by Kal Spriggs
She smiled, “You too, Lucius. Though, I might remind you that I'm in current disfavor with my younger brother, something about marrying this fellow. I don't know if he's disowned me or stripped me of my titles.”
Baron Giovanni grimaced and Tony saw some of the frustration on his face. “No,” Baron Giovanni said, “He hasn't. I wish he would get past his frustration and arrogance. But with Valens Balventia here, if anything, he's grown more impulsive and arrogant.”
Tony nodded. He had never told the Baron, but he had an encounter with Admiral Valens Balventia once before, when the man had outright told him that his career would end if he didn't cut ties to Lucius Giovanni. He had heard some of the history between their two families at the Academy. For that matter, the press had loved both of them as icons and the rivalry between the two successful officers had been a common enough topic of discussion in open forums. It did not surprise him in the slightest that the Admiral would go out his way to separate the Emperor from Baron Giovanni.
“Well, sir,” Tony said. “I think I'll leave you to it.”
“Thanks, Tony,” Baron Giovanni said and turned for the door. “Um, one thing, you've heard that Alanis has decided to attend our new military academy?”
Tony saw Lizmadie perk up at that. “Uh, no, I hadn't.” He frowned at that. He had heard plenty about how Lucius's headstrong sister had upended Nova Roma's social mores often enough. While, he supposed, he didn't have anything against her joining the military, it made him nervous to think of his wife following her example. For that matter, Tony thought, I wonder how Reese took it?
“Well, she needs someone to talk with,” Baron Giovanni said. “And I think you'd be a good person to put some perspective on it all.”
Tony straightened at that. It was a sign that whatever the evidence, Baron Giovanni still trusted him. Tony met the Baron's dark eyes and gave him a solid nod. “Of course, sir, I'd be glad to.”
“Thanks, Tony,” Baron Giovanni said. He nodded again to Lizmadie. “Take care,” he said and stepped out into the hall. A moment later, Tony heard the front door open and close. Tony sagged back to lean against the bookshelf. He met his wife's eyes. “I'm sorry.”
“For what?” Lizmadie said with a smile, “Sorry that you've made enemies? Sorry that you aren't the type of person to pull strings and get this swept under the rug? Or are you sorry that we're married and love each other deeply? Because if it's any of those three I'll tell you right off: you're an idiot.”
Tony shook his head, “Thanks.”
She came forward and embraced him. “Tony, we've been through a lot together. And whatever you've heard, the escape from Nova Roma was a special type of hell. Getting out we lost dozens to Chxor security points and then a gunfight outside the dockyards, aboard the station. Then, when we took the ships, their fleet opened up, we lost more people and ships before we could finally jump to shadow space.” She clenched him tightly, “That kind of stress was brutal, but what came after was worse, in a way. We had no real supplies to speak of, just whatever we brought with us or happened to be aboard. We lost ships, sometimes in a jump, sometimes just as we plotted our next course.” She shuddered, “Mechanical failures, environmental failures...”
Tony held her close and felt dampness on his cheek. He wasn't sure if it was his tears or hers. “There was a ship carrying Lady Gavius and her kids. You never met her, she was just a nice lady, very good with social situations, friendly... accepting. She helped me a lot. Their ship caught fire, some kind of electrical issue... she and her children burned alive.”
“I'm sorry,” Tony said. He felt a crushing weight on his chest. He had served to protect his family and friends. The powerlessness that came with the knowledge of failure had nearly broken him. Baron Giovanni had kept him and the rest of the crew of the War Shrike going when they all had been near breaking. To know that his wife's life had hung on such a slender thread of survival brought that feeling of powerlessness back.
“I learned so much from that, Tony,” Lizmadie said softly. “I learned that life is too damned short to live without the people we love. I learned that I didn't care anymore that my bastard of a father didn't want me to disgrace him by marrying a commoner. It's the end of the world, Tony, I figured it was time to stop living for others and do what I wanted to do.”
She stepped back. “I knew there would be issues. Especially with my brother, about us. And you know what?” She peered into his eyes and Tony felt tears fill his eyes as he met her green eyed gaze. “It's worth it, damn you. So don't be sorry. Be happy for the time we have together.”
***
Port Klast System
Port Klast
August 18, 2403
Port Klast was infamous as the home base for scores of pirates and for its ruler, the man named Thomas Kaid. Lauren had heard all manner of rumors about the man, things that ranged from the obscene to the absurd. One thing was for certain, Thomas Kaid controlled the Port Klast star system... and no attempt to dislodge him had met with even the slightest modicum of success.
Lauren didn't really care too much about that. The Thomas Kaid of legend was a bloodthirsty terrorist, granted, but then again, the Chxor probably described her that way. History and legend were determined by perspective and whatever Thomas Kaid's actual past, he obviously had enough supporters that he'd built himself one of the toughest fortresses that ever existed.
Lauren sighed a bit as she looked around the bridge. Despite the size of the ship, it almost ran itself. Mason was able to operate most of the ship's primary systems from the command console. The crew he had brought with him had mostly been tasked with loading crew supplies and cargo and preparing the ship for other crew. It had been a boring voyage thus far and Lauren didn't trust boring. She had trained and drilled herself mercilessly with the ship's weapons. With the vast array of options and capabilities in those systems, at least she had found something of a challenge. Between the odd bank system which allowed them to fire in almost any direction, the varying emitters which allowed them to project beams on different bandwidths and spectrums, and the ability to split the beams to different targets or focus all their firepower through just a single bank, that kept her busy.
As the Kraken cleared the outer ring of Port Klast's automated defenses, Lauren looked over at the ship's commander. “Mason, how extensive are these defenses, anyway?”
“Stavros,” Mason said. His voice was harder and harsher than his usual lilt. For that matter, his face looked harder, the cheekbones more pronounced. He had also slicked back his brown hair with a dark oil or gel of some kind. “Remember, I am Stavros Heraklion. Our lives depend on that. Just because we're alone don't assume someone won't find a way to eavesdrop... or even hire a psychic to read your mind.”
“Right,” Lauren sighed, “Stavros, how extensive are these defenses?”
Mason shrugged and he brought up a display of the planet. “Kaid's people don't allow active sensors, so all anyone can pick up on entry is whatever their passive sensors can find. What with the dust clouds of the nebula, that means we can only see the largest and only from relatively close.” He toggled a key and a web of light appeared around the planet. Lauren leaned close and could see that each line was made up of tens of thousands of objects. “As you can see, that is very extensive.”
“How did he build this much, all the way out here?” Lauren asked. It seemed ridiculous, in the face of it. The man had, from what she understood, been on the run, hunted by his former allies and enemies alike. How does one go from refugee to warlord so quickly? She thought, suddenly, of Baron Giovanni's rise to power. Yet the Baron is a heroic figure, surely there was no similarity, she thought. Thomas Kaid was infamous, a terrorist, pirate raider, and criminal mastermind who had helped to bring down Amalgamated Worlds.
“No one really knows,” Mason said. “But he opened up the planet for commerce and as a haven for anyone with the money around sixty years back. No one ever found out what happened to the ships that the
Colonial Republic and Amalgamated Worlds sent after him.”
“Did he and Tommy King get along?” Lauren asked.
“They had something of a disagreement,” Mason admitted. “But they did business from time to time. Tommy King has called on this port before. I have as well, though it's been a long time since Stavros Heraklion has come to cal0l. Almost fifteen years, long enough that some of the old grudges should have faded.”
“Grudges?”
Mason smirked, “I'm something of a ladies man, you understand. Women love Stavros. It is easy to see why.” He gestured down at his baggy bright red shirt and tight black leather pants. Evidently, Lauren thought, whatever his history, Stavros had terrible taste in clothing.
“I'm sure,” Lauren grimaced. Her suspicion was that Mason did most of his act to annoy her. Yet it is disturbing how easily he adopts this Stavros act, she thought, to the point that sometimes I wonder if Mason is as much of an act.
“In any case,” Mason said, “We'll follow our proscribed route to the assigned orbit and remain there. You and I will go down, first to pay our greetings to Thomas Kaid and then to recruit additional crew so our current fellows can go home.”
“They won't be staying on?” Lauren asked. Despite her attempts to talk to them, most of them had proven difficult to speak with or had simply avoided her entirely.
“No, Khalid and his boys will be shipping out of here back towards home,” Mason said. “They have nothing to do with this.” He cleared his throat. “We'll take on a crew, mostly pilots and crews to tend to whatever fighters we lay on.”
Lauren nodded. She'd seen the ship's hangar bay, which at the moment was cavernously empty, other than the single combat shuttle that Mason had flown aboard just prior to their departure. He had yet to explain its purpose. “I'm still not certain how this ship functions on so few crew.”
“It's something of a convenience, isn't it?” Mason asked. He held up his hands, “Keeps down on overhead costs and makes it easier for me to vet the entire crew. Practically flies itself, though for me that's a bit of a drag.” He chuckled, “For that matter, the ship repairs itself quite well, given time, resources, and sufficient power.”
“Oh?” Lauren asked. She glanced again at the odd text on some the displays. It looked familiar, yet she couldn't read any of it. Even so, everything seemed placed intuitively, so she knew what buttons she would need to hit to make her console go live. Thankfully, the main systems all seemed translated.
“Yeah, came in pretty handy when I took her from Sta–” Mason cleared his throat, “That is, the previous owner. Nasty little fight and the ship was in a bad way. As you can see, though, it's up to full capacity after a short time to repair itself.”
“Where was she built?” Lauren asked.
Mason smirked, “Good question. My best guess?” He quirked an eyebrow at her suggestively. Lauren waved her hands impatiently and Mason straightened to toggle some codes on the command console. A moment later, it pulled up a set of star charts, labeled in the same odd text. “Alien.”
“Alien?” Lauren couldn't help her tone of sarcasm. There were rumors of alien ships and technology recovered all the time. Most of that was just rumor. No one really believed the tales, particularly the more wild tales. And besides, while the ship looked exotic... “Well, if it's alien, why is everything so human-like?” She gestured at her seat, which fit her more comfortably than most ship's seats she'd sat in. For that matter, the ceilings were of good height, the hatches were obviously designed for human-like bipeds. The atmosphere was comfortable. Other than the odd text and the outward appearance of the ship, it could have passed for any human vessel. Well, some of the systems are pretty advanced, she acknowledged privately, but it would be just like Mason to try to pull the wool over my eyes in some weird joke.
“Alien,” Mason said. “Older than the Egyptian Pyramids on Earth.” He cocked his head, “Oh, I doubted it myself. But I took some serious time to study this ship after I captured her. For that matter, there are some very quality records on her that you can review as well...”
“Attention, Kraken, this is Port Klast Traffic Control, we have additional inbound craft that are in a group and wish to stay that way, we're adjusting your orbit accordingly. Please adjust course by five nine three degrees along vector two.” The woman's voice was calm and professional, not what Lauren had expected of the pirate haven.
“Acknowledged, Traffic Control,” Mason said. “Adjusting course now.” As he did so, Lauren noticed he activated another series of commands on his console.
“Problem?” Lauren asked.
“Maybe,” Mason said. “Not with Traffic Control, they're about as incorruptible as they come.” He pulled up the passive sensor feed for the ships inbound from their rear. “Hmm, those are Nova Roma drive signatures. Military drives on three of them.”
“Admiral Mannetti?” Lauren asked.
“Or mutineers, deserters, or just refugees,” Mason said softly. “When nations collapse, you get all kinds of flotsam boiling around everywhere. Something interesting, to be certain. Possibly something to do with our business here.”
Lauren watched the icons for a moment, then looked up at Mason. “So, Captain Stavros, what's our plan... our real plan?”
He grimaced, “What, taking on a crew and going pirating doesn't sound legitimate?” She gave him a level look and he smiled. “Well, Stavros is a skilled enough pirate, but well known for being a big spender and a poor businessman. He was an independent sort, but he occasionally signed on with larger bands, particularly when he had a hard run of luck.”
Lauren's eyes narrowed, “So...”
“We make port, buy some fighters, preferably cheap, sign on a new crew, preferably cheap, and make some noises about looking for work, a group that can pay well enough to keep us eating and all that, but not one that sucks away autonomy.”
“Mannetti.”
Mason shook his head, “No.” He rubbed at his clean shaven face and the lack of stubble seemed to surprise him for a moment. “From what I can tell, she runs a very tight-knit group. No outsiders into her inner circle... especially not outright independents like us.” He took a deep breath, “Our way in will have to be through one of her allies, hopefully one that's part of her overall organization but not in her inner circle. Mercenaries, but ones she trusts enough to recruit from. I've got a short list.”
“So we prove ourselves, move up into her organization, figure out her plans...” Lauren frowned, “I suppose that means we'll be doing actual piracy?”
“Maybe,” Mason said with a sour grimace. “I'd prefer to sign with some of the more tolerable sorts, rather than the bloodthirsty, rabid types, but it might come to that.” His hand dropped to his belt, where his prayer beads should have hung. Lauren didn't miss the motion. He met her eyes, “I warned you that you might not like the sorts we'll have to deal with.”
“Doesn't matter,” Lauren said. “We'll do what we have to.”
***
Faraday System,
United Colonies
August 20, 2403
Lucius had to stifle a yawn as he stepped into the briefing room for what seemed like the millionth time. In addition to the series of meetings over the past few weeks, his daughter was not sleeping well. The wet nurse said it was a growth spurt, that she just was more hungry and irritable as a result, but hearing her cry at night was wrenching for him.
He took a seat next to Admiral Dreyfus. “Morning.”
“Good morning, Baron,” Admiral Dreyfus said softly. “Late night?”
Lucius nodded, “But I understand that this is a meeting your people have wanted to give me for a while and from what I understand, it's something that should be a high priority, so let's begin, shall we?”
Admiral Dreyfus nodded and gestured to the end of the table. Two people in civilian clothing sat there. The first was an Asian woman, who stood and gave Lucius a polite nod. Admiral Dreyfus spoke, “Doctor Sheryl Gaspodschin is our
head researcher, she's very accomplished, both in general research as well as applied engineering concepts.”
The woman gave a nod, “Baron Giovanni, I've been waiting for some time to really dig into some of the applied research that my teams have planned since the fleet arrived at Sanctuary.” She gestured at her male companion. “Doctor Randal Wade and I have accumulated a great deal of potential projects which we think will prove to be of long term benefit to us.” Her companion was tall, blonde haired, and of pale complexion.
“That's good,” Lucius said. He frowned a bit, “Though I wonder if you'll be including research into the Ghornath technology as well as the captured Balor technology.”
“That's a matter of priorities, of course, Baron,” Doctor Wade said. “While I'd agree that military technology from both could be beneficial, we are hoping to adopt a more broad spectrum of research.”
“We are involved in a war,” Lucius said. “I would think that military technology would be the priority.” He looked over at Admiral Dreyfus with a raised eyebrow.
Before the Admiral could speak, Doctor Gaspodschin interrupted, “Baron, no one is saying that military technology isn't the priority, but we've spent decades preparing resources and running simulations on existing research. We don't want to throw that away. We will allocate resources towards this other research, but we prefer to lend our resources towards sciences which we better understand and that are more mature.”
“Mature?” Lucius asked, his eyes narrow.
Doctor Wade spoke up, “The Balor and Ghornath technology is poorly understood. Some of it is far advanced to what we're at the position of reproducing. Our fear is that we'll spend countless hours of research in fruitless endeavors.”
Lucius frowned, “Nova Roma has managed to reproduce and utilize Ghornath technology and to implement it during wartime conditions.”
