John Ringo - Against the Tide

“You can owe me,” Baradur replied. He suddenly grinned showing a mouth full of bright, white teeth. “Although I’ll also want silver, mistress.”

“They’re bloody mercenaries, really,” McClure explained. “Good fighters for all they’re small. Hardheaded, too. They don’t fight for New Destiny, though. Oh, and they don’t talk, so you can have a conversation around them and not worry about it.”

“And I’m to take your word on that?” Megan said.

“Well, you’ll have to, won’t you?” McClure replied, gruffly. “But you’ll find out. I’ll give you some peace for now. Keep Baradur with you, though. I’m fairly sure the castle is secure, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Thank you,” Megan said as he left the room. Baradur looked at her for a moment, then squatted, facing the door.

Megan took a breath and looked at the fire for a moment.

“Mother, please contact Sheida Ghorbani and ask her to send a projection.”

She had counted to ten when the projection appeared. Sheida looked much older than the last time Megan had seen a projection of her, shortly after the Fall.

“So, Paul is truly dead,” Sheida said, looking at the girl. She summoned a virtual chair and sat in it. “And you are the daughter of my friend Joel.”

“My father is alive?” Megan asked, tears coming to her eyes. Even after the contact she hadn’t been able to hope.

“Indeed, he’s my head of intelligence,” Sheida said. “We had a message about you only… a few days ago? It had some details of your situation. We had a very hard time deciding whether to let the agent contact you again.”

“What did you decide?” Megan asked, honestly curious.

“To permit the contact,” Sheida replied. “It was pragmatic, but, we felt, necessary. Besides, there were problems with stopping the contact even if we’d chosen to try. In the end we decided to use you as an agent, despite the risks. All our worries for naught,” she added with a faint smile.

“I had a hard time deciding whether to kill Paul,” Megan said. “I knew I could do some good as an agent. You’ve got no idea what I’ve learned. But my plans were so far advanced…” She paused and shook her head. “I… I really didn’t want to kill him. But I had to!”

“Megan,” Sheida said, sternly. “You did well . What you did was the best possible thing you could have done for Paul. I’m not sure that it’s the best possible thing to have done for the world , but we can discuss that when we have you safe.”

Megan nodded and shrugged. “Open up the teleport block and I’ll bring the girls over now.”

“No can do,” Sheida sighed. “We’re only able to hold it because of a single vote by the Finn. He’s… too unpredictable to want to try the same route again. If I drop it for you, Norau will be vulnerable to penetration. We’ll have to send a ship.”

“The New Destiny fleet is at sea,” Megan pointed out. “Somewhere not very far from here.” She paused and gripped her hair. “I have so much information in my head! I don’t know where to start.”

“It will keep,” Sheida said with a soothing tone.

“Not all of it,” Megan said, suddenly looking into the distance. “There’s a Destiny assassin on the Richard . He has orders to poison Duke Talbot and Admiral Chang. He might have done so already.” She looked out the window of the room into the darkness beyond. “I’m not sure what timing he was supposed to use.”

Sheida held up a finger and looked distant for a moment.

“I’ve sent an avatar to inform Edmund,” Sheida said. “And I’ll go ahead and track down the agent while I’m about it.”

“The fleet has two targets,” Megan continued. “The main combat fleet is to attack Blackbeard Base and kill the mer-women and take the children. The invasion fleet is aimed at Balmoran harbor. Jassinte is sending an army over the mountains to attack Hind and try to draw off some of the forces from the Assam reactor. I know the route they’re taking. There are more assassins waiting for Edmund in Newfell. Celine has four new Change types they’re holding back for the attack on Norau. There are Change acolytes with the fleet thatÑ”

“Hold on, girl,” Sheida said, waving her hand. “We’ll do a full debrief as soon as we can. I’ll send a ship from Edmund’s fleet…”

“A carrier,” Megan said, sharply. “I want a carrier from the fleet. With a full battle group.”

“We’re in the middle of a battle , Megan,” Sheida said. “We need all the carriers we have. We lost too many in that idiotic battle off the Onay Isles.”

“If I’m killed at sea, what happens to the Key?” Megan asked. “If it and I go into the water?”

“I’ll damned well feed you power to keep you alive,” Sheida promised, solemnly.

“New Destiny has a device that can drop personal protection fields,” Megan countered.

“Impossible,” Sheida snapped. “Mother would not permit it.”

“She doesn’t have protocols to prevent it,” Megan said. “They’re nannites that create a quantum field that the PPFs can’t stabilize in. They only drop it for a few moments, but that’s long enough for a knife or a sword to get through. Not to mention water.”

“God, we do need to debrief you, don’t we?” Sheida said. “Okay, a carrier. And a battle group. Edmund is going to go ballistic.”

“You’re insane!” Edmund snapped.

“Maybe, but Megan just saved your life,” Sheida pointed out.

“He was going to use cyanide ,” Edmund snapped. “In my coffee . I hate almond in my coffee, it’s nearly as barbaric as hazelnut. I would have smelled it. And I need every carrier, Sheida.”

“The Hazhir is closest,” Sheida said, definitely. “Detach it to pick up Megan and anyone else she wants transported. Do it now , Edmund. That’s an order.”

“Damnit!” Talbot snarled. “Okay, okay. Will do, my Queen. This is going to get people killed .”

“Edmund, we have an additional Key,” Sheida pointed out. “Which means no more depending upon the Finn for low-margin votes. That will keep people alive . Send the message. Or do you want me to?”

“You,” Edmund admitted. “It will be faster and less prone to intercept or confusion. I’m going to be busy anyway, trying to figure out how to survive with a third of my combat forces gone.”

“Major Herrick,” the messenger panted as she threw open Herzer’s door. “Skipper wants you right away. She said to run.”

“Look, knock or something,” Herzer said, rolling out from under Bast.

“Sorry, sir,” the female messenger said, going red and then pale and shutting the door hastily.

“Why me?” Herzer asked, throwing on his clothes. As he did he heard a cry of “All hands! Stand by to go about!”

“I don’t know,” Bast said, leaning her cheek on one fist and making a moue. “Hate all this military stuff. Do this. Do that. Go here. Go there. But you’d best run.”

“Sorry,” he said, as he tucked in his shirt. He leaned over and gave her a kiss, then hurried out the door.

He took the lower deck corridors, which were filled with running figures as the crew poured up on deck, and then realized that the messenger hadn’t specified where the skipper was . He pounded down the officers’ corridor and gestured with his chin at the skipper’s door.

“Skipper in there?” he asked the marine sentry.

“Yes, sir,” the marine replied. “You’re to go right in.”

Herzer knocked and entered the room at a bellowed: “Enter!”