Kris didn't want the chief in her Command Center today. ''Trot down to the Resolute, put your head together with their Comm Chief, hike up their antenna and see if you pick up anything interesting about Hank's ships before the rest of us do.''
''Yeah, I can do that. And Beck has great coffee. I could really use some coffee.''
Fifteen minutes later, Hank started causing trouble.
First two, then another two walkers left Hank's flagship. Penny drew a bead on the first pair. Then the second.
''Mind if I try something?'' Chief Ramirez asked.
''I was wondering why you hadn't left,'' Steve Kovar said.
''I've been watching these turkeys amble around my station, raising my blood pressure, and maybe us having to kill them. I was wondering if there wasn't something I could do.''
''What do you have in mind?'' Kris asked.
The relief for the folks that had been watching the monitors for half the night trooped in. As the first set of kids and oldsters got up, stretched, the chief said, ''You folks good for a bit of fun?''
''Please, let me visit the head first,'' an old fellow said. ''Then I'm yours.''
''I'll need a few things out of the armory,'' Ramirez said.
''I promised most of that stuff to the princess,'' Steve said.
''She won't need dirtside what I'm gonna borrow.''
''Should I ask again what's going on?'' Kris asked.
''Just watch,'' the chief said as she led old farts and pink spiky hair toward the armory. Kris waited for a long ten minutes as the two pairs of walkers became four. At first, they stuck to the forward end of the station, roaming from one pier to the other, but they were edging toward amidships when the elevator opened and six spacesuited figures got out.
''That's what I thought,'' the old lieutenant chortled. ''We talked about some batty ideas in our time. I wondered how this would play out. Penny, you have control of those fire curtains?''
''Yes, sir.''
''As soon as those six clear the amidships shops, start closing those forward of midship.''
Kris watched as the six came forward, the chief in the lead, the other five in a loose line behind her. In armored space suits there was no way to tell the backup here was old coots and kids. Once the last of them were three meters out from the line of shops, the many segments of gray, airtight fire curtain began to slide closed all around the station. The six didn't look back.
The reaction of the walkers, all dressed for a nice day on the station, was decidedly different. A couple of them might have bolted for the nearest pier if the senior of the pair hadn't demanded they stay right where they were.
The chief and her five walked slowly toward the closest pair. The chief's suit had an external speaker; her words came through loud and clear. ''Our commander gave your boss man his marching orders. We don't want you ambling around our station. I suggest you head back before we evacuate the air you're breathing.''
''You can't do that.''
''Penny,'' Kovar said, ''could you start sucking some of the air out of that section of the station?''
''Yes,'' Penny said, hitting a button.
''There're a lot of things you think we can't do. Push us and you may discover to your sorrow just what we will do.''
The junior of the two suddenly looked around, then nudged his senior's elbow. That one sniffed the air, glancing around, then scowled. ''We aren't finished here.''
''I think we are,'' the chief said as all the walkers hurried away. As they passed to Bay 2 where half the ships were docked, Lieutenant Kovar laid a hand on Penny's shoulder.
''Now close the fire curtains between Bay 3 and Bay 2.''
Then the old lieutenant turned to face Kris. ''I think we've now arranged that they don't get to rush this station before having to shoot at our fire bay doors. That may not be much of a casus belli, but it's a clear declaration of intent. And it should take a load off this lieutenant's mind.''
''Do we pull the air out of Bay 3 once the chief is out?''
As Steve answered, ''Yes.''
Nelly said, ''Kris you have a call coming in from Commodore Peterwald.''
''Put it on a screen,'' Kris said, and as the nearest one flipped from a security collage to a very red-in-the-face man in a blue uniform she smoothed her face to Navy bland.
''What do you think you're doing, having your people intimidate my crewmen.''
''I'm sorry, Hank. The message must have gotten garbled. I'm having trouble maintaining air pressure. We think we have a slow leak somewhere in Bay 3. We're temporarily isolating it while we search.'' Around Kris, faces reflected high admiration for anyone who could come up with a whopper that big, that fast. On screen, Hank trembled in speechless rage.
Captain Slovo came on screen. ''I told the commodore that you might be having that kind of trouble. Your station is quite old and not at all well kept up.''
''Sadly, all too true,'' Kris agreed.
Hank's glare at Kris broke as he glared at his flag captain. ''We'll talk more about this when I'm done,'' Hank snapped. Kris was none too sure if the parting shot was aimed at her or at poor Slovo. Whatever they were paying him, it wasn't enough.
The screen went blank. Kris shook her head. ''Slovo told him what he was walking into and he didn't listen.''
''He's a commodore,'' Steve said. ''Why listen to a captain?''
''Maybe because Slovo is right more often than his sycophant junior captains,'' Penny offered.
''That would require Hank to learn something. I don't think he can.'' Kris went down her threat board and came up with more to worry about. ''What if he sends the Marines in light assault craft through another dock or the shuttle bay?''
''Penny will have a misfire with those damn lasers,'' Kovar said, saluting Kris smartly. ''A quick shot aimed at their motors should mess up their day. Then the chief will go out with folks who regularly work in space suits, collect their guns, and push the Marines back where they belong. Ma'am, when you've stewed as long as I have about defending this bit of space, you come up with a whole lot of ideas.'' He looked around the room, a proud father's contented smile on his face. ''You go dirtside and ruin Hank's day down there. I've got him covered up here.''
Kris ambled aft to the armory. All she saw were gray walls and a few boxes of rocket grenades. As she came in, a kid hauled those out. Their bag of tricks was empty. If they failed, it would not be because they didn't use everything they had. She joined Jack at the shuttle bay, quickly checked the tie-downs on the load of her shuttle, and preflighted it. An hour later, they were on the ground. The shuttle was towed straight to a hanger. There were trucks waiting to take the weapons into town.
Kris rode in the first truck, Jack at her elbow. The drive was long introduced her to a wide limited-access highway that circled Last Chance, and gave her a better view of how the half million people here lived. Businesses, industrial parks, suburbs were all going concerns, easily the match for the medium cities of Wardhaven. It would be a shame to see all this turned into a free-fire zone for Hank's troops.
The truck took an exit at Southside Industrial Park. It drove by a shopping center, homes, businesses, and then turned onto a winding road that took them through a grassy berm and into an area of light industry, warehouses, and finally, at its south end, a series of low buildings marked Municipal Complex.
''That's where our Safety and Peace Officers get trained,'' the driver said, pointing at several brick buildings of one and two stories. ''That over there is where we train Fire Department Volunteers and Regulars.'' This time, Kris was directed at a similar cluster of brick buildings. Across an asphalt lot was a seven-story tower, its windows marked with soot. Fighting a fire at the top of a ladder extended that far just might give even an orbital skiff racer acrophobia.