Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon Read Free Book Online Page B

disappearing.”
    “We have some concerns,” Douglas said, meaning Mackensee Military Assistance Corporation. “Our intel has been watching a couple of seriously anti-humod governments over the past ten years or so. They could be a source of funding, if Turek convinces them he’s anti-humod and out to restore the position so-called real humans deserve. If any of the governments on our list are the ones ordering warships, I’d be concerned.”
    “Well, until we come out of FTL, we can’t even ask the questions,” Ky said. “Nor can I pick Captain Yamini’s brains, since he’s on another ship. So let me bounce another set of ideas off you, if you don’t mind—and that’s how best to use the slender tactical advantage we have of being able to tap Turek’s transmissions and operate in channels he doesn’t have. We hope.”
    “Downjump fifteen minutes…secure for downjump…”
    “Time flies,” Ky said. “I cut it too close. I’ll see you on the bridge.” She was there with five minutes to spare. Nothing should be here; this was just a convenient mapped jump point far from anything habitable or worth mining; there should be an ansible, though, for the convenience of passing ships, like theirs.
    Or the enemy’s. As she’d ordered at the start of the voyage, weapons went live at T minus two. Ransome should be out now, advance scout for them. A minute crawled by, then another, then Vanguard lurched out of FTL into normal space, scan blurred by downjump turbulence.
    “Nothing so far,” came the cheerful hail from Teddy Ransome. “Empty as a beer bottle in the morning, and the ansible’s live.”
    “That’s good,” Ky said.
    Argelos, Yamini, Pettygrew, and Baskerville all reported in within fifteen seconds of their expected time. The three lighter ships microjumped out to keep watch. Ky had allotted two hours here, time to strip the news from the ansible, share it, even discuss it, but she didn’t plan to have everyone clustered and vulnerable. The automated ansible had a minimal number of system boosters, but Ransome, reckless as always, microjumped within a quarter second of the ansible itself, stripped out the news bulletins, and shared them with the others immediately.
    “That’s Turek,” Ky said, when the image of a man in crimson and black followed one of an explosion. “We’ve seen a picture of him before.”
    “Interesting choice of postures,” Douglas said. “Notice—no podium, no column, the only scale to measure him is the sky and stars. The way he’s folded his arms—it’s like something off a poster, or a book cover. He’s claiming authority—”
    You will all know my name…You will all fear my name…I am Gammis Turek…
    “Insanity,” Hugh said. “Why would he send out something like this now?”
    “To scare people,” Douglas said. “Interesting voice, too. Either he’s had voice training or he’s using a modification.”
    “Let’s listen,” Ky said; they fell silent, and listened to the rest of it, watched the massacre of civilians, the town burning. Next came bulletins from different news services, commenting on Turek’s speech.
    “Save those,” Ky said. “We don’t have much time; let’s consider Turek’s own statement first. Why would he give his name now? Remember that spy with the suicide trigger, who died saying his name?”
    “He’s worried,” Douglas said. “Something has shaken his confidence in his plan.”
    “I don’t know why,” Gordon Martin said. “We’ve bloodied his nose a couple of times, but no worse than that. So far he’s won every system he’s attacked.”
    “That we know of,” Argelos said. “He might’ve been unsuccessful somewhere.”
    “I agree,” Yamini said. “But even if he hasn’t had a major loss, he would be running into some problems of scale by now. I don’t care how many ships he’s got, he’s got to have crew for them—reliable crew, lots more than he started with—and he’s got to have supplies