Jack Campbell - Perilous Shield

She glared at the display again as if it could be intimidated into providing the answer that Togo could not. The enigmas had proceeded in-system only thirty light-minutes from the jump point from Pele where they had arrived. The alien attack force had braked there, all two hundred twenty-two ships, and since that time had hung in orbit, unmoving relative to that jump point.

“What possible reason would they have for sitting there?” Iceni demanded. “We’re at their mercy. They must know that.”

She shot to her feet and walked out of the office, ready to demand that someone in the command center provide an explanation for the inexplicable.

The first person Iceni’s eyes locked on was General Drakon, standing talking in a small group that consisted of him, Colonel Malin, and Colonel Morgan. Note to self, Iceni thought as she concealed her reaction to seeing Morgan again. If we survive this, have a long talk with Drakon about why he keeps that murderous bitch around. Loyalty to subordinates is one thing, and Togo has told me enough about how capable and deadly Morgan is to make it clear why Drakon values her, but the woman is borderline psychotic. I don’t care if she got that way because of what the Syndicate did to her on that mission into enigma space. That’s not my fault or my problem.

And she slept with that idiot male Drakon when he got too drunk to know better. I have no doubt that she knew what she was doing, though. What was her goal? That encounter has only ensured that Drakon won’t risk any similar outcome again. What was Morgan after?

And why does it bother me so much to know that Drakon slept with her? Because it proves that even Drakon is just a foolish man at his core? Or because… ?

No. I know better. Mixing business and pleasure is a recipe for disaster.

Colonel Malin still wasn’t giving any subtle warnings of danger for Iceni, and in the last day he had not used any of the available convoluted means of passing information to her. Either Drakon wasn’t planning anything against her or he had kept Malin in the dark. Had he been doubled against her, passing information with Drakon’s knowledge so that in a case such as this he could keep Iceni in the dark and lull her into complacency? Or were Malin’s priorities his own? What is your game, Colonel Malin?

She could never tell whether such worries were legitimate or a product of the Syndicate system in which she had grown up and been promoted. Paranoia made sense when lots of people were almost always out to get you. But it crippled you as well, which Iceni had realized was the intent. An environment built on distrust had hindered attempts to band together against the Syndicate leadership.

Drakon looked over at Iceni as she approached, a very brief smile flickering into existence before he extinguished it.

Did the man actually like her? That was an intriguing thought.

“The enigmas are not going anywhere,” Iceni said without preamble, outwardly ignoring the presence of both Colonels Malin and Morgan, just as Drakon ignored Togo where he stood to the left and slightly behind Iceni. Togo had shifted position a bit as they came to a stop, ensuring that he had a clear shot at Morgan if she twitched in a threatening manner. Neither Drakon nor Iceni made any sign they had noticed that, either.

Drakon nodded in response to Iceni’s statement, displaying frustration that matched her own. “I noticed. What’s your guess?”

“I have none.”

“All I have is a wild estimate based on human behavior.” Drakon swung an angry hand toward the main display, where the images of the far-distant enigma ships were shown clearly. “If this were a human force, the only reason they wouldn’t attack was if they had orders to wait for someone or something.”

“Waiting? For what?”

“I don’t know. But if these guys were human, I’d assume they had orders not to attack until some exact time, or to wait until some CEO who wanted credit for the victory showed up, or until reinforcements they didn’t need arrived.”

Iceni frowned as she looked at the display. “Those reasons would make sense. If the enigmas were human.”

“And I know they’re not.” Drakon shrugged. “Maybe they’re like us in that way, though.”

“It would be nice to think we’re not the only intelligent species capable of such mindless behavior. There’s nothing we can do even if they are being stupid, though,” Iceni said.

“We could attack,” Drakon replied with a sardonic grin.

“If they’re waiting for that, they’ll be waiting awhile. Kommodor Marphissa is still on her way toward the gas giant.”

“Where will she go after she picks up the other two cruisers?”

“I’ve ordered her to await further developments, to see someone else do something, so we know who to react to.”

“Fair enough. What’s going on with the battleship?”

It was Iceni’s turn to shrug. “It stays where it is. For now.”

“Why not get it out of the star system? It doesn’t have any military use for us.”

She sighed wearily. How long had it been since she had slept? “That battleship is, to the eyes of everyone watching, the strongest defensive asset this star system has. It still looks like a mighty warship even to those with access to sensors that tell them its weapons don’t work. What happens if everyone watches it run away?”

Colonel Morgan gave her an appraising glance, as if surprised that Iceni had been astute enough to think of that. That condescending look gave Iceni one more reason to contemplate having Morgan murdered despite her agreement with Drakon not to carry out any unilateral assassinations. But a hit on an assistant that close to Drakon would create massive problems even if it could be carried out successfully. From all Iceni had heard, Morgan would not be easily eliminated even if Iceni chose to send Togo after her.

“So we wait, too,” Drakon said. He didn’t sound any happier about that than Iceni felt. “I’ve been wondering something about the enigmas.”

“If you’re planning on asking me, I hope you don’t expect me to know more than anyone else does.”

“It’s a mobile forces question,” Drakon said, using the old Syndicate term for warships and pointing to the images of the enigma invaders. The alien craft were shaped much like turtles or tortoises, curved carapaces forming flattened hulls, the dark enigma armor glinting dully in the distant light of Midway’s star. “I understand the curved armor. It deflects anything that hits it much better than a flat surface would, and it lacks stress junctions like corners and edges.”

His hand moved to indicate the shapes of the human warships shown elsewhere on the display, sharklike hulls varying from the slim Hunter-Killers and light cruisers to the beefier heavy cruisers. At the gas giant, the battleship Midway rested at the space dock like a much more massive, chunkier version of the heavy cruisers. “Why don’t the enigmas have battleships?” Drakon continued. “Their largest ships aren’t much bigger than our heavy cruisers.”

“Their ships are more maneuverable than ours,” Iceni replied. “And our least maneuverable ships are the battleships because of all the armor, shield generators, and weapons they carry. They’re slow to accelerate and slow to brake and take a very wide radius to change vectors. That sort of sluggish ship may be incompatible with how the enigmas fight.”

“But what about battle cruisers?” Drakon asked. “Aren’t those pretty maneuverable?”

“Yes. Very swift because they have the propulsion of a battleship but not nearly as much armor and significantly less weaponry and shield strength.” Iceni shook her head, looking at the enigma ships. “I don’t know why the enigmas don’t have anything as large as one of our battle cruisers. Maybe Black Jack found out the answer to that.”