Adric looked around while Tavrolan was speaking. The others seemed to be paying attention, with very little discussion. Either they had been expecting it, or whatever Tavrolan had said before he arrived had been convincing. It wasn't looking good, and the heavy weight of hands on his shoulders was not a comforting sign. He sighed, and returned his attention to the speaker.
"No sooner had this officer met with Admiral Calthran, than he was seen here, at one of our most expensive resorts." The picture changed to show Commander Holron getting out of a 'cab. "No sooner had he arrived, than he went on a hike where he ended up meeting with a Tarith." This image was somewhat indistinct, but Adric was sure no one could miss the unmistakable silhouette of a Tarith hidden by a waterfall.
"The question we have to ask is why would an Imperial officer immediately move from a meeting with the head of the Imperial Guard to one with the Tarith?" Tavrolan lowered his eyes and looked around the room. "It was about this time that Admiral Calthran approached me, as well."
He paused and took a drink of water. "The Admiral came to me with some story about the Enemy having returned." He paused. "He espoused concern for the Imperium, but it was obvious that what he was really concerned about was the Imperial System, and his own position within it
"What I find particularly interesting, is that he apparently received this information from the same officer who was seen in contact with the Tarith." Tavrolan narrowed his eyes. "I did not get where I am today by believing in accidents and coincidences." Adric watched as he turned and looked each of the others in the eye.
Tavrolan touched a control, and the image changed again, this time showing Tam Holron and Jayne sitting in the suite where Adric had found them. "Now let me introduce another player." The image focused on Jayne. "There is no record of this woman in any of our data banks; she quite literally does not exist. We have no record of her in any Imperial database at any time before she arrived here at Altiar."
Jayne's image rotated above the table, and this time it was joined by Tam Holron's and that of a Tarith. "Here are some more coincidences. This unknown woman first appeared in the company of that same officer who had earlier met with the Tarith. He brought her here in an Interdiction Force battle-cruiser which he had somehow acquired. It should be of no surprise to anyone that all attempts to contact the Interdiction Force have failed."
Tavrolan brought up an image of the battle-cruiser. "It is also interesting to note that the ship he brought her back on, which has now been impounded, provided clear records of having fired on its own flagship." He took another drink, letting combat imagery play above the table. The image looped, showing the battle-cruiser firing again and again against a ship that wasn't firing back.
Good thing it wasn't, Adric thought. I'm surprised they survived.
"What can I say?" He spread his arms wide. "We have one officer who is known to have had contact with the Tarith; one person in Fleet uniform with no records whatsoever; and a battle-cruiser that the record shows was used to attack its own flagship. Any of these three would be cause for suspicion, but when we put them together, the only possibility is conspiracy."
The feeling of pressure against the back of his neck made Adric sure that this was not a good time to protest.
Tavrolan was still going on, playing to the crowd like a dramatist. "Now we have the officer in custody, the ship is impounded, but where is the woman?" The politician looked around the chamber. "Why she's inside the Star Tower, on her way to the Confirmation Room?
"The obvious next question is how did she get here? Well the answer is that Admiral Calthran brought her." Tavrolan turned and began to pace a little. "Now why do you suppose he did that?"
Terenc Hewl pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the table. "I don't know." He turned his head towards Adric, "but he's right here so why don't we ask him?"
Tavrolan whirled to face Hewl, glaring towards the heavy-set older man. "Because he's obviously a traitor and anything he says is suspect!" He gestured towards the troops in the room. "For all we know he was planning a coup, which is why I have taken steps to prevent one."
More like steps to preempt one, Adric thought.
"Loyal troops of the Tavrolan Sector Guard have already moved to take defensive positions in and around the Star Tower." Tavrolan sat back down. "The woman will be in custody very soon." He tapped a 'pad before him and the images vanished from above the table.
"As it appears there will not be anyone coming to regain the throne, we have a new constitution to discuss."
*
Jayne took a deep breath, then walked to the doorway, laying her right hand in the depression. It moved beneath her hand, settling to a shape that exactly matched her palm. She started to feel almost a tickling inside her head, inside her brain, and her implant started feeding her a stream of images. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get control, but they kept coming, fed directly into her brain. Groaning a little, she forced herself erect.
The images weren't stopping, she saw children, adults, animals, vehicles, stars, things she couldn't name if she tried. One image would be a lake in the mountains, the next a battlefield. Beauty mixed with horror, leavened with the alien, all coming faster than she could process.
ACCESS ENABLED a voice like her implant's, but much bigger echoed in her head. Jayne almost staggered as the images stopped, but caught herself with a deep breath.
The door in front of her started to open. "Stop," someone behind her yelled, "Tavrolan Guard, you're under arrest."
Jayne twisted and slipped through the doorway. It was tight but she made it through, then turned and looked for a switch, or panel or something to close it. I wish this thing had handles, something I could slam it shut and hold it with. Nothing came obviously to hand, and she pushed her palms against the sliding door, leaning against it with all her weight as she tried to push it back. The door kept sliding at exactly the same speed, and Jayne felt about as useful as a gnat, but a lot bigger target.
A hammerbeam hit the door, and Jayne jumped when it nearly punched through in front of her. Dammit! I shouldn't have thought the word target... Strobes flashed inside and outside her eyelids, accompanied by sirens. Her palms burned and she threw herself backwards. The door slammed shut and she realized they were friction burns from how fast the door had closed.
The alarm had stopped, so she took a moment to look around. The first thing she saw were armored shields that had slid down over the doors, locking her in. The room itself was fairly large, with a soft white floor, neither tile nor carpet but something she had never seen on earth. Jayne pushed herself to her feet, wincing when her palms touched the floor. The rest of the chamber was empty save for a large metal pillar in the center of the room.
COME CLOSER.
Jayne looked around, but saw nothing.
COME CLOSER.
It was the voice she had heard earlier through her implant. It sounded much the same as her implant, but much larger, larger and more powerful. She was just starting to digest this fact when a white chair rose out of the floor before her. It reminded her of a dentist's chair, with the armrests, the headrest and the angled plate for her feet.
SIT DOWN. The voice echoed again in her mind. YOU ARE HERE FOR EXAMINATION AND CONFIRMATION. SIT DOWN. Jayne hesitated, looking around; THE EXAMINATION WILL NOT HARM EITHER YOU OR THE CHILD YOU CARRY. SIT DOWN.
Jayne took a deep breath and sat down gingerly in the chair. The armor began to shake, and she could see little marks appear from something trying to punch through from outside. The armrests wrapped around her wrists, holding her in place. She felt a cold mist on the inside of her wrists and a white visor began to descend over her face. She tried to struggle, but the bands were too strong.
DO NOT RESIST, THIS WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW DAYS.
The armor started to buckle, but she could not get away. The visor lowered over her head, blotting out the sight. Her whole world went white.
DEFENSE CONDITION RED. EMERG
ENCY PROTOCOLS ENGAGED.
Chapter 20
Jhon stared at the plot. "How long before they reach Belkrath?" They had stayed in stealth ever since the Enemy planet arrived. An arcing line showed its projected movement towards Belkrath.
Makar squinted at the plot. "Not more than eight hours at this rate Your Highness." His finger traced the line they appeared to be following. "They should be in low orbit no more than two hours after that, and if the information you brought is right they will start deconstructing the planet almost immediately."
"So how do we stop them?"
"Stop them?" Makar turned towards him. "Don't you mean how do we stay alive?" He gestured to the few remaining imperial vessels on the plot. "We lost almost our entire force, if we stop them at all it will either be in deep space or at the next planet." He sighed. "I'm not a defeatist, but Belkrath is lost. We have to write the planet off."
Jhon surprised himself when he slammed his fist down. "No, it stops here. We do not write billions of people off. That is not an option, not on my watch."
"Not on your watch," Makar looked at Jhon. "This isn't about standing guard like a junior officer; this is about the future of the Imperium. We don't have time for false bullshit like that. We have to keep you alive."
Makar tapped some controls and the flotilla jumped into focus. "Look at that, just look at it. We have one super-dreadnaught and four battle-cruisers against something that wiped out eight maulers in a matter of minutes. As they say in command school, the odds are not in our favor."
Jhon pulsed a command to the plot screen, bringing the Enemy planet into view. It hung there, gray and craggy, ominous in its silence. Weapon emplacements covered the surface, scarring it. There were no oceans, there was no atmosphere. It was just a weapon-studded ball of rock. He could see the marks of battle, glowing bubbles of white hot lava where the planet-busters had hit. There were at least a dozen, and he knew Admiral Torrens' spirit would be glad to know her forces had wounded the Enemy.
"Take a good look at it Commodore." A quick command highlighted all the points where planet-busters had hit. "We already hurt it, and we hurt it badly. Look at that damage."
"I see the damage." Makar shrugged. "Unfortunately it's not enough and we can't do any more of that kind of damage. Anything we have would be just as effective as a flyswatter against an aircar. We can't do more than scratch the non-existent paint."
Jhon let his finger rest over Belkrath, in another part of the display. "But what if we could?" He met the Commodore's eyes. "What if we could do more of the same sort of damage?"
"We aren't here to deal in 'what if' we're here to deal in facts." Makar glared at him. "Besides, I have a 'what if' for you. What if they kill you-- then we're all dead."
"But we do have the ability. Imperial Fury is sitting there in orbit around Belkrath."
"I know she is, but it doesn't matter." Makar zoomed in on Belkrath and the orbiting yards. "She's in dock after the pounding she took on the way in. I know she's repairable, but she's hardly combat ready."
"But her weapons still work."
"What?" Makar looked away from the plot. "I thought she was basically dead in space."
"Her drives are shot," Jhon said, "but that whole ship was designed to keep the planet-buster alive until time to launch. You would practically have to destroy her outright to kill the main armament."
Makar nodded. "I can see that. It makes a lot of sense." He straightened up. "So what's the plan, send a message to her crew to plot an ambush?"
"Not exactly." Jhon smiled grimly. "More take than send."
"Take, what do you mean take?"
Jhon pulled up an image of the battered mauler in the spacedock. "When we put her into dock, we had to disable the weapons. I'm the only one who can authorize weapons release for the planet-busters." He shrugged. "I have to go aboard and arm the weapon, or we might as well not have her."
"It's a damnfool stunt and you're not going alone."
"Why not?" Jhon manipulated the image of the mauler. "I'm the only one who's needed."
"With all due respect Your Highness, you think you are the only one who's needed." Makar started holding up fingers. "You don't know what shape that ship is currently in. You don't know what happened to the crew. You don't know your way around a spacedock." Jhon could feel his glare. "Any one of those things could stop you from re-activating that mauler. If that happens you might have well not have gone and at worst it would cost you the Imperium. I can't stop you from going but at least I can stop you from being stupid about it Your Highness."
"So what do you suggest Commodore." Jhon relaxed a little, now the worst of the argument seemed past. "Should I take a regiment of marines?"
"No, it's not like you're planning on fighting a boarding action." Makar looked thoughtful. "What I'd actually suggest is taking Commander Holron's people. Not his entire crew, just his command crew and pilot. That gives you an engineer, an exec, and someone to run tactical. Between the four of you you should be able to handle the bridge. Plus, if I remember correctly, his engineer is from Belkrath, which could be an advantage."
Jhon nodded slowly. "So we put a small group aboard and make our way to the bridge?"
"Exactly. We're deep enough in stealth that there's no way to tell what's going on aboard Imperial Fury so I want you to have enough people to run the bridge if you have to."
"Makes sense," Jhon smiled. "So let's get this set up, we don't have a lot of time."
*
Jhon stretched, pulling at his shoulder harness. It was holding him just too closely to the chair. Assault ships didn't use shockframes; there wasn't enough room for them. The woman in the pilot's seat grinned sympathetically at him as he fought with the adjustment.
Her name-tape read Husk, and he remembered that had been the name of Tam Holron's pilot when they had retrieved him from Earth. "Good to meet you PO Husk, I've been wanting to thank you for coming to get me."
"Thank you sir, or should I say Your Highness?"
"Sir will do fine, I'm in uniform." He was never going to get used to this.
"Thank you, sir." She patted the controls. "You can thank the Blackbird too, she's what I flew when we came down to rescue you."
He stopped working on his harness a moment. "Really? I would have thought we'd be aboard one of Victory's shuttles."
"Nope," he looked around to see Lieutenant Commander Kharan come up to the flight deck. "Talon was designed for stealth missions. That's what got us into this mess in the first place." She reached over and gave an expert twist to his harness. "There, try that."
He twisted a little and settled back in the seat, "Much better, thank-you Commander."
"Not a problem, sir." She smiled, "I wouldn't want the CO grumbling when we're doing a hot insertion. It might distract PO Husk here, and we can't have that."
The petty officer grinned. "No sir that would not be a good time for me to be distracted." She tapped the controls. "Also, it looks like we're go for launch, make sure everyone's strapped in." Jhon noticed her change in tone and brought up his own display.
Belkrath filled half the screen before him, but a quick command put it back in a more manageable size. The Enemy planet hung just on the edge of the image, limned in red. Enemy ships, cruisers and destroyers mostly, came before it like a wave. It looked like most of the big ships were gone. Good, it cost the bastards. Other icons, fainter, showed where his own ships were supposed to be, or at least where the computers thought they were.
"We're away." Husk's voice came over the sudden silence, and he saw their icon separate from Victory's. Jhon's stomach lurched as they went to free fall, then his training kicked in and he started looking for their target.
Imperial Fury's spacedock was most of the way around the planet from the Enemy's oncoming forces. Their projected track was to loop around behind Belkrath and come up on the spacedock from behind.
"There's no point watching that." He turned to see Lieutenant Commander Kharan looking
at him across the flight deck. "Husk and Vidall can handle the flight; all we're doing is looking like a hole in space. Your job really comes in once we get aboard."
Jhon nodded. "You're right." He swapped out the display for a plan of the mauler. "Let's see," he muttered to himself. Still muttering he superimposed the damage done to Imperial Fury on the way in, and then the timeline for repairs. "It looks like we should be able to come in through the number three boat dock. That quadrant is least damaged and that route should let us get to the control center with the fewest detours."
Kharan checked her own display, then nodded. "I agree. Once we dock we'll only have three hours before the Enemy ranges on Belkrath."
Jhon flipped over to another screen. "Take a look at this; we may be in for some trouble once we get there." The screen showed the Enemy's light craft spreading out towards the planet. "If they keep on at this same rate they should reach the dock at about the same time we do."
"That should add to the fun." Husk interrupted the conversation.
Lieutenant Commander Kharan sent a look in Husk's direction, to no apparent result, then turned back towards Jhon. "What do we have on the repair crew? I know we can't contact them without breaking stealth, but do we have anything?"
"Not much." Jhon glared at the display. "They were still working during the battle, but once the Enemy showed up in force they seem to have dropped off the net. It's hard to tell and we haven't been able to deploy a large enough receiver to get more than a few fragments."
"So what do we have?" Kharan sounded like she was pushing.
"A handful of reports indicating they were keeping fairly close to schedule and that's it." Jhon turned back to the display, uploading the route to his implant.
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