The Smuggler's Ascension: The Ties That Died

by Christopher Ingersoll

  “Excellent idea, General,” Admiral Geoff replied, and his image suddenly disappeared.

  Anasha came to hold Sabine again as the tiny Queen trembled and watched the tactical screen. The screen had changed to show the station’s proper orbit in green, and the station’s current position in yellow to indicate the danger.

  “Will it work?” Anasha asked quietly as they waited.

  “It might be their only hope,” Colonel Jannis replied just as quietly. “The preliminary damage report from the station shows a quarter of their thrusters are offline, thrusters that are in the quadrant of the station needs to properly realign their orbit.”

  “Let’s just hope the force of the tractor beams doesn’t break apart the damaged section of the station,” Kristof added grimly as they waited.

  Long minutes ticked by as they waited. The station’s movement out of orbit slowed gradually, and then just as gradually began to move back towards the green ring. The crowded war room cheered as it became apparent the station would be saved. Kristof did not cheer, and he saw that Anasha and Sabine also remained quiet and stone faced.

  “Colonel,” Sabine said quietly, anger beginning to creep into her voice, “I need a situation report from the impact area of the asteroid that got through. I need to know how badly we got hit.”

  “Medical and rescue ships are already in route, your Majesty,” Colonel Jannis said after a quick check of his computer. “I will have the preliminary report sent to you as soon as I have anything.”

  “Get me out of here, please,” Sabine said softly to Kristof and Anasha. “I need to be up there with my people.”

  Kristof knew better than to argue with her as he led his wives back towards the elevator that Max had waiting for them. Sabine loved her people as if they were all her children, so this attack had wounded her deeply he knew. It hadn’t helped that she had apparently felt the death of her people above. Thoughts of Clovani Prime were also in her mind, he could sense, as well as a guilty feeling that she had brought this terror upon her people.

  “This isn’t your fault,” Anasha told Sabine firmly as they rode the elevator up by themselves. She’d obviously picked up on the same feelings that Kristof had.

  “Yes it is,” Sabine said sadly as she slowly assumed her regal, emotionless face she wore for formal events. “I knew that what happened on Clovani Prime would come back to haunt us, no matter who it was that actually made it happen.”

  “Sabine, my love,” Kristof said as he made his wife look up into his eyes. “You are not responsible for the actions of anyone but yourself. If you need to blame someone for this, then blame the ones who did it. You did NOT make this happen.”

  The shields above the Palace remained brightly lit as Kristof led the way through the Palace to the Central Command offices. As in the war room far below, the command center was bustling with activity, though the voices were more muted now that the attack was over and the orbital station stabilized.

  The tactical screen here now showed images from the rescue ships that had rushed to the southern hemisphere in response to the asteroid hit. The images showed many fires and wreckage from collapsed buildings, as well as people staggering about in shock. The worst image, however, came from a ship high above the scene that showed them the impact crater.

  The asteroid had struck inland of the large coastal city of Foria. The crater itself was about a mile wide, but the blast wave from the impact had flattened and demolished the nearby city. Skyscrapers stood like dead, disease riddled trees while fires raged in the ruins below.

  “My god,” Anasha whispered for the second time in the last hour as she took in the scene being shown them. Even Max whistled as the scope of the carnage became evident.

  Kristof took Sabine in his arms as her stern, regal face broke and a tear ran down her cheek. He watched the screens, feeling the same sick feeling that swept everyone in the room as they surveyed the carnage and directed relief efforts. Thoughts of his brother came to mind as well, and Kristof’s anger at Korvan began to grow and rage. There had been a time when he had wished to save his brother from the torments of his sister and father, but no longer. Korvan would pay for this, Kristof vowed.

  Nearby, a fleet officer operated a terminal and Kristof went to him after transferring Sabine to Anasha’s arms. Kristof began thinking rapidly of everything that would need to be done in this emergency, though the many officers around him would have things in hand already. His thoughts were more towards what he knew Sabine would want.

  “Commander,” Kristof said as he approached the station. “I need you to get word down to the Palace spaceport. Tell them the Phantom should be prepped and ready to fly in thirty minutes.”

  “Yes, General Anders,” the officer replied and immediately began making calls.

  General Mannis had joined Sabine and Anasha by the time Kristof rejoined them. Kristof was glad to see that Sabine had regained her poise and was standing strong again.

  “Reports are coming in of attacks on Durani and Madella as well,” General Mannis was saying, “But most weren’t to the degree that the attack here was. Lord Stephan reports that the attack on Durani was repelled but they took significant losses, and the orbital station at Madella was heavily hit and knocked out of its orbit and dropped into the atmosphere. It landed in one of Madella’s oceans, so at least there wasn’t any additional losses from that event.”

  “I didn’t think the Clovani had enough forces left for an assault of this magnitude,” Anasha said quietly, seemingly reading Kristof’s mind. “Not while trying to maintain their slipping hold on their empire, anyway.”

  “It may be that Korvan has decided against holding the empire together in favor of revenge,” Kristof said darkly.

  “Do you really think it was him?” Anasha asked. “It doesn’t seem like the brother you told me about.”

  “Korvan’s changed,” Kristof said as he then told them of the encounter aboard the Vengeance after Kristof had been captured. He had not told his wives the details of Korvan’s torture of him, partly because he didn’t remember a lot of it, but mostly because he was still in shock himself at the changes in his once docile brother. “Karina has no doubt broken him and remade him in her image.”

  “Recent intelligence out of the Empire reports that Korvan Anders was crowned as the new Emperor,” General Mannis informed them. “The report had just crossed my desk yesterday, as a matter of fact. I had intended to include it in today’s briefing.”

  “That settles it, then,” Sabine said coldly. “Only the Emperor would have ordered such an attack, and your brother is the Emperor.” Sabine sighed. “What is the situation in Foria, General?”

  “A total loss, I’m afraid,” General Mannis replied sadly. “Casualty reports won’t be in for several hours, but the city had a population of over a million people.”

  “The Phantom is being prepped,” Kristof said softly. “I know you’ll want to go there for yourself.”

  “Yes,” Sabine said after a long silence.

  ~13~

  The command deck of the Phantom wasn’t large enough for everyone, so Anasha surveyed the carnage of Foria from the ship’s mess hall along with members of the ship’s crew. Max stood at her side as the monitors in the hall displayed different visuals from the city. Anasha herself stood at one of the ship’s few view ports that had been uncovered so that the scene below could be observed.

  Anasha found Max’s calm presence comforting as they took in the chaos and turmoil below. The air over Foria buzzed with flights of rescue ships and other ships trying to put out the many fires and search for survivors. She was surprised the skyscrapers had remained standing, until Max told her of the hardened cores of the buildings that could survive even a nuclear blast.

  “Are they finding any survivors at all?” Anasha asked quietly, her heart feeling sick.

  “No,” Max replied simply, “Nor do I expect them too. Not this close to the impact center, anyway. The blast wave would have inci
nerated anyone within the first three miles, the concussive force would have killed anyone instantly within a range of six miles. Between six and twelve miles, victims would suffer...”

  “I get it, Max,” Anasha interrupted the android, too saddened to hear all of the gruesome details.

  The Phantom was making a spiraling circuit of the impact crater, slowly working outward. As they went, the damaged grew less and they began to see hastily erected medical centers as wounded citizens began to be found in the outer reaches of the blast zone. The sheer scope of the damage was staggering until Anasha remembered images that had been taken of Clovani Prime.

  “It is a good thing that only one of the asteroids made it through,” Max said, his words echoing Anasha’s thoughts.

  “If only it had hit out to sea instead, though,” Anasha said sadly.

  The Phantom began to rise away from Foria after a time and seemed to be heading towards space. Anasha made her way to the command deck, where Sabine had claimed the commander’s chair at Kristof’s insistence and Kristof stood to her left. The other stations were staffed by members of the crew, leaving little room left in the tight room. Anasha squeezed in to Sabine’s right anyway.

  “There you are,” Sabine said quietly as she took Anasha’s hand. “Where were you?”

  “In the mess hall with Max,” Anasha said just as quietly. “It was too crowded up here and I needed some air. Where are we headed now?”

  “To survey the damage to the station,” Kristof answered. “Sabine wants to see her grandfather, too.”

  As Sabine’s last close living relative, Anasha knew the Queen had a special affection for her grandfather. The man had taken her father’s place in her heart after her father had passed away. Had it been her own father aboard the station, Anasha would have been on her way there already. The thought of her father made her sad, though, especially with all of the other grief on the planet below, so she pushed it away.

  The impact with the station had been a glancing blow they saw, as the Phantom slowly passed the great orbital ring well away from the scrambling damage control ships. In the distance they could see the mammoth form of the dreadnaught, Archangel, which was easily identified by its grey and blue hull. The Queen’s Honor, the sister ship of the Archangel, was instead a pristine white.

  “That impact wasn’t far from the main command module,” Kristof noted as they passed the station.

  “I know,” Sabine whispered, knowing that the main command module was where her grandfather had been. Anasha squeezed her hand in support. The images of the gaping hole in the station’s superstructure, as well as the twisted girders, crumpled hull plates, and the many fires were an awesome, if horrendous, view to behold. It was a wonder indeed that the station had been saved at all.

  “Admiral Arctura has transferred his command to the Archangel,” the communications officer reported, “And he is directing repairs and operations from there.”

  “Signal the Archangel and tell them we wish to board,” Kristof commanded, anticipating Sabine’s order. His wife remained silent as she took in the many views on the monitors, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  Anasha pulled Sabine’s hand, urging her from the command chair. With a quick swipe, she also brushed the tear away for her tiny wife.

  “Come on, let’s go to Kristof’s cabin and get freshened up before we go aboard the Archangel,” Anasha said, and the tiny Queen allowed her wife to lead her from the command deck.

  Kristof’s cabin aboard the Phantom wasn’t very large. The room had adopted so much of his personality with its collection of items, that Anasha would have been able to identify it as his without any help. There was an old photo of the Wraith, Kristof’s former ship before it had been destroyed, on one wall while an old gun belt was hung from a hook near the door. She also saw a newer photo of the three of them together near the bedside that made her smile. Added to these items were a small collection of assorted souvenirs from around the galaxy, including a couple Anasha had bought him in the years of their first marriage.

  Sabine had gone into Kristof’s personal bathroom, the only one onboard not shared by the crew, and was washing her face in the sink. The ravages of the tears from the day disappeared from her face as Anasha watched her. It was easy to fall in love with Sabine, Anasha felt, even despite the woman’s occasional outbursts of anger and her generally forceful presence. The only person the little Queen was ever submissive around was Kristof, and then only when they were intimate. The Queen was beautiful, to be sure, but it was her obvious caring and loving nature that made her so loveable.

  That submissive streak of Sabine’s around Kristof made Anasha smile as she thought of the times she’d watched Sabine practically melt at Kristof’s ministrations, only to then become a forceful mistress as she came for Anasha herself. Anasha admitted she enjoyed submitting to the little Queen’s desires, as she in turn made Kristof submit to hers. It was a strange triangle they had made, but it worked for them. Their entire union was a circling series of compromises that she often did not see in simpler relationships between people that they knew.

  “I love it when you watch me like that,” Sabine said with a smile as she looked up from the sink at Anasha. “Sometimes it makes me feel more desired than when we’re in bed together,” Sabine added.

  “I desire you no matter where we are, my love,” Anasha responded as she went to Sabine’s side. She kissed her wife softly as if to emphasize the point, and Sabine responded in kind. The expression of their love was a needed respite from the horrors they had just witnessed on and above Purannis.

  The Phantom rocked and settled with a soft bump, which told Anasha they had landed aboard the Archangel. Anasha took Sabine’s hand and together they left the cabin and waited for Kristof, who appeared moments later after giving some last instructions to the new Captain of the Phantom, Captain Gerris. Together, they made their way through the ship and down the boarding ramp, where Max met them on the deck below.

  The main landing bay of the Archangel was cavernous, Anasha saw, and could easily handle five more ships like the Phantom. The dreadnaughts actually were slated to each have two of the stealth corvettes like the Phantom added to their armaments in the next year. Nearby, a lift opened and a number of officers approached, led by Sabine’s grandfather, Admiral Geoff Arctura. Anasha was surprised to see Sabine not race across the deck like she knew the Queen would have wanted to, instead choosing to maintain her professional decorum.

  “Welcome aboard the Archangel, your Majesty,” Geoff greeted them. “I wish it were under better circumstances.”

  “I’m glad to see you are ok, Papa,” Sabine said very softly, so only their small family group would hear, before going on in a louder voice. “What’s the status of the station, Admiral?” she asked more loudly.

  “The damage is very extensive,” Admiral Geoff reported even as he gave Sabine a wink in response to his nickname, “But not fatal. Repairs will be time consuming, but we will see it done.”

  “Excellent,” Sabine said. “How many crew did you lose?” she asked, more out of duty than curiosity. Even one loss was too much.

  “Several hundred at least, but probably well over a thousand,” Geoff replied sadly. “But I did not come down here to discuss damages and casualties. We received an urgent message for you as you were coming aboard.”

  The Admiral handed Sabine a comm cylinder, Anasha saw, before he continued.

  “Grand Duke Duranis sent a coded message for you when he reported in their damage and casualty reports,” Geoff went on. “Command forwarded the message here when they learned of your impending arrival. The Grand Duke had flagged the message as High Priority and Top Secret.”

  “Thank you, Papa,” Sabine said distractedly as she looked at the comm cylinder in her hand. “We’ll view this aboard the Phantom, and then join you shortly.”

  “As you wish, my dear,” Geoff said as he embraced his granddaughter. “I am glad to see you are ok, my little fairy queen,�
�� he added softly, to which Sabine smiled.

  Anasha led the way back aboard the Phantom and to the command deck, where Kristof had the crew head out before he sealed the room, while Max stood guard at the door. She then took the comm cylinder from Sabine and plugged it into a slot on the communications terminal. Sabine leaned over Anasha’s shoulder to punch in her authorization code, and Stephan’s image appeared on the monitor. The man still looked a bit haggard from not sleeping, and now from the recent attacks.

  “My Queen,” Stephan’s image began, “I was most relieved to learn that you survived the hostilities there on Purannis. The attacks here on Durani were also severe though we repelled them at last, and we have recovery efforts well in hand. This is not why I am sending you this message, however. My people have made some rather startling discoveries in regards to your recent inquiry into the legends of antiquity. I would send you the report, but it may be best if you and your spouses were to see it directly. While I may be wrong, I feel that it may be this information that prompted the attack if the enemy is clairvoyant in any way. I will await your orders on how to proceed.”

  “He looks so tired,” Sabine said as the recording ended.

  “I doubt he has slept much since the death of his wife,” Anasha pointed out as she unplugged the comm cylinder. She gave Kristof and Sabine a curious look, wondering if they would now head off to Durani. She knew Sabine would be loath to leave her people after the day’s tragedy, but what they were pursuing was of much greater importance in the long run, especially if Stephan was correct in his theory that the information had prompted the attacks.

  “Message Admiral Raekis,” Sabine said finally, with a tired sigh. “Tell him to have the Queen’s Honor ready to depart for Durani within the hour.”

  “As my Queen commands,” Anasha replied with a salute and a wink, and felt joy at seeing Sabine’s full smile at last.