“A lot of scared people telling each other how scared they are and how much more scared they ought to be.”
“Really?”
“Well, in the senior wardrooms that’s all I hear. Among the junior officers and the younger enlisted ranks, I think there’s a lot more excitement. Then again, being the grand duchess, they might just be telling me what they think I want to hear.”
“There is that problem. Have there been any more bombs going off?”
“None since you left, but then we’ve been taking serious precautions. I think the bomber might have slipped aboard the Terror and beat it for home.”
“Is that just a guess, or is there any meat on that bone?” Kris asked, before Jack and Penny climbed all over her to get to the commlink.
“We did find a problem. I don’t like the fact that our security still hasn’t gotten to the bottom of it, but there appear to have been six or seven people aboard the ships of BatRon 12 who were never here.”
“Never here?” Kris said.
“Some one was here using any of the six sets of papers whenever it served his purpose. None of those people has been sighted since that bomb went off on the Wasp, so we’re thinking your Commander Taussig wasn’t the only one who was in a hurry to shove off for Santa Maria.”
Kris glanced at Jack. He and Penny were using their new computers to go down the list of the Wasp’s crew. From the looks of it, they’d be busy for a while.
“Have you heard about Admiral Krätz’s wanting everyone to go home?” Kris asked.
“Yeah. It took him quite a while to get the other two admirals to agree to that ‘unanimous’ decision. Admiral Kōta really doesn’t want to leave.”
“He didn’t have anything to say when Krätz told me they were going home, and they expected me to follow along behind them like a lonely puppy.”
“I told them you wouldn’t call it quits. Kris, could I ask a favor?”
Kris had a strong hunch she knew where this was going. “You can ask. I can’t promise that I’ll do it.”
“If Admiral Krätz bugs out, can I stay with you on the Wasp?”
Jack’s head came up so fast from what he was looking at that Kris hoped he didn’t suffer whiplash or brain damage. He was shaking his head a mile a minute.
Kris gave him a smile. One with plenty of teeth. “Vicky, I’ll have to think about that. You know how risky what we’re doing is. If I got you killed . . .” Kris left that thought hanging in the air.
“Kris, you know my dad has a new wife. And I’m going to have a new brother. I figure that bomb was from her family and meant for me. It’s been fun while it lasted, being the main heir to the Peterwald empire, but let’s face it. I’d be safer chasing after a bug-eyed monster to put my head in its mouth than I’m going to be back home.”
“Vicky, I really have to think about this. I don’t see anyone going anywhere real soon. We’ve got time to decide this.”
“Okay,” Vicky said. “But you will get back to me. You promise.”
“I promise,” Kris said.
Vicky cut the commlink at that, saving Kris from having to do it herself.
“Kris, you have another call coming in,” Nelly said.
“Good Lord, I was never this popular in high school.” Kris sighed. “Who is it this time?”
“Commander Phil Taussig,” Nelly announced. “The Hermes just jumped back into the system. Oh, and there are two, no, three. Make that four big freighters following the courier ship. Oh, and the two battleships are also back.”
“Put him through,” Kris said.
The screen filled with the happy face of one handsome young Navy officer. “Hello, Commodore, I bring greetings and gifts from your grampa, our king.”
“Does he know about the situation we have here?”
“Ah, no. They’re way behind the information cycle,” the commander said with a large grin. “The local government on Santa Maria was none too happy with the gift you sent them. They passed a resolution that I should tell you to come back. And they sent off a fast courier to Wardhaven to get the king to support them.”
“And?” Kris said, when her subordinate wasn’t immediately forthcoming with what happened next.
“These supply ships were already in orbit with orders to join you at the earliest opportunity. So, being a harebrained young officer with way too much initiative, I grabbed them and ran.”