IronStar (53 page)

Admiral Dunning replied, “Wasn’t
there a case where a protectorship was awarded because the applicants were the
same race as the protectees? Somewhere out in the Kettleblack Nebula, if I
recall correctly.” The Kettleblack was a hundred-by-three hundred lightyear
cloud of thin dust hiding thousands of stars, barely explored by humans.

“You are thinking of the Solar
Confluence decision. Yes, that case even involved humans, the Armitage
Fatherhood bunch. They’d found a marginal hablet at a star just inside the
Kettleblack Nebula, even had a small colony going, when a Confluence ship made
contact with their long-lost cousins or something, inhabiting one of the
system’s gas giants. The Fatherhood had thought the radio waves coming from
deep in the methane atmosphere were a natural phenomenon. But because the
Confluence was able to show a marginal but clear genetic relationship with the
locals, they were awarded the entire system, again a ‘first in’ precedent.” More
gloomy looks were traded around the room.

“Surely you’re not saying we’ll
have to leave the humans on this world to the Kruss!” By a tremendous effort,
Kirrah kept a semblance of calm in her voice.

“Not necessarily, Ms. Roehl. It
depends. It depends on how many the Kruss have on-planet, how long they’ve been
here, and how vigorously the local …Oh-dai? …would support the Kruss’ claims.
We do have a foot in the door, thanks entirely to you, because at least three
local factions appear to favor us.”

“Whatever the Kruss have, it can’t
be much, or they’d’ve
used
it by now. Can’t Admiral Dunning just sort
of,
evict
them? Begging the Admiral’s pardon, speaking theoretically.”
Oops,
when did I get in the habit of telling Admirals what to do? Oh yeah, since I
built my own Navy… need to watch that habit
… The Admiral
had
cast a
thoughtful look in Kirrah’s direction.

“Now
that
would be just
about the
worst
thing we could do,” replied Garth Pennington. “The very
essence of Civilium law is to make sure that the use of force between member
empires, except in some very specific circumstances, is rendered unprofitable.
And stealing a planet from a competitor is
not
one of those special
circumstances.”

“
Stealing
! But…” Kirrah
clamped her mouth firmly shut as the Admiral raised her hand.

“Dr. Pennington is simply trying to
show us what sort of claim the Kruss could make if I tried unprovoked force
against them on the planet. Tell me, Doctor, do you think we have any basis for
collateral charges? They attacked our ship, they used proscribed weapons
against civs… anything?”

“We can and should prosecute the
attack on the
Arvida-Yee
, and thanks to this eyewitness and the one we
will interview next, we pretty much have them cold on that score. But it will
only get us reparations, not a planet. As to the smartshot attacks, ironically
we have no claim unless we were already awarded a protectorate here. Any such
claim must arise from the indigenes whom they attacked. Indeed the indigenes
are in a far better position to protest the Kruss presence than we, if they
could only speak with a single voice for the planet. But if the O’dai speak in
favor
of the Kruss, it becomes the kind of he-said, she-said argument that
could well see the planet, and this entire system, actually partitioned.”

“Which would leave the Kruss with a
base here. If there’s a tie in court,
we
lose.” Lucinda sat back,
tapping a stylus into her left palm. “What we are lacking, Garth, is adequate
intel on the extent of the Kruss presence. I’m going to be
very
upset if
we lose half the planet to a handful of Kruss clerks in a dinky little contact
mission. We need some close-in observations. Hmmm… what
is
it,
Lieutenant? You look ready to burst!”

“Sorry, ma’am. Just that, well, I
also have a problem, in my role as Talamae Warmaster, and I was wondering
whether our goals might, um,
coincide
.” The Admiral’s gold-flecked brown
eyes locked onto Kirrah’s like twin Spit-5 seeker heads. Kirrah swallowed
unobtrusively, thinking ‘
and
you
have to meet Lord Tsano, ma’am
’,
and continued:

“Speaking with the Admiral’s
permission as Talamae Warmaster and not Regnum officer, I happen to have about
eight thousand prisoners of war requiring transport back into O’dai territory,
ma’am. Some of them are wounded, and it would seem only humane to send the
twenty or so worst cases home by the fastest means possible…”

Lucinda stepped smoothly into the
open end of Kirrah’s sentence: “…Which of course would be one of my Assault
Shuttles, Lieutenant Ro…- belay that, ‘
Kirrah Warmaster
’. Said LAS to be
loaned
by the generous Regnum Admiral to the allied indigenes.”

“Yes ma’am, that would be
most
generous.
Since it’s only a twenty-minute passenger run, we would of course have no
reason to enter the
aft
compartment. It would be even
more
generous
if the Regnum Admiral saw fit to provide a Marine escort, since we would be
landing in what is, for the moment, hostile territory. And of course my guards
and healers would need combat suits for protection.” The Admiral’s eyes
narrowed:

“Of course. And by the same token
they would
not
need Regnum
weapons
. My Marines would certainly be
able to handle any combat situation that arose, and then only in self defense.
Ms. Roehl, you are clever and show initiative, which is generally a
good
thing,
but I am
not
at this time authorizing an attack against Talamae’s
enemies using Regnum hardware, are we clear?”

“Absolutely, ma’am. The mission
objective is to return the O’dai wounded. Of course, finding a suitable landing
site may require a number of low passes over their major cities. Well within
range, say, of ground-penetrating radar and low-res NMR scan, in case such
equipment happened to be stored in the aft compartment. And accidentally left
active. Then we land, transfer the prisoners to the first competent government
authority we can find, and return. Any combat would be initiated by the O’dai,
ma’am, and resisted with minimum force.”

“I believe, as the diplomats say,
an
accommodation
has been reached, ‘Warmaster’. What do you think,
Garth?”

“I think it might just get you that
close intel, Admiral. I further think the Regnum can be glad you two swindlers
are on
its
side. And speaking as your attorney, let me suggest in the
strongest possible terms that every ‘i’ be well and truly dotted and every ‘t’
crossed. Starting with an alliance treaty between us and the Talamae, which,
given the circumstances, I regret to say should take precedence over trade
negotiations at our first meeting later today.”

“Speaking as the Talamae Warmaster,
Dr. Pennington, and with a little background on Regnum Navy requirements and
general knowledge of Regnum treaties, I believe we shall reach for a swift
consensus and not spend our entire meeting debating minutiae. Oh! What about my
Kruss prisoner-of-war? I already asked Marc…um, Lieutenant Warden, to see about
having it transferred to the
Argosy
.”

“There, at least, I think the law
smiles on us, Ms. Roehl. That individual is clearly a prisoner of the
Talamae-O’dai war, not part of any Regnum-Kruss hostilities. At the request of
our soon-to-be allies, he is being transported by the Regnum Navy to the
Civilium Scrutineer on Trailway, where he is to be charged with conspiracy to
use prohibited weapons against indigenes. I’m a bit rusty with precedent law,
but I think we might actually be able to make a case for Contempt of Sapience,
against the Kruss Empire itself.” Kirrah’s eyebrows rose at that, and she felt
her breathing return another notch toward normal at the man’s words.

“What I find remarkable among all
this remarkable testimony,” commented the Admiral, “is that Ms. Roehl was able
to capture
and
hold one of those beasts at all, with the available
technology. I’ve seen vids of the holding cell she built, the thick stone walls
and its interlocking double iron doors. Most ingenious. And I’m sure we all saw
Willison’s eyes light up at the news the Kruss suffer ‘metabolic crash’ when
physically overstressed. I think that little aspect of their high-speed
physiology has escaped NavInt’s notice all this time.

“That will be all, Lieutenant,
gentlemen. This meeting is adjourned. Ah, speaking of physiology, Lieutenant
Roehl, the Argosy’s CMO is in room two-oh-two upstairs, something about a full
workup, a routine precaution following exposure to this planet’s pathogens and
food for five months.”
Oh, Murphy’s feces,
thought Kirrah.
I forgot
about the med exams…
“And don’t look to me for mercy, Lieutenant, I
survived my own annual exam the week before we arrived. You look in perfect
health to me, but doctors have their own ways. See you this afternoon,
dismissed.”

Another forty minutes later Kirrah
emerged back into the lobby, feeling overall as though her brains had indeed
been scooped out, pureed, strained and poured (mostly) back into her cranium.
Irshe rose from where he had been sitting at a workstation, looking at a 3V
astronomy program the duty officer had apparently provided.

“Are you well, Kirrah-
aska
?”

“Well? Yes, also tired. Their
questioning was very thorough. I remembered things I didn’t even know I knew.
Their medical examination was equally thorough,
brrr
! You’d think with
all the Regnum’s
technology
their healers could make their probes
warm
!
Is all well?”

“Yes, Warmaster, all is in order.”
Kirrah appreciated anew how deftly and surely her companion switched between
his roles. He scrolled down a mental checklist:

“The O’dai are busy repairing their
camp. We have sent priests, and the
Reg’num
has sent healers to assist
their wounded. Doi’tam-
sana’tachk
is still on duty and says he will stay
that way until ordered otherwise or the O’dai leave. Peetha is very excited to
see the Regnum weapons. I have never seen her so eager - it is reliably
reported that she actually moved her eyes
twice
during drill! Our
displaced citizens are assembling a tent city to the northeast along the Upper
Geera until the plague-of-screams seeds are swept up. It will rain tonight.
Preparations are in place for our meeting this afternoon. Your page Janna’tha
is drowning in messages and papers, and demands a wristcomp. The lake is down
almost a
hab’la
from its peak, Captain Og’drai says it will fall a
little more by evening. Do you want some lunch? I brought a travel ration in
case we were short of time, but I think we could return to the School or the
Palace, as you wish.”

“Is it common practice for a scout
making his report, to save the best news for last? I would rather at this
moment share a travel ration with my friend than eat the best Lord Tsano’s cook
has to offer. Let us go outside and eat in the shade.” As they moved toward the
door. Irshe replied, absolutely deadpan:

“It is only the most worthy and
experienced scouts who know the secrets of pleasing their Warmaster,
Warmaster.” Kirrah snorted in a most unladylike fashion, and felt a slight
blush shade her cheeks.

In a few moments they were joined
by Lieutenant Warden who was just finishing some business inside the new
Consulate building, and a striking woman with short ash-blonde hair, blue-gray
eyes, delicate features in a narrow face and golden-brown skin, whom he
introduced as Marine Corporal Adrianne Gilman. They too were carrying lunch,
Marine field rations, Kirrah noticed with a small shudder, and they sat
companionably on the
not-grass
beside the other pair.

“Irshe,” said Kirrah, “this woman
is the person who located the Kruss thrower. Adrianne, you have no idea how
much grief that thing caused. I hope the Kruss are fined a whole
planet
just for
thinking
of using it against defenseless sapients.”

“Glad to be of service, ma’am.”

“Spare me the ‘ma’am’, please. It’s
just ‘Kirrah’, unless it’s a formal scenario.”

“Yes, ma’… I mean, Kirrah. Say, is
it true that you defeated that whole Oh-die force yourself with just a standard
J-1P beamer? There are still a good eight thousand men over there, plus
casualties! How did you do it?” Before Kirrah could swallow her current mouthful,
Irshe replied:

“Our Warmaster made weapons of our
river and our harvest of oil. She caused the water to rise at night, a handspan
over the flat land, and sent burning oil into their camp. She ringed them with
longbowmen on the lake side and four hundred pike and five hundred cavalry on
the shore side, and her ships’ mortars struck wherever they tried to gather
their forces. They had no chance to use their
nano’ire
. If your sky-ship
had not arrived when it did, I doubt twenty of them would have survived the
night.” As the translation murmured from their suits’ speakers, both Marines
looked impressed, Gilman actually closer to
awed
.

“That is
very
impressive,
Kirrah,” Lieutenant Warden said.
You
may have the makings of an honest
Greenbutt!”

“From you, high praise, Marcus.
What my friend fails to mention is the other four or five hundred dedicated
soldiers and sailors that made it such a success. When you get a chance, ask
one of the archers to show you what they can do with these longbows. They can
shoot a man out of his saddle at a hundred meters, and they have also learned
to launch grenades and incendiary arrows. We should put on a demonstration for
you.” Corporal Gilman’s eyes went even rounder and she exclaimed: