by M. R. Forbes
“Aye, sir.”
Tarn vanished from the projection.
“Ensign, contact Command and inform them of the situation.”
“Aye, sir.”
Davlyn stood up as the Ensign made the connection. His muscles ached from the tension. Maybe the Republic had sent a dislocated team to the planet for training? That happened from time to time. Or maybe the Outworlders were hoping to grab some free resources from the surface and get out before a patrol could catch up? That happened occasionally, too. Especially out here. He needed to try to stop always thinking his next encounter would be his last.
“Captain Davlyn.” A new individual appeared on the projection.
“Admiral Kaili?” Davlyn said, recognizing the Skink. Why was the Committee getting directly involved in this?
“Ensign Sil informs us that you’ve picked up the trail of a large group of ships headed to the planet designated TF-901.”
“Aye, Admiral.”
“We have reason to believe the escaped prisoners from Hell are in the area, and have joined up with a contingent of Outworld Nomads. As you may or may not be aware, Captain, their capture or death is of the utmost importance to the Republic.”
“Aye, ma’am,” Davlyn replied. “I assume that’s why you contacted me directly?”
“It is.”
“What about the Fire and Brimstone, ma’am?”
“What about them?”
“Should I be anticipating running into those ships, ma’am?”
“I think it best not to make any assumptions one way or the other.”
Davlyn felt his muscles tense again. That wasn’t much of an answer.
“Captain,” Kaili said. “Your orders are to jump to TF-901 and confront this fleet, however it is composed. Determine if the fugitives are with them, and arrange for their transfer. If whoever is in charge of the fleet resists, you have the Committee’s permission to engage as necessary.”
Davlyn swallowed hard. “Aye, Admiral,” he said. “Can I expect reinforcements, if needed?”
“We are in the process of re-allocating resources across the Fringe. The nearest battlegroup is nine hours from your position. We can’t afford to wait that long. Engage the target. ”
“Ma’am,” Davlyn said. “With all due respect, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“This is your job, Captain. If you aren’t capable of doing it, I’m sure I can find someone in your patrol group who is.”
Davlyn lowered his head. “Yes, ma’am. It will be done.”
“Good.”
The projection vanished, the link dropped.
Davlyn stood in silence for a moment. If the mood had been tense before, it was more so now. He could feel the eyes of his bridge crew on him.
“Set a course for TF-901,” he said, his voice slightly shaky. “Bring us in close to the planet. If we’re going in, I want to catch them on their heels. Sound the alert. All hands to battle stations. Hopefully, we can convince whoever these Outworlders are to hand over the escapees and avoid bloodshed.”
“Do you think that’s likely, sir?” Ensign Sil asked.
Davlyn shook his head. “No.”
“Course is set, Captain,” Ensign Card said.
“All ships report ready for FTL,” Sil said.
“Engage,” Davlyn said.
The fleet blinked out in a flare of disterium gas. They arrived the same way four minutes later, slowing to sublight speeds only a few thousand kilometers from the planet.
“Sir, sensors are picking up the enemy ships,” Card said. “Profiles are unidentified. Wait. Six of them positively matched. A mix of Gladiator and Praetorian class.”
“Those designs are close to seventy years old,” Davlyn said.
Card gasped. “Oh. Sir.” He turned his head back to look at the Captain. “The Brimstone is with them. They also have two other ships the database can’t ID, but their power output is nearly double the rest of the fleet.”
“The Brimstone?” Davlyn felt the chill run down his body. “Set course for a full retreat.” He tapped the controls on his chair, opening a fleet-wide channel. “All ships, set course for a full retreat to prior coordinates. Arm torpedos and prepare to fire. Concentrate on the older battleships starting with the closest. Hopefully, we can do some damage and get the frag out of here.”
He watched the viewscreen, making visual contact with the targets. He could see the Brimstone sitting in the center of the group, with two other odd-looking vessels nearby. What the hell kind of ships were those?
“We’re being hailed, sir,” Ensign Sil said. “By the Brimstone.”
“Bring it up,” Davlyn replied.
He felt his throat constrict when General Sylvan Kett appeared in the projection. Had the traitor taken the ships and killed all of those innocent people?
“Captain Davlyn,” Kett said. “Surrender your forces immediately, or prepare to be destroyed.”
“The Brimstone is powering weapons, sir,” Ensign Card said.
“Fire all torpedoes,” Davlyn said, closing the link to the enemy. He should have guessed General Kett was behind the attacks. “Fire everything we’ve got.”
20
“They’re firing torpedoes, General,” Lieutenant Iann said.
“At which ship?” General Kett asked.
“The Hellion, sir.”
Kett smiled. “Gant already updated the shield protocols to match the Ophanim design. It’ll take a lot of energy to break through.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Gant, General?” Jequn said. “The same Gant that you had thrown into the brig for trying to talk some sense into you?”
“We’ve had this discussion already, Jequn,” Sylvan said. “There are reasons for what I do, even if no one else around here can see them.”
“Reasons? What reason do you have for wiping Ruby? What reason do you have for questioning Captain Mann? He was sending us valuable information, and you pissed it away like it’s worthless.”
“It is worthless, at the moment,” he replied calmly. “We’re in no position to bring the fight to Thraven. Not yet.”
“The Rejects did fine with Kell.”
“Kell was a target of opportunity. Cage knew Thraven wouldn’t interfere. We don’t know that about Avalon. If he knows Mann told us what they’re doing there, or even that he captured data from Tridium, which is likely, he’s liable to show up there. He wants to take me alive, more so now that your mother is dead. There aren’t many of us who can tell him where the Shardship and the Focus are.”
“The Hellion reports shields are holding at ninety-five percent,” Iann said ahead of them.
“As expected,” Sylvan replied.
“But now what, General?” Jequn said. “Our new hiding place is ruined before we’ve even managed to settle there.”
“Do you know why I tasked the others with finding a planet in the Fringe?”
“No.”
“Sir, we’re picking up disterium plumes. The Republic patrol is about to go to FTL.”
“I don’t think so,” he said, smiling.
Jequn creased her brow. She had always struggled to keep up with her father’s designs, but now she was beginning to feel that she, no, all of them, had been duped to some extent.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I want you to take a transport over to one of the Seedships to join the other Blooded,” he replied.
He pointed out into space. The disterium clouds had surrounded the Republic patrol, but they remained in the system, weapons quiet as they tried to determine what had gone wrong.
Jequn already knew. The Focus. It had been used to kill their jumps.
“You want to capture them?” Jequn said. The Gifted could use the Nodes to teleport to the Republic ships. They only had a dozen such Watchers with them, but it would be enough to take half of the vessels at least, and hopefully convince the rest to surrender.
“I want to talk to them,” Sylvan replie
d. “I want a chance to convince them that they’re fighting for the wrong side.”
“And if they don’t listen?”
“We need their ships. Their resources. One way or another.”
The realization finally hit her full force. “You did this on purpose. You knew if you stayed in the Fringe a patrol would happen by.”
“We don’t have many ways to bolster our forces,” Sylvan said.
“What about Gant and the Rejects? Why did you lock them up?”
“They’re conspiring against me. They’ve been working together to take back the Brimstone and escape. I can’t afford to allow dissenters to tear apart the cohesion of this military, either directly or indirectly. I would rather have Gant working as an engineer. He’s unbelievably good at it. But he took my options away by setting up a private network for him and the Rejects.”
“They want to go look for Queenie. Is that such a bad thing? We waited years for her to come along. We bided our time, hoping we could get a potential Evolent on our side. Once we finally got one, that’s when you decided she wasn’t as valuable as you thought.”
“That isn’t true at all,” Sylvan said. “I do think she’s valuable, but we have other problems right now and believe it or not if Cage is stuck on Azure I’m sure she’s doing just fine. We don’t have to rush back to rescue her. I doubt she even needs rescuing.”
“Why don’t you just tell them that?”
“Do you really think they would accept that reasoning? I doubt it.”
“That’s because they’re loyal.”
“Are you, Jequn?” Sylvan said, turning to face her. “I know you were with Dak and Gant outside my quarters. I know you fled because you didn’t want me to question you. Because there is nothing to question? Or because there is everything to question?”
The statement caught Jequn off-guard. “I. Uh.”
“Cherub,” Gant said, his voice sounding in her ear. “If you’re still on our side, now’s the time to get us out of here.
“Do I need to lock you up, too?” Kett asked.
“No, General,” Jequn replied. “But I think you’re making the wrong play here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me talk to Gant. The Rejects can help us with the enemy ships without risking all of our Blooded. In exchange, you let them go back to Azure to look for Queenie.”
“Cherub, do you copy?” Gant said. “If you can hear me, now’s the time to bust out of this joint.”
“I can’t agree to that,” Sylvan said.
“Why not?”
He looked away. Jequn could tell he was thinking, not dismissing her.
“If I let them go, I need you to keep them under control. I need you to make sure they come back.”
“I’ll do it,” Jequn replied.
“I also need them to go to Avalon first. Determine what’s happening there, and report back. Then they can go to Azure.”
“I think they’ll agree to that.”
“They had better, or they’ll be spending the rest of their lives in the storage holds.”
“Yes, General.” Jequn started heading off the bridge. She shifted her head back over her shoulder when she reached the corridor. “By the way, Gant had another communicator on him. He’s asking me to help them escape.”
“Would you have?” Sylvan asked. “If we hadn’t come to an agreement?”
Jequn stared back at him. She honestly wasn’t sure. He had even convinced her his intention was to run and hide.
“What are you going to do with Ruby?” she asked, not answering his question.
“Not what you were thinking,” he replied, not answering hers, either. “Now, go.”
21
“Cherub, can you hear me?” Gant said.
He was beginning to wonder if he had fragged up the circuitry in the makeshift comm link. No, that couldn’t be it. Any idiot could make a communicator.
“I don’t think she’s coming,” Erlan said. “Can you blame her? We’re trying to mutiny against her father.”
“It isn’t mutiny. I don’t want to seize control. I’ll let Queenie handle that. I just want out of here and away from this bullshit outfit.”
“It’s close enough,” Dak said. “If you’re asking her to choose between family and-”
“We’re family, too.”
Dak laughed. “Maybe you are. Some of us are just the hired help. Jequn, she’s her father’s soldier. She’s not going to-”
The door to the compartment slid open. Jequn was framed by it, a cart of gear in front of her.
“Nevermind,” Dak said.
She entered the room, the door closing behind her.
“Here’s the deal,” she said, looking at Gant. “We’re being attacked by a Republic patrol. Don’t worry; their weapons will take a little time to penetrate our shields. The thing is, General Kett wants those ships.”
Gant groaned.
“What?” Jequn asked.
“Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Think of what?” Erlan said.
“I’m getting stupid in my dotage. It’s not a bad move, but why didn’t he say so sooner?”
“He didn’t think you would listen. Besides, we took on hundreds of Outworld crew members. Trust only goes so far right now. He didn’t even tell me until two minutes ago.”
“So what’s the offer?” Gant asked.
“We help capture the flagship, we go to Avalon to see what there is to see, and then we have full authority to go find Queenie.”
“Like we need Kett’s permission?”
“I know you don’t, Gant,” Jequn said. “But Queenie is going to want this army. She’s going to want these ships. It’ll go a lot smoother to play along than to try to take them by force.”
“She’s right about that, Boss,” Dak said.
“Did Kett come up with that idea on his own?” Gant asked.
“Not exactly,” Jequn replied. “That’s the offer. It’s the only one we’re going to get.”
“And if we refuse? If I disable you and steal all that gear you brought in?”
She smiled. “I’d like to see you try.”
“I’m resistant to the Gift, remember?” Gant said. “And you don’t have the skills to drop me straight up.”
Jequn’s smile faded. “I know. Gant, please? I’m trying to walk the line here, and I could use a little support.”
“Fine. Nerd, Dak, either of you have a problem with this?”
“You’re the boss, Boss,” Dak said.
“Whatever you say,” Erlan said.
Gant walked over to the cart. He picked a nerve stick out of it. “Nothing in this pile is lethal.”
“We don’t want to kill Republic soldiers,” Jequn said. “We want to convince them to join the fight on the right side.”
“I suppose,” he replied. “What about Ruby?”
“What about her?”
Gant held the nerve stick, spinning it nimbly in his hand like a baton. “Kett wiped her. I don’t appreciate that.”
“He said he had a reason.”
“But he didn’t tell you what it was.”
“No.”
“I take it she isn’t coming with us, then. The reset will take hours. Where’s Imp?”
Jequn reached into a tightpack on her suit, withdrawing their communicators. “Already on the way with the Faust. I said the shields would last a few minutes, not forever.”
“You knew I would accept?”
“I figured either you would accept or free yourself. We both know this fight needs Queenie. Even my father knows that.”
Gant took the offered communicator. It was better than the makeshift one he had made.
“Imp, what’s your ETA?” he asked.
“Hey, freak-monkey!” Bastion replied. “It’s been a while.”
“Why do you have to call me that?”
“It’s a term of endearment.”
“It’s annoying.”
“Yeah,
well, sorry. I was just trying to keep things playful and loose, you know. I’ll be docking in ten seconds, assuming these Republic pukes don’t hit me.”
“We’re on our way,” Gant said. “Nerd, Dak, gear up.”
The two Rejects grabbed some of the gear. In addition to the nerve sticks, there were stunners and lightsuits for each of them.
“Uh, can I go across the hall?” Erlan asked.
Gant paused in the middle of removing his pants. “Why?” He looked at Erlan.
The pilot’s face was deep red.
Gant groaned again. “Ugh. Cherub, would you mind turning your back?”
Jequn smiled as she turned around.
“You guys, too?” Erlan asked.
Gant groaned again but did as he asked, facing away from Erlan as he finished stripping and pulled on the lightsuit.
“I’m surprised they had one that was big enough for you, Dak,” Gant said.
“This is my original. I haven’t worn it in; I don’t know, three years. I’m glad it still sort of fits.”
Gant finished putting his on and turned back to Dak. The lightsuit looked like it was crushing him.
“I gained a little weight,” Dak said.
“What’s a little weight for you? One hundred kilos?”
“Give or take,” he replied, laughing.
“Where the frag are you guys?” Bastion said. “It’s getting boring out here.”
“You should have grabbed Pik and Benhil first,” Gant said.
“He did,” Pik said.
“We’re just waiting on you four lollygaggers,” Bastion said. “Seriously, can you get your asses in gear or what?”
“We’re on our way. Cherub, tell Kett we accept. We’ll get him the battleship, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Gant moved past her and into the hallway. The guards were both on the ground, knocked out by the nerve sticks.
“Okay, wait a minute,” he said.
“I took some liberties,” Jequn said. “My father isn’t the only one with loyal soldiers in this army. He’ll assume by our actions that we took the deal, and if you want to follow through, all the better. If you don’t? As far as I’m concerned, the Rejects don’t answer to anyone but the Rejects.”
