A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [164]
Tasia let out a long, cold sigh and thanked her Guiding Star. One emergency solved. Now she could concentrate on the problem of Robb Brindle.
“General Lanyan, sir,” she said with a quick salute on the bridge of the Goliath. “Request permission to go to the launching bay and inspect the encounter vessel.”
He scratched his square chin. “To what purpose, Commander? Don’t you have duties aboard your own ship?”
“I would…I’d like to have a word with Wing Commander Brindle before he’s dispatched on his mission.” She swallowed hard, hoping the emotions didn’t show on her face. Not that I could ever talk sense into him.
On the other side of the bridge, Patrick Fitzpatrick smirked. “She wants to give him a goodbye kiss, General.”
Lanyan glanced from Fitzpatrick’s sarcastic expression to Tasia’s flush of embarrassment, as if unexpected pieces had fallen into place. “Permission granted—but don’t be too long at it. Wing Commander Brindle should be using this time to prepare himself, and you should be getting back aboard your cruiser. I need all of my fleet commanders in top shape, their minds sharp.”
She hurried away from the stares of the bridge crew; some showed her sympathy, some only knowing smiles. Everyone tacitly assumed Robb’s attempt to communicate with the hydrogues would fail. He had undergone a month of intensive diplomacy training, but no one could be sure how the drogues would react to the overture. It was a political nicety, and the optimistic young officer would probably be the sacrificial lamb.
Brindle, your Guiding Star must be a brown dwarf…
Tasia took a lift down to the launching bay and found it crowded with eager Eddie soldiers watching the final preparations. Robb’s EDF uniform was immaculate (as if the hydrogues might be impressed with clothes). He couldn’t hide his foolishly proud grin as he stood in front of the experimental encounter vessel.
It looked like an old deep-sea diving bell, a spherical ship with armored walls and maneuvering systems that could operate even under the extreme pressures he would find deep in the gas giant. Small, round windows of polymer-reinforced crystal slugs dotted the exterior walls, providing views from all angles.
The encounter vessel was strictly for opening a line of communication, not to threaten the hydrogues. Robb had tested it, become proficient in its systems; he claimed the encounter vessel flew with all the finesse of a brick, but it would do what was necessary. The vessel contained no defenses at all—not that any standard weapon would have proved effective against a diamond-hulled warglobe.
Tasia wanted to run forward and embrace him, but she couldn’t do that in front of the other Eddies. Everyone whistled and applauded, shouting encouragement and congratulations. Robb grinned at her, his honey brown eyes flashing. He raised a hand, but Tasia was afraid to speak, for fear of losing the tight control she had on her emotions.
The night before, she and Robb had arranged their off-shifts to coincide. He meant to get a good night’s sleep before his mission, but Tasia didn’t intend to let him sleep much at all. Unfortunately, she and Robb got into an argument that degenerated into a genuine fight, fed by their mutual anxiety. It wasn’t how she’d expected to spend the evening.
“I’m not going to be a coward,” Robb said. “The EDF is depending on me. And nobody else is qualified—not now.”
“Nobody is qualified, period. Look, I’m not averse to taking risks. Shizz, I’m a Roamer, Brindle. I’ve always lived on the calculated edge of risk. But this is just plain suicide. We have no reason to expect it’ll work.”
“Hey, I’m not ready to give up all hope. You know if this turns into an all-out shooting war between humans and hydrogues, we’re gonna get our asses kicked.” He tried to melt her with a grin. “Okay, I admit this isn’t the safest plan.”
“Why did it have to be you? I don’t want to lose you,” she said, then caught herself.
Her father had been a harsh taskmaster, showing little