Zhi crossed the parlor to his bedroom and walked through to the connected bathroom. The housemaid had already prepared a hot bath for him, and he was looking forward to it. His disrobed and slipped into the tub, leaning his head back against the head and closed his eyes.
"It seems I'm always catching you in the bath," a female voice whispered from the shadows.
"I'll never figure out how you get in and out," Zhi chuckled. "My guards just cleared the suite. So what can I do for you, my mysterious benefactor?"
"I need you to give leave to one of your Angels so she can perform a task for me," the voice instructed. "Lt. Lakeisha Johnson of your guard."
"Lt. Johnson?" Zhi questioned. "I didn't know that she was a member of the Legion. That makes me feel better knowing that I have a loyal follower here. What do you need me to instruct her to do?"
"I don't," the voice corrected him. "I just need you to give her leave. I will give her the necessary instructions at the correct time."
"Very well," Zhi replied, his jaw tensed. How dare you cut me out of the loop? You would have nothing if not for my support. He quickly put his anger in check. "How long will she be gone?"
"As long as it takes," the voice answered. "She will need a shuttle for transport, which you will provide."
"I shall inform her immediately,' Zhi said. "Do you wish to speak to her personally?" There was no reply to his question. "Hello? Are you still there?" Still, there was no reply. I swear I am working with a ghost. Zhi climbed out of the bath, dried off, and then redressed. He sat down on the side of his bed and pressed the intercom on his bedside table. "Have Lt. Johnson come in here please."
A moment later, the door opened and Lakeisha entered the parlor. "You called me, Your Grace?"
"Yes," he acknowledged her. "I have a question for you. How does one destroy chaos?"
"By destroying freedom," she replied, a surprised look on her face. "Your Grace, I did not know you were part of the Legion. How can I serve?"
"One of the Triumvirate has requested your assistance in a matter," Zhi informed her. "I am not at liberty to discuss the details with you at this moment, but you will be contacted when they are ready. I will provide you a ship for your transport needs. You are to depart immediately."
"Of course, Your Grace," Lakeisha responded with a bow. "Is there anything else?"
"No," Zhi shook his head, "you may go now." Lakeisha offered another bow and left the room. After she left, he pressed the intercom again. "Lt. Johnson will be on a special assignment for me. Please have a shuttle made available to her immediately. Also, I will need someone to fill her position in my guard detail during her absence." He released the intercom button and sat down on the side of the bed. What are you up to Shadow? Why do you need my guard? A knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts.
"Your Grace? May I come in?" A voice called through the door. He recognized the voice as that of Itsuki Tatsuda, his personal aide. Tatsuda had been loyal to the Zhi family, and to Zhang personally, for many years.
"Enter," Zhi answered. The door opened and a frail looking elderly gentleman entered the room. "What is it, Itsuki? I need to prepare for dinner."
"That man you asked me to monitor tried to speak with Ridgeway's attorney," the elder man informed Zhi. "I had one of our 'friends' dissuade him from any further involvement."
The Legion Triumvirate had asked Zhi to handle the clean up surrounding Ridgeway's trial, and Zhi had assigned the task to the one person he trusted more than anyone else.
"So, he won't try this again?" Zhi asked for confirmation. "We can't have him changing his mind a second time."
"It won't be an issue, Your Grace. Our 'friend' made certain that Baxby won't trouble us anymore," Tatsuda replied. "However there may be a secondary problem."
"What kind of problem, Itsuki?" Zhi inquired in a concerned tone. "I can't have any of this linked back to me."
"It is nothing that I cannot handle," Tatsuda said with a bow. "The police are investigating, but our 'friend' made Baxby's death appear as a suicide. The problem is that they found the data chip that Baxby used to alter the Dauntless' drones. Even that is only a problem if they can learn what method was used to store the data. Nonetheless, I have our 'friend' keeping watch on the matter. If for some reason he fails, I have other 'friends' I can rely on. There is no need to worry, Your Grace."
"Good. On another matter, how is the former queen?" Zhi asked.
"Heavily sedated, Your Grace," answered Tatsuda. "As you instructed, we transferred her from the palace to my personal estate. It was handled quietly, so everyone still believes she is in the palace. My guards are making certain that she is not disturbed." He paused. "She could have a bad reaction to her medicine and perish, if you so desire it, Your Grace. Or she could just simply lose the will to live. I have trusted people that can make such things happen."
Zhi shook his head. "Not yet. I need more time to solidify my position. If something were to befall her at this point it might still look suspicious. If her 'condition' doesn't improve, eventually the Council will proclaim me king. Once that is done, we can rid ourselves of the royal brat."
"As you command, Your Grace," Tatsuda bowed.
"Now, it is time for my dinner," Zhi said, rising from the side of the bed, "and the events of the day have made me quite famished."
***
Lakeisha left Regent Zhi's quarters and smiled. Poor fool. You still have no idea who I really am. Perhaps that's why you serve me so well. It amused her that Zhi would do anything for her when she was a voice hiding in the shadows, but paid her no attention as his guard. If you only knew that your trusted bodyguard was a member of the Legion Triumvirate. It really doesn't matter. Kamseth's will is not dependent on you, or even me. We each serve as needed. She walked from the royal suite to the guard captain's office. She would need to inform him of her 'mission' from the Regent.
She knocked on the door of the office, and a burly voice answered. "Enter." She opened the door and closed it behind her after entering. Across the small room, a hulking man was sitting behind a desk going through paperwork on his desk. Captain Erik Lawrence was the commanding officer of the royal guard and had held that position since the early part of the reign of King Johnathan. He was fifty-four years old but still trained with the rest of the guard on a daily basis. He was in better shape than most of those that served under him. His dark brown hair might have flecks of gray in it now, but he still trained and fought like someone half his age. He was well liked by the entire guard force. He was known to be gruff, but fair, to those under his command. He held the only captain-rank command position in the Commonwealth that wasn't on the bridge of a ship.
"Can I help you, Lieutenant?" He asked, looking up from his papers.
"Sir, the Regent has asked me to handle a personal matter for him," Lakeisha notified her commanding officer.
"Yes," he confirmed, "the Regent called me moments ago. I've already sent a notification to Fleet Command that you will be in need of a shuttle. I've also taken the liberty of filling your rotation on guard duty. The Regent didn't give me any specifics concerning your orders. Do you plan to be gone for long?"
"Unknown," she replied. "Its an information gathering mission, so I'll be out until I get the information he needs. That's really all I can say."
"Understood," Lawrence nodded. "I know you'll do us all proud, Lieutenant Johnson. May the Creator keep you safe. Dismissed," he said with a formal salute. Lakeisha returned the salute and left his office.
From Lawrence's office, she returned to the guard bunkroom. She fetched her fleet uniform from her locker and changed out of the dress armor worn by the Sovereign Angels when on royal guard duty or for special events. The armor was reminiscent of what would have been worn in a medieval setting. After changing, she walked to the basement stairs and descended to the lower level of the palace. When Fleet Command had been constructed just outside the palace walls. a tunnel was also built that linked the palace basemen
t to the basement in Fleet Command. This tunnel allowed high-level officers and palace officials to quickly traverse between the two locations without being publicly visible. Lakeisha walked the length of the tunnel quickly to Fleet Command and headed to the shuttle landing area.
The area was always busy. Shuttles landing and taking off, carrying various officers and crew to and from ships in orbit. She was making her way across the busy area toward the flight officer's tower when she heard a voice booming over the public address system. "Unauthorized female officer, get off my deck!" Lakeisha looked up toward the tower and saw a man staring and pointing at her. She pointed toward the man, then to where the cargo was staged off to the side of the landing area. The man on the tower nodded, walked down the tower stairs, and made his way toward Lakeisha.
"I'm sorry, Chief," Lakeisha apologized. "I was trying to figure out how to get over to you. This is a lot different than the hangar bays I'm used to on Pathfinders."
"Yeah, Lieutenant," the chief said, "this is one of the busiest military landing areas in the Commonwealth. It's about twice the size of a Dreadnaught's hangar bay, and six times bigger than a Pathfinder's. So, what can I do for the Sovereign Angels today?"
"Regent Zhi has requested that I tend to a personal matter for him," Lakeisha told the chief. "I believe you should have the orders on file. I will need a shuttle for an undetermined length of time."
The chief pulled out a portable console and began swiping on the screen. After a couple of swipes, he stopped and started reading. "Well, let me ask you something, Lieutenant. Are you just going into orbit, or leaving Martian space?" The chief inquired. "Reason I ask is, a shuttle doesn't have a lot of range. If you are going to be going on a long trip, I can loan you a Talon. You Angels usually prefer those."
"Normally, I'd agree with you, Chief," Lakeisha replied, "but I might need a bit of cargo room. I'm not entirely certain what this mission might entail."
"Cargo room, huh?" The chief thought aloud. "Well, how versed are you at flying? I can let you take a Raptor if you're not going into any combat situations. They're usually a four-man ship, but if you use the auto-pilot most of the time you should be able to handle it by yourself. That is, as long as you don't have to maneuver and shoot at the same time."
Lakeisha chuckled. "Chief, I think that will work. I definitely don't plan on getting into any dogfights."
"Well, let's get you a ship then," the chief smiled.
CHAPTER 7
While the Nightfury was on route to its destination in Commonwealth space, Gar'loz had given No'tok a tour of the ship and briefed his new commanding officer on the various improved systems. No'tok was keeping a stoic face but inwardly was amazed at the ship that was now under his control. It was much faster than his last command and had a far more impressive weapons complement. The Legion was a blending of people from three cultures, and it seemed that this ship was a blending of the technologies of those cultures.
"As you can see, Admiral, this is the most advanced ship in the known universe," Gar'loz was wrapping up his briefing in the secondary lift. "We have versions of the most powerful weapons the Protectorate has to offer. We stole the design for the Davenport faster than light engine the Commonwealth has only recently developed. We even improved on the camouflage system used by the Dominion ships. We can not only hide our ship, but we can even project visual and sensor data to make the Nightfury appears as one of several ships we have sensor data stored for. We can fire Protectorate quark missiles from a Dominion ship if we want." Gar'loz was smiling with pride as though he had built the entire ship himself.
"It is a most impressive ship," No'tok agreed as they walked back into the bridge. "It will have to be to serve the needs of the Legion." No'tok took his place in the command chair. "Time until we reach our target?"
"Only two more FTL hops, Admiral," responded Mak'naw, his senior navigation officer.
"Good," No'tok acknowledged. He leaned forward in his chair. "I'm anxious the take this ship into combat. What about you, Gar'loz? Ready to go into battle?"
"Indeed, Admiral," Gar'loz replied smiling.
The ship experienced a slight shudder as it undertook the next faster than light hop. No'tok's hand unconsciously gripped the arm of his chair but quickly relaxed. I'm not sure I will ever get used to that. Reminds me of weapons impact jarring the ship. He looked at his first officer and saw a similar brief look of uneasiness. Good. It's not just me.
"Tactical, engage the camouflage system. I don't want anyone seeing us. Have all weapon systems ready. I want to be able to get off a round of shots the moment we arrive if need be," Not'ok ordered.
"Yes, Admiral," responded Krat'sa, the tactical officer. She was the only female bridge officer on the Nightfury and earned the right to be there. Prior to her joining the Legion, she had been a member of the V'drellz Stragizi. She had been a ruthless member of their order and was excommunicated by K'oron after killing a cadet during training. It wasn't the death of the cadet that brought about her removal, but rather the fact that she showed no remorse for it. In fact, she had appeared to even enjoy it.
"Admiral, we are ready for the last FTL hop to our destination," the navigation officer informed his commanding officer.
"All weapon systems are ready, Admiral," the tactical officer reported. "Camouflage has been activated."
Good. Time to test the mettle of this ship. He pressed a button on the arm of his chair. The ship-wide address system crackled to life. "This is the Admiral. We are about to execute one final FTL hop, then we will arrive at our designated coordinates. Our mission is to strike fear into the heart of the Commonwealth and Protectorate by attacking a convoy made up of ships from both governments. They will believe us to be a V'drellian battleship. We will be the hammer that breaks the lazy existence these nations have known. I need all crew members to their battle stations. Do your best for the Legion. Failure will not be tolerated."
He released the button and looked at Gar'loz. "First Officer, make the final FTL hop. Weapons on my signal."
"Yes sir," Gar'loz replied. The first officer turned to face the front of the bridge. "Make your hop, Mak'naw. Weapons armed and at the ready, Krat'sa. Fire only on the Admiral's orders."
Mak'naw fingers flew across the panel in front of him, triggering the final faster than light engine cycle. The ship hummed for a moment the shuddered. As soon as the vibrations stopped, the tactical officer's station began picking up the reading of the target ships.
"Admiral, I've got three ships on my screen. One Protectorate, and two Commonwealth. These appear to be our targets, sir," Krat'sa reported.
"Target the Commonwealth cruiser engines, then do the same to the Protectorate destroyer. They cannot return fire if they have no power. The transport won't have any weaponry of consequence," No'tok ordered. A smile began to creep across his face. The Nightfury would be able to stop this convoy before they even understood what was happening.
Krat'sa input the targets into the primary weapon system controls. Though younger than many of the other senior officers, she showed none of the signs of a fledgling bridge officer. She completed the targeting, and the engaged the ship's weapons system. There was a momentary soft, but high pitched, sound upon each firing of the weapons.
"Impact confirmed," the tactical officer stated. "Picking up depressurization and localized explosions from both ships. We must have set off their stored weapons."
"Put it on the primary screen," No'tok said with a smile. The forward wall of the bridge flickered, then an image of the targets in front of them appeared. The crew watched as the two targeted ships were coming apart in front of them. In only a moment, both had been reduced to floating debris. "Escape pods?"
"None sir," replied the tactical officer.
"Set the camouflage system to the V'drellian appearance," No'tok instructed. "I want that transport ship to have time to inform the Commonwealth that they were attacked by the V'drellians. Monitor their ship for any outgoing message freq
uencies"
"Camouflage mode set to V'drellian," Krat'sa confirmed.
The communication officer put his hand to his earpiece. "Admiral, the transport ship is sending out a broad frequency emergency message, they are also launching an emergency beacon with the same message."
"On primary," No'tok replied.
The primary screen changed from the image of the ship to a low-quality image of a Terran officer. "This is the Commonwealth transport ship Bastille to any available ship. We are being attacked by V'drellians! Our two escort ships have already been destroyed! We have not been targeted yet, but it's only a matter of time. We need immediate assistance! Our coordinates are encoded in this signal." The message started over, programmed to play in a loop.
Not'ok face held a sinister grin. "Return to standard visual." The primary screen once again showed the exterior of the transport ship. "Target the ship, full weapons spread." No'tok leaned forward in his chair. His hands were touching each other at the thumbs and fingertips. His first fingers tapping each other. He was anticipating the kill shot. This is my favorite part. Having the enemy targeted, and knowing they are helpless to fight back. This must be how a god such as Th'warzin feels. To completely control the life and death of individuals. To be able to snuff the life out, with no more than a word. "Fire!"
The momentary high pitched sound was heard again as Krat'sa released a volley of shots at the transport ship. The bridge crew watched the screen as the shot impacted the transport. The ship quickly changed from a spacecraft into a cloud of debris.
"Ship destroyed, sir," Krat'sa reported. "We are picking up one small intact object exiting the debris field. I am reading one life form, but no sign of propulsion. Must be some type of escape pod. It is floating away from the wreckage at medium velocity toward the Dominion border. At its current speed, it will leave Commonwealth space in one half Morgalan sun. However, its locator beacon is broadcasting its coordinates which might be picked up by any nearby craft. Shall I target it?"
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