had been high.
Two of the Marines forward at Sergeant Bruce’s position were also down and bleeding. In both cases, they’d taken repeated hits in the same general vicinity. The warranty on standard-issue armor doesn’t apply to multiple hits.
“Abby, what happened to my order for four-hundred-plus spider-silk-armored bodysuits, reinforced with liquid metal?” Kris demanded of her maid and extremely good scrounger.
“In case you haven’t noticed, Princess, we are way out beyond the Rim of human space, and our mail ain’t so good. Our supply ship, the Surprise , is supposed to be bringing out those packages, but, you’ll excuse me if I say I’ll be surprised if I ever see anything from that boat.”
Abby, of course, was right about their being far off the beaten path, and the Surprise was rapidly developing a bad reputation for it being a surprise if she had what you wanted. Of course, the last time she made a trip back to Wardhaven, she’d returned overloaded with famine rations. It was hard to complain about that kind of load after mornings like today.
If it wouldn’t mean losing Abby, Kris was getting more and more tempted to activate her maid’s reserve first lieutenant commission and order her to set up her own supply service.
On the second hand, that would mean losing Abby’s services as a superb intelligence gatherer.
And on the third hand, this close to the Peterwald Empire, turning Abby loose with a checkbook might result in some really strange financial deals. Wars had been started over less.
“Kris,” Penny said, coming to her feet, “if I could get a breath in edgewise, I’ve been talking to folks on the Wasp . They’ve been interrogating our pirate prisoners.”
“Who’s doing the interrogations?” Kris asked.
On its last trip to Wardhaven, the Wasp had acquired more Marines and sailors, and, though Kris wasn’t sure, there seemed to be a lot of new faces among the civilians on board. Professor mFumbo told her that half of the boffins found the present situation too bland for their tastes. They’d been run through the National Secrets Act, solidly scared about breathing a word about what they witnessed while touring the galaxy with one Kris Longknife . . . sometime princess and inevitable troublemaker . . . and sent on their way.
Which didn’t explain who was paying the new civilians on board and what they were there for. Was Admiral Crossenshield slipping his kind of black-ops folks into Kris’s crew?
NELLY, CAN YOU TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THE NEW CIVILIAN MEMBERS OF OUR CREW? Kris had asked early in the voyage.
NO, KRIS. NOW THAT CAPTAIN DRAGO KNOWS I’VE GOT THE SHIP’S COMPUTER EATING OUT OF MY HAND, HE’S TAKEN TO WITHHOLDING CERTAIN INFORMATION FROM THAT COMPUTER. I KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WE HAVE ON RATIONS, NAVY, MARINE, AND CIVILIANS; BUT I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHO THESE NEW PEOPLE ARE. YOU KNOW, KRIS, I DON’T THINK THE CAPTAIN TRUSTS ME ANYMORE.
I DON’T THINK HE EVER TRUSTED ME. HE AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TALK.
GOOD LUCK AT THAT, KRIS. I MIGHT ALSO ADD THAT ABBY STILL USES HER OLD COMPUTER AND TURNS MY KID OFF REGULARLY. THAT WOMAN DOES NOT TRUST ANYONE.
So it was with some trepidation that Kris asked Penny, “Who’s been doing the interrogations, and just what are they doing?”
“Don’t worry, Kris. We just sat them down in one of the civilian bistros and ordered hamburgers, fries, and beer.”
“Hamburgers?”
“Yeah. Most of them haven’t had a decent meal in three, four months. Put some decent food in front of them. Throw in a couple of beers, and our intel staff are their new best friends.”
Hmm, that’s an interesting approach . “So what are they saying?”
“Nothing,” Penny said with a shrug. “But that nothing tells us a lot.”
Confused, Kris frowned. “Such as?”
“You may have noticed that they rammed us.”
“Captain Drago made sure I did indeed notice that. And he reminds me of it every chance he gets,” Kris
Two of the Marines forward at Sergeant Bruce’s position were also down and bleeding. In both cases, they’d taken repeated hits in the same general vicinity. The warranty on standard-issue armor doesn’t apply to multiple hits.
“Abby, what happened to my order for four-hundred-plus spider-silk-armored bodysuits, reinforced with liquid metal?” Kris demanded of her maid and extremely good scrounger.
“In case you haven’t noticed, Princess, we are way out beyond the Rim of human space, and our mail ain’t so good. Our supply ship, the Surprise , is supposed to be bringing out those packages, but, you’ll excuse me if I say I’ll be surprised if I ever see anything from that boat.”
Abby, of course, was right about their being far off the beaten path, and the Surprise was rapidly developing a bad reputation for it being a surprise if she had what you wanted. Of course, the last time she made a trip back to Wardhaven, she’d returned overloaded with famine rations. It was hard to complain about that kind of load after mornings like today.
If it wouldn’t mean losing Abby, Kris was getting more and more tempted to activate her maid’s reserve first lieutenant commission and order her to set up her own supply service.
On the second hand, that would mean losing Abby’s services as a superb intelligence gatherer.
And on the third hand, this close to the Peterwald Empire, turning Abby loose with a checkbook might result in some really strange financial deals. Wars had been started over less.
“Kris,” Penny said, coming to her feet, “if I could get a breath in edgewise, I’ve been talking to folks on the Wasp . They’ve been interrogating our pirate prisoners.”
“Who’s doing the interrogations?” Kris asked.
On its last trip to Wardhaven, the Wasp had acquired more Marines and sailors, and, though Kris wasn’t sure, there seemed to be a lot of new faces among the civilians on board. Professor mFumbo told her that half of the boffins found the present situation too bland for their tastes. They’d been run through the National Secrets Act, solidly scared about breathing a word about what they witnessed while touring the galaxy with one Kris Longknife . . . sometime princess and inevitable troublemaker . . . and sent on their way.
Which didn’t explain who was paying the new civilians on board and what they were there for. Was Admiral Crossenshield slipping his kind of black-ops folks into Kris’s crew?
NELLY, CAN YOU TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THE NEW CIVILIAN MEMBERS OF OUR CREW? Kris had asked early in the voyage.
NO, KRIS. NOW THAT CAPTAIN DRAGO KNOWS I’VE GOT THE SHIP’S COMPUTER EATING OUT OF MY HAND, HE’S TAKEN TO WITHHOLDING CERTAIN INFORMATION FROM THAT COMPUTER. I KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WE HAVE ON RATIONS, NAVY, MARINE, AND CIVILIANS; BUT I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHO THESE NEW PEOPLE ARE. YOU KNOW, KRIS, I DON’T THINK THE CAPTAIN TRUSTS ME ANYMORE.
I DON’T THINK HE EVER TRUSTED ME. HE AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TALK.
GOOD LUCK AT THAT, KRIS. I MIGHT ALSO ADD THAT ABBY STILL USES HER OLD COMPUTER AND TURNS MY KID OFF REGULARLY. THAT WOMAN DOES NOT TRUST ANYONE.
So it was with some trepidation that Kris asked Penny, “Who’s been doing the interrogations, and just what are they doing?”
“Don’t worry, Kris. We just sat them down in one of the civilian bistros and ordered hamburgers, fries, and beer.”
“Hamburgers?”
“Yeah. Most of them haven’t had a decent meal in three, four months. Put some decent food in front of them. Throw in a couple of beers, and our intel staff are their new best friends.”
Hmm, that’s an interesting approach . “So what are they saying?”
“Nothing,” Penny said with a shrug. “But that nothing tells us a lot.”
Confused, Kris frowned. “Such as?”
“You may have noticed that they rammed us.”
“Captain Drago made sure I did indeed notice that. And he reminds me of it every chance he gets,” Kris
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