New Canaan: A Military Science Fiction Space Opera Epic: Aeon 14 (The Orion War Book 2)
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Though he hoped it would not come to that. He would not go down in history as the man who destroyed the Transcend’s greatest hope.
“Unknown contact,” Lindal announced. “It dumped out of FTL really close—either it has the luckiest pilot ever or detailed maps of the dark matter in this system.”
“It never just rains,” Greer muttered. “Scipio designation, what is a ship from that federation doing here?”
The Hand had more than a few operatives in Scipio. It was a key nation in the morass of systems that made up the Inner Stars, spanning nearly a hundred stellar systems and possessing a strong military. Controlling the direction of Scipio was of particular interest to the Transcend government—especially with Silstrand and other nearby systems facing increasing lawlessness.
“Elena,” Greer said softly. He summoned records on the agent and saw that she was a long-time friend of Seraphina Tomlinson’s. The Hand had suspicions—though nothing concrete—that she had been in contact with Sera during her exile over the past ten years.
“Summon her to the watchpoint—I don’t expect her to comply, but I want it on record.”
“Uh…she’s gone,” Lieutenant Lindal announced. “I’m pulling data from more observation points.”
Greer pulled up the data and poured over it. Lindal was right, one moment scan had a clear visual on Elena’s ship, and then it simply disappeared.
“It’s their stealth ship,” Greer said. “We know it was operating at Bollam’s World, but I thought we had identified it as this vessel,” he gestured to one of the ships on the command center’s holotank.
“It must not be—or they have more than one of those ships,” Lindal replied. “Wait! I caught a strange refraction on the UV band. I think it was a ship, but now I have nothing.”
“Well,” Greer sighed. “We can safely assume that she’s on her way to the Intrepid. I want scan analysis to find that stealth ship, and let me know the instant the fleets jump out.”
AGENT ELENA
STELLAR DATE: 12.29.8929 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: ISS Intrepid
REGION: Ascella System, Galactic North of the Corona Australis star forming region
The statement brought Tanis back to the near-silence of the maglev train she rode with Lieutenant Smith and away from her worry over what could cause Sera to turn so quickly.
The image of a woman appeared in Tanis’s mind and she took in the woman’s blood-red hair, eyes, and lips in a single glance. The woman opened her mouth to speak, revealing elongated canine teeth. Tanis’s suspicions were confirmed; she was a sucker.
Scan showed that the ship was close, only seven light seconds away. Tanis waited patiently for the woman’s response to come.
When it did, she saw that the woman frowned and shook her head vigorously.
Tanis rubbed placed her hands over her face and ran them over her head while drawing in a deep breath.
“Shit!” she gasped as pain stabbed in her chest.
Tanis Linked with the bridge net to effectively communicate with the command team—something she would have thought to do immediately, had she not been distracted by the pesky chest wound.
Tanis switched back to the woman in her small cockpit.
She waited the requisite time for the message and response to traverse millions of miles of space. When it did, she saw the woman review her scan with furrowed brow, likely looking for the Andromeda. Then her eyes widened.
Tanis severed the connection with the woman and reached out to the hospital ward on deck ninety-three.
Doctor Barbara Summers, once a GSS corporal who worked visitor security on the Intrepid back at Mars, appeared in her mind.
Doctor Summers nodded.
Tanis let a thin smile slip across her face.
A SIMPLE CHAT
STELLAR DATE: 12.29.8929 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: ISS Intrepid
REGION: Ascella System, Galactic North of the Corona Australis star forming region
Tanis rose from her seat on the maglev and followed Lieutenant Smith to the security office. Her words to Doctor Summers echoed in her mind, and the memory of the torture she had inflicted on the assassin Kris years ago in Sol surged into her mind.
Tanis thought she had evolved—she was so sure, given her treatment of Drind on Sabrina. Thompson had pushed to beat the information out of The Mark’s data tech, but Tanis took the high road with him, convincing him to join their cause. But now, with Sera’s mind in jeopardy, she was ready to tear both Mark and Andrea limb-from-limb. Never mind that Andrea’s father was president of the entire Transcend.
Let him come for her. Let them all come.
mind.
Tanis paused, realizing that Angela was right. She had fallen into some sort of primal maternal rage—protecting hers against all comers with the most violent option available. But she was smarter than these Hand agents. She had been pitted against far more cunning enemies.
“There was another one of them on the diplomat’s ship,” Smith said aloud as they stepped into the security office. “They’re bringing him here from the dock.”
“Good,” Tanis nodded. “It makes sense that they’d have someone else onboard in case things didn’t pan out.”
She stopped in the office’s waiting room and collected her thoughts, preparing for whatever would come next.
“Are you going to go in like that?” Lieutenant Smith asked, glancing at her bloody uniform.
“Damn, I totally forgot about that,” Tanis said. “There’s a locker room down the hall. I’ll clean up in a san and be back in five.”
“Take your time,” Smith replied. “I’ll make sure they don’t go anywhere.”
Tanis nodded silently, and, once the locker door slid closed behind her, carefully unwound the bandages, draping them over a bench before she stripped out of her dress uniform.
The hot spray of water felt glorious and she spent longer than expected under its warming massage. She was careful not to let the jets hit the medseal the technician had applied to her wound, and gave an involuntary sign of dismay when the unit hit its max water usage and flipped to dry-mode.
She stepped out of the unit and saw that a fresh bandage was sitting on the bench with a clean shipsuit beside it.
When she arrived at the entrance to the interview room, Smith handed her a glass of water and she downed it after sending a smile his way.
“Thanks, I needed that.”
“General,” Lieutenant Smith’s voice was deadly serious, “do you want me in there with you? You did just suffer a serious injury.”
Tanis glanced at the lieutenant, a Marine’s Marine if ever there was one. He was over two-hundred centimeters of rippling muscle with fists the size of her head.
“You know what? I do want you in there with me. Be menacing—whenever it feels right.”
Smith let out a short laugh. “It’s going to feel right the whole time.”
* * * * *
Things weren’t going as well as Tanis had hoped.
Mark was defensive, and Andrea seemed not to care at all that her own sister was accused of very a serious crime. Tanis hadn’t shifted the blame to the two Hand agents yet—rather, she had focused on convincing them that the Marines had followed standard protocol by not using lethal force on Sera.
“Help me understand why she’d do this,” Tanis asked, almost pleading.
“She’s unstable,” Mark said, and Tanis raised an eyebrow as though she was hopeful for more detail from him. The man was scum. He oozed lies from every pore, yet somehow he was good at hiding physical tells.
“She went off-book a lot when we were part of the same unit,” Mark continued. “I had to rein her in more than once, and when she lost the CriEn module…well, she just went full rogue.”
“That doesn’t explain why she’d try to kill me,” Tanis replied in even tones. “I’ve never seen such behavior from her before. If I had, do you think she’d be here now?”
“She’s very good at hiding her intentions,” Andrea said. “I think that she wanted to get in her father’s good graces. Bring him the best prize ever—this ship—without its strong-willed governor and general.”
Tanis considered those words. They rang true, but not for Sera—perhaps for Andrea.
It didn’t surprise her. Tanis knew she could be a colossal pain in the ass—the Transcend probably had no place in it for General Richards. What they didn’t know is that Tanis didn’t want to be that woman forever.
“Then she’s the best liar I’ve ever seen,” Tanis said aloud to Andrea and Mark. “I’ve spent over a year with her and she’s never shown me any malice.”
“I spent longer before she turned on me,” Mark said with a sympathetic smile. “There’s no shame in being fooled by her. It’s what she does.”
“And her AI?” Tanis asked. “AI are rarely complicit in things like this—it doesn’t suit their race’s long-term outlook on things, not to mention survival.”
Andrea frowned, a look of conciliatory puzzlement on her face. “We’ve wondered that, too. Helen was always a good agent. Somehow, when Sera went rogue, she convinced Helen to go with her. We’ve never been able to come up with a wholly convincing rationale for it ourselves.”
“So, what should we do with her?” Tanis asked. “She is, in large part, responsible for saving this ship.”
“And for nearly killing you,” Mark said with raised eyebrows. “Most people would be ready to do the same in response.”
Tanis sighed, displaying emotion that was not feigned. “I’ve seen enough death. I’d like to see more forgiveness in my future.”
“Then send her with us,” Andrea said, holding her hands out with palms upturned. Tanis knew the gesture was meant to show openness and good intentions—something she was certain Andrea possessed none of. If Sera were to leave with these two, she’d be dead long before they ever reached their destination.
Tanis replied and rose from the table.
“Please forgive me,” she said aloud. “I’m needed elsewhere for a few minutes. Lieutenant Smith will remain to ensure your needs are met.”
She nodded to the lieutenant and left the room before the Transcend envoys could respond.
Corsia was nothing if not frank—it was one of the things she liked most about the AI.
Tanis replied.
Elena’s image floated in Tanis’s mind. Unlike a normal Link communication, she was not seeing Elena as the woman wished to present herself virtually, but rather a feed of her in a holding room.
Elena’s appearance was unchanged from their previous communication; she still had the look of a sucker—though, given that she was a Hand agent, the affectation was probably a cover. An agent with a blood fetish would not make for a good operative.
Elena’s gaze remained fixed at a point in front of her. Either she could detect the optical arrays watching her, or she had guessed correctly that Tanis would view her from that angle.
Elena barked out a laugh.
The smile slipped from Elena’s face and her eyes grew dead serious.
Elena shook her head in dismay.
Tanis considered Elena’s words. It was obvious that the woman was hedging as much as she could, attempting to feel her out. Still, Elena had flown from Scipio to Ascella with the sole purpose to rescue Sera—or so she said.