Lord Ottoman can hear you plainly."
She cleared her throat and spoke up. "I do not know the exact proportions."
"Well, ma'am," Ottoman said cheerfully. "Why don't you just give me the basics, and we'll wing it from there."
"It has a broth of …"
And as she recited the ingredients, Davage realized that he had never heard Sygillis's voice before. No longer an aloof, ugly whisper or a mocking, threatening shout, her voice rang out, clear and true.
And Davage thought it was a beautiful voice … it was Hath's voice. He closed his eyes and listened.
9
THE SEEKER
Davage sat in his office, signing reports, looking over ship stores and crew complements. Outside, through his window, stars soared past. He could feel the thrusters tick as the helmsman on the nearby bridge moved the wheel.
* * * * *
The Seeker , Captain Davage's ship, was fifteen years old. Built to Straylight -class configuration, it was a League Main Fleet Starship. It was twenty two decks in all. Fleet vessels were never more than twentyfour decks in height. It went back to the Elders. Their number was twenty-five and the Fleet, not daring to consider itself equal in any way with the Elders, always made sure their ships were decked out a little less than twenty-five. It was a very different philosophy, say, from the Stellar Marines, who made it a point to have twenty-five of everything: twenty-five soldiers to a squadron, twenty-five shots to their SK pistols, twenty-five buttons on their coats, and so on. The first seventeen decks of the ship were twelve feet high, and the last five decks were eight and a half feet, with four and a half feet of inter-deck crawl tubes between each. The Seeker was about three hundred and fifty feet tall at its highest point and fifteen hundred feet long. It was designed by the legendary civilian Lord Milos of Probert—the House of Probert being known for generations for their engineering skills. Lord Probert's father, Wadlow, had designed the earlier Webber class of ships and his sister Rhondo had created the Tekel class of scout vessel, all workhorses of the League.
Outwardly it was a beautiful, swanlike, predatory-looking ship. It was sectionalized into three main components: the head of the ship, the long neck, and the large, winged rear section. The spade-shaped head of the ship contained most of the command sections and crew quarters. The front section was dominated on the outside by a large, circular sensor that threw out a long shaft of glowing light, giving the ship a rather "one-eyed" look. Farther back, the long neck of the ship consisted mostly of structural components. Finally, the rear section of the ship was the largest and the deepest. It was designed in a winged shape, with the wings being cranked or bent in two places to resemble the articulation of a bird's wing. It was topped with a tall tower containing various bays and the main mess.
As a Main Fleet starship, it was built to engage and defeat the Xaphans. It was fully armored with duraplate, which had a high level of resistance against Xaphan cassagrain weaponry. Its hull and superstructure were so rigid and stiff that the Straylights were often known for ramming enemy vessels—the infamous "Slap" that was so feared and dreaded. It mounted a complement of five hundred canister missiles in fourteen different bays. Although nothing more than a guided missile, the Elder technology it contained made the canister the League's "ace" weapon, making them virtually unbeatable. Each League captain swore an oath to never lose a canister to the enemy; its Elder tech was a closely guarded secret. A captain will sacrifice his whole command, crew, ship, and all to protect the canisters.
The Straylight also mounted twenty Battleshot batteries. Battleshot was a massive gun emplacement that fired short-range explosive shot. A single Battleshot battery could unleash half a million rounds of explosive ordinance every minute—a withering wall of fire that could sink
She cleared her throat and spoke up. "I do not know the exact proportions."
"Well, ma'am," Ottoman said cheerfully. "Why don't you just give me the basics, and we'll wing it from there."
"It has a broth of …"
And as she recited the ingredients, Davage realized that he had never heard Sygillis's voice before. No longer an aloof, ugly whisper or a mocking, threatening shout, her voice rang out, clear and true.
And Davage thought it was a beautiful voice … it was Hath's voice. He closed his eyes and listened.
9
THE SEEKER
Davage sat in his office, signing reports, looking over ship stores and crew complements. Outside, through his window, stars soared past. He could feel the thrusters tick as the helmsman on the nearby bridge moved the wheel.
* * * * *
The Seeker , Captain Davage's ship, was fifteen years old. Built to Straylight -class configuration, it was a League Main Fleet Starship. It was twenty two decks in all. Fleet vessels were never more than twentyfour decks in height. It went back to the Elders. Their number was twenty-five and the Fleet, not daring to consider itself equal in any way with the Elders, always made sure their ships were decked out a little less than twenty-five. It was a very different philosophy, say, from the Stellar Marines, who made it a point to have twenty-five of everything: twenty-five soldiers to a squadron, twenty-five shots to their SK pistols, twenty-five buttons on their coats, and so on. The first seventeen decks of the ship were twelve feet high, and the last five decks were eight and a half feet, with four and a half feet of inter-deck crawl tubes between each. The Seeker was about three hundred and fifty feet tall at its highest point and fifteen hundred feet long. It was designed by the legendary civilian Lord Milos of Probert—the House of Probert being known for generations for their engineering skills. Lord Probert's father, Wadlow, had designed the earlier Webber class of ships and his sister Rhondo had created the Tekel class of scout vessel, all workhorses of the League.
Outwardly it was a beautiful, swanlike, predatory-looking ship. It was sectionalized into three main components: the head of the ship, the long neck, and the large, winged rear section. The spade-shaped head of the ship contained most of the command sections and crew quarters. The front section was dominated on the outside by a large, circular sensor that threw out a long shaft of glowing light, giving the ship a rather "one-eyed" look. Farther back, the long neck of the ship consisted mostly of structural components. Finally, the rear section of the ship was the largest and the deepest. It was designed in a winged shape, with the wings being cranked or bent in two places to resemble the articulation of a bird's wing. It was topped with a tall tower containing various bays and the main mess.
As a Main Fleet starship, it was built to engage and defeat the Xaphans. It was fully armored with duraplate, which had a high level of resistance against Xaphan cassagrain weaponry. Its hull and superstructure were so rigid and stiff that the Straylights were often known for ramming enemy vessels—the infamous "Slap" that was so feared and dreaded. It mounted a complement of five hundred canister missiles in fourteen different bays. Although nothing more than a guided missile, the Elder technology it contained made the canister the League's "ace" weapon, making them virtually unbeatable. Each League captain swore an oath to never lose a canister to the enemy; its Elder tech was a closely guarded secret. A captain will sacrifice his whole command, crew, ship, and all to protect the canisters.
The Straylight also mounted twenty Battleshot batteries. Battleshot was a massive gun emplacement that fired short-range explosive shot. A single Battleshot battery could unleash half a million rounds of explosive ordinance every minute—a withering wall of fire that could sink
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