Vice Admiral Kyle Roberts sighed and turned on the pickup.
“Alliance Fleet, this is Kyle Roberts,” he greeted them. “I assume I have been declared missing, presumed dead, but as you can see, I was taken prisoner by the Commonwealth.
“I have attached my level-one authentication sequences to this message. This channel is not secure enough for standard interrogations for level-two and higher authentications. My understanding is that the locals will happily deliver me to a vessel of your choice for those authentications.
“The Niagara System government does not want a battle today,” he continued. “Walkingstick has returned to Sol to deal with internal Commonwealth business—and there is an ambassador on their way to Alliance space to negotiate the end of the war.
“Which means that I don’t believe we want a battle today. The Premier has offered to release all Alliance POWs and offer the parole of the Niagara System.”
He smirked.
“For obvious reasons, I do not regard myself as empowered to negotiate on the Alliance’s behalf, but…I think her offer is genuine.
“And speaking merely for my own personal desire to no longer be a prisoner of war, I strongly recommend we take it.”
49
Castle System
12:00 November 26, 2737 Earth Standard Meridian Date/Time
Castle Orbit
IT WAS FITTING to Kyle that he returned to Castle at the end of the war aboard Avalon. The big ship had been his first real command after the loss of her namesake, his first acting command. He was a passenger on her this time, but it was still the only ship he would have wanted to come home in.
The big carrier had docked with Merlin Orbital Four, giving him momentary flashbacks to returning from the Battle of Tranquility with the crippled old Avalon. He and his trio of guards—the Marines from the POW camp hadn’t given up the duty yet, and he’d used a little bit of the influence his stars gave him to get them a permanent assignment—were almost lost in the crowds as they boarded the station.
Six capital ships of the Castle Federation Space Navy had docked within minutes of each other, half of the dozen ships escorting liberated prisoners from Niagara home. The six military stations were going to see a massive amount of traffic over the next few weeks, too.
The news had been confirmed earlier that morning: Ambassador Hope Burns and the leadership of the Alliance had extended the initial cease-fire into a ten-year armistice to allow for careful negotiation of a longer-term peace treaty.
The war was over. So far as the civilians could tell, the Alliance had won.
Kyle had read the terms of the armistice agreement. The Alliance had won. Commonwealth forces would be withdrawn from all occupied Alliance systems. The independence of Presley was recognized. Via Somnia was officially a joint Castle Federation–Coraline Imperium protectorate.
It was all over.
And he was struggling through the crowds, trying to find a specific set of faces. There were too many people there, and even his stars and Marines only bought him so much space. Mira was supposed to be there, but he couldn’t find her.
“Admiral!” a familiar female voice bellowed over the crowd. “Hey, people! Make way for the damned Fox!”
He turned to see Kelly Mason, in full Navy Captain’s uniform, sending a quartet of uniformed Marines forward to intercept him. A fifth uniformed Marine stood next to her, holding a tiny blond baby.
The crowd heard Mason’s words and for the first time actually turned to look at Kyle. The result was impressive. A corridor opened between him and the Captain, the crowds suddenly all focused on him.
It was frankly embarrassing, but he put on his biggest grin and walked toward his old XO.
“Captain Mason,” he greeted her. “Congratulations on the promotion.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “We’ve been trying to keep people’s kids out of the scrum,” she continued, glancing around at the chaos around them, “with only mixed success.
“That said, your ex is engaged to an MFA, your fiancée is a bloody Admiral in her own right and you are the Stellar Fox.” Mason grinned. “I used that collection of gravitas to take over a private meeting room and stuffed your family in there.”
“Thank you,” he breathed. “You are, as always, a lifesaver.”
Mason shook her head.
“Consider it repayment for not asking for me as your flag captain,” she told him. “I had Sunset ready to go to war with you, but I won’t pretend I wasn’t glad to be able to stay home with Mike here.”
Kyle smiled at the chubby little boy. From this distance, he could see both Michael Stanford and Kelly Mason in him.
“Meeting room, then?” he asked quietly.
“Follow me.”
KYLE WAS AT MOST three centimeters inside the room when a bundle of hyperactive teenager collided with him, Jacob Kerensky burying his face in his father’s midsection in a moment of relief.
“Wasn’t sure,” his son whispered. “Mom and Mira and Dan all said nobody knew, but the news kept saying you were definitely dead!”
Kyle grimaced.
“I’m not dead,” he promised Jacob. He shook his head sadly, considering the officers and spacers who wouldn’t be coming home. “I’m not dead, Jacob,” he repeated, hugging the boy.
He looked over his son’s head at the three adults waiting in the room. They were all standing back to let Jacob hug his father, but then Lisa slipped forward and put a hand on Jacob’s shoulder.
“You do have to share him, you know,” she told her son with a laugh. Her embrace was much quicker—but with Mira barely steps behind her, that speed was as meaningful as Jacob’s refusal to let go.
Lisa stepped aside, leaving Kyle facing Mira. Everyone else in the room was as unimportant they could be as he met her eyes.
“Hi,” he said lamely.
“Hi yourself,” she told him. “You, Admiral, are in a lot of trouble. You promised me you’d come home.”
He gestured wordlessly around him.
“I know what the odds were of you surviving when you stayed behind,” Mira reminded him. “If you die on me, Admiral Kyle Roberts, I will kill you.”
Kyle laughed and shook his head at her.
“The feeling is mutual, Admiral Solace.”
Then she was in his arms, her lips pressing against his…and everything was right in the universe.
50
Sol System
12:00 December 4, 2737 Earth Standard Meridian Date/Time
Earth
SKYLINK ONE WAS the first space elevator humanity had ever built, one of the two that linked the carefully allocated rings of Earth’s orbital industry to the ground. Its base was an immense floating platform, with several huge buoyancy tanks.
When the Commonwealth had been formed, one of those tanks had been turned into the Star Chamber of the Interstellar Congress of the Terran Commonwealth, with no concern for expense. Massive floor-to-ceiling windows opened out onto the Atlantic Ocean, and hundreds of chairs were laid out for the Senators and Congresspeople who ran the Commonwealth.
Immense banners hung from the walls, bearing the image of each member world of the Commonwealth. Some of those banners were obsolete now, James Walkingstick noted as he entered the room.
They wouldn’t even know which ones for a while. Days, weeks. It would be months before even the crude solution of carrying messages aboard Alcubierre-drive couriers, freighters and warships reached any level of true organization and usefulness.
For now, these people ran the Commonwealth. They might not have contact with their homeworlds, but they had the authority to give the fleet orders, to send out couriers with orders for officers of the Commonwealth Navy to report back to Earth for their “justice.”
The room was deathly silent as he walked along the aisle toward the front stage. It was rare for a room of over seven hundred politicians to be that quiet. It was probably due to the battalion of Marines surrounding the room, combat rifles
leveled on the people who thought they controlled the Commonwealth.
They hadn’t even given him a chance to talk. The moment his fleet had arrived in Sol, they’d ordered Home Fleet into action. Pulled together from scraps, Home Fleet’s twenty-two ships had stood no chance against his fleet…and had declined to obey those orders.
Those ships were now part of his fleet. The command center at Ceres had acknowledged his authority. The Commonwealth Navy would now follow his orders, not those of the politicians in this room.
That was a terrifying thought, but it was where he was now.
General Krizman walked to his left and two steps behind, Tasker to his right, an equal distance behind. Four Marines followed, and over a thousand more filled the chamber, enforcing the silence.
Michael Burns, the head of the Committee on Unification, and a frail-looking woman with pale skin and hair—Speaker Janet Lane, the leader of the Congress and generally accepted second-most powerful person in the Commonwealth.
With the President a complete nonentity, the actual most powerful person was arguably Michael Burns.
Or had been. Now…now even James wasn’t sure who was in charge, but he walked up to face those two politicians in silence.
“When I warned you, I expected you to run,” Burns said quietly, ignoring Lane’s surprised glare. “Bringing your fleet was treason, a Rubicon of unparalleled proportions.”
James winced.
“If you were prepared to execute me, you were prepared to destroy the Navy out of paranoia,” he said quietly. The acoustics of the Chamber meant everyone could hear the entire conversation. “You left me few choices.”
“So, you chose treason?” Lane demanded.
“I chose my oath,” James replied. “To protect and serve the Commonwealth. Not the Congress. Not the Committee. Not the Senate or the Assembly. The Commonwealth.
“With the network gone, we must hold together our nation with duct tape and blood until we have restored it. This is not the time to turn on each other! But you turned on me.”
The silence continued. No one spoke as James met the two politicians’ gazes.
Then Burns stepped forward, ignoring the weapons that snapped up to point at him.
“You know how this ends now, James,” the old man said firmly. “From the moment you left Niagara with a fleet, you knew how this had to end. You set your feet upon an ancient path that can only end here. Can only end in one way. If you would save the Commonwealth, then do it,” the Senator ordered. “You leave us only one choice.”
Burns knelt, his words booming out across the Star Chamber with unexpected force.
“Ave, Imperator Terrae!”
OTHER BOOKS BY GLYNN STEWART
For release announcements join the mailing list or visit GlynnStewart.com
Castle Federation
Space Carrier Avalon
Stellar Fox
Battle Group Avalon
Q-Ship Chameleon
Rimward Stars
Operation Medusa
Duchy of Terra
The Terran Privateer
Duchess of Terra
Terra and Imperium
Vigilante (With Terry Mixon)
Heart of Vengeance
Oath of Vengeance
Starship’s Mage
Starship’s Mage: Omnibus
Hand of Mars
Voice of Mars
Alien Arcana
Judgment of Mars
Starship’s Mage: Red Falcon
Interstellar Mage
Mage-Provocateur (upcoming)
Science Fiction Stand Alone Novels
Exile (upcoming)
ONSET
ONSET: To Serve and Protect
ONSET: My Enemy’s Enemy
ONSET: Blood of the Innocent
ONSET: Stay of Execution (upcoming)
Changeling Blood
Changeling’s Fealty
Fantasy Stand Alone Novels
Children of Prophecy
City in the Sky
Table of Contents
Ebook Copyright
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Other books by Glynn Stewart
Operation Medusa (Castle Federation Book 6) Page 32
