by Terry Mixon
The large crowd dispersed and Jared led the way to his office just off the flag bridge. It was a large space seemingly designed to impress visitors. His desk was made of dark wood and so large that Kelsey doubted he could reach the other side while sitting.
She looked around the space with interest. The shelves were of a similar make. He’d picked up enough knick-knacks on Pentagar to fill them. The rest of the furniture was comfortable and expensive looking.
All in all, she thought the room set the right tone for the visiting negotiators. Of course, they hadn’t seemed very impressed with a fleet of ships in orbit, so she might be wrong.
They settled into comfortable chairs and Jared started things off. “I’m glad to see no one had any problems with the implant procedure. That’ll make things a lot better for us the next time we have to fight. Unfortunately, we have a battle of a different nature coming up. The woman assigned to negotiate with us is difficult. Now she’s coming to see me face-to-face.
“How do we keep her from knowing we aren’t Rebel Fleet officers? Or that this ship was the one they were getting ready to stage a coup with? One misstep and they could kill thousands of our people.”
Graves frowned. “I still don’t understand how they could be so suicidal. We control weapons of mass destruction that could obliterate millions of their citizens.”
“Weapons we won’t use,” Kelsey said. “It’s never a good strategy to bluff. If they call, we look weak.”
Talbot gave her a smile. “You bluff all the time.”
“Never so often that you can read me,” she shot back. “If we blow this, we have no leverage. Let them read the threat without us mentioning it.”
Jared nodded. “That’s probably for the best. I’d been planning to use a different conference room, but now that we have enough officers with implants, I think a trip through the flag bridge is in order. Impress her with this ship and its implied firepower.”
“You’ll need to replace the ship’s plaque,” Zia said. “The chances of there being two major ships with the same name are too small.”
“Invincible, can you do that?”
“Of course, Admiral,” the AI said. “What name would you like to use for our deception?”
He pursed his lips for a moment. “Let’s go with Athena. And you’ll need to tone down your interaction. You need to sound less capable.”
“This unit will comply, Admiral.”
“Perfect. Now, let’s talk about the meeting. I’m envisioning Princess Kelsey and myself as our faces. I’ll also need a flag captain.”
Graves smiled. “I’m ready to fill the roll.”
Jared shook his head. “You have to be on Courageous. What if they need to know who commands that ship later? No, it needs to be someone that’s here all the time.”
He looked at Zia. “And since you’ve been acting as my executive officer that makes you the logical choice. You’ll need new rank tabs, Captain.”
The woman’s eyes bulged a little. “I know it’s only pretend, but I was a lieutenant a week ago, sir. I’m feeling a little out of my depth.”
“Who said I was making this up?” Jared turned to Kelsey. “I’d rather have someone I trust implicitly at my back when trouble comes calling.”
Kelsey nodded decisively. “That’s the right choice. Invincible, please log Zia Anderson’s promotion to Captain and her assignment as flag captain of this ship.”
“Promotion and assignment logged, Highness. Congratulations, Captain Anderson. I look forward to working with you.”
Zia swallowed hard, her skin going pale. “This is crazy. I’m the tactical officer from a destroyer. I don’t have the experience to command a ship like this.”
Jared shook his head. “I’ve seen you fight, Zia. Never doubt for a moment that you have what it takes. I was only a destroyer captain when this started. We all have to step up. Imagine what the situation will be like when we get any other ships from the graveyard operational. We won’t have nearly enough people unless we promote from within.”
The tall redhead sighed and nodded. “I understand, sir. I’ll do my best.”
“Then we’re in excellent hands.” He looked around the group. “I’m clearing the officers from Spear and Shadow for duty, but I want to vet them more thoroughly.”
He looked at Elise. “And I’m open to bringing some of the Pentagaran officers on board as well. We’ll need every hand we can get. Since Kelsey has authorized your people to serve, we’ll use this as a training opportunity.”
Elise smiled. “Since at least some of these derelict ships will be coming back to Erorsi and Pentagar, I think that’s the best plan. Our people need to be able to work together seamlessly.”
“Pardon the interruption, Admiral,” Invincible said. “The cutter you sent down to pick up the delegation has signaled they are on their way up. ETA half an hour.”
Jared rubbed his eyes. “That figures. The one time I want them to drag their feet they’re early. It looks as though we’ll need to work out the rest of the plan on the fly. Let’s get moving, people.”
* * * * *
Olivia saw the brief look of confusion on Fleet Admiral Mertz’s face when she stepped out of the cutter. He’d obviously been expecting Abigail and all the mental pain that entailed. The fact that she noted the emotion at all told her a lot about the man.
He might be used to command, but not moving in political circles. No noble with any experience would show weakness to an opponent like that.
The man stepped away from several other officers and bowed slightly. Not as much as she was entitled to, but she wasn’t going to make an issue of it. They had more important things to worry about.
“Welcome aboard Athena. I’m Jared Mertz. I’m afraid I was expecting someone else and don’t know who you are.”
Olivia smiled politely. “I’m Coordinator Olivia West. I head the ruling council of Harrison’s World. Abigail works for me.”
“Ah. I see. Coordinator West, allow me to introduce Zia Anderson, my flag captain, and Kelsey Bandar, my senior special operations officer.”
Olivia found her attention centering on the short woman in a marine uniform with no insignia. “Please excuse my ignorance, Miss Bandar, but I’m not familiar with your position or how to address you. What is your rank?”
“I’m not at liberty to explain in detail, Coordinator,” Bandar said. “Suffice it to say, I’m along to handle any unusual aspects of this mission.”
Olivia raised one of her exquisitely shaped eyebrows. “I saw a vid of you speaking with Deputy Coordinator King. Your work must involve the threat of significant violence if it requires powered armor.”
“My work occasionally requires a hands on approach, yes.”
That didn’t explain anything about the woman. She was still an enigma. It made Olivia want to dig deeper.
“If you’ll accompany me,” Admiral Mertz said, “we can adjourn to my office.”
The lift quickly delivered them to a large control center. It was identical to the one on the superdreadnought Invincible. That room had always seemed half-finished, but men and women in Fleet uniforms filled this one. The only difference was the wall plaque.
The feelings of loss threatened to break through her wall and she ruthlessly suppressed them. “Most impressive, Admiral.”
“Thank you. She’s a wonderful ship. This way, please.” He led them into a side compartment. The office was lavishly, if sparsely furnished. They ended up sitting facing one another in the open area in front of his desk. Her aides took seats behind her and to the sides. Mertz’s officers sat beside him.
“Might I offer you refreshments?” he asked.
“Thank you, no,” she said. “I’d rather see if we can get these negotiations back on some kind of regular footing. I feel as though Abigail may have taken the wrong approach in dealing with the issues at hand. Perhaps we can start over.”
Mertz smiled. “I’d be happy to. Not to speak ill of your subordinat
e, but she wasn’t willing to see any point of view other than her own. I’m willing to negotiate on many issues, but not about the return of my people.”
She considered him for a moment. “I’m somewhat bemused at your concern for the lower orders. Why are they such a sticking point?”
“Because they came from my ships and I want them back. Is that so difficult to understand?”
Training new personnel would be time consuming, but that couldn’t be the reason. There had to be some additional aspect to the situation she wasn’t aware of.
She bowed her head slightly. “Of course. At the very least, I promise you that they have received medical care and we’re housing them in a satisfactory manner.
“Are your people cleared to know about the situation in this system? Mine are, but I don’t wish to cause problems by mentioning classified details to someone not ready to know them.”
Miss Bandar leaned forward. “You mean who truly ruled this system? Yes, we three know.”
“That makes things somewhat easier. The system lord declared that the leading nobles on Harrison’s World were in league to usurp its control. It destroyed every ship and facility outside the atmosphere. That was ten years ago. Now you’ve come in and used force to destroy or disable it.”
She leaned forward and focused her attention on Mertz. “I’d like to know why the Imperial lords made that decision and what it means for my people.”
He cleared his throat. “That’s a somewhat delicate situation. Your lord made some decisions that the others disagreed with. In a way, it was trying for a coup of its own. They dispatched us to end its rebellion. In the course of that action, it destroyed some of my ships and captured some of my crew. Hence our current difficulties.”
Olivia still found that hard to imagine. She’d never heard of an AI rebelling against the Empire before. Still, would she have heard about other situations like this? Probably not.
“And what about Harrison’s World?” she asked. “What have the Imperial lords decreed?”
“They aren’t willing to allow you back into space at this time, but your cooperation will bring the moment when you can rejoin the Empire closer.”
“It hardly seems as though we have much to discuss, then.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t order your people’s confinement. The Imperial lords did. Are you ready to go back to war so quickly? Allow me to remind you how that worked out last time.”
A twinge of frustration shot through her. They needed to get back into space. Invincible had the flip point jammers that could give them the time to consolidate her rule and put forces loyal to the true Empire back in control. They had to control Boxer Station and the ships around it. With them, they could build a fleet that would challenge the AIs.
And none of that mattered right now. Admiral Mertz had a boot on their throats as long as he controlled the orbital bombardment platforms and sat here in this massive ship of war.
It was time to see what compromises could be worked. “What can we get in exchange for our good treatment of your people and their safe return? Surely there’s some bone you can throw us?”
“What would you like that we can realistically provide?” Miss Bandar asked. “You already have the best technology the Empire can boast of.”
Olivia turned to the mysterious woman. “You must not have dealt with many nobles. If I give an advantage away for nothing, that erodes my power base. Have you ever heard the term saving face? That is what I need to do here.”
The other woman’s expression blanked for a moment, and then she looked at the others. “I know this meeting just started, but it’s almost lunch time. Allow me to order something for us while we consider your request.”
Captain Anderson stood. “Perhaps I can offer you a tour of the flag bridge while they discuss things privately.”
Olivia rose to her feet. “Of course. Something to eat would be very nice.” She wasn’t hungry, but if it allowed them a way out of this impasse, it was worth faking it. Besides, she wanted to tour the flag bridge and think about Brian.
* * * * *
Once everyone was gone, Jared rubbed his eyes. “This is going to be more difficult than I’d hoped. She wants to get her people back into space, but we can’t allow that. Not even a little bit. We have to control this system and the resources in it. Those ships give us a chance against the AIs.”
His sister nodded. “We can’t let an enemy loose at our backs. Until we crack the encryption on the AI’s data, we don’t even know how many patrols they still have out. Is there anything we can offer her?”
“The Rebel Empire Fleet prisoners we recovered from Boxer Station?” Jared asked.
She frowned. “Why would we trade some Fleet personnel for others? That doesn’t make much sense unless you know why we want our people back.”
“I’ve spoken to some of them,” Jared said. “We’re keeping them isolated from the ship and other personnel, but someone had to get some information from them. Many, if not most, are from Harrison’s World. Offering to let them go home after the tragedy that their lives have become seems humane to me.”
Kelsey seemed to consider that. “Maybe. Let’s talk about this some more before we commit. If we make a mistake, it could cost thousands of people their lives. I’m not willing to rush with stakes like that.”
Chapter Eight
Captain Anderson escorted Olivia and her aides out to the flag bridge. “Allow me to explain the purpose of each station to you.” She took the three of them on a trip around the bridge and gave them a very high level run down of what each was for.
The noblewoman listened with one ear while she looked around. The memories of the past kept rising to the surface. How many times had Brian sat in a chair very like the one in the center of the bridge and spoken to her? Did his body rest there even now?
Something about the admiral’s station bothered her. Something about it kept pulling her in.
Olivia focused her full attention on it and froze. The right side of the console had a small discoloration in the shape of a heart. It wasn’t easy to see, but her eyes knew exactly where to look. The admiral’s console on Invincible had one just like it. Exactly like it.
She was on Invincible.
It took every ounce of her willpower to keep her face neutral. What the hell was going on? Fleet wouldn’t need to perpetrate a fraud like this. They had ships all their own.
The lift opened and a man holding a tray of sandwiches and drinks walked in. The door to the admiral’s day cabin opened a moment later. Miss Bandar stood there.
“If you’ll come back in, we can eat quietly and then come back to your question. I think we’ve found a possibility.”
Well, this should be fascinating.
Olivia examined Admiral Mertz more closely as she sat back down. He had a military bearing and his people certainly behaved like the Fleet officers she’d met. Who was he and what was really going on?
And then there was Kelsey Bandar. She was a civilian through and through. Her posture told the tale, and the way she spoke. Yet she’d seemed very comfortable in that powered armor. She’d walked along the dock like a panther in Abigail’s recording. Those weapons she’d worn hadn’t seemed like props.
So, who was really in charge of this ship? Olivia was beginning to think it wasn’t Admiral Mertz.
Time to test the waters.
Olivia leaned back in her seat. “Before we begin, I have a question. Nothing revolving around the negotiations. Where are you based? What sector? I’ve discovered over the years that a person’s home says a lot about them.”
Mertz’s eyes flicked toward Bandar just enough for her to notice. He was looking for guidance. Bandar was the one in charge.
“We’re based in the core systems,” Bandar said. “We can’t be more specific than that.”
“Ah, the Core Worlds. What do you think of Terra?”
“Big,” Mertz admitted. “I hadn’t imagined buildings so large before I visited i
t. So many people in such a small place.”
That wasn’t the answer Olivia had expected. Far from it. She kept an interested smile on her face, but deep inside, she knew this charade went much deeper than she’d thought possible.
Terra had resisted the AIs until the end and beyond during the rebellion. When the orbitals had fallen, the populace fought the invading troops with every weapon they could manage. And on a world with the highest technology in the Empire, those weren’t empty words.
The resistance had heard of the years long guerrilla war fought in the skeletons of the massive buildings. A fight so brutal that the AIs had eventually decided it wasn’t worth the continued effort. They’d interdicted the planet much as they’d done for Harrison’s World. No one in, no one out.
That wasn’t common knowledge, outside the resistance. The AIs preferred that their slaves think that Terra still ruled them. Not the emperor, of course. Everyone knew that institution was long gone. A democratically elected council made up of humans supposedly ruled the Empire with the help of the benevolent AIs.
The so-called Freedom Council supposedly met in the old Imperial Senate chambers. Only that august body didn’t exist. God only knew what the machines had done with the planetary delegations. The most senior members of the higher orders and government on Harrison’s World knew the truth.
Even adding the resistance to that number only bumped the count up by a few thousand people. Why would he claim to have visited the home world when it wasn’t true? Or even relevant. This was a serious blunder.
Olivia couldn’t imagine who these people were, but they controlled the orbital bombardment weapons menacing her world, so she wouldn’t underestimate them. Any digging into their background wasn’t wise when she was up here. They could lock her up in a few minutes.
No wonder they wanted their crewmen back. They knew the truth about who these people really were. And it gave Olivia several thousand chances to figure it out for herself. If she could get back down to Harrison’s World, that was.
