Warriors For The Working Day
Chapter Thirteen
By
(UCSBdad)
Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.
The mercenaries fired twice at something in the short time it took us to get back to the road.
Once back, von Peppel advised us that he was headed straight back to the spaceport. In spite of his previous statement that the main road was mined and subject to ambushes, he blithely announced that we could cut across to the main road and be at Knowles' palace before dinner.
Indeed, we pulled up to the palace at mid-afternoon without a problem.
The palace had probably been the mansion of the wealthiest person on the planet. It was Sebacean Colonial style, all pastel towers surrounding an airy white circular building enclosing a court yard. However, up close, the building was shabby and battered.
The Guards set up in a defensive formation outside the palace. Eddie, Rudy, Kathleen and I, along with two aides walked into the palace.
It was full of people. Bored looking soldiers, trelks plying their trade, hard faced off-planet merchants doubtlessly come to buy the cargos of the ships in orbit, sellers of food and drink, all jostled against one another among piles of loot. It stank of sweat, urine, rot and fear.
I noticed that Rudy was attracting a number of hostile glances. One power armored soldier spat at him, but missed.
I leaned over and whispered in Kathleen's ear. "They don't like non-humans around here?"
She nodded.
"Is bringing Rudy a good idea then?"
"Yes." She said, with just the hint of a smile. "It gives them something to watch."
Ahead of us a half a dozen power armored guards blocked a large doorway. They were the first alert and competent looking soldiers I'd seen on the planet. A slender human dressed in an odd red cloak stepped out from behind them.
"You have presents for the Viceroy? You can't come to see the Viceroy and not bring a gift. It isn't done." He said haughtily.
"You are so kind to remind us, sir." Rudy replied. "And you are?"
The official blinked as if surprised to be spoken to by a non-human. He addressed himself to Eddie. "I'm Master of the Palace Ordonez. I see to the Viceroy's every need. His every need."
I noticed two other men edging forward, both apparently civilians.
One came to stand by Ordonez and made a neat bow to us. "I am Baron von Stehl, Chancellor to His Grace, Count von Brunswick. I trust you have a little something for His Grace?"
"How dare you!" Roared the other man, who was short, fat and wore a silk robe with a picture of some sort of large Earth animal on it. What was it? I had seen one before when I had been on Earth. Had it been on the television?
The little man drew himself up to his full, unimpressive height. "I am Toyotomi Hideyori, Chamberlain to Lord Kurita. How dare you push in front of me you hairy, long nosed barbarian?"
Von Stehl casually dropped his right hand to the holstered pistol he wore.
"Gentlemen." Ordonez cried. "Please. All of our masters await Marshall O'Donnell and his party. We dare not offend them with petty bickering." While making his speech, Ordonez held his hand out.
Rudy pulled something out of his pocket, wrapped in a bright silk square. "For Viceroy Knowles, Marshall O'Donnell has brought a priceless Delvian bracelet. It is made of seven perfect emeralds, each with the sacred symbols of the Delvian Seek carved into them. The jewels are set in platinum which was cast by master craftsmen, now thousands of years dead."
While Ordonez carefully examined his master's present, Rudy turned to Toyotomi. "For your master, Marshall O'Donnell has selected a priceless black pearl from the Albegnesian Sea on a famous lost planet thousands of parsecs from here." Rudy dropped his voice to where I could barely hear it and leaned close to Toyotomi. "It is said to amplify the wearer's sexual potency."
Rudy turned to von Stehl. "To Count von Brunswick, Marshall O'Donnell presents a ruby pendant. If you examine the carving, you'll see that it's rather saucy."
Von Stehl took the pendant and squinted at the carving. "It isn't saucy. It's pornographic. I'm sure the count will love it." He said with a wide smile.
The three left us, taking the presents to their masters, leaving us facing the row of armored soldiers.
As we waited, I leaned over and whispered to Rudy. "We're giving them priceless antique jewelry?"
Rudy smiled slightly. "Aeryn, any modern industrial civilization can produce any gemstone you could want with carbon, pressure and heat. Pearls aren't any harder to do. As far as the intricate designs and carvings by master craftsmen, well, why would I hire the best forgers in the Universe and not use them?"
Before I could reply, the soldiers stood aside for us and a loud voice announced us. "Marshall Edmund Burke O'Donnell, Colonel Kathleen Rose O'Donnell, Major Erin O'Riley and Mr. Vergraah."
Knowles' throne room was vast. Too vast, in fact. Knowles was seated on a throne raised above us, surrounded by a dozen or so bodyguards and hangers-on.
Below him sat a second man who was wearing a robe with the odd Earth animal on it. Tiger! That was it. Beyond Kurita were two armored guards and his chamberlain.
Finally, with one leg slung over the arm of the chair, was von Brunswick, dressed all in black but for a small silver insignia on his chest. There were no more than twenty other people gathered in the room, clustered together in groups of two or three, with enormous spaces between them.
Knowles appeared to be an enormous man, until I saw that under his white, fur-trimmed robes, he had on power armor.
"You brought your dog with you I see? And two whores." Knowles said nastily.
Rudy smiled. "Good to see you again, too, Viceroy Knowles."
Before Knowles could reply, Eddie spoke up.
"And how in the devil did you become a Viceroy, Sir Robert?" He said with a disarming smile.
Knowles shot him a suspicious glance. "I was appointed by the true rulers of this world, to uphold their interests."
"Ah!" Eddie replied. "And the true rulers would be?"
"That's my business. It's all in my contract. All legal. Are you suggesting it isn't?"
Eddie waved his hands dismissively. "Never a thought of it. Just wondering if such honors were easy to come by hereabouts."
Knowles smiled. It wasn't a reassuring smile.
"They are, if you know your business."
"Ah, business. Perhaps we should discuss the ladies I came here for."
"This is intolerable!" Kurita exploded. "We were to share the profits of this world in proportion to the assets that we contributed to the enterprise. I am being left out of the negotiations entirely. I demand my rightful share!"
Von Brunswick swung about in his chair to face Kurita. His white hair was so long that, braided, it reached his waist and swung about as he moved. "Not the same thing at all. I'm afraid. The Viceroy and I ran across three ladies in distress who owe fealty to Marshall O'Donnell. We gave them aid and in doing so, incurred some small expenses. Now, the three of us, being gentlemen, are resolving the matter of cost."
The implication that Kurita was not a gentleman was clear. He shot to his feet. "I will suffer no more insults from you. I demand…."
"You demand nothing!" Knowles roared, slamming his armored hand down on the arm of his throne. "I rule here and by God, I will rule."
I noticed some slight movement at the far reaches of the room. Perhaps there were more people in the room than I had thought. More armed and armored people.
Knowles stared at his fellow mercenary for a few microns. "Lord Kurita," he finally said, "whatever our differences or difficulties, we are more secure and wealthier together than we ever would be apart." His gaze shifted to von Brunswick. "I trust all appreciate that?"
Brunswick simply nodded.
Knowles turned to one of the guards. "Bring the ladies out."
In microts, Chiana and Jool were escorted out to stand between Knowles and us. They looked none the worse for wear, although Jool's hair was a flaming red.
"Aeryn!" Chiana cried when she saw me.
"Silence, girl!" I snarled at her. "I'll have no more of your lies. We'll interrogate you on the ship. We'll see what stories you tell us then."
Chiana and Jool took the hint and said not another word.
"I am afraid, Marshall O'Donnell, that I have incurred a greater expense than I had originally calculated." And with that lie from Knowles, the sale of Chiana and Jool began.
It cost us twenty-four hundred krendars for the two of them. I hoped that whatever idiocy had prompted them to come to Jolo in search of John would be worth the cost.
Eddie turned to von Brunswick. "And you have a third woman, Count?"
He nodded, shooting Eddie a knowing smile. "That I do. Although I'm unsure how much of her story is a fabrication, it does appear that she is associated with Lady Chiana, and so with you."
"And your expenses?" Kathleen interrupted.
"I cannot be as generous to my guests as the Viceroy, therefore my expenses are one thousand krendars."
"Done then, sir." Eddie replied.
"Bring the lass out." Brunswick called to someone behind him.
Chiana was right. I didn't like her. I would have been happy to leave her where she was, but perhaps she could help me find John. When she saw me, she smiled, as if greeting an old friend. She actually looked happy to see me.
"Why, hello, Aeryn."
"Hello, Jenavian." I said with no enthusiasm.
Von Brunswick slapped Jenavia on the eema as she passed. She turned around and gave him a smile. "Good-bye, dear Count. I'm sure we must meet again."
Von Brunswick smiled in return, and nodded. Obviously he had fond memories of Jenavian Chatto.
"So, Marshall O'Donnell", he said, "Lady Chiana, Lady Jool and Lady Jenavian are all your spies? You are a fortunate man."
Eddie shook his head. "Lady Chiana is my agent. She recruited Lady Joolushko as her employee. Lady Jenavian is more of an independent contractor, you might say."
Knowles broke in. "This John Crichton you're searching for. I've never heard the name before. He's not an officer of any company I've ever heard of, nor a ship commander. He's certainly not a banker or merchant. Why do you search for him?"
That was my cue. "He's a thief. Stole a ship. We cannot allow him to get away. If we did, we'd have no ships left."
"Stole a ship?" von Brunswick said, scratching his head. "All by himself?"
"He stole a courier ship. It only has a crew of four normally and everything is run from the bridge. No need for an engineer in one place and a pilot elsewhere."
"She'd be faster than anything they have over here." Von Brunswick said thoughtfully. "Faster than most ships we brought here. He could make some money smuggling, couldn't he?"
No doubt what von Brunswick had in mind.
In spite of the fact that we were done, Knowles insisted we stay for dinner and entertainment. Now that he had gotten his ransom, perhaps he felt the need to act the great lord.
I hated it. The food was mediocre. Human cooks had no idea how to prepare Sebacean foods.
The entertainment was worse. It consisted of naked women, most Sebacean, some human. Naked women singing, naked women dancing, even naked women reciting an excruciatingly long poem detailing the martial and sexual prowess of Viceroy Knowles. That was followed by naked acrobats and naked comedians.
Throughout it all, von Brunswick kept a close eye on our table.
I did find some entertainment that night. There were two clumsy attempts to seduce me. I would have liked to know if two separate people were trying to compromise Major O'Riley, or if it was just one determined person. Alas, I would never know. I sent both young men packing quickly.
Finally, we were done with the interminable entertainment and were able to leave the frelling planet and get back to the fleet. As soon as I could squeeze out of my armor, I confronted Chiana and Jool. Kathleen was with me and Rudy had taken Jenavian to have a private chat, as he called it, with her.
I pushed my face right into Chiana's. "If you know anything that will help me find John, start talking now."
"Aeryn, we can help, really we can. All you have to do is trust us. It's like this, see…."
"We don't have any information that can help you." Jool interrupted.
"Jool! I told you to let me handle this!" Chiana squealed.
"Is that correct, Chiana?" I barked at her.
"Well, sort of. Technically, maybe."
"Jool! You will tell me what happened."
And tell me she did. Chiana had been on Hyneria when my children arrived. Jool arrived shortly thereafter with a rumor of humans having landed on a nearby world. Unable to resist the lure of the huge reward that Rygel had offered for information about John, Chiana had somehow "procured" transportation to Jolo from a low level Hynerian government employee who had obviously been too impressed with Chiana's stories about her close relationship with Rygel. Jool had apparently been talked into accompanying Chiana.
They had been arrested almost as soon as they landed in Jolo. Chiana, being Chiana, had tried to lie her way out of things, which only further convinced Knowles' security troops that they had a spy on their hands. However, she had said she was looking for a human named John Crichton. The mercenaries' grapevine had brought word that Marshall O'Donnell was also looking for one John Crichton and Knowles' henchman got the idea that Chiana and Jool were O'Donnell's agents.
"So, we've wasted twenty-four hundred krendars getting you two back from Knowles. " I turned to Kathleen. "Do we have any heavy labor type jobs we can put these two to doing to recoup our losses?"
Before Kathleen could answer, Jool spoke up. "Knowles is as creepy in his own way as Scorpius was. He made me well aware of what he'd do to me if Human Forces Command decided not to pay my ransom. I decided I'd want to repay him if I got free. I paid very close attention to everything around me, and please remember I have an excellent education. Would you like to know the details of the planetary power grid? Information on the spaceport's sensor array?"
Kathleen nodded. "We would."
"Then that will pay off our debt to you."
"Hey!" Chiana said. "What am I? Chopped drannit meat? I can give you intelligence, too. Just don't think you're going to get what I know for a lousy couple of krendars."
"I can assure you that Chiana can describe the sexual proclivities of the members of Knowles' court in great detail." Jool said coldly.
Kathleen called in one of her intelligence officers and sent Chiana and Jool off to be de-briefed.
"Now to Jenavian."
I had explained to the O'Donnells and to Rudy what my relationship with Disrupter Jenavian Chatto had been.
Kathleen shook her head. "Give Rudy another quarter of an hour or so. Then we'll do good mercenary, bad ex-Peacekeeper."
We walked in on Rudy and Jenavian a quarter of an arn later. Rudy had taken her to a nice, cozy little debriefing room that looked more like some senior officer's quarters.
"What do you know about John?" I snapped.
Jenavian gave me a slow smile, the kind you used on a cadet who had just frelled up, but who you felt had promise.
"Aeryn, there are some things that…."
She got no farther. I snap kicked her in the stomach, and as she bent over clutching her midsection, I pulled one of her arms behind her back and pulled up. I slammed her face down onto a table and pulled my pistol and poked its muzzle against her right looma. "Now tell me everything you know about John Crichton! Start with anything you know about where it is. If you don't, I'll start shooting holes in your favorite parts."
"Mr. Vergraah!" She wheezed. "Is this the way you treat the representative of a friendly nation?"
"Mr. Vergraah!" Kathleen snapped. "We have cared for, fed, clothed and armed Aeryn Sun Crichton. By the Laws of War, she is a member of the Marshall's household. And, this is a matter of family! You dare not interfere."
Rudy did a very good impersonation of someone with no options, but still trying to help his new friend. "Colonel O'Donnell, please. I must agree with your legal interpretation, but we can surely find some common ground. If only you will restrain Major Sun. Certainly…"
"I'll tell you what, Jenavian, You pick which one I shoot off. The left one or the right one." I said nastily.
Jenavian sagged slightly. I tensed. Was she about to try to get away?
"All right, Aeryn. You win. But I have no idea where John is. Not a clue."
"So why were you looking for him?" I shot back.
"Wormholes."
"Wormholes! Wormholes?" I sneered. "How many frelling times do we have to tell you Peacekeepers, John no longer has any wormhole knowledge!"
"Aeryn, "Jenavian said tiredly. "I don't pick my assignments. I go where I'm told and do what they tell me to do, like a good little Disrupter."
"Except for a few people like Scorpius, no one thinks John has any knowledge worth pursuing, and even Scorpius admits John has only the dregs of the knowledge he once had. But before John Crichton came along, the existence of wormholes was only a bizarre theory held by scientific techs who were considered to be, well, a fringe group."
"But people have noticed that as soon as a human showed up, wormholes started popping up all over."
"Did it occur to anyone that they "popped up" because for once people were looking for them?" I asked acidly.
Jenavian ignored me. "Now we've heard of a new group of humans who have arrived from what appears to be another universe, via something like a wormhole."
"It's a frelling planet sized machine made by some long vanished race with a bizarre sense of humor, as my husband likes to say. The frelling thing is run by a tame black hole. I sincerely hope no one on this side is foolish enough to try to disassemble it to see how it works."
"Not my concern." Jenavian said with a shrug. "And now it's not my main concern. This is quite a surprising group of humans. Not bad at all for a single planet of barbarians."
"Humans will surprise you." Kathleen said with a smile.
Rudy stood, drew himself up and looked very determined. "If you are quite done, Colonel, I still believe that we can come to some sort of mutually satisfactory alliance with Disrupter Chatto."
With that, Rudy escorted Jenavian out of the room.
In another arn, the three O'Donnells, Rudy and I met in Marshall O'Donnell's quarters.
Rudy poured some Delvian whiskey over ice cubes, then sat in a large leather chair. "Disrupter Chatto is a very intelligent and well trained agent. It'll be a challenge to get more intel out of her than she gets from us."
Eddie nodded. "You'll manage, Rudy. There's plenty we want the people over here to know about us. If you keep her busy with that, she won't have a chance to get the stuff we'd like to keep to ourselves."
I wasn't sure that made sense. "Why would you want others to know about you? The Peacekeepers always made a point of keeping everything secret about themselves."
Rudy swirled his drink around in his glass and then took a sip. "Advertising, for one thing. Knowledge that one of our armored cruisers can take out command carrier, admittedly one lacking in trained crew and in need of repairs, will encourage people to hire us. But, we don't want anyone to know the details of our systems that allow us to destroy a command carrier, since that could be used against us."
"Conversely, if people know just how good you are, they're less likely to try anything with you."
"So why not demonstrate your power on Jolo and get rid of that bastard Knowles?" That caught them off guard.
Eddie finally replied. "Aeryn, if you're not happy with the way…"
"No, that's not it. Believe me I will be grateful for the rest of my life for what you've done for me. I just don't understand your reluctance to use force."
Aida rose from her chair. "Aeryn, do you remember what John was like when he found himself here?"
I shook my head. "That was different. John was alone. He was completely ignorant of simple things that everyone else took for granted, such as Leviathans, or a hetch drive."
"And John wasn't responsible for hundreds of thousands of people who'd followed him here." Aida said quietly.
"And Knowles is more powerful than we thought. He's been reinforced. " Rudy added. "The first isn't too bad. The Emperor of Cho-Sen is on Jolo. He has a cruiser and about a dozen smaller ships, and another dozen or more human pirate ships followed him. I'm sure he brought his very capable and very extensive secret police and internal security troops with him, and a fair sized infantry division. Tough, fanatical troops, every one of them. We know, we've fought them."
"Knowles is still a lot weaker than you are." I shot back.
"Knowles also has two regiments of Charrid troops on Jolo. Oh, admittedly they're not the ex-Imperial Regiments that have been raising hell since leaving Emperor Staleek's service. These are barbarians from the more backwards Charrid worlds. They were probably shooting at each other with muzzle loading muskets a year ago. Now, someone has organized them and provided modern weapons."
I quickly thought through that. Human Forces Command knew the other human mercenaries well. A fleet in orbit around Jolo could have easily located intelligence showing this human Emperor whoever was there. But how could they have found out about Charrids? And in such detail? Jenavia? She could have gotten the information, but she was too good, and too dedicated, a Disrupter to let the humans have that kind of intelligence without getting something equally valuable in return. Frell! She just hadn't had the time for that kind of negotiations with Rudy.
I took a chance. "You have a spy on Jolo."
Kathleen laughed. "I told you she as good."
Rudy stared at me for a microt, then smiled. "You are good."
"Aeryn, "Kathleen said, "do you remember me saying we took Rudy along so that Knowles' people would have someone to look at?"
"As well they should." Rudy sniffed.
Kathleen smiled. "I have micro comm device implanted in my wrist. It looks just like a neural signal repeater, such as people who've had damaged nerves that they haven't been able to get regenerated use. Works like one, too. But it can also pick up extremely weak electromagnetic pulses at very short range. Say fifty feet, or so."
Kathleen held out her hand and lightly put it on the other wrist. "And when you push on the comm device in just the right way, it sends an encrypted message. Which is exactly what our agent did. That's how we know about the Charrids."
"And the bottom line is, we can't afford to take on Knowles without knowing who's backing him. Christ, Aeryn. You've seen Knowles. He couldn't talk to a platoon of non-humans by himself without starting a war with them."
Eddie nodded. "At first I thought that "Viceroy" Knowles was just more blarney to puff up his ego. But he really is taking orders from someone else."
"The question is who? A Charrid general who's gone renegade? A supposedly loyal Charrid general who's planning to go renegade? Some one in Staleek's own Imperial Court? Many of his courtiers have no love for the peace he brought. Someone in the Peacekeepers, hoping to make the Scarrens look bad?"
"Who ever it is has power, though. You don't just whistle up two Charrid regiments out of nothing."
Aida put her arm around my shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, we have some plans for Knowles, but right now they are long range plans."
Frell. I was tired and unhappy and I missed my family. I especially missed John. I left the O'Donnells and Rudy and went to bed.
The next day, we set out course to the Royal Planet. I passed the time by cornering Chiana and Jool and having them tell me everything about our children they could remember. Also, everything that Rygel was doing to find John. By the time we reached the Royal Planet, I was feeling happier, just knowing the children were safe and I was getting closer to John.
I should have known better.