Command Decision (24 page)

“Good…heavens.” Ky realized that Hugh was looking at her oddly; her face must show the astonishment she felt.

“Of course it means his mess is spread over half the apartment as well as a sort of lab at the office here, and I keep telling him that the next time I step on something that crunches or goes
sping
under my foot I’m going to throw it all out, but he knows I’m not serious. He thinks all this is fun…I have no idea how they contained all his energy back on his apprentice voyage. Scutwork, I suppose. At any rate, it gives us an enormous trading advantage, if we mount this technology on Vatta ships.”

“And an economic advantage if we sell the units…how fast can you manufacture them?”

“At the moment, Toby’s making each one by hand. I have three—this one in the office, two more at home. I don’t have the capital yet to manufacture them in quantity, and if ISC finds out, I expect trouble.”

“Rafe knows we have the basic models,” Ky said. “He said those conformed to ISC designs, though he was sure they were being made by someone else. If Toby’s advanced the technology, the least you should do is get patents on it.”

“I’m looking into that. Because the Moscoe Confederation is so close to Nexus, though, they look with some suspicion on anything that might infringe on ISC territory.”

“Mmm. Did ISC ever patent the shipboard ansible technology?”

“They must have; they’re not stupid. At least the components, if not the final product. And intellectual property lawyers cost an incredible amount. I’ve got one, but I’m running out of funds to pay him. I’m going to ask Aunt Grace…”

“No—wait. Just let me think.” She hadn’t yet told Ransome about the shipboard ansibles…and she had enough left to give him one for each of his ships. She’d planned to do so, in fact. But if he bought them…She gave Stella a quick outline of Ransome’s Rangers and her agreement with them. “Give me a price,” she said finally. “This is the old version, the ISC version, but—”

“But you’re the only source except the pirates, Ky. One-of-a-kind items…let’s see, I need at least fifty hours of legal representation…divided by three…and a cushion you can bargain down from…” Stella named a sum that made Ky blink.

“That much?”

“If we don’t ask, we don’t get it. We can try, anyway. It’s Vatta trade goods, right? And you’re a Vatta captain. So that’s the price I authorize you to sell at.”

“Actually, at this point I’m the commander of a detachment of Space Defense Force’s Third Fleet,” Ky said.

“What is Space Defense Force? I never heard of it.”

“We have pretty patches,” Ky said, grinning. “And big fancy plaques hanging on the bulkheads.”

“And if I said I’d bet on the first and second fleets existing only in your fertile imagination?”

“And the imaginations of a few other people,” Ky said. “But you’d be right, in principle. Nonetheless, I will sell the ansibles at the price you recommend, boss. We need those patents, and then we need those advanced ansibles. ISC will just have to eat our dust. Since they still haven’t fixed all the ansibles they’ve got, I’m betting they have enough other problems to worry about.”

“I hope so,” Stella said. “Aunt Grace also mentioned that she’s met your Master Sergeant MacRobert and approves of him. She said not to worry about your letter of marque.”

“With her in the government, of course not. We’ll be on maneuvers here in Adelaide Group for a little while, Stella; I’ll let you know how the sale of communications equipment goes.”

Ky had consulted with Argelos and Pettygrew, making sure she fully understood the performance characteristics of their ships; now the three set off for the first real training they’d done as a group since that disastrous battle.

Right away, she noticed that the new patches made a big difference in both morale and discipline. Those who really didn’t want to be in a space navy had already left, but the remaining civilians—former civilians now—had sewn on their patches eagerly and moved now with more decision. The other captains reported the same thing.

It was three days before they had their scans calibrated to Ky’s satisfaction. “I’m being picky for a reason,” she said, when Pettygrew complained. “If I take a shot at someone with my beam, telling you the bearing of that beam, and you microjump four light-minutes in front of me and don’t microjump out within four minutes because on your scan you think my beam’s going to pass you a kilometer away, what will happen?”

“I’ll…oh.”

“And the same with missiles, to a degree. We’re not doing close formation; we’re going to be loose. That means we must know
exactly
—or at least consistently, from one ship to the other—where each ship is. Our navigational computers must be in sync; our targeting computers must be in sync. Errors of thousandths of a degree quickly expand to tens of thousands of kilometers—”

“All right. I understand now. I just—”

“It wouldn’t have happened the way Admiral Andreson wanted us to fight,” Ky said. “That’s an advantage of the formations you
were
using. The disadvantages, you know.”

When the equipment had all been calibrated, Ky had them practice precision maneuvers, first with only one ship at a time. Accelerating on a mark; decelerating on a mark, while the others charted the movements and compared charts. Microjumps to specific coordinates. Repeated microjumps, or “skip-jumping.”
Sharra’s Gift
lacked the capability for calibrated and repeated microjumps; Ky and Argelos rewrote tactical plans to allow for the problem. Then the ships maneuvered in pairs, matching velocity, matching course. Meanwhile, she ordered drills for the crews inside, including every emergency she or Hugh or Martin or the other captains could think of. Fires, leaks of all kinds, injuries, illnesses, damage from weapons…

Every day ended with a critique session in which Argelos and Pettygrew came to
Vanguard
to give their report on the day’s training activities, and Teddy Ransome, bright-eyed and eager, appeared on the vidscreen to give his version.

On the fifth day, he said, “I’ve started my lads on some of those drills, Captain Vatta. We always did have fire drills, of course, but I never thought of leaking coolant fluid. And it sent us all into a tizzy, I don’t mind telling you, but we have it sorted out now. Not much you can’t handle with gaffer’s tape and a bent pin, you know…”

Captain Argelos put his head in his hands.

“I assume you’re talking about ingenuity and initiative,” Ky said. “Not actually fixing a leak in a high-pressure line with gaffer’s tape…”

“Oh…well, yes. Matter of fact, we don’t even have any gaffer’s tape aboard, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any…it’s just an expression. Anyway, I thought you should know we aren’t just sitting about with our feet up watching you work.”

“Excellent,” Ky said. “By the way, I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you about, not on an open channel. I’m sure your people are looking, but just in case there’s a pirate lurking somewhere—”

“Certainly, certainly,” he said. “I’ll just bring the skimmer over, shall I? Whenever you wish.”

“How about tomorrow, after the day’s work is done? It won’t take long, perhaps an hour or so.”

“I’ll be there, Captain Vatta. And now, adieu!” He waved as he closed the connection.

“He is a total and complete
idiot,
” Argelos said, looking up. “What are you planning to do, saw off the top of his head and pour in a sack of brains?”

“At least he’s started drilling his crew,” Pettygrew said. “He may not be entirely lacking in intelligence.”

“I want to sell him some shipboard ansibles,” Ky said.

“You gave us ours free,” Pettygrew said.

“That was you. You had just escaped from an enemy that destroyed your home system. This is different,” Ky said. “You weren’t bragging about how much money you got away with. Ransome’s thrown his around without restraint—I don’t see why he shouldn’t pay for them. Stella—my cousin, who runs the business—suggested a price.”

“Should I know how much I’m beholden to you?” Pettygrew asked, brows raised.

“No. You aren’t beholden to me at all, Dan.” She rarely used his given name; she noted his reaction—surprise, first, then a subtle relaxation. “You saved my ship as much as I saved yours.”

“Thanks,” he said, a little gruffly.

“Teddy Ransome’s a newcomer, and unknown, and for all I can tell as rich as the entire Vatta family used to be. He hasn’t earned any special consideration yet, and Stella needs the money.”

“What’s ISC going to think of your selling shipboard ansibles?”

Ky shrugged. “I don’t care. The ship and its contents were adjudicated to my possession. They certainly haven’t advertised any as missing, so I don’t think they’ll claim they were stolen.”

The others looked at her. “You’re becoming devious,” Argelos said.

Ky laughed. “
Becoming
?”

“And she seemed like such a nice girl when I first met her,” Argelos said, shaking his head. “So—when do you think we’ll be ready to go chase down some pirates and get this war started?” He held up a hand. “Sorry…
finished
.”

“Another few days,” Ky said. “You’re all shaping well. If we had the resources, I’d want some target practice, but we need every missile in stores. I will want your weapons crews using simulation patterns, though.”

“And where do we go next?”

“Talking to Councilor Malroy, I think we’re most likely to get support from systems like this—those that don’t maintain much in the way of system defense but are beginning to worry about the pirate menace. I’m also planning to send Ransome’s ships out as scouts a system or so ahead of us; with shipboard ansibles, they can report if they find any small groups of pirates, something we could reasonably hope to destroy. If we can prove that we can destroy small groups, that will get us some support—and more ships, I’ll bet—but we really need a good solid victory the next time out. The more Turek grabs, the more he’ll have to spread his forces to maintain control…there will be small groups, I’m sure.”

“Sounds good to me,” Pettygrew said. He grinned. “This is a bit different from what I’m used to but…I like it.”

“I’d like you to go out to a several-light-minute distance, Dan, so I can demonstrate the ship’s ansible to Ransome.”

Captain Ransome’s personal vehicle was as ornate as his ship, and he himself as resplendent as ever. He dove through the docking tube like some fantasy hero, right arm stretched out ahead.

“It’s such an honor,” he said. “Your ship—” He looked around, then smiled at Ky. “And you have something important to tell me—I am all ears, Captain Vatta.”

The general tone of his speech was so absurd that Ky had a momentary vision of a thousand ears all over his uniform. She fought back a snort of laughter. This would never do.

“Let’s go to my office, Captain Ransome,” she said formally.

“Oh, do call me Teddy. All my friends call me Teddy,” he said.

“All right…er…Teddy. This way.”

Once settled in her office, he seemed to relax a trifle, looking around the compartment.

“I’ve been impressed by your performance,” Ky said. “You and your friends have been a help to us, and I can see how you will continue to be…but there’s additional technology that would make you more effective, and I can supply it.”

“What’s that?”

“Shipborne ansibles,” Ky said.

“That’s—that’s impossible! They’ve always said it was impossible!”

“It’s not,” Ky said. “The pirates have them and are using them; it’s one reason their attacks are so well coordinated. We obtained a number of the devices when I captured this ship.”

“Do they work just like system ansibles?”

“Not as I understand it,” Ky said. “I’m not a specialist in the technology, but I have been told that they will not interface with system ansibles. It’s strictly a ship-to-ship tool at this time, but a very effective one. The pirates use it; we must, too, to fight them.”

“Do you—is it possible for me to obtain a unit?”

“Teddy, I’m sorry to say that I can’t afford to give you one…but I can sell you one. In fact, I can sell you three, one for each ship. Then you can communicate ship-to-ship without a time lag.”