Ruler of Naught (25 page)

Fire Control’s console keened as the EM pulse retargeted the
various weapons, sown by the corvettes on their first pass, against the
destroyer and frigate they were passing up.

The bridge shuddered gently as the ruptors discharged.
Bright coins of light marked the results moments later.

“Destroyer’s coming about. Coincident in three seconds, two,
one... ” Siglnt chanted.

‘Tactical skip, now.”

The fiveskip burped, then burped again, in accordance with
the new protocols imposed by FTL communications.

“Take us out for the second run.”

“Some tacponder pulses received. Emergence pulse, one of
ours, signal incoming.”

The next thirty minutes subsequently remained a blur in Ng’s
mind, even after she reviewed the auto-log the bridge computers had recorded.
The Rifters were better than any of them had expected, using the vulnerability
of the planet and the Highdwellings to protect themselves against the heavy
weapons of the
Grozniy
. But she knew it was only by giving the Rifters
that advantage that she could hold them to the battle.

Gradually the various dragon’s teeth accounted for some of
the enemy, but her crew paid a high cost as well. It was on their third run
through cis-lunar space that the highest price was paid.

o0o

Nilotis felt a flash of pride when he recognized what was
causing the raggedness of the Tenno response—some unanticipated second and
third-order semantic obligations had surfaced.
I’m...

But he didn’t even have time to find the right verb, because
he was anything but fluent in the new Tenno. His comprehension was coming in
flashes. Watching Warrigal fight them back into stability made him feel behind,
inadequate. Listening in on her rapid boswell colloquy with Rom-Sanchez made
his head ache afresh.

He straightened in his pod, took a deep breath, and
concentrated.

The activity on the bridge had reached a frantic level as
tactical information flooded in, with varying degrees of timeliness. Four
corvettes had taken sufficient damage to force disengagement, the other fought
on with varying amounts of damage and casualties. The cutters’ stealthy work on
the fringes had preserved them from harm so far.

Grozniy
was still untouched, and had accounted for
one of the four destroyers, but the fear of a smashing blow from one of the
Rifter destroyers’ apparently unstoppable skipmissiles still hung over the
bridge, intensifying as the action wore on. Only the dogged harassment of the
corvettes had preserved them thus far, but those were slowly being scattered by
individual duels, and time was running out.

Through it all Margot O’Reilly Ng’s voice never wavered,
never rose above the quiet level of authority that had been Nilotis’s first
impression of her on joining
Grozniy
—as it was, he expected, of
everyone. The only sign of stress was the way she leaned forward, shoulders
taut, and the sheen of sweat on her forehead.

“On emergence come about and target the destroyer... ”

The
Grozniy
shuddered out of skip; stars skewed
across the screen, stopped.

“Coming about. Five, four, three... ” Mzinga’s voice was
hoarse.

“Skipmissile away. Skipmissile charging.”

“Tactical skip, five light-seconds, now.”

Their skip took them in toward their target. Seconds after
emergence, a gout of light signaled success. “Hit! Scratch one Alpha.”

Delight tingled down to Nilotis’s bones. As the Tenno
probabilities had indicated, that target had felt the sting of a gee-mine: its
fiveskip dead, it had been unable to leap to safety.

“That leaves two more,” Krajno growled. “Don’t get happy
just yet.”

On the viewscreen one of the
Grozniy
’s corvettes—the
Hevtana
—engaged
with some small craft. The Rifter jinked toward the planet—his fiveskip, too,
had evidently fallen prey to the sharp gravitational pulse of one of Navaz’s
gee-mines.

“Emergence, Alpha-class, bearing 68 mark 22, plus 80,000
kilometers, vectoring on
Raven Hevtana
.”

“Fire bearing ruptors. Target skipmissile and fire on
acquisition.”

The starfield slewed rapidly. A targeting cross swung into
view. The red-pulse of a skipmissile arrowed away even as a skip-pulse bloomed
where the enemy had been.

“Ruptors missed. Skipmissile missed. Target emergence,
bearing 79 mark 45, plus 0.9 light-seconds, vectoring on
Raven Hevtana
.”

“Fire bearing ruptors, target skip... ”

His pod restraints snapped into action as a pressure wave
made his ribs creak and his ears ring. A gout of flame erupted from the next
station. Lieutenant Noyetra screamed as fire crackled up his torso and torched
his hair. The bridge seemed to tilt and nausea washed through Nilotis. The
lights went out, coming back in the red of emergency power. A galaxy of trouble
lights illuminated the bridge from every console; one of the Marine guards sprang
into action with an extinguishers, the other carefully manhandled the wounded
officer out of his pod.

“Skipmissile impact, aft beta ruptor turret not reporting,
skipmissile aborted, aft beta bay not reporting, engine two destabilized.” The
voice sang out through the smoke.

“Emergence pulse, 267 mark 183, plus 1.5 light-seconds,
Alpha-class, skipmissile charging, estimate seven seconds to discharge... ”

The voices were high, sharp, but Nilotis felt the effort of
his fellow officers to maintain the cadence. The tianqi hissed, overlaying the
horrible smell of singed flesh, filling the bridge with a cool, astringent
scent. That, and the cadence, meant they still had control. Thanks to Totokili,
the shields held!
But we can’t take another shot like that.

Ng vaulted back into her pod from the deck where the impact
had sent her sprawling. “Damage Control, aft ruptor status.”

“Alpha and gamma still on-line. Insufficient power for more
than one turret at this time.” The shields had drawn so much power that the
reactors were slow to come back to full-load status.

Ng didn’t hesitate, demonstrating that even in the midst of
confusion and disaster the captain had a clear image of the geometry of the
battle. “Aft gamma ruptor, fire on acquisition, full power.”

Nilotis stared down at his console, breathed consciously in
an effort to relax—
it’s always like this with something new and hard to do
.
Then someone else gasped, and he jerked his gaze up.

The viewscreen flickered to a close-up view of the deadly
wasp-shape of a destroyer, foreshortened by its vector directly at them. Three
seconds later it disintegrated, the missile tube spinning away end over end as
the rest of the ship flared into a coin of brilliant light.

The viewscreen flickered back to the other destroyer, now
nearly vectored on the
Hevtana
. Horror seized Nilotis as the Tenno
revealed the situation: the corvette’s battle had taken it into radius, between
the planet and the destroyer. Its radiants flared as its geeplane accelerated
it crabwise toward radius, its bow vectored well off its course. Nilotis
scanned the glyphs, looking for a loophole. He didn’t need the new Tenno
modules to see that there was none. The corvette would reach radius exactly as
the destroyer fired. At that point, if the corvette skipped to safety, out of
the path of the skipmissile, the near-lightspeed plasma would impact
Treymontaigne, killing most of the planet’s population as the shock wave propagated
through the atmosphere like a wall of steel.

“Forward alpha turret, fire on that destroyer.”

“Forward turret not powered, seven seconds to ready status.”
said Hjivarno at Fire Control, her voice hopeless. There were less than four
seconds left.

Nobody spoke. On-screen, the corvette rotated to face its
executioner. Nilotis saw the captain’s chip jerk up sharply. Understanding and
sorrow thrilled in him and he saw the same understanding spread through the
bridge crew.

“Signal incoming,
Hevtana
.”

Without waiting for acknowledgment, the com officer windowed
up the signal, revealing the sweaty face of Lieutenant Methuen. Nilotis had not
been surprised when he’d volunteered for corvette duty. Methuen had been
struggling with the new Tenno; his notable tactical expertise matched a role
less dependent on them. Sorrow gripped Nilotis’s vitals at the knowledge of
death on his friend’s face.

Then Methuen smiled. “Raise a glass for us at the wake,
we’ll toast you back from Murphy’s Hall.” A bare heartbeat later: “Engage.”

The window blinked out as the corvette vanished in a burst
of bluish light.

Simultaneously the destroyer exploded in a glaring burst of
radiation that blanked out the viewscreen for a long moment. Nilotis’s eyes
prickled. The
Hevtana
had become a missile, skipping into its enemy in a
sparkling rosette of plasma which faded to reveal the uncaring stars above the
blue-white limb of a planet reprieved from death.

Slowly the captain stood and gave the empty screen a full
formal salute. A heartbeat later the rest of the bridge stood as well. Nilotis
found himself on his feet, eyes now frankly blurred.

A long silence followed. Then the captain spoke quietly,
bringing them back to the aftermath of battle.

“Stand down to yellow. Damage Control, report. Medical,
report casualties... ”

Nilotis let out his breath as Ng’s voice continued, still
calm, still quiet. With the last destroyer dispatched, there was nothing left
in the Treymontaigne system to threaten them. Now they owed the living and the
dying their duties, then they would discharge their obligations to the dead.

o0o

“... and the Void shall yield up its dead, from light to
light transformed, journeying in the company of the Light-bearer to the
fullness of Telos at the end of Time.”

On the viewscreen the hulk of the
Prabhu Shiva
still
blazed, its nuclear fires little diminished by the days that had passed. Her
throat still tight from the words, which never got easier, Ng turned to
Commander Krajno, resplendent in his dress uniform.

“Commander.” She gestured toward Fire Control.

Krajno stared at the viewscreen for a long beat, then said,
“Fire.”

Lieutenant Commander Nilotis pressed a key, and the reddish
pulse-wake of a skipmissile speared out, transforming the shattered
battlecruiser into a glory of light that slowly faded from view, furnishing the
final catharsis for their memories of lost comrades.

‘The Light-bearer receive them,” said Ng.

As the funeral crew filed off the bridge and the regular
billet filed in to replace them, Ng sighed. The news from Treymontaigne was
bad, if what the Rifters had told their victims during their brief occupation
was true. She wondered how many of the crew realized that their anguish was just
beginning.

Luri’s large, luminous eyes blinked slowly, and her full,
curved lips parted. “You’re the only one who understands Luri,” she breathed,
leaning forward in a cloud of subtle scents.

Warmth coursed through Kira Lennart.

“Luri wants to stay here... with you.” The filmy gown
strained over full breasts. Luri stepped closer and pushed Kira down on the
dormaivu, pressing her soft hands on Kira’s shoulders, kneading the muscles
there.

Kira sighed as the warmth kindled into desire.

“A little shakrian from Luri?”

“Oh, yes,” Kira said, her voice squeaking.

As the fingers massaged slowly down Kira’s neck and arms,
Kira sank gratefully into the whirlpool of sensual pleasure. It didn’t matter
that she knew Luri was probably gennated for pheromone production—that she
would never be constant, any more than she had been for the old captain, Tallis
Y’Marmor, or was for the new.

Luri leaned down, her silky hair brushing Kira’s cheek. She
kissed her ear softly, her tongue making a delicate exploration around its
curve, then suddenly darting into the center. Kira groaned, pleasure sparking
the urgency of passion deep inside her.

Luri nibbled her lobe, and then breathed, “Anderic watches.
You know that?”

A faint sense of alarm steadied Kira. “Mmm,” she said, partly
pleasure and partly assent.

Luri laughed softly. Her fingers worked the muscles down the
front of Kira’s spare body, then with a sudden movement began unfastening her
jumpsuit.

Kira wriggled out of it. Luri, with a grace born of long
practice, tabbed the gee-control to one-quarter and slipped off her diaphanous
robe in a sinuous motion that aroused Kira even further.

Flinging the robe expertly around them both, Luri bent
close.

“I know he’s got spy-eyes all over the ship,” Kira
whispered.”

Luri’s robe had settled over them. She pulled it across
Kira’s back, its silky gossamer folds sending shivers through her. Their heads
were shrouded in the slippery robe.

“You are happy with Anderic as captain?” Luri whispered
intimately.

“No,” Kira sighed. “Tallis was a fool, but he was fair
enough. Anderic’s getting worse every day... ”

Luri laughed deep in her throat, like a growl. “He feels his
power.”

Kira grunted softly. “If I wanted to serve under such as
Hreem the Faithless, I’d be on the
Lith
.”

Luri’s eyes flickered, and she bent forward and kissed Kira
lingeringly.

“Luri feels sorry for Tallis,” she breathed into Kira’s
other ear.

“Me too,” Kira breathed back.

“Perhaps Tallis can be helped... ” Luri suggested.

Kira struggled to clear her mind as Luri’s hands kneaded
slowly down her body. What Luri was hinting at was mutiny—something the Karroo
Syndicate was harsh about. They liked to protect their investments, and they
had a chatzing long arm. But Tallis was Karroo’s appointee. It was that
Dol’jharian monster who’d yanked him without warning, forced them all to
witness that disgusting vid when his eye was removed, and put Anderic in his
place—with Tallis’ missing eye replacing one of his own.