Beyond the Veil

by Hamish Spiers

  Alia rushed the door and slammed herself against it but it was too late. With a loud hiss, the escape pod was jettisoned and she and Selina were falling away from the ship. And Carla was gone.

  13. Communications Down

  Selina flicked on her communicator, her gaze darting to Alia keeled over in the corner of the pod. It was enough to break her own spirit just to see it but she had to hold it together, just a little longer.

  “Come on, Asten,” she muttered, biting out his name almost as if it were a curse. “Pick up.”

  The pod jerked as its one-use stabilizers came on line, slowing its descent and a moment later, she heard the loud snap as the parachute shot open and unfurled. However, these were nothing but distractions.

  She clutched to the communicator as if by sheer willpower alone, she could make Asten answer it. “Damn it, Asten, where are you?”

  When the escape pod jettisoned, Asten looked up as if imbued with new strength. The way off the ship had been staring him in the face the whole time. He focused his attention on the hollow slot beside him where the escape pod had shot out from and then on the gray metal in front of him.

  Pushing forward with all his strength, he activated his right wrist-blade and tore it open. There was a rush of escaping air but it didn’t faze him this time. With determined control, he waited until the pressure inside had dropped and then hauled himself inside. He was in an escape pod.

  Without a second’s hesitation, he hit the release.

  Nothing happened.

  Frowning, he studied it for a second then he saw what the problem was. Because he had torn open one side of the pod to get in, it had been automatically disabled as some kind of emergency safeguard. Which made sense since it’d be no good if someone jumped into an escape pod only to fall out the other side.

  Not that it mattered. On a ship this size, he knew there’d be many more pods to choose from. He stepped through the hatch onto the bottom deck of the ship.

  As he came out though, all thoughts of jumping into another pod disappeared. Carla was in the middle of the deck, and some woman he didn’t know was dragging her down a hatchway.

  He shouted her name, running for the hatch as fast as he could, but he was too late. The hatch slid shut and he heard a loud click as the ship below disengaged from the yacht.

  He wanted to tear at the hatch with his bare hands but he knew he couldn’t get Carla back now. Blinking away more tears and trying to clear the maelstrom of emotions now vying for his attention, he ran for the nearest working escape pod, climbed in and hit the switch.

  He was out of there a moment later, about thirty seconds before the yacht collapsed in on itself and fell like a burning meteor from the sky, crashing somewhere in the dark below.

  Exhausted, he leaned his back against the side of the pod and allowed himself to slide onto the floor. For a moment, he just sat there until he realized his comm was beeping. Wiping sweat from his brow, he picked it up and thumbed it on. “Yeah?”

  “Asten! Where the hell have you been?” Selina demanded.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he muttered, so tired that even speaking felt like an exhausting feat.

  “I was trying to raise you for ages!” Selina snapped. “That mercenary woman... Aleida... she’s got Carla!”

  “I know,” Asten sighed. “I saw her dragging her onto her ship. I tried to stop her.” He carefully removed his wrist blades then dragged a hand through his hair.

  “Asten, what are we going to do?”

  Asten sighed. “I don’t know.”

  Alia looked up as Selina put her hand over her face. Then she heard another familiar voice coming from Selina’s comm and she thumbed on her own to listen in.

  “Guys, it’s Ja’is. Do you read me?”

  “We read you,” Alia said. Her voice was shaky but she felt herself getting back under control.

  “Was that Aleida’s ship that just pulled away?”

  “You saw her?”

  “She snuck past us in orbit,” Ja’is explained. “So we followed her down. Do you want to see if we can take her engines out and force her down?”

  “No!” Alia shouted.

  The comm was silent for a moment.

  “Carla’s on that ship,” Alia explained. “We got Lord Ilian and when Aleida couldn’t get him back, she snatched Carla.”

  “I see,” Ja’is said. “Are you in those escape pods that just landed?”

  “Selina and I are in one. We’ve got Lord Ilian. And Asten’s in the other one. Have you got our positions?”

  “Yeah. We see you.”

  “Good. Now -”

  Just then, they heard Ms. Tellashi’s voice. “Hello, do you read -”

  “Ja’is, Selina, Asten!” Alia snapped. “Disconnect!” There was a cacophony of confused replies but something in her voice persuaded them to comply. A moment later, their comms clicked off and Alia thumbed off her own. Then she played around with her frequency and switched it back on.

  “You there, Ja’is?”

  “I read you...” he replied, and trailed off. “Wait a minute. How did you get this encryption? This is one of our squadron’s ones.”

  “Adaria gave it to me,” Alia told him. “Just in case we needed to talk without our new friends listening in.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this, Alia.”

  “Just shut up and listen. Send someone to pick up the Goddess and tell them to come and get us, will you?”

  “Sure,” Ja’is replied, doing his best to keep calm. “But are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

  “We’ve got to get Lord Ilian on my ship,” Alia said. But if Ms. Tellashi and her friends come and pick us up, then they’ll take him. And they’ll go back to Minstrah and we’ll never get Carla back!”

  Through the comm, she heard an audible sigh. Ja’is understood.

  “All right, Alia,” he said. “Stay put.”

  There was a burst of static.

  “What was that?”

  “I think Ms. Tellashi was trying to find this frequency,” Ja’is replied, “but I’ve jammed her transmissions. That oughta give us a few minutes. Although, we’re going to get in a lot of trouble over this, you know.”

  Alia sighed. “I know. Thanks, Ja’is.”

  “No problem. Hold tight.”

  Captain Teráji marched across the bridge to General Kellahav. “It’s no good, sir. All the long-range communications are down.”

  Kellahav considered the unwelcome news, pursing his lips as he decided what they would do next. “I suspect,” he said, “this might have something to do with this mysterious Minstrahn lord Mr. Areshnav told us about.”

  “You still think he tricked them into revealing the location of the Levarc for some kind of personal end?” Teráji asked him. “That still seems unlikely to me, sir.”

  Kellahav smiled. “You don’t agree, Captain?”

  “Well, it’s not my place to question you, sir, but wouldn’t it be more likely that this lord wanted to know where the Levarc were so the Minstrahn could prepare adequate defenses against them?”

  “I may be entirely wrong, Captain,” Kellahav replied, “but I don’t believe the evidence suggests it. Consider Mr. Areshnav’s testimony. This lord approached them in secret. He arranged to pay them an extremely large sum of money, again in secret, arranging to rendezvous at a world that was strictly off-limits - also in secret - and then bombed their ships, leaving them stranded. Now, for an arrangement involving the security of the entire Minstrahn Empire and the amount of money that Mr. Areshnav referred to, many more parties should have been involved in the discussions. I find the fact that this one lord was acting entirely independently to be very suspicious.”

  “But what could he be really after then?”

  “That,” Kellahav said, “is the question. However, at the moment our priority is getting this information to the admiral as quickly as possible. And since the long-range communication relays are out of com
mission, that means we’ll have to deliver it to him ourselves. Captain, relay to all ships. Set course for Minstrah.”

  They were almost upon the Kallianem system when the alert came through. “Admiral!” came a voice from the communication station. “Open distress signal from the Halion system.”

  “Put it through,” Admiral Roth replied, turning to the viewscreen.

  “-aeli. Is there anybody receiving this?”

  A woman in her late thirties, in a tight black tunic with silver trimming - the colors of the Daeispa quadrant - appeared on the screen.

  “Lady Admiral Karaeli,” Roth replied. He had only caught the end of the name but there was no doubt who it was. “This is Admiral Roth of the Federation Navy. My people are here at the behest of the Empress. If you will accept it, I offer you my assistance. And as the long-range communications are down, I strongly advise that you do.”

  “I know who you are, Admiral Roth,” Karaeli said. “The Empress has spoken most highly of you. And you speak the truth. I cannot even raise Kallianem.”

  Admiral Roth’s face remained passive.

  “I would be very glad of any assistance you could provide,” Karaeli told him. “My ships are under attack from dissident forces.”

  “We will be there shortly,” Roth replied and ended the transmission. “Comm, alert the Titan and the Magnanimous.”

  As the order was carried out, Captain Merrick moved to Admiral Roth’s side. “Admiral, what about Lord Ilian?”

  “He’ll keep,” Roth replied. “Besides, this won’t take long.”

  “With respect, sir, we have never seen Minstrahn cruisers in battle before. And -”

  “This isn’t a battle, Captain,” Roth told him. “It’s a diversionary attack and we’re only changing course in order to confirm it.”

  “A diversionary attack?”

  Admiral Roth’s expression was grim. “Lady Valinski has been very clever, Captain, and I’ve played right into her hands. However, if we move quickly, we may able to stop her before it’s too late.”

  They came out of lightspeed merely minutes later to the sight of one of the larger Minstrahn ships, an assault cruiser, fighting back against three smaller patrol cruisers.

  “All ships, engage,” Admiral Roth ordered. “Concentrate fire on the patrol cruisers but use discretion. Our objective is to assist the assault cruiser, not to annihilate that attack force.”

  As they drew closer, with their heavy guns firing, Captain Merrick observed two squadrons of the light fighters the Minstrahn used - Chargers he believed they were called - pulling away from the assault cruiser and driving from the scene of the battle.

  “What is she doing?” he asked, watching the scene in disbelief. “What good are her fighters if she sends them away?”

  “She knows what she’s doing,” Admiral Roth said, his voice calm and measured. “Observe carefully. Where are those fighters going?” He enlarged part of the image on the viewscreen.

  “Those shipyards,” Merrick said. “And there are seven more cruisers there. Presumably on our lady admiral’s side.”

  “Right,” Roth told him. “Now watch.”

  Merrick did and for a moment, it was even more puzzling. The fighters were attacking small structures around the shipyards, completely destroying them. He frowned, trying to work out what he was looking at, when the cruisers suddenly lurched forward.

  “They were being held there?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Admiral Roth said, his voice hard. “This attack was prepared some time in advance. Although I believe it is now being carried out as part of a contingency plan as opposed to whatever their original plan was. Clearly, the Minstrahn use shield barriers to protect their shipyards and these dissidents tampered with them.”

  “Turning them inwards to prevent ships from leaving as opposed to protecting the yards,” Merrick murmured. “No wonder Lady Admiral Karaeli was calling for help.”

  “Indeed,” Roth replied. “Starboard gunnery, ease off. That ship is out of the fight and there may be survivors on board.”

  On the viewscreen, there was a patch of relative darkness where the cannons had ceased firing. In it, a scorched patrol cruiser was now drifting towards the shipyards, unable to steer or move forward. Lady Admiral Karaeli took advantage of the gap, moving her cruiser out of the entrapment formation and, in doing so, exposing the remaining attackers to the guns of the reinforcements from the shipyards.

  One of the patrol cruisers, that had already taken substantial damage from both Karaeli’s ship and Admiral Roth’s task force, crumbled under the attack, burning up and collapsing in on itself before exploding in a brief and messy blaze. The remaining patrol cruiser now turned away, its captain no doubt recognizing just how badly they were outgunned.

  Admiral Roth tapped the communicator on the arm of his command chair. “Captain Braeda?”

  “Sir.”

  “Maintain pursuit and disable that last cruiser if you can. Then return to Minstrah.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  To the portside, the Magnanimous turned away from the group. Roth flicked the channel over. “Lady Admiral Karaeli.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. You arrived just in time.”

  “I am glad we were able to help,” Roth replied. “Now, one of my ships will remain to assist you in cleaning up but I must return to Minstrah at once.”

  “I understand,” Karaeli replied. “Thank you again.”

  “You are most welcome,” Roth told her.

  He smiled as he switched the communicator off and stepped away from the command chair. “Comm, raise the Titan and inform Captain Arden that we are returning to Minstrah immediately.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You said this was a diversionary attack,” Captain Merrick reminded Roth, stepping up beside him. “For what? What’s happening back at Minstrah?”

  “Something that is quite apparent in hindsight,” Roth said. “Lord Admiral Calendres was involved in Lord Ilian’s schemes but he didn’t leave Minstrah when Lady Valinski did, right?”

  “True. But I’m afraid I don’t quite follow yet, sir.”

  “They were using my own precautions against me, Captain,” Roth explained. “Lady Valinski and Lord Admiral Calendres worked out that I knew they were in league with Lord Ilian. Furthermore, they worked out that the reason I was keeping everyone on Minstrah was to prevent them from realizing that I knew. And to prevent them from contacting any more of Ilian’s agents.”

  “All right.”

  “Then, by their reasoning, if they both escaped from quarantine, I would concede that particular game was up and tell the Empress to let everyone leave.”

  “Ah,” Merrick nodded as he worked it out. “As there’d be no point in keeping them there any longer. Lady Valinski and Lord Admiral Calendres wanted everyone who was at that meeting to remain on Minstrah.”

  “Exactly,” Roth replied. “So they had me leave Minstrah, chasing down Lady Valinski, and then they disabled the long-range communication relays, allowing their agents to move in on Minstrah without anyone knowing until it was too late.”

  “With the heads of all the ruling families there,” Merrick murmured. It was a rather sobering picture the admiral had painted.

  “Yes. Lord Ilian’s capture is now a rather secondary concern. We’ll need him of course to unravel this network of his so the Minstrahn can re-establish themselves and rebuild the trust this conspiracy has so badly damaged. However, if we reach Minstrah in time - and I hope we can - then we might prevent this entire sector from collapsing into civil war.”

  “And then there’d just be the matter of the Levarc,” Merrick said.

  Admiral Roth smiled. “Yes. But let’s prevent one catastrophe at a time.”

  The small ship floated in front of them and although she was probably reading too much from it, Alia felt as though Aleida was taunting them.

  “I’m assuming that since you’re waiting for us, you’re willing to negotiate,” she said
, trying to keep her emotions guarded.

  “There’s nothing to negotiate,” Aleida replied, her voice hard. “If you want to see your friend again, then hand over Lord Ilian. End of story.”

  “We have a larger ship nearby,” Alia said, afraid Aleida might leave at any moment with her sister. “We can transfer the prisoners there.”

  “Hardly. It’d be far too easy for you to set a trap. I know you’re going to try to get your friend back without giving me Lord Ilian because I’d do the exact same thing myself. And frankly, I don’t care. You can try whatever gimmicks you want. I probably know them all anyway. However, I’m not going to give you any extra advantages if I can help it.”

  Alia swallowed and her hands trembled. Beside her, Selina leaned over the communicator. “How about that castle down there on Kallianem?”

  “Where those hot shot fighter pilots of yours can pin me down?” Aleida scoffed. “Don’t insult me.”

  “All right,” Selina sighed. “Where do you want to do this?”

  “Somewhere close by,” Aleida told her. “Don’t worry. I want Lord Ilian back just as much as you want to get your friend back. However, I don’t want your fighter pilot friends there when we make the swap so tell them they can get out of here. And do it properly, because I’m going to make sure you do. As soon as they’re out of here, I’ll contact you again on a different frequency. And if I detect you’re running another frequency to relay information to your friends, then we’ll just start the whole process all over again. Is that clear?”

  Selina winced. This woman was a piece of work. “I understand. All right, Sigma Squadron. You heard her. Head back to the Harpy and we’ll meet you there.”

  “Copy that,” Ja’is replied, not sounding happy. “Good luck. Sigma Squadron out.”

  With that, the transmission ended and a few moments later, the engine glows from Sigma Squadron’s Harskan Corteks winked out as they jumped to lightspeed.