He said, “Steg and Fain companions, please come with me to first vehicle. Other friends, four to a vehicle, please.”
General Theas joined Tziksis in the front seat of the first vehicle, and Steg with three Fain sat in the second row of seats. Heavily armored soldiers climbed into the next two rows. Others clung to the side of the vehicle.
Tziksis explained, looking back at Steg. “Darga ride with you. Also, driver is Darga. Theas, too. Every vehicle has Darga. Also some Darga ride electrobikes, alongside. Big procession.” He turned to his driver and said, “Come, we need to drive fast.”
Steg looked ahead. The roadway was crowded with Djiis, and if their driver tried to follow Tziksis’ instruction, there’d be bodies everywhere. The convoy moved off to the wail of sirens. The cheers from the crowd were louder. The speed of their vehicle was, Steg estimated, no more than five klicks an hour. Fast, it seemed, was relative.
Finch attempted to speak over the noise. “Why the hero’s welcome, boss? What haven’t you told us?”
Steg shrugged, “I didn’t expect this, at all. Tziksis is a friend. I helped both him and General Theas to eliminate a Xesset force. Simple.”
“We’ll want the full details when we return to Wanderer. Smile and wave.”
Steg did not reply. He was entranced at the ability of the crowd to avoid the vehicles that now had accelerated to about fifteen klicks per hour. Occasionally he waved, as did the Fain, and their gestures were met with roars of approval from the onlookers.
It took an hour to reach the palace, and the density of the crowd increased as they moved along the streets. They passed through residential and commercial areas; however, there was no sign of manufacturing or industrial activities. Streets were clean and tidy, buildings were well maintained, and the citizens appeared to have recovered from the cruel excesses of the Xesset occupation. Tziksis, a year before, had told him of the many deaths of civilians, their enslaved status, and their starvation at the hands of the invaders.
The palace was an impressive building, built from pure white stone, with spires reaching up hundreds of meters. It was fronted by extensive grounds with a view from the road through to the raised dais near the entrance. Thousands of Djiis already occupied the roads and streets surrounding the palace and the grounds. There was a clear pathway to the dais at the front of the palace.
“Come, Steg,” directed Tziksis. “Now we have arrived here, our king will make his way to the dais where he will meet you. He proclaimed very important day for our people.”
The vehicle had stopped at the edge of the driveway about two hundred meters from the palace entrance. Steg followed Finch and climbed the short series of stairs to the path they were to take. Steg felt as though millions of eyes were watching his progress.
Finch said, “Look at the cameras. They must be broadcasting your face across the entire planet. No, don’t frown. Keep smiling—you’re their hero.”
She tugged his arm, and Stacia tugged his other arm, and they guided the stunned Steg along the pathway. Steg could see a small party making its way from the palace to the same destination. Darga, resplendent in polished armor, had taken up positions and were providing a guard of honor, saluting as Steg passed. The roar of the crowd increased.
Finch guided Steg to the stairs leading onto the dais and said, “You’re on your own from here. We’ll wait for you. It’s your day, go on, enjoy it.”
Tziksis watched, and when the two Fain released Steg’s arms, he motioned. “Come with me and General Theas. You must lead. Our king is ready to meet you in the center.”
Bemused, Steg climbed the stairs, and as he reached the top of the platform, a small group of elaborately dressed Djiis had also reached the same level, on the other side. One, taller than most of the Djiis Steg had seen, was in the lead. He wore a colorful uniform with a cloak thrown over one shoulder. His eyestalks bobbed. He held out his hand towards Steg as he walked towards the center.
“Step forward, Steg. Meet his highness,” urged Tziksis.
Steg moved forward as instructed by his friend and reached his hand out to the king. As their hands touched, Alke broadcast a short message through Steg’s earpiece.
“There’s a sniper drone four hundred meters away. I’m trying to disarm—not sure if—”
Steg pushed the king down and dropped to the floor of the dais; he swept Tziksis and Theas down at the same time. The crowd, stunned, fell silent.
“What—” began Tziksis
“Sniper. Stay down, all of you.”
Other members of the king’s entourage dropped to the floor of the dais.
Five shots echoed across the silent crowd. A row of bullet pockmarks threaded their rapid transit across the front wall of the palace.
“Stay down,” urged Steg.
A loud explosion rattled windows. A second explosion, further away, added its echo. Alke said, “Got it, Admiral. It’s either Xesset or ImpSec—I think ImpSec. The control station was located in a small building half a klick away. I used one of our smaller shells. There were no casualties other than whoever was inside. There’s not much left of the building, however.”
“Thank you,” Steg sub-vocalized.
He stood and offered his assistance. “Your Highness,” he said, “my guards warned me of a sniper drone. It’s been dealt with. Theas, your Darga might investigate the building”—he pointed—“about half a klick in that direction. The one that collapsed a few seconds ago.”
The general issued orders in rapid fire, and twenty Darga raced off in the direction Steg had indicated. The king stood and dusted his clothes.
He said, “That—that was an interesting introduction. You are living up to your reputation. Stand here with me. Tziksis, stand there, next to our guest. You too, Theas.” He turned to the other members of his entourage. “Stand.” He turned to the crowd and waved. The uproar threatened to shatter all the windows of the palace. Mobile video drones moved in closer, capturing the scene.
“Steg. Our introduction was to be far more formal. Call me Frjeric, when we are meeting in private. Now I had something to give—” He signaled to one of his entourage who handed him a long thin box. He opened it and checked the contents. “Good. Steg de Coeur.” His voice now was picked up by microphones and echoed across the assembly of Djiis citizens. “By the authority of the Senior Families, I am instructed thus. For your befriending our ambassador when he was unable to gain a hearing with the Empire, for your assistance in our defeat of the Xesset here on Djii, and in acknowledgment that without your assistance, my people would now not exist, I present you with the highest award possible. Lean down; you’re far too tall.” Frjeric removed a medal and ribbon from its case and handed the case back to his entourage. He draped the ribbon, with a jeweled medal sparkling in the sunshine, over Steg’s head. “Steg de Coeur. Admiral and Earl. You are now a member of the Senior Families of Djiis, with all the rights and responsibilities that status entails.” He reverted to his own language and spoke at length. When he finished he spoke to Steg in English, and thunderous roars of applause broke out. “There. You have responsibilities here, now, in addition to those on your home planet. Welcome to the Families.”
oOo
CHAPTER 21
STEG LOOKED out across the conference room, wondering what he was doing here, in front of close to five hundred Imperial Navy officers. They all had arrived a day earlier than initially promised by Emperor Quinton, and today was the first of a series of scheduled briefings. Four holograms stood towards the front of the stage. Zhu was now a standing member of the core AI team, and he accompanied Alke, Ioke and Adrias. Each wore an adaptation of the Ebony Company uniform; everything was black. The holograms were life-size, and the image quality was excellent. It would be difficult for an observer to recognize them as merely graphics created by software. Denke, Kirby, Sullivan, and Jessie stood further back; they would be introduced as members of Steg’s core team. At some stage over the next four or five days, Denke, supported by Z
hu, was scheduled to present details on Xesset culture. The Fain and Dr. Yi stood as far behind the group as possible, unsure their presence was necessary. Tziksis and General Theas were to one side. Steg intended to introduce the Djiis early in his presentation.
He signaled Adrias. A trumpet rang out. The lighting level reduced across the rows of seated officers and increased on the stage.
Alke, her voice enhanced, said, “Officers of the Imperial Navy, I’d like to introduce Admiral Steg de Coeur. Admiral, the floor is yours.”
The conversations around the auditorium ceased. Steg stepped forward. “Welcome, all of you, to Wanderer,” He said. “You are—or should be—aware that Homeworld and Djii have established a joint task force and your Emperor has agreed to support our objective of protecting the Empire, the Alliance, and free or independent systems from pending attacks by the Xesset. We are going to explore, over the next few days, what this entails. We’ve transmitted details of the working sessions to your comlinks. The data includes meeting rooms, topics, and attendees. We expect everyone—I emphasize, everyone—to adhere to the schedule because we have a lot of material to cover. Now, some quick introductions. Admiral Tziksis will command the Djiis contingent, assisted by General Theas.” When Steg mentioned each name, the person was spotlighted, and their image was displayed on a series of screens. Tziksis saluted, as did General Theas when his name was mentioned.
Steg continued, “Colonel Denke, Imperial Special Forces. Major Kirby, Ebony Company. Jessie Brent, our Tac Commander. Captain Thomas Sullivan, captain of Wanderer. Finally, Ioke, Adrias, Alke, who are responsible for this starship and Zhu, who is in control of the Xesset dreadnought. Denke, Zhu, and I are Xesset linguists. We require some of you to become our equals with the Xesset language as quickly as possible.”
Somewhere in the middle of the auditorium, a young Imperial Navy officer began to state to his nearby companions his disdain for the task force and the people on the stage. Adrias detected his utterances and the apparent negative attitude of the young officer. She immediately fed his comments to the audience as a whole, gradually increasing the volume across the room. Eventually, the young man realized his voice and comments were being broadcast, and he stopped talking.
Steg said, “Lieutenant Cutworth.” Alke had relayed the officer’s name and personal details. “I understand you don’t like your posting and do not care for—what was it?—reporting to a jumped-up free world barbarian. I, in turn, do not like disrespectful, arrogant Imperial officers who have not yet learned when they should keep their mouths firmly shut. You, sir, are excused any further involvement and may leave this presentation. Sergeant Velez, please escort the lieutenant from the auditorium. Oh, and Lieutenant Drie and Commander Kablay—given your hearty endorsement of Cutworth’s opinion, please accompany my sergeant. I can replay your comments if you feel I’ve misheard, and your senior officers can make their judgment. No? We’ll wait a moment while you exit. In the meantime, if there is anyone else who shares the lieutenant’s opinion, your voluntary exit will be welcome.”
Steg waited patiently and quietly for a minute, ignoring the rush of conversations amongst the assembled officers. He spoke again as the doors closed behind the Imperial officers and their marine escort. “Let me be clear. I don’t mind informed debate. However, I will not brook dissension of any kind while we’re on what amounts to a war footing. You are here, under my command, at your Emperor’s order. Let me continue.”
He looked up as an Imperial officer indicated he would like to say something. “Yes, Admiral—Breval, I believe?”
The officer stood and Adrias focused a directional microphone on him. He said, “Yes, Admiral de Coeur. As the senior Imperial Navy officer here, I want to state for all my officers to hear and understand that I agree wholeheartedly with your philosophy and actions. We are here to support your task force. Both to support and join it. Thank you.” The officer sat back down.
Steg said, “Thank you, Admiral.” He looked around the auditorium. “Please realize that our objectives are important and critical for the survival of our civilization. The consequence is that we will not tolerate any behavior that runs counter to these objectives. Now, I’ll continue. In the last few days, we’ve defeated ten Xesset destroyers and captured one of their dreadnoughts. We’ve gathered a large amount of intelligence as a result, which we’ll make available to your senior officers and Tac commanders. Now I’ll open up to questions from the floor. Stand to indicate you have a question and when you are spotlit, speak. As we’ve demonstrated, we’ll broadcast your question to the auditorium.” There was an embarrassed laughter at Steg’s comment.
A young officer stood, and Adrias increased the light in his vicinity. Steg thought the man, based on his build, was a heavyworlder. The officer said, “Sir, I’m Senior Lieutenant Joseph Ursini. We were advised over a year ago that the Xesset had been beaten as a result of action taken by—by ImpSec. My question is why are we now building this force?”
Denke said, “Senior Lieutenant. If only the rumors of a year ago were accurate. We captured a Xesset starship with Admiral de Coeur’s assistance. Djiis defeated a force based here, on their planet, also with the assistance of the admiral. He has been responsible for the destruction of at least another two Xesset starships and one of their dreadnoughts. As mentioned earlier, we’ve destroyed a further ten Xesset destroyers in the last tenday. ImpSec was not involved in any of these actions.”
Another two officers stood. Adrias spotlit the first one. “Sir, I am Tac Commander Terrence Tsu. My question is: if Admiral de Coeur is successfully destroying Xesset warships, why are we involved?”
Steg though the officer was close to breaching his dissent rule, but he decided to answer. He said, “Commander, we can overwhelm individual or small groups of Xesset starships and have done so successfully. However, we’ve gathered intelligence that indicates the Xesset fleet consists of somewhere between eight hundred and a thousand destroyers, at least a thousand frigates and thousands of fighters. We need a larger force.”
His reply was met with gasps of surprise across the auditorium. Before Adrias could light up the other questioner, Admiral Breval stood.
Steg said to the younger officer, “We’ll come back to you. Rank does have privileges, you understand?” The younger officer nodded his head and sat down. Steg said, “Admiral?”
“I take it this is recent intelligence?”
“We discovered a lot of data in the captured dreadnought.”
“It’s reliable?”
“As far as we can determine. Three of us—Zhu, Denke, and myself—agree on the translations. You, your fellow admirals, senior officers, and Tacs are welcome to examine the source material and our assessments. If you have any Xesset linguists, please include them in your assessment team. We will provide all of the material we discovered, not only the details of the Xesset force.”
“Thank you.”
Steg said, “Now, we had another question?”
The young officer stood. “Sir, I’m Lieutenant Hans Gutierre. My question, sir, is what technique are you using to defeat the Xesset? It seems effective. Will you share that with us?”
“Certainly. Admiral Tziksis and I will meet with your admirals this afternoon. We will review what we’ve achieved and how.” He smiled, recalling the rail gun he’d fired at a Xesset warship from the freighter Djamu and the risk he’d taken that the starship would not break apart. “Some we may not be able to replicate. We will focus on those we can.”
The questions continued for another hour and eventually began to repeat, so Steg decided it was time for refreshments. He said, “I think we can break for lunch. There’s a large reception area across from this auditorium, and I understand our chefs have laid out a substantial meal. Everyone, please go there and enjoy. Admirals Breval, Galaway, Dai, Coup, and Lae—if you would join me, please?”
He wanted an opportunity to meet the senior Imperial officers to assess their attitudes before they commenced th
e more serious business they needed to cover over the next two days. Jessie, Tziksis, and Theas would join him, while Denke and Kirby, he knew, planned to mingle with the officers in the large reception area, and Sullivan planned to meet up with the flag captains. Ebony Company would be everywhere, and, he hoped, invisible, helping the AIs to assess the officers sent by the Emperor.
oOo
CHAPTER 22
STEG LED the way to the smaller conference room where he could brief the Imperial Navy admirals in more detail. Once everyone was seated, pleasantries concluded, and food was served, he contacted Aoke and quietly requested activation of several large viewscreens.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Steg said, indicating the wall displays. “The screens will show some high-level details for discussion now and to help you guide your Tac teams in future briefings. We’ll transfer a data pack of all the details we’ve gathered on the aliens to your comunits. I want to display our timeline first. I suggest you remain on board Wanderer for the next five days so that you can have detailed meetings with all your flag crews. Then, please board your flag destroyers. They may need further preparation, and I’ve allowed another five days for that task. The destroyers have repair bots for minor work and Djiis have shipyard resources if major repair items are discovered once you’re on board. We’re waiting on the delivery of Imperial starships and crews as promised by Emperor Quinton. I expect they’ll arrive within a tenday.”
“You are moving quickly,” said Admiral Breval.
“Admiral—”
“Richard, please.”
“Richard, we don’t have much time.”
“When do you think these aliens will attack?” The questioner was Admiral Dai, the junior of the five flag admirals.
Diamond Cut: Book Three in The Glass Complex Trilogy Page 13
