PREDATORY PRACTICES
A Tech Infantry Novella
by
Edward Stasheff & Marcus Johnston
Copyright © 2011
Chapter 25: Joint Venture
In orbit over the frozen plant Nhur, a hatch rolled aside and Heth floated into the Avarice's cramped conference room where his fellow K'Nes co-conspirators awaited his return, busy planning their counter-coup. A holocast of Durmach Media's Midday Market Report was playing in the background, discussing Miao Mercantile's hypergate construction announcement and speculating on what it meant for the K'Nes economy… but no one perched at the conference table was really watching it. Half of them were at the press conference itself earlier that day, and the rest knew more about it than the fluffy news anchor did. They glanced up as Heth entered the room.
"Well?" Miu asked, not looking up from her work. "How did it go?"
"It took a lot of convincing," Heth sighed, tired, "but the Miao Mercantile Executive Board agreed to invest the profits from the hypergate announcement into more K'Nes Llan shares." He paused, frowning, eyes narrowed. "Although we'll have to be careful with the timing. We only need a few more shares to take over Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP's seat on the K'Nes Llan Executive Board—or, more specifically, for me to take it over—but we'll need to wait until the last possible instant to buy the final two shares to put us over the top. We don't want to give Varrless any hint about what we're planning." He glanced at Miu. "And your research of Varrless Financial's assets, precious? Have you found any weaknesses we can exploit to undermine their market value?"
"Several!" Miu looked up from her work long enough to flash him the fanged grin on a tigress. "Thanks to my reproductive merger with Pirr, MIRADI is still technically a subsidiary of Varrless Financial until I get the Articles of Procreation nullified—and in the meantime, that gives us access to some of our parent company's financial data. It's certainly not full disclosure, by any means… but still considerably more than is available through public records." She shot Heth another savage smile. "Don't worry, I haven't done anything disruptive yet—as you said, we don’t want to give Pirr any forewarning. But when the time comes to attack Varrless Financial's resources, I'll be ready and waiting."
"Excellent!" Heth turned to his mercenary captain. "What about Capital Hall's security team, Narrah?"
Narrah scowled—but then, he always scowled. "Simple. We neutralize them with our own team… but we're stretched pretty thin. We have fourteen surviving hunters in the Miao Mercantile Mercenary Company, but two are still recovering from wounds at Cronos, bringing our total unit strength down to twelve." His cybernetic tail swished anxiously. "We'll have enough hunters to secure the trading floor of Capital Hall, but that's all."
It was Heth's turn to scowl, seeing an obvious flaw in Narrah's plan. "Yes, but that's only assuming they can get in to Capital Hall in the first place. How do you plan to accomplish that?"
Narrah let out a rough sound that might have been a growl or a purr. "The same way you did, cub—with camouflaged power armor. Your mate tells me our suits can be upgraded with the same advanced stealth suite as the prototype version installed in your armor. We'll pass through the Urrin system on our way to Purrfang, so we'll just need to stop long enough to upgrade the stealth suites, then continue on our way."
"I see…" Heth nodded slowly calculating the timetable in his head. "And how long will it take MIRADI’s labs to reprogram the new stealth settings into the rest of the Miao Mercenary Company’s power armor?”
“Well, we've already tested and perfected the camouflage parameters," Miu spoke up. "It’s just a matter of uploading the new software to the suitcomp for the nanobots. So for fifteen suits? A day, maybe a bit longer."
"There is one problem." Narrah winced. "The armor's helium tanks will need to be removed… and that worries me. True, Capital Hall's security shouldn't have anything heavier than basic sidearms, and chances of those piercing the suit are slim… but I'll still drill my hunters on rapid inflation & deflation maneuvers, just in case."
"Then don't let me keep you, Narrah," his employer said. "I'm sure you know what's best."
While Narrah nodded, grunted, and stalked out of the conference room, Heth turned to his Ship's Manager. "Well, Rameth, do we have any chance of fighting McNeilly's Horadrim warship?"
Rameth shook his head, looking glum. "Not really. The best I can come up with is using freighters."
Heth narrowed an eye. "Is… that a joke?"
"Oh aye, it's a joke alright, but I'm as serious as a surprise audit. I mean, what else do we have to fight with?" He shrugged and sighed. "We could turn some freighters into makeshift gunboats by swapping out the cargo pods for modular weapon pods—assuming we can get our paws on any in time, that is—but even then, they'll be unarmored, slow, and weak. I mean, weapon pods are designed more for fending off pirates and hijackers than fighting actual warships, so they're fairly lightly armed—plasma cannons and chemlasers, mostly, maybe some fusion cannons or missiles if we're lucky. Probably nothing that'll hurt a Horadrim bioship much."
"Missiles with Impossibarium casings, don't forget," Miu added. "MIRADI's been building up a small stockpile for the launch of our new military product line. If anything will hurt a Horadrim ship, it's Impossibarium."
"Aye, it might… or might not," Rameth corrected. "We don't know yet, and we can’t assume anything." He looked up at Heth, anxiously twirling a black braid around his paw. "Basically, boss, we're talking about a fleet of eggshells armed with peashooters here. Somehow I don't think that'll get the job done… but it's all we've got."
Heth was silent. He looked down and closed his eyes, fighting to keep frustration and despair at bay. Their plan to oust Varrless would almost certainly fail unless they could find a way neutralize McNeilly's ship—but to have any chance of that at all, they'd need an actual warship, something with armor and fighters and capital weapons. But there were no more K'Nes warships left—eight years of human conquest and occupation had seen to that. The Earth Fleet had dismantled or destroyed them all…
All but one.
Heth's eyes snapped open. "Rameth," he said, looking back up, "we'll be passing through the K'Laek system on our way to Purrfang, correct?"
"Aye." Rameth nodded, looking slightly puzzled. "Why?"
"Make a change to our travel itinerary. Plan a brief layover in K'Laek for some last-minute negotiations."
Miu looked up in surprise, and Rameth gave Heth a doubtful sideways glance. "With Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP? The Miao's political enemies in the K'Nes Llan? But… why? What are you…" His voice trailed off as his eyes grew wide. "Sky Father above… you want the Loophole! Boss… you can't serious!"
Heth shrugged. "It is the only actual warship left in all of K'Nes space."
"Aye, and the personal property of Gurrmew K'Soth—who hates the Miao!"
"The rivalry between our clans runs deep, I admit," Heth conceded, nodding slowly, "perhaps even bitter. But Soth is a patriot. Ever since our liberation, he's been relentlessly pushing for K'Nes rearmament. If we can convince him K'Nes independence is in danger, he might be willing to put aside clan rivalries and work with us."
"I don't know, boss," Rameth said, sounding doubtful. "I mean, you're planning to usurp Gurrmew & Yeomurt's seat on the K'Nes Llan Executive Board any day now! You really think you can smooth that over?"
"I think it costs me nothing to try," Heth answered, his voice firm. "We need Soth and the Loophole if we're to have any chance of stopping that Horadrim bioship lurking around waiting to support Varrless's takeover."
"I'd better join the negotiations, then," Miu said. Heth turned to her in surprise, mouth open to ask a question, but Miu silenced him with an upraised paw. "Neither MIRADI nor I are part of Miao Mercantile—at least not yet. Having a third party there will make this project look more like a joint venture than an Miao undertaking."
Heth closed his mouth, considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, good point. Rameth, set a course for the Urrin system, top speed. Use the gravity drive." He sighed, weary, and rubbed his face with a paw. His work was never done. "In the meantime, I'll start trying to set up a meeting with Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP."
"Right away, boss," Rameth said as he launched off his perch and floated out the hatch. Heth deflated onto an empty perch at the conference table, pulled out his datapad, and set to work. A moment later he heard the conference room hatch swing shut, then looked up to see Miu lock the hatch closed with a clunk.
He titled his head to one side, puzzled. "Miu? Do we need to talk in private or something?"
"Or something…" Miu answered as she drifted toward him. "I haven’t seen you for hours, you know." She shot him a mischievous grin. "It'll take at least a day to reach Urrin. I'm sure you can squeeze a little time into your schedule for… recreation."
Heth smiled. His work was never done.
After much begging, pleading, and bribery, Gurrmew K'Soth and Yeomurt Na'Prria, co-LEOs of Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP, finally agreed meet with Heth and Miu—but in only person, in their home system K'Laek, and aboard Soth's ship, the KTS Loophole… probably in an attempt at intimidation.
And Heth had to admit, looking out the shuttle porthole as they approached the Gurrmew Construction Yards, that the Loophole was an impressive site. Against his will, he couldn't resist feeling a surge of pride in his species as he gazed upon the graceful crescent-shaped craft gleamed in the light from K'Laek's distant star. The central wedge-shaped body was bristling with a variety of weapon turrets, and the gently curving ventral and dorsal fins were packed with starfighter launch tubes. The only K'Nes Tor Navy ship to survive the Human Occupation, it was the last of its kind—a K'Nes escort carrier. Fighters has been the backbone of the Tor Navy—just as K'Nes hunters fought in flocks, K'Nes starfighters attacked in swarms. There was a time when apes cowered at the sight of K'Nes battle carriers approaching. The Loophole was a powerful symbol of past K'Nes glories—which, unfortunately for Heth, also made it an invaluable political tool for Soth, and one he was unlikely to risk losing in a hopeless fight against a Horadrim warship.
The K'Laekians liked to claim theirs was the only K'Nes system that had never been conquered by the apes… although it wasn't exactly true. They'd been occupied like everyone else, only they'd formed a resistance and launched a guerilla campaign. Soth, a Tor Navy officer, refused to surrender and turned pirate with his ship, hiding in the massive K'Laek asteroid belt and harassing Earth Fleet forces. The K'Laekians hadn't exactly driven the apes out so much as made it cost-ineffective for the Federation to occupy a bunch of rocks in space. So the Federation withdrew and quarantined the system instead, trying to starve the K'Laek population into submission.
It would have worked, too… if the Miao super-freighters hadn't repeatedly run the Earth Fleet blockade to deliver desperately needed supplies (at exorbitant prices, of course).
Unfortunately, after K'Nes independence a year ago, Miao Mercantile and Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP both bought 5% of the shares in the K'Nes Llan—and were tied for the fifth and last seat on the Executive Board. Then Soth began portraying his clan as K'Nes heroes while lambasting his former allies, the Miao, as thugs and black marketers—and it worked. The seat went to Soth. Heth had never seen Yawr so furious.
So yes, there was bad blood between their clans. It was amazing Soth was willing to meet with Heth at all.
After docking, an aide took Heth and Miu to the Loophole's boardroom by a long, meandering route… one that just happened to take Heth past bay after bay of fighter squadrons. It was supposed to impress Heth… but it just worried him instead. The fighters were well cared for and lovingly maintained, true, but they were old, dating back to before the Second Vulthra War. Many had clearly been damaged and repaired. Heth wondered how many actually worked. He noticed they'd only passed half the fighter bays—and suspected the rest were empty.
Soth and Prria awaited Heth and Miu in the boardroom, both clad in scowls and business suits blatantly cut to resemble military uniforms—bright Tor Navy red for the stocky Soth, dark Tor Army blue for the lithe and lanky Prria. The intimidation effect was magnified by both K'Nes being just as scratched and bitten as Heth and Miu were… it was the mating season, after all.
Soth went on the offensive the moment they entered the conference room. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your whiskers around here, Miao," the hefty calico growled, "considering you're about to knock our company off the K'Nes Llan Executive Board—or did you think I hadn't noticed Miao Mercantile buying up shares in the K'Nes Llan?" Soth's eyes narrowed to slits. "Of course, you stopped when you were just two shares shy of surpassing our shareholdings… and I have to wonder why." He drummed his claws on the tabletop. "Have you come to extort concessions, then? Threaten us? Or just to gloat and mark your territory?"
" I haven't come to piss all over your company, Soth," Heth said. "I'm here to propose a strategic alliance."
"With what you're planning to do to our company?" Prria hissed. "What makes you think we'd ever work with you?"
"For the sake of the K'Nes race. Quite frankly, the Llan is in danger. And we need heroes to save it."
"My, my… playing the flattery card so soon, are you?" Soth tsked. "We weren't suckled yesterday, you know."
"We're perfectly serious, I assure you." Miu passed a datapad to them. "I believe this will explain the danger."
Soth and Prria leaned together and both read the Varrless-Vin Dane contract in silence. Prria grew visibly angrier and angrier as she read, while Soth became still as a rock. "Varrless! That clawless rat!" she finally hissed, seething with fury. "Well, we are not unifying with the Empire. Never! We'll pull K'Laek out of the K'Nes Llan if we have to!"
But Soth had grown quiet. His pompous, swaggering demeanor melted away and he became deathly serious. "I see you weren't exaggerating the danger," he said softly. "I'd wondered why Varrless tried cobbling together a Llan Army, but ignored the Llan Navy… now I guess we know why." He looked up at Miu. "So… what do you propose we do about this threat?"
"Oust Varrless," she replied. "Shareholder challenge. I'm all set to attack Varrless Financial's assets to devalue their stock price. If we can force them to sell off enough K'Nes Llan shares, Pirr will lose the LEO position."
"If that fails," Heth continued, "then we charge Varrless with breaking the K'Nes Llan Articles of Incorporation instead. Everyone agrees that a contract-breaker isn't fit to hold office."
"And," Miu added, "although Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP may be off the Executive Board by then, it will still hold the most shares among the lesser shareholders on the Board of Directors, making you or Prria the Chair of the Board. Can we… count on your support as the new Chair for a shareholder challenge against Varrless?"
"Perhaps..." Prria narrowed her eyes at Heth. "But who would be the new LEO of the K'Nes Llan? You?"
"Certainly not!" Heth said, feigning surprise and indignation. "According to the Articles of Incorporation, the next largest shareholder would assume that position—which, currently, is the CEO of Horrath Industries."
Prria paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded in approval. "The former royal company of the K'Nes Tor."
"Exactly!" Miu grinned. "Can you think of anyone else that all K'Nes would accept? Follow? Rally behind? Or, for that matter, any clan you'd trust not to sell off K'Nes independence for personal profit, like Varrless did?"
"Besides," Heth added, "Horrath K'Urrin K'Meorr supports rebuilding the Llan Navy. Given that Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP has the biggest shipyards, I imagine you'll be getting the contract to rebuild the fleet. Invest the profits in more K'Nes Llan shares, and your company will be back on the K'Nes Llan Executive Board in no time."
But, strangely, neither profit nor power seemed to interest Soth at the moment. He stroked his whiskers thoughtfully, staring at the Varrless-Vin Dane contract. "Come now, Miao, you know Varrless won't give up power that easily, contract-breaker or not. If he's got the Llan Army and the Holy Terran Empire backing him..."
Heth opened his mouth to make the counter-argument, but Soth's mate and co-LEO Prria beat him to it. "The so-called 'Llan Army' is a disorganized jumble of mercenary companies with poor training and questionable reliability," she hissed, the disdain clear in her voice. "What's more, to the best of my knowledge—and believe me, I've been paying close attention to this sham of an army—they're currently spread out all across K'Nes space. If Varrless plans to gather them together for a hostile takeover of Awuon and Capital Hall, he hasn't done it yet."
"And as for the Empire, their troops can't reach us here," Heth added, although he knew it wasn’t completely true. "The entire Federation is between us and them."
"Yes… but those Horadrim tunnel-drive ships can reach us," Soth objected. "Which means we'd have to oust Varrless completely before any Horadrim warships could arrive to defend him—and that won't be easy."
Heth and Miu exchanged a quick, apprehensive glance. It lasted a mere fraction of a second, but Prria pickup up on it instantly. "What?" she demanded, sniffing the air, eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling us?"
"Actually, that's the main reason we've come to you for help," Heth admitted. "At least one Horadrim bioship is already here, hiding out somewhere in K'Nes space, waiting to support Varrless's takeover."
Soth leaned back on his perch, looking like he'd been kicked in the groin. "Sky Father above…" he hissed. Suddenly his eyes went wide with a gasp. "And you think I can fight it with the Loophole, is that it?" he asked, incredulous, then continued without waiting for an answer. "Well, you're very much mistaken, then. Make no mistake, the Loophole is a fine ship, but I'd have better luck fighting a mountain with a grain of sand! Do you have any idea what those god-ships can do, Miao? They're virtually indestructible, and their energy beams can destroy entire cities from orbit! One warship alone could hold the entire K'Nes population hostage—and the entire K'Nes fleet combined couldn't stop it."
"Soth…" Prria asked, eyes narrowed in skepticism, "are you sure all those old spacer legends are true? I mean, if Horadrim bioships are really that powerful, then why didn't the Empire used them to crush the Earth Fleet and conquer the Federation months ago?"
Heth leaned forward, interested; he'd wondered about that too. He noticed Miu perked up as well, curious.
"Numbers, mostly," Soth answered with a shrug. "The Horadrim are a dying race. They only had a handful of warships left, and most of those were destroyed in the Battle of Avalon where Vin Dane stopped the Caal Invasion. Scat, some say the only reason the apes won that battle was because Vin Dane talked the Horadrim into joining the fight at the last minute." He hesitated, then added, "And, if the diplomatic gossip at Capital Hall is to be believed, the Horadrim aren't exactly subjects of Emperor Vin Dane—some of the apes may think he's a God, but his fellow Horadrim certainly don't. At best, they're merely allies—and only those Horadrim personally loyal to Vin Dane would put their ships at risk for him."
"Unfortunately," Heth sighed, "that seems to include Zechariah McNeilly—it's his bioship hiding out there somewhere. If we can't find a way to neutralize it, any attempt to oust Varrless will end almost as soon as it begins."
"It's worse than that," Soth said, his tone dark. "Unless you want that warship to kill hundreds or millions of K'Nes during the fight, you'll need to find a way to take it out fast, hard, and permanently. The only weapon I've ever heard of that might be able to do that is a Gravitic Ram—and only human Star Control Ships are equipped with them."
That triggered a half-forgotten memory in Heth's mind, something Xinjao O'Reilly had told him: Task Force 54 only managed to damage one of them—and they had a Star Control Ship! It took an effort for Heth to keep his fur from bristling.
Miu, however, pushed ahead. "Actually, we have access to new weaponry that can harm Horadrim warships." At Soth's surprised reaction and Prria's skeptical stare, she merely activated the boardroom's holoprojector and began her presentation. "This is MIRADI's new line of Impossibarium military armaments…"
Soth and Prria listened to the speech silently, their expressions unreadable. Afterward they both sat in silence for a moment before leaning together for a whispered conversation. Finally, Prria looked up and asked, "How do you know Impossibarium will even damage Horadrim ships?"
"Well, it's never been field tested, of course," Miu said, "but we have extremely good reasons to believe that it will." She left out the part about Impossibarium being based on the same near-indestructible material Horadrim bioships were made of—that might raise uncomfortable questions about the legality of her Impossibarium patent. "In fact, the Jurvain have already used this weaponry to devastating effect during their recent invasion of Federation space, despite the comparatively small size of their war fleet."
Soth and Prria looked far from convinced. They leaned together for another whispered conference. Again, it was Prria who spoke. "There is also the issue of… expense. Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP simply don't have the resources to buy Impossibarium ordnance for all the Loophole's weapon systems, let alone for its starfighters."
Miu was silent for a moment. Heth glanced at her, holding his breath. They'd discussed this possibility, and she knew what needed to be done—the future of the K'Nes species might revolve around her answer!—but it was still a big decision. She hesitated a bit longer… then dropped a paw to her belly, swallowed, and nodded. "If you join the fight," she said slowly, sounding like the answer being was dragged out of her, "I'm prepared to give you all the Impossibarium weaponry you'll need." Then she added quickly as an afterthought, "and you return all unused ordnance after the battle!... assuming we win, that is."
Soth and Prria exchanged a shocked glance. "My, you are serious!" Soth said, then glanced at Heth. "Perhaps I underestimated you, Miao." This triggered another brief whispered exchange between Soth and Prria, at the end of which Soth pulled out his own datapad and went to work. "Alright, Heth, you've convinced me of your sincerity," he said without looking up. "Still, the Loophole alone won't be nearly enough to handle a Horadrim warship. What other vessels do you have to fight this alien bioship with?"
"Well, the three Miao super-freighters, of course," Heth answered, "all of which have concealed weaponry and gravity drives."
Soth looked up from his datapad, eyes narrowed at Heth. "And?"
"Uh… we also have some… modular weapon pods we can mount on cargo freighters, and… um…" Heth faltered under Soth's stern gaze. "Well, that's it, actually."
"Oh." Soth's whiskers twitched as he scowled down at this datapad, doubt etched across his features.
I'm losing him, Heth thought. "You'll be Sky Lord of this fleet, of course, in charge of all the ships and strategy of the battle from start to finish," he added, trying to sweeten the deal any way he could.
But titles and flattery did little to sway the experienced naval veteran. He worked on his datapad for a moment, perhaps running probability calculations, then sighed. "I appreciate the amount of resources you're investing in this endeavor, Miao, but even with the Loophole and Impossibarium weaponry, it's just not poss—"
"And," Heth interrupted him, "I know exactly how to destroy a Horadrim vessel—where and how to strike it to cause maximum damage. We just need warships of our own to carry out the attack."
Soth looked up, startled, and exchanged a glance with Prria, who looked far more skeptical and asked, "Really, Miao? And just how did you come by such a closely-guarded secret of Horadrim technology, short-hair?"
"From a confidential source within the Earth Federation," Heth answered. "We both have a mutual enemy in the Holy Terran Empire, after all." Prria opened her mouth to ask another question, but Heth anticipated it and silenced her with a raised paw. "And no, I can't reveal their identity—I'm contractually obligated to keep my informant anonymous." He stared at the couple evenly with a stone face but a pounding heart, waiting to see if they believed his stupendously audacious lie.
Soth glanced at Prria. After a moment, she gave him a tiny shrug. "Alright, then," Soth said, turning back to his datapad, claws clicking over the screen. "First of all, Miao, you'll want to equip each freighter with only one weapon pod. That will spread out the attack, allowing us to fire on the bioship from multiple directions and multiple angles. It also gives the Horadrim multiple targets to deal with."
"Does… does this mean you'll join us in ousting Varrless?" Miu asked somewhat hesitantly.
Again, Soth paused long enough to glance at Prria, who gave him a single, tiny nod. "We will," Prria said. "After all…" She took Soth's paw and smiled. "We do have an investment in the future of our race, so to speak."
"As do we," Miu said, dropping her own paw to her belly.
Soth smiled fondly at his mate as his tail dropped below the bargaining table. A second later Prria squeaked in surprise, then glared at Soth. He chuckled, and Heth got the sudden impression that the couple would rather be in the bedroom that the boardroom.
"Very well then," Miu said, looking as embarrassed as Heth felt. "I'll launch the financial offensive against Varrless Financial right away. Once I do, we're committed; there's no turning back."
"Sky Father protect us all," Soth muttered as he turned back to Heth and Miu. "Well! We've got a lot of work ahead of us." He cast a final apprehensive glance at Heth. "Are you sure you know how to destroy a Horadrim bioship?"
"Yes, I do," Heth lied smoothly. He didn't, of course… but he suspected he knew someone who might.
Admiral Joseph Smythe, Chairman of the Grand Council and supreme commander of the ever-fragile remains of the Earth Federation, found himself staring out a hotel window on New Madrid, sipping expensive scotch. He'd done all he could do save the Federation… and now there was nothing left to do but wait.
The Red Spring had sapped the Federation's strength, disrupting it's production and supply, and siphoning badly needed manpower off the front lines to put down riots and rebellions. What little military reserves the Federation had left were consumed in beating back the Jurvain's brief but brutal invasion. And now, with the Federation's offensives against the Empire stalled at the Minos and St. Michael's Star systems, the two powers were locked in a stalemate… but it wouldn't last forever, and the balance was tipping against him.
The Empire had their own problems, including yet another Bug invasion and a two-front war with both the Earth Federation and the upstart Terran Republic. But the Empire had already stopped the Bugs at Deseret... and, according to Captain Gergenstein's intelligence network, the Imperial Fleet had recently destroyed the Republican Navy at Epsilon. It wouldn't take long for the Empire to roll through the Republic's defenseless star systems, then turn the full force of their war effort against the Federation… and there wasn't much Joseph could do to stop it.
Not much… but still something. If he could assassinate Emperor Vin Dane, the Holy Terran Empire might collapse. With their God-Emperor dead and no clear successor, the Empire might plunge into chaos. Imperial star system might break away or even switch sides. Cult of the Emperor fanatics spearheading the Red Spring might lose heart and surrender. If Joseph could only chop off the Empire's head, the body might wither and die.
Might.
It was a desperate move, Smythe knew, and if it failed… well, he preferred not to think about that. His plan had required him to make a deal with the devil, and cost the Earth Fleet a prized ship, but they'd managed to land a covert strike force on the Imperial capitol of Avalon undetected and armed with the anti-Horadrim bioweapon he'd acquired from a K'Nes merchant. Beyond that, though, Joseph knew nothing—the strike team was out of contact now, and would be until it was over, one way or the other. All Joseph could do now was hope and wait… which turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.
Sipping expensive scotch, he rarely had a moment to simply do nothing. When he wasn't brow-beating his increasingly belligerent ministers into submission, he was placating the Earth Fleet and Tech Infantry that their roles in the Federation's restoration would be rewarded. All of which let him avoid spending time with his mother… who always seemed to find him, no matter how confidential his location was. So this moment of blissful boredom was a balm to his soul.
A balm interrupted by a noisy comm signal. "Comm," Smythe spat at the deskcomp. "I believe I left clear instructions that I was not available to take—"
"Joe, this might be important," a familiar voice replied.
There was only man who could get away with calling him that. "What is it now, Captain Gergenstein?"
"Miao Mercantile."
The admiral sighed and slung back the last of his scotch. "So why aren't you dealing with it, then?"
There was a pregnant pause before Herbert replied. "She refuses to deal with me."
"She?" Joseph's eyebrows went up. "Haven't we always dealt with that scruffy male?… Heath, wasn't it?"
"Heth," the captain corrected.
"Exactly. So tell her to go to hell."
"I would," Gergenstein replied, "but I'm not sure we should ignore someone who tried to buy three of my operatives just to talk to you. Besides, she claims to have vital intelligence on Imperial military strategy." The spymaster hesitated, then added, "Joe, these cats have never let us down."
"Fine—put her through. Discom." Smythe set down his glass and took a seat. "Comp, accept call."
An image of a white K'Nes appeared, practically glowing in the holoprojector. "Gainful day, Chairman Smythe. Thank you for taking my call, and may I congratulate you on your recent victory at St. Michael's—"
"My dear lady," Joseph sighed wearily, "save the compliments, and explain to me why I'm talking to you."
She didn't even blink at his bluntness. "I am Prurr K'Aou K'Miu," the white cat explained, "LEO of MIRADI, and contracted mate of Miao K'Rrowr K'Heth, the new CEO of Miao Mercantile… and LEO of the Nhur Llan."
"Indeed?" That got Smythe's attention. "Little fellow has gone up in the world, hasn't he?"
She smiled brighter. "He has. He apologizes he couldn't contact you personally, but he's busy with—"
"As am I, madam," Joseph said stiffly, giving her a stern look. "So please… do come to the point."
She blinked. "As you wish. Pirr Varrless is planning to seize power and unify with the Empire."
Smythe froze. In shock, he blustered, "The LEO of the K'Nes Llan?! But… how? When?"
"We don't know the exact date, but soon." She tapped on her datapad. "Here, I believe this will explain it."
A new holoprojection appeared, scrolling a standard K'Nes contract. The chairman skimmed it quickly, instantly seeing the damning possibilities of an alliance between Vin Dane and Varrless. "How do I know this is genuine?"
"K'Nes use blood signatures for a reason, Chairman. Unless Vin Dane has a twin or a clone, he signed it."
Joseph took in a deep breath, acting calm and thinking fast. "An unpleasant situation, I agree, but… well, forgive me, but the K'Nes Fleet—if there even is one—does not exactly threaten the Federation at the moment."
"Oh yes, you'd crush us, might even occupy us again," Miu agreed, nodding. "But it would distract you… siphoning off crucial resources from your prime investment at a volatile time in the market. Look… we both know the fate of my species doesn't concern the Emperor. He simply wants to take Federation pressure off the Empire long enough to—"
"…finish off the Terran Republic and turn all their forces toward us," the admiral finished the strategic calculation aloud, narrowing his eyes. "So why are you warning me? K'Nes rarely trade such information for free."
"Because we don't want another war with the Federation," Miu said firmly, looking him in the eye. "I don't think many K'Nes do. And I'm sure you don't need yet another front in this war you're losing."
Joseph bristled at the notion that they were losing—even if it was true. "Then what do you want?"
"We both want to stop this merger. We'll try ousting Varrless before he puts his plan into action—but to do that, we need your help. Now."
"If you understand our situation," Joseph said slowly, "then you know that I can't spare any ships or troops to help you just now."
Miu held out her paws in a very human expression. "No offense, chairman, but the K'Nes don't exactly want Earth Fleet ships back in Llan space anytime soon… I'm sure you can understand why."
Smythe scowled. "Then what the devil do you wan—oh." His eyes narrowed. "You need money… right?"
"Not exactly..." The K'Nes gave him a coy nod. "I understand Varrless Financial was quick to collab… er, do business with the Federation after the Second Vulthra War. I also believe they earned many lucrative government contracts with the Federation during the Human Occupation… under old Chairman Clarke's reign, of course. Correct?"
Joseph nodded slowly. "Perhaps..."
"So the Federation still has a lot of capital tied up with the First Varrless Bank of Purrfang… correct?"
"It would make sense," Smythe said cautiously. "It is the most secure bank in the galaxy right now, and the K'Nes Llan is—or was—politically neutral."
"Well, then helping us won't cost you a single credit! You see, we don't need the Federation's money." The white cat grinned. It wasn't pretty. "We do, however, need you to put your money in a different bank."
"Smythe's agreed to our proposal!" Miu announced from her seat at the conference table.
"Thank the stars!" Heth muttered, looking up from his own work. The Avarice's conference room was full of activity as they prepared for their showdown with Varrless K'Pirr. Miu was well into her financial assault on Varrless Financial's assets, while Narrah and Prria planned to defend Capital Hall long enough for the shareholder challenge to be carried out. Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP evidently maintained their own mercenary company—although Prria preferred to call it her "Security Division"—and Narrah was grateful for the extra hunters; there was a limit to how much he could accomplish with only the dozen remaining Miao Mercenaries. Meanwhile, Rameth and Soth were desperately trying to pull a battle fleet of armed freighters together out of empty space, and plan a combat strategy for battling a Horadrim bioship… but they were still waiting for Heth to fulfill his end of the bargain—and getting impatient.
To say Heth was nervous would be putting it mildly; his nepeta consumption had begun to arouse the concern of his colleagues. Although he'd grown accustomed to taking ever-greater risks over the past few months, he was at heart the careful, cautious trader who preferred to plan for every eventuality before moving forward. The breakneck speed at which they were hurtling toward this confrontation distressed him… but what choice did they have? Varrless's coup would occur any day now; their only hope to defeat it was to launch their own counter-coup first—but they had only a fraction of the time to prepare as Varrless had. Everything was happening far too fast, and Heth he was only barely in control (if at all) of the situation. It felt like he was riding a comet plunging straight into a sun.
"Excellent work, Miu," he praised his partner. "I don't know how you did it, but I knew that you could. You talked Smythe into withdrawing the Federation's funds from the First Varrless Bank of Purrfang right away, yes?"
"Oh yes," Miu purred. "When I pointed out Varrless was likely to freeze the Federation accounts and liquidate their assets any day now, he couldn't withdraw it fast enough! He's transferring their capital out of as we speak."
Heth grinned. "A good old-fashioned run on the bank… that should distract Pirr!"
"And, if I've timed it right," Miu said, glancing at her datapad's chronometer, "they'll complete the withdrawal shortly before the closing gong at Capital Hall, giving shareholders all night—a Purrfang night!—to stew over what it all means before the markets reopen in the morning." She matched Heth's fanged grin with one of her own. "With luck, that should begin the erosion of Varrless Financial's stock price. And how are you doing on reaching your own Federation contact, Heth? Any success yet?"
"Making progress, but slowly." Heth flicked open his snuffbox and took another whiff of nepeta. "This is one ape who does not want to be found, and knows how to hide—he deals in secrets, after all. But I've found him before... and I can do it again…"
Captain Herbert Gergenstein didn't like being disturbed any more than his boss. But like his boss, only a few people had his comlink address, so he made sure to answer it. When the image of a yellow-eyed K'Nes appeared in the holoprojector, the spymaster did little to suppress his groan. "What do you want, Het—what the hell happened to you?"
"Eh?" Heth raised a paw to his battered face. "Oh. Mating season." He waved a paw. "I'm fine, I assure you."
Gergenstein narrowed his eyes. "How did you get this number, Heth? I don't remember giving it to you."
"Oh, you didn't," Heth agreed, "but I consider it a priority to keep in contact with my biggest customers."
Gergenstein sighed and shook his head. "Sergeant Tinsler again, right?"
"Yes, but it wasn't his fault this time," Heth assured the captain. "Although you might want to remind him to update his datapad with the latest security patches. The previous version had a vulnerability."
"Obviously." Herbert rolled his eyes. "Alright, what's so important you had to hack a datapad to reach me?"
"Oh, this is just a follow up courtesy call regarding our arrangement," Heth replied, courteous and evasive as ever. "I'm sorry, but I've been rather busy since the Cronos contra—"
"The Phoenix hypergate was moved to Andersvald," Herbert cut the cat off. "Our business is concluded."
"Yes, but… well, you did receive the delivery of your 'merchandise' on Phoenix, yes?"
"Oh, that arrangement." Gergenstein nodded. "Yes, I received the delivery… and the 'freebies,' too. I don't know how you managed to throw his wife and daughter into the bargain, but… I'm impressed."
"And how is Rachel?" Heth asked, genuinely interested.
"She and her mother are safe and sound." Herb couldn't prevent a tiny smirk leaking from his corners of his mouth.
Heth froze. "And will be for as long as Zhin… M. O'Reilly does what you tell him to, I assume…?"
Gergenstein chuckled. "You catch on fast."
Heth waved his paw. "Please. Using a mark's family as leverage is an ancient and honored K'Nes—"
"Let me ask it again, Heth. What do you want? Gonna charge for me extra for the family package?"
"Certainly not. Consider that a kickback to a lucrative client. Except… you didn't pay with cash, did you?"
"No… a favor." Gergenstein looked off-screen at something and then sighed. "Is that what this is about?" When the K'Nes nodded, Herb leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers. "Alright… I'm listening."
"I'd like to know how to destroy a Horadrim battlecruiser."
"So would I," Herb chuckled.
Heth glared at him, fur bristling. "I'm serious, Captain."
"Me, too!" Gergenstein continued to laugh. "I think my persona's too good. I've made everyone think I know everything!" Herb had a belly laugh at his own joke. "Come on, Heth, why do you think I would know that?"
"Because you used to command seven of them."
The captain's laughter stopped as abruptly as it began. "Excuse me?"
"I talked with M. O'Reilly aboard the Avarice—those long convoys runs can get so boring—and the Battle of Mars came up. He mentioned a… how did he put it?... 'particularly traitorous InSec mole' who betrayed the Federation to their enemies. It turned out this mole was an old friend of his—one Herbert Gergenstein." When the spymaster said nothing, Heth leaned forward and continued. "He also mentioned that InSec—Internal Security—somehow had access to Horadrim battlecruisers… and studied them very thoroughly."
After a pause, the human blinked. "That's some conversation you had."
"You have no idea, I assure you. That wasn't even the main topic."
Gergenstein's mouth twitched. "O'Reilly never did know when to keep his damn mouth shut..." He leaned forward. "Look, that information is dangerous, Heth." Herb stared at him blankly. "Not to mention, a state secret."
"If you don't find a way for me to destroy a Horadrim vessel, neither of us will have states to keep secrets." Heth tapped a button and a copy of the Varrless-Vin Dane contract appeared. "This should explain the urgency."
"Yeah, Smythe already showed me this." Gergenstein paused, looking off into the distance and thinking, then asked, "You really think Vin Dane would risk sending out one of his few remaining Horadrim warships?"
"On ship? In exchange for all six K'Nes systems? He'd be a fool not too!" Heth smiled back at Herbert. "So you see, granting my request is mutually beneficial to both of us. Now, I need all the information you have on Horadrim ships—especially their vulnerabilities and weaknesses—and preferably a plan for destroying them."
Herb thought silently a moment, then shrugged. "I'll see what I can do. But we're even now, understood?"
Heth smiled. "Your signal is clear, Captain Gergenstein… oh, and just one more thing, if you don't mind."
Herbert didn't even try to hide his irritation. "What now?"
"What can you tell me about Gravitic Rams?"
"Not much." He shrugged. "I know they're basically just weaponized gravity drives, but that's about it. I'm not an engineer." Heth started to ask another question, but Gergenstein cut him off with an impatient gesture. "Look, I'll send you Xinjao O'Reilly's comlink, okay? Ask him, he'll talk your ears off about 'em if you let him."
"Excellent! Thank you, Captain Gergenstein, it's been a pleasure doing business with you. Gainful day!"
"Discom." Herb ended the call, then hesitated a moment. He tapped an innocuous-looking bronze paperweight, then tapped some virtual buttons on the holoprojection. It didn't take him long to find the files he was looking for. Within seconds, the sinister black shape of the alien organic ship hovered and rotated in front of him. "Comp, attach this to an encrypted comlink—dump it in the InterGlobal news feed to the Purrfang office." He could rely on his agent there to get the information to Heth… without anyone tracing it back to him, of course.
"My God… it was you, all along…" A redheaded woman stood in the doorway, dressed in a lacey nightgown, with a thick necklace around her neck.
"You should get some rest, Stephanie," Herb chided, standing up from the desk.
"You destroyed my megacorp," Stephanie Harrington said, glaring at him through exhausted eyes. "You screwed over the Resistance… betrayed the Grand Council…"
"Hardly," Gergenstein groaned. "I was the Commandant of Internal Security after all that happened. I was stuck on a Fleet bucket for most of it, and I've been on the run ever since." He gave her a tired smile. "It's hard to keep a network of selfish spies in line with Clarke's Raptors one step behind you. If you need someone to blame, blame Rashid King." He shrugged. "I just picked up where he left off."
"King didn't do this to me." She pointed to the necklace, glowing briefly to contain the magick inside her from getting out. "Why don't you just kill me and be done with it?"
Herb shook his head. "You're far too precious to me."
"What more could you possibly want from me? What’s left?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. " I gave you the backdoor codes to all the Harrington Industries computer networks. I gave you all the money. I even gave you my bod…" Her chest heaved with sobbing. "Please… let me die."
Gergenstein walked over and guided her back to the adjoining room. "Come on. Let's go back to bed."
"Please, Gergie…"
"Don't worry, my dear." He ran a hand through her hair. "I won't need you for much longer."
TO BE CONTINUED…
