The next day the Duke showed Cole an unused building and offered to let him use it as his headquarters, a place that would be the nerve center of the operation, through which all orders and messages would pass. Cole thanked him politely, but turned it down.

"But why?" insisted the Duke. "Surely you realize the importance of keeping in touch with all your ships and all your spies and spotters."

"Of course," said Cole. "But I also realize the importance of being a moving target rather than a stationary one. Christine and Briggs can handle the operation from the Teddy R."

"Then why have you got your engineer walking every inch of Singapore Station and its docks, making copious notes on our defenses or lack of them?"

"This is where all the ships will be coming for fuel and for supplies whenever it’s possible. We can’t keep it secret forever, so this is the place we have to spend most of our efforts protecting."

"I just wonder how much this is going to cost me," muttered the Duke.

"If it’s too much, tell Mr. Odom you won’t pay it and that he shouldn’t install it."

"Have I mentioned what I think of your sense of humor?" asked the Duke.

"Not since yesterday."

"Well, it hasn’t changed."

Suddenly Christine’s image popped into existence. "Exuse me, sir, but we’ve got an urgent message coming in from Captain Velasquez."

"He’s one of the ones who joined us after the Slocomb III operation, right?" said Cole.

"That’s right, sir."

"Okay, put him through."

Velasquez’s image appeared. He was a middle-aged man, carrying several scars on his face and body from his experiences on the Inner Frontier.

"This is Marco Velasquez, Captain of the Purple Streak" he said.

"What can I do for you?" asked Cole.

"We’ve just spotted a lone Navy ship traveling from Mariano II toward the Stromboli system. Our sensors indicate that it has Level 4 thumpers and laser cannons."

"Can your ship stand up to that kind of firepower?" Cole asked him.

"Definitely not," answered Velasquez promptly. "But we have two other ships in the vicinity, and I think we can triangulate and take him out before he knows we’re here."

"Did he do any damage in the Mariano system?" asked Cole.

"None that our instruments could find, sir."

"Stay out of his firing range, track him, and keep an eye on him, but take no action except on my direct order," said Cole.

"Yes, sir," said Velasquez.

"And report to me if he fires on anyone or forcibly takes anything that isn’t his."

"Yes, sir."

Cole broke the communication.

"What was that about?" asked the Duke. "We’ve got three ships out there, and it’s very likely this Navy ship is on some solo mission. Why not destroy him right now?"

"He doesn’t seem to be on the warpath. We’ll keep an eye on him.

If he starts taking food or other supplies at gunpoint, we’ll move in on him, otherwise no. I want our first few actions to be against Navy ships that are in the actual act of harming, robbing, or intimidating citizens of the Inner Frontier."

"So you’re just going to let this one go?" said the Duke.

"Don’t worry," replied Cole. "We’re not going to run out of targets."

"I just hope this doesn’t bring us a million new ones."

"It won’t," said Cole. "If they sent the fleet here, the whole Republic would be speaking Teroni by next month."

"How long before some of your pirate crews revert to form?"

"If we can give them some action and let them share some spoils, they’ll stick around. If not, we’ll go out and get more."

"You don’t seem very concerned," noted the Duke.

"I’ve made my decision, and I’m comfortable with it," said Cole. "The crew of the Teddy R has been a lot of things we weren’t trained to be—mutineers, pirates, even mercenaries. We’re a military unit, and we still believe in all that crap military people are supposed to believe in. We joined up to help the helpless, to protect the weak, and to stand up to the bad guys. Somewhere along the way we made the same discovery about the Republic that Jacovic made about the Teroni Federation: The bad guys are us. We went to war against Csonti and Machtel and the others for money. Now we’re going to war for the right reason, the same reason each of us enlisted in the first place. There’s something very wrong going on, and we’re going to put it right."

"I’m sure that brings you spiritual comfort," said the Duke, "but there are still a lot of them and very few of you."

"We’ve been aware of that from the day we left the Republic," replied Cole. "Maybe if we’d paid it a little less attention, Four Eyes would still be alive. Maybe two million inhabitants of Braccio II would be too."

"And maybe you wouldn’t be."

Cole shrugged. "Maybe," he admitted. "Choices aren’t always easy, and you don’t always know right away if you’ve made the right one."

"Everything’s a crapshoot," offered the Duke. "One Molarian whore comes into season last week and Forrice stays here, he and the other crewman live, the Endless Night lives, Braccio II lives, the next ship you’re going to blow apart lives. All because she’s not in season. Think about it."

"I try not to," answered Cole. "Think about it enough and you start to convince yourself that it’s not the Republic’s fault, that Four Eyes is really dead because of a fluke of timing right here on the station, that the villain isn’t the Endless Night but Fate." Cole’s face hardened. "But it wasn’t Fate that tortured him to death, and it wasn’t Fate that incinerated two million innocent people."

Suddenly the image of Marco Velasquez appeared again.

"What’s up?" asked Cole.

"The Navy ship we’ve been tracking has gone into the Stromboli system and taken up orbit around the fourth planet. None of their weapons have been activated, none of their defenses are in operation, and they haven’t communicated with the populace."

"They’re just showing off their muscles and reminding everyone they’re there," said Cole. "All right, Captain. Keep a watch on them and stay out of range of their weapons."

"What if they head back to the Republic?" asked Velasquez.

"They get safe passage," said Cole. "This time."

"Yes, sir."

The transmission ended, and Cole turned back to the Duke. "Thanks again for offering this building, but like I said, we’ll run all the communications through the ship."

"I’ll keep it empty anyway," said the Duke. "You can never tell when you might need it."

"That’s up to you," said Cole. "I think I’d better be getting back to the Teddy R."

"Whatever for?" replied the Duke. "What can you do there that you can’t do here?"

"Sharon might blush if I told you," said Cole with a smile.

"She never struck me as the blushing type," said the Duke.

"Now that you mention it…" said Cole.

"Go ahead," said Sharon’s disembodied voice. "Just keep talking about me as if I wasn’t here."

"You aren’t here," said Cole. "And isn’t your spying supposed to end at the ship’s hatch?"

"I’m not spying, I’m eavesdropping," she said.

"I assume you have some reason other that an incredibly misplaced jealousy?"

"You announced that we were at war, and then you failed to order an attack on the first enemy ship we spotted," said Sharon. "I was curious to know why."

"We’ll catch one in flagrante delicto soon enough," said Cole. "That is, after all, what they do on the Inner Frontier."

"Are you coming back for lunch?"

"Yeah, I’m through here."

"I’m sorry to steal him away from you, Duke," said Sharon.

"Then don’t," said the Duke. "Be my guests at the casino. I hired a new chef last night."

"Sure, why not?" said Sharon. "Ten minutes?"

"That’ll be fine."

Sharon broke the connection, and then Cole and the Platinum Duke made their way through the corridors and levels of the station to Duke’s Place, where they found Sharon already waiting for them.

They had gotten halfway through their meal when Cole received another transmission, this one from Vladimir Sokolov.

"What’s up?"

"We’ve got one in our sights, sir," said Sokolov. "The Bajia out of New Brazil."

"Where are you?"

"I’m just outside the Rogentus system, sir, and the Bajia’s on Rogentus III."

"What’s it doing there?"

"Appropriating farm produce that had been packaged for export."

"You’re sure?" said Cole.

"Yes, sir," said Sokolov. "This has been confirmed by Mr. Moyer’s ship, which is also in the area."

Cole looked across the table at Sharon and the Duke. "I told you it wouldn’t take long."

"I didn’t understand that, sir," said Sokolov.

"Sorry," said Cole. "I was speaking to someone else. Has the Navy ship got any visible defenses other than the standard screens?"

"No, sir."

"Okay. You and Moyer know its weakest points. Attack at will. Survivors are acceptable, provided they are apprehended and brought back to the station." He paused. "Escapees are unacceptable. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir. Anything reasonable gets captured, anything else gets killed."

"That’s right," said Cole. "No exceptions."

"Stay connected and I’ll give you a report in just a minute," said Sokolov.

"Will do."

There was a moment of silence, and then Sokolov spoke again.

"We nailed him right where he sat on the ground, sir."

"Any survivors?"

"I sure as hell doubt it. Let me check… No, neither Moyer’s sensors nor ours can spot any, sir."

"Stick around to make sure you’re not missing anyone. If you do find any survivors, take them prisoner and then return to base."

Sokolov frowned. "To base, sir?"

"I’d rather not name the exact location on a subspace transmission that can be intercepted," said Cole. "Would calling it headquarters make it any easier?"

"Yes, sir," said Sokolov with a guilty smile as he broke the connection.

"Well, it’s begun," said Cole to Sharon and the Platinum Duke as he broke the connection. "For better or worse, we are now at war with the Republic."

"So you’ve cost them one ship out of how many millions?" said the Duke. He uttered a sardonic chuckle. "How long do you suppose it’ll be before they even notice?"

"Sooner than you think," replied Cole seriously.