Steg turned back to Emperor Quinton, who was speaking to his general, and waited for the conversation to finish. He said, “Sir, this is an example of what I meant by corruption. I’ve had personal experience of ImpSec and their disregard for following orders and legal process. The attack on your Jochum II base is clear evidence. The number of false orders issued by ImpSec should be of significant concern. Also, their raid with five destroyers and a battalion of ImpSec marines must alarm you. To be truthful, I’m not sure I should be meeting with your General Mendoza, given his position in ImpSec. What more do you need?”
The general was silent. Steg could see the man was trying to restrain some strong reactions. The Emperor appeared thoughtful.
At last Quinton spoke. “Steg, I understand what’s driving your opinion. I’ve read the reports from General Boston and Colonel—”
The general interrupted. “Sir, if I may?”
‘Go ahead.”
“Denke, you have my apologies for the beating you suffered and for the death of your man. I’ll personally ensure the victim’s family will be supported financially. As importantly, I’ll take action to prosecute and punish the offenders. I guarantee that.”
“Thank you, General,” Denke said. “By the way, I can add substantially to the details Steg’s able to provide about ImpSec corruption.”
The general took a deep breath. “I can, too. We—Quinton and I—have been trying to clean out the corrupt elements for the last two years. It’s a gut-wrenching situation.”
“Sir, I have taken control of two ImpSec destroyers. What do you want me to do with them?” Alke advised.
“Damn.” The general hit the table with the flat of his hand, and everyone jumped.
“Marcellus, we’ve delayed too long, simply because of not wanting to upset various power groups. I think it’s time we carried out a complete pruning of ImpSec. How many destroyers do they have?” asked Quinton.
Steg said to Alke, “You’ll need to set a course into the sun, until the crew disembark. We’ll add the vessels to our task force.” He added subvocally, utilizing the tiny communication device attached behind his ear. “Well done. Next question: will you be able to take control of Xesset starships the same way? Remember, they’re evil.”
The general replied to Quinton’s question, “Approximately sixty, sir. I guess seven less, now. Probably a hundred or more frigates and a lot of smaller starships. I agree it’s time we removed them from ImpSec command and brought them back into the Imperial Navy.”
Alke replied subvocally, “It was easy, Steg. Ioke and Adrias watched me with the first one, after which I had them take control of the second one. Zhu wants to do the next takeover by himself. It takes only five minutes or so to capture key processes. We’re working through all their shipboard programs to ensure we have control. While I think we’ll succeed with the Xesset, we won’t know until we encounter one of their ships. We’re not sure what you mean by evil and will have to experience it.”
Steg hid his worry that he’d possibly released a monster; the thought of Wanderer’s AIs taking over the Imperial Navy, destroyer by destroyer, was frightening. However, if the AIs could take over Xesset starships and set them against their fellows, he’d worry about the possible negative aspects after they’d defeated the aliens. He returned his attention to Emperor Quinton.
He said, “Sir, we’ll negotiate return of these two destroyers after we deal with the Xesset. General, can you arrange to shuttle the crew and other personnel from each destroyer to the way station or to another vessel—whichever you want. There’s no way for anyone to take back control, and I’m sure the ships are on decaying orbits that will cause them to crash into your sun in a few hours.”
Ioke said, “Ten hours, General. We’ll set them on course to head into your sun; after ten hours your shuttles won’t be able to reach them. It will be a one-way trip.”
Marcellus wiped his face with his hands. He looked weary. “Quinton, I’ll take leave of you. If I don’t act immediately, this will only get worse. I’ll borrow a company of your Emperor’s Own, if I may?”
“Go ahead. Start at the top. Use the warrant I signed yesterday.”
Emperor Quinton waited until the general closed the meeting room door. “There’s a worried man. He’s been trying to sanitize the mess that commenced two emperors ago. It took me five years to realize we had such severe problems in ImpSec. We’ve tried a steady-as-you-go approach, and it’s obviously not working. Steg—everyone—let’s get down to business. Ioke and Alke, you’re included. Alke, if Marcellus can’t get enough rescue shuttles running in time, can you delay that end point?”
“Yes, sir. As long as we know the general’s making progress.”
“Good. Steg, I’ve read your reports about the Xesset. Some of my admirals and generals dismissed them as fabrications. They claim actions they took a year ago have taught the aliens to leave us alone. I, with Marcellus and some of my more trusted people, consider your concerns to be credible. Can you offer more details?”
The discussions continued for two hours, with a short break while Quinton dealt with a pushback by a cadre of ImpSec officers, giving them direct commands and threatening a number with courts martial. At the conclusion of the meeting with Steg, the Emperor agreed to provide thirty-five destroyers and a hundred frigates for the joint task force, with as many supporting vessels as might be required. The warships would consist mainly of those removed from ImpSec control and were to be crewed by Imperial Navy personnel. Alke requested access to all personnel records, which the Emperor approved. Assessment of thousands of personnel was a task the AIs could accomplish quickly. Denke, authorized by General Boston and confirmed by Emperor Quinton, offered IIS and Special Forces personnel to help on board either Wanderer or flagships or wherever Steg required.
“Sir,” asked Steg, “will your officers agree to our command of the task force?”
Quinton brushed his hands through his long hair as he considered the question. “It’s your task force, and we’ll confirm our acceptance of your rank as fleet admiral. I suggest you have four, perhaps five, vice admirals, each of whom will command up to ten destroyers and twenty frigates. We’ll find good candidates from the Imperial Navy if you agree?”
Steg said, “Yes, sir. However, each vice admiral will have one of our destroyers as a flagship and these will each have their own managing AI. We’ll continue to maintain control of the key warships.” He didn’t add that it would also allow Alke to monitor the activities of the seconded officers, or that he might need more AI clones from Homeworld.
“Done. Tomorrow you can meet with my senior naval strategists—two of my advisors who consider your Xesset threat credible. They have command authority; anything you need, they’re authorized to provide. I will lend them to you if you want. You can assess them first. I believe they’d be excellent strategists for you.” He grinned, a touch of humor in his eyes. “This is going to have a significant impact on my Imperial Navy. My officers won’t know whether to volunteer or hide under their desks. It’ll be the best shakeout they’ve had in years.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Emperor Quinton concluded, “I believe we’ve done everything we can for today. I have a meeting with Marcellus’s assistants to find out where my general has gone and how much success he’s had. I’ve arranged accommodation in the palace for you for the next few days. Well, not Ioke and Alke, I suppose. A steward will join you here in ten or fifteen minutes and show you to your rooms. Unless you wish to rejoin Dreamer or even Wanderer?
“Thank you, sir. If we’re to have more meetings, we’ll accept your offer.”
“Good. I’ll meet with you later this evening to discuss your final questions.”
“Sir?”
“Why Alke thought my name was Ruis? And why she categorized me as alien?” He closed the door as he left the meeting room.
oOo
CHAPTER 13
THERE WAS something to be said for living i
n a palace, thought Steg. Admittedly, CastleHome was a palace by implication; however, his family had maintained a low-key approach with few servants and little in the way of luxuries. The servants were only to support ceremonial occasions, or simply because four branches of the family and their senior advisors resided in the castle. The Imperial Palace was something else, though. They had been allocated a large set of rooms. It was a suite of suites according to Finch.
Accommodation included a small room that Steg decided to use for a meeting with his team. While they had earlier managed to avoid a ceremonial affair, the dinner with the Emperor and a select few of his advisors had been unavoidable, and as a result, it was late, well past midnight local time. When they were settled around the table, Steg contacted Alke and arranged for Kirby and Sullivan to connect remotely from Dreamer.
“Alke, check for listening devices, video, anything else you suspect might allow someone to spy on us, please,” he instructed while they waited for the connection with Dreamer. “Arrange for Ioke, Adrias, and Zhu to connect, too.” Holograms formed for each AI; Ioke and Alke still wore the outfits they had adopted earlier.
After a short delay, Alke said, “Everyone’s connected, and I’ve subverted all the Imperial spy devices.”
“Good evening, everyone.” Without waiting for replies, Steg said, “I want to communicate some of the events of the day and inform you of the agreements we reached, so we’re all at the same place. The Emperor is seconding five senior Imperial Navy officers to join the task force. They will act as flag admirals and command our flag destroyers—we’ll use ships we’ve captured from ImpSec. The Imperial Navy will transport these flag admirals with their senior officers to Djii to take up their positions. Alke, I want you and Zhu to double check that no one is from ImpSec. While these officers are on board our starships, I want you to eavesdrop—spy as much as you want. All our AIs need to be involved. You may discover attitudes either for or against what we’re doing, and that will help our understanding of who we’re dealing with. The Navy is transporting crew members separately; we have copies of all their personnel files, and Alke, you and your team can check skills, experience, and recorded political and House alliances. I don’t want any ImpSec personnel at any level or anyone with ties to House of Aluta.”
“Yes, Steg, we can do that. We’ll also check that identities match the personnel.”
“Thank you. Thomas, Kirby, we met with a senior ImpSec officer, General Marcellus Mendoza, when we first arrived.”
Denke said, “He’s called Merciless Mendoza. He’s in good standing, as far as I’ve heard.”
Steg said, “I can understand people calling him Merciless. He was armed and ready to attack when he approached me. Jessie stopped him—she was about to amputate his arm. My escorts were excellent; their weapons came from nowhere. Alke will provide a tape of our first meeting, and you can watch it later. The Emperor and his general are trying to either reform or disband ImpSec. If I were unsure of Mendoza’s commitment, I’d want nothing to do with him, merciless or otherwise. Alke, what have you discovered about this officer?”
“His record is excellent. We’ve found and explored a large number of Imperial files, some of which are flagged top secret. We accessed those, too. He’s popular with his direct reports. He’s survived three assassination attempts, apparently instigated by rogue ImpSec elements. He’s worked with Emperor Quinton on different projects over the last ten years. I haven’t discovered anything negative.”
Zhu added, “The general’s record is too good. I plan to dig further. I’ve found some files in the Imperial Palace system—I think they’re the Emperor’s personal files, which I’m decrypting now.”
Denke pushed his electrochair back from the table. “I’m not sure I want to hear all of this.”
Steg held up his hand. “Stop. You’re in this party, whether you want or not. Consider it our price for your rescue. We need an inside source, someone who knows the culture, and most importantly, a person who we can trust. Agreed?”
Denke frowned, as though reconciling internal conflicts. “I understand. All right, I’m in. I’ll close my eyes and ears when you discuss illegalities.”
“Just remember if you hear anything we should know about, pass the details to Alke. Thomas, anything you want to add?”
“No, it’s peaceful here. Dreamer’s locked down. Kirby’s keeping me company, and it’s been a quiet day. There was some pandemonium earlier when an unidentified superdreadnought suddenly appeared near the way station. Apart from that, nothing.”
“Finch, Velez, Brent? Comments or insights?”
“Quinton is a nice man,” suggested Finch. “Although I realize he’s got life and death responsibilities over billions of people. I don’t envy him.”
“Anyone else?”
“There’s something,” murmured Jessie. “When he called you aside, did he answer those two questions?”
Kirby said, “What questions?”
“Alke first identified him as an alien with a different name,” Steg said. “He provided answers to me; however, I’m not at liberty to publish them.”
“You’re satisfied?” Jessie queried.
“Yes. No issues at all. Alke is aware and satisfied, as well.”
The AI nodded her head. “I confirm what Steg said. I overheard the conversation, and I agreed to remain silent, same as Steg.”
“I’d like to hear the answers, sometime,” Finch said.
“You will, I’m sure,” Steg replied. “When this is over. All right, I think that’s all. There are tapes of all the discussions if you want details. Alke and Zhu have tasks to carry out. We’re meeting again, mid-morning, with Mendoza and Emperor Quinton. I think that’s it. Don’t call me unless you have an emergency—a life-threatening one.”
If the alarm had been any louder, he would have damaged eardrums. Steg was out of his small bed and halfway to the door of the suite before he realized what was happening. Finch and Jessie, in the larger bed, both sat up, equally shocked. Alke’s hologram was standing in the center of the room, her eyes flashing red. She was the source of the sound.
“Alke, we’re awake and out of bed. What’s happening?”
The sound died away. “Sorry, I was checking—there’s a squad of ImpSec marines attempting to board Dreamer. Also, as far as I can tell, Mendoza is heading into an ambush. He had been meeting with some of his officers and is returning to the palace. You might be under threat as well.”
Steg checked the time. “A pre-dawn raid.” He yawned. “I think I’d only got to sleep. Have you woken Denke?”
“Yes, and Velez. They’re dressing.”
“We’ll meet in the common area. Move Wanderer to the way station. Bring in the two destroyers. If necessary, we’ll counter-attack. Get me a comlink to Kirby and Thomas.” Steg had dressed while he was giving directions.
“I have Dreamer linked in.”
“Kirby, what’s happening?” Steg indicated to Finch and Jessie to follow him when they were ready and headed out to the common area.
“A small military squad attempted to access our forward hatch. It was locked tight. They’ve threatened to use explosives if we don’t open up.”
“Any idea who they are?”
“There’s no doubt it’s ImpSec. They’re not hiding their uniforms.”
Denke and Velez had arrived. Steg said, “Hold on. Denke, can you contact either some of your Specials or the Emperor’s Own? We need assistance on the way station, and Alke is expecting an attack here. Mendoza is also under threat. Alke, is the Emperor safe?”
The AI’s hologram had followed Steg into the large common area that connected the suites. Alke said, “He occupies a well-fortified section of the palace, and his guards are solid—all loyal.”
“Get a message to him; give him an update.”
Denke was in contact with Colonel Gelling of the Specials on the way station, and Steg listened to their conversation. Apparently they were old acquaintances. Denke en
ded the call and said to Steg, “He has a platoon on the way station, and he’s ordering them to head to the Dreamer’s location. He said he will authorize the arrest of anyone attacking the starship. I’ll try to contact the Emperor’s Own. Alke, can you connect me to their commander? It should be General Brougham.”
Jessie said, “Alke, bring Ioke into the link.” A second later Ioke’s hologram appeared next to Jessie.
“Are we going to fight someone?” Ioke asked.
“Relay all images from the way station that show the attack on Dreamer. Also, if you have Mendoza’s location, link in any vidcams there. Display them on the main screen here. Divide it off to show views that might be of interest. Check our situation here and provide images and alerts.”
“Yes, Jessie. Implementing now.”
Jessie looked at Steg with an apologetic expression as the images began to display on a large screen. “I didn’t mean to take control.”
“Jessie, you and Ioke can take whatever actions you think reasonable for our safety. Remember to let me know before you invade anyone.”
Denke ended his call. “The Emperor’s Own were alerted, and they’ve sent a squad to guard us. Quinton is safe. They’re worried about Mendoza.”
“Damn.” Steg watched the images Jessie had requested. “The only weapons we have won’t help us if it gets rough in here. Remind me to always have weapons available in future.”
Ioke said, “Admiral, I forgot to tell you. I arranged delivery of a small crate yesterday. It’s in the other suite, the one Sergeant Velez should be using.”
Velez’s face colored. She looked at Denke and said, “We’ve far too many prying eyes around here. I’ll go check.”
She was back in seconds. “There’s a large crate, too heavy for me to lift. Anyone have tools to open it?”
oOo
CHAPTER 14
JESSIE BRIEFED the AIs and provided a series of actions for them to follow. Alke thought Jessie’s tactics would generate enough confusion and chaos to help rescue Dreamer and her crew. For the moment, the AI was leaving her admiral on his own, although she silently promised untrammeled retribution if Steg and his companions came to harm. She moved Wanderer, still shielded, closer to the way station. During the short transit, she checked the computers located on the defensive moon bases. Ioke had earlier deleted their operating systems and estimated it would take two days for the technicians to reinstall their software and another seven days for testing. She ignored the Imperial destroyers and frigates, circling like vultures, silent and sharp-eyed. Ioke and Zhu had devoted substantial efforts during the prior ten hours to take control of those starships’ navigation, weapons, and engineering systems; they now were able to prevent any attack their officers might attempt.
Diamond Cut: Book Three in The Glass Complex Trilogy Page 8
