Queen of the Pirates (28 page)

Crew members brought out a fresh batch of coffee, apparently recognizing that the evening wasn’t going to wind down nearly as soon as they had originally expected.

“A thousand years ago, from out of the Darkness,
Zanzibar
contacted
Ballard
, uplifting them from the steam to the stellar age in a single generation. Without a war.
Pohang
and
Saxon
followed soon after.”

Jessica smiled to herself at some secret memory as she spoke. Daneel made a mental note to ask her what she had been thinking at that moment, later.

“Those four worlds quickly formed the nucleus of a trade network,” she said after a moment, “with
Ballard
at one end. When the ancient library was lifted into orbit, technology took off, and lifted civilization with it. Because the four worlds were like pearls on a string, travel between them came to be known as the Story Road. Ancient wisdom from the library headed out, new ideas sailed in.”

The Red Admiral muttered something quiet in a deep voice. It sounded angry. Daneel considered the weight and heft of his metal coffee mug before he looked over.

“Admiral Wachturm?” Jessica asked politely.

“The Abomination,” he growled again, loud enough this time that everyone at the table could hear him clearly.

“How so?” Arnulf asked from the far end.

“So it is written: that no woman shall have authority over a man,” Wachturm stated harshly. “It is the root of all evil.”

Jessica nodded. “And thus was
Fribourg
founded, Admiral,” she said. “But I am speaking of
Aquitaine
.”

The Red Admiral fixed her with a sharp look

“Perhaps your founding legends would be a good corollary when she is done, Admiral Wachturm?” Desianna asked, breaking the spell that was taking hold on everyone.

The Red Admiral turned, relaxed his scowl into something neutral. “Just so, m’lady,” he bowed his head to her. “I had nearly forgotten myself.”

“Jessica?” Desianna prompted.

“One of the visitors to
Ballard
,” Jessica continued, “was a young man from a backwater world,
Bayonne
, close enough to the Story Road to travel it in search of knowledge. He was a bard, a musician, a seeker of songs.”

Jessica paused to sip her coffee, letting the energy bleed out of the room. It was obvious to Daneel that she was not a natural story teller, but it was also obvious that she was trying to become one.

Daneel wondered what she might turn herself into, given time. What he might turn himself into, given space.

“At
Ballard
, he studied the sciences instead,” she said. “This man, Henri Baudin, invented the modern Jumpdrive as we understand it, opening up the galaxy to exploration in a way that had been lost. With his skills and vision, he was able to forge a new nation, well to the interior of the Story Road worlds, though they joined later of their own free will. Thus is
Aquitaine
a beacon of hope and learning in the galaxy, and not just another conqueror.”

“Truly?” Arnulf inquired. “A bard invented the modern age?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” Jessica smiled. “However, Admiral Wachturm also has his founding legends, for
Fribourg
is a very different place. Admiral?”

Daneel watched the Red Admiral compress himself like an angry bear woken in winter. His eyes bespoke the Apocalypse.

Ξ

She hoped she hadn’t overdone it. Jessica had watched Desianna’s use of physicality to induce men into misdirection, and had tried to emulate it, but she had no idea if it worked. She didn’t have Desianna’s body to lead men astray, but she also wasn’t trying to seduce the Red Admiral, merely convince the man that she was just a lucky, bubbly airhead.

The last thing she wanted was to lead him to wonder if she might be his equal. That would be all kinds of bad.

Still, that tilt of the head as she spoke was beginning to feel more comfortable. The little toss of the hair. Even the resting of her shoulders was different, more relaxed. Slinkier, to hear Desianna judge it.

She was just a silly little girl, easily out–maneuvered by the big, bad men around her.

Honest.

Anger practically radiated off of the top of the Red Admiral’s skull, like the special effect speed lines from a children’s cartoon. Where Arnulf had slowly drawn everyone into his web with a smile, Wachturm bound them with his fury.

“
Fribourg
remembers the distant past,” he said slowly, gravely. “
Earth
was destroyed by robot starfleets. Electronic demons turned loose to wreak havoc and devastation on all worlds. Without any human oversight.”

He paused to let the weight of his words settle. Jessica watched his hands squeeze the sides of his indestructible coffee mug, turning white with pressure that did not carry into his words. She had never imagined this level of emotions from the man. He was always the consummate commander. This was something special to know.

“During the Dark Times, the AIs, the Immortals, went mad, becoming unto themselves gods or destroyers. No man was safe in their grasp.”

The Red Admiral slowly turned his head from right to left, spearing each of them with a look before coming to Jessica. She understood much better now what made this man tick, just gazing for once into the angry depths of his soul.

“When they destroyed the Homeworld, they nearly ended all humanity with it,” he growled, speaking mostly to himself. “Because they did not stop with one planet. No, they also destroyed many, eventually their own lives. Starfleets need bases, factories, industrial civilization. When the fools unleashed Armageddon, those things were lost. And thus did the Creator spare us from the Pit. The armies of the Dark One could not sustain themselves, and they fell. Where we have found them, we have destroyed them without mercy.”

Jessica watched him put down his coffee and begin to drink instead from a glass of water cut with lemon. Perhaps that was better than the bitter richness of the coffee, at this moment.

“So, aye,” he continued, “
Ballard
re–ignited humanity, but they were aided by the AI who is the Librarian. They did so by opening Pandora’s box and birthing a modern demon. As with Eve and her apple, so the Demon of Ballard seduced the
Explorer
, Iwakuma, and then the
Bard
, Baudin.”

He turned now, focusing his entire being on Arnulf. Jessica could almost see the waves of energy connecting the men as unspoken messages passed back and forth.

Arnulf leaned forward, lightly resting his chin on a fist, but remaining silent lest he break the spell.

Jessica had never heard Admiral Wachturm be so emotional. Had never even thought that the man was capable of it.

“
Fribourg
will not suffer such things,” he said, barely above a whisper. “The demon there portrays herself as a young woman, the better to seduce the people of the galaxy. My great–grandfather, Gunter Wiegand, the founding emperor of
Fribourg
, made it clear from the outset that such a woman would lead the many worlds down the path to darkness.
Aquitaine
is beholden to her ideas, and thus uplifts her as an ideal woman.
Fribourg
rejects her, and rejects her power over men.”

“Is not all knowledge simply a tool?” Arnulf asked simply.

Jessica blinked a little, happy that nobody was looking her direction. She kept forgetting how sharp, how canny, the King of the Pirates really was, under that grand showman exterior.

She wondered what his smile held.

But she needed to play the airhead. Letting these people see the wheels turning in her head right now would spoil that artful charade

“
Knowledge tainted by evil furthers the course of evil
,” Wachturm intoned.

“And you do not believe that this creature, this Oracle, this woman who is the last of the immortals, has anything useful to teach us?”

“She is a black widow spider, Your Majesty,” the Red Admiral bowed his head. “Mate with her at your own risk. If it were my decision, I would take a fleet to
Ballard
and destroy that creature tomorrow.”

Jessica fought down her own laugh, or comment, or snort, lest she mar this wonderful
social
development.

Arnulf was looking for how to transform
Corynthe
into a place where his own dynasty might prevail. Certainly,
Fribourg
offered a more compelling case for dynastic hegemony, but this was a king who had to win over his rivals and transform them all into something they had never wanted, generally against their will.

Aquitaine
offered exactly that solution, the possibility of co–opting these
Captains
into something like the Fifty Families, those disciples who had joined with Henri Baudin at the beginning.

She could see the same calculations, the same conclusions on other faces about the table as she watched.

Most of them were concentrating on Arnulf, or the Red Admiral, or their own avarice. They could see the present, not the possibilities the future might be shaped into.

Only Desianna smiled at her.

Chapter XXXVI

Date of the Republic February 8, 394 Above Callumnia

According to all the entertainment videos, there should be a thin fog of smoke from burning herbal products hanging in the air. And the room should be darker, more ominous to go with being smoke–filled. Possibly music to heighten the tension.

Captain Ian Zhao laughed at himself and his foolish notions. Let Arnulf and that silly bitch from
Aquitaine
paint him as a villain. They didn’t have the balls to do anything about it, and nobody was going to be able to save Arnulf at this point, if
Warlock
hadn’t already told his new little doxie everything.

Not that that would help, either. Without
Sarmarsh
or Daneel Ishikura, the major players had modified the plan enough that Ishikura was almost as much in the dark as the rest.

Still, Ian smiled. His office was bright and clean, as befit one of the senior–most captains of
Corynthe
in command of a 4–ring Mothership. It was only in the movies that such a space was squalid and vile.

A watercolor, done by his youngest daughter when she was eight hung framed across from him, where other captains might have kept a picture of their first command.

A rap on the door preceded Jing Du. Ian rose and shook his hand as he entered.

“Chancellor.”

“Captain Zhao.”

Jing Du seated himself and watched. He did that. No movement except the eyes.

It was a stillness you almost never found outside of a dead, orbiting hulk.

“The plan proceeds apace, Captain,” Jing Du said finally.

“Without
Bunala
?” Ian asked.

“
Bunala
is as close as we will get to our neighbor
Salonnia
, Captain Zhao,” Jing Du said with a solemn nod, “but there is too much risk. Arnulf will be weaker here, but someone could escape in the chaos, return to
Petron
, and rouse the rabble. Would you care to fight twice for the crown?”

“No,” Ian said, “It is a good plan. But what of
Aquitaine
?
Auberon
is at least the match for a 4–ring, maybe two 3–rings, if you count her escort.”

“Messages have been sent to our associates in
Salonnia
,” Jing Du replied dryly. “Assumedly, they have in turn notified their
friends
. It is another reason I expect nothing to happen until we return to
Petron
. Those people will need time to adjust their plans and forces accordingly.”

Jing Du studied him carefully.

“And you, Captain Zhao?” he continued. “Will you be prepared to pay the price they ask?”

Ian felt a harsh smile cover his face. “Surely
Salonnia
does not believe they will be able to dictate terms to me when I am king? Those
merchants
?”

He laughed.

“Jing Du, what they want is to disturb the frontiers, because most of the chaos will spill over into
Lincolnshire
.
Salonnia
will be sheltered and believes themselves prepared. In addition, they can pile on, wresting worlds and trade routes away, so they can control all the trade in this sector. Certainly, that is
Fribourg
’s calculation.”

“And Admiral Keller?” Jing Du asked pensively.

“A well–born
Aquitaine
fop,” Ian replied. “Much more concerned with entertaining than command. If not for Jež, I imagine that ship would be a complete mess.”

“Really?” Jing Du asked. “I was given to understand that she is a prominent commander, at home.”

“The Red Admiral believes her to be an over–promoted woman who got lucky at the right times, not a competent field commander. Did you know that she once
rammed
an Imperial fighter craft in the middle of a battle? Intentionally?”

Jing Du leaned back with a look of mild surprise on his face. “Interesting.”

“So if she does actually choose to fight, rather than simply withdraw when ordered to leave,” Ian continued, “we will have more than enough forces to overwhelm her. Granted, she has excellent pilots, but they will not be able to overcome raw numbers, regardless of what they think, especially with that nasty little escort ship detached and sent home.”

“Could the escort be getting help?” Jing Du leaned forward again, apprehensive.

“If it is, they would have to be the best sailors in the galaxy to arrive in time from
Aquitaine
. And
Lincolnshire
would never help
Corynthe
, especially not after we already invaded them once this year. No, dear Chancellor, I am not worried about taking power from Arnulf. What we should be concerned with is how to hold it when the other captains get restive. Someone will get the idea to do to me what I did to Arnulf, and
Lincolnshire
and
Salonnia
will not remain passive.”