Star Risk - 03 The Doublecross Program (19 page)

Riss put her money on the latter.

"And going to the Shaoki," Wahfer said in an almost moan. Riss thought his eyes looked like a spaniel's, and wondered if he was about to start crying.

"People value different things," Riss said. "With us, money replaces honor."

Wahfer took a minute to choose his response.

"Well, that is as may be. You may rest assured that whatever grievance you have against us has been more than repaid in blood and ruin."

Nice to hear, Riss thought. But she kept her silence and a neutral expression.

"That is the past," he said. "Let us set those matters aside and go back to the beginning.

"My king desperately wants to end this dispute between Star Risk and ourselves, and convince you to return to our service."

Now it was Riss's turn to be surprised. That, certainly, had been one of the possibilities she'd considered, and even hoped for. But to come this easily?

"I don't know about that," she said.

"King Saleph and Prince Barab have authorized me to offer you twice what the original contract was for. Paid month to month, or even day to day, in advance, to your bank." Wahfer's face looked like it was poisoning him to say this.

"Well, that is most generous of you," Riss said. "But that, quite frankly, doesn't match what we are currently being paid by the Shaoki."

"I don't suppose it matters to you that the Shaoki, as you know, are in the wrong in this matter, and are immoral dogs."

Riss sipped champagne.

"On my own word," Wahfer said, "I will increase our offer another one-third."

"Now, that might be worthwhile taking back to my colleagues for discussion," Riss said. "Of course, there would be additional fees required, since the war has grown more serious, and we shall have to take on additional personnel to be able to make the Khelat victorious. But it is interesting, and I suspect I would vote in favor of the measure."

Giving me, M'chel thought, a chance to get in a room with that murderous Prince Jer, tie his guts to a pole, and chase him around it.

"Good. Good," Wahfer said. "Obviously, there is no point in continuing this until the other members of Star Risk have a chance to think about things, although I know you will be most persuasive and I suspect, when the war is concluded, you will be eligible for a medal, and a bonus, which need not concern the others in Star Risk. You will not find us ungrateful.

"Now we can relax and enjoy ourselves, just the two of us, man and woman." Wahfer smiled his sexiest smile. M'chel Riss still thought he was a creep.

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THIRTY-TWO � ^ � So," Goodnight said. "We now appear to have a place to go."

"Assuming we are not doublecrossed by the Khelat on arrival," Friedrich said.

"I don't see any choice," Riss said. "Except getting the hell out of the system."

"Which means abandoning the slight possibility that Jasmine is still with us� which is, unfortunately, less than logical," Grok said. "Was there any mention of the J-bomber?"

"The subject didn't come up," M'chel said. "And I didn't bring it up, either."

"Probably just as wise," von Baldur said. "Grok, are you sure you want to be thinking Jasmine is still with us?"

Grok didn't answer.

"So the problem we have now is being able to make our exit gracefully," Goodnight said. "We don't want to alert the Shaoki, which would mean they'd set off the bomb. When it doesn't detonate as expected, I assume they'd send in the marching band."

"Speaking of which," Riss said, "did you figure out your end of the plot involving said bomb?"

"I did," Goodnight said. "Grok and I are going to shove it in its proper �ole this very night."

"We are?" Grok asked.

"I volunteered you," Goodnight said. "I'm the beauty and brains, and you're the muscle."

Grok growled.

"So what we have to figure," von Baldur said, "is how we get ourselves, and what remains of our troops, out of here as quickly as possible."

"We could just worry about ourselves," Goodnight said. "They're big boys and girls. Don't you think the Shaoki would just let them wander off when they realize us villains are done gone?"

"You're assuming logic from the Shaoki?" Riss said.

"Strong point," Goodnight said.

"Actually, it should be quite easy," von Baldur said. "A little scheme, a little singing, a little music, and everyone's home free. Or, at any rate, in the Khelat's loving hands."

By the end of the day, von Baldur and Riss came up with a plan.

"All it takes to succeed is an amazing amount of stupidity on the part of the Shaoki," von Baldur said.

"I have full confidence in them," Riss said, just a bit smugly.

They began with acquiring, either through requisition or purchase, every recorder they could find.

Von Baldur commed Colonel Suiyahr, announced that he had some distressing news. Suiyahr, their main contact with the council, looked concerned. Von Baldur told the colonel that he'd sent Riss offworld on an espionage mission.

"We knew she had gone," Suiyahr said smugly. "We just were not sure what the reason was."

"Riss discovered," von Baldur went on, "that the Khelat have been buying large quantities of poison gas, and propose to make the first attack here on Irdis."

"The bastards!"

"Agreed," von Baldur said. "Fortunately, both Colonel Riss and myself are fully trained in the field of chemical weaponry, and feel that we'll be able to not only counteract their barbarity, but turn the weapon back on them."

"Good," Suiyahr said. "Our troops have no training in that aspect of soldiering� We never felt anyone, even the Khelat, are dastardly enough to use such a weapon against us. Clearly, we were wrong."

Friedrich nodded.

"What we propose is, since many of our own soldiers are untrained, to run an exercise, then, after it's finished, to have a command-post seminar on what went right and what went wrong. Then we'll be prepared to train your troops."

"A CP seminar, eh? There at your central base?" Suiyahr said. She almost licked her lips. "I am glad," she said, "you are so concerned."

She blanked the screen.

Von Baldur got up from the com set, smiling.

"Hook, line, and sinker," he said gleefully.

"We want running feet," Riss said. "Right past the pickup, on to the next."

"What's this all about, M'chel?" one of the com techs asked. "You've had us chattering into the com, dashing back and forth, and shouting orders all damned day."

"Now, if I wanted you to know," Riss said, "I would've told you, wouldn't I? Now, hup, hup, huppity hup."

Goodnight was glad he wasn't claustrophobic.

The crawl space was not that wide, especially with him pulling at a tenth of a kiloton of explosives, even helped by an antigrav sled and Grok pushing from the rear.

If he slipped and fell, it would be an almost 25-meter drop, through the false ceiling to, most likely, impale himself on one of the seat backs below.

It was the second trip they'd made.

Grok had asked, "Is this trip necessary?" and Goodnight had wondered if he was making a joke. But no alien could be that antiquarian.

He took out the detonator that had been planted under von Baldur's suite, having replaced the small transmitter with some real, live primary explosives.

Goodnight knew nothing could happen. But at this stage of explosions, he always got sweaty palms.

"Colonel von Baldur," the rather shifty-eyed man asked.

"I am he."

"Do you have scrambling capabilities?"

"I do."

"On Alliance setting R09, up three, bassackwards, please."

The man hazed into interference.

Von Baldur puzzled out the hasty code, touched sensors on the com.

The screen cleared.

"I'm Hal Maffer," the man said. "Over here on Seth V. You haven't used me� I run a hiring hall for people in your line of business. I'd like to do business with you someday, since I've heard your Star Risk goes by its word."

"We try."

"I'll make this fast, then," Maffer said. "Before your pals the Shaoki have time to figure out the scramble."

"You are keeping track of us?" von Baldur said.

"Nope," Maffer said. "I just happened to hear you're working the Khelat-Shaoki mess�I've put teams on both sides in there over the last few years�and heard something else that you might be interested in."

"How much?" von Baldur asked.

Maffer held up his hands.

"For free. But you'll owe me one."

"Depending how good it is."

"It's good. Day before yesterday, one of my competitors placed a battalion regimental team�the Malleus Maulers, they call themselves� armored lifters, some interstellar capability�with the Shaoki."

Von Baldur hid his surprise.

"Didn't figure you'd heard about it," Maffer said. "I dunno what kind of war you're fighting, but the client specified the team he picked had to have chemical training."

"I owe you one," von Baldur said.

"I thought you might," Maffer said. "Nobody likes competition when they don't know about it."

"So, they're getting cute," Riss mused.

"They're gonna bring in these Malleus clowns," Goodnight agreed, "right after they blow our asses away when we get together after the gas exercise, eh?"

"It appears fairly obvious," von Baldur said. "Then we should active our drill immediately," Grok said. "If not sooner," Goodnight agreed.

The night came alive with alarm shrills.

Befuddled officers and warrants were told to turn their men and women out, wearing protective masks.

The Khelat were attacking with poison gas.

Some of the mercenaries didn't have masks, or had forgotten where they were.

Umpires, wearing white armbands, started shouting, "You, you're dead! And you, you're another corpse," not adding to the peace.

The shrilling and shouting got louder, and the soldiers got more and more befuddled.

Especially when they heard the whine of starships on their secondary drives, and warships settled down beside their quarters.

Star Risk Command's hotel had a destroyer nose up to its building, and hover on antigrav.

"On board! Get your sorry asses to the ships," came the commands.

Redon Spada's patrol ships arced overhead, swept down to pick up stray detachments as soldiers were sardine-canned into ships.

A transport leased earlier by Grok settled down, picked up the last of the men, and then floated up.

Von Baldur was on the bridge of the Fletcher, linked to Colonel Suiyahr. He was visibly unhappy.

"Fifteen minutes to clear quarters. Not good at all."

"If this had been real, what would you do next?" Suiyahr asked.

"We would immediately go to the units we've been tasked to provide command responsibility for, evaluate the situation, and proceed to take action from there," von Baldur said glibly. "But that's for another drill.

"This night's performance was shameful! We shall be up at least until dawn dealing with this matter. I shall not allow such incompetence to happen again."

"No," Suiyahr said, holding back a tight smile. "No, you shall not."

The starships reversed their courses and lowered back toward barracks and the high-rise that was Star Risk's headquarters.

As they landed, or hung next to the Star Risk Command, the elaborate deceptions took over.

Remote-keyed recorders began playing the sounds of men and women disembarking, being ordered to the ballroom used as a briefing center.

Three remoted projectors whispered into life, showing, to the three eyes the Shaoki had installed in the Star Risk Command, soldiers filing toward the briefing room.

Appearing empty, the ships lifted away.

Coms went on aboard the ships and informed the mercenaries they'd seen the last of Irdis.

None of the Star Risk leaders paid the slightest attention to the howls that went up about lost and abandoned possessions.

"Tough titty, troop," Goodnight told one outraged sergeant. "You bought your gear to begin with. Now you can buy better."

Out-atmosphere, the destroyers, patrol boats, and the single transport jumped into N-space. Redon Spada's ship was the last to vanish.

There were no followers.

The small fleet made two more jumps, then set its course for Khelat II and its capital world of Rafar City.

"Clean, very clean," Goodnight said.

"Finer than frog hair," Riss echoed.

"I am starting," Grok added, "to understand just how many varieties of your doublecrosses there can be."

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THIRTY-THREE � ^ � About half of the Shaoki Council�those whom Colonel Suiyahr decided were either powerful enough to need kowtowing to or could be enlisted on her side when she determined a coup was appropriate�were gathered in the council chamber.

She held a small triple-frequency transmitter in one hand.

"Thank you for coming, my friends," she said. "This shall be very short.

"Some time ago, I determined that the Star Risk team that we had trusted with our worlds, our people, and our lives, had turned traitor, and were only secretly working for us. They had, in fact, returned to their true masters, the Khelat.

"This could not be borne by any decent, honorable soldier. Therefore, I determined to put in place an emergency device so that if they, in fact, behaved traitorously, retribution was swift. Today, using the mask of an anti-chemical warfare exercise, they are putting in motion their plan to betray all of us to the Khelat."

There were gasps, shouts of disbelief, anger.

Suiyahr held up one hand.

"Do not worry, my friends. The situation is well in hand. This device I hold will set off a large explosive charge I had prepared and planted in the midst of these turncoats.

"Now, here is full vengeance against those who would betray us."

She had a broad smile on her face as she pressed, in proper sequence, the sensors on the detonator.

The charge, planted just above the chamber's magnificent central chandelier, exploded downward, a one-kiloton blast and sheet of flame.