The Swarm (59 page)

“I'm starting to get an odd feeling about this,” said Victor.

“You and me both,” said Imala.

The Gagak rotated and finished its approach, then docking tubes from the outpost extended and locked into place. There was a buzzer and then the all-clear light came on. Imala opened the hatch, and a young officer in an IF uniform greeted them with a salute.

“Captain Bootstamp, Ensign Delgado, I am Captain Mangold. Welcome to Turris.”

He was American, probably in his mid-thirties, young to be running an outpost.

“Thank you,” Imala asked. “How does this work exactly? Do I invite you aboard our ship, or do we board you?”

“I would be honored to meet with you both in the captain's office aboard the station. There is much we need to discuss.”

“If we're discussing the welfare of my crew,” said Imala, “I would appreciate it if two of my advisers could join us. Arjuna, the former captain of this vessel and patriarch of the Somalis on board, and Rena Delgado, our second in command.”

“I would be honored to receive all of you,” said Mangold. “The office is not very large, I'm afraid. It will be crowded with five people, but we can manage.”

Victor retrieved Rena and Arjuna, and the five of them made their way through the docking tube and onto the station. To Imala's surprise there were not many IF crewmembers here. She counted only three as she followed Mangold to his office. Each of them was very young, barely old enough to enlist.

The interior of the station was a sight to behold. Everything was new and immaculate, as if the station had only been built recently and equipped with the latest tech. It made the Gagak look like a dinosaur.

“We noticed that there aren't any laserline transmitters or receivers on the station's exterior,” said Imala. “How do you communicate with the IF?”

“A good question,” said Mangold. “We'll get to that momentarily.” He opened the door to his office and motioned them inside.

The five of them filed in and gathered around the holotable, anchoring their feet to the floor. Mangold positioned himself at the head of the table and smiled pleasantly. “Before we begin, there is a bit of business to take care of. The International Fleet is prepared to buy your ship.”

A document appeared in the air above the holotable in front of Arjuna.

“This contract outlines the particulars of our offer,” said Mangold. “Essentially the International Fleet will purchase the Gagak for sixty thousand credits plus we will provide safe passage for you and your crew to an IF station in the Asteroid Belt.”

“The Gagak isn't for sale,” said Arjuna. “And especially not for a mere sixty thousand credits. She's worth three or four times that, easy.”

“Giving your family safe passage to the Belt aboard an IF transport is a huge expense,” said Mangold. “You must take that into consideration as well.”

“We can fly to the Belt ourselves,” said Arjuna. “What is this? We were told that by coming here the IF would protect our family.”

“That is precisely what I am attempting to do,” said Mangold. “But the human race is at war. My first responsibility is the preservation of our species. For that, the IF needs your ship.”

“It's not for sale,” said Arjuna. “And you owe us four months of fuel and supplies for bringing us here under false pretenses.”

“I encourage you to read the contract,” said Mangold. “I think you'll find it very generous. If you refuse to sell us the ship, we will exercise our right to seize it.”

Arjuna was furious. “You little bastard. You commandeer our ship, you send us on a military mission, you endanger our families, and now after all of that, you have the gall to threaten to seize my ship? What gives you the right to—”

“The Hegemon,” said Mangold. “The supreme ruler of Earth. Appointed by the United Nations and ratified by every voting government on Earth.
He
gives me the right. As does the Polemarch and the Strategos. I assure you, sir, I am acting within my authority.”

“Let's calm down for a minute,” said Imala. “We're all a little wound up here, and that's not going to help.” She turned to Mangold. “What you're offering, Captain, is not what we were led to believe. From our perspective this whole affair seems rather deceptive. The Gagak is our home. What could the IF want with it that it can't get from some other ship of the Fleet?”

“There's something out in deep space,” said Victor.

Everyone turned to him.

“That's it, isn't it?” said Victor. “There's no other explanation here. You need to investigate something out in deep space, and we're the closest ship. Every other vessel of the IF has been mobilized in the assault on the warships or in destroying seized asteroids. So they've all gone inward. Now there aren't any IF warships even remotely close to this sector. That's why you had us come out here, toward the fringe of the solar system instead of having us head inward, because you intend to take the ship out into space.”

Mangold didn't respond.

“Is that true?” Imala asked him.

“I am not at liberty to say,” said Mangold, “not until I know I have your full cooperation.”

“That's all the confirmation we need,” said Rena. “What is out there exactly?”

“I am not at liberty to say,” said Mangold.

“Well you
don't
have our full cooperation,” said Arjuna. “You don't have even part of it. Come on, everyone. This conversation is over.” He unhooked his feet from the floor and moved for the door.

“And where will you go?” said Mangold. “You need fuel. And you probably need supplies as well. Food almost certainly, but other supplies, too. Clothing, medical supplies. We are prepared to provide you with all of these things if you cooperate. You can't leave. Not without our help.”

It was true. The ship was nearly empty of everything. They had fuel in the reserve tanks, but it wasn't enough to accelerate them fast enough to reach a destination before they ran out of food. They either restocked here or they died out in the Black.

“So that's how this works?” said Rena. “You essentially hijack us and our ship and force us to comply?”

“There is a third option,” said Mangold. “You can keep ownership of your vessel if you relinquish temporary control of it to me and my crew. I will take Captain Bootstamp with me since she is familiar with the ship. The rest of you will remain here, where you will be recovered in five months' time by an IF transport and carried to the Belt. I think that's the best offer I can give you.”

Arjuna scoffed. “So you'll take my ship and
not
pay me? How incredibly generous of you.”

“You're welcome to join us,” said Captain Mangold. “In fact, I would prefer to have you. You would need to enlist with the International Fleet and operate under my authority, but I would be delighted to have your assistance.”

“How kind of you to let me be a passenger on my own ship,” said Arjuna.

“What about me?” said Rena. “Would you take me?”

Arjuna and Victor turned to her, surprised.

“And before any of you say I'm too old to join the IF,” said Rena, “you should know that I'm the best navigator you've got. Every crewmember I've seen on this outpost barely looks old enough to vote. I'm certainly more experienced and qualified to fly the Gagak than they are.”

“You don't even know what this mission is,” said Arjuna.

“I don't need to,” said Rena. “If I can help in any way to win this war, I will. And frankly, I'm really the only person on board who is in any position to help. I don't have young children in the family. I don't have another obligation. I've been a tagalong since Arjuna took me in. I can help, if you'll have me.”

“You're not too old,” said Mangold. “I would consider it an honor to have your assistance.”

“Well, I'm obviously not letting my wife or my mother out of my sight,” said Victor. “If they're going, so am I.”

“I'm afraid that's not possible,” said Mangold. “I have orders to send you elsewhere.”

Imala's heart broke at the words. So she and Victor
were
being separated.

“But there aren't any ships here,” Rena said. “How is he supposed to go elsewhere?”

“We'll send him on a high-velocity interplanetary craft,” said Mangold. “An HVIC. Or as they're called in the IF, zipships. They're small, one-man vessels that move at an incredible speed. We'll launch Victor in one of those.”

“
Launch
him?” said Imala. “He's flown like that before in a quickship, which sounds like the same thing. It nearly killed him.”

“We're familiar with Victor's quickship flight before the First Formic War,” said Mangold. “The vessel he built is what inspired engineers to construct something similar. But I assure you, the zipships are much safer. We've learned a lot in the intervening years, and Victor's ship was slapped together with the few materials he had available at the time. Our design is equipped with the latest life support. It won't be pleasant by any means, but it won't kill him either.”

“How reassuring,” said Imala.

“Where am I going exactly?” Victor asked.

“You're to rendezvous with the Fleet heading toward the Formic warships above the ecliptic,” said Mangold. “You'll reach our ships before they attack and serve as a mechanic and engineer during the assault. The Polemarch requested you for his ship personally.”

There was a silence in the room. Imala fought back a rising sense of panic. For Victor to be sent to the Fleet attacking the warships felt like a death sentence.

“And if he refuses?” said Imala.

“He would be court-martialed for dereliction of duty and placed under arrest,” said Mangold.

Imala scoffed. “Ah. There's justice. So you conscript him without his consent and then you arrest him if he doesn't obey your will? Doesn't that strike you as egregiously unfair?”

Victor put his hand atop hers. “It's all right, Imala.”

“No it isn't. You didn't sign up for this, Vico. There is nothing right about it.”

“I'm needed, Imala. I can help. You and Mother are right. All of us have a responsibility here. This is bigger than us.”

She had spoken those same words to him when she had joined, but now, when they were directed back to her, she hated their logic. She knew it was true. She knew he could help, maybe even save the Fleet. But that didn't make it any easier to let him go. They were one now. A family. And now the IF was tearing them apart.

She turned to Mangold and gathered herself. “There is a fourth option here that perhaps you haven't considered.”

Mangold raised an eyebrow. “I'm listening.”

“You threaten to seize our ship, but we both know that's an empty threat. Seize us, and every mining vessel in space would know about it. The IF has been losing public confidence. You don't need a media frenzy labeling you as bullies. Your recklessness with our family threatened the lives of young children. I doubt that story will play in your favor on the nets. So let's stop pretending that you can muscle us into a decision here.”

Mangold was quiet a moment. “What is your offer?”

“You said the transport wouldn't be here for five months,” said Imala. “Those of us going with you obviously won't be back by then or you would have said so. Meaning wherever we're going isn't close.”

“No,” said Mangold. “It isn't. It's possible that you won't see your family for two to three years, or perhaps even longer.”

Three years, thought Imala. It felt like a lifetime. But of course it would be that long. Victor's flight on the zipship would probably take at least a year one way, depending on how fast the zipship flew. And she would be going in the opposite direction. Three years was probably a generous estimate.

“Arjuna is a father to four children under the age of six,” said Imala. “He is the patriarch of this ship. The crew look to him as their leader. Without him and Rena, there would be a vacuum of leadership within the family. I propose therefore that Arjuna stays behind with his family and that the IF offers to rent the Gagak from him for one hundred thousand credits a year.”

“One hundred thousand?” said Mangold. “To rent? Per year? That's ridiculous.”

“It's a small price to pay to preserve the human race,” said Imala. “And I'm not done. You will return the ship in perfect working condition to Arjuna and his family at the conclusion of the mission within four years' time or you will pay him the full price of the ship, which is now four hundred thousand credits.”

Mangold balked. “Even he didn't say it was worth that much!”

“I'm still not finished,” said Imala. “The IF will stick to this schedule or you will pay an additional fifteen thousand credits for every thirty days that you are late to deliver the ship, the appropriate payment, or reach a mutually agreed upon new contract no less than the amounts we settle on today. This, of course, is in addition to the IF providing passage to Arjuna and his family to the Belt as aforementioned.”

“Now you're just taking advantage of the situation,” said Mangold.

“And you aren't?” said Imala.

Mangold sighed. “I'm not at liberty to approve an offer like that.”

“Then we will wait for you to send a transmission to whoever is authorized to approve it. Otherwise no deal.”

“I'll remind you that you're an officer of the International Fleet,” said Mangold. “You're supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side,” said Imala. “I am only helping you with the negotiations. The IF's original offer was offensively low and getting you nowhere, particularly considering the unique nature of this ship, which Victor rebuilt from the inside out and made near indestructible. The money isn't yours, Captain Mangold. And last time I checked the International Fleet had a very healthy war chest.”