A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Read online

  "De Laroche Bar, 1700. Don't bring an army," I said.

  Close comm.

  "You don't want to hear if he accepted your offer?" Ada asked.

  "If we make it to Gros, we'll know he accepted my offer," I said.

  OUT OF TIME

  Yishuv Settlement, Planet Ophir

  "What is wrong with your device?" Captain Gian asked.

  "I'm not sure," Merrie said. "It's like it lost power after I launched the portable network router. The weird thing is the router is working just fine."

  "I'll get a patrol together," Eliora said.

  "Do it. This technology is too important," Gian said.

  "Wait," Merrie said. "Don't forget, I have a second quad."

  "A second? Just how difficult are these to make?" Gian asked.

  "About an hour on the maker machine, but they won't allow me to borrow any more time for the next three tendays," she said.

  "I'll have a talk with Bessel," Gian said. "Now, how much time will it take to launch your second machine?"

  "One moment." Merrie's fingers flew across a keyboard that was connected via a wire to a metallic box.

  The screen lit up again with a view of the farmer's fields to the south west. The picture slowly spun around, catching a guard by surprise, causing him to fall from the chair he had leaned against the wall.

  "Was that Terevit?" Shem asked. "Was he sleeping?"

  "That wouldn't surprise me," Eliora said, shaking her head in disgust. "I'll be sure to have a word with him."

  They all watched as the picture showed the progress of the machine as it flew above the settlement and made its way over the old tannery where they sat. The noise of the machine was like a very loud stinging insect.

  "It's just up that hill," Shem said as Merrie directed the machine to fly along the route its twin had just taken.

  "My repeater is definitely working," Merrie said. "Look at the signal strength. It was almost fifty percent when we got here last time."

  "What of the machine. Can you locate it?" Gian asked.

  "Give me a minute. Contact with tree leaves is probably what did it. I need to be careful as it flies lower."

  "How low was it flying when it was taken out?" Eliora asked.

  "Seven or eight meters."

  "It could have been Ophie. Our patrols have been finding more and more pods in the mountains," she said. "Their hearing is particularly good and the noise your machine makes would attract their attention from a long way off."

  "What are you asking from me?" Merrie inquired.

  "Don't get too low. The Ophie blend into the hillside. I think they'll show themselves if you stay in one place for a while. But stay out of range."

  "What's their range?"

  "At least seven or eight meters?" Shem suggested.

  Merrie shook her head and rolled her eyes, but took the advice to heart and hovered at twenty meters above an open spot for several minutes.

  "There. Turn left," Shem said. "Uphill five meters."

  "I don't see anything," Merrie said.

  "I see one," Eliora said. "They're looking right at the quad."

  An Ophie stepped from the cover of the darkened forest, holding a rock the size of a man's fist.

  "You think it…?" Merrie pushed forward on her left joystick, causing the quad to lift rapidly as the Ophie launched the rock.

  "Now, can I take a patrol out there?" Eliora asked.

  "Take two squads. I don't want any casualties," Gian said.

  "If you take a walkie-talkie, we'll be able to tell you what we see from the air," Merrie said.

  "Show me again," Eliora said.

  Merrie turned the quad back toward the Yishuv settlement and flew back, landing on top of the northern wall, orienting the camera to look out at the forest. She then retrieved a walkie-talkie from beneath her workbench.

  "It's simple. Push the button to talk. If your button is pushed, you can't receive messages from anyone else. Otherwise, when you're talking, everyone on your channel hears what you say."

  "What's a channel?"

  "Just a number so people can have private conversations. These have forty channels. See, you're on channel six. Make sure you're on the same channel and you're good to go," she said.

  "Captain, keep this one. I'll pick up two more at the barracks and we'll set out," Eliora said. "If I hurry, I'll be able to grab the sixteen hundred patrol before they head out."

  "Are you going to split your squads?" Gian asked.

  "Yes. I'll lead a squad down from the north onto their position and Bashi will lead a group in from the east. We'll trap them on the ridge where Merrie's first quad machine was brought down."

  "A good plan," Shem said. "I'd like to take the blaster rifle onto the north wall. They're only three hundred meters out and it's possible I could get an open shot."

  "Do it," Gian said.

  Thirty minutes later Eliora had positioned her squad a hundred meters north of the last reported position of the Ophie.

  "Bashi, can you hear me?" Eliora asked.

  "Yes."

  "Hold there. Merrie, we're in position, fly your quad machine back to the last location."

  "She's lifting off and is en route," Gian responded.

  Eliora was startled by how loud the talkie sounded in the quiet forest. She twisted the volume control down. It would be better not to hear him than to attract the Ophie's attention.

  "Weapons at the ready," she ordered her squad.

  She held the talkie up and depressed the button. "Bashi, move in slowly. We'll pinch down from the top."

  "We're on the move."

  Merrie's machine finally arrived at the location where she'd encountered the Ophie only a short time previous. She slowly turned the quad, scanning the forest below and not finding anything. The leaves of the trees obscuring her view.

  "I have to get lower. I can't see through the canopy," she said.

  "Careful, remember what they did to your last bird," Gian warned.

  "I will," she said and slowly descended.

  "Not too low," Gian said.

  "There," Merrie said. "Top of the screen on the right."

  Gian looked as Merrie centered the quad's camera on an Ophie. It was staring up at the quad curiously, holding a rock.

  "Where are the others?" Gian asked. "They always travel in a pod of five."

  "I thought Eliora said they set an ambush on her last patrol?" Merrie said.

  "You think they have some clue as to the function of your quad?" Gian asked.

  "No, but they wouldn't need to. They'd just have to think it's related to us."

  "Eliora and Bashi are plenty careful. They know the score and thanks to Amon's swords, two squads are more than an even match for a pod," he said.

  "You have to tell her it could be a trap," Merrie said.

  "No can do. Ophie hearing is too sensitive, they'd hear your talkie," he said. "Best to let Eliora handle it from this point. The fact that your machine is distracting one of them is a nice bonus, though. Is there any way to get sound on this thing?"

  "Maybe, but we'd have a tough time picking up anything over the rotor's noise."

  "Damn. This is worse than waiting for them to return," Gian said.

  "Contact." The talkie on the table came to life with Eliora's voice. The button must have been locked down as the sounds of the talkie being dropped on the ground could be heard.

  The Ophie that had been watching the quad spun around and sprinted up the mountain. Merrie flew after him, but had a difficult time negotiating the trees.

  "Faster," Gian urged.

  The quad came upon the scene of a pitched battle. The sound from Eliora's still transmitting talkie providing sound to the battle. To Merrie's eyes, the Ophie towered over the human patrol, although the smaller humans were considerably faster. A gout of blood spurted upward as an Ophie club made contact, dropping the smaller man who'd advanced.

  "Close ranks," Eliora yelled, jumping to the front of her q
uad.

  "Where's Bashi?" Gian asked, rhetorically.

  He picked up the talkie and pressed the button to transmit on the talkie. "Bashi, all haste, Eliora's squad is under attack."

  "He can't hear you, Eliora's talkie is still transmitting, it's blocking you," Merrie said.

  "Gah, this is maddening," he said.

  They watched the battle unfold in front of them. The Ophie's heavy swings were more than making up for their slow speed. The protectors in Eliora's squad barely held off the pressing Ophie.

  "At least they're defending themselves." Gian observed as his protectors deflected the clubs with their long swords.

  "Retreat. Up the hill," Eliora commanded.

  "Why doesn't she parry?" Merrie asked. "She's just getting under its strikes."

  "Her katana is brittle. That club would shatter it. She prefers speed over brawn. It's a good choice for a smaller person," he explained.

  Merrie flew the quad in closer as Eliora's squad scrabbled back, up a rocky rise.

  "What's she doing?"

  "She's trying to gain higher ground. It's a small advantage with Ophie, but it's something," he said. "Damn it, where's Bashi?"

  A thought struck Merrie and she directed the quad to dive down, lining up even with the Ophie attacking Eliora. She fired one of the network repeaters into its back, causing the quad to lurch backward. The Ophie spun and with deadly accuracy mashed its club into the quad, the screen going blank.

  "Shite," Gian said.

  "Sorry, Captain," she said. "The idea just hit me."

  "I guess we'll just listen," he said.

  "How can you be so calm?"

  "Shhh…"

  The sounds of battle continued for several more minutes and finally there was quiet. A few moments after that, they heard rustling as someone or something picked up the talkie.

  "Captain?" Eliora's voice came through.

  "Status, Eliora," Gian said.

  "Two down, three wounded. I shouldn't have split the squads," she said.

  "Where's Bashi?"

  "He's here. There was a second pod. If not for Shem, it might have been a total loss," she said.

  "How's that?"

  "Eliora pulled the fight up the hill to a clearing. It gave me line of sight," Shem cut in.

  ***

  "Council will come to order," Councilwoman Peraf said, placing the pink crystal in its golden mounting onto the table.

  "Captain Gian, you've requested this meeting, the floor is yours," Peraf said.

  "Honored members of the council, the news I have is not good. I have reason to believe that an attack is imminent and would like to make plans accordingly," he said.

  "That's quite a statement," Bedros said. "How do you back this up?"

  "The patrols and attacks from the Ophie are increasing at an alarming rate. We've been attacked by more Ophie in the last six tendays than in the preceding hundred years," Gian answered.

  "By all accounts, your recent encounters have been wildly successful. Share the good news, Captain. What have your encounter survival rates been?" Bedros asked.

  "It is true. When our patrols have come into contact with the Ophie, we have sustained less than twenty percent casualties. This is mostly due to the new weapons from our apprentice engineer Merrie and smith Amon."

  "And, you're here to tell us you need more resources and higher priority - this and that?"

  "No, Mr. Bedros. I'm here to tell you that an attack of a size we've never seen is imminent."

  "How can you be so sure?" Peraf asked.

  "Our settlement is being scouted. The Ophie are mapping out our patrol routes and we are encountering different tribes. Throughout our entire history, we've been attacked by a single tribe. During the last four tendays, we've seen attacks from three entirely different tribes. The Ophie are banding together and I believe they will be mounting an attack of a scale we've never seen before," Gian said.

  "You're speculating," Bedros said.

  "It's my job to anticipate the movement of the Ophie and I'm telling you that things have changed. If we don't prepare now, we could lose the entire settlement."

  "You're despicable! Using a few attacks to improve your position," Bedros exclaimed.

  "Mr. Bedros, that's enough. There is no reason to insult Captain Gian," Peraf said sternly. "Let's say you're right, Captain. What would you have us do?"

  "I have four requests. First, we need to cut the forest back. I want a three hundred meter buffer around the entire settlement…."

  "Seriously?"

  "Second." Gian continued. "We have enough weapons that every citizen between twelve and fifty years should be equipped and trained. And third, we need priority of the maker machine to be given to the apprentice engineer Merrie."

  "Is that all?" Bedros asked sarcastically.

  "No. We must double the size of the protectorate immediately."

  "That would be ten percent of our population, we'd get nothing else done. Do you know how many farmers we've lost this year alone?" Bedros asked.

  "If in thirty tendays we haven't been attacked, then I will have been wrong. We can reduce our forces and I'll step down. Understand, however, when the Ophie march in here with ten times the forces we've seen previously and we haven't done everything we could to defend against them, we won't be talking about retirement."

  "What will we be doing?" Bedros asked.

  "In our last major attack on the city, only fifteen Ophie actually made it past the city gates. Those Ophie killed seventy citizens. Use your imagination, Bedros. What do you think a hundred or even five hundred Ophie running through the streets of Yishuv would do?"

  "Is there nothing else we can do to prepare for this attack?" Peraf asked.

  "You don't actually believe this madman, do you?" Bedros interrupted.

  "Captain Gian and his predecessors have defended this settlement for three centuries. I see no reason to disbelieve him and I want to take advantage of his insight," Peraf said and then turned to Gian. "Captain?"

  "We build a keep, just like our medieval ancestors did. It would provide shelter in case we are totally overrun. We could use the lumber we harvest from cutting back the forest. If we mount the city defense blaster over that bunker, we could hold off quite a sizeable force. It would be a desperate maneuver, but it could be the difference between survival and not," he said.

  "I move that we grant Captain Gian his requests. We will revisit preparations every tenday," Peraf said. "All in favor?"

  The other members of the council, who had been quiet to this point, raised their hands, Bedros the only detractor.

  On the way out, Bedros walked up to Gian, catching him from behind by his arm.

  "I suppose you feel that you won today," Bedros said angrily.

  Gian turned around. "Do you really believe this is about politics?"

  "You can play that game with Peraf, but don't try it with me."

  "Then don't simply believe me. Come see it with your own eyes," Gian said. "We're close to gaining intelligence on the Ophie tribe. You can sit at the table and see what we see, no filter."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Yes. We've been deploying new technology this afternoon. Come and see. Maybe you'll find something to hang me with," Gian said with a smile.

  "Shite. You're good at this – I almost believe this stupidity. I've vastly underestimated you," Bedros said. "But if you're offering, I will come."

  "Follow me," Gian said.

  "Where are we going?" Bedros had to hustle to keep up with Gian.

  "The old tannery."

  When they arrived, Merrie looked up from the bench where she was typing frantically on the computer.

  "Councilman Bedros. I... I wasn't expecting you," she stammered.

  "I don't suppose so. Captain Gian promised there was something happening I should see," he said.

  "Oh? No pressure then," she said, smiling.

  "Merrie, why don't you introduce Councilman Bedros to your sur
veillance network," Gian said.

  "Sure. If you would look up at the wall," Merrie said as she typed.

  The large, flat screens she'd mounted on the wall blinked to life. The screens simultaneously showed images to the southwest over the fields, east over the front wall and north up the mountain.

  "What is that?" Bedros asked.

  "It's a live video feed. The same feed is being monitored in the barracks around the clock. I've added a motion sensing algorithm that alerts that protector. Well, technically, the AI on the engineering console wrote the algorithm, but you get the idea." She began typing again. A middle screen popped to life, showing a person looking at a similar set of video screens. "That's Terevit, he's on duty right now."

  "That's interesting, but why is it a big deal?" Bedros asked.

  "If Terevit were to see something, he'd communicate with the squad on duty and we could have a team on the farm within five minutes of an Ophie sighting," Gian said. "Previous to this technology, our response time depended on someone ringing a bell. Not only that, Terevit has the capability to talk to the squad leader with something Merrie calls a talkie. He can actually direct those who are out in the field from his safe position back in the barracks."

  "How?"

  "Say hello to Terevit," Gian said, holding a talkie in front of the man.

  "Uh, hello?"

  The image of Terevit turned to the camera and waved.

  "He heard me?"

  "Yes. All of our squads have these when they're in the field. They can communicate with home base at any time," Gian said.

  Bedros couldn't help himself. He was astonished. "I thought all of the founder's communication equipment failed and we didn't have the materials to repair them."

  "That's correct, but Merrie found much older technology that the maker machine is capable of manufacturing."

  "Impressive. So how will you locate the Ophie?"

  "We've been carefully laying down a communication network up the mountain. It's been painstakingly slow, but we believe we're almost there," Gian said. "Merrie, are we still on schedule?"

  "We're ready," she said and typed furiously on the keyboard.

  The screens flickered and changed to a new view, looking north, up the mountain.