She closed her eyes against the tears that welled up and gently caressed Ana's head. She didn't know the tall woman who was holding Ana, but it didn't matter. They were obviously friends, and Ana needed to be held. Mason locked eyes with Tonya and nodded. They would help Ana together.
Bauval and Mandor walked to the other end of the room to talk. They didn't want to intrude on the others' mourning. Bauval was mostly feeling shock. He knew that the pain would begin soon, though. He, too, had been good friends with Tebrey.
"Has there been a formal declaration of war yet?" Bauval asked.
"No," said Mandor. "I'm not sure there will be. They could consider it to be de facto. We've been there for months, actually; this just escalates things. Public opinion will sway against us in the Federation, and they will demand a war."
"What can we do?"
"Not much. The Council has recalled all of our ships. We'll defend what we can. They will attack Dawn or Steinway first, I would think. Dawn is the most populous planet of the Concord, and its heart. Steinway holds most of our manufacturing and shipbuilding. If I was attacking us, I'd try to capture Dawn and send a small fleet to do as much damage to the shipyards at Steinway as possible." Mandor shrugged. "Unfortunately, I don't know what they may do. The Concord has ninety inhabited systems. They could go for a proportional response and kill one of our planets. I would guess either Marcos or Scorpion. Both worlds have around the same population as Prism. If they go for genocide, we can't stop them."
"Oh, God." Bauval ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe we are standing here discussing the death of worlds. We're talking about the deaths of billions of people."
"It needs to be talked about," Mandor said seriously. "We'll know within a week, I'd say. I want to talk to you about contingency plans."
"What do you mean?"
"We cannot afford for any of you to be captured if the Federation invades. You know too much about the Thetas. If an attack seems imminent, leave the house. I'll show you where to go. I'll try to send Bruce to you with an air car, but things may go wrong."
"Where would we go?"
"We have hidden shelters around the planet. Each shelter is self-enclosed. There is an armory. We would be able to hold out for years."
"You think they'll invade," Bauval stated.
"I do." Mandor sighed. He was tired and emotionally drained. All of his worst fears had come to pass in the last few weeks. "They'll want to capture our technologies intact. They'll want our scientists, and they'll hold Dawn hostage to keep the rest of the Concord and our allies at bay."
"You have a frightening mind."
"I have a pragmatic mind," Mandor replied.
The secretive man with the dark red hair and green eyes stood amidst the devastation wrought by the fusion strikes, and frowned. Radioactive ash fell steadily from the steel-grey sky. He was both more and less than a man, and he was as little affected by the charred human remains as he was by the gale-force winds that scoured the blasted and smoking landscape.
He had searched the area of the former marine base twice, and so far had found no evidence of the man he sought. With senses far more sensitive than any human could possibly have, he located the spot where Hrothgar Tebrey had lain after the first atomic strike. He knew that, somehow, the man had escaped the blasts, but he didn't know how or where he could have gone. There were spacetime scars in the area, but that could easily be the result of the fusion warheads.
Looking up, he sensed as much as saw the starships in orbit. Maybe the answers he sought were there. He shrugged. He was not a patient man, but he would take as long as he needed to find what he wanted.
And he would never stop until he had found Hrothgar Tebrey.
Chapter Fifty-Four
"What do you mean, he isn't on the ship?" Rachael Vardegan demanded as Francesca interrupted the crew's dinner.
"I'm sorry, Captain. Sensors show only the life signs of Nancy, Martin, and yourself," the MI answered.
"Where is he?"
"The sensor log shows that he was in his cabin, and then he wasn't. I have no explanation for the discrepancy. My systems have not been hacked, but then, I might not notice from the inside, so to speak."
"Martin, Nancy, find him. Scour every room. Search every nook and cranny. I want to know how and why he's evading our internal sensors. Not even a sensor block should shield him that perfectly. He'd appear as a blind spot, if nothing else."
"I don't believe he is, Captain," Francesca said. "He is not on the ship."
"We'll look anyway. I want to know what he's up to," Rachael replied. "If he isn't on the ship, where did he go, and how did he get off?"
The appearance of the strange man on the bridge of the Fredericksburg set off every alarm in the ship. The frightened communications technician had time to report that the intruder was on the bridge before an almost casual backhand lifted him from his couch and flung him against the wall with bone-snapping force.
Fleet marines ran into the room and opened fire on the stranger, but the man moved far faster than any human could. He anticipated the guards' fingers on the triggers and moved just before the laser beams slashed out. An ensign was caught in the beams as the unfortunate tried to get to safety and was cut down in a gory spray of blood.
The man was upon the two guards in the blink of an eye. Darkness shrouded his form, and one of the survivors later reported that he saw something reptilian in that darkness, with glowing green eyes. Claws slashed out, and the two men died with gurgling screams in their mouths.
Another man went down with a sound of crunching bone, and then there was near-silence on the bridge except for the sobbing of the wounded communications tech. The man stood back in the spot where he had arrived. The door to the bridge whispered shut, and the captain could hear the locks engaging.
"Tell me what has happened to this planet," the man said quietly.
Captain Miyoshi desperately tried to call for help, but the ship's systems had all crashed, and he couldn't even access his datalink. Emergency lighting activated as power failed.
Artificial gravity had failed, and yet the man stood there without a care in the world. A blade appeared in his hand, and it flashed out. The captain felt it pass through his spacesuit, chest, and right lung before passing on into his acceleration couch. The captain's neural computer wasn't functioning, and the pain came through unblocked. It was almost, but not quite, enough to make him pass out. Instead, he screamed and clawed at the blade, but it didn't move a millimeter, no matter how hard he pushed.
"Tell me what I want to know," the man said. The blade twisted forty-five degrees, and the captain shrieked again. The pain was impossible to bear, but he still didn't pass out.
"Stop it!" the executive officer screamed.
"Answer the question," the man commanded.
"Okay! Okay, please don't hurt anyone else," she sobbed. She'd seen the glimpses of something terrible in the darkness earlier. She'd also heard about the two ships they had lost in orbit, and what had been done to the crew before they were destroyed. Death in battle she could face, but she didn't want to die like the people on those ships had. "A Concord ship killed the planet and two of our ships. We arrived too late to stop them."
"Concord?"
"The Sentient Concord!"
"Tell me about them," he said, wrenching the blade from the captain with a spray of blood, and smiled at the frightened woman. "You will tell me everything you know, or I will cut it from your mind."
"Captain," Francesca said.
"What is it?" Rachael Vardegan asked, irate. They had gone over every inch of the ship and had not been able to find their strange passenger. She was trying to decide where to go next.
"Our passenger is back aboard, Captain. He is on his way to the bridge."
"What? How did he get back aboard?"
"He appeared back in his cabin."
"What do you mean, he appeared back in his cabin? We searched there!"
"I have no ex
planation, Captain."
Rachael didn't have long to wait before he came onto the bridge. "What have you been up to?" she asked.
"You really do not want to know that," the man said.
There was an edge to his voice she had never heard before, and the smartass remark she'd been about to make died on her lips.
"You will take me to the core world of the Sentient Concord."
"Okay," she said softly. She no longer had any will to awaken his temper. She'd seen the fresh blood on his clothes. She had no idea to whom it belonged, but she didn't wish him to add her blood to it. "You want to go to Dawn?"
"Yes, make haste, and do not test my patience by stopping."
"I just wanted to tell you that I am very sorry for your loss," Jeroen said awkwardly.
Ana nodded numbly and gestured for him to enter the house. Jane gave the small woman a hug as she entered. She'd traveled with Jeroen from the university.
Dr. Mason poured them both tea as they settled onto the couch. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed from crying, but she gave them a small smile before retreating from the room, in no mood for company.
"Has there been any news?" Jeroen asked Dr. Bauval.
"No, I'm afraid not," he replied. "The last we heard, they were trying to land rescue ships onto the surface of Prism, but the windstorms were too severe. The planet took a lot of damage."
"Is there...?" Jeroen hesitated. He still wasn't sure about all of the facets of the culture that he had joined. "Is there going to be a ceremony?"
Bauval glanced aside at Ana, who was talking quietly with Jane. "At the moment, there is nothing planned. We are currently proceeding as if he is simply missing in action and awaiting rescue."
"But I thought that it was clear..."
"Nothing is clear," Ana said loudly. "I don't know what happened to him, but no one has seen his body. Until they show me his body, he isn't dead!" She got up and ran from the room. Jane hurried after her.
"I'm sorry," Jeroen muttered.
Bauval shook his head. "She's been like that since we found out. Considering the reports of the devastation on the planet, I can't imagine we'll ever find his body. It was probably vaporized."
"Perhaps I should go."
"Nonsense," Bauval said with force. "You've traveled a long way to come and see us. You'll stay for dinner, at least. Just don't bring up anything touchy."
Captain Jin Rae breathed a sigh of relief as his ship transited into hyperspace.
His crew was mentally and physically exhausted from working around the clock to get the Manticore operational again. Half of his crew, over twelve hundred people, had died on the surface of Prism while on leave. Another two hundred had died in the fighting in orbit. The crew of the Centaur had transferred over to fill in gaps in the crew roster. There weren't many of them, but they helped.
Jin Rae was grateful for the assistance of the Arcadia, although he was worried by the latest transmission they had received from Fleet Command. Somehow, his report had been garbled or misinterpreted. The transmission indicated that the Arcadia was responsible for the attack on the planet. He had sent a correction to that message but had not yet received a reply.
"Lieutenant Smith," Jin Rae said wearily, "please attempt to reach Fleet Command again."
"Yes, Captain."
The captain discussed the situation with his executive officer while they waited. He was irrationally irritated by the delay. There was no excuse for this kind of lag with the instantaneous transmissions of dynamically entangled pair communications.
"I've got a reply, Captain," Lieutenant Smith interrupted quietly.
"Let us hear it, Jill."
There was an unusual static to the quality of the transmission, but it was clear enough.
"Captain Jin Rae, your addendum is appreciated. However, we consider you to be too close to the situation to make a proper assessment of all of the facts. We feel that, upon reflection, you will come to the realization that you have been mistaken about the particulars of this incident. If you persist in this line of inquiry, it may become necessary for you to take a period of enforced rest. Continue to the shipyards at GL 725. Replacement crews will rendezvous with you there, if available."
"If available?" exclaimed Lt. Commander George Dorian. "How do they expect us to function with only seven hundred crewmembers?"
"Actually," Captain Jin Rae said absently, "it is more like six hundred crewmembers, even with the Centaur crew." He was thinking about the implications of the messages' subtext.
"Why are they misinterpreting our reports, sir?" Dorian asked.
"I'd say that they want a war with the Concord, XO. Can there be any other explanation? Helm?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Are we on course for GL 725?"
"Yes, Captain. We will arrive at New Kenton in twelve days, four hours, sir."
"Very good."
"Captain?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"What are we going to do, sir? Is there someone we can appeal to? Someone has to know that the Concord didn't do this!"
"I'm afraid that for now –" the captain paused to meet his XO's eyes "– we need to look to our own safety. I'd like to meet with all surviving command staff this evening. We have things to discuss."
The bridge crew exchanged worried glances at that. No one wanted to say the word defection, but everyone was thinking it. After what they had seen in the fighting at Prism, no one could really say it was a bad idea.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Hrothgar Tebrey awoke suddenly.
The room was unfamiliar to him, and for a moment he thought himself back in the house of the marquess in Bellejor on Cedeforthy – although he couldn't say what it was that made him think that. His whole body ached, especially his arms and legs. There was something unusual about the light that streamed through the open window, but his fogged mind couldn't think of what was wrong.
Are you awake now? came Hunter's plaintive thought. You've been asleep for a long time. I've been worried.
Huh? he thought incoherently. Sorry. How long have I been asleep? Where are we? For that matter, where are you?
You've been unconscious for twenty-one days, Hunter replied. They say that we are on a planet called Aurora. I'm outside the window, lying in the grass and pretending that I'm a cat.
You are a cat, you big fur-ball. Tebrey pushed himself up in the bed and groaned. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so terrible. If his current physical state was an example of the Auroran medical system, he didn't think much of it. Wherever Aurora is, he thought
You were hurt really badly, Hunter thought to him. Leander is coming; I'll get to see you in a minute. There was excitement in the neo-panther's tone.
Who's Leander?
"I am," said a tall, thin man as he came in through the door. He frowned at Tebrey. "You really should be lying down. You were banged up pretty bad when you got here. Just about as bad as anybody I've seen who was still breathing, in fact."
It all came back to Tebrey in a rush. He remembered the fusion blast and the painful tumbling that had shattered his body. He also remembered Hunter, and then Emerald, coming to save him. He felt worse than ever, then. Someone or something had wanted him dead. They wanted it badly enough to kill a planet to get to him. With that thought, he began to tremble. He hadn't believed he was that much of a bother to the enemy.
Hunter came over to him and laid his head lightly across Tebrey's legs. In his weakened state, it took all of Tebrey's strength to wrap his arms around the neo-panther and hold him. He sensed a terrible loneliness from Hunter; he'd not trusted anyone enough to exchange thoughts with them. Twenty-one days was a long time to go without communication.
I'm here now, Tebrey thought.
I know. You'll be okay now, and so will I.
You were hurt? Tebrey berated himself for not asking sooner.
Nothing major. I was mostly just worried.
"Was Emerald okay?" asked Tebrey.
/> "He's fine," Leander replied. "Off on assignment again. You've given us a lot of trouble, young man."
You excel at that, Hunter thought to Tebrey.
Leander laughed.
"You can hear Hunter?"
"When he allows it, which isn't often," Leander replied. He glared mildly at Hunter. "Both of you are quite easy to hear – when you're not shielding your thoughts, that is."
"Who are you?" Tebrey asked. "And please don't just tell me your name again. The last thing that I remember is Emerald showing up on Prism and then the world coming apart around me."
"Yes, he got quite a reprimand from the Circle for that. Not that it will stick. The Mo'Ceri do as they please. As they should. We're glad he brought you here, but we do wish it had been under better circumstances."
"And my first question?" Tebrey said, refusing to be distracted.
Leander laughed again. "I'm your doctor. Emerald said that you saved his life against one of the dark ones."
Tebrey shrugged uncomfortably. "I lent a hand."
"From his report, I'd say you did considerably more than that. How are you feeling?"
"Terrible. Like I've been hit by a nuke. It's beginning to be something of a habit."
"Not a good habit to be in, I'm afraid. You weren't in good shape when you arrived. We had a devil of a time getting you out of your armor."
"I suppose I owe you thanks for my life as well, then."
An eyebrow quirked up at that. "What do you mean?"
"For patching me up."
Leander gazed at him thoughtfully. "Actually, that's one of things I really want to talk to you about." He pulled up the chair from the desk and sat down. "I didn't do anything extraordinary. I just set all the bones back into place."
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