The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight

“I’d want to bring three brigades,” Drakon said. “That will require requisitioning some of the civilian merchant ships here. And a decent-sized flotilla of warships to deal with any light mobile forces that might show up there to give us trouble. If there are no mobile forces waiting at Taroa, what we have with us will help overawe the opposition.”

“If you want to overawe, the battleship is the way to go, but it’s not even close to ready.”

“I wouldn’t want to come in with the battleship,” Drakon said. “It’s too big, too threatening. Showing up like that would make it look like a conquest before we said a word. I want to have time to explain that we’re there to assist our, uh, friends, the Free Taroans.”

Iceni nodded again. “In exchange for control of those docks and what is being built there. All right. Three brigades. All of your soldiers, leaving me with the local troops.”

“The locals could handle anything that came up,” Drakon said, choosing his words carefully. “But what I intended was to bring two of my brigades and one of the local brigades. That would leave one brigade of absolutely reliable soldiers here.”

“Absolutely reliable?” Iceni asked, smiling thinly. “Just in case someone tried something while you were out of this star system?”

He hadn’t wanted to put it that bluntly. “If you want to think of that brigade as my insurance against you, then fine. You decided to leave that heavy cruiser here to watch me while you were gone. But that’s far from the only reason to leave that brigade here. You know as well as I do that the locals aren’t one hundred percent to be counted on.”

“But you want to take a brigade of them on this mission?”

Was she subtly taunting him? Or probing for his justifications? Drakon made an open-handed gesture. “My own soldiers can stiffen the locals if necessary, and the locals should be able to handle anything we find at Taroa.”

“So we’ll both feel safer if you leave one of your brigades here?”

“That’s right.”

“How thoughtful of you, General.” Iceni rested her chin on one fist as she regarded him. “Which brigade? Which colonel?”

“Colonel Rogero’s brigade.”

“Colonel Rogero? Again? Is Colonel Rogero particularly fond of me?”

Drakon laughed briefly. “I don’t know his personal feelings about you. I do know he can be trusted here.” Gaiene, for all his skills and loyalty, if left alone for an extended period was likely to be shot by an enraged husband or furious father, and Gaiene might well be drunk when the bullet hit if he wasn’t worried about Drakon showing up to check on him. Kai wouldn’t run out of control, in fact seemed to have no vices at all or any other interests outside of his job, but was too rigid, not flexible enough to react quickly if something unexpected occurred and Drakon wasn’t around to give new instructions. “Colonel Rogero also got to lead the force that went to Kane with you. Colonels Gaiene and Kai deserve a chance at action, too.”

“And which local brigade?”

“The One Thousand Fifteenth. Colonel Senski’s command.”

“Colonel Senski. Hmmm.” She didn’t seem convinced, but Iceni finally nodded a final time. “You will also be taking your two aides?”

“Colonels Malin and Morgan? Yes.”

“Then I agree to your proposal. How long will it take before you are ready to go?”

“Normally,” Drakon began, “it takes a while to set up a movement of this size, but—”

“But you started preparing well before I got back, anticipating that I would agree to the mission,” Iceni finished. She said it not as if guessing, but as if she had known that coming into the meeting.

Either Iceni was trying to rattle him by pretending to know good intelligence, or she really had some very good inside information on Drakon’s troops. The best reaction at the moment was probably no particular reaction. He smiled at her as if her foreknowledge was not an issue at all. “That’s correct.”

Iceni smiled back. “I’ll consult with Kommodor Marphissa on the size of the flotilla to accompany you. We will have to resupply those warships, and that will take a while. I’d estimate at least a week for them to get back here and prepare to go out again. I won’t mislead you as to my intentions. I will want to hold back enough warships to protect this star system and my battleship while it’s being fitted out, but I’m sure whatever we send with you will include at least one heavy cruiser.”

Drakon gave her an inquiring look. “Your battleship?”

“Did I say that? Our battleship, of course.”

“And I understand it has a name now.” Why not flaunt his own information gathering?

“The Midway. Yes.”

He had expected her to take the obvious course and name it after herself, which would have been a clear sign of ambition and ego. The fact that she had chosen something else reassured Drakon considerably. “Are you going to name the other warships, too?”