by Kal Spriggs
Lucius turned away, “I doubt, very much, you looked beyond your own gains.”
“Then you’re wrong!” She surged forward, face pressed against the bars. “My gains… those significant rewards, I earned those, and you know it. Didn’t we fight off the infamous Thomas Kaid, together at Port Fel? Name another admiral to match that. Didn’t we bring down Saragossa’s defenses, despite the knowledge it would buy us little time?” She spat, “Those corrupt bastards at Fleet hated our successes and you know that. They hated that I was a woman, that a woman could do what so many of their cronies couldn’t. They hated you, because of your father, a man whose only crime was to ask for what should have been his in the first place.”
“And why does my father always come up?” Lucius asked, his voice tired. “I made peace with my father’s failures long ago.”
“Your father, that’s the center of all this, don’t you realize?”
Lucius turned, startled by the raw emotion in her voice.
“He made me see, Lucius. He made me see clearly, for the first time, what had to be done. What still can be done.” She pushed back from the bars, shaking her head. “That coup attempt you foiled, the mastermind behind it that no one ever uncovered… that was your father, Lucius.”
“My father is dead,” Lucius said, his voice suddenly tight. “They executed him for treason three days before my fifth birthday.”
She cocked her head, an image of false surprise on her face, “Did they, Lucius? Or is that just what they told you?” She chuckled at the look on his face. “Think about loyalties, Lucius. You stopped the very plot that would have made you heir to the Empire.”
Lucius stared at her, unable to look away.
“How different would things be, Lucius, were your father Emperor. Would he have accepted the corruption? Would he have burned with the ambition that caused the sacking of allies? Would he have been the puppet that this last Emperor was?”
“You lie.” Lucius whispered.
“Think about loyalties, Lucius. Think about all the questions you never asked.” She sagged back onto her stool. “Then, when you’ve thought about all the loyalties they never gave you in return, and then come tell me I’m a traitor and deserve to hang.”
***
Lucius stepped into the tight office without knocking. “I need to know—” He broke off, startled to see Kandergain and Admiral Mund in close conversation.
The two shot each other looks that spoke volumes and Kandergain stood. “Lucius,” she nodded. “I was about to leave anyway.”
Before he could say anything, she squeezed past him and stepped out of the office.
“What was that about?” Lucius asked, hiking a thumb over his shoulder.
The old man smiled slightly, “Oh, she had some questions for me.”
“About?” Lucius asked, suddenly suspicious. He wondered how much manipulation by people he’d trusted had shaped his life.
“Something personal to her,” Admiral Mund said, his voice suddenly flat.
“I see.” Lucius answered. He took a breath, “Tell me about my father.”
Mund sat down in a chair. He pulled a bottle from behind it and poured himself a drink. “Hmmm.” He stared at Lucius for a long moment.
“That’s not an answer.”
“That wasn’t a question,” the Admiral said.
Lucius snorted, despite himself, and took a seat across from his former mentor. “When I went to the Academy, you told me you’d served with my father.” Lucius took a deep breath. “I’ve heard...” He looked away, staring at the walls of the office. Somehow, the old man still had his sword collection. He stared at the blades for a long moment, searching for the words. “I know my father attempted to put himself on the throne. I know that he was the bastard son of Emperor Romulus I, older by a year than the Emperor he served.”
Lucius met Mund’s blue eyes. “Tell me the truth. Did my father rebel from ambition for the throne? Did Romulus II have my father executed for treason?”
Mund took a long sip. “Marius Giovanni was a complex man, Lucius.” The old man turned his gaze on the swords of his collection. “He had ambition, in plenty. He had a sense of justice, and a knowledge of men. He held loyalty to those he served and to those who served him.” Mund turned his gaze back to Lucius again, “When we served together, he was a good friend. I can’t say what drove him to betray his half-brother, his Emperor.” Admiral Mund shrugged, “I’ve wondered about that for a long time myself, Lucius.”
“Did you ask him?”
Admiral Mund laughed, “Of course! God, I asked him a dozen times! He’d spoken of the Empire for so long like it was some holy thing and then did his best to tear it down.” He shook his head, “The answers he gave, when he gave any answers, were cryptic at best.”
“Cryptic?” Lucius frowned. He remembered his father only as a warm presence, a deep voice. He’d heard Marius Giovanni described as a raving madman, an ambitious schemer, and as a brave warrior. Cryptic did not match with any of those impressions.
“When he…” Admiral Mund tossed back the drink and set the glass aside. “When he led his ships against the Emperor, I was the Admiral who fought him. When Marines dragged him before the Emperor, I commanded them. Your father… he changed, Lucius. He saw something, or heard something, and it changed everything for him. He never shared that knowledge, but it lurked in every word he said, every move he made.”
Mund reached out and grabbed Lucius’ hands, and held them and stared into his eyes. “When I asked him why he went rogue, he said it needed to happen. When I asked him why he led ten ships against twenty, he said it needed to happen.” The old man let Lucius’ hands go and sat back, his rasping voice little more than a whisper, “When I asked him why he surrendered, knowing he’d face death, he said it needed to happen.”
Admiral Mund shook his head, “He was brave and noble then too, for his surrender meant the men under him received lenience. He and his officers, though…” Mund shook his head. “There’s only one penalty for treason, you know that.”
“Lucretta Mannetti told me that my father lived.” Lucius said, suddenly bitter that he’d listened.
“What would she know—” the old man suddenly broke off. “No…”
“What?” Lucius asked.
“There were rumors.” Admiral Mund said, “There always are. I thought nothing of them. But, sometimes the truth can lie in a rumor.”
“Could my father still live?” Lucius asked, incredulously.
“I doubt it.” Mund said. “The bitterness of his betrayal… I very much doubt it.”
Lucius nodded, “Thank you.”
The old man shrugged. “The past is the past, Lucius. It hurts to remember, sometimes, but it lies behind us.” He sighed, “I’m old, Lucius. Truth to tell, I’m afraid if you don’t take the Emperor’s job as fleet commander, he’ll drop it on me.”
“You’ve served before.” Lucius said.
“And left in disgust.” The response came immediately. Mund gave a rasping laugh. “I’m too old for that nonsense now. Half the life extension treatments won't work on me at this point, and the ones I've already had don't help much anymore. It will be worse if you choose to… do whatever you’ve planned.”
“Do you…” Lucius cleared his throat, “Do you think I betrayed the Empire by not accepting his offer?”
“Yes.”
Lucius winced.
“But I also think you would doom humanity if you took it.”
Lucius looked up sharply.
“I served the glorious Nova Roma Empire for fifty three years, Lucius. I watched it change from the hope for humanity to the cancerous sore it died as.” He shrugged. “Nations rise and wane, Lucius. I think that the legacy of the Empire is too tainted to rise again.”
“What about the Emperor?”
“I don’t know.” The old man shrugged. “Were he not burdened with his father’s legacy, he’d serve as a fine leader. As it is, even many on Nova R
oma had come to hate the Empire.”
“So what’s the future, then?” Lucius said, “The Republic, rotted from the center? I know of a dozen minor warlords, a handful of pirate kings. Who else stands for humanity?”
“Well, Lucius,” the old man smiled, “there is you.”
“Ah,” Lucius sighed, “Baron Lucius Giovanni, champion of the doomed?”
“Has a nice ring to it.”
***
“Hello?”
Lucius stood up from his chair and moved to the door. He opened it, “Yes?”
Kandergain stood outside. “Hi, Lucius, got a sec?”
He nodded, reluctantly. “Certainly.” He wanted more time to think about the day’s stunning revelations, but…
He stepped aside and she stepped into his living quarters. He could have taken something bigger, but the apartment building served as the officer quarters for his fleet. He didn’t even need the two rooms of the apartment. His handful of possessions still sat in two chests tucked neatly against the wall.
She stared around at the bare apartment, “Getting moved in?”
Lucius shrugged, “Not much to move. Most of my possessions are still on Nova Roma.”
She winced, “Oh, yeah, sorry.”
“Alanis said the Chxor didn’t seem in much of a hurry to loot the estates, so it might still be there when we eventually retake it.”
“So eager to rebuild the Nova Roma Empire, then?” She asked, her voice sharp.
Lucius felt his shoulders sag, he didn’t want a fight, “No, but it’s my home. I don’t want to see it ravaged by the Chxor.”
“Ah.” She said, “So you haven’t…”
“No, I haven’t decided to take the Emperor up on his offer,” Lucius answered. “I don’t see a lot of options… but I haven’t made the decision yet.”
“Anyway…” Kandergain said, throwing her ponytail over her shoulder, “I thought you might like this,” she said and held out a picture frame.
“What is it?” Lucius asked, taking it. He stared at the picture for a moment. A woman and a girl stood near a lake or perhaps the ocean. The faces looked familiar, but he couldn’t place them.
“The girl is Sera, your grandmother.” Kandergain said, taking a seat on his couch. “The woman is her mother, Kaylee.”
Lucius sat down slowly, staring at the picture. “I… I don’t have many pictures of my grandmother.” He looked up, “Thank you.”
Kandergain shrugged, uncomfortably, “I thought you’d like it. Sera had turned eleven in that picture, they still lived in Australia then.”
Lucius blinked, “My grandmother lived in Australia?” He frowned slightly, “That’s on Earth, right?”
Kandergain laughed, “Yes, it’s in the southern hemisphere.” She smiled, “You didn’t know?”
“She didn’t talk much about… the past. From what she said, unpleasant things happened on Earth.” Lucius shrugged. “She raised me, but she never spoke much about her past.”
“It… wasn’t a good time to be a psychic, and not a good place for it either.” Kandergain said, her voice sad. “Kaylee decided to stay on Earth, to hide, rather than go with the Agatha Fleet.” She shrugged, “Those of us who stayed had years of hiding and prejudice to deal with. Before they broke out, ESPSec locked people like Kaylee up in camps. Afterward… Amalgamated Worlds issued shoot-on-sight orders for any psychic.”
Lucius shivered, “That’s barbaric.”
“Terribly,” Kandergain said grimly. “Kaylee… she knew how to hide, how to blend with a crowd. She and Sera stayed out of the camps, living in Australia. But someone bungled, someone who knew her got caught, and spilled the info to save himself.”
Kandergain’s eyes went distant, “An ESPSec agent put a bullet in Kaylee’s head when she answered the door. They dragged Sera out, put her in a cell. When I heard, I got her out, then I tracked down the agent.”
“Did you kill him?” Lucius asked, eyes alight.
“No.” Kandergain shook her head. “He… well, he deserved it. He wanted it, too, I think. But I didn’t kill him, as much as I wanted to. Sometimes, I wish I had killed him.”
“Why didn’t you?” Lucius asked.
Kandergain sighed, “We drifted off subject a bit, I suppose. I just wanted to give you something good, and I think I’ve ruined it.”
Lucius shook his head, “No. You’ve given me knowledge of my grandmother. Thank you for that.”
Kandergain nodded, “You’re welcome, Lucius.” She stood to leave.
“Wait,” Lucius said, as she stood in the doorway. “What was the name of the agent?”
Kandergain looked away, “The ESPSec agent’s name was Tommy King. He became a pirate after Amalgamated Worlds fell.”
***
Chapter X
February 20, 2403 Earth Standard Time
Faraday System
(status unknown)
The slight differences between the bridge of the War Shrike and the Peregrine stood out in stark contrast when seated in the captain’s chair.
“This seat’s too damned comfortable,” Lucius muttered.
“What’s that?” Kandergain asked. Since returning from her Balor-hunt, she seemed distracted.
“Nothing,” Lucius said. It strained his manpower to crew the Peregrine, but he hated to have a ship and not put it to use. Rather than burden another with the command of a mostly-green crew, he had taken the ship himself. “What have we got so far?” He asked.
“Uh, we lost two probes so far, sir, uh, Baron.” Ensign Brunneti said.
Lucius quirked an eyebrow, and the newly-made Ensign flushed. “Look, sir, that grid is actually in-atmosphere for the gas giant. The pressures at those levels are significantly higher than our probes can take. The only way we can get anything from there is to go in ourselves.”
Lucius stared at the screens. The blue-green gas giant lay at the edge of the Faraday system. Alone of the other twenty-four planets, this one had no moons. The smallest of the gas giants, it still massed twenty or thirty times the planet Faraday. Lucius turned his gaze to Kandergain, who said nothing. “You know what’s in there, don’t you?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to hold your hand, Lucius.”
“Thanks,” Lucius grimaced. “Ok, people, we’re going in, but we do this by the book.” He took a deep breath. “Captain Naevius, I want a fighter screen, but if we start hitting pressures your ships can’t take, pull out. Strike-Leader Burbeg, I’d like you on my flank.” Lucius paused, deciding on some polite phrasing, “Emperor Romulus, if you would remain in overwatch, prepared to fire on any hostiles we detect—”
“I’ll stay out of your way, Baron.” The young Emperor said.
Lucius smiled slightly. He thought that some of his sister must have rubbed off on the boy. “Alright, let’s see what’s down there.”
The Peregrine descended towards the gas giant. As the ship entered the atmosphere, arcs of lightning surged from the clouds around them. The ship shuddered slightly and Lucius noted several warning lights. “Damage control reports electrical discharges throughout the ship. Mostly in engineering spaces. No injuries.”
Lucius nodded. He’d hoped the defense screen would provide some shielding, but apparently not. “All crew, strap into combat positions.” The chairs should protect the crew from further strikes.
They descended. “External pressure approaching three hundred atmospheres.”
Lucius only nodded. Warships seldom descended into atmosphere. Even so, most ships had some limited atmospheric capabilities. Armor and bulkheads designed to fend off enemy weapons and vacuum worked just fine against crushing pressure in a supergiant.
The ship groaned.
“Nearing the specified grid, Baron.”
Lucius nodded, “Anything on scanners?”
“Our mass detector and EM detectors are overwhelmed,” Brunnetti snapped, “There’s too much interference from the clouds. I’d have to go active.”
“Do i
t.”
The active phased radar came up. A second later, a dozen ships came up on the sensors. Lucius let out a breath as he registered the size of three of the contacts. “It’s here, it’s the Dreyfus fleet.”
“Sir, we’re getting hit by active sensors!” Brunnetti snapped. “They’ve got firing solutions!”
“Open a channel!” Lucius snapped. Any kind of fight with those ships would be… disastrous. Especially at this close range. Most of the ships still lay well within minimal safe distance for a warhead in atmosphere. “Attention vessels, this is Baron Lucius Giovanni, I come in peace!”
The pause seemed to last an eternity.
A voice spoke, distorted by interference. They did not send any video, “Your ship has Ghornath technology and you’ve a Ghornath vessel with you, but a human speaks for you. What nation do you serve?”
Lucius sighed, it was a question he didn’t really know how to answer. Best to stick with the truth, “I once served the Nova Roma Empire. Now I defend the Faraday colony. I no longer serve any nation.”
“You are a warlord.”
“I saved the colony here from the Chxor. I plan to liberate Nova Roma from them as well, and turn it over to the rightful ruler.” Lucius answered.
“Then you are a warlord with principles.” Lucius caught the sarcasm despite the distortion of the voice. “How did you come here?”
“I met a smuggler named Mason McGann.” Lucius said. “And then a woman, a psychic named Kandergain.”
The other voice didn’t answer.
Lucius let the silence linger for a long time, “Hello?”
“Return to orbit, Baron Lucius Giovanni,” a different voice spoke. “We will meet you there.”
Lucius looked over at Kandergain. She met his gaze with an emotionless mask.
“Take us back into high orbit.”
***
“I knew, intellectually, how big those ships were, but…” Lucius shook his head.
“Very impressive how much effort we put into the destruction of the things we fear,” Kandergain said, her face impassive.
