by Peter Kenson
"Is that still Parm she's headed for?"
"Yes boss."
"How long before she gets there?"
"Her ETA at the edge of Parm Controlled Space is just over five hours, boss."
"And how soon can we get there?"
"Under three hours if you want to burn enough energy."
"Dammit Sam, I'm not concerned about the energy cost. Lay in the fastest course you can to the far side of the Parm System and make sure we materialise well outside their scanner range. We leave as soon as the Cleopatra gets under way."
David turned to Prince Gerald. "You can tell your men to get their heads down for a few hours. There's nothing we can do until that freighter's on the ground."
"And then what?"
David looked appraisingly at the young Guards Officer.
“If the stories I hear are even half true, that squad of yours is roughly the equivalent of a small army. If I can deliver you undetected to Parm spacefield, can you neutralise the ground defences and the barracks?"
Gerald nodded. "I'll need plans of the spaceport. Can you supply them or should I contact Regimental HQ?"
"Sam will have something in the archives. May be a little out of date though. We haven't had much contact with Parm for a few years now."
"It doesn't matter. We'll take what you've got and improvise the rest. What about you? Have you any idea where they'll take the Lady Zara?"
"Probably the Administration Complex, if they get the chance. Now, as far as I can remember, that place is a rabbit warren. Once they're in there, it'll take hours if not days to winkle them out."
"So what are you planning to do? Hit them while they're still at the spacefield?"
"Right. Once the freighter's down and has got her drives shut off, we'll give them a few minutes to go through DeCon procedures and then come in hard and fast."
"But surely they'll see us coming?"
"You may be right," David said with a smile. "But that's the only way they will detect us. Visually."
Gerald looked as puzzled as he was intended to be, so David went on. "That shuttle that brought us over. It's got a few interesting modifications. It's got a radar profile of almost zero, mass detector neutralisation equipment and programmable drones to confuse the infrared emission detectors. The only way they'll know we're there is if they can see us with the naked eye and by the time they do that, it'll be too late."
"But if you put out drones, there'll be so much noise on their screens they'll know something's going on."
"Possibly true," David agreed. "But they won't have anything to train their weapons systems on. And if we come in low and fast, below their horizon, they won't be able to react fast enough once they do see us."
"My lord." Simon came across towards them with one of the mobile repeater screens floating waist high behind him. "There's a message come through from the Aldebaran. Do you want me to put it up on the mobile here?"
"No, just give me the gist of it."
"They've completed a full rollcall on the liner and they've got two missing persons: one steward and one of the passengers. They've sent across the details."
"Well we haven't got them here or Sam would've been yelling by now. Relay the message to the Cleopatra and the Antares. And ask the Antares to check the details against the list of prisoners."
"Yes my lord. And if they're not there?"
"The only other group we can't account for is on board the Palomar. Maybe they're prisoners, maybe they were involved in the raid. There's no way of telling at the moment."
***
As the message was being relayed to the Imperial Ships, the person primarily responsible for the deficiency in the Aldebaran's rollcall was making his way to the Cleopatra's sickbay. He had failed to completely disguise the last attack which had occurred just as he was boarding the Cleopatra from the launch. He might have got away with it even then if it had been anyone other than Anton that he had stumbled into. The Surgeon had steadied him and when he had recovered his balance, ordered him to report immediately to the sickbay.
On reflection he decided, as he made his way aft, it could have been a very fortuitous stumble. If he had gone straight off-duty, he would have had considerable difficulty in avoiding Galileo's messmates who would have recognised him immediately as an imposter, and he could not reasonably keep the armoured space helmet on for much longer without attracting attention. In the sickbay however, the Surgeon, being an officer, might or might not recognise him. If he knew the real Galileo he would have to be killed, if not the sickbay seemed like an excellent place to lie low for a while.
He entered the tiny sickbay with Anton hard on his heels.
"Now then, let's get that armour off and have a look at you. You are...."
"Galileo, sir. Leading Artificer Galileo."
"Galileo, eh. I don't think I've seen you before have I?"
"No sir. Normally pretty fit, sir. I just don't know what's the matter with me now."
"Ok. Well lie down over there and we'll let the diagnosis unit have a look at you."
He relaxed a little as he lay down on the examination table and watched as Anton called up his medical records and input them to the diagnosis unit. He felt a very fine vibration as the examination table hummed into life and began measuring his vital signs. Obviously the transfer of his own medical records had been successful or the examination would have halted in some confusion by now.
Anton watched the dancing traces across the screen as the diagnosis built up patterns of actual readings against expected.
"It looks like some kind of reaction, either drug or maybe a viral reaction. The only drugs I can find any trace of, though, are some uppers. Have you taken any stim pills recently?"
"Well, yes sir. I took some when I started to feel queer on the liner, sir."
"Hmm. And have you ever had this sort of reaction from them before?"
"Well I don't use them very often, sir.... But no sir, never."
"Ok. That leaves us with the virus theory. Where did you get that cut on your finger?"
"I don't know, sir. I didn't notice a cut."
"Was it on the liner?"
"I don't know, sir. I suppose it might have been."
"Think man. Did you at any time take your glove off while you were on the liner?"
"Well, yes sir. Come to think of it, I do remember snagging my finger."
"Hmm. It looks quite inflamed. Whatever it is you've picked up, it was probably through that cut. I'm going to give you some general antiviral serum and keep you in sickbay for observation for a while. See what develops."
Anton loaded a phial of serum into the injector and pressed it lightly against the man’s wrist.
"Now you take that berth over there and have a rest. I'm going to run a quick check on the rest of the boarding party. See whether anyone else has got any reaction.
"Try to get some sleep now and I'll be back to see you in an hour or so."
***
"Cleopatra's underway, my lord."
David acknowledged the report and turned to look at the main viewscreen where the Aldebaran and the Cleopatra could be clearly seen. The other two ships, the Antares and the Mastodon, were off to one side of the screen and much further away.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first and then with increasing rapidity, the angle between the ships altered as the Cleopatra gained way.
"How long till she jumps?" David asked Simon.
“Seven minutes, my lord."
"Have you any last minute messages for the Cleopatra?" David looked at Prince Gerald standing beside him. "Contact will be patchy once we both start moving."
"No. There's nothing that hasn't been said already," the young officer replied. "Or that wouldn't be better left until later. She's still very upset."
They watched in silence as the Cleopatra edged away from the other ships, picking up speed all the time. The angle between the two ships on the viewscreen was visibly larger now as the corvette manoeuvred far e
nough away to make the subspace jump in safety, without being affected by the fields of the other ships.
There was a brief flare of energy, the merest flicker on the screen and the Cleopatra blinked out of existence from that point in the space-time continuum and reappeared an instant later nearly 100 light-years nearer to Serta.
"Ok, she's on her way. Now let's get moving ourselves. I want to be in position well before that damn freighter gets there."
"My lord, there's another message from the Aldebaran." The interruption came from Simon again.
"Well, what is it? Their missing persons turned up have they?"
"Yes my lord. That is, one of them has. The steward. But he's dead, my lord."
"Casualty of the raid?" inquired Prince Gerald.
"Possibly, your Highness. But there are some rather unusual features."
"What unusual features?"
"Well the reason they missed the body on the first search of the ship was because it had been hidden in a wardrobe and the door lock welded shut with what looks like a high powered laser. Also the body had been stripped to its underclothes and the steward’s uniform was missing."
"Cause of death?" David asked.
"The report doesn't mention the cause of death, my lord."
"Well find out then. Ask the Aldebaran for further details."
"Yes, my lord."
David turned to Prince Gerald. "It sounds as though somebody wanted the steward’s uniform. But why? To hide until next planetfall. That's seven days away. He must have known he couldn't get away with it that long."
"People under pressure don't always work things out rationally," Gerald replied. "Maybe he panicked. Killed the steward by mistake and took the uniform to delay identification."
"Maybe. But I don't entirely believe it. Concealing the body like that smells of calm professionalism to me. Not panic."
"Aldebaran's replying, my lord." Simon looked up from the comms panel where he had been working feverishly. "Cause of death was determined as a broken neck."
"A broken neck?" Prince Gerald repeated in astonishment.
"Makes my point, I think," David went on. "I can't see one of those trigger happy pirates putting down their laser rifle in order to break somebody's neck. Whoever it was, wanted that uniform and wanted it undamaged."
"Ok, let's assume you're right. Why did.... whoever it was, want a stewards' uniform?"
"I don't know. Sam, what do we know about the missing passenger?"
"I've got his details that the Aldebaran sent over, boss. Only point of interest is that he was one of that group of late arrivals at Andes."
"We had that whole group checked out, didn't we?"
"Sure did, boss. Clean as a whistle. Nothing on file on any of them."
"Well send this one’s details back to Centre. Give them the circumstances and ask them to double check. And tell them to go as deep as they can."
"Yes boss."
"The ship is ready to jump on your command, my lord," Simon reported.
"Hold the jump until Sam's got that transmission off to Centre. Then we can go. And relay the Aldebaran's latest information to the Cleopatra and the Antares."
"Yes my lord. We're in contact with the Antares but the Cleopatra's still in the silent period after her jump. We haven't managed to raise her yet."
"Well send it to the Antares anyway. And relay the message to the Cleopatra as soon as you do get a comms link."
CHAPTER 21
The Salamander emerged cautiously into normal space just outside the maximum range of the Parm Space Defences. To make doubly certain of being undetected, they had chosen a point of entry that was completely shielded from the spaceports on Parm I and III by the massive bulk of the dying star. Parm II, unfortunately, could not be avoided in the same way but it was largely uninhabited and, in any case, they were well outside the limited range of its local scanners.
When she had completed the preliminary checks, Elida, who had taken over as Officer of the Watch, buzzed through to David in his sleeping quarters. He answered immediately, having been woken from sleep a few minutes earlier by the feeling of spatial disorientation that the jumps always caused.
"Yes?"
"Final jump completed, my lord. We're in position and all systems are green."
"Any sign that our arrival's been noticed?"
"We're monitoring signal traffic from the Parm Defence System, my lord. There's no increase in the traffic rate and ECM reports us clear of any hostile scans."
"Very good. And the Palomar?"
"25 light years out, my lord, and manoeuvring for final jump. Her last jump was 28 minutes ago, so depending on the efficiency of her crew, she should be here in 30 - 40 minutes time."
"Thank you, Lida. Anything else?"
"Permission to launch the probes, my lord."
"Yes carry on. But make sure it's done carefully and quietly."
With a half-choked "Of course, my lord," she broke the connection. David smiled to himself at the mental picture of Elida stamping round the bridge, indignant at the suggestion that she would launch the probes in any other way.
He was still smiling as he walked across the room and activated the door panel just in time to see Julia slipping out of the door of the guest quarters opposite. Kylie, the duty bodyguard, was standing rigidly to attention with her eyes focused straight ahead, carefully looking neither at Lord David nor at her Guard Commander.
"I was just making sure that Prince Gerald had everything he needed," Julia said smoothly.
"Quite so. I trust that he is rested."
"He seemed very relaxed a few moments ago, my lord."
"Hm. Then perhaps you would be good enough to advise him that we are in position at Parm, awaiting the arrival of the freighter which should be within the next half hour. And ask him to join me in the shuttle bay at his earliest convenience."
"Yes, my lord."
***
David had only been on the floor of the dock for about five minutes when Prince Gerald arrived in full battle armour. Julia was still by his side, guiding him round the Salamander, and they had obviously detoured on the way to pick up Sergeant Harrides and the rest of the Guards squad.
"Has the Palomar turned up yet?"
"Not yet," David replied. "We're still waiting. Sam will tell us as soon as she gets here."
"I see." Gerald looked slowly round at the activity in the dock, strangely empty without the bulk of the Phoenix which they had not had time to retrieve. As well as the activity around the shuttle, a ground crew was busily working on one of the one-man fighters.
"That's a Mark IV Penetrator, isn't it? Why are they getting her ready?"
"Corin, here, is going to ride shotgun for us. Just in case we run into any trouble before we hit the spacefield. This shuttle is really only a personnel carrier. She's got some defensive shielding but not much in the way of heavy armour. She relies on getting through undetected, so if we do get spotted, Corin's our insurance policy."
"Good idea to take along some insurance, as long as it isn't doubling our chances of being detected."
"They'll be increased slightly, but not doubled. That penetrator's got the same equipment and modifications as the shuttle. She's designed for quiet work. The risk is justified, Lieutenant."
His use of the Service Rank was quite deliberate, reinforcing the operational chain of command rather than their respective places in the Imperial Aristocracy. Prince Gerald looked at him for a quiet minute and then acknowledged the situation with a nod of his head.
"All right, Captain. We're in your hands for this phase of the operation."
He turned to where the Imperial Guard were standing patiently. "Sergeant, take the men aboard the shuttle and get them settled."
David looked across at Julia. "You'd better get your team on board as well, Julia. And where's Brianey?"
"Brianey, my lord. I wasn't going to take Brianey on this mission. I thought she needed a rest after the Aldebaran."
/> "We can all rest after we've retrieved Zara and the Lady Lynda. I want Brianey down there to cover my back on this operation."
"But Kylie's the duty bodyguard, my lord, and she's one of the best girls I've got."
"I've got nothing against Kylie, but she's never actually seen any combat. If you want to blood her, she can join your attack team, but I want somebody with combat experience covering my back. Now I know I can depend on Brianey, so find her and get her down here."
"Yes, my lord." Julia turned away and started speaking rapidly into her communicator.
"Palomar's here, boss," Sam broke in. "She's approaching the outer defences now."
"Thanks Sam. Let me know when she's through the inner defence ring."
"Right boss. And there's another message coming through from the Aldebaran. They've found their missing passenger. Or at least they've found his body."
"Any details?"
"Same as the other one apparently. Body hidden in a locker and the door lock welded shut."
"There's something very wrong about all this," Gerald said. "I'm beginning to agree with you: it doesn't sound like the work of space raiders. They wouldn't bother to conceal the bodies. Maybe Captain Wainwright's got a murderer on board."
"Maybe...." David began, but broke off as Brianey came hurrying up, still strapping on a weapons harness. One of the ground crew threw her a laser rifle which she caught neatly as she snapped to attention immediately in front of David.
"You sent for me, my lord?"
"Yes, hello Bri. How are you feeling now?"
She looked at him a bit quizzically. "I'm fine, thank you my lord."
"Are you feeling up to coming with us? Julia thought you needed a rest."
She flashed a look at her Guard Commander, standing in the hatchway of the shuttle, and then back to David. "No, my lord. I was a bit bushed when we got back but I managed to catch a few hours sleep and I'm fine again now."
"Good. I want someone I can rely on to cover my back when we're down on the ground. You've got the job, if you want it."
"Oh, I want it, my lord," she said fiercely. "I still owe these bastards. Marie was my best friend and they haven't paid half enough for her yet. And the Lady Zara's always been good to me. I'll do everything I can to help you rescue her."
