After the Crown

by K. B. Wagers

  Our arrival had been announced to the detention center, but the notice hadn’t seemed to help the poor sweating sergeant who had the misfortune of being on duty.

  “Captain.” He saluted, swallowing hard. “We’re in the process of transferring some prisoners to make room for you.”

  “I want to speak with the idiot in charge,” I said.

  Cas backhanded me without even looking in my direction. I spat the blood at him and stared him in the eye when he shoved his gun up under my chin. The Saxon-made BrowningX vibrated as it powered up.

  “You’re not going to shoot me,” I said with a sneer. “You and I both know it, so knock off the macho cowshit, Captain. I want to speak to someone in charge, and I swear to Shiva I will bring the weight of the intergalactic war tribunal down on your head if it doesn’t happen in the next five minutes.”

  Cas sneered back, but he holstered his gun and turned to the sergeant. “Which way to the command deck?”

  “Sir, you really should process them all first.”

  “She’s not going to stop her bitching, Sergeant, and after a week of it, I’m really, really tired of hearing her voice. So you process the rest of this rabble. I’m taking Her Majesty to see someone who maybe can get her to shut up.” He raised an eyebrow. “I trust you can handle it?”

  “Of course, sir! Down the hallway, the first left you come to and at the end of the hall are the elevators. Take the elevator up to the top. I’ll let them know you’re coming.”

  “Good. Lieutenant Toss, and you two, with me. The rest of you stay here with the prisoners.”

  Cas marched me out the door, with Indula, Kisah, and Iza behind us. We piled into the lift, and after the doors closed I exhaled.

  “That poor bastard is going to get eaten alive,” I muttered under my breath, and watched Cas bite his lip to keep from smiling.

  “We’re not in the clear yet, Majesty,” he said over the com link.

  “I have faith in you. Nice job back there, you were pretty scary.”

  The lift came to a stop and the doors opened. “Move,” Cas said, shoving me forward. We marched down the hall and through the doors onto the command deck.

  Everyone turned to look, and the normal sounds of a command center died out. An older man with a hard-edged face got to his feet.

  “Sir, Captain Hebring.” Cas snapped a salute. “The prisoner requested a word.”

  “Your Imperial Majesty.” The man etched a bow that was somehow elegantly sarcastic. “Allow me to introduce myself: Commander Gils Nilsen. Welcome to my station.”

  “It’s my station, Commander,” I said. “I want to register a formal protest over the treatment of myself and my people. According to the rules of the Extended Geneva Convention of 2767, all prisoners of war are to be treated—”

  “Yes, yes, my dear, we’re all very familiar with the EGC.” Commander Nilsen waved a thin hand as he approached and gave me a sly smile. “I’m sure it’ll all be sorted out in the end.”

  “Cas, tell Emmory to move now.”

  “I’m sure it will be,” I said, unlocking my cuffs and catching the BrowningX from Cas. My four BodyGuards moved at the same time, their weapons snapping up and aimed around the room.

  “Anyone who feels like dying today, feel free to stay where you are,” I said, and pressed the barrel of my gun against Commander Nilsen’s forehead. “If you’d like to live, get facedown on the floor.”

  All the Saxons dropped to the floor except for the commander, whose panicked look lasted right up until Indula clocked him in the back of the head with his rifle. He collapsed, and I stepped out of the way as he fell in a heap.

  “Making friends, Majesty?” Emmory asked as he came out of the lift.

  “Of course. What about you? How is the sergeant?”

  “Locked in the cell with the other guards.” He smiled and waved to three women. “I had Hassan’s people stay back to guard the detention center and the path to the ships. These three volunteered to help with the computers on the Vajrayana ships.”

  “Your Majesty.” The dark-haired woman of the group bowed low. “I am Senior Tech Ragini Triskan. These are Technicians Yama Hunkaar and Hasa Julsen.”

  “It’s good to see all of you. Did they treat you all right?”

  “Well enough, ma’am. Most of the officers were sent to the surface of Major. We were told to cooperate, which we’ve been doing. Being as unhelpful as we can, of course.” She grinned.

  “You smile a bit more than your father, Ragini,” I said with a smile.

  “My father?”

  “Lieutenant General Aganey Triskan, yes? He’s the newest member of my military council.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She smiled again. “What an honor for him. It’s all he ever talked about when I was little.”

  “He has been very worried about you and your sister.” I looked at Emmory, who held up a hand and wiggled it.

  “We’re fifteen minutes in, ma’am,” he said. “Best get moving before someone notices we’re here.”

  “We need to jam the signals. We’ve had some wire shorts lately, so that will buy us some time. They’ll only get suspicious if it goes on for too long,” Ragini said.

  As my BodyGuards rounded up all the Saxon personnel on the command deck and marched them back to the detention center, I settled into the chair next to Ragini.

  “I want you to link all the ships together and set them to warp to these coordinates as soon as they’re online. Program the engines to go to full stop after warp.

  “We’ve got less than ten minutes from the time those ships go live to when someone out there notices,” I said. “Let’s do everything we can before we start engines.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Ragini nodded. “I’m in. Give me a second here, Majesty, and I’ll make sure the network is secure. Okay, ma’am, you’re clear.”

  I logged my smati into the network and uploaded the lock codes.

  “Yama, Hasa, grab some terminals. I want one of you to start diagnostics and the other to start bringing shields up as quietly as you can.”

  The other two women found seats at another terminal and went to work, calling out back and forth to each other as they delved into the systems of the Vajrayana ships.

  “All right, Majesty,” Emmory appeared at my elbow. “You’ve done your bit, we’re going back to the ship.”

  “Don’t be pushy, Emmory. We’re not leaving without everyone, and I need to figure out a way to program the station’s defenses to give us a hand in this battle.”

  “What help do you need?” he asked.

  “Get Hao. Once I’m in, you two start looking at firing solutions.”

  Emmory gave me the Look but whistled at Hao, who crossed the room with a curious expression.

  “Station defenses. Make yourself useful,” I said to him, and he grinned.

  “Majesty, a moment?”

  I looked back at Ragini.

  “It looks like forty-five of the ships are in good enough shape to warp out. Two of them have been torn up in the Saxons’ effort to figure out how they work.” She tapped on the screen.

  “Just those then, that’s good enough.”

  “Life-support systems online. Bringing air levels up to requirements now,” Yama reported.

  “We’ll be ready to bring the drives up in five minutes,” Hasa said.

  “We may not have five minutes,” Emmory replied.

  36

  Bugger me, what?”

  “Ensign Roche just notified me there’s a contingent of Marines headed for the detention center. No alarms have gone up, so he’s not sure what’s going on, but it doesn’t look good.”

  “Tell them to head for the ships, I don’t want them getting trapped in there. We’ll be right behind them. Ragini—”

  “I heard, Majesty.” Her fingers flew over the screen. “We’ve got to get enough air into those ships or they’ll be useless.”

  I scanned the screen in front of me and then swore. “There was a
check-in. Bugger me, Emmory, the detention center missed a check-in. Which means the command deck did, too.”

  “Ma’am, one of the ships is hailing us.” Ragini swallowed. “It’s the Indomitable, Fleet Marshal Kreskin’s vessel.”

  “Cas? Why does that man have your last name?” I teased.

  “Don’t look at me, Majesty,” he said with a grin. “Maybe an extremely distant relative, but that’s about it. Kreskin isn’t all that uncommon a surname.”

  I shared a look with Emmory, who lifted one shoulder the barest amount. “Put it through, Ragini.”

  A man with silver hair appeared on the screen at the front of the command deck. His eyes were bright blue, the color of Pashati’s sky on a clear summer day.

  “Fleet Marshal Kreskin,” I said.

  “Empress Hailimi.” The man inclined his head in a surprising show of respect. “I’m not sure what you’re doing on the command deck of my station, but I’m going to have to ask you to surrender.”

  “And I’m afraid I must decline. This is my station, my ships, my system. If you’d like to surrender, I’d be more than happy to accept.” I cut the sound off and turned my back on him.

  “Yama, can you disable the network communications? I know we shut down the smatis for all the prisoners, but I want the whole station to go dark.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Do it as soon as I end this communication. Ragini—”

  “Two minutes,” she said before I could ask the question. “Hasa, will you grab that?”

  “Got it. Ships have full life support. Just say the word and I’ll send them out of here.”

  “Emmory, tell Lieutenant Bing to get her ass over to the other ship. Help them get everyone loaded, and then get the hell out of here when the Vajrayana ships warp out. We can fly ourselves. I don’t want her hanging around waiting for us. If those Marines come after her, she won’t stand a chance.”

  Emmory nodded, passing along the instructions. “They avoided the Marines, ma’am. They’ll be ready to go in a minute. We’ve got incoming of our own.”

  I turned back around, hitting the open mic and smiling at the marshal.

  “Your Majesty,” he said with a frown. “You are outnumbered and alone and there is no way you can get enough of your people onto those ships before we blow them to pieces. And I promise you, my orders are to blow them to pieces rather than surrender them back to Indrana.”

  I lifted a shoulder. “Alone, maybe. Outnumbered? I’ve been in worse. Where were we, Hao?”

  “Pluto,” he said.

  “Too right.” I grinned, pleased with the worried frown that knit itself into Kreskin’s forehead. “So, forgive me for this, but I think I’ll take my chances.” I cut the link.

  “Yama, now. How long until the Marines hit the detention center?” The alarm sounded and I rolled my eyes. “That answers that question. Rai, Johar! The door.”

  They nodded in concert and moved for the right side door. Zin and Indula were already headed for the door on the other side when the explosion rocked the command deck. Emmory shoved me behind the terminal, his hand on the back of my neck holding me down. Until he released me all I could do was listen to the sounds of gunfire and shouting.

  “Clear, Majesty.”

  “Launch the ships, Ragini,” I said as I got to my feet.

  Forty-five ships pulled away from their docks in unison and disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the shimmering space of their warp bubbles. I could only imagine the panicked shouts aboard the Indomitable’s bridge.

  “We’ve got more incoming,” Zin announced. “I recommend a change of venue, Majesty.”

  “Hasa, how long will it take to get one of those two ships online? I don’t need life support, just the engines.”

  “Not long, Majesty,” she replied. “Especially if I don’t have to do anything more than bring the engines up.”

  “Do that and then input this flight plan.” I tapped the information into her console.

  “Majesty?” She turned her wide dark eyes to mine and I smiled grimly.

  “I know, it’s awful, but we’ve got to buy some time.” I crouched at her side and pressed a hand to the panel beneath her terminal. “As soon as you’re done, let me know. Nakula, over here.”

  He darted over. The cut on his cheek had reopened and was bleeding again.

  “You go first, I want these three after you.” I looked up to find Ragini and Hao with their heads together. “Hao—”

  Another tremor shook the station, followed by a string of epithets from Emmory so vile even I raised an eyebrow.

  “They just blew up the Falki, ma’am.”

  “Did the others…”

  Emmory nodded even though I couldn’t finish the sentence. “They got out.”

  “But we’re stuck here, with an entire fleet of pissed-off Saxons staring at us. Hey, Hao, what was that about having to come up with a new plan on a shipyard filled with Saxons?”

  “I can’t take you anywhere,” he replied. “I said I didn’t want to do it, Hail.”

  “Talk to the marshal. He’s the one who blew up our ride.”

  “I can’t believe Portis didn’t shoot you two,” Zin said before Hao could reply.

  “He threatened that a lot.” I grinned. “He knew better though.”

  “Majesty, I have that ship online,” Hasa said.

  “Do it. Then slag the shit out of your terminal.”

  She punched the button on her screen and we watched as a lone Vajrayana ship streaked away from the station. The target was the Indomitable, but another Saxon vessel intercepted V14 before it could complete its mission. It collided with the Vajrayana ship and both vessels exploded in a searing ball of light.

  The silence on the command deck lasted a full heartbeat before we jumped back into motion.

  “Both exits are blocked with those pissed-off Saxons you were referring to, Majesty,” Zin said. “We need a way out of here and fast.”

  “We’ve got one.” I pointed to the bulkhead service hatch I’d opened. “Make those Saxons afraid to poke their heads out, Zin. We’ll get everyone else into the tunnel.” I pushed Kisah and Iza toward the opening.

  “You two next,” I said to Hao, and held up a hand before Ragini could protest. “I let you have one, that’s all. Go on.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She bowed her head, clutching a data pad to her chest as she followed Hao into the tunnel.

  Rai and Johar’s door was still intact and they’d managed to drag a piece of a terminal in front of it. “That should hold for a bit,” Johar said, firing her gun at the control panel in the wall.

  “Good. What did you bring with you?” I smacked Rai when he gave me an innocent look. “I know you, you’re lucky they didn’t search us at the dock. What explosives have you got?”

  Rai pulled a handful of what looked like plastic straws from his vest, and I whistled.

  “Really?” I looked at Johar. “You let him carry suckers around? One punch from a guard and we all could have gone up.”

  “We figured out how to stabilize the mixture,” she said with a shrug. “They’re still a little twitchy, but it’s better.”

  “All right, gimme.” I took the handful of explosives. “Detonator?”

  “I’ll keep it.”

  “You’ll give it to me, Rai, and get your ass in the tunnel. Everyone is leaving today. Nobody’s dying.”

  “We’re all dying, Majesty, it’s just a question of when the candle gets snuffed out,” he replied with a crooked smile, but gave me the detonator and herded Johar toward the exit.

  I watched as the others ducked into the tunnel, until only Zin, Indula, Gita, Emmory, and I were left. I laid the suckers out along the window of the command deck and across both doorways.

  “Indula, Gita, into the tunnel.”

  They glanced at Emmory but headed for the tunnel. Zin fired off several more shots and then followed. I dove in after him, Emmory on my heels as the shouting of the Saxons s
pilled into the room.

  “Go!” I waved them ahead as Emmory pulled the bulkhead shut behind us, and I prayed it would hold as I hit the detonator.

  The station shook as the suckers vaporized the window, the floors, and the Saxons who were unlucky enough to be on the deck.

  We kept scrambling down the service tunnel, Zin in front and Emmory behind until we came to another open hatch and someone pulled Zin out.

  Hao grabbed me, easily lifting me up, and set me next to Zin, reaching back in for Emmory.

  “Where are we?”

  “One level down from the command deck, ma’am,” Ragini answered, tapping a few things into the data pad. “I’ve locked out the elevators. Hasa, did you get environmental control reestablished?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’re good.”

  “We’ve still got them locked out, but they’re trying to regain access,” Yama said.

  Ragini moved over to her and while the three techs conferred I waved the rest of my people over.

  “We’ve got an hour, probably more, before Admiral Hassan can get personnel transferred and get those ships back up and running enough to start the assault. Nakula, you and Iza glue yourselves to Hasa and Yama. Keep them safe.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” They both nodded.

  “Thoughts, Emmory?”

  My Ekam stopped scanning the corridor; Zin picked it up almost seamlessly without a word. “They could just blow the station.” The floor under our feet shook as if to confirm his words. “I’m fairly sure King Trace and the others would like you dead, Majesty.”

  “So we need to get off here? How?” I tapped a finger on my lips as I ran through our options. “Ragini?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “That other Vajrayana ship. It’s no good for a fight, but how are the life support and the shields?”

  She wiggled a hand. “Iffy, Majesty. But doable if we’re not going far. I started up the air processors when your ship got torched.” She smiled at me. “I’ve still got control of it and they haven’t blown it up yet. They probably figure it’s no good to us if we just left it there.”

  “We need to move,” Zin said.

  Flanked by Gita and Emmory, I followed the others down the corridor. Emmory’s words about the Saxons blowing up the station rang in my ears.