Shattered Sun (The Sentinel Trilogy Book 3) (16 page)

“But now I know they’re alive, and I want to keep them that way. Using the battery is a death sentence. The capsule has no armor—they’d be sitting out there while the enemy takes potshots. How long would they last? About as long as it took the birds to spot them and figure out what was going on.”

“And you want what?” Drake asked. “To break the seal and let them out? That would wreck our chance of using the battery in combat.”

Koh threw up her hands. “I don’t know
what
I want. Swett says he’ll stay in the fight as long as we need him, but it seems a brutal decision to make.”

“This is war,” Drake said. “Brutal decisions face us all.”

Koh leaned back and blew out air. “All right, I see. But don’t throw away their lives, that’s not too much to ask, is it? Make it count.”

“Of course,” Drake said. “Let’s see the charts.”

Tolvern leaned in as a chart appeared of the Kettle System, followed by the two jumps already taken. They’d first entered the Padang System, the final system before Singapore, only to spot a harvester lurking outside the necessary jump point that would carry them through. Drake backed them out and looked for another jump point.

Now Díaz pointed to one. It would take them into what the charts were calling the Manx System, named after the admiral’s first mate. There was a jump inside a star, a so-called shattered sun jump, plus numerous other jump points.

“I thought all the jump points were bad,” Tolvern said.

“They were,” Díaz said, “but we’ve had a couple of weeks to study the data and upgraded a few of them.”

“That doesn’t usually happen, does it?” she asked.

“There was something funny going on. Could be a natural phenomenon, or it could be the buzzards were messing with us. They’d tricked us into jumping through and clearly wanted to leave us bottled up for a while. If they could somehow spoof jump points, they could keep us chasing our tails.”

She studied the chart. “And now we have options, apparently.”

“Don’t forget that there’s a star leviathan in the system,” Drake said. “It will have digested our frigate by now and probably molted. We’ll need to tiptoe past it.”

“I assume there’s a good reason we want to go through,” Tolvern said, “or we wouldn’t risk it.”

“Wait until you see what’s on the other side,” Koh said. She clicked one of the yellow jumps, and another system popped up. “It’s Singapore.”

“So we have to go through to get at the enemy,” Tolvern said. “That’s what you’re saying? It’s the only way we can reach Singapore without fighting our way through Padang?”

McGowan leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. “You can bet Apex knows all about that jump point. How can we be sure there’s not an ambush waiting for us?”

Tolvern couldn’t help herself. “Heaven knows, you wouldn’t want to scratch your shiny paint job.”

“Tolvern,” Drake warned. “Let’s keep this productive.”

“All I’m saying is we should be ready for a fight,” McGowan said. “And if not in the Manx System, then the moment we jump into Singapore.”

The admiral looked resolute. “And we will be. We’ll maintain the posture of our two forces, with a few minor changes. I’ll be taking on another missile frigate for support, and sending the remaining Hroom sloops to the other task force. I need a second cruiser, and it makes sense to give you
Blackbeard
.”

Tolvern was dismayed at the thought of serving next to McGowan, and it must have shown on her face.

“I could go instead,” Woodbury said. “I have command experience, and could take charge of the task force.
Blackbeard
could stay with the main fleet.”

“No need for that,” McGowan said. “I’ve got it covered. Tolvern’s ship can lend me fire support.”

“Or
Peerless
can support
Blackbeard
,” Tolvern said.

“Don’t be absurd.” McGowan said. “You have no experience leading fleet operations. And if you think you’re going to receive command because of your personal . . .
history
with the admiral, I don’t think that will go over too well.”

The pause before “history” was too obvious, and the smile on McGowan’s face left Tolvern boiling. But she could hardly refute it without looking worse, so she kept her mouth shut.

“That makes the most sense from a logistical standpoint,” Caites said.

Tolvern shot the other woman a look. Surely she wasn’t buying McGowan’s act.

“But if it were my decision,” Caites continued, “I would place Captain Tolvern in charge of the second fleet.”

“Another captain with all of six months’ experience,” McGowan said, his tone just short of a sneer. “Or is this a case of two women sticking together? Maybe you should form your own task force, the pair of you. We’ll call it the Estrogen Brigade.”

Caites’s eyes flashed, and she looked ready to jump out of her seat. Woodbury’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. He shook his head, and Caites settled back down. Her face turned placid, but when she spoke again, her voice held an icy calm.

“I was going to say that Tolvern should lead due to her superior experience—yes, I said
experience
—in dealing with the Hroom. She has a Hroom pilot, and someone needs to manage the prickly commanders of the sloops of war.

“But there’s a better reason,” Caites continued. “You’re too timid. Tolvern was right. What the devil were you doing back there? We were fighting for our lives, and you were mincing in at the last moment, as dainty as a York Town debutante at her first ball. Did you even warm your cannons? They’re not for show, you know. They’re meant to be fired.”

Tolvern grinned.

Now McGowan looked like the one ready to spring to his feet and show his fists. “By God, you take that back, Caites.”

“Enough of this,” Drake said. “I’ve seen McGowan in action—he knows how to fight, and is a fine commander in battle. But Caites is also right about the Hroom. We lost the general, and who knows what his replacement will do? Lenol Tyn is no cultist, but that doesn’t mean she’ll obey orders if she doesn’t like them. I want those sloops with the second force—I’m calling it Task Force Bravo. As for Tolvern’s experience”—he gave McGowan a pointed look—“she has plenty, and I have complete confidence in her abilities.”

Tolvern cleared her throat. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Admiral, but I am worried that McGowan and I won’t be able to work together. After this exchange, I mean. Harsh words were said. That is, what if Woodbury were to act as my second in command? You take
Peerless
and give me
Repulse
.”

“I would agree to that,” Woodbury said.

Thank God. Woodbury would be the perfect officer to serve as the second in her fleet. He gave off a calm air with his measured gaze and monk-like appearance. More settled and mature than Caites, but not so old as to be hidebound.

“No,” Drake said. “I’m keeping Woodbury with me. And I have no doubt Tolvern and McGowan will work together in a professional manner. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Tolvern said.

McGowan waited a moment longer, then nodded his head. “Of course, Admiral.”

“Good,” Drake said. “Task Force Alpha will be
Dreadnought
, four corvettes, two missile frigates, four destroyers, six torpedo boats, and the cruisers
Richmond
,
Formidable
,
Zealand
, and
Repulse
. Task Force Bravo will be
Blackbeard
and
Peerless
, three corvettes, five destroyers, two missile frigates, six torpedo boats, and seventeen sloops of war.

“We must assume that whatever we face will give us one hell of a fight,” Drake continued, “so I don’t intend to send either fleet off on chases. Bravo will force the action, and Alpha will finish it. Find the most powerful enemy first and push for a decisive battle. Any questions?”

There were none, so Drake dismissed them. After leaving the war room, the other captains crossed the bridge to the lift that would carry them to their away pods. McGowan strode away, his face hardened into fury. Tolvern lingered so she wouldn’t have to share a lift with him.

She found herself waiting with Caites. The two women exchanged looks.  

“Thanks for that,” Tolvern said.

“I wanted to bloody his smug, pretty boy face,” Caites said.

“I know, right? My first mate calls him a piss nozzle. Seems appropriate.”

“McGowan has too much luck with the ladies, and doesn’t know what to do when he meets one who doesn’t swoon over him. Anyway, I’m sorry you have to deal with the jerk. Just make sure he gets his hands dirty. If he somehow comes out of the battle without firing his guns again, I’m going to throttle someone.”

“Not much risk of that,” Tolvern said. “He’ll fight, by God.”

The door opened to the lift, and the two women stepped on. Drake hurried up and held out his hand, then joined them. He pushed the button to stop them one deck short of the loading bay.

“Tolvern, I have a question about your guns before you go. It’s the belly cannons we had installed on San Pablo.”

Drake nodded at Caites as he and Tolvern left her behind on the lift.

“What about them?” Tolvern asked when the doors had closed behind her. “The guns are working fine. I use them every time I get in a fight. I can’t say they’ve ever been decisive, but they give me an edge.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “No, nothing about the guns. I need to talk to you before you go back. We’re dropping into radio silence, and who knows the next time we’ll have a chance to chat.”

“Just chat, sir? What about?”

An enigmatic smile. “About any old thing, Jess. No objections, I hope. And I don’t care tuppence for McGowan’s insinuations. They’re rubbish.”

“You’d never give me command for personal reasons—you’re not that kind of leader.”

“If anything, I’m overly cautious,” Drake said. “I know the rumors are out there, and I know what people are saying. I can’t show favoritism because of a personal relationship, so I bend over backward and do the opposite.”

Tolvern stopped and crossed her arms. He stopped, too, and looked at her.

“What?” he asked.

“We don’t have a personal relationship, James. You hinted that at some point in the future, when things had settled down . . . well, you remember your spiel as well as I do. But right now, nothing. I’ve pretty much given up on it. That’s fine, we’re at war, it’s improper, rules against fraternizing, and all of that. But don’t tell me we have a personal relationship, because we don’t.”

“Why do you think I’m taking you to my room?”

She laughed. “Is that where we’re going? We’re not going to build anything in ten minutes of small talk, or even warm up whatever we’ve put on the back burner. It’s okay, I don’t need your ‘just chat,’ right now. I’m busy keeping the buzzards from snarfing down my intestines—maybe later, when I’m in a rocking chair by the fire, I’ll regret lost opportunities. Now, I’m fine.”

“What if I were to invite you into my room and seduce you?”

“Don’t mess with me, James. I don’t have the head space for it.”

“It’s too late, I’m going to mess with you. It’s all decided.”

He turned and kept walking. They were, in fact, headed into the living quarters where
Dreadnought
’s officers kept their small private or double-bunked rooms. He stopped in front of a small side corridor that must lead to his chambers.

Tolvern didn’t move. She cast a glance over her shoulder toward the lift. A woman came out of one of the rooms, hand at her ear, talking to someone on the com. She got on the lift. Tolvern almost told the woman to hold up so she could take the lift back down and get away from this nonsense, but something fixed her feet in place.

“You should see Malthorne’s old quarters,” Drake said. “It’s ridiculous. There’s no room on a starship for this kind of opulence, and yet that old villain managed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Words don’t do it justice. It’s best if you see with your own eyes. First thing, of course, is the bar. I have no idea how much those bottles of Old Earth whiskey cost, but something outrageous.”

“I don’t like whiskey. It burns.”

“How about brandy from France?”

“You mean some colony of French speakers or something, right?”

“I mean
the
France. Passed from one hand to another through all manner of lawless systems.”

Tolvern stared at him from several paces off. Drake wore a half-smile, and his posture was tall and proud, but at the same time, there was something vulnerable in his eyes. He was really, truly afraid she would reject him. And why not, hadn’t she been doing just that a moment earlier?

She approached tentatively. He turned and palmed open his door, then stepped inside and waited.

Don’t just stand there gaping. Follow him in.
 

Tolvern made her feet move. As the door sighed closed behind her, she gaped at the high ceiling, the chandeliers, and the wide viewport that showed a swath of stars. At the furniture and the walnut bar, where Drake began to pour drinks from an unlabeled glass bottle.

He turned as she approached, and his voice was husky. “It’s the best brandy you’ll ever taste.” He pushed the stopper down. “But I have something else in mind first.”

And then he pulled her close and kissed her.

Chapter Fourteen

Ak Ik threw back her head and cawed. “Bring in the prisoners!”

A great cry went up from the assembled princesses. There were twenty of them in the banquet chamber, so many brilliant colors, and the stench of their secretions was so powerful that the drones staggered and drooped as they left the room to do the queen commander’s bidding.

The princesses were worked up by battle, furious about their losses, and greedy for more humans to feed on. They flapped wings, screeching and jostling. When another got too close, the offended bird cried out in rage and took a peck. So much power in the room, so many secretions from so many trying to rise to dominance.

Alone among the princesses, Sool Em didn’t join the squabbling, but then she wasn’t a princess anymore, was she? She stood off to the side, her wings extended to show the brilliant, almost radiant colors of her feathers. Her breast was red, the feathers on her abdomen shimmering gold, and her wing feathers were azure and green. Was it only Ak Ik’s imagination, or had her daughter physically grown since her own princess chicks hatched?