David Drake - When the Tide Rises

Blantyre was therefore not telling the truth. She was, in fact, lying in order to deceive Captain Seward who'd otherwise obstruct Daniel's wishes. Adele supposed she ought to feel good about what Blantyre was doing, since it was bringing about a good result; the dishonesty still made her lip curl.

A smile softened what'd been a sneer of disgust. Her way of dealing with Seward would've been to offer to shoot him dead at his console if he didn't carry out Daniel's orders. Most people-Tovera was an exception-would agree that Blantyre's technique was preferable, and Adele decided that she would join the majority.

"Yes, all right, DeMarce Five," Daniel said blandly. "Captain Seward, Lieutenant Blantyre will land the vessel in the interests of safety if you like. Command will revert to you when you're on the ground, over."

"I'll land the bloody ship, Leary!" Seward said. His High Drive already glared with braking thrust. "I don't need a brat who's still got her milk teeth to pilot my ship for me. But I want you to know that it's dangerous-though not for you up in orbit, of course! DeMarceout!"

Adele kept real-time inserts of theLadouceur 's companions on the upper register of her display. TheIndependence was already deep in the atmosphere. Even without expanding the image of Hoppler's ship, she could see it was wrapped in a shroud of rainbow ions as its plasma thrusters took over from its High Drive.

"Adele, can you connect me with the ships on the ground?" Daniel asked quietly over a two-way link. "I want to warn them not to resist, over."

"Yes, of course," Adele said, adjusting her wands almost without thinking about it. "I can't guarantee that anybody will be manning the signals suite, of course, but if we use the 17-meter emergency frequency it should trip the ships' intercom circuits also. That should rouse somebody."

She tried to expand Daniel's real-time image on her display. Her attempt failed, though she wasn't sure if it was a problem with the command-she was using her personal data unit as an input device, as usual-or if the console she was using had a malfunction. Instead, she looked at Daniel directly.

Though theLadouceur wasn't large even for its class, a cruiser's bridge was still far more spacious than that of thePrincess Cecile. The command console sat in the middle of the circular compartment; by rotating on its axis, the captain could face any quarter. Eight junior positions surrounded it with the primary operator's back to the bulkhead. Because Adele's display was live, she leaned to the side to look past. It took her a little aback to see that Daniel was staring directly at her already.

"Daniel," she said, still using the link. The buzz of the High Drive and thewhir/skree/clank of the various systems operating within the cruiser's steel hull made it impractical to talk unaided, even when both parties were in the same compartment. "Would it really be safe for Blantyre to land on rock? Thatis a dangerous business, isn't it?"

Daniel shrugged. "It could have its moments," he said. "Thrust reflected between a solid surface and the hull can set up a standing wave if you're not careful. But there's eight ships on the ground now, Adele, and I don't believe that the Bagarian Cluster is that thick with master pilots."

He cleared his throat and grinned. "I'm just as pleased that Seward decided to take over the job himself, though. All Blantyre's experience has been on simulators, and those were emulating theSissie. A 5,000 ton freighter is quite different-and I'm afraid much more different than Blantyre would realize until she started down."

Adele nodded in understanding. It hadn't been a bluff, exactly-Blantyre really would've tried to bring theDeMarce in. It might've been suicidally dangerous, but that was regularly a part of being an RCN officer.

"We'll be coming out of the shadow of the planet in ninety seconds," she said. "You'll be able speak to the ships on the ground, then. Dodd's Throne doesn't have a system of communications satellites, and though I could've used theMoore County as a transponder-"

She smiled slightly. She was making what was for her a joke.

"-I didn't think that was necessary."

"Quite right," agreed Daniel; dryly, she thought. "Break. This is the IBSLadouceur. Merchant vessels at Mine Compound 73, do not attempt to lift. Warships and troops of the Independent Republic of Bagaria have taken control of the planet. Bagarian registry ships will be examined and released, but theBabanguidaandVieux Carreewill be taken to Pelosi for condemnation by a prize court."

Daniel took a deep breath; his first since he began speaking, Adele thought. In a firm, coolly distant voice he added, "Vieux Carree, shut down your plasma thrusters. If you lift off the ground, you will be infallibly destroyed either by the ships landing at Compound 73 or by the vessels waiting in orbit. Spacers, I'm Commander Daniel Leary of the RCN, and I assure you that you willnot escape me! Over."

Adele didn't recall hearing Daniel boast except when he did it for effect. That included the effect his heroism had on foolish young women, of course, but she supposed that was pardonable. A rational survival plan for the human species would certainly involve spreading the genes of warriors like Daniel Leary as widely as possible.

She grinned, then made a series of quick commands that burped further information to the Alliance vessels. It wasn't anything she'd planned to do, but she had the clips in her data unit and it seemed a suitable time to disseminate them.

"Captain," Adele said. "I transmitted excerpts fromThe Conquest of Dunbar's World to the ships on the surface. I thought it might add point to your threat."

"Bloody Hell, Signals," Daniel said, but he chuckled. "They'll think I'm a posturing idiot, over."

"Yes sir," said Cory unexpectedly from the Battle Direction Center. Adele had keyed the command channel rather than a two-way link. "But a very handsome one, sir. Five out."

He has a sense of humor, Adele thought. Of course Cory may always've had a sense of humor, but when he first met Lieutenant Leary aboard the tenderHermes he wouldn't've had the calm courage to joke in the midst of a tense situation. Daniel might not've been able to make Cory an astrogator, but hehad made the boy a man.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Ship, this is Six," he said. Borries looked at him but Sun, the only other junior officer on the bridge besides Adele, continued to stare at his display. The gunner seemed to be willing a target to approach so that he could blast it.

"The situation on the ground appears to have settled out peaceably, as it should've done," Daniel continued. "The two Alliance prizes've shut down their thrusters and're waiting to be boarded. Our companion vessels have landed and will take charge of them momentarily. When they've all lifted to orbit, we'll set a course back to Pelosi. You're heroes, fellow spacers, and don't think the folks in Morning Harbor won't know it! Six out."

"Squadron Six, this is Independence Five," said Vesey. "Emergency, emergency. The crews-the non-RCN spacers-are out of control and are looting ships. Repeat, they're looting the ships, the country craft as well as the prizes. Over!"

She was speaking through a laser communicator. The high pitch of her voice might've been an artifact of transmission, but the words rattled out faster than Vesey ordinarily spoke.

Adele was filtering the cruiser's internal chatter away from Daniel. She'd set outside calls to appear as a text crawl on his display. She highlighted this one in red, then copied Daniel as she replied, "Independence Five, this is Squadron. Hold for the Captain."

"Vesey, this is Six," said Daniel. "How many men can you dispose, over?"

"Only the twenty-five I brought with me, sir," Vesey replied, audibly calmer just for the fact of a reply. "And we don't have sidearms. Blantyre's probably the same. The crews are completely out of control, and the Bagarian officers are bloody useless! Over."