by Damon Alan
Everyone in a fleet command slot was here. Captain Vargas. Captain Batalova. Herself. Everyone except for Heinrich. Sarah had wanted her here, but she’d refused and Sarah let her. Heinrich said that this wasn’t the setting for her now, that too many people had suffered because of her. She didn’t want to be a dark stain on the day.
Sarah would deal with that later. Heinrich was innocent, and the fleet would behave accordingly. As would the civilians in town. Or there would be one angry admiral on their backs.
Sarah had felt strange asking Peter to resign his commission, but he’d seemed happy to do so. Part of her was relieved that he wouldn’t be in the line of fire anymore. While not her offspring, he was the closest thing she had. Not that everyone wasn’t in danger, regardless of where they were, since the Hive had shown up five hundred light-years from Oasis. It was a matter of time before they found this system and made a move.
Unlike every other place in the galaxy that had experienced that nightmare before, this system had to find a winning solution to the problem.
Together, Sarah and Heinrich would have the best chance of dealing with it.
Besides, Peter wasn’t actually XO material. As much as Sarah cared about him, she had to admit that. He didn’t have the predatory spirit needed to seize on an enemy’s mistakes. Heinrich was perfect for that job, as Sarah had learned the hard way.
Yeah. With the new plans for the Stennis and their ability to move anywhere they pleased as they pleased, the Hive were going to be hard pressed to hold their own.
The Stennis was already showing signs of his massive overhaul, and it had only been a month since Heinrich had taken the job on. She was efficient.
Music dragged Sarah’s mind back to the present. She looked down the aisle away from the marital dias, and Dr. Thea Jannis was walking Eris down the carpet.
Wow. Had she known how pretty Eris was? Had she even thought of that?
No. She’d never had time for these sort of civilian niceties.
But Eris did look amazing. And with a mind to match Peter’s, they were indeed rising stars.
The ceremony was short. Peter and Eris bonded to each other with a lifetime commitment, a rare and brave act in a time of three year contracts. If they were youngsters fresh out of school it wouldn’t be allowed. But these were the brightest minds in New Korvand.
Let them shine together.
Peter put his bond bracelet on Eris and said his words. As Sarah expected, they were awkward. But the sincerity touched her inside, and reminded her of a time long ago when another man dressed in white had done the same for her. Vonn had been awkward as well. Men were always so about affairs of the heart.
Eris, on the other hand, was brilliant. She would do well with her new marriage, her shiny new building and demanding job to go with it.
“Are you seeing this,” Sarah asked her commlink.
“I am,” Gaia’s voice returned a few seconds later. “I haven’t wished I was human in a long time. Today I do.”
“You are much like us, if Eris is correct,” Sarah whispered back. “I am tending to accept her judgment on this. You have done a great thing saving her.”
“Thank you, admiral. Now be quiet and watch the ceremony.”
She chuckled. She was just hushed by an QI… Or EI? Electronic intelligence? Someone was going to have to come up with a term that worked. Gaia clearly wasn’t like any AI Sarah had ever met. She was strange, but she had… well, it would appear she had a soul, for lack of a better word.
The rest of the ceremony went as expected, and Sarah rose at the end to greet the new couple. She hugged them, gave them keys to the apartment Thea had set up for them, and told them to enjoy their night.
She could have told them of the work they’d be returning to in two weeks, but that wasn’t needed. They knew the importance of their assigned tasks.
She watched them go. In some cultures there was a feast after marriages, but neither of them wanted that. They probably only wanted to embrace the second chance they’d been given.
“Excuse me, Sarah?” Alarin touched her gently on the shoulder.
“Alarin,” she said, smiling. She embraced her friend. “Did you see? That boy is my closest family.”
The Master Adept smiled. “I got here late, so I stood in the back. Your customs are strange to me, but I liked it.”
“You get married just like we do,” Sarah said.
“Yes, but it’s a private thing. This event,” Alarin swept his hands around, “seems like such a huge thing to live up to.”
That was a good point. “Maybe your people are the wise ones. Although plenty of people in our society don’t go this lavish. This was as much for the town as it was for Peter and Eris.”
Alarin nodded. “Can I talk to you away from the crowd for a minute?”
She grabbed the adept by the hand and led him away, down toward the beach of the lagoon. Once there, she turned to look at him. The troubled look on his face told her he had something unpleasant to tell her.
“I know who the traitor in your fleet is,” Alarin said.
That got her attention. She’d been prepared to let that matter drop, because there really wasn’t any way to find out who the guilty party was without a mind scanner… but then Alarin was a mind scanner in his own right. She’d asked him to find the person, but hadn’t had much hope of that working.
“I’m all ears,” she said.
“I was standing at the back of the ceremony, when I caught a particularly strong emotion from the center of the crowd,” the adept began. “I focused in on that, because the feeling didn’t match the event we were attending.”
“Alarin. Who is it?”
“So I found the individual, and against all rules I explored their thoughts as they had them,” the adept continued, dodging her question for the moment. “The emotion was sorrow, regret. The person thinking it realized that a lot of people who were attending the event had lost friends and loved ones because of their actions.”
Sarah grabbed the man by his shirt. “If you don’t tell me who we’re talking about, I’m going to punch you in the nose.”
“Why are women always hitting me? It’s Captain Batalova,” Alarin said. “But he didn’t think Orson would be violent. He wasn’t aware of the monster he was sleeping with. The plan had been to force you to step down and stop any more fighting.”
“That makes no sense, but I believe you,” Sarah said. She punched her commlink.
“Ops.”
“This is Admiral Dayson. Send four marines to intercept Captain Batalova at the shuttle port before he returns to the Yascurra. Arrest him and hold him until I say otherwise.”
“He thought he was doing the right things for the people,” Alarin said.
“There can only be one commander,” Sarah replied. “Only one. Everyone else follows that person without question. Or people die. In this case thousands died, because Batalova thought he had a better plan.”
“I see your point. Merik was of similar thought, although she tended to burn her challengers alive toward the end, not arrest them.”
“You have done me a great favor, Alarin.” Sarah hugged him. “I can finally know that there isn’t another plotter behind the scenes.”
“I’d like to ask you not to execute him.”
Did she hear that right?
“What? Are you kidding me? His actions resulted in the deaths of a thousand people in my fleet, and untold thousands of yours.”
“Regardless, it is time we showed some hesitation to kill those who wronged us. With your permission, since he’s indirectly guilty of killing so many of my people, I’d like to put him on trial in Asdahar.”
“Asdahar?”
“The new capital of Zeffult. The old city will not be rebuilt.”
“Why?”
“Because every adept who had gone there since the firestorm has said there is a stain on the place.” Alarin paused, thoughtful. “A cloud of the dead, if you will. As if the de
ad are so numerous they’re a palpable presence.”
Sarah remembered what Merik had told her of Gilbert.
“Are you saying there are ghosts there?”
Alarin pressed her to translate ghosts exactly, then answered. “That’s as good of a description as any.”
Once again she was face to face with a spiritual world she’d rather not even admit existed. “Fine. Take Batalova, try him in Asdahar. But Alarin, your mercy better be limited. If you fail to punish him for the severity of his crimes, I will try him again here. He is a traitor, a liar, and a murderer under our laws. And that’s only a start of what I could charge him with.”
“He is guilty. A council of adepts will see that with ease. There is no room for error in our trials in regard to guilt or innocence.” Alarin took a deep breath. “If he is found guilty, and he will be, I will sentence him to exile. He will be with the men who are no more.”
“What does that mean?”
“It is worse than death. It is life, alone, in a place with no hope of escape.”
“If it’s worse than death, how is that better than killing him?”
“Your people will see it as mercy. Mine will know better. Yours will see that you and I have the capacity to show kindness to a man who inflicted great harm with his good intentions. Mine will see that you are willing to let us dispense justice to your people when we are wronged. It is, as you say, Sarah, a win-win.”
Sarah stared at the man before answering. She didn’t know Alarin even had that type of thinking in him. “You are a politician in your heart, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. But with the tempering of a diplomat. Justice will be done, and our people will be closer.”
She nodded her agreement, as they walked on the beach together.
Two friends, trying to tame the unruly animal of their merging societies.
Chapter 31 - Admiral’s Personal Log
AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 19:01:48 26 NODER 15329
Personal log entry #1301, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.
Current Location: Jerna City, New Korvand, Refuge, Oasis System
I haven’t attended a wedding in a long time. This one was a doozy. The man I consider my closest family married the woman responsible for finding this star system in the first place. Peter Corriea and Eris Dantora. For the record, since that’s what this is, they filed a life bond contract, and are basically married for the next two centuries.
Marriage. It didn’t work for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. But it’s going to work for them, and I will die trying to make sure of that if need be.
I practically kicked Peter out of the officer corps. He’s not really the right temperament for an XO, and I wasn’t going to demote him. So I kicked him out and he’s now the civilian in charge of our diplomatic relationship with the dozens of nations on this world.
A situation I need him to fix at some point. One world. One overall government, with one focus. Keeping this place alive, human, and thriving.
Eris is now the Director of Sciences. She’s potentially even smarter than Peter, and that’s saying something. Both of them make my eyes cross when they get into a debate about physics, the adepts powers, or whatever. Dr. Jannis is almost as bad.
I just realized that in my circle of friends, I’m the dimwitted thug.
[Laughter]
Fortunate for those eggheads I’m around. I get stuff done.
[A whistle, AI estimated to be a stalling technique]
And then we have the matter of Batalova. He’s in a newly created cell here in town, since we didn’t have one before. I’ve only seen him twice since his arrest. The first time was right after he was grabbed at the shuttle port, and he was a bit defiant. That surprised me.
The second time was a few hours ago. A few days locked in a room is apparently what it takes to break this particular man. He begged me not to mindwipe him. He doesn’t seem to be aware that we have no mindwiping equipment, or that he wouldn’t be tried here, but by the adepts in Zeffult.
I didn’t fill him in. That seemed… well cruel. Mindwiping is painless and quick.
Being exiled to a lifetime of solitude, I expect not so much.
[Twelve seconds of silence]
I don’t think he did it to cause the trouble that fell upon us. Alarin confirms that thought. I think Batalova believes that I am the source of our problems, that I somehow attract conflict. It bothers me that he feels that way, despite it clearly being irrational. I didn’t create Hamor. I didn’t create Merik. And Batalova, in fact, was instrumental in the creation of Orson.
So no, I don’t think it’s me.
[A sound the AI estimates 91% probability of being an indignant huff. Admiral Dayson’s next words carry an angry tone]
I can tell you this. I’m not about to step down. I will protect this fleet, these people, and this planet until breath leaves me.
[The sound of ruffling clothes]
There will be a trial for Batalova, and then exile. I don’t care where. I wish I’d nabbed Orson. I’d love to let him see some Zeffulti justice as well. That pig.
[A sound AI estimated 96% likely to be the sound of a fist impacting the ship hull]
End the log, Lucy.
Chapter 32 - Survival
Eislen and Salla stood on the main road through town, watching as Elvanik approached from the south. Four cycles ago the man had taken a team to scout the Himalland border. Now he approached alone, at breakneck speed.
Snow stood four fingers high in the streets. Houses and shops on the thoroughfare released white smoke into the gray sky from their chimneys.
It was the first cycles of winter, and the last thing they needed was bad news.
This looked like bad news.
Elvanik pulled up in front of them, dismounting rapidly before falling to the ground.
Red splattered from his left arm onto the snow.
Eislen and Salla helped him up as other men rushed forward, some to help stand the scout, others to deal with the horse who was breathing violently and sweating. Part of the creature’s fur was singed off on the left rump, revealing an angry burn scar.
“What’s happened?” Salla asked her friend.
“Himalland adept,” Elvanik rasped out hoarsely.
His leather coat was burned and cracked, Eislen caught glimpses of red tissue underneath the rends in the leather.
“Let’s get him into our house,” Eislen ordered. “Scorda, get the Jalai priestess. Tell her to bring healing for a burn.”
One of the children watching, having been given a mission, ran off toward the temple on the edge of town as told.
They carried Elvanik inside and sat him in a comfortable chair, gave him broth, and made him warm.
Once the rider was comfortable, Eislen knelt in front of him. “Tell me,” he said.
“The other three are dead,” Elvanik said. “Ibrith is burned, unfortunately that is what saved me so I could get here with this warning.”
“Ibrith burned?” Eislen asked. Ibrith wasn’t that far south. And it was the last town that stood on the trade road before Kampana if traveling north.
“The entire village,” Elvanik continued. He took a sip of his broth from an earthenware mug. “My team and I scouted a large Himalland force crossing the border.”
“Did you get a count?”
“Not of the types, but overall numbers are six to eight thousand,” Elvanik reported.
“That has to be their entire army,” Salla said, shocked.
Elvanik nodded. His eyes seemed to have difficulty focusing. “Yeah, I think so.”
That struck fear deeply into Eislen, as well as irritated him. Whatever the motives of these Himalland dogs, they were determined to push their agenda. “Apparently they decided to commit to the idea of annexing the Eastlands.”
“I think so,” Elvanik almost whispered. “We got too close to their forces as they passe
d by our position. One of their adepts detected us, and burned two of my guys right away. Hothak and I, we jumped on our horses and rode like devils.”
“Hothak didn’t make it, though?” Salla asked.
“No,” Elvanik answered, his face pained. “This burn wasn’t directed at me. This burn was from Hothak and his horse bursting into a grease and fat fueled fireball.”
The healing priestess opened the front door, and a gust of snow bellowed in with her. She stamped off her boots and took off her coat. “This my patient?”
“Right here,” Eislen said, gesturing at his friend.
“I’ll get started,” the priestess said. “He can talk while I tend to him.”
Salla grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry, I know Hothak’s one of the friends you made since we got here.”
Elvanik nodded and sipped his broth.
“You’re otherwise unhurt?” Eislen asked.
“I am. Time to heal and I’ll be fine. Hothak and his beast created a lot of smoke, which probably saved my life. I don’t think the enemy could see me before I crested a hill, and they weren’t willing to give chase until they assembled their forces.”
“Probably scared because of that beating I heard you gave them last time,” the priestess said to nobody in particular.
Eislen looked at her, and she shrugged before shingling Elvanik’s now naked shoulder and arm with wet leaves.
“It probably did put them off a bit,” Elvanik agreed. “Anyway, I stayed ahead of them after that. It’s not like an army that big can hide in the shrubs. They stopped at Ibrith to loot, pillage, and other worse things. I left them behind and came straight here at that point. I don’t know how far away they are now.”
Eislen paced the floor. “Ibrith is four cycles from here, walking. Your horse, how hard did you push him?”
“I left Ibrith at the end of seconday, last cycle,” Elvanik answered.
“You rode the entire longnight?”
Elvanik nodded.
“And this is mid-firstday,” Eislen said, then ciphered in his brain. “We have probably five cycles if they’re coming here.”
