by Terry Mixon
The two men behind the woman glanced at one another but didn’t shift their aim.
“Kira,” Hale said. “You know me. You know I’m ex-military Special Forces. You know I wouldn’t play along with this if it were bullshit. Don’t make her shoot you. Seriously, I don’t want anyone hurt, but we don’t have time for a pissing contest.”
They all floated there for a long moment before the other woman sighed and lowered her weapon. “Christ. If you’re lying to me, I’m in deep trouble. Guns down, boys.”
Zane moved past Rachel to disarm them. Once he had their weapons, he made his way back.
“To the bridge,” Hale said. “I’ll explain it there.”
They saw other people on the way to the bridge, but none had guns.
The man on the bridge started to say something at Hale, his expression indicating he was supremely pissed off.
“No time, Jack,” Hale said, bringing the controls to life. “Price, explain it to them. Zane, watch the hatch. We have an incoming supply ship. That must be Jason.”
Kira Houston glared at Rachel. “What’s going on?”
“Someone inside Janus Corporation is staging a coup against the Republican government. Right now.”
“Bullshit.”
The man who’d been on the bridge cleared his throat. “Ah…maybe not. I heard something about widespread attacks of some kind in the rest of the system. No one knows what’s happening.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Houston demanded. “Jesus, Jack.”
The woman rubbed her face. “Say I believe you. What the hell are you doing here?”
“We’re leaving the area until we know what’s going on. We have most of the plan and if we can get to a large transmitter, we can let everyone know that Janus is behind it. You know a guy named Randy Evans?”
Houston nodded. “Sure. He’s a dick. The dick in charge of the FTL program. There was some kind of incident with him in the headquarters building, so they sent me out here to make sure things were okay. Was that you?”
Rachel nodded. “I’m afraid it was more than an incident. He was one of the leaders in the plot, and the guards outside his office shot him dead when we tried to question him.”
“Holy shit,” Houston said, looking shocked. “This can’t be happening.”
“It is,” Hale said. “That’s Jason. He should have enough room in the bay to land. As soon as he’s on board, we boost. Where do we go, Price?”
“Ceres,” she said. “That’s close and will have a transmitter strong enough to hit the rest of the system. We have to get ahead of this. We can drop these people off there, too. Zane, get them out of here. Except Houston. Lock the hatch.”
Once he’d cleared the room, Rachel gave Houston a stern look. “If they intentionally screw something up, you won’t like the results.”
“They won’t.”
Five minutes passed and then Hale started the ship moving. Rachel could actually feel it.
“Jason is on board and I’ve set the course,” Hale said. “Control is back on the air. We only thought they were screaming before. Man, are they excited.”
“Can they catch us?”
He shook his head. “No. FTL ships are fast. The next one in line isn’t finished yet, so we’re clear. I’m spinning the ship.”
He touched a key on the console, and an automated voice began warning of impending gravity.
Rachel put her pistol away and held on as the gravity slowly took hold. “Go get your friend. After you take this dammed suit off me. Take Houston with you.”
She looked at Zane meaningfully as Hale began stripping off his dive suit. “We need to talk.”
Zane sighed. “That phrase never means anything good.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Adam was happy to be out of the suit, even if all he had on was an under suit. He held the pistol in his hand because he had nowhere to put it.
Kira seemed deflated. “Is this all true? Janus is taking over the Republic? That’s crazy. Do you really believe them?”
“Sadly, I do. I was there when we questioned Evans. I’ve seen far too much for this to be faked.”
“It was Janus that tried to kill you, then. God.”
He snorted. “Actually, that was someone else. I’ll tell you the entire story when we have time. What you need to understand for now is that this really is happening.
“Believe me, you’re in as much danger as we are. We’ve seen things that the company doesn’t want getting out. Like where these FTL drives come from.”
She frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”
“That’s another part you’ll have a hard time swallowing.”
They arrived at the docking bay. Of course Jason had figured out how to cycle the lock. He wasn’t alone, either. Their construction crew was with them, along with their families and/or significant others.
He’d also brought some of the storm divers they liked the best and their people. He’d really stuffed the passenger shuttle to the max.
“Bro, you park like shit,” his friend said. “I brought friends. Hi, Kira. We’ve collected your folks’ families, too.”
They were a welcome sight. People to run the ship he could trust implicitly.
Malcom Enright was another story. The reporter gaped at the ship from his place at Jason’s elbow.
“Good God, Mister Hale,” the older man said. “Everything Miss Price claimed has come true. Janus really was up to something.”
“Told you. Now we have to stop them.”
“That may prove more challenging than even you can manage,” the man said sadly. “The reports I’ve seen indicate the coup might have been successful. With the way these things work, it may be some time before we know for certain, but it’s too late for anything we do to make a difference.”
Adam sagged. “Dammit. We can’t have failed.”
Jason clapped him on the shoulder. “They started out a dozen moves ahead of us. We’re lucky to be alive. We can head somewhere out of the way and see how things shake down while we make plans.
“I’m worried, though. I tried to find Cindy, but she wasn’t at her place. She didn’t answer the com, either. I’m afraid Janus has her.”
Adam grimaced. “They don’t. I owe you the full story, but she got off the station before they locked everything down. She’s fine.”
His friend frowned. “What? Why?”
“No time. I hope you brought a lot of supplies for us,” he said, changing the subject.
“Everything my grandmother could beg, borrow, or literally steal. She also sent the FTL drive with us. She said it was too hot to sell and that we owed her. I also have the rest of your friend’s spy gear. Did you find your brother?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t the joyous reunion you’d expect.”
The airlock cycled, and two security officers stepped through. The two patrolmen that had been with Quinn. Adam gaped and started to raise his gun.
Jason grabbed his hand. “They’re with us. Once it became clear something funny was going on, they went to guard their boss. Someone tried to kill her again, so I convinced Grandmother to move her to safety. She’s in the shuttle with Paul Wong.”
The older security man nodded at Adam. Gavin Starnes. “We’re not here to cause trouble, Mister Hale. We turned our weapons over to Mister Chang, and we’re at your service. Until Detective Quinn says otherwise.”
Adam stared at all the people around him and shook his head. “I obviously need to tell this story in a group setting, but for right now, we have to get away from Jove Station. Everyone to your boosting stations. Keep an eye on the FTL crew. I want to trust them, but it’s too soon.”
Once they’d dispersed, Adam looked at Jason, Enright, and Kira. “Let’s go to the mess. We can at least have coffee while I tell you the real story.”
* * * * *
Rachel waited for Hale to leave before she turned on her partner. “You idiot.”
“Look,” Zane said, his hands hel
d out beseechingly. “I had to cut you out. I didn’t want to put you into the position of believing this. Hell, I wasn’t sure until I got out here.”
“That doesn’t cut it,” she said harshly. “You didn’t trust me. Worse, you got up on that damned high horse and made it impossible for us to get to you in time. Two years. Two. Fucking. Years.”
He sagged into a chair. “You think I haven’t raked myself over the coals for the last few months? I know I’ve screwed up. I did what I thought best. I was wrong.”
“Why not bring your brother into this? Surely you trust him.”
“Not after Mars.”
She felt her eyes widen incredulously. “Seriously? If I can admit I was wrong when I had my face shoved into the evidence, how could you ever doubt?”
“Not that,” Zane said abruptly. “His dislike of me made him unreliable. I’ve known him longer than you have. He’s a loose cannon waiting to go off.”
Rachel shook her head in astonishment. “Idiot is too mild a word. Look around you. He more than pulled his weight making this happen. Trust me, he doesn’t like me any more than I like him. Though I’m honest enough to admit I was wrong. Absolutely, completely wrong about him.
“More to the point, he’s been far more reliable than you. I thought I knew you, but I’m going to have to rethink that. I don’t trust your judgement anymore.”
“That hurts, but I get it. You’ll have to get over it, though. When I finally put together a plan, I’ll need you to back my play. Adam won’t like it, I’m sure, but together we can keep him in line.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Maybe you don’t get it. I’ll chalk that up to you being a prisoner for so long and everything happening all at once. You’re not going to be calling any shots, Zane. I’m in command of this operation.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m the senior agent, and I have far more experience than you do. Don’t make me force the issue.”
Rachel stared at him, too flabbergasted for words. He’d lost his mind.
“You’re going to make this difficult, aren’t you?” she asked as she grabbed her suit and put it on top of Hale’s.
“I’m sorry to quash you like this,” he said. “You’ve done one hell of a job, but it’s time for me to take over. You’ll understand in time.”
“I feel exactly the same way,” she said sadly as she brought out the shocker she’d palmed and pressed it to his chest.
Zane had just enough time to twitch his hand toward it before she blasted him into oblivion.
“Breakups are hard,” she said over his limp body. “Especially in our line of work.”
She’d have to get Hale to lock Zane up. He’d be pissed when he woke up, but she didn’t care anymore.
* * * * *
Adam found a room that could hold Zane until they decided what they needed to do with him. He was a bit jealous that Price had gotten to shock the bastard. He felt cheated.
The ex-security patrolmen agreed to watch over his brother. After speaking with the still badly injured detective, he was willing to trust the two. They were all in this together.
The next thing he found was a jumpsuit. He tore the Janus emblems off and put it on, happy that it fit.
When he finally stepped onto the bridge, he found it fully manned by his team. The FTL crew was coming around, but he didn’t want to chance anything until he was sure of them.
Price sat in the captain’s chair, staring at the console in front of her. She looked up as he came in.
“The coup is going to succeed,” she said grimly. “They bombed parliament while the president and the senior judiciary were there. They’ve already blamed the Disruptors and declared martial law.”
“What do they have to back it up?” he asked.
“At least some of the Army went over to Janus. Or the officers were in their pay. We may never know for sure.
“The Navy is still fighting, but we’re picking up distress beacons. Those go a lot further than the short-range transmitters. Too many of them.”
“Show me.”
The RIS agent brought up a flat map of the system. Dozens of flashing dots indicated distress beacons. More were appearing at the edges of the map as he watched. She was right. Janus had won.
“I talked with Houston,” Price said. “Her people are going to finish installing the FTL drive. Since it wasn’t intended for the Navy, it’s probably going to be safe. We need to jump out of the system.”
He sighed. “No one here knows how to even use the damned things. We’re construction people. Normal space operations are about our limit. We’re stuck.”
“Maybe not.” Price tapped the screen. “This one distress beacon is right ahead of us. If we can find a pilot on board, they could help us escape.”
He looked at the scale of the display and did some rough math in his head. “We’re a few hours away. We’ll call ahead. I don’t want anyone shooting at us. Move over.”
She stood and surrendered the chair to him.
Adam brought the com system online. The other ship was at extreme range, but he could give it a try. The delay in the back and forth wouldn’t be terrible.
“Navy vessel, this is Javelin,” he said into the com when he activated the transmitter. “We are two hours away from your position. Please state the nature of your emergency.”
He already knew the answer, but he wanted them to be less suspicious, not more.
The response took a little longer than the travel time for the signal, but not much. The screen came to life. A man wearing a Navy uniform with a nasty cut over his left eye stared back at him. His right arm was in a sling.
“Javelin, this is the Republican Navy ship Hyperion. We’ve sustained some kind of engine damage and then another ship attacked us. Rebels we never knew existed, based on the news from the rest of the system. We took them out.”
The man leaned forward. “Are you a rebel, Javelin?”
Adam grinned. “Hell, no. I’m Adam Hale, and we took this ship from the rebels. I’m sure we’ll have to take small steps to build trust, but you need a ride and we need an experienced crew to help us. We used to be construction people out on Jove Station.”
The man slowly nodded. “I might be able to believe that. We’ll have to build some trust, as you said, but at least you didn’t come out of nowhere and start shooting at us. That’s a point in your favor.
“I’m Lieutenant Charles Nottingham, Hyperion’s tactical officer. The captain and the XO died in the battle.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, sir. I’m ex-military myself and I know how that hurts.” He pursed his lips. “It’s better if we share our stories when we meet. We’re an FTL ship, but we don’t have a pilot. Can you help us out?”
The man smiled grimly. “We used to be an FTL ship. The pilot and her backup made it through the fight just fine. I think we might be able to help one another, Javelin.”
* * * * *
Rachel rubbed her neck after the tense exchange was over. It had gone much better than she’d dared hope. They’d have the help they needed to get somewhere. Then they had to make plans to turn this around.
Somehow.
She opened her mouth to say something when the com system chimed. Maybe Hyperion was calling back.
No, it was an encrypted signal on an open beam. She reached past Hale and brought up the header. RIS encoding. It was from the Inspector General’s office.
Talk about being spectacularly late to the party.
“My turn in the chair,” she said.
Hale got up and let her take his place. He stared at the screen. “What is that?”
“A signal from the RIS Inspector General. It’s encrypted, but going wide. Everyone and their third cousins are getting this. Only someone with the right codes can read it, though.”
“It must be important.”
She certainly hoped he was right.
Her passcode worked up to a point. It got a video, an executable file, and a large encrypted file
with a different key. Hoping the video would give her something to work with, she played it.
A woman in a suit sitting behind a desk appeared. Her expression was grim.
“This message is for all loyal RIS agents in the Earth system. I am Wanda Redding, your Inspector General, and there is a coup in progress. By now, you probably know that, but individuals high in the RIS hierarchy are involved.”
The woman smiled coldly. “Unfortunately for them, they didn’t realize we’ve considered the possibility of this before. I’ve locked them out of the comps and purged all RIS systems and backups.
“They’ll get into my office soon, so I don’t have time to go into detail, but you need to know that I’ve included as many covert RIS locations and contacts in the encrypted file attached to this message as I can. I can’t give you the code to access it, however.”
Rachel frowned. What use was it, then?
“I’ve culled the roster of active agents and used my best judgement to pick those who are likely to be the most loyal,” Redding said. “If you’re hearing this message, you’re in that group. If you heard about it secondhand but aren’t involved in the coup, my apologies, but I can’t trust you.”
Redding smiled coolly. “The file’s access code is based on you, loyal agent. Use your failsafe code with the attached executable program. It will generate a passcode to decrypt the data. Protect it with your lives. The code for this operation is Redemption. If someone claims to be RIS and doesn’t know that, be very, very cautious about trusting them.
“The file has the list of agents I chose to get this message. Anyone not on it is hereby suspended as an active RIS agent. Work with them if you must, but be very careful not to trust them too deeply, no matter how long you’ve known them. The corruption runs deep.”
An explosion went off not too far away from Redding’s desk. She opened her desk drawer and retrieved a pistol. “I’m going to purge my system now. Do whatever it takes to restore the Republic and stop these bastards. Consider those the last valid orders you’re going to get from us. Know that we’re proud of you all. Good luck and make them bleed.”
