Exodus: Empires at War: Book 9: Second Front

by Doug Dandridge

  * * *

  “He was our best chance at getting the target, Countess,” said the man, sitting in the chair in the secure office under Zhee’s palace. “Not only was he the best man for the job, the premier assassin in the Empire, but now that he’s failed, the target is too closely guarded to risk another attempt.”

  “I understand that no professional would want to take what would amount to a suicide mission,” said Zhee, her eyes looking at the shadow shrouded crime boss. She really didn’t understand why the man insisted on these theatrics. She had seen him before. Anyone that knew his name could look up his public record, including his past offenses and incarcerations. “Couldn’t you use a programed assassin, like the one that took out the late Emperor and his family?”

  “And how do you think we are going to sneak such a person into close proximity of the target?” asked the Crime Lord. “Everyone in the security detail is deep scanned on a weekly basis. When Augustine was killed, they were doing monthly checks, and increased them when someone who had been cleared was the obvious assassin. They’ve also improved the scanning process. Give us a couple of months, and we might be able to do something. But outside of those time constraints, not a chance.”

  Zhee cursed and shook her head. I need that boy dead and gone, and his bitch of a wife with him. Everything else is in place, and this might be my last chance.

  “Well, get it set up as fast as you can. And that brings us to the next point of discussion. Angel betrayed me. He failed to carry out the hit, even though he had the opportunity to do so. I want his ass dead.”

  “He’s taken out everyone we’ve sent after him,” said the Boss, holding out his hands. “The only survivors were the few he let live on the first team. I was just about to call off the dogs and let him go, before he decides he wants to take me out as well. If I were you, I would let him be.”

  “And I’m not about to let someone who might know I’m involved in an attempt on the Emperor walk the streets of the capital. I want him dead. He’s only one man. You’ve got a large organization, so I expect you to use your power to take him out. That’s if you want to have me on your side when I get control of the government.”

  “I’ll send another team after him. But even if we find him, I don’t think my men will be able to take him. The only hope we have is to surprise him, and I’m not sure that’s possible.”

  “Just do it,” hissed Zhee. “No more excuses.”

  The Boss got up from his seat without saying a word, his eyes averted from the woman who knew too much about him. The trusted servant met him in the hall, to escort him to the secret tunnel that led away from the manor. No one had ever seen the man enter her dwelling, and no one ever would. And after he accomplished his task, she would make sure that he and his organization didn’t trouble her any more. After all, she had an image to retain, and a reputation to protect. It wouldn’t do for the future prime minister to be known for having mob connections, so those would have to be severed.

  * * *

  “We should be ready to go in three weeks, your Majesty,” said Ekaterina Sergiov over the com. She really didn’t like the idea of pulling a black op halfway around the Galaxy. And against a possible ally at that. Not that she didn’t see the necessity of it, but it still bothered her. “That will give you some time to think it over.”

  “I’m pretty sure I’m not going to change my mind, Ekaterina,” said Sean in a voice that told the tale of his fatigue. “I don’t see any other way to end this nightmare, and gain us the ally we need.”

  “It’s your call, sir,” said the Director. “It’s not one I would want to make. And it’s definitely not one I want to be pulled up in front of Parliament to testify about.”

  “That last won’t happen, Ekaterina,” said Sean. “I think I can guarantee that.”

  Yeah. By letting me retire, then granting me an Imperial pardon for the crime of withholding a black op from the Oversight Committee. Not really the way I would want to go out.

  “And any word on Walborski?” asked the Emperor.

  “Just that he’s not happy with the assignment,” said Sergiov, leaving out the word either.

  “But what’s your opinion of him? Would he make a good operative?”

  “He has the aptitude, your Majesty. And he ended up on the far end of the augmented Bell curve. As to whether or not his heart will ever be in it? I wouldn’t think so. Whether or not he will do his duty to the best of his ability? I would count on it.”

  “So we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we,” said Sean with a sigh. “I almost hate to do this to someone I call a friend. But that’s the problem, Ekaterina. I really can’t afford to have any real friends. Not when my orders might send them to their deaths.”

  The holo went blank, the Emperor terminating the transmission without another word. Ekaterina turned away from the desk, considering how so many people in the Empire wished they could be in his position. She wouldn’t take the job for the Universe. Hers was bad enough, and the only reason she still did it was because she was so good at it.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It’s always been a great survival value for people to believe they belong to a superior tribe. That’s just in human relationships.

  E. O. Wilson.

  NEW EARTH, MAY 22ND, 1002.

  “So, when will you send a ship back to your Empire to report on this contact?” asked Chairwoman Pallion, steepling her fingers and looking over them at Commodore Sung.

  Natasha wasn’t sure how to answer that question. So far they had kept the secret of their wormhole link back to the Empire. She wasn’t really sure what benefit that was to them, since the Klavarta kingdom had no way of duplicating the technology except the old fashioned way, building their own massive power generation facility and discovering how to use that energy to open the holes. They couldn’t steal the wormholes the Imperials had brought along, since they all led to secure facilities in the Empire, and would be of no use to the locals. And the only way to get more wormholes here, especially both ends, which would be the only holes that would be useful to the Klavarta in their war, was by shipping them here on vessels.

  “I’m almost afraid to send less than my total command back, Madame Chairman,” she told Pallion, which was the truth in a manner of speaking. “I would have to send at least two ships, in case something happened to one of them, or they needed to support each other in a fight.”

  “Your other ship is welcome to stay, then. But I think it’s important that your Empire knows that we are here, and what we have to offer.”

  “Which is?”

  “Why, our fleet, in battle beside your own. Tech exchange, the combination of our scientific research programs with the focus of defeating the Monsters. And the joy of reuniting with your brothers and sisters after two thousand years apart.”

  “All that is well and good, but it’s outside of my authority to make any kind of a deal. And sending a ship back, and then getting one to come all of this way with the answer of the Emperor and Parliament, would take more than two years.”

  “Then you should get moving to send one or more vessels back. Two years is a long time, but it would seem that neither of our nations is in danger of imminent defeat. However, we cannot wait forever.”

  Natasha sat there for a moment, trying to come up with a believable answer. The Emperor said I need to delay for two to three weeks. But delay for what?

  “I don’t see why your Emperor sent you all the way out here to find us, and didn’t give you the authority to make some kind of treaty,” said the Chairwoman, a scowl on her face. “Unless…” The woman stared at her for a few moments. “Unless, you were given that authority, but harbor some reservations.”

  “Perhaps I should just leave on the morrow,” said Sung quickly, concerned at where this train of thought was taking the Chairwoman. “We could take all three ships, giving us the best chance of getting through, then come back with a fleet.”

  The Chairwoman narro
wed her eyes, and Natasha was sure that she hadn’t liked the part about bringing back a fleet. A professional paranoid. No matter what I say, she’ll see something wrong and make an assumption.

  “A fleet,” said the Chairwoman in a hushed voice, confirming the Commodore’s suspicions. “And no, I don’t think it a good idea that all of your ships return. We would like for one of your ships to stay. At least the one, so we can continue to get to know each other better.”

  And as long as we are in your system, and under the superior firepower of her fleet, we’re trapped. But what it really comes down to is I need to have all of my ships, and more importantly, all of my wormholes in the system for whatever operation the Emperor is planning. And hopefully he will let me in on it before we actually have to do anything.

  This was not what she had expected to find when she had started out on this mission. It had been hoped that they would find an alien power that they could ally with. Or even help to feed on the knowledge that both of them were not alone, that there was someone else fighting the big bastards as well. Finding other humans had been beyond anyone’s expectations. That had seemed to be the best of both worlds, until they had found out just how evil the bastards were.

  “We need more time to think about what kind of message we will send to our Emperor,” she said, hoping it would be enough to buy them some time.

  “And I wonder what that message would be, if you were to dispatch your ships on the morrow,” said Pallion with a cold smile. “Maybe it would be best if you waited to send that message, so we can forge a greater understanding of each other.”

  “I think that would be best,” agreed Sung with relief.

  “And I would like to invite more of your people down to the surface of the moon,” said the Chairwoman, trying to morph her cold smile into one that portrayed some warmth, and failing. “I think it would help us to get to understand each other better. Forge friendships, build bridges.”

  And you are the consummate politician, aren’t you? thought Sung, nodding as if in agreement. And she has me. I either let more of my people go down to the surface, where they can be used as hostages. Or I refuse, and what happens next?

  She thought about just pulling her squadron out of the system, but if Pallion decided to not let her go, she really didn’t have a chance of escape. Not with the Klavarta home fleet in the system, with enough firepower to reduce her squadron to plasma. There was no way her force could run for it with any chance of success. Her ships were made for the long haul. They had the top end speed to outrun just about any known vessel, but they were slow in getting there. They would be at a disadvantage in getting to the hyper barrier, and she had no doubt that the Klavarta ships would catch her just as quickly in hyper, if she even had a hope of getting them to the barrier.

  “We’ll work out a schedule that will allow much of my off duty crew to come down to the planet and accept your hospitality. And thank you.”

  She played me like a fool, thought Sung as she headed out of the office, walking toward the lift that would take her to the rooftop landing pad. But what choice did I have? None that she could think of.

  She thought of other alternatives on the shuttle flight back up to her ship, but could come up with none. “Get me the captains of the other ships on the com,” she ordered when her shuttle was still minutes away from the Nina. “I want them aboard Nina within the hour. We need to have a discussion about what we’re going to do here.”

  * * *

  Thallia Thrann woke with a start as her com went off, pulling her from a deep sleep. She looked at the ID and sucked in a breath on seeing who it was. What in the hell would she be calling me about at this hour. Of course, with the length of the day on the planet, and the human need for rest more than once every ninety hours, and people tended to sleep when they could, around the clock. She had tried to coordinate her schedule with that of the Chairwoman, but the Overlords tended to get by with little sleep.

  “Yes, Chairwoman,” she said, activating the com.

  “I need for you to come in,” said Pallion on the other end of the link. “I need someone to keep tabs on the Imperials. I have the suspicion that they are not being forthcoming with us.”

  And neither would I, thought Thrann, her heart fluttering for a moment. In fact, she hadn’t been completely forthcoming with the Chairwoman either. “I will be right in, Chairwoman.”

  The com died, and Thallia sat up in bed. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, then went to her closet, opened the hidden compartment in the wall, and pulled out a one time com.

  “Something is happening,” she told the being on the other side of the com. “I think we need to meet. In twelve hours.”

  * * *

  “I have a bad feeling about these Imperials,” said Jiang Zhou, looking across the table at the Chairwoman. “They don’t want an alliance with us. They are just stalling for time, hoping we will let them go, so they can return to their home.”

  “And then their Empire will know of our existence, and the risk of disclosure to the Monsters will increase exponentially,” said Chamai Bhandawa. “They must not be allowed contact with their people, unless we have a guarantee of an alliance, something that will be of benefit to us.”

  “They will not be allowed to return if I am not sure of them,” said Pallion, glaring at the holo image of one of the Imperial ships.

  “And how can we ever be sure of them?” asked Ivan Ikanov, shaking his head. “They could lie to us, tell us what we want to hear. Then run back to their masters with information on us. Maybe even organize a force to attack us, so that their leaders can rule more humans.”

  “They are at war with the Monsters,” said Kamiko Hayashi. “They don’t have the time to attack us. Or the resources.”

  “So they say,” shouted Ikanov, slapping the table, then standing up to lean over it, staring at the small woman. “They could be lying. They could be in an entirely different part of space than they claim, with a fleet gathering to sweep in and crush us.”

  Hayashi returned the glare with no fear of the big Russian. After all, what could the man do to her. Even if he killed her, a new body would be up and running before the week was out, with all of her memories up to her last daily upload in place. They were immortal, after all, weren’t they?

  Not if someone comes in and destroys all of our bodies, and our memory uploads, thought Pallion. Security for those resources was tight, and there was really no way for that anyone, even a Council Member, could threaten the body of another Member. But if some other power were to discover the capital, and come sweeping in to destroy the entire infrastructure of the moon?

  “You are a paranoid fool,” screamed Hayashi, getting to her feet. “Why in the hell would anyone hatch such an elaborate scheme?”

  “To catch us off guard,” yelled Ikanov back, his eyes wild, spittle flying from his lips. “How do we even know that they have a kingdom of their own? How do we know that the Monsters didn’t save enough humans to plan this kind of deception?”

  “Then they would have to know that we exist,” said Rajani Dasgupta, sitting calmly in her chair, her steady gaze taking in both of her angry colleagues. “And that is unlikely.”

  “It seems unlikely to us,” hurled Ikanov back at her. “But we have been playing this game of deception for a long time. Who knows what the Monsters might have discovered in that time.”

  “I doubt these people are connected with the Monsters,” said Pallion, wanting to regain control of the meeting. “I admit we don’t really know a lot about them. But this would seem kind of an elaborate deception, even for the Monsters. I think if they knew who we really were, and where we were, they would just bring in a fleet and try and smash us.”

  “Well, thank the Universe that they don’t know where we are,” said Willard Smyth in the English accent he had not lost over the centuries and multiple bodies.

  That is a hope all of us have, thought the Chairwoman. But she wondered if it was reality, or if t
he Monsters did in fact already know where they were. If so, it really didn’t matter if these humans had a connection to the Ca’cadasans or not.

  “I say we need to arrest all of these so called Imperials,” roared Ikanov, slamming his fist down on the table. “We need to incarcerate them, interrogate them, and take apart their ships to learn what we can about their tech. Whether it’s Ca’cadasan or not.”

  Pallion looked at the man, wondering if she should have him arrested. She looked around the table and wondered if some of the others should join him. It was something she had thought about for years, but the paranoia of the Council Members worked against her. All had their fail-safes in place, as did she. All had their private armies ready to strike in their defense. Trying to arrest and supplant a Council Member would lead to a civil war, and if there were enough of them against her she was not sure she could win.

  “It is my decision that the Imperials will not be molested, for the moment,” she said in the sternest tone she could generate. “I believe it would be a mistake to alienate them at this point. At least until we can learn more about them.”

  “Can we are least grab one, or maybe a couple of them?” asked Ikanov, sitting back in his chair and again speaking in a normal tone. “I am sure I could get the information out of them.”

  The man’s face took on an expression that frightened even someone as hardened as Pallion, and she would not have wished to under his control for any amount of time. “They only travel in groups. Do you really think you could spirit one away out from under the noses of the others?”

  “They have to be alone sometime,” said the man with a cold smile. “Leave it to me.”

  “Very well. Get your subject. But make sure it’s done without a hitch. I can probably stall the Imperials for a while if they don’t have solid evidence that we have kidnapped one of their people. But if they do find out, I will make sure that you are the one held responsible. At least for the show trial.”