Steg reached across the table and shook the general’s hand. “Well done, sir. We’ll do everything we can, to help you. Carter, I’m sure your skipper will agree?”
“I can assure Eos of Alliance support. To have a friendly planet and way station here, cleansed of smugglers and drug producers, will please Montrose and the Alliance Admiralty, without doubt.”
“Good to hear,” said Colonel Fortier. “I do have some ancillary questions.” The arrival of the food order interrupted the conversation for a few minutes as dishes were arranged.
Steg was intrigued as to the colonel’s likely questions and as they were finishing the meal, he said, “Colonel, you had some questions?”
“Indeed, I do. What are you going to do with Ser Bedwyr?”
“He should be on his way to the Alliance destroyer by now. He’s wanted for producing and smuggling Joy into Alliance territories. Besides, his thugs assaulted one of our people.”
“We heard. Your—what is her name—Finch—must be an excellent shot, and I hear she’s an experienced surgeon.”
“I can vouch for her medical skills,” said Carter. “I’ve seen her deal with some horrific injuries on the way station.”
“We’ve heard that. I’m trying to work out how we can recruit her. My next question, Captain. What about our frigate captain? You’ve detained him?”
“Yes, for kidnap and assault. We arrested him for torturing one of our people.”
“Would you let us deal with him?”
“Could you give your assurance he’d be prosecuted without favor?”
Ser Murray said, “We’ll guarantee due process, although we don’t have capital punishment on Eos. If found guilty, he’d serve a number of years in one of our penal colonies, yeah. Not nice places, I’ve been informed.”
“With that undertaking, we’ll agree to release him to you,” Steg said.
“I have one more question, Captain,” said Colonel Fortier. He paused for a moment, waiting.
“Yes?” Steg filled the silence.
“How much did you plunder from the bank accounts of Ser Bedwyr and his associates?”
Carter roared with laughter. Steg looked nonplussed, almost innocent. Ser Murray smiled.
“I think that’s privileged information,” Steg said, at last.
“We’ll look the other way, Captain, as payment for destroying that damned statue,” Ser Murray said.
*****
Chapter 48
He was asleep and then he was awake. Two bodies had slipped into the bed, one on either side. Finch said, “Shh. We came back in the last shuttle. I need you to hold me—I’ve never killed anyone before, but he hit Stacia.”
Steg wrapped his arm around Finch, drawing her close. Stacia—at least he assumed the other warm body was hers—reached across his chest and took Finch’s hand. Steg fell back to sleep, to rejoin his dreams. He did not stir when Tessa climbed into the bed beside Finch, and her arm wrapped around her friend.
Steg felt an almost electric shock and his body shivered. Something was coming for him, something evil, something with a desire for victory and revenge. It reminded him of the Xesset dreadnought, although far more intense. There seemed to be hundreds of sources of evil, reaching out, lashing at stars and planets. He shuddered, tightened his hold on his companions, and sought shelter, some place where he could survive while he protected his friends. His mind surged back, back to the Djiis system, back to his friend Tziksis, the alien who had helped him escape his brief incarceration by ImpSec. Now, Tziksis was threatened and was again at risk from the evil that Steg could sense.
He woke on board a strange starship. It was cold, and he and his Fain companions shivered. Their clothing was sparse, the temperature was low—possibly below freezing—and the lack of heat was threatening their existence. He looked around, seeking warmth, to no avail. He closed his eyes and reached his arms around the three Fain. He focused on Wasp, on the warmth and security of that modest starship. He felt himself drift away and forced his concentration to return to the starship. He drifted off to sleep, secure in the cabin on board Wasp.
When he woke the following morning, Finch regarded him warily.
“Where did you take us, last night?” she asked.
Steg could remember only snippets of his nightmare. “I thought it was only my dream,” he said.
Stacia said, “No, we were there with you. Bloody freezing, if you ask me.”
“If you’re going to do that again, let us know; we’ll dress for the cold,” chided Tessa.
“I’d prefer a tropical island, next time,” suggested Finch.
“I’d prefer to not have dreams like that, at all,” said Steg.
###
The Tac commander raised her head, her face pale, and stared at Captain Montrose. He caught her unvoiced concern.
“Problems, Tac?”
“Sir—” her voice caught. “Sir, I don’t know. There may be something wrong with our sensors. However, Wasp is changing her position, so they’re probably seeing the same thing. They were further out, a lot closer to—well, you’ll see.”
“Put it on the display.”
“Yes, sir.” She transferred the image to the large viewscreen.
It took a moment for the image to form.
“What the hell is that?” whispered Montrose.
The bridge was deathly quiet.
“My question, too, sir,” said Julie Brent.
“I thought the Xesset dreadnought was large. This one’s what—twice the size?”
“It’s possibly more than that, sir. Our sensors estimate its length is eight klicks and height is two klicks, sir. Width varies, between two and three klicks.” She reached for her stylus. It was bare of teeth marks. She bit down on the tip. “We don’t have an estimate of displacement, yet. Do you think it’s another Xesset warship?”
“No.” The Defender’s skipper’s reply was drawled out. “It has a different design feel to it. The Xesset dreadnought appeared to be half-finished, with lots of rough edges. This monster has a polished feel; it portrays a far more professional build. How far away is it?”
“About a million klicks. It’s slowly approaching the way station.”
“We should follow Wasp’s example and move out of its way. Helm, move us to a holding position at least two hundred thousand klicks away from this intruder’s projected course. Keep our speed below 100k/sec—this is not a panic reaction.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Shields, sir?”
“No, Tac. I don’t want to do anything that might be seen as a challenge.”
“Do we blame de Coeur for this visitor?”
“I’m not sure. We can’t hold him responsible for everything.”
The bridge crew watched the display, entranced.
“Sir, we’ve detected another footprint. It’s not as large—actually, it’s tiny, in comparison. It’s about one hundred thousand tons, a corvette or similar. It’s in the upper quadrant, at approximately five hundred thousand klicks. It’s on course to the way station.”
“Thanks, Tac. It’s getting busy.”
“Yes, sir.”
The bridge remained quiet.
“Sir, there’s a correction to the smaller ship’s course—it’s heading towards Wasp. They’re in communication—I’ll put them on speaker?”
“Yes, do that. I’m sure we’d all like to hear what they have to say—it might throw some light on this—this superdreadnought.”
“Yes, sir. Switching now.”
“Wasp to Red Desert. What can we do for you?”
“Red Desert to Wasp. First, you could welcome us back. Second, what is that monster? Third, what happened to the way station?”
There was silence for almost fifteen seconds, and when Wasp replied, the speaker had changed.
“Good morning, Rose. This is a surprise. We didn’t expect you for another two weeks, at least. Welcome back. We’ve no idea who the stranger is. As for the way station, it’s a
long story.”
“Good morning, Joyce. We’re unexpectedly early—we’ll have difficulties explaining why and how. I suspect a certain captain might have an answer. Have you got room for us?”
“Rose, you can dock alongside shuttle bay four. We need to keep the other bays clear; we’re assisting with S and R on the way station.”
“It seems we have a lot to catch up. We’ll dock at shuttle bay four. Red Desert out.”
The signal terminated, and Julie ended the relay to the bridge speakers.
“That was Wasp’s commander and her Weapons commander, Rose Curtis, who took charge of Djamu,” she explained.
“Stranger and stranger,” said Captain Montrose.
“They must be Djamu’s temporary crew returning,” she suggested.
“Agreed. Did we ever find out where they were heading?”
“Sicca. They wanted to sell the freighter and its cargo as quickly as possible in an attempt to reduce Xesset interest in them. Not sure that part worked.”
Montrose barked a short laugh. “It certainly didn’t. Are we getting anything from the larger visitor?”
“No, sir. Not yet.”
As minutes passed and the superdreadnought continued quietly towards the way station, the tense atmosphere on Defender’s bridge began to ease. The strange starship was monitored, second by second; however, it was electronically silent.
“It’s not that they’re shielded, sir,” Jessie explained. “It’s more that their electronics are far more efficient than ours. We can’t find any leaks, at all.”
“Continue to monitor. If anything changes, inform me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thirty minutes later Julie switched the bridge speakers on again. “Sir, there’s a transmission from the new starship.”
“Say again, this is Wanderer calling Wasp. Come in, Wasp.”
There was silence for thirty seconds, presumably as Wasp’s bridge absorbed the message and decided on a response.
“Wasp to Wanderer. What can we do for you?”
“Wanderer to Wasp. Also to Alliance starship, Defender, listening to this transmission. Be assured Wanderer poses no threat. Please arrange for the following personnel to report to Wanderer as soon as possible: Captain Steg de Coeur. Captain Kirby. Fains Finch, Stacia and Tessa. Also Ebony Company. Wanderer out.
“Tac, can we get a bug in there?” Montrose indicated the strange starship; he knew he was grasping at straws.
“No, sir. Magic is beyond me, sir.”
“Hmm.”
The bridge was silent.
###
“Who—or what the hell is Wanderer?” asked Kirby when Steg told him of the message. He and Kirby, with Finch, Stacia, and Tessa were in the conference room adjacent to Ebony Company’s war room.
“I have no idea. Well, apart from the fact that it’s one of the largest starships I’ve ever seen.”
“I suppose you don’t know why—?”
“It wants us? No, not at all. Finch, are you three comfortable with this? I know, it’s extremely odd.”
The three Fain looked at each other and exchanged silent messages. Finch said, “We’ll come with you, boss.”
“Good. Kirby, we’ll take Red Desert. Instruct Ebony Company to board as quickly as possible—make sure they’re all volunteers. Leave behind anyone who isn’t willing to do this. Our marines should be armed and armored. However, I suggest you and I remain unarmored, as a sign of goodwill. It might be a sensible gesture.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll arrange for the company to move out. They were getting bored, anyway.”
Steg said, “Good. Let me talk with Finch—the three of you.” He held out his arm as Stacia and Tessa went to follow Kirby out of the conference room. “No, stay. Are you all certain you want to come?”
Three heads nodded their answer.
“I don’t think we’ll be in danger—I can’t imagine why this Wanderer would want to do harm to any of us. Well, to harm you three, anyway.”
“Steg, we agreed we’ll come with you,” Tessa confirmed.
“Me, too,” Stacia said.
“See, boss, we’re all coming. You know you need us to look after you,” said Finch.
Steg smiled. “Thank you.”
“Do you think it’s anything to do with the dream we all had, last night?”
“While I don’t see how, I suspect it does. If you’re all agreed, we’ll board Red Desert to depart at the half hour. In the meantime, I’ll meet with Commander Gillespie and confirm what we’re doing.” Steg headed out the door, followed by his Fain companions.
Minutes later he met with Wasp’s commander and tried to reply to her question.
“Commander, I have no idea, at all. It’s worrying, I’ll admit, when the largest starship I’ve ever seen sends me a message that it wants me to visit.”
“You’re comfortable with going?”
“I keep asking myself that same question. My answer includes—well, there’s no reason to be otherwise. I think I’ve convinced myself. Finch, Stacia, and Tessa are coming—they claim I need looking after—sometimes I think they’re right. I’ve instructed Kirby to board Ebony Company—we’re taking Red Desert. We’ll depart at the half hour.”
“Do you want any of our people to go with you? Rose? Dean? Any of the Stingers?”
“No, thank you all the same. Something tells me it would cause difficulties if I took crew from Wasp.”
“Well, good luck. We’ll keep our eyes on you.”
“Thank you.”
Steg headed to his cabin to shower and change into a clean uniform. Refreshed, he headed to the shuttle bay where Ebony Company was preparing to board Red Desert. He watched as Kirby organized the process. After a few minutes he was joined by the three Fain.
“We’ll go on board once the company is settled,” he said.
It didn’t take long for the boarding process to complete, and Kirby met Steg as he stepped on board Red Desert.
“Welcome to your starship, sir,” Kirby said.
“Thank you. I’m impressed with the details Curtis provided. Comfortable, fast, and in good condition—you were fortunate to find her for sale.”
“Sometimes, sir, I can be lucky,” Kirby tried to maintain a sad face and failed. Both he and Rose Curtis were pleased with the acquisition they’d made on behalf of Steg. “While Red Desert’s a lot smaller than Wasp, there’s plenty of room for the company, plus a small crew, and there’s an owner’s cabin, forward on A deck, close to the bridge. There are four guest cabins in the same area. The medical section is on level B.”
“For now, let’s go to the bridge and shove off. You can give us a tour while we’re in transit.”
*****
Chapter 49
Aadan settled Red Desert gently on the landing pad indicated by landing lights. Steg had been surprised to see the Tacian on board, and Aadan had explained.
“When Rose told me about Red Desert, I couldn’t resist. Gillespie agreed to allow me to join you—she said you might need my helm skills.” She had looked anxious for a moment. “You don’t mind, sir?”
Steg had laughed and said, “I hope you don’t mind when we find out what this is all about.”
Now, with Red Desert, which was the same size as a naval corvette, locked inside the huge starship, Steg was starting to wonder. Kirby was organizing the company, setting guards in place to at least provide a token of security. Steg had told him he didn’t want an escort—it was enough that Ebony Company was on board.
“Come on,” he said to Finch and her two companions. “Kirby should be organized by now. We’ll meet him at the lock and transit into Wanderer and explore.”
After Kirby briefed Steg, they joined Finch, Stacia, and Tessa and exited Red Desert. The external superdreadnought doors had sealed, and the bay now contained a breathable atmosphere. Green lights along a walkway flashed a sequence leading to another lock some fifty yards away, which Steg assumed would allow them to enter the inter
ior of the starship.
“Well, let’s go.” He led off along the path. The heavy door opened automatically, and Steg stepped through, followed closely by Kirby and three Fain.
“I wish you had allowed me to arrange a guard for you,” muttered Kirby as his steps faltered.
Steg was entranced. They had entered a small park area, with trees, shrubs, and flowers in colorful display. A bot was mowing grass, creating neat lines of trimmed lawn. Another bot was clipping a hedge. Overhead, some fifty feet above them, what appeared to be bot spiders climbed across the ceiling, and Steg thought they were carrying out some form of maintenance. As he and his companions stared, an electric vehicle, driverless, slowed and stopped beside them. It had three rows of seats, each with enough space for three passengers. While it lacked doors, it had a front windshield and a fabric roof.
A voice directed, “Please board and sit. The conference room is five minutes away.”
They sat as instructed, and the vehicle silently accelerated. Its tires hissed slightly on different sections of the roadway. No one spoke. The park extended along the roadway, providing a mix of greens and more exotic colors. Almost to the second, at five minutes, the vehicle slowed and turned off what appeared to be the main road. After winding around another two corners on a side road, it stopped.
The voice said. “Please exit. The conference room is through the first door on your right. Please enter.”
Steg exited the vehicle followed by his companions. He headed to the door as directed, and opened it. The room was well furnished with a central table and ten or so chairs. There was coffee and other refreshments on a sideboard. A viewscreen covered the end wall. Casual chairs and small tables were scattered around the room.
“Come on in,” Steg directed. He sat at the conference table, and Kirby followed his example. Finch walked over to the coffee equipment and started to pour coffee for everyone. Stacia and Tessa stood and stared.
“Are we still in a starship?” asked Tessa, her eyes wide.
“I think so,” Steg said. “Sit down, relax.”
Fracture Lines (The Glass Complex Book 2) Page 31
