In Fire Forged: Worlds of Honor V-ARC by David Weber Read Free Book Online Page B

clear—very clear—why we’re not giving advance notice for what we’re doing.”
    “Yes, Prince Michael. As I’m the senior member of this detail, they’ll obey my decision.”
    And that means, Judith thought, that Vincent Valless is taking a lot on his own head. If something goes wrong, he could find himself being tried or court-martialed or whatever they do to security officers who let their subjects put themselves at risk.
    Well, she thought, taking the seat Michael indicated was hers and strapping herself in, I’ll just have to do my best to make sure that no one has anything to regret .
    An eighth person, this one a regular Navy master chief, stepped into the passenger cabin through a small hatch, then paused, raising one eyebrow as he saw Judith and Todd.
    “Your Highness,” he said in an admirably calm tone, and Michael grimaced.
    “Master Chief,” he replied, then looked at the others. “Master Chief Lawrence is Ogapoge ’s flight engineer. He’s been my keeper on these little jaunts for the last year or so. Master Chief, Lieutenant Liatt and Ms. Judith Newland. I believe you know the rest of our little crew?”
    “Yes, Sir,” Lawrence replied, nodding respectfully to Todd and Judith.
    “We’re going on a slightly different excursion, Chief,” Michael continued. “And I’m going to want everything the compensator can give us.” His eyes met Lawrence’s levelly. “And I do mean everything, Chief. We’re going to redline her.”
    “Your Highness,” Lawrence began, “I—”
    He paused, looking into the prince’s eyes, then glanced once at Lieutenant Valles and the other Palace Security personnel.
    “Yes, Sir,” he said instead, and Michael gave him a tight nod before turning back to Todd.
    “Todd, you take the helm. You always scored higher than I did when it came to piloting small craft.”
    “In any sort of piloting,” Todd cheerfully reminded him.
    “Whatever,” Michael said, a small smile quirking one corner of his mouth. “I’ve got some research I want to take care of while we’re in transit. I can’t do that and handle the ship.”
    Todd nodded, solemn for a moment as Ruth’s predicament once again came to the fore. Then his usual high spirits surfaced and he grinned with pleasure.
    “I’ll be happy to take her up, Michael. Besides this is the only way I’m likely to fly one of these darlings.”
    “Good,” Michael said. “Now, hurry up and get acquainted with your own true love, will you, Toad Breath? We need to break orbit the instant Astro Control clears us.”
    “I’ll be ready for it,” Todd said, turning to head for the fleet little vessel’s compact flight deck. “You just figure out where we’re supposed to be going once we get to Sphinx.”
    “That,” Michael said, settling in to the seat next to Judith and pulling out his minicomp, “is precisely what I’m hoping to do.”
    *     *     *
    “They’re not,” Babette said, mild disbelief in her voice, “going to give in to our demands.”
    George grunted reluctant agreement as he examined the information feed they had pulled in from various satellites.
    “I thought,” he said, “when they stayed in that Judith’s apartment for so long, that they were going to knuckle under, that they were waiting for a reasonable hour for the prince to go clubbing.”
    Babette nodded. “I know. When they headed toward Mount Royal, I wasn’t worried. After all, there are many more highly visible night spots near the palace than there are out in the sticks where Human Services settled those Masadans.”
    George pushed his chair back. The holofeed showed Ogapoge already heading out of orbit, and despite their surprise, neither of them really doubted where the fleet little runabout was headed.
    “Dulcis McKinley and Wallace Ward have two definite advantages. They have a solid lead, and they have the child. There is another factor in our advantage.”
    “Which is?”
    “Prince Michael may suspect they