Once we land, I'll signal you to bring your shuttle down. If I don't within, say, thirty seconds, take off like a bat out of hell and get back to the Teddy R any way you can."
"Considering that we've pretty much checked the place out, we're being awfully cautious," remarked Braxite.
"That's how you stay alive for four years when you're the most wanted man on the most wanted ship in the galaxy," replied Cole with no sign of annoyance.
"I'm sorry, sir," said Braxite, flustered. "I didn't mean . . . that is—"
"It's all right," said Cole. "I feel like we're moving through molasses too . . . but the operative word is 'moving,' not 'molasses.'"
"Prepare for landing," announced Idena as Lafferty's shuttle vanished from sight.
"Where the hell did he go?" asked Cole.
"Look!" said Idena, pointing to the viewscreen. Lafferty had landed in what seemed to be a huge quarry, left over from some forgotten time when Men or some other race were mining the asteroids. He vanished from sight when he was still eighty feet above the ground, and could only be seen from directly overhead. Idena set the Kerm.it down forty yards away from him.
Cole checked the viewscreen and saw Lafferty leading a number of his men out to the ship. "Get me the Archie ," he said.
"Done, sir."
"Jacovic, bring it down."
"We're on our way," replied the Teroni.
The shuttle crew had waited for Cole to indicate what he wanted done next. He signaled Idena to open the hatch, and he stood in it until the ramp extended and lowered to the ground.
"Good to see you again," said Lafferty, stepping forward and extending his hand.
"And you," said Cole. "Don't get too far from the shuttles. I've got another on the way down."
They watched the Archie make its careful descent, finally landing less than thirty yards from the Kermit.
Jacovic and his crew emerged, and Cole made some brief introductions. "All right," he said at last. "Suppose you show me why the hell you dragged us all the way out here."
"Happy to," replied Lafferty. "Do I have a big excrement-eating smile on my face?"
"Couldn't be bigger," said Cole.
"Well, there's a reason. Come this way."
Lafferty crossed the bottom of the quarry, which was perhaps half a mile in diameter. After they'd gone a hundred yards he came to a stop, and Cole could see in the dim light that there was something very large and formless obscuring his vision.
"Stop or you'll walk into it."
Cole stopped and stared. Something was carefully camouflaged, but he couldn't make out what it was.
"Kill the screen," ordered Lafferty, and suddenly the holographic camouflage vanished and Cole found himself looking at a Class L Navy starship without a mark on it.
"What do you think?" said Lafferty, still grinning.
"I'm impressed," said Cole. "That's what the Teddy R evolved into over a century. Six Level 5 thumpers, three Level 5 and three Level 4 burners ... It can absorb anything Level 4 or lower in any quantity, and it can take—I can't remember the new specs—two or three Level 5 hits a second with minimal damage."
"You know your stuff," said Lafferty.
"I was a part of the Navy until four years ago," replied Cole. "Holds a crew of seventy-two."
"Not anymore," said Lafferty. "Fifty-six these days. They've automated that many more functions."
"Where the hell did you get it?" asked Cole. "You sure as hell didn't shoot it down. It's clean as a whistle."
"Kobernykov II."
"Never heard of it."
"And you never will again," said Lafferty with a trace of pride. "It's about eighty light-years from here. The Republic just opened it as a shipbuilding world." A grin. "We just closed it."
"I saw what you had at Singapore Station," said Cole. "A Class L ship like this should have been able to fight fifty of your ships to a standoff."
"Probably it would have," agreed Lafferty. "If it had an engine." Cole just stared at him. "We found it in the one structure we didn't destroy. It was just sitting there like a newborn baby. But no one had
"Considering that we've pretty much checked the place out, we're being awfully cautious," remarked Braxite.
"That's how you stay alive for four years when you're the most wanted man on the most wanted ship in the galaxy," replied Cole with no sign of annoyance.
"I'm sorry, sir," said Braxite, flustered. "I didn't mean . . . that is—"
"It's all right," said Cole. "I feel like we're moving through molasses too . . . but the operative word is 'moving,' not 'molasses.'"
"Prepare for landing," announced Idena as Lafferty's shuttle vanished from sight.
"Where the hell did he go?" asked Cole.
"Look!" said Idena, pointing to the viewscreen. Lafferty had landed in what seemed to be a huge quarry, left over from some forgotten time when Men or some other race were mining the asteroids. He vanished from sight when he was still eighty feet above the ground, and could only be seen from directly overhead. Idena set the Kerm.it down forty yards away from him.
Cole checked the viewscreen and saw Lafferty leading a number of his men out to the ship. "Get me the Archie ," he said.
"Done, sir."
"Jacovic, bring it down."
"We're on our way," replied the Teroni.
The shuttle crew had waited for Cole to indicate what he wanted done next. He signaled Idena to open the hatch, and he stood in it until the ramp extended and lowered to the ground.
"Good to see you again," said Lafferty, stepping forward and extending his hand.
"And you," said Cole. "Don't get too far from the shuttles. I've got another on the way down."
They watched the Archie make its careful descent, finally landing less than thirty yards from the Kermit.
Jacovic and his crew emerged, and Cole made some brief introductions. "All right," he said at last. "Suppose you show me why the hell you dragged us all the way out here."
"Happy to," replied Lafferty. "Do I have a big excrement-eating smile on my face?"
"Couldn't be bigger," said Cole.
"Well, there's a reason. Come this way."
Lafferty crossed the bottom of the quarry, which was perhaps half a mile in diameter. After they'd gone a hundred yards he came to a stop, and Cole could see in the dim light that there was something very large and formless obscuring his vision.
"Stop or you'll walk into it."
Cole stopped and stared. Something was carefully camouflaged, but he couldn't make out what it was.
"Kill the screen," ordered Lafferty, and suddenly the holographic camouflage vanished and Cole found himself looking at a Class L Navy starship without a mark on it.
"What do you think?" said Lafferty, still grinning.
"I'm impressed," said Cole. "That's what the Teddy R evolved into over a century. Six Level 5 thumpers, three Level 5 and three Level 4 burners ... It can absorb anything Level 4 or lower in any quantity, and it can take—I can't remember the new specs—two or three Level 5 hits a second with minimal damage."
"You know your stuff," said Lafferty.
"I was a part of the Navy until four years ago," replied Cole. "Holds a crew of seventy-two."
"Not anymore," said Lafferty. "Fifty-six these days. They've automated that many more functions."
"Where the hell did you get it?" asked Cole. "You sure as hell didn't shoot it down. It's clean as a whistle."
"Kobernykov II."
"Never heard of it."
"And you never will again," said Lafferty with a trace of pride. "It's about eighty light-years from here. The Republic just opened it as a shipbuilding world." A grin. "We just closed it."
"I saw what you had at Singapore Station," said Cole. "A Class L ship like this should have been able to fight fifty of your ships to a standoff."
"Probably it would have," agreed Lafferty. "If it had an engine." Cole just stared at him. "We found it in the one structure we didn't destroy. It was just sitting there like a newborn baby. But no one had
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