Shroud of Eden (Panhelion Chronicles Book 1)

by Marlin Desault

  Aurora’s communications officer entered the suite. “Captain, we received an ECCO message with new orders for you.” He handed the message to Tanner.

  Tanner took his time reading the document. “This is in response to my message informing Camus of the trapped Marines.” He handed it to Scott.

  PRIORITY - ECCO - PRIORITY

  FROM: SUPREME COMMAND NEW IMPERIUM.

  TO: POLAND TANNER, CAPTAIN, STRIKE CRUISER AURORA.

  SUBJECT: OPERATIONS ORDERS.

  ~~~

  YOUR MESSAGE RECEIVED.

  1) YOU ARE DIRECTED TO SEND REMAINING MARINES TO NIOBE TO FIND AND RECOVER PROMETHEUS WITHOUT DELAY. IF NECESSARY, TAKE HOSTAGES IN NUMBERS NEEDED TO FORCE NIOBIAN COMPLIANCE IN RECOVERY OF PROMETHEUS.

  2) EXTRACT TRAPPED PERSONNEL IF POSSIBLE. IF EXTRACTION JEOPARDIZES RECOVERY OF PROMETHEUS, CONSIDER TRAPPED PERSONNEL EXPENDABLE.

  3) ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THIS DIRECTIVE.

  SIGNED: ANDRE CAMUS, SUPCOM, NEW IMPERIUM FORCES.

  Scott shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “What does he mean when he says ‘all necessary steps to force Niobian cooperation’?”

  Tanner’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. “I interpret that to mean up to and including execution of hostages.”

  Aurora

  ~~~

  “Time for a decision, Poland. You know the facts, now deal with the reality.” Scott rose and stared down at Tanner. “None of us has an easy choice. You either oppose Camus or suffer his wrath. He will show you no mercy when you fail to deliver Prometheus.”

  “You make it sound as if it were all over but the execution.” Tanner nodded in a slow back and forth motion, like a metronome synchronized to a funeral march.

  “Not necessarily, if we restore the president and the rightful government of the Panhelion,” said Scott, his expression hardened. “Our trump card is Prometheus. Once I’m back on Niobe, I can persuade the Niobians to help us. We get Prometheus and Camus hasn’t a chance.”

  Tanner glanced down and then back. “I may regret this, but you make a compelling case. If this Prometheus can do what you say, and I pray it can, it might save us. Go... go make your damn deal with the Niobians, and for God’s sake get my people off that rock.” His shoulders slumped. “I’m placing my fate and the fate of my entire ship in your hands.”

  Scott paused, placed a hand on Tanner’s shoulder, and nodded.

  With Pegasus coupled to the Aurora, Scott and Klaas clambered through the connecting tunnel to gain access first to Pegasus, and then through her companionways to the shuttle.

  They settled into the darkened cockpit and powered up the craft. The display screens bathed the two men in soft light as indicators rose to green and the propulsion system warmed.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Scott said to Klaas.

  A jolt shook the shuttle as it disengaged from Pegasus and floated into space above Niobe.

  With a flutter in his stomach, he envisioned his reunion with Ariela. He misdialed the first entry into the radio transmitter, quickly corrected the mistake, and calmed when Niobian communications announced the coordinates to the landing area.

  The shuttle skipped across Niobe’s upper atmosphere, bleeding off kinetic energy before it plunged into dense air and streaked across the Niobian sky. Near the Niobian surface, vectored exhaust settled the shuttle gently next to the redoubt.

  In anticipation, Scott swallowed hard to suppress the sensation of lightness in his stomach.

  Ariela waited at the edge of the landing pad, her short, auburn hair flowing in a light easterly breeze.

  The instant he spied her lithe figure dressed in a sleeveless jumpsuit, he drank in the projected beauty of the graceful woman he longed to hold in his arms.

  The engine rumbled to a stop. He clattered out the open port and down the ramp. In the clear air of the outdoors, the pleasing aroma of moist ferns wafted over him, sharpening a keen awareness of open spaces.

  By the time Klaas completed the last few items of the shutdown checklist and joined him, Scott already held Ariela in his embrace.

  “They wouldn’t let me contact you,” he explained. “I’m sorry if you worried about me, but thankfully we’re together now. I’ll tell you all about it later, but right now I have to talk to Proconsul. There are thirty-three people trapped on Petra.”

  “Don’t worry. We kept watch the whole time. They were never in any real danger.” Ariela slipped her arm around Scott. “As soon as you landed, we sent word to Aurora telling them how to find the exit.”

  Falcon

  ~~~

  “Falcon, this is Aerie. Standby for priority message.”

  Krieger recognized Tanner’s voice. Still inside the troop lander, he keyed his transmitter. “Go ahead, Aerie.”

  Tanner’s voice crackled over the channel. “Major, escape instructions for your Marines follow this message. Let me know when everyone is out of the tunnels.”

  Krieger eagerly passed the information to his trapped men. “Sergeant, we have the information on your exit path. What’s your status?”

  “Carbon dioxide levels are almost at the toxic point, but we’re making do. The men are tired and sweaty. A few are complaining of headaches. I’m sorry to report one got lost in the tunnels and was injured.”

  “Get your people through the exit shaft. I have the lander ready to receive you. As soon as you’re inside we’ll re-pressurize.”

  Krieger set the channel for Aurora and keyed his transmitter. “Aerie, the first are coming out of the tunnels now.”

  First in ones and twos, the Marines stumbled out through the hole in the portal. Moments later, they filed in a steady stream down the embankment into the lander. Two carried their injured comrade.

  Krieger did a quick count and followed Marie into the craft.

  After the ramp closed, the interior of the lander reached full pressure and the exhausted Marines gulped air through their open faceplates. The craft’s engines spooled up and, rising through a cloud of dust, it lifted into the darkness of space trailing a blue wake on its path toward the Aurora.

  Niobe

  ~~~

  Deep inside the cliffs of the great, sheltering escarpment, Scott stared in awe at near empty halls of the Niobian redoubt. He followed Ariela and Proconsul as they wound through stacks of equipment to Proconsul’s council room in a quiet corner of the main hall.

  Deep circles shadowed Proconsul’s eyes, evidence of the stress he’d suffered. Events had clearly affected his health.

  Wimund placed his folded hands on the table. “The warriors from Earth will have made their way out of the tunnel by now. We would have told them in any case. Our nature would never have allowed us to see any of your people come to harm. For us to create the threat nearly required more emotional control than we could muster.”

  Scott nodded deferentially. “I never believed you would let them come to harm.”

  Proconsul shifted nervously in his chair. “I must apologize for the trap. Ariela and I agonized over our decision.” He swallowed hard as he recounted his dilemma. “Our passive nature forced us into this terrible decision. We needed to save ourselves, and a trap was the only way we could think of to get the captain of the warship to release you.”

  Scott leaned forward and nodded. “I know how difficult it must have been for you, but I’m back and I’m ready to help you.”

  Hands together, as if praying, Wimund put his fingertips to his chin. He scanned Scott’s face a moment before he settled his glance on Scott’s eyes. “We are still quite anxious. How will Earth deal with us? Will we be forced to accept the unacceptable?”

  “I’m sorry to say the political climate on Earth has taken a drastic turn for the worse.” He leaned forward on the table. “One of our senior military leaders has forcibly removed the elected government and compelled the Senate to declare him supreme ruler with dictatorial power. To make matters worse, the military forces of the Panhelion have encountered a hostile alien intellige
nce. The dictator on Earth used the alien threat as his excuse to seize power.”

  “Such a twist of fate was exactly what concerned our ancestors, and the reason they took Prometheus when they fled Earth. Now we see their fears realized.” Proconsul gave a resigned shake of his head. “Evil has Earth in its grip. And worse for us, the time gradient we always believed would be our ultimate shield no longer protects us.”

  Scott pressed his fingertips on the table. “You still hold the ultimate power. Even if you can’t use Prometheus to defend yourself, I’m here for you. You must trust me on this.”

  Proconsul rose from his chair and gazed through the window. After a few seconds, he returned his attention to Scott. “I asked you once if you would accept this responsibility. Now I have the answer I’d hoped for. You understand you’ll shoulder a heavy burden. You may well be called upon to use this power against your own people.”

  “I understand perfectly.” He crossed the room to stand next to Wimund. “I would like to see this weapon. The captain of the Aurora and I agree that the Supreme Regent of Earth must be brought to heel, and we need Prometheus to do it. If you agree, we must move your weapon to the Aurora. From there, I can assure your safety and, in due course, that of Earth.”

  Wimund brought his head around to meet Scott’s gaze. “Prometheus cannot protect us without your help. So yes, take it. We place our fate in your hands.”

  Scott reflected on the remark. “You are the second person who has said those words to me today.”

  Niobe

  ~~~

  “This is Prometheus?” Deep in the Niobian Redoubt, Scott Drumond gaped at the sleek menace before him.

  Ariela took his hand and led him closer. “Yes, our legacy, brought by our ancestors nearly two centuries ago.”

  He paced a few steps to one side, then returned to where she stood. “Smaller than I imagined.”

  “The size of the hall creates that illusion.”

  Whir and clanking noises echoed off the bare walls of the bay as Niobians prepared Prometheus for transport. A slight chill from a draft wafted through the building, heightening Scott’s sense of foreboding.

  “An elegant simplicity for something of such destructive power.” He scanned the weapon, examining it in detail. Before him, on a lattice-work cradle, lay a shiny tube with three evenly-spaced black disks clamped around its seven-meter length. Four lengthwise rods, two on the top and two on the bottom, passed through the disks.

  Ariela lowered her gaze to the floor. “Its very purpose is anathema to our Tradition. Those who brought it from Earth no doubt meant it for our protection, but today no Niobian would use it.”

  “You’ve taken great care of it.” He ducked his head for a better view of the underside of the device.

  “Even though we abhor its destructive purpose, over the many decades we’ve developed a reverence for it. We tend it out of a sense of duty to our ancestors—a ritual, if you like.”

  Klaas ducked under the end of the tube and approached the two. “Rather awe inspiring when you realize such a simple device can destroy whole fleets of ships.” He bobbed his head in excitement as if it were on a spring. “I’m told those disks propel the carbon molecules to fractional light speed.” He pointed to one end of the weapon. “The large cylinder underneath is the generator where the molecules are primed with antimatter. This thing’s clearly an energy hog.”

  Ariela nodded. “The texts say fifteen terajoules when it’s fired.”

  Scott whistled low and shrugged. “Pegasus doesn’t have that amount of power, but Aurora’s hadron engines can supply that and a bit more.”

  Klaas nodded his agreement. “Aurora needs modifications, fairings, nacelles and the like to accommodate it. There’s also a matter of the control and power connections. After we get it on board, a week’s work, less if we’re lucky. For functional tests, add in a few days more.”

  The bay doors of the hall slid open. Within minutes, the gleaming shuttle with its stubby wings partially retracted rolled into the hall on a large dolly.

  Klaas supervised the Niobian technicians as they loaded Prometheus into the shuttle’s cargo hold.

  With the weapon secured, and the shuttle rolled back to the entrance of the hall, Scott joined Klaas and Ariela, and they settled into the shuttle for the journey back to Aurora.

  Aurora

  ~~~

  The shuttle’s arrival triggered frenzied activity. Half a kilometer distant, Pegasus, now detached from the Aurora, glided alongside the warship like a dolphin riding a ship’s bow wave.

  Instructions and responses flew back and forth over the radio between Scott and Aurora. Lights outlined the warship’s bay like an oval necklace of glittering pearls, illuminating a safe harbor in the darkness of space.

  With the shuttle docked safely inside, the doors closed and sealed. The ambient pressure rose, and Scott and the others clambered out of the little craft.

  Tanner rushed over and shook Scott’s hand. “Prometheus. I’ll be damned. You really have it!”

  “The Niobians had few options once they learned what happened on Earth.” Scott recounted for Tanner the details of his negotiations with Proconsul.

  “We sent the dimensions and connection requirements ahead.” Klaas said, and eagerly joined the unloading crews as if he personally owned the weapon.

  Tanner rubbed his palms together as he sidled next to Scott. “We’ve already begun the modifications. We’ll mount Prometheus in place of one of the hadron cannons. Work on the power connections is well underway.”

  Scott motioned toward Tanner with his hand. “Ariela, this is Captain Poland Tanner, commander of the strike cruiser Aurora.” Without taking his eyes off Tanner, he grasped Ariela’s arm and said, “Ariela Lavendal of Niobe.”

  Tanner lowered his head in a slight bow. “Ma’am, you’ll be my guest while you’re aboard. Commander Gatura will show you to your cabin. As soon as you’re settled, I’d like to council with you and Scott, as well as Commander Van der Meer, regarding our next moves. By the way, Scott, how do I address you? What title would be appropriate?”

  “A simple Mister will do,” came Scott’s reply.

  In the subdued lighting of Aurora’s conference room, Scott positioned himself next to Tanner at the table in front of a wall-sized display of brilliant stars as seen from Earth.

  He and Ariela sat opposite Klaas and Blyds. The relaxed atmosphere contributed to the discussion of the problems they confronted.

  Tanner cleared his throat and began. “Our dilemma is how we get in touch with other ships, since our only ability to contact them directly is via light-speed Electro-Magnetic signal, radio, or modulated laser. That means we have to be within ten billion kilometers of another ship if we want to get a response within twenty hours. We can’t use our ECCO, because those signals go through ECCO Central on Earth, and Camus will no doubt have someone monitoring them.”

  Scott pulled out his doc-projector. “I’ve made a list of possible friendly captains who might join us against Camus. I need you to help me understand the disposition of the heavy ships back home.”

  “I know most of the Commanders in the fleet,” replied Tanner. “And none are now within E-M hailing distance.” He rubbed his temple and furrowed his brow in thought. “Camus has ordered an expeditionary force sent to the Coma Berenices Cluster to deal with the Khepri. The ships still at home are commanded by the captains he trusts. He’s placed those in orbit near Earth, Mars, and the outer settlements to enforce his hold on Earth and the Senate.”

  “Which ships has he held back?” Scott chewed lightly on his lip.

  Tanner stood and projected a list of ships and their captains in the space in front of the room. “The strike cruiser Hesperus is near Mars. The cruiser Astræus is guarding the Jovian moons, and according to a copy of an earlier report we received, Camus ordered Crius and Eurybia in position to threaten Earth.”

  Scott stared at the list. “He really has covered all the bases.”<
br />
  Tanner brought up a projection with a second list of names. “We received a recent report that Targelion has been ordered to Coma Berenices to help Plexaure defend against a Khepri breakout. With the release of Targelion from the solar system, Camus obviously thinks he can keep his grip on Earth with Crius and Eurybia.”

  “That’s a break for us.” Scott returned to his chair and put his elbows on the table. “Hesperus is under Captain Edgar Krast, and Dylan Brogard commands Astræus. Both will likely hold with Camus. Eurybia is skippered by Dan Escher. I assume he’ll remain with Camus as well.”

  Tanner switched the display to the Coma Berenices Cluster and pointed at a particular grouping of icons. He pointed out two strike cruisers. “These are on their way to rendezvous point Bravo at the Khepri forntier to assist in the quarantine of the Khepri—”

  “The other one on your list is the Vesper!” Blyds nodded by way of apologizing for the interruption. “That’s Emeka Kamau. Her ship suffered damage in an encounter with the Khepri. At last report, she was still in the repair dock on Ganymede. We’ve just received a report that Plexaure will be part of the expeditionary fleet.”

  “Ah, Rigus Bauer.” Scott stroked his chin and glanced at Tanner. “Do you think he’ll join us?”

  “Bauer’s an unknown. We’d have to approach him with a solid argument, but... if he knows we have Prometheus, it might make a difference.” Tanner fixed his gaze first on Klaas, then on Scott. “His orders are to engage the Khepri, and they outgun him. He must be aware that he’s on a desperate mission.”

  Scott returned Tanner’s intense gaze. “If we explain the power of Prometheus to him, he may come off the fence on our side.” He sighed and nodded as his thoughts coalesced. “Targelion’s commanded by Tiago da Silva. He served under me, and since he’s from the Martian settlements, he may well be sympathetic to our cause, but how would we contact him?”

  “That’s exactly the problem with all of them.” Tanner clasped his hands behind his head. “I question if we can make contact with any of them. We have to avoid the four who are most likely loyal to Camus, but that’s not an immediate problem—they’re in the home system and will likely stay there. We have to convince the captains of the expeditionary fleet to join us. Vesper’s another story. When she comes back on line, Camus might assign her to the home fleet.”