by Terry Mixon
“No,” he said with a shake of the head. “Its placement makes that too dangerous. We’ve completely disabled it, though. Any external force strong enough to set it off would kill her, and nothing else can activate it now.”
Well, that certainly sounded grim. Time to change the subject.
“So, what doesn’t Doctor Parker want me to know about?”
“Faster than light communication.”
Veronica laughed. “I can certainly understand how that would go wrong. It’s impossible.”
“Funny thing. We already have it working. Doctor Parker was just making a few modifications to an already functioning FTL com and got some anomalous results.”
She stared at the young scientist, agog. “That’s impossible.”
“It’s not only possible, but we have FTL coms installed on a number of ships and even on probes. We can send them through a flip point and get real-time communication from the other side. We have a number of them spread out across this system giving us real-time scanner information.
“The problem comes when we look at the theory. It says the range should be unlimited. Through testing, we’ve discovered it works through a single flip point. It won’t go through a second. It also works through about three hundred light-years of normal space before the signal fails.”
Veronica stood there, unable to speak for long seconds. When she finally managed to close her mouth, she grimaced.
“That’s how you set up the trap that took out the task force I was part of. You were in communication all around us the entire time. You herded us into a trap because we couldn’t see you, but you were busy talking about wherever we were going.”
Even though she’d changed sides, she still felt bitterness at the realization. Her comrades and she had been herded together for the slaughter.
Carl shook his head. “That’s not exactly what happened. The linkage comes in matched pairs of devices containing entangled particles, and it’s possible to detect their use. They create small gravitic pulses that an eagle-eyed observer might spot. We didn’t dare use them during the fight.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked after a moment. “This kind of thing could change the balance of power between the Rebel Empire and the New Terran Empire enough to win the war. If you keep it a secret. Doctor Parker is absolutely right that I shouldn’t be here.”
Carl gestured for her to walk over to the table. “You’re on our side now. Let’s get you brought up to speed on this while I figure out exactly what’s going on.”
She took two steps before something else occurred to her. “If these are the secrets you’re willing to show me, just what kind of things are you working on in private that you’re not ready to share just yet?”
He grinned at her. “Things that would blow your mind. Come on.”
Veronica couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of scientific breakthrough would be even more astonishing than what he’d already told her. She’d known the boy was smart, but this was ridiculous. If he came up with this all on his own, he really was a genius.
Kelsey was pleased to see that her negotiations with King Estevan were going smoothly. Once they’d gotten past the little problem of him not trusting her, he’d listened to her entire story with an open mind and incisive questions.
Understanding the bind her people were in, he readily agreed to trade technological know-how for the assistance his people could provide in both food and other undiscussed terms. He seemed quite interested in forming a stronger bond with her people.
That probably had something to do with the assassination attempt. If the Empire of Kalor was as persistent a thorn in his side as she suspected, any advantage he could get over them might spell the difference between life and death for both him and his people.
The king leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. “I think I understand something that had been confusing me. One of the overseers down at the wreck of Dauntless sent me a complaint about someone there under the protection of my son.
“Apparently they broke something. Or set something on fire. I’m not precisely sure which. Was that someone you sent?”
Kelsey nodded. “Probably. A very important piece of equipment on board my largest ship was damaged. We’re hoping to repair it and I sent some people to quietly look at the inside of the wreck to see if something could be salvaged. I hope the damage wasn’t significant.”
The older man laughed. “To hear the overseer talk, your people just about burned the place to the ground. I suspect the actual impact was far less than that. The overseers tend to be doggedly protective of that ship. I’m sorry to say that he expelled your people. I’ll send a message back instructing him to give anyone you designate his full cooperation and complete access.”
A knock on the door interrupted her response. It cracked open to admit one of the king’s guards. The man walked over and whispered in his monarch’s ear. After listening for a moment, Derek’s father nodded and gestured for the man to leave. Then he smiled at Kelsey.
“Jacob has arrived with your companions. They’ll be here shortly.”
That was fast. When Kelsey had set up the meeting between Jacob and Talbot, she’d expected it would take a little longer for her husband to get down here. It seemed he was in a hurry.
Yeah. He was probably pissed.
She smiled in spite of her sense of impending doom. “Then it’s a good thing that we’ve finished working out our arrangement. Thank you for speaking with the overseer. I’ll see that someone comes back down to finish looking at what we needed to look at. This time, hopefully without setting anything on fire.”
Moments later, there was another knock on the door and it opened before anyone inside responded. Jacob Howell stepped in and bowed to the king. “Majesty. I’ve brought guests from Clan Persephone.”
The man stepped aside just in time to avoid Talbot running over him. Her husband shot her a look that promised he’d get around to dealing with her, but he focused his attention on the alien monarch and bowed low.
Kelsey stepped up beside him to perform the introduction. “King Estevan, allow me to introduce my husband, Lieutenant Colonel Russell Talbot. He is also my clan’s senior ground warrior.”
The Pandoran man raised his eyebrow. “If he is as good a fighter as you, he must be a terror on the field. Welcome to my kingdom, Russell Talbot. I would like to speak with you further, but I do understand that your wife was just in battle. You are undoubtedly concerned over her health.
“It might be best if we break our discussions for now, Princess Bandar. Send one of the guards when you’re ready to speak again. I shall be just down the hall with my son and Jacob.”
Talbot waited until the door had closed behind the Pandoran monarch before he rounded on Kelsey. Rather than yelling, he peeled back the cloth on the side of her head. He grunted when he saw what was under it.
“Exactly how do you manage to get into fights everywhere you go? I have Doc Zoboroski back with my men. I want him to look at this as soon as practical.”
“I don’t get into fights every single time I go off by myself!” she said, narrowing her eyes. “This wasn’t my fault.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “While I’m willing to grant that you don’t always go looking for trouble, every place you go seems more prone to having physical violence break out than if you weren’t there. Obviously, you must be the common factor.”
She stared at him for several long seconds before she saw the twinkle of humor in his eyes. She smacked his shoulder and scowled at him. “That’s not funny.”
“I think it is. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened?”
Kelsey ran down the sequence of events and watched him wince when she described the fight at the chapterhouse. She knew she was going to get total crap because she’d gotten into two fights in one trip.
She held up a finger. “That one wasn’t my fault either. That guy picked a fight with me that didn’t need to happen.”
&nbs
p; “Uh huh. It sounds like we need to take that guy back up to the ship and stuff him into a regenerator. We don’t need to make additional enemies on this planet.”
Kelsey wasn’t exactly sure that even a full regeneration would make that ass any less angry and dismissive toward her. Still, it was a gesture of goodwill toward Clan Dauntless.
“I’ll ask Jacob to make the arrangements. You can take him back up with you.”
Talbot shook his head. “You mean that we can take him back up with us. We’re going back up together shortly.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You think that just because I’ve had these problems that you get to tell me I’m going back up into orbit? Think again.”
He shook his head. “I’m not telling you that you have to go, but we both know that that wrecked battlecruiser isn’t going to provide the solution we need. All of this exploration is a sideshow. There are others better suited to working out the details.
“We’re going to have to conduct a mission to Archibald and we both know it. The sooner we start planning and executing that mission, the better. Those Clan people are nuts. Eventually, they’re going to start sending ships into the multiflip point hoping to get one to where we went.
“Even Carl doesn’t know how successful they’ll be. It wasn’t as if the original ships could spare even a single flip drive. They had one failure and decided to call it quits. Now, they might throw ships at it until one gets through. And that might not take very many tries. We can’t take the chance. We need to get moving.”
Kelsey rubbed her face. “You’re right. I want to explore here. I want to see what’s going on with the first real alien society we’ve gotten to interact with. It feels like an adventure. This conflict between the Kingdom of Raden and the Empire of Kalor just begs for us to intervene. Or at least make sure that the other guys really are the bad guys.”
“Are you worried that the people we’re talking to are the bad guys?”
“No, but we don’t exactly know enough to say that for sure. Still, you’re right. I need to be back in orbit and there are plenty of people I could send down here to finish settling the details.
“Let me explain that to King Estevan and then we’ll go by the chapterhouse and pick up our wounded butthole. There’d better be something interesting going on up there to make me feel better.”
Talbot smiled wickedly. “Oh, I think there are a few things underway that’ll capture your interest. Let’s get this over with before you change your mind.”
“Changing my mind is my prerogative,” she huffed. “Fine. Let’s do this.”
14
Zia stopped outside Commodore Murdoch’s compartment and took a deep breath. She hated visiting the woman. Hated seeing anyone in that condition. It sickened her.
When Commander Raul Castille had orchestrated his escape from Audacious, he’d killed the senior staff that had been captured on the Dresden orbital. People that were his supposed friends and allies. People he’d worked with for years.
He hadn’t quite been successful with Murdoch. He’d snapped her neck, but she’d survived. Unfortunately, she was paralyzed from the neck down. No amount of regeneration could fix that kind of damage. Modern medical technology just wasn’t that sophisticated.
Nevertheless, she needed to convince her enemy to help them again. Yes, Murdoch had given them her codes to the Dresden orbital research computers, but that had been an act of spite against the security apparatus that had betrayed her.
This was something more. No matter what she’d said earlier, the woman still believed in the Empire she served. One didn’t become a flag officer with one’s eyes closed.
Well, she might as well get this over with.
Zia press the admittance key and the door slid open moments later. A medical aide was on duty, there to serve any need the commodore had and to socialize if the injured woman wanted it.
The compartment was relatively basic, but it wasn’t as if Murdoch was able to enjoy very many amenities. Besides the bed and furnishings, one wall supported a large vid screen to provide entertainment.
It was interesting, Zia thought. People with implants could watch vids in their heads, but many preferred to watch them the old-fashioned way.
Commodore Murdoch was an older woman with lines across her face from scowling and various levels of displeasure throughout her life. It came as no surprise that she fixed Zia with a frown.
“What do you want now?” the woman demanded peevishly. “I’ve already given you the damned codes.”
Zia gestured for the medical aide to leave them and took a seat by the bed. “We’re about to take a trip into the Rebel Empire. Or, if you prefer, the Empire. A place you’ve been, I believe. Archibald. I was wondering what you could tell me about it.”
The older woman’s frown deepened as she processed what Zia had said. “That’s impossible. We’re nowhere near Archibald.”
Zia allowed herself a small smile. “Without elaborating, I believe you already know we’re fairly resourceful. You’ll just have to take my word that we have a way to get to Archibald, and it won’t take as long as you think.
“That said, we have specific things that we need to get there. This ship’s flip drive burned out when we arrived in the system. We need to either get what we need to repair it or find something to steal to replace it. To make that happen, we need your help.”
Murdoch laughed, her voice sounding dry and just a tad bitter. Of course, bitterness had colored everything the woman had said thus far since her attempted murder. And, to be honest, before that.
“I suppose if you were looking to get repair parts, that’s one of the best places to look,” she finally admitted. “It’s a fool’s errand though. There’s no way you can actually get into a Fleet facility like that. It might not be guarded as well as the Dresden orbital, but you can be sure they don’t allow just anyone to walk in.”
“It seems like we did pretty good with the Dresden orbital, didn’t we?” Zia asked. “In fact, we ended up stealing the entire thing. I’m not sure at this point what we can do at Archibald, but we have resources you’re not aware of.
“Which brings us full circle. I can’t go into the details of how we’ll carry out this mission, simply because I have no idea what we’re facing. I need you to tell me about Archibald and the Fleet facilities there.”
The older woman considered Zia for almost twenty seconds, her expression calculating. “Alright. I’ll do it, but I want something in return.”
“What?” Zia asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The older woman smiled coldly. “The shipyard isn’t the only thing Archibald has to offer. It’s also the home of one of the Empire’s top medical research facilities. Something like the Dresden orbital, but with less security implications, if you know what I mean.
“I want you to work your magic at that facility, too. If anyone has advanced regeneration equipment and techniques capable of repairing my spine, it’s them.”
That was actually a nightmare. They already had a difficult mission and didn’t need to add a second intrusion to the first. That was just begging for trouble.
“Just because they might have the technology doesn’t mean that they will have the technology,” Zia objected.
“I want you to promise that you’ll make a good faith effort to obtain the technology and knowhow to heal me. That’s my price.”
Zia felt her teeth clenching. One more needless complication to a situation already fraught with danger. Unbelievable.
Part of her wanted to promise the old woman anything just to get the information she needed, but Zia wasn’t going to lie and make knowingly false promises. If she agreed to this, they’d do their very best to make it happen.
Even if she had felt differently, Zia knew Princess Kelsey would take a promise like that and make it happen. She’d insist and she’d be right to do so.
“I can’t promise success,” Zia said, feeling tired. “We’ll make a
good faith effort to get any technology that might see you healed and knowledge of the required techniques. That said, I’m not going to throw my people’s lives away. If it looks impossible, we won’t act.”
Murdoch nodded, her expression somewhat glum. “Not exactly a ringing endorsement of our deal, but you’re speaking with the voice of someone who actually intends to carry through. I really can’t ask for more than that, can I?
“Very well. I was a junior officer when I was stationed at Archibald, but I was a flag lieutenant and my commander occasionally dragged me into some interesting places, including the shipyard. I saw the area where they manufactured flip drives and other parts, too.”
The woman’s smile grew cold. “The only way I see that you’ll be able to get the parts you need is to plug the information directly into the manufacturing computers and have it make them on the spot.
“As one might expect, that’s going to take some interesting timing and very likely require a diversion. Say, some kind of ruckus at the nearby medical research facility. And I haven’t got the slightest idea how you can expect to get what you build out from under the eyes of the security officers on duty at the shipyard.”
“I suppose I’ll have to get all the information I can from you and figure that out, won’t I?” Zia asked with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever been at the medical research facility, have you?”
“Sadly, no. There was no need. After all, I was young and immortal.” That last bit came out with an exceptional amount of bitterness.
“At that age, aren’t we all?” Zia asked rhetorically. “We’ll run through the information you can give me now and then I’ll send a couple of officers to go over it again and get every little detail we can. We only get one chance at this, your mission and mine. If I can’t make everything work, none of us is going to come away happy.”
With a sigh, Zia began asking questions and getting specifics. She’d make another pass once she’d gone through the initial run looking for deeper details. Done right, the preparation for this mission would take days.
