“Two handed,” Herzer noted. “No shields. No way to form a shield wall.”
“Nope,” Peterka agreed. “Shield wall’s easy enough to break in space.”
“How?” Herzer asked.
“Reverse the figure eight,” the dwarf said with an evil grin. “Hit the shield coming up. You’re being pressed down into the hull, your opponent just got a couple of dozen kilos of impetus away from it. Shield goes or he does.”
“Range weapons?” Herzer asked.
“Don’t bother in zero g,” Peterka said with a grunt of laughter. “You know an arrow bounces up as it’s fired, right?”
“Sure,” Herzer said then shook his head. “Completely off the target.”
“It’ll just head off to nowhere,” Peterka said, nodding. “Same problem with a crossbow for different reasons. We’d considered a type of air-gun but it’s probably not worth the time on training.”
“Interesting assortment,” Herzer said.
“We considered a bunch of other things,” the dwarf admitted. “Clamping and severing weapons, for example. Got a few of them around if you want to carry them. They’re damned slow to use, though. Recommend you have a few boyos with the polearm version, though.”
“Why?” Megan asked.
“Well, they’re dandy for keeping Celine’s little toys off aren’t they?” Peterka said with a grin, revealing the last table, which had only a long pole with complex devices at both ends. One end looked very much like a scorpion pincer while the other had a winch of some sort on it. “Spread the jaws,” Peterka said, pressing a stud at which the jaws flew open. “Press it against a target,” he continued. When it was pressed onto the arm of the bronze armor it quickly ratcheted down to a snug fit. “Then crank,” he said, twisting the crank on the end. The jaws moved very slowly but as they watched, the armor began to deform. After a period of about ten seconds of hard cranking, the jaws suddenly snapped most of the way through the armor.
“Like I said,” Peterka told them, letting go of the weapon and dropping it to the floor, “it’s slow. But thorough.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Oh, now this is homey,” Courtney said, looking at her room. “And where is Mike going to sleep? And the kids?”
“We’re going to move beds into one of the rooms for the children,” Lieutenant Commer said nervously. “Mr. Boehlke will have the room adjoining yours.”
“Well, there’s indoor plumbing,” Courtney said, opening up the door. “That’s a change…”
“So, how do you like the digs?” Herzer asked, knocking on the door of the room.
“Tell me that Megan’s got better facilities than this?” Courtney said.
“Nope,” Herzer replied, shrugging. “Okay, a little better. A bit more room and her own bathroom, complete with shower and toilet.”
“You dragged us up here for this?” Mike asked incredulously.
“You’re not here for a vacation,” Herzer pointed out. “You’re here so that your kids, and you, are protected.”
“So I’m going to be cooling my heels while Courtney does whatever it is she’s going to do?” Mike asked, angrily. “Take care of the kids?”
“There’s a problem with that?” Megan asked, coming down the corridor. “Hello, Courtney, Mike.”
“No, of course I can take care of the kids,” Mike snapped. “It’s all I’ve got to do, isn’t it?”
“Uh,” Herzer hummed, interjecting himself between the two. “There’s a few points I’d like to make before Mike tries to kill a council member and gets turned into a newt…”
“I wasn’t going to—”
“I wouldn’t do that—”
“Yeah,” Herzer snapped. “Megan, please chill out for a second. Mike, you’re going to be doing something other than taking care of the kids. I can think of a half a dozen things. And you’ll get briefed on what’s going on around here, as soon as I get a chance, okay?”
“Okay,” Mike growled, glancing at Megan. “But that better be soon.”
“It will be when I can get to it, Mike,” Herzer replied. “I’ve got about a billion other problems on my plate.”
“Who’s going to take care of the kids?” Courtney asked, frowning.
“Four,” Mike pointed out. “From swaddling clothes to four.”
“Babies, bleck,” Herzer said, then shrugged. “For the time being, Shanea.”
“What?” Megan snapped. “Why Shanea?”
Herzer closed his eyes for a second, then turned and simply looked at her.
“Okay, so she makes the most sense,” Megan said after a long glare. “But you could consult me next time.”
“I hadn’t thought of the problem until it was brought up,” Herzer admitted. “I thought there would be enough people here to handle minor details. But there aren’t. Are you aware that they don’t even have the cooking staff replaced, yet?”
“No,” Megan said. “Who’s going to cook?”
“Well, there’s all these women…” Mike said then stopped when both Megan and Herzer fixed him with a glare. “What? It’s true! Besides, Herzer, I’ve had your cooking. You can’t boil water. Pass.”
“I’ve gotten better,” Herzer said. “We’re probably going to be getting food from the legion for the time being. But there are a billion details to work out and I haven’t even figured out who is in charge.”
“Ahem,” Lieutenant Commer cleared his throat. “You are. Sir.”
“What?” Herzer snapped.
“Colonel Carson was the base commander, sir,” the lieutenant said, nervously. “I suppose, that the position devolves to either you or the countess.”
“I don’t have time to manage the base and get ready for the mission,” Herzer said angrily.
“Sorry, sir,” the lieutenant replied, ducking his head.
“Don’t be; you just gave me more bad news,” Herzer said, throwing up his hands. “Megan?”
“You think these soldiers are going to listen to me?” she asked.
“Yes,” Herzer replied. “As automatically as breathing. Why?”
“Well…” Megan said, temporizing. “You want me to run the base?”
“No,” Herzer said after a moment. “That won’t work, either. You’re going to have too much to do. We’ll find someone. Damnit, where in the hell is Tao!”
“I’m here, sir,” Van Krief said quietly.
“Go to the portal, then go to Colonel Torill at SpecOps. Tell him we’re in a classic FUBAR. I need an officer of rank of captain or major who has base management experience and appropriate clearances; I don’t have time to manage the base and plan and train for the op at the same time. We also need support staff, replacements for the previous casualties… Point out to him the situation and, beyond that, please ask him to exercise his best judgment but right now the only thing working around here is security and the dwarves and we need more than that.”
“Yes, sir,” Van Krief said, folding her notebook.
“Go! And if you see Tao, tell him to get his butt moving!”