As the door to her team closed behind her, Stephanie looked around and tried to find some indication of who was waiting to meet them. Her jaw dropped as the door opposite opened to reveal a comfortable living room and the four people waiting within.
“Mom? Dad?”
Chapter Eighteen
John snagged a tray of donuts and Ivy took their coffee. Amaratne took one look at what they were carrying and hurried to the briefing room.
“Do we get to know the plan?” John asked, and the admiral smiled.
“You get to know the plan,” he replied as the young couple placed their snacks in the center of the table. “Roma, if you would.”
“I beg your pardon, Admiral, but I am afraid I cannot,” the AI replied, and the lights went to amber as an alert sounded through the base.
The young mage was on his feet and headed to the door before she had time to explain. “Roma, if this is another of your drills—”
“This is not a drill,” she replied. “I detect a large mass entering the perimeter.”
“Has it identified itself?”
“He has yet to identify correctly. His exact words were, ‘You’ll know me when you see me,’ and he answered the second challenge with ‘I seek sanctuary.’”
“He didn’t give you a name?” John demanded and listened intently as Amaratne and Ivy raced after him.
“Negative,” Roma replied.
“We’ll meet him in the foyer,” he decided, and the three of them moved to take up positions covering the walkway door.
The figure who came through the gate certainly looked familiar.
“Isn’t that Ted?” Ivy asked.
“Negative. His voice pattern does not…” Roma hesitated.
“What is it, Roma?” John asked.
“I need to verify…” The AI sounded distracted.
“Roma?”
“One moment, please…”
“One moment,” Amaratne grumbled. “Does she even—”
The door opened and he leveled his blaster. On the opposite side of the room, Ivy mirrored him. John merely drew himself taller, and lightning crackled in his hands.
“My, my, aren’t we a feisty bunch?” the newcomer said, his eyes barely visible in the shadow of his very large cowboy hat.
“Ted?” John asked, and the lightning diminished slightly.
“Not quite,” the man replied and removed his hat.
Beneath it, he looked very similar to the AI they’d dubbed Ted, but he looked different too.
His blue eyes were less faded, and he had dark hair pulled back in a queue. It took them a moment to recognize the pilot from the simulation.
“Remy?” Roma asked, and the man rolled his eyes.
“It took you long enough, little sister.”
“Little?” she sputtered. “Who are you calling little?”
“If the boot fits,” he retorted and turned to the three humans. His gaze settled on Amaratne. “I believe there was a plan?”
The admiral sighed. “Tell me, does that form drink coffee?”
“It can,” Remy replied.
“It doesn’t have to,” the older man reassured him, “and your timing is impeccable. We were about to start.”
“What? Without me?” the AI feigned hurt and ignored the raspberry Roma blew from her speakers.
“Next time, you should call ahead,” Ivy told him and led the way to the meeting room. “We could have baked a cake.”
“But…why would you do that?” Remy asked in bewildered tones.
Amaratne clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s a saying,” he said and frowned at the girl. “Although a little sarcastic, I think.”
She smirked, opened the meeting room door, and moved to the table to pour coffee, while John followed to distribute the donuts.
“Are you sure you won’t…” he started and hefted the box of donuts in Remy’s direction.
The AI held a hand up. “No, but thank you for asking.”
“Then I’ll begin,” Amaratne said, accepted the cup Ivy handed him, and sniffed it suspiciously.
“I remembered the sugar this time,” she protested and he gave her a quick smile before he woke the video screen on the other side of the room.
“We need to strike two locations at once,” he began and nodded at Remy. “With the addition of one more, this becomes much easier.”
“Two locations?” the girl asked.
“Yes. The first is one of the major ground-based communications arrays. This will take out most of the Regime’s administrative systems and their ability to coordinate on a global scale.”
“And the other?” John pressed.
“Involves a flight up to a low-orbit orbital to deal with a few additional obstacles.”
Ivy’s eyes widened and she took a gulp from her cup. Remy noticed that she wasn’t drinking coffee but hot chocolate. He wondered why, then decided it was probably a matter of personal preference.
Chocolate wouldn’t have been that easy to come by in the Chi-Subs.
“What kind of ‘additional obstacles?’” she asked.
“You know the satellite arrays?” the admiral asked, and they all paused.
“You don’t seriously—” Remy began, but the pieces began to fit together and he stopped. So, that had been what his uncle had been referring to when he said Amaratne’s plan was “a little ambitious but not impossible.”
“Indeed, I do,” the admiral told him. “And now we have you, it won’t be anywhere near as difficult. John and Ivy can handle the orbital. She has the hacking ability it needs, and he can keep her covered.”
“Which leaves the ground facility for us?” he asked, and the older man grinned.
“Yes, and believe me, we will have a time of it.”
“Not too much of a time, I hope,” John said, and Amaratne shook his head.
“Not now that I have Remy to back me up. He can help me with the coding side of things, which means we no longer need to decide which operation we’ll do first. We can do them both simultaneously.”
“You have a much greater chance of success that way,” Roma observed. “I will admit to having my doubts regarding your original version.”
“I know,” he told her. “Believe me, your concerns were well-founded, and I’m glad we have the extra hands.”
“This hacking task,” Ivy interrupted. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
Amaratne rummaged in the pockets of his training fatigues and pulled out a chip, which he laid on the table.
“I need you to upload this,” he told her.
Ivy picked it up and turned it in her hands. “What exactly is it?”
“It’s a series of code I had Ted design for me,” he told her. “Once it gets into the system, hundreds of communications satellites will fall from orbit and burn up in the atmosphere.”
“The stars will fall from the skies,” Remy murmured and suddenly understood the message his uncle had sourced from the computer.
Their human allies had told Ted what they would be looking for. He regarded the older human with even more respect than he’d had before. Amaratne hadn’t been joking when he’d said he’d spent his years on Earth preparing for Stephanie’s return.
“It is the only thing they will accept as proof of her imminent return,” the admiral explained, “because it is the one thing that can be seen worldwide and which we cannot get away with unless she returns.”
“Why?” John asked.
“Because it’s the one thing the Regime cannot spin as being a coincidence or an accident.”
“Pfft. We pull this off and the Regime won’t have anything it can spin things with,” Ivy retorted.
“Nor can they deny it when the communications become spotty,” Amaratne confirmed and added, “And now, with their interest in Dreth, it will have even more impact since it will offset the Regime’s plans if they can’t learn what is happening off Earth.”
“Will it stop that completely?” Ivy asked
, and he frowned.
“If it doesn’t stop all the communications, it will at least delay them.” He shrugged. “Worst case scenario, all we’ll do is create a very pretty night sky, but I hope it will also be enough to enable those who might fight with us to believe again.”
He stopped and caught their gazes.
“She is coming!”
John raised his mug. “And amen to that.”
“Of course,” Amaratne continued, “we’ll have to do a few dry runs in the virtual.”
“I have you covered there,” Roma told him. “Oh, boy, do I have you covered.”
The young mage groaned, and Ivy rolled her eyes.
“I bet you do.”
The admiral ignored them.
“Now,” he continued and brought up an image of a sprawling complex.
“Is that it?” John asked, and Amaratne nodded.
“That, as they say, is it,” he replied.
“That is huge,” Ivy added and narrowed her eyes. “Exactly how will you and Remy take it down on your own?”
“Well,” he answered, “we won’t exactly do it all on our own. That code you’re uploading will help us too, particularly if we time it so the satellites are in the right position when they start to fall.”
‘How do you mean?” John asked.
“I mean that I’m hoping to have a few of the satellites crash on top of the complex. If we get three or four to land in the right place, the entire complex will explode.”
“Uh-huh,” Ivy said, drained her cup, and placed it on the table before she sat on the couch and folded her arms. “And how, exactly, will you manage that?”
“It’ll take careful programming and a good deal of coordination,” Amaratne told her. “But in the end, it’ll be me with Remy, while you and John snag one of the cars up the Pyrenees Tether.”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?”
The man shook his head and regarded her with serious eyes. “No, I’m not. While Remy and I are getting things done at the array, you and John will travel up the cable to the orbital. By the time we’ve finished inserting our code, you should be ready to insert yours and have the data barrier between the orbital and the comms array disabled.”
“Are you gonna provide us with magic wands as well?” she challenged, and he shook his head.
“I don’t think wands will be necessary,” he told her. “You’re taking the Witch’s Apostle. How big a wand do you think you’ll need?”
John looked from one to the other. “I am not a wand.”
Ivy patted his knee. “No, you’re more a barely contained lightning storm looking for a circuit breaker to explode.”
He lowered his head. “Thanks, Ives. There’s a picture I didn’t need.”
Amaratne chuckled and lifted the box of donuts toward him.
“Do you have any strategies you want to share before we start practicing?”
The meeting didn’t stay small for long. Captain Rawlins was called to join them since she’d be commanding the Knight, and the Marine captains from both ships were needed in case of boarders or boarding actions.
Eyes glittered with suppressed tears as they looked at shipmates and friends they’d thought long lost. It was a scene played out at all levels on both ships. Words were lost to tears, and hugs replaced greetings.
“It’s been a long time” and “Too long,” interspersed with “It is so good to see you,” rattled through the corridors and workspaces like a mantra.
“Dammit, I’ve managed to fog my faceplate,” was another oft-repeated phrase as engineers went to work on the Knight’s much-patched hull.
Stephanie watched scenes from the hundreds of surveillance cameras scattered throughout the Tempestarii and felt like she’d burst from the emotion.
So many years, she thought and felt the Morgana’s understanding.
Now you know a little of what it’s been like for me.
Emil cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, and the screens changed from scenes of happy reunion to images of several fleets. He brought each one up to fill the viewer as he described it.
“It’s been getting harder to gather the intel,” he explained, “but this is what we know.”
The first fleet brought a worried frown to Rawlins’s face.
“This is the Home Fleet,” he told them. “We believe it’s still stationed around Earth and has the sole task of protecting the planet, but more about that shortly.”
The image changed to show another fleet as large as the one before. “And this is the standing fleet they keep on the border of the Meligorn-Earth system border. It’s stationed through three systems, each a key transition point to Meligorn.”
Now, Stephanie frowned as well, and her guards looked worried, Johnny in particular.
A third fleet took center stage on the screen.
“This is the fleet monitoring Dreth,” Emil explained. “It’s mainly confined to the home system and has no authority to wander into Dreth territory, but I can attest to the fact that it does.”
His face grew bleak. “Their most recent incursion was made with the intention of granting Earth a reason to annex Dreth ‘for its own good.’”
He made quotation marks with his fingers and continued. “Our belief is that Earth intended to use the incident as an excuse for a ‘friendly’ occupation from which it would gradually tighten its grip from chokehold to stranglehold.”
His gaze scanned those around the table as the screen played the footage of the Regime’s decimation of Hrageth’s Run.
“At this time, Fleet Admiral Jaleck has contained news of the attack and Earth is robbed of their excuse for occupation. However, we don’t believe this situation will last much longer. It seems certain that the result will be Earth moving from occupation to annexation with far harsher penalties imposed on Dreth’s people.”
He looked at Stephanie. “We may not return in time to prevent their initial attack.”
She inclined her head. “I understand.”
“Before we move on to battle plans,” he said quietly, “I believe you will need to understand some of the changes that have been made in your absence.”
“Changes?” she asked.
“For instance, Brilgus is now Ambassador to Dreth and V’ritan’s direct liaison to Fleet Admiral Jaleck, and Tethis is King Grilfir’s primary advisor.”
“He is? When did that happen?” Stephanie demanded.
Emil gave her a gentle look. “Steph…it’s been twenty-eight years. Much has changed since you headed to Telor.”
“Twenty-eight…” She sat. “I think we need the rest of the teams here.”
“And coffee,” the captain told her as Lars and Ka left the meeting room to call in those they’d left in the corridor.
They didn’t have long to wait. Once they were settled, she turned to Emil.
“So, Brilgus is now Ambassador to Dreth and the King’s Standard Bearer and Tethis is the Primary Advisor to the King. What else?”
“ONE R&D has thrived in your absence,” he told her, “and T’virilf and BURT oversaw the merger between T’virilf’s Earth-based company and his own.”
Stephanie held a hand up. “Stop,” she said and closed her eyes. “Twenty-eight years and the Meligornians were kicked out of Earth—”
“All aliens were kicked out of Earth,” the captain corrected, and his face grew sad. “Those who were allowed to leave, that is.”
She raised her head and her eyes began to bleed to black. “Tell me.”
He shook his head. “That is a story for later. What is important now is that you understand some of the structures you are coming into.” He waited until her eyes returned to their more natural blue.
“You brought your people out at the right time,” he reassured her, and she lowered her head and remembered Becca.
“Not all of them.”
“All who would come,” he stated firmly. “We weren’t to know the Regime’s plans were so well-advanced.�
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“Admiral Amaratne?” she asked and recalled how the head of Earth’s Federation Navy had been both a friend and supporter during the war.
Emil’s face was grave. “He disappeared on Earth after sending his family ahead to Meligorn. That man could read the writing on the wall, but he cut things a little too fine. One day he was in his office, the next…well, he was gone. Not even a note.”
Stephanie paled, and her eyes blazed with dark fire.
“He was a good man,” she said, her voice tight, and Todd laid his hand over hers and growled an agreement.
“He was,” the captain agreed.
The room fell silent for a moment, then Lars cleared his throat.
“Any news of Elizabeth?” he asked.
The team sat a little straighter, all focused on Emil, but it was BURT who spoke through the speakers overhead.
“Elizabeth and Matthias are doing well,” he assured them, “and your namesakes are raising, in her words, ‘merry hell.’”
“Namesakes?” Marcus asked. “Tell us she didn’t name one of them ‘Frog.’”
BURT chuckled. “No, but there is a Jack, Stephanie, Todd, and Lars in the mix.”
The team exchanged glances and their eyebrows raised.
“Are you telling me that Elizabeth…” Frog began and cleared his throat. “You know, the dreaded Ms. E, the very cold-hearted killing machine, Miss Ruthless herself had kids? Whose dumb idea was that?”
“Yes,” BURT acknowledged dryly. “It came as quite a surprise to Matthias as well.”
“I’ll bet it did,” Lars sputtered, then sobered. “So, they’re doing okay then?”
What he was asking was if they were still around and they all knew it, but BURT answered the question at face value.
“They are currently running the security section of ONE R&D Meligorn, with occasional forays into the field to protect the research teams.”
“Research teams?” Stephanie asked.
“Of course. Once the remediation teams realized they couldn’t go home and that we’d planned for that, they started to ask what their new roles in the company were. The pitch-fest that followed was something that needed to be seen to be believed.”
“And the school?” she asked in a small voice. “If Tethis is now advisor to the king, what happened to the school?”
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