by J Palliser
From somewhere in the darkness, Hashir heard someone enter the room. If it was the person the woman had sent out for the bag, then he figured he was most likely back in the cantina.
Suddenly the lights in the room came on, and he had to close his eyes again. When he opened them, the black man stood in front of him, and next to him stood the female bartender from the cantina. She was no longer in the suggestively low cut shirt and tight pants of the bar. She was all business in a black flight-suit, covered with pockets that could hide enough weapons to arm a small invasion force. Several others stood around the room as well. All of them were heavily armed.
Someone handed her the bag he had hidden, and she opened it up. Reaching in, she pulled out Aiden's flight-suit. She looked at the silver eagle representing his rank and visibly swallowed when she saw blood on the front of it. Deeper in the bag, she found Aiden's military ID.
She handed it to the big man beside her, who studied it carefully, anger building in his face. Hashir could see that Aiden was a good friend of theirs, and the thought of his being in Tanweer's hands wasn't a pleasant one.
"How'd that get there?" The man pointed to the blood partially obscuring the Knight Squadron patch on the grey garment that the woman was still holding.
"Samra worked him over on the Abraxas before delivering him to the Prefect."
"What do they want him for? Why didn't they kill him outright?" the woman asked.
"Because for now they want him kept alive. This is strictly a case of revenge for Tanweer. Her sons were on the Lucifer at Khondor and she's making Hunt pay for killing them... and she's enjoying every minute of it."
"What kind of shape is he in?"
Hashir sighed heavily and shook his head. "Not good. He was taken to the interrogation room about ten hours before I walked into the cantina and hadn't been returned to his cell before I decided to leave. When there was no sign of him, I managed to get to the interrogation chamber to check in on him. He was still strapped to the chair, was semi-conscious, and repeating the same words over and over again. Between the drugs and the chair, he probably couldn't recognize his own mother at this point."
"How much time do you think he has?" she asked.
"Tanweer plans to dedicate the memorial she's building to her sons in a little over three days. I know that Hunt is to be part of the ceremony, so they won't kill him before then. If I know her, she'll torture him to the brink of death, have me make sure he stays healthy enough, then start the whole process over again. She will break him. I just hope that by the time you can get to him he'll still be the same man he was."
The woman's fists clenched and the muscles in her jaws bunched. "She won't get away with this. I'm going to see to that personally." She paced the room two or three times then stopped in front of Hashir. "How do you feel about working for us? Are you willing to change sides?"
"I thought I already had."
"I think so, too. I'm Ru Larado, formerly of Knight Squadron." She pointed to the huge bearded man, who leaned over to cut the ropes holding Hashir in the chair. "This is Titus Quinn, formerly of the Khawarij Mercenary Corps."
"A pleasure. Do you have a plan?"
"First, we get you back where you belong, so you can work from the inside. Then we contact Knight Squadron. I imagine Aiden's disappearance has made them all a bit hostile, and I would like to point that hostility in Tanweer's direction if I can. They'll be just what we need for what I have in mind."
Hashir shook his head in disbelief. "You're ready to trust me after speaking to me for five minutes?"
"Welcome to the underground resistance, Hashir. We take who and what we can get. And we have to start somewhere. Besides, if you turn out to be a traitor, you'll be dead before you know what hit you. That's a promise."
Hashir knew that she wasn't kidding. He marveled at how well respected Aiden was and how many people were willing to risk their lives to save his. He was startled by the fact that he included himself among them.
And when did you start thinking of him as Aiden? He sighed. Damn, he's doing it to me again.
***
Ares watched readings on his monitors scroll endlessly by and frowned in frustration. The lead about Morgan hadn't resulted in anything useful. The bartender had simply been hired to act as a go-between and had no idea who or where the 'client' was, no matter how much they tried to bribe or threaten him. That meant that the Knights were back to square one in their search for Aiden. They at least knew how Aiden had been ambushed, but still had no idea where or why.
In desperation, they returned to their search grid in the Helios System, in hopes of finding something, anything that would give them an idea of where Aiden had been taken. But so far they had come up with nothing. Not even debris to suggest that the ambush had even taken place.
On their return from Thula, Ares and his group had run a parallel course to Jarro, who had taken his share of the Knights back to eat, rest, and refuel. But they were back now and the squadron was at one over full strength. A total of thirteen Valkyries hung in space, including Jace in his own ship. There was also Neva in the Watcher and Mira and Ajax in the Raven, all of them doing sensor sweeps in the middle of nowhere for a man they knew was no longer there.
The only good news they had received was that Jace had managed to convince his people to release two ships to help in the search. At any time now two Deutschland-class heavy cruisers would be joining them, the same model as Admiral Raeder's Graf Spee, they would be of great use to them. Not only would their sensors be able to pick up more detail, it meant that the group wouldn't have to head for Thula every time they needed to refuel. The cruisers had small hangars that, between the two ships, would just be able to squeeze in the thirteen fighters. The Raven and Watcher would be able to dock with either of the ships as well.
Ares had been surprised that Thula would offer two of their largest ships to them. When he asked Jace how he had managed to convince his people to send the two ships, he answered with an uncharacteristic shrug.
"It was easy. Aiden helped to liberate our planet from Yasmin Jaza. Every man, woman, and child owes him a debt."
Ares never ceased to be amazed at how the people of the Reich rallied to help Aiden.
Just as he was about to yawn from exhaustion, there was a blur of motion to Ares's right, and K5 hooted frantically at him. He expected the outlines of the two Deutschland-class heavy cruisers to appear from gravity-drive. But the shape that came into focus wasn't what he wanted to see at all. Suddenly he was alert, his mind racing.
"Knight Leader to Group. Jinn-class Destroyer has just arrived, and she does not look friendly. Come about to heading two-zero-mark-three-five and prepare to make an emergency jump back towards Thula."
There was a chorus of confirmations that his order had been received, and he saw the tiny dots of other Valkyries come about to match his heading.
"Lead, Six. We have about four squadrons of M29 Defenders and M35 Interceptors, pouring out of the Destroyer. No IFF transponder, but she actually has her name painted on the hull, if you can believe it. She's the Abraxas." Konrad's voice came through clear and calm.
"Lead, Nine here. There is no way all of us will jump before those fighters catch us, cause the Abraxas is maneuvering right into our direct path back to Thula."
"I see it, Nine. Stand by." Ares weighed their options, but none of them seemed terribly appealing, and he dismissed outright all but two of them. They could make a blind jump to gravity-drive, which in many cases proved to be deadly-they could fly right through a star or a planet, and that would kill them for sure. With Abraxas in the way, a jump directly to Thula was out of the question. The only other option was to turn and fight. As much as the odds of thirteen Bf-109 Valkyries against forty-eight Defenders and a Destroyer appalled him, it seemed to be the best option. They wouldn't survive for long if the enemy caught them trying to run.
"Okay, gang, we're going after the Defenders. Break by wing-pairs and shoot at anything that sh
oots at you. But stay as far from the Destroyer as you can. Knight Control, I want you to plot a course around Abraxas and back to Thula, then transmit it to the group. Raven, get in behind the Watcher and stay there."
Mira's voice crackled across the Knight frequency. "No way, Lead. We're helping where we can."
"Raven, that was not a request. It's an order."
"Lead, I don't respond well to orders. Get to work, Ares, and let me worry about the Raven."
Ares sighed. He wondered briefly if she spoke to Otto the same way. He was pretty sure he knew the answer. "All right, people, let's show these bastards that they should know better than to corner Knight Squadron!"
18
XVII
The buzzing of the intercom startled General Werner Marcks, as it always did. It was one of the few things that could surprise him these days.
"Sir, Admiral Raeder just called. He would like to know if you could spare a few minutes for him. He said it was rather urgent. About what you talked about two days ago?"
The Director of Reich Intelligence was out of his chair and halfway across his office before his aide had finished his last sentence. He swept through the waiting room, and the young man just looked at him as he passed. He had been with the General long enough now that he was used to him arriving and leaving unexpectedly.
"Tell the Admiral that I'm on my way to his office."
He was out the door and around the corner before the young man could reply.
When Marcks reached Admiral Raeder's office, his aide didn't even try to stop him as he passed through the anteroom. He walked into the office and closed the door behind him. Raeder looked up from his smart-pad and motioned him to a chair with a webbed hand.
"They've found him?" Marcks asked as he sat down.
"Not yet, but I've just had a message routed through my office that tells us where he is, at least. Have you seen it yet?"
Marcks tried to keep his expression neutral. It had been several hours since he had received a message from Ru Larado. He had made some inquiries and then contacted her directly with information and instructions. As per his orders, she had re-recorded a message for Knight Squadron and sent it through regular channels as a high priority signal. Marcks hoped it was this message that Raeder had intercepted. "Admiral, contrary to popular belief, I don't see every message that comes into Daraa. So where is he?"
"He was ambushed and is being held by Prefect Natal Tanweer on Artemis III. I am sure that name means something to you."
"Yes, it most certainly does. I have people working with the underground resistance there to try and topple what's left of the Khawarij occupation force in that system."
"Would one of those people be Ru Larado?"
Marcks tried his hardest to look exasperated. "I can't confirm that and you know better than to ask, Admiral."
"The only reason I ask is because the message that I have is from her. She's the one that found Commander Hunt."
"There is no controlling that woman! She finds her way into everything." Marcks pounded his fist on the arm of his chair, surprised at the fact that he was actually beginning to feel annoyed.
"In my experience, General, once a Knight. always a Knight. You have to let them do what they do. Restrict them and you risk dooming them to failure."
Marcks smiled. He had often heard Raeder speak of Knight Squadron and their unconventional strategies. But as he said, it usually worked out for the best. If it wasn't for their unorthodox thinking, they would not be sitting on the former Khawarij Center having this conversation. "So, now that we know where he is, what do we do? Are you planning to send in a fleet to take over the planet?"
"You know as well as I do that the Reich Ministry won't sanction that kind of action. They won't take the risk of sending a fleet out there and wasting precious resources that you know we can't spare. Should the attempt fail, many questions will be raised in the Council, and no one wants to take the blame."
General Marcks nodded, and Raeder continued. "But I can make sure that the message from Larado will reach Colonel Crane and Knight Squadron. They'll be able take care of the rest. I know that Mira Raines-Kitt has already sent for her father and the Prometheus. Also, the Thula government has given over to Major Jace Borne the use of two Deutchland-class Heavy Cruisers. As far as I can tell, without one scrap of help from us, Colonel Crane has managed to build a force more than capable of taking on one single Jinn-class Destroyer."
The General slumped in his chair. He knew that Mira had sent for her father. Marcks had been trying to keep tabs on Dallas Raines and his ship for a while with only marginal success. The thought of a smuggler like Raines running around the galaxy in a Destroyer still irritated him, especially since he was the one that had been forced to give it to him. But at least this time it was being put to good use.
"Admiral, you may not be able to send reinforcements to the Knights, but I may be able to do something. I have a way of contacting Larado directly, and I may be able to find out what her plan is and do what I can to help them. Also, without the knowledge of the Ministry, I may be able to insert a couple of operatives onto Artemis III. They would be able to help the underground from there while the Knights put whatever plan they have into action.
"Whoever you send would be on their own, General. They would be working outside the Reich. Who would volunteer for such a mission? Or do you already have someone in mind?"
"I do. I have a few members of the Vipers sitting around with nothing to do at the moment. I am sure they would be invaluable to the mission. And I know they would love to help."
"My experience with the Vipers is limited since they were transferred from my command to yours, but as I recall, they are even harder to predict than the Knights." He smiled. "That could be a very good thing."
General Marcks smiled as well. He remembered when he had told the then Commander Hunt that Vipers was going to be transferred from Luftwaffe Command to Intelligence. The younger man had given him the lopsided grin that all Korsican men seemed to learn at birth. "They may take a little getting used to, General. You can give the Vipers a simple problem to solve, and they take the most roundabout route to solve it. But they do it with spectacular results. Even I can never tell what they are going to do next."
Now part of the group that Aiden Hunt had founded would come to his rescue.
"Yes, it could be a very good thing. I can't spare all of them, of course, but the two I can send are two of the best. You remember Udo Wulf and Duke Max?"
"They are hard to forget."
"Well, I'm going to set them loose on Artemis III and see what havoc they can cause."
"And I am going to pretend that I didn't hear you say that so I can truthfully tell your court martial tribunal that I had no idea what you were up to."
"That sounds like a fair deal." Marcks stood and offered his hand to the Admiral. "I know that we haven't always seen eye to eye, Karl, but I'm glad you came to me with this."
"It was the least I could do for Commander Hunt. With you and the Knights working to rescue him, the odds of his survival just increased. You will keep me updated, General?"
"Are you sure you want me to?"
"You have a point there. I will leave it in your hands, then."
"Thank you, Admiral." Marcks stood, offered the Admiral a brief salute, and left his office.
19
XVIII
Otto brought his Valkyrie around to face the wave of M29 Defenders and M35 Interceptors heading his way. Owais was tucked in right behind him as always.
The Defenders and Interceptors were coming straight for them, reassured no doubt by their nearly four-to-one advantage. He flicked his comm unit over to the frequency he shared with the Knights in the Flight under his command. "Three Flight, we'll go head to head with them and take out as many as we can with torps, then cannons-be sure and keep at least two torpedoes in case we need to make a run on the Jinn. Then we'll double back and pick on whoever is closest. Check in."
