The Star Fox (10 page)

They stopped at the ramp. ‘Well,’ said Wingate gruffly, ‘you can’t waste time. God ride with you, Son.’ He let the handclasp die.

Lisa came into Heim’s arms. ‘Daddy, Daddy, I’m sorry, I c-c-can’t help bawling.’

‘Blaze to that.’ He ruffled her hair and held her close against his chest. ‘We’ll be back, you know. Rich and famous and a million stories to tell.’ He swallowed. ‘You … you’ve been … you are a good girl. I couldn’t have asked for a finer girl. So long. Plain old
på gensyn
.’

He gave her to Vadász, who embraced her very lightly and bestowed a kiss on the wet cheek. ‘
Isten veled
’ the Magyar said low. ‘I shall bring you home a song.’

Hastily, then, they mounted the ramp, stood waving while it retracted, and saw the lock close before them.

‘Thanks, Endre,’ Heim said. He turned on his heel. ‘Let’s get cracking.’

The yacht could have sprung straight into orbit. But better not show unseemly haste. Heim took her up according to the beams. The sky darkened and stars awoke, until blackness was a jewel box. Vadász fiddled with the com controls and eventually succeeded in getting a satellite relay from Mexico.

Debate on a procedural motion was not unlimited. The voting started before
Connie Girl
had made rendezvous. A roll call tolled overwhelming defeat.

‘Mr. President,’ Coquelin’s voice lifted from the 3V, blurred, small as an insect’s, ‘this is a strange development. France had looked for the normal courtesies. Since I am required to make my country’s basic policy statement today, I will. However, I note the time is near mid-day, and I warn the distinguished representatives that I shall be speaking at some length. Accordingly, I suggest that first we adjourn for lunch.’

‘The chair so rules,’ Fazil conceded. ‘This meeting will resume at 1400 hours sharp.’ His gavel clubbed down.

‘An artist, I tell you,’ Vadász laughed.

‘A couple hours isn’t much time to get under way, with a crew new to the ship,’ Heim reminded him.

The great torpedo shape hove in sight and waxed as he closed until it filled his bow vision. As yet she was uncamouflaged, and sunlight lay furious on the stern assembly; drive units, Mach rings, boathouses, turrets, hatches cast long shadows on the metal flanks.

‘Yacht
Connie Girl
calling cruiser
Fox II
. We are coming in. Please stand by. Over.’

Wingate had argued about the change of cognomen. ‘I know what your old command meant to you, Gunnar,’ he said. ‘But you’ll get enough people mad without taking the name of a Navy ship.’

‘I’m not, exactly,’ Heim said. ‘Last I heard, foxes were still in the public domain. Besides, I damn well figure to rub people’s noses in what the Navy ought to be doing. What it wants to do, in fact.’

Number Four boathouse stood open for him. He cradled the yacht – she was about the size of a regular auxiliary – and fretted while airpumps filled the shell. The corridors beyond were bustle and clangor. He’d had the men aboard for assignments and instruction, but nonetheless he wished terribly there had been time for a shakedown cruise.

First Officer Penoyer saluted on the bridge. ‘Welcome, sir.’ Until Dave greeted him so, he had not really remembered how alone the captain is. ‘Full roster present. Work proceeding. Estimated time of acceleration, 2300 hours GMT.’

‘Knock at least an hour off that,’ Heim said.

‘Sir?’

‘You heard me.’ Heim sat down and riffled through the manual of operations. ‘Here, for instance. The C.E. doesn’t have to check out the internal field compensators again. If they fail, we’ll accelerate at no more than one-point-five gee; once in free fall, we can stand weightlessness till they’re fixed. Not that I expect any trouble in his department anyway. He’s good. Have him proceed directly to tuning the pulse manifolds. The more carefully that job is done, the nearer Sol we can go FTL.’

‘Aye, aye, sir.’ With noticeable distaste, Penoyer flicked the intercom and spoke to Uthg-a-K’thaq. Heim continued his search for corners that might be cut.

And somehow, in some typically human left-handed fashion, the job was done. At 2145 klaxons hooted, orders echoed, atoms flamed in fusion generators, and gravitational forces laid hold of space. Slowly, smoothly, with a deep purr felt less within the ears than the bones,
Fox II
slipped her moorings to Earth and departed orbit.

Heim stood on the bridge and watched his world recede. Still she dominated heaven, vast and infinitely fair, clouds and seas and a sapphire rim of sky. He had observed the continents in their nights and days as he rounded her: Africa, whence man came; Asia, where first he was more than a savage; Europe, where he outgrew myth and measured the stars; Australia, long-sought dream; Antarctica of the heroes. But he was happy that his last sight as he drove starward was of America, where the law was first written that all men are free.

Doubts and fears, even homesickness, had fallen away. He was committed now, and joy dwelt within him.

‘Stations report condition satisfactory,’ Penoyer announced after a while.

‘Very good. Carry on.’ Heim found the intercom and called the steward’s department. ‘Endre? D’you have things in hand so they can get along without you for a spell? … Okay, come onto the bridge. And bring your guitar. We’ll want a song or two.’

The Magyar’s voice was troubled. Captain, have you been listening to Parliament?’

‘Uh … no. Too busy. Good Lord, they started fresh more than an hour ago, didn’t they?’

‘Yes. We’re picking up the beam to Mars. I have watched and – well, they did not let Coquelin delay. He tried, with a long introductory speech, and the chair ruled he must keep to the point. Then he tried to introduce the evidence about New Europe, and someone objected, and they decided to vote on whether that was germane now. The roll is still being called, but already he has a majority against him.’

‘Oh-oh.’ Heim was not shaken, on this day when he commanded anew a ship for Earth. But the need for action stabbed through his nerves. ‘Mr. Penoyer,’ he directed, ‘signal for maximum acceleration and order all hands to emergency stations.’

The mate gulped and obeyed. ‘Have Sparks shunt that debate to our 3V,’ Heim went on. ‘Mr. Vadász, please come to the bridge.’ His chuckle was flat. ‘Yes, bring your guitar.’

‘What’s the problem, sir?’ Penoyer asked in unease.

‘You’ll see,’ Heim replied. ‘France is about to throw a nuke into the whole machine. Our plan was to have
Fox
well away by then. Now we’ll need luck as well as brains and beauty.’

The screen flickered to fuzzy motion. Coquelin was nearly drowned out by the risen rumble of engines. Earth dwindled among the stars and Luna’s pocked face grew nearer.

‘—this assembly is determined to give my country not one centimeter. As you like, ladies and gentlemen. I wished to say this gradually, for the blow is heavy at best. Now you must hear me whether you are ready or not.’

The camera zoomed so close that Coquelin’s visage filled the screen. That was a lousy trick, Heim thought. But, if he wasn’t letting his own prejudices hoodwink him, this time it didn’t work. Instead of underscoring every blemish – warts, moles, hairs, wrinkles – the close-up showed anger and unbreakable strength. Heim believed himself confirmed when the view moved back after a minute, to make Coquelin another man shuffling papers on a lectern.

‘Mr. President, honorable delegates—’ The translation could only suggest how the voice shifted, became the dry detached recital of an attorney making a technical point. The Federation was founded and still exists to end the tragic anarchy that prevailed among nations before, to bring them under a law that serves the good of all. Now law cannot endure without equal justice. The popularity of an argument must be irrelevant. Only the lawful cause may be admitted. In the name of France, I therefore advance the following points.

‘1. The Constitution forbids each member nation to keep armed forces above the police level or to violate the territorial integrity of any other member nation in any way. To enforce this, the Peace Control Authority is vested with the sole military power. It may and must take such measures as are necessary to stop aggressive acts, including conspiracy to commit such acts. The individuals responsible must be arrested and brought to trial before the World Court.

‘2. The naval branch of the Authority has been used beyond the Solar System, albeit only in relatively minor actions to suppress insurrection and riot or to protect the lives and property of humans on distant planets. By authorizing such action, and by negotiating agreements with various aliens, the Federation has
de facto
and
de jure
assumed the posture with respect to non-human societies that was traditional between governments on Earth prior to the Constitution. Hence Earth as a whole is a sovereign state with the lawful prerogative of self-defense.

‘3. By attacking New Europe and subsequently occupying it, Alerion has committed an act of territorial aggression.

‘4. If Alerion is not regarded as a sovereign state, negotiation of this dispute is legally impossible, and the Authority is required to take military measures against what can only be considered banditry.’

A roar went through the hall. Fazil banged his desk. Coquelin waited, sardonicism playing over his mouth. When order had been restored, the spokesman of France said:

‘Evidently this assembly does consider Alerion to be sovereign like Earth. So, to proceed—

‘5. If Alerion is indeed a legitimate state, then by the preamble to the Constitution it belongs to the family of nations.
Therefore it must be regarded as either (a) obliged to refrain from territorial aggression on pain of military sanctions, or
(b)
not so obliged, since it is not a member of the Federation.

‘6. In case (a), Alerion is automatically subject to military sanctions by the Peace Control Authority. But in case (6), the Authority is also required, by the Constitution and by past precedent, to safeguard the interests of individual humans and of member states of the Federation. Note well, the
Authority
has that obligation. Not this honorable assembly, not the World Court, but the Peace Control Authority, whose action must under the circumstances be of a military nature.

‘7. Accordingly, in either case an automatic state of war now exists between Alerion and the World Federation.’

Chaos broke loose.

Vadász had come in. He watched the scene for a time, as hundreds stood booing or cheering or screaming to be recognized, before he murmured: ‘Is that not a weak point there?’

‘No,’ said Heim. ‘Remember the Moslem League case. Also, I reread the Constitution, and it’s quite clear. Of course, it helps that the thing was written before we’d met any non-humans comparable to us.’ He turned to the mate. ‘Radar reports?’

‘Eh? Oh – oh, yes. A large craft about 10,000 kilometers starboard high, vector roughly like ours.’

‘Damn! That’d be one of the Navy units, pulled in to guard Earth. Well, we’ll have to see what happens.’ Heim ignored the mob scene on the 3V, rested his eyes on the cold serenity of the Milky Way and thought that this, at least, would endure.

Somehow quiet was enforced. Coquelin waited until the silence had become deathly. He raised another typewritten sheet and resumed in the same parched tone:

‘8. In the event of territorial aggression, member states of the Federation are required to give every appropriate assistance to the Peace Control Authority, in the name of the Federation.

‘9. In the judgment of France, this imposes an inescapable duty to provide armed assistance to the colonists of New Europe. However, a member of the Federation is prohibited the manufacture or possession of nuclear weapons.

‘10. There is no prohibition on individuals obtaining such weapons outside the Solar System for themselves, provided that they do not bring them back to the Solar System.

‘11. Nor is there any prohibition on the unilateral authorization by a member state of the Federation of a
private
military expedition which so outfits itself. We grant that privateers were formerly required to be citizens of the country whose flag they flew, and that this might conflict with the national disarmament law. We grant also that eventually the issuance of letters of marque and reprisal was banned, by the Declaration of Paris in 1856. But while such treaties remain binding on their signatories, including France, they are not binding on the Federation as a whole, which is not a signatory and indeed has members such as the United States of America which never were signatories. And we have seen that the Federation is a sovereign state, possessing all rights and responsibilities not explicitly waived.

‘12. Therefore the Federation has the unrestricted right to issue letters of marque and reprisal.

‘13. Therefore, and in view of paragraphs 7, 8, and 9, France has the right and the duty to issue letters of marque and reprisal in the name of the Federation.

‘France has done so.’

The 3V shrieked – more faintly each minute, as
Fox II
accelerated outward and outward. When she lost the Mars beam and reception ended, the racket in the Capitol had not yet subsided.

Penoyer said, Whew! What’s next?’

‘An interminable debate,’ Heim said. ‘Coquelin will fight for every comma. Meanwhile nothing can be done about jellyfishing to Alerion. Hopefully, the people with guts will see they aren’t beaten at the outset, will rally round and – I don’t know.’

‘But us?’

‘Maybe we can escape before someone realizes who that French privateer must be. Not that they can legally stop us without an Admiralty warrant; and you know how long that takes to get. But a nuclear shell is kind of final, and whoever fires it will have powerful friends in court.’

Vadász strummed his guitar and began to sing softly:
‘
Morgenrot, Morgemot
—’ Heim wondered what that was, until he remembered the old, old Austrian cavalry song: