The long view, p.1
The Long View, page 1
part #2 of The Long View Series
Berkley Books by F. M. Busby
the rissa kerguelen saga
young rissa
rissa and tregare
the long view
THE THIRD BOOK IN THE 3-PART SAGA OF RISSA KERGUELEN
F.M. BUSBY
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
Young Rissa, Rissa and Tregare, and The Long View were originally
published in two volumes as Rissa Kerguelen and The Long View.
They were also published in one volume as Rissa Kerguelen.
THE LONG VIEW
A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Medallion edition / June 1977 Berkley edition / July 1984
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1976 by F.M. Busby. Cover illustration by Barclay Shaw.
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group,200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
ISBN: 0-425-07118-9
A BERKLEY BOOK® TM 757,375
The name "BERKLEY" and the stylized "B" with design are trademarks belonging to Berkley Publishing Corporation.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Again, for Michele
PRELUDE
since early in the 21st century, the United Energy and Transport conglomerate has owned North America; gradually it has increased its sway over more of Earth. When Rissa Kerguelen is five, she and her older brother Ivan Marchant are railroaded into one of UET's Total Welfare Centers, which are little more than slave barracks. Eleven years later, due to backlash of a Welfare supervisor's illegal use of clients' credits to buy tickets in the state-controlled lottery, Rissa is unexpectedly freed, buying her way out of Welfare with part of the lottery proceeds. She undertakes survival training at the Establishment of Erika Hulzein in Argentina; then, disguised, she leaves Earth. UET gained star travel by murdering the Shrakken, interstellar aliens who had come to Earth, and copying their ship. So now UET has star colonies.
But not all human colonies are UET's; some ships have Escaped, and founded settlements on what are called the Hidden Worlds. On the minor UET world Far Corner, Rissa takes passage on such a ship-Inconnu, the only armed ship ever to Escape, captained by Bran Tregare, pirate and raider. Rissa's
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early acquaintance with this harsh man brings the two of them to mutual respect and a wary liking.
On the planet Number One, a Hidden World loosely governed on an oligarchal basis, Rissa finds one of the oligarchs to be Liesel Huizein, estranged sister of Erika, who with her husband Hawkman Moray and their daughter Sparline control Huizein Lodge. Rissa is surprised to learn that Tregare is Sparline's brother, but will have nothing to do with his family because they left him, when forced to depart from Earth, in "the Slaughterhouse," UET's brutal Space Academy. Rissa helps to heal that breach, and when she finds herself coerced by local custom into a duel with the spaceport's Provost, Stagon dal Nardo, Tregare is at hand, disguised in mask and hood. With she and dal Nardo fighting nude and weaponless by her own choice, Rissa suffers injuries from the man who is twice her weight, but kills him-and then is told that for political reasons she should marry the hooded man. Dazed, she agrees; later she accepts the marriage, and finds Tregare's goals worthy of her wholehearted support.
For the "pirate's" aim is nothing less than to "pull UET out by the roots like a rotten tooth." He is gathering ships- by purchase, by agreement, or by outright force-to build a fleet, then arm it. His first target is Stronghold, a UET outpost set up to guard the sector from which the Shrakken had come. And then to gather more ships and challenge UET on Earth itself.
It isn't all that easy; captains of Escaped Ships are apt to have a high degree of competitive pride. Jimar Peralta, a former friend of Tregare's, held seniority in the UET days; now, though it was Tregare who helped Peralta take the ship he captains, the man wants a share of overall command; his mutiny fails, but one ship and many lives are lost.
Six ships are Tregare's minimum, to move on Stronghold. He gets that many, but another threat looms: a Shrakken vessel comes to Number One. Tregare captures it, and the alien ship Sharanj is given no choice but to serve as decoy at the approach to Stronghold. Because Tregare's fleet is going in "camouflaged," pretending to be the group of UET ships scheduled to arrive shortly thereafter. That schedule, obtained by Tregare's old friend "Kickem" Bernardez, is the crux of the plan.
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And Tregare needs all the odds he can get. The night before the ships lift from Number One, Rissa is hard put to quiet his last-minute misgivings. But she knows the plan is as good as can be done; there is no choice but to go through with it.
morning at Base Two-liftoff. To avoid sideblast at the ships around him, Tregare took Inconnu up gently. Vanois in Carcharodon, Limmer in Lefthand Thread, Gowdy commanding No Return-each followed his lead. Next came the Shrakken Sharanj, and behind it-together and now with no need for caution-M'tana and Krueger brought Valkyrie and GrafSpee up at full blast.
Watching the back screen as Tregare looked ahead, Rissa said, "The group forms, with the Shrakken at center as you designated." She turned to him. "Tregare-you have put together a very potent implement."
"Let's just hope it stays together and does what we need to do."
How long is a year-in space, while planets' clocks turn faster? Their best estimates of objective time, Rissa knew, were little better than guesswork. Only when the ships reached Stronghold could they anchor again to groundside chronology.
2
She worked, studied-became Inconnu's Third Hat in fact as well as name, taking no advantage of her relationship with Tregare. One woman thought otherwise and resented Rissa enough to challenge her; Rissa held her anger and achieved victory without serious damage to her opponent.
Each ship's day she found a few minutes to talk with her brother and friends by viewscreen-choosing times when the intership circuits were not busy.
Turnover came and passed, and now time seemed to crawl-would this voyage never end?
And then Stronghold came in view.
"You there, groundside-cover me!" Hilaire Gowdy's voice carried urgency. "I have to land fast-alien attacker trying to cut me off. Only the one ship-the rest are ours, got drawn outside at first, but now they're closing-the alien must be crazy, to hang on like that. Don't shoot-we hope to force it down here. I-" As she zigzagged away from the Shrakken's harmless fire, Gowdy continued to call Stronghold. From the fortress came premature reaction, missiles that then destructed as their launchers heard her words. She said, "I'm coming down fast. Don't do anything. The other ships-coming up behind the alien-they'll take care of it."
A voice from Stronghold said, "But who are you!"
And Hiiaire Gowdy; "You know who we are-we're maybe ahead of sked. Check your list, but later-our lives can't wait for your goddamned red tape!"
Stronghold said, "Put your computer on line to validate our checklist. Then we can-"
"It's not working-those bastards burned part of it out. Wait 'til we sit down, will you? And-oh, shit!" Gowdy dodged her ship, shuddering, out of the spectacular but harmless Shrakken beam that had found No Return, and dropped toward the planet. No Stronghold ship had launched.
On Inconnu, Rissa punched for Stronghold frequencies. "This is Fleet H-12 from Earth. As usual, there have been some changes since your advance notice. Now-emergency! We will contain the alien, force it down. Do not act against it-we want that ship alive! The Presiding Committee has so ordered."
From Stronghold, "There have been other incidents?"
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"The Presiding Committee has so ordered. End of transmission."
She cut the circuit and turned to Tregare. He said, "You have them, I think-now let's play it out."
Fishtailing, No Return made a crippled-duck landing. Now Inconnu and the rest acted out their charade. They surrounded Sharanj, herded it with their projector beams, and forced it down, then landed encircling it.
Tregare punched the all-ships' channel. "Now we move fast!"
almost, the plan worked. The attackers met less resistance than expected. Of the sixteen UET ships, none took off-and in the fighting only three were damaged.
Ivan Marchant led the assault on the communications center. When he came out, he had not bothered to wipe the biood from his knife. Rissa met him, and he said, "The ones I hate are those that quit without fighting-I have to let them live."
Rissa touched his cheek. "Consider, Ivan-many are not predators, but victims."
He nodded, but did not look totally convinced.
So far, so good-but Stepan Kobolak, it seemed, was a stubborn man. Twelve hours after the landing, he still held control of Stronghold's power systems. "I'll see you all in hell first," he said.
On the viewscreen Rissa and Tregare watched his taut, pale face. "That may well be," she said. "But might we not meet first, and speak together?"
"I don't trust you."
"And I do not blame you-all your life you have lived with mistrust. But may one of us come to you, under safeguards of your own choosing?"
Finally the man agreed. Tregare cut the circuit and said, "You're not going there without protection, Rissa-don't ever think that!"
"Would you prefer that he explodes his power plant, and with it this entire port? The way he talks, that is the alternative."
"Someone else could go. He won't see me, of course, but-"
4
"Bran-I c ould say many things. But all I say is that since-as you have pointed out-you are not eligible, I do not choose to wager all our lives on anyone other than myself." She reached to him; he held her. "Can you agree to that?"
When he released her, he said, "Sometimes you don't give me much choice."
guards made certain she entered Kobolak's lair unarmed. Two more flanked the haggard man's desk. Watching his face, Rissa saw his jaw clench. She halted her approach and said, "I have no wish to harm you, Kobolak-nor to be harmed. But the truth is that no matter what you may do, Stronghold is no longer UET's. It is Bran Tregare's, or no one's."
Eyes wide, mouth now loose, the man looked at her. Finally he said, "Here-under my desk-my finger can blow us all up. What can you do against that?"
"Nothing, of course. I hope you will see no reason to do such a thing. May I speak?"
"Talk all you want-for as long as I leave us alive."
"But-why would you die? How does UET hold your very life captive?"
The man shuddered. She said, "Kobolak-UET does not own you. I-"
He reached under the desk. "Get out of here, or-"
His fear almost became hers also, but she shook free of it. "I have not finished! You must tell me why you take this insane position. Do you fear Tregare? He does not torture, and kills only in battle. He-"
"UET tortures."
"But you are no longer within UET's reach."
"My family-on the next ships from Earth, the ones we thought you were. When the Committee police on those ships learn what's happened?"
"But they will not-how can they?-until they too are taken. You do not understand Tregare's plan. He-" Then, afraid she might have revealed too much, she said only, "None have escaped to warn UET-and none will."
His hands clasped together, clenching and twisting. "You- he-can save my wife, my children?"
"Who can guarantee safety, if there is fighting? But //there is, no Committee police will live long enough to torture any."
5
He hesitated. Then, "I suppose that has to be good enough." He turned to his guards. "Put your guns on the desk." Rissa stepped forward and took the weapons.
"Tell the men outside," said Kobolak, "that we have surrendered to Tregare the pirate-on promise that our lives are safe." As the man moved to obey, Kobolak said to Rissa, "You did promise that, didn't you?"
"It was implied; I now make it explicit. But Tregare is not a pirate-he is the new commander of Stronghold."
The outside guards entered and put their weapons down. One said, "That's a relief-I didn't fancy going up as a cloud of ions." He looked to Rissa. "Our safety's guaranteed?"
"Yes. You'll be confined, until Tregare has time to determine who can be allowed freedom. Questioning under drugs is a slow process."
For the first time, Kobolak laughed. The sound was shaky, but in his face Rissa saw relief. He said, "You won't need drugs. The last ship here before you-it brought truth field equipment. Nobody's had time to set it up yet, but if the technician who came along with it is still alive-"
"We have our own technician," said Rissa. Then, "If you will call Tregare for me? I should report." She did so. Soon two from Inconnu arrived-one took station at Kobolak's desk; the other escorted the prisoners to temporary detention.
Then she returned to Tregare. Heedless of others present, he hugged her until her ribs creaked, lifted her off her feet in embrace, and kissed her until both were short of breath.
"You did it! And-a truth field, you say?" She nodded, and he said, "Good thing they didn't get it working-there'd have been a purge here like you wouldn't want to see."
"Or-if the news spread-perhaps civil war."
"Either way," he said, "we're lucky. Now, then-where's Felcie?"
"With Limmer's task group-identifying and classifying personnel. If you like, Bran, I can relieve her of that duty."
"Okay-sure, until I find someone else to do it. Hey-I'll bet you haven't heard! You know why there was so much less fighting than we figured on?" She shook her head. "Well, the commandant was asleep-the alarm woke him and he thought he had a mutiny on his hands. So-automatic response-he gassed the troop barracks!"
"He killed his own men?"
6
"No-just knocked them out for a while. But to be on the safe side, he hit the buttons for civilian quarters, too. Come to think of it, he saved a lot of lives-on both sides. But not on purpose."
"And this commandant-did he surrender?"
"Not so you'd notice. We took him alive but he's pretty badly wounded. I hope he pulls through-we need him."
At her look of inquiry, he grinned. "To appear onscreen- doped or hypnotized or whatever-when the UET ships get here. Otherwise they'd be suspicious. Hell of a job making someone up to impersonate him, let alone imitate his voice. There aren't many like Arger Korbeith-and thank peace for that!"
"Oh?"
"On my first ship, I served under him."
rissa took Felcie's place with Limmer's identification group. When she saw the roster, the size of Stronghold's garrison surprised her; she wondered how Tregare had dared attack against such odds.
"Derek-we were outnumbered more than ten to one!"
"Closer to twenty," said Limmer. "But Tregare knows UET. You think their ships are run like ours, with practically everyone armed? Not a chance! Ships and groundside alike, only officers and Committee Police troops carry weapons. And Korbeith gassed out all his off-duty troops, at that!" He chuckled, and Rissa marveled that she had ever thought that scarred face ugly.
When Felcie had the truth field ready, a woman relieved Rissa to join Tregare in interviewing the captives. "About time we got started on this," he said. "Six hundred people, a little more, can keep the lid on nearly ten thousand-get them fed and all, using prisoner help. But I'd hate to have to do it much longer."
Rissa had helped prepare a list of questions for interrogation under drugs. The truth field simplified the task; Tregare scratched out more than half the list. "With the field we won't need to crosscheck so much."
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even in a wheelchair, Arger Korbeith loomed-a giant, with the exaggerated features of acromegaly. Under grayish blond hair his face had a yellowish muddy tinge. His voice grated as he said, "Tregare, eh? Been looking forward to getting my hands on your neck. Never thought it'd be like this, we'd meet. Should've spaced you the first week out, on the old Mac Arthur, Sixteen-year-old snotnose-even then I knew you were no damned good!"
Tregare grinned. "The sentiment was mutual, commandant-and still is. Now-do we get on with it?"
"You don't need that thing on me-or any Twenty Questions game, either. Quick and short-I hate your guts, I'll kill you if I can, you'll get no help from me in your damned treachery. I-"
"That's enough. You're a lot of things, Korbeith, but you don't bother to lie." he nodded. "Take him out-bring in the next. Put him in max security, and solitary for now-until we find another scorpion just as bad, so they can sting each other."
