He Who Dares: Book Three (38 page)

“Very well. Please return to your ships and have your crews ready to transfer to the
Orion Dawn
as soon as possible. I have arranged with its Captain, and he will make you as comfortable as possible. It’s only a short jump from here, and I’ll meet you all on your arrival at Christchurch.”

“You’re not going with us, Captain Gray?”

“No, sir. I’m taking my ship there.” That started another round of chatter. “In case you are wondering, I have special permission to take my ship into Avalon space.” A number of Captains didn’t look happy, and he was betting they were wondering what sort of special permission he had to be able to take his ship through the
Rift
. If necessary, he’d tell them later once they were at Christchurch and under Andy Anderson’s control. The meeting broke up, and they headed back out to their respective shuttle.

“A word, Leftenant.” The man, a Royal Navy commander, remained behind as the others departed, his eyes running over Mikes’ uniform rank tabs and the two little ribbons on his chest opposite several others on the other side. Their significance didn’t go unnoticed. Mike wasn’t sure if he saw approval or disapproval in the man’s look.

“Yes, sir,” Mike answered, coming to attention and returning the salute.

“My Name is Hancock, Commander Hancock, and I find myself in a bit of a dilemma, Captain Gray.”

“In what way, sir?” Mike was thankful Jenks had insisted on him wearing his number two dress uniform.

“According to the orders I received from Admiral Rawlings, a man that I admire a great deal, I am to place myself at your disposal.”

“I’m not privy to those orders, sir, so I cannot comment on them.”

“Yes, I understand that. However, usually the situation is the other way round in that a junior officer is placed under the command of his senior.” He paused for a moment, as if to choose his words carefully. The unstated part of his comment was, older and wiser, but he was too polite to say it. “Nowhere in those orders is there an explanation of why this should be.”

“I see.”

“So, the question is, can you explain it?”

“No sir...” Mike paused in thought. “Actually, I can explain your orders, but not until we reach Christchurch.”

“Why Christchurch, if I may ask?”

“It’s to do with operational security, sir.” After a moment’s thought, the Commander nodded.

“And, I assume you can’t tell me anything about your odd looking ship either or why your IFF transponder signal is registering you as MS
Hemlock
.”

“That is correct, sir.” The Commander took a deep breath and pursed his lips.

“Then, all I can say is, your explanation had better be a damned good one.” With that, he saluted Mike again and turned on his heels to march away. Mike breathed a sigh of relief, thankful the commander hadn’t pressed him. As the commander walked away the port captain walked up.

“From the look of it, there goes a very unhappy man.”

“Yes, he’s a bit peeved I couldn’t explain the situation to him.”

“You haven’t really explained the situation to me either, other than we, or I should say, the rest of human space is at war.” Mike gave him a sad smile.

“You can include Avalon as well.”

“Figured that. No way can we stand in the sidelines anymore.”

“It’s going to get worse before this is over.”

“So, what now?”

“How soon are you going to get any pilots?”

“Have some coming in today with any luck.”

“Good. I’ll need three right away. I have to get my three freighters to Avalon as soon as possible.”

“Three? You mean four, don’t you?”

“Why four?”

“Well, one for each freighter and one for your ship, assuming you are going to take her over… wait, you said Avalon. No way. You know the rules as well as I do.”

“These three ships are an exception, and no I don’t need a pilot. I’ll take my ship through myself.”

“You? How can you… wait? You’re
Rift
certified?” He asked, looking astonished.

“That I am, Captain, that I am.” He laughed.

“I might have known it seeing you are one of the
family
.” For once, Mike felt proud hearing that.

“Boy, are you going to be doing a lot of explaining to your grandfather and a certain Mr. Anderson.”

“It won’t be the first time.” He laughed.

As promised, a dispatch boat arrived from Avalon space with six pilots and Mike used his authority to order them to take the three freighters directly to Avalon. After a short argument they gave in recognizing that as a Tregallion, he did have the authority to change their orders. The next twelve hours went by in a blur as shuttles ferried the crews from their ships to the
Orion Dawn
after landing them on the shallow sea outside Winchester harbor. Not that Mike saw them lining up in an orderly row along the hardpan or the unhappy faces of the departing crews. Sooner than expected he received a comm message from Captain MacManus that he was ready to depart. Mike had Cooper page the pilots of the three freighters to confirm they were ready, receiving confirmation as Conner took the
Hemlock
to the head of the convoy.

“Head for solar north, Conner. I’ll take over for the actual jump.”

“Better you than me, Skipper. That place gives me the willies just looking at it.”

Even the short distance into the
Rift
was intimidating, as the roiling mass of proto stars, dust, comet fragments, gas, and radiation made ordinary navigation virtually impossible. Normally a freighter would take on a
Rift
-certified Avalon pilot/helmsman as the three freighters had done to take the ship through the
Rift
to Christchurch never Avalon itself. Christchurch was the trading centre, and fully under the watchful eyes of Avalon security. To get to Avalon itself required another short jump, but few ships were ever given permission to make it. With no beacon and one of several viable stars within a five light year radius, Avalon could be any one of them

“All sensors off and shut down all external screens, Jan,” Mike ordered as he took the VR helmet and slipped it over his head. This time Conner let Cindy Loftland sit in the second helmsman seat.

“You’re going to love this, Cindy.” Conner gave her a shark-like grin.

“Why do I get the funny feeling I’m not going to love this?”

“Orders, Skipper?” She asked.

“Just observe, Cindy,” Mike answered cryptically.

“All sensors shut down, and all external screens off, sir,” Jan reported.

“Good. Let’s get this show on the road. Sit down and strap in.”

*  *  *  *  *  *

From Cindy’s perspective under her VR helmet, the trip inward was akin to a roller-coaster ride. It wasn’t long before she started wondering if she had the skill to pilot the ship through the
Rift
as her captain clearly had. The
Rift
was simply a minefield from the moment they jumped through the warp point inside a dust and gas cloud and entered the
Rift
itself. She marveled at Mike’s skill at the helm as he deftly negotiated his way through or around the massive gravity shears from collapsing dust clouds that one day would be new stars and planets. The density of debris inside the
Rift
made an asteroid belt or Oort cloud look positivity thin by comparison yet Mike micro jumped his way between all the hazards with a degree of skill she had rarely seen except in fighter pilots. Without knowing where the beacons were, or what to look for within the swirling dust cloud and radiation, it was virtually impossible for a ship to pass through the
Rift
. After three grueling hours and one last micro jump, they exited out the other side of the
Rift
into clear space. Cindy felt completely exhausted from just watching, so God only knew how her captain felt. Mike used reverse thrust to bring the
Hemlock
to a stop and sat back with a deep sigh as he pulled the VR helmet off. The moment he did, Cindy handed him a towel. Mike wiped the sweat off, nodding his thanks.

“It’s no wonder no one ever gets to the other side without a pilot.”

“True, Cindy, and also the reason why shipping companies are so eager to get to Christchurch and trade from what the Free Traders bring back.

“Christchurch traffic control is paging us, and wants to know who we are,” Cooper reported.

“Just send ALPHA-ALPHA-ALPHA-King Three.”

“Are they magic words to open all doors, like
open sesame
from Aladdin and the forty thieves?” Cooper chuckled as Mike moved back to the captain’s chair.

“Mr. Standish-Owen, do I hear someone likening the people of Avalon and Christchurch to the forty thieves?”

“It would appear so, Captain Gray. Very disrespectful. Mayhaps we should keelhaul the said individual.”

“I never did!” Cooper blurted out in her defense, turning bright red. The rest of the bridge crew broke into laughter. It helped break the tension of the jump through the
Rift
, as Conner had obviously told the crew the story about their last passage.

“What now, Skipper?” Pete asked.

“I suppose I’d better go down and face the music, Pete.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse. I broke several major rules and a certain security chief is going to have my guts for garters.”

Pete winced. “Better you than me, Skipper.”

*  *  *  *  *  *

“Before you start with the uncle Andy bit. I have to tell you I’m a little upset with the stunt you just pulled,” was the first thing his uncle said, “if you think just because you are a member of the Tregallion family, that gives you the right to violate Avalon’s rules and regulations, it doesn’t!” He snapped. In respect, Mike stood at attention, his cap under his left arm.

“No, sir. You are right.”

“Damn right I am. You send three uninspected ships directly to Avalon and bring god knows how many Sirrien spies right to our damn doorstep. What in god’s name do you think you were doing?” Unlike some, Andy Anderson didn’t raise his voice. Even so, Mike had some idea just how pissed off he was.

“I was ordered to bring them to Avalon…” He started to say.

“Ordered! Ordered by whom?” Andy shot back, glaring at his nephew, outraged that someone would dare violate Avalon’s security.

“The King.” Mike answered simply.

“I see. And what is so bloody important that it had to go straight to Avalon?”

“That you will have to ask Mr. Cromwell. I was never told.”

“Cromwell… isn’t he, or wasn’t he the King’s private secretary? I thought he was dead.”

“Yes and no. Apparently his death was faked and he was under orders from the King to load and bring those three freighters to Avalon. I was tasked with escorting them and ensuring they arrived safely.” Even as he said it, he could see the wheels turning in Andy Anderson’s head.

“Oh, for god’s sake sit down and relax! You’re giving me a stiff neck just looking up at you like that. Mike breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. The ass reaming was over, at least for the moment. He took a seat and placed his cap on the desk. As a salve, Andy poured two mugs of coffee, bringing one to Mike. Once he’d heard the rest of his report, the ass reaming might just start up again, but at least he’d be sitting, and would have a chance to defend himself. Trying to serve two masters at the same time was getting a little trying.

“I only have sketchy reports from Ambassador MacTavish, and by now they are probably out of date.”

“They will at least give you some background to my report.”

“Now that the Sirriens have gone on the warpath, we don’t have to pretend to be friendly with them anymore.”

“True. They have taken out the Confederate and United States main battle fleets and probably a few others we haven’t heard from yet so the gloves have come off and we can legally shoot them up if they come calling here.”

“Don’t see how, unless they’ve found a way across or around the
Rift
.”

“That’s always a possibility, but I was thinking of us taking the war to them.” Even as he said it, Andy was shaking his head.

“Unless they declare war on Avalon or take action against our shipping, we can’t exactly go out hunting them, at least not yet.”

“True, but I can.”

“You? How so?”

In answer, Mike handed him the cream-colored envelope embossed with the royal crest. Andy cocked an eyebrow at him as he accepted the letter but said nothing until after he’d read it. Andy was a past master at poker, and nothing showed on his face.

“And how do you intend carrying out these… um… orders?”

“Using the
King Class
ships Avalon is building to start.”