Kris Longknife's Assassin Read online

  A moment later they were told. “You are granted an audience.”

  What followed was the most thorough tour Vicky had ever gotten of a warship. They did avoid the room marked Cryptology, but that must have been the only one missed. While she and Krätz began to exchange smiles, the politically appointed colonel seemed none the wiser.

  The tour ended in a room. Vicky would have figured it for a conference room, but the table and chairs were gone. The screens on the walls showed deep space and unblinking stars. Several Wardhaven officers stood at the opposite end.

  Kris Longknife sat in a most imposing armchair in full princess mode and totally bemedaled.

  How did you get that Order of the Wounded Lion, girl?

  While Vicky was studying Kris, a few of the State Security guards were having a tough time with the low light and star studded void. One leaned against the Marine behind him, who steadied him. Vicky edged over to put her back against the wall and assumed a stiff parade rest. From where she stood, she could see everything, including her own captain.

  The colonel eyed Kris through narrow eyes. Kris gave the colonel a wide eyed, almost innocent look. Who’s she kidding?

  “You want to see me, Colonel?” Kris Longknife inquired, superior to junior.

  State Security scowled. “I am told that you have information about a plot against the life of First Citizen Smythe-Peterwald. If so, the State demands and requires that you provide it.”

  “I have already told all that I know to Captain Krätz. If you have talked to him, you know as much as I do.”

  “I am required to hear it from the source’s lips.”

  So Kris Longknife did, quickly.

  “That hardly constitutes quality intelligence,” the colonel snapped. “It is no more than an allegation of rumors heard.”

  “You may take it as you please,” Kris said. “But I assure you, if your First Citizen ends up suddenly dead in the next few days, your superiors may not take it that way.”

  The colonel swallowed. Hard. “Do you have a picture of this Lucifer fellow? The devil’s own, he sounds like.”

  “The Abdicators do not believe in making representations of themselves,” Kris said.

  The colonel paused for only a moment before saying “That was not their way when last they were heard from.”

  “Suicidal terrorist was not their way when last we heard from then, either,” Kris said. Captain Krätz chipped off a tiny grin at her quoting him.

  The colonel did not look happy.

  “There is one thing I can give you, Colonel,” Kris Longknife said. “We have the boy’s father aboard. We have photographed him and run it through a computer program to take the years off his face. Captain Drago?”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” A man beside her in a Navy blues with four stripes spoke into his commlink and a large envelope quickly arrived.

  Kris opened it. Inside was the picture of an older man and a youth.

  “Colonel, I have personally met the young man you are hunting. That reworked photo is almost a perfect image of him.”

  “You have met the young mad man?” A dozen indictments lurked behind those words, starting with high treason.

  “He was a guide when I first visited his world. I did not see him the second time. His father says he had already left.”

  “Ah, yes, there is the matter of the father,” and Vicky quietly shook her head as the colonel crossed verbal swords with Kris Longknife again, and lost . . . again. It ended with the colonel being ordered off the Wardhaven ship, and him leaving. But not gracefully.

  “Your embassy will hear of this. I will go now, but I expect to return soon.” As he marched out Captain Krätz rested a hand on his shoulder.

  “I have had dealings with this woman before. I’ll stay behind and see if I can’t wangle her out of a trifle more.”

  “You can give her the spanking she deserves, but get that man,” the colonel snapped, but kept on marching.

  As soon as State Security was herded out, and the tread of Marine boots grew distant, Kris ordered, “Lights, Chief. It’s too dark in here to think.”

  The lights went bright. Screens went blank, and chairs and the table were made to appear. Kris’s staff settled into chairs at the head of the table. Vicky took her place beside her captain’s at the foot.

  “Have you really come here to save my Daddy’s life?” Vicky asked.

  “I don’t see much choice in the matter.” Kris Longknife sounded almost tired. “If your dad is killed anytime soon, Lucifer and his will paint my fingerprints all over the plot. Propagandists will demand I either stand a kangaroo trial here or there will be war. Since I don’t think King Ray would hand me over for a show trial, it looks like war.”

  “You don’t sound all that sure about your King,” Captain Krätz said, a knowing smile on his face.

  Kris made a face. “Let’s just say I don’t want to find out. Grampa Ray has tossed me into a lot of messes, sink or swim. I’d prefer not to see how I could manage on Greenfeld.”

  “I wouldn’t want to take my chances with what passed for justice back home, either,” Vicky admitted, something she would not have said before she spent a month teaching her watch crew, and learning from them. But that wasn’t the point today.

  “How do we stop this devil boy from killing my dad?”

  Captain Krätz shook his head. “I don’t see him getting close to the First Citizen.”

  “I agree,” Kris said.

  “Now hold it,” the young Marine beside Kris was half out of his seat. “You dragged us out here to stop devil boy. I like her choice of words. But now you say he ain’t likely to kill anyone? Kris!”

  Kris just shrugged, eyed Captain Krätz but when he made no effort to talk, she went on. “Lucifer and his Xanadu team are fish out of water. They’re hicks with hayseed in their hair. They can’t open their mouths without getting arrested. No. There is no way they’ll get close enough to kill Peterwald.”

  “And we’re here because?” Now the Marine sounding tired.

  “Because,” Captain Kratz put in, “they will be captured. Under interrogation, they will mention your Kris. If anyone does succeed in killing Ensign Victoria’s dad, the trail is set to lead straight back to Kris. Heads they win. Tails you lose.”

  The Marine settled back into his chair, muttered a long stream of curses.

  Now it was Kris’s turn to lean forward. “Who came up with the stupid idea of having Vicky’s father go on safari on a half pacified planet?”

  It was Vicky turn to answer. “It could have been any number of factions. Dad prides himself on being ‘The Mighty Hunter.’ Show him something he hasn’t killed and he’s off in a flash. When I heard Birridas was joining the Alliance, I would have bet Dad would be here hunting in no time.”

  Captain Krätz nodded along. “It was just that none of us thought he’d come before planetary defenses were in place. And the idea of not trusting the Navy to guard the planet . . . it’s almost as if ...” The captain could not finish that sentence.

  “It’s almost as if you were being set up for something,” the Navy captain on Kris’s team said. Then paused. “Wait one.” Now his eyes fixed on the overhead as he listened to something. Then he stood. “Kris, I strongly suggest that we continue this conversation on the bridge. It seems matters are developing.”

  “What’s happening?” came in a half dozen voices.

  “It’s quicker to see than explain,” hung curtly in the air as the captain rushed for the door.

  Chapter 26

  A moment later, Vicky stood beside her captain as a Wardhaven Navy lieutenant explained what was on the bridge’s main screen.

  “Three minutes ago, the FolkFestiva starliner Dedicated Workers of Tourin, came through Alpha jump point. It did so at twenty thousand klicks an hour.”

  That drew a low whistle.

  “Is that a problem?” an army colonel asked.

  “Only if you want to get where you’re going,” Kris
’s captain answered and explained what Vicky already knew: jump points were dangerous at high speeds. He finished with, “Usually liners and expensive battleships tiptoe through jumps. Strange.”

  “Stranger still,” the lieutenant added, “she’s hit the accelerator. 3.26 gee’s.”

  “No liner captain puts his passengers under those gees,” Captain Krätz said.

  “So we should assume that the Tourin is no longer under its captain’s control,” an army colonel on Kris’s staff observed softly.

  “Talk to me about the Tourin,” Kris’s captain ordered.

  Specifications appeared on the screen.

  “A million tons,” someone whispered. “Oh God.”

  “Five thousand passengers and crew,” another said, voice breaking.

  “How long before she gets here?” Kris asked, voice cold.

  “Assuming the Tourin keeps accelerating, and does not flip and start decelerating,” the lieutenant said as the screen changed to reflect her words, “We’ve got seven hours, thirty three minutes before it digs a big hole off the coast of South Continent.”

  “Where Daddy’s hunting,” Vicky added, her gut going into free fall.

  “You’ll have to get him out. There’s time,” Kris said.

  “No,” Krätz cut in. “There’s a hurricane. Big. Bad. It’s got everything grounded.”

  Kris frowned. “Assassin’s luck or planned?”

  Krätz shrugged. “It is the season for those things.”

  “So, seven and a half hours. How many ships can you get underway?” Kris asked, eying Vicky’s captain.

  Captain Krätz shook his head. “We told State Security that this dinky station’s reactor would need a month to boil enough plasma to power up the fleet, but no. ‘One of your ship’s engineers might send his reactor critical and try to kill the First Citizen.’ Every ship had to go cold steel. They are all a bunch of idiots” Krätz roared.

  With effort, Vicky’s captain recovered his temper. “And now it seems that some of them are traitors as well. We have been set up.”

  The other captain cleared his throat. “With all respect to the captain, there is one ship that can get underway.”

  “Who?” Captain Krätz demanded.

  “Us,” Kris’s captain said with a sly smile.

  Captain Krätz frowned. Then his eyes grew wide, “You wouldn’t do that?”

  “The Wasp was rigged for that procedure last overhaul. We are an exploration ship. There was no way to foretell what our needs might be out beyond the rim.”

  “That’s insane,” Captain Krätz shouted. “It’s suicidal and mass murder.”

  “Not when properly done with modern power supplies.”

  Kris must have felt as confused as Vicky was. “Would one of you mind telling the rest of us what you are talking about?” she shouted

  For a moment longer, the two captains glared at each other. Then Captain Krätz gave a curt wave to the other four striper.

  Kris’s skipper gave a confident half bow. “Our four landers have anti-matter cells. We can remove them and rig two of them to our auxiliary power supply generators. Those two will get the magnetic containment field up. Then we dump the other two into the main reactor and jump start the fusion process.”

  Kris turned to a very angry Captain Krätz. “Is your Surprise rigged with such capability?”

  “Hell no,” he shot back. “It would be a violation of Society of Humanity rules as well as Greenfeld regulations. For the last sixty years, since the old Canopus blew herself up and half the Borden station, it’s been illegal. A hundred thousand died in one second.”

  Kris distanced herself from both captains. She finally eyed Vicky.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  Vicky shook her head, feeling empty and torn. She wanted to do things. But this? “I don’t know what to think, Your Highness.”

  “Talk to me, Vicky. I need to know something about what you’re thinking.”

  “Okay, Kris.” Vicky took a deep breath and marshaled her racing thoughts. “I want to save my daddy. Other people may hate him, but he’s mine. Maybe he’s not the best one around, but he’s all the daddy I have. How do we do it?”

  With a sigh, Kris winked at Vicky as if to say “watch and learn, my friend.” She whirled to face the captains.

  “Captain Krätz, how long would it take one, just one of these ships hanging on to this station, to get underway?”

  “Twelve hours. Maybe more. This station is a piece of shoddy junk,” and he went on to explain. He finished shaking his head. “Some son of a bitch set us up.”

  “So, you are set up,” Kris agreed. “Somewhere about two thirds of the way into powering up one ship, her dad gets suddenly dead. Out of curiosity, what happens next? Does your ensign get promoted to First Citizen?”

  That was the last question Vicky’s would have expected from a Longknife. Captain Krätz studied the polished toes of his shoes. “I don’t know. You know our attitude toward women.” Now his gaze rose to take in his J.O. “But I’d fight to my dying breath to protect you.”

  “I don’t want your dying breath,” Vicky snapped. “I want to save my dad.”

  The captain’s shoulders slumped. “That I cannot do. No one in the fleet can.”

  “But someone in the Wardhaven fleet is willing to take a good solid try,” Vicky growled. “A Longknife is willing to risk her neck to save a Peterwald!”

  “And maybe kill us all.”

  “You just told me that I’m not likely to outlive my dad for more than a couple of months. Strange, Captain, that is one thing we can agree on. Maybe someday I could tame the palace with a whip and a gun and a gallows working overtime, but not now. Not today. We need to save my father.” Vicky could hardly believe the words as they came out of her mouth. “Captain, please help these people save my dad.”

  “And if they fail?”

  “None of us will be any deader than we’re likely to be this time next year,” Vicky said.

  For a long moment Captain Krätz continued to shake his head. Then he turned to Kris. “Your Highness, what can I do to help?”

  Chapter 27

  Vicky Peterwald watched as Kris Longknife gave her captain a short but demanding order. “Get this ship underway – ASAP.”

  “Aye aye, ma’am. I’ve had men stripping the anti-matter pods from the landers. They should be done soon.”

  “Two have been off-loaded, Captain,” the lieutenant reported.

  “Have them plugged into the emergency generators,” the Wardhaven captain ordered.

  “No,” came from around Kris’s neck. “The pods that will be fed into the reactors need to be carefully aligned and balanced for the dump. That’s your critical path. The auxiliary power is pretty much a standard rig.”

  Vicky found that both she and Captain Krätz were staring at Kris’s collar bone. So that was the computer called Nelly.

  “Captain?” Kris said, raising an eyebrow. Around her, quite a few eyebrows were bouncing off the overhead.

  “Let’s do it the lady’s way,” the ship captain ordered,

  “Nelly, are there any scientists that can help you on this?” Kris asked her computer.

  “A few, I’ve alerted them to get down to Engineering. There are several assumptions about the status of the anti-matter that we will need to create if they are not already so.”

  “You go, gal,” Kris said, then turned to Captain Krätz, “Certainly, we’ll have to advise port authorities that we are getting underway.”

  “Even a blind man would notice what we’re attempting.”

  “When do we have to tell them?”

  Captain Krätz mulled Kris’s question for half a second. “Usually it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”

  “So I’ve observed,” Kris agreed.

  “However, I’m not sure that I’d apply that rule, what with all the security running around this station at the moment. Sudden moves could have very sudden rea
ctions.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Let me talk to my political officer,” Krätz said, and tapped a few buttons on his wrist unit. “Sooner or later we’ll have to bring them in on this.” Nothing happened for a long moment, leaving the captain frowning at his wrist. “What call is he taking that is more important than mine,” he demanded.

  He was still frowning when a hurried voice came on. “Sorry, Captain, I have Lieutenant General Boyng on the line, sir. May I pass him to you, sir?” hardly sounded like a question.

  Captain Kratz turned white as a sheet. Beside him, Vicky went up on tiptoes with glee. “Uncle Eddie. He’ll help.”

  “Put the captain’s call on screen,” Kris ordered.

  A thin faced man with a hatchet nose and a pristine black uniform filled a portion of the main screen. Kris Longknife spoke immediately.

  “General, I am Lieutenant Longknife, Princess of Wardhaven. I and my staff have been examining the behavior of the Starliner Dedicated Workers of Tourin. It is our opinion that it is on a suicide dive into South Continent, intent on assassinating your First Citizen. It must be stopped.”

  Vicky watched as General Boyng showed no reaction to the threat against Daddy.

  “Go on,” he said.

  Kris Longknife tossed the ball to the general. “What conclusions have you and your staff drawn from the behavior of this starliner?

  The general frowned. “The liner’s behavior is out of the ordinaryusual. However, the drill presently going on in your ship is also unusual. This makes us wonder if you are not intent on some suicide mission.”

  Kris Longknife spoke quickly. “There are two faults in that logic, General.”

  “Would you care to innumerate those errors?”

  Kris raised one finger. “First, you know from all the attempts made on my life that there isn’t a suicidal bone in my body. I very much like being alive and will fight to stay that way.”

  “So it would seem. However, things might change. High objectives might be worth a high price.”