me a senior de Satarna captain.” To Telka and Arthur he said, “Just follow my lead.”
Five minutes later an overweight man with gray hair and sweat on his upper lip appeared on one of Charlie’s screens. He looked tired as he introduced himself as Commodore Thurston, and while Telka, Arthur, and Matula listened in, Thurston only saw Charlie.
Charlie said, “I’m prepared to offer you terms, Commodore.”
“Terms?” Thurston snarled. “You’re on the losing side, de Lunis.”
“No, Commodore, look again. You’re facing a coalition of all the independent states, Aagerbanne, the Kinathin home world, and eight of the ten dukes.”
“We have three of the Ten on our side. This is a sham.”
“Duchess Telka, care to join the conversation?”
Thurston paled when he saw Telka. She said, “Commodore. I, Rierma, Band, Chelko, Harrimo, Sig, and Charles formed an alliance to oppose your liege lord’s designs. And let me inform you that Theode and Gaida are under arrest for complicity in the murder of Cesare. Arthur, who will soon be reinstated as Duke de Maris, is presently in command of the de Maris forces, and has joined our coalition against you.”
To Charlie she said—for Thurston’s benefit, “Your Grace, my officers tell me we’ll be arriving in Borreggan nearspace within the next two days. I have a force of thirty warships which will be at your disposal.”
A bead of sweat rolled down Thurston’s forehead. Charlie let the man absorb the information for a few moments, then said, “You know the numbers. You can see all the incoming warships and count as well as me. At this moment we have a slight edge in the numbers game. That’s going to change dramatically as fifty more warships down-transit in-system, all here to support our coalition.”
Thurston stared at him angrily for several seconds and finally said, “Your terms?”
“Withdraw now, leave the rest of this between us and Goutain, and you’ll be allowed to retreat unmolested. Return to your bases, stand down, and await a ruling from the Ten on the inheritance of the de Satarna ducal seat. But if you refuse to withdraw, the resulting bloodbath will be on your head, not mine. And it’ll be your blood, not ours.”
Thurston regarded Charlie carefully for several seconds. “With Duke Nadama dead, I’ll have to speak with the other captains, try to get consensus.”
Charlie nodded his understanding. “Do so. But don’t take too long about it.”
“And I’ll have to speak to Lord Dieter.”
Charlie grinned. “If you can find him, we both know he’ll tell you to fight to the death. And if you choose to obey him, we’ll happily accommodate you.”
They cut the circuit. Charlie said to Arthur and Telka, “You can handle this. I’ve got to get to Del.”
“Go,” Arthur said, though Telka, unaware of the situation, frowned.
Dieter had waited a long time for this. Delilah would soon be his, and he’d teach her what it meant to defy him.
By prior agreement, the corvette and the tramp freighter took up positions two million kilometers apart, one-half light-year from the battle at the edge of Borreggan nearspace. Accompanied by a couple of armed spacers, Dieter boarded the corvette’s shuttle, which could only do about thirty gravities, then paced impatiently up and down the length of its passenger cabin during the hour it took to get to the point halfway between the two waiting ships. The freighter’s shuttle was slower and took even longer to get there. It was a nuisance more than anything, and he’d make that little bitch pay for that too.
His implants informed him he had an urgent message coming in from the corvette’s captain. He put it through. “Your Lordship, I received a message from Commodore Thurston. I’m sorry to inform you that your father is dead.”
The man waited for some sort of response, as if Dieter would grieve for his father. Dieter simply said, “Is there more?”
“Yes, Your Lordship. Commodore Thurston and the senior officers of your father’s fleet are withdrawing from the battle. Apparently, these Andyne-Borreggan pirates have formed some sort of alliance, and their incoming reinforcements have given them an overwhelming advantage.”
Dieter didn’t care about this battle, and as for his father, he cared only that now he’d inherit the de Satarna ducal seat. “Hold your position. Soon I’ll have what I came for and we can leave.”
“But Your Lordship—”
“I said hold your position. And don’t argue with me.” He’d deal with these traitors later.
“Of course, Your Lordship. As you wish.”
Dieter had to wait another half hour while the two shuttles mated airlocks. When they