“Commander!” Hoot called from the CIC.
“Go ahead.”
“Whirlaway assumed control of highguard. Also, Captain Porter said they just had a ship come out of hyperspace.”
“An enemy ship?” she asked, rising to head back into the CIC.
“No, commander, it’s the Phaeton from New Warsaw. Captain Jormungd says one of those weird Egleesius-class ships used its hyperspace shunts and jumped out with Sato aboard.”
Alexis sighed. I should have written that order better. “Have him transmit the details immediately.”
“Captain Jormungd offers her apologies, but says she’s been ordered to personally report to you by Commander Kowalczy.”
“Does she have a shuttle onboard Phaeton?”
“Yes, commander.”
“My regards to Captain Jormungd and ask her to meet me on the command center.” Hoot acknowledged the order, and Alexis turned off the intercom. Never a dull moment.
* * *
Space Dock Central Complex, Golara System
The command center formerly belonging to the now-deceased Maki commodore was remarkably intact. Especially remarkable when you examined the hash Cartwright’s Cavaliers had made out of the rest of the station arm housing the command center. Winged Hussars’ engineers pronounced the station “somewhat structurally sound,” once they brought the spin down to one-third gravity at the outer edge housing the command center.
It took a team of damage control specialists two hours to stop the atmospheric leaks caused by the explosions, lasers, and MAC rounds. Pictures were making their way around showing a severed MinSha head acting as a rather efficient plug for one hole. An unnamed Hussar had applied some quick curing sealant around the edges and left it. Alexis forbade the images to be circulated any further, as the Hussars employed a few MinSha who would find it alarming and in bad taste. The pictures had, however, been found by some of the Asbaran troopers, and they were doubtless serving as screensavers on many slates. Alexis wouldn’t have put it past Nigel to be one of them.
The meeting progressed through a quick after-action report from each of the participating units. The report on Ragnar’s Reavers was given by Sansar Enkh and was followed by a moment of silence. The only survivors from the Reavers were the two remaining dropship pilots and the unit’s support staff. Sansar had subsumed them into the Golden Horde for the time being.
Alexis did her best to remain positive in her presentation. It wasn’t easy with the spirits of 1,093 dead Winged Hussars behind her. A young ensign named John Hamill had succumbed to his injuries to raise the total by one. When Sleipnir’s DCC was killed, Hamill had stepped up, fighting to keep power to the ship’s shield array. An energy discharge burned both his legs to the bone. He’d lived for six hours, fighting for life every minute.
The engagement was one of those rare merc battles where the naval losses far outweighed the trooper loses. Ragnar’s Reavers was the only dark spot. Cartwright’s had three dead and as many injured; the Horde and Asbaran were similar. The timing worked well—just as she was wrapping up, Captain Jormungd slithered into the command center. There was a sharp intake of multiple breaths in the room, and Alexis grinned. The captain had that effect on people.
Captain Jormungd was a member of the race known as Kaa and was a five-meter-long reptilian which bore a superficial resemblance to a terrestrial cobra, minus the hood. The Kaa were incredibly imposing, mostly because their race was rarely seen; they normally weren’t mercs. Their predominant color was a shiny black with light grey belly scales. For manipulation, they used bunches of tentacles that looked like handfuls of smaller snakes that branched off the main body, with one on each side. If that wasn’t enough to bring their alien status home, instead of eyes, the Kaa possessed a strip of light and motion receptors across their head, from one side to the other. They worked more like the composite eyes of insects, producing an incredibly detailed compositional image that extended into the ultraviolet spectrum.
The conference room fell completely silent as Captain Jormungd slid across the metallic floor, her belly scales making a quiet sksss, sksss sound as she moved. Her carriage was extremely upright, with more than half her body nearly vertical, her head angled down so her vision band had maximum visibility. She wore a belt just below her arm clusters that stayed in place without an obvious means, which held a slate and a sidearm. A Winged Hussars logo was emblazoned on scales just under her head, with the silver oak leaf of her rank, commander.
“Everyone, this is Captain Jormungd of EMS Phaeton. Her ship was still being refurbished when we left, so she stayed behind. The plan was for Phaeton to be operational in another week; unfortunately, there has been an incident.” Alexis smiled. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute,” she told those assembled, gesturing Jormungd toward a doorway, “I need to consult with her here for a minute.” Sansar, Jim, and Nigel nodded, and she followed Jormungd out. All eyes watched the huge Kaa leave.
“Colonel,” Jormungd said in passable English as soon as the door was closed, “I am sorry I couldn’t transmit.”
“I doubt three hours made any real difference.” She gestured around. “We’re under new management.”
The Kaa captain showed her teeth and nodded. “You are to be congratulated, Colonel. I am sorry Phaeton was not ready to participate. Were the losses high?” Alexis told her, and her head dipped. “I am first and foremost a Winged Hussar. My blood for you, Colonel, and our enemies.”
“Your loyalty, bravery, and capability as a commander have never been in question,” Alexis said. “I’ve never understood why the Kaa aren’t a merc race.”
“When the Kut’oja return, we will serve them. Until then,” her arms flayed out into a fan to both sides, a shrug for her race, “only those who are called to the path of vengeance will fight.”
Alexis nodded. Her story hadn’t changed from the day she’d been rescued from a pirate-crippled ship over a decade ago. Jormungd had been young then, not quite an adult. The Hussars returned her to the Kaa home world, but she returned later saying she’d been called to the path and would serve the Hussars unto the end. She steadfastly refused to explain who or what the Kut’oja were.
“Give me the details on what happened.”
“Sato used your orders to get aboard one of the odd Egleesius,” she began.
“Kleena was supposed to keep an eye on him.”
“Sato didn’t wait for Kleena; he used a modified CASPer and boarded by himself.”
“My orders didn’t specify Kleena accompany him,” Alexis said with a sigh. She shook her head. “Proceed.”
“The records show that about five hours after he boarded, Sato requested and was granted a fuel tanker to fill up the Egleesius’ tanks.”
“Entropy,” Alexis hissed.
“One hour later, the Egleesius powered up her motors and maneuvered toward the stargate.”
“But Turk didn’t let it through, did he?”
“No,” Jormungd said. “The ship used its shunts to jump to hyperspace. Sato communicated for a minute before it left. He’d apparently gotten enough access to know the destination.”
“What was that destination?”
“The Beta Cephei system. With that information, Commander Kowalczy decided the best course of action was to send Arion after it, along with Bert’s Bees. Lieutenant Walker also led a contingent of Golden Horde, along with a number of SalSha and two of the new Avengers. His plan was to intercept the rogue ship in Beta Cephei, board it, and rescue Dr. Sato. They were going to recover the ship if possible, but would destroy it if necessary to keep it from falling into enemy hands. I was dispatched here to inform you, as Commander Kowalczy remains in command at New Warsaw. Phaeton is now ninety percent operational, but we didn’t have time to load ordnance.”
“Ordnance we’ve got,” Alexis said. She considered the plan for a minute, then nodded. Just what she would have expected from Kowalczy. “And it looks like Captain Teenge will soon have Sato and the s
hip back.”
Alexis gave a little start. She hadn’t been expecting Ghost to intrude on the meeting. “What do you mean?”
“Keesius? Is that the class name, similar to Egleesius?” Ghost didn’t answer. Because of how Jormungd’s vision worked, Alexis couldn’t be sure the Kaa was staring at her, but after working with her for many years, it was pretty obvious. Although the secret of Ghost wasn’t widely known, the fact that Colonel Cromwell tended toward eccentric was. To most of the Hussars, that behavior manifested in her reclusive lifestyle, and how she would occasionally freeze and stare off into space. Only those who knew about Ghost were aware of what was actually happening, and Jormungd wasn’t read into the secret. “Captain, can I have a minute alone?”
“Of course, Colonel,” she said, bowing her scaled head. “I will be back onboard my ship if you need me.” She slithered out the door, closing it behind her.
“Talk, damn you.”
Alexis felt her blood pressure elevate. She ground her teeth and considered punching something. She’d just about reached the end of her rope.
“Frustrated? Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve been with the Hussars for a century, hidden for a lot of that time, but always hanging around, helping. Only now, I don’t know how much you were helping.”
“Where it served your purposes!” Alexis wasn’t aware she was also yelling. “I’ve known you’ve been keeping secrets for a long time. Shit, everyone keeps secrets. Only your secrets are a lot more dangerous to us, to your adopted family. It’s about time you started telling us some truths.”
“You can start with the Keesius. Why won’t Teenge be able to stop it?”
“Antimatter?” she blurted. “But that’s a big no-no, one of the crash-and-burn laws of the Union!”
Ghost continued.
“What is this ship’s target? What will it do?”
“This is how they destroyed planets, isn’t it? This is why antimatter is illegal.”
Alexis mind raced, already making plans. Ghost would know the route the Keesius was taking. She’d use Pegasus and 2nd Level Hyperspace to beat it to that last system. They’d destroy it there. Millions were on Capital who’d done nothing wrong. They didn’t deserve to die from a terror weapon made a thousand centuries before they were born, accidentally activated by a scientist with more curiosity than brains.
“What do you mean, no?” she demanded. “You don’t know the route?”
“You can’t, or you won’t,” she demanded.
She’d never heard such finality from the AI before. It was chilling. “You son of a bitch,” she snarled. “You’d let all those people die.”
“At the cost of still another ship and crew.”
“You know what? I’m beginning to understand how so many trillions died in the war. You are a perfect example of what killed them.”
Ghost had nothing more to add.
* * *
Space Dock Central Complex, Golara System
The conversation ceased as Alexis re-entered the conference room, and Sansar drew a short breath at the expression on Alexis’ face. Although normally pale from her lack of time planetside, Sansar had never seen her so colorless. Alexis came back to the table and dropped into a chair—as much as one-third G would allow, anyway.
“What’s wrong?” Sansar asked. “It looks like you just saw a ghost.”
“Funny you should say that,” Alexis said.
“What do you mean?” Nigel asked. “Are you okay?”
He started to stand, probably to go to her, but Alexis waved him back to his seat. “No, I’m fine. It has been a long day, full of death, and I just got some additional news which is extremely disconcerting.”
“What is it?” Sansar asked.
“Yeah. How can we help?” Jim asked. “There isn’t anything we can’t get through, now that we’re together.”
Sansar smiled. The exuberance of youth. Today was one of those days where it was good to have the two younger men with them; their youthful energy and fiery spirit brought out the best in the two older women. It did for her, anyway.
“I made a mistake when we left New Warsaw,” Alexis said, sitting forward. “Before we left, I granted authorization for Dr. Sato to take a look at one of the weird Egleesius ships we brought back from 2nd Level Hyperspace.”
“Sato?” Nigel asked. “The mad scientist guy?”
Alexis smiled. “Yes, him, although most people would use words like ‘brilliant’ and ‘accomplished.’”
“Most of the people I’ve talked to call him ‘The Mad Scientist,’” Nigel said with a grin.
“He’s awesome!” Jim exclaimed. “He invented—”
“We don’t have time to debate his personal strengths and weaknesses,” Alexis said, cutting him off. “He is both of those things. A genius and…a pain in the ass.” She shook her head. “When we left, I gave him permission to look at one of the Keesius-class ships, which is what they are called.” She held up a hand, seeing the looks on the other commanders’ faces. “I’ll tell you how I know that in a minute. Regardless, I always try to lay down boundaries for what he is and isn’t allowed to do. Those of you who have any experience with him will understand why. This time, however, I wasn’t specific enough in layin
g out the rules. I didn’t forbid him from refueling the ship, and he convinced the yard staff to do so. Once the ship was fueled, Sato somehow activated it.”
“Activated it?” Nigel asked, brows knitting. “What does that mean?”
“It means the ship has a functioning AI aboard that Sato somehow turned on. The AI then started the ship and left the New Warsaw system.”
“How could it do that?” Jim asked. “They wouldn’t have let it past the stargate, would they?”
“No, they wouldn’t; however, the ship is equipped with hyperspace shunts, and it jumped out of the system on its own.”
Sansar pursed her lips. “So it’s gone; we’ve lost it.”
“Not necessarily,” Alexis replied. “That is why Captain Jormungd is here. Before the ship jumped, Dr. Sato transmitted its jump coordinates. The ship was heading to the Beta Cephei system.”
“Do we know why it was going there?” Sansar asked.
“At the moment, no,” Alexis said. She sighed. “We think it is just an intermediate point, though. We believe its final destination is Capital Planet.”
“The more you explain, the more questions you raise,” Nigel said. “How do you know where it’s heading? What does the ship intend to do there?” He smiled wanly, his concern obvious. “Finally, who is this ‘we’ you keep mentioning? We could hear you arguing with someone…however, there didn’t appear to be anyone in the other room with you.”
Alexis sighed again. “I know. I’m going to tell you everything, but please bear with me for a few moments. All of those questions are wrapped up in this, and it’s…complicated.” She slumped in her chair.
Sansar could see the Hussars’ commander was exhausted. “You can tell us however you see fit,” she said; “however, it might be easiest if you started out with the important part—how are we going to get the ship back, or at least ensure it doesn’t fall into Peepo’s hands when it reaches Capital Planet? I’ve seen this ship fight, and I don’t want any of its sister ships pointing their 40-terawatt cannons at me.”
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