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need to pulp the ship’s crew. “Power at ten percent . . .”

“It’s enough,” Koenig said. “Break orbit!”

And the Ashtongtok Tah leaped forward.

 

RF CV Vladivostok

Earth Synchorbit

2034 hours, FST

Kapitan Pervogo Ranga Pavel Siluanov floated on the Vladivostok’s bridge, close beside the Defense Minister. Having Dimitri Vasilyev on board and giving orders was a decidedly surreal experience,one completely alien to the normal operation of the military chain of command, and it made him uncomfortable.

The Defense Minister had come on board with two heavily armed bodyguards at SupraSingapore that morning, explaining that theAmericans had allied with the Nungiirtok and were threatening to take over the world. He’d arrived on the Tomsk, a fifteen-thousand-ton freighter that had fit easily enough within Vladivostok’s main hangar bay, but the small ship was heavily shielded and only Vasilyev’s rank had forced Siluanov to accept them onboard without a close inspection. When the Defense Minister ordered the Tomsk to depart, the captain had been relieved.

So far as Siluanov was concerned, the Americans could climb into bed with the Nungiirtok and the hell with both of them. Hedidn’t like the Nungiirtok, though he respected them as adversaries, nor did he care for the Americans for that matter, but what they did to each other was not his concern. He certainly didn’t share Vasilyev’s evident xenophobia. The Americans had neutralized the Nungiirtok attack, and that was the end of it.

As for attacking the American carriers docked in synchorbit, that was simple madness, nothing more. He knew enough historyto know of the attack on Pearl Harbor in the twentieth century; Americans did not react well to unprovoked sneak attacks.

He had no choice, though—orders were orders.

He watched the forward screens carefully. Vladivostok was in full stealth mode, which meant passive sensors only. They could see ahead, the thin smear of rainbow colors markingsunset, but radar and laser ranging had been switched off, as had the ship’s communications suite. They were taking no chancesthat the enemy might worm his way inside Vladivostok’s defenses in the same way they’d taken down the Nungiirtok.

“How much longer?” Vasilyev demanded.

Siluanov checked his in-head feed from the ship’s navigator. “Five minutes, sir. However, I must question the wisdom of thisattack. Destroying two carriers will not cripple their ability to retaliate. Their navy is larger than ours.”

“Perhaps, but the American President will accept our demands.”

How could the man be so certain?

“Do not question me again, Siluanov,” Vasilyev continued. “Or I will put Medinsky in command.”

Medinsky the toady. “Yes, sir.”

“And prepare to launch our fighters.”

Siluanov gave the necessary orders. This was going to be a bloodbath, but at this point he honestly didn’t know whose.

The Russian carrier slid from day into night as it rounded Earth’s curve. It took considerable power and skill to keep thegrav drive balanced so that the massive ship traveled in a controlled curve around the planet.

“Weapons Officer,” he said. “Bring all armament to ready status. “Flight deck . . . prepare to launch fighters.”

Acknowledgments came back. Vladivostok was ready in all respects for combat. Just a few more—

“Captain!” the sensor officer called. “Target—”

Before he could complete the warning, the screens ahead were blotted out by a vast, gray landscape, one pitted and crateredin places, and showing signs of having been subjected to terrific heat.

“Chto za chert!” Siluanov said, eyes widening. “All stop! All stop!” Shutting down the drive meant that Vladivostok would begin falling toward Earth, but they had plenty of time for corrections. That rock wall ahead was a far more immediate problem.

“What is it?” Vasilyev demanded. “What’s happening?”

“It’s one of the Nungiirtok ships, Minister,” Siluanov replied, holding his voice steady by sheer force of will.

“Bozhe moi! How close is that thing?”

“Unknown, Minister. We are, by your orders, not engaging radar or lidar. However, we know that rock is on the order of 250kilometers across. That suggests that it currently is less than one hundred kilometers in front of us.”

“Then fire! Fire!”

He gave the man a cold stare. “To what end, Minister? We watched the American fleets attack that thing yesterday, remember?Vladivostok has nowhere near the firepower available to even scratch its surface.”

“They’re aliens!” the Defense Minister screamed, maneuvering himself in microgravity toward the nearest console. “Destroythem!”

Swiftly, Siluanov reached out, grabbed the flailing Vasilyev by his gunbelt with one hand, and with the other he drew Vasilyev’ssidearm—a Zinichev 0.5-megawatt hand laser. Behind him, the two bodyguards were reaching for their own weapons, but Siluanovfired first, striking Vasilyev squarely in the back. The sudden temperature change deep in flesh and bone caused a sharp pop and splattered blood across the bridge, opening a gaping hole between Vasilyev’s shoulder blades, biting all the way through his spine. Siluanov coolly pivoted in place and aimed at one of the guards, both of whom had frozen in place, weapons half drawn, their eyes wide.

“You can go ahead and shoot me, of course,” he told them. “But one of you will die in the attempt. Who will it be?” When theydidn’t reply, Siluanov smiled pleasantly. “I assure you both that I was within my rights as master of this vessel. I willnot have a man panicking on my bridge, no matter what his rank. Now, remove your weapons from their holsters, but delicately,thumb and forefinger only, understand? Drift them over to my first officer. Good. Communications Officer!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Open a channel to that . . . thing. I think you’ll find they are anxious to talk to us.”

The comm officer touched a screen . . .

. . . and Mind came flooding in.

 

The Godstream

2036 hours, FST

The capture of the Russian carrier Vladivostok was pure anticlimax. The gestalt within the Godstream flowed in past every electronic barrier and defensive firewall andtook over every aspect of the ship’s operation. With Konstantin in control, they released the Ashtongtok Tah, which returned to Lunar Orbit as swiftly as it had made the passage to Earth. The Vladivostok was gentled into the docking area near Skyport, another captured Russian ship, Koenig told Gray, for his growing collection.

The diplomats, Koenig decided, were going to have their hands full straightening out this mess.

The Russian Defense Minister was quite