the day.
Suddenly the Platinum Duke's image appeared in front of Cole.
"I did it!" he cried happily.
"Did what?" asked Cole.
"Beat the little bastard at whist!"
"You actually played whist?"
"I had to," said the Duke. "He damned near cleaned me out at blackjack."
"That's what you get for gambling with a member of the British middle class," said Cole.
"Sir?" said Rachel, and the Duke's image vanished.
"Yeah?"
"We have a message coming in from Mr. Moyer."
"Coded and scrambled, I trust?"
"Yes, sir. He has just made another kill. That is his fifth."
"Good for him."
"You don't seem very elated," she noted.
"He's killed five ships, and that's impressive," admitted Cole. His expression darkened. "We still have three and a half million ships to neutralize. That's less impressive."
She studied her computer for a moment. "He wants to speak to you, sir."
"This will translate him into Terran, and my reply will go out scrambled to his ship, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, put him through."
"It will just be audio. It would take too long to transmit a live holo at this distance."
"Fine."
"Sir," said Moyer's voice, "I need some guidance. I have a prisoner here, a survivor from the last ship I destroyed. I couldn't just let him starve or run out of air in a safety pod. What should I do with him?"
"Put him down on an oxygen world," replied Cole. "It can't be a Republic world; they'd never let you take off again. If you can find some colony world, maybe a farming planet, drop him off there."
There was a pause while the message reached Moyer and his reply came back.
"Our charts may be out of date, sir. What we have as a colony world may have been assimilated into the Republic since we left. I think it might be safe to drop him on an uninhabited oxygen world, and contact a Republic world a week later with his coordinates. He's in good physical shape, no wounds at all; he can make it for a week, and I can be pretty far away by then."
"Makes sense," said Cole. "All right, handle it that way."
He signaled Rachel to break the connection.
"You still look unhappy, sir," she noted.
"We can't have all our ships cruise aimlessly, picking off small Navy ships whenever we can sneak up on them," said Cole. "We're not fighting some little warlord who commands twenty ships back on the Inner Frontier. This is the Republic. They don't even notice that we're here."
"Commander Jacovic says you have some master plan that has something to do with the ship Mr. Lafferty is equipping."
"Mr. Lafferty could be months or even years stealing or assembling an engine that can run that thing," said Cole. "Or he could get captured trying. If he accomplishes it, fine; but we can't just sit around waiting for him to do so." He suddenly looked around. "By the way, where's the Officer on Deck?"
"I'm coming," said Val, stepping off the airlift with a beer in her hand. "Briggs, did you finish that sweep?"
"Yes," he replied. "It's just a meteor storm."
"Good." She turned to Cole. "You can't be too careful. I used meteor storms for cover more than once in my pirate days."
"Damned dangerous," commented Briggs.
"Damned effective," replied Val with a smile.
"You could have lost your ship," said Briggs. "If something had hit you, there was nothing you could do."
"Sometimes you have to take bold action," said Val with an unconcerned shrug.
"You're right," said Cole suddenly. "Sometimes you do."
Val, Briggs, and Rachel turned to him.
"What the hell are you talking about, Cole?" asked Val.
"As far as the Republic's concerned, we're less than a gnat," said Cole. "They don't respond, because they don't even know we're here. We could pick off ten ships a day, and at the end of the week they'd have built more ships than we eliminated. We have to start being bolder; we have to make them aware of our presence."
"Won't that just mean they'll come after us with overwhelming force?" asked Rachel, frowning.
"They won't know where to come," said Cole. "Besides,
Suddenly the Platinum Duke's image appeared in front of Cole.
"I did it!" he cried happily.
"Did what?" asked Cole.
"Beat the little bastard at whist!"
"You actually played whist?"
"I had to," said the Duke. "He damned near cleaned me out at blackjack."
"That's what you get for gambling with a member of the British middle class," said Cole.
"Sir?" said Rachel, and the Duke's image vanished.
"Yeah?"
"We have a message coming in from Mr. Moyer."
"Coded and scrambled, I trust?"
"Yes, sir. He has just made another kill. That is his fifth."
"Good for him."
"You don't seem very elated," she noted.
"He's killed five ships, and that's impressive," admitted Cole. His expression darkened. "We still have three and a half million ships to neutralize. That's less impressive."
She studied her computer for a moment. "He wants to speak to you, sir."
"This will translate him into Terran, and my reply will go out scrambled to his ship, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, put him through."
"It will just be audio. It would take too long to transmit a live holo at this distance."
"Fine."
"Sir," said Moyer's voice, "I need some guidance. I have a prisoner here, a survivor from the last ship I destroyed. I couldn't just let him starve or run out of air in a safety pod. What should I do with him?"
"Put him down on an oxygen world," replied Cole. "It can't be a Republic world; they'd never let you take off again. If you can find some colony world, maybe a farming planet, drop him off there."
There was a pause while the message reached Moyer and his reply came back.
"Our charts may be out of date, sir. What we have as a colony world may have been assimilated into the Republic since we left. I think it might be safe to drop him on an uninhabited oxygen world, and contact a Republic world a week later with his coordinates. He's in good physical shape, no wounds at all; he can make it for a week, and I can be pretty far away by then."
"Makes sense," said Cole. "All right, handle it that way."
He signaled Rachel to break the connection.
"You still look unhappy, sir," she noted.
"We can't have all our ships cruise aimlessly, picking off small Navy ships whenever we can sneak up on them," said Cole. "We're not fighting some little warlord who commands twenty ships back on the Inner Frontier. This is the Republic. They don't even notice that we're here."
"Commander Jacovic says you have some master plan that has something to do with the ship Mr. Lafferty is equipping."
"Mr. Lafferty could be months or even years stealing or assembling an engine that can run that thing," said Cole. "Or he could get captured trying. If he accomplishes it, fine; but we can't just sit around waiting for him to do so." He suddenly looked around. "By the way, where's the Officer on Deck?"
"I'm coming," said Val, stepping off the airlift with a beer in her hand. "Briggs, did you finish that sweep?"
"Yes," he replied. "It's just a meteor storm."
"Good." She turned to Cole. "You can't be too careful. I used meteor storms for cover more than once in my pirate days."
"Damned dangerous," commented Briggs.
"Damned effective," replied Val with a smile.
"You could have lost your ship," said Briggs. "If something had hit you, there was nothing you could do."
"Sometimes you have to take bold action," said Val with an unconcerned shrug.
"You're right," said Cole suddenly. "Sometimes you do."
Val, Briggs, and Rachel turned to him.
"What the hell are you talking about, Cole?" asked Val.
"As far as the Republic's concerned, we're less than a gnat," said Cole. "They don't respond, because they don't even know we're here. We could pick off ten ships a day, and at the end of the week they'd have built more ships than we eliminated. We have to start being bolder; we have to make them aware of our presence."
"Won't that just mean they'll come after us with overwhelming force?" asked Rachel, frowning.
"They won't know where to come," said Cole. "Besides,
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