replenish. So, once having delivered their passengers, they were effectively dead in space until such time that they were able to get back up to speed.
Kemper couldn’t recall ever having seen one in actual use before. “Well, don’t just stand there,” he said impatiently. “Open a channel.”
“Dauntless,” a gruff voice came immediately, “this is the U.S.S. Hermes, Admiral Jellico speaking. Permission to come aboard.”
Under such circumstances, asking permission was merely a formality. It wasn’t as if Kemper was going to refuse to allow an admiral to board his ship, much less such a renowned hard-ass as Jellico. “Yes, sir, of course. But—”
“But?” There was a tinge of astonishment to Jellico’s tone. “Did I just hear hesitation in your voice, Commodore?”
All eyes on the bridge were on Kemper. He felt self-conscious for a fleeting moment and then he steeled himself. “These are dangerous times, Admiral. I’m simply inquiring as to the nature of your business.”
“The nature of my business, Commodore,” he said, carefully underscoring the difference in rank between them, “is to oversee your vessel during your attempts to track down the Excalibur.”
“Oversee?”
“That is correct, Commodore.”
“May I ask why my vessel has been selected for this honor,” said Kemper, “as opposed to the other ships that are going after—”
“No other ships, Commodore. Before I commit a sizable number of vessels to this endeavor, I’m going to determine for myself exactly what’s going on. And yours is the ship I’m using to do it.”
Kemper couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Admiral—”
Then he took control of himself. This was neither the time nor the place to square off against a superior officer, presuming there even was such a time and place. As soon as he had fought back his instinctive desire to balk at such presumption, he said evenly, “Bridge to transporter room. Lock onto signal and beam aboard passenger from the ETV.”
“Aye, Commodore,” came the acknowledgment from the transporter room.
“Thank you, Commodore,” came Jellico’s voice. “I will see you shortly.”
“Yes, sir,” said Kemper. “Looking forward to it.”
The moment the communication ceased, Williams said, “All right. That was unexpected.”
“Not entirely, no,” said Kemper. “Jellico used to hate Calhoun’s guts, but ever since Calhoun did him some kind of service—saved one of his family, I think—Jellico’s had Calhoun’s back. This has nothing to do with procedure and everything to do with favoritism. And I promise you this: I’m not going to allow any such attitudes to jeopardize the lives of anyone on this ship. Admiral or no, Mackenzie Calhoun is going to pay for what he did, and I’m not going to hesitate to be the bill collector.”
Xenex
i.
The incoming Brethren transport vessel angled toward the surface, confident that this exercise in absurdity was reaching its inevitable, if somewhat prolonged, conclusion.
Calhoun and his people watched the ship coming in. He was reasonably sure it was the same one that had arrived on that terrible day when his brother had been ruthlessly cut down by one of the Brethren. Even though he had immediately slaughtered D’ndai’s killer, the hurt, the fury were all still present and burning deeply within him.
The vessel wasn’t bothering to cloak this time. Perhaps they were under the impression that showing up in this manner would somehow intimidate the Xenexians. After all the soldiers they had lost in battle, one would think that they knew better by this point.
Calhoun felt it incumbent upon him to impart a lesson to them. With any luck, it would be one final lesson.
His people were massing around him, looking to the skies, in the shadow of one of the tallest natural spires in the area. His instinct was to tell them to keep hidden, to continue the guerrilla tactics that had enabled as many people to survive as had managed thus far.
But that wasn’t going to get it done this time. He needed to draw the Brethren in closer. Draw them in and then distract them before they realized what he was really up to. And challenging them openly was the only thing that was going to accomplish that.
Unfortunately, it meant that he was going to have to use the troops around him in a way that he was not looking forward to. If his plan worked, however, he would be able to put an end to this insane siege of his home world once and for all.
ii.
The Visionary wasn’t thrilled with what he was seeing.
Far below, the Xenexians were massing. There were so many of the damned creatures that, unlike when Calhoun had been out