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Authors: Mike Shepherd

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BOOK: Kris Longknife: Defender
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34

Nelly
woke Kris at 0545. “Kris, Jack’s shuttle will dock in fifteen minutes. Do you want to be there to greet him?”

It was amazing just how fast Kris shot out of bed and pulled on yesterday’s whites. She had one of those female premonitions that new whites would be wasted on her returning husband. She was at the docking bay just as Longboat 2 locked in.

Jack was first off.

At this early hour, there were few personnel around to witness their commodore and the colonel of the Marine Strike Force throw themselves at each other and lock into a kiss that showed just how much they’d missed each other.

They weren’t alone, though. Amanda and Jacques were just as tightly intertwined.

And both of the men were as muddy and grimy as if they’d been on a four-week campaign. Kris’s day-old whites would need special laundering, but who cared?

“Was it dangerous?” both women asked their men at the same time.

“No” and “Not a bit” were their answers. The lie might have held if four Marines hadn’t exited the longboat at that moment with a pole stretched between them. Dangling from the pole was the newly named kanga-tiger.

“That’s huge,” Kris said.

“You shot that?” Amanda demanded of Jacques.

“Not me. Three or four Marines took it down.”

“Not a bit dangerous,” Kris said, elbowing Jack. Since he was in full battle rattle, the armor hurt her elbow more than it did anything to him.

“It’s all in your perspective. You’re a viceroy. You go to meetings, or so I hear. I’m a Marine. I get to play in the mud and kill really nasty things that need killing. A job’s a job.”

Kris kissed him again. “Want to trade?”

“No way would I let you go for a walk in those woods. It’s not just the big things. They got little things that will take your hand off before you even know they’re there. I can’t tell you how much I admire the Alwans who’ve set up camp in those woods. Or how glad they are to find Marines willing to help them. They may have survived, but they’ve got no problems with seeing some of these ‘eat’em-ups’ get their comeuppance from a Marine fire team.”

Another big thing with lots of teeth was carried out. It had six legs.

“How many of these ‘eat’em all ups’ are there?” Amanda asked.

“I’m sure we can find a biologist willing to categorize and name them all. For me, they’re just targets . . . and chow. They make good eating,” Jack said.

Kris adjourned to her cabin with Jack. They both needed a shower, so they saved water by sharing one. Abby was sent to get a set of greens and tans for Jack. He being her security chief, it seemed only appropriate that he accompany Kris back down to her meetings.

“I don’t think there are any folks mad enough at me dirtside to start shooting,” Kris said from a comfortable position under Jack.

“But I should keep an eye on you.”

They were decent by the time Abby got back with Jack’s uniform.

Kris had never slept on a shuttle flight. Jack had no trouble falling asleep as soon as he buckled in, and Kris rested her head on his shoulder. She found herself waking up as they docked.

What Kris was starting to think of as her new staff were with her: Amanda and Jacques, Penny and Masao, with Abby thrown in for reasons that were not clear, as usual. Somehow, Sergeant Bruce had ended up leading the Marine security detachment.

Kris accredited that to his having one of Nelly’s kids. Officially, that had to be the reason. It couldn’t be that he was just as interested in staying close to Abby as she was to Jack.

Ada greeted them at the landing with the jitney. This time, Kris rode shotgun next to Ada.

“Before we get started, do you have any problems I need to know about?” Kris asked. “With the best of intentions, I know we can get off on the wrong foot.”

Beside Kris, the reason the shuttle had been so sluggish pulling away from the
Princess Royal
became clear. It must have had five hundred tons of extra Smart Metal
TM
wrapped around it. The metal was streaming from the shuttle down the pier in a thin cable to form a cube ashore. On the other side of the cube, a chief was spinning a truck out.

“So far, so good, Viceroy,” Ada said after a bit of hesitation. There was a vague tone as if she was none too confident she’d be saying that for a whole lot longer.

“I did get a visit from a delegation of elders yesterday complaining about something involving renegades in the deep woods and us helping them. Since I’d never heard that any Alwans survived in the deep woods, that was kind of a surprise. Did I miss a report from one of your survey teams about them?”

Kris glanced at Amanda, who got a look on her pretty face like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar and a nod that the claim might just be true.

“I think that’s possible,” Kris admitted.

“Let me guess. Some more of your Marines. Now, I can’t complain about those Marines helping our fisherman land a lot more of their catch. Hopefully, your people can pull off these large trucks to carry the catch and other junk inland though I don’t know how he’s going to get it powered. We don’t have batteries that big, and I don’t know when we’ll get our new reactor online. They just started landing pieces of it late yesterday. Project manager won’t give me any idea when he’ll be done.”

“Your reactor is in good shape. At least the first one. We’re having to cannibalize the fourth one to get all three of them working.”

“So what I get is what I got and this split fifty-fifty may not stay that way,” Ada said with sour in her voice.

“Ada, there are a whole lot of unknowns in everything we’re doing here. I’ve got a set of factories about to go operational on the moon in a few days. That may release more Smart Metal. I’ve got a chief designing a fishing boat that can go out and harpoon the ‘eats everythings’ and other boats to trawl for fish.”

“Sounds like we’re going to be eating a lot of fish.”

“It’s better than eating nothing,” Kris said.

“Yes, it is.”

“Fish offal also makes good fertilizer. You’ve said that you got the worse land on Alwa. Imagine what it will do if we add fertilizer from fish bones, guts, that kind of stuff?”

“That report did make it to my desk,” Ada said. “Yes, it will help, but with next year’s crop at the soonest.”

“Any chance you might get a second crop in this year if you get plenty of fertilizer and water?” Amanda asked.

“Where’s the water coming from?”

“We’re working on that,” Amanda said. “Once we have power, we can pump water from the deep woods. There’s lots of water there.”

“Pipes?”

“Steel from the moon,” Kris said.

“You folks think big, don’t you?”

“I wasn’t thinking small when I took out that enemy base ship,” Kris said.

Ada sighed. “Yes, you have a point there, and it’s not one you let me forget, is it?”

“Do you want to?”

The jitney pulled into the round parking area in front of Government House. “There are times I wish all this was just a dream. That I could wake up and everything would be the same as it was before Granny Rita answered your call and we found out the kind of mess we’re in and never knew. You know what I mean?”

“Do they still tell the story about the ostrich that kept its head in the sand?” Kris asked.

“Yes, to every first grader. I know, I know, but all this change coming at me like a tidal wave, you have to let me stop once in a while and catch my breath.”

“Ada, I hear where you’re coming from, but please realize. I had no idea what I was getting into when I talked King Ray into letting me see what this great big galaxy held. It’s been one continuous surprise after another for the rest of us, too.”

The woman sighed. “Let’s go inside. If you think I’m having it bad, wait until you hear from Kuno.”

“He’s your ministry of Mining and Industry, right?”

“Yep, and you’ll never guess where they just discovered a whole mountain of copper.”

“I’ve heard about the mountain. Nobody mentioned where.”

“How about at the headwaters of
our
main watershed for our year-round drinking water.”

“That would explain why no one wanted to tell me where it is,” Kris said, glancing at Amanda and Penny. Both of them were making a point of not looking at Kris.

“Nelly, why didn’t you tell me?”

“The information about the water source is not in my database, Kris. I didn’t know the significance of the location.”

They had a long meeting after that, involving lots of people from the station by conference call. Yes, it was easier to dig a big hole in the ground and extract the ore, then run it through a smelter and truck the finished product to Haven, but, in the end, the miners had to settle for using Smart Metal
TM
to make nanos to do the extraction. It was slower, but a whole lot easier on the trees and its precious groundwater.

As for moving the scientists down to Haven, Ada and several ministers, including education, got very excited. When the full number of boffins, some 450 to 500, came up, there were a few gulps, but as Ada said, “If they don’t mind eating a lot of fish, food won’t be a problem.” Housing would be more difficult, but they’d manage. The lumber mill hadn’t been working at full capacity, and if the deep woods truly were becoming safer, there should be plenty of timber.

That would also give the Alwans more area to plant in their mixed-crops way.

Assuming the elders didn’t find a reason to object.

The meeting went into lunch. Fish rolled in thin tortillas with something like lettuce were brought in. The meeting didn’t end until well into the afternoon, leaving Kris just time enough to catch the last shuttle back and meet with her industrial team.

The factories on the
Prosperity
had finally been separated from what would become two frigates and a pair of mining ships. If there were no more surprises, they’d be landed tomorrow. Miners could also head out tomorrow to find the minerals needed to make batteries and other modern electronic gear . . . such as lasers.

When Jack kissed Kris good night in her day quarters, at the door to her night quarters, per regulations, Kris could claim to have had a very nice day.

35

Frigate
Squadron 4 pulled away from the station right smartly next morning at 0900 sharp. But it wasn’t just the officers and crews who had learned a thing or three. So had their commodore.

“Flag to squadron, set Condition Charlie,” Kris ordered.

“Right, of course,” Captain Kitano was heard to mutter under her breath.

Five minutes later, the squadron accelerated smartly to three gees and held that speed for most of the trip out to Alwa’s closest gas giant. Along the way, an asteroid belt provided them with ample opportunity to practice their gunnery and reloading speed. Kris hated the long wait for the lasers to recharge. She felt naked waiting fifteen seconds for the forward lasers to be ready again. Once, when the
Princess Royal
had targets both fore and aft, it took twenty seconds to get the lasers back online.

“Could we recharge three lasers forward and two aft in ten seconds? Or fewer lasers in shorter time?” she asked.

Captain Kitano shook her head. “If we try to pour too much juice too quickly to one capacitor, we’ll fry the power cables.”

Kris nodded. N
ELLY, SEE WHAT YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT COOLING THE CABLES MORE.

K
RIS, THEY’RE ALREADY SUPERCONDUCTORS.
T
HERE’S A LIMIT.

T
HEN MAYBE WE NEED TO HAVE MORE CABLES.

I
WILL RESEARCH WHAT CAN SPEED UP RELOAD TIMES,
K
RIS.

When they made orbit around the gas giant, the real fun began. Each frigate spun off a pinnace, powered by a single reactor, and stood by as the smaller ship went cloud dancing for reaction mass. Once, twice, then a third time, the pinnaces did their dance, each time bringing a supply of hydrogen, helium, and maybe other heavier slush, back to its frigate.

Kris could only smile as the pinnaces did easily what the old
Wasp
had nearly wrecked herself doing. Here was another reason to love the new Smart Metal
TM
.

The frigates began to look like they had broken out in hives as they converted their armor to more and more storage tanks for the reaction mass. When the pinnaces returned with their last load, they kind of hitched onto their ship, leaving the whole squadron with a lumpy, bumpy look all over, and a very pregnant bulge where the pinnace settled in.

“I hope we don’t need to fight,” Captain Kitano said, but under her breath.

Kris chose to hear the question. “If we do have to fight, we’ll vent most of this to space. If we don’t, we get back to Canopus Station with needed reaction mass so the private ships can fuel up, and the ships that we send out to plant buoys can depart with a full load. There should even be some to spare in case we do need to fight.”

“So this was a training and logistics run,” the captain observed.

“We have to kill three birds with each stone if we’re going to survive out here.”

The trip home was slower, never more than 1.5 gees, but they still got in a good shoot as they passed the asteroids.

Captain Drago was waiting on the pier as the
Princess Royal
pulled in. He met Kris as she was just settling down to read more fun reports from dirtside and the potential moon base.

“The
Wasp
is out of the yard. Do you still want to chase after the
Hornet
’s ghost?”

Kris frowned. She wasn’t sure whether it was the question or the reports. Or the fact she was starting to like reading reports. That would be a truly horrible fate.

“The
Hornet
is not a ghost until we bury her,” Kris said. “We leave no one behind. I will not have a ship stumbling upon that wreck twenty years from now to find that they survived for one, two, three years hoping for someone to come for them.”

“‘Leave no one behind’ is a good motto,” Captain Drago said, “but you’ll be leaving a lot behind you if you go. Can you afford the time to bury those who are most likely dead? We’ve already found the expanding gas clouds that were all that was left of the battleships.”

Kris eyed the contract captain. “Why are you arguing with me?”

Captain Drago took a seat beside Kris’s desk. “Commodore, there are good reasons to go and good reasons to stay. I want to know if we’re doing this for the right reason. If we’re going just because you feel you have to, or maybe it’s a Longknife legend thing, I might have a problem. Since we’re in private, I’m asking the question.”

Kris shoved away the report she’d been reading. Captain Drago had followed her to hell . . . and gotten back only by the skin of his teeth. He’d earned the right to question her decision when all hell wasn’t snapping at their heels.

“Captain, on the old
Wasp
, how many times did we come within a few kilos of reaction mass from being stranded in space?”

“More times than I care to be reminded,” he agreed.

“I don’t know what we’d have done if it had come to that. No one knew where we were. No one could have rescued us. Maybe I’m heading out on a wild-goose chase, but I owe it to Phil Taussig and his crew to chase them down. To do everything I can to help them if they are in need. We went one way. They went the other and led the bastards off our trail and after them. If that’s not a good enough reason for you, Captain, I can’t think of a better one. It’s good enough for me, and I will be going. You want me to take another ship?”

“No, Commodore. The
Wasp
is at your disposal. We are resupplied and are taking on some of that fine reaction mass you just brought in. I plan to take aboard enough to make all the jumps we did, and a couple extra for good hunting, then return on one tank.”

“It sounds like you plan a fast trip. Give me an hour or two to sort things out here, and I’ll be back aboard the
Wasp
.”

Captain Drago rose and saluted. “We await your pleasure, Your Highness.”

Kris called her next meeting. Captain Kitano had only to step inside Kris’s day cabin. Granny Rita and Pipra attended by conference call. Kris quickly told them of her intentions to leave Alwa for a couple of weeks to discover the fate of the
Hornet
.

Pipra began to object, but Granny Rita cut her off.

“A commander never leaves shipmates behind. I was wondering when you’d go after the
Hornet
as soon as I heard how you escaped.”

Captain Kitano just nodded, leaving Pipra to shake her head, and mutter, “Navy,” in exasperation.

“My problem,” Kris said once that was settled, “is that I’m wearing three hats at the moment: military commander, viceroy, and CEO of half our industrial wherewithal.”

“And you called us three why?” Granny asked with a sly smile.

“Captain Kitano, I want you to take over the defense mission. You will dispatch two ships to spread surveillance buoys at all jumps within six jumps of Alwa. That won’t leave you a lot of ships here until the four new frigates complete their shakedown process, so concentrate on them. Do you have any questions?”

Captain Kitano seemed a bit stunned by the load that had just been dumped on her but said nothing.

“Granny, can I trust you to function as Ray’s royal viceroy for a month without starting a war between me and Ada?”

“Kris, my child, you wrong me greatly,” Granny said through a grin. “Yes, I’ve been following what you and Ada have been up to. I should be able to maintain your momentum. And if we have any problems, I’ll call the captain here, or Ms. Strongarm.”

“You’re dumping the industrial mess on me!” Pipra said. She greeted Kris’s nod with a serious scowl. “I’ve hardly gotten used to having to juggle Nuu Enterprises and the other two companies that joined us, and now I have to handle the other three as well!”

“Lead,” Kris said, “not handle. If you run into trouble, call on Granny.”

Kris and Pipra both got a look at Granny’s big grin. It had a lot of teeth showing. “Or, on second thought,” Kris added, “you can threaten to bring Granny into it.”

“Yes, that should work,” Pipra finished, almost under her breath.

“I am foully slandered,” Granny said, grinning.

“Some of us have been dirtside long enough to pick up stories of the early days of your colony,” Pipra said.

“Lies, all lies,” Granny said, smiling as she lied through teeth.

“A reputation is a great thing,” Kris said, herself grinning. “Don’t waste it. Put it to use. You can never tell when you’ll need it to scare some kids into going to bed on time.”

“I’ve had a few Sailors bring me up to date on you, kid,” Granny said.

“And doubtless they traded you some good sea stories. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to transfer my flag back to the
Wasp
and see if I can talk my security chief into coming with me.”

That brought another round of canards which Kris strove not to participate in. While she was letting that wash over her, she had Nelly ask Penny if she’d like to be included in this trip. She did and asked if she could bring along Masao. Kris agreed.

An hour later, Abby had Kris packed and a half dozen Sailors lugging several hand trucks full of gear from the
Princess Royal
to the
Wasp
.

A corporal and two privates brought along all of Jack’s gear.

Next morning, they were away from the pier at 0730.

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