The False Admiral

by Sean Danker

“You’re not. You talk like a Ganraen. Like a Ganraen from the capital,” Deilani cut in, then fell silent, looking thoughtful. Yes, there was no Ganraen capital anymore, was there?

  But I didn’t like seeing her thoughtful. She’d drawn a couple wild conclusions, and I was worried about where her overly motivated mind was frolicking off to now.

  “Nils!” I called, cutting her off. I was still flat on my back.

  “Yes—er, sir?”

  “Don’t call him that,” Deilani snarled.

  These kids. “Guys, maybe this has escaped your attention, but we don’t even know what planet we’re on. We have a few days’ worth of food, air, and water, and that’s it. With no systems, we also have no beacon. You do get that, right?”

  “Someone will notice that we came down,” Nils said. “And that we didn’t show at Payne Station. If we really are in trouble, we just have to wait.”

  “False.” I held up a finger, enjoying the cool deck beneath me. It was calming. “Well, it’s false if this planet is actually somewhere out of the way. And I’m thinking about what we saw outside. It didn’t look familiar to me.”

  “Doesn’t mean this body isn’t in a developed system.”

  “No. But I’m telling you there’s nothing like this on the route we were supposed to be taking.”

  “You think we’re off course?”

  “Impersonating a—” Deilani interrupted, but I cut her off again.

  “I can prove I didn’t burn those men, and I can prove that I belong in that sleeper.”

  “Tell us your name.”

  “I could tell you anything. It wouldn’t have any meaning.”

  “So get out your holo. Show us some ID.”

  “About that,” I said. Deilani made a disgusted noise and turned away.

  Salmagard was looking down at me over her shoulder. That absolute neutrality. How proper of her. “Help me up, Private.” I reached up to her. She pulled me to my feet, and I leaned heavily on her. I was still hurting.

  I looked at Deilani. “If you want to arrest me, just hold on to that thought until we figure this out. And if that’s going to happen, I’m going to need everybody. That includes me. Actually, the only one I haven’t thought of a use for is a doctor.”

  I wasn’t sure Deilani’s face could get any redder, but it did. She lunged at me, and Salmagard pivoted to put herself between us. Awfully brave of her, I thought; Deilani was twenty centimeters taller than she was. Deilani drew up short, staring at me over Salmagard’s head.

  That look alone painted her as the one likeliest to be a murderer among us. But I didn’t think she’d done it.

  “He’s got a point,” Nils pointed out. “That’s the whole crew in there, right?”

  “How can it be? This ship is huge!” Deilani whirled on him.

  “It is,” I said. “Trust me.”

  “How can we?”

  “You guys should never have been on this ship, but that’s not on me.” It was true, and it felt good to say it. It was all I had.

  “What do you want to do?” Nils asked, looking past Deilani to me. The lieutenant’s mouth became a tight line.

  “Did you get a look at the bodies in there?” I asked.

  Salmagard and Nils both looked away. I’d heard the Service academies were tough; they’d probably only seen things like that on screens before.

  “I did,” Salmagard said.

  “Then you saw his arm.”

  “Yes.”

  “What are you talking about?” Deilani demanded.

  I faced the lieutenant. “He burned himself. I think he burned the other man—damn it, let’s say the one that was fully burned was Tremma. I think the pilot officer burned Tremma, then himself.” I held up my left hand. “Using the tech suit’s incinerator. It’s just a guess from the way they were lying in there. Look for yourself.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “I have a feeling that’s a question we’re going to want to try to answer,” I said. “Call it a hunch.”

  Deilani’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t bite. “No. We’re locking you down.”

  I held up my sidearm, which I’d been holding out of sight since the first blow fell. I wiggled it at them. “If I was your enemy, it’s not like I couldn’t have done something about it by now. I know you’re not going to like this, Lieutenant, but I’m not your enemy. I need you three, and you need me.” Well, I needed Nils and Salmagard. Deilani I could live without.

  “You said you could prove it,” Nils cut in. “Prove you didn’t do it.”

  “I can. You can.”

  “What?”

  “Pull the log off my sleeper. You can tell if it’s been opened, and you can tell if the DNA sync is right. It’s not part of the ship. It still has power.”

  Nils blinked. “That’s a good idea.”

  “I’m just a passenger, guys. I’m on a long trip. My sleeper’s been getting moved around a little bit.” I made an inclusive gesture toward them. “Us traveling together? It’s just some kind of mix-up. I’ve been aboard this ship once before, but that was a long time ago. I didn’t expect to wake up here. I don’t know what’s going on. So can we move past this and get down to business?”

  “I can check your log,” Nils said.

  “Thank you.”

  “What if you rigged it?” Deilani asked.

  “If that was in my skill set, I wouldn’t be here,” I said honestly. Her look of loathing didn’t change, but she believed me. That hatred wasn’t all directed at me; some of it was for Salmagard, whom I was still clinging to. She was small, but she didn’t have any difficulty supporting me.

  It took longer for us to get back to the sleeper bay than it did for Nils to confirm my claims. I belonged in that admiral’s sleeper. There was nothing Deilani could say to that.

  “There’s no name,” Nils reported, looking up from his readout. “How can there be no name?”

  “You just can’t see it. You don’t have credentials,” I lied. “Of course it’s going to protect my personal information. And it’s not relevant. What matters is figuring out what killed Tremma and his PO. But I have no idea how to do that.” I caught Deilani eyeing my sidearm. “Worried about this?” I pushed it into Salmagard’s hands. “I don’t need it.” Instead of red, now Deilani was turning white again. She had remarkable circulation.

  “What now, sir?” Nils asked, looking dazed.

  I was still in pain, but I didn’t know how long I could keep milking it. “Only one choice,” I said, straightening up and letting Salmagard go. “The shuttle. It has its own systems; there’s a chance they’re still all right. If they are, we can find out where we are. Once we know that, we can make a play. There should be enough juice left to get us out of orbit. We’ll just have to hope there’s some power left after we open the bay doors. Right?” I looked at Nils, who nodded. “Questions?” Without waiting for any, I started to walk, hoping Deilani wouldn’t make any more jokes about my gait. It wasn’t as if it was my idea to walk this way, but I couldn’t shake these habits overnight.

  “There are two dead officers, sir. We’ll need a report.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Lieutenant Deilani. “And I’ll give one. I’m ranking officer, honorary or not, whether you buy it or not, so this is my watch. Don’t worry about what you’re going to say when we get out of here. That comes later. What did you think you would gain by putting your unit down a man under these circumstances?”

  “I don’t know, maybe a Rothschild Mark for apprehending a Ganraen spy,” Deilani said, annoyed.

  “You don’t get the Mark for that kind of kid stuff,” I said, and it was true. The Rothschild Mark was the highest imperial honor, and only about a dozen had been awarded over the last century or so.

  “Kid stuff?” Nils raised an eyebrow.

  I
shrugged. “Spies aren’t anything to get excited about.”

  “You know, another Rothschild Mark just got awarded, too,” Nils said, perhaps hoping to ease the tension. “Didn’t say to who or for what, though.”

  “They usually don’t,” Deilani said darkly. “You know though, don’t you?” This she directed at Salmagard, who did not reply. Deilani was right. An aristocrat might have inside intel about something like that.

  The Rothschild Mark wasn’t exactly my favorite subject; I hoped they wouldn’t linger on it.

  “Don’t get excited about awards from the Service,” I told them.

  “Why not?” Nils asked.

  “Because when they give you that stuff,” I told him, “you aren’t the one they’re patting on the back.”

  It was time to find the shuttle, and that meant locating the flight bay. I’d seen and dealt with some large vessels in my time, but I’d rarely had to navigate them without lifts or guide paths. I’d gotten too used to being part of an entourage. Navigating solo wasn’t coming back to me easily.

  Thankfully Nils had no difficulty getting us there, but we were both taken aback to find that the shuttle launch floor shared space with the main hold; there were only fixtures for a force screen to separate the shuttle from the cargo. You could have fit a full wing of the Ganraen royal residence in this chamber.

  Stacks of white service-standard deep space transport containers dominated the space, laid out in an impeccable grid, six high, nearly reaching the thirty-meter ceiling. Each crate bore an imperial crest in black on its side. Not very subtle, but for this run the freighter hadn’t been going anywhere it was likely to be boarded and searched. Clear Evagardian markings meant there was only a handful of cons Tremma could have been planning with this cargo.

  I caught a glimpse of my face in the glossy white plastic of the nearest crate, and looked away, swallowing.

  “What is all of this?” Deilani asked. “And why isn’t it on an imperial transport?”

  “It is.”

  “Why isn’t it on a normal one?” she pressed.

  I said nothing.

  “The fighting’s over,” Nils said. “Maybe they’re dispersing some of the surplus ordnance.”

  “These are not weapons containers,” Salmagard observed softly, and I glanced back at her. She looked thoughtful. Her eyes flicked to me, but only for a moment.

  So she didn’t know everything. I wanted to educate her, but this wasn’t the time. We made our way through the stacks of crates to the shuttle in front of the launch doors. It was an Evagardian craft, dragonfly-class. Neither cutting edge nor out-of-date, it was a fast shuttle mostly intended for ferrying officers and ambassadors from ship to station in style.

  Obviously the freighter needed a shuttle, but this was an unusual choice. Tremma’s ship would be expected to have something a little less flashy, and a little more utilitarian. The trainees probably wouldn’t notice. No—Nils had. He was looking at the shuttle with obvious confusion.

  “Why a dragonfly, though?” he asked. “It doesn’t make sense, not in this ship.”

  “Come on,” I said, startling him. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Nothing makes sense on this ship,” Nils said, his eyes still on the shuttle. Damn it all, now he was thinking too; Deilani was enough to deal with. I jogged up the ramp and into the cabin, going straight to the cockpit.

  “You’re a pilot?” Deilani asked.

  “No,” I replied cheerily. “But how hard can it be?” She scowled at me. “Nils, take the chair.” He sat down beside me.

  “You’re joking, right, sir?” It was starting to catch up with him. I hoped he’d keep his cool.

  “Relax. I can fly it.”

  He looked relieved. I spotted Salmagard with her hand on the ramp control. “That might be premature,” I told her.

  Deilani leaned against the cockpit doorway, arms folded, looking expectant. I ignored her and began to power up the shuttle. The computer came online. I knew at once that something was wrong.

  “What is it?” Nils asked, sensing my sudden tension.

  “The system’s stuttering,” I replied, distracted. “Get a starscape while I check it out. I want to know where we are . . .” My subconscious shouted something at me, and I listened. I stopped in the act of reaching for my straps. “Run,” I said.

  “What?”

  I grabbed Nils and dragged him out of the cockpit, pushing Deilani and Salmagard ahead of us. Fresh out of training, they knew how to go from stationary to full speed, even if they didn’t understand why. We stumbled down the ramp, and I kept them in front of me, pushing on. I tried to put as many stacks of crates between us and the shuttle as I could.

  The shuttle went up only seconds after we cleared the ramp. We were all deafened by the blast, which vaporized the nearest stacks, and broke many more free of their gravity restraints. I shoved Deilani out of the path of a falling crate, and kicked Nils’ legs from beneath him to get his head down. Salmagard had the good sense to duck on her own. Containers were toppling all over, and the smell of burning plastic washed over the bay.

  Coughing, I rolled over, visions of shattering carbon shield flashing through my mind. Screams, and the wailing of twisting, malforming metal. I felt a wave of nausea. That would’ve been a good time to lie back and go to sleep, but Salmagard was reaching down to help me to my feet. Grimacing, I took her hand and let her pull me up.

  Deilani was on her hands and knees, groaning. It looked as if some debris had struck her, but it hadn’t compromised her suit. Nils was sprawled out; the fall to the floor had done him more harm than the explosion had, but it beat the alternative. Everyone was whole, but the bay wasn’t.

  Cracked and broken crates were everywhere. Pieces were still clattering to the deck, and I could see bits of the shuttle lodged in the bulkheads. It was hot, and the smell of melted polymer was strong in the air.

  I leaned against the nearest stack, which felt warm through my suit, and slid down to sit. I could feel sharp pain in my back; I’d taken some shrapnel too. My EV chirped medical pings at me, like I needed it to tell me that I was bleeding.

  My sleeper being tampered with was one thing. My sleeper and the ship. My sleeper, the ship, and the shuttle. And the ship’s computer systems. I couldn’t forget those.

  Subtle.

  “What just happened?” Nils choked out, getting to his feet. “The cells spiked. The levels just popped for no reason.”

  I wished he hadn’t seen that. The power cells in the shuttle had been fixed to overload on start-up, probably helped along with . . . I wasn’t going to think about it. There wasn’t any money in it. I shook my head like that might help my ears stop ringing.

  Salmagard appeared in front of me, which I took to mean Deilani was back on her feet and acting threatening. I figured I’d better say something before she did.

  “I don’t know about you guys,” I said loudly enough that they’d all hear me over the buzzing in their ears. “But this is starting to feel a little like sabotage.”

  “And what the hell do you know about that?” Deilani’s hands were opening and closing; those fingers wanted to be around my throat so badly that I truly sympathized. I pictured her shaking me by the neck the way she so obviously wanted to.

  “Just save it,” I said, drained.

  “I won’t take this from a chemical dependent,” she spat. The emotion in her voice was telling. I was starting to get a feel for Deilani.

  I looked at Salmagard, but once again she was making a point of ignoring me. She’d maintain her neutrality until Deilani physically assaulted me. I didn’t blame her.

  I watched her work her wrist experimentally.

  “You know what’s going on,” Deilani pressed.

  “Actually,” I said, feeling detached. “I’m kind of baffled.” It was true. At first I’d ha
d some ideas, but now? This had gotten out of hand.

  There must have been something about what I said, or how I said it, because Deilani backed down. Even she couldn’t believe that I’d sabotage my own sleeper, the ship, and the only way off the ship. I hadn’t done any of it. I really hadn’t.

  And the shuttle had been the only way. The escape craft wouldn’t do us any good unless we could somehow get into orbit, and with no reactor and no ship’s computer, that wasn’t going to happen.

  Crates and debris were still falling apart, and the sounds echoed through the vast bay.

  Nils had staggered into the aisle to gaze back at the wreckage. Deilani put her hands against the crate opposite me and appeared to be getting herself under control.

  Ten minutes ago I’d been impressed that these three weren’t panicking. It wasn’t that they were brave or well trained, though it was possible that they were both. They hadn’t panicked because they were fresh out of training, and had no concept of exactly how large the galaxy was, and the true implications of being lost in it. Imperial training had no doubt confronted them with danger, but there had always been a safety net.

  Now I was out of luck. I knew how bad it was.

  Salmagard looked at me, troubled. She knew how serious this was even before things started blowing up. It wasn’t surprise on her face. She was troubled because this was the confirmation of her suspicions. Maybe she’d been hoping to be wrong.

  As for the shuttle, that had been the oldest trick in the book. Rig the power cells to overload. No real explosives, so it looks like an accident.

  Much harder to do with newer shuttles.

  “You’re bleeding,” Salmagard said.

  “Medical’s as good a place to go as any,” I sighed. “Because we aren’t going anywhere else.”

  3

  TREMMA’S infirmary was outfitted to imperial specifications, with which Lieutenant Deilani was extremely familiar. Before she could learn to be a leader, she’d been forced to learn to be both scientist and doctor. Bio was a prestigious and demanding field, and the imperial academies were notoriously ruthless. It was the broad nature of her expertise and her lengthy training that allowed her to graduate as a second lieutenant, one rung up the ladder from most of the other freshly commissioned officers.