Star Winds

Veautrin explained that by means of speaking tubes, of which the control room had many, one could communicate with most parts of the ship. Then he pointed to what looked like a locked desk, which with the lid off, he said, disclosed a battle plan of the Bucentaur, useful for directing her armament—though she was not primarily a warship.

Zhorga nodded, taking everything in. He wondered if the day could come when he might command such an interstellar ship himself. Probably not, he conceded. He was too old to learn so many new tricks.

They turned to leave, but a murmur behind them caused them to halt. All eyes had turned to the glass screen, which now showed a veritable jungle of asteroids through which the captain was trying to find a safe gap, having reduced the slip’s speed still further. But that was not all. There were also ships, their images small but unmistakable, sliding through the rock fields.

A single word, harsh with hatred, came from the first officer.

“Kerek!”

Veautrin nudged Zhorga. His expression had changed to one of restrained ferocity. “Stay,” he grated. “As well you see what Maralia may soon be up against.”

The screen zoomed and refocused, bringing into closer view a drove of strange vessels. To Zhorga they appeared like nothing so much as ancient sea-galleys, crudely adapted for space. Their hulls were clinker-built, of overlapping planking, and to the gunwales were welded the sides of leathery coverings, or bags, which bulged by air pressure over what were presumably decks, and in which were cut square windows. The ships were driven by crescent-shaped lateen sails, vast in proportion to the loads they carried, supported by enormously long out-riggers, so that seen head-on the craft looked like some grotesque species of blue-winged butterfly.

Veautrin agreed bitterly when Zhorga remarked on their makeshift appearance. “They are exactly what they seem,” he said. “Galleys taken from the oceans of the Kerek world. It’s astonishing how well they are able to travel in interstellar space. But then the Kerek have a talent for improvisation—as well as an insatiable appetite for conquest! Yet they were completely unknown until fifty years ago, when the secret of ether silk was unwisely introduced there.”

“The Kerek are not human, then?”

“Indeed they are not!” Veautrin spoke with what, for him, was an uncharacteristic degree of passion. “They are monsters with a terrible ability—the ability to enslave the minds of men, to capture the human will, though just how this is done is still a mystery. Their hordes are constantly swelled by incorporating seemingly willing slave-soldiers in this way, from their conquered worlds.” His voice fell. “And that’s not all. They also have a practice of converting these worlds into likenesses of the Kerek world, creating new atmospheres, even climates, by planting fast-growing forests and lichen beds from their home planet. Kerek-forming, the process is called, and a pretty unpleasant business it’s supposed to be.”

A hollow laugh came from behind them. “Yes, Zhorga, even your native Earth may be Kerek-formed before long. Like the smell of sulphur compounds, do you?”

It was Baron Matello, who had already received a message by speaker tube. He strode over to stand by the captain, peering at the glass screen.

“They’re coming this way, I see.”

“I think they mean to attack, my lord.”

“When they get close enough, hit them with everything we’ve got. Just like the jackals to be lurking in these reefs.”

“I have already given the orders to prepare, my lord.”

Kerek craft were clearly not handled as carefully as those of Maralia. One, striking an asteroid, shattered to dust which exploded in all directions. But the rest came on, magnified by the viewfinder so that every detail of their construction became visible.

The battle board was unlocked. The Bucentaur prepared to engage the enemy. As the Kerek ships came near all her subsidiary craft quit her decks, approaching the attackers from their flanks, spreading out to give the giant starship’s guns and catapults a clear line of fire.

The captain ordered a full salvo. Seconds later the ship shook and thundered to the bark of the bombards and the loud, snapping twang of fire-darts being shot off. The effect of the bombards, which discharged a type of spreading shot, was not seen, but that of the fire-darts was dazzling even on the shifting field of view of the glass screen. For a moment space coruscated and seemed to catch fire.

Only one of the glimmering fire-darts found its mark. A Kerek galley began to burn, glowing as some sort of seething fluid spread all over it.

There was a second salvo, to which the lighters added their fire. Zhorga was surprised that the Kerek failed to answer with any armament of their own. He saw no sign that they even possessed any. Their one tactic, it seemed, was to board.