Flagship (19 page)

The
Teddy R
entered the Cicero system and made its way to what the crew had dubbed Lafferty's Asteroid. It was easy enough to find. Contrary to the belief that Man had held when he was still Earthbound that asteroid belts were like incredibly busy meteor showers, asteroids were generally so far apart that seeing a handful, spread out over thousands of miles, broke the boredom of the approach.

Cole chose the
Kermit,
as usual, and selected a landing party consisting of himself, Jacovic, Idena Mueller, Bull Pampas, Jaxtaboxl, and Gentry. A few minutes later they were standing in front of the Class M ship.

"Looks good, doesn't it?" said Lafferty, who greeted them in his protective space suit.

"Looks new," said Cole. "I think I'd better have the Platinum Duke send me some holos of the ship whose identity we're borrowing, and we'll have Slick match any markings it's got."

"Markings?" repeated Lafferty. "You mean name and numbers?"

Cole shook his head. "We already know those. But the fact that a Class M ship is still functional doesn't mean it hasn't seen some serious action, either against the Teronis or elsewhere, and it could be showing the scars of battle, or just simple collisions with some minor space debris. If so, I want Slick to duplicate them."

"What kind of weaponry does it carry?" asked Gentry, stepping forward.

"Standard," said Lafferty. "Eighteen cannons, ten of them Level 5—half pulse, half laser. The wild thing is that it even has a pair of screechers."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Cole. "You can't use sonic weapons in space where there aren't enough molecules to vibrate, and a ship like this never enters a planetary atmosphere."

"Maybe they know something we don't know," said Jacovic. "The fact that I've never seen a sonic cannon on a starship, and neither have you, doesn't mean they can't carry them. Maybe there's some innovation that lets the sound waves go directly to the enemy ship and not dissipate in space."

"Maybe," said Cole. "It makes no difference, though. If we have to fire
any
of this weaponry, we're dead meat. I just want to make sure it's carrying what it's supposed to be carrying if someone checks it out."

"Want to inspect the inside?" asked Lafferty.

"That's what we're here for."

Lafferty led them to the ramp that lifted them and drew them to the main hatch, and a moment later they were inside the ship.

"Wow!" said Idena. "I knew these things were big, but I had no idea!"

"Ceiling's got to be nine or ten feet high," noted Pampas. "You'd never feel trapped or claustrophobic in this baby."

"How many does it hold?" asked Jaxtaboxl.

"I can answer that," said Jacovic. "According to our information, a Class M starship holds a crew of ninety-six."

"Not this one," said Lafferty. "Oh, it's got room enough to carry a couple of hundred, but as far as I can tell, there are only forty-two duty stations. You wouldn't believe how many functions have been mechanized."

"Just tell me that it's got a powerful tractor beam," said Cole.

"Of course," answered Lafferty. "But so did the older models." He smiled suddenly. "Maybe not the antiques like
your
ship—you know, the ones that still ran on steam or fossil fuels."

"Let's see the rest of it," said Cole, ignoring the older man's comment.

Lafferty led them through the Gunnery section, which sported a truly impressive array of cannons and other weaponry, then up to the bridge.

"Have you ever seen a bridge like this?" asked Pampas in awestruck tones.

"Admiral Garcia had a bigger one on her flagship," said Cole. "Still, it's impressive." He walked over to the pilot's hanging ham-mock-chair. "Same setup?" he asked. "The pilot sits up there and ties in to the navigational computer?"

"Right," said Lafferty. "Assuming he's a Bdxeni, of course—and these days just about all of them are."

"Well, let's see how the communication system works." He activated it. "David, are you there?"

"Right here, Steerforth," said David Copperfield, his image suddenly appearing.

"Let me speak to Val for a minute."

The redhead instantly appeared. "What do you want?"

"Take a shuttle, or transfer to one of the small ships," said Cole, "go out a few hundred miles, and see if you can intercept the transmissions David and I are sending to each other."

"On my way," she said, and vanished. "I'll be in the
Alice."

"Okay, David," said Cole, "just talk for a few minutes until we find out how secure this connection is."

"Certainly," said the little alien, who immediately fell silent.

"David, you have to keep talking," explained Cole. "She can't try to intercept a message or a conversation if you remain quiet."

"I'm thinking," said David. "But nothing's coming."

"Tell me the details of your adventure at Singapore Station," said Cole.

"I already did."

"Tell me again."

"I'm uncomfortable in the spotlight," said David.

"You'll be a lot more uncomfortable in the sights of a Level 5 thumper that homed in on you because we didn't know it was able to capture our transmission."

Suddenly David began talking a blue streak. Finally Cole told him he'd spoken long enough, and sent a message to the
Alice.
"Did you pick up any of it?"

"No," answered Val. "I couldn't even tell that you were signaling to each other."

"Fine," said Cole. "You can go back to the ship now."

He broke the connections, first to Val, then to David. "All right," he said to Lafferty, "it looks like the codes work." He looked around once more. "I hope to hell this galley is better than the
Teddy R'
s."

"You ever see a Navy galley with good food?" asked Lafferty with a grin.

"No," admitted Cole. "Not on any ship I've ever been on. But allow me to hope."

"Hope all you want," replied Lafferty. "But given its defenses, you're more likely to die of hunger or food poisoning aboard the
Sabine Nova
than of enemy fire."

"That's its name—the
Sabine Nova?"

"Commanded by Captain Tucker Marchand," said Lafferty, surprised. "Didn't you know that?"

"I told David to transmit the information to you," answered Cole. "I figured I'd find out when I got to the Cicero system."

"We programmed in its registration numbers and its Navy code, and your Mr. Briggs has told us how to program all of your private codes, so it's ready to go."

"Not quite ready," Cole corrected him. "I still want the Duke to transmit some holos to us, and then I want Slick to match any marks, scars,
anything
that the real
Sabine
Nova
has."

"Who is this Slick you keep referring to?"

"A Tolobite."

"Damn!" said Lafferty. "I wish we had one! It would have made working on the ship's exterior a lot easier."

Cole turned to the crew that had come over with him. "I want you to go through the ship, learn where everything is, and make sure it's all in working order."

"Including the weaponry?" asked Pampas.

"Everything
but
the weaponry," answered Cole. "Then, when you're done, go back and send over six more crew members, and keep rotating six new ones every time the previous batch returns. I want every member of the
Teddy
R
to know the inside of this ship by this time tomorrow." He turned to Jacovic. "Contact the Duke and tell him about the holos I want."

Jacovic nodded and began walking through the ship, as did the others.

"I don't understand," said Lafferty. "You want to make sure the climate control and the toilets and the airlift are working, but you don't care about the weapon systems?"

"That's right."

"Why not?"

"Because if we have to fire a shot, we're in deep trouble," answered Cole.

Lafferty frowned. "Just how far into the Republic do you plan to go?"

"All the way to Deluros."

"Without firing a shot?"

"Correct."

"You're crazy, you know that?" said Lafferty.

"Perhaps," said Cole easily.

"Definitely," insisted Lafferty.

Cole smiled. "Did you ever hear the story of the Trojan Horse?"

"Now here's the way it's going to work," said Cole, speaking to the entire ship through the communications system. "We're going to leave a ghost crew on the
Teddy R,
just enough so if it becomes necessary they can prove that the ship can defend itself. I need six volunteers, preferably human since the Navy knows that was the bulk of our crew. I'll want one ranking officer to remain on board in case any command decisions are required, and it can't be Commander Jacovic since there are no Teronis in the Navy."

He paused, giving them time to digest what he was saying. "Pilot is going to be transferred to the
Sabine Nova,
and will tie in to its computer, just as he's tied in here. Anyone who's joined us since the mutiny four years ago will go to the
Sabine
Nova
without question; I don't want anybody on board the
Teddy
R
that the Navy hasn't got a record of."

"I'll stay on board the
Teddy R,
sir," said Christine. "If Jacovic has to leave, then it comes down to Val and myself, and if you're going to face any danger, she'll be more use to you than I would be."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Mboya," said Cole. "And of course your logic is impeccable."

"Also," added Christine, "she joined us after we reached the Inner Frontier, so I'm really the only choice."

"I've gotten so used to her that I forgot," Cole admitted. "All right," he continued. "As for those who are transferring ships, you all know what the plan is. The only way we can approach Deluros is if we pose as the ship that has finally captured the
Teddy R,
and a Class M ship is the most likely to have done so. The
Sabine
Nova
will be towing the
Teddy
R,
and if we're lucky we'll tow it all the way to Deluros VIII itself. You can be sure Secretary Wilkie and his cronies are going to want to have a show trial and brag about how they nailed us, and I'm betting they'll feel they can control things better on Deluros than some other world. Therefore, I am ordering all personnel on both ships not to fire a shot except on my direct orders. Even a Class M ship like the
Sabine
Nova
can't get within a thousand light-years of Deluros if the Navy decides to stop it. Christine, even if some local system sends out a few ships to take a few potshots at the
Teddy
R,
you can't fire back."

"Can we activate our defenses?" she asked.

He gave it a moment's thought. "I don't see why not," he said. "The fact that the
Sabine Nova
didn't blow you apart means that your defenses are working. And of course the Captain of the
Sabine
Nova
would never begin towing the
Teddy
R
until he'd deactivated all its weapons systems. In fact, he'll probably
want
the defenses activated; he can't present the government with the
Teddy R
as a trophy if someone blows it away. So yes, you can protect yourself—but you can't fire back, not a single shot. And I don't want you communicating with anyone except the
Sabine
Nova
, and only on channels and in codes that won't show up on the most sophisticated Navy surveillance computers."

"Understood, sir."

"All right," said Cole. "I want the volunteers who are remaining on the
Teddy R
to report to Jacovic. If there are more than six or seven, he'll choose who stays and who doesn't. The rest of you, pack all essential gear and head down to the shuttle bay, where we'll start transferring you to the
Sabine
Nova.
Pilot's going to put the
Teddy
R
in orbit. Then we'll take him down to the
Sabine
Nova,
and when everyone's aboard, including any of Lafferty s men who want to come along, we'll take off and start towing the
Teddy
R
to Deluros. It won't be long before we're spotted by some Navy ship or other. We'll simply report that we've captured the
Teddy
R
and are taking our prize to Deluros."

"What if they order us to stop?" asked Jaxtaboxl.

"We'll explain, with all due courtesy, that we will only respond to that order if it comes from Fleet Admiral Garcia," said Cole. "We've been chasing the
Teddy R
on the Inner Frontier, we don't know she's been replaced, and we won't believe it if we're told."

"I have a question, sir," said Gentry.

"You always ask intelligent ones," replied Cole. "What is it this time?"

"If word gets out that the
Sabine Nova
captured the
Theodore
Roosevelt,
I would imagine that the real
Sabine
Nova
will hear of it shortly. What's to stop them from warning the Navy what's happened? Even if the Navy doesn't believe them, they're nonetheless going to have to board and inspect us before we get near Deluros."

"Very good question," said Cole. "Mr. Briggs, would you like to answer it?"

"Part of the virus we introduced into the
Sabine Nova's
computer destroyed its ability to receive any communications after two Standard days," replied Briggs. "This allowed them to report their problem and to order replacement parts, but right now they can neither send nor receive any communications, and we've also contacted the Platinum Duke and told him to shut down his public communications systems until he receives another coded message telling him to activate them again."

"Does that answer your question?" said Cole.

"Yes, sir, it does," replied Gentry.

"Are there any other questions?" asked Cole. He waited a moment. "No? Okay, start gathering your gear and heading down to the shuttles."

He looked for Pampas and finally spotted him. "Bull, get the medic and help him unhook Pilot, then carry him to the shuttle, cart him into the
Sabine Nova,
and stick with him until the medic attaches him."

"Carry him, sir?" asked Pampas.

"Bull, he hasn't been out of that sling in fifteen or twenty years. His muscles have got to have atrophied."

"Yes, sir."

"All right," said Cole. "Let's get moving."

The crew dispersed and went to their cabins, and Cole caught Sharon's eye.

"What is it?" she asked, approaching him.

"Are you ready to stop pretending we sleep in separate cabins?"

"Well, it's hardly a secret," she said with a smile.

"Okay. When you get down to the
Sabine Nova,
hunt up the captain's suite and move your stuff in."

"Suite?"
she repeated.

"This is a Class M ship," he replied.

"A real suite!" she repeated happily. "If we have a fight and break up, I'm keeping it."

"Don't be such an optimist," said Cole. "We're not breaking up. We're much more likely to be hanged for treason."

"They don't hang people anymore," said Sharon.

"They don't?" said Cole in mock surprise. "Hell, if I'd known that, I'd have mutinied ten years sooner."