“Guess I should check my stocks huh?” Jon said. He gave a brief smile as Gabriel chuckled.
“Sir, call coming in from Kelly Martin,” the Com officer said. “She’s requesting to speak to you.”
“Give me ten and transfer it to my ready room,” Jon said as he stood up.
“Yes Sir,” the Com officer said.
“One more thing,” Jon said. He turned to face Gabriel as he spoke. “If any more of these Crystari ships show up in system do not engage them unless absolutely necessary. I want them monitored and their actions recorded. Get as many readings on them as possible while staying undetected. If a ship does get engaged, standing orders are to flee and regroup at the station. Euthara is now a refugee planet and I want complete scans of any ship before it is allowed anywhere close to the station. Have them rally incoming ships at one of the moon bases. Once they're cleared we’ll figure out what to do with them from there. One thing I want is all combat ships to be ready at a moment’s notice. If the Captains of the incoming vessel have a problem being under the ADF space command at the station tell them they can vacate the system and fend for themselves. I’m not going to protect people who don't want to protect themselves.”
“Yes Sir,” Gabriel said.
Jon stopped just before he walked through the door. “One more thing contact Ghost Station, report what’s happened here and have them on high alert too. Dispatch two additional ships to their location, one Drovasian ship and one Invaru ship, for added security at the station.”
“Ok,” Gabriel said.
“Carla you have the bridge,” Jon said. “Contact me if I’m needed.”
“Yes Sir,” Carla said.
Jon settled behind his desk and prepared himself for the call. Not that anything could prepare him for it. He hoped that Bill was just MIA and he would get a call soon saying he had been picked up. He would soon find out that his fears were about to be confirmed.
Kelly’s face appeared on the screen before him. She had been crying, her red puffy eyes were proof enough of that. Jon felt his spirits fall as he looked at the screen. His heart jumped and went out to Kelly.
“Jon…” Kelly started to say. Her sobbing interrupted her as she tried to gain control.
“Kelly he’s ok,” Jon said. “He has to be, he’s on one of the shuttles or pods we haven’t recovered. Or even on the ship, SAR teams are on their way there.”
Kelly shook her head slowly as she spoke, “No, I was on the com with him when the ship went up. He’s goneeeee.” Kelly began crying again as tears poured from her eyes.
Tears fell from Jon’s eyes and down his cheeks as his heart went out to her. “Kelly, I…” Jon started and stopped. He had no idea what to say to help her through this time.
“Jon he loved you and believed in what you were building here,” Kelly said. “You know that don’t you?”
“I, yeah I guess I did,” Jon said.
Kelly reached up and held her hand to the screen. “It was very important to him you be the one to marry us. Do you know why?” Kelly said.
Jon wiped his eyes and then held his hand up on hers. “No, I just knew it was very important to him. I still remember the day he came to ask me to do it. He begged me to do it and I really didn’t want to. I finally caved when he said it would brighten your day to be the first people married in the ADF and by me no less.”
Kelly gave a small smile as she pulled her hand from the screen and wiped her face. “He said that?” she said.
“Oh yeah, melted my heart even though I was scared to death of the idea,” Jon said.
“Bill would do anything for me,” Kelly said. “It was mainly him that got the idea in his head. I had mentioned it in passing that it would be nice if we were the first union in the ADF and that if you could do the ceremony. But, I would have been happy to just get married. Having you agree to do it was just a bonus for me.”
“That’s Bill,” Jon said.
“You know he worked very hard to be the best Captain in the ADF,” Kelly said. “It was very important to him that he measure up to your standards.”
“He was well past my standards,” Jon said.
“He told me once that you gave him purpose, a sense of being,” Kelly said. “He was happy with the way things had turned out. Not at first he wasn’t, he wanted to be back home. Then you showed him how to make the best of a bad situation and it gave him purpose.”
“Kelly, I never knew,” Jon said. Tears threatened to spill again as Jon tried to hold himself together.
“Now the light of my life is gone,” Kelly said. She started crying again which made Jon start crying.
“Kelly, I’m sorry,” Jon said. “According to the ADF data base you two have been married for a while now.”
“How?” Kelly said as she wiped her face again and calmed herself.
“I filed the paper work on Bill's behalf in case something happened to either one of you,” Jon said. “You weren’t supposed to know, but now it doesn’t seem that important. All it needs is your signature to be official.”
“He knew,” Kelly said. “He had been pushing me to resign my commission until after the kids were born.”
“I don’t think he knew,” Jon said. “It was more he was worried and wanted things to be in place.”
“He wants you and your family to be the god parents of the kids,” Kelly said. “It was one of his last wishes.”
“Then I accept and I’m sure my family will agree,” Jon said. “I want you to come live on the Atlantis as second in command. I’ll be basing out of her for the foreseeable future and I would like you to be close at hand. Bill would never forgive me if I didn’t watch out for you and the kids.”
“I can do that,” Kelly said. “I could use the support and I really don’t want to be alone right now.”
“I’m sending a shuttle right now so pack up and I’ll see you in a bit,” Jon said.
“Uh, ok,” Kelly said. Kelly stood up and waddled away, which made Jon grin, from the screen as she set off to pack.
Jon hit the button and disconnected the link. He sighed as he leaned back a bit, tears fell from his eyes as he said, “God Bill I’m so sorry.”
Atlantis appeared next to Jon and said, “Admiral Breq is on his way down Captain.”
Jon wiped his eyes. “Good, when he arrives show him to some quarters and let him know I’ll be with him as soon as possible,” Jon said.
“Are you ok?” Atlantis said.
“I’m fine,” Jon said. “Do me a favor and have Andie report to my ready room. You’re dismissed.”
“Yes Sir,” Atlantis said. She faded out as Jon reached up and put a call into Mark.
Mark’s face soon filled the screen, he was wearing his combat armor and the area behind him was a swarm of activity. Mark saluted as he spoke, “Sir.”
Jon returned the salute. “How are things going Mark?” Jon asked.
“Pretty good, most of the Euthara military has been processed,” Mark said. “I did as you asked and ran complete background checks on all the Dukes through the Eutharan data bases. As far as my intelligence team can see they all check out.”
“Alright, but keep an eye on them, I don’t want any surprises,” Jon said. “What about the site.”
“We’re still excavating the site but I can tell you it was no storage site,” Mark said.
“Any idea what it was?” Jon said.
“Got me,” Mark said as he shrugged. “I have the tech boys going over it as we work but they have yet to report anything significant.”
“Well, keep me informed,” Jon said.
“Will do,” Mark said. He took a second to look Jon over. “How are Terri and Oojoung doing?”
“They’re fine,” Jon said. Jon’s eyes welled up as he fought the emotions.
“Then what’s wrong?” Mark said. “I don’t think I have ever seen you look so sad.”
“We lost the Earth’s Revenge,” Jon said.
“What? How?” Ma
rk said. Mark’s face showed his astonishment at the announcement. Several people in the background that was close enough to overhear stopped what they were doing and looked up in surprise.
“Another battle with the Crystari that were pursuing Admiral Breq and his ships,” Jon said.
“How many lost?” Mark said. He knew how Jon took the loss of life.
“We’re still counting,” Jon said. “Invaru losses were heavy, twenty-three ships and their crews.”
“Holy shit in a hand basket!” Mark said. “These guys mean business.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Jon said. A tear fell down his cheek as he spoke. He wiped it away with his sleeve. Mark sat waiting for him to continue as Jon tried hard to compose himself. Jon took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We lost Captain Hawkins.”
Mark stumbled back a few steps as his face paled and he blinked a few times. Mark wasn’t very close to Bill but he respected him and the few times he dealt with him had been pleasant. He knew what the men said about his command and not one of them said one bad word about it. Mark knew it was a heavy loss for the ADF in terms of a competent commander. “I’m sorry,” Mark said. “I know he was a good friend of yours.”
Jon’s door buzzed and he looked up as he spoke, “I’ll let you know when the memorial is. I have to go Andie is here.”
Mark nodded and said, “If you need someone to talk to holler.” He hit the button and disconnected the call.
“Enter,” Jon said.
Andie stepped in through the doorway and started in on Jon right away, “Now look, your sister and Oojoung are doing fine. You can’t be calling me away just to give you a report on their condition. I do have other patients you know and besides I told you I would call if anything was wrong.”
“Andie sit down,” Jon said. He motioned to the chair next to him.
“What’s wrong, did I do something?” Andie said as she sat down.
“No my dear,” Jon said. Tears started pouring from his eyes.
“Jon you’re scaring me,” Andie said. “What’s wrong? Is Deatra ok?”
“Andie,” Jon said. He gulped as his throat dried out suddenly. “Your brother is dead.”
Andie sat back as her face paled and she worked to get words to form.
“I’m sorry,” Jon said.
“Are you sure?” Andie finally managed to get out.
Jon nodded as he spoke, “Yes, I’m sure. He was talking to Kelly when his ship went down.”
“I…” Andie started to say. Then suddenly her eyes seemed to lose all life and her face went slack as she slumped in the chair.
“Andie?” Jon said. He was a bit alarmed at her reaction to the news.
When he got no response he gently shook he shoulder and called her name again. Andie’s head turned his direction but it was if she wasn’t seeing him.
“Andie say something,” Jon said as he stood up. He shook her a bit harder as he called her name. He was staring to get a bit worried as he watched her sitting there unmoving.
“Atlantis, medical emergency have a team respond to my ready room,” Jon said.
“Are you ok,” Atlantis said as she appeared next to Jon. She was looking him over as she appeared.
“Yes, it’s not me,” Jon said. “I think there is something wrong with Andie.”
Jon stood watching through one of the large windows into the small room where Andie was hooked up to various machines. From what the other doctors had told him there was nothing wrong with her physically though mentally she had just shut down.
Sam was in the room with Oojoung waiting for her friend to wake up and Nefeit was again standing beside him.
“How can this be happening to me?” Jon said. He wasn’t really saying it to anyone and it was more of a question for himself.
Nefeit squeezed his arm as she leaned up beside him. They had become very close in the past few weeks and Jon had come to rely on her council. “Bad things happen in war,” Nefeit said. “There’s not much you can do about it.”
“Yes, but I should be more careful. I should have seen that attack coming and been prepared for it,” Jon said. “I caused Bill’s death by sending him out there when I knew that those ships had been in a recent battle.”
“No, Bill chose his death,” Nefeit said. “Not very many people get that chance. He died saving hundreds of lives. You should be proud of him and what he did. Andie’s reaction to the news of her brother’s death is nothing new. A lot of people shut down like that. She’ll come out of it when she’s ready to express her emotions. You have to be ready as they could be targeted at you. Once she’s done doing that she’ll be just fine.”
“My sister and Oojoung were hurt because I’ve been playing games with the King,” Jon said. “Deatra is in his hands because I chose to play games. Well I’m done playing games with people.”
“That’s good to hear,” a deep voice said behind them.
Jon turned around towards the voice. A large Invaru wearing a high ranking officer’s uniform stood just behind him. Four ADF marines surrounded the large Invaru at arm’s length.
“Admiral Breq at your service,” Breq said. “I know there is a lot going on right now but I think we really need to talk.” Breq looked at Nefeit and then added. “In private if we can, what I have to tell you is very important.”
Chapter 16
The Tale of Two Empires
Jon sat back in his chair and looked across at Breq. Breq was impressive even for an Invaru. He stood just over seven foot tall and his arms and chest told everyone there was power there. If it wasn’t for the caring eyes, that expressed his concern for other people, he would have looked like a hard man.
“Sorry for your losses,” Breq said. “I understand Captain Hawkins was your friend.”
“A very good friend,” Jon said. “We grew up together and he became an important part of the ADF. He was a good officer that cared about his people. He knew what his duty was and had no problem doing what was needed. His loss was rather unexpected as was the appearance of these Crystari. They’re nasty little things and we have yet to find a weakness to exploit. We have some of the best people working on the analysis of their ships and weapons.”
Breq shifted uneasily in his chair as he spoke, “Don’t bother with trying to analyze their ships, it will get you nowhere, and yes, they’re very nasty: they took the thirty ship fleet that I was bringing and turned it into what you saw arrive. They did it in less than thirty minutes without losses.”
Jon let out a low whistle as he thought about the fire power that would take and then about the fire power it would take to do it in that time frame. “I still don’t understand why they have suddenly shown up and what their goal was here on Euthara.”
“My father, the Emperor, is to blame for their appearance,” Breq said. “He paid for it with his life when they attacked my home world.”
“Sorry for your loss,” Jon said. Jon shifted a bit in his chair and took a sip from his coffee cup.
“I’m not,” Breq said. His face let his anger and hatred for his father through. “I never liked what he stood for or the methods he used to get where he was. Though, now I’m next in line for the throne.”
“You’re the Emperor now?” Jon said. He sat forward as he listened to Breq intently.
“Yeah…” Breq said. His voice told Jon it wasn’t something he was happy about. “I’m the last living heir, and if any of my brothers or sisters survived the attack I’m still the oldest and first in line for the throne.”
Jon leaned back and put his hands together just under his nose as if thinking. “I don’t see that as a bad thing,” Jon said. He gave a slight grin to Breq. “As a matter of fact I see that as a good thing.”
Breq reached up and scratched his head with one of his upper arms as he tried to fathom where Jon was coming from. “I don’t see where you’re going with this. I’m now head of an empire I dislike because of how it’s run. How is that good?” Breq said.
“You just said it,” Jon said. “You’re the head of the Empire. You can change anything you don’t like about it. You’re also the rally point for the rest of the races contained in the empire.”
“One problem,” Breq said. “There’s a council and those that are left will not be so willing to allow large changes.”
“You don’t have to make changes over night and those council members that are missing have to be replaced,” Jon said. “I know Sa’oliq would make a good member on that council and I’m sure you can find others.”
“Impossible, they would never accept a council member that isn’t Invaru,” Breq said.
“They would if they had too,” Jon said.
“But they don’t and I don’t even know how many of the original nineteen council members are still alive,” Breq said.
“Your father got the things that he wanted done, did he not,” Jon said.
“Through threats and or violence, I’m not that way,” Breq said. “Are you saying I should be like my father?”
“In a way yes, at least for the time being,” Jon said. “For now they expect you to be just as ruthless as your father. So, you play the part, and I’ll help you. For now, the request for the Invaru to have entrance into the ADF is in a state of suspension. Once the Invaru Council is balanced by member race representatives I’ll reevaluate your acceptance into the ADF.”
“What?” Breq said. He stood up as surprise crossed his face and then followed by a brief flash of anger.
“Relax,” Jon said. “I’m doing you a favor.”
Breq’s eyes narrowed as he crossed all four of his arms across his chest. “Doesn’t sound like it from where I’m sitting.”
“Depends on how you listen to it,” Jon said. “So, get your council right and then I want to have a meeting with all the members present. If you’re accepted into the ADF things will have to change in the Invaru Empire and most of those things you already don’t like.”
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