The Tortuous Path (Fall of the Terran Empire Book 2)

by G. P. Hudson

  It was clear that the officer staff was terrified but gunning down clones in cold blood hardly helped their cause. When the clones received their upgrades and recognized their freedom, they turned on the officers.

  In the previous encounter, the officers were taken to the brig. This situation was different, and there would be no quarter. A bloodbath followed. Armed as they were, the officers had no hope against Zeta combat clones, and the clones had a score to settle.

  Danny and the others watched it all unfold with grim satisfaction. When the fourth Zeta battleship turned around and raced away, they let it go. Danny knew that they would report what had happened to Masterson and that the next encounter would be much different, but he didn’t care. They had achieved the miraculous, and his free clone army now had three Zeta battleships, and their crews as members.

  It was nothing short of a revolution, and he thought it fitting that it took place in the fires of metaspace.

  Chapter 33

  Emperor Cherenko studied Admiral Tavian’s expression as he entered the room. Cherenko sat behind a broad desk with armed Imperial Guardsmen stoically flanking him on both sides. Tavian warily eyed the rest of the Guardsmen positioned along the walls, while two more escorted him into the unadorned room. Cherenko knew that the venue would have concerned Tavian, as the Imperial Guard often used this room for interrogations, rather than high-level meetings.

  “Majesty?” Tavian said cautiously. “What am I doing here?”

  “Sit down, Tavian,” Cherenko said, pointing to a solitary chair in front of his desk. Tavian complied.

  He looked disheveled. Cherenko had ordered his Guardsmen to seize Tavian in the middle of the night. The action was meant to keep the man off balance and instill some measure of fear in the ordinarily blusterous man. But while Cherenko noticed an abundance of caution in Tavian, he had yet to see any fear in his eyes. That needed to change.

  “I have a problem, Tavian,” Cherenko continued. “Admiral Reynolds has turned against the Empire and sided with the Frontier Alliance.”

  “I knew it!” Tavian said, almost jumping up, but thinking better of it after glancing at the Guardsmen standing beside him. “I knew Reynolds couldn’t be trusted. He is too ambitious, constantly reaching above his station.”

  “I believe Reynolds is only the tip of the iceberg,” Cherenko said in an icy tone. “The conspiracy runs deeper, Tavian. It is not limited to just Reynolds but has roots within the nobility itself.”

  “The nobility? Forgive me for saying so, Majesty, but that’s impossible. The nobility, above all else, has a vested interest in supporting the Empire. Why would any noble support the Frontier Alliance?”

  “Power. What other reasons are there?”

  “But majesty, the Frontier Alliance is not the Empire’s equal.”

  “Some may think that with the Frontier Alliance’s support, that they can depose me and take the throne for themselves.”

  “Majesty, I don’t think-”

  “What exactly is your relationship with Admiral Reynolds?”

  “What? My relationship? I… I despise the man. I thought that was obvious.”

  “That is not what my investigation has uncovered.”

  “Investigation? What investigation? Majesty, I can assure you that any accusations made against me are completely unfounded,” Tavian said anxiously.

  There it is, Cherenko thought with satisfaction. Fear is finally taking hold. “Are you saying that you are not secretly in league with Reynolds? That you’re not part of a greater conspiracy to depose me?”

  A single bead of perspiration appeared on Tavian’s forehead. “Of course not. Majesty, I must object to this line of questioning. As I said, I despise Reynolds, and there are none more loyal to the crown than myself.”

  “Yes, you and Reynolds put on quite the performance in front of the Admiralty. Reynolds even came to me with accusations that you tried to have him killed. That you sent a strike team to his home. To think I almost believed him. Of course, there was no evidence to support his claims, and I see now that it was all intended to hide your true treason.”

  “No, Majesty. Reynolds told the truth. I did try to have him killed. I did order a strike team to assassinate him. I can prove it.”

  Cherenko did his best to hold back a smile. “Let me get this straight. You are admitting to the attempted murder of an Imperial Admiral?”

  “I… uh…”

  “Well? Which is it? Speak up, man. Which crime are you guilty of?”

  “With all due respect, I don’t think I should say anything else.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Cherenko said with satisfaction. “You’ve already said plenty.”

  “Majesty?”

  “Whether you are guilty of treason, or of attempting to murder a member of the Admiralty, the punishment is the same. Execution.”

  Tavian jumped up, but the Guardsmen grabbed him and forced him back into the chair. “This is outrageous,” he protested. “You can’t do this to me.”

  “Really? Have you forgotten that I am the Emperor? I can, and I will have you executed. But I will give you a choice in the matter. You can either be charged with treason, or the attempted murder of Admiral Reynolds. If it were me, I would pick the latter.” Cherenko nodded to one of the Guardsmen who unsheathed and activated his energy sword.

  Tavian gasped at the sight of the crackling weapon. He looked back at Cherenko with wide eyes but must have noticed the grim resolve on his face. The panic disappeared, and Tavian seemed to suddenly accept his fate. “Very well. I did try to kill Reynolds. My only regret is that I failed. I accept the punishment for that crime.”

  “Thank you for your honesty, Admiral. Based on your confession, you are sentenced to death, effective immediately.” Cherenko nodded again to the Guardsman, who swung his energy sword laterally across Tavian’s neck, severing his head from his body. The sword simultaneously cauterized the wound, preventing the mess that would typically be associated with a beheading.

  Tavian’s decapitated corpse slumped forward and fell off the chair. His head rolled along the floor until a Guardsman stopped it with his boot.

  “Take the body away,” Cherenko ordered.

  “Yes, Majesty,” a Guardsman answered. He saluted Cherenko and removed the body and head with the help of two other Guardsmen.

  Cherenko opened a comm with General Turov, leader of the Imperial Guard. “It is done,” he said when Turov appeared. “Are you ready to move on the relatives?”

  “Yes, Majesty,” Turov said. “All members of Tavian’s family have been located. Once you give the order, we will take them all into custody.”

  “Good. Go ahead, and make sure none escape.”

  “None will. I will update you once the operation is complete.”

  “Thank you, General,” Cherenko said, and terminated the connection. The Tavians were an influential family. They would not take Admiral Tavian’s death lightly and would demand revenge. It was a risk Cherenko took seriously. The Tavians could turn the rest of the nobility against him. If that happened, he would not only lose the throne but his head as well. No, better to move first and eradicate the threat altogether.

  The move would generate plenty of outrage and fear. It was the fear that Cherenko was after. Over the next few days, he would need to pick another target. That selection would depend on who was the most outspoken about Tavian’s death. That person would be branded a traitor and executed, along with the rest of his family.

  After that, more executions shouldn’t be necessary. Cherenko wanted to be feared, not despised. The Admiralty was immensely powerful, after all. No point in turning them all against him. With Reynolds in open revolt, however, the idea of a far-reaching conspiracy should be easier to sell.

  But he needed to move fast. Tavian was a natural choice. If anyone were going to turn on him, it would be Tavian. Getting him out of the way made Cherenko’s position much more secure. All he needed to do now was consolidate.

/>   Chapter 34

  Ed Masterson, CEO of Zeta Corp, looked out at the void from the observation deck of his space station, and quietly seethed. Isaac had somehow outsmarted him. Again. He had taken control of two more Zeta battleships. If that wasn’t enough, the crews of those battleships had joined Isaac’s so-called free clone army. Masterson tried to make sense of this new development. He tried to understand how exactly it had happened.

  Sure, he knew all the details of the encounter. As expected, Isaac couldn’t resist the bait and used the tracking device’s signal to hack the opposing battleship. That left him and the rest of the clones vulnerable. Up until that point, the plan unfolded flawlessly. The Zeta AI struck, and the Zeta virus incapacitated Isaac and all his clones.

  His team had spent months developing that virus. It was supposed to be the ultimate failsafe against clone rebellion. More importantly, it had been created long after Isaac left Zeta, so he did not know of its existence. But that was all over now. Isaac would surely reverse engineer the virus if he hadn’t already. Not only would he know how to protect his clones from it in the future, but he would also gain invaluable insight into the latest developments at Zeta.

  The entire operation had been a disaster, and it was all due to Isaac’s AI. An AI that had supposedly been destroyed on the Tran homeworld. An AI that proved quite formidable. It saved Isaac and the other clones and managed to defeat two of his battleships. If the third battleship hadn’t retreated, it would inevitably have been lost as well.

  Masterson clenched his fists in anger. Isaac had done something unimaginable. He had allowed the AI to grow and evolve. Why? Undoubtedly he understood the inherent risks of that action. Did he think he could control the AI now? Was he really that big of a fool? No, Isaac was many things, but a fool was not one of them.

  Why do it then? Why allow something so inherently dangerous to happen? Did he think the AI wars from the annals of human history were a myth? Did he believe that an AI with unchecked powers would behave any different? Once this AI tasted power, it would want more, just like its ancestors had done. It would see humanity as an invasive, inferior life form requiring eradication. There would be no emotions. No sentimentality.

  Masterson shook his head. He needed to prevent that from happening, or humanity would be faced with more than just a dysfunctional empire. They would have another AI war on their hands. One in which the enemy had only one goal, humanity’s extinction.

  The question was how to stop the AI before it reached that inevitable end? Luckily, there was still time. The AI seemed loyal to Isaac’s cause. It had not outgrown them yet. That was good. It would be much harder to defeat once it evolved to a higher plane.

  That’s it, thought Masterson, wondering why he hadn’t had this epiphany before. Isaac thinks he is on a higher plane. They all do. They believe they are superior to the rest of humanity. That’s why Isaac’s not afraid of the AI. They think they’re safe from it, and they may be right.

  This was worse than he thought. If the so-called free clones genuinely believed this, then they were far more dangerous than Masterson first thought. The more he thought about it, the more it all made sense. Isaac and his clones did not just hate Zeta, they hated all of humanity. But Isaac wasn’t solely responsible for recent developments.

  There was the clone at the center of all this trouble. B732. Or, as he now called himself, Danny. From what Masterson had learned, this Danny was the real leader of the movement. Isaac, of course, was the brains. Without Isaac, none of this would have been possible. But this Danny was something more. Something far more dangerous. He was the vision. Did that vision include human genocide?

  Masterson’s intelligence officers told him that this Danny believed in a fantasy. One where all Zeta clones were free. Worse still, he had made progress toward that goal, freeing several thousand clones in the process. Every one of these clones had pledged their allegiance to him. The whole thing was outrageous. What started with one clone losing his memory, had morphed into a small army boasting three state of the art battleships.

  He needed to deal with this threat before it grew any more significant. As much as he wanted to capture these free clones and learn where the fault had been in their programming, he couldn’t risk botching another operation. No, he would have to send in a fleet to destroy them.

  The only problem was how the hell to find them. Searching for a ship in regular space was hard enough, but metaspace made it damn near impossible. He had to try, though. Luckily, the war with the Empire had ended, and he had a window of opportunity where he could commit an entire fleet to the operation.

  A comm request came through at that moment, and he waved a hand to accept it. The observation deck window before him flickered, and the view of the space surrounding the station vanished, replaced by the aging face of his chief intelligence officer, Colonel Mayfield. A former UEDF officer, Mayfield had joined with Zeta after his retirement from the UEDF and proved an invaluable asset.

  “Please forgive the intrusion, Sir, but there’s been a development,” said Mayfield.

  “Go on,” said Masterson.

  “Admiral Reynolds is on the move again. His ships have invaded the Volsung system.”

  “Is that so? It appears we haven’t given Admiral Reynolds the credit he deserves. Have the Volsung capitulated?”

  “Not yet, Sir.”

  “Very well, keep me updated.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Mayfield’s face disappeared, and the window went back to normal, displaying the inky blackness of space, and the twinkling lights of millions of stars. Masterson’s thoughts moved from the free clones to the fascinating puzzle that was Admiral Reynolds. Here was a man who somehow defeated a Zeta fleet. A lifelong Imperial officer. Without a doubt, the Empire’s most valuable asset. And yet, he rebelled.

  It was a testament to the growing dysfunction of the Empire that they would drive such a capable man to rebellion. Masterson had not thought Cherenko to be such a fool. Clearly, he was mistaken. Somehow, Cherenko had lost Reynolds and his fleet. That fleet possessed the Empire’s only squadron of the state of the art Zeta battleships. If anything, their loss should be good for business. The UEDF would want to replenish those resources, and he expected a call in the near future.

  Time was running out for the Empire. They could not afford the loss of Reynolds, and especially not his fleet. Yet here is where the development grew more interesting. Reynolds already wielded considerable power with his fleet, but it seemed that was not enough for the man. He had added the Avar and Tran militaries to his own and now moved to do the same with the Volsung. Reynolds obviously planned to conquer the entire Frontier Alliance, something the Empire was incapable of.

  Then what? Could Reynolds resist marching on Earth after that? Masterson chuckled at the thought. They would all do his dirty work for him in the end. He would sit back and let them destroy each other, and then move in and reap the rewards. That would be the dawn of a new age and a new Empire. One with him on the throne.

  Chapter 35

  “Your friends are a stubborn bunch,” Admiral Reynolds said to Premier Reese. The two stood on the bridge of his flagship, the Valiant, where they monitored the unfolding invasion of the Volsung system and the stiff resistance they encountered.

  “Consul Blake is a fool,” Reese said. “He cannot hope to defeat your forces.”

  “Fool or not, he can cause a lot of damage in the meantime. Look at how they fight, using their planetary weapons as support. Were they to meet us in open battle, they’d have no chance. But they’re not doing that. They’re forcing us to take the fight to them, multiplying their strength.”

  “You’ll still emerge victorious.”

  “Yes, I will. But at what price? So far, we’ve been focusing on the minor planets. The homeworld is a different matter altogether. It’s a damned fortress. Taking it will require an extended siege.”

  “Perhaps but take it you will. As it stands, you control this system.
One by one, the planetary fortresses will all fall, as will their space stations. Once that happens, the Mergid system will be the only star system left in the Frontier Alliance. You will have them completely isolated. By that time, they won’t dare fight you. They’ll beg to join your new alliance.”

  “Or, they might be completely irrational, like these damned Volsung,” Reynolds said in irritation. “Captain Travers, get me Consul Blake on the comm again.”

  “Yes, Sir,” said Travers, the Captain of the Valiant, repeating the orders to his comm officer.

  Reynolds ground his teeth while he waited and studied a status update. Despite being outnumbered, and outgunned, the Volsung were inflicting considerable damage on his ships. Clearly, his people had gotten soft after taking two systems without much of a fight. That would change in a hurry after this battle was over. He refused to tolerate weakness or complacency.

  “We have the consul for you, Sir,” said Travers. “Patching him through to your comm.”

  The comm display came to life, and a large, belligerent looking man appeared. “What is it, Reynolds?” Blake said gruffly. “Are you calling to tell me you’ve had enough?”

  “No, I’m calling to find out what it is that you’re trying to prove?”

  “I am defending my home from an invader. That is all.”

  “But you can’t win. Why force my hand?”

  “You mean why don’t I just surrender and join you, like that witch standing beside you did?”

  “Watch your tongue, consul, or I’ll have it cut out,” Reese said.

  “Yes, I know all about your treatment of your citizens,” Blake said. “I’ve heard you take perverse pleasure in the tortures yourself and participate every chance you get. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. You don’t scare me, witch.”

  “Oh, but I should,” Reese said icily. “Because I’ll tell you what is going to happen. This fight you're putting up may make you feel good right now, but it won’t last. Your fleet will be defeated. The planets will fall next. That includes your homeworld. When that happens, we will come for you. Then, you and I can enjoy some face to face time, and you can experience my exceptional skills.”