The Greenfeld admiral slammed his fist down on his commlink, ending a flood of language very unfit for a princess’s ears.
“Kris, Vicky is holding for you,” Nelly said.
“Put her through, and while we’re talking, could you please find this set of orders I’m supposed to have from Grampa Ray.”
“Yes, Kris,” Nelly said.
“Hi, Kris. Did you have fun gallivanting around the galaxy?” Vicky asked, not even trying to sound like she meant it.
“It wasn’t my idea of fun. Have you seen our report? I just sent your admiral a copy of it. I think copies are going to all the admirals.”
“Haven’t seen a thing. Admiral Krätz is charging around the flag bridge like a man back from a six-month cruise who found a five-month-pregnant wife. I decided to make myself scarce and see if I could get the skinny straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“I’d say neigh except I want my report distributed as far and wide in human space as I can get it.”
“That sounds bad.”
“Take a look.”
The Grand Duchess of Greenfeld read from a different screen, her face going from puzzlement to a frown. She ended in a scowl.
“That looks bad.”
“Huge population. Not willing to talk. Ready to kill anything in its way. Yeah, I think we need a whole new definition of bad for this.”
“So you’re going to take this report to your king.”
“I’m going to send a report to my king just as soon as I can order up a courier ship and transfer some of the bodies we found. I’m told I have some orders around here, but Nelly hasn’t found them yet. Once I read them, I’ll decide if I have to go running back to Wardhaven, like your admiral insists, or can wait for my squadron to re-form, then go back looking like a decent Navy formation. I hate leaving anyone behind.”
Kris thought for a moment, “Especially now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen.”
Nelly interrupted their girl talk.
“Kris, I’ve got a copy of your orders.”
“Let me look at them,” and a copy appeared on the screen under Vicky’s image.
To: CO, PatRon 10
From: Chairman, Joint Staff
You will report here at your earliest convenience.
“Well, that certainly comes from the top,” Kris said.
“And it doesn’t leave much doubt as to what they want from you,” Vicky said.
Kris pulled at her right ear. “I’m not so sure. If they’d wanted me to drop everything and run to Papa, or rather Greatgrandpapa, they would have addressed it to my Highnessness or my Longknifeship. Something personal. This is to the Commander, Patrol Squadron 10. That’s the Wasp, Hornet, Fearless , and Intrepid, methinks.
“So,” Kris said, letting a big grin out to play, “I’ll wait here to get all my ducks in a row, then we’ll all go home together.”
“On your head be it,” Vicky said. “I think this is one of those things they don’t want me to learn from you.”
“Sister, some things we just have to learn on our own,” Kris said.
“You want to tell my admiral, or shall I?” Vicky said.
“I think I’ll give him some time to calm down,” Kris said. “We have to refuel the Wasp, anyway. I want my boffins to put together a set of physical remains to go with my report. I do want to get that off as soon as I can. Anything exciting while I was gone?”
“One explosion on the Fury. Missed me by five minutes,” Vicky said, casually. “They’re still trying to decide if it was an accident or something else.”
“What do you think?” Kris asked.
“I think somebody doesn’t like me and really takes offense that I keep on breathing. Any chance your Chief Beni could meet with one or two of my guards? Ones I trust.”
“Let’s arrange that today. You want to come on board for a visit? Ron the Iteeche is a fun guy to hang with.”
“I just knew you’d been doing things with the Iteeche. How’s he hung?”
“They are not hung, Vicky. Nothing. Nada in that area. Haven’t you read the autopsy reports from the war?”
“I read them. I didn’t believe them.”
“Sorry, girl. Believe them.”
Vicky seemed to think the matter over for a while. “Okay, I’ll come over. Say in three hours. Have your chief standing by to talk to my bomb sniffers. I’ll have them bring all their gear. If I’m going to stay alive, I’ll need all the help I can get. Oh, and you will have your pet Iteeche out for me to see.”
“Vicky, I keep telling you. He’s nobody’s pet.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you Longknifes,” Vicky said, and rung off.
26
The Fearless came in only a short time after the Wasp. She had visited nine systems. All of them were full of profound scientific data but not a scrap of life that her crew could spot. Also, as best they could tell, no life had visited the systems since the Three aliens first installed, built, or hatched the jump points into them.
The good news was that this allowed Captain Drago to throw a Smart MetalTM yard over to the other corvette and put a spin on the two ships. By the time Vicky arrived, the Wasp had a good half gee of imitation gravity to offer people’s stomachs.
“You’re alone,” Kris observed with a raised eyebrow, as Vicky exited the admiral’s barge. “No admiral?”
“He’s not talking to you. I hope that doesn’t break your heart. I told him I was coming over to the Wasp. He grumbled something about ‘don’t get killed,’ and went back to whatever he was doing. I’ve noticed lately that he keeps his distance from me. You know, I don’t think he wants to be around when I get blown up.”
“How rude of him,” Kris said. “Though I’ve also noticed that it takes a real friend to hang close with me.”
“I like to think that my work helps in that area, Princess,” Chief Beni said.
“No doubt,” both Kris and Vicky said in the same breath. That gave the two young women a chance to share a laugh. A Greenfeld Navy lieutenant and a Marine sergeant followed Vicky off the barge. Between them, they lugged a large footlocker. Vicky introduced them to Chief Beni.
Before the three technical experts headed off on their own, Kris felt she should explain the rules. “The chief here will help you with your own equipment. After you get it working, he may give you suggestions on how to get the most out of it. Fine-tune it. He may also share some of the software workarounds that he’s developed. What I will not let him do is share any Wardhaven technology that you don’t have.”
“Do you have to keep that last restriction?” Vicky asked. “We already know that mainstream Greenfeld technology has a ways to go to catch up with Wardhaven. We also know that some people back home have tech that’s just about as good as you have.”
“In some cases better,” Kris grumbled. “I know. I’ve had to dodge it.”
Kris worried her lip. “Vicky, my government has restrictions on tech transfer to Greenfeld.”
“After the report you just shared with us, you think two different human families should be building walls between them?” Vicky asked.
“No, I don’t,” Kris said. “But until your dad and my grampa agree to bury the hatchet someplace other than in each other’s skulls, I feel I have to live by those rules.”
“Let’s hope I can live by them, too.”
Kris sighed. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Chief, you go over the gear these folks have. Tell them what you can under the limits I’ve placed on you. Then, when you’re done, give me a call. We’ll talk then. That enough for you?” she asked Vicky.