"Then instead of going into orbit, we stay there. I will give the
defense satellites instructions to call us when Thark lands. The delay
between our getting that message and our arrival in orbit, plus the
time to land, should take perhaps twenty minutes, from the theory I
remember. That will allow him to attack the Palace and provide the
evidence His Majesty wishes."
"You're assuming Chang's navigator can plot that short a hyperspace
flight with a lot of precision."
"Yes. I believe it a valid assumption, or he would not be conning a
Ranger's chosen ship."
"Logical reasoning, and very true. All three of our navigators are
every bit that exact. It sounds good; now we just hope it works. One
of our ancient poets wrote, `The best laid plans of mice and men gang
aft a-gley,' and he was right."
"That was Robert Burns," Corina said. "One of your early scientists
put the same idea another way: `Anything that can go wrong will go
wrong.'" She felt Medart's surprise at the identification and quote.
"I was not probing; Terran poetry interests me, particularly Burns,
Service, and Kipling. Except for ancient war chants, Irschcha has
little that can be called poetry."
"Nice to know you have interests that don't show up on your records,"
Medart said.
"What do you mean?"
"As I said earlier, it's not so much what you know as how your mind
works that counts, as long as you have the basics. You can always find
out any facts you need. But being interested in a variety of things is
essential; you never know what's going to come in handy. Poetry
doesn't seem particularly promising, but on the other hand, as I said,
you never know."
The mess was starting to fill as the senior officers trickled in for
breakfast. By the time the two Rangers finished eating, all but
Captain Hobison and Commander Jensen were there.
Until they stood to leave, nobody paid any particular attention to
Corina; it wasn't surprising that Medart's special assistant should
join him at a meal. When they did stand, however, Commander Pappas
gave an exclamation of surprise, and the room grew silent. That didn't
last long; the murmur of conversation resumed, but now, from what
Corina could hear, with herself as the subject. The tone was more awed
than surprised after that first exclamation, and Corina assumed that
word of the previous day's war council was no longer restricted to the
Command Crew.
Jim must have picked that up, she thought, or possibly he was just
anticipating her reaction. "It's impossible to keep rumors from
circulating aboard ship," he said, "especially about something as rare
as a potential Ranger. The word was probably all over Chang within
fifteen minutes after His Majesty dismissed the Command Crew. There's
no harm in it."
They entered a shuttle, and Medart ordered it to the Bridge. "We'll
meet Captain Hobison there, so he'll get the news directly, not
second-hand. He normally has breakfast in his cabin, and goes straight
to the Bridge."
Corina nodded. "And I must tell him my plans, as well. But what about
those rumors? What if I had continued to refuse?"
"You're starting to sound like Sunbeam," Medart laughed. "The rumors
would have tapered off eventually, after giving the crew something a
bit different to talk about for awhile."
The shuttle slowed to a stop, its door sliding open. The Bridge, as
the ship's nerve center, was of course always fully crewed; Chief
Engineer Jensen, on duty as Senior Officer of the Watch, was seated in
the Command chair. He swung the chair around to face them as they
entered, saying, "You're early, Cap-- Huh?" He stood and saluted, his
exclamation attracting the attention of the rest of the Bridge crew.
They also started to stand.
"As you were," Medart said, returning Jensen's salute. The Bridge
returned to near-normal, though with more than the usual amount of
non-duty conversation.
Corina saw Jensen's hand move toward the chair's comm controls, and
spoke. "No, Commander. There is no need to disturb Captain Hobison; I
understand he will be here shortly."
"Uh, yes, sir."
They waited in silence, both Rangers moving to stand at the left of the
Command chair. The shuttle door finally slid open again and Hobison
emerged. He raised one eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Corina's
badge, but went through the routine of relieving Jensen before he said
anything. Change of watch completed, he seated himself in the Command
chair and turned to face the pair. "He talked you into it, did he,
Ranger Losinj?" The words were neutral, but the tone was warm.
"Knowing Rangers, I suppose he's put you in charge of this mission."
"Yes, Captain, to both. I would like to tell you my plans as soon as
you have the time."
"I've got it now, Ranger. Here or in the briefing room?"
"It might as well be here. The whole crew will need to know." Corina
braced herself mentally. This was real; she was giving orders to the
Captain of an Imperial Battle Cruiser, certain they would be obeyed.
"When we arrive in the Terran system, take station in the asteroid
belt. Then call Defense Satellite Five and have them inform us of any
Irschschan ship landing near the Palace. When you receive that word,
start for Terra and call me. As soon as you have Chang in orbit,
Ranger Medart and I, along with any crew members who have mind shields
and are willing to volunteer, will take a lander down and attempt to
take Thark in the act of invading the Palace."
"After your demonstration," Hobison said, "I can understand why you
want people with mind shields, but everyone aboard this ship is already
a volunteer. You don't need to ask them again."
"I realize that, Captain, but in this case I would prefer to. Defsat
Five has orders to blast the Palace and its immediate surroundings
unless I can defeat Thark within an hour of our landing. As I told
Ranger Medart, the assault team will have at best a twenty percent
chance of survival."