Spinward War by J.N. Chaney & Terry Maggert & D. Glenn Seguin

Author:J.N. Chaney & Terry Maggert & D. Glenn Seguin [Chaney, J.N. & Maggert, Terry & Seguin, D. Glenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2024-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Lawson glanced her way, then nodded. Sohat and the other Unseen stepped away and launched into an animated discussion amongst themselves, their voices rising and falling with emotion and anger. Lawson likewise moved away with Grandin, Jerrin following. Serena came with him, while Ragsdale and the others stayed far enough away to make it clear that they weren’t part of the conversation—but also close enough that they could listen in.

Eavesdropping wasn’t a human trait. It was universal.

“Messenger, I have a problem with us committing to helping these Vanadus,” Grandin said, turning to face away from the Unseen. “I talked to FCOM on the Rampage, and the picture they paint isn’t a pretty one. There are at least seventy Ravennox ships out there, including at least a half dozen of the capital variety.”

A new voice spoke up. It was Sentinel, speaking over the comm. “It would also appear that the Ravennox force includes two, and perhaps three of the mech-like constructs we observed while assisting the Cyclone.”

“If we get stuck into battle with that sort of force, Messenger, we’d be asking for damaged ships, casualties—and quite possibly worse,” Grandin said. “This is a kind of risk we can’t allow, with numbers that simply don’t favor us at any step of the way. I am trained in war. I am decidedly not trained in Phyrric victories. . . or losses.”

Lawson lifted one shoulder. “I. . . I know. Agreed.”

Grandin cocked her head at him, pinning him with her intelligent gaze. “But you want to do it anyway.”

“It’s not that I want to do it, Commodore. It’s—” He fumbled around a moment before finding something to seize on to make his point. “Sentinel just mentioned the Cyclone. Like I said then, I didn’t want to go back to help her. But it was the right thing to do. And this is the same, the right thing to do. I understand the nature of risk, I really do, but⁠—”

“Why? The Vanadus have made it clear that they have no interest in helping us,” Jerrin interrupted. “They just want us gone. We owe them nothing.”

Lawson turned to face him, and Jerrin’s words faltered. He wasn’t sure what sort of look he had on his face, but Lawson knew exactly what he was feeling—disbelief, edging toward outrage. “Are you serious? You’re flying around in a ship built by the Unseen, armed with weapons invented by the Unseen, surrounded by mechs designed by the Unseen—and you say we owe them nothing?”

Jerrin sputtered. “I—what I meant was—we⁠—”

“The Unseen have always been at our side, through all the trials of our people,” Agata put in. “They are a constant. A guidestar. I know this to be true, because their technology bought our future, paid for by our work, and risk, and loss.”

“Helping them could give us a lot of leverage afterward, toward getting their help in turn,” Serena said. “Our problem right now is that we have nothing to bargain with. But this⁠—”

“All due respect, that’s assuming that we, and they, come out the other end alive,” Grandin replied.

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