“You’re welcome,” Nelly said from Kris’s collarbone.
“So, what do we do about this greeting?” The captain asked.
“Nelly, which of the zones launched the rockets?”
“Do you remember that one I called Fearless Leader?”
“Yes.”
“It was definitely her.”
“Her?” the captain said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Nelly said. “We’ve come to find out that all the major zones are led by females of the species.”
“God help us,” Captain Drago said in full drama. “A planetful of Kris Longknifes. What sin could I have possibly committed in my previous life to deserve this?”
“Are we still over her territory?” Kris asked, ignoring the drama queen at her elbow.
“No, we’re far enough away from it that I don’t think we need fear shots from them,” Nelly replied.
“Then broadcast this on the usual frequencies. ‘I have been fired upon with atomic missiles. I have destroyed them with more ease than you swat flies. Do you really want to go to war with us? We came here in peace to save you. Admiral Longknife sends.’ Let’s see what we hear from the rest of the crazy cats between now and the next time we pass over Fearless Leader’s domain.”
Kris shoved off from the skipper’s chair and headed back to her day quarters.
“So, do we continue to anchor?” Captain Drago asked.
Kris paused at the door to her quarters. She shook her head. “Beat to quarters and get ready for a fight. With luck, next time Nelly won’t have to step on your pride.”
The captain made a face, but he passed the order to the squadron.
Ships pulled away to get more maneuvering room. Crews settled down at their battle stations and made ready for whatever came next.
What came next was a flood of denials that anybody wanted to fight the squadron. They came from heads of states, including both of the two other major powers, as well as from movie stars, heads of major industrial combines, and the two kids that Kris had talked to.
Kris took their message personally.
“Please, listen to us,” Frodin said. Kris could almost hear the tears in his eyes. “My dad says no one wants war. Even my mother says it would be a bad idea.”
“And so do my folks,” Zeth put in. “It’s just that crazy tail over there. They’ve been trouble ever since she came to power. She doesn’t speak for the rest of us.”
“I’m coming to understand that,” Kris said. “I will handle this problem just between her and me.”
“Please do. The rest of us don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Kris ended her radio session with the two kids. They might just be kids, but what they said was backed up with signals from 161 other countries. Only the Fearless Leader kept quiet.
The squadron was battle ready as its orbit swept toward the problem zone.
Missiles rose to meet them.
“Endeavor, engage the threats.”
“Engaged,” came back quickly and seven missile were lased before they could get out of boost phase. The last one was hardly off the ground. Two exploded, including the one that had just lifted off.
That might explain why no more were fired.
“Nelly, do we have a solid lock on just where Fearless Leader is hunkered down?”
“I am 99.999 percent sure I have her mountain dialed in, Kris.”
“Please pass it along to the other ships of the squadron. I want to give it a broadside from each ship. Full charge from the forward lasers, then flip ship and give it the aft batteries.”
“Orders passed.”
Around Kris, the Wasp swung down, pointing its nose at one particular mountain.
“Fire,” Kris ordered.
She felt nothing as six 20-inch lasers poured every joule of energy they stored into firing on one particular piece of real estate. Kris had once been too close to a building when Admiral Krätz, of mostly fond memory, lased it from space.
He hadn’t had anything like the ships she had.
The only sign Kris had that the forward batteries were empty was the Wasp’s swinging around to present her aft batteries.
Five seconds later, Captain Drago reported. “Broadside fired. Request permission to resume anchoring.”
“Permission granted. Keep an eye on that zone next time we pass it.”
“That I will do, Admiral. However, some cartographer needs to remeasure the height of that mountain. It ain’t what it used to be.”
“No doubt. I wonder how Fearless Leader is taking it.”
“We’ll know next pass.”
Next pass was uneventful.
Then, Kris found herself invited to a party.
43
“Well, Jack, it’s now official. I have been invited to the General Session of the Associated Peoples annual session. Apparently, it’s being held three months early just for little old me.”
Kris tried to keep a happy grin on her face. Unfortunately for the debutante in her past, she was none too sure she meant a word she said.
“Where is this shooting gallery going to be held?” Jack asked before Amanda, Penny, or their tagalongs could say a word.
“One of the largest cities on the planet. It’s located in the zone with the highest tech. The one that first contacted us.”
“And then proceeded to keep the bad news to itself,” Jacques pointed out.
“Has anything been heard from the people you lased from orbit?” Masao asked.
“Not so much as a peep,” Kris said. “And when we cross their territory, we are not even tracked by radar.”
“Total shutdown,” Penny said. “But I notice we’re still on alert.”
“It only takes a few seconds to turn a radar on, track us, and launch,” Jack pointed out.
“So, are you going down?” Amanda asked.
“The invitations from both of the major zones say their leaders will be there personally and wish ‘to speak to me eye to eye.’ That phrase may not mean what it says.”
“Or it can mean exactly what it says,” Jacques put in.
“Yes.”
“So what do we do?” Penny asked.
“We do what we always do,” Jack growled. “We keep her safe despite herself. Penny, you are the admiral’s coordinator with the local police. So get on the horn and talk to the local police. Coordinate. Me, I’m the chief of her security. I will be talking to the chief of the security details of these other two top cats and seeing what they’re doing to keep their primaries safe.”
General Montoya paused for a breath. “We are going down to talk with civilized people with the usual problems of organized civility. Honey,” Jack said, turning to Kris, “don’t wait up for me tonight. I may be dirtside for a day or two.”
“You’re not mad at me, are you, Jack?”
“No, love. You do what you do, and I do what I do. We knew it would be like this when we decided to share as much of our lives as we could.”
Kris blew him a kiss, but he and Penny were already having their computers hook them into what passed for a communications net dirtside.
In seconds, both were talking to someone. Minutes later, they were headed dirtside on the same longboat with a detachment of Marines.
Jack was not in her bed that night, nor the next one. That day, the aliens finally showed up, clearly swinging around the sun and still in their long line ahead.
And that was the day Kris was formally invited to address the Associated Peoples the next day . . . with Jack’s approval.
She arose early the next day, pulled on her spider silks and donned her vice admiral’s dress uniform. At the last minute, she slipped on an armored wig as well.
What had Jack called it, the shooting gallery? Certainly, there was no one down there that had a beef with one of those damn Longknifes. However, she had flattened someone’s mountain.