Starbound (31 page)

“I understand and acknowledge, sir,” I said. He gave me a nod and I sat down again. It was a field command, something that could be rescinded at a later date, but it was a command. What I did now and in the days ahead could impact thousands, if not millions of lives. The reality of that hit me hard, and quite frankly it felt like a rock had taken up residence in my gut.

“Further to your orders, gentlemen, are the following mission assignments. Captain Maclintock will defend the Pendax system with
Valiant
. Upon change of command, Captain Cochrane”—that sounded strange—“will take
Starbound
with all possible speed to the Levant system where your orders are to destroy the artificial jump gate ring above that world and the generator station on the second moon, L-4b. We don't want that gate to be used as a portal to jump a fleet into our backyard. The value of the jump ring to us as ingress to the Altos system is less than the danger it poses to the Union,” he said.

“Understood, sir,” I replied.

“Good. Once your mission is complete your orders are to return to Pendax with all possible speed and rendezvous with the defense fleet there. Are we clear, gentlemen?”

“Yes, sir,” both Maclintock and I said in unison. Wesley nodded.

“One question, sir,” I said.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Why is
Starboun
d
returning to Pendax? Doesn't Levant or Quantar need the protection of a Lightship as well?” Wesley shuffled his feet and turned slightly toward me.

“Pendax is the key, Captain Cochrane, because from there any attacking ships could jump directly to either Quantar or Earth, and we have to prepare for that eventuality. If we hold Pendax, we can force them to fight station-to-station, and we can rally all our forces to the battlefield,” Wesley said.

“But if the dreadnoughts have the ability to jump directly into a system—” I started.

“As far as we know that capability is limited to having spatial coordinates confirmed by support ships like the HuKs, and
they
still have to navigate using jump points. We hope.”

“Understood, sir.” I thought that was a risky assumption, but I wasn't running the council meeting, so I kept my mouth shut.

“And now to the Carinthian situation,” Wesley said. “Mr. Serosian, if you would be so kind as to update us on your latest intelligence?”

Serosian leaned forward on the massive plasma screen. “Intelligence reports are sketchy at best, Admiral. Most of our observers in the Carinthian system have been neutralized, and by that I mean their ability to communicate with the Order back on Earth is minimal. The last reports we received, which are nearly twenty-four hours old now, indicated that all three Carinthian Lightships were operational and that they and a substantial support fleet had made for the jump point, and from there jumped to parts unknown,” he said.

“They left no substantial forces in-system?” asked Wesley.

“It doesn't appear so, Admiral.”

Wesley paced around the room and then looked to my father. “It seems as though they are massing for an all-out attack, Nathan,” he said.

“Yes, but when and where?” said my father. “This whole business with Grand Duke Henrik”—the duke brightened a bit at the mention of his name—“has given the Regency propaganda cover for any kind of action they want, even war with Quantar. If we commit all of our forces to defend Pendax we could be leaving ourselves wide open for an attack. But to not defend an associate member of the Union which is soon to become a full partner would be a catastrophic mistake.”

“If I may suggest,” came Serosian's voice from the screen, “I think that is exactly what they want, to split us, to isolate Quantar from other the Union worlds, and neutralize her power.”

“These new Carinthian Lightships,” I asked, “are they joining up with an Imperial fleet?”

“Possibly,” replied the Historian. “But all we know for certain is that they haven't hit Pendax yet.”

“What about diplomatic efforts?” my father asked. Serosian looked grim.

“All diplomatic overtures to Carinthia have been rebuffed and communication channels have broken down,” he said.

“And what of your government? Where do they stand?”

“The Historian Order is officially neutral in this, Director Cochrane. They will support the Union against an outside threat by the Corporate Empire, but not necessarily Quantar in an internal conflict against Carinthia. However, I can reassure you that
my
loyalties are with both the Union
and
with Quantar. I couldn't serve aboard
Starbound
if they weren't. As to my brothers and sisters on the Carinthian ships though, I'm afraid not all of them are of the same school of thought as I am.”

“And if we have to fight those Carinthian Lightships?” I asked. Serosian, my longtime mentor, looked down at me from the screen.

“The one advantage you have is that both
Valiant
and
Starb
ound
have the upgraded weapons systems we gave you after the Levant incident, including both the gravity weapons and the improved coil canon firepower. Those weapons will give you an advantage in any direct conflict with Carinthian Lightships,” he said. I looked at him, then to the admiral, then back.

“Some of my friends are on those Lightships, Mr. Serosian,” I said. “That's little consolation if I have to use my weapons against them.”

“We get your point, Captain,” said Wesley. At this Karina reached under the table and gently squeezed my hand again, which I appreciated, but it was sparse comfort. She knew I didn't want to face Dobrina on the battlefield.

“Rules of engagement are as follows,” said Wesley. “Any Imperial
ship is to be regarded as an enemy and may be attacked and destroyed with impunity. Special emphasis should be placed on destroying enemy HuKs, as they seem to be the units coordinating attacks with the dreadnoughts. Any Carinthian ship that fires on a Union ship may be engaged. The first objective should be to disable Carinthian ships, not destroy them. Use of mass-destruction weapons against Carinthian ships is only authorized if either
Starbo
und
or
Valiant
are under imminent threat of destruction. Understood?”

Maclintock answered quickly. I hesitated just a second before giving an affirmative. Wesley turned to me.

“Is there going to be a problem with the engagement rules, Captain?” he asked. I looked him in the eye.

“No, sir.”

“Good. Mr. Harrington, what does your network have to report?” Harrington shifted in his chair and then spoke up.

“My last ship got out of Carinthia last night, Admiral. She sent a copy of a coded packet that was sent from Prince Benn to all Loyalist personnel. Once we decoded it, it was essentially a final message that said all Loyalists should remember their original oaths and comply with their orders, as long as those orders did not violate said oaths,” Harrington said.

“He's telling them to follow orders, but making war against the Union would be a violation of their oaths. He's giving them cover to disobey Arin's orders,” said Karina. All eyes in the room turned to her. “The Loyalists may be cooperating, but they have not given up. If we can sway the people of Carinthia—”

“With apologies, Princess, but the Regency military controls Carinthia,” interrupted Wesley.

“They control the ground, Admiral. They control two of the three Lightships, but
Impulse
II
is commanded by Captain Dobrina Kierkopf, and we know where her loyalties lie,” countered Karina.

“And where would that be?” asked Wesley.

“With us. With the Union and with Quantar.” She looked at me then. “Carinthia is not gone, Admiral. She is being controlled by forces that do not have popular support. We have that advantage, because we have the grand duke on our side.”

“Apologies again, Princess. But isn't the time for propaganda long gone? There is a Carinthian military force massing for an attack somewhere out there,” said Wesley.

“The Carinthian people will rally to their duke, Admiral. If we can turn their hearts back to him, we can break Arin's base of support at home and we can force him to return or lose that base. That's what can stop this war, or at least give us only a single front to fight.”

Wesley looked fatigued by the conversation once it departed from a military focus. He looked to my father.

“It's your decision, Nathan. I'm not sure this proposed broadcast can help at this point. Prince Arin's operatives can just say it was done under duress and that the Royal family are prisoners here on Quantar. It may even hurt us with the Carinthian people,” said Wesley.

My father contemplated this, then started to talk. “Princess, I have to agree this may not be the best time—”

“Nein!”
The grand duke slapped the table for emphasis.

My father was taken aback by this as the room grew hushed and all eyes turned to Henrik Feilberg. “This message is critical,” he said, slowly and deliberately, in good Standard but with a noticeable accent. “My daughter is right. The people still hold sway on my world, they are still loyal to the Crown. Arin has . . .” He trailed off here and his voice grew quiet, as if it pained him to say the words. “Arin has . . . confused the people. Once they hear from the three of us, they will see that I am still their sovereign, and that our two worlds are meant to be united, not split apart.”

My father looked confused. “Apologies, Highness, but you said the message would be from the three of you? But there is only yourself
and the Princess Karina. Perhaps you meant to include Prince Benn, but he is not here,” he said.

The grand duke turned a steely stare on my father. “I may be old, and heartbroken, and frequently confused, Director Cochrane, but I meant what I said. Myself, my daughter, and her new husband will record the message. Their marriage will unite our worlds, and give my people new hope.”

“What's this?” said Wesley, looking from the grand duke to Karina, and then to me.

“Marriage? Husband?” said my father, clearly surprised. Then he too looked at me. I stood up, as did Karina. The grand duke stood and came between us, joining my right hand to Karina's left in front of him. He addressed my father.

“May I present your new daughter-in-law, Director Cochrane. Princess Karina Feilberg of Carinthia, the new wife of your son, Peter,” the grand duke said. “They were married early this morning, by your Vicar of KendalFalk, and they have my blessing.” Then he put his arms around both of us, and kissed his daughter on the forehead.

I extended her hand, showing my father the ring I had given her. It was a beautiful silver ring with a central blue sapphire and diamond setting that had belonged to my maternal grandmother. I wore my paternal grandfather's silver diamond wedding band. Both had been pulled from the family jewelry archive at the palace.

The room was stone silent.

“Our worlds are now united, permanently,” the grand duke concluded.

My father looked at me, the tiniest hint of a smile of admiration creeping up one side of his mouth.

“You don't do anything halfway, do you, son?” he said.

“No, sir,” I replied. Then he stood and began clapping, and the room filled with a rising wave of applause. The grand duke hugged his
daughter again, then released her. My father stretched out his hand across the table and I shook it. Then I turned to Karina and pulled her close to me.

The room filled with cheers and “huzzahs!”, and, for the first time in a long time, everyone in the room was smiling.

W
e recorded the mes
sage an hour later,
and I was glad to ge
t it done. The Grand
Duke Henrik was str
etched to his limits
, but he finished th
e job. Karina had wr
itten the script and
introduced me in Ge
rman. I spoke my par
t in Standard and wa
s told that German s
ubtitles would be ad
ded. Barely thirty m
inutes later and the
message was gone wi
th Zander, who would
drop it by ansible
into the Carinthian
system to be broadca
st at a preset time.

Karina took her father back up to his apartment while I briefed for my mission with navy personnel in the library. My father had already gone back to New Briz, but Wesley stayed behind to coach up his new charge, ready to make his first team debut. It was a daunting task, but after more than two hours of coaching on the ins and outs of commanding a Lightship I felt ready.

“Certainly, this wasn't what anyone planned, lad,” said Wesley. “But we wouldn't have done it if we didn't feel you were up to it.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said as the briefing was breaking up.

“Do you have an XO in mind?” That only took me a second to ponder.

“Lena Babayan, sir. She's extremely resourceful. I know she's currently a marine colonel, but I'm requesting that her commission be conveyed to full navy commander, sir,” I said.

“Done,” he replied. “Now just one more thing, Captain. Don't break my ship. I'll be wanting her back when we're done.”

“I promise, Admiral.”

“And rely on your Historian friend, Mr. Serosian. His advice will be vital.”

“Of course, sir,” I said. I had negotiated to keep most of
Starbound
's command crew, with George Layton getting an overdue field promotion to lieutenant commander as my third, John Marker moving from marine sergeant to master chief so I could broaden his duties, and Duane Longer becoming my junior lieutenant commander. Everyone else would retain their previous duties, at least on this mission. And there was one more personnel issue that Wesley brought up.

“You take god damn good care of my niece,” said Wesley in his gruff tone.

“I will, sir,” I replied. He shook my hand then.

“Congratulations, son. Be careful out there.”

“Thank you, sir. We will, sir. I assume I have a shuttle to catch?” Wesley eyed me slyly, then looked at his watch.

“Not until 1900,” he said. I looked at my watch, which said 1520 hours.

“That's nearly four hours, sir. I thought time was—”

“It is, Captain. But time isn't everything. All the wheels are in motion, so we can afford to wait a few more hours to get you airborne. Mr. Harrington reliably informs me has a
very
fast shuttle waiting for you at High Station,” he said.

“But, sir, I don't understand, I was under the impression—”

He cut me off again. “You're needed upstairs, Captain,” said Wesley, nodding toward the library's high ceiling while he pretended to look at military reports. Now I was completely confused.

“Upstairs? For what, sir?” I asked. He smiled just a bit, but said nothing.

I looked up at the ceiling, then back down at Wesley. It finally came together in my mind. “Oh,” I said.

“Even in a crisis, Captain, we can't forget our humanity,” Wesley said. I nodded, nothing more needing to be said, then made my way to the lifter for the family apartments.

My room had been transformed into a glittering candlelit retreat, the curtains drawn against the late afternoon winter sun. The bedding had been freshened and there were flowers everywhere, even rose petals on the bedsheets. A handwritten note left on my night stand instructed me to the shower, instructions which I followed to the letter.

When I returned to the bedroom, Karina was there, standing by the bed in a flowing white gown which actually fit her, her long dark hair hanging down her back.

“Welcome, husband,” she said.

“Thank you,” was all I could manage in reply. It was an awkward situation, and I found myself unsure of what to do next. She extended her hand to me, and I took it, then gently pulled her to me, where we met with a kiss.

She was small in my arms. Her personality was so big and daring that I had somehow never equated her physical size with it. She had always seemed much larger to me, except now when I held her close.

We went hand-in-hand to the bed, where she untied the gown and let it fall to the floor. Once again I was surprised. Although she was petite, that was not a word I could use for every part of her body. She helped me out of my bathrobe and soon we were lying together in bed, softly kissing. It was awkward, we hardly knew each other, but in
due course what came naturally to young men and women came naturally to us.

Afterward, we lay together, caressing.

“I've never been with a man before,” she suddenly said. I kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Did I please you?” she asked.

“Of course you did. I should think that would be obvious,” I said with a small chuckle. She smiled at me.

“I want you to come back from this mission, Peter,” she said. “I know this probably isn't what you had planned for your life.”

“Actually, I've never really had a plan, except to serve in the navy. And don't worry about the mission. We have the best ships in space, and we will get through this crisis,” I reassured her. She looked into my eyes and smiled, then kissed me again with more passion.

After the kiss she looked up at me for a long time, her head on the pillow. I thought about her as we looked at each other: really, we were just getting to know one another, and the fact was that I did not love her, but I would be lying if I said there was no affection between us. Our marriage was a reality that I would not and could not break. I decided that she would make an excellent wife, if we ever got the chance to be together long enough to behave as married couples do.

“I think you should know I'm ovulating,” she said out of the blue.

“What?” I said, and sat up on my elbow. “That's a hell of a thing to say on our wedding night. Or day.”

“I'm sorry. I hope you're not upset, but it's something I thought you should know. At least there's a possibility.”

“So you're not on pregnancy repressors?” I asked. She shook her head.

“I never have been. As I said, I've never been with a man before, and thus, no real need. What about you?” she said.

“Well, not regularly. And I didn't know until last night that I would be getting married,” I said. “It kind of slipped my mind.” She
pulled herself in close to me, and a warm wonderful softness enveloped me. I lay back down next to her.

“I just wanted you to know. It's not something we have to worry about right now,” she said. I rolled over on my back.

“Absolutely. The Union is splitting up, the old empire is attacking, I just married a princess, I'm heading into a war zone and, oh, hey, maybe you just made your new bride pregnant. Nothing like that will cross my mind out there, I'm sure,” I said. She smiled and rolled her body on top of mine.

“There are circumstances we can't control, Peter,” she said. “And like it or not we have been brought together, now. Is it too much to ask to just let your worries go, and be in the moment with me?”

I looked up at her. She was beautiful. “It's not too much for a wife to ask of her husband, no,” I said. Then she smiled, and I kissed her, and felt my passion for her begin to rise again.

Roughly fourteen hours later I strode onto the bridge of
Starbound
at High Station Candle, and greeted Maclintock and Serosian, as well as many others of the crew. Maclintock didn't waste a minute getting us underway to Pendax.

It would be a short two-hour traverse to the jump point using the HD impellers on full max, and from there the jump to Pendax. It would be a 48.5-light-year jump, and thus we would be in a hyperspace bubble for about sixteen hours. All of us would undoubtedly be worried about the situation during that time, but there was nothing we could do about it but prepare.

Maclintock called a staff meeting fifteen minutes after we left Candle in the Command Deck Briefing room. Serosian was noticeably absent, but all the major department heads were present and seated
around the oval table: Babayan, Layton, Marker, Jenny Hogan, and Duane Longer along with me. Missing were several important section chiefs who would be joining Maclintock on
V
aliant
. What was also missing in the room was any sign of Carinthian officers besides Babayan. Most had left for home, some had simply removed themselves to barracks on Candle, staying loyal to their Union oaths but not willing to fight their countrymen.

Maclintock cleared his throat. “First order of business, congratulations to Mr. Cochrane, both on his promotion and his recent, unexpected nuptials,” he said. There was applause around the room. I fingered my new wedding band.

“Thank you all for the good wishes,” I said. “I just wish the circumstances were different.”

“As do we all,” said Maclintock before continuing. “Mr. Marker, did you get your replacement marines aboard?” he said.

“Aye, sir,” replied Marker. “Full complement of sixty, trained and experienced, but not a one from Carinthia.”

“Can't say as I blame them,” said Maclintock.

“Nor I,” said Marker.

“Do you anticipate any problems getting the new recruits integrated?” Marker shook his head.

“None, sir. All of them to a man and woman volunteered, even after what happened at Jenarus. I had more trouble sorting through all the applicants to pick the best mix of skills than worrying about recruiting or getting them to work together,” he said.

Maclintock nodded. “Good,” he said, then looked down the table to Lena Babayan, who was functioning as our intelligence officer on this portion of the mission. “What's your latest report, Commander?” Maclintock asked, using her new navy rank.

“We've received regular updates from Pendax. All is quiet there, eerily so. It's like they're waiting for us to show up before they attack,” she said.

“And how would they know when we're coming? Either they have very sophisticated detection equipment we know nothing about or they're telepaths, which I doubt,” said Maclintock.

“We do know their dreadnaughts can jump into a star system without using jump points,” I said. “Perhaps they have other capabilities as well.”

“There is one other possibility that I feel I should raise,” said Babayan.

The captain looked at her, waiting for her to finish.

“There could be spies aboard
Starbound
.” We all contemplated that for a long moment. Maclintock looked down the table to Marker.