"Was the cruiser refitted before it launched?"
"No, sir, not that I am aware."
"Find out. Not from O'Malley, from the space station dry dock personnel."
"Yes, sir."
Riddle leaned back. Eliminating Tomlins was good, but when details failed to mesh with the overall plans, he worried. Attention to details. That was important, almost as important as the flow of intelligence from his unknown benefactor. Riddle cursed again when he saw the tiny column of mist whirling about, trying to establish itself on his battle map. His electronic blockade prevented it─so far.
"Have Captain O'Malley report to me immediately. I want to give him a medal, have a press conference, the usual routine for a hero."
"He is limping back to port, sir. He has reported extensive damage."
"See that the after-action report is classified Eyes Only and sent directly to me." Riddle waved his hand through the increasingly insistent misty column. "Now go."
"Yes, sir."
He made certain his electronic shields were up. The column, in spite of his efforts, grew in size and intensity. He started his monitors to analyze how those safeguards were circumvented.
"It's done," came the familiar voice. The gray mist hardened but never quite showed the usual dynamism. He recorded everything to find what technique proved the most effective block.
"Yes," Riddle said. "It is done. I am moving to reinforce troops in the major cities before announcing Programmer General Weir's unfortunate demise."
"You must deal with Kori Tomlins first."
He grimaced. Always Kori Tomlins and her daughter.
"Yes, of course." Riddle waited for a reply. It never came. The fog whooshed out of existence, leaving him with his own thoughts─and his own objectives that had nothing to do with a secretive benefactor.
Chapter Twenty-seven
"I thought you were pirates. My orders were to stop a pirate ship. I didn't know." Captain O'Malley stood stiffly in front of Cletus Tomlins. If his knees had been locked any tighter, he would have toppled over.
"You realize that Citizen Chang disabled a cargo hold filled with explosives, and that you would have self-detonated?" Cletus saw how pale the officer became. "I know you were given a suicide mission─wait!" He held up his hand to forestall the officer's protest. "I know you hadn't any idea you would kill yourself."
"I would never risk my ship and crew that way, sir. I wouldn't. We were told the sealed hold contained new tracking instrumentation and secret experimental sensors. It's God's honest truth, sir, I did not know we were packed with explosives. The Belfast's destruction would leave a huge gap in the fleet. We're the best in the High Guard."
"I know, Captain. You have been cruelly used." Cletus watched the tiny wrinkles form at the corners of the officer's mouth as resolution set in. Cletus had a staunch recruit, as much from prior loyalty as determination to pay back Aaron Riddle for misusing him and his cruiser in such an outrageous fashion. This was not how war was fought. Not by Burran.
"You were reported as dead, sir. You and the Programmer General died, and the Shillelagh was destroyed coming out of a badly timed Drop."
"The coup left us no choice but to fight back however we could."
"As pirates?"
Cletus nodded.
"Consider it guerrilla action, if spacing in a dreadnought as powerful as the Shillelagh can be considered that. Tell me, Captain. What of my mother and sisters?"
"I haven't heard anything, sir. Since Weir became Programmer General, news has been limited. Some say controlled, others say it is censored. What we hear from the cargo ships supplying us at the station, marital law has been declared in many cities down below because of combined attacks by both Eire and Uller."
"What do you think, Captain O'Malley?" Cletus knew his father would debrief the cruiser's skipper later. Such information mattered little to him, now that the captain had declared a lack of knowledge of his mother, Ebony and Bella. Past the captain's shoulder he saw Leanne slip onto the bridge. A single nod assured him all was secure aboard the cruiser now.
"Our orbiting fleet could reduce any invasion force in a few days, sir. My ship alone could sweep the entire border every ninety minutes from low orbit where the worst fighting is reported, but we have been ordered to patrol exclusively to interdict pirates. Unless there are others, that means you, sir."
"There are no others. We have not destroyed any of the incoming cargo vessels. Our plan is to choke off trade and force Weir to surrender."
"The reports tell of several blown up ships, sir."
"We boarded and then redirected them to other potential trade worlds. When Programmer General Tomlins is once more at the Blarney Stone's console, he intends to reopen those trade routes. To do so means cordial relations have to exist. They do."
Leanne came and stood beside him. Only a quick glance at the captain told him she agreed with his appraisal. They had a solid ally in O'Malley. She bent and whispered, "We have intercepted a microburst to the station calling down all ships into low attack orbits. The revolt against Weir has begun in earnest."
"My father intends to take the Shillelagh down to support the rebellion?" Cletus caught his breath. They had worked on the warbots to bring them to full effectiveness. If he and Leanne dropped into the capital driving those they would turn the tide quickly against anything Riddle could bring to bear. The city streets were not designed for tanks and any armored infantry would fall quickly to the warbots. They had been fearsome before. Outfitted with the darklight energy batteries, they carried the STF armor and heavier armament than before. Even a main battle tank pitted against them would be outclassed.
"He has downloaded the security sequences from this cruiser. If the Shillelagh goes down, it will be last and able to fire on any of the High Guard ships."
Cletus chewed at his lower lip. He didn't like the idea of one Burran ship destroying another, though he realized how quickly Riddle would turn the entire fleet against the Shillelagh, should he detect it.
"Can he hide the difference between a dreadnought and a cruiser?"
"He can, sir," O'Malley said, "if he keeps the station on the far side of the planet where its sensors can't sight him directly. I know the proper geosynchronous spy satellites to take out to blind them─and the ground."
"Would Riddle use the fleet against civilians?" The idea turned him cold inside. It had been bad enough thinking of the fleet used against Eire or Uller, since those nations lacked a High Guard. They were still of Ballymore and old earth, cleaving more to Pope Seamus than modern arms and methods.
"I have heard rumors that Commander in Chief Riddle and Programmer General Weir are not on the best of terms. Riddle might see this as his opportunity to assume complete control." O'Malley made a face. "His insistence on martial law in many cities has not been well received, either by the citizens or Weir's advisers."
"And the military, Captain?" Leanne studied him closely. "Where does the military allegiance lie?"
O'Malley stiffened even more and said, "We follow orders, ma'am."
Leanne nodded and said nothing more. Cletus took this as his cue to assert himself as Commander in Chief Armed Forces.
"I'll take command of the Belfast to support my father." Cletus saw Leanne's fleeting expression. "You'll stay with me?"
"Your father needs me. Also, there is the matter of the damage this ship has sustained, making it a hindrance in combat. It is better that you get the ship ... repaired."
Cletus knew that she meant "converted" to the darklight batteries. The cruiser would then be more than a match for the only other dreadnought in the High Guard then. Such extensive work would take a month or longer, even with the full robotic crew on Scrutiny dedicated to that one task only.
"I need to be with my fleet, even if it is only the Shillelagh and the Belfast."
"It has been discussed. Take command of this cruiser and repair it."
"Sir?" O'Malley moved a little closer and lowered his
voice. "The ship is not battleworthy, but we can be useful as a decoy. As much as I'd like to see the Belfast doing its part to regain control for the Programmer General, we cannot enter the atmosphere without coming apart."
"Can you Lift?"
"The StringSpaceLift engines are intact." O'Malley smiled crookedly and shook his head in disbelief. "We can Lift but not fight or even port on-planet. Half the crew is in suits because we're leaking air from most compartments."
"No, Cletus," Leanne said before he could protest what the captain had said. "You must be the one to pilot to Scrutiny."
O'Malley started to speak, hesitated for a moment to get his thoughts in order, then said, "I'm loyal to your father, sir. And I am under your orders. Without question. I can navigate the Belfast anywhere and keep the destination secret. Scrutiny is the base where you added those incredible weapons on your father's flagship?"
Cletus sucked in his breath and held it. His father had given him the coordinates, should anything happen in combat. They had kept them from everyone else, though he suspected Leanne had somehow figured out the location. She had spent a great deal of time while the Shillelagh was being refitted studying the starfield visible from Scrutiny. The precise location wouldn't be discernible, but if she knew the region in space, the neighborhood in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud where the TZO lay, the Far Kingdom astronomers could narrow the search down by the red giant's spectral type.
A sinking sensation caused him to sigh. He wanted to trust her. His feelings for her were greater than he wanted to admit to anyone, and if she betrayed him, his father and Burran, it would be devastating, yet could he expect her to be less loyal to Far Kingdom than he was to Ballymore? Whatever he felt for her was less than the loyalty he felt for his world. It was foolish to think she loved him more than the world where she had been born and the people who had promoted her to such a responsible position.
"Your loyalty is not in question, Captain. The base must remain a secret in case Weir is successful in retaining power."
"Or Riddle succeeds in deposing him," Leanne said. "If the Shillelagh is destroyed, someone must continue the fight. We will go in unsure of the fighters and their allegiances."
"You can't go down alone in the warbot. Both of us need to go." Cletus heard how hollow that sounded in his own ears.
"We will have a few hours, and I can control both units. Don't forget that I did this when you were learning the rudiments of the robot. Another officer can be trained enough to power up the systems and then the unit can be set on automatic. It is capable of fighting without a driver."
O'Malley stepped away, not sure of what they discussed. He gestured to his XO and spoke quietly with her.
Cletus listened to just enough to know O'Malley issued orders to prepare the cruiser for a Lift. He was a good officer. Trusting him would not be a mistake, but Cletus remembered how his father had not told even his son, his family, anyone, about Scrutiny. The research done there not only gave a chance for regaining power in Burran but also for Ballymore to become a more important planet. Once Weir and Riddle were deposed, the Shillelagh no longer needed to be a pirate ship. It could be the flagship of a powerful fleet.
A fleet he would command as Commander in Chief Armed Forces.
"If we get rid of Weir and Riddle," he said aloud.
"You have reached the same conclusion your father has." Leanne stared at him. A touch of pity tainted what he thought was love in her eyes.
"The assault can be postponed until the Belfast is spaceworthy again. Two ships with the darklight batteries can─"
"No, Cletus. We do not decide the timing. Donal must press his advantage now. And you must repair this cruiser as backup if anything goes wrong."
"I resent being a pirate, of chasing away civilian ships."
"It is necessary as long as Goram Weir controls the Blarney Stone and Riddle commands the military. The space station possesses potent energy weapons as well as being base for the Burran High Guard. Such a powerful base has to be captured, not destroyed, or Burran will suffer after the war is over."
"The sooner I get to Scrutiny, the sooner I can return."
"It will be to a Burran with a Tomlins as Programmer General. Your part is more difficult because you cannot fight alongside your father." She touched his arm and said in a whisper, "Or with me."
He kissed her. She recoiled for a moment, then returned the kiss with fervor. Leanne stepped away and touched her lips with her index finger.
"I will see you on-planet. Soon." She quickly left.
Cletus felt as if part of him went with her. He settled in the captain's chair and saw O'Malley, his XO and the few remaining bridge crew trying not to look at him.
"How long before the Belfast can Lift, Commodore?"
"We are powering up the fusion engines now, Captain Tomlins. By the time the co-ordinates are set, we can Lift."
Cletus took his time, watching the external cam directed toward the Shillelagh until Leanne disappeared into the dreadnought's airlock. He settled the control helmet, made certain of data security and finally inputted Scrutiny's coordinates, double checked them and then made certain with a third run that he had not made a mistake.
"Commodore O'Malley, we Lift in three, two, one ..."
The Belfast creaked and moaned like a thing alive as the StringSpaceLift engine squeezed them down into other dimensions that erased time and space.
Four seconds later, the ship Dropped into normal space─or as normal as space could be near a TZO. They had transited perfectly. Now the work could begin refitting the cruiser.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Kori Tomlins shrugged her shoulders to settle the heavy backpack as she pressed through the tunnel leading into the Residence. Phosphorescent patches dimly lit the passage with an eerie green, but stronger light shone through crevices in the roof. The constant rioting and use of heavy artillery by the military in the capital's streets ten meters above to drive back demonstrators had taken its toll on the once elegant structure. The finest architects and decorators had laid out the tunnel for exclusive use by the Programmer General, should the need arise to vacate the Residence due to fire or damage from the fierce storms that had once raged before terraforming had dulled their teeth decades earlier. She wiped her nose as the stench of gunpowder and ionization from lasers made her want to sneeze. The tunnel was now a death trap and a filthy one, to boot. Compared with the secret passage she and Bella had taken before, though, this one was a major highway. That one had been destroyed as soon as she had escaped it, but like so much in Burran, duplication afforded her this different way to complete her goal of killing Weir.
She trudged forward a few more meters before hunkering down to rest on a piece of broken concrete. A sneeze escaped her before she could muffle it. The echo down the passage made her reach for the lasepistol tucked into her belt. Her intelligence report said this way into the Programmer General's main office was clear of guards today. The civil uprising had reached a crescendo─she had coordinated with several guerrilla groups to draw away soldiers who otherwise would patrol this old exit. Hijacked sensors tied in with the Blarney Stone had lulled Weir into believing his back was safe because this passage was shown as collapsed. More than treachery, she depended on Bella tinkering with the program to momentarily ignore her passage should any sensor remain.
Hearing nothing more threatening than a slow, distant drip of water and the bone-jarring rumble of heavy equipment above, she stuck the pistol back and leaned forward to concentrate on catching her breath. This weakness made her angry, but she was so close to winning back control of the entire nation her heart raced and her lungs strained. Once Weir disappeared, only Bella knew how to use the Blarney Stone. Weir had done a good job removing any other who might possess the talent and knowledge to supplant him. Even the most rabid of her opponents would yield rather than returning to anarchy when they found their best programming skills availed them nothing. The computer promised stability in the face of t
oo many rioters─and Bella alone could deliver that return to the way it was before Donal ...
... before Donal betrayed her. Before he subverted their son. Before he abandoned her to die at Weir's hand in the prison compound.
The jagged rock under her palms as she bent forward sent shivers into her, but the fire in her gut for her mission wiped out any discomfort. She had recruited a platoon of assassins in the months since she had fled from Emerald Isle, but all had failed. This was a better solution because even if they had blown off the son of a bitch's head, knowing they had succeeded became a poor substitute for killing Weir with her own hands. Herold had constructed several bombs to leave about for the usurper, if she failed to find him in her laser sights. However it happened, she wanted to look at Weir's corpse, either cindered or blown apart.
A final deep breath settled her for the final infiltration. She stood, pulled the explosives-laden pack to a more comfortable carry, then started forward. Occasionally looking up, she saw shadows, ghosts, a hint of movement above. The cracks in the pavement gave a surreal, flashing video of death. As debris fell on her, she pressed closer to a wall for safety and hurried forward. The battle above was unlikely to go well for the rebels. They had little more than light arms pitted against armor and artillery. The only weapon the soldiers lacked were the warrior robots Donal and Cletus had used.
The memory of the towering creature of metal turning and leaving her and Bella to their fate so many months earlier fired her anew. She knew more could have been done to circumvent the soldiers. Recruiting some for the cause of deposing Weir had been within her grasp, but she distrusted anyone who had followed Weir. They had followed Donal before him. Her penetration of the Residence depended on a turncoat getting her to the second floor where Weir directed the entire economy─and waged his war against the people of Burran.
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