Four.
“Lousy, lousy recon,” Dill said, standing behind the
Parnell’s
skipper,
Mil
Liskeard.
“Yes,” agreed Alikhan. “There should be files from spies, many satellite photos.”
“Not to mention a couple of sneaks on the ground checking things out before the combat team gets inserted,” Garvin added.
“Would you three morons get the hell off my bridge?” Liskeard growled. “It was almost better when you were second-guessing my piloting on the way in.”
“Not me,” Garvin said. “I know my limitations.”
“Interesting thought,” Dill said. “Let me know when you discover any of mine.”
“Shall we obey our orders,” Alikhan said. “And you can open a file on your faults that I shall happily dictate. A very large file.”
“Good idea,” the weapons tech at the control station behind Liskeard grunted. “Sirs. And let me fly this goddamned bird in without getting my ass shot off.”
• • •
The
Parnell
, one of the first four destroyers built on Cumbre, was a compromise between what the force needed, what the Force wanted, and what could be built in a hurry. Essentially, the class used the existing templates of a standard planetary patrol craft, but enlarged the ship in all dimensions. It had a crew of twenty, four Goddard antiship missiles in pods under the ship’s “chin,” a pair of chaingun turrets, and four Shadow antimissile stations.
The shipyards of Cumbre, newly modernized and expanded after the Musth War, could each roll out one of these destroyers in a month, and the internals could be added in another month. Larger ships weren’t possible at the moment: Any building work increases exponentially in cost, complexity, and material, not arithmetically.
No one knew how fast Larix/Kura were building ships, nor how large they were, but everyone assumed the worst, which, in war, is the safest way to think.
• • •
“You wish?” Ben Dill said politely to the Musth.
“To inquire as to why you are being stupid.”
“Just my normal procedure.”
“You are a pilot,” Alikhan said. “Yet you have volunteered to play ground-worm. That does not make sense.”
“Because,” Dill said, “like I told Garvin, back on Cumbre, I’m bored waiting for trouble to come to me.”
“I see. That is stupid, indeed,” Alikhan said. “But no more stupid than my joining the Force. Why did you not ask me if I wanted to be stupider than I already am?”
“To be real honest,” Ben said thoughtfully, “I didn’t even think about it. But even if I had, I don’t think I would’ve grabbed you.
“What happens if we get spotted down there on Kura? Don’t you think somebody would go completely apeshit if they saw this big brown furry mother trotting through their jungle?”
“Apeshit is not a term I’m familiar with,” Alikhan said. “I can infer its meaning, though. Nor am I of the female gender and capable of giving birth. But would that surprise be any greater than seeing ten humans, dripping weapons, dressed in a strange manner, wandering around looking for things to destroy?”
“Mmmh,” Dill said. “Strong point, which I don’t wanna consider. I’m sorry, Alikhan, that I didn’t give you a chance to get killed. But try this one. You’re going to be the insert pilot with the
velv
, right? Since you’re not that bad a pilot, second only to me, that’ll make sure there’ll be somebody with his shit firmed up who’ll be around to extract us when we start hollering for help.”
“I shall never understand the human fascination with excrement,” Alikhan said. “I accept your apology. And I shall be there to pick you and the others up.
“No matter when, where, or what.”
• • •
Two shifts later, as the I&R raiders tried to convince themselves they were comfortable living on the laps of the
Parnell
’s crew, and that they were nerveless commandos unworried about this near-blind mission, the drone’s tech swaggered into the small cargo compartment
“Lousy, lousy recon,” Dill said, standing behind the
Parnell’s
skipper,
Mil
Liskeard.
“Yes,” agreed Alikhan. “There should be files from spies, many satellite photos.”
“Not to mention a couple of sneaks on the ground checking things out before the combat team gets inserted,” Garvin added.
“Would you three morons get the hell off my bridge?” Liskeard growled. “It was almost better when you were second-guessing my piloting on the way in.”
“Not me,” Garvin said. “I know my limitations.”
“Interesting thought,” Dill said. “Let me know when you discover any of mine.”
“Shall we obey our orders,” Alikhan said. “And you can open a file on your faults that I shall happily dictate. A very large file.”
“Good idea,” the weapons tech at the control station behind Liskeard grunted. “Sirs. And let me fly this goddamned bird in without getting my ass shot off.”
• • •
The
Parnell
, one of the first four destroyers built on Cumbre, was a compromise between what the force needed, what the Force wanted, and what could be built in a hurry. Essentially, the class used the existing templates of a standard planetary patrol craft, but enlarged the ship in all dimensions. It had a crew of twenty, four Goddard antiship missiles in pods under the ship’s “chin,” a pair of chaingun turrets, and four Shadow antimissile stations.
The shipyards of Cumbre, newly modernized and expanded after the Musth War, could each roll out one of these destroyers in a month, and the internals could be added in another month. Larger ships weren’t possible at the moment: Any building work increases exponentially in cost, complexity, and material, not arithmetically.
No one knew how fast Larix/Kura were building ships, nor how large they were, but everyone assumed the worst, which, in war, is the safest way to think.
• • •
“You wish?” Ben Dill said politely to the Musth.
“To inquire as to why you are being stupid.”
“Just my normal procedure.”
“You are a pilot,” Alikhan said. “Yet you have volunteered to play ground-worm. That does not make sense.”
“Because,” Dill said, “like I told Garvin, back on Cumbre, I’m bored waiting for trouble to come to me.”
“I see. That is stupid, indeed,” Alikhan said. “But no more stupid than my joining the Force. Why did you not ask me if I wanted to be stupider than I already am?”
“To be real honest,” Ben said thoughtfully, “I didn’t even think about it. But even if I had, I don’t think I would’ve grabbed you.
“What happens if we get spotted down there on Kura? Don’t you think somebody would go completely apeshit if they saw this big brown furry mother trotting through their jungle?”
“Apeshit is not a term I’m familiar with,” Alikhan said. “I can infer its meaning, though. Nor am I of the female gender and capable of giving birth. But would that surprise be any greater than seeing ten humans, dripping weapons, dressed in a strange manner, wandering around looking for things to destroy?”
“Mmmh,” Dill said. “Strong point, which I don’t wanna consider. I’m sorry, Alikhan, that I didn’t give you a chance to get killed. But try this one. You’re going to be the insert pilot with the
velv
, right? Since you’re not that bad a pilot, second only to me, that’ll make sure there’ll be somebody with his shit firmed up who’ll be around to extract us when we start hollering for help.”
“I shall never understand the human fascination with excrement,” Alikhan said. “I accept your apology. And I shall be there to pick you and the others up.
“No matter when, where, or what.”
• • •
Two shifts later, as the I&R raiders tried to convince themselves they were comfortable living on the laps of the
Parnell
’s crew, and that they were nerveless commandos unworried about this near-blind mission, the drone’s tech swaggered into the small cargo compartment
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