Read Online Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Moon
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Space Opera, War & Military, War stories, Space warfare, Life on other planets, Science fiction; American, SF-Space, War stories; American
Ads: Link
instructed Crown & Spears to forward her balance to her account at Lastway. Leonora was only a stopover; she shouldn’t need much money there. She tried again to reach her father from the ship’s secured com desk. CONTACT UNAVAILABLE was all she could get, using any of his numbers.
Then
Gary Tobai
uncoupled from dockside; the station seals closed and vented the little airspace remaining around the ship. Lee backed them out smoothly; the insystem drive spun up normally, and she was once more in command of her own ship in space.
Chapter Four
Now that we’re safely back in space,” Ky said to the assembled crew, “you need to know the latest information. You know about the attempted sabotage of this ship, and the attack on me personally.”
“Is it because of the Sabine affair?” Quincy asked.
“I don’t think so,” Ky said. “Not now. Too much is happening. The Slotter Key ansible isn’t functioning—that happened sometime yesterday. I was in contact with Vatta headquarters, and that signal was also cut off, but hours earlier, before the assassins attacked. I don’t know why Vatta would be a target, but apparently we are.”
“What can we do?” asked Mitt.
“The first thing we need to do is figure out what the situation is,” Ky said. “Right now we don’t know if Slotter Key’s ansible platforms were blown, or if there’s another reason their ansible’s offline. We don’t know enough to make a plan. But we do know there’s danger, and being a moving target will make it harder for our enemies to hit us.”
“Move fast, stay alert,” Martin said. The others looked at him. “Makes sense, Captain,” he said.
“Our stated itinerary is Belinta to Leonora to Lastway,” Ky said. “But we have supplies enough to go straight to Lastway—”
“Why go to Lastway at all?” Quincy asked. “Why not head back to Slotter Key, find out what’s really going on?”
“I’d rather stay out of systems with no working ansibles,” Ky said. “We’ve been in that situation before. Not good. Lastway’s remote enough, out on the fringe… I’m betting that it’ll have ansible function even if others are shut down. It’s also a high-volume system, plenty of traffic. That could bring us trouble, but it can also bring us news and allies. From there we can hop back to Leonora with their cargo if things settle down.”
“What kind of internal security scans does this ship have?” Martin asked.
“Just the usual for civilian tradeships,” Ky said. “Some of it’s down, too, thanks to the mutiny at Sabine. Video and audio to each compartment, mostly for communication. Why?”
“Someone tried to put explosives aboard—I’d like to be sure nothing else came aboard. No offense intended to your crew, but just in case.”
“Good idea,” Ky said. “You mean check out compartments personally?”
“That, and with some of the kit I brought along.” He patted his tunic.
Ky thought of asking where he’d gotten whatever it was, and decided now was not the time. “Go ahead, then,” she said. “Cargo’s secure; I’ll take the other sections’ reports while you learn where things are.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said; his arm twitched in what would, Ky knew, have been a salute.
Mitt was halfway through giving his report when muffled thumps made them all look up. The intercom clicked, and Martin’s voice said, “Intruder, cargo hold two. In custody. Request orders.”
“I’m on my way,” Ky said. “Mitt, Beeah, come with me.”
Just inside the open hatch of cargo hold 2, Martin stood guard over a prone figure in rumpled green tunic and kilt whose ankles and wrists had been trussed up with elastic cargo binders. “If you can take charge of him,” Martin said, “I’ll keep looking for any others.”
“Mitt, you stay with him; Beeah, be ready in case Martin needs you.”
It took several hours for Martin to be confident that no other stowaways were hidden away. “And I’m still not
Then
Gary Tobai
uncoupled from dockside; the station seals closed and vented the little airspace remaining around the ship. Lee backed them out smoothly; the insystem drive spun up normally, and she was once more in command of her own ship in space.
Chapter Four
Now that we’re safely back in space,” Ky said to the assembled crew, “you need to know the latest information. You know about the attempted sabotage of this ship, and the attack on me personally.”
“Is it because of the Sabine affair?” Quincy asked.
“I don’t think so,” Ky said. “Not now. Too much is happening. The Slotter Key ansible isn’t functioning—that happened sometime yesterday. I was in contact with Vatta headquarters, and that signal was also cut off, but hours earlier, before the assassins attacked. I don’t know why Vatta would be a target, but apparently we are.”
“What can we do?” asked Mitt.
“The first thing we need to do is figure out what the situation is,” Ky said. “Right now we don’t know if Slotter Key’s ansible platforms were blown, or if there’s another reason their ansible’s offline. We don’t know enough to make a plan. But we do know there’s danger, and being a moving target will make it harder for our enemies to hit us.”
“Move fast, stay alert,” Martin said. The others looked at him. “Makes sense, Captain,” he said.
“Our stated itinerary is Belinta to Leonora to Lastway,” Ky said. “But we have supplies enough to go straight to Lastway—”
“Why go to Lastway at all?” Quincy asked. “Why not head back to Slotter Key, find out what’s really going on?”
“I’d rather stay out of systems with no working ansibles,” Ky said. “We’ve been in that situation before. Not good. Lastway’s remote enough, out on the fringe… I’m betting that it’ll have ansible function even if others are shut down. It’s also a high-volume system, plenty of traffic. That could bring us trouble, but it can also bring us news and allies. From there we can hop back to Leonora with their cargo if things settle down.”
“What kind of internal security scans does this ship have?” Martin asked.
“Just the usual for civilian tradeships,” Ky said. “Some of it’s down, too, thanks to the mutiny at Sabine. Video and audio to each compartment, mostly for communication. Why?”
“Someone tried to put explosives aboard—I’d like to be sure nothing else came aboard. No offense intended to your crew, but just in case.”
“Good idea,” Ky said. “You mean check out compartments personally?”
“That, and with some of the kit I brought along.” He patted his tunic.
Ky thought of asking where he’d gotten whatever it was, and decided now was not the time. “Go ahead, then,” she said. “Cargo’s secure; I’ll take the other sections’ reports while you learn where things are.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said; his arm twitched in what would, Ky knew, have been a salute.
Mitt was halfway through giving his report when muffled thumps made them all look up. The intercom clicked, and Martin’s voice said, “Intruder, cargo hold two. In custody. Request orders.”
“I’m on my way,” Ky said. “Mitt, Beeah, come with me.”
Just inside the open hatch of cargo hold 2, Martin stood guard over a prone figure in rumpled green tunic and kilt whose ankles and wrists had been trussed up with elastic cargo binders. “If you can take charge of him,” Martin said, “I’ll keep looking for any others.”
“Mitt, you stay with him; Beeah, be ready in case Martin needs you.”
It took several hours for Martin to be confident that no other stowaways were hidden away. “And I’m still not
Similar Books
