A Matter of Honor Part 21

She was unfamiliar with Terran geography, but everyone knew about the fabulous Imperial Palace. Isolated in the heart of a frozen continent, it was the center of the Palace Complex, a hundred-kilometer-diameter circle of parklike city. She didn't understand the physics of the modified defense screen that allowed it to exist in spite of Antarctica's climate, but the politics Davis had mentioned were clear enough.

The Solar Federation's capital had been in Ceres, but when Nannstein's discovery of hyperdrive had triggered the necessary change from Federation to Empire, that had been abandoned. The Empire needed a center on Terra itself as a symbol of unity, yet squabbling about its location among the planetary powers had made that unity a mockery until Emperor Chang stepped in.

It was his decision that, since the Empire was not concerned with local politics--it couldn't be and still govern the Empire as a whole properly--the Palace would not be located on any individual nation's territory. That made Antarctica the only possible place. Covered by multinational treaties and with no permanent inhabitants, it had no national ident.i.ty.

And she would be going there, going to the Palace itself . . . as a Ranger. What would her parents think? Corina hoped they would be proud--

Medart interrupted her musing. "How about breakfast? I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

"So am I," Corina agreed. "And we have plans to make."

"Correction," Medart said. "You have plans to make. All I'm going to do is listen and critique."

They took an intraship shuttle to Mess One, intended for senior officers and at this hour quite empty, unlike the always-busy Mess Three. They got their meals and ate silently while Corina decided on her plans.

"The first thing, I think," she finally said, "is to find anyone else aboard with mind shields, to make a combat group. I have met surprisingly many--four out of perhaps three hundred--yet five of us will accomplish little against Thark and the Seniors of the Prime Chapter."

"Right," Medart agreed, "since unshielded ones wouldn't last long. Who else have you found?"

"Besides yourself, there is Colonel Greggson, as you know from the conference. Also Captain Hobison, and the small Marine from the demonstration, Lieutenant DarLeras."

"That one somehow doesn't surprise me," Medart commented.

Corina purred briefly. "He is the first Sandeman warrior I have met, but from my reading and your memories of the warrior Gaelan, I am also not surprised. An enthusiastic fighter, of course, and even shielded, I sense great potential in him."

"He's got that, all right," Medart agreed. "First in last summer's graduating cla.s.s at the Academy in the Complex, and if he'd fit the psych profile better, he would've been approached about the Rangers.

But he can't help thinking of combat as a preferred option rather than a last resort." Medart paused. "It might interest you, and supports your theory, that Captain Hobison was asked. He refused, but that doesn't change his abilities."

"Four out of the first five either Rangers or Ranger-level," Corina said thoughtfully. "Colonel Greggson is not?"

"What do you think? No--too inflexible, not enough regard for others, too narrow an orientation. He's at the top of his field or he wouldn't be on an IBC, but he's definitely not Ranger material. Go on."

"Once we have found any shielded people, we must develop your Talent, in particular your shield and darlas. You do have the ability, but it will be of little use without better control than you have yet achieved. And greater power, as well. Admittedly, you did knock me out yesterday; that, however, was in part because I had partially lowered my own shield, trying to feel any trace of your darlas. That is one mistake I do not plan to repeat."

"I should hope not!" Medart said emphatically. "You gave me quite a scare, and I'd rather not 'be' any more people than I have to."

"It is imperative that we find out about the aspect of your Talent I have, for lack of a better term, called reverse darlas. A thing not understood may be a help or a hindrance. We must discover which this is, and if it is a help, how best to use it."

"Yeah, and if it's a hindrance, how not to use it. What about timing?"

"I am concerned about that," Corina admitted. "I hope to have the week to ten days you need for even minimal training, but I must plan on less. I am almost positive of another four days, though, which will help."

"So what are you going to do with the ship in the meantime? Our Terra ETA is 0330 tomorrow. Chang's too big to land, and we'd be pretty conspicuous in orbit."

"Urrr." Corina hadn't thought about that. "Does that system not have a band of debris? Between the fourth and fifth planets, I believe."

Medart nodded. "The asteroid belt."

"Then instead of going into orbit, we stay there. I will give the defense satellites instructions to call us when Thark lands. The delay between our getting that message and our arrival in orbit, plus the time to land, should take perhaps twenty minutes, from the theory I remember. That will allow him to attack the Palace and provide the evidence His Majesty wishes."

"You're a.s.suming Chang's navigator can plot that short a hypers.p.a.ce flight with a lot of precision."

"Yes. I believe it a valid a.s.sumption, or he would not be conning a Ranger's chosen ship."

"Logical reasoning, and very true. All three of our navigators are every bit that exact. It sounds good; now we just hope it works. One of our ancient poets wrote, 'The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley,' and he was right."

"That was Robert Burns," Corina said. "One of your early scientists put the same idea another way: 'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.'" She felt Medart's surprise at the identification and quote.

"I was not probing; Terran poetry interests me, particularly Burns, Service, and Kipling. Except for ancient war chants, Irschcha has little that can be called poetry."

"Nice to know you have interests that don't show up on your records,"

Medart said.

"What do you mean?"

"As I said earlier, it's not so much what you know as how your mind works that counts, as long as you have the basics. You can always find out any facts you need. But being interested in a variety of things is essential; you never know what's going to come in handy. Poetry doesn't seem particularly promising, but on the other hand, as I said, you never know."

The mess was starting to fill as the senior officers trickled in for breakfast. By the time the two Rangers finished eating, all but Captain Hobison and Commander Jensen were there.

Until they stood to leave, n.o.body paid any particular attention to Corina; it wasn't surprising that Medart's special a.s.sistant should join him at a meal. When they did stand, however, Commander Pappas gave an exclamation of surprise, and the room grew silent. That didn't last long; the murmur of conversation resumed, but now, from what Corina could hear, with herself as the subject. The tone was more awed than surprised after that first exclamation, and Corina a.s.sumed that word of the previous day's war council was no longer restricted to the Command Crew.

Jim must have picked that up, she thought, or possibly he was just antic.i.p.ating her reaction. "It's impossible to keep rumors from circulating aboard ship," he said, "especially about something as rare as a potential Ranger. The word was probably all over Chang within fifteen minutes after His Majesty dismissed the Command Crew. There's no harm in it."

They entered a shuttle, and Medart ordered it to the Bridge. "We'll meet Captain Hobison there, so he'll get the news directly, not second-hand. He normally has breakfast in his cabin, and goes straight to the Bridge."

Corina nodded. "And I must tell him my plans, as well. But what about those rumors? What if I had continued to refuse?"

"You're starting to sound like Sunbeam," Medart laughed. "The rumors would have tapered off eventually, after giving the crew something a bit different to talk about for awhile."

The shuttle slowed to a stop, its door sliding open. The Bridge, as the ship's nerve center, was of course always fully crewed; Chief Engineer Jensen, on duty as Senior Officer of the Watch, was seated in the Command chair. He swung the chair around to face them as they entered, saying, "You're early, Cap-- Huh?" He stood and saluted, his exclamation attracting the attention of the rest of the Bridge crew.

They also started to stand.

"As you were," Medart said, returning Jensen's salute. The Bridge returned to near-normal, though with more than the usual amount of non-duty conversation.

Corina saw Jensen's hand move toward the chair's comm controls, and spoke. "No, Commander. There is no need to disturb Captain Hobison; I understand he will be here shortly."

"Uh, yes, sir."

They waited in silence, both Rangers moving to stand at the left of the Command chair. The shuttle door finally slid open again and Hobison emerged. He raised one eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Corina's badge, but went through the routine of relieving Jensen before he said anything. Change of watch completed, he seated himself in the Command chair and turned to face the pair. "He talked you into it, did he, Ranger Losinj?" The words were neutral, but the tone was warm.

"Knowing Rangers, I suppose he's put you in charge of this mission."

"Yes, Captain, to both. I would like to tell you my plans as soon as you have the time."

"I've got it now, Ranger. Here or in the briefing room?"

"It might as well be here. The whole crew will need to know." Corina braced herself mentally. This was real; she was giving orders to the Captain of an Imperial Battle Cruiser, certain they would be obeyed.

"When we arrive in the Terran system, take station in the asteroid belt. Then call Defense Satellite Five and have them inform us of any Irschschan ship landing near the Palace. When you receive that word, start for Terra and call me. As soon as you have Chang in orbit, Ranger Medart and I, along with any crew members who have mind shields and are willing to volunteer, will take a lander down and attempt to take Thark in the act of invading the Palace."

"After your demonstration," Hobison said, "I can understand why you want people with mind shields, but everyone aboard this ship is already a volunteer. You don't need to ask them again."