Battle of the Ring (37 page)

He had gone with Keflyn and Tregloran to meet Laroose at the construction
airdock where the frame for the new carrier was being laid, suspended in
free-fall in the confines of the vast chamber. As they watched, a piece of
metal longer than a Union battleship was being pushed gently into place by a
team of construction tenders.

“Is the Vardon’s current design any different from what we have
always used?” Velmeran asked.

“At this point, no,” Laroose replied. “We want to avoid
any noticeable change in the outward form that would identify the Vardon as
different from the other ships. At this time, our only definite plan is to hide
a second conversion cannon inside a slightly wider cannon sheath. Those new
missiles of your design go into existing launch tubes. Unless you draw up some
new designs yourself, I anticipate no other changes.”

Velmeran considered that a moment. “Are you inviting me to redesign
that ship however I please?”

“You can do whatever you damn well please, and I’ll see that
it’s done,” Laroose promised him with a conspiratorial grin,
suspecting what the young Starwolf had in mind.

“Well, there might be a certain value in having a flagship of the
Starwolf fleet, something that looks bigger and meaner than the usual big, mean
carrier. Something that states in no uncertain terms that Velmeran and the Methryn
have arrived.”

“But that is not the Methryn,” Keflyn pointed out. “What
would Valthyrra have to say?”

“Actually, it would be very simple to transfer Valthyrra and her
memory cells into this new ship, and I suspect that she would covet the
opportunity. Which is why I do not want her to know of this until something
definite is decided. We can always give Theralda Vardon the old Methryn.”

“While we’re on the subject, I received a bit of news a few
minutes ago,” Laroose interrupted. “It seems that Donalt Trace is
alive and well. Or alive and recovering, you might say.”

“He survived?” Velmeran was incredulous.

The tall human nodded gravely. “They had to reskin him and give him a
set of mechanical arms, but he’s hardly the worse for wear.”

“Val traron”
the Starwolf muttered to himself. “Did
he salvage his professional career, or did they hold him to blame for losing
the Challenger?”

“That’s the damnedest part. They seem to think that he’s
some rare species of hero. That’s how we heard of this. He was just appointed
the newly created High Commander of the Union Fleet, giving him authority over
all the Sector Fleets.”

“Well, bully for him!” Velmeran stated in disgust. “Now he
really will know how to make my life miserable. What about his old position in
the Rane Sector?”

“Oh, that went to that diminutive shadow of his, that Maeken Kea.
They’ve become a pair, as far as the Union is concerned. He’s the
best thing to come along since the Unification, and she’s a close second.
Bless me if I know what they...” Laroose paused to watch Velmeran
closely, as did the others. His eyes unfocused like the twin lenses of a camera
pod. Then he leaped up so suddenly that the others jumped in nervous response.

“Vey von schess! Aval trenon de altrys caldayson! Vey von
schess!”
he exclaimed as he ran from the observation deck, Tregloran
only a second behind. “I have to get back to the Methryn.”

Keflyn perked her ears and started to follow.

“Wait!” Laroose called after her. “What did he say?”

“Vey von schess!
the Aldessa replied. “It is here.”

“What is here? What does it mean?”

“I have no idea, but it must be very important,” she called over
her back as she trotted out the door.

The construction bay was over a third of the way around the, huge station
from where the Methryn was moored. There were no convenient lifts, and the
small trams were slow and had the habit of stopping every half kilometer. The
quickest way Velmeran knew to reach his ship, short of teleportation, was to
run. At a sustained speed of seventy-five kilometers per hour, he and Tregloran
covered that distance in half an hour. Keflyn, with her two-meter legs and
tremendous strength, could match that with difficulty. Commander Laroose, who
knew a few tricks from long experience, commandeered a tug and arrived slightly
ahead of the others, catching up with them at the Methryn’s airlock.

The mystery was revealed when the lift let them out at the Methryn’s
medical section. Velmeran rushed into the main reception room just as Dyenlerra
stepped out of a smaller room.

“Where? Where?” he demanded frantically.

“There! There!” she exclaimed mockingly, jumping and gesturing
to the room she had just left. “You wait here.”

She disappeared into the room, leaving the astonished Velmeran standing in
the middle of the main foyer. A moment later Consherra emerged from that same
room. It was the first time in three months that she had been able to button a
shirt all the way down.

“Where are you going?” Velmeran asked, mystified.

“Back to the bridge,” she replied. “I was supervising the
repairs when this began, and I thought that I should be getting back.”

Keflyn twitched her ears but said nothing. After all, anyone who could lift
six tons would not consider this anything more than a half-hour diversion from
one’s normal schedule. Consherra had been expecting this for half a year,
so the novelty had certainly worn off. But that was not the case for the rest
of the crew. Lenna arrived at that moment, and Baress was only seconds behind.

Then the almost tangible sense of anticipation was transformed into an
audible sigh of relief as Dyenlerra returned bearing a tiny patient cradled in
her four arms. Tiny was indeed the word, for young Kelvessan seldom weighted
more than a kilo at birth. Nor did they look any more alien from their human
counterparts than at this time of life. She was in most ways a miniature of the
adult, a tiny body with long, slender arms and legs and a large head with
immense eyes. This remarkably advanced state of development included a full set
of teeth and a thick, disheveled mane of brown hair that extended just past the
upper shoulders. She sat upright in Dyenlerra’s hands, staring about in a
bemused but curious fashion.

“Congratulations, Commander,” the medic said as she transferred
the little one into his arms. “It’s a wolf.”

Father and daughter stared at each other with the same vacant mystification.
The little Kelvessa’s curiosity was insatiable, reflected in vast eyes
that peered out in wonder beneath an unruly shock of hair. She stared up at
Velmeran with special interest, as if she sensed a closer tie with him. She
reached up and took hold of his nose with a hand too small to fit around it and
made an inquisitive chirping sound. Velmeran smiled.

“What a wonderful, wonderful thing this is,” he said softly.
“What an incredibly delightful young lady she is. Of all the wonders I
have seen, this is surely the greatest.”

“Privately, I have to admit that I could not be more pleased,”
Consherra said, moving close beside him to brush the hair out of the little
one’s eyes. “And nothing makes me happier than to see how happy you
are.”

“I cannot get over how fully developed she is,” Lenna commented,
stepping up for a closer look.

“A matter of necessity,” Dyenlerra explained. “Our young
have to be born hardy enough to endure the demands of life on a warship. She
will be walking in a few hours, and speaking simple words by the end of the
week. She will be starting to school in three months.”

“Our babies must sleep their first few months, but she doesn’t
look sleepy.”

“Sleepy?” the medic asked in astonishment. “Kelvessan do
not sleep.”

“Then pity the poor mothers!” Lenna declared. “Does she
have a name?”

Velmeran looked at Consherra, who smiled gently. “I have not given the
subject any thought, to tell the truth. So I thought that I might leave that to
you. If you wish. I thought that you might want to name her after your
mother.”

Velmeran shook his head slowly. “It would not be fair to expect her to
relive a memory, especially a memory that is not her own. But I would like it
very much if Venn Keflyn would lend her name to the cause.”

“My name?” Keflyn asked, momentarily astonished. “I would
be honored, to say the least. But how would that come out in the way you often
adapt our names to feminine use. Keflenna?”

“No, just Keflyn,” he said. “That is a purely human
conceit that we acquired long ago, this idea that males and females cannot have
the same names. If that is all right with you.”

“I like it very much,” Consherra agreed eagerly.

“Then Keflyn it is,” Velmeran proclaimed as he passed the tiny
Kelvessa into Venn Keflyn’s hands. Then he placed his arms around
Consherra’s shoulders as he led her off into a quiet corner of the room,
leaving the others to admire the Methryn’s newest crewmember. Unnoticed
for the moment, Tregloran and Lenna slipped their arms around each other
comfortably.

“Do you still feel quite so lonely?” Consherra asked.

“No, not hardly,” he assured her. “It never occurred to me
that I could mean so much to so many people, or that so many people could mean
so much to me. But the most important thing that I have found is that I could
never be alone as long as I have just you with me. Your love is exceeded only
by your patience.”

Consherra smiled and settled comfortably into his arms. “Is that what you
like about me, that I am the only one with the patience for you?”

“I love you for just being you. Patience is just one of your many
virtues, and the one that you should be most grateful for. Why in the name of
sanity did you ever decide to love me?”

“It was decided for me, so I have never given it much thought,”
she replied. “True love, with no reasons or excuses. How could I not love
you? Still, if it is all the same to you, I would rather not go through this
more often than once every fifty years.”

They wrapped their arms tightly around each other and kissed warmly and
gently, without a thought for the tight knot of visitors gathered around the
tiny object of interest.

“Eee-yow!”

They glanced up in surprise at that unexpected howl of pain. Little Keflyn,
now in Lenna’s firm but astonished care, had wrapped a small hand around
Venn Keflyn’s finger and was unknowingly applying bone-crushing pressure.

“Get her off, please!” the Aldessa pleaded to the astonished
onlookers. “Do not hurt her, and for pity’s sake do not hurt me!
Just do something to loosen that killer grip.
Varth, val trenon de altrys
caldayson!”

“Half a moment,” Dyenlerra promised, and gently pried her loose.
Everyone was surprised by the sight of a newborn Kelvessa bringing an
Aldessa – and a Venn warrior – quite literally to her knees. The
only thing stronger, it seemed, was an adult Kelvessa. Lenna, looking a bit
dazed, eagerly transferred the bundle of joy and brute strength into
Baressa’s waiting arms.

“Talk about a bouncing baby!” Commander Laroose remarked.

“It might be wise for the non-Kelvessan to restrict themselves to
looking until she learns to control her strength,” Valthyrra said. She
had entered unnoticed during the excitement and now brought her probe forward
to face Laroose. “I would have been here sooner, but the station is on
full alert and the system fleet has been mobilized. You promised when you
ordered these things that you would discover the cause and report back.”

“Oh, my word!” Laroose exclaimed. “When Velmeran turned and
ran yelling who-knows-what, I just assumed that he had some premonition of
immediate danger. Where can I find a com to Station Control?”

“On that desk,” Valthyrra said, indicating with her camera pod
the desk beside the outer door.

Trying his best not to look contrite under the stares of the others, Laroose
walked over to the desk and sat down, studying the com unit for a moment before
pressing a button. “Station Control? Commander Laroose here.”

“Yes, Commander,” the eager reply came. “What is
wrong?”

“Wrong? Nothing is wrong!” he declared. “Issue this
report. Commander Velmeran and First Mate Consherra, the Methryn’s helm,
now have a young daughter by the name of Keflyn.”

“Glad to hear it, but why did that require the mobilization of the
system fleet?”

“Why, to celebrate!”

Taking advantage of his mistake, Laroose ordered the fleet to pass in honor
formation, firing their cannons in salute while packs of fighters executed
fantastic maneuvers. Then the station, clearly visible in the night sky of the
world below, flashed its bright exterior lights for a full rotation of the
planet so that the entire population of Alkayja could observe the spectacle. If
Velmeran and Consherra considered that a little much for such a common
occurrence, they soon learned that it was indeed a cause for celebration as
thousands gathered outside the Methryn’s refitting bay and millions more
throughout the Republic sent messages of congratulations and various small
gifts during the next week. All in praise of the smallest Starwolf in the
fleet.

Velmeran paused at the entrance of the bridge. In spite of the fact that his
office and cabin were immediately behind the bridge, he had honored
Consherra’s and Valthyrra’s entreaties to stay away until the
repairs were complete. Now he returned for the first time since he had spoken
with Valthyrra there after his return from the Challenger. At first glance he
could tell no difference, except that everything looked shiny new for the first
time in nearly a century. A second glance merely confirmed the first.

“Well, what do you think?” Valthyrra asked anxiously, hovering
at the limit of her boom.

“You look beautiful,” he told her honestly. “But you made
such a big deal of your reconstruction, you led me to expect major
changes.”

“Ah, but there are major changes beneath the surface,” she
insisted. “Come over and take a look at this.”