Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series

by Hystad, Nathan

  Today, they were separatists, and she could only hope that enough followed her into the coming war against her own people.

  ____________

  “No word from Fayle?” Admiral Benitor asked, and Tom shook his head.

  “Nothing.” Their informal group consisted of Bouchard, Prime Xune, Benitor, Starling, and himself.

  “We have to assume these Invaders have failed their jump to Driun by now,” Treena said. “We ought to go on the offensive.”

  “We’ve gathered the forces near Earon and will continue to do so in groups. But we need information from the Ugna camp before we do anything, so we’re sure what we’re up against. Fayle was our best chance,” Tom said.

  “You might have sent her to her death, Baldwin,” Admiral Benitor accused without malice.

  “True.” He ran a hand through his hair, hoping that it wasn’t. His tablet chimed, and he checked it from its resting position near the door. It was a coded message from an anonymous sender.

  “It’s her.” He brought it to the table and sat down, scrolling to the proper notification.

  “What does it say?” Prime Xune asked.

  “Parley at Earon. Instructions to follow.” Tom read it again, this time in his head.

  “I don’t think that’s her,” Benitor said.

  Tom skimmed over it. “Neither do I.”

  “Do we respond?” the Prime asked.

  Tom shrugged. “I wouldn’t.”

  “We’re about to face a terrible foe, one that would seek to destroy us from the inside. We’re working on finding out the location of their manufacturing plant, and that’s target one. We have five vessels being outfitted with Nek drives, which will allow us quick access to Driun F49 when the time is right,” Admiral Benitor said.

  “Remember, Fayle wants a peaceful outcome. She says the Ugna will side with her.”

  “If she lives,” Xune said.

  Tom nodded once. “Are we done for today?” He had a date and didn’t want to be late again.

  “We’re done.” The Prime left first, followed by Benitor.

  “You kids have fun,” Treena said, exiting after the admiral.

  When it was just Rene and Tom in the meeting room, he turned to Rene. “It’s going to be a gruesome war.”

  “We already won the first three battles: Treena’s trap in Sol, our win near Aruto, and the blindside at Nolix. We’re five steps ahead,” she told him, walking across the room to settle her hands on his chest.

  “We can’t turn cocky,” Tom told her. “This Wylen is all in. He’s not going to stop until he wins or we kill him.”

  “Then we settle on the latter,” Rene agreed.

  “You said you wanted to talk to me about something?” he asked. Her earlier message had been confusing, but with Rene, that wasn’t a shock.

  “I do.” She kissed him, their lips pressing together, then she broke the embrace. “You remember that first night we had together… before you skipped town with a shuttle full of other women.”

  He laughed at her description of him piloting some of the most powerful women in the Concord in a Nek-modified shuttle. “Sure. I recall it distinctly.” He leaned in for another kiss, but she held a finger up, touching it to his lips.

  “Tom. I know this is going to be a trying time we have ahead of us, but there’s something you need to hear.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  He stared at her, disbelief racing through his mind. “Are you messing with me?”

  Rene’s cheeks flushed, matching her red hair, and he trusted she wasn’t. “Just what we need. Another Baldwin running around.”

  Tom knew what he had to do. He pulled her close, hugging her tight. “This changes everything.”

  THE END

  Copyright © 2020 Nathan Hystad

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cover art: Tom Edwards Design

  Edited by: Scarlett R Algee

  Proofed and Formatted by: BZ Hercules

  Prologue

  The wind blew lightly over High Elder Wylen’s sweating brow. He dabbed at the skin with a crimson cloth and slid it into his robe’s breast pocket. Seeing his hard work paying off nearly capsized his beating heart, but he controlled his emotions. Allowing feelings to overtake one’s exterior wasn’t becoming.

  Stoicism was a mask they proudly wore. The Ugna were a strong race, as powerful as any had ever been. They’d spent thousands of years cultivating their strengths, weeding out the weak, growing their bloodlines with intricate planning. High Elder Wylen wondered if his successors would respect his accomplishments.

  He doubted it. Not yet. They’d appreciate his efforts, but many would mock him for fleeing Driun F49. It didn’t matter. No one saw the big picture as he did. The rest were observing the situation from the ground level, whereas Wylen was floating forty thousand feet above the surface, watching the pieces of the gameboard, anticipating the Concord’s ineffectual moves.

  They couldn’t defeat him. No one would stop the Ugna from obliterating the Concord fleet. Nolix would be his. Leria. Aruto. Earon. All the Founders’ planets would be controlled by the Ugna.

  Wylen heard their footsteps softly kicking up dust behind him, and he turned to face the incoming Elders. Fayle wasn’t among them.

  He wished he’d killed her and her protégé when he’d had the chance, but there was no sense in badgering himself about it. She’d been wise, cunning, and deceitful. He’d intended to gift Fayle control of Nolix, a prize unlike any other, but she’d gone to the other side. Wylen would never understand her motivations for betraying him. Not only that, but she’d brainwashed a subset of their population to trust her.

  The four Elders wore grim expressions, and a flicker of indignation crossed Elder Unili’s face. Do not show me how much you fear this war, Wylen thought. You will find I have no patience for such cowardice. He pressed his words deep into her mind. She staggered away, hands flying to her face momentarily, before regaining her composure.

  “Yes, sir,” Unili said.

  The sky was darkening as dusk approached, and Wylen glanced to the hundreds of vessels high above the surface, forming neat rows. Their fleet would be unstoppable.

  The other Elders stood impatiently, waiting for orders.

  He let them sweat for another minute before he began. “Tebas has long been our secret base. A world to fall back on, to train our assassins, to hone our skills as leaders.”

  Elder Young had never left this planet, and he looked proud, nodding enthusiastically at the words.

  “We are about to embark on the largest-scale war ever to hit the Concord. Are you ready for what’s to come?” Wylen asked.

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison, only Unili faltering a split second behind. He’d need to find a replacement for her. Someone harder.

  “We leave in a week.”

  This seemed to perturb them, and Unili spoke on their behalf. “But the reinforcements haven’t arrived yet.”

  That bothered Wylen as well. He’d expended a lot of resources sending Prophet to Earth to recruit the offshoots of the Ugna. They were lesser Ugna, not fit to be rewarded with a Concord prize as he’d promised them, but he’d give them Driun F49. It was never intended to be a permanent home for his people. Where were these Invaders? Prophet wouldn’t have failed. Not unless Lark Keen had opened his big mouth and gotten them killed.

  “Do we have the Keens in custody?” Wylen asked, s
eemingly out of the blue.

  Elder Bezra answered. She clasped her hands together, slender fingers intertwining. “No, sir. We were unable to secure Seda and Luci as requested. We are still trying, but their location has proven more difficult to obtain than we originally assumed. Once we have them, we’ll bring them aboard your ship, Conquest.”

  As fitting a name as ever. The starship was fitted with a jump drive, the only one in his fleet. They had neither the time nor the resources to make alterations to any of the other fleet vessels, and that disappointed Wylen, but the Concord had been quite evasive when it came to the Nek stores’ hiding location.

  Not having Keen’s family was a failure, but Wylen hadn’t brought the Ugna this far by being unprepared. He doubted he’d need them anyway. “You seem disturbed at our timeline. Do you think this Concord could withstand our assault?” he asked the Elders.

  They glanced at one another, obviously nervous about something. “Spit it out,” he ordered.

  “Things aren’t occurring as planned.” Elder Unili stepped forward. “Prophet has failed. Your trick of using Concord ships against themselves to create civil unrest didn’t work. And Elder Fayle has managed to recruit ten percent of our population to her cause. What do you think—” The woman’s hands went to her throat defensively, and Wylen stepped closer, choking her.

  “Listen to me, Elders. I won’t tolerate disobedience, nor lack of faith. We are the Ugna. We will not be beaten by some motley group of Concord partners. They are not as smart, shrewd, or brave as we are, and nothing will prevent us from winning this war. Nothing!” Wylen hated how angry the woman’s words had made him, and he stopped applying invisible pressure to the Elder’s windpipe. She crumpled to the ground, holding her neck, but the others did nothing to assist him. Good, Elders.

  “As I was saying, we leave in a week. Any concerns?” When no one answered, he continued. “There’s one more thing. When we depart, Tebas will be obliterated.”

  An audible gasp emerged from their collective mouths, but none spoke in retribution.

  “You’re probably wondering why we would destroy our safe haven, so I’ll explain.” Wylen dabbed his forehead again, glad the star was setting beyond Tebas’ rolling dusty hills. “We’ve used this planet as a fall-back for centuries. No matter where we went or how we expanded, this world was here as a respite. A place to train and, on occasion, to lick our wounds. But now we’re proceeding into battle with the Concord for the last time.

  “There will be no returning to Tebas with our tails between our legs, because the outcome will be victory. We are destroying this place not as punishment, but as a beacon of hope and faith. Do you understand?” Wylen allowed himself a grin as they each nodded. He felt their emotions unraveling, but they fought hard to contain them. A second later, he sensed nothing but their shells.

  “All right, someone tell me good news. Do we have our moles in place?” he asked.

  Elder Bezra smiled in return, a wicked expression, her blood-red eyes piercing his very soul. “Yes, your Highness.”

  Wylen stared at the fleet over Tebas and knew they had enough power to destroy the Concord and its inhabitants. The Concord wasn’t prepared for something of this magnitude. Prime Xune didn’t have the experience, and Wylen was glad he’d set up the Statu’s return. It had permitted him to have Pha'n removed as Prime, and even Harris might have posed a threat.

  Baldwin was the only worrisome one. There was something intangible about the man. Wylen wished he could have found Thomas as a young boy, stolen him from the arms of Constantine Baldwin to mentor him as an Ugna. That would have been the ultimate slap in the face, but it wasn’t to be. He almost wished Baldwin had children of his own, then he could make that dream come true.

  Wylen heard the Elders shuffling off, his ignoring them an indicator of their dismissal. He closed his eyes, seeking the source of disturbance he’d felt a few weeks ago. There was someone out there, one of his own, with enough energy to disrupt Wylen’s plan. He’d been so sure he’d vetted each and every Ugna over the years to find one like this, but somehow the acolyte had slipped through his fingers.

  When his search came up empty, the sunlight was gone, replaced by a tranquil moon. Wylen decided to return to his quarters to meditate.

  The war was here.

  He was tired of waiting.

  One

  “Tom, you don’t have to stay for this,” Rene told him.

  “Are you kidding me? We’re having a baby and you don’t want me around for the first appointment?” He stood at the edge of the exam room’s bed, and Rene rolled her eyes in response.

  “Do you have any idea how routine these appointments are? The doctor comes in, does a scan, and we’re gone in two minutes. I assume you have more pressing matters to attend to than being by my side,” she said in a huff.

  Her hair was loose, a rarity, and Tom reached for an errant lock of red, gently sliding it behind her ear. “I’m not here because of some archaic sense of duty, Rene. I’m here because…”

  “What, you love me?” She laughed, and even though her comment was meant as a joke, he wondered if there wasn’t some real curiosity behind it.

  “I’m here because this child is ours, and I’m not going to let it grow up without a father,” he said. He’d been lucky to have loving parents, if only for a few years before they’d been killed.

  Rene seemed to relax at that and took his hand. Her palm was chilled. She was nervous about being here. Her nonchalant comments were just her way of trying to save face in front of him, he knew.

  “Fine. You can stay, but when we’re fighting…”

  Tom stiffened. “Wait. You can’t seriously be thinking of joining the battle, can you?”

  Her smile vanished in a flash, and she sat up. She looked far less commanding in a gown with her hair down, but that didn’t last once she opened her mouth. “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t give a Garbalian slug’s ass if you’re an admiral or not. I’m the captain of a starship, and we have a damned war coming to us!” She was shouting, her eyes angrily moving in her sockets.

  Tom stepped away, hands held up to his chest. “Okay. I didn’t mean that…”

  “Yes, you did. If you want to be part of this, you have to accept that I’m not going into hiding while the rest of the Concord is fighting the Ugna. I’ll be front and center, commanding my crew to victory. Understood?” Her voice had lowered slightly, and she leaned back as the door opened.

  Doctor Nee entered, his eyebrows raised in question. “Hello, Captain Bouchard. Admiral Baldwin.”

  “Wait, where’s Doctor Ruther?” Rene asked.

  Doctor Nee motioned for Tom to answer.

  “I asked Nee to take over primary care of your pregnancy,” Tom said.

  Rene slapped the bed’s surface and tried to stand. “This isn’t happening. First you try to tell me to stay home, and then you change my—”

  “Rene, I’d suggest you reconsider. This is an important time in the development…” Nee started, and Tom cringed as Rene turned her attention to the doctor.

  Rene poked him in the chest as she stepped toward him. “You may be an exceptional doctor, but this isn’t an ankle sprain. I need you on Shu for the duration of the war if we’re really going to do this.”

  Nee glanced at Tom, and the admiral smiled at him. They’d already discussed this possibility, and Tom had personally made the arrangements with Captain Treena Starling to borrow her doctor. His replacement had already boarded Constantine the night before.

  “Very well. Consider it done,” Nee said, pointing to the bed. “Do you mind having a seat?”

  Rene composed herself and returned to her original spot, catching Tom’s eye. She gave him a grin, like she’d won a battle here, and Tom would have laughed under other circumstances. Now they had too much to lose.

  Before, he would have done anything for the Concord, but with the baby coming, he had another life to protect, one more precious than his own or anyone h
e knew. He remained quiet while Nee clicked through the scans, and when he assured them the baby was healthy and right on track, Rene grabbed his hand again.

  Tom leaned in, kissing her forehead. He still didn’t know what they had, but he intended on everyone living long enough to find out.

  An hour later, Rene and Tom entered his suite, and she sighed heavily as she sank to the couch. “Can you believe our luck?”

  Tom stared out the window, the bright lights of Ridele shining in the night. The city was a constant hub of activity, and he struggled to have it feel like home. “If we don’t end this threat, none of it matters.” He took the seat beside her, and she leaned her head into his shoulder.

  “We need to be on the same page. This could be it. Wylen isn’t going to make this move without being confident in his success rate,” she reminded him.

  “The Ugna are cocky, I’ll give you that, but they don’t have our heart. And they definitely don’t have captains like you or Treena Starling fighting on their side.” The lights blinked in the distance, a sign of one of the huge transport vessels arriving at the outer edge of the city, bringing with it thousands of refugees from the planets recently assaulted by Wylen’s orders.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do?” Rene asked.

  “In what regard?” Tom knew what she meant but hadn’t made a decision quite yet.

  “Tom, don’t play games with me. Are you using the ship or not?” Rene’s gaze drifted to her stomach, and he fought the urge to coddle her. Rene was a lot of things, but fragile wasn’t one of them.

  The ship she referred to was the replica flagship Elder Fayle and Hanli had cleared for them near Aruto, and Tom had suggested to the Prime and Benitor that he be the one to captain it. “Alterations are being made as we speak, but I haven’t decided…”

  “Do it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Why not? You should be the fleet captain, Tom. Everyone trusts you, and who better to lead us into victory than the great Thomas Baldwin?” Rene asked, a hint of mockery in her tone.