Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  “Very little. He called and told them that much, then the line went dead. Someone killed the com. Crushed it, as a matter of fact. Police are swarming the area, but they haven’t found him or the attackers yet.”

  She cursed under her breath. “He was armed. A neural disruptor. Something people here don’t know about yet. That means this was organized and there were a lot of people.”

  “Don’t rush in. This could be dangerous.”

  Kelsey laughed grimly. “I sure as hell hope so. Someone is going to bleed for hurting my man. Guard your back. If they came after him, they might have more important targets in mind.”

  She killed the call and opened the pack with her weapons. Oh, how the Imperial Guard had argued against her bringing them into the palace. Too damn bad, she’d said. And now she’d been proven right. She should’ve brought her armor. Though, to be fair, it wouldn’t be of much use right now.

  Kelsey used her implants to call Marcus on Invincible through the palace systems. That had been the first upgrade she’d seen to. The AI answered at once.

  “What can I do for you, Highness?”

  “Someone attacked Talbot. They took him. I want a strike team ready for my call. Have them prep my armor and bring it along if things work out that way.”

  “Of course. You do realize that the planetary authorities will take a dim view of Fleet marines making an assault on the capital world of the Terran Empire, don’t you?”

  She snorted. “You think? I’ll have that conversation with them up front. Is there anything you can do to track down his implants?”

  “Not at this range. I’d need a receiver in close proximity for that. However, he’s a marine. He has an implanted locator beacon. If we can activate it, any receiver within a dozen kilometers will have his stats and location data.”

  “I’ll have the pinnace try that. Keep an eye on any visitors you have. Keep trusted crew close to them. And marines on standby in case someone tries something up there.

  “Also, I want a squad sent to Orbital One to keep an eye on Jared. He could be a target. Keep it low key, but make sure they’re ready to rumble.”

  “I’ll have a pinnace on the way within ten minutes. One is already dropping with the ready squad to your location. They have battle trackers and your armor.”

  “Excellent. Keep me informed.”

  She killed the connection and finished dressing. Her weapon’s belt slid comfortably onto her hips. Her flechette pistol on the right and her neural disruptor cross draw on the left. A marine knife sat at the small of her back. Spare magazines covered the rest of the open space.

  Her off duty armor went under her blouse. It wasn’t great against a modern flechette pistol, but it would stop regular slugs all day long. The big benefit it had was being unobtrusive. Once she’d arrayed herself for war, or at least a minor firefight, she headed for the door.

  The two Imperial Guards gave her a double take as she swept past them, armed to the damned teeth.

  “Highness, is something wrong?”

  “Someone just kidnapped my boyfriend and I’m going to find him. Notify Palace security that a marine pinnace is dropping from Invincible. It’s coming for me. You will let it through.”

  The man blanched. “Ah, we can’t allow something like that near your father.”

  She spun in place and pinned him with her very best angry princess stare. “If they had something nefarious in mind, they could drop a spread of missiles onto this building before you knew what was happening. Either you trust Fleet or you don’t. I suggest you go along with me on this.

  “Also, I’m going to explain the facts of the situation to my father right now. He’ll back me. Count on it.”

  Kelsey stalked off toward her father’s quarters. Part of her hoped the guards there tried to block her, but they stepped aside.

  Her father was already up and dressed in a robe. His hair was mussed, so he’d been asleep.

  His eyes widened at the sight of her, weapons and all. “Something’s gone wrong.”

  “Someone took Talbot. I’m going after him. I called for a marine pinnace to bring me a tracker and backup. Are you going to let them pick me up?”

  Her father looked at the guard. “Clear the marine pinnace for an emergency landing. Go to an increased state of alert, too.”

  The man bowed and hurried off.

  “You look so different,” her father said. “So dangerous. Part of me didn’t believe even after seeing the ambush recording, but it believes now. What will you do?”

  “Find him. And I’ll see the blood of whoever ordered this.”

  * * * * *

  Jared had Invincible send out a warning and recall to all personnel in his fleet. It would reach most of them very quickly, but there were always a few who managed to wander off without a com. They’d get a rude wakeup call by marines making sure they were safe.

  He had most of that done when a knock at his hatch announced the arrival of the marines the AI had dispatched. That was fast.

  Out of habit, he checked the view plate and frowned. He didn’t know any of the four men in New Terran Empire combat armor outside his door. His implants confirmed they weren’t assigned to his ships.

  He ran a second search against the Fleet database he’d uploaded earlier while he activated the com.

  “Yes?”

  “There’s been a problem, Admiral. Let us in, please.”

  The search came up blank. These men were not Fleet Marines.

  “Hang on while I get something on. It’ll just take a second.”

  He hit the alarm on the plate. He expected Orbital One security to call him right away, but other than the blinking light, nothing happened. Then the light went out.

  Oh, yeah. He was in trouble.

  He raced for the bedroom as he heard the hatch he’d locked slide open. A suppressed weapon fired at him as he dove through the hatch and cycled it closed. Thankfully, the man missed.

  Jared used his implants to link with the suite communications gear. He’d had his men rig that up this afternoon. None of his calls was going out. They’d jammed him. Help wasn’t any closer than the marines from Invincible. If they weren’t ambushed.

  Thankfully, he’d let Kelsey talk him into keeping weapons and unpowered armor in his room. He had just enough time to slide the vest on and jump into the closet before the locked bedroom hatch opened. These bastards were good.

  Two of them came in with weapons out. Jared lit the one facing the closet up with flechettes. The New Terran Empire unpowered armor wasn’t up to the task of stopping them. The man went down in a spray of blood. His partner dove behind the bed and returned fire.

  A gunfight at pointblank range was not Jared’s idea of a good time. Luckily, his flechettes were better at penetrating the bed than the old-fashioned slugs were at finding him. The other man screamed and stopped firing.

  That’s when the other two fake marines opened fire from the hatch leading to the living room. The chest protection he’d been able to slide on took several hits and held. He fired back, but his angle was crappy.

  Then the bulkheads beside the hatch splintered under the assault of hundreds of flechettes. Both attackers died a gory death. The cavalry had arrived.

  A female marine in unpowered combat armor—Old Empire style—came into the bedroom looking for threats. A check confirmed she was assigned to Invincible. “Clear. Come out, Admiral.”

  Of course the woman could sense him in the closet.

  Jared stood and his leg gave out. He’d taken a hit after all.

  “The admiral is hit,” the marine called out as she slung her rifle. “I’ve got him.”

  She grabbed Jared in a fireman’s carry before he could decline. A full dozen marines fell in around them as they headed out of his quarters. Anyone that came near got weapons in their faces and told to move back. Including Orbital One security.

  “Put me down,” Jared said.

  “Our orders are to get you to safety, sir,”
the man in command of the detachment said. “I’m taking you back to Invincible.”

  “Put me down, Corporal Jackson. Right now.”

  The woman obeyed, but raised her weapon and glared at the growing crowd of security officers. They were one mistake away from a tragedy.

  “We’re on Orbital One and we will not threaten Fleet personnel, Lieutenant Wilson. Everyone, lower your weapons.”

  The marines seemed disinclined to obey, but they reluctantly did so. Orbital One security wisely kept their distance. No doubt, someone in a position of authority was on the way. The assassination attempt was over.

  All he had to do was deal with the aftermath. And try to explain how he thought the heir to the Throne was the most likely mastermind. Talk about a hard sell.

  * * * * *

  Angela got the warning call just after she’d climbed into bed. She instantly summoned her people. It would take at least five minutes before they came howling in, so she’d have to make sure Owlet was safe until then.

  She grabbed her weapons and charged into the living room. Everything was deceptively quiet. Except for the squawk Owlet made when he saw her standing there in her underwear with her flechette pistol out.

  He’d been playing some kind of first person shooter game on the vid screen. One she’d played before, she noted with some amusement. She’d have to whip his ass at some future point.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked as he surged to his feet.

  “Maybe nothing for us. Someone kidnapped Talbot and the admiral wants everyone to keep an eye out. The protective detail is on the way. Five minutes.”

  “Shouldn’t you…ah, get dressed?”

  “I thought you had a thing for me. Isn’t this a geek’s wet dream? A mostly naked woman with a gun?”

  He snorted. “The other versions of me had a thing for you. I’m just wondering when you’ll punch me again.”

  “You hit a guy one time,” she said with dry amusement. “I doubt we’re targets, but we’re exposed out here.”

  “Well, you are, in any case. I put out combat remotes to keep an eye on the building.”

  That surprised the hell out of her. Frankly, it was something she should’ve thought of. “Why did you do that?”

  He shrugged. “Mainly to test a new command and control array for them. They tag everyone who comes into range and sorts them as threatening or not. Since this is a university campus, I designated people wearing green as threats. It’s not on, though.”

  “Give me a link.”

  He sent her the control link. She found the array and brought it to life, resetting the threat parameters to standard. His placement was pretty good, though she’d have done a few things differently.

  The array screamed an alert to her. Armed men were already inside the building. A grav van outside had two armed men waiting beside it.

  “Shit!” she shouted. “They’re here. Into the bedroom!”

  She faced the door and called her team. “Code red. Hostiles in the building. Contact in sixty seconds.”

  “We’re three minutes out. Hang on.”

  They weren’t going to help her one damned bit. She knew she should’ve overridden that damned stuffed shirt of a chancellor. Now she had a couple of minutes to regret it. They’d mow her down, but not before she killed a bunch of them.

  “I don’t suppose you have any weapons in here?” she asked Owlet as she tipped the dresser over with a crash. It might provide him with a little cover.

  “I didn’t think I’d need one. Will we make it?”

  She gave him a look. “You’ll make it. Stay behind that and pray the team gets here in time.”

  Angela took up position beside the door and trained her weapon on it. The first few men through would die. With luck, the wall would provide enough protection for her to survive long enough for backup to get here.

  The door blew in with no warning, smashing to splinters as the armed men came charging in.

  She opened fire and dropped at least one of them. They were combat trained. That reduced Owlet’s chances. Dammit.

  A long burst killed the men in the room and she leaned out to fire at the men in the living room. Her flechettes chewed up the furniture as she searched for them. She could hear them screaming as she killed or wounded them. A not so fun side effect of the auditory implants.

  They weren’t standing idly by, though. Their shots tore up the wall and she quickly took hits in her arm and side. She’d be down in seconds. Dead before the team got here.

  The combat remotes warned her of a grav drive screaming in from the south. Maybe the team was ahead of schedule. That would be a nice surprise.

  Except it wasn’t slowing down to land. It was acting more like a guided missile.

  The moment before it arrived, she realized what it had to be. “Oh, shit.”

  She threw herself down and covered her head. The wall exploded inward, throwing chucks of debris all over her. She could only imagine what the living room looked like.

  That didn’t stop the enemy, though. A man came through the hole and opened fire at Owlet. His slugs went whining off in every direction. Owlet stood there with that damned hammer extended in front of him like a shield, unharmed and obviously terrified.

  Well, she supposed a battle screen was the best kind of shield available. He’d thrown the damned thing through a plascrete wall. Bullets weren’t a threat now. To him, at least.

  She found her dropped pistol, shot the man, and staggered to her feet.

  “Come over here,” Owlet shouted. “Now!”

  Angela rolled across the bed and got behind the protection of the battle screen just as the remaining men opened fire from the carnage that used to be a living room. There were too many to kill, especially since she doubted the screen would allow her flechettes through.

  One of the men threw a grenade. The screen wouldn’t stop all the fragments. This was it.

  Owlet grabbed her around the waist and threw them backwards out the shattered window. They fell toward the ground five stories below.

  And missed.

  They swooped out as though they were flying and skimmed above the parked grav cars. Someone was shooting at them from the window but the hammer was hauling ass. They blasted out of the campus area with a shockwave that had to be them going supersonic.

  Yet all Owlet was doing was holding the hammer by its handle. The loop of leather was around his wrist, but that shouldn’t have mattered. It should’ve torn free and left them falling to their deaths.

  “You’re hurt!” he said.

  Her side was throbbing. “A little. Why aren’t we falling?”

  “The grav field is large enough to enclose us. We’re completely safe.”

  Their course wheeled and they arrowed back toward the campus. They seemed to be going even faster.

  “No,” she said. “We need to escape.”

  “They hurt you. I’m going to hurt them back, he said, his voice as unyielding as the battle screen protecting them. “The remotes said they’re escaping in their vehicle. Hold on.”

  The van grew from a distant dot to full size in an astonishingly brief interval of time. She thought they’d miss it at first, but it swerved right in front of them.

  Angela flinched, but they were through it before she had time to feel terrified. Flaming wreckage fell in their wake.

  She wanted to yell at Owlet for taking such a stupid risk, but she was so tired. Darkness slipped over her even though she heard him calling to her. Maybe she could tear a strip off him after a little nap.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It was late when Ethan’s private com signaled, but he’d been waiting with anticipation for the call. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before answering.

  “Yes, Victor?”

  “Things didn’t go as planned, Highness.”

  That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. He didn’t bother trying to hide his scowl from his man. “In what way?”

  “The attack o
n the Bastard failed,” Victor admitted. “The team snatching your sister’s paramour sprang their trap too soon and they put him on guard, I think. The kill team only wounded him.”

  “Idiot!” Ethan raved. “That was the most important part of the plan! How could you screw it up?”

  “Highness,” his man said calmly, “we’ll get him. He can’t stay safe forever.”

  “That’s not a solution,” he snarled. “What about the rest of the plan?”

  “A mixed bag,” Victor admitted. “The armed team fooled the brig personnel and got Breckenridge out. We’ll have him smuggled into the Palace before too long. Your sister’s lover is on his way to be examined. We didn’t get the scientist, though. He put up more resistance than expected.”

  The man’s expression told Ethan there was more to the story than that, but he didn’t ask. It didn’t matter.

  “Then work with the people on site. Take care of it personally.” He leaned closer to the com. “And Victor? Don’t bring the marine back when you’re done.”

  * * * * *

  Elise was with Senator Breckenridge when she got the warning from Jared. The senator had ordered something to eat in his office, so she was as safe as if she were in a police station.

  The building was heavily guarded and the senator still had two men outside the door. Her guard commander had summoned the rest of her team to see her safely away from here once they finished their negotiations.

  Breckenridge, for his part, seemed concerned. He really didn’t know the marine, so that was probably for show. Still, it was classier than his nephew.

  She’d put her com in privacy mode, so she knew there was more trouble when it rang.

  “Excuse me,” she said as she rose to her feet and stepped away. “Orison.”

  “This is Marcus, Your Highness. There have been more attacks, including an attempt on Admiral Mertz’s life. He’s injured, but not badly, and is safe. As you’re close to him, I thought you should know.

  “Also, where are you? I’m sending a marine quick response team to reinforce your protective detail.”

  “I’m in the senate building, meeting with Senator Breckenridge. My full guard team is on the way and there are serious looking men protecting the senators. I think I’m safe enough.”