The Course of Empire(123)

Just three words:



Position yourself now.



Not the least of the reasons that agent was the best the Preceptor had was that he was the only one who would ever dare send such a message. The Preceptor glanced at Tura, standing not far away waiting for his orders. The pleniary-superior herself, despite her rank and capability and self-assurance, would not have had the nerve to so instruct the Preceptor.



Not yet, at least. He had great hopes for her in the future.



"Our agent—ah—recommends that we position the fleet. I agree with his recommendation. See to it, Tura."



"Yes, Preceptor. The entire fleet?"



"Only the harriers, for the moment. If we need support vessels and lighter craft, we can add them later. Immediately, I will want to be able to overawe any resistance. For that, sixty-three harriers will do perfectly."



"And we will need them anyway," Tura observed, "if the arrival of the Interdict presages an assault by the Complete Harmony."



"Yes, that too."



She cocked her head slightly, tilting her ears. "But you do not want to intervene yet? The fleet is to remain here, at the framepoint connecting to Terra? That might be dangerous, Preceptor, if the Complete Harmony is on its way."



"Yes, it might. But I, too, in a different way, have no choice but to advance-by-oscillation. The Pluthrak must retain the lead here, not the Bond, or twenty years of work will go for nothing."



He deleted the message from his private holo tank. "And if Terra does not survive, so be it. Strategy is always a matter of weighing one risk against another."





Chapter 28




Aille and his service, along with Kralik, boarded the first suborbital shuttle back to Pascagoula. He waited only long enough to send Tamt to fetch Caitlin Stockwell from the medicians. Aille wanted to make sure she was among the passengers. In Oppuk's enraged mood, he might conceivably try to harm the young human.



Tamt showed up with her after the rest had already embarked. Aille spotted Stockwell as soon as she appeared in the hatch. Kralik spotted her at the same time, and immediately rose to greet her.



Her skin was very pale, almost translucent. That was a sign of physical distress in humans, he was coming to understand. The bruise on her face was dark purple in contrast, her heartward arm splinted and supported by a sling. She glanced inside, then made her way between the rows of seats with halting, weary steps, flanked by Kralik, who appeared concerned.



"Broken," she said in Jao, with a hint of apologetic-regret in the line of her shoulders, then sank into the seat next to Aille, leaned her head back against the cushion and closed her eyes. Tamt sat next to her, on the other side.



Jao bones were very strong, breakage occurring mostly when other accompanying injuries were life-threatening. Humans, he was reminded yet again, were much more fragile. He would have to keep that in mind when ordering his jinau troops into combat situations. As effective as they'd proven themselves to be in ground fighting, Jao troops would still far surpass them in direct hand-to-hand combat. If he remembered correctly, humans even had a special name for that type of service: commando units.



Aille determined to have some Jao units added to his jinau forces to serve in cases where such duty was required. That would have the added advantage of increasing association between Jao and humans in a harmonious manner.



Oppuk would be hostile to the idea, of course, but this was a purely military matter. No doubt, Dano would be hostile also. But at this point, Aille was quite sure, Commandant Kaul would not try to oppose him directly over such an issue. After Oppuk's violation of custom, Dano would be retreating into neutrality.



The shuttle's engines roared to life and the vessel quivered with power. Aille noticed that Tamt seemed more than a bit uneasy, giving him frequent glances. And, once he studied her more carefully, saw that she bore the subtle signs of having been involved recently in a fracas of some sort.



He twitched his whiskers, inviting an explanation.



"Someone who said she was Banle krinnu nao Narvo appeared at the medicians' compound. She said the Stockwell human was attached to the Governor's household. She tried to take her away."



Perception-of-difficulty swept over Aille and he shifted in his seat to accommodate its shape. His ears flattened. "Indeed? How did you prevail?"



Tamt was very nervous, now, her seated form shifting awkwardly from one half-assumed posture to another. "I—ah. Ah. It proved necessary to subdue her physically. Which I did."



Kralik grinned fiercely as he buckled Caitlin's slender form into the safety harness, then settled in the row facing them and reached for his own harness. The sound of the engines deepened as the shuttle lifted from the ground.