Suns Eclipsed

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

“Use mine,” Maddie Truman said. “I’ll give you the coordinates.”

  “Bellona,” Sang said urgently, his voice low.

  She looked at him.

  “The Alliance just made a blanket announcement,” Sang said. “They say you used the city killer, that you stole it from Criselda, when you took the ghostmakers. They claim that they are not responsible for the attack.”

  Bellona froze.

  Ferdin Roncalli, the little round governor, spluttered indignantly. “She’s standing right there. She hasn’t moved in hours.”

  Maddie Truman nodded. “And this meeting was a surprise to her, too.”

  “The time wasn’t, but the location was,” Alberda said. “Bellona thought she would be in Cerce City right now. It can’t be her.”

  “The Alliance didn’t know any of that,” Dyse said firmly, his voice lifting.

  Madhuri Truman shook her head sadly. “We must deal with the consequences later. For now, we must help Cerce. Bellona, would you and your people take us there?”

  Alberda leaned on the table. His face was white. Almost gray. He was breathing hard.

  “Hero,” Bellona said quickly.

  Hero went to his side and slid her fingers over his inner wrist.

  Alberda lifted his head. “I would have been there,” he said hoarsely.

  “Your family, Lin,” Maddie said sharply. “Are they on the farm?”

  “Yes,” he said heavily. “I came in for the semi-annual. I would be…we all would be…”

  Silence gripped the room.

  “We would all be dead now,” someone said, finally.

  “How secure were the meeting arrangements?” Roncalli demanded.

  “Nothing is completely secure, Governor,” Dyse said gently.

  Roncalli, who still thought Dyse was just a human child, rolled his eyes.

  “He’s right,” Maddie said shortly. “The Alliance could have learned of the meeting. Remove the primary leaders of the free worlds, blame Bellona for it, and they would in one blow rid themselves of all resistance.”

  Alberda laughed. It was not a merry sound. “We were so worried about Bellona bringing the wrath of the Alliance upon us. Look at what they did—they have attacked us anyway.”

  Bellona felt as shaky as anyone in the room. “That leaves one question,” she said.

  “Who told the Alliance?” Khalil finished.

  Everyone looked at everyone else. The paranoia was instant. Bellona raised her voice. “Do not start hunting for moles and spies. You will never find them. Not now. The Alliance is not stupid enough to leave behind evidence of their duplicity. Besides, we have a way of tracking how they got the information.” She looked at Dyse, who nodded.

  “The boy?” Roncalli asked in disbelief.

  “I suspect he is something more than a child, to be sitting at Bellona’s table,” Maddie said.

  “He is,” Bellona said. “That is also not the point upon which we should be focusing right now. You, all of you, should return to Cerce, to help as you can. My generals will take you there.”

  “And what will you be doing?” Alberda asked. His voice was pithless. His face was gray.

  “I got into this fight, Governor, because I wanted to pay back the Republic and the Homogeny for the years of abuse and subservience they put me through. That just changed.”

  “To…?” Maddie asked curiously.

  “I’m fighting for the free worlds, now. Not just the symbol of freedom. I mean the actual worlds. Their independence. Their survival. Dyse, Sang, Khalil, remain with me. We have work to do.”

  She sat down again.

  Fontana grinned. “Let’s not get in her way,” he suggested to the politicians lingering around the door to the boardroom, as he shepherded them out.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Menaii, Deluca Prime, Delucas System

  It took Iulia eighteen hours to reach Deluca Prime. By the time the shuttle touched down on the landing field, her impatience had simmered for too long. She pushed ahead of the people waiting for rental cars and took the vehicle at the head of the line. The couple who had been about to step into the car looked as if they wanted to protest. Then the husband saw Iulia’s face and subsided. He gripped his wife’s arm and whispered in her ear. She glanced at Iulia sharply, then sighed and walked back to the next car.

  Riz scrambled to open the door for her. Then it climbed in with the operator.

  The help-meet operating the jump car was deferential. He would have been no matter who Iulia was, yet it helped soothe her temper by a small degree. “The Deluca homebase in Menaii,” she ordered.

  “Are you expected, ma’am?” the help-meet asked.

  Her temper rose. “Do you know who I am?” she demanded.

  It wisely didn’t speak again. Instead, it nudged the car into motion. The journey to the homebase was utterly silent, which suited her.

  When she reached the homebase, her DNA was scanned and passed without question and she strode toward the house itself, her temper building now she was so close to the object of her wrath. Riz barely kept pace. She didn’t care—it could catch up with her later. None of the domestic help-meets tried to delay her. Instead, they skipped out of her way.

  Raine was in his office studio with his pair of domestics. The one with the blank metal face showed no surprise, of course. The other looked deeply shocked.

  Raine looked surprised, too. He eased himself out of the comfortable chair. “Iulia, what…?”

  She walked right up to him and slapped him, putting her full weight into the blow.

  Raine staggered, spinning with the force of it. He brought his hand up, while the android gasped.

  “Get them out of here,” Iulia told him.

  Raine jerked his head and the two help-meets hurried from the room. He fingered his red cheek, beneath his watering eye. “You’d better have a brilliant reason for that, sister,” he growled.

  “You killed Cerce City,” she raged. “You stupid, stupid fool!”

  Raine grew still. Wariness gripped him. “Bellona did that,” he said stiffly.

  Iulia gave a sound of disgust. “I’m not an idiot. Of course you did it. The Alliance ships all deny being involved. You and the idiots at the clan table took things into your own hands. Peru might have given the order, but it was your idea.”

  “I thought you would be pleased,” Raine said, dissembling. “I did as you suggested.”

  “I said make a bold move, not commit suicide,” she raged. “Do you have any idea the consequences that will come out of this? Did you even stop to think it through?”

  Raine scowled.

  “I had a plan,” Iulia added. “One that wouldn’t backfire the way this one will.”

  “You don’t know that,” Raine said stoutly. “The whole city was taken out. The heads of every popular free state. Alberda himself, who was the biggest threat. You said that yourself. He was popular and he could unite them for her. Now, he’s gone.”

  “The heads of state weren’t in the city, Raine! They were with her! Now, everyone knows it was the Alliance. There’s no one left to blame. That stupid joint statement denying responsibility just makes us look like idiots.”

  “We…missed?” For the first time, he looked doubtful. He sank back down into the chair. “That’s bad.”

  Iulia tightened her fists and growled. The need to lash out again was strong. Only, it would fix nothing. Instead she stomped out to the gathering room where Riz waited. “Get me Admiral Eucleides on a screen,” she told it. “A shielded call,” she added.

  It only took two minutes for the call to be connected.

  Lucretia Eucleides looked over her shoulder. “Wait,” she said shortly. She got up from behind whatever table she was at. The screen flickered, then showed the green walls of her quarters on the Ennius. “This isn’t a good time,” she said shortly.

  “Is your end of the feed protected?” Iulia asked, anyway.

  “Now I’m here in my room, yes. Why?”r />
  “Raine admitted it. The clan assembly, maybe the united assemblies, took Cerce.”

  Lucretia sat back with a sigh. “Unfortunate,” she muttered. “He has forced our hand.”

  “It’s not too late, if we move straight away.”

  Lucretia sighed. “The timing is bad.”

  “Hult is in place, isn’t she?” Iulia said sharply. She didn’t want to get bogged down into one of Lucretia’s endless whining sessions. Not today.

  “More or less. I’ll talk to her, get things rolling.”

  “No, let me talk to her,” Iulia said shortly.

  “Why you? You’re not military—”

  “If Hecate Hult doesn’t already suspect someone in the families moved her into the Captain’s chair, then we’ve got the wrong woman,” Iulia snapped. “I’ll talk to her,” she repeated. “I can be very persuasive.”

  * * * * *

  Demosthenes, Nomansland.

  The proximity alarms and Thecla’s early warning system all fired at the same time. The klaxon and horns cacophony was very nearly deafening. The noise sent people scrambling off their stools and staggering into a run for the control deck, before they properly realized the alert had been sounded.

  Bellona almost fell out of the bed in her haste to answer the call. She belted a robe around her and mentally shrugged. There was no help for her dignity. Time was more critical. She ran for the control deck. The others were just reaching there. Most of them were dressed in day clothes. Some were not.

  “Someone tell me what is going on!” Bellona called, heading for the central chair.

  “Alliance ships!”

  “How many and who?”

  “Two cruisers,” Amilcare called, from the security table.

  “A destroyer,” Zeni added from the communications console.

  “The Homogeny’s Salucci, the Republic’s Ennius and Decimus,” Dyse said, coming to stand by her chair.

  Khalil walked onto the deck, carrying a pile of clothes and her boots in his other hand. He moved over to her side and held them out.

  “Here?” she said shortly.

  “It’s more important the captain look the part when she’s on screen,” Khalil said gravely. “You think the Alliance’s feeds aren’t going public?”

  Bellona loosed the belt of the robe and picked up the pants from the top of the pile. “Dyse, what else is out there?”

  “The Vadas,” he said, his gaze moving ahead. “The Yasar. Both Homogeny destroyers.”

  “Five ships,” Bellona breathed, fastening the pants.

  Khalil held out the shirt for her. She dropped the robe and wriggled into it, moving fast. Then she dropped to the chair and shoved her feet into the boots. Khalil held the forge belt out to her and she stood and strapped it on quickly, then shoved the one handed ghostmaker into the holster attached to it. With a sigh, she dropped back onto the chair. “Are they talking to us at all?”

  “I’m more interested to know how they found us,” Khalil murmured.

  “We can jump as soon as you want,” Aideen said, from the navigation console.

  “Not yet,” Bellona said sharply. “I want to know what they want, first. Keep your finger on the trigger, Aideen.”

  Aideen nodded. Her hand rested on the flat surface of the console, waiting.

  Thecla was moving around the bridge, handing out forge belts to everyone. Those who had been caught asleep were shrugging into clothing, just as Bellona had done. Everyone was quietly strapping on weapons and armor, as Hayes moved around the room, handing sets out.

  “Incoming,” Zeni said from the communications console.

  “Show me.”

  The screen coalesced in front of her. It was small, for her eyes only, yet everyone on the deck could see it because she was in the middle of the room. Most of the background behind Bellona would not been seen by the other ships.

  The screen showed Eucleides, her purple uniform without a wrinkle. Then it split and split again. The Karassian captain was the same one as before, only Woodrow did not stand behind him this time. The captain had his chin on his fist. He looked grumpy.

  The second Karassian captain was also unknown to Bellona. The other Eriuman officer she did know. “Lieutenant Hult,” she said, surprised. “I thought you were an investigator.”

  “It’s Captain Hult now,” Hult said.

  Bellona frowned. “You’re on the Decimus?”

  “The Decimus is mine, yes.”

  “Max’s old ship,” Bellona murmured.

  Hult frowned.

  Sang stepped forward. “I see you are in the middle of Cardenas family affairs once more, Captain Hult.”

  Hecate Hult’s eyes narrowed. “Are you…Sang?”

  “I am.”

  “I was told about you,” Hult said. “I would not have recognized you.”

  “Are you investigating once more, Captain?” Bellona asked.

  Lucretia Eucleides waved her hand. “Enough of this inane chatter. You know why we are here, Bellona. Delaying matters while you fire up your pathetically minimal positioning thrusters to jump this barge you are on won’t work a second time.”

  “Why are you here, Captain?” Bellona asked curiously.

  “To arrest you for the destruction of Cerce City,” the Karassian captain—the one whose face she knew from the previous occasion—said impatiently.

  “That was not me. What is your name, captain?” Bellona asked.

  “Eadric,” he said shortly. “I’ve already sent a boarding craft over. You would be wise not to resist.”

  “I don’t know your name at all,” Bellona said. She glanced at Dyse. He shook his head. He didn’t know the name either. She flicked her gaze toward Aideen and, with her hand out of the range of the lens, gave the signal.

  Aideen’s hand moved over the console.

  Nothing happened.

  Eadric lifted his chin, turning it to look up in the air, as if he was contemplating something.

  Bellona recognized the motion. She gasped, as something heavy squeezed her chest and stole her breath. Her heart jumped, then beat so hard it hurt. Her hearing faded.

  “Bellona,” Khalil whispered.

  She hung her head, fighting to breathe.

  “You just tried to jump to null-space,” Eadric said. “Naughty, naughty. Hold tight for a moment. You should hear the landing pod about now.”

  “Yishmeray,” Bellona whispered, expelling the toxic name.

  Dyse sucked in a shocked breath.

  Sang, too. They recognized the name.

  As did Hecate Hult. She leaned forward, growing larger on the screen. “What did you say?”

  “Dyse, tell her. Silently,” Bellona whispered.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Dyse nod.

  Bellona forced herself to sit upright, to lift her chin and look squarely at the screen. “Don’t try to board us, Yishmeray. I promise you I have gotten much better at fighting since you last tried it. Your people will live to regret it.”

  Eadric chuckled. “I might have known this face would not fool you for long. It has been so long, Bellona. I had almost forgotten how interesting you are.” His smile was pure Yishmeray.

  On the screen next to him, Hult glanced to one side. Every Eriuman captain had a screen under their hand. It looked as if she was reading hers now.

  “Enough of this,” Lucretia Eucleides said. “She’s dead in the water, she can’t jump. We’re just putting off what we all came here to do. Captain Hult, I order you to fire.”

  Hult held up her hand, in a silent “wait” gesture.

  “Captain!” Eucleides barked.

  Hult looked up at the screen. Her jaw flexed. “No,” she said flatly. “I will not fire upon the Aarens. There are too many unanswered questions. Too many conflicting facts.”

  “You are not here to investigate, Captain,” Eucleides said. “Do not refuse my direct order.”

  Hult stared at her screen. Her eyes narrowed. “I think…that’s exact
ly what I am doing.”

  Yishmeray’s smile faded.

  Bellona filled her lungs. “Everyone! Generate now! Bridge to bridge! Format Epsilon!”

  Hands dropped to belts. She looked down at her control module. Dyse had added the new coordinates. She activated hers and watched the screen.

  “What is going on?” Eucleides demanded.

  “You’ll see,” Bellona told her. She grabbed Khalil’s hand and stepped through the bridge that formed right behind the screen. The screen disappeared as she moved through it.

  The transition was smooth. Flawless. She drew her ghostmaker as she stepped onto the control deck of the Salucci and took out everyone she could reach. Behind her, Khalil did the same. Retha stepped through his own bridge and began firing from both hands.

  There were only the three of them, yet their appearance was so unexpected that the sluggish Karassians barely raised any resistance.

  “Dyse, close this deck gate!” Bellona called. He was back on Demosthenes, although he could hear through the same earworm that Connie used. The heavy blast doors came down at all three of the deck gates, cutting off any other Karassians from entering the bridge and defending the ship.

  It was a rout. None of the bridge personnel wore side arms. The possibility of an enemy accessing the deck without warning was alien to them. They were unprepared.

  Yishmeray stayed frozen in his chair, his hands gripping the edges, the knuckles white. He looked as if he was trying to lift himself out of the chair.

  As Khalil and Retha calmly knocked the rest of the bridge crew to the ground, Bellona walked up to Yishmeray and lifted the ghostmaker to point at him. “Naughty, naughty,” she said. “Trying to raise the deck gates with your server connections, Captain?”

  He fell back. “Who is that, blocking me?” he demanded.

  “No one you need worry about anymore,” Bellona told him.

  He snarled at her. The merry smile was gone, although now she was standing in front of him, Bellona could see the traces of the Yishmeray she had known in the angles of his new face. “You were so afraid of me, you changed your identity,” she told him. “You just weren’t afraid enough.”

  “Just shoot me and get it over with,” Yishmeray growled.

  “Oh, I’m not going to kill you,” Bellona told him.