‘It’s impossible to handle physically,’ Meyanna explained. ‘It can only be deployed by machinery, but so far it is effective on all biological species tested. It can render them unconscious for as long as required. I don’t know how useful it would be in battle though. It seems extremely delicate otherwise.’
Mikhain looked at the captain. ‘What are you thinking?’
Idris inhaled a deep breath and expelled it as he put his hands on his hips.
‘We don’t know anything about this technology or who created it,’ he said, ‘and neither does the Word. There could be technologies out there beyond the Icari Line that could render the Legion useless or even dead. We’ve just proven it possible with Devlamine.’
‘There’s also the small matter of crossing the Icari Line,’ Mikhain pointed out. ‘It’s there for a reason: we don’t know what lurks beyond it.’
‘We know what lurks within it,’ Idris replied, ‘and it’s what we’re trying to defeat. Even though we’ve doubled our strength we’re still no match for the Word. It has control of the entire Colonial Fleet and we’ll be annihilated the moment we try to enter the Etherean system.’
‘You’re advocating a change of plan?’ Bra’hiv said. ‘Most of the crew believe we’re heading home to take on the Word.’
‘We are,’ Idris said. ‘But we may be well served by taking on a diversion and seeking new allies and weapons to aid us in the fight.’
A silence descended as they digested the possibilities of such a course of action.
‘What’s out there beyond the Line may be more dangerous than what we’re leaving behind,’ Mikhain reminded him. ‘Most ships that have crossed the Line have never been seen again.’
‘But some have,’ Idris insisted. ‘Salim Phaeon spent half of his career beyond the reach of Colonial forces. All we need is a suitable guide.’
‘But who would know where to go and how to…’ Mikhain winced. ‘Oh no, surely not him?’
Idris smiled but said nothing.
‘We spent weeks tailing a Veng’en cruiser and it nearly destroyed us,’ Bra’hiv pointed out, keeping his voice reasonable. ‘Now you want to follow a man who despises us and stands against everything we’re trying to build?’
They turned as Evelyn tapped on the glass wall of the laboratory and Meyanna hit a switch to let her in. Evelyn walked inside the laboratory and up to Captain Sansin as she shook her head.
‘He didn’t buy it,’ she said. ‘He’s leaving at the first opportunity.’
‘Taron Forge is his own man,’ Idris replied.
‘We should convince him to stay somehow,’ Evelyn protested. ‘He’s a good pilot and somewhere inside of him there’s a good man, I can see it.’
‘That’s no good to us if Taron cannot see it himself,’ Idris pointed out.
‘We should let him go,’ Bra’hiv agreed. ‘The man’s a menace, just like Qayin was.’
‘Qayin was misguided,’ Evelyn shot back, ‘so is Taron, but that doesn’t make them our enemies.’
‘It does when they start betraying our own people,’ Bra’hiv snapped.
‘Hang on to every soul, isn’t that what you’ve been saying captain?’ Evelyn challenged.
Idris sighed.
‘Yes, but not every soul can be saved,’ he replied and looked at Mikhain. ‘Allow Captain Forge to depart as soon as he wishes.’
‘Aye, cap’ain,’ Mikhain replied and walked toward the exit.
‘Then report to the bridge,’ Idris added. ‘We’ll talk there.’
Mikhain nodded, curiosity swimming behind his eyes, and then departed.
‘Taron will not be easy to track,’ Bra’hiv warned as the XO left the laboratory. ‘He’s used to evading Colonial ships and will no doubt want to disappear as fast as he can.’
Idris nodded as he looked at Evelyn. ‘You planted the tracker?’
‘It’s in place, attached to their stores,’ Evelyn nodded. ‘It’ll be packed deep inside the Phoenix’s holds by now.’
‘You bugged him?’ Bra’hiv stammered in surprise. ‘How the hell did you manage that?’
Idris looked at Evelyn and smiled. ‘You have the most remarkable ability to get under the skin of men and make them drop their guard, Evelyn.’
Evelyn shrugged but said nothing.
‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ Meyanna asked the captain. ‘We have an extra thousand souls with us now. If we’re about to go galavanting into uncharted space, don’t you think they should have their say?’
‘I don’t know what they could offer,’ Idris replied. ‘They don’t know what’s out there any more than we do.’
‘All the more reason,’ Meyanna insisted, ‘to allow them to speak. Mikhain organised their vote for a new spokesperson, somebody to replace our lost councillors.’
Idris sighed and rubbed his temples. ‘And you think that will placate them, remove some of the issues we’ve been having?’
‘It’ll be a damned good start,’ Meyanna replied. ‘These may be military vessels but the majority of the people aboard are civilians and that’s never going to change. You need to accept that and start engaging with the populace before they reject you entirely.’
‘I doubt that any mutiny will occur for a while now,’ Evelyn said. ‘Word travels fast aboard ship and they’re already talking about how the captain killed Salim Phaeon with his own hands. There are about a thousand slaves who’ll gladly follow you to hell and back right now.’
Idris smiled briefly at Evelyn, but he put his hands behind his back and nodded to his wife.
‘Very well,’ he said finally. ‘Count the damned vote, and I’ll announce to the people who will speak for them.’
***
XLVI
‘Salim is dead, and so is Qayin.’
Mikhain’s whisper was harsh as he walked and the big Marine alongside him nodded with satisfaction.
‘We are better and stronger without them,’ Djimon said as he walked.
‘I see you got your rank back,’ Mikhain observed, noting the Sergeant’s flash on Djimon’s shoulder.
‘Reinstated after Qayin’s betrayal of his men,’ Djimon confirmed. ‘Captain Sansin suspected Qayin of dealing Devlamine from the start, and pulled me out of the cells to be derployed with Lieutenant C’rairn as his escort. General Bra’hiv has now handed full control of Bravo Company to Lieutenant C’rairn, while I support the general at Alpha Company.’
Mikhain walked slower as he approached the captain’s quarters.
‘We lost Kordaz,’ he said.
‘That was to be expected,’ Djimon replied without concern. ‘All Veng’en deserve nothing but death, it’s the only language they understand. With Salim now also dead there is nobody to know what happened.’
‘Except you,’ Mikhain pointed out.
Djimon’s broad jaw fractured with a thin smile. ‘Your secret is safe with me,’ he replied. ‘Mutually assured destruction, I think we can call it. Agreed?’
Mikhain frowned.
‘The captain suspects something. He knows that Kordaz was betrayed, and only believes Qayin’s involvement because of one pilot’s witness testimony and the fact that you obtained Qayin’s holopass. If Qayin is not dead…’
‘He’s gone either way,’ Djimon insisted. ‘He’s not going to come back and even if he did nobody would believe him, not even his own men whom he also left behind. Qayin is history and so is Kordaz. We must focus on now.’
Mikhain stopped outside the bridge and turned to face Djimon. ‘The captain’s killing of Salim Phaeon has won him a new league of devoted followers. They all think he’s a damned hero for killing Salim.’
‘He is, in a way,’ Djimon replied. ‘But one act does not a great man make. All you have to do is maintain support among the military staff and win them over one man and one woman at a time.’
‘And if he knows?’ Mikhain snapped. ‘If he knows what we have done?’
‘Then we must deal with it one act at a time,
’ Djimon insisted. ‘But if you try to hang me out to dry in there, I swear I’ll bring you down with me.’
‘What makes you think the captain will listen to you?’
‘I’m the only one who knows exactly how you set Qayin up and betrayed the captain,’ Djimon replied.
‘That isn’t enough,’ Mikhain smirked. ‘You’d face maroon protocol before the day was out.’
‘Not if I can prove it,’ Djimon sneered back.
Mikhain opened his mouth to protest but Djimon hit the button beside the bridge doors and backed away as the access request was granted and the doors slid open.
Mikhain turned and faced the door as he struggled to compose himself. Djimon watched him walk inside and then turned and marched back the way he had come. From the pocket of his fatigues he retrieved a small, portable recording device. He looked down at it as he walked, and accessed two saved files that he watched.
The sergeant smiled as he relived Mikhain betraying Kordaz to Salim Phaeon in the War Room, and their conversation of moments before. Sergeant Djimon slipped the device back into his pocket and kept walking.
*
‘XO on the bridge!’
Captain Idris Sansin did not look up at Mikhain as he stood to attention before the command platform. Mikhain watched as Idris finished reading a report and then set it down before him and folded his hands behind his back.
‘How long have we known each other, Mikhain?’
‘Twenty six years,’ Mikhain replied, ‘give or take.’
Idris nodded, his expression sombre as he finally made eye contact. ‘Long enough, I think, to know when something is amiss.’
Mikhain swallowed as apprehension flushed like ice water through his veins. ‘I’d say so.’
Idris stood up from behind his chair and moved to stand before it, confronting Mikhain. The XO tensed slightly, uncertain of what to expect. The bridge around them had fallen silent, all eyes watching the two men.
‘We have a traitor aboard, Mikhain.’
Mikhain nodded without thinking. ‘Qayin,’ he replied, ‘but he’s gone.’
‘No,’ Idris said as he walked past Mikhain and folded his hands behind his back. ‘Qayin was a criminal and frankly a fool, but he possessed a twisted sort of loyalty beneath the bravado. This wasn’t the sort of thing he would have done.’
‘What wasn’t?’ Mikhain asked.
‘Betrayal,’ Idris replied. ‘Qayin knew that Kordaz had risked his life for us more than once. What happened was cold-blooded treachery, an act of vengeance of some kind, and I need to know who did it.’
Mikhain frowned.
‘Captain, with all due respect Qayin was seen fighting to the death with Kordaz, and would have been killed if one of our pilots had not intervened.’
‘Teera Milan,’ Idris identified the pilot. ‘That’s very true, and it was she who confirmed Qayin’s abandonment of his men, and us, in battle. What bothers me is the fact that Kordaz was betrayed before Qayin ever got to the surface and that nobody told Qayin that Kordaz was down there. He wasn’t in the loop.’
Mikhain held his nerve.
‘Somebody else must have passed the information on,’ he suggested. ‘Maybe Taron Forge or one of Qayin’s lackeys? There were witnesses to the launch of the shuttle that carried Kordaz to the surface.’
‘No,’ Idris shook his head. ‘Nothing quite fits when you think about it. I think that somebody else aboard Atlantia betrayed Kordaz and they may have had the best intentions when they did so, but they condemned a brave warrior to death. I want to know who did it, Mikhain, and I want to know that you’re going to help me.’
Mikhain lifted his chin. ‘Of course, captain.’
‘Good,’ Idris said. ‘Now, tell me why you were so against Andaim Ry’ere commanding Atlantia?’
Mikhain swallowed thickly, acutely aware of the command crew listening in.
‘I didn’t know at the time that your promotion the commander was designed as a deception,’ he explained.
‘No. But that’s not what I asked, is it?’
Mikhain sucked in a lungful of air. ‘I felt that he was too young and inexperienced for a full command, captain, and that the choice may have endangered the crew and compliment.’
‘And that you should have been chosen in his ‘stead,’ Idris added.
‘Somebody more experienced in command, captain,’ Mikhain replied. ‘Not necessarily me.’
Idris moved to stand before the XO.
‘Mikhain, in the last twenty four hours you have done nothing but question my every command. You have played Devil’s advocate on numerous occasions, have opposed many of my ideas and orders and have frequently spent far too much time fraternising with junior officers in an attempt to curry favour at a grass roots level.’
Mikhain opened his mouth to protest but Idris forestalled him with an open palm as he went on.
‘You have directly attempted to undermine my command on the bridge in front of fellow officers, and have flagrantly disobeyed my orders on numerous occasions when you have seen fit to do so. You represent the most powerful force working against my command and thus a danger to the continued team-work of our personnel both on the bridge and within the wider service aboard this ship.’
Mikhain felt his eyes sting and he tried to speak, but the captain’s stern gaze silenced him.
‘You leave me absolutely no choice, Mikhain,’ Idris said finally, ‘but to permanently remove you from your position aboard Atlantia.’
Mikhain felt as though his guts had dropped several decks below him. Tears welled in his eyes and his legs felt as though they had turned to rubber, but somehow he realised that he had only himself to blame. He could not bring himself to admit to the captain what he had truly done, but nor could he deny that this was a suitable and just punishment. From somewhere within he excavated sufficient courage to maintain his bearing and lift his chin, his voice sounding weak in his own ears as he replied.
‘I understand, captain,’ he rasped.
‘Good,’ Idris replied with finality. ‘I didn’t want to have another argument here on Atlantia’s bridge. I would be relieved if you would do me the honour of handing over your Executive Officer’s shoulder insignia and leave this bridge immediately.’
Mikhain’s chest felt hollow. He reached up to his shoulders and removed his insignia, and then handed them over to the captain. Idris snatched them briskly away and tossed them across the bridge as though they were nothing more than trash. Mikhain stood in shameful silence, the eyes of the entire command crew burning into him.
The captain reached out and patted Mikhain on the shoulder with a sympathetic smile.
‘Dismissed,’ he said. ‘You are to report immediately you reach Arcadia’s bridge.’
Mikhain worked his jaw and managed to dredge his voice back. ‘What will my duties be?’
Idris grinned and rolled his eyes as he nodded toward Mikhain’s shoulder.
Mikhain looked down, and through blurred eyes he saw a Captain’s insignia now adorning his shoulder, emblazoned with Arcadia’s logo. He almost lost his balance as his head snapped back to stare at Idris and his jaw gaped open.
‘You should see your face,’ Idris smiled. ‘You looked like you’ve been slapped. Congratulations, captain. Your new command awaits.’
A burst of applause crashed through the bridge and Mikhain staggered to one side and gripped the rail as relief flooded through him. He looked at Idris and shook his head, his jaw aching as a smile spread wide across it.
‘Damned old fool, you nearly gave me a heart attack.’
Idris clapped him on the shoulder again.
‘Good, you’ll get a lot more moments like that now you’re in command, Mikhain. Be ready for them.’ Idris gripped his shoulder tightly. ‘You held Atlantia in position and protected everybody on the surface from a Veng’en bombardment for almost an hour, Mikhain. You never wavered and you’ve never been afraid to question my judgement. I know that you have my back,
just as the Admiralty had ours back in the day. We’ll have yours here.’
Mikhain worked to dislodge the tight knot of shame that suddenly clogged his throat.
‘Aye, cap’ain.’
Idris stood back and snapped off a quick salute. ‘Now get the hell off my bridge and get back to work.’
Mikhain smiled broadly and returned the salute, then turned and marched off the bridge to the applause around him. Moments later he was gone, and Commander Andaim moved alongside Idris.
‘You sure he’s ready for this?’ Andaim asked. ‘Sit-rep shows he was almost overcome during the battle.’
‘Almost,’ Idris said, ‘but not quite, and I can’t command both ships. Mikhain’s the most qualified for the job and he was obviously keen to gain command of Atlantia. This is the best I can do to keep him onside.’
‘You think he’s a threat of some kind?’
Idris turned to Andaim and spoke softly so that nobody else on the bridge could hear.
‘When I was on Arcadia’s bridge with Salim, the pirate addressed Mikhain by his name,’ Idris confided. ‘Yet Mikhain never revealed himself on our bridge nor was his name spoken in Salim’s presence in this entire engagement.’ Idris’s eyes bored into Andaim’s. ‘How could he have known the XO’s name?’
Andaim’s featured cracked like thin ice. ‘You should have him arrested immediately,’ he hissed.
‘No,’ Idris insisted, and sighed softly. ‘These are difficult times Andaim, and they’re testing us all. Mikhain may have sought control of Atlantia, but he also fought to protect her and all of us too. He’s conflicted, but we cannot do without him.’
‘You could have given Arcadia’s command to somebody else!’ Andaim snapped.
‘Or I could extend the opportunity to win Mikhain’s loyalty back while removing the motivation which drove his betrayal, his jealousy and desire for command. That’s why I’ve got you here,’ he said. ‘You’ll command the Raython’s aboard Arcadia and report back to me.’
‘This is a dangerous game,’ Andaim replied. ‘If Mikhain goes AWOL with Arcadia…’
‘Keep an eye on how the new captain goes about his duties and if he gets out of hand we’ll have ample warning. And keep an eye on those damned Marines of Bravo Company too.’
Atlantia Series 3: Aggressor Page 33
