Infinite Day (61 page)

Captain the Earl of Karlazat-Damanaz stood at the helm of the
Twisted Spear
surveying the activity about him. It was very creditable; the half dozen men on the bridge were moving into battle drill with a smooth swiftness. He hoped that Lieutenant Second Class Lumzarast, of no breeding, who was standing the appropriate half meter behind him, appreciated it.

Yet this new ship appearing from their rear and diving toward them was a troubling issue. On the main screen, projected impact time was now at three minutes ten seconds and falling.

The captain turned to the lieutenant and noted the expectant and concerned face.

“So, what do you think I'm going to do?” The moment he asked the question, the captain regretted it.
Supposing he gives the right answer?

Lumzarast swallowed. “Sir, the standard response to a ramming attack is threefold. One, fire rear defensive missiles to give you a screen; two, accelerate and pull sharp to either port or starboard; and three, begin to dive down into the Nether-Realms.”

The captain nodded, partly to conceal his dismay.
The correct answer! I hate these dazzling young recruits who know everything. Especially when they have no breeding
. He forced a light smile.
It's exactly what I should do; but to do it now would be dishonoring. After twenty years, most of them in battle, how can I appear to follow the advice of a man who is little more than a student?

“Thank you, Lieutenant Second Class. Technically a correct answer.”
Never praise these bright young things.
“But do you know what, in reality, I
am
going to do?” As he said it, the captain was aware that he didn't know.

“No, sir.”

The answer came to the captain. “Nothing.” His reply was greeted by a delightful look of incomprehension.

“You see, Lieutenant Second Class, the
standard
response works in
standard
situations.
This
is a real-world situation. My assessment of the situation—based on, oh, twenty-five years' battle experience—is that this is a bluff. You see, people are remarkably unwilling to throw away either their lives or expensive ships in these attacks.” The captain saw that the projected impact time was now two minutes thirty seconds. One or two of the crew members were looking at each other with perturbed faces.

Captain Karlazat-Damanaz continued his lecture. “Lieutenant Second Class, you must
read
your enemy. I am convinced that it is an attempt to distract us from our prime task, which is seizing and neutralizing this hijacked ship. Our
apparent
assailant will pull clear at the last moment.”

“But, sir, surely defensive missiles would be a good idea?”

“Don't interrupt a superior, Lumzarast! Defensive missiles on a fast incoming target like this would probably be counterproductive. They generate debris, which can impact the defending ship. That happens in the real world. No, we are better off keeping him in one piece.”

The captain stared at the tracking screen, hoping he would see the approaching ship change course.
He has to do it soon.
But no change occurred. Sensing an intensifying unease on the bridge, the captain began speaking again.

“No, Lieutenant, it's a bluff. He wants us to turn into a position from which we would find it almost impossible to target the
Sacrifice
.”

“I see, sir,” Lumzarast said, although the captain noticed that the man kept his eyes on the rapidly declining impact time.

“He will change course to swing past us any second. And when he does, we will be in a position to rake him with particle beams.”

Lumzarast seem to struggle for words. “Sir, your decision is based on the behavior of enemies in the past. But, if you permit me to express a concern, can we be sure that this attacker is adopting the same rules?”

By the powers, another good response!

“Young man, what we can be sure of is that if we let the
Sacrifice
escape, it's not far from here to the Blade. But don't worry; it's a bluff.”

The captain realized that everyone on the bridge was listening now.
That makes it so much worse. I can hardly let myself be publicly forced to retract a decision, can I? Not prompted by some lad fresh out of training. Honor will not allow it.

“Continue as you are,” he snapped loudly to the restive crew. “We should see him turning in the next few seconds.” Impact time was now at one minute forty-five seconds.

The navigator to his left spoke. “Sir, his acceleration is actually increasing. Projected impact time is now . . . ninety seconds away.” The clock figures jumped.

The captain continued the agonized debate with himself.
We have time to turn. But I would lose face. Everyone would hear how the earl of Karlazat-Damanaz gave in to a glorified student. It would be unbearable. And if the
Sacrifice
were to escape, then it would be worse still. No, I really have no choice.

“Continue.” He forced a smile. “It's a bluff.”

As Merral watched the screens and the front window port of the
Sacrifice
, Laura sounded warning alarms and announced to the entire ship that the gravity modification system would be switched off and that they should expect high acceleration and beware loose objects. On the large screen, a red triangle overprinted with the words
Rahllman's Star
drew closer to a green square labeled
Twisted Spear.

Merral heard commands for fuel pumps to be primed and the reactor temperature increased.

Laura called out, “Commander, we have to bear in mind that, for whatever reason, the
Spear
may not move.”

Merral looked up at the front port. He could now see one of the tethercraft and behind it a boxlike assault vessel. They were close.
A dozen kilometers, perhaps
.

“What are the options?”

“It's not an easy choice. If there
is
an impact, the debris will get us. If we start to run now, they may be able to fire at us. What do you suggest?”

He looked at the screen. Estimated collision time was now a mere eighty seconds away.

“Run.”

“Aye aye.” Already Laura's hands were sliding on the controls. “Full emergency power!” she said.

A growing vibration rumbled through the ship. Through the window, Merral saw the stars begin to shift. The pressure on his chest started to build up.

“They are beginning the firing cycle,” Betafor commented in her expressionless voice.

Merral found himself pressed down into his seat. The image ahead was changing, and the somber mass of the Blade was coming into view.

The hull creaked. Something slithered across the floor. A hatch door slammed shut. Through the front port, a tethercraft grew larger until the vents and hatches could be seen and then slipped past.

“Th-the screen, Merral!” Vero said, and Merral looked up to see the red triangle and the green square begin to merge.

On the
Twisted Spear
, Captain Karlazat-Damanaz watched the numbers slide down with an unhappiness that was increasingly a torment. In his mind, the irresolvable conflict between honor and prudence was still waging.

The clock showed seventy seconds.

“Sir, the
Sacrifice
is igniting her engines. Looks like full power.” It was the weapons officer.

It was almost a relief to have a decision that was easy to make. “We warned them. Prime weapons and fire at will; go for progressive disablement. If you get full disintegration, don't worry.” His eyes didn't veer from the screen.
It's still not changing course!

“Yes, sir.” He heard the message being relayed.

I need to back down. But I can't; not in front of this man
.

“Sir . . .” It was the lieutenant's soft voice. “Respectfully . . . it does look like he is going to hit us.”

The captain snapped an order. “Rear optical screen on!”

The image changed to show a tiny pale dot highlighted by a red diamond in the dead center of the screen. It was visibly growing in size. The countdown appeared underneath. He watched, transfixed.

Captain Karlazat-Damanaz heard lots of voices.

“Preparing to open fire.”
The weapons officer
.

“Sir! Sir!”
The crew.

“Honor may demand sacrifice.”
My father. What's
he
doing here?

“Sir! Please!”
The lieutenant.

“He's bluffing.” His own voice.

He saw the immense shape expand to completely fill the screen.

The countdown reached zero.

Everything became pure light.

Oddly enough, through some quirk, Captain Karlazat-Damanaz was one of the few men on the
Twisted Spear
not to be killed instantly in the blast. He hung on to life for thirty seconds before burns, blood loss, and vacuum terminated his existence. It was long enough for him to have just two final thoughts. The first was
I have died honorably
. The second was that realization that is all too often a last thought:
It wasn't a bluff.

On the
Sacrifice
, the hull vibrating under maximum acceleration, Merral also watched the time hit zero. On the screen, the red triangle and the green square both vanished.

“
I-impact!
” It was Vero's awed voice.

“God, have mercy,” whispered Luke.

A ragged wave of light—successively white, yellow, orange, and red—flooded the bridge like an entire sunset condensed into a second. Blinking, Merral looked up to the right, where, through the starboard roof ports, he could see a blossoming cloud of debris.
Good-bye, Azeras.
And thanks.

Merral, tensing himself for the debris to impact them, watched as they plunged on, with the towering, massive height of the Blade so close to starboard that they could see tiny details of the superstructure like cables and aerials.

The debris impact never came.

“We are going for a steep insertion into Below-Space,” Laura said. “This close to the Blade, it's going to be tricky.”

She pressed more controls, and Merral had a strange sense of sinking.

A mist started to creep across the window, and within a minute, the stars had slipped behind a dense fog. Grayness began to creep into the room, and the colors began to drain away.

“I think we may have done it,” Laura said with a quiet satisfaction. “Would someone get me a glass of water?”

Lloyd found her one, and she drank it gratefully. “I needed that. Now, Farholme, Commander?”

“Yes. Farholme will do very nicely, Laura.”

Merral looked at the chaplain. “We lost another man, Luke.”

“Yes.” There was a reflective silence. “Or did we gain him?”

Merral saw one of the Allenix looking at him and decided it was Betafor. “Azeras died so that we might survive. What do you say to that?”