John Ringo - Emerald Sea

“He said something like that to me, too,” Elayna said. “But it was before the attack. He said that he thought that you guys,” she pointed at Herzer and Edmund, “would bring trouble and he had a place to hide. I just laughed at him and told him to get lost. After the attack I was around people too much, I guess. He probably didn’t feel safe coming near me.”

“But he would know where we were going,” Jason said. “Everyone had been told.”

“So we can assume, I think, that the orcas know,” Edmund said. “Don’t let your guard down.”

“Have a seat on the sea locker,” Rachel said to the young marine. She vaguely recognized him as one of the marines who had guarded her father’s quarters. “I need to ask you some questions. You’re not to tell anyone what I asked. Anyone, is that clear?”

“Yes, miss,” the marine said, swallowing nervously. “The captain said the same.”

“Not even the other marines I’m questioning,” she said. “Don’t go comparing notes. Understood?”

“Yes, miss.”

Rachel was on the sea locker now, with her mother pacing nervously in the captain’s office and the marine CO sitting back behind his desk.

“All three of the guards, independently, stated that the only person to be in the wardroom alone during their shift was Commander Mbeki,” Rachel said, glancing at her notes. “The CO was in his quarters most of the time. He left, but only to go to the quarterdeck. The navigator and the three lieutenants were never in the corridor. One steward was in there, but only while Commander Mbeki was present.”

“Okay,” Daneh said. “Damn. Mbeki? ”

“Can I ask, now, what is going on?” the marine asked.

“Not yet, Captain,” Daneh said. “But on my husband’s authority, get your guard ready and armored up. Rachel and I need to go see the CO.”

The skipper tossed the letter onto his desk and looked up angrily.

“It is not normal, nor wise, to turn over full military authority to a civilian, Mistress Daneh,” the skipper said, his mouth pursed. “Can I ask the reason for this extraordinary document?”

“Let me ask you a question first,” Daneh said. “Have you noticed anything about the New Destiny attacks?”

“Other than they have been inept?” the captain asked sarcastically.

“Have they?” Daneh asked, pacing up and down. “The first attack they were beaten off by using the rabbit, an attack that no one could have anticipated who wasn’t aware of his full capabilities, not to mention the deal he had set up with Evan, correct?”

“I suppose,” Chang said.

“The caravel would have carried fifty or sixty Changed warriors. Despite the valor of your crew, between them and the ballista, it is likely that they would have captured or destroyed your ship, unless you ran. And you couldn’t really run, could you?”

“Not without losing days in the voyage, no,” the skipper admitted. “Effectively we had to fight our way through. On that Commander Mbeki and I agreed.”

“The second attack was by five ships. Even if the rabbit could have been induced to help you, again, there wasn’t much you could have done, was there?”

“No,” the skipper said. “Thanks for pointing that out.”

“But, again, Evan had a device that he had concocted, more or less without anyone knowing.”

“I knew,” the colonel said. “Nobody gets on my ship with sodium, gasoline and all the rest without my knowledge.”

“The kraken is another example,” Rachel said.

“The point is that at each attack, they knew your location and thought they knew your capabilities,” Daneh said, stopping her pacing to face the skipper.

“You suspect a spy,” the skipper sighed.

“Edmund suspected that New Destiny had an agent on board,” Daneh said. “But he didn’t know who it was. There were, however, some clues.”

“It had to be someone who knew our course and plans,” the skipper said with another sigh. “Which means it could have been me. It’s not; I’d know,” he added with a grimace.

“But that does explain the orders,” Daneh said, gesturing at the paper. “The agent had to be communicating. We have managed to track the communications to the wardroom.”

“How?” Chang snapped.

“I’m… going to decline to answer that,” Daneh said. “I’m not sure I want the knowledge getting around. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” the skipper said. “And who used the wardroom during the period? I guess it wasn’t me or we wouldn’t be having this extraordinary conversation.”

“Sadly, only Commander Mbeki,” Daneh said.

“Owen?” Chang said. “I’ve known Owen Mbeki for years . He’s the most trustworthy man I know. There’s no way that he’s a spy for New Destiny!”

“Unfortunately, skipper, that’s who it points to,” Daneh replied. “And the evidence, while slim, is going to be more than enough for Edmund.”

“It won’t be for a court-martial,” the skipper replied, his face hard. “And that is what this is going to come to. You’ll have to reveal your methods for that at least.”

“Not if we catch him in the act,” Rachel said, frowning.

“How do we do that?” the skipper asked.

“We can’t if we don’t all act normal,” Rachel replied. “It’s gonna have to be a surprise…”

The squeal of a delphino scout was all the warning that they had and then the orcas were on them, coming up from behind where there wasn’t a dragon guard.

The group had nearly reached Hope Harbor. It was late afternoon and the formation had started to get ragged. Herzer had had to, more than once, shove one of the mer-warriors back into the hemisphere as their excitement and nervousness got the best of them. Everyone was worried because they had expected the carrier to beat them to the harbor, but so far there was no sign of it or the mer-women and children that it carried. The mer tended to stick their heads up out of the water, hoping for a glimpse of the elusive ship.

So it was in a gaggle more than a disciplined formation that they were hit by the orcas exploding off the bottom.

Their black bodies had blended into the shadows of the reef and they had apparently created a sonar image that hid them from the oncoming delphinos. Furthermore, they seemed to care nothing for the ring of spears, slashing through them to get to the interior.

Herzer was ripped from his seat as Chauncey turned hard right to attack into the formation. As the two wyverns slashed into the group it exploded outward with a swirl of orcas, mer-women and confused spear-wielders.

Herzer dove deep and came up from below the formation, slashing his sword through the belly of an orca that had just caught one of the mer. The cut was too late, though; the orca’s jaws crushed the mer-girl before he even realized his guts were trailing in the water.

“Form a globe around them,” Edmund yelled, “women to the outside .”

But as fast as the mer tried to regroup, the orcas were faster. Their powerful flukes smashed any attempt at formation and after their first attack on the women and older men they turned on the broken formation of spear-wielders and attacked them.

Herzer saw Pete caught that way, one of the orca catching him by his tail and tossing him up and out of the water like a play toy. Jason was fighting a desperate action against another, jabbing with his sword to keep the orca at bay.

It was the dragons, and Bast, that saved the day.

Herzer thought that the orcas were fast until he saw Bast. Her fins blurred like the tail of a tuna as she cut through the water like a shark. Her saber wasn’t well suited for killing the big whales, but where she went orcas were left bleeding with huge gashes in their side, back, stomach, guts hanging out and fins cut away so they had to swim lopsidededly.