Lambrack: "Maybe our politicians are making a mistake, but it's theirs to make. Yet think about it. Sudoria's defence is not weakened by Combine continuing to run those defence platforms. The only question is one of centralised command, which is always preferable in conducting a war. Do you think that is a question worth internecine conflict—worth killing our own people over?"
Davidson: "It won't necessarily come to that."
Lambrack: "Davidson, you're only giving him the benefit of the doubt because he cleared your way to the Captaincy of the Resilience. Don't be naive. He's manipulating you."
Davidson: "But he still could have killed me rather than Grune."
Lambrack: "No one would have believed you guilty and Grune innocent. This way, all the other Captains who were wavering are more likely to take Harald's side."
And so Lambrack continued to work on Davidson. Harald began recording their exchange in case anything useful to him arose. With Lambrack being a long-established and respected Captain, Harald could not employ the same peremptory justice he had used against Grune, but with the present recordings he had sufficient to bring the man before a Fleet court. The problem would be extracting him from his ship, and that Harald did not have time for currently. However, there was an alternative.
Harald wiped the code screens and put through a direct call to Captain Lambrack. Watching the man, he saw him glance to one side and frown.
"We'll have to cut this now, Davidson. It seems Harald would like to speak to me. Just consider all I've said. We will need to act quickly and decisively to prevent an all-out firefight with Orbital Combine."
Harald would have liked Lambrack to elaborate on that, but the man cut his connection with Davidson, then his image appeared alone.
"Admiral Strone, what can I do for you?"
"I note," Harald replied, "that you and Captain Davidson have been rather stretching the definition of the 'diamond formation'."
"We wished to conduct a private conversation," replied Lambrack.
The two ships had pulled back only a little way, to a position where they could use com lasers without any possibility of interception of laser reflection from their own hulls. Harald had not intercepted the lasers; he had simply subverted Davidson's onboard com system remotely. It would certainly come as a surprise to many hilldigger Captains just how well he had penetrated the security of their ships, both informationally and physically.
"I have to wonder what you needed to talk about that required such privacy," he said.
"Yes, I imagine you do."
Harald knew he was not going to get anywhere with this so decided to take a new tack. "No matter. We have some more immediate concerns that I'll get to in a moment. But first, I understand that your brother is a senior researcher aboard Corisanthe II and that you have recently been in communication with him?"
Lambrack glanced to one side, then returned with, "I note this is not encoded com. A rather shoddy attempt to smear my name, don't you think?"
"You misunderstand me. How could I use such a fact to smear your name when my own sister ranks so high aboard Corisanthe Main? I am merely seeking to confirm some rumours concerning equipment recently moved from II to Main."
"Equipment?"
"Weapons."
"That's not the kind of thing my brother and I would discuss."
"Then what do you discuss?"
"Our recent conversation centred around events in Parliament and how they may affect us both. I imagine this was a subject raised by many officers in Fleet who have relatives in Combine and on Sudoria itself. Or rather, it was something undoubtedly raised until you restricted communication."
Harald awarded Lambrack that point and smiled and nodded for the benefit of those who would certainly be watching this or would view a later recording. Inside he seethed, however. By not pretending loyalty to Harald or his aims, Lambrack placed himself in an unassailable position. Harald could accuse the man of sedition, but that would only cause more problems than it would solve.
"It's an unfortunate situation and of course I would perfectly understand any reluctance you might have to obey any orders putting members of your family in danger."
"I have not disobeyed any of your orders, Admiral Strone," replied Lambrack firmly.
"No, you haven't as yet."
"Are you implying that I intend to?"
"I would never question your loyalty to Fleet."
"I am so glad. Now what were these 'more immediate concerns'?"
Harald paused for a moment. The fact that Lambrack had a brother aboard Corisanthe II with whom he had recently been in communication was now firmly established in the minds of any listeners. Yes, his own sister Yishna occupied a high position aboard Main but, since he was Admiral and the initiator of Fleet's present actions, his own motives would not be questioned. Lambrack's would—however, that was a lever he could use at another time. His aim now was to get Lambrack away from Davidson, and away from this entire mission.
"I have a task for which you are best suited," said Harald, "in view of your probable reluctance to be involved in what lies ahead." Lambrack just stared at him in silence so he continued, "Our satellites around Brumal have detected the launch of a ship from the planet's surface. It is a Brumallian biotech vessel and its course is presently taking it towards Sudoria."
"What?" Lambrack looked shocked.
"Yes, those who question whether the Brumallians have been complicit in recent events, or even capable of involvement, perhaps need to examine their assumptions. One doubts that such a ship—flying in flagrant breach of the surrender terms—has anything but hostile intentions. What would you think, Lambrack?"
"I think this is certainly something that needs to be checked."
"You'll do more than check, Captain Lambrack. You'll intercept and destroy this vessel, then you will progress to Brumal to destroy its launch site, which lies above BC30—the city they call ReconYork."
"You're sending me?"
"You're right for the task, Captain, and here is an enemy about whom you'll have fewer reservations."
Lambrack swore and cut the connection. A little while later, as he continued his inspection of Engineering, Harald watched the Captain's ship dropping out of formation and turning to head back towards Brumal.
McCrooger
A long intestinal corridor ran right around the ship's internal ring, the walls braced by cartilaginous bulwarks, and ceilings and floors either held together or apart by pillars of a substance like glass heavily streaked with impurities, and through which ran capillaries with lucent fluids flowing inside. With little else to do once I could manage to stand for more than a few hours at a time without falling poleaxed into sleep immediately afterwards, I walked this ring, Tigger pacing at my side, the ship wheezing and glubbing around us like a hungry stomach. Convalescence, I tasted the word and found it bitter. I had never needed to convalesce since my first visit to Spatterjay, and now found weakness abhorrent. Six days remained until we arrived at Sudoria, and by then I needed to be fully ready.
"Still no luck trying to get a transmission through?"
"Not much," said Tigger. "The EM chaff broadcast from Fleet satellites swamps everything. I could probably get something through, but it would be loud, and everyone would know where it came from."
I noticed how his heavy paws and my booted feet left bruise-like marks in the translucent floor behind us, which had faded by the time we came round full circle to this same stretch of floor again. I couldn't shake the feeling that someone else was following us just out of sight, and kept looking out for the imprints they must leave. "I think we should hold off on that for the present, though I wonder what the general reaction would be to a Brumallian ship arriving unexpectedly in orbit, if we don't get something through to them beforehand."