Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) (16 page)

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Authors: Mike Resnick

BOOK: Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3)
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“His collection takes up three cabins aboard the ship,” added Sharon.
“Collection?” asked Perez.
“Of Dickens books,” she said. “Thousands of editions and translations.”
“Interesting character,” said Perez. “I think I’m going to like working for you guys. I heard of Val when she was calling herself the Queen of Sheba. She was one hell of a pirate. How did you ever convince her to join you?”
“A confluence of circumstances,” replied Cole. “I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it, putting a properly heroic spin on the events.”
“Right,” added Sharon. “It wouldn’t do for people to know that the Hammerhead Shark stole her ship while she was sleeping off a drunk. We helped her get it back.”
“Then why—?”
“It was disabled in the process,” said Cole.
“So was the Shark,” added Sharon.
David Copperfield made his way back to the table and seated himself.
“That was a short visit,” commented Cole.
“But, I hope, a fruitful one,” said Copperfield.
“Let me guess: he has a leatherbound copy of
Bleak House
for sale.”
“Don’t be facetious, Steerforth,” said Copperfield. “Besides, if he did, do you think I’d have returned here without it?” He paused. “What do you know of New Calcutta?”
“Never heard of it,” said Cole.
“I have,” put in Perez. “About four hundred light-years from here, in the direction of the Core.”
“The very place,” said Copperfield. “Oxygen world, ninety-seven percent Standard gravity.”
“Okay, it’s an oxygen world toward the Core,” said Cole. “So what?”
“Bear with me, my dear Steerforth,” said Copperfield. “After all, did the sainted Charles ever reveal the entire plot on page one?”
“The sainted Charles was getting paid by the word,” said Cole. “You’re not. Now, what about New Calcutta?”
“There is a dealer in merchandise of questionable ownership . . .”
“A fence.”
“A fence,” agreed Copperfield. “I knew him in my former life.”
“Your former life?” interrupted Perez, frowning.
“He means, when he was a fence himself,” said Sharon.
“Precisely,” said Copperfield. “Anyway, New Calcutta is ruled by Thuggees . . .”
“Hold it right there,” said Cole. “There hasn’t been a Thuggee in close to three millennia. I don’t mind you being David Copperfield if it makes you happy, but don’t go inventing whole planets from Kipling.”
“Oh, it exists all right,” Copperfield assured him. “So do the Thuggees. They’re not humans, of course, and they do not practice the obscene secret rituals of the original Thuggees, at least so far as I know. They are an alien race, once known as the Drinn, who took the name of Thuggee when they found out what New Calcutta was named for. They found that calling themselves Thuggees brought them instant respect from Men.”
“Let me guess,” said Cole. “Your friend the fence is languishing in the Black Hole.”
“I have no idea what color hole it is, but the poor man has done something to offend the Thuggees and they have incarcerated him. He would surely trade his kingdom for a horse, and failing that would doubtless pay half his kingdom to be rescued.” He learned forward. “Steerforth, he’s worth almost twenty million credits!”
“Hold on a minute, David,” said Cole. “We may have six ships instead of one, but we’re not strong enough to take on a whole planet.”
“I’m not suggesting that you attack it,” said Copperfield. “If you go in with guns blazing, either the Thuggees will kill you or you’ll inadvertently kill Quinta.”
“That’s the fence?”
“Yes.”
“All right,” said Cole. “Have you ever been to New Calcutta?”
“A few times,” answered Copperfield. “A very pleasant world, except for the climate and the dust and the insects and the diseases and the Thuggees.”
“I’m sure it’s a fair-sized planet, and we’ll be looking for one particular jail cell,” said Cole. “If we decide to undertake this job, we’re going to need a guide. Do you think you can lead us to where they’re keeping him?”
“I’m afraid not,” said Copperfield.
“I thought you said you’ve been there.”
“I have.”
“Well, then?” demanded Cole.
“The last time I was there I had to leave in rather a hurry,” said Copperfield uncomfortably. “They’ve actually had the audacity to put a price on my head.”
“
I’ve
been there,” said the Platinum Duke. “I won’t go back again, but I can supply you with a map of the place, including their major city, which is where they’ll likely be keeping him.”
“I assume you’re not offering this out of the goodness of your heart,” said Cole.
“One-sixth,” said the Duke.
“That seems a lot for just for a map.”
“Okay,” said the Duke. “Find it without a map, and good luck to you.”
“One-sixth,” said Cole, reaching out and shaking the Duke’s metal hand.
“You’re really going to pay it?” asked Sharon, surprised.
“There are two million Thuggees on the planet,” replied Cole. “Without some notion of where they’re holding Quinta, what do you think the odds are of breaking him out? Besides,” he added, “the Duke’s cut is coming out of the half we leave to Quinta, not our half.”
“Bravo!” said Copperfield. “You’re thinking more like a mercenary each day!”
“David,” said Cole, “go tell your friend that if we agree to do it, it’s going to cost the fence five-sixths of whatever he’s got.”
“It’s not up to him,” answered Copperfield. “He just told me, friend to friend, that Quinta has been incarcerated. He’s not Quinta’s agent. It’s up to Quinta, and considering the alternative, I’m sure he would agree now.”
“Even if he disagrees after we break him out,” predicted Sharon dryly.
“All right,” said Cole. “We’ll put Christine, Briggs, and Domak to work finding out what they can about the planet and the Thuggees, and then make a decision.
“You’ll go,” said Copperfield.
“What makes you think so?”
“I can tell by the look on your face. You’re thinking of all that money.”
“No, my old school chum,” said Cole. “I am thinking of all those empty Thuggee ships.”
17
 
Since rescuing Quinta was clearly going to be a covert operation requiring a landing party rather than massive firepower from space, Cole decided to take just the
Teddy R
to Calcutta, and leave the five new ships at Singapore Station to have their weaponry and defensive capabilities upgraded. He transferred Val and Bull Pampas temporarily to the
Teddy R
, and left Perez in charge of the other ships with instructions to take them out and test their new capabilities when the re-outfitting was accomplished. Then the
Teddy R
set off for Calcutta.
The planet was a real piece of work. The humanoid natives had allowed Men to colonize it just long enough to learn their language, learn how to read their books and computers, and learn how to use their weapons. Then they slaughtered the entire colony.
That had been four hundred years ago. Somewhere along the way they decided they could frighten Man off and stop them from recolo nizing by calling the world Calcutta and themselves Thuggees, though no one knew quite what they had against Men. As it turned out, whatever it was, it extended to Canphorites, Setts, Domarians, Lodinites, and half a dozen other races, all of whom were promptly set upon and slaughtered when they landed.
The Thuggees had no dreams of conquest in terms of their solar system or the galaxy at large, but there were five continents on Calcutta, and the government of each was constantly at war with the other four. It was then that they decided that trading with beings whose weaponry had improved over the past four centuries might help them conquer their enemies, and so each country allowed one or two traders—or, in the case of David Copperfield’s friend, fences who temporarily functioned as traders—to land long enough to deliver newer and deadlier weapons. The planet didn’t have much of value to outsiders, but it was home to a type of mollusk that produced a geometrically perfect sixteen-sided pearl-like growth that was much sought after by the jewelers of the Republic and the Inner Frontier.
“And that’s it, sir,” said Briggs as he concluded his brief history of Calcutta. “Since they’ve been closed to trade and immigration for more than four hundred years, we know almost nothing about how their society has evolved, or even about the current political situation, other than that there are five large nations, they don’t like each other very much, and they like intruders even less.” He paused. “We don’t even know if they speak or understand Terran.”
“They did once,” noted Val.
“Yes, but languages change and evolve. Even if they comprehend Terran, it might be a very archaic form of it. Or they might not understand it at all. After all, there hasn’t been a colonist there in four centuries.”
“What about David’s fence?”
“He’s not human,” said Copperfield. “Humanoid, yes, but human, no. He’s a Thrale: the right number of arms and legs and such.”
“Is that what
you
are?” asked Briggs.
David Copperfield drew himself up to his full, if unimpressive, height. “I, sir, am a British gentleman,” he said haughtily.
“What David is or isn’t is not at issue here,” said Cole. “What we need to know, first of all, is where the particular Black Hole we’re looking for is located. I don’t suppose the Platinum Duke supplied that little tidbit of information.” He turned to Copperfield. “Did your friend give you any hint whatsoever?”
“I never spoke to him directly,” answered Copperfield. “You know that.”
“Well, we’re sure as hell not going to invade five warring nations looking blindly for him,” said Cole. “In case it’s slipped anyone’s notice, we
still
don’t have a goddamned doctor on board.”
“I thought we had a number of candidates, sir,” said Briggs.
“Four,” answered Cole. “But none of them were knowledgeable in all three of the main races we have on board, and we can’t carry three medics.” He turned to Copperfield. “What kind of weaponry would your friend have been trading or selling?”
“I don’t know,” said Copperfield. “As I keep reminding you, I never spoke to him.”
“Can you find out?”
“Whatever it is, it probably can’t harm us,” offered Forrice. “Not if he didn’t need half a dozen ships to deliver the components.”
“We’re not worried about being shot down,” answered Cole. “We’re worried about finding David’s friend. And since no one’s going to tell us where he is, we’re going to try to buy a little help. Now, since they never leave their planet and they don’t belong to any federation of like-minded worlds, they obviously mint their own currency, always assuming they use currency at all, and it’s pretty clear that neither credits, Maria Theresa dollars, Far London pounds, or any of the other common currencies will interest them. Since the only reason they let traders touch down on Calcutta is to buy or trade for weapons, we need to offer some weapons in exchange for information—and we don’t want to offer anything more powerful than what they’re already got.”
“That could still be some mighty powerful firepower,” said Briggs.
“We’ll rig them to go bad in a week’s time,” replied Cole. “They could be decades getting spare parts, once they find out what’s wrong.” He turned to Copperfield. “David, can you contact anyone who works for your friend and find out what kind of weaponry he was selling?”
“Yes, Steerforth,” said Copperfield. “I shall do so immediately.” He walked over to the subspace radio and began sending a message.
“Mr. Briggs, Lieutenant Domak, do either of you know which of the five nations is the most dominant at this moment?”
“Punjab,” said Domak promptly, pointing to the continent on a holographic map.
“Why the hell do they name themselves and their countries after a race they won’t allow on the planet?” mused Val.
“That’s a question for an alien sociologist,” said Cole. “We’re mercenaries. Our question is: Which of the other four nations is holding David’s friend?”
“Why not Punjab?” asked Val.
“Which side do you think would pay more for your weapons—a nation that needs them to become dominant, or a nation that would merely like to have them?”
“You’d better be right,” said Val dubiously.
“If I’m not, then Four Eyes can mount a rescue party to save me
and
David’s pal.”
Sharon’s image popped into view. “You’re not going anywhere!” she said.
“Another party heard from,” said Cole. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m going down with the rescue party, which will consist of me, Val, Lieutenants Sokolov and Mueller, and crewmen Nichols, Moyer, Braxite, and Bujandi.”

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