by D. M. Pruden
Kaine’s Sanction
Shattered Empire Book 1
D.M.Pruden
Copyright © 2019 D.M.Pruden
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
D.M.Pruden asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
ISBN: 978-1-989341-00-1
ISBN-13: 9781989341001
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CHAPTER ONE
Invaded
BLOOD RAN FROM the open gash on the admiral’s scalp.
The pungent scent of smoke and dust gave her an idea of the damage they’d suffered.
“Give me the defence status report.”
“The surface is under heavy bombardment,” said the second officer. “The orbital hub is destroyed.”
“How many ships survived?”
“Six, Admiral; four of them are civilian vessels. One transport and three freighters.”
“Where did they come from?” she said to her XO, Commander Gill.
The right side of his face was a bloody, burned mess, but he remained at his station, despite the obvious pain.
Even though the military command centre was buried beneath kilometres of bedrock, they had been hit hard. Half of her staff were dead or critically injured. She could only imagine the extent of the devastation to Dulcinea’s settlements on the ground.
“They are employing some kind of stealth technology, Admiral,” said Gill. “We can’t see them to shoot back, and I have never seen anything like the weapons they are using.”
“Nor I, and I spent six years at the Tactical Research Centre on Earth.”
“Where would one of the factions get tech like this?”
“They want to separate from the Confederation, not start a war,” she said. “None of the dissenting colonies have shown military aggression before.”
“Well, then who could they be?”
Another violent earthquake shook the reinforced foundations.
“That was a big one,” said the admiral. “What the hell could they be using to bombard the planet?”
“Sir,” said the second officer. “The Revenge and Victory are destroyed.”
“That’s the last of our orbital defences,” said Gill, “and they are picking off our surface installations from orbit.”
“Did you reach the governor yet?”
“No, ma’am. The Parliamentary Palace is gone. We must assume every cabinet minister is dead.”
“That just leaves me,” she said. “Send out a general broadcast. Announce our surrender.”
“The attackers don’t respond to any of our hails.”
“What other choice is there?”
Another blast knocked everyone from their feet. A trickle of dust fell on the admiral’s face as she lay on the floor, stunned.
The reinforced ceiling cracked under the strain of kilometres of overburden.
Everything crashed down on her.
CHAPTER TWO
Forty Years Later...
“WAKE UP, ASSHOLE! You’ll be late for inspection.”
Hayden Kaine hated alarms. Avoidance of discipline and schedules was one reason he had deactivated his LINK’s chronometric functions. Of course, that never prevented his roommate from serving that role on his own initiative. If not for Kyle’s adherence to the rules on his behalf, he didn’t believe he would have survived academy life. As things were, the two of them enjoyed a codependent relationship that served them both, though he often felt he got the better end of the deal.
“I’m awake. Stop shouting.” He dragged the sheets over his head.
“You need to be up, Officer Cadet Kaine.” Kyle emphasized his point by yanking the covers from his friend.
Hayden pulled the pillow over his head and curled into a fetal position. “Just three more days, Mom?”
Deciding he could no longer put it off, he sat on the edge of the bed and blinked at the sunshine streaming through the opened blinds.
“Whose bright idea was it to get an apartment facing east?”
“It faces west, thanks to your influential daddy. Of course, you might remember that if you spent any significant time here,” called Kyle from the kitchen.
Hayden cradled his head in his hands and moaned. “Are you still dating that medical student? Do you think she can get me some really powerful painkillers, or just something to kill me?”
“Her name is Andrea, and she’s my fiancée, if it makes any difference. These should help.”
He looked up to Kyle, holding a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a pair of white medicine tablets in the other.
After tossing the pills to the back of his throat, he gulped down half the beverage, oblivious to its temperature.
“What the hell happened to you last night? You usually show some modicum of self-control the night before a parade inspection.”
Hayden’s shoulders slumped, and he cradled the cup in both hands while he stared at the late afternoon sun.
“Katie and I broke up.”
Kyle regarded his roommate, a deep frown creasing his brow. “You asshole! She was the best thing to ever happen to you. Who did the breaking up?”
“Technically, it was her.”
“And, ‘technically,’ what was her reason this time?”
He winced in recollection. “She walked in on me in bed with Sharon.”
Hayden didn’t see the fist that caught him in the side of his jaw and sent him to the floor and the remains of his coffee splattering the wall.
“You...oh! There are no words to describe you. What the hell would tempt you to cheat on Katie?”
“I don’t have a good reason, okay? She blew our date off because of some big assignment from her granddad, and, well, we argued, and I went drinking and...it just happened.”
“Holy Mary, Mother of God! You are such a dog! Just a week before graduation, and you pull a stunt like that. It probably explains the priority message from the Old Man flashing for you on the board.”
“What are you talking about?” Hayden sat up, rubbing his chin. When Kyle didn’t bother to answer, he stood and made his way to the comm panel. On the way, he activated and reviewed the messages cued on his LINK but saw nothing from Admiral Thomas. The Old Man, as he often did when he was about to release a disciplinary shitstorm on someone, had gone old-school and posted on the public board. Nobody other than the recipient could access the contents, but the meaning of it being there was understood by every cadet in the academy.
Aware of Kyle’s scrutiny, he accessed and read the communiqué. After a few moments, Kyle said, “Well? What does it say?”
“He’s summoned me to his office for a special assignment.” He stared at the screen, trying to decipher the hidden meaning behind the short missive.
“What the hell, man? He must really be pissed with you. What do you think it is?”
“Well, he can’t flunk me. Despite my best efforts, I did manage to meet the grad requirements.”
“Holy shit
, man. Where do you think he’ll send you? I heard that he once assigned a graduate to spend his first five years in sewage maintenance...”
“I don’t think that’s what this is about.”
“Huh? How can you be so sure? He’s never liked the idea of you dating his precious little genius granddaughter. Now that you spectacularly screwed that relationship up...”
“Katie isn’t like that. She never told the Old Man about our...issues. She wouldn’t do it now.”
“A woman scorned and all...”
Hayden glared at him.
“Okay, Kaine. What do you think it is?”
“It might be a consular posting.”
“What? Are you nuts?”
“No, I don’t think so. Dad’s pressed hard for me at the Admiralty. I did specialize in diplomatic relations.”
He deleted the message and moved to the closet to select his uniform.
“When is the meeting?”
“Geneva, later today.”
“There is an inspection parade this evening. What will I tell Warrant Officer Singh?”
Hayden shrugged. “Admiral’s orders, I suppose. It was on the public board.”
Kyle shook his head. “If you get shipped off to some wreck to run radiation leak maintenance, I want you to pay what you owe me before you go.”
“That is not going to happen. Besides, if it is, I’m sure I’ll be given time to pack.” He smiled at his long-time friend, who rolled his eyes and retreated to his own bedroom.
It had to be a diplomatic posting. What other reason for a personal meeting? Any other assignment would come through the routine, postgraduation assignations that every cadet received. It wouldn’t be for any kind of retribution over his indiscretion. Whatever happened between he and Katie remained strictly beyond the Old Man’s ability to redress without legal implications for the admiral.
Dad came through. Hayden pumped his fist in private celebration. He and his father always agreed that a military commission would be valuable on the resume, but only as a stepping-stone to the diplomatic corps. From there, after a few years’ experience in various postings of increasing importance, he would run for election to the governing council, as planned.
This meeting had to be for a high-profile commission, accelerated by the brewing dispute between colonial factions. He would probably be assigned to a Peace Keeper ship and assist in calming things down. A perfect first assignment. His father would be pleased.
The thought of being sent so far away gave Hayden pause. He should call Katie and try to pour oil on the waters before he was shipped off. There was no long-term plan for their relationship; they both understood their careers would carry them in different directions, but he didn’t want them to part after an unresolved transgression.
She had a generous and forgiving spirit. He realized it was the primary reason she had put up with his bullshit for so long, but he worried he’d gone too far this time. He resolved to call on her and beg for forgiveness. They probably wouldn’t make up, but it could be his only chance to say goodbye.
But first, he had a more pressing matter to attend to before his departure for Geneva.
Pausing, he accessed his LINK to transfer the funds he owed to Kyle’s account.
CHAPTER THREE
Iris
IRIS MONTAGUE-BREYSON was the most brilliant person Hayden knew.
After an accomplished career as the preeminent researcher in multidimensional physics, she “retired” to be a full-time instructor at the academy. She was known as an uncompromising taskmaster who brooked nothing short of perfection from her students. As a result, over two-thirds of the cadets who took her course failed on their first attempt.
Most people believed Katie’s help allowed Hayden to pass Iris’s class on his first try. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Though she was one of his toughest teachers, nearly failing him on more assignments than he cared to recall, she held a special place in his heart.
When his mother, Amelia, died, it was her best friend, Iris, who stepped up to help bring up six-year-old Hayden. Walden Kaine’s career and ambition kept him far too preoccupied to sacrifice the time necessary to raise his traumatized son.
With no children or family of her own, she took on the role with the same brilliant dedication to perfection she devoted to her professional life. Somehow, the woman whose life was just as demanding as his father’s had created the time to become his surrogate mother.
Through his father’s influence, he gained admission to the elite Confederation Military Academy. But it was his desire to make Iris proud that motivated him to succeed in his studies.
Hayden passed the course because he did not want to disappoint his “Auntie I.”
Period.
It was the most challenging time of his education and taught him the necessary discipline to apply himself — when he chose to do so, which was less often than she liked.
The palliative care unit was a brightly lit, sunny place. In many ways, it was like Iris herself.
Hayden greeted the nurses with a familiar nod as he walked past the charge desk.
“How is she today, Penny?”
“She took a turn last night,” said the pretty young nurse. “And before you get upset, she ordered me not to contact you unless something ‘definitively imminent’ developed. Her words.”
He shook his head. “Typical. Is she awake?”
“She’s in the sun room.”
Hayden plucked a daisy from the bouquet he’d brought and gave it to her on his way to locate Iris.
He found her in an armchair with her back to the door. A wool blanket covered her up to her neck, despite the warm sunshine that streamed into the room.
She heard him before he could speak and turned, smiling.
It had been too many weeks since his last visit. She was a gaunt shadow of the robust, energetic Auntie I of his childhood.
He did his best to bury his feelings and returned her smile. He pulled up a chair and presented the flowers to her.
“Oh, for me? And daisies, too. Thank you, dear.”
She accepted them with shaking hands and set them down on the side table.
“Let me look at you,” she said as she grasped his hands. Her grip was far stronger than he expected. “You aren’t eating properly. Perhaps partying a little too much, eh?” She winked.
He blushed. “Possibly.”
“How is that lovely girlfriend of yours?”
He examined the pattern of the carpet and after an uncomfortable pause told her everything. He kept no secrets from her.
She shook her head. “Oh, I’m so sorry this happened.”
That was all.
No admonition; no disappointment in her voice or judgement in her tone. Just acceptance.
“Admiral Thomas summoned me to his office. For an assignment.”
She nodded. “Feeling a little nervous, are you?”
“Yes. I’m not sure what to expect after...”
“He has no legal right to use that situation to justify personal revenge. If he does, he will hear from me. I still maintain a few connections over his head at that place.”
Hayden smiled. “Thanks, but I don’t think it will come to that. At least I hope not. But I am concerned about leaving you behind if he sends me off somewhere.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She patted his hand.
“But, I...”
“Honey, it is time you come to terms with the fact that I’m not long for this life. I accept that, and you must as well. I tried to teach you all you need, given your father’s expectations of you.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Dad doesn’t realize—”
“No, Hayden. You don’t realize. He sacrificed everything for you. You don’t think so, but it is true. He may not be the father of the year, but he cares for you. He cared enough to ask me to raise you, rather than cede your upbringing to boarding schools. Don’t judge him too harshly.”
&nb
sp; She released his hand and picked up a folio from the side table. “This is important. Read it before you leave here.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now. We don’t need to talk to enjoy each other’s company. I want to discuss something about that with you when you’re finished. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
She closed her eyes and leaned back in the armchair.
Hayden guiltily checked his chronometer. He needed to catch Katie before his departure to Geneva, but...
He opened the folio. It contained a scientific brief from a research section he was not familiar with.
“Am I cleared to read this?”
“Oh, tosh-tosh. You won’t tell anyone, and nobody would believe you if you did.”
Hayden settled into the chair and began reading. The report was from some archaeological researcher stuck out in the boonies. He claimed that he had uncovered an extinct alien culture on one of the outermost colony planets. The location was blacked out, as were a lot of the details, but what he could read seemed more like a science fiction novel than a serious report.
“Is this real? Who is this crackpot?”
“You’ll note his name is redacted. I’m not privy to who he is, but I have my suspicions. And to answer your question, yes it is.”
“But this is outlandish. A dead race of sentient aliens? We’ve been stepping out into the galaxy for the last three centuries. No life form more advanced than bacteria has ever been encountered.”
“You recall the Drake hypothesis? Who is to say that other cultures did not exist in the past? The universe is far older than our solar system.”
“Why are you showing this to me?”
“If Thomas is sending you where I think he might, it will be useful for you to go with an open mind.”
“I realize that, but this?”
Iris began to chuckle, which soon devolved into a coughing fit. She seemed not to be able to catch her breath.