Spirit of Empire 4: Sky Knights (7 page)

“How many men would you need?”

“How many shuttles do you have?”

“Twenty-one plus the transporter. The modification center has a few more in line, but I’m waiting on more transporters and shuttles from outlying districts.”

“Give me twenty. I’ll leave one behind that has the mods so your men can train on it.”

Stymes considered Havlock in silence. Most of the marines here on Aldebaran I, including himself, would have perished at the hands of the Chessori had Havlock not done so many things right during the battle. Havlock was the best leader he had, but if he sent Havlock to Tranxte, he and his men would be isolated light-years from help, and they would be fighting
gleasons
of all things. There were no manuals in existence on how to fight gleasons.

Then he got to wondering—if he had to send someone, who else would he rather send? Marines were not known for their creativity, but Havlock was.

He stared hard at the man. “You can’t go if it’s to prove yourself to yourself.”

Havlock shifted, knowing Stymes was right, but he still felt like he was the right man for the job. “Sir,” he said, “there’s a lot more at stake here than just testing our tactics for fighting gleasons. There are challenges on lots of different levels. We’re talking about rescuing a whole civilization. I’m asking to be a part of that. Send me, and I promise you that you’ll not regret it.”

Stymes frowned, then grumbled, “Leave it to you to be one step ahead of the rest of us.” He considered for a time, then nodded to himself and led Havlock back to Galborae.

“If we do this,” he said to Galborae, “I need your agreement that Major Havlock is in charge. Going up against gleasons is not child’s play. Follow his orders or you’ll get my men killed.”

Galborae, sensing progress for the first time in months, stood up. “I’ll agree to anything that gets your men to Tranxte.”

Stymes stared hard at the man, trying to get a feel for the depth of his agreement. In the end, he nodded and turned to Havlock. “Very well. You’ve convinced me. I’ll prepare orders placing you in command. They’ll include promotion orders, as well—I can’t have majors commanding 3,000 marines light-years from help. Prepare to ship out, Colonel.”

Havlock’s face lit up. In that moment, his whole future changed. “I’ve heard rumors of fast ships,” he said to Stymes. “Do I get a fast transporter to carry the shuttles?”

“Sorry. The rumors are true, but they’ve only modified capital ships and some fighters so far, and they’re all detailed to the Queen. I want you to load a lot of extra drones onto the transporter. I want regular reports. No one’s ever attempted anything like this before.”

Havlock stared hard into Stymes’ eyes. “Thank you, sir. We’ll make you proud.” He turned and left the office before Stymes could change his mind.

Stymes stared at Galborae. “Havlock doesn’t know it, but he’s a natural leader, one of those lucky ones who people will follow anywhere. Advise him, but listen to him. He knows what he’s doing.”

“I already see that, but he hasn’t fought a gleason. I have.”

Stymes rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “From what I hear, that gleason essentially killed you. Havlock doesn’t have that luxury.” His gaze went to the doorway. “You might want to go after him. I’d hate to see you get left behind.”

Galborae nodded and bowed to the man he still thought of as a mighty officer. “Thank you, sir. My people thank you.”

He caught up to Havlock in a corridor. Shading his eyes from bright sunlight shining in through floor-to-ceiling windows on the right side, he asked, “How soon can we leave?”

Havlock turned and studied Galborae, his eyes boring into the dark pools of Galborae’s eyes and missing nothing. His gaze moved down, taking in the neatly trimmed beard, so out of place here, and the blaster and stunner strapped to the man’s waist. Amazingly, Galborae’s old sword and belt crisscrossed beneath the standard weapons belt. His eyes took in the meld, Limam, then he turned and continued walking, motioning for Galborae to fall in beside him. Both men moved gracefully on heavy frames, but Galborae still listed to the side from old wounds.

“I know your story, but I don’t know you. We need to talk,” Havlock said.

“On the way to Tranxte?” Galborae asked hopefully.

“No. We’ll move as quickly as we can, but I will not rush things. I have to give serious consideration to what supplies we bring. Once we leave here, we’re light-years from support.” He looked to the ceiling, calculating, then said, “We’ll be ready to go in three weeks.”

He saw the glazed expression on Galborae’s face, but he misinterpreted it. “The time won’t be wasted.”

Galborae shook his head. “You don’t strike me as one to waste time. That part I understand.”

Havlock blinked, confused. He ran a hand through close-cropped dark hair that had recently begun turning a premature gray and asked
,
“What don’t you understand?”

“What’s a light-year? I get the impression it’s far.”

Havlock paused, his hard gaze softening as his eyes moved once again up and down Galborae’s body. “I’ve seen you on the firing range but we haven’t talked. Your aim is good and your stamina is acceptable considering your wounds. I think it’s time we got to know each other a little better. Actually . . . a lot better. I’m in command, but you have to show us around once we get there.”

“We’ll start with my home if I can find it,” Galborae answered with a frown, his eyes betraying an inner doubt.

“You don’t know where your home is? How did you get here?”

“I was rescued by a great warrior who was in service to a Knight. Until meeting them, I’d never been farther from my town than a gorlac could travel in one month.”

Havlock’s eyes went to the ceiling again as a hand rubbed unconsciously across the stubble on his chin. He was one of those unlucky people who always looked like he needed to shave, even right after shaving.

He lifted a communicator to his mouth and spoke
.
“Zac, I’m volunteering you for a new assignment. We’re shipping out. I need to see you.” He took Galborae’s arm and led him to a side office and waited while Limam crowded in with them. “Let’s talk,” he said. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m a knight. I answer to my liege lord, thence to the King.”

“How many knights are there?”

“When I left, just myself. Gleasons killed the others.”

“How many before the gleasons?”

“Three. Each of us had a squire, and we all had gorlacs and melds.”

“Melds?”

“Like Limam here,” he said, running his hand through the cat’s fur. “They mind-meld with us.”

“So only three knights on the planet?”

Galborae jerked visibly. “No! There were three knights in my town. Most towns have at least one knight. My king commands 72 knights. I’m told some kings command more, but I have not seen it with my own eyes.”

Havlock’s eyes narrowed. “There’s more than one king on your world?”

“There are. Probably many. I can’t speak with certainty. Until the Knight took me aboard her ship, I had no idea how large our world was. I still don’t fully grasp it. What I do understand is that gleasons are everywhere. We will have to kill each and every one of them, not just the ones near my town.”

Major Lebac found them. Havlock introduced Galborae to him and added, “I’m taking an advance force of 20 squads to Tranxte. Want to fight gleasons with me?”

Lebac’s jaw dropped in shock. “We’ve been gearing up to do it, but these are gleasons we’re talking about, Gar. It’ll be bad. Going there was months away. Now you’re telling me it’s . . . right now?”

“We’re leaving as soon as we can pull it together. You and I beat the Rebels with no preparation at all. This time we have time to prepare, but we won’t have easy access to support once we leave. We have to take everything with us. Will you be my second in command?”

“Depends,” Lebac said guardedly. “We waited until the Terrans took out the Chessori before we took on the rebels. We can’t operate that way against gleasons. We’ll be on our own. Besides, you’ve been in a dark mood lately, my friend.”

Havlock shot a furtive glance toward Galborae, then returned a steady gaze to Lebac. “And you know why.”

Lebac frowned. “You see the marines who died. The rest of us look at the marines who lived. General Stymes must believe a change of venue will do you good. I happen to think he’s right, but
gleasons?
”

“You’ve probably heard we have a life force sensor that can identify gleasons. We’ll do most of our fighting from shuttles.”

Lebac shook his head. “It’s never that simple, Gar, and you know it. It’ll take all of us at our very best.”

Havlock nodded. “It will. I’m already putting the rebellion behind me. Stick with me, Zac. Let’s pull off another win.”

“Only if I get your best.”

“You have my word on it.”

Lebacstuck out a hand with a grin
.
“Then I’m in. I’m ready for a change, as well.”

“I want all the officers and as many of the enlisted as possible to be volunteers. Find people you can live with, then I’ll interview the officers and senior sergeants.”

The two of them discussed an overall plan, then Lebac left to get started on preparations. Havlock watched his friend go, then he led Galborae and Limam from the building. They strolled down a wide boulevard adjacent to the port, the smell of freshly clipped grasses filling their nostrils. The sun burned fiercely and Galborae felt like removing his tunic, but he’d been with the marines long enough to know they frowned on uniform imperfections. He did not have an actual uniform, but he had been wearing the tunic since his arrival and knew they considered it appropriate for him.

“So you know the lands around your town out to a distance of one month on a gorlac. That’s an animal?” Havlock asked.

“It’s a four-legged beast.”

“What about the rest of your world?” Havlock asked, beginning to get a better handle on the scope of his mission. “You say there are more kingdoms. Do they all speak the same language?”

“I don’t know. I had never heard another language before the Knight’s ship arrived.”

“You ride gorlacs. I take it you have no self-powered vehicles.”

“We don’t.”

“You carry a sword, so you have fire.”

Galborae rolled his eyes. “And wheels. We eat out of bowls. We use spoons and knives. We have roads and castles and homes and healers.”

Havlock reached a hand out to Galborae. “I mean no disrespect. I’m just trying to get my hands around the nature of our mission. How high can you count?”

Galborae blinked, not understanding the question. “What?”

“We have 20 combat shuttles. Each of them carries a twenty-man squad, two pilots, a medic, and an officer. How many soldiers do we have?”

Galborae didn’t hesitate. “Many.”

“How many?”

Galborae knew he was missing something, but the only answer that made any sense to him was many.

Havlock needed no further explanation and he changed the subject. “What will your people think when they see us fighting the gleasons?”

“It would be best if they only see me.”

Havlock shook his head. “No matter how hard we try, we’ll be seen. Rumors will spread.”

“Governor Seeton and the Knight each went to a lot of trouble to explain the consequences to my people of learning there’s an empire of aliens beyond our skies, but that’s your problem. I only care about stopping the dying. Let the rumors spread.”

Havlock studied Galborae for a long time, his mind considering the scope of their mission and Galborae’s part in it, then he shook his head. “You’re wrong. The cost to your people is not my concern. It’s yours.”

“My concern is gleasons.”

“No. You’re a knight. That means you’re a leader. I don’t know how good a leader you are, but your people need you to be a great leader. Your king and all the other kings will need guidance when we arrive. I’m counting on you to lead them through this terrible time. My men and I will deal with the gleasons, and we’ll do our best not to frighten everyone while we do so, but we’re going to fail at that. Many, many, many people will learn of us, and they won’t understand. General Stymes is putting together a program to help them. He’ll bring more soldiers, and he’ll bring scholars and experts to explain things, but those experts will need your help. So will your kings—all of them. I need you to start thinking bigger.”

“My people are stronger than you think.”

“We can’t bring all of them for a ride into space to teach them what you know.”

“They don’t need a ride into space. They need to survive. They’ll be desperate for food by the time we return. Farmers were not able to plant this season.”

“We can’t feed a whole planet.”

“Why not?”

Havlock rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm. I’ll discuss it with General Stymes before we ship out. He might be able to send rations or something, but you’re talking about a whole world starving. To the best of my knowledge, he hasn’t been thinking along those lines. I know I haven’t.”