“You bloody fool. Does Admiral Sheridan know about this ship?”
“Of course not. I’m the one who is going to be wearing this one.”
Killam felt Wright grab his arm and squeeze it tight. The look in Wright’s eyes was dangerous. “Where did that ship go?”
“I suspect it went to Illum Prime.”
“Why there?”
“Because it has the nearest intelligence installation on our side of the border.”
Wright let go of Killam and stepped aside. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, Captain, but I want my people back, and you’re going to help me do just that.”
“Believe me when I tell you that I’m not playing any games. I’m just as mystified as you are as to why your people would be on that ship. I’d also like to know why its captain felt she had to jump away from the fleet without authorization.”
“I guess we’ll soon find out, won’t we?”
Admiral Robert Sheridan walked out of his private office and looked over at the two men sitting quietly across the table from one another in the briefing room. He could see Killam’s left eye swelling up. “Okay, gents, I’ve sent an encoded signal back to Admiral Oshiro asking him for confirmation on the Danube’s status and the whereabouts of two of my officers. I doubt I’ll get an answer back for a few days.” Admiral Sheridan fixed his gaze on Wright. “In the meantime, Colonel, I want you to calm down and control that hair-trigger temper of yours. I can’t have my senior officers punching each other instead of talking things through like adults. I’ve a good mind to throw the two of you in the brig for a couple of days.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Wright.
“I think you owe Captain Killam an apology.”
Wright turned to look at Killam. “Sorry about that. It’s just those two women are more than just members of my squadron. I owe them my life.”
“Apology accepted,” said Killam, offering his hand.
Wright stood and shook his colleague’s hand.
“That’s better,” said the admiral. “Now, Colonel Wright, I want you to return to your squadron and keep up the good work. I need the ceasefire verification patrols to continue without further incident.”
“Yes, sir. Please let me know when my officers are free to rejoin their comrades.”
“Captain Killam will keep you in the loop.”
Wright stood, came to attention, and saluted his superior officer before turning about and walking out of the room.
Robert Sheridan took a seat next to Killam. “Captain, I wish you had told me about the Danube’s secret mission before any of this ever happened.”
“So do I, sir. I was given a direct order from Admiral Oshiro’s chief of staff to keep you in the dark regarding the Danube. Trust me, sir, I wanted to tell you but I couldn’t. I expect you’ll want me to tender my resignation from your staff.”
Robert Sheridan smiled. “No. That won’t be necessary. I need you to keep doing your job. I’d be lost without you.”
“Thanks, sir.”
“Now, I feel duty bound to tell Admiral Kaar about this incident.”
“Sir, shouldn’t you wait until you speak with Admiral Oshiro before doing that?”
Robert shook his head. “No. If we’re ever going to have a lasting peace between us, there can be no duplicity. If this results in my being relieved of command, so be it.”
“Admiral, if they fire you, they’ll have to fire the entire staff.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Sir, what would you like me to do about the Danube?”
“If she comes out of her jump anywhere in my fleet’s area of responsibility, I want her to be immediately impounded and her captain arrested. Colonel Wright may have two officers onboard that ship. But I have a daughter-in-law possibly being held against her will. God help them if Michael finds out what is going on. He’d never rest until he freed Tarina and her friend.”
“Surely, he’d listen to you if you gave him an order to leave this in your hands.”
“That’s the problem, Captain. I’d never give that order.”
Chapter 7
“How are your legs treating you today?” Michael Sheridan asked Cole as he walked gingerly to a table in the mess hall.
“I have huge bruises on both of my upper thighs from where that chunk of debris hit me back on the Kurgan ship. They’ve turned a horrible shade of yellow and black,” explained Cole. “I’d drop my drawers and show them to you, but modesty won’t allow that.”
“Thank God for modesty.”
Cole pulled out his chair and slowly took his seat. Both men had selected a light lunch of beef and vegetable soup.
“Is the transfer of the colonists liberated on Ke-421 now complete?” asked Sheridan.
“Yes, sir. The last couple of families were flown over to the cruiser Gotland for transit to a rest and rehabilitation camp on Mars about thirty minutes ago.”
“That’s good news.”
“Any word on our next assignment?”
“None whatsoever.”
Cole scrunched up his face. “Don’t you find that a bit odd?”
Sheridan shook his head, placed his spoon down, and reached for a glass of water. “I’d rather fleet intelligence take their time and get it right rather than launch us off on a rescue mission only to find no one home.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
Master Sergeant Hill walked to the table and came to attention. “Major Sheridan, I have scheduled the memorial service for Corporal Valencia and Private Ganbattar for nineteen hundred hours tonight in the cargo bay.”
“Thank you, Master Sergeant,” said Sheridan.
“As there aren’t any Kurgs onboard, I didn’t see the need to include any Kurgan religious practices for Captain Kyn during the service.”
“I’ll make a mention of him at the close of the service.”
“Sir, it’s because of him that we lost two good men. I’m not sure the troops feel the same way you do about him.”
Sheridan stood and looked into Hill’s eyes. “First off, Captain Kyn didn’t kill anyone. Someone set a trap that killed my Marines and Captain Kyn. I know you and many of the people on this ship aren’t fond of the Kurgan Empire. To be brutally honest, neither am I. But I have no problem showing respect to a fallen soldier, especially when that respect has been earned.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please carry on with your duties, Master Sergeant. Captain Cole will make sure the ship’s officers are present for the service.”
Hill saluted and left.
“Mike, watch him,” warned Cole. “He doesn’t like or respect you. I saw the way he kept looking away rather than look you in the eyes.”
Sheridan slid back down onto his seat. “I feel for the man. We’ve been together since the war started and he knows you were once an NCO like him. I’m sure he feels like a fifth wheel.”
“I know I can be hard on him, but that doesn’t change a thing. The man should show you the respect you’ve earned.”
“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. If I lose my confidence in him to do his job, I’ll ask for a replacement. But I’m not going to race to judgment.”
Cole sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “It’s your call.”
“That’s right, it is my call.” Sheridan could see the tension in his friend’s body language and switched subjects. “I spoke with Captain Rodriguez about what happened when we tried to leave the Kurgan ship, and she believes that the reason the debris field stayed around the ship was because of a nearby gravimetric anomaly.”
“I thought only objects like a large asteroid or planet could cause a change in gravity.”
“So did I. But after crunching the numbers, she believes somewhere in the nebula a wormhole opened for a short time, thereby affecting the gravity in our region of space.”
“Sounds as reasonable an explanation as any. I was never good with astrophysics when I went to sch
ool. I couldn’t wrap my head around the math.”
“I’m the same way. We had to take advanced astrophysics at the academy. If it hadn’t been for Tarina’s help, I’m sure I would have failed the class.”
Cole chuckled. “I know who would love to read those numbers.”
“Wendy. She’d be in heaven trying to figure out what happened.”
Cole reached for a glass of water. “I wonder what the ladies are up to right now?”
Chapter 8
Tarina clenched her fists together on the table and fought the urge to smash the person sitting on the other side of the table in the face. “For the thousandth time, we detected minute traces of tachyon particles over Kenor-3. That’s when our computer systems went dead and our ship’s navigational controls were hijacked and we jumped back into this ship’s open cargo hold.”
“Was any of this information sent back to your squadron?” asked Tarina’s interrogator, a woman in her late thirties with short black hair and a muscular figure. She was dressed in an all-black jumpsuit with no rank insignia on her collar.
“I doubt it. The instant the satellite picked up the tachyons, everything was jammed.” Tarina sat up in her chair. “I don’t care how many times you ask me, I’m not going to change my story. I’m telling you the truth.”
“Okay, Major, I believe you.”
“Thank God for small miracles.”
“What I like to know now is, how long were you and Major Williams a prisoner of the Kurgans?”
“You already know that. We spoke about this yesterday. Besides, why does it matter to you?”
“My superiors are just trying to learn if either you or Major Williams could have been turned by the Kurgs. Sleeper agents are still being found back home on Earth and in the armed forces. You may not even realize that you are working for them.”
Tarina had heard enough. She rocketed out of her chair and looked over at a camera on the wall. “That’s it. I’m done talking to you people. I want to see someone from my chain of command, and I want to see them now!”
The interrogator shook her head and stood. “Major, you should reconsider your unwillingness to cooperate with us. This attitude of yours could come back and haunt your or your husband’s future career in the armed forces.”
“Lady, I wouldn’t go around threatening Michael Sheridan. It wouldn’t end well for you or your superiors.”
“Why, because he’s the son of an admiral?”
“No. because I’ve seen him cut a swath of death and destruction to get to me. Do you honestly think your secret organization will be any match for him?”
“Are you threatening me, Major?”
Tarina could see had struck a chord with the woman. “I’m just giving you fair warning. That’s all.”
The woman walked out of the room. A couple of seconds later, the door slid open and Wendy was shoved inside. Tarina bit her lip when she saw her friend had a black eye.
“Jesus, what happened to you?”
“Some joker tried to insinuate you were a Kurg agent, so I launched myself across the table and smashed him in the face. I guess I hit him hard enough to knock him out cold. The next thing I knew some goons in black were in the room. One of them decided to give me a little something to remember him by.”
Tarina smiled and hugged her closest friend in her arms. Theirs was a friendship that had been forged in war. They knew they would risk their lives for one another. “Oh, Wendy, you big fool. There was no need for that.”
“I know. I think my temper just got the better of me.”
The women parted and sat down at the table.
“Any idea where we are?” asked Wendy, looking around the nearly empty room.
“None. They activated their jump engine about three hours ago, so we could be trillions of kilometers from the fleet by now.”
“I don’t like the fact that these people don’t wear any rank insignia. Nor are they wearing any uniform I’ve seen before.”
“I think we’re in the hands of some ultra-top-secret black-ops intelligence organization. Why they’re so fixated on what happened on our last mission has me stumped.”
Wendy leaned forward. “It’s the tachyons they’re interested in, not us.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Tachyons are, until a couple of days ago, a theoretical particle which should not exist according to the known laws of physics. Yet our computers picked up traces of tachyon particles. I think all of our deep-reconnaissance ships have been secretly wired to react a certain way if they detect things out of the ordinary, like tachyons.”
“Do you really believe this is fleet wide?”
Wendy nodded. “I have no doubt these people are watching everything we say and do. Paranoia knows no bounds with these people.”
Tarina ran a hand through her short white hair. “Okay, if I accept your premise as fact, why hijack us for detecting tachyons?”
“What were you doing when you were supposed to be tutoring your husband through astrophysics?”
Tarina blushed. “Steady on. I know what you’re thinking, but we also did some homework. He ended up with a B for the course.”
“Tarina, tachyons are faster-than-light particles. I’d need to see the figures, but I believe someone in the Kurgan Empire is attempting to travel backward through time, and that’s got some people up in arms. And when you think about it, we should be a bit nervous too.”
Chapter 9
Robert Sheridan adjusted his translation hearing aid in his ear and took one last look around the briefing room before the door opened and Admiral Kaar walked inside.
“Admiral, it’s good to see you again,” said Robert in greeting his Kurgan counterpart. “I hope you are well.”
“It is also good to see you, Admiral Sheridan,” replied Kaar. The old warrior moved slowly across the room.
“Are you all right?”
“Age and my many wounds have finally caught up with me. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
Robert pulled out a chair for Kaar and waited until his colleague was seated comfortably before taking a seat himself. He looked over at the Marine and Kurgan guards standing by the doorway. “We shan’t need you. Please wait outside.”
When the Kurgan guards hesitated, Kaar waved a hand, dismissing them.
Robert waited for the door to close before pouring water into a couple of glasses. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve asked you to come see me in private.”
“If it’s about your ship, the Danube, there’s no need to mince words,” said Kaar. “I’ve known about your intelligence-gathering ship for several months now.”
Robert raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s obvious that you’re better informed than I was. You have my word that I was unaware of its presence among my ships until it jumped away late last night or I would have sent it away.”
“I know, Robert. There’s no need to worry. In the spirit of cooperation, I have ordered the frigate Kriller to depart immediately. She, like your ship, was here to gather intelligence. The difference being, I was always aware of her presence.”
Robert chuckled. “I guess this means we won’t have to start our relationship from scratch.”
“Trust . . . but verify. Yes?”
“Truer words have never been spoken. No-notice ship inspections will have to be implemented if we’re going to continue to trust each other.”
Kaar nodded. “A small inconvenience that will hardly be noticed by our respective fleets.”
Robert jotted down some notes to himself. “I’ll have Captain Killam and his Kurgan partner draft up the orders for both of our signatures.”
“Very good. Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me?”
“Yes. I’d like to personally thank you for the information your fleet provided to us on the colonists being held by the rebel forces. As you are aware, we recently launched a series of raids into rebel territory and liberated a considerable number of Terran citizens.”
>
“Anything that weakens the rebels is a good thing. My government wants a peace treaty signed as soon as possible. The sooner you can account for all of your missing people, the sooner we can put this war behind us.”
Robert took a sip of water. “The problem my people now face is the next batch of planets holding human prisoners are deep inside rebel space. Such an undertaking would require a sizable force which is something my president is not, at this time, willing to authorize. He’d rather we wait until your armed forces have pushed the border further back into rebel-controlled space before proceeding with any more raids. People back home want us to liberate their fellow citizens but are strongly opposed to any further large-scale military encounters.”
“I thought this would be your government’s position. While I cannot get into any detail, I can assure you that an offensive is being planned that will hopefully force the rebels to the negotiating table.”
“That is good news. I just hope you’re not biting off more than you can chew.”
Kaar chortled. The noise came out of his nose. “I always find Terran expressions to be quite amusing. I also hope my superiors know what they are doing.”
“I think that’s all we need to cover,” said Robert, checking his notes.
Kaar sat up in his chair. “Admiral, before coming over here I was briefed by my head of intelligence that there could be something brewing in the demilitarized zone on our side of the border. He only gave me a cursory rundown on what he believes is going on. However, if he is correct, I fear certain elements of my armed forces are going to blatantly ignore the treaty stipulations regarding Kurgan fighting vessels inside the DMZ and launch a mission to destroy or capture a military scientist who to the best of my knowledge was reported dead over a decade ago.”
“Whereabouts in the DMZ are we talking about?”
“The Kenor System.”
Robert Sheridan almost fell out of his chair. That was the system Tarina and her navigator had been in when they went missing. “Are you sure it was the Kenor System?”
Renegade (The Kurgan War Book 7) Page 5