Almost.
Once Jinks and the hard cases had been removed, Judge Maydell brought her gavel down again. ''The court will now entertain proposals for the disposal of that ship. We understand Lieutenant Longknife would like to buy it.''
''I would, Your Honor,'' Kris said from where she'd been sitting in the back row of seats, surrounded by kids taking a break from working on the Patton.
''Andy, you have any idea what a proper price is?'' Judge Ardnet asked the lawyer who a moment ago had been Mr. Prosecutor.
''When the court ordered the ship forfeited, I had my assistant start a search on recent sales of similar ships on Lorna Do and in the Helvetica Confederacy. That's all we have in our database. However, the armament and the smart-metal defense are hard to place a value on.''
''I might be able to offer some assistance on that,'' Kris said. ''I worked on a project involving the modification of the Kamikaze class, so I have the present value of Smart Metal. Nelly, feed that to the court.''
Done, but the real verification was Ardnet's whistle.
''That stuff doesn't come cheap.''
''Nor do four twenty-four-inch pulse lasers,'' Kris said, and added what Nuu Enterprises charged for arming a Kamikaze.
''We couldn't charge that much for this ship on the open market,'' Andy muttered.
''I'm not sure we'd want to sell all that to just anyone,'' Judge Maydell said.
''I'm willing to pay that price,'' Kris said, ''for the ship in that configuration.''
''And what would you do with the ship?'' Judge Maydell asked.
''Keep it here at High Chance. Initially,'' Kris said, then shrugged. ''For how long? That would depend on…'' She considered several ways to end the sentence. Whatever she said would be on the news in an hour. She left the sentence dangling.
''I can think of a dozen reasons the young lady might have to move on,'' Judge Billie said. ''None of them good for Chance. But at least some of us Proud Old Vets are happy to have you.''
Kris appreciated the sentiments, but she did have a problem. ''Your Honor, if it pleases the court, there is a problem with the sale of the ship and disposal of the funds you generate.'' Kris filled them in on the hope by the crew of the Resolute that there might be some prize money in it for them.
''That doesn't please the court,'' Judge Maydell said. ''But we should not bind the mouths of the kin that tread the grain. Clearly, they earned something at the risk of their very lives.''
''If I may offer an alternative,'' Andy said, ''the actual cost of the ship, verses the value of the weapons and Smart Metal added might serve as a good basis for splitting the sale. We take the value of the basic ship. They get the premium Her Highness is paying for the military aspects.''
''We'd be better off taking the other,'' Ardnet muttered.
''But it was the lasers that they were betting their lives against.'' Judge Maydell's gavel was up. ''This court holds that the crew gets the value of the warship part. Chance gets the value of the ship. Court is adjourned. Your Highness, we will take a check.'' And the gavel came down.
Kris had Nelly draw up a credit voucher for the clerk of the court. He reminded her not to remove said property ''until said voucher cleared.'' It felt strange to have a voucher in her name questioned. But this was a rather large one, and Chance was out at the end of nowhere.
Navigator Sulwan Kann just happened to duck her head in the courtroom. ''You done here?'' she asked.
Wondering how rapidly news traveled on her station, Kris motioned Sulwan over and told her how much of the ship's sales price would be available to divide up among the crew of the Resolute. Sulwan raised an eyebrow at the amount. ''Good thing we already agreed on who got what part of it. Captain Drago found something in the Ancient History section of the net and we all bought in. He included a portion for you, the ship owner.''
''Not for me. I'm buying the ship and it wouldn't feel right to get part of the prize money back for having taken it.''
''Do we get a part of the pot?'' Chief Beni asked as he and Abby just happened to walk in. Kris made a mental note never to count on privacy in her station.
''Yep, same as any crew member.''
''Well, Princess, when's payday?'' Abby asked.
So Kris was escorted over to the Resolute. The entire crew just happened to be aboard, and quickly lined up for pay. Nelly produced credit vouchers as required for each and every hand… including Jack. ''You risked your neck,'' Kris said.
''That's part of my job.''
''Yes, but according to the ancient laws of the sea, today you get paid for it.''
Gingerly, Jack took the check. ''More than a year's pay.''
''Don't spend it all in one place,'' Abby said with a laugh.
''I hope you won't need my ship for a few days,'' Captain Drago said with a broad smile directed at his crew. Several nodded enthusiastic agreement.
''Actually, I was thinking I might,'' Kris said. ''Could I talk privately to you and Sulwan for a moment.''
''In my cabin,'' the captain said with a grin.
''Jack, can we have a moment?''
What to do next had been eating at Kris. The powers that be on Chance wanted her gone. Where was the question. Kris would have headed for New Bern, to check out that flank. But she was getting negative replies back from the messages she'd sent out the day she got back. Some were no surprise.
The reply under General McMorrison's signature read as if the Prime Minister had dictated it. ''Problems like disappearing buoys are to be expected in unsettled times like these'' she could almost hear Father say. ''So good of you to catch those responsible. Be sure to turn them over to authorities on Chance for prosecution. Please remember not to use your own funds to circumvent the policy established by my, no, the official budget. Now be a good little girl and behave yourself.''
Grampa Al did not sound all that grateful that Kris had found a new use for Smart Metal. Indeed, he seemed offended that she had discovered what his own R & D staff hadn't. Or maybe they had discovered it but, since it cut into potential profits, kept mum about it. There were times when Kris found it easier to understand why some serving officers had so little taste for businessmen. This was one of them.
Grampa Trouble's short reply had been a balm. ''Wow, gal! Getting them to board you so you'd have an easier time capturing them! Sounds like something Ray or I might have thought up in our younger days. Good going, kid!''
The real surprise was the quick and blunt reply from New Bern. Verbal only, the unidentified sender did not mince words.
''We do not know what you are doing here in our sector of space, but a visit now would complicate matters. People would meet you, and when next you stuck your neck out and were about to have it chopped off, we might feel pressure to ride to your rescue. You can understand our reluctance to have footage sympathetic to you in our media archives. Please stay away.''
Maybe Kris should have given more thought to her reply, but she shot back her first version.
''As you probably know by now, somebody blew all the jump buoys between us and Brenner Pass. Unless you fancy having Peterwald space getting as close to you as Chance, you might want to start paying more attention to this end of space. While you can tell me not to come, and I will respect your views, you may find that Peterwald battleships are a bit harder to talk to.''
Kris would have preferred to say that in person, more delicately, but swapping messages left little room for finesse.
But with New Bern off her travel plans, Kris was left with time on her hands and a need to go. Why not give Nelly a treat?
Wee! Nelly shouted in the back of Kris's skull. We're going to go exploring. We're going to go exploring.
Not if you give me a headache.
On the way to the captain's cabin, Kris took Jack aside and brought the Marine in on the ''other'' reason Kris had jumped at command of Naval District 41.