There were murmurs among the ship captains.
“Show the alien advanced guard,” Kris ordered.
The two aliens that came through the jump gate before the mother ship filled the screen. Once more, the audio was filled with different efforts to establish contact. On view, the eight human battleships did an about-turn and began to open the distance between them and the aliens.
Then, without a word spoken, the two aliens blew Fury out of space.
“You’ll excuse us if, after that, we blew them to pieces as quickly as we could,” Kris said, as the alien ships did, indeed, explode.
In a blink, Nelly let the mother ship fill the entire forward screens. Now the room was silent enough to hear several people chug their drinks.
The retreating battle line was still sending contact signals as the huge ship opened fire, and battleships began to explode.
“Nelly, zoom in on Chikuma.” The battleship was mortally wounded and spewing survival pods. Lasers swept through them, vaporizing all. “Under the laws of war, agreed to by all humans, and now, even the Iteeche Empire, survival pods are sacred and noncombatant. You can see how these aliens treated them.”
Now the screen showed the Hellburners smashing into the huge alien ship for a few seconds, then Nelly let it go to black.
Hands on hips, Kris eyed the merchant skippers before her. “You are not going out there. You aren’t going because I say so and because every one of you and all of your crews will be dead in a month, maybe in a week, if you don’t do what I tell you.”
The lounge got even quieter.
“But we aren’t warships. We’re unarmed merchant ships that just want to talk to them. Open trade negotiations,” the burly captain insisted from his chair.
“You think that will make a difference? Four times we met these vicious space raiders. Every time I did everything within my power to open communications. Three times they tried to kill us, and the fourth time, we ran away before they got the chance. You think I wanted to fight that huge bastard? I’m a Longknife. I’m not insane.”
The room stayed silent as what they had seen slowly sank into thick skulls.
“What am I going to do?” a captain grouched. “I can likely sell my cargo, but I signed on extra hands. Even if I lay the rest off, I got a year’s worth of food for my normal crew.”
“We can probably take some of it off your hands,” Kris said.
“Don’t you go paying too high a price for that,” Mother MacCreedy called from the bar. “We got a shipful of fine victuals. This is not a seller’s market.”
Kris let others handle the haggling. For once, she enjoyed kicking back and catching up on family matters. When was the new baby due? Had Grampa Ray actually sounded like he intended to take responsibility for what Kris did with this set of Hellburners? She introduced Honovi to Jack and let the two males do their thing.
“Inspector Foile is a good cop. A very good cop,” Brother said. “I understand that you and my sister are friendly. Very friendly.”
“She certainly can use someone covering her back,” Jack said.
Kris decided to cut this guy stuff out. “Brother, I intend to marry Jack. Assuming he’ll have me, and that things ever slow down so we can.”
Jack showed thunder at his brow for a second, whether because Kris had stepped into a guy thing, or because, as he said next, “I’m glad I’m not the last to hear about that proposal.”
“I said ‘if you’ll take me,’ Jack. And we haven’t exactly had two seconds to call our own since we quit being fugitives from the law and gave ourselves, well, myself up. I figured I’d better get my bid in before some other girl comes along and gives you a better offer.”
Jack squeezed her hand, what looked to be all the intimacy the Wasp was going to allow them. “There will never be another woman in my heart.”
“Hey, as a member of parliament, I can marry people. You want to do it now?” Honovi sported a wide grin.
“And have Mother never speak to Kris again?” Jack said.
“It sounds better and better,” Kris said.
“Um,” Brother switched to a frown. “But I share a planet with Mother and regularly work with the old gal, Sis. I’m afraid I’m backing out of my offer.”
“Coward,” Kris said.
“From the looks of things, you got all the courage in this generation, and I think you need it.”
Kris couldn’t disagree with that. So they talked the night away, and Kris stayed an unmarried lady. Jack did squeeze her hand regularly, and they managed a good-night kiss at the door to her cabin when they parted early the next morning.
64
Captain Drago ordered refueling after breakfast. That involved separating the Wasp into two ships. This time, the smaller, single-engine half did the cloud dancing. The Sakura did the same. Kris mentioned she’d like to go along.
Jack said nothing, but the look on his face told her all she needed to hear. She dropped out of the expedition. Katsu insisted he should go, “just in case.” He returned several hours later, white as a sheet. “We don’t pay the guys who get our reaction mass nearly enough. Not nearly enough.”
Kris had been busy while the two fragments were gathering reaction mass. “Where do I get one of those?” was on several lips, including Brother’s. Kris gave Mitsubishi Heavy Space Industry a full promo, pointing out that the cost of the Wasp, assuming mass production, could be the same as a Typhoon-type fast corvette.
“There are nine construction slips at Nuu Yards on High Wardhaven, three of them battleship-size from the Iteeche War,” Kris pointed out. “They could be turning out a dozen of these frigates every four months. They cost less, have a smaller crew, and are just as good as a battleship.”
“But how much will Mitsubishi want for the modified Smart Metal?”
“I have no idea,” Kris said, “but I hope squabbling over money doesn’t stop Grampa Ray from getting the fleet he wants.”
Honovi just shrugged, as if Kris really didn’t understand the real world.
The Vulcan came alongside, and the two frigates stopped their circling long enough for some heavy stuff to be brought over. Wardhaven had had more recent experience in shoot-outs, and Kris had considered the Wasp too lightly armed.
Now the repair ship sent six twin batteries of 5-inch secondary lasers over to both frigates, and Katsu found himself very busy making adjustments. Kris wanted the Wasp expanded, not just to accommodate the Marines and boffins more comfortably but also to carry enough reaction mass to make all the jumps to the other side of the galaxy without refueling. Grampa Ray’s gifts didn’t just extend to the Hellburners and secondary guns. Both frigates got two dozen of the fast-acceleration missiles with antimatter warheads as well as plenty of foxers and chaff pods.
Next fight, Kris would be loaded for bigger bears.
While shipfitters roamed the Wasp, Kris took Senior Chief Beni to lunch and asked him if he’d like one of Nelly’s kids. Professor Labao just happened to be in earshot and asked if he could be included. Captain Drago was also within hearing, but he declined with haste. “Watch out for the nightmares,” he warned.
“What nightmares?” the chief and professor asked together.
“I do not make mistakes twice,” Nelly assured them, as they adjourned to the ship’s electronic-maintenance shop so Nelly could guide the chief in creating the headgear his son had designed to help her kids commune directly with their humans. Kris corralled Katsu and included him in the upgrade.
An hour later, Kris left three new man-machine interfaces. The old sea dog was deeply intent; the professor and the engineer looked downright euphoric.