Never Surrender (The Empire's Corps Book 10)

by Christopher Nuttall

  The Colonel looked back at her. “And your reasoning is?”

  Kitty knew she was being tested, but she couldn't help a flicker of irritation. “If we control her, we can slip false information to Wolfbane and determine what other pieces of information are included in the packets,” she said, coolly. “But if we leave her alone, she will determine what else goes to Wolfbane. One of those pieces of information might be outright disastrous.”

  She held up a hand. “One piece that went out last week concerned a dispute between Avalon and Taurus,” she added. “I expect the Wolves will be very interested to know about fault lines running through the Commonwealth.”

  “Probably,” Colonel Stalker said.

  Kitty pressed her advantage. “They must find dealing with us as strange as we find dealing with them,” she said. “Hannalore was giving them insights into our developing politics we’re not getting from their side. There’s already rumblings about Avalon hogging too much of the political power to itself ...”

  “You’ve made your point,” the Colonel said, flatly.

  “It’s going to be used against us,” Kitty added. “It was Avalon that took the decision to send the CEF to Thule ...”

  “Most of which comes from Avalon,” the Colonel reminded her.

  “But it is intended as a Commonwealth formation,” Kitty countered. “Its deployment was solely debated on Avalon, in the midst of a political dispute over the disastrous mission to that godforsaken hellhole.”

  “Lakshmibai,” the Colonel said.

  Kitty ran her hand through her long hair. “My very strong advice, sir, is to move ahead and take Hannalore into custody now,” she said. “If we do it covertly, we can make sure she continues to work for us, without betraying us further.”

  “I assume you have a plan,” the Colonel said. “You don’t want to send a small army of policemen to her door?”

  “That would be a little bit revealing,” Kitty agreed. “I’d prefer to invite her here, along with her husband, and then take her into custody. I don’t know how she will react, when she discovers her cover is blown, but we would have the best chance of containing it here.”

  “And her husband will not react well either,” Colonel Stalker said.

  “No, sir,” Kitty said. “I rather doubt he will.”

  She looked down at the floor, then back up at him. “There are too many different ways she could react, sir,” she added. “She could break down and beg for mercy, she could try to hide behind her husband, she could coolly offer to trade her assistance for leniency ... I’ve seen all of them, in my time.

  “And we couldn't put her on trial. The jury would want her hung.”

  “They might be right,” Colonel Stalker said. “Does she deserve mercy?”

  “She’s a traitor, someone who betrayed us because she fell off the gravy train,” Kitty said, flatly. She understood the Colonel’s point, but she wanted to make use of the spy. “However, we can also use her to mislead Wolfbane. She can redeem herself through service.”

  “She will never be trusted again,” the Colonel said, flatly.

  He leaned forward. “I will need to discuss the matter with the President,” he warned. “And then we will decide how to proceed.”

  “Understood, sir,” Kitty said. “But it’s only two days until the next party. I would prefer to take her into custody tomorrow.”

  The Colonel nodded. “I’ll get back to you,” he said. “Dismissed.”

  ***

  Ed knew that people made bad decisions when their lives changed without notice. He knew just how much crap Professor Cassius’s wife had put him through, when he’d lost his job for daring to question the establishment, and he knew just how many exiles had committed suicide after leaving Earth for good. In that sense, Hannalore was no different ... but instead of either climbing into the bottle or working to adapt to the new order, she had set out to betray it. And succeeded magnificently.

  The hell of it was that the parties were useful. Deliberately or otherwise, the Governor and his wife had put together an institution that had helped the Commonwealth grow into a powerful state. Ed had read the puff piece in the Avalon Central and he had to admit the Governor had found a niche. But none of it counted against the sheer scale of his wife’s betrayal. Kitty was right. Hannalore could be used to mislead Wolfbane ... and yet, there was the abiding sense that she should be punished, perhaps executed or sent into permanent exile. The public would demand the maximum sentence for her crimes.

  He cursed under his breath, then called Gaby and requested an immediate meeting. The plan he’d been putting together to give Wolfbane a bloody nose was workable, he was sure, but it would be easier to make it work if they could mislead the enemy beforehand. Kitty was right, again. Hannalore would be able to mislead the enemy, if she was used properly. And yet, could they trust her not to slip a single warning message into the datapack? One mistake and the data conduit would be lost forever ...

  Shaking his head, he rose to his feet and walked up to the President’s office. Gaby hadn't wanted more than a single large room, one where she could host a small gathering or do her paperwork, rather than the giant apartments enjoyed by the Grand Senators on Earth. Ed wondered, absently, if future Presidents would feel the same way too, then pushed the thought aside as he walked through the door. The guard scanned him quickly, then nodded curtly. Ed had given several previous guards chewing outs for not realising that orders to search everyone meant search everyone.

  “Ed,” Gaby said, as he walked through the inner door. “I rarely see you here in working hours.”

  Ed smiled. Their relationship was the worst-kept secret on Avalon - they’d been lovers for over three years - but they had to try to keep it professional. They both had political enemies watching them closely for any signs their relationship was colouring their judgement. He kissed her forehead, then sat down facing her.

  “We have a situation,” he said. “The Governor’s wife is a spy.”

  He outlined the bare bones of the story, then waited for Gaby to finish considering the implications. She had a more twisted mind than he had, as well as a better appreciation of the political realities. And she’d been the leader of the Crackers before the Battle of Camelot and the political settlement that had ended the war.

  “Shit,” Gaby said, finally. “The Governor is quite well liked, Ed.”

  “Now he’s powerless,” Ed pointed out. “Was he so well-liked when he was the Empire’s representative on Avalon?”

  “He was always largely powerless,” Gaby said. “The Old Council saw to that, I think. He was just the figurehead for a loathed system that eventually abandoned us.”

  She sighed. “We can’t let this continue,” she added. “The war alone is placing a great deal of stress on our political system. If this gets out ... all hell will break loose.”

  “I know,” Ed said. He frowned as a nasty thought occurred to him. That damned reporter would have to be silenced, particularly if Hannalore agreed to cooperate in exchange for not being executed for her crimes. “Colonel Stevenson would like to covertly take her into custody, then make a deal.”

  “It sticks in my craw to let a spy go unpunished,” Gaby said. “But ... hell, we have precedent. There was a general amnesty for just about everyone after the war, wasn't there? And we gave the same offer to Admiral Singh’s lower-ranking personnel.”

  “That was then,” Ed said. “This is now.”

  “The old crowd will understand,” Gaby said. “We all did things we’re not proud of during the war. Some people ... just found themselves caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. We liked willing cooperation, but we were quite willing to threaten people when we couldn't count on their patriotism. A threat to a person’s family can ensure cooperation.”

  “Hannalore wasn’t threatened,” Ed said. “She chose to betray us.”

  “We don’t know that,” Gaby said. “You assume she merely wanted a return to power and status, b
ut you could be wrong. She could have been threatened, or blackmailed, into cooperating with the enemy. It sets a very bad precedent if you allow someone to be backed into an inescapable corner.”

  Ed winced. “If she’s being blackmailed,” he offered, “it has to be bad.”

  “Or merely silly,” Gaby said. “There’s nothing illegal in our relationship, but I wouldn't be very happy if someone released recordings of us in bed together onto the datanet. She could be having an affair, one that would rip her marriage apart if it ever became public ... she might not be arrested for it, but she would certainly be embarrassed.”

  She took a long breath. “Have your officer take her into covert custody,” she ordered, “and interrogated thoroughly. If she is willing to cooperate, we can deal with her afterwards; she won’t have a chance to return to power, but she will be alive. If not ...”

  “Kill her,” Ed said, flatly.

  “Yeah,” Gaby said.

  She looked past him for a long moment, her eyes haunted. Ed understood; he’d been a Marine, fighting in the open, while Gaby had been a freedom fighter against a dangerous and powerful enemy. She would have been called a terrorist, he knew, if she’d lost the war; the Crackers might have tried to fight decently, but they'd done their fair share of terrorising people who weren't openly inclined to support them. And Gaby and her people had to live with what they’d done.

  “I have two years left as President,” she said, slowly. “Do you think I could retire afterwards? Would you come with me?”

  “I don't know,” Ed admitted. Part of him liked the idea of a rest, part of him knew he was being stupid - and selfish. He had a comfortable office, a comfortable bed and all the food he could eat, while some of his subordinates squatted in foxholes or stood guard in the freezing cold. Had he reached the point where he could move people around as easily as icons on a display? “There’s still work to do.”

  “Knitting the remains of the Empire back together will be the work of generations,” Gaby said. “God alone knows how much is left of the Core Worlds ... let alone the worlds on the other side of Earth. Our grandchildren might be the ones who put the finishing touches on the next empire.”

  She smiled. “Do you want children?”

  “One day,” Ed said. Children had always seemed like hostages to fortune for him; it had been rare to see a serving Marine with children, not when a serving Marine could find himself shipped halfway across the galaxy at a moment’s notice. But now ... if he wanted children, he could have them. “But after the war, I think.”

  “The war may not end soon,” Gaby warned. “Life goes on.”

  “I know,” Ed said.

  He sat back in his chair and smiled. “But I do have an idea to put in front of you,” he added, seriously. “One that could shorten the war.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  That isn't to say that the Empire mistreated them. Most foot soldiers were simply rounded up, then dispatched to a penal world. The Empire calculated they would be unable to affect the struggle on their homeworlds - and, in addition, they might manage to make the penal world habitable.

  - Professor Leo Caesius. The Empire and its Prisoners of War.

  Medusa, Wolfbane System, Year 5 (PE)

  “Now,” Jasmine mused. “This is interesting.”

  “Is it?” Stewart asked. “I would have thought it was awful timing.”

  Jasmine smirked. Stubbins hadn't exaggerated when he’d described Governor Brown’s plans to expand the shipyards at Wolfbane. There were over fifty slips capable of handling heavy cruiser-sized starships, two that might be capable of building battleships and over three hundred industrial, fabrication and habitation nodes. Indeed, there was more industrial power concentrated in the giant shipyard than there was in the entire Commonwealth.

  “Our old friend Admiral Singh has returned from the front,” Jasmine said. Pete, after some muttering, had given her access to his private communications links to other independent miners. They might not have much political power, but they had their ways to keep an eye on those who did. “Apparently, she’s going to be ... consulting with Governor Brown.”

  “It will keep them busy, I suppose,” Stewart said, slowly. “Are they coming to the shipyard?”

  “Eventually,” Jasmine said. “But can we stay here long enough to arrange a proper greeting?”

  “We need a diversion,” Watson offered. “An attempt on the Governor’s life would suffice, I think.”

  “Getting down to Wolfbane would be tricky,” Jasmine pointed out, sharply. “He’s not due up here for another two weeks, assuming he sticks to his schedule.”

  “It should be possible to get down without being caught,” Watson countered. “There are smugglers who get people down to Wolfbane, if they’re paid well. I could go down with Paula and see what opportunities present themselves.”

  Stewart snorted. “You’re volunteering for this? Don’t you know you should never volunteer?”

  “I’m the best choice,” Watson said. “Jasmine shouldn't be risking herself; she’s the CO. You’re needed to serve as her backup. None of the soldiers have the right training to get into hostile territory and remain unnoticed until the crunch comes. I did start the Pathfinder module ...”

  “You failed,” Stewart snapped.

  “I’m still the best qualified,” Watson said, flatly. “I go down with Paula. We make contact with some of her contacts, assuming they’re still in place. Assuming all goes well, we launch an attack on Governor Brown’s residence in hopes of taking him out - if nothing else, it should provide a fantastic diversion.”

  Jasmine frowned. She couldn't argue with the logic - Watson was the best qualified - but she disliked the idea of sending him away. The odds weren't in favour of him making a clean escape, even assuming he carried out the mission successfully. And if he were caught, making his way down to Wolfbane, it would be all too revealing. If nothing else, the Governor’s security officers would start looking for any other discrepancies within the system. They would certainly tighten security around the shipyard.

  But at the same time, it would make one hell of a diversion.

  “You’re talking about taking Paula with you,” she said, delaying the final decision. “Do you trust her not to fuck up?”

  “I think she’s strong enough to handle it,” Watson said.

  “That’s because you’re sleeping with her,” Stewart sneered.

  Jasmine had her doubts. Paula had impressed her, even though she couldn't understand the older woman’s career choice. There was a strength in Paula that had enabled her to survive five years of imprisonment, even as her superior started to crack under the strain. She would have made a good Marine.

  “I don’t think fucking her is the same as losing my ability to judge her,” Watson snapped at Stewart. “I ...”

  “Of course it is,” Stewart said. “All your blood has run down to your cock, starving your brain of oxygen. You are talking about taking a civilian on an incredibly dangerous mission.”

  “She’s the closest thing we have to a native guide,” Watson said, coldly. “I think she would be able to operate within the system better than anyone else.”

  “But would she pass muster when the security forces sweep past her?” Stewart asked. “One hint of nervousness and you’re screwed, perhaps literally.”

  “I was unaware that being a Marine was safe,” Watson snapped. “There are times when you just have to gamble.”

  “True,” Jasmine said, holding up a hand to keep the two men from arguing. “Ask her if she wishes to undertake the mission, knowing the odds against escape are poor. If she agrees, you can plan out how to get to Wolfbane without being intercepted.”

  “There are smugglers who visit the asteroids from time to time,” Watson said. “We could depart this afternoon, if we put out a call.”

  “Go ask her,” Jasmine ordered. “And then see if we can get you down to the surface.”

  She watched Watson leave the
office, then looked back at the diagrams of the shipyard complex. The real problem was getting through the outer defences; the designers had ringed the complex with automated weapons platforms and dozens of remote sensor pickets. Even a dedicated stealth ship would have problems sneaking through the defences, although once it was through the barrier it would have become a great deal easier. Jasmine had a feeling, judging by the reports, that there were so many different people working on the shipyard that no one knew everyone who happened to be there.

  “Risky,” Stewart observed, breaking into her thoughts. “We could lose him.”

  “I know,” Jasmine said.

  “And there are political implications in trying to assassinate the enemy head of state,” Stewart added. “They may seek to retaliate.”