To Honor You Call Us by Harvey G. Phillips & H. Paul Honsinger

Author:Harvey G. Phillips & H. Paul Honsinger [Phillips, Harvey G. & Honsinger, H. Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Science Fiction, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 1480283088
Amazon: B00A1VFFVM
Goodreads: 16299848
Publisher: H. Paul Honsinger
Published: 2012-11-04T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

05:44Z Hours 28 January 2315

“This plan of yours strikes me as being excessively complex and prone to failure at several discrete junctures,” Doctor Sahin said to Max, his voice pitched so as to be inaudible beyond the Command Island in CIC.

Garcia nodded his agreement. “Sir, I have to agree.” He was just as quiet as the doctor. “There is a lot to be said for just charging in, blowing that little freighter to flaming atoms, and getting out before anyone even knows we’ve been there.”

“Gentlemen,” Max said amiably, “I’m just as fond of getting in and getting out as the next man, but there are other factors you’re failing to consider. While the cartographic data we received from the Vaaach says that this is a Krag ship with a Krag cargo, she’s broadcasting a Ghifthee transponder ID. That means that there is a strong possibility that she has a legitimate Ghifthee registry and is, therefore, officially classified under Interstellar Law as a Neutral Vessel. And, gentlemen, I can’t just go gallivanting around the galaxy blowing Neutral Vessels to hell and gone because,” he counted off the points on his fingers, “one, they’ll Court Martial my happy ass and throw me in the brig until I’m about a hundred and twenty-seven years old. Two, I will be held liable in damages by an Admiralty Court for the value of the ship and its cargo, which is more money than any of us will ever see in our lifetimes. And, three, the Union Foreign Ministry is doing everything in its power to get the Ghiftee—not to mention the Romanovans, the Rashidians, Pfelung, the Texians, and just about every other human and non-human neutral power in this end of the swamp—to come into the war with us against the Krag. Now don’t you think that it is just possible that a Union warship launching an unprovoked attack on an innocent neutral freighter merrily navigating through unclaimed space, not to mention the deaths of its innocent, neutral crew, just might undermine those efforts? Does the name Lusitania mean anything to you?”

Both men silently conceded the point. “But,” the doctor pressed on, “if the Ghifthee are neutral, how can we interfere with their ship at all, much less do what you’re planning.”

“It’s the law. By their repeated unprovoked attacks against neutral shipping, the Krag forfeited their right under customary interstellar law to have themselves and their goods carried in neutral shipping. There is occasionally some fairness in law, you know. It’s a natural consequence of their actions: since they did not respect neutral rights they do not get to avail themselves of neutral rights. So, the Krag, both their rat-faced selves and their cargo, are legally Contraband, and can be seized wherever they are found. But, we have to have evidence that the contraband is on the ship, and to do that, we have to board her.”

“Then why not just board her without all the elaborate, and apparently gratuitous, playacting and deception that your plan entails?” the doctor asked.

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