Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: The Rising Storm

by Doug Dandridge

  I really am causing them a lot of worry, thought Sean, shaking his head at the images of officers shitting their pants worrying about someone who was their responsibility, and one that they couldn’t control. I really shouldn’t be putting them through this. But after towing the line in the Navy, it’s kind of nice to be the captain of my own ship. “I promise I’ll be a good boy, Admiral. Give me another hour down here and I’ll head back up.”

  “We have another crowd gathering, your Majesty,” said Lieutenant Tucker.

  Sean looked up to see a new bunch of people heading his way. There was the murmuring of speech, not angry shouting, just conversation. He could hear the term Emperor through the conversations. He waved a hand at them, then noted that there were shuttles sitting with no one boarding, and soldiers trying to get civilians to move toward the shuttles. Many of them shook their heads and kept walking toward Sean.

  A senior Army NCO, a Sergeant Major if Sean got the rank insignia right, came flying over in his medium armor. The man landed about twenty meters away, outside the Marines’ perimeter, while the Emperor’s bodyguard looked him over suspiciously. I wonder if they act like that with friends and family when they’re not on duty, thought Sean.

  “Colonel Baggett says that your presence is causing a problem, your Majesty,” said the NCO, walking forward and stopping at the perimeter.

  “Let the Sergeant Major through, Marines,” said Sean, waving the man toward him. “What is he saying I am doing in particular.”

  “Nothing on purpose, your Majesty,” said the noncom. “It’s just that we’re trying to get people to board the shuttles, and they hear that you are here, and want to wander over to get a look.”

  “I see. Well, we can’t have that. Tell the Colonel that I will be heading back up to the ship, as soon as I have a word with these people.”

  The NCO nodded and floated away. Sean engaged his own grabbers and rose up into the air, stopping about ten meters up. The Marines looked up nervously at the man they were tasked to guard, and a couple started to rise up with him. He waved a hand, motioning for them to return to the ground, while he engaged his speakers.

  “Citizens of the Empire. People of Sestius. I am your new Emperor, Sean the First, son of Augustine and Anastasia.”

  The murmuring increased, and several people pointed his way. The Marines started to move nervously below him. “Don’t worry, Tucker,” he told the lieutenant of his detail over his link. “They don’t have anything that can hurt this armor.”

  “Your face is still exposed, your Majesty.”

  “Have to face the people sometime, Lieutenant.” He turned his attention back to the crowd. “We are here to get you to safety, but we need your cooperation. We need you to board those shuttles in an orderly manner, so we can get you away from here.”

  “Why can’t you just stay here and protect the system?” yelled out a voice from the crowd. Sean’s suit zeroed in on the voice, and he looked at the face of the man who must have been a farmer, before aliens came from the sky and took his world away.

  “We don’t have enough here to hold this system,” said the Emperor. “Not at this time. But I promise you we will be back. We will kick the four armed bastards back to their home stars. That I promise, on my father’s grave.” Which is a big fucking black hole, he thought with sorrow. They must have had the funeral by now, with no body to view.

  “What happened to Augustine?” yelled another voice, this one a woman.

  “He was assassinated,” said Sean to the crowd, to the hush that followed. “Murdered, at the time our greatest enemy has arrived. I don’t think that coincidence, either. Now please, follow the directions of the soldiers. Your soldiers, the ones who have fought so hard to defend you.”

  There were some murmurs at that. As well as some cursing at those soldiers.

  “I will not hear their names slandered,” said Sean, raising his voice. “I will not hear those men put down for my error, and the errors of my parents. Those men gave their lives to protect you. They had courage, and commitment to duty, and a love of the Empire. What they didn’t have were sufficient men or firepower to keep a superior force off the planet. What they didn’t have were the assets in space and in orbit to keep the aliens from landing a force on this planet. That is the fault of your leadership. And I cannot undo the past mistakes. But what I can do is promise that I will do my best to make sure our military has what it needs to defend our people.”

  There was more murmuring, a little, but mostly the crowd was silent.

  “Please, follow the directives of those soldiers I have tasked with organizing this evacuation. Thank you.”

  Sean lowered his suit back to the ground and started to walk to his waiting shuttle, the Marines falling in around him.

  “You sure inherited that charisma from your father,” said Samantha, walking beside him. “You played the crowd like an expert. I would never be able to handle people like that.”

  “You will have to learn, Sam,” said Sean, glancing down at her and flashing her a smile. “If you are to be the regent, you will have to learn how to control Parliament. But, of course, you don’t have to be so polite with those bastards, especially the Lords.”

  * * *

  “Be careful with those cylinders,” said Jennifer Conway, watching as the naval personnel loaded the stasis tubes containing wounded and revivable dead onto the shuttle. “And I’d like to see an officer in charge.”

  A moment later she was standing in front of an Imperial Naval Officer who was probably more harried than she looked, which was saying something. The officer had the tabs of a Lt. Commander on the light field armor the Navy favored for planetary excursions in a hazardous environment, and looked like a smart and competent woman.

  “And what can I do for you, Doctor?” asked the officer, whose name tag said Khrushchev.

  “There are a bunch of people in cryo tubes in caverns on that mountain,” said Jennifer, pointing at the distant peak of the range that the Marine sanctuary had been located on. “We need to get them up to the ships before we leave.”

  “Where are these people?” asked the officer, her expression tightening as she looked down on a flat comp. “Why wasn’t I told about them?”

  “I don’t think any of the Marine officers came through,” said Jennifer, her throat catching a moment as she thought about Glen. “The civilians and the enlisted personnel are probably too concerned about other things right now.”

  “Well,” said Khrushchev, looking back at her comp. “We’ll get some people up there and get them loaded.”

  “There is a problem,” said Jennifer, dreading this part, and the reaction she might get. “They’re under thousands of tons of rock.”

  “Under thousands of tons of rock?” said the officer, her voice rising. “How in the Hell are we supposed to get them out of that?”

  “You have engineers, don’t you?” said Jennifer, her anger rising at what looked like an attempt to keep her from getting those helpless people to safety. “You have heavy equipment.”

  “Now look, Doctor,” stated the woman, looking Jennifer in the eyes in an attempt to intimidate the civilian.

  I don’t intimidate that easily thought the Doctor, returning the stare, not saying a word.

  “We don’t have the time, or the resources, to dig up a bunch of cryo tubes that may or may not be working.”

  “They are working,” said Conway, looking back at the mountain peak. “I can guarantee that.”

  “How can you guarantee that when they are under that much rock?” asked the incredulous officer.

  “Because they were placed in a side cavern, and the roof of the cavern it opened out into was collapsed,” said the Doctor, crossing her arms over her chest. “So they are in a protected enclosure of rock.”

  “Why did you do such a thing?” asked the Commander, her face showing even more confusion.

  “Because we couldn’t take them with us through the cavern complex when we were f
leeing the Cacas,” said Jennifer, starting to get impatient with the whole thing. “Because the Cacas would have found them and killed them if we had left them in the open. So you need to get your engineers over there and dig them out.”

  “I’m afraid that’s out of the question, ma’am,” said the Commander, hands on her hips in an attitude of not budging a bit. “It will take days to get through to them, and that’s time the Cacas are not likely to give us.”

  “Are you an engineer, Commander?” asked Jennifer, feeling determined to win this argument that lives hinged on. The lives of people she had worked on.

  “No, ma’am,” said the officer, her posture stiffening. “I am a computer and communications expert, with a subspecialty in logistics. That is why I am down here.”

  “Then why don’t you kick this up to an expert in engineering. And I don’t mean a ship’s engineer, but someone who knows something about civil engineering or mining. Maybe a Marine.”

  “Ma’am,” said the officer, her face starting to flush. “We don’t have time for an analysis of the situation. We…”

  “Then damn well make time,” yelled Jennifer, losing her temper.

  “I could have you escorted from the area, Doctor,” said the officer, her face reddening even more. “Don’t make me do that.”

  “Do what you need to do,” said Jennifer, crossing her arms over her chest, keeping those hands away from the butt of her pistol. This idiot might have me shot, she thought, if it looks like I might draw this big gun. “I’ll go over your head, Commander. Believe me when I tell you that.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” asked a strong voice from behind the Commander. Jennifer looked around the officer and saw a man in powerful looking battle armor, with an entourage of Marines in heavy suits at his back.

  “You can butt out and mind your own business,” said the officer in an angry voice, spinning on her heel. She stopped her turn and jerked to attention as soon as she caught sight of the man she had talked to in such a rude manner.

  Jennifer looked at the face of the young man who was standing there with a slight smile on his face. Jennifer had to admit that whoever he was he was handsome, in a haughty sort of way. The armored suit he wore was non-standard, and she had been around Marines enough to know that it looked very advanced. And he had about a score of heavily armed Marines, whose eyes were constantly darting this way and that, the ones who did not have their faceplates down.

  “I am sorry, your Majesty,” said the officer, her voice choking. “I did not realize it was you.”

  “Quite alright, Commander,” said the young man with a laugh. “You didn’t know who was sneaking up behind you. I’ll let you live, this time.”

  Jennifer couldn’t help but notice the twinkle in the young man’s eyes. The officer relaxed a bit. His humor was infectious. And then the words hit her. Your Majesty? That’s the title used by the Emperor, not any other noble, except maybe his wife. If he were an imperial prince it would be your Highness, and your Grace for a Duke or Archduke. But Augustine is Emperor, though this young man favors him. Did something happen to Augustine? It was then that she noticed people were talking to her.

  “It’s not polite to ignore the Emperor, Doctor,” said Lt. Commander Khrushchev.

  “That’s quite alright, Commander,” said the young man who had just been called the Emperor, the supreme ruler of human space.

  “What happened to Augustine?” Conway blurted out, then wished she could take back the words as she saw the cloud pass over the young man’s face.

  “My father was assassinated,” said the young man. “Along with my brothers and my mother. And Dimetre’s wife. You would have seen the news, if not for the invasion.”

  “I’m so sorry, your Majesty,” said Jennifer, her heart going out to the young man who had lost so much, even as she had, and had so much responsibility thrust upon him, more than she could comprehend.

  “As I said, there was no way for you to know, Doctor?”

  “Conway. Jennifer Conway, your Majesty, and I understand your loss.”

  “Do you?” said Sean, his voice going flat again.

  “Yes, your Majesty,” said Jennifer, feeling the connection of loss between her and the man. “I do. You see, my fiancé’ was a Marine captain on this planet.”

  “Oh, said Sean, his face dropping with recognition of what she was saying. “And there were no surviving Marine officers on this planet.” The young man gave a slight bow. “I am sorry for your loss, and your fiancé’s sacrifice.”

  He means it, thought the Doctor. He really is human. I hate to think of the Emperor and his family being killed, but I think we hit the jackpot here for a successor.

  “And what was your argument with the Commander about?” asked the young man. “It sounded quite passionate.”

  Jennifer told the young Emperor her story, and she could tell that he was very interested. That he was a caring young man. She wondered if he would be strong enough to do some of the things an Emperor must do to prosecute a war. But she was getting through to him, at least for now. At the end he turned to a beautiful young woman with aristocratic features who didn’t act the same as the others in his entourage, like she knew him personally.

  “Get in touch with the Admiral,” said the Emperor, pointing toward the mountain peak. “Tell her to get Marine engineers, and whatever civil people they have, to work on getting those people out of there.”

  “She won’t be happy at the delay,” said the young woman.

  “Tell her that if she acts quickly there won’t be much of a delay,” said the Emperor, smiling. “The faster we work the sooner it will get done. And we have to wait for the other battle cruisers to get into orbit too.”

  The young woman stared into space in the characteristic gaze of com link through an implant. Sean looked at the Doctor with a frank and interested gaze, and she felt a bit embarrassed by the attention. And a little flattered at the same time. “The Admiral says we don’t have the time to waste on digging up a mountain,” she finally said.

  “Just tell her what I want Samantha. And that I want it, now. We’ll get everyone who wants to go off this planet, conscious or not.” He looked back at the Doctor, a wide smile on his face. “Mission accomplished, Doctor. Would you like to get off planet now?”

  “I’ll wait until we get those cryo tubes out, your Majesty,” said Jennifer, feeling a thrill run through her at the smile, the look of those warm blue eyes. And feeling a bit of betrayal of her dead lover at the thoughts that underlay that thrill. She felt herself flush, then gathered her thoughts. It was not time to start acting like a schoolgirl. “They were my patients. I put them into those tubes, along with my staff. And I would like to check them myself before they get stored away shipboard.”

  “I like a woman with integrity,” said Sean, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. “Perhaps we can dine together on the trip to Conundrum.”

  “I would like that, your Majesty,” said Jennifer, feeling the flush on her cheeks again.

  “Till then,” said the Emperor, turning and walking away, looking back a couple of times like a little boy who can’t stop looking at something that attracts him.

  “It will probably take more than twelve hours to find a way into that chamber, Doctor,” said the Commander, breaking Jennifer from her thoughts. “If you want to get some rest, we have some prefabs set up over there.” The officer pointed at some small portables about a hundred meters distant.

  Jennifer could feel the fatigue that she had been holding at bay begin to overwhelm her. And there was nothing for her to do right now. The Naval physicians were taking care of any wounded or injuries that had been recently incurred. She was no longer the only doctor on this planet. “I would love to get some sleep,” she told the Commander, yawning after the words left her mouth.

  “Petty Officer Glazer,” called out the Commander, waving to one of the nearby ratings. The man, wearing the same kind of armored suit as the Commander, c
ame running up and saluted. “Take the Doctor over to the prefabs and get her some quarters.”

  “Thank you,” said Jennifer, turning to follow the rating, who slowed his progress so she could keep up.

  Jennifer looked over at a group of people as she walked, lining up about two hundred meters away. Naval personnel were loading them onto shuttles that were taking to the sky as soon as their safe limit was reached. As one took off another came floating into the vacated space and touched down.”

  “You’re really moving the people out,” said Jennifer, pointing to the crowd.

  “We’ve got three more landing areas on the planet,” said the Petty Officer, holding up a flat comp that showed the blinking lights that indicated the zones. “We also have atmospheric craft out searching for people that might not be able to make it to one of the zones.”

  “I bet they’ll be glad you’ve found them.”

  “Most of them,” said the Petty Officer, gesturing toward an aircar that was lifting and heading out. “Some will want to stay. I think they call them Freeholders. And we’re going to give them the means to fight back.”

  Montero, thought the Doctor, the images of the people of that Freehold coming to mind. And the baby she had delivered to a young mother. Of course they would not want to leave. And the government wouldn’t try to force them. Not with so many alien enemies to fight.

  The quarters were Spartan but comfortable, with environmental controls that felt wonderful after the steaming heat of the planet. It was also soundproof, and the minute the door closed all of the noise of the landing field became a distant memory. And the bed was the most comfortable part of the whole package. It was so comfortable that she drifted into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When she woke up hours later she had embarrassing memories of a dream concerning a smiling young Monarch and a red haired Doctor.

  * * *

  “Admiral, ma’am,” called out the Com Officer from her station, looking over at Montgomery. “We have a problem.”

  What now, thought Mara, turning from the pacing path she had been walking around the flag bridge central holo. She walked up to the com station, where two techs sat on each side of the officer, punching in signals or talking into headset mics.