The Diamonds of Montora (The Chronicles of Montora Book 5) Read online

  "Aye, aye, Ma'am. We have four reconnaissance drones aboard. Is this important enough to use one?"

  She bit her lower lip. "Yes, TACO, I think this is important enough. How long until we have one ready to go?"

  "Skipper, I have one warmed up and on the rails. We can launch any time."

  She grinned at the tactical officer. "Mr. DesJardins, you have earned your gold star for the day. Please launch the drone."

  "Aye, aye, Ma'am. Launching drone."

  Desmet looked at the tactful plot and used her finger to draw a line across it. "Place the drone along this course, if you please."

  With the mad colonel on her way planet side, Captain Desmet was able to reestablish her equilibrium as well as settle down the bridge crew. While she respected Raganhild Bora, the woman had no business on the bridge of the starship. Spatial tactics required four-dimensional thinking, and the leader of the Highlander Regiment was obviously used to thinking in terms of planetary combat.

  Desmet settled into her command chair and watched the progress of the search. Her small fleet had assembled itself after their arrival in the Panoz system, and now it would require patience and cunning to smoke out potential enemy ships.

  "Radar pulse, skipper!" the tactical officer sang out.

  "I see it, Raymond." Desmet studied the tactical display. A red indicator was pulsing on the screen where the sensors had localized the single radar pulse. "Vector Edinburgh on the pulse, TACO."

  "Edinburgh is already swinging around, Skipper."

  "Our friend must've gotten impatient," she said. "She's got to be moving away from that point. The question is, which direction?"

  The tactical officer typed madly on his keyboard for a few moments; then leaned back and folded his arms as he watched his displays. "If Edinburgh reaches the target point, and runs a radar sweep from there, she should have her. I don't think that corvette could accelerate fast enough to get out of her range without us seeing it."

  "I agree," Desmet said. "But whoever it is is being pretty cagey."

  DesJardins suddenly sat up and stiffened. "Another contact, skipper. She just lit off her drives."

  Desmet studied the tactical screen closely. No comment was called for at this point.

  "Skipper it's the corvette that's accelerating away. Edinburgh is turning to chase her."

  "Could that other contact be the destroyer?"

  DesJardins bit his lip as he studied the screens. "Yes, Ma'am, it certainly could be. Wait a minute. I've got another drive signature. Classify this as contact two. This is definitely the destroyer."

  Desmet shook her head. "What is she doing?"

  "She's going after Edinburgh."

  Desmet pointed to the communications technician. "Comm, get a signal off to Glammorgen. Tell her to go after that destroyer!"

  Upon receiving the signal, Glammorgen immediately accelerated out of orbit at four hundred thirty-five gravities.

  “Skipper, contact two has fired on Edinburgh!”

  § § §

  Here I am commanding the flagship of the Hepplewhite System Navy, and delivering the opening salvo of our second war, Lieutenant Lari Chaplin said to herself. Of course, Canopus is the only ship in the Hepplewhite System Navy, she thought with a frown, but who's counting?

  "Skipper, the other destroyer is accelerating out of orbit towards us!" Ensign Sanford Kane, the tactical officer said. "Designate as Bogie Two."

  "Time to range, TACO?"

  "About twenty minutes, Skipper."

  Chaplin leaned back in the command chair and chewed on a thumbnail as she thought hard. "Okay, we will just have to deal with Bogie One before two gets here."

  The tactical picture was confused as Bogie One had reversed course to chase the corvette, and it also had six missiles chasing it. Bogie Two had erupted from orbit to join the fray, but that wouldn't affect things immediately.

  The tactical officer explained again. "Bogie One has opened fire on Cold Steel, Skipper."

  "Let's hope their defensive gunnery is up to snuff," Chaplin said. "Can you confirm Bogie One fired a full spread?"

  "Yes Ma'am, six missiles."

  "Very well. Be prepared to fire a second volley at Bogie One."

  "Aye, aye, Ma'am."

  Cold Steel managed to stop three of the incoming missiles with its counter fire. The other three bored in. Kane groaned when the icon for Cold Steel disappeared off the plot. Chaplin swore harshly, and pounded her fist on the arm of the chair.

  "Fire the second volley, Kane. If Bogie One stops the first six, I don't want her to get her wits about her and stop the second."

  "Aye, aye, Ma'am. Second volley launched."

  Canopus shivered as all six of her forward tubes fired. Chaplin cringed inwardly as she thought of the cost of the missiles. But she also knew that when people were firing at each other for real, they didn't have time to mess around.

  "Port ninety, helm. Let's open up some distance from Bogie Two."

  "Port ninety, aye, Ma'am."

  Chaplin studied the plot, and pondered some more. "Helm, let's drop back to eighty percent on the power settings."

  The Hepplewhite system Navy destroyer swooped to the left as the crew watched the developing missile duel.

  "Bogie One has fired on us, Skipper," Ensign Kane said. "Three missiles."

  ""Chief Sabbath, bring the nose up sixty degrees, and take us to military power again."

  "Sixty degree nose up, aye, Ma'am. Power settings back to military."

  "Tactical, get ready on the counter fire," Chaplin commanded. "Weapons free."

  "Weapons free, aye, Ma’am," Ensign Kane responded. "Counter missiles going out now."

  The vibration of the rapid launch of the small anti-missile missiles carried through the structure of the destroyer.

  "Okay, we stopped them with the counter missiles," Kane said.

  "Good shooting, Ensign," Chaplin said.

  Kane spoke again. "They stopped the first six missiles, Skipper."

  Chaplin tapped on a tooth with her thumbnail as she considered her options. "How long until we are out of range?"

  "About two minutes, Ma'am."

  "All right, then, Helm, come to 290 sub 10, and maintain power."

  "Course 290 sub 10, military power, aye Ma'am."

  After the ship turned onto its new course, they watched the tactical screens as they settled down again. Kane studied his screens, typed in some commands, and studied them some more.

  "We have both destroyers chasing us, now, Ma'am."

  "Can they get in range before we go FTL?"

  “No, Skipper.”

  "Did they stop the second flight of missiles?" Chaplin asked.

  "They stopped five of them. I lost track of the sixth. I'm not getting telemetry, but I don't think they got it. It may be swinging around for another run at them. If so, they may not see it either."

  Chaplin nodded. "Navigator, set up our course to Harcourt's World." She punched a button on the arm of the command chair.

  "Engineering, Ensign Amadia."

  "Ensign, begin making preparations for transition to the Berthold Drive."

  "Aye, aye, Skipper."

  "Whoa!" Kane rocked back in his chair. "Skipper, I think we got a piece of Bogie One. I got the hash on the screen from a nuclear blast, and his acceleration dropped way off."

  "All right!" Chaplin pounded the arms of her chair again. "How does Bogie Two look?"

  Kane bit his lip, and shook his head. "He still chasing us, but he's not going to get anywhere close before we translate."

  "If we pull back to eighty percent on the drives, will he catch us?"

  "Um… Just a minute, Skipper." He typed some more on his keyboard and studied the screens. "Not a chance, Skipper."

  "She's probably hoping for an engineering casualty on our part. Helm, throttle us back to eighty percent."

  "Eighty percent, aye."

  Chaplin studied the tactical displays, then her status screens. She lean
ed back in the chair and thought some more. "I think we will stay at stations until we go FTL. If something does happen, we won't have time to beat to quarters."

  She had gotten into the habit of thinking out loud while maneuvering the ship. Occasionally Ensign Kane, who was the acting Executive Officer, would offer a suggestion which improved upon her plans. She had long since learned not to fall in love with her own ideas.

  Two hours later Canopus crossed the edge of the gravity well surrounding Panoz. Beyond this point, which was popularly and incorrectly called the event horizon, a starship could engage the Berthold Drive. Within a gravity well, the Berthold generators were simply not able to generate the singularities used by the ship's quantum tunneling mechanism.

  "We're outside of the gravity well, Skipper," the navigator said.

  Chaplin nodded. "Very well. Chief Sabbath, is the course laid in?"

  "Yes, Ma'am. We are ready to go in all respects."

  "Thank you, Chief. Please go ahead and engage the Berthold Drive."

  Canopus disappeared from the sensors, then Glammorgen turned and loped back to assist the heavily damaged Edinburgh.

  § § §

  The passenger terminal at the Cambridge Starport was leaky and drafty. In the wintertime it was cold, too. Glenn Foxworth pulled his overcoat tightly around him and stuck his hands in the pockets in a futile attempt to stay warm. Fenton Aldersgate, the mayor of Cambridge, stood next to Foxworth, wearing a much heavier coat and a fur hat.

  "You ought to buy yourself some decent winter clothes, Governor," Aldersgate said.

  "You ought to fix the heat in this dump," Foxworth replied acerbically. "And you really ought to get it cleaned up," he continued, his voice rising. "It's a wonder any of our tourists want to come back after seeing the starport."

  "I keep telling you, Governor, we could do all that if you could find some money."

  Foxworth pointed to the military shuttle, now in final approach to the starport. "You see that shuttle coming in, Fenton? You know what that means? It means any chance of getting any money from the Duke is gone for the foreseeable future. And furthermore," he said, warming to the subject. "Have you been up to Montora village, lately, to see what the Margrave has done?"

  "But the Margrave has money, Governor"

  "But the Margrave does not have money, Mayor Aldersgate. The reason that village looks so clean and neat is because the villagers pitched in and did it themselves. And that's the only way it's going to happen here."

  The Highlanders Regiment shuttle eased to a landing in front of the terminal. As the turbines spooled down, the entry hatch in the side opened and a boarding ramp slid out.

  "Here is our new master, Mr. Mayor. Hopefully it's only temporary, but please try not to say or do anything and embarrass us. If you step in something you are likely to track it all over the city."

  Aldersgate stared at the governor. "Of course not, Governor You know I would never do anything like that."

  Foxworth rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's get down there."

  When the two Cantabrigians arrived at the base of the ramp, about twenty highlander guards and staffers had already disembarked. A tall white blonde woman in a green uniform with gold trim marched briskly out of the shuttle and down the ramp. The silver eagles on her epaulets were clearly visible.

  "Which one of you would be Governor Foxworth?" She demanded.

  Foxworth stepped forward. "That would be me."

  "Very well. I am Colonel Ragnhild Bora. Here is the way it is going to be, Governor. In the main you will continue to do business as you have in the past. I have no desire to interfere with the lives of people here any more than necessary. My Chief of Staff will liaise with you, and give you such directives as necessary to accommodate the regimental functions on Hepplewhite."

  Foxworth nodded. "I understand, Colonel But, begging your pardon, if you have no desire to change our lives, why are you even here?"

  Bora looked at Foxworth like he was a particularly loathsome species of insect. "In due time my clients will put an administrative framework in place. They will either give you the opportunity to stay, or send you on your merry way. I do not particularly care which. Until then, however I am in control, and in charge."

  "I guess I can't argue with that then Colonel"

  "See that you don't. Incidentally, my military police will be inspecting and auditing your local law enforcement organizations. Please warn them to be fully cooperative. I want there to be no misunderstandings."

  "I understand. I will pass those instructions along. I believe you will find our local law enforcement people to be fully cooperative."

  "Very well, Governor. Now, if you will allow me and my Chief of Staff to ride into the city with you, we need to begin working out the details of our operation here."

  Foxworth grimaced. "My car is in front of the terminal, Colonel If you will come with me, we can take care of business."

  CHAPTER THREE

  "Wait here, please, Sir."

  Calvin Hawkins stood at the door of the house holding the hand of Sadie, his four-year-old daughter. He watched as Mark Kletschka unlocked the door and quickly walked through the house. Calvin's other guard, Ray Satava stood behind them on the sidewalk scanning the neighborhood. Calvin also studied the neighborhood.

  In contrast to Montora Village, once the streets and lanes spidered away from the central part of Paravel, the residences abandoned the theme park motif. The homes along this street were conventional, low-slung, single-story dwellings that did not reflect any particular styling idiom. Hawkins thought they looked... cozy.

  The house they stood in front of was as nondescript as the neighborhood. It looked well cared for, and conservative, with a vaguely Spanish air. The grass had browned due to the on-coming winter, and a few snow-flakes drifted in the air. Sadie pointed to the quietly settling snow, and smiled.

  “You like the snow, Sadie?” Calvin asked.

  The girl nodded, but said nothing.

  A few moments later Kletschka stepped back outside.

  "The place looks clear, Sir. If you will wait in the living room, we will check the rest of the house."

  Hawkins nodded and guided his little girl into the three-bedroom stucco house. Satava locked the door behind them, and both guards set out for a thorough inspection. They were able to do so rapidly. The house had neither an upper story nor a basement. It was modeled upon classic Hispanic architecture, but was far more modest. Kletschka slid a door open and stepped out onto a patio, with a swimming pool. The water looked attractive, Hawkins thought as he looked through the door, but the weather was far too cold for anyone except a demented Scandinavian to consider a swim.

  Hawkins could hear sound of doors opening and closing through the house as Satava looked everywhere. Both men returned to the living room at about the same time.

  Kletschka cleared his throat. "The master suite is at the front of the house, Sir. It's a little more exposed than what I would like. I would suggest you and the girl each take one of the two smaller bedrooms in the back."

  Hawkins nodded. "That's fine, Mark. Sadie still has some rough nights, and I don't want her to have to come looking for me." He looked around. "This is a nice place. When Governor Foxworth told me he would find me a hole to crawl into, I pictured a log cabin in the backwoods somewhere."

  "It is actually far easier to hide in a town," Satava commented. "You have a lot more options if things drop into the cra… Excuse me, sir, the dumpster."

  Hawkins smirked. "I understand, Ray. All the same, we owe Glenn Foxworth big time for this."

  "I'm not entirely sure I understand the dynamic between Foxworth, and the Earl Paravel," Kletschka said.

  Hawkins snorted. "I didn't get all of it, however it seems that the governor and the margrave pulled the earl's chestnuts out of the fire sometime in the past. They didn't say what it was, and the Earl seemed disinclined to talk about it."

  Kletschka nodded. "Be that as it may, we got a military
presence getting ready to camp in this town, so I would suggest we would be wise to make ourselves invisible."

  "I agree, Mark. That's the whole idea. It was good of them to furnish us a furnished house." Hawkins shook his head. "I must be more rattled than I thought. I can't even talk straight. Anyway, I suppose we're going to have to buy groceries, and get settled in."

  "I will send Ray to get groceries. I really don't want you or the girl to leave the house, at least until we get a feel for the neighborhood."

  "There's a ground car with a keytab in it in the garage," Satava commented. "Are we allowed to use that?"

  Hawkins nodded. "We have free use of the car, and anything in the house. Foxworth asked us not to tear anything up. So, I don't want you boys wrestling in your room, and breaking stuff. I would have to get stern."

  Kletschka rolled his eyes, and Satava ignored the comment. He continued. "Since Mark doesn't know how to boil water, I guess I'm elected to be cook. Let me go get a list started."

  Hawkins looked down at his little girl. "Come on, Sadie, let's go look at your new bedroom."

  Fifteen minutes later Hawkins walked into the kitchen. The two guards were comparing notes on the grocery list. Satava turned to Hawkins.

  "Sadie likes her bed, apparently. She wanted to crawl under the covers right away, and she was asleep inside of thirty seconds. I guess she was more tired than she thought. Now, what are your plans?”

  “Sir, I will plan one large meal each day, and will prepare sandwiches or quick fix things for the other meals.”

  “That’s fine, Ray. I’m happy to help with the kitchen chores. Cooking was kind of a hobby with me.”

  Kletschka chuckled. “I guess you don’t know it, Sir, but Ray has a reputation in our organization as being a gourmet cook.”

  Satava looked down his nose at Kletschka. “Come on, Mark. I am not a gourmet cook. I just like tasty meat and potatoes.” He turned to Hawkins. “If it’s all right with you, Sir, we can plan on a mix of beef and pork roasts, plus a selection of poultry and the occasional steak.”