Flagship (8 page)

He considered visiting Sharon in Security, but he knew she was busy with the Lodinite. He was just about to go to his office and call up another musical entertainment—he'd seen them all a dozen times—when Christine suddenly turned to him.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"A coded message from the Octopus is coming in."

"Open it up and let's see it."

An instant later the image of the Octopus hovered in front of the main viewscreen. He was still shirtless, and the six hands that stuck out of his rib cage seemed to be clenching and unclenching independently of him. Cole wondered if they kept doing it when he slept.

"Hi, Wilson," he said in his gruff voice. "We're on the trail of a hot one."

"You want to explain?" said Cole.

"There's a Navy convoy—maybe a dozen ships but only two Class Ls—heading back to Deluros from the Quinellus Cluster. And guess what they're carrying?"

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"About twenty tons of gold! They just plundered some of the Frontier mining worlds. There are a dozen races that have no confidence in the credit, and insist on being paid in gold."

"You're not seriously telling me that you plan to rob a Navy convoy?" said Cole disbelievingly.

"I wish I could," said the Octopus, "but I haven't got enough firepower."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" asked Cole "You're contacting me to tell me you're
not
going to rob it?"

"I'm going to blow it to smithereens!" said the Octopus. "We know which ship's got the gold and which are the decoys. Maybe I can't steal it for myself, but I can destroy it, and that'll have the same effect on the Republic. They won't be meeting their alien payroll this month!"

"How many ships have you got?"

"Seven."

"Against a dozen ships, including two Class Ls?" said Cole dubiously.

"They've got to pass through a dust cloud two parsecs beyond the Beaufort system," said the Octopus. "Well, through it or near it. We'll be waiting inside it. And they'll immediately move into a formation to stop us from
stealing
the gold. They'll never guess that we're out to destroy it."

"I think you're biting off more than you can chew."

"You just don't want someone else to be the Republic's most wanted felon," replied the Octopus with a laugh.

"I can't stop you," said Cole. "So good luck, Godspeed, and give 'em hell."

"That I will do," promised the Octopus, ending the transmission.

"What do you think, sir?" asked Christine.

Cole shrugged. "He was the most powerful criminal kingpin on the Inner Frontier before he teamed up with us. He knows his stuff. Maybe he can pull it off. ..."

"But?" she said.

"But if I was a betting man, I'd bet against it. He can defend his ship against one Class L attack . . . but two of them acting in concert? I don't know." He paused. "Still, if he can destroy that gold and word gets out—and we'll make sure it does—that'll do more damage to the Republic than knocking off a thousand ships."

"I don't know," said Idena. "They'll be late on the payroll, but they're hardly impoverished."

"It's got nothing to do with the value of the gold," explained Cole. "It's a public demonstration that they can't defend something that's very valuable to them—and if they can't defend
that,
how can you expect them to defend your planet against the Teronis or the
Teddy
R?"

"I hadn't thought of it that way," she admitted.

He smiled. "More wars are won with headlines than with bombs."

"I suppose when you get right down to it, the concept of propaganda has been around a lot longer than the reality of bombs," said Idena.

"Which doesn't mean I hope the Octopus attacks with words rather than thumpers and burners," said Cole.

He stayed on the bridge for a few more minutes, then went to his cabin. He called up an entertainment, decided he wasn't interested in it, and spent the next two hours watching sporting events that the ship captured from powerful pan-galactic transmitters. Finally he fell asleep, fully clothed, while watching the holo of a murderball game between Rockgarden and Far London.

When he woke up he found Sharon, also fully clothed, sleeping beside him. His stirring woke her, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning," he said.

"There are no mornings in deep space," said Sharon.

"Right," said Cole. "Good afternoon." He paused. "Did we do anything—I mean, you and me?"

"You snored. I slept the innocent sleep of a fairy princess, dainty and delicate as a dragonfly's wing."

"Please," he said. "Not before breakfast."

"All right," she said, getting to her feet. "I was hoping you'd grow a beard overnight so no one on New Lenin would recognize you, but it hasn't happened, so we might as well have what could very well be our last breakfast together."

"Try not to display so much faith in me," said Cole dryly. "It might make me overconfident."

They left the cabin and headed toward the mess hall. Upon arriving, Cole contacted Jacovic, who was the Officer on Deck.

"What's our ETA for New Lenin?" he asked.

"We'll be in orbit in about an hour, sir."

"They don't know yet that we're the Good Guys," said Cole, "so I want all our defenses activated
before
we enter orbit."

"Yes, sir," said Jacovic. Then: "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I request permission to accompany you."

"Request denied," replied Cole. "I appreciate the offer, but this is the wrong venue. The Republic attacked them, so there's a chance I can convince them that we're on their side. But they've been at war with the Teroni Federation for a quarter of a century. I can't present them with a wanted mutineer
and
a Teroni and expect them to sit still long enough to listen to what I have to say."

There was a momentary silence. "I agree, sir," said Jacovic. "I hadn't thought it through."

"All right," said Cole. "I assume the Valkyrie is up and around?"

"Yes, sir. I believe she's in the exercise room."

"Figures. Well, she knows when she has to be ready."

He and Sharon ordered their breakfast. The Platinum Duke showed up before they had finished.

"You're really going to do it?" he said by way of greeting. "You're really walking into the lion's den?"

"The Republic destroyed the den, and all the lions are out shivering in the cold," answered Cole. "I'm just going to offer them a blanket."

"Spare me your metaphors," said the Duke. "If we were back on Singapore Station, I could get fifteen-to-one against you living out the day. Can't you just talk to them from up here?"

"I could."

"Then why don't you?"

"I'm not looking to pick up twenty or thirty ships, or a couple of hundred recruits," answered Cole. "There are close to three million people on this planet who have good reason to hate the Republic. But they also have good reason—or so they think—to distrust the Republic's enemies. If I do it right, I could practically conscript the whole damned planet. I want them to see me, talk to me, to get a feel for what I'm saying, for what I am. I don't know if I could do that via a transmission. Would
you
follow someone who was afraid to land on your world?"

"Shouldn't you have warned them before now that you were coming?"

"Why give them three days to argue about whether to let me land or not?"

"So with half of Gromyko blown away, who do you contact? What government is left?"

"I have no interest in governments," replied Cole.

"Then who?"

"I have some ideas. I'll play it by ear."

"Here's hoping that no one puts a laser beam in that ear," said the Duke.

"Nobody's going to touch him," said Val, who was standing at the entrance of the mess hull.

"I'm counting on you to make sure of that," said Sharon.

"As long as I'm being talked about as if I'm not here," said Cole, getting up from the table, "I think it's time for me to go announce our presence to New Lenin."

"I'll drink to that," said Val.

"Not today, you won't," said Cole.

Val looked like she was about to argue, then shrugged. "You're the boss," she said.

"I'm glad someone remembers that," said Cole as he left to send his message.

Cole stood on the bridge, and nodded to Domak.

"Okay," he said. "Widest possible bandwidth; I want everyone on the damned planet who wants to see and hear me to be able to."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather do this from your office?" said Jacovic. "It might appear less threatening. After all, they were just attacked by warships exactly like this one."

Cole couldn't repress a grin. "Not exactly like this one," he replied. "They were probably ninety years younger and a century more advanced. But to answer your point, I
hope
they'll listen to reason and greet me with open arms—but I want them to know that we're not a sitting duck up here, and that if they take any action against us on the assumption that we are still the enemy, we have the wherewithal to defend ourselves." He turned to Domak. "This will override every broadcast and show up on every computer and holo-screen, right?"

"In theory," said Domak. "Lieutenant Mboya could probably make absolutely certain of it."

"Let her sleep," said Cole. "She's putting in twelve-hour shifts with Briggs gone. Let's assume you're as good as I think you are and get this show on the road."

"Now," said Domak.

Cole stared at where he imagined a camera was.

"Greetings, citizens of New Lenin. My name is Wilson Cole, my ship is the
Theodore Roosevelt,
and until a few days ago you probably thought I was your enemy. Since that time, you have experienced firsthand the morality, thoughtfulness, loyalty, and compassion of the Republic, which I personally encountered almost four years ago. They have destroyed most of Gromyko and killed tens of thousands of loyal New Lenin citizens because they have overreacted to a threat that was made against only two people, neither of whom was within fifteen thousand light-years of New Lenin."

He paused to give them a moment to digest what he had said, then continued. "I would like to come down to the surface of New Lenin and speak to some of you personally. I have no objection if you have holo cameras and other mechanisms that will transmit what is said all over the planet. I want a guarantee of safe passage for myself and one assistant to take a shuttlecraft down to any location of your choice. The
Theodore Roosevelt
is in orbit around New Lenin. If my offer is refused, there will be no repercussions; we will simply leave. If I am offered safe passage and you should renege upon that offer, there
will
be consequences, but I hope, and I am sure you hope, that it does not come to that. I will give you one hour to consider my offer and reply to it. A failure to answer will be considered a negative response, and we'll take our leave of the system immediately thereafter."

He waited a few seconds for his conditions to sink in, and then concluded. "I am coming with a proposition. If it is rejected, we will leave immediately and in peace. I await your decision."

He nodded to Domak, who cut the transmission.

"Keep every channel we've got open," he said. "They'll take about forty minutes to argue it out, and then they'll invite me down."

"You sound awfully sure," said Sharon.

"They'll realize that if we wanted to fire on them, we'd have done it before announcing our presence and giving them a chance to activate whatever defenses they still have."

"Four Eyes was right," she said. "You think too much to be a hero. Heroes walk in, weapons blazing."

"Look where it got him," said Cole bitterly. "There are an awful lot of heroes buried all across the galaxy." He looked around. "I assume Val's waiting in the shuttle bay?"

"I think she's down in Gunnery, seeing how many cannons she can lift," said Sharon with a smile.

"See?" responded Cole, returning her smile. "We have a hero after all. Rough, tough, fearless, redheaded, maybe two or three inches under seven feet—what more could you want?"

"You announced her as your assistant," noted Sharon. "When she walks in fully armed, they might have a little difficulty with your definition."

"They'll have more important things to worry about."

Suddenly an alarm sounded.

"Incoming?" asked the Mollute who was at one of the stations.

"No," said Sharon, frowning. "That's an internal Security alert." She raised her voice. "Luthor, do you read me? What's going on?"

"No problem," said Chadwick as his image popped into being. "Just a little problem with our newest crew member."

"The Lodinite?" asked Cole.

"Right," replied Chadwick. "Meloctin, I think his name is. He got confused, thought he was one level down, and walked into the infirmary by mistake. The situation is resolved, and he's back in his quarters."

His image vanished.

"It's hard to imagine someone getting lost aboard this old hulk," offered Domak.

"That's because you've been aboard her for, what, seven years?" said Cole. "He's been on it less than a day. It
is
a big ship. It's outdated, and battle-scarred, and tired, but it's as complex as most Class Ls."

They killed time for another half hour, and then the message Cole had been waiting for came in.

"Captain Cole, this is Augustus Lake," said a tall, thin man with a shock of unruly white hair. "I'm the Acting Mayor of Gromyko. More to the point, I'm the only member of the city or planetary government left alive. We are willing to hear what you have to say. I'll feed the landing coordinates into your computer—you'll be setting down atop one of the few undamaged buildings. When you emerge, you'll find yourself facing an array of armed men and women. We will not fire without provocation, but you have to understand that we have lost our trust in people who proclaim they mean us no harm."

"That's understandable and acceptable," replied Cole. "My assistant will also be armed, but if there is no immediate threat to my person, she will not use her weapons."

"Give us thirty minutes to set everything up," continued Lake. "We'll take you to a secure room, what's left of what might be called our leading citizens will be there to hear what you have to say, and we'll have holo cameras standing by to transmit what you say to the rest of our citizenry."

"Fine. Just give my computer the coordinates, and we'll be there in half an hour."

"I apologize for our appearance," said Lake. "We've barely begun digging out of the rubble."

"I understand, and I sympathize."

The transmission ended, and Cole turned to Sharon.

"Feel a little better?" he asked.

"Augustus Lake seems like a decent man," she replied.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"You didn't let me finish," she said. "He seems like a decent man, but you're going to be confronted by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of armed men and women, many of whom lost loved ones just a few days ago."

"They know we didn't do it."

"They also know we were the reason it was done," said Sharon. "You don't know that a couple of them won't be so blinded by their grief that they decide to kill the cause of it—the reason the Navy went berserk."

"It
didn't
go berserk," said Cole. "It coldly and calmly attempted to destroy a planet that's been a part of the Republic since it was first colonized. That's what this is all about."

She sighed deeply. "I know. I just want you to stay alert."

"I've got Val. She's alert enough for both of us."

And a few minutes later Cole and Val took off in the
Kermit
, spiraling gently down to the appointed rooftop in the shattered city of Gromyko.