Family Law 2: The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet (32 page)

Their next transition was back towards system 80, into system 66 which had stations of several races and three active mining locations, one a small rocky planet very close to the star, one among an asteroid belt unusually far from the star and one on a moon of a gas giant as far from the star as Uranus was from the sun. Chance wanted to do at least a fly-by of the remote station. It was both an orbital station in the meta-stable point with the gas giant and a mining camp actually on the moon's surface. He was curious about it. It was a low gravity nitrogen - hydrocarbon atmosphere moon, so it made him think of Titan. The surface had rocky outcroppings, but also jelled islands of what would make pretty good napalm. Tidal friction and heat from the gas giant kept it from freezing solid this far from the star.

The gas giant was unusually large and the moon described as rich. He wondered if the giant was large enough it was related to Brown Dwarfs in its formation and if the system had any similarities to the rich Brown Dwarf systems they had found. He didn't share the reasons for his interest with Fussy.

They got a courtesy broadcast of the recent system plot from the inner planet, because they were closest the way they'd come in. They had to do a dogleg around the star to get to the far mining station. The
Dart
announced the intention of all three ships to go to the far station.

As they proceeded around the star they got an update almost as soon as the speed of light lag allowed the news of their arrival to reach to the far station and return.

The Biter ship,
The
Pride of Cintapan
, announced an emergency undock and exit. They had been listed as due to depart in four days. Now they said they would undock in an about two hours and they listed no destination, which Fussy admitted Biters often skipped, feeling it wasn't any business of grass eaters where they come and go.

"Does that have anything to do with us?" Chance asked Fussy.

"Nah, the Captain suddenly remembered it was the Clan Father's naming day and they needed to move it if they didn't want to miss it."

"Badgers have sarcasm?" Frost on the
Sharp Claws
asked.

"It's an art form," Fussy admitted, after checking the translation software. "But it makes the ones you say are cat-like angry when you use it and the Bills just look at you like you've lost your mind."

"There are a few humorless humans like that too. They complain we need a special sarcasm font for text messages."

"I suspect Biters may be that way," Fussy allowed, "but they are so quick to take offense nobody wants to test it."

"What is Cintapan?" Captain Frost asked.

"A Biter clan, but I have no idea if they name them for a founder, or the territory, or what. If anybody has actual maps of their clan territories, or a written history for them I'm not aware of it. We get bits and pieces, when they talk on open com or get drunk in a bar and argue or brag."

"How long exactly have the Biters been around, being a pain in the butt to your other races?"

"I understand they showed up in the home systems of both the Sasquatch and the Cats about forty of your years ago. They made a few transits and wouldn't talk to anyone. After a couple years they saw enough system transits on the edge of their explored space, off at the other end from where you came in, to figure out where they were coming from."

"They just have one Home world then?" Chance asked. "You said they have three systems, it would surprise me if they had that many living worlds."

"One living world, but the other two systems are very well populated. The Home world was divided up and the boundaries set in stone long before they went to space. Now the only way to have the sort of importance the Biters seem to crave is to claw your way to the top of a clan, or go off and establish your own, even if it is on a barren little airless moon," Fussy said.

They watched the system plot of the Biter ship exiting the direction opposite them. There is a phrase in the proverbs of our religious teachings," Chance told them, "it seems appropriate here. "The wicked flee when no one pursues," he quoted.

"That translates very well," Fussy said. Was that a Badger grin?

* * *

"The Badgers have been talking about missile systems," Prosperity said, "because they saw we used a missile on the Biters and the reports about the Sharp Claws made clear they used missiles, but I mentioned we have other weapons systems. They aren't as keen on those seeing we preferred missiles and used them first, but would you consider demonstrating the peashooter for them? Unfortunately they looked up a peashooter in our part web, saw the children's toy, and it didn't impress them to see the weapon system we want to sell them named after a cheap plastic tube used by kids to shoot seeds."

"Yeah, well Happenstance Cohen would probably flip out if he heard the name we adapted for his system. You can look up what he called it if you want. It was some big long technical description nobody would use day to day. I'm sure it's on the paper work. I'm not responsible for doing his PR for him or advertising it. I think a demo will impress them whatever we call it.

"Are there any Biter ships scheduled in system for a demo," Thor asked straight faced.

"You are a wholly evil Derf and will come to a terrible end," the Third Mother predicted.

"Thank you, Mum," Thor said, unrepentant.

"What
would
you consider a suitable target?" Gordon asked.

"A chunk of ice would make a spectacular target," Lee suggested. "Pick one small enough and it will vaporize completely. You create no traffic hazard from it as a bonus."

"Ask them to suggest a ship sized chunk of ice. But don't discuss effect, suggest it on the basis of demonstrating accuracy foremost," Thor said.

"How far out can we hit that big of a target for sure?" Lee asked.

"The proper question is how far out can we hit a target
half
that size, because when you are showing off you want a good margin of error. If we just nip the edge of it or take three shots they are not going to be wowed at all." Thor brought up the targeting software on his screen and considered it. "For a target the size of the
Retribution
, I'd say seventy thousand kilometers, as long as it is at something like normal orbital velocities."

"Just for my own curiosity, how far would you take it as a war shot?" the Third Mother asked.

"If it was my only target and I didn't have any other ships shooting at me, I'd put three shots on a target that size at a million point two kilometers and trust the spread of variation inherent in system to put at least one of them on target. The peashooter is not only cheap to buy, it's very cheap per shot too."

"Talker is speaking of arming every non-Biter ship in their space if they can talk everybody into it. That would be near two hundred ships. I can't see any chance they'd spend enough to do that with missiles. But this peashooter gun they might buy. What are you grinning at?" she asked Gordon.

"I'm picturing the look on Happenstance Jones Cohen's face, the fellow who designed the peashooter system, if we asked him for price and delivery on two hundred installed systems."

"It's a long way back to Fargone, how would they go about taking so many ships that far to have major work done on them?" Lee asked.

"Oh, they'd never try to do it that way," Gordon assured her. "Ours were installed at New Japan. Happenstance was working there when he sold them to us. For all I know he is back to Fargone, but it doesn't matter, they would bring a factory ship here and set up to do them in orbit, with another ship making a constant supply run back and forth to keep them supplied with parts. In fact, they probably would just contract with the locals for brackets and frames and simple mechanical pieces."

"Thanks for mentioning that. I'm sure it will help when they consider what to buy," Prosperity told him. "After all, with missiles there isn't a whole lot we could ask them to fab."

"They are still going to need to keep this system from falling into Biter hands. If anything it would be easier to reverse engineer," the Third Mum worried.

"I had a little discussion on that with Trader," Prosperity revealed. "When you and Talker were going on in detail and we were out of the conversation anyway."

"Indeed? And it is relevant how?"

"Part of the standoff they have now, is the Biters don't have the sort of military that can land on a planet and hold territory. But part of what is restraining them is also that when they first found the Bills they pirated a ship and it became known. The second time they tried to board and seize a Bill ship the fellow stopped as ordered and then when they came to rest and sent a party to enter his lock, he rotated and rammed them under power from a few hundred meters away. Admittedly, they were going something less than a hundred meters a second when he impacted. But that's plenty to ruin your day in a spaceship. The Biters got a lot more cautious about boarding Bill ships after that and the others too. So it has been a bit of a stand-off most times, unless the Biters think they have an easy target."

"Heh, put a Bill on every peashooter equipped ship, with a dead-man switch," Thor suggested.

"That might not work," the Third Mother warned, "given the story was told more in a 'So be aware the Bills are nuts too,' frame of reference than a, 'Isn't that great?' story."

"Still, I'm encouraged any of them have the guts to do that," Thor insisted.

"They are aware now we had self destruct charges in our exploration ships," Prosperity revealed.

"But that Bill did it with style. I'd imagine some of his crew might have even survived."

"Yes, he had everybody suit up and strap in. He stayed on the flight deck, forward, in case he had to maneuver. He hit the Biter ship square in the side and broke her back. The wreckage had enough velocity away from the boarding party that they were unable to get back to any shelter. So they died too. Most of his crew was eventually rescued," Prosperity told them.

"We should consider Bills for recruitment if their dietary needs are not too crazy," Gordon decided.

"The others might make decent crew," Lee protested, " but, I can see where you'd favor Bills for command positions, we know at least some of them can make the tough decisions."

"You once told me you didn't know if you could throw that switch," Gordon reminded her.

"I've grown up a lot since then," Lee said.

* * *

The three ships continued in formation and chatted on open com as they headed for the system fringes and the mining camp.

"That's a really impressive base, so far from the star. It's
cold
out there," Frost on the
Sharp Claws
observed, reading the system scan and information package. It was on a moon, but a big enough moon to have a substantial atmosphere. The base was more a small city in size, but more like a refinery or chemical plant in appearance. Not an isolated group of a few buildings that they expected. But they were surprised to hear less than a hundred Bills worked there. It was all industrial buildings and processing facilities, not any sort of normal residential colony. Certainly not a tourist spot.

"The Bills rotate down and come to the station for leave. It's considered a hardship post. The living quarters and the equipment on the surface are built on a sort of barge. The surface can be fragile and they have a lot of small quakes," Fussy told them.

"What can possibly be worth the hazard of mining there?" Chance wondered.

"Gems," Fussy said.

"We use rocks for decoration too, diamonds and other transparent or translucent stones," Frost said, "but most are synthesized or we find them on much more hospitable planets."

"Nobody has been able to synthesize this mineral. They've been trying for over a hundred years now. If you can figure out how let me know, you'll make our fortunes."

"I didn't know the Bills had been in space so long," Frost said, surprised.

"We are both been shy to exchange detailed histories, though our dictionaries are revealing things. Words have historical contexts. That you have so many languages amazed us."

"What's so special about this gem? Do you have some images of it?" Chance asked.

"If you take a very high resolution video of it, much better than what we normally use, it starts to give you an idea. My suggestion is you forego that. It tends to blunt the experience of seeing the real thing the first time." Fussy said.

"You make it sound like a religious experience," Frost joked.

"It may be just that for a Bill," Fussy said, dead serious. "They have several names for it, but one of the first was, The Eye of God."

"Why would the Biters stop here then?" Frost wondered.

"You misjudge them," Fussy insisted. "They aren't very likable, but they appreciate beauty in their own way. They are among the Bill's best customers. If a Clan Lord decides he must have an Eye, the clan will get him one, no matter how many die to get the price raiding, or what deprivation they must go through to accumulate it."

"They haven't tried to just
take
them?" Persevere, normally quiet, asked skeptically.

"There was a Bill ship from this station, carrying a shipment of Eyes, the Biters stopped and tried to board. The Bill rammed the Bitter ship and broke her in half," Fussy said.

"Ah, so it wasn't over a ship load of shower curtains and flip-flops," Frost said, suddenly insightful. "That
would
put a chill on them trying it again wouldn't it?"

Fussy looked at his computer an unusually long time, very confused. "I had to query what those items are. Low cost consumer goods? That wasn't sarcasm, what exactly was it though?"

"Just humor, it didn't have the zing of sarcasm," Frost explained, "much more light-hearted."

"I suspect the Kitties and the Bills would fail to understand this sort of humor too. It's too abstract and subtle for them," Fussy said.

"Then it looks like Badgers are a good match for Humans, as far as how we think," Chance decided.

"You and the Derf seem a lot alike to us so far. We haven't seen enough of the Hinth to tell."