Part 42 (2/2)

”Then why are we in free-flight?” Telthorst demanded. ”Our speed relative to the catapult-” he squinted at Lles.h.i.+'s board ”-it's over two thousand kilometers per hour. We should be decelerating-should have been decelerating the whole way.”

He jabbed an accusing finger toward the tactical display. ”Now we're too close. We can't possibly decelerate the rest of our speed away fast enough.”

”No, we can't,” Lles.h.i.+ agreed. ”I didn't intend to.”

”Really,” Telthorst said frostily. ”May I ask what exactly you did intend to do, then? Wave at the station as we shot past it?”

Lles.h.i.+ gestured to the tactical display. ”The s.p.a.celiner out there has a catapult ETA of nineteen minutes,” he said. ”A standard acc/dec run, if I had stayed with that, would have had us arriving nearly ten minutes behind it.”

”The Empyreals already know we're here, Commodore,” Telthorst bit out. ”They sent a courier s.h.i.+p into the system, remember?”

”Two of them, actually,” Lles.h.i.+ corrected. ”A second courier hit the net about eighteen hours ago, while you were sleeping.”

Telthorst's eyes narrowed. ”Why wasn't I told?”

”It wasn't necessary,” Lles.h.i.+ said. ”As with the first, the Balaniki captured it without trouble. Captain Horvak has the crew aboard for questioning; if he'd learned anything he would have relayed it to me.”

”And of course you would have relayed it to me?”

”Of course.” Lles.h.i.+ felt the corner of his lip twist. ”Don't worry, this s.h.i.+p was also captured undamaged,” he couldn't resist adding.

For a moment Telthorst just looked at him. ”We'll ignore that for the moment, Commodore,” he said at last. ”You're supposed to keep me fully informed-fully informed-on all aspects of this operation. But we'll ignore that.”

He jabbed again at the tactical display. ”What we will not ignore is that this whole silly race has been a waste from the very first. A waste of time and fuel, neither of which we have to spare. It doesn't make a half-penny's worth of difference if that s.p.a.celiner gets away; and now it appears you aren't even going to get that half-penny's worth of profit out of it.”

”On the contrary,” Lles.h.i.+ told him. ”It could make a great deal of difference. And the s.p.a.celiner isn't going to get away.”

”Really.” Telthorst looked over at the main display, now showing the view aft toward the catapult they were racing toward. ”Then you'd better plan to wave extra hard at it,” he said. ”Because in a few seconds you're going to have your first and last close-up look at it.”

”I'm aware of the timing, thank you,” Lles.h.i.+ said. ”SeTO?”

”Board is green, Commodore,” Campbell said briskly. ”Long tubes ready for launch.”

”Long tubes?” Telthorst echoed, looking like he'd been hit in the face. ”You're wasting h.e.l.lfire missiles on a s.p.a.celiner?”

”Hardly,” Lles.h.i.+ said, smiling tightly. ”h.e.l.lfires aren't the only things on a wars.h.i.+p that can be launched through the long tubes.”

Telthorst's face was a twist of confusion. ”What in h.e.l.l's bank are you talking about?”

”Just watch,” Lles.h.i.+ advised. The timer clicked down to zero-”Fighters: launch.”

From the cl.u.s.ter of tubes along the big s.h.i.+p's centerline came a faint rumbling growl, more felt than heard, as the ma.s.s-driver launching electromagnets activated. In his mind's eye Lles.h.i.+ could see the wave of fighters riding that magnetic wave, accelerating through the Komitadji's core at a punis.h.i.+ng ten gravities. They reached speed and shot out the bow of the s.h.i.+p, traveling at twenty-one hundred kilometers per hour.

Or rather, they came from the tubes at twenty-one hundred relative to the Komitadji. Since the Komitadji was traveling backwards at that same speed, the fighters emerged effectively stationary between the catapult and incoming s.p.a.celiner.

In perfect position to draw a line in the sand.

”Full deceleration,” Lles.h.i.+ ordered. ”Fighter command?”

”Fighters moving to interdiction positions,” the fighter commander called as the roar of the

Komitadji's engines began to rattle the command deck. ”Giving challenge to the s.p.a.celiner.”

”Catapult lasers responding,” Campbell reported, a touch of contempt in his voice. ”Looks like basic meteor defenses. Pitiful.”

”They're still powerful enough to cause damage,” Telthorst pointed out stiffly. ”Those fighters are

expensive, too.”

”Instruct the fighters to stay clear as best they can,” Lles.h.i.+ ordered. Telthorst's precious money be

d.a.m.ned; he simply didn't want to waste valuable pilots. ”We'll have plenty of time to deal with the catapult defenses once we've finished decelerating and can get back to the station.”

”And then?” Telthorst demanded, challenge in his voice.

Lles.h.i.+ smiled. ”Then perhaps I can make you that half-penny's worth of profit.”

”We've shut down all the nets except the one here,” General Akhmed said, tapping a spot on the tactical display. ”That will give us only one entrypoint to defend. Our destroyers are arranged thusly-” he indicated the green triangles hovering protectively around each of the four catapult s.h.i.+ps ”-with support s.h.i.+ps and fighters forming defensive screens. It's a standard three-layer defense, easily capable of holding long enough for the catapult s.h.i.+ps to send any intruder packing.”

”What about the Seraph and Central hunters.h.i.+p nets?” Pirbazari asked.

”Binary linked to each other,” Akhmed said. ”They don't enter into the calculation.”

Forsythe shook his head. ”Not good enough,” he said.

Akhmed's eyebrows lifted politely. ”I beg your pardon, High Senator?”

”A standard containment approach may be good enough to deal with the occasional Pax military probe,” Forsythe told him, gesturing toward the schematic. ”But we're talking full-bore invasion here. The Pax may not be willing to play your game with them.”

Pirbazari cleared his throat. ”It's not a matter of playing games, sir,” he said. ”The nets are the only way into the system. If they can't get out of the net area before they're 'pulted away, that's that. They don't have a lot of say in it.”

”Then how did they get into Lorelei system?” Forsythe retorted. ”Because they are there, Zar. That courier we sent has been silent for over twenty hours. How long does it take to put together a collapsible skeeter catapult?”

Pirbazari's mouth tightened. ”Ten hours,” he conceded. ”Twelve at the outside.”

”Leaving them plenty of time to have looked around and written up a report,” Forsythe said. ”If they aren't talking, it's because someone has shut them up. You have any candidates in mind other than the Pax?”

”With all due respect, High Senator,” Akhmed said politely, ”what exactly is it you want us to do?”

”For a start, how about arming the hunters.h.i.+ps?” Forsythe said, reaching over and pulling up another list. ”They have the best s.h.i.+elding of anything in the Empyrean.”

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