Страница 60 из 123
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"Okay, Poertena, what've you got?" Roger asked.
The council meeting had adjourned without reaching any decisions, so the humans were continuing with their plan to modify or build a ship and the Diasprans were in limbo. If the K'Vaernians decided that fighting the Boman wasn't worth what it would cost, the Diasprans' trip would have been in vain, but Roger had a gut feeling that that wasn't what would happen.
"I went down tee harbor wit' Tratan, Sir. Just nosin' aroun'," the Pinopan said, and pulled out his pad. "We gots problems."
"There's a materials shortage," Pahner said. "We got that much at the council meeting. How bad is it?"
"Say t'at t'ere ain't no materials, an' you closer, Cap'n," the sergeant replied. " 'Specially masts and spars. I see t'ree, four shipyards-t'ey shut down: no wood. Tee two I see working, t'ey workin' slow, just killin' time."
"Worse than I thought," O'Casey muttered. "The city didn't look all that depressed on the way in."
"Oh, tee parts we come t'rough, t'ey busy. It's tee docks t'at's idle. You go down tee docks, you gots lots o' people jus' hangin' around. Lots of tee porters, normally unload tee ships, t'ey just hangin' around. Lots of tee guys work in tee warehouses. And tee sailors. Hell, even tee taverns is shut down-no business."
"And the docks have got to be the linchpin of this economy," O'Casey said. "It's not like they produce much."
"I don't know about that," Julian said. "I was nosing around, too, and there's a large industrial sector beyond the first set of hills. The entire peninsula is short on ground water-that's why they've got all those catcher cisterns-but they've got some pretty good powered equipment ru
"Can we buy a ship and cross the ocean?" Pahner asked.
"No, Sir," the Pinopan answered promptly. "We can buy a ship, no problem. But we no can cross tee ocean in one of t'ese tubs. We might make it, an' we might not. You wa
"No," Pahner said with a grimace. "So what's the alternative?"
"We can buy a ship, strip it to tee keel, an' use tee timbers to build a new one," the Pinopan told him. "T'at sound like a good idea, but it make it nearly twice as long to build t'an if we starts fresh, an' we ain't got an infinite supply of supplements."
"Is it just the masts that are in short supply?" Julian asked.
"No. Oh, tee masts're tee worst part, but ever't'ing's short. You build ships out o' wood, you needs seasoned timber. You can use green, but t'ey ain't go
"And there won't be any from their internal resources, either," O'Casey said grimly. "It's a classic problem for any seapower based on wooden hulls. Once you cut down all of the usable timber in your immediate vicinity, you become dependent on an overseas supply for your shipyards. And the overseas suppliers K'Vaern's Cove has depended on just got hammered under by the Boman."
"T'at's right," Poertena agreed. "Oh, I t'ink we can maybe pry loose 'nough timber for one ship, but no more."
"Well, can't the platoon fit on just one?" Julian asked, wincing as he used the term for the surviving Marines. Mostly because "platoon" was exactly what Bravo Company had become.
"Yeah," the Pinopan answered with a sideways glance at the captain. "But is t'at all we taking?"
"Captain Pahner?" Roger glanced at the CO. "Is there something I should know?"
"I've been talking with Rastar," Pahner said quietly. "The Boman didn't just sack Therdan and Sheffan-they razed them to the ground, and the surviving League forces are generally uninterested in returning to rebuild. There's nothing there to rebuild, and I think there's also an aspect of not wanting to see their dead in it. If they don't see them, don't see the ruins with their own eyes, they can remain in denial deep down inside. And the civan unit has also bonded well to us and, to an extent, to your person as a leadership figure. In addition, Bogess has mentioned that some of his forces aren't interested in returning to Diaspra. Again, for some of them it's that they've developed an interest in learning and seeing new things, and for others it's a basic change of allegiance."
"You're thinking of taking some of the Northern and Diaspran forces with us?" The prince chuckled. "Her Majesty's Own Mardukan Sepoys?"
"I ca
Roger's chuckle died, and he nodded soberly.
"I hadn't intended to make light of your predicament, Sir. Or your losses. I was simply anticipating Mother's reaction."
"Indeed," Pahner said, and shook his head with a sudden grunting Mardukan-style chuckle of his own. "I can see our return now. Her Majesty will be most ... amused."
"Her Majesty," O'Casey said, "after she reads the reports, will be most ... amazed. There's never been a saga to equal this one, Captain. At the least, you've placed your name in the military history books."
"Only if I get him back to Her Majesty," Pahner pointed out. "Which requires crossing the ocean, making our way through whatever political zone we hit on the far side, and recapturing the spaceport with only thirty-six Marines and a half dozen suits of problematical powered armor. And that's why I would like to take a unit of civan cavalry and another of Diaspran pikemen, or riflemen or musketeers, whichever it turns out, with us."
"Which means how many ships?" Roger asked.
"Six," the Pinopan answered. "Six thirty, thirty-five-meter schooners. Lots of sail area, pretty good cargo volume, good sea legs, an' weatherly. Maybe topsail schooners. Square sails on tee main an' fore won' help much on tee trip over, but t'ey be good for tee trip back wit' tee prevailing winds behind you."
"You can build one of t'ose-those?" Pahner asked.
"Wit' a little help. T'ey gots most of tee techniques we need, they jus' use 'em all wrong. T'ese ships t'ey make are tubs-not all t'at bad for what t'ey does, but t'ey don' do much. Never sail out o' sight o' land, run for shore whenever a storm blow up, t'ings like t'at. T'at's why I don't t'ink nobody's go
"Do you have any idea at all what he's talking about?" Roger asked O'Casey plaintively, and the chief of staff laughed.
"No, but it certainly sounds like he does," she said.
"It not so dif'rent from some o' tee little yards back home," the Pinopan said, "on'y we use 'puter wire drawings, instead. You build you'self a model-tee scummies, t'ey do it out o' wood, 'cause t'ey gots no computers-an' t'en you takes tee lines direct from tee model to tee finished ship wit'out detailed plans. 'Course, tee scummies, t'ey don' know nothin' 'bout displacement an' stability calc'lations, an' t'eir mouldin' lofts suck, but I can handle t'at no sweat."
"All of which means?" Pahner pressed.
"I wa
"Four months?" Roger demanded, aghast.
"Can't do it no faster, Sir," the sergeant said apologetically. "T'at's as fast as we can go, an' t'at's after we gets tee materials. I can start on tee model as soon as I gets some funds. Talked to a pretty good shipbuilder today, an' I t'ink we can work wit' him. But we gotta get timbers, an' more important, we gotta get a dozen or so masts-an' spare masts an' spars, too, an' sails, now I t'ink about it-from somewheres."
"You were prophetic, Your Highness," Pahner said sourly. "This shipbuilder, Poertena-he didn't happen to have anything to do with a fellow named Wes Til, did he?"
"Don' know, Sir. Is t'at important?"
"Maybe, but not for the model, I think. Okay, you're authorized to draw funds as necessary. If it isn't terribly expensive, buy a small craft to unstep the mast for the model. And get that shipyard to work. I want the model completed in three weeks."
"I try, Sir," the Pinopan said mournfully, "but I don' t'ink it go
A quiet knock at the door interrupted the discussion, and PFC Kyrou poked his head into the room.
"Captain Pahner, Sir, we have two Mardukan gentlemen out here with what I think are di
Pahner raised one eyebrow and made a pointing gesture with the index finger and cocked thumb of his gun hand. The private shook his head in reply, indicating that neither seemed to be armed, and the captain nodded to let them in.
Both of the Mardukans wore enough jewelry to open a shop, but to Pahner's admittedly inexpert eye, it didn't appear to be of very high quality.