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our blow is about to fall."
"You think, then, that the challenge will work, on a human? Their sense of
honor is not the same as ours, Lord Prince." Melek bowed low, to show that he
did not mean to doubt his Lord's judgment.
"Oh, this challenge will work, I Slink," Thrakhath said quietly. "They do not
have honor, Melek, but they do have pride& and anger. We will goad this ape
into a foolish gesture, and at the same time& "
"The Trigger," Melek said.
"The Trigger. And we will have our claws at their throats once and for all."
Thrakhath straightened. "Pass the orders, Melek. Assemble the designated task
force and be ready to jump within a cycle."
"Yes, Lord Prince." Melek withdrew, bowing again.
Crown Prince Thrakhath contemplated the stars that blazed through the dome
above his dais. The stars that would soon belong entirely to the
Empire.
Wing Commander's Office, TCS Victory
Delius System
"Reporting as ordered, sir."
"Come in, Lieutenant," Blair said, gesturing to the chair in front of his
desk. "Sit down."
Flint settled into the seat, her eyes holding a look somewhere between hope
and wariness. "Thank you, sir," she said. "Ah& those were some good moves you
guys put on yesterday, Colonel. Although I couldn't really tell everything
that was going on& from Flight Control."
He smiled. "You don't need to drop hints, Lieutenant. I know it's been
difficult for you, sitting on the sidelines."
"It's just& Look, sir, it just isn't the same, flying a console aboard ship.
I belong in the cockpit. That's all there is to it. If you can't put me there,
then transfer me to a unit where I can get a fresh start."
"You're pretty blunt, Lieutenant," he said. "Let me be the same. If I
don't put you back on the flight roster here, it'll be because I have a
problem with you flying. So you can be damned sure my report in your file
would reflect my doubts. Don't think a transfer is going to get you back in
the cockpit just because I'm not your CO any longer."
Her look was bleak, bitter. "I lost it, back at Locanda. I admit it. But I
don't think that mistake should hang over me forever, Colonel. Watching those
bastards slip past us, knowing they were going to spread their plague on my
home that was more than I could handle. But it isn't likely to come up again."
She managed a crooked smile.
"The stakes are less& personal, now. Is that it?" He kept his own tone
serious.
"I guess so, sir," she said. "I hate to admit it. I mean, when I took my oath
it was to the Confederation, not to any one planet. But Locanda was so much
more real to me, when it went down. I could see it, in my mind:
the places, the people. It made a difference."
"If it didn't, you wouldn't be human," he said. Blair studied her for a
moment. She seemed too small, too fragile to be a combat pilot. "The problem
is, you made me a promise once before, and you didn't keep it.
Do you want to get back in that cockpit bad enough to follow through this
time?"
"I can't prove that unless you give me the chance, Colonel," she said.
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"When I'm out there, with that bird strapped around me and a cat in my sights&
that's the only time I really feel alive
."
Blair nodded sadly. He remembered Angel saying something like that once, back
on the
Tiger's Claw
. "I knew& I know someone who felt the same way. She lived to fight 'the good
fight,' as she called it."
"For me, it's the flying," Flint told him. "I love the purity& nothing holding
me back. Knowing I'm in complete control, for better or worse."
"Yeah," Blair said, nodding again. "Yeah, only a pilot knows that feeling."
"Well, Colonel, if you understand how I feel, then you have to know what I'm
going through now. I wasn't designed for cheerleading from the sidelines, or
playing traffic director in Flight Control. I'm requesting reassignment to
flight status." She paused. "Please& "
"I don't usually give third chances, Lieutenant," he said slowly. "But we
could have used you out there yesterday. Next time we'll need you even more.
You're back on the roster, effective immediately, Flint."
"Thank you, sir& "
He held up a hand. "But if you screw up again& heaven help you.
Because I won't."
"Understood, Colonel." She stood up. "This time you won't regret it."
Flight Wing Rec Room, TCS Victory
Delius System
A jagged, irregular chunk of rock eighteen kilometers across aominated the
view from the rec room. A few moving lights marked the passage of shuttles and
service pods back and forth between carrier and asteroid. In the three hours
since
Victory matched orbits with Delius Station, a thorough inspection of the
ship's hull and external fittings had already been completed, and the captain
had authorized liberty for the off-duty
watch. There weren't as many takers as might be expected
Delius Station was reputed to be one of the most boring stopovers in the
sector but there was a definite easing of tensions on board at the realization
that they really were back in friendly territory at last.
Blair sat alone at a table, sipping his scotch and gazing at the planetoid and
the star field beyond. In one corner of the room, Vaquero was softly strumming
his old guitar, a quiet, mournful sound. Lieutenant Lopez had been certified
fit for flight duty by the ship's Medical Officer the day before, and Blair
restored him to the roster. But he still wondered if Lopez was fully recovered
from the battering he had taken in the first clash in the nebula.
He heard Maniac Marshall call a greeting as he entered the rec room, and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]