Captive Embers (The Wardens' Game Book 1)

by Brian Mansur

  “Negative.”

  Claire said, “Movement on the Capable. She’s extending radiators. She’s flashing her running lights.”

  “They’re surrendering,” Sean said, unable to blame the survivors for doing so. Even if they could make a run for it, the ship’s weaponry had probably been knocked out. In all likelihood, the Godavari could finish off the destroyer with a single missile.

  The staff in the CIC took a collective breath. Paulson next spoke. “Analysis of the new weapon, Claire. What are we up against?”

  The A.I. responded with emotionless professionalism. “Its performance conforms to a nuclear lance, similar to the short-ranged versions we saw earlier. This one fell in the low megaton range and most likely used magnetic constrictors to funnel its discharge into a point zero zero zero one radian beam. Only a fraction of its energy shaft struck the Capable. Had it punched head-on, there probably wouldn’t have been any survivors or much left of the ship to salvage. The lifeboats would have also likely taken damage.”

  “So, the Capable took a glancing blow,” Sean said, glad to be working through a problem rather than dealing with the mounting dread he felt. “Was that deliberate or did the Capable’s last shot knock their targeting off?”

  “Unknown,” Claire admitted. “The Capable’s laser did light up the missile, so any unshielded optics would have been overwhelmed. But the weapon might have finished aiming based on last bearing. If they had a rear-facing scope, they could also have used targeting data from the Godavari.”

  Sean said, “Bottom line, we don’t have a way to counter that thing. Not at distance.”

  Paulson directed fiery eyes at the lieutenant. “Yes, we do. For the next eight hours, we have him.” She turned to Rafe. The intelligence officer stared off.

  Everyone else in the CIC looked to the captain. Paulson pulled herself into her command chair and tapped a control on its armrest. “Attention all hands. If you’ve been following the Capable’s battle, you’ll know that we’ve confirmed the strength of the enemy’s new weapon.”

  She paused for a quick breath. Then, with iron in her voice, she said, “So, by the Capable’s sacrifice, that’s one less ship-killer for the rest of us to worry about. In a few hours, the Tsunami will link up with the fleet, including landing carrier Sorvino. Using the immunity afforded by Commander Hastings, we will force the enemy’s battle group to scatter from Lakshmi. Afterward, the 7th Marine Brigade will invade the colony.”

  Paulson paused to look around at her staff. “Intelligence from Lakshmi says the populace doesn’t want any part of what Lilith is doing. When the people see she can be defied, they will join the fight.” A few heads nodded around the CIC. Sean’s was among them. “The coming battle can be won! Remember Zeus! Remember Ganesha! And remember the murdered lives that we will punish Lilith for!”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  “Sound the countdown for vacuum. Pre-breathing begins in one hour. We’re taking some justice to Lilith’s so-called Empire.”

  Sean looked about the CIC. Despite all the loss that they’d just witnessed, a few faces bore brave smiles. He felt his own spirits lifted. They had a plan and a goal. As the alert sounded, people bustled to tend to their pre-battle stations checks.

  Paulson said, “Commander Hastings, Lieutenant Merrick. My day room.” The men hurried to follow the captain into her tiny office. Once inside, she said without preamble, “That anyone at all survived aboard the Capable is ultimately thanks to you two.” The woman turned pointedly at Rafe. “Commander, I’m deeply sorry about Karen. I’m glad we could at least make Anna safe.”

  In a cracked voice, the devastated father said, “Thank you for my daughter. Thank you for trying.”

  Sean felt his spirits crashing again. He couldn’t imagine the living death of losing a wife. He shuddered to imagine losing a child also.

  As the captain took a breath, Claire broke in. “Ma’am, tugs are launching from Lakshmi on vector for the lifeboats.”

  “Very well.” Paulson placed a hand on Rafe’s shoulder. “There is still hope until we know for sure.” Rafe didn’t meet the captain’s eye but forced a half-hearted nod.

  Sean wished Sarah was there. She would have something comforting to say or do for the commander. He decided he’d make a point of suggesting she check on the man later.

  Paulson said, “Take Conference Room One and talk to your daughter. I don’t want you back in the CIC until the drills are done.” Rafe nodded at the kindness then floated off like a tormented ghost.

  When Rafe had moved out of sight, Paulson muttered, “It’s been an awful day, L.T. Say something to cheer me up.”

  In a somber tone, Sean said, “We saved some people, ma’am and we have a shot at getting the marines into Lakshmi.”

  Paulson whipped her head slightly to work out a kink. After a thoughtful pause, she said, “I swear to you it will be a lot harder to keep track of our blessings than that before the day’s over.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  A beat passed between them.

  “Assuming Lilith doesn’t flee the colony,” Paulson said, “I need a good liaison helping the main effort to capture her.”

  “I’ll take that on,” Sean said in an even tone. He held his captain’s eyes for a long moment then added, “No matter how many nuclear lances Lilith has, she’ll use one on the Tsu once there’s an opportunity.”

  “Yes,” Paulson admitted.

  Sean exhaled some of his tension. “You know, even with the Wardens broadcasting Lilith’s position, the marines will be slogging through a lot of hellfire to get to her. I’m sure they could use every extra hand they could get.”

  The captain pinched the bridge of her nose. Sean saw that she had made another difficult decision.

  “Before you move over to the Sorvino, help the XO and COB to finish building a skeleton crew roster. Put anyone who’s non-essential or otherwise new to the ship into the support waves.”

  Sean nodded. He knew Paulson wouldn’t say it, but she shared his strong expectation that the Tsu would go down in the coming battle. There was no sense in losing more people than necessary in the process. But she, the captain, would stay with her ship. As would the rest of the senior staff. Good men and women with whom he’d served for almost a year.

  Sean stuck out his hand. “Godspeed, Captain.”

  She clasped his palm and squeezed. “Likewise, Lieutenant. Give Lilith hell.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  He saluted Paulson, then departed, doubting he’d ever see her again. On his way out, he made a mental note to arrange for Sarah to join the brigade’s support battalion. He comforted himself in knowing they would have one of the safer flights in.

  24

  Location: Zeus Lifeboat 19_

  As Karen Hastings crawled back to consciousness, she came to believe, for the second time in as many days, that she was about to die. Within her aching skull, she felt eardrums pop. The sensation pierced the wormy parts of her brain to hit the panic button deep within. Her body remembered the breached corridor on Zeus and sent out an urgent impulse to gulp down air.

  Once Karen had drawn a precious lungful, she used it to shriek more loudly than her small vocal cords had any right to. While exhaling herself into light-headedness, she located the doorknob beneath the stall’s pale emergency lamp, braced her feet against the toilet, turned the knob, and pushed. The door wouldn’t open. She pushed again, then shoved and pulled but still, it wouldn’t move more than a millimeter.

  Between breaths, she heard distant screams and harsh commands for people to get out. The noise shot panic through her body.

  Everyone else is leaving the ship!

  She imagined herself suffocating alone in that closet of a room. It spurred her to squeal again and pound the door with redoubled terror.

  After several seconds of futile effort, she realized something peculiar. A weak sense of “down” had returned to the lifeboat. She couldn’t say why, but this heightened her f
ear.

  With no other options, she called out tearfully, “Help me! I don’t want to die! Please, let me out! I don’t want to die!”

  Whatever preoccupied the other passengers, it kept them from noticing Karen’s plight. Desperate to be free and to find out what had happened to her sister, she rammed the door with her shoulder. This time, something on the other side gave a little. She let out a small cry of relief. It took a minute to work the partition partway open. She compressed herself like a pink ironing board and clawed through.

  The girl emerged into chaos. Wedged on the floor against the door, she found one of the men who’d abducted her. She stared a moment with wary disgust at his unconscious form then scanned the cabin. It seemed empty.

  What’s happened? Where’s Anna? She fervently hoped the child had escaped on the Capable’s shuttle.

  To her astonishment, she saw that one of the rear exits lay open. Through it, two uniformed men with rifles appeared and spotted Karen. “Hey!” one of them said. “How the hell did we miss her?”

  Karen inhaled sharply as the man flagged her with his rifle.

  “Didn’t you hear?” the angry soldier said. “Get out right now!”

  Wide-eyed, Karen finally realized why she'd been unnerved by the return of gravity. While she’d been asleep, the lifeboat had reached Lakshmi. Her breath raced as she raised her hands and stumbled forward as told.

  “Please, don’t hurt me!” she cried.

  The second man lay a hand atop the first one’s weapon, pushed it away and said, “She’s just a girl, Ojas.” To Karen, he said in a gentle tone, “Move down the ramp and get on the bus outside, sushri. Someone will help you with that gash in your head when you get to processing.”

  Soaked in adrenaline, Karen had almost forgotten about the pain above her right ear. She touched the hair atop it and felt something sticky. Examining her fingers, she found congealed blood clinging to the tips. She gasped.

  “What happened to me?” she asked.

  “Your ship was damaged,” the soldier replied. “There wasn’t enough air to stay awake. You know you’re lucky to be alive. Not everyone made it.”

  The comment prompted Karen to look back at the crumpled contractor on the floor. She dared to hope he might be dead.

  Where’s the other one?

  The soldier saw Karen’s confusion and held a hand to the exit. “Go on now, sushri.”

  Karen hesitated. She didn’t want to leave someone who seemed sympathetic, especially when his companion had already proven willing to point a gun at her. What would the other Lakshmians do once they found out who she was?

  “Please,” she said, a tear spilling from one eye, “don’t make me go alone.”

  The soldier pursed his lips. “It’s all right, sushri. There are plenty of others waiting down there.”

  Karen belatedly remembered that the odd word he kept using was a Belian term of affection for young ladies. She appreciated how it sounded sincere coming from him.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  Karen considered making one up. Her parents had given her a Belian middle name she’d always hated.

  “Meena,” she said.

  “Meena, I’m Kareem. I suppose it won’t make any difference if you wait here with me.” He turned to his fellow. “Double-check the back.”

  “Watch her, Sergeant,” Ojas replied as he walked into the cabin.

  “Don’t be an idiot,” Kareem said. “She’s not going to turn into a waif assassin and slaughter the platoon.”

  “She’s a Mykonian, Sergeant,” Ojas said as he bent to check on the slumped contractor.

  “She looks Belian enough,” Kareem replied.

  Ojas snorted. “She’s a half-breed.”

  “She’s just a girl. I thought you had sisters.”

  “And they were vicious as tweenies,” Ojas said, straightening. “This guy’s dead.”

  A sob of equal parts horror and relief escaped Karen’s throat. Kareem turned to her.

  “Someone you knew?” he asked.

  “No,” Karen said, too quickly. Kareem studied her shivering form for a second.

  “Not a pleasant person, huh?”

  Startled at Kareem’s perceptiveness, Karen turned her glistening cocoa eyes up to his. Brow furrowed, she shook her head and said, “It was horrible when the shuttle tried to get people off. Everyone went crazy.”

  Kareem put a hand to her shoulder. “For what little time you’re with me, I’ll protect you. I promise.”

  Karen desperately wanted to believe him. She examined his face and guessed he was in his mid-twenties. He had a plain, but pleasant expression, like the one her favorite English teacher always wore. His light, milk-chocolate skin resembled her mother’s.

  Karen sensed this might be her only chance to secure an ally to evade Lilith. But then she imagined how that conversation would go: “Hi, I’m the daughter of the man who stopped Lakshmi from taking over all of Belia. Would you mind helping me escape?”

  She realized that even asking about Anna would be dangerous. Though she saw Kareem had a good heart, too many adults, including her parents, had failed to help her in the last few days.

  Their short walk down the boarding tunnel only reinforced her wariness. Kareem put her ahead of him at arm’s length. She was still a prisoner. When they emerged into an enormous receiving bay, Karen felt overwhelmed by its cavernous size. Then she noticed the soldiers herding refugees into black buses.

  “Where are they taking us?” she asked.

  Kareem smiled at the girl. “Don’t worry. You’ll be well treated.”

  “Can’t I stay with you?”

  Kareem’s face slackened with regret. “I’m sorry, sushri. You’ll be safer where you’re headed.”

  Karen very much doubted that.

  A soldier came bounding out of the bus shouting, “Lilith’s hit another colony, Sergeant!”

  “What?” Kareem said. “Which?”

  “Durga! But it’s not like the others!” The man pantomimed an enormous explosion from across the room. “The colony’s gone! News says it’s in pieces!”

  Karen felt her stomach drop. A few of the soldiers guarding the bus cursed. The loudest of them said, “My brother and his family lived in Durga. She killed them!”

  Kareem didn’t have an immediate answer for the man. Karen saw that he looked almost as shaken as she felt.

  Ojas said, “There’ll be more riots.”

  “That’s Lilith’s problem,” the upset soldier spat. “She started this war.”

  “That'll be enough!” Kareem barked. His transformation from protective figure to angry warrior caused Karen to take a step back. He didn’t appear to notice. “You saw the brief,” he continued. “We stop the landing, and we end this war. There’ll be too many colonies on Lakshmi’s side by then to beat us.”

  “You mean on Lilith’s side,” the dissenter retorted. “Why should we die for her? What has she ever done for us?”

  The grieving man directed a disdainful obscenity at Ojas then said, “I signed up to keep my family safe, and now they’re getting killed because people at the top of our food chain want more colonies. Screw that!”

  A number of soldiers voiced their agreement. Kareem shouted them down. “Doesn’t matter now,” he said. “You think the Mykonians are just going to slink away after what we did to Zeus? We’ve no choice but to fight them off until they know they’re beaten.”

  The dissenter said, “Sergeant, we didn't do anything to Zeus or to that little girl standing there. All this is Lilith’s and the Wardens’ fault. Why are we choosing to be a part of it?”

  Kareem said, “You want me to arrest you? You’ll be lucky if they bother with a trial before you’re shot.”

  The disgruntled soldiers stared warily at the sergeant and one another for several moments before they backed down. At that, Kareem took Karen by the arm and directed her to the bus. She caught her breath, knowing what would await her at the end of that
ride.

  She stopped at the bus door, and asked tremulously, “What did we do wrong?”

  “You didn't do anything, sushri,” Kareem said with a tired air.

  “I’m a Mykonian, and you’re being nice to me. So why are you going to fight us?”

  “You saw Lilith’s broadcasts, right? Your people have done some bad things. Our leaders decided to finally make them pay for it.”

  “Have we blown up any colonies?”

  The question struck Kareem dumb. For what felt to Karen like a minute, he peered sadly into Karen’s light brown eyes.

  “Please be safe, sushri,” he said at last. “This will all end soon.” Then he led her into the bus.

  Half a dozen other soldiers with rifles stood guard over the seated refugees. While Karen searched the forlorn faces in vain for Anna, Kareem went to the young soldier in the driver’s chair.

  “Has the screener been through already?” Kareem asked.

  The driver replied, “Yeah, he left a few minutes ago. Want me to call him?”

  Kareem glanced at Karen and said, “No, you need to get going. She can wait till the in-processing. What do they say about the road to post?”

  The youth replied, “The main routes are clogged thanks to the riots. It may take a few hours to get there.” He jerked a thumb to the rear. “Some of those people won’t make it without a bathroom break.”

  “Can’t be helped. Don’t stop for anything. You have to get back in time for the landing.” He looked at Karen and said, “Meena, I’m sorry, but it may be a while before you get properly settled.”

  Karen thought that if it meant one hour more before Lilith learned about her presence, it would be worth the wait.

  She had taken a few steps toward the back when she heard a familiar voice. “That’s her! The girl in the pink sweatsuit is the one I was telling you about! That’s Rafe Hastings’ daughter!”

  Karen froze like a doe caught by a hunter. Midway into the bus, she saw the other contractor.

  A scream lodged in her throat. She wanted to run, to deny his words or to pretend she hadn’t heard him. A few of the other passengers tried to shut the man up. Then Karen felt a hand grapple her arm. Her eyes snapped up to see Kareem gazing stonily upon her.