Deeper and Darker (Deep Dark Well Book 3)

by Doug Dandridge

  Since I can’t make her call off whatever crazy plan she has in mind, the only thing to do is to be prepared to act when she triggers the operation. That meant paying attention to his surroundings and keeping situational awareness of what was going on. And making sure that he was ready to do whatever he could to cause the most confusion for his captors. I should be up to that, he thought, even with some slight awareness of the damage that had been done to his brain when his implants had been taken out. Watcher was the most intelligent being in the known Galaxy. Even with superficial damage, he should be smarter than any of his captors, including the Emperor that was a bargain basement copy of his genome.

  * * *

  The Emperor sat in his box and watched the spectacle with mixed feelings. Of course he was reveling in the trial of the most hated man in the Galaxy, at least among those civilizations that remembered the fall. Which, as far as he knew, was his empire, and his empire alone. Still, he would be remembered as the Emperor who had brought this man to justice. But in another respect he regretted that such a trial had been necessary. Why couldn’t he just give me the information I wanted, he thought, glaring at the bald creature who occupied the defendant’s box.

  The man had been resistant to all of the methods they had tried to break him. There were rumors of techniques even more advanced than those employed by the Empire, though Kitticaris had doubts that such techniques would work on such a being. They wouldn’t work on him, and Watcher was supposed to be an even more capable agent.

  And that’s why he must never again gain access to high tech, thought the Emperor, narrowing his eyes. He could not stand the thought that there was a being in the Galaxy that was his intellectual superior. Not just a little bit more intelligent, but almost an order of magnitude. Kitticaris wanted to rule the Galaxy, and having someone with the capabilities of Watcher at large was too much of a risk to his rule. As a captive, he would serve the purpose of someone the Emperor could communicate with, even though he was having second thoughts about leaving him alive. Maybe I can keep him as a captive for a limited time, then kill him and incinerate the body. The populace doesn’t have to know that he outlived his execution. And that execution would also be quite the spectacle, one that the gullible people would eat up.

  Kitticaris looked again on his people, his glance falling on the judges and moving on. He truly believed that he was the salvation of the Galaxy. Humans were not all that intelligent as a group. There were intelligent individuals, people who could think coherently. But not enough of them. A guiding hand was needed to keep the Galaxy from devolving into thousands of powers, all wanting the whole pie, warring for centuries, or maybe millennia, until peace was again possible. If ever.

  For the good of the human race, of all the species of the Galaxy, I must unite them under my banner. He looked at Watcher once again, wondering if the trial had gone on long enough. Watcher had agents on the planet, and so must have them in the system’s space as well. He could end the trial, have the show execution, and move on. There was no way his people could get him out of the prison he was now in without blasting a hole in the crust down to the facility, which would most likely kill everyone there.

  One more day, he thought, thinking of the rest of the evidence they had to present, videos and records that would make Watcher even more of the hated villain than he already was. One more day, and I’ll give the Galaxy what they want. The head of the man they believe was responsible for untold misery.

  * * *

  Pandora floated above the courthouse for hours, helplessness in her rage at both the system she was battling and her own mistakes. The guilt of involving Garcia and his friends in her plan, and then leading the authorities to them with her actions, was enough to confuse her thinking. And this was a time when she couldn’t afford confusion.

  We have to get them out of that station as well, she thought, looking on at the hundreds of troops that occupied the plaza around the building. Most were in soft uniforms, carrying rifles, but there was also a share of men in powered armor, as well as about a dozen tanks and over a score of other armored vehicles. She recognized them as armored personnel carriers, command vehicles, and some triple A vehicles. Those vehicles could play hell with any kind of rescue attempt, though she was sure her methods would get them past those as well.

  And how do I go about getting them out of the police prison they’re in? I don’t want to split my forces. That would risk defeat in both places. And, I’m sorry to say this Tony, Watcher comes first. After we get him out we can see what we can do about you.

  So she floated through the sky into the afternoon, monitoring, planning, waiting for time to pass until she could act. As she followed the airbus and its protectors back to the prison, she was surprised to see that it was the same facility, something she had not predicted. For a moment she thought about calling the operation immediately, with the prison as the target. She discarded that idea. There was no planning or preparation in place for such an operation. She didn’t even have a layout of the place. Going in there just might get a lot of her people killed, for no return, and could get Watcher killed as well. No, it’s better to just go with the plan I have.

  As soon as the airvan had lowered into the building she left, flying back to the park she had entered the planet from, and called the probe to her. When the gate dilated she walked through, covering the eighty thousand kilometers to Niven in an instant.

  “Welcome aboard, Commodore,” said Captain Mandrake as soon as she was aboard. “What’s the word.”

  “The word is go, for the morning,” she said, shrugging out of her backpack and unbuckling her weapons and equipment belt. “I will meet with the Marine and Naval landing force commanders immediately.”

  Mandrake nodded her head and walked out of the room, leaving Pandi alone to complete her disrobing, allowing her to put on a ship suit. A moment later she was walking down the corridor to the conference room, her thoughts a muddle of plans, predictions and fears.

  * * *

  “Well, what did you get out of them?” asked Captain Rafael Jiminez to the Inquisitor walking into his office.

  “Garcia is not cooperating,” said the man. “And neither is the Ramirez woman. Now, we might get something out of them later. In fact, I‘m sure of it, once we start putting the pressure on them.”

  “And Hernandez?”

  “He is singing like a morning bird,” said the old man with a smile. “He has been a wealth of information. We didn’t even have to apply much in the way of, persuasion. Just the threat, and he was talking so fast we didn’t have time to process the information.”

  “And what information was that?” asked the Captain impatiently. The old Inquisitor sometimes tried his patience. But the man was very good at his job. Besides, anything he could do to the fellow would wing its way upstairs, and Rafael Jiminez would find himself in hot water.

  “He told us about the woman who is a friend of the Abomination,” said the Inquisitor. “Turns out she’s the lover of the freak. And she means to steal him away from us.”

  “Did he say where she intends to commit this theft?” asked the Captain, thinking of the honors that would come his way if he could capture the person who was Watcher’s second in command.

  “He wasn’t sure. But his guesses were that she would make a try at the prison, or the courthouse.”

  “I can’t imagine her taking him from the prison,” said Jiminez in a quiet voice. “Of course, I can’t imagine her taking him from the courthouse either. Not by herself.”

  Jiminez looked down on his flat comp and keyed the report they had received from headquarters. It had been reported that Watcher’s people were probably in the system in force, at least two ships, maybe more. And they could do a combat assault from space, with a more advanced force than anything the Empire had.

  “Did he tell you anything about the Opposition? The structure of the cells?”

  “I didn’t waste time asking him about that,” said the Inquisito
r with a sneer. “There’s not much those people can do at this time. I did ask if they were going to assist her in the rescue, and he said that they didn’t have any plans to aid her. Or at least his cell didn’t.”

  “Good job,” said the Captain, coming to his feet and around his desk, clapping the old man on the shoulder. “I’m going to pass this up the line. I’ll make sure that you get credit for getting the information.” That was something Jiminez truly believed in, giving credit where it was due, and blame as well. It just worked out better for all involved. Even though, for what the Inquisitor says, a new recruit could have gotten the information from that coward.

  It wouldn’t do the man any good, the Opposition traitor. He would still be tortured, after he had given up all the information that he knew, just to make sure he wasn’t holding anything back. And, unlike tortures that didn’t have a technological edge, the information they got would be accurate. Then the man would be tried and publicly executed.

  Jiminez sat back behind his desk and hit the button on his intercom. “Get me headquarters. Priority Alpha One.”

  * * *

  We should have held sentencing today, then held the public spectacle, thought Kitticaris, looking over the text part of the message that verified the holo transmission he had received minutes earlier. But maybe we can use this to our advantage. If we can crush the rescue attempt, and get rid of his lover and lieutenant, we can discourage their entire alliance. And maybe the woman will give us what we want.

  He laughed at that last thought. Of course she would give him what he wanted. Unlike Watcher, she was just a normal human, augmented or not. One taste of his pheromones and she would be his, to do with as he pleased. And maybe, after he had gotten the information he wanted out of her, he would take her as his lover, see what it was about this woman that so attracted Watcher. And maybe, just maybe, use her to get at him. How will you feel, brother, when your woman is on my arm as I visit you? How will you feel, knowing hat I am taking her into my bed at night?

  “Get me the commander of the city garrison,” he said into the air, activating the com. And tomorrow, you will have a surprise like nothing you imagined.

  * * *

  The plaza around the courthouse, which should have been empty, was anything but as the clock struck the hour after start of curfew. Soldiers in battle armor moved through the shadows, filing into the nearby buildings, while technicians worked on the area weapons’ systems, adding new capabilities. And in the near distance came the sound of armored vehicles on the move, getting into position for the coming day.

  Chapter Seventeen

  There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

  Charles de Montesquieu

  “They’re on the move,” called out the Tactical Officer from the bridge.

  Pandi looked at the holo on the flight deck that showed an aerial view of the prison, with the airbuses and escort vehicles starting onto the air. She breathed a sigh of relief as she noted that the security seemed to be no heavier than the day before. Seems is the operative word, she thought, following the convoy as they moved on their random path to the courthouse.

  “One hour,” said Pandi, looking over at her Marine Force Commander, Major Ajit Sengupta.

  “The men are prepped and ready, ma’am,” said the senior Marine of the task force. “The robots are ready to go as well.”

  Pandi nodded and looked back at the holo, commanding it through her link to center on the courthouse. She saw that the soldiers were already in the plaza, as normal, along with the armored vehicles. All of the weapons positions were charged and ready. And the six wormholes that probes had delivered to the planet were standing by, ready for inflation.

  “Still no combat robots,” said Satyapathy, the Tactical Officer, who was responsible for coordinating the support for the operation. “I wonder if they have them?”

  “Seems that they don’t like them,” said Pandi, remembering that the Suryans sure didn’t care for them when introduced to them on the station. They’re the boogie man to most of the civilization here abouts. The things that destroyed Galactic civilization. What they tell children about at night to make sure they don’t wander. It’s taken them quite a while to warm up to the things.

  “Better for us if they don’t,” said Sengupta. “But I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that might bite us in the ass.”

  “At least I can be sure that if they do have any, they won’t hold a candle to ours,” said Pandi, almost laughing as she saw the look of confusion on the Marine’s face. The Suryans still had problems with her colloquialisms at times. But they’re learning, and that’s all that counts.

  The airbus came in for a landing, actually several airbuses in a square, while the escort troop carriers flew overhead. Out of the back of each car came a man in a red jumpsuit, a hood pulled tight over his head. All were led into the courtroom, a precaution to protect the man that someone might want to assassinate for the publicity, or mistakenly thinking they were performing a public service.

  A minute later a second holo sprang into existence beside the first. It was from the newsfeed inside the courtroom, showing Watcher, sans the hood, being led to the defendant’s box, while people stood up and yelled curses at him. As soon as he reached the box the Chief Justice activated the hammer sound that signaled quiet.

  “Does the prosecution have any more evidence to present?” asked the Judge, looking over at the Prosecutor’s box.

  “We believe we have presented our case, your Honor,” said the man. “Any other evidence would constitute an unnecessary redundancy. We believe we have stated to the satisfaction of the court the guilt of the defendant, and eagerly await the only verdict that is called for in this instance. Guilty.”

  “Damn,” growled Pandi. “This is going faster than I had planned. We go in ten minutes.”

  Acknowledgements came back immediately from every group commander involved. The Marine contingent of each ship, the Robot controllers, the ground attack craft. Pandi did a last second check on her suit, making sure everything was powered up and ready to go.

  All of the Marines were wearing heavy combat armor, the most advanced the Donut had to offer. Massing over a ton a suit, they provided Marines with state of the art protection, movement, communications and, most important of all, firepower. Pandi’s suit was a different model, specially modified by Watcher for her personal use. It was lighter at four hundred kilograms, and much leaner, but had all the capabilities of the larger suits with one exception. It was much faster and more maneuverable.

  “Does the defense have a closing statement?” asked the Judge, looking over at the other box.

  “No, your Honor,” said the other attorney. “We have presented our case to the best of our ability. I believe the evidence does not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that my client is guilty, and so a verdict of innocent should be delivered.”

  “Very well,” said the Chief Justice, looking up at the box where the Emperor sat. “I believe we can dispense with the formalities here, as I talked with my fellow Justices before the start of this day’s court. We all agreed that a verdict of guilty was the only one that we could give based on the evidence. So we find the being known as Watcher guilty on all charges. The sentence is death, to be carried out in public on this day.”

  Pandi watched the holo as it panned in on the Emperor, smiling from his box, surrounded by his security. It would sure enough be great to take that bastard down as well, if we get the opportunity. The holo panned back onto Watcher, standing straight faced in his box as his fate was decided. The armed Bailiffs started for his box, and she gave the execution command.

  * * *

  Outside the courthouse, in the shadows between several of the buildings that fronted the plaza, three wormholes expanded. The moment they were large enough objects started to come through, so fast that, if not for their superior reflexes, they would have been stumbling over each other. Some were
in the shapes of large humanoids, some the kangaroo like forms of Husteds, more running on all fours, in the shapes of Maurids. As hundreds of the battle bots came from between the buildings and into the plaza the wormholes expanded further, and larger robots started through, while their smaller brethren began to fire on the soldiers as they came into view.

  Particle beams lanced out, angry red as their protons heated their way through the atmosphere, a sound like an angry swarm of bees accompanying them. Where they struck soldiers’ uniforms flared with flames as the flesh underneath vaporized from heat transference. Within seconds almost all the uniformed soldiers were down, while screaming civilians ran for cover, many of them in panicked paths that took them anywhere but to safety. The soldiers in battle armor fared better, for a moment. It took more than an instant’s touch to burn through their tough suits, and some were able to get to cover while still alive and operational. They returned fire as their fellows died, getting in some hits on the fast moving robots.

  The tanks went into action, their crews taken off guard for a moment. Turrets turned, beams and high velocity projectiles screamed from heavy weapons. Some hit robots, tearing off limbs or shattering torsos. Others missed and went ripping into people, or they collapsed the facades of buildings. The robots went after the tanks and other armored vehicles, hitting them with beams and fast moving projectiles, most of which, while they could destroy an APC, did very little to the tanks. That was when the heavy robots got in on the action, firing hypervelocity missiles and heavy particle beams into the tanks, blasting holes through hulls and turrets.

  “It looks like we’ve neutralized their forces outside the courthouse,” said Satyapathy from his bridge station. “And it looks like it’s drawing the response from the building that we wanted.”

  Pandi nodded as she looked at the holo that now showed about half the soldiers in the building, heading for the exits to engage the enemy that they thought was trying to fight its way into the building.