Hunt for the Saiph (The Saiph Series Book 3)

by PP Corcoran

  On the bridge, Kenichi clung to his seat’s armrests, as others were tossed from their seats and landed heavily against equipment and the deck. The navigator, though tossed from side to side, was securely clamped to his seat. With a single keystroke, the Sorcerer vanished and reappeared moments later in the peaceful space surrounding Waypoint 4.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Tilting at Windmills

  TDF POLARIS - OUTER MARKER

  MESSIER 54 - 50000 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH

  The unarmed courier ship entered normal space a bare 100,000 kilometers from Emperor Yalo IV spaceport and within scant seconds her computers screamed their warning. The defenseless ship was being locked up by multiple fire control systems. Sitting calmly in a jump seat in the cramped flight deck, Admiral Ai Jing could feel the tension in the air. His coming to the Alonan home system was a gamble he knew could go horribly wrong if there was an itchy trigger finger aboard any of the Alonan warships the tactical display showed maneuvering to surround his ship.

  The nervousness in the young Communications Officer was apparent as he spoke. "Incoming signal from the spaceport, sir. Message reads: Commonwealth vessel, you have illegally entered Alonan space. Power down your systems and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will be taken as a hostile act and you will be fired upon. There will be no further warnings."

  "Communications. Transmit in the clear, please. To Commanding Officer Emperor Yalo IV. From. Admiral Jing, Chairman of the Commonwealth Combined Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Jing requests an urgent personal audience with Emperor Paxt.”

  The reply came back swiftly. "You are ordered to return to Commonwealth space and inform your admiral his request will be forwarded for consideration."

  Jing knew it was time to play his ace in the hole. "Communications. Open a video link to the station."

  With a wary glance back at the admiral, the comms officer complied and a few seconds later the forward holo cube flickered to life, revealing the impassive face of an Alonan colonel. "Commonwealth ship. I shall not repeat my order..." The colonel’s voice faltered as he realized that instead of a lowly courier ship’s communications officer, he was looking directly into the face of Admiral Jing, the human who had led the Commonwealth fleet, which was responsible for saving the Empire from certain destruction at the hands of the Others. His head reflexively bowed in supplication and his voice became deeply respectful. "Admiral Jing, forgive my tone. I was unaware you were aboard. My standing orders are to allow no Commonwealth vessel access to the home system. Even if the vessel carries the savior of the Empire. Please accept my apologies."

  "Your diligence to your duty does you honor, Colonel. Nevertheless, I must speak to the emperor as a matter of urgency on a subject that I fear, if not resolved, may lead to war between our two great nations."

  "A moment please, Admiral."

  The colonel’s face disappeared from the holo cube to be replaced by the emblem of the Imperial Navy, the stylized winged beast, its talons grasping the sword carried by the very first emperor. As the seconds became minutes, Jing forced himself to relax, but as the wait reached eighteen minutes, even Jing could feel his concern building. Was his last-ditched attempt at averting war a waste of time? Were the Alonans going to deny him an audience with the emperor? The urgent movements of the comms officer caught his eye and then the holo cube came to life and the face of the Alonan colonel filled the cube.

  "Admiral, my orders are no Commonwealth vessel be allowed entry into Alonan space..."

  Jing felt his hopes for a peaceful resolution to the burgeoning conflict drain away.

  "However, there are no such orders referring to individual members of the Commonwealth. As such, I am transmitting your ship docking instructions. Once docked, I have arranged for your immediate transfer to the INS Topa, which will carry you onward to Alona where you may make your request for an audience in person."

  The normally inscrutable Jing could not quite keep the tone of relief from his voice. "Thank you, Colonel. I am in your debt."

  The colonel's face reddened slightly but he said nothing, simply bowing his head before the link was terminated.

  Well, we are still in one piece, now all I need to do is get to speak to the emperor, Jing thought as the small craft began its approach to the spaceport.

  #

  THE IMPERIAL PALACE - ALONA

  Admiral Jing absently looked out of the floor-to-ceiling windows upon the vast expanse of the ornate gardens surrounding the emperor’s palace, which was situated like an island of some past world in the sea of advanced industrialization that was Bozra, capital city of the Alonan Empire. In an attempt to hide the apprehension he could feel gnawing away at his stomach, he forced himself to appear relaxed and give the outwardly impression of a man admiring the view. The thick glass deadened the noise of the sprawling city in the valley below into an almost-imperceptible dull drone. The soft whoosh of the large doors opening into the throne room caused Jing to turn away from the colorful garden vista and face the impeccably presented captain of the Imperial Guard.

  "Admiral Jing, the emperor is ready to receive you now."

  Jing took a small breath and straightened his uniform. With a grateful nod to the officer, Jing walked through the doors and into the imperial throne room. It was just as Aaron Beckett had described. The rows of large windows on either side of the room allowed the light to flood in and the deep pile carpet quieted the sound of his boots as he approached the raised dais at the far end of the room. Emperor Paxt sat rock-still on his seat, flanked by Grand Admiral Raga, commander of the Imperial Navy and the Empire’s foreign minister, Minister Hozal.

  Halting at the bottom step of the dais, Jing brought himself to attention and gave the emperor a deep bow from the waist, Alonan style. Straightening, he gave a respectful nod to Admiral Raga and Minister Hozal in turn. Minister Hozal opened the conversation.

  "Admiral Jing, it is an honor to meet you in person at last. Your actions and those of the men and women of the ships you commanded, will not soon be forgotten by the Empire, no matter what unpleasantness has led to the current state of affairs between the Empire and the Commonwealth."

  Jing moved his head slightly and addressed the emperor directly. "With the emperor's permission, it is this very state of affairs I wish to address today, Minister."

  With a barely noticeable flick of his wrist, the emperor gave permission for Jing to continue.

  "Your Majesty, I stand before you today at the express order of the leaders of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth believes these words should be heard from a soldier who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with soldiers of the Empire in its defense. A soldier like myself and not a civilian diplomat who has not once used his own body to protect others.”

  "Indeed, a wise and considered move by the Commonwealth to send you before us, Admiral but... It could also be mistaken for a shrewd political gambit designed to use our cultural respect for our own military and for you to veil the Commonwealth’s true intentions," Minister Hozal said.

  "That could be true, Minister, however I promise on my honor as an officer that my intentions here are to prevent what seems to be the inevitable slide into conflict the incident surrounding Balat has put us in."

  "That incident, Admiral, cost the lives of 25000 colonists! One 185 fine sailors! Are you denying it was the Commonwealth who carried out the attack?" said Admiral Raga.

  The emperor held up a hand and Admiral Raga lowered his head in silent apology for his outburst.

  "Whoever was responsible for the attack on Balat, I promise you it was not the Commonwealth, Admiral Raga. We have all lost people, Admiral. Civilian and combatants alike, and it is my job and yours to ensure we give our leaders the best intelligence and advice we can to help them make the best decisions and right now I don't think you have the best intelligence on which to base your advice." Jing was ready for another outburst from Raga but a raised hand from the emperor forestalled anything the admiral may have wanted to s
ay. Jing took the emperor’s intervention as permission to continue.

  "Your Majesty. However regrettable the loss of life at Balat was, it once again reiterates a lesson that history has taught us again and again and we so often forget. When two nations do not trust each other, this lack of trust can very quickly turn into open hostility. Hostility very rapidly becomes a move toward armed conflict..."

  This time, the emperor's raised hand was not enough to stop Raga as his nostrils flared and the veins on the side of his neck popped out. "Trust! You dare talk of trust! My ships searched the Balat system after your cowardly attack and guess what we found? A surveillance platform! One of your surveillance platforms, Admiral. I ordered searches of the Kathan and Opero systems and we found yet more surveillance platforms. Your precious Commonwealth is spying on the Empire, Admiral and we can prove it! I dare you to deny it."

  For a few seconds, Jing said nothing. If the Empire had truly discovered the surveillance platforms that were run out of Waypoint 4, then denying any involvement in their construction and use would only prove an obstacle in any future talks.

  "I admit that the Commonwealth did deploy surveillance platforms in those systems..."

  "A-ha! I told you, Your Majesty, the Commonwealth cannot be trusted." Raga said elatedly.

  "I would ask however, Admiral Raga..." continued Jing in a convivial tone, "if a bordering nation, one who had completely closed its systems to you, refused any kind of contact beyond a single diplomatic mission which operated under blanket restrictions on its movement, a nation which in the past had already shown its willingness to use covert techniques to secure the purchase of restricted military secrets, what would you have done?"

  The veins were visible on Raga's neck again as he spluttered an angry retort. "What we did was for the protection of the Empire, nothing more! It was you who left the Empire open to an attack by the Others. If you had told us of them we would have been better prepared..."

  Jing cut him off in midsentence. "You have no idea how much I personally regret not informing you of the Others’ threat. However, was it not Commonwealth men and women who put their lives at risk to come to your assistance? We had nothing to gain by helping you. If the Commonwealth wanted you destroyed, then we could simply have left you to your fate. Instead, good sailors died defending Alona." Jing could feel the anger stirring in him but he could not stop it. It had been simmering within him a long time and now it burst forth like lava from an erupting volcano. "And where was your gratitude? I was only doing my duty, but what of the families of those sailors who never came home? How was I expected to tell them their husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters died defending people who never once said thank you for their sacrifice? Three years, Admiral. Three years and not a word. Well, Admiral Raga, I'm here now. What do you have to say to those families whom you have led to believe that their loved ones died for nothing?"

  The throne room had not witnessed a tirade of this kind in living memory. Doors were flung open as members of the Imperial Guard burst in, weapons drawn, ready to defend the emperor but the sight which greeted them caused them to falter in their headlong charge. Emperor Paxt slowly rose from his throne and stepped down from the dais until he stood directly before Admiral Jing. To the entire room’s astonishment, the emperor bent his knee and bowed deeply to the human admiral. Following the emperor's lead, every Alonan in the room bowed and averted their eyes. The emperor spoke without raising his head.

  "Admiral Jing. Please accept the Empire’s deepest apologies for the failing on our part to honor the families of the fallen. It is a shame on our honor that it takes an outsider to remind us of our duty. They are all heroes of the Empire and as such their names will join those of the fallen who fought and died so the Empire may survive. Each and every family will receive a personal letter of thanks from myself. Again, I ask your forgiveness for our failing."

  Jing was flabbergasted at the turn of events. His anger subsided as the more clinical part of his brain regained control. "Your apology is accepted, Your Majesty, and please accept mine in return for my outburst."

  Regaining his throne, the emperor smiled briefly as the guards retired from the room. "Perhaps it is good at times to allow our true feelings to show, Admiral."

  "You may be correct there, Your Majesty." Jing said with a smile of his own.

  Minister Hozal took this as his cue to join the conversation. "I assume you have a proposal which may avert any future... er... misunderstandings, Admiral?"

  Jing was glad to get back to the original subject. "Indeed, Minister. The Commonwealth proposes we introduce a system whereby the Empire and the Commonwealth each station observers in the other’s systems to monitor fleet movements and war games above a certain size. These military observers would be allowed unfettered access to any system and, within reason, any military base or ship within said system. The idea being that both the Empire and the Commonwealth can keep tabs on each other’s military. If neither one side nor the other can make secret preparations for hostilities without the other noticing, the threat of conflict is vastly reduced. We saw something similar on Earth in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and it helped keep the peace for over eighty years."

  Hozal cast a glance at Raga, who gave a barely perceptible nod of approval. The emperor similarly gave his silent approval. "Your proposal has merit, Admiral and is certainly worthy of more discussion. Perhaps a short recess would be in order to allow the emperor to consider it. Would it be convenient for you to return tomorrow?"

  "The Commonwealth Ambassador has graciously provided rooms for me in the embassy. I shall wait there until I hear from you."

  "Until tomorrow, Admiral."

  And with that, Jing was dismissed with the satisfied feeling he accomplished a good day’s work. As the doors closed behind him, the emperor turned to Raga. "Well?"

  The admiral took his time before answering as he considered what he had heard. "The human’s reaction, although more heated than we had anticipated, was as assumed. His denial of any involvement in the attack on Balat was only to be expected. However, I believe him. The analysis of the data recovered from the Kuna's communications drones and the subsequent reports from the ships we dispatched to Balat to recover the Kuna's wreckage and make complete sensor sweeps of the system show that the weapons employed to destroy the ship and the colony were not of any known Commonwealth design. Therefore, we can only presume the colony was destroyed by an enemy who is, as of now, unidentified."

  "And what of his proposal we exchange military observers?"

  A frown creased the Grand Admiral’s brow. "As you know only too well your Majesty our own surveillance technology is still years behind that of the Commonwealth and despite the best efforts of our intelligence services we have been unable to keep track of all the Commonwealths fleet movements never mind getting access to their latest military hardware. After our procurement of the Gravity Drive they tightened up on their security. The idea that I could put a trained intelligence officer on board any ship or base of theirs I please is a gift we would be foolish to turn down."

  "And what of the idea of Commonwealth officers on our ships?" Queried Hozal.

  "Bah! Let them come." Snorted Raga dismissively. "We are the ones who have more to gain from this so called exchange. The new shipyards we are building in the Foram system are restricted to only those with need to know and the Foram system itself is so far off the beaten track that keeping the prying eyes of the Commonwealth away from the yards should be easy enough."

  With a slap of his thrones armrest, the Emperor stood to leave. "It is decided then. Minister Hozal please contact the Commonwealth embassy and set up a meeting with the Ambassador, Admiral Jing and your people to flesh out the proposal. Grand Admiral Raga get together with your friends in intelligence and draw up a list of officers suitable for the exchange program."

  Both men bowed as the Emperor went to leave but he stopped short of the door leading to hi
s private chamber. "One more thing Minister..."

  "Yes your Majesty?"

  "Ask the Ambassador to forward a list of all members of the Commonwealth forces who gave their lives in the battle for Alona to my private secretary."

  "Of course your Majesty."

  #

  2287 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH

  "So Foral, you are pleased with the results of the test?" The Supreme Leader asked without turning from the window which gave him a magnificent view of the surrounding fields bathed in the warm red light of the star hovering constantly overhead.

  "A resounding success Supreme Leader. The frigate proved no match for our cruisers. If this is an example of what we are likely to encounter then I believe we have little to fear from these lesser beings. There weaponry was inferior to ours, as I predicted, and what missiles of theirs managed to evade the cruisers’ defenses wasted themselves harmlessly against the energy shields. A technology which our attack has proved the enemy do not possess."

  Tearing himself away from the captivating view, the Supreme Leader turned to face Foral, and his face reflected his cautious tone. "Let us not judge our enemy’s capabilities yet, my friend. We chose this world because we knew the technology of this Alonan Empire was less capable than any already available to the Commonwealth. Our monitoring of the Commonwealths unshielded vid broadcasts also indicates they have encountered another potential threat to us, these Turak. It is imperative we keep these differing groups from aligning against us. I suggest our next target needs to be of more significance. A target against whom your fleet can truly test its mettle."