First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 (75 page)

              “I’m sure,” Vincent replied sourly.  “But hey, if they’re willing to pay, I say build them.  If they happen to want any more once these ones are done, take the contract.”

              Tamara smiled.  “I plan to.”

              “I thought there was concern over whether those ingrates on the admin council would turn those ships against us,” Quesh commented from his spot on one of the couches.

              Tamara and Vincent exchanged looks.  “There’s some,” Tamara admitted reluctantly.  “But in the end, FP can’t afford to be the only entity protecting this system.  And the government is going to have more money than we will.”

              “Money I want to get hold of,” Eamonn commented.  Chuckles from around the compartment.

              Tamara winked at him.  “So do I.  But to get back to what Quesh was saying, the more ships we have in this system for defense, the better.  Right now, we’ve got one of the Republic destroyers, two escort frigates and four corvettes.”  At an angry noise from Korqath and Hukriss from across the compartment, she raised her glass to them in acknowledgement.  “As well as the fighter squadrons, of course.”  They waggled their antennae at her then helped themselves to more of Noken’s excellent snow beetles.  “It’s a lot of firepower, but against what we know Verrikoth’s forces have, it might not have been enough to stop him.  But with the
Leytonstone
and the government’s light squadron and now the four destroyers, I’d say anyone stupid enough to come here and try anything would deserve everything they got.”  A ragged chorus of cheers erupted from the gathered throng.

              “How does it look?” Lujayne asked, exhaustion competing with worry. 

              “I’ve had engineering teams go over your ship from stem to stern, Lujayne,” Nazan replied, touching her on the shoulder.  He had come over to the cargo ship when it was clear she couldn’t be dragged away from her command.  Technically, he shouldn’t either in what had to be considered hostile territory, but he felt as though it might be better to speak with her in person.  They were sitting in her cabin, away from the rest of the crew.  Lujayne knew that eventually she would need to go and give them all an update, but at the moment she just couldn’t handle being around them.  “Everything looks good.  It doesn’t look as though the troopers damaged much, even when they opened fire.  You should be good to go.”

              “Good,” she said, rubbing her eyes with one hand. 

              “You need to rest,” he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

              “I can’t rest,” she said.  “Not now.  Not with Ernie down on your ship’s sickbay.  I keep hearing that sound.  The booted feet, the shouts and then the gunfire.”  She sighed, covering her face in her hands.  “Every time I try to lie down and close my eyes, I hear that same event.  And I couldn’t do anything.  I was the captain of the ship and I couldn’t protect a member of my crew.”

              “What could you have done, Lujayne?” Nazan asked.  “Fighting the soldiers wouldn’t have done anything but get you shot instead of Ernie.  His wounds weren’t life threatening, yours might have been.”

              She looked up and shook her head.  “No, I failed him.”

              “Stop that,” he chided.  “You didn’t fail anyone.  There wasn’t anything you could have done to prevent this.  We had no way of knowing the locals would have tried to board your ship looking for contraband.  We were told to avoid the fueling station out by the gas giant.  We did that.  The last time any of our ships were here, they didn’t have any problems with the people from the orbital station; we didn’t either.  You did everything you were supposed to do, so stop blaming yourself.”

              Lujayne looked over to him, so confident and strong.  By comparison she was haggard and about ready to collapse.  “You weren’t there,” she said, her voice like death.  “You didn’t get to feel helpless, watching as your people were captured.”

              “You’re wrong,” he rasped.  “I know exactly what that feels like.”  He pointed to the bulkhead.  “I got to sit out there on
Cavalier
, watching as that frigate docked and the troopers boarded your ship.  All that hardware, all those weapons, and I couldn’t do anything.  I had to sit there and just watch, screaming at the customs official on
Prima
to let you go.  Opening fire wouldn’t have gotten you back.”  Nazan closed his eyes briefly then opened them and stared into her eyes.  “So don’t tell me I don’t know what you’re going through.”  There was anger there and Lujayne wasn’t quite sure if it was directed at her or not.

              “How long until Ernie is out of sickbay?” she asked after a long minute of silence.

              “I don’t know,” Nazan said.  “I’ll check with the doc in just a minute.  But I need to know that you’re going to be able to hold it together, Lujayne.”

              “Hold it together?” she snapped.  “Are you kidding me?”  She was reaching hysteria now; she knew it and she couldn’t stop it.  Deep, wracking sobs overwhelmed her and she just succumbed.  It was just pure pain, and it jus went on forever.  She couldn’t contain it and after a few moments, she didn’t even want to.

              Nazan was completely at a loss.  He didn’t know what to do.  He reached out his hand to try and touch her, to comfort her, but he hesitated, then drew his hand back.  She was just weeping uncontrollably and he was completely at a loss.  Taking his ship into combat against overwhelming odds, he was pretty sure he could do that.  But trying to give comfort to a hysterical woman?  He was completely in the woods here.  In the end, he awkwardly patted her shoulder saying stupid things like “There, there.”

              Finally, the sobs subsided.  Lujayne looked up at Nazan through bleary eyes and saw the look of unabashed relief on his face and she gave a watery chuckle.  “You’re really terrible at the whole giving comfort thing.”

              He had the grace to look embarrassed.  “I never had the class at university where they teach you how to deal with crying women.”

              “Well it certainly wasn’t fun on my end,” she said, scrubbing her face with her hands.  “I have to go get cleaned up.”  He helped her to her feet and she stumbled into the refresher, and washed her face.  When she rubbed a towel on her face to dry, she could feel herself feeling better, as though a poisoned wound had been lanced.  Stepping back out into the cabin, she looked back to Nazan, who was busy pretending he was interested in one of the books he’d removed from her small bookshelf. 

              He looked up.  “Feeling any better?” he asked awkwardly.

              She nodded.  “Thanks for being here.”

              Nazan gave a lopsided smile.  “Of course.  I know it wasn’t much of a help, but I’m glad I could do… something.”  He cleared his throat, setting the book back on the small shelf.  “But if you are feeling better, I need to get back to my ship.”  He looked uncomfortable at the thought.

              “Yes, I suppose you do,” Lujayne replied.  Damn it, now it was awkward.  He started to head to the hatch, but she caught his arm.  “I mean it, Nazan.  Thanks.”

              He smiled, more sure of himself this time.  “You’re welcome.”  He hesitated and then seemed to come to a decision.  “Buy you lunch when we get back home?”

              “I’ll try not to turn into a blubbering mess,” she said, his smile infectious.  “But it’s a date.”

              “Captain, I have some good news for you, sir,” Jensen Tyler said, stepping into the zheen’s private cabin aboard
Ganges
.  It was a place few ever entered.  As one of those chosen few, Jensen had the displeasure of knowing all the horrors within.  It wasn’t like in the holo vids with bones or body parts strung everywhere.  No, the Captain had other tastes.  His ran more to sex slaves and live food.  And like most zheen, he preferred greens and various types of creepy crawlies to eat.  Every time Jensen set foot in his Captain’s cabin, he had to worry about what might be crawling around on the bulkheads, on the deck, and possibly on him.  Verrikoth made no effort to contain the little beasts; they roamed everywhere in his quarters.  He wanted them available whenever he wanted a snack, he’d just reach out and pluck one of the flying ones out of the air, or one of the skittery ones from either the deck, the bulkheads or a piece of furniture.  This of course, meant that many of the bugs would find their way out into the corridors, so crewmen and bots were used to either capture them, or simply eradicate them.  A quarantine barrier of repellant and outright minor bug killer (harmless to zheen) was sprayed all around the Captain’s quarters, in the vents, in the plumbing.  The crew
hated
the pests and the captain refused to do anything further about the situation.

              “I would be glad to hear ssome good newz, Commander,” Verrikoth hissed.  He was seated at one of the chairs in the small cabin, looking over cargo manifests from the haul at Byra-Kae.  There was no way that this was his first perusal, Jensen thought.  He knew for a fact that the Captain had looked over this information at least twice on the trip from the former Republic system to Tyseus, but now that they were here, there was only so much to do while they were waiting.  “The tech from the Republic iz impresssive, to be ssure, but until we can implement any of it, we need to keep it ssafe.”

              “Understood, sir.  The defenses here in Tyseus are adequate, though with the destruction of one of the defense ships and a good portion of the fighters, those will need to be bolstered to bring things back up to snuff.”

              The zheen turned his head toward the human commander.  “Yess.  Now, you ssaid ssomething about good newz?”

              “Yes, sir. 
Nemesis
has finished her trials and is ready for space.”

              The pirate lord’s antennae rose.  “Now
that
iz excellent newz.  I will transfer to her immediately. 
Ganges
haz been an excellent flagsship, but with a heavy cruizer under my feet, no one will be able to sstand in my way.”

              Jensen nodded.  “I understand, sir.  I’m sorry to see you go.”

              “Oh, you and your command team will be transferring with me, Commander,” Verrikoth told him.  “You have provided good work in the past battlez, I want you to continue to do sso.”

              Jensen felt his heart lift.  “Thank you, sir!  I won’t let you down!”

              “I know that you won’t, Commander.”  The zheen was very sure about that.  “Now, ssecure our gear and get the transferz completed.  I want
Nemesiss
out of the construction sslip az ssoon az posssible.   We have other sshipss that need to be built.”  He handed the commander a datapad as he stood up.  “I’m looking into more light unitss.  We need to be fast and maneuverable. 
Nemesiss
and
Ganges
will provide the firepower, the fast unitss will provide the hookss and the netss we need to keep order.”

              “If I might, sir,” Jensen said.  The captain gestured for him to continue.  “It might not be a bad idea to get another cruiser like
Ganges
, sir, in case the Republic shows up here in the Cluster again.  Hecate’s yard is still open. 
Nemesis
has an impressive array of weapons, but as you know we lost two of our heaviest hitters back there in Byra-Kae.  A heavy cruiser supported by two light cruisers, as well as a host of corvettes and cutters and perhaps some fighter squadrons?  Our enemies will think twice before coming up against that.”

              The zheen’s mouthparts moved slowly, a sign that he was thinking.  “Your wordz are wize, Commander.  I will think on thiss.  I know there iz a corvette and a light cruizer waiting for pickup, but they will be monthss in transit.  I am hoping that the Republic will have had itss fill of this Clusster, but I susspect that they will be back thiss way.  Ssomeday.”  He nodded.  “Having more firepower can only be a good thing.”  He hissed a laugh.  “Which meanz we will have to sstep up our ‘recruitment’ efforts.”

              “I believe such a hiring drive is already underway, sir,” the commander replied.  “
Xiy’jan
and
Lollie Marie
are moving through the Vinas Loop on the eastern edge of the Cluster as we speak.  If they can hit capacity, those ships would bring back 2500 new recruits.”

              Verrikoth raised a hand in acknowledgement.  “And aside from you and your command crew, is
Nemesiss
fitted with a full crew?”

              Jensen nodded vigorously.  “Yes, sir.  I spoke with them just half an hour ago, sir.  The ship has a full crew, full missile package, fuel tanks are topped off.  As I said, sir, that warship is ready for space.”  He was starting to get an itchy feeling between his shoulder blades and on his legs, as though things were creeping up his skin.  It was a common occurrence when he came to the Captain’s cabin, one that he never enjoyed.

              “Good.”  Verrikoth turned from the conversation and began pulling some few clothes (he didn’t wear much) and other things, datacards, a few weapons, as well as several control access flash sticks and putting them into a large equipment bag.  During all that time, he secretly relished the increasing discomfort of his flag captain.  It wasn’t fair, not really, and he knew it.  But there were too many times when Jensen Tyler was just a bit too pompous, a bit too sure of himself.  Having him come here to a place where there might be creatures that would crawl, bite and sting him (nothing harmful, only irritating) amused Verrikoth.  It was another sign of control that he had over the man, that he could force him to come into this cabin that he clearly hated and require his reports here.  In minutes, he had everything he needed and was walking to the hatch.  “I will be taking a sshuttle over to
Nemesiss
.  Have one prepped.”

              “Yes, sir.  I have a shuttlepod coming up from the construction dock to bring you over to the ship.  The command team and I will join you in about two hours, once I get things closed out here and the new commander arrives.”

              “Good.  I expect to ssee you aboard my new flagsship in that time.”  The zheen walked out of the compartment and headed down the corridor.

              Jensen immediately rushed out of the cabin, rubbing his chest and his arms and then he walked briskly down the corridor, his head held high.  He was the commander of Lord Verrikoth’s light cruiser
Ganges
, by the stars.  It would not do to see him flapping his arms and screaming, tearing off his clothes in a panic because he might be covered with bugs.  He hustled as fast as he could while still maintaining his dignity to his own cabin, and once the hatch was closed behind him, then he had his uniform off in less than ten seconds, tossing all of it into the laundry, and pressed the control to run the machine.  His boots he blasted with a chemical spray, one he had used plenty of times before to remove the insects and bugs.  Most of the insects Verrikoth would eat were large, about the size of one of the bones in his finger and larger, but lately the sadistic bastard had taken to bringing smaller ones in.  He said that they were sweeter, but Jensen had the feeling that the only thing Verrikoth thought was sweeter was seeing his flag captain’s discomfort.

              Once that was done, he dove into the shower and turned the water as hot as he could stand, with the pressure as high as he could stand.  Squinching his eyes shut and holding his breath, once he was sufficiently wet, he blasted himself with the same chemical compound.  It probably wasn’t the healthiest of things, but his continued time subjected to this from Verrikoth had made him obsessive about cleanliness, thankfully only when he went into the captain’s cabin.  Maybe things would be different when they changed over to
Nemesis.

              Verrikoth stepped out of the shuttlepod and into
Nemesis
’s hangar bay.  His new ship, 450 meters long, bristling with weapons and thick hull armor was a thing of beauty.  It wasn’t quite as fast as his old flagship, but only by a small amount.  Besides,
Nemesis
was meant to inflict damage and project power; it was the job of
Ganges
and the lighter units to chase down prey.  This shipyard and its workers were better than the ones in Hecate, which meant that the ship looked less hodgepodge than his other ships.  This was a professional yard, crewed by professionals.  And, with the Republic prisoners they’d captured from the station, things would be even better.  With a batch of the implant disruptors, he could keep them in line.  And with the threat he could hold over the others, the strongest ones broke.  They always did.

              He was met by the acting captain, an elder lupusan male, with graying fur.  He nodded to his captain in respect as the zheen stepped closer.  “Commander Hestian, how iz my sship?”

              “She is a thing of beauty, Captain,” the lupusan replied.  He gestured into the ship and they walked out of the hangar.  There were two cargo shuttles here, including the pod, as well as a pair of assault shuttles.  The bay was tight with barely any room to move, much less land a pod.  Verrikoth nodded in appreciation.  This would be a good ship.  “She’s been waiting for you, sir.  And I swear that she’s been straining at the leash, waiting to be cut loose.”

              Verrikoth laughed, a buzzing, hissing sound.  “I find mysself anxiouss to try her out.  What about the Republic upgrades?  Were they integrated?”

              “Some,” Hestian said.  “We got the parts for the communications, sensor arrays and the power systems.  But the weapons, shields and propulsion haven’t been upgraded.  There wasn’t time if we wanted to launch today.”

              Verrikoths’ antennae spun in spirals.  “I ssee.  I must ssay I am dissappointed to hear thiss.  I was hoping that thiss sship would have better weaponz.”

              “Better weapons?” Hestian scoffed.  “Sir, were you not aware of what we have here?”  He gestured to the bulkheads around them as they walked down the corridor.  “This ship has more firepower than anything else in the Cluster.  We have turbolasers, batteries of heavy laser cannons, railguns, missile launchers, everything a growing wolf needs.  Those Republic ships you fought in Byra-Kae?  If you’d had this ship then, we would have lost none of our ships.”

              There was a noticeable drop in temperature.  “Are you questioning my leadership, Commander Hestian?  Are you questioning my tacticss?”

              The lupusan growled.  Of all the people under Verrikoth’s command, Hestian was the only one who could stand up to him.  He wasn’t afraid of him.  In fact, he was the one who had given the pirate lord most of his scars.  “I am not questioning either, Captain.  What I am saying is, that if this ship had been in the battle at Byra-Kae, we would have had a clean sweep.”

              “If you were anyone else, I would not tolerate ssuch insubordination.”

              “Captain, you need someone to tell you how things are,” Hestian replied.  “You need to have someone to give you the real scoop.  Not these yes men that are surrounding you.”

              The two males stopped and turned toward one another.  They stared one another down, difficult for Hestian, since Verrikoth’s compound, multi-faceted eyes didn’t blink.  “Yes men?  Is that what you think of my loyal crewz?”

              “I think that they are afraid of you.  I think that they are afraid that if they tell you news you don’t want to hear, they will pay.  Therefore, they want to avoid telling you anything that will cause them pain, even to their detriment.  Even to yours.”  He flicked his ears in morbid amusement. 

              Verrikoth was silent for a moment.  Then he pointed a blunt finger in the wolf’s face.  “It is a good thing you’ve delivered so much in the past.”

              “I brought the Red Sphinx and her three ships, as well as four worlds for tribute to your banner, Verrikoth.  Don’t ever forget that.”

              “I forget nothing,” the zheen retorted.  “It is the reason I allowed you to live after the way you continually sspeak to me in thiss manner.”

              Hestian took a step closer and Verrikoth gripped his pistol.  “If it was not for me,
Captain
, you wouldn’t have as much wealth as you do.  You wouldn’t have this ship.  I brought in the technicians and the raw materials that allowed for its construction.  Don’t you ever think that you don’t need me.”

              “And what iz it that you want in return, Commander Hesstian?”

              “
Ganges
.  You give me command of that cruiser and put
Ironhide
under my command.”  Hestian was adamant about this.  He didn’t step back; he didn’t reduce his threat profile or his presence.