chapter five

"That's the last of them captain."
"Well done men. Enge, contact the ship; We're leaving."

Daniel had no idea what it was that had gotten the Ga-Vok into such a frenzied state, but he had no intention to stick around and find out.
"back to the trucks everyone, I want to be back in camp before the first shuttle lands."

He rode in the back this time, with some of his greenest crewmen. They would need the morale boost after the fight; for several this was the first time they'd ever killed. Besides, if there was an ambush it was easier to escape from the back.

"captain!"
He turned, Enge was looking startled.
"Dalve says he's not going to risk the blockade"
"what blockade, Grell would never directly challenge me like that."
"no sir, there's a fleet of Ga-Vok transports and several smaller patrol craft in orbit. Dalve doesn't think he could get past them without the ship being tracked to camp."
"What?"
"there's.."
"I heard the first time, Enge."
"where do you think they got the ships?"
"If I knew I'd already own stock in the manufacturer."
"then what do you think it is?"

Daniel paused. He knew that there had been talk within the Daniellandish government about building ships that could protect the trade routes from piracy; but he'd have known if there were any plans to actually implement the system. To start with, they would have offered him a commission; his contacts would guarantee that much.
"I think those Ga-Vok in Ankara may have something to do with this. I've heard that one of the clans recently began consolidating power over the others. Perhaps they're trying to draw the Empire into the conflict."
"but where did they get the ships?"
"most likely the same place we did, stolen and modified."
They hadn't, Daniel knew even before he said it. The fact of the matter was that Ga-Vok didn't have the dexterity to operate most Nieldic machinery; and what they could operate they did clumsily. It wasn't that they weren't smart enough to do it; it was that they didn't like to sit down while they did. The claws didn't help either.
"what should we do captain?"
"We're going back to camp; then we'll wait till they go away." There wasn't much else they could do; it was mostly just a matter of waiting until the military came out and scared them off.

For the first time in his life, he hoped the military came quickly.