The Prodigal Emperor (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 3)

by Kal Spriggs

  Daniel spun as he heard movement in the corridor behind him. He turned in time to see a pair of men in body armor as they came around the bend, weapons raised. Daniel cut off two quick bursts. The FMN-3 ripped off two bursts of six rounds. The first man tumbled back, his face a bloody ruin while the second stumbled as the rounds cut his legs out from under him. Daniel finished that man off and then ejected the empty magazine and loaded another. Say what you want about these bastards, he thought, but at least they have good choice in weapons. “I thought all you Sarogossan's had an accent and came from the same background, you know,” he adopted an admittedly poor accent, “My name is Armand, I come from a long, distinguished family.”

  Forrest didn't say anything for a long moment, “Well, actually, my wife Catharine, did come from one of the better families. Most of Sarogossa was settled by colonists from Spain.” There was an odd note to his voice and Daniel suddenly kicked himself for reminding the other man about his past and his losses. Daniel knew well enough that Forrest had lost his wife and child in the Nova Roma attack that left the colony devastated. Now is not the time to reopen that kind of wound, Daniel reminded himself harshly. “But my family, we didn't come from the upper class or senior families. My father's family name was Salazar. He was an abusive asshole and thankfully drank himself to death. My stepfather was the one who raised me. He was a retired merchant spacer from New Texas, who fell in love with my mother, which is why I followed his footsteps and why I took his family name.”

  “Oh,” Daniel said. “Sorry to pry.”

  “No worries, sir,” Forrest said. He fired the plasma rifle again, followed by another inhuman shriek as the plasma round cut down another armor clad figure. “Plasma rifle therapy is apparently wonderful for anger management.”

  ***

  Alanis absently wondered what her brother, Baron Lucius Giovanni, thought about the fact that his little sister was behind the controls of the first assault shuttle going into the crucible.

  She breathed calmly as her fingers danced across the console in front of her. Unlike civilian ships or the holovids, the combat shuttle didn't have a control yoke, it had a slew of reconfigurable holo-panels that she interacted with as much with gestures and the motion of her eyes as she did by actually tapping at them.

  The combat shuttle was amazingly responsive, which was good, because otherwise she would have eaten some of the inbound fire. She could vaguely feel sweat beading her brow as another pulse laser flashed past close enough that the drive field on that side fluctuated from the pulse of energy.

  She fought the spin caused by that and brought the nose of the shuttle back around on the evasive maneuver that flipped her under the belly of the destroyer that had opened fire on them. A moment later, the destroyer's fire shifted, too late, to a combat shuttle on an intercepting course.

  That shuttle slammed home and Alanis whispered a prayer for the pilot. High velocity intercepts like that were extremely dangerous. The armored prows of the combat shuttles were designed for it, but that design only went so far.

  Still, it wasn't as if they had much choice. The civilian launch had screened the launches from the Academy and the bunker, but only until they broke atmosphere. At that point, the combat shuttles had no choice but to break orbit and head directly for their targets. Alanis's flight path wasn't really anywhere near the Fleet, but the lone destroyer had come out to intercept ships headed for Skydock Station, and it had killed two shuttles in the process.

  The enemy jamming had somewhat eased, either because they needed to communicate themselves or the fighting aboard their ships had grown too heavy for them to maintain uniform jamming. She didn't know which, but she hoped it was the latter. With the destroyer gone, Alanis headed in a straight line for the platform.

  She only began braking maneuvers a few thousand kilometers out and as the combat shuttle slammed against the docking collar, she was pretty certain she damaged the structure enough that they wouldn't be able to undock, at least, not any time soon.

  “We're here,” she said over her net. A moment later she unstrapped and headed into the passenger compartment.

  Her brother waited patiently as his security team swarmed through the docking collar. He waited for the all clear before following them. She still wasn't certain why they were here or who the men he'd talked to were. For that matter, she didn't really care beyond the fact that he thought it important enough to come.

  The handful of Fleet officers and enlisted followed her brother and she gave a shrug and followed them.

  The station on the other side had a very temporary feel to it. Prebuilt structures had been welded together and piping and conduits ran through cuts in the bulkheads. Two civilians stood at the far end of what looked like a workshop or laboratory.

  “Is the ship online?” Lucius asked.

  “Ah,” the first man said. Alanis thought she had heard Lucius call him Rory. “Baron Giovanni, well, it wasn't quite as simple as just hooking things up and hitting a switch.” He was short and overweight, with thinning brown hair.

  “It is very, very complicated,” the second man said. In contrast to his companion, he was tall and thin, with a hunched, almost bird-like demeanor.

  “Why aren't you working on it now?” Lucius asked. Alanis recognized his tone and she winced. People were dying while these two were explaining and Lucius wasn't wrong to be angry.

  “It's not like hotwiring a ground car,” Rory said. “We're trying to jumpstart an alien power plant that was never meant to be operated by a crew who wasn't psychically attuned to the ship. If we do this wrong, there's going to be a really big bang and then we're all dead!”

  Lucius stalked forward, “Right now, there are hundreds of men and women fighting and dying. Some of them killing each other don't even know why they're fighting. If you don't get that ship operational, then I can't put a stop to that, do you understand?”

  “Tell him about the control module,” Feliks said.

  “Thanks, Feliks,” Rory said in a sarcastic tone. He straightened up, “I understand all of that, trust me, I do. I've been in combat before. The problem is... well, Feliks and I cobbled together a control module for the fighter, but we weren't planning on bringing the destroyer online yet. We don't know if the destroyer's reactor will stay stable in the long term... or even at all.”

  “Will it work?” Lucius asked.

  Rory ran a hand through his thinning hair. “I'm not sure.”

  “For almost a year now you've been saying that you had all the answers,” Lucius snapped. “I've given you time, resources, almost everything you've asked for... and now, when we really need this ship's systems, you admit that you can't deliver?”

  “No!” Rory said.

  “Well, sort of,” Feliks muttered.

  “Look,” Rory said after giving his companion a glare, “I know we can bring the destroyer online. I know you'll have time to use the transceiver. I just don't know if the reactor will stay stable enough that we'll have time to get clear if something goes wrong with the control module.”

  “At best,” Feliks spoke up, “we would have twenty, maybe thirty seconds to try to escape.”

  Lucius looked back at Alanis, “Is that long enough for you to get us out of here?”

  She shook her head as she thought about the docking collar. Worse case scenario, she could probably rip the shuttle free. “To pull away, maybe. To get everyone aboard and get to a safe distance, I seriously doubt it.” She felt suddenly aware that she was a mere cadet and she had just told a number of officers that she couldn't do something.

  They didn't seem to notice.

  “If we have time to transmit,” Lucius said, “then that will have to be enough.” He looked at Rory, “Do it.”

  Rory and Feliks hurried over to a console. “We've directly attached the fighter to the hull of the destroyer. The hull's material can be configured as a superconductor to aide in power transmission, so we should be able to dump the energy straight into the re
actor. Feliks will monitor the power discharge here while I'll be at the reactor to control its output.”

  Lucius looked around, “You set up the transceiver already?”

  Rory nodded, “Yeah, it's on the destroyer's bridge. We've already fitted an entire control system, based off standard human designs and ripped out most of the Balor control systems.” He opened a hatch and Alanis saw it led to another docking collar, this one connected to an odd, gray metal corridor.

  “We've put lighting in the primary corridors,” Rory said as he led the way. “The fighter's reactor isn't enough to power gravity or environmental systems, but we've put a few emergency oxygen units aboard, which should be good for at least ten hours of use with this many people.”

  “Longer if you don't talk too much,” Feliks called.

  “Did I mention I hate him?” Rory asked as he paused at a branching corridor. The corridor split in an odd fashion, at an angle that made Alanis's head hurt. The walls and corridors were rounded and smooth, almost organic in appearance. “That way leads to the bridge. You can't miss it,” he pointed. “I'll be down this way, and I've got my comm unit tied into the ship so if you need to reach me, there shouldn't be any problem.”

  He scurried away. Alanis followed the others down the hall. Here and there, other corridors branched off, many unlit. The entire ship gave her chills. She had known that they had captured a number of Balor hulks after the Third Battle of Faraday, but she had just assumed that those ships had been either melted for scrap or maybe taken apart. She had not imagined that they had repaired one.

  The corridor ended at an open hatch, which led onto a circular room. Boxy control consoles had been welded or bolted to the deck and rough cut holes and patches showed where other equipment had been removed.

  Lucius moved straight to the only panel that showed signs of life. Alanis trailed after him,while the handful of other Fleet personnel moved about, some trying to bring displays online and others inspecting the work. Alanis saw him bring up the communications controls, “Rory, I'm ready.”

  “Okay, so are we,” Rory said. “Feliks, fire it up.”

  “Here goes nothing,” Feliks said in a morose tone.

  For a long moment, there was nothing. Then as Alanis looked at Lucius the entire world exploded with noise and light.

  ***

  “Any War Shrike elements, this is Peregrine One Three, over,” the crackling voice barely came through the jamming on the comms.

  Still, Daniel jerked up straight as he heard that callsign. “Peregrine One Three,” Daniel said, “this is Warshrike Five, I read you, over.” Colonel Prosica had selected the War Shrike and Peregrine callsigns for easy identification. Most of the loyalist teams they had put together in the Fleet had served aboard the War Shrike at one time or another. The Peregrine, her sister ship, then followed as the ideal back-up. Serving aboard the old Nova Roma swift battleship was not something that anyone on the crew would forget, even in the heat of combat.

  Daniel didn't miss the tone of relief in the pilot's voice, “Warshrike Five, I have a full cargo, we're moving in on your position. Is the LZ hot?”

  “Yeehaw!” Forrest shouted as he fired the plasma rifle over and over again down the breach area. The containment coils on the forward end of the barrel had begun to glow white hot.

  “Yes,” Daniel said in as calm a tone as he could manage. “Landing Zone is hot.” He switched his carbine over to full automatic and laid suppressive fire down the corridor in quick, staccato bursts. Not long now, he thought, just a few more seconds.

  An enemy grenade bounced off the hatch combing only a meter away. “Grenade!” Daniel shouted, even as he tried to slam the hatch. He half succeeded and the partially closed hatch swung back into him like a giant flyswatter. The blow sent him tumbling backwards.

  Forrest broke his fall and the two of them sprawled out in a tangle of weapons and gear. Daniel let out another shout as he felt the white hot barrel of the plasma rifle melt its way through his left sleeve and into his flesh.

  He jerked his arm away and tumbled onto his back. He looked up, straight into the barrel of a readied plasma rifle.

  Before he could do more than flinch, the rifle came up and fired at something behind him. The passage of the bolt dried out his skin and scorched his eyebrows off. Behind him, he heard the impact. That was when he realized that the new armored attackers wore the United Colonies symbol emblazoned across their chest plates. Reinforcements, Daniel thought, at last.

  The platoon disembarked from their shuttle and their section leader paused before Daniel, “Sir,” she said, “Senior Cadet Wilkenson, reporting for duty.”

  “Senior Cadet?” Forrest asked as he stood next to Daniel. Daniel cradled his burned arm. He had heard that in the worst case Colonel Proscia planned to launch over a battalion's worth of powered armor into the fight. Where he got the bodies to fill those suits should not have surprised him. “Secure the vicinity,” Daniel said, “Do you have comms with other teams?”

  “I do, sir,” She said. “Peregrine One Two has already linked up with Ensign Konetsky and they report minimal enemy activity. We think that they were centered on you as the target and were unaware of our response.”

  “Okay,” Daniel said. “Well, then, let's link up with them and then expand our area of control.” He didn't think that the cabal could have many of their inner circle combatants aboard the Patriot. He hoped that they had accounted for most of them at this point.

  “We'll push out from here,” Daniel said. “What's the overall plan?”

  “I was hoping you would know more, sir,” Wilkenson said. “All I know is that Colonel Proscia ordered us to link up with you and await further orders from Barion Giovanni.”

  “The Baron's alive?” Daniel asked. He stumbled a bit, overcome by relief.

  “Yes, sir,” she responded. “I heard he came up with the first shuttles.”

  “He's up here?” Daniel asked. As much as he respected the man's ability to lead from the front, he thought the worst place for him to be was in the melee of the shipboard fighting.

  “I don't know where, sir,” Wilkenson said. “Colonel Proscia just said it had to do with communications.”

  “Right,” Daniel said and nodded, even though he had no idea what she meant. The cabal had taken over the Fleet's jamming and communications systems. Without capturing most of the ships, there was no way to ensure communications. Still, best to look confident, he thought, “Let's move.”

  I hope the Baron made it, where ever he went, Daniel thought, and I hope whatever plan he has works, or else this is going to only get worse.

  ***

  “What was that?” Lucius demanded as he shook his head. The dazzling light display and roar of noise had almost overwhelmed him. A look around showed almost all of the crew he had brought aboard were affected, some stunned or even prone on the deck while the others looked around in confusion.

  “Oh,” Rory said over the comms, “Sorry, I had to wait until power up to deactivate some of the Balor's alarm system. It broadcasts on a psychic level, anyone who isn't completely mind-blind like me would have felt something.”

  Lucius looked over to where several people were unconscious, including his sister, “Some people felt more than something.”

  “It would have had a slight debilitating effect on those who have some latent psychic abilities,” Rory said. “Confusion, disorientation, maybe even unconsciousness.”

  Felix spoke up, “Rory, tell him about the control–”

  “Yes, Felix, I know,” Rory snapped, “My god, why I even put up with you...” He trailed off, “Baron, I suggest you make whatever broadcast you plan to make. I don't have a good picture on how long this patched control module will hold and we may have to evacuate.”

  “Right,” Lucius said. He switched the communications console over to broad spectrum and took a deep breath before he hit transmit. His eyebrows raised a bit, in spite of himself as he saw the emitter power throughp
ut shoot well past any sane rating.

  “Attention people of the United Colonies,” Lucius said as the transmitter light went green, “I'm afraid that I must inform you that treason of the worst sort is currently taking place.” Lucius put every bit of his sincerity into his voice and he prayed that his message would reach those who needed to hear it the most. Even now, he knew that Colonel Proscia's assault teams would be boarding ships of the Fleet. The natural response of those crews would be to oppose such boardings.

  “I've suspected for several months that there was a conspiracy among not only some senior officers of the Fleet but also elected government officials. These ambitious men and women sought to breed fear and confusion in a desire to seize power over the United Colonies and to establish their own regime. While I still remain uncertain of their true goals, I do know that they have killed and plan to kill again. They have betrayed you, first by stating that I was dead and then by attempting to seize control over Faraday by force. Even now, they are killing those who seek to uphold their oaths to our constitution.”

  Lucius locked his gaze on the camera. “I will not stand by while they kill good men and women. I will not stand down and allow them to tear down what we have built together. I will stand against them... and I ask you all to do so as well. The conspiracy’s leaders will try to get you to fire on loyal shuttles and ships. I have sent those men and women to board your ships and arrest the guilty, do not oppose them. I promise you this now,” Lucius said, “there will be no witch hunts, there will be no show trials. For those who have conspired against the freedom and liberty of our people and murdered their fellow men and women in arms, there will be a proper trial and they will face justice. For those of you who have been deceived, you will not be punished for their crimes. I merely ask that you lay down your arms and allow us to resolve this.”