by Taylor Smith
“This better be good,” the old woman sneered angrily. “You just cut off my conversation with Senator Idris.”
“Encrypt your end, please, ma’am,” Haley responded evenly.
The woman sighed dramatically and slapped a control off-camera. “Encrypted. Now who is this? You obviously have a priority that not many people should have, so out with it.”
“Redemption, Adara, justice, Adara, shadow… Eclipse,” Haley said carefully as she was told to do, adding the last word herself to ensure her priority would not be missed. She didn’t need to, however, as the screen flickered the moment she’d completed the code-phrase. Haley was suddenly staring directly at Fleet Admiral Jonathan Kerris. He squinted briefly at the screen before he said, “Enable full visual. Authorization: Kerris-Lima-Four-Eight.”
To Haley’s surprise, Strix-4 replied, “Standard visual pickup enabled.”
Kerris smiled. “Ah, Miss Marks.” He seemed pleased to see her as he leaned back and said, “I assume this isn’t a courtesy call.”
“Sir. No, Sir,” she replied.
“What do you have to report?”
Haley took a deep breath and said, “My mission was a success, but I have information that supersedes that.”
Kerris leaned forward curiously. “And what is that?”
“Eclipse protocol was activated, Sir,” she said and activated the data transfer that sent her chip’s full contents over the channel and straight to Kerris’ terminal.
Kerris paled visibly, but his expression didn’t change. That show of self-control scored extra points with her. “I see. Stand by, Miss Marks.”
The screen darkened suddenly to display the Allied Fleet insignia. Haley knew that Fleet Admiral Kerris was, more than likely, reviewing her report, and contacting his entire command staff for a briefing.
When the screen flickered back to Kerris’ face a few minutes later, he nodded to her grimly and said, “Well done, Miss Marks. My staff is assembling. We have about five minutes until this room is crammed full of people trying not to wet themselves. Tell me about Jonas.”
“He was a traitor, Sir. Just as you suspected,” Haley replied.
Kerris frowned at that. “What faction? Tell me it was at least an internal Alliance group we can monitor or dismantle.”
“Sol Fleet, Sir.”
This time, Kerris outwardly displayed his surprise before confusion set in. “When I recruited you for this mission, I had a suspicion that Jonas had ulterior motives for not simply resigning. His overdramatic display of loyalty to the Alliance seemed faked, but how could he have known about Sol Fleet’s existence?”
“Sir, my answer to that question would be based on my personal observations, and I’m not a psychological profiler,” she replied carefully.
“I understand that, and we’re running out of time. I want your thoughts, Miss Marks,” Kerris said sternly.
Haley took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, Sir. I don’t think the former admiral knew that Sol Fleet existed. At the end, his actions were erratic, and he displayed signs of irrationalism. It’s my opinion that when he was forced from his position of command, he unintentionally devised the fiction that Sol Fleet would be actively searching for him to lead their forces against the Alliance. When we discovered that the implant I recovered from Yanna Two had a high probability of being Earth tech, he seemed genuinely surprised that he was right about Sol Fleet’s existence.”
Kerris looked away from his screen for a moment in thought before replying. “Miss Marks, that’s probably the most tactful labeling of ‘insane’ I’ve ever heard.” He let a sharp laugh escape before he said, “So he was a delusional power-monger who just happened to be right.”
“It seems so, Sir.”
“Very well,” Kerris continued. “I assume the command override I gave you was successful, and you were able to take him into custody?”
Haley cringed inward and thought about her words carefully before she replied. “Unfortunately not, Sir. The override was discovered at some point, and disabled. I was forced to retire him before he could successfully defect. My options were limited due to the interference of several Clew assets that Jonas had led back to Strix Base.”
Kerris narrowed his eyes at her in response.
“It’s all in my report, Sir,” she said quickly and her heart ached at the recollection. “Several of my former Clew contacts were in-system and had opted to rescue me from imprisonment by Former Admiral Jonas and return me to Clew Station. I had to take advantage of the situation as best I could to ensure the success of the mission parameters you’d set for me.”
Kerris stared silently at her for several more moments before he nodded slowly and said, “I see. I look forward to reading your report in more detail.” He leaned back and swiped his hand slowly across his forehead as if debating something. Finally, he leaned forward again and said, “You’ve done me proud, Miss Marks, and I believe that we had an agreement.”
Haley’s breath quickened, and her heart slammed in her chest. Everything she’d done for the past three years had led her to this point. She knew that the Fleet Admiral could easily press a command and blow her out of the stars, if he chose. But after all the people that had betrayed her, and all the people that she had betrayed herself, she’d chosen to give her beloved Alliance one last chance to prove to her that it wasn’t the twisted and morally-corrupt institution that she’d come to believe.
There was no backup plan this time. She’d taken no precautions against betrayal from Fleet Admiral Kerris. Today was her judgment day, and she would either thrive, or die.
Kerris pointed curiously at the camera and asked, “Clew born, Alliance raised. To whom are you loyal, Miss Marks? To Clew, or to the Alliance?”
Haley’s gut wrenched at the question and she felt the blood drain from her face. He knew. However he’d found out, the man that held her life in his hands knew that she was not Alliance-born. She had only a moment to think, knowing that if she took too long he would detonate Strix-4. “My loyalty is to you, Fleet Admiral Kerris.”
“Good answer,” he said with an overly-serious tone. “In one week,” Kerris began slowly, “I’ll announce to Allied Fleet Command, and to the Alliance as a whole, that Haley Marks’ trial, and her subsequent discharge afterward, was a farce. It was a ruse, orchestrated by myself and with your complete cooperation in order to infiltrate Clew to not only discover its location, but to obtain information on their allies.”
Haley wanted to jump from her chair and shout at the top of her lungs in triumph. She managed to contain most of her excitement and utter a fluttery “Thank you, Sir.”
“Furthermore, you’ll be awarded the Allied Fleet Star of Valor for your efforts. This may be a bit much for Fleet Command to swallow, but seeing that you’ve uncovered the fact that Sol Fleet is still out there, possibly preparing for war, you may have truly saved the Alliance from a swift and unprepared death. After hearing this, the people of the Alliance will demand it anyway.”
Kerris paused for a moment before continuing carefully. “I know we agreed to reinstate your rank of Lieutenant. However, I’ve decided against it. I’ll be taking advantage of my rank and privilege in this regard. I’ll be reinstating you as Commander, and assigning you to my staff. You’ll be my eyes, ears and voice among the fleet. I read in your file somewhere that you’d aspired to serve aboard the Prometheus. I think Commander Gowen is due for retirement anyway.”
Haley had lost her self-control somewhere during Kerris’ speech. Her eyes watered, and she smiled proudly as she listened. Her brain was still processing everything he’d said when, from somewhere within her, a whispered reply emerged. “Thank you, Sir. I won’t let you down.”
Kerris smiled once before he leaned toward the screen and said, “You’d damned well better not. See you in one week.” And the connection closed.
Chapter 23
Cade stared up at the Reaper as it sat askew in its docking Cradle aboard the Valkyrie. The damage
was significant, but Finn swore up and down that it could be repaired. The deep gash that opened the starboard side decks to space made him question that.
Wards lived, but he would be on the mend for a month before he was able to work again. And even then, he wasn’t sure if he’d see the man at a tactical station any time soon. He hoped so, though.
He took a deep breath and looked about the massive, brightly lit bay. By the time they returned to Clew space, the evacuation had been completed. The only people still aboard the station were assigned to finish moving the larger equipment, ammunition and supplies, as well as the demolitions crew.
It was a new era. Clew Station was no more.
“It’s bigger than Clew’s bay,” Saundi said from behind him.
Cade turned around just in time to intercept the forceful hug from his adoptive sister without being bowled over. He hugged her back and said, “I’m proud of you.” And he meant it. Saundi had carried herself strongly as a leader during the fight in Lordell, but she’d made one mistake in his book. “Why did you come back? You could have been killed and then where would Clew be?”
Saundi took a step away from him and shot a look that mirrored a mixture of confusion and anger. “My brother asks why I came back… typical.”
Cade sighed. He knew he wouldn’t get a better answer than that, so he simply nodded and decided not to push her. Andy’s death was still far too fresh, and he knew an argument would inevitably be used against him to justify anything she did.
Saundi seemed to realize that Cade wasn’t going to argue so she said, “My mother contacted me shortly after we separated. She’d been snooping on us from behind the second planet.” Saundi’s expression softened. “Andy was brain-dead before we could get him to the battleship and its medical tech. So I turned everyone around to make sure you didn’t do something stupid… which you did.”
“Yes it was stupid,” Adrianna Nyest said as she approached them. “It was also selfless, and very brave. Regardless of your relationship to that woman, you never let your feelings get in the way of protecting your people.”
Cade turned to the woman who’d obliterated an entire Allied battle group with three ships. “Admiral,” he said. He still wasn’t sure what to make of her, but he knew that he owed his life to her and Saundi.
“Adria, Cade. Call me Adria,” she said slowly as she embraced Saundi. “I’m so, so sorry, Asaundria.”
Saundi nodded and returned her mother’s hug.
Cade was surprised when he was offered the same embrace and kind words. He returned the affection and said, “I’m sorry, too.”
Adrianna smiled and said, “Just as you had to fire on a woman you care deeply for, I was unable to help my son for fear of revealing my forces to the Alliance. We’d been able to sneak in easy enough, but movement in that system was dreadfully difficult without being seen.”
“That’s why you had us destroy the communications arrays on that battleship,” Cade said. He’d suspected as much after the Sol Fleet ships had shown up, but he was loathed to assume anything. “To ensure you kept your fleet a secret.”
“Yes,” Adrianna answered and turned a sour eye to Saundi. “Saundi wouldn’t abandon you, Cade, so neither could I. We saw the incoming Alliance ships on long-range, and knew the battleship would be the only vessel equipped with a subspace transmitter. We couldn’t risk detection for you no more than we could risk detection for Andy.”
Cade rolled his eyes and said, “I’m touched. Neither of you should have done that, though.”
Adrianna let a light laugh escape her lips and shook her head. “Don’t worry, Cade, as much as I care for my daughter… and even for Malian’s son,” she said with a slight nod to him, “there was more to it than that.”
“The recon shuttle in the Reaper’s cargo bay,” Cade said without missing a beat.
Adrianna’s brow rose. “Yes,” she said and then gestured to the Reaper in its cradle. “Your ship is carrying a vessel that encompasses some of the most advanced technology the Alliance has to offer. We identified its hull class and matched it to the reconnaissance ship we tracked from Clew, and saw it enter your ship’s cargo bay. We assume that its technology is several years ahead of what’s currently installed in the warships. Its study will give us a unique advantage.”
“Another reason for our engagement,” Adrianna continued, “is the fact that after five hundred years, we had the opportunity to study the Alliance’s war machine with minimal chance of being reported.”
Cade nodded in understanding. “You wanted to see how your ships matched up to the Allied Fleet,” he said, and then raised his hands. “It seemed that you did pretty well for yourselves.”
Adrianna’s mood darkened. “On the contrary, we didn’t perform as well as expected.”
“You could have fooled me,” Cade said and then looked to Saundi, who also shared her mother’s scowl. “What did I miss?”
Saundi said, “It’s a war of numbers, Cade. Right now, the Alliance has more. I’m guessing there was a certain performance rating that my mother expected, and her ships didn’t deliver.”
Adrianna acknowledged her daughter with an admiring nod. “Quite right, Asaundria.”
“Stop calling me that,” Saundi muttered.
Adrianna ignored Saundi and turned back to Cade. “In a hard, fast attack, with no preparation from the Alliance, Sol Fleet will be victorious. If this turns into a war of attrition, the chances of victory drop to seventy percent.”
Cade shrugged and said, “Hard losses, but that’s still a –“. He paused mid-sentence as it dawned on him. “You’ll win,” he said with a nod, “but won’t have a fleet left to enforce the new regime.”
“Precisely,” Adrianna replied. “We have to achieve victory with the least amount of losses possible. Otherwise, the colonies will fracture. We’ll end up with a handful of systems and the rest will return to a self-governed state outside our realm of control. Worse yet, a new coalition of solar systems will emerge and we have to do this all over again. My ships have some work to do, but the battle in Lordell gave us some invaluable data. We’ll be ready when the time comes.”
Cade crossed his arms and turned back to the Reaper. “So what do we do now?”
“We bury my son,” Adrianna replied solemnly. “And then we burn the old world.”
***
Cade sat on No Quarter’s bridge in the XO seat. His thoughts were dark as he stared wordlessly at Bonnell System’s primary, now displayed on the main screen.
The Reaper was still undergoing repairs aboard the Valkyrie, and even though he hated the thought of bringing his best friend here aboard another ship, he didn’t have a choice.
Services had been brief, but respectable. The Neese family burial had been destroyed, so they opted to bury Andy at a different location, but still near the original colony.
Before they left Clew for the last time, they watched the station explode from a safe distance. Cade had been close to death before, and he’d never experienced his life flash before his eyes. But watching his home engulf itself in bright flashes of destruction triggered something he would describe as that.
It was surreal to him. The damage done to Clew over the past few months had been staggering. His people had not only lost two leaders, but their home, and their way of life. The coming years would be a difficult transition for them all.
Yet, as most of the people were hesitant, or even appalled, by the thought of being involved in an all-out interstellar war, Cade longed for vengeance. He wanted nothing more than to hurt the Alliance, and he would do whatever Sol Fleet wished of him just for a taste of payback.
Saundi entered the bridge and sat down beside him. “She’s gone,” she said. “We’re to rendezvous with the Valkyrie near the Vorn System.”
Cade nodded absent-mindedly before he came to his senses. “Not yet,” he said as he laid a hand on Saundi’s arm. “There’s something we have to do before we go back.”
***
It was awkward at first, spending that amount of time with Garns. The man who’d nearly killed Criss and two other crew during a questionable docking maneuver was actually not too bad of a guy, once Cade had the chance to speak with him at length. Cade still didn’t like him much, though.
After they’d entered jump, Cade had explained the messages that Mallian had sent to him and Andy. It had taken some time to calm her down and explain the circumstances in which he’d been the recipient and not her. She’d been behaving erratically for the past few years and Cade had guessed that the message had been originally intended for her, but had been redirected to him recently.
“Did Andy know what we’re looking for?” Saundi asked as she began her initial scans.
“I don’t think so,” he replied. “We both thought it was a ship or a cache of some sort.”
“Whoa,” Saundi suddenly whispered. “I think I found it.”
Cade stood and moved to join Saundi at the tactical station. After leaning over her shoulder to study the incoming data, he mirrored her surprise. “It’s huge,” he said.
“What the hell is that?” Garns asked from the helm. “A cargo ship?”
Cade studied the data as it came in, and the resolution finally cleared enough to enable the computer to make a match. “He knew,” he whispered. “Mallian knew.”
The No Quarter edged its way closer to the massive ship, and Garns maneuvered the cruiser to a gentle contact against a forward airlock. Once the No Quarter was secure, Cade and Saundi moved through the airlock and into the stale air of a massive vessel that hadn’t see human life in years. The lines of the corridors were clean, without the exposed beams and wiring of a Clew ship. It reminded Cade of the Lordell asteroid base they’d lost Andy at.
