by Terry Mixon
Meyer looked like he’d bitten into something sour. “The captain will not be pleased.”
“As senior medical officer in this task force, this is my decision to make and I’ve made it.” Guzman’s tone brooked no argument.
The thin man harrumphed. “Very well. We don’t have time to deal with this in any case.” He turned to Jared. “The captain is ready to see this Old Empire battlecruiser for himself. We are to accompany him in your cutter. Let’s go.”
The man’s tone grated on Jared’s nerves, but he kept his peace. He’d faced hostility like this before and he’d no doubt do it again. Being the Imperial Bastard gave him some experience in that. After Ethan, Meyer was a lightweight.
Ensign Enova wisely remained out of sight on the flight deck when they boarded the cutter. Unlike Jared, Breckenridge didn’t seem inclined to poke his nose up there.
The older officer seemed to be in an even worse mood than earlier, if possible. “So Guzman cleared you for duty? Unbelievable. Don’t think for one moment that this changes anything. You will not be allowed to escape the consequences of your actions so lightly.”
Jared ground his teeth. “Perhaps the captain would educate me on what actions he would’ve taken under the same circumstances?”
Breckenridge looked down his nose at Jared. “The first thing I would’ve avoided was rushing through an untested flip point.”
Jared said nothing and kept his face neutral.
The other man scowled anyway. “Do not try to equalize our circumstances, Commander. Your ship appeared to be under attack and severely damaged. Coming after you was the right choice.”
Deciding he had little to lose, Jared pressed the subject. “We left a drone with all the data we’d gathered. The warning not to use the flip point was right up front. If you’d taken a few minutes to read it.”
“You will keep a civil tongue in your head, Commander, or I’ll see you in the brig. Your second error was revealing yourself to the Pentagarans. The third was involving yourself, and by extension, the Empire in a war that we have no business in.”
Jared resisted the urge to shake his head. That wouldn’t be helpful. “Those events are inextricably linked, sir. If you can jump in to save my ship, how could we do any less for helpless civilians? We already knew we had to go through that system to get home. If we’d stood by, many thousands of people would’ve been killed and the Empire’s reputation would’ve been ruined.”
“Not if they didn’t know you were there to witness the fight. The prudent action would be to observe and determine whom to aid. You were lucky you didn’t help the wrong people.”
Jared felt shamed he’d even considered that course of action. Hearing Breckenridge say it made him feel dirty. “Luckily for me, I had the princess along to advise me.”
“We’ll call that mistake number four. You should never have listened to an untrained neophyte, with all due respect to Princess Kelsey and the Imperial Family. She virtually gave away the technology you’d discovered. And for what? The gratitude of people who turned around and almost killed you and your crew.
“Mistake five, trusting these people any further than you can throw them. Mistake six, getting almost a hundred of your crew killed and your ship wrecked. Perhaps you’d care to point out even one thing that you did right. That might take less time.”
Jared took a deep breath and let it out slowly. How had this idiot ever achieved a Fleet command?
“We’ve made mistakes, sir. No doubt. That said, we’ve done a few things right. We saved millions of people from almost certain death. If we’d stood aside, we’d have been complicit in an atrocity. Second, we’ve made a firm ally of the first advanced civilization the Empire has discovered since the Fall. Third, we’ve recovered a priceless artifact, an Old Empire battlecruiser filled with technology we’re still trying to grasp. Not just as defunct equipment, but as a working ship. Fourth, we’ve recovered a treasure in data and cultural information in her computers.”
He leaned forward. “Fifth, and most important, we’ve given the rebels a bloody nose and discovered their threat before they could attack the Empire. A surprise attack by the Pale Ones could’ve ended us. These new people might be even worse. Now we can prepare for them and take the fight to them.”
Breckenridge shook his head with obvious disbelief. “You’ve lost your mind, Commander. I thank the gods that I arrived when I did. You have delusions.”
The cutter docked with a slight bounce. Breckenridge stood, turned his back on Jared, and exited as soon as Meyer opened the hatch.
Graves stood waiting outside the docking hatch. He looked a little startled when Breckenridge and Meyer came aboard without asking permission, but he didn’t let it put him off his game. “Commodore Breckenridge, Commander Meyer, welcome aboard Courageous. I’m Lieutenant Commander Charlie Graves, Captain Mertz’s executive officer.”
The courtesy promotion was Fleet tradition. There could only be one captain on a ship. A marine with that rank became a major when addressed.
“You may refer to me as captain on this ship, Commander,” Breckenridge said. “Whatever this derelict might once have been, it’s no longer a Fleet vessel.”
“Incorrect,” Courageous said from the overhead speakers. “Courageous has not been decommissioned and is in active service.”
Breckenridge’s head jerked back. “Who the hell is that? If you want to speak to me, you can come down here and do it to my face. And don’t you dare tell me the facts of the matter. I’ll tell you.”
“This unit is the AI controlling Courageous. It is customary to refer to a ship’s AI by the same name as the ship on which it resides. Much as it is customary to request permission to come aboard a ship not your own, Commodore Breckenridge.”
For a moment, Jared thought Breckenridge would have a stroke. “How dare you?” He whirled on Jared. “Are you telling me that you’ve allowed an unknown computer to control this derelict? Absolutely unacceptable.”
“Courageous is just as much a part of this ship as the hull, sir,” Jared said. “You aren’t aware of just how intimately it is woven into all the ship’s systems.”
He sent a second command mentally to the computer. Don’t press him, Courageous. Now is not the time.
“You’ve obviously lost all sense, Commander,” Breckenridge snarled. “Allow me to clear up a few things. This is not an Imperial vessel. It’s salvage. You are not its commanding officer. You are the commanding officer of a jumped up destroyer and a bastard that Fleet should have dismissed years ago. You will report to Athena and remain there until further notice. Commander Meyer will lead a prize crew and bring this wreck home.”
“Unacceptable,” Courageous said. “This unit has a lawfully appointed commanding officer, Jared Mertz. Attempting to seize control of this vessel without authority will not be allowed.”
Meyer cleared his throat. “Perhaps that course of action is somewhat premature, Captain.”
Breckenridge looked at his exec as though the man had grown two heads. “Explain yourself.”
“Whatever his flaws and failures, Commander Mertz is intimately familiar with this ship and the computer controlling it. He has the only direct method of accessing its records. He’s correct in that this is a tremendous find for the Empire and a great stroke of luck that he could restore it to any level of functionality. We should take advantage of that.”
“What are you suggesting? Leaving him in command of this ship? After everything he’s done?” He sounded incredulous.
Meyer shrugged. “He’s been in command of it in every way that mattered for months. What are a few more days? I suggest you make it clear to Commander Mertz that I am here acting with your authority. Then it doesn’t matter that the ship’s computer won’t recognize me as being in command. If he doesn’t do so, you have clear grounds to place him under arrest.”
Breckenridge turned his attention to Mertz. “I dislike playing games, but so be it. Commander Meyer speaks with my au
thority. You will obey his orders as though they come from me. Is that clear enough, Commander Mertz?”
Jared kept his face blank. “Crystal clear, sir.”
The old man grunted. “Then let’s finish this tour so I can get back to my ship. We need to be in Pentagaran space as soon as possible so that I can undo what damage I can. The princess no doubt needs my support and advice. Frankly, I’m certain that she’ll be glad to see you replaced. Move this along, Commander. The clock is ticking.”
Chapter Six
“My guards aren’t going to be very happy,” Elise said as the lift descended into the Parliament Building. “And why would the Old Empire need to hide this so effectively?”
Kelsey shrugged and drew a flechette pistol from a concealment holster at the small of her back. It wasn’t very comfortable because it was large and she was small, but she liked having something to hand if trouble came looking for her. As it had done all too often of late.
She didn’t expect to find anything living down here, but it paid to be cautious. Not that Talbot was going to see this as anything but reckless.
Kelsey smiled a little. “In my defense, I didn’t expect the room to move.”
The lift jerked to a halt and the hatch slid open, revealing darkness that slowly began brightening. Kelsey stepped out and scanned the area. It was a corridor similar to those aboard Courageous.
Elise tried her communications unit. “I’m not getting a signal. Shouldn’t we go right back up? They’re going to be going wild about now.”
Once glance showed Kelsey that she didn’t have a connection either. “The area is screened. We could go back up, but I’d rather see what’s down here first. Admit it. You’re curious. Are they going to be any more upset if we spend a few minutes checking things out?”
“Probably not,” the noblewoman admitted. “Lead on.”
The corridor led to a single armored hatch, not unlike the one protecting Courageous’ computer center. It slid open at their approach. The room beyond was cloaked in darkness. Kelsey sensed a light control near the doorway and commanded the lights on.
The bright lights made her blink for a moment, but revealed a command center that made the bridge on Courageous feel small. It had to take up almost the entire shielded area.
At least this level. Perhaps there was more underneath it. An even larger hatch occupied the far side of the control center and smaller ones sat on the right and left sides.
Elise gaped. “My God. What is this place?”
All of the consoles were dark. Kelsey walked to the central dais and powered it on. The system went through a boot sequence and came to life. Once it felt online, she attempted to connect with it. It promptly rejected her.
This system is restricted. Authenticate.
Kelsey felt it probe her implants and to her surprise, they responded with a complicated authentication code.
Authentication accepted. Standing by.
She probed her implants, but couldn’t figure out why it had responded at all, much less with some kind of code.
Identify this system, she instructed it.
This unit is the primary planetary defense center for the Pentagaran system.
Kelsey turned toward Elise and holstered her weapon. “We’re not in any danger. This is the Old Empire planetary defense center. I guess they controlled the fight against the rebels from here.”
Elise put her hands on the back of a chair in the center of the room. “I always knew there had to have been one, but I thought it long destroyed. The rebels pounded us from orbit. They destroyed the spaceport and two other cities.”
“Hang on while I try to figure out something.” Kelsey cocked her head. What was the thing you did with my implants?
This unit authenticated your clearance level and diplomatic codes. Everything is in order.
What diplomatic codes? What clearance level?
Your diplomatic codes, Ambassador Kelsey Bandar. This unit acknowledges your authority over it. As an heir to the Imperial Throne and ambassador plenipotentiary of the Terran Empire, you have clearance to communicate and instruct this unit. What are your orders?
How the hell could it know all that? How could her implants have codes like that? The Pale Ones certainly hadn’t known or cared.
Then the answer occurred to her. It had to be Courageous. Nothing else explained it. It had to have put the codes into her implants. Probably in the same way a captain controlled his ship. The computers knew who people were and what they could control based on the codes in their implants and their serial numbers.
She remembered Courageous had updated her implants for her. It must’ve added the codes then. Why hadn’t it told her? She’d have to ask it.
The question of why it had done so was a little murkier. It might have accepted Jared as its commanding officer, but why would it grant her diplomatic codes? And how did it have them to begin with? Well, perhaps it knew them because a computer had to have them to know they were valid, right?
She looked at Elise. “It seems that Courageous gave me diplomatic codes. At least that’s my guess at where they came from. The computer accepts my authority as an ambassador of the Terran Empire. Which is somewhat awkward since Pentagar isn’t part of said Empire.”
“I’m not going to quibble right now.” Elise walked around the room and peered at the consoles. “I can hardly imagine even being in here. This is part of our history. The baron, my great great and so forth grandfather probably stood in this room. Of course, that begs the question of why he never mentioned it.”
“Without weapons systems, it may not have seemed relevant after the rebels failed to return.”
Computer, can you respond verbally?
“Affirmative.”
Elise jerked at the voice from the hidden speakers. It sounded female and soothing.
“What is your status?” Kelsey asked.
“This unit is online. Scanner net degraded to twenty-three percent. Weapon systems offline.”
“Amazing,” Elise said softly. “Computer, do you have records of the attack on Pentagar?”
“Voice not recognized. Implant authorization required to divulge classified information.”
Fortunately, Kelsey had dealt with this situation before. “Computer, I authorize you to respond to Crown Princess Elise Orison.”
“Authorization not accepted. Implants codes required for each individual accessing this system.”
Kelsey frowned. “So, you’re saying you recognize my authority as an ambassador of the Terran Empire, but I can’t authorize someone to access you?”
“Incorrect. Access to the system can be granted once the appropriate authorizations are entered into an individual’s implants. This task may be accomplished at any computer that possesses the appropriate diplomatic security databases.”
“Well, that’s not very helpful,” Kelsey grumbled. “I can see this is going to be a recurring theme. You can do whatever you like, as long as you have the appropriate authorization. Oh, and by the way, you can’t get the appropriate authorization, because there’s no one left to give it to you. Or the people you want to authorize won’t have implants.”
Elise put her hand on Kelsey’s shoulder. “Now, now. Let’s not be so negative. You received the appropriate authorization for diplomatic purposes, didn’t you? Surely, that means that other computer systems can do something similar. What is it that you’re not able to do?”
“The first thing I’d like to do is give you the appropriate authority to access this computer. It’s on your planet, so you should be in control of it, not some visitor from another world. Then I’d like to get more specifications on my implants. I have to piece together little bits and pieces of information to figure out their functionality. I should be able to find a help manual somewhere.”
“And Courageous doesn’t have something like that for you?”
“Apparently not. Though it must have a diplomatic security database.”
Elise walked a
round the control room slowly. “So, what was it you were detecting from the speaker’s podium?”
Kelsey located the access point she’d detected earlier. “Computer, what is this?” She forwarded the signature of the device to the computer.
“That is a closed-circuit data repeater. It interfaces with the podium in the parliamentary chamber. Through it, the podium computer can access authorized material in this unit.”
Kelsey nodded. That made sense. “What restricts access to the podium? Is it only due to the fact that I had diplomatic codes in my implants that I can access it?”
“Correct. The podium computer is designed to interface with all authorized personnel and their designees.”
“What are the criteria for you to designate someone?” Elise asked.
Kelsey repeated the question to the computer.
“Authorized users may designate other individuals to access the podium controls through implant or verbal access.”
“Finally. I designate Crown Princess Elise Orison as my designee. She has complete access to any files that I would have access to through the podium.”
“Please state your name and position for the record, Crown Princess Elise Orison.”
Elise stood a little straighter. “My name is Elise Patricia Orison. My position is crown princess and heir to the throne of Pentagar.”
“Access granted to console systems on podium, Crown Princess Elise Patricia Orison.”
“Please call me Elise.”
“Preference acknowledged.”
The tall noblewoman rubbed her hands together. “I cannot wait to dig into the contents of this computer. However, we really should head back up before they find a drill to come after us. I figure just about enough time has passed that Talbot will be there.”
Kelsey snorted. “I’ll bet you’re right. He’s probably ready to dig his way down with his bare hands. First, let me get a little bit more information.”
She accessed the system and requested plans for the hidden facility. As she’d expected, there were other levels below this one. Probably filled with computers and control systems. The hatch directly across from where they’d entered supposedly led to the known areas of the Parliament Building, but the corridor read as sealed. She imagined someone had filled it in with plascrete to hide the facility. Why, she wasn’t sure. The other two led to various rooms and lifts connected to the areas below.
