, but, last I was on the bridge, nothing had been done.”
“No doubt he would be quite useful. Assuming the captain does not keelhaul him,” the admiral said dryly.
“Is there any chance I could have Captain Bolesław of the
Attacker
as my captain, Admiral?”
“My immediate answer to that is no, but I doubt that was what you wanted to hear.”
“In that, you are correct.”
“Let me consider this. If we can lay our hands on enough ships, I might actually get a chance to take a squadron to space and command it from this ship. That might open a lot of opportunities to you and put a cushion between you and Captain Etterlin.”
“It would be appreciated. You understand the value of a Grand Duchess. I fear that Captain Etterlin can only see a lieutenant commander.”
“That will, no doubt, be his mistake,” the admiral said.
At that moment, Lieutenant Blue presented himself. He was delighted to have a chance to explain to an admiral how he had managed to strip the IDs off three cruisers that were not squawking and how he knew what was and was not charged in the weapons they might be facing. When he’d finished, the admiral eyed Vicky with raised eyebrows.
“If the Wardhaven princess has this kind of information at her fingertips, no wonder she is such a pain in our behinds.”
“Yes.” Vicky agreed. “That is just the pain I wish to be if it comes to a fight.”
“I believe the
Retribution
has a flag bridge,” the admiral said.
“It does, sir,” the lieutenant reported.
“Please arrange to have a sensor station with feeds from your instruments located on that bridge. If you need any paperwork signed, contact my chief of staff.”
“I will contact him immediately, sir.”
“By the way, Lieutenant,” Vicky said. “What is your name? Blue is a nice code word, but if we are going to work together, I would like to know whom I am addressing.”
“Blue
is
my name, Your Grace. Lieutenant Odo Blue, at your service,” came with a bow from the waist and a full click of his heels.
“I am glad to have you in my service,” Vicky answered, and the lieutenant went on his way.
Vicky turned back to her admiral. “It seems we must find you a fleet to command so I can stand at your elbow and not someone less impressionable.”
“We have the
Rostock
,” the admiral provided.
“What kind of a battle can one battleship and one light cruiser put up against three heavies and a trio of armed liners?”
The admiral stared at the overhead. “It all depends. If the battleship can open fire at its maximum range, it could do a lot of damage before the others got close enough to lay a finger on it. If, however, politics or something else allowed the cruisers and jumped-up merchant ships to close to within their range before a shot is fired, it would be a bloody brawl. No matter who was left standing at the end, they’d be in a lot of hurt.”
“I kind of figured you’d say that,” Vicky said. “So, we either fire first and start this war without any defiances given, or we let them get in close and start the war, and maybe make it a very short one, at that.”
“None of that sounds good to me,” the admiral admitted.
“I remember you telling me you had two armed merchant ships of your own fitting out.”
“Yes, the
Sovereign of the Stars
and the
Sovereign of the Sky
are both about ready to sail. They are now armed with six 21-inch pulse lasers and six 6-inch long guns.”
“Better than the blackhearted Empress’s ships, but we only have two to her three.”
“Yes,” the admiral agreed. “It might be better for us, but it would still be a bloody mess.”
“It seems to me that we need to figure out some way not to fight this battle.”
“That would be my first choice,” the admiral agreed, “but how?”
“What if the two
Sovereign
s pass themselves off as
Attacker
and
Kamchatka
?”
The admiral frowned at Vicky. “
Attacker
has twelve 8-inch lasers. The
Kamchatka
is older, but she has twelve 9.2-inch lasers in her main battery. Older. Slower to recharge. Still, with the
Retribution
backing them up, I’d be reluctant to get in a fight if I only had the three
Wittenberg
s. But how would anyone mistake the
Sovereign
s for heavy cruisers?”
“Computer, get me Lieutenant Blue.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“I need to pass off two armed merchant cruisers as the heavy cruisers
Attacker
and
Kamchatka
. Any suggestions how I do it?”
“Well, Your Grace, it’s against the law for a ship to squawk as another ship.”
“What if I didn’t care about that law?”
“Assuming the sensors aboard the cruisers coming in aren’t any better than the sensors on most Greenfeld ships, it should be pretty easy to mess with them. I’ve always wanted to try it, but, you know, ma’am, it being illegal and all that, I’d never think of actually doing it.”
“Which is to say that you’ve never done it for very long and gotten caught,” Vicky said dryly.
“Not more than a few seconds, ma’am.”
“Can you do it for several long hours?”
“Most certainly,” sounded boyishly eager.
“Admiral, could you advise the skippers of the necessary ships that we will be making some unusual modifications to them in the next hour.”
“Unusual or illegal?”
“No need to put too fine a point on it, is there?”
“Of course not, Your Grace.” With a grin, he tapped his
commlink. “Bruno, have I got some work for you, and it’s not even all that illegal.”
Vicky went over to the bulkhead that separated her day cabin from her night cabin. “Computer, show me the system with all the ships under way in it.”