The Terra Gambit (Empire of Bones Saga Book 8)

by Terry Mixon

  Kelsey ignored her and walked over to Sean. For him, she had a smile. “This is a well-deserved promotion, Commodore. It’s good to see you again, Sean. Even if you aren’t precisely the same man I know.”

  If her reaction shocked him, he hid it well. “It’s good to see you, too, Highness.”

  She shook her head. “We’re long past that, my friend. It’s been Kelsey for years now. In my universe, we’re the very closest of allies. I certainly hope that’s true here, too.”

  “It is,” he said with a smile. “I’m just trying to make sure I don’t make a mistake because of what I know about you here.”

  “For you, I’ll forgive any lapse,” Kelsey said, momentarily taking his hands into hers in an obviously intimate gesture.

  One that made Olivia narrow her eyes, but Kelsey was turned so she couldn’t see it. The expression had vanished by the time the princess turned to face her.

  “Coordinator West. I’m sorry to say that I don’t know you. Is that a title in the empire here?”

  “In a manner of speaking,” Olivia said evenly. “I rule Harrison’s World as part of the New Terran Empire.”

  Kelsey opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself. When she finally spoke, it was with great sadness. “I see now why I don’t know you. In my universe, the AIs sterilized your world. By the time my people and I arrived, there was no one left to meet. I’m very sorry to have to tell you that.”

  Olivia visibly wilted. “I see. I wonder if we managed to ambush the AI there and that caused it to go even farther than in this universe.”

  “We couldn’t tell,” Kelsey said with a shrug. “If it’s any consolation, we destroyed it along with the old Fleet station it was using as a base.”

  Princess Kelsey sighed and turned to the table, sitting at its head. “So many things didn’t work out as we’d hoped.”

  Jared considered sitting at the other end of the table, but suspected that would cause more instinctive hostility from his sister. Instead, he chose to sit in the middle of the table.

  “You came to visit us for a reason, Highness. What can we do for you?”

  She pinned him with a cold stare. “You can help me save the empire. I realize that might not be your first instinct, but I urge you to try it as a change of pace.”

  This had gone on about far enough. If he didn’t draw a line in the sand, she’d walk all over him.

  “First, with all due respect, you don’t know me. The Jared Mertz in your universe is not who I am. If he’s anything like me, he loves the empire and would give his life for it. You demand respect from me, so remember that it is you who are the guest here, not me.”

  How he managed to say that without an edge to his tone, he had no idea.

  It still didn’t stop her from sneering. “Please. You’re still the same toad here, I’ll wager. A man that wants to steal the empire from the rightful emperor. The man you tried to kill. Did you succeed here? I can’t imagine how else you’d style yourself an admiral.”

  Rather than react with the anger he felt, he simply shook his head. “I can’t speak for your universe, but I never tried to kill anyone here. I simply protected myself when your brother tried to have me murdered. I serve the emperor with all my loyalty.”

  Kelsey laughed. “How can you say something so absurd? In my universe, you’re a damned regicide and traitor.”

  “You’re no longer in your universe, Highness. As hard as it is to believe, we’re close friends and allies here.”

  She leaned forward with a palpable rage. “Never. How could that be when you killed my…her father?”

  Sean cleared his throat. “That’s probably easier here since your father is still alive and on the throne.”

  Kelsey’s head whipped around as she stared at him. “What did you say?”

  “Your father still rules here,” Sean said in an even tone. “What Admiral Mertz says is true. In our universe, you and he are close friends and family. Together you fight against the AIs.”

  “Is that true, Elise?” Kelsey asked slowly.

  “Very true. Are we friends in your universe?”

  Kelsey nodded. “Friends and allies, yes.” Her expression darkened. “I only hope you’re still okay there.”

  “Then listen closely when I tell you that Jared Mertz is not your enemy here.”

  “How could you know? He made a career of fooling everyone around him before he betrayed everything he supposedly held dear.”

  Elise smiled. “I know him better than anyone. He’s my husband.”

  The silence was profound.

  “I’ve obviously fallen through the looking glass,” Kelsey said. “The world is turned upside down.”

  “I’m sorry that our history in your universe is so bad, Highness,” Jared said slowly. “But we’re the people you have to work with. Why did you come?”

  Kelsey jutted her chin out defiantly. “As much as it galls me, I need your help to save the empire. I have to go to Terra and you have to help me get there.”

  5

  Elise’s eyes were on Jared as Kelsey asked for their help. This had to be surreal for him. This was his sister that hated him.

  She longed to intervene, to tell Kelsey that all the things she’d said about him were wrong, but this was not the time or place.

  Hell, she might even be wrong. The Jared in Kelsey’s universe might be the bad apple she said. Or this Kelsey could be as paranoid as her brother had been here.

  If her father was dead there, that probably meant Ethan Bandar ruled the New Terran Empire. She certainly hoped he wasn’t the same kind of man he’d been here. That would’ve been an unmitigated disaster.

  Which, on reflection, certainly sounded like Kelsey’s situation based on the few hints she’d picked up. Really, they needed to get to know one another before these preconceptions ruined any chance they had of working together.

  Elise cleared her throat. “We really should get to know one another better before we continue. Everyone seems to think they know everyone else, but it’s obvious that nothing is what it seems.

  “Before we make any errors that cannot be easily forgotten or forgiven, I think we should take a step back and give Kelsey time to accept this is not her universe.”

  Kelsey opened her mouth to argue—Elise could see it in her eyes—but looked at her more closely before she spoke. “Perhaps that would be for the best. I wish I could speak to the emperor, but that would take far too long.”

  There was a longing in her eyes. The man was dead in her universe. How could she not want to see him again?

  “Would you like to speak with him?” Elise asked. “We can make that happen in a few hours.”

  The comment left Kelsey thunderstruck. “What?”

  “We have our ways,” Jared said, rising to his feet. “I think it best we do exactly that. If you’d care to speak with my wife, I’ll make arrangements to get you face to face with your father on Avalon.”

  Elise stood. “Jared, make that happen. Kelsey and I will talk. Everyone else, out.”

  Everyone other than Kelsey filed out of the room. While they did so, Elise gave orders to Commander Parker over her implants to coordinate their travel with Jared. The flip point to Avalon was right there, so it was only a few hours away.

  That might be enough time to figure out the strange woman that looked so much like her friend. Or maybe not.

  Once the hatch closed, Kelsey leaned forward and focused her attention on Elise. “Is it true? You married the Bastard?”

  Elise have her a stern look as she resumed her seat. “It’s true and I would take it as a great personal favor if you stopped calling him that.”

  The other woman’s expression was a wild mixture of disbelief, revulsion, and anger. “They can’t be that different. That just isn’t possible.”

  “You told us who Jared Mertz is in your universe. Or at least who you think he is. Let me tell you who he is here. He’s the man who saved Pentagar. You did, too, but that�
��s beside the point.

  “He also performed miracles in keeping the New Terran Empire safe and whole. He’s not a traitor here. Exactly the opposite. He’s a national hero. Did you see the Imperial Guards? Why do you think they were here?”

  The woman’s good eye narrowed. “I’d assumed they were here because the…Admiral Mertz assumed some kind of Imperial power.”

  Elise shook her head. “Assumed, no. Was granted, yes. By your father. And before you say it, he wasn’t under any compulsion. Your father pushed these awards on my husband over his strong resistance.”

  “I can’t believe that,” Kelsey said slowly. “The man is as power hungry as they get. What precisely did my father supposedly push on him?”

  After a long, steady stare, Elise spoke. “A number of things. A knighthood, a duchy, and he inducted him into the Imperial Family as a prince of the blood. The guards are his by right. I should make him take some of mine, honestly. He’s the Prince Consort of Pentagar, too.”

  Kelsey rubbed her face. “This can’t be real. My scientists told me that Omega could bring me to a universe not so different than my own, but that was obviously a mistake. This is a land where everything is backward.

  “How could I be friendly with the likes of him? He murdered my father and tried to kill my brother. He abandoned the New Terran Empire in its moment of need. Abandoned. Hell, he stuck a knife in its back.”

  “I can prove how close you are here with one video,” Elise said quietly. “Would you like to see my wedding. Yours, too. We had a double wedding just a few weeks ago.”

  The news seemed to stun the other woman. “Married? Who would I marry?”

  “Talbot.”

  Kelsey blinked and frowned. “I don’t even know anyone by that name. How could I marry someone I don’t know?”

  “Of course you know him. He was your strong right hand when you were learning to deal with the implants the Pale Ones forced on you. He was a senior sergeant on Athena back then.”

  The other woman shook her head almost violently. “No. That was Lieutenant Angela Ellis on Ginnie Dare. She’s my rock.”

  “She still is, even here,” Elise said with a nod. “In our universe, you’re away on an important mission together. She’s your executive officer on Persephone.”

  “Persephone?”

  “The Marine Raider strike ship we recovered.”

  Kelsey sat bolt upright, her eye wide. “You found a Marine Raider ship? Was the computer intact?”

  “It is,” Elise said with a wry smile. “It makes you crazy since it won’t accept anyone other than you as its captain. And, since you haven’t found it in your universe, it did have complete specifications of your implants in its memory.”

  She considered mentioning the other memories waiting inside Ned Quincy’s implants, but rejected the thought. This wasn’t the time to explain that taking in a dead man’s memories would create a sentient AI in her friend’s head.

  “Things are different here,” Kelsey said slowly. “I think I’d best see this wedding.”

  Elise had the official video in her personal implant storage, as well as her personal recordings. She sent them all to Kelsey.

  The other woman sat back and turned her focus inward. The look of incredulity that spread across her features would’ve been comical under other circumstances.

  A minute later, Kelsey came out from under the spell and stared at Elise with a truly horrified expression. “I honestly don’t know what to say right now.”

  “Perhaps its best if you say nothing,” Elise said. “Instead, let me tell you what’s happened here without asking questions or telling me how I can’t be right. That can come later. For now, you need to hear it all.”

  “I suppose I have to,” Kelsey said as she leaned back in her seat. “White is black and right is wrong. This is bizarro world.”

  Sean escorted Admiral Mertz over to Athena. It would return to Avalon with the fast courier the admiral had come on, the Pentagaran fast courier Lance, and the light cruiser Brazil. He had no doubt everyone wanted to see how this played out.

  Once they were safely aboard, Olivia took charge. “To the captain’s office. I think we need to talk this over while we have a stiff drink. Perhaps a very stiff drink.”

  Mertz snorted a little. “There isn’t enough alcohol in the universe—any of them—to make this less crazy.”

  “You’re telling me?” Olivia asked with a shake of the head. “She just told me that the plan I put so many years into working on Invincible got everyone on my world murdered. My view of the universe is a little shaky right now, too.”

  “I’d imagine,” Mertz said as he headed for the bridge. “Who is in command, Sean?”

  “Me, until you assume command. I’m hoping to wrangle the executive officer’s slot before I’m done, though, so alcohol is to my advantage.”

  Mertz laughed softly. “I’ve always had a completely different idea of how being plied with drink worked. And you don’t need to convince me. I suspect our mission might expand before this is all over. With your seemingly excellent relationship with…ah, the other Kelsey, you’d be an invaluable asset to have in my back pocket.”

  “Admit it,” Sean encouraged. “You almost said ‘Evil Kelsey,’ didn’t you?”

  “I did,” Mertz admitted with a shake of his head. “I can’t ever do that. It’s not accurate, no matter what all the movies of things like this portray. Worse, it makes it far too easy to make a serious mistake in judging her.”

  The lift they’d climbed into deposited them outside the bridge. Admiral Mertz was about to pass through it toward the office, but Sean stopped him and gestured at the plaque beside the hatch.

  Mertz looked at it and did a double take. Then he smiled.

  “You’re a sneaky man,” the admiral said. “You got Fleet Command to rename her Athena. I appreciate both the sentiment and the fact that you recovered the original plaque. I’d know it anywhere.”

  “It seemed appropriate. I suspect there will always be a ship of this name on active duty and that it will be a plum posting. The people following in your footsteps will have a lot to live up to.”

  Sean gave the bridge crew a high sign and led Admiral Mertz into the office and closed the hatch behind them. Once they were alone, he opened the small bar.

  “If you’re like me, I suspect Kelsey’s taste—our Kelsey, that is—in entertainment is coloring your perceptions. This isn’t the Mirror Mirror universe. At least I hope not.”

  “What happened to her face?” Olivia asked. “Why didn’t she get her eye regenerated?”

  “Maybe she couldn’t,” Mertz said as he accepted the drink Sean offered him. “We really don’t know the first thing about her universe. Perhaps they didn’t get access to all the Old Empire technology. Or something went wrong.

  “Of more concern to me is what she wants us to do. There’s only one reason to go to Terra. She knows about the key and the override.”

  Sean frowned. “What key and override?”

  Admiral Mertz smiled. “It’s a secret that I could get into a lot of trouble for revealing, but you both need to understand the importance of what we’re talking about. Emperor Marcus sent the Imperial Scepter to Avalon with Lucien.

  “It’s not just a symbol of the emperor’s power. It’s an actual key to the Imperial Vaults under the original Imperial Palace on Terra. Inside that, there exists a physical override that can force the primary AI at Twilight River to submit to our commands.”

  Sean considered that as he sipped his whisky. “That’s incredible. If we get our hands on that, we could end this war once and for all.”

  “That’s a big ‘if,’” Olivia said, crossing her ankles as she leaned back. “Terra is a long way from Harrison’s World and Twilight River is almost on the other side of the Old Terran Empire. The current occupants might be loath to allow us free transit.

  “Plus, Terra is locked down much more thoroughly than Harrison’s World was. The AIs don’
t even allow humans into the system. Even supposing we found a way in, we’d still have to sneak onto the planet past numerous computer-controlled stations and into the ruined palace. What if they flooded the planet with something like the war machines?”

  “We can’t live our lives as if everything is impossible,” Mertz said. “If we give up before we start, we’ll all die for sure. Frankly, everything we’ve managed to accomplish so far was impossible when we started. Yet, here we are.”

  Sean had been considering the new situation while they spoke and turned the conversation back to Olivia. “How will this help the new Kelsey? Even if we get the override, what’s to say it will work in her universe? If the device is even slightly different, it probably won’t function the way she hopes.”

  Admiral Mertz shrugged. “I have no idea. If I know my father as well as I think I do, he’ll order us to help her, if it doesn’t put us in a bad place. Obviously, our universe has to come first. We can’t let her take the key until we use it ourselves.

  “That presents a whole new level of challenge. She’s a Marine Raider. If she resorts to force, we’re not going to be in any position to stop her without killing her.”

  “Her and a lot of other people,” Olivia muttered. “This is a mess. Are you sure the emperor will side with her on this?”

  “Pretty sure,” Mertz said with a nod. “Come to it, I support her, too. Those are our people and she’s my sister. Even if she hates me. Even if I’m a cad or worse in her universe.”

  “Do you think the two of you can work together?” Sean asked delicately. “She really hates you. I’m talking Crown Prince Ethan levels of animosity.”

  “Somewhere under there is my sister,” Mertz said with a shrug. “I have to believe that I can eventually convince her I’m not the man she thinks I am. That isn’t to say that’ll be easy.

  “No, it’ll be just as hard as convincing Ethan I had no designs on his throne. And we all know how well that worked out.”