First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 (32 page)

              “You hardly could, Captain,” she replied.  “You took me on a tour that first week.”

              “I remember,” Vincent said with a nod.

              “I’ve never seen those models of replicators before,” Brianne mused.  “But they look to be in pristine condition.”

              “We service them regularly,” he told her, a touch defensively.  “Just because this is a cargo ship doesn’t mean I don’t take care of my gear.”

              She held up her hands.  “I didn’t mean to offend you, Captain.  I just meant that they were in very good condition. 
And
that your ship has more industrial capacity than mine does.”  She put her hands down and looked him square in the eye.  “What I’m really asking, Captain Eamonn, is what exactly do you want from me?”

              He sighed.  “I don’t know, exactly.  But I do know that Republic tech is better than most anything I’m going to find out here in the Cluster.  And that’s what I want.”

              Brianne eyed him, her rocky face unreadable.  “I’m not going to give you weapons.”

              Vincent shook his head.  “I don’t want weapons.  Weapons I can get without your help.  No, what I want…”  He hesitated for a long moment.  “What I want is software.  I don’t like that the pirates and their lord have all these warships and weapons, but I really don’t like that they can do things with their computers.  Warships I can build, but I want to make a fortress out of my software systems.  Walls and sentries that they couldn’t hope to break.”

              Brianne frowned.  “Out of all the things that you think I have,
that’s
what you want?”

              He nodded.  “That’s what I want.  I want my company’s computer systems to be unbreachable.  By anybody.”

              “There’s no such thing as unbreachable,” Brianne replied.  “Someone somewhere can find backdoors into any system.  Build keys or force breaches.  No fortress, as you call it, can keep people out forever against those who are determined to get in.”

              “Then I use what I get to make better walls and better sentries.  But if I have Republic tech to start with, then I’ll have a leg up.”

              The Secaaran stared at him for a long moment.  Nearly a full minute passed before she spoke.  “I can’t authorize that on my own,” she said slowly.  “I’d have to get higher authority for that kind of data transfer.”

              He glowered at her.  “So you’re going to tell me that you’d have to get authorization for something like this from the high muckety-mucks back in the Republic?  I fix up your ship, you fly back to get ‘clearance’ and I never hear from you again, is that right?  Laughing all the way home at the hapless rube who fell for your slick talk?”

              Now it was her turn to glare.  “What I meant was I would need to discuss it with the Commodore.  She’s my commanding officer and she has broad discretionary powers.  She could authorize something like that.”

              He nodded, his expression softening.  “I apologize.  Then I ask that you please speak with her about that.  Because my people are just about finished up on the ground, and we should be breaking orbit to head back to Seylonique by this time tomorrow.  I very much hope that you and your ship will be escorting us back.”

              She actually smiled.  “Captain, as strange as it sounds, I hope so too.”

              “He wants
what
?” Theodosia demanded.  The commander had come into her small cabin back aboard
Horus
to discuss the Captain’s terms.  The ship was spaceworthy again, and with the life support system and hull back into the green levels, the crew had transferred back over from the
Grania Estelle
.  Most of the enlisted were greatly disappointed by this.  Aboard the freighter, the food was infinitely better; Noken’s grub was something that they actually talked about with longing now that they were back on ration bars and MRE’s. 
Horus
had no chef, line cook or even a steward division.  The quartermaster procured enough foodstuffs from down on the planet that the ship’s food replicators were able to churn out nutritional fare, but it was never anything the crew enjoyed.  Food on the
Grania Estelle
was something to be savored and enjoyed.  Food on the destroyer was simply something to be endured because it kept you alive.  Military food was always like that.

              “He wants digital upgrades to his software.  He wants to, and I’m quoting, build a fortress that has walls that are unbreachable, end quote.”

              Theodosia frowned.  “And I’m sure you explained to him that any fortress someone builds, someone else can get into?”

              Brianne smiled.  “Yes, ma’am, I did.  But I’ve considered it and after further discussions with Captain Eamonn, I’m convinced that even if we did have credits or precious metals or something like that to trade, I don’t think he’d take it.”  She sighed, putting her hand on the table.  “And we can’t get back to the Republic without his help.”

              The commodore nodded.  Her health had greatly improved over the past weeks.  The regen had worked well on her damaged arm and it was healed, though she was still going through physical therapy every day to get her strength back.  Her arm had regained sixty percent of its strength and mobility and was slowly getting better.  Doctor Turan had indicated that if she maintained her physio, she’d have eighty percent back by the time the two ships reached Seylonique.

              Her legs were another matter.  The excessive trauma and the lack of proper medical care for so long had caused muscle death in everything from her thighs down, nerve damage and of course, the girder that had crashed down on her legs had turned her bones into batter.  Turan had done what he could, but she would never be walking on those legs ever again.  So, that meant he needed to grow her new ones, which unfortunately would take time.  They would be ready about two weeks into the jump, and ready for surgery and attachment once they arrived in Seylonique, then it would be weeks of physical therapy there for her learn how to walk again.

              “Yes, I’ve spoken to Chief Blucas,” Theodosia commented.  “He says that we have enough engine power to make it to Seylonique, but he’s not confident that we can get much farther.  And then of course there’s the fuel situation.”

              Brianne growled.  They were running the ship on the fuel that they still had in the ship’s bunkers from back in Byra-Kae.  Eamonn had offered to top them off, but Brianne had politely declined for the time being.  She was concerned about becoming further indebted to the man.  Unfortunately, that meant that there was only enough juice in the tanks to get the ship to Seylonique and perhaps a few light years beyond, but then they’d be completely tapped out and adrift.  It would take a great deal more fuel to get all the way back to the Republic, which meant that for the moment, they would be relying on Vincent Eamonn to get them the resources to get back home. 

              “I don’t like this situation, Commodore,” Brianne said.  “I don’t like this man and his company and the fact that he has industrial replicators aboard his ship.  His bright shiny ship out here in the very crumbly Argos Cluster?  I don’t like that he’s already had contact with the pirates and somehow managed to get away.”

              Theodosia raised an eyebrow.  “You think he’s a plant?”

              Brianne shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Probably not.  But it’s all just a little too convenient.”

              The commodore sighed, pushing herself up on the bed.  She looked over at her flag captain, all puffed up with righteous indignation.  For all Theodosia knew, Brianne was one hundred percent correct and this was all some elaborate trap by the pirate lord and his forces.  But she didn’t think so.  It was too well-planned, too neat.  And besides, if something like this was actually planned, it would have been a warship waiting for
Horus
in this system, not a bulk freighter with a crew and a doctor and a captain looking to help.  But she did have to admit, it was convenient.  But sometimes, coincidences happened.

              “I agree.  But I don’t think it is a trap.  I think that we just happened to find a freighter captain who can help us get
Horus
fixed up, refueled and victualed and then we can start the long trip back to the Republic.  We have to report this.”

              “So, do we give him the software upgrades he’s asking for?” Brianne asked.  “I’m concerned about giving military software, Republic property, over to a civilian.  To a civilian here, in the Argos Cluster that we know for a fact is overrun by pirates!”

              The commodore shrugged.  “And what’s the alternative, Brianne?  We need food.  We need fuel, we need repairs to the shields, the engines, the sensors, the weapons.  All of these things we cannot get on our own unless we turn to piracy ourselves.”  She eyed her ship captain.  “And we’re not going to do that, Commander.”

              “No, of course not, Commodore,” the ship captain said, turning away and pacing the two steps to the door, and placed her palms on the bulkhead, leaning on it.  “I don’t like this.”

              “Yes, Brianne, you’ve made that abundantly clear.  We’re going to go along with this,” she decided, her voice sounding very tired.  “No weapons software, but give him the upgrades that he’s asking for.”

“You know his people are going to go over it,” Brianne warned.  “I don’t think that planting some sort of worm or virus is the best idea.  Their people aren’t stupid.  They would see through it, even if they couldn’t fix the problem right away.  And I can’t imagine that they’d be dumb enough to upload anything we give them into a computer that was connected to the rest of their mainframe.”

Theodosia nodded.  “You’re right, I can’t imagine they would be that stupid.  But you’re not going to give them tainted or volatile software, Brianne.  You’re going to give them clean stuff to work with as payment for what they’ve done for us.”  Brianne turned around and glared at her commander.  “Don’t look at me like that, Brianne.  We owe them.”

“Yes, so we take what they give us and move on!”

“I understand that’s become the way things are done back in Second Fleet,” Theodosia said, referring to Admiral Tandred’s command.  “But that is not the way that we are going to do things.  I mean it, Brianne.  We owe them,” she repeated.

The Secaaran growled fiercely, then visibly controlled herself.  Theodosia actually found herself amused by the situation.  Commander Crgann was a Secaaran, a powerful, armored individual.  Her species was designed for personal combat, one that could give a lupusan a run for her money.  She, meanwhile, was a frail human, a wounded woman confined either to a bed or to a hover chair.  The only thing keeping the huge alien in check was her own sense of honor.  She clearly wasn’t happy with this decision and all it would take would be a moment of uncontrolled rage and suddenly the ship would have a new commanding officer.

But Crgann was not known for losing her temper and Theodosia felt no concern for her own safety.  “Very, well, ma’am.  I’ll have the techs get a package together to send over to
Grania Estelle
.  I’ll make sure it’s on a portable to be transferred physically over to them.”

“Thank you, Brianne,” the commodore replied.  “I know this isn’t an ideal situation, but we have to work with what we have right now, and we do need their help.”

Brianne let out a long breath.  “I’ll take care of it ma’am.  If there’s nothing else?”

“No, Brianne.  Thanks for stopping in.”

Without another word, the Secaaran turned and left the compartment.

The two ships broke orbit two days later, amidst a flurry of very happy calls from the local government who were now glowing nearly as brightly as the lamps in the homes that were now connected to the brand-new power grid.  The He3 fusion power plant was up and running properly, with the switching on ceremony performed with all the pomp and fanfare that the people could muster.  And it was a lot.  The people were excited about their new power station and the fact that the lights were back on again.  In the meantime, Vincent had brought enough fuel to top up their reserves, giving them a six month supply.  With the two new shuttles under government control and the collector out at the gas giant providing some fuel, it would keep them up and powered until
Grania Estelle
could make their way back here with another load of fuel.  The lights were on, the power station was safe and no one was getting sick from radiation.  Times were good.

Even with the damage to the drives,
Horus
was able to easily keep up with the lumbering bulk freighter. The Republic warship stayed one hundred thousand kilometers off of
Grania Estelle
’s port side and they cruised out toward the hyper limit. 

“It’s strange,” Vincent said from his command seat on the bridge. 

“What’s strange, Captain?” Stella asked, appearing on his display.

“I’ve traveled in convoy with other ships before, the last being with the
Kara
, but I’ve never traveled under armed escort.”

She frowned.  “Yes, you have.”  Her voice got low and she dropped her gaze.  “When the pirates attacked, they escorted us for a short time.”