Shroud of Eden (Panhelion Chronicles Book 1)

by Marlin Desault

  Tanner patiently listened to the discussion, then pulled his chair close to the table. “Now that you’ve joined us, we’re five against Camus’ three heavy ships, Astraeus, Crius and Eurybia.” He leaned over the table and gave Scott a knowing glance. “Five to Three. I’d say the odds just tipped solidly in our favor, and we have Prometheus. Camus’ prospects have evaporated faster than a comet on a close pass around the sun.”

  Krast gasped. “You don’t mean to say Targelion and the rest have joined you?” He shook his head and smiled. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Da Silva’s of Martian heritage. He’d be the first in line to join a rebellion against Camus after receiving the news from Mars, but the others?”

  “Sorry, I left that out of my account of the events.” Scott shifted his view from Tanner back to Krast. “Now you know the whole story, and it’s time we worked out a plan to give Camus and his band of usurpers the boot.”

  “Fate favors our venture.” Krast’s lips curled in a smile. “When will you let Camus know what you have in mind?”

  “Soon, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t want Camus to have any inkling you’ve thrown in with us, at least not yet. If he doesn’t know, you bring us a double advantage.”

  Krast stared across the table and chewed lightly on his lips. “I’ll tell Prosper to clamp a communications blackout on his Martian settlement. He can keep Camus’ spies at bay for a few days.”

  “Good. In a few hours, I’ll demand Camus’ surrender and tell him the expeditionary force intends to end the New Imperium.” Scott stood, signaling the meeting was over.

  In Aurora’s communications center, technicians hurried to convert an equipment storage room into a makeshift studio. Scott faced the camera eye and delivered his ultimatum while the recording equipment hummed in the background.

  Two hours later, staggered in time according to the distance from Aurora, the word EMERGENCY flashed repeatedly across both civilian and military visual circuits throughout the solar system.

  Scott’s solemn face appeared. “Fellow citizens of Earth, and of the settlements across the solar system, I am Scott Drumond, former Ambassador to Niobe, and now commander of the recently returned expeditionary fleet.

  “For many months, you’ve suffered under the tyranny of the New Imperium. The elected Senate of the Panhelion has been dissolved, and Regent Camus rules by decree. We of the expeditionary fleet propose to end this intolerable situation by deposing the Imperium and restoring rule under the Panhelion. We intend to reconstitute the Senate, and to take Regent Camus into custody to stand trial. I invite all of you to join us. More instructions will follow in the next few hours.”

  Earth

  ~~~

  In the private area of the exclusive club room reserved for the top ranks, Regent Camus held up his champagne flute. “A toast to the Imperium and all the power to follow.”

  Across the table, Commander Leslie Styerwald, his personal aide and mistress, mirrored the gesture. After a gentle tap of glass, they enjoyed the subtle bouquet of a rare vintage, eager to take dinner and the pleasures of the evening to come.

  Over Styerwald’s shoulder, Camus glimpsed a dark gray and black uniformed colonel of his personal guard.

  The colonel made deliberate, quick strides toward them.

  “Your Regency,” the breathless officer blurted out. “An announcement requires your immediate attention.”

  The jaw muscles in Camus’ temples twitched at the interruption. He’d planned a pleasant evening with his courtesan. His vanity didn’t go so far as to let him believe she tended to his needs for the sake of his looks, but in his typical style, he used anyone under his power for his own needs.

  “Colonel, not now if you please,” he hissed.

  “Your Regency, you must listen. A message has just come through from Aurora, from a man who claims to be Scott Drumond. The message is meant for you. All military commands and all the commercial news outlets are carrying it.”

  Camus pushed himself from the table with a ferocity that scattered flatware and tipped glasses over. “What? Did you say Drumond?” he thundered. “Where is he?”

  “Sir, the message comes from the Aurora.” The officer shuffled backward out of the way as Camus glared. “You can catch what’s left of the broadcast in the lounge.”

  He and Styerwald hurried to the lounge area, where several screens presented the image of Drumond’s face. With growing anger, the Regent of the Solar System fumed at the screen as he caught the snippet. “...take Regent Camus into custody to stand trial.”

  “Leslie, alert the senior staff,” he growled, and pushed the Colonel aside. “We hold a council of war within the hour. I’m afraid, my dear, we have to put off tonight’s tryst.”

  In the situation room of the New Imperium Defense Headquarters, a solemn cadre of senior commanders took their seats. Camus scanned the dour faces around him. “Schwartz, what do we know about Drumond? Who’s joined him in this treasonous act?”

  Schwartz squirmed in his seat. “Sir, he’s on the Aurora. We have no direct knowledge, but we may presume Captain Poland Tanner is complicit. The rest of the expeditionary fleet consists of the Targelion, the Vesper and the Plexaure. His message says they’ve all joined him.”

  Camus slapped the table. “I’m not surprised da Silva’s in on this. I’ve never trusted that bastard from the Martian settlements. That bunch has been seething in mutiny ever since we put down their last revolt, thirty-five years ago. I know. I helped clean out that nest of snakes.”

  Schwartz shook off a glum look. “I wouldn’t have thought Rigus Bauer would turn against us. His ties are to Earth.”

  Camus’ nostrils flared. “Find his family, his friends, all of them—anyone we can use to persuade him to reconsider his decision. I intend to use any means necessary to bring him round, and I mean any.”

  Camus took a deep breath to calm himself. “And Vesper? Who commands her?”

  “Captain Emeka Kamau from the lunar settlements.”

  “The same goes for her. Find her family on Luna, but don’t stop there. See if she has close ties to anyone on Earth as well. I want you to scour all the settlements, everywhere we have control, from Mars to the outermost Jovian moons. I want leverage I can use against any who oppose me.”

  “Understood, sir.” Schwartz made a perfunctory note in his e-file.

  Camus pursed his lips and set his jaw. “By my reckoning, we have the strike cruisers Astræus, Crius and Eurybia, as well as Hesperus and our smaller ships, to bring Drumond to heel.”

  Schwartz recovered his courage and held out his hands. “Regency, Drumond has Prometheus. We can’t send our ships against such a weapon. It’s tantamount to suicide.”

  “You think?” Camus narrowed his eyes. “Listen, I won’t tolerate defeatism! My New Imperium will prevail if I have to go into space and take command of what’s left of our fleet myself.”

  Admiral Jonas Marbaum, Commander of the Home Fleet, was a stump of a man, short and bald-headed, with bushy eyebrows. His dark circular eyes glowered across the table at Camus. “Your Regency, you must be realistic. The loyalty of our captains to the government must be tested by fire. A quick strike is our only slim hope to save the Imperium.”

  “An all-or-nothing roll of the dice eh, Admiral?” Camus curled his lip into a sneer.

  “Yes,” came Marbaum’s quick reply. “I admit the odds seem against us, but if we don’t make our move now, we tumble over the precipice to complete ruin, an egg kicked out of the nest.”

  Fleet Staging Orbit near Mars

  -

  Aurora

  ~~~

  Lieutenant Marie Zirkel regretted killing Vogelein, but he was just too damn nosy. If he hadn’t uncovered the messages she’d sent Camus, he’d still be alive.

  Confined in Aurora’s brig while she awaited her court-martial, her frustration grew with each passing day. To make matters worse, Tanner ignored her repeated requests for permission to contact Camus.
After the installation of Prometheus and the arrival of Scott, she endured even tighter security and daily inspections of her cell by the Marine guards, as Krieger enforced stricter discipline among his men.

  Her expectations were far different from the events that had occurred. Camus was supposed to protect her. He owed her. She believed in him and his vision of a powerful human presence in space. With her assigned mission complete, he had complete knowledge of Prometheus. She had failed in only one task, to deliver the weapon to him.

  The more Pegasus’ former science officer reflected on her plight, the more determined she was to get through to Camus.

  In a strange way, the opportunity for escape had come eleven months before when Tanner ordered her to accompany the marines on the Luna Two mission. She’d been with them in the caves during the search for Prometheus. In the high carbon dioxide levels and the confused action of the entrapment, she saw an opportunity and inconspicuously lifted the sidearm of an unconscious Marine. Unnoticed, she disassembled and hid the parts to the small forty-caliber launcher. The Marine guards had conducted only cursory searches of her quarters, apparently having no reason to suspect she could have anything she shouldn’t, and thus had failed to find the disassembled pieces.

  A patient woman, she bided her time until Aurora returned to the solar system. Now she was ready—an easy stroll on the moon, she estimated. She need only get past the guard and make her way undetected to the communications center. Once there, she could send word to Camus.

  She had rehearsed her plan over and over in her mind.

  Under Marine guard, the mess steward brought her noon meal as usual. Her chance came when the steward and guard entered her cell.

  She gripped the reassembled weapon under a towel, and squeezed off two missiles in rapid succession.

  Both guard and steward fell.

  After donning the steward’s uniform and badge, she pushed the meal cart through the corridors of the ship to the comm center.

  The Marine guard stationed outside the communications center didn’t live long enough to hear her carefully rehearsed bluff.

  The soft hiss of the miniature rocket triggered Scott’s instinct to duck. He dropped to the deck of the comm center and moved behind a console.

  Poland Tanner slumped in his chair, a rivulet of blood trickling down the side of his head.

  From behind the console, Scott glanced around to see Marie crouched by the entry with a forty-caliber launcher in her hand.

  “Drumond,” she shouted. “Show yourself, and I’ll let you live. You know a few things Camus needs, but if I have to, I’ll take you down just like Tanner.”

  Scott peered around the corner of the console. “Zirkel, how the hell did you get out of confinement?”

  “It’s easy when you have one of these.” She waggled the tip of the palm-sized launcher.

  Ariela walked through the entry.

  Zirkel grabbed her arm and put the launch tube to Ariela’s temple. “Come out, Drumond, or I’ll finish off your Niobian bitch. You know I’ll do it.”

  Scott gingerly stepped out from behind the console. “Now you have two murders to account for. Eventually you’ll have to surrender. You can’t hold off the entire crew of this ship.”

  “Just stay where you are,” she bellowed.

  With a firm grip on Ariela’s arm, Zirkel made her way to the E-M radio console and manipulated the icons. Scott could only watch as she set the equipment to transmit on the emergency frequency. “Any station, this frequency, send this message to Regent Camus.”

  Her voice slashed out over the airwaves. “To the authorities of the New Imperium, this is Lieutenant Marie Zirkel. I have control of the strike cruiser Aurora. Send reinforcements.”

  Earth

  ~~~

  In his palace, Camus had just dismissed his war council when a wide-eyed officer handed him an e-projector.

  “Gentlemen, return to you seats,” Camus announced. “The tides of fortune flow in our favor. The Aurora and Prometheus are in our hands.”

  Camus couldn’t help but grin as he addressed his senior commander. “Marbaum, send a trusted captain to rendezvous with the Aurora immediately. I don’t care if the acceleration g-forces shake up his crew. When his ship meets up with Aurora, have him send a boarding party to relieve an officer loyal to the Imperium. A Lieutenant Zirkel has taken the rebel ship.”

  Hesperus

  ~~~

  Krast read the message twice and still found it hard to believe.

  FLASH - ECCO - FLASH

  TOP SECRET FOR INTENDED RECIPIENT’S EYES ONLY.

  INTENDED RECIPIENT: CAPTAIN EDGAR KRAST, STRIKE CRUISER HESPERUS.

  FROM: REGENT NEW IMPERIUM.

  INTERCEPT REBEL SHIP AURORA, MAXIMUM ACCEL-DECEL PROFILE. ASSIST LIEUTENANT ZIRKEL NOW IN CHARGE. SEIZE AND HOLD AURORA.

  SIGNED: ANDRE CAMUS, SUPCOM, NEW IMPERIUM FORCES.

  He recovered from his initial surprise and ordered his navigation officer to enter an intercept course for Aurora, flank velocity.

  On Hesperus’ combat deck, the visual displayed distant Aurora as a point of light at the edge of the fleet staging area. Krast could only guess at the drama playing out on Aurora, a drama he’d now join.

  With a squad of handpicked Marines and a trusted pilot, he hurried into the shuttle. The deception had worked. Camus had no inkling that he and a few of his trusted crew were now part of the rebellion.

  In the shuttle, he waited for launch and drummed his fingers on the co-pilot’s console. He’d never met Lieutenant Zirkel. She must be one ambitious wildcat, and she was in for one hell of a surprise.

  Fleet Staging Orbit

  -

  Aurora

  ~~~

  Scott set his view squarely on Marie. “Your foolish attempt will fail. Forget this absurd notion that you can take over a ship manned by forty crew and officers and half as many Marines. Besides, Vesper, Targelion and Plexaure have all joined the rebellion. Camus’ reign is doomed.”

  “I don’t need to take over this entire ship, just the communications center, and just long enough to let Camus know I’m in charge. Once his troops arrive, you’re the one who’s lost the game, and this little putsch you’ve engineered will die faster than a spacewalking man in his underwear. You already have me up on murder charges, so I’ve got little to lose by killing you.”

  Scott dropped his arms to his sides and glared at Marie. “You can still get out of this with your life. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “No, your life doesn’t mean anything to me,” she spat back.

  “A standoff of sorts, eh?”

  Marie threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t tempt me. I’m holding the forty-cal, and you’re standing there with a hand full of air.” She muscled her way around Ariela to get a better view of Scott. “If you don’t care about yourself, maybe you care about your Niobian. And how much stomach do you think the crew will have for a rebellion when they learn Camus’ people are in command of this ship?”

  Scott weighed his options. “When da Silva and the others discover you’ve called Camus, they’ll be here on the double to stop you.”

  “They have to find out first.” Marie reached over to the control panel and rolled the systems icons. Part of the panel went dark as all outgoing communications were blocked.

  The flashing icon on the ECCO panel announced an incoming, entangled message from Central. She touched the screen and the message appeared.

  FLASH - ECCO - FLASH

  TO: LIEUTENANT MARIE ZIRKEL.

  FROM: REGENT NEW IMPERIUM.

  CAPTAIN EDGAR KRAST OF STRIKE CRUISER HESPERUS EN ROUTE. HOLD AURORA AT ALL COSTS.

  Marie Zirkel exhaled a breath of relief and projected the text on the com screen. “That’s what I wanted to see. You’ve lost, Drumond. Now get over next to your Niobian. One wrong move and I’ll down the two of you.”

  She hovered close to the controls and monitored all internal communications and incoming mes
sages. Krast’s shuttle called in from twenty kilometers out. She opened the internal communications line and let the docking request through to Aurora’s duty officer. The hapless exec, deprived of communications, had no idea Tanner was dead.

  Within minutes, intercom chatter announced the arrival of the captain of the Hesperus.

  A smug look came over Marie’s face. “Krast is here with his Marines. Camus will exonerate me. Of course, you’ll end up in prison or, more likely, executed.”

  Scott scowled and pulled Ariela close. “I don’t think so. As soon as the officers on watch realize the communications are out, they’ll send Aurora’s Marines to see what’s wrong.”

  “They won’t find anyone here, only Tanner’s body and the dead guard outside.” She stood firm, her eyes flashing fire. “Now, let’s double-time to the docking bay, and no heroics—I’ll be right behind you.”

  Scott scanned the room for a way to take Marie down. “In a few minutes, this ship will be crawling with Marines,” he said in an acid tone. “No matter where you take us, they’ll be waiting.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her lip curled in a disdainful sneer. “Once I get to the hangar bay, it won’t matter. Krast and his troops will take charge of Aurora.”

  Marie’s free hand darted over the control icons. She shut down all remaining communications and motioned to Ariela. “You go first. I’ll be right behind with this.” She waved the tip of the launcher and pushed the two out the door.

  Ariela took a step outside and stumbled over the body of the Marine guard.

  Scott leaped forward to shield her and jerked around to face Marie. His arm flinched as if to grab her weapon.

  Marie stared at him and aimed for his forehead. “Don’t try it,” she hissed.

  He reached down and helped Ariela regain her footing.

  She staggered to her feet cradling her arm as if injured.

  He took her elbow and walked on down the corridor.

  Marie, still in the steward’s uniform, held her weapon tucked out of sight.