Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) - Ilona Andrews Page 0,69
line.
“Interesting,” Otubar said, watching Seveline massacre the knights from the rear.
“What could we offer the lees?” Ilemina sipped blue wine from her glass, her tone relaxed.
“They want the trade station,” Maud said.
Ilemina smiled. “Only that?”
“The idea of a trade station has some merit,” Arland said, his gaze fixed on the crumbling Krahr line.
Otubar made a low rumbling noise that may have been agreement or disdain. Maud didn’t know the Lord Consort well enough to tell.
Ilemina’s eyebrows rose. “You too?”
Otubar gave a barely perceptible shrug.
“We can take the fleet to the Serak system, and I can reduce their fleets to space garbage,” Arland said. “We have military superiority in both numbers and the caliber of our ships. However, we can’t hold the system indefinitely. Lady Maud is a student of vampire history. Tell us, my lady, what do we know about occupying the territory of other houses?”
Thank you for that bus that just rolled over me after you threw me under it. Felt lovely.
“Nobody in the history of the Holy Anocracy has ever won a partisan war. Anytime an occupation of another House was attempted, it either failed or the weaker House ceased to exist.”
“If you count both Serak and Kozor, there are almost a million beings between the two planets,” Arland said. “We cannot occupy their territory, so the only recourse would be annihilation.”
Arland’s destroyer flashed before Maud’s eyes. Stationary targets, like planets and defensive installations on moons, had no chance against space fleets. They followed a fixed orbit and they couldn’t dodge. Launching a kinetic projectile or a barrage of missiles when the computers could calculate the precise position of your target was child’s play. House Krahr could simply sit back and bombard the two planets until nothing alive remained on the surface. An icy needle pierced her spine. They were sitting here discussing the potential death of a million beings. It wasn’t an abstract discussion on the morality of it; it wasn’t hypothetical. They really could do it. Whatever was said here in the next few minutes would determine if the next generation of Kozor and Serak children would ever grow up.
“Some would see it as the only option,” Ilemina said.
“We are not a House that would stoop to genocide against our own kind,” Arland said.
Ilemina smiled.
Seveline was climbing the pillar.
“Lady Maud?” Ilemina asked. “Do you have any thoughts?”
Maud sipped her wine. Her throat had suddenly gone dry. “It seems to me that since Serak and Kozor found themselves resorting to plundering trade vessels, they are short on funds.”
“They are stuck in a remote system with no means to expand their military,” Otubar said.
Seveline waved the flag from the pillar’s top.
“So, there is very little gain to be had from wiping them out,” Maud said. “Financially, it’s a loss. It would cost a fortune in fuel and munitions. From a military standpoint, it’s also a loss. House Krahr would gain no territory, resources, or strategic advantage. If one considers it a matter of honor, there is little of it in a victory over an opponent who never had a chance. It would do nothing to enhance the already stellar reputation of House Krahr.”
Ilemina chuckled into her wine. “Such flattery, Lady Maud. They have raided our ships. Satisfaction must be achieved.”
“And I’m sure Lord Arland would crush them so completely that by the time he finished, the only space-worthy vessels in the system would be escape pods.” Maud drank more wine. “It seems to me that once the pirating adventures of our esteemed guests become public knowledge, the trade would shift. The two systems will wither and rot without their main source of income. The trade will have to go somewhere.”
“It will go to Sarenbar,” Arland said. “Or it can come here. Bringing it here via a trade station would allow us to control the terms of engagement and give us a unique opportunity to bypass foreign trade ports by receiving shipments from other species. Placing the lees in a key role will ensure the station’s profitability.”
“And using the tachi would ensure its technological superiority,” Maud added.
“You would allow strangers into our secure space.” Ilemina’s face hardened.
Arland faced her. “Eventually we will have to interact with the rest of the galaxy by means other than invasion and war. We can’t kill everyone, Mother.”
Otubar cleared his throat. “We have a visitor.”
Tellis, the groom, was walking toward the table.
“A bit of swagger in his step,” Ilemina observed. “Do something about it, won’t you, dear?”