“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Areshnav told him, trying to keep his face as blank as possible.
“I’m sure you do,” Kellahav said. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Areshnav sighed. He was done for anyway. Everything had gone wrong since he had been chased out of Marno. All those ships he’d been stockpiling were gone, along with a lot of good solid untraceable currency. Then well outside known space, he’d stumbled on that fleet of Levarc ships and shortly afterwards, that opportunistic young Minstrahn lord. Then when it seemed that his fortunes were changing for the better, that young lord had betrayed him and left him and his gang on that forsaken hole, where they’d lived at the mercy of those rotten creatures for all that time. Probably years by the sounds of things but he’d lost track of time a long time ago.
“A nut job,” he said at last.
“Ah,” Kellahav nodded. “That’s right. Again, I’m glad you remember. Then you know I don’t mess around. Particularly with scum like yourself, Mr. Areshnav. I trust you follow me. What I want from you is this. I find the circumstances of your gang being stranded on this planet below us to be quite intriguing. You are going to tell me how it happened. If you do, you will be imprisoned on a Federation world. Freedom, I’m afraid, isn’t an option for you. However, at least you will be safe from harm and well fed. If however, you don’t wish to cooperate, then you can take your chances with those creatures down there until the next rescue party comes along. They’re called Araenids if you’re interested.”
Areshnav wasn’t interested and he certainly wasn’t going to spend another second on that world if there was another option. He sighed. Given all the possible options available to him at this point, life in prison didn’t sound that bad.
“I’ll cooperate.”
12. Find and Capture
Dace Keigen ruffled the soft fur of his merleion as the little animal ate his dinner.
“Good, Traes?” he asked.
Traes made a cheerful little sound in return as he chewed.
Dace smiled and looked around, enjoying the way the afternoon sunlight played on the garden and off the rocky peaks of the distant mountains. Then he went back inside the house where he saw his wife switching off the communicator.
“Odd,” she said.
Dace brushed a strand of her dark hair off her forehead, hair that showed no sign of graying. “What’s that, Jana?”
“You’ve got a Major Eslen coming to see you,” his wife told him. “Any idea what that might be about?”
Dace shrugged. “No idea. They occasionally ask me for advice on things, usually informally. Although that seemed to stop when Corinthe took over. Maybe since he’s gone, they’re falling back on their old habits.”
“I don’t know why they need to bother you anymore,” Jana said. “You’ve hardly been keeping an active eye on what’s going on in the navy these days.”
“Oh, well. Once an admiral, always an admiral, I suppose.” However, Dace knew where she was coming from. “How far off did he say he was?”
“He should be here soon,” Jana replied.
Just then, Traes came bounding through the kitchen, heading for the door.
Dace smiled at his wife. “Looks like he’s here now.”
He followed Traes and giving him a pat of appreciation, gently pushed him aside so he could get outside.
“Major Eslen,” he said to the younger man who was walking briskly up the path, extending his hand as he arrived, “I’m Dace Keigen.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” the major replied, shaking his hand.
Dace smiled. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir’, Major. My navy days are behind me now.”
“Well, I’d still like to say that it is an honor to shake the hand of the man who finally subdued the Levarc,” Eslen said. “And if you’ll forgive me, I’d feel awkward calling you anything else.”
Dace smiled. “Well, if you insist. Now why don’t you come on in and tell me what this is all about?”
When Major Eslen had finished, Dace was quiet and the only movement in the room was Traes rolling about on his lap. Dace smoothed his fur while Jana sipped a drink and watched her husband.
“So Admiral Roth is interested in hearing your assessment of the situation,” Eslen prompted.
“Well,” Dace said. “I’ve heard the particular piece of the history. Custodian Kaleathra said something about it when we were setting up the garrison on what remained of the Levarc Throneworld. Although she didn’t say much to me personally, obviously.”
“They were a vicious people,” Jana told him, sensing the shift in his mood as he remembered the day he razed their Throneworld... so thoroughly that eventually, everything was moved offworld, the Federation garrison included. “And despite what some of these new historians and analysts think, you did what you had to.” She took another sip of her drink. “Besides, I bet those historians and analysts were cheering just as loudly as everyone else was back then.”
Dace smiled. “It’s all right, Jana. Everyone looks at things differently in hindsight. You know, I always wonder whether I should have done things differently.”
“And drawn out the war any longer? A decade is long enough.”
“True, but...” He shook his head. “Anyway, that was then.” He turned back to Major Eslen. “As for now, it’s a little puzzling that these Minstrahn dissidents, whoever they are, are using Levarc weaponry in the first place, surely.”
“Admiral Roth says the Minstrahn don’t have a lot in the way of high-powered weaponry for ground soldiers,” Eslen explained. “And the dissidents needed explosives that soldiers could set up to sabotage the orbital station and that refueling station.”
“I suppose the Levarc are getting something out of all this.”
“Presumably,” Eslen said.
“And the only scenario that makes any sense here is that whoever started dealing with the Levarc did so to make some kind of bargain to safeguard the Empire.”
“But it wouldn’t work, would it? Once the Levarc got what they wanted, they wouldn’t honor any agreement they had with a Minstrahn dissident.”
“No,” Dace agreed. “However, as I understand it, the Minstrahn don’t know our old adversaries. And for all their subterfuge, I can assure you and Admiral Roth these people aren’t without some sense of honor. They may think that by pointing this second group of Levarc our way, they can protect their own people.”
“It doesn’t sound that honorable to me, sir.”
“I said it was ‘some’ sense of honor,” Dace pointed out. “I didn’t say it was the same as ours.”
Major Eslen nodded. “I see.”
“Anyway, these dissidents would trust the Levarc to honor any agreement that was made between them. If they didn’t, they would never have made an agreement in the first place.”
In his lap, Traes seemed bored by the lack of attention he was receiving so Dace put him on the floor and let him run outside to the garden.
“The next point I think we need to consider,” Dace said, “is that if these Levarc are anything like those in the original kingdom were, they’ll be long-term planners. Now, the only possible bargain they could have made with the dissidents would have to have been some deal where they could acquire worlds along the border of the Minstrahn Empire. Worlds from which they could launch campaigns against us. Now, when the first Levarc Kingdom attacked us, they had already planted a substantial number of sleeper agents throughout the navy. Which means they had their sights on us for a long time before they attacked us. If this group of Levarc on the far side of the Minstrahn Empire have anywhere near the same level of foresight, then they’d almost certainly have begun shifting supplies and personnel to those particular worlds that they want.”
“They’d have to do it discreetly though,” Eslen pointed out. “They can’t have been given those worlds yet because the dissidents haven’t got what they wanted yet. Unless they think a handful of weapons and expl
osives is worth giving up several worlds for.”
“No, you’re quite right,” Dace agreed. “They’d be doing this very discreetly. However, if they’ve been doing it for long enough, they could have moved a substantial amount of equipment and personnel by now. The worlds selected would have to be fairly low-tech for such activity to remain unnoticed for too long, of course. Especially if they’ve established bases. But those are probably just the kinds of worlds the Levarc have chosen. I’d suggest that Admiral Roth investigate any small agricultural worlds near the Minstrahn border, especially any that aren’t particularly vital to the overall production of food and other produce there.”
Major Eslen nodded. “How much time do you think we have?”
“It’s impossible to say,” Dace replied. “But I’m sure you’d agree it’d be better to make a move before the enemy does.”
The suddenness of the explosion nearly jerked Ja’is out of his seat. “What the hell?” he exclaimed, fumbling with his instruments and bringing up the comm. “That relay station just blew up!”
“Yeah, I saw it,” Adaria replied, her voice a little shaky too.
“Did you see what happened?”
“It just exploded.”
“Layson? Hellesis? Anything?”
“Sorry, Ja’is,” Layson said. “I think it got us all by surprise. Could we have caused it when we took out the sensor array and the antenna?”
“I sure hope not,” Ja’is replied. “Zak would kill us.”
“We didn’t,” Hellesis said. “There was no damage to the overall structural integrity when I flew over it.”
“Relay stations don’t just blow themselves up,” Ja’is told him. “Wait. Let’s try something.”
“What are you going to do?” Adaria asked.
“I’m going to put a call through to the Deliverance... Yeah. It’s what I thought.”
“What?”
“Nothing but static,” Ja’is replied. “Looks like the next relay station along went up in smoke too. At a guess, I’d say Lord Ilian’s friends have taken out the entire long-range communication network. With pre-placed explosives. Damn it. We saw it coming.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Five minutes ago, there was a weird little static blip over the comm.” Ja’is cursed himself silently for not picking up on it. “Remember?”
“Yeah,” Layson chimed in. “That’s right. Some simple signal they could send through the entire network to trigger the explosives.”
“Well, there’s no way we could have known what that was,” Deacon pointed out. “And even if we had, what could we have done about it anyway?”
Ja’is sighed. “Yeah. You’re right. But we ought to warn the others about what’s going on.”
“We can’t,” Adaria told him.
“What’s that?”
“We can’t,” Adaria repeated. “Not without letting Lord Ilian know they’re down there.”
Ja’is pulled his hand back from the communicator. Adaria was right. Which meant Alia and the others were cut off with no idea what was happening. Which was also, Ja’is then realized, pretty much the same situation Sigma squadron was in.
Alia looked at the images of Lord Ilian that Gamma-Six had provided. He appeared to be in his late thirties, and had nicely defined features with high cheekbones and well groomed ash blonde hair that came down just above his shoulders. He probably would be quite attractive, Alia thought, if it weren’t for the arrogant set to his gaze that the pictures had picked up. Or maybe she was projecting her own ideas onto the pictures from what she knew of him.
“You’ll know him when you see him,” Ms. Tellashi assured her. Alia nodded, putting her pad away.
They waited a little longer, looking at the castle further up the ridge. Then a rocklike figure emerged from the undergrowth. Mr. Koraashi jogged back to them.
“Well?” Ms. Tellashi asked.
“There are a number of ways in,” the Vaschassi reported, “including a rooftop garden. The security is minimal as it is not a military installation. So I think that would be our best bet. Then we can work our way down through the rest of the levels.”
“All right,” Ms. Tellashi said. “But we can’t climb as quickly or as easily as you can, so we’d have to call Mr. Ishara to give us a lift up there. I take it that you’ve disabled any radar equipment and anything that they might use to pick up a call?”
“Of course,” Mr. Koraashi told her. “I’ve removed all the external antenna I could find on the roof. And I tried those clearance codes you pulled during our information raid the last time we were here as well. And I was also able to disable most of the external security systems, including the alarms. As I said, the security was minimal.”
“But you have no idea where Lord Ilian is?”
“I think he’s on one of the lower levels but I didn’t get that far.”
Just then Mr. Savaja, the Yloshi, spoke up. “It may be that this drop-off point Lady Valinski mentioned in that earlier transmission simply means the castle entrance. In which case, it might be advisable for some of us to wait down there.”
“What about that hangar up there?” Asten asked, pointing out a wide groove about halfway up the main curtain wall.
“Oh, that’s not really important,” Mr. Koraashi said. “It’s large, yes, but inside it’s entirely taken up by a large atmospheric yacht. Lady Valinski takes it out sometimes for pleasure cruises over the mountains. It’s not particularly fast and it’s incapable of leaving the atmosphere so it wouldn’t be much use as a getaway ship if Lord Ilian wanted to slip out from under our noses. The only space capable vessels in the whole place are a couple of small shuttles in the lower hangars.”
“All right,” Asten said. “Then call your man and have him drop Selina, Alia, Carla and me on the roof. Then you guys can work your way up from the bottom, while we head down. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch Lord Ilian somewhere in the middle.”
“All right,” Ms. Tellashi agreed. “Let’s do it.”
When Asten and his group leapt out of the ship, they didn’t waste any time. The view over the mountains in the late afternoon sun was breathtaking but as much as they would have liked to stop and admire it, Lord Ilian would be fairly certain they were coming as there was no way he could have missed their small ship flying over the top of the castle.
Asten opened a door and stepped to the side of it. When it was clear no one was waiting to shoot them on the other side, he headed in. “Set your weapons for stun,” he told the others. “We don’t know if the guards are in on this caper or not.”
“Got it,” Alia replied, changing the settings on her weapon while the others did the same.
The top floors of the castle seemed empty and Mr. Koraashi’s observation about security was fairly accurate. The place was a private holiday retreat through and through. It was enormous and obviously expensive but it wasn’t a military installation. It was probably quite old too and it was easy to imagine that over the long years, it had been used by many of the prominent lords and ladies who had lived in the Daeispa quadrant. But with the rotation of the ruling families to different quadrants, it could never have become a family heirloom, which would explain why it didn’t have a lived-in feel.
“Why are you heading for the stairs?”
Asten paused, glancing back at Carla. “I don’t know. I was just running on autopilot there.”
“It’s just that there’s a turret that way,” Carla explained, pointing down the hallway. “Maybe there are some living quarters there or something. Anyway, shouldn’t we check it out before heading down?”
“I don’t know. How big is it?”
“From outside, it looked like it probably had a bedroom and an ensuite.”
Asten thought it over. “Ah, let’s skip it for now. We can always come back to it later. Anyway, I doubt Lord Ilian would be sleeping at the moment.”
They then heard footsteps on marble and they were coming from the stairs.
>
“Keep quiet,” Asten whispered and they took cover in the alcoves along the wall. A moment later, a guard in the black and silver garb of the Daeispa quadrant lunged forward from the stairwell entrance, firing a sticky webbing across the corridor. Then he was gone, leaving a solid wall in their path.
In almost complete bewilderment, Asten walked over to the strange material and inspected it.
“What the hell?” he muttered as he felt for himself how solid it was. It was unbelievable as well as annoying. But privately, he had to admit to himself that these guys were good. Here he’d been, expecting them to run out from under the cover of the stairwell and allow themselves to be shot down by opponents they couldn’t see. Instead, they had effectively halted their progress in a split second without letting off so much as a single blaster shot.
“How do we melt this stuff?” he asked, looking back at Carla and Alia.
“You don’t,” Carla said, walking up to it. “They have a special chemical for its removal but I have no idea what it is. Also, the stuff’s impervious even to extreme heat.”
“So we’re stuck then,” Selina muttered, thoroughly displeased at the prospect of aborting the mission after they had barely started.
“We can still go down,” Alia pointed out. “Just not inside. Also, I think there was an old weapons cabinet back there. Maybe there’s something we can use.”
“But they wouldn’t spray that webbing across the corridor if the chemical we needed to melt it was just behind us,” Selina pointed out.
“No,” Asten said, “but I think we might be able to go one better than that. Anyway, let’s go and have a look.”
The cabinet was a floor-to-ceiling alcove with a thick glass panel and an old-fashioned key lock. Switching his blaster to its highest setting, Asten blew the lock off and slid the doors open. Inside, they found an assortment of web shooting spear guns like the one the guard had just used, along with high powered and impractically long rifles shaped like spears. However, there were also some of those wrist-blades with energy projectors that Carla and Alia had learned about from Laila.
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