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Authors: Mike Resnick

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BOOK: Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3)
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“Good. It’s your job to make sure the other nine leaders understand the chain of command.”
“Yes, sir.”
Her image vanished, to be replaced by Forrice’s.
“What’s up, Wilson?” said the Molarian.
“We’ve spotted his fleet. We’re taking off as soon as possible. Don’t come back to the
Teddy R
. Christine or Domak will tell you what ship to report to.”
“Did Sharon give you the count?” said Forrice. “Last time I spoke with her, which couldn’t have been ten minutes ago, we have a fleet of one thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven ships.”
“That many?”
“And counting.”
“Good,” said Cole. “Let’s get ready to kick some ass.”
31
 
It was the non-event Cole had hoped it would be when he assembled his fleet.
The scout ships pinpointed Csonti’s location out by the Offenbach system. There were thirty-seven ships, including the
Red Sphinx
.
Csonti took one look at the massive force that was approaching him, knew he was totally overmatched, and beat a hasty retreat. Most of his ships, now leaderless, hovered nervously, not quite sure what to do next. One ship—the
Red Sphinx
—boldly held its ground.
Finally a message came in via the
Teddy R
’s subspace radio:
“
You win today, but you haven’t heard the last of me.
”
“Have we a reply, sir?” asked Christine.
“Yeah, we do. Am I on?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Say that again, Csonti, and we’ll follow you all the way to the Core if necessary, and blow you apart.”
There was a moment’s silence.
“He received it, sir,” said Christine. “No reply.”
“All right. Now I want to address all his remaining ships.”
“Including the
Red Sphinx
, sir?”
“Yeah, whether she hears it or not, she’ll know what I’m going to offer. Let me know when I can speak to them.”
She nodded a minute later. “All set, sir.”
“Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “This is Wilson Cole, the Captain of the
Theodore Roosevelt
. Your leader has deserted you and fled in disgrace. Each of his remaining ships has three options: you can stand and fight, in which case we will destroy you; you can follow Csonti, in which case you will not be harmed or pursued, but you will be marked for destruction should you ever return to this sector; or you can swear your allegiance to the
Theodore Roosevelt
, in which case you will become part of my growing fleet and all prior crimes, including this one, will be forgiven. There is no fourth alternative. I expect each of you to decide within ten Standard minutes.”
“I’ll lay plenty of five-hundred-to-one that no one selects Option One,” said Briggs with a grin.
“They’re starting to call in already, sir,” said Christine.
“Let me know the score in ten minutes,” replied Cole.
It only took seven minutes. Twenty-two ships opted to join Cole’s fleet, and thirteen took off for parts unknown.
“What about Val?” he asked.
“The
Red Sphinx
hasn’t budged. It’s not firing, it’s not advancing, it’s not retreating, and it’s not replying.”
“I think that’s her way of saying she’s not intimidated,” said Cole. “All right, order the fleet, including the new ships, back to Singapore Station.”
“What about the
Red Sphinx
, sir?”
Cole shrugged. “She’ll follow along when she feels like it.”
32
 
Cole declared a week’s shore leave at Singapore Station, while he became acquainted with the captains and executive officers of his twenty-two new ships.
Val showed up on the second day, walked into Duke’s Place as if she’d never left it, but kept her distance from the crew of the
Teddy R
. Her attitude seemed to be that since she hadn’t fired a single shot, she had every right to be on the station she had been paid to destroy.
Cole and Sharon rented a hotel room, which seemed enormous to them after the close confines of the ship. Forrice divided his time between the Molarian brothel and the
stort
table, Jacovic found four more Teronis and spent most of his time with them, and the other members of the crew found other ways to amuse themselves.
Perez entered the casino on the third day, and walked right over to the Platinum Duke’s table, where the Duke, Cole, Sharon, and David Copperfield were sitting with their drinks.
“I’ve got to talk to you, sir,” said Perez.
“Is it private, or can you discuss it right here?” asked Cole.
“There’s nothing private about it,” said Perez. “Sir, I want a position aboard the
Theodore Roosevelt
. I don’t care how menial it is, but I have to get off the
Red Sphinx
.”
“What happened?”
“I told her that I would refuse any order to fire on the
Theodore Roosevelt
. She locked me in the brig until this morning, then turned me loose and told me she doesn’t want me back on the ship, which suits me just fine.”
“I can see her point of view,” said Cole. “You disobeyed your Captain’s direct orders in a military confrontation.”
“I signed on to fight
for
you, not
against
you, sir,” said Perez. “If you won’t take me on, I’ll hang around Singapore Station until I can latch on with another ship.”
“That’s not a problem,” said Cole. “We’ve got more ships than I can even name right now.” He sighed. “Yeah, we’ll find a spot for you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Perez turned and walked over to one of the gaming tables.
“He’s a good man,” said Cole.
“So is Commander Jacovic,” said Sharon.
“I know. And we probably picked up another dozen this week,” said Cole. “It seems a shame that once we whip them all into shape, we’re still just mercenaries hiring out to the highest bidder. There ought to be something more useful to do with a force of damned near thirty ships.”
“Hell,” said the Duke, “if all you want is a purpose and a challenge, I’ll pay you to go to war with Fleet Admiral Garcia.”
“The odds get a little better every week,” replied Cole with a smile, “but it’s still a couple of hundred million to twenty-seven.”
“Not twenty-eight?” asked Sharon.
“She was ready to fight against us for money,” explained Cole. “Fighting for money has become our business, and I won’t hold it against her, but it doesn’t make her part of our fleet anymore.”
“Well,
I
hold it against her,” said the Duke. “She hasn’t even stopped by to apologize, or mend fences, or anything. Look at her over at the tables, drinking and gambling as if we weren’t even in the same building.”
“I know how her mind works,” said Cole. “She doesn’t think she has anything to apologize for.”
“You’re being too soft on her.”
“There’s every likelihood that most or all of the
Teddy R
’s crew would be dead without her,” replied Cole. “That buys her some leeway.”
The Duke shook his head. “I don’t understand that attitude.”
“I thought I did once,” said Sharon. “There was a time I thought he was infatuated with her. But he wasn’t. He just sees something special in her.”
“She’s got a lot of admirable traits and abilities,” said Cole.
“She’s big and she’s strong,” said the Duke, clearly unimpressed. “So is Csonti.”
“She’s a lot more than that,” replied Cole. “When I brought her on board the
Teddy R
, every member of the crew was dead-set against her. After all, I promoted her over all but two of them. But within two weeks she was the most popular person on the ship.” He paused. “Captains, as my friend the Security Chief here is contantly telling me, don’t leave their ships in enemy territory. I’ve had to on occasion, and each time I’ve trusted Val to watch my back. She never let me down.” He looked across the room and saw a swirl of red hair towering above one of the tables. “We’re going to miss her.”
“So you lost her and picked up twenty-two ships,” said the Duke. “I’d say you came out ahead.”
“What do you think, David?” asked Cole.
“I’d rather have the Valkyrie than the ships,” answered Copperfield.
Cole looked across the table at the Duke. “There’s your answer.”
“All right,” said the Duke, “you know your personnel better than I do. But it seems to me that you’re romanticizing a traitor.”
“You’re allowed your opinion,” said Cole. “Hell, you might even be right. My judgment’s not perfect.” He smiled ruefully. “If it was, I’d still be fighting for your Admiral Garcia.”
“Perish the thought,” said the Duke.
“Wilson!
Duck!
” yelled Sharon suddenly.
Startled, Cole turned toward her as a heavy chair flew through the air and bounced off his head.
He fell to the floor, then pulled himself groggily to his feet, blood running into his left eye from a huge gash on his forehead. It took him a moment to recover his balance and focus his one clear eye, and when he did, he found himself facing Csonti.
“How the hell did you get in here?” mumbled Cole.
“You think I only have one ship?” demanded the huge man. “I told you you hadn’t seen the last of me! But I’m the last thing you’ll ever see!”
He swung a roundhouse right. Cole, his eye filled with blood, never saw it coming. It connected, and he crashed right through the Duke’s table.
“Get up, little man!” bellowed Csonti. “Get up and meet your death!”
Cole tried to stand, fell to his knees, and tried again. Before he could get to his feet, a man had hurled himself onto Csonti’s back and wrapped his arms around the huge man’s throat.
Csonti grunted in surprise, staggered a few steps, then got his hand around one of the man’s wrists. For a moment neither of them moved. Then there was a loud
crack!
and the man lost his grip.
It was Perez, and it was obvious that his wrist had been broken. Csonti spun around, grabbed him by the throat, and squeezed. Perez began flailing his arms. Gradually the flailing lessened, then ceased, and Csonti let the unconscious man fall to the floor.
“Stupid, stupid man!” growled Csonti, delivering a gratuitous kick to Perez’s head. “As if he could stop
me
!” He turned back to Cole, who was swaying on wobbly feet and trying to keep the blood out of his eye. “Now, where were we?”
And suddenly an immaculately clad alien stepped between them.
“You leave him alone!” said David Copperfield in a shaky voice.
“Get out of my way before I squash you like an insect!” snarled Csonti.
Copperfield began trembling, but he held his ground. “He’s my friend. I won’t let you harm him.”
“This is going to be fun!” said Csonti with a nasty grin. “Do you know what I’m going to do to you, you ugly little wart?” He took a menacing step forward. “I’m going to pull off your ears and pluck out your eyes for having the audacity to stand between Csonti and his enemy!”
He reached out a hand toward Copperfield, and suddenly a strong female hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed his wrist.
“Maybe you should try fighting against grown-ups,” said Val, pushing him back. “Go hide under the table, David. I’ll take it from here.”
“I don’t want you!” Csonti said, suddenly wary. “I want
him!
” He gestured toward Cole.
“You can’t always have what you want, shithead,” she said, aiming a kick at Csonti’s knee. “I never liked you anyway.”
He was back up in a second, favoring the leg but still formidable. He swung a blow that would have decapitated her if it had landed, but she ducked and delivered a swift chop to his Adam’s apple. He leaned over, choking, and she brought her knee up into his face. There wasn’t much left of his nose when he straightened up.
“You’re not so much,” said Val contemptuously. “Hell, Bull Pampas could take you without working up a sweat.”
“Damn it, you’re working for me!”
“Correction,” said Val. “I work for
me
.”
Csonti pulled a dagger out of his boot and charged at her. What happened next happened so fast that no two accounts of it were quite the same, but everyone agreed that an instant later Csonti was flying head over heels, and that he uttered a terrible scream when he landed. He rolled over, blood spurting up from the artery his dagger had slashed when he landed on it.
It took him another three minutes to die. No one made any effort to help him or stanch the flow of blood. When he was clearly dead, the Duke ordered two of his robots to carry the body out to the trash atomizer behind the kitchen.
BOOK: Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3)
13.61Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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