by Allen Stroud
Another loud bang as something big and heavy slammed into the doors. Heavy enough to topple over the propped metal locker, which tipped forward and crashed to the floor, missing her by inches. Gebrial shuffled back further and looked at the dataslate again.
Sent.
Sent?
The doors burst open and someone climbed through with a torch. A man Gebrial didn’t recognise, but he wasn’t in a security uniform. ‘It’s all right!’ he shouted. ‘You’re free, all of you! You’re free!’
Free?
She stood up, as did the others around her. ‘What do you mean free?’ Sallah asked.
‘I mean free, really and truly,’ the man said. He was middle aged and had dried blood on his face from a cut on his temple. ‘The whole city’s risen up. He’s dead, Walden’s dead!’
* * *
Jander walked back onto the bridge and returned Ennis’ salute. ‘Status?’
‘We’re holding our own, sir,’ Ennis said. ‘Flank speed for the station, we’re drawing fire, but those old frigates need to set up a picket line to hurt us. They can’t concentrate their attack while we keep moving. We can’t jump whilst they’re on us and gradually we’ll whittle them down. ‘
‘Well done Commander,’ Jander said. He turned to Aimes. ‘Get a full read out on the Coriolis, garrison compliment, the works and some kind of firing solution on the shield.’
Aimes shrugged. ‘I’ll try, sir, but they were built to withstand—’
‘Lieutenant, your best guess will do.’
On the viewscreen, the planet was much larger. Away to the left, a frigate exploded, under sustained fire from the Fortitude, the battle group’s medical ship. ‘More ships coming in, sir,’ Cassom said. ‘The Ronin amongst them.’
The Ronin? Jander frowned. ‘What do they want?’ he asked.
‘No idea sir, but we got a comms request from a ship escorting her,’ Cassom turned around and stared at Jander with a nervous expression on her face. ‘It’s Heldaban Kel.’
* * *
‘What can I do for you, Mister Kel?’
Heldaban Kel smiled. Admiral Jander’s holoscreen image was green tinged and flickering. He guessed the Cobra’s projection system had been damaged, but he could read the distaste on the man’s face. ‘About time we made friends, Admiral,’ he said. ‘Seems we have a mutual enemy.’
‘It does indeed,’ Jander replied. ‘I assume you received the transmissions from the station?’
‘Yes, looks like quite an insurrection going on.’
‘In the interest of regional security, the Alliance is assuming temporal authority over this system. We have backing from the Empire’s representative. Your people can help or prepare to be fired upon.’
‘We’re happy to help, Admiral, if that’s all the same.’
‘Once this conflict is over, you will surrender the Ronin.’
Kel glanced over at the clipper idling on his port side ‘Agreed,’ he said quickly.
‘Then form up and head for the station,’ Jander said. ‘Make for point seven three and our squadrons will co-ordinate with you. Lieutenant Cassom will set up an encrypted comms frequency.’
‘Understood, Admiral.’
* * *
Gebrial climbed over the locker cabinets and took the hand of the smiling man. He helped her down and out through the doors. A moment later, there was a clicking noise and the hum of generators. The strip lighting in the roof of the corridor came on and she found herself staring down at Bowles’ corpse.
He’d been shot, a clean hole above the bridge of his nose. His arms and legs were twisted outwards awkwardly, his jacket, open, revealing the explosives strapped around his waist. His eyes stared stupidly at the ceiling. Gebrial bent down and closed them.
‘Probably for the best.’
Tobias Renner was standing by the wall staring at her. His face was stained with dirt and dried blood, but he didn’t seem injured. She glanced at Bowles’ body on the floor again. ‘He was too full of anger to live in this world.’
She looked from the dead to the living. Renner was alive. She couldn’t help but smile at him.
‘You okay?’ he asked gently.
‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘I think so.’
‘They’ve been asking after you out here,’ Renner said. ‘The girl who sent the message. I didn’t say I knew you.’
‘What happened?’
‘Soldiers came in from the roof in a shuttle,’ Renner said. ‘We had our hands full then people stormed the building from everywhere. They’re on the streets now; it’s rough out, but ...’
‘Because of my message?’
‘Not just that,’ Renner said. ‘Pietro killed Walden on the space station. He managed to get on all the viewscreens in the city. The people know he’s dead, that’s why they came out.’ He laughed, the first time she’d heard him laugh without cynicism or at someone’s expense. ‘Pietro saved us.’
More figures made their way into the corridor. Sallah grabbed Gebrial’s hand, her smiling face a picture of joy. ‘Come on,’ she enthused. ‘We have to see, we need to be out there!’
Gebrial let herself be dragged away.
* * *
‘It’s done.’
Pietro looked up. James was standing over him and knelt down. ‘I’m finished,’ he said. ‘The shields are down.’
‘Good,’ Pietro said. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t lift himself. He coughed into the thinning cloud of oxygen vapour around his mouth. The respirator cannister was nearly empty. ‘Can you restore the air?’
James shook his head. ‘The room controls are sealed.’
‘What about the Alliance fleet?’
‘There’s a lot of ships,’ James said, ‘seems to be some kind of fight, I can’t tell them all apart.’
‘Post a tactical display to the main viewer, so I can see,’ Pietro said.
‘Okay,’ James replied and a moment later a huge top-down, two-dimensional image of the system appeared on the wall.
Pietro made out half the picture from his position sitting against the chair. Better than nothing, he thought. He recognised the asteroid belt they’d visited, where they’d fought the Asp and the mining station he’d seen. ‘Can you open the door?’ he asked James.
‘I think so, yes.’
‘Then you need to get out of here.’
James glanced at the exit and back at Pietro. ‘We should go together.’
‘I won’t make it,’ Pietro said. ‘Best chance is for you to get out and hide. The Alliance will come for the station. When you know you’re safe, you can return with help.’
James bit his lip. ‘Maybe I should stay ...’
‘No,’ Pietro said. ‘One of us has to be conscious to tell them what happened. So long as the oxygen level doesn’t decrease further I’ll be okay for a while.’
‘But your leg—’
‘Help me retie the tourniquet.’
James fumbled with the knotted shirt sleeves and pulled them tighter. Pietro gasped and for a moment, everything went dark, but he swallowed and his vision cleared. ‘Now get going,’ he said and held out the pistol. ‘Take this with you.’
James stared at the weapon as if it were about to bite him. ‘I’m not sure I can—’
‘Take it,’ Pietro repeated. ‘Then at least you can choose what to do if someone finds you.’
‘Okay.’ James plucked the gun from his hands and began to back away towards the door. ‘I’ll come and get you as soon as I can.’
‘I’ll be waiting,’ Pietro said.
* * *
‘The station shield is down sir.’
‘What?’ Jander glanced up from the tactical display on the lectern. The Coriolis was on the viewscreen, set against the backdrop of the planet. In front was a whirling maelstrom of lasers and explosions. Alliance and Phoenix Brigade ships engaged Vipers in a hundred dogfights as each side fought for control of the shrinking space between the Alliance battle group and Lave Station.
> ‘The shield is down,’ Aimes repeated from the lower deck. ‘Deactivated from the inside.’
‘Comms to the Errant,’ Jander ordered. ‘Bring her front and centre to target the Coriolis. I want a wideband message to all ships in the system demanding they surrender to us.’
‘Fortuitous,’ Godwina remarked, staring at the projection. ‘What will you do if they don‘t comply?’
‘Fire,’ Jander said.
* * *
Pietro was alone.
He couldn’t feel his feet. His toes had gone past numb. Now, both legs were strangers to him, an unfamiliar, dragging burden, but that didn’t really matter. I died days ago, when the Gallant crashed. I just didn’t realise ...
He rolled over on the floor, pulling himself around the chair so he could get a better view at the huge tactical display on the wall. The effort made him dizzy and as he settled next to Walden’s legs, the last of the oxygen wisped out of the respirator.
He glanced up at the dead man in the seat; a fitting finish for Walden, to watch his plan unravel and the end of his power. Too bad we couldn’t kill the other clones, Pietro thought. I wonder what they’ll do?
On the screen, he picked out the station in front of the planet. A cluster of sensor dots buzzed around, more than busy traffic, a chaotic battle between pilots in the cold of space.
He remembered what Miranda had said. ‘You’re to dispose of all evidence and return to control via an appropriate trail to ensure our covert status is preserved.’ He hadn’t done that, he’d gone after the answers instead. Pietro chuckled involuntarily, only myself to blame.
Muffled shouting made him look around. The door had closed behind James, but he had no idea if they could open it from the outside. The floor trembled under him. We must be under attack, he thought. He remembered lessons at the academy on Eta Cassiopiea. In ancient times on Earth, Monks would flee from the church into a round tower, filling it with their wealth and living for days on the top floors while the lands burned; all the same thing, finding a place where people couldn’t get to you, rob you and kill you. Space station shields were the modern equivalent, powerful energy projections that made the Coriolis virtually indestructible. Countless governments had survived raider attacks and civil wars by retreating to their orbital confines and waiting out. The weapons required to wear down the defense were fiercesome. Only one exception warranted a mention in the academy manual: The Tibedied Scenario, where the shields had been sabotaged.
The room shook again, a more noticeable impact. The Alliance would want to preserve the structure, but they had to get its defenders to surrender first. With shaking fingers, he reached up to the chair control and activated the main view. The tactical screen disappeared, to be replaced by a huge diorama of the space outside the planetary docking port. Eagle fighters fought with old Viper patrol craft; beam lasers and autocannon fire flashing in the vacuum. Another ship appeared; a larger one that he didn’t recognise. Ugly and ancient as it struggled to maneuver, firing laser cannons at a target out of view.
‘Best seat in the house,’ Pietro said out loud and looked at Walden. ‘I guess you’d disagree?’
Walden said nothing.
* * *
‘They’re refusing to surrender, Admiral.’
Jander looked at Ennis and Godwina in turn. On the control deck below, an ensign started shouting and an emergency crew rushed to one of the terminals, dowsing the console with an extinguisher. In front, a stricken Lavian frigate disappeared in a huge eruption of flame.
Jander cast his eyes over the tactical display on the lectern. The battle group were within firing range of the station, but gradually being surrounded by a larger ring of Lave warships. For every frigate destroyed another two seemed to appear. Where did they get all these ships from? ‘We’re out of time,’ he said.
Ennis grunted. ‘Don’t sit well with me to run from a fleet of antiques.’
‘Commander,’ Godwina said her eyes flicking around the Furnace’s bridge with distaste. ‘I assure you the perspective is relative.’
‘We may not get the chance,’ Jander said, ‘a lot of ships out there.’ He leaned over the rail. ‘Order the Errant to fire on the station and start plotting a hyperspace path.’
‘Yes Admiral,’ Cassom replied.
* * *
The Cobra shuddered and bucked in the debris of the frigate explosion; the shield warning flashed again. Heldaban Kel grimaced and pushed at the stick, sending the ship into a straight dive under the debris cloud. A succession of shrieks and bangs echoed through the compartment as bits of wreckage smashed into the ship’s unprotected hull making him flinch every time.
Suddenly he was clear and replotting the tactical scanner. The station came up as a target, then the next nearest ship, an Alliance warship, moving to broadside of the rotating Coriolis. He spotted open missile tubes and the tell-tale flash of ignition. A second later an explosion erupted on the station surface. His hands were on the comms panel before he had time to think.
‘Kel to Furnace, what are you doing!’
The Alliance ship didn’t respond, he keyed up another channel to the Phoenix pilots. ‘Kel to Archaeo, did you see that?’
‘We did, Kel,’ Archaeo replied.
‘If they blow the station, they’ll send the system back to the dark ages!’ Kel said.
* * *
The observation room shook violently, there was a crackling sound from the electronics panel and the viewscreen went blank. The main lights winked out and emergency halogens kicked in. Pietro heard the door slide open and he smiled.
At last ...
He knew he wouldn’t make it to the corridor. The effort was beyond him, but at least the air would rebalance. James will find people and come back for me, he thought.
* * *
‘Communication from the station, Admiral.’
‘On the main viewer, Lieutenant.’
The bloodstained face of a woman in a black uniform filled the screen. ‘Lave Station to Alliance battle group, we’d like to agree your terms.’
A spontaneous cheer broke out around the Furnace bridge and Jander allowed himself a smile. ‘Good decision, Lave Station. This is Admiral Bryce Jander, Alioth navy. I accept your surrender. Who am I speaking to?’
‘Station Engineer Abigail Bowles,’ the woman glanced over her shoulder. ‘Things are a little fragile here, Admiral, so we’d welcome some support.’
‘Understood,’ Jander replied. ‘We’ll need you to order your ships to power down and await instructions.’
‘Already done, Admiral, although many won’t listen.’
Jander turned to Ennis. ‘Get every marine boarder and shuttle we have available in space and over to their docking bay. Lead them yourself.’
Ennis smiled and saluted then left the bridge at a speed that belied his years, making Jander smile. He turned back to the screen. ‘We’re sending people over, keep the bay open.’
‘Will do.’
* * *
Pietro could smell burning.
He glanced around. The control console had caught fire, the flames quickly spreading along the observation room’s panelled walls, plainly fuelled by some sort of chemical leak. He looked for an extinguisher, but couldn’t see anything. Must be a kind of automated protocol, he thought. Sprinklers, or—
Abruptly, the emergency lights went out and the door panel slid shut. Faintly, he picked out a sound from before, the sound of the atmosphere being changed. The room would be flooded with nitrogen and this time, there’d be no oxygen left behind.
So there is an emergency protocol, Pietro thought and smiled to himself. And I’m on the wrong side of it ...
He closed his eyes.
* * *
Transcribed audio recording. Anonymous Eyewitness Accounts:
‘We got the messages from the power station. They came from the same broadcast ident as before. It was heartwrenching, reading those letters. People who knew they’d die in that building, saying g
oodbye to their friends and family.’
‘Something just snapped. I looked out the window and people were on the streets. One guy took a metal pipe to the viewscreen on the corner and smashed it while others cheered. I got hold of the one in my lounge to do the same, when it all changed and started showing Walden, dead in the chair.’
‘That speech after and seeing the body, it changed everything. People weren’t just angry, they believed. I remember running down the road with them all around me after it got dark. Never felt anything like it.’
‘I wonder who that man was, talking? What happened to him?’
Epilogue: The Inquiry
Admiral Bryce Jander sat and stared at the light reflecting off the floor tiles in the corridor. He didn’t know how long he’d been waiting, but long enough for the reflective surface to become interesting and for his dress uniform to get unpleasantly hot.
A summer evening outside Admiralty Hall on New California, Alioth was an uncomfortable experience. Remnants of the planet’s terraformed origins four centuries before lingered in the air. Early colonists had suffered all sorts of health issues related to the Empire’s experiments on the environment and even now, something didn’t feel right.
But then to Jander, after a three-year tour on the Furnace, nothing was right about being here and planetside.
Especially waiting.
He glanced up at the two soldiers standing at the white double doors. No conversation to be had there. It was an unusual day that an Admiral sat on the outside, unlikely security would relax an inch on protocol.
The door opened. One of the guards turned to the person inside, nodded and saluted. He marched over to Jander, stood to attention and saluted. ‘Sir, they are ready for you.’
Jander got up and returned the gesture. ‘Thank you, Sergeant.’
He walked past both men and went inside. Admiralty Hall was a hold over from Imperial days on the planet, a vast cavernous structure covered in rich wooden panels and marble. Six curved arches along the space blended the best of both materials. Hundreds of empty chairs in rows in front of a large semi-circular table with six seats, used for tribunals, formal council and all sorts of other events. Twenty years ago he remembered being one of the guards on the door when the leaders of the Alioth uprising had sat in here and thrashed out their differences.
