Better to let them have our leavings than to let them grow too ambitious on their own.”
Adar Kori’nh nodded. “It is as I have warned for decades, Liege. We must never let down our guard. I suggest we maintain a
careful vigilance.”
“I always do, my Adar,” said the Mage-Imperator. “I always do.”
12 RLINDA KETT
A s a successful merchant with five ships, Rlinda Kett was not accustomed to biting her nails and waiting in meek silence. Especially
during an ambush. She stood next to General Kurt Lanyan on the bridge deck of the Juggernaut-class battleship, the most heavily
armed vessel in the Earth Defense Forces.
While lurking in the empty silence of space, Lanyan had ordered the Juggernaut to shut down all its running lights and dampen
their electromagnetic signature. The EDF battleship’s dark hull plates of stealth material would keep them invisible, just
a gravitational anomaly floating among the rocks at the outskirts of the Yreka system.
Waiting. They had already set their trap.
“How long have we been in position?” Rlinda said in a quiet voice.
“No need to whisper, madam,” the General answered. His cheeks and chin were so smooth and clean that the skin looked slippery.
When he focused his attention, his close-set icy-blue eyes seemed to drink in light and then reflect it back twofold. Lanyan
indicated the tracker screen that showed the blip of Rlinda’s cargo ship, the
Voracious Curiosity
, as it proceeded along the commercial flight path toward Yreka’s inhabited planets. “We can’t hurry this. That bastard Sorengaard
has to make the next move.”
“You’d best be certain to respond the moment he does, General.” Now that she no longer bothered to whisper, her booming voice
carried an intimidating quality. “That’s my personal ship out there, and it’s being piloted by my favorite exhusband.”
“Your favorite one, madam? How many of them do you have?”
“Ships or ex-husbands?”
“Ex-husbands,” the General growled as if she should have known his intent. “I am already aware of how many ships you run.”
“Five ex-husbands, and BeBob is the best of the bunch, the only one who still works for me.” She still got along with Captain
Branson “BeBob” Roberts, personally and sexually. Besides, he was a damned good captain.
Space corsairs led by the outlaw Rand Sorengaard had recently captured one of Rlinda’s merchant ships on the Yreka run, killing
the crew and taking all of her supplies. Settled by one of the original generation ships, the
Abel-Wexler
, Yreka was near the edge of territory claimed by the Ildiran Empire, far from the core of the Terran Hanseatic League, which
meant that neither race provided much surveillance or protection. But when Sorengaard’s corsairs had taken to running down
cargo ships, the Earth Defense Forces had vowed to root out and crush such flagrant lawlessness, even if it meant using Rlinda’s
ship and her favorite ex-husband as bait.
Rlinda was a black woman with an ample body, a big appetite, and a hearty laugh. She allowed people to draw their own stereotypes,
which often led them to underestimate her; Rlinda was not quite as soft and roly-poly as she appeared. A shrewd businesswoman,
she understood her markets and knew a thousand special niches. Other traders wasted their time looking for big strikes and
monopolies on rare alien goods, but she preferred to make herself rich one small step at a time. Many merchants failed to
pay off their vessels, but Rlinda had five ships—four, now that Sorengaard’s asshole pirates had captured the
Great Expectations
.
The Yreka run had been one of her company’s most lucrative routes, since the outlying colonists needed many essentials that
Rlinda could provide at low cost. Now, though, with Sorengaard preying upon helpless vessels, few traders would venture into
the area. Rlinda could have gouged even higher prices from the needy colonists; instead
Adar Kori’nh nodded. “It is as I have warned for decades, Liege. We must never let down our guard. I suggest we maintain a
careful vigilance.”
“I always do, my Adar,” said the Mage-Imperator. “I always do.”
12 RLINDA KETT
A s a successful merchant with five ships, Rlinda Kett was not accustomed to biting her nails and waiting in meek silence. Especially
during an ambush. She stood next to General Kurt Lanyan on the bridge deck of the Juggernaut-class battleship, the most heavily
armed vessel in the Earth Defense Forces.
While lurking in the empty silence of space, Lanyan had ordered the Juggernaut to shut down all its running lights and dampen
their electromagnetic signature. The EDF battleship’s dark hull plates of stealth material would keep them invisible, just
a gravitational anomaly floating among the rocks at the outskirts of the Yreka system.
Waiting. They had already set their trap.
“How long have we been in position?” Rlinda said in a quiet voice.
“No need to whisper, madam,” the General answered. His cheeks and chin were so smooth and clean that the skin looked slippery.
When he focused his attention, his close-set icy-blue eyes seemed to drink in light and then reflect it back twofold. Lanyan
indicated the tracker screen that showed the blip of Rlinda’s cargo ship, the
Voracious Curiosity
, as it proceeded along the commercial flight path toward Yreka’s inhabited planets. “We can’t hurry this. That bastard Sorengaard
has to make the next move.”
“You’d best be certain to respond the moment he does, General.” Now that she no longer bothered to whisper, her booming voice
carried an intimidating quality. “That’s my personal ship out there, and it’s being piloted by my favorite exhusband.”
“Your favorite one, madam? How many of them do you have?”
“Ships or ex-husbands?”
“Ex-husbands,” the General growled as if she should have known his intent. “I am already aware of how many ships you run.”
“Five ex-husbands, and BeBob is the best of the bunch, the only one who still works for me.” She still got along with Captain
Branson “BeBob” Roberts, personally and sexually. Besides, he was a damned good captain.
Space corsairs led by the outlaw Rand Sorengaard had recently captured one of Rlinda’s merchant ships on the Yreka run, killing
the crew and taking all of her supplies. Settled by one of the original generation ships, the
Abel-Wexler
, Yreka was near the edge of territory claimed by the Ildiran Empire, far from the core of the Terran Hanseatic League, which
meant that neither race provided much surveillance or protection. But when Sorengaard’s corsairs had taken to running down
cargo ships, the Earth Defense Forces had vowed to root out and crush such flagrant lawlessness, even if it meant using Rlinda’s
ship and her favorite ex-husband as bait.
Rlinda was a black woman with an ample body, a big appetite, and a hearty laugh. She allowed people to draw their own stereotypes,
which often led them to underestimate her; Rlinda was not quite as soft and roly-poly as she appeared. A shrewd businesswoman,
she understood her markets and knew a thousand special niches. Other traders wasted their time looking for big strikes and
monopolies on rare alien goods, but she preferred to make herself rich one small step at a time. Many merchants failed to
pay off their vessels, but Rlinda had five ships—four, now that Sorengaard’s asshole pirates had captured the
Great Expectations
.
The Yreka run had been one of her company’s most lucrative routes, since the outlying colonists needed many essentials that
Rlinda could provide at low cost. Now, though, with Sorengaard preying upon helpless vessels, few traders would venture into
the area. Rlinda could have gouged even higher prices from the needy colonists; instead
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