by Ryk Brown
“The Aurora has a twenty percent probability of survival.”
“What about Rakuen and Neramese?”
“They will survive, but the number of deaths will be in the millions,” Aurora replied with no undue emotion in her, otherwise natural, tone. “Would you like me to list the probable asset losses for you?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Nathan replied. “What about with the Nighthawk fighters?”
“If the Nighthawk fighters are able to penetrate the shields and disable them, the Aurora’s survival probability improves greatly, and the loss of life on Rakuen and Neramese will be in the tens of thousands, possibly even fewer. How many assets will be lost depends largely on which battle plan you select.”
“Which battle plan?” Nathan wondered.
“Correct. There are several.”
“You can make battle plans?”
“I have been discussing the matter with Captain Taylor for several hours, now.”
Nathan was shocked. “Really?”
“How do you think I was able to emulate her accent so well?” Aurora stated.
Nathan smiled as he rose from his seat. “That will be all, thank you.”
“If you are looking for Captain Taylor, she is currently in her quarters.”
“Amazing,” Nathan said with a laugh as he headed toward the exit.
“Thank you, Captain.”
* * *
Stethan came out of the spare bedroom rubbing his eyes, still groggy after his nap. In the past two months, he had traveled further from his home system than any Orswellan in history. He had been captured, interrogated, nearly killed while trying to retrieve files from his own ship, interrogated some more, and then imprisoned. Finally, he had ridden a frighteningly small jump sub into the bay on his homeworld and found himself in the apartment of the daughter he had not seen in seventeen years. Needless to say, he had plenty of reasons to be exhausted.
After all he had been through, the sight that greeted him as he entered the living room should not have been such a surprise—his estranged daughter reviewing maps with the trained killer-spy of the very forces who were trying to destroy his conquerors.
“What’s going on here?” he asked.
“Your daughter is giving us some great intel,” Jessica announced. “That’s what’s going on.”
“What kind of intel?” Stethan wondered.
“The kind that may save your people, after all,” Jessica replied.
Stethan glanced down the hallway toward the spare bedroom and then back to Jessica and Marli. “How long was I asleep?”
* * *
“The agreed-upon documents and funds are in a trust, the control of which will be given to the new leader of the Dusahn caste, only upon the death of its current leader,” Lord Mahtize reported over the secure vid-link.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Lord Mahtize,” General Hesson replied. “I look forward to working with the noble houses of Takara to restore this world to its former greatness.”
“Just be sure to hold up your end of the arrangement, General,” Lord Mahtize stated, abruptly ending the link.
“It seems our dear Lord Mahtize is feeling a bit emboldened these days,” the general decided, one eyebrow raised.
“It matters not,” Lieutenant Vulan reminded the general. “Now that the trust is in place.”
“Indeed,” the general agreed. “However, I believe that House Mahtize should be the first to be done away with, once we seize power.”
There was a loud noise from outside the room—yelling, and the clunk of boots on the stone floors. Before the general could react, the door flew open, and four heavily-armed Zen-Anor rushed in, their weapons sweeping from side to side.
“Room is clear,” one of the soldiers called from behind his helmet visor.
“What is the meaning of this?” General Hesson demanded.
The sound of boots walking toward them echoed from the corridor, becoming louder with each step. When they stopped, Lord Dusahn was standing in the doorway. The Dusahn leader removed his gloves, tucking them into his belt without a word. He looked at the lieutenant. “You are dismissed, Lieutenant, with the thanks of your lord.”
Lieutenant Vulan rose from his seat, glared at the general indignantly as he straightened his jacket, then turned and walked away.
General Hesson looked down at his desk, realizing his situation. “How long?” he asked, not looking up.
“Since the moment I allowed you to retire,” Lord Dusahn responded. “A pity you did not take advantage of my generosity.” Lord Dusahn walked up to the chair where the lieutenant had been sitting, taking a seat himself. “What am I to do with you, old man?”
“Perhaps you should thank me?” General Hesson suggested. “After all, I have prepared the ultimate victory for you.”
“Yes, you have,” Lord Dusahn agreed. “I have to admit, you are quite clever. I win, and you are honored as the mastermind who lured Captain Scott into the Chankarti arena. If I lose, you become leader of the Dusahn Empire, have your champion executed, and become the most powerful house on Takara. Either way, your retirement is secured, quite lavishly, I might add.”
“I was only protecting the empire you have created for our caste, my lord.”
“Your words are hollow, old friend,” Lord Dusahn stated. “You played the game too long and missed your chance for a safe exit.” Lord Dusahn rose from his chair and headed for the exit.
“If you kill me, you will be forfeiting the millions in credits and assets in the trust account,” General Hesson reminded his leader.
“On the contrary,” Lord Dusahn stated as he walked toward the door. “That trust is the evidence I need to convict all the nobles of treason.” Lord Dusahn stopped and turned to face the general again. “Your trust will become null and void as having been created in conjunction with that crime. All the nobles will be sentenced to death, and all the wealth of Takara will fall to the state, which of course is controlled by me.” Lord Dusahn smiled. “Goodbye, old friend,” he said, turning and continuing out the door.
General Hesson stood proudly behind his desk as the senior Zen-Anor officer stepped forward, pulled his sidearm, and shot the general in the head.
CHAPTER NINE
Stethan and Marli followed Jessica past the bushes and onto the beach.
“What about the breathers?” Stethan asked, glancing back at the bushes.
“We don’t need them,” Jessica replied, taking the same small device she had used to collect transmissions out of her pocket.
“You’re going to collect more transmissions?” Marli wondered.
“This thing does more than just collect SIGINT,” Jessica replied.
“I don’t understand,” Stethan said. “How are we going to reach the jump sub without breathers?”
“Remote,” Jessica stated, pushing a button on the device. “The jump sub will pull onto the beach, in front of us, in a few minutes.”
Stethan looked around, spotting nobody on the beach in the early morning hours. “What if somebody sees it?”
“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” Jessica pronounced. “Besides, even if they do, by the time the Dusahn get here, we’ll be long gone or, at the very least, deep underwater.”
“It would be safer to use the breathers,” Stethan insisted.
“Three people, two breathers,” Jessica reminded him. “Another reason you should have told me about Marli, up front.”
“I don’t understand,” Marli said. “Are we going by boat?”
“Sub, actually,” Jessica replied.
“What’s a sub?”
“A boat that goes underwater.”
Marli looked at Stethan. “She’s kidding, right?” She looked to Jessica, then back to Stethan. “I can’t swim.”
“You won�
�t need to,” Jessica promised.
Stethan continued to look nervously up and down the beach, fearful that someone would spot them.
“You came here this way?” Marli asked Stethan. “In this sub thing?”
“Yes,” Stethan replied, “and it was not a pleasant experience.”
Jessica noticed the fear on Marli’s face. “Relax, it’s a lot easier on the way out than on the way in.”
“It would almost have to be,” Stethan commented.
A tiny beep emitted from Jessica’s device. She scanned the water, looking for the sub, but had difficulty finding the black body against the water in the early light of dawn. “There,” she finally declared, spotting the sub as it grounded itself in the lapping waves. She checked up and down the beach, herself, just to be sure. “It’s now or never,” she announced, heading out quickly across the open beach.
“We must go,” Stethan told his daughter.
“Are you sure about this?” Marli asked, unwilling to move.
“Yes, yes! Quickly, Marli!” Stethan begged, grabbing his daughter’s arm and pulling her toward the water.
Marli followed her father, hesitant at first but, within a few steps, broke into a run along with him. They reached the water as Jessica was climbing up onto the sub and opening its topside hatch.
Jessica glanced around again, making sure no one was watching them, before dropping down inside and sliding into the pilot’s seat.
Marli stepped carefully into the knee-deep waves, her eyes wide with fear.
“Quickly, we need to get inside,” Stethan urged, pushing her upward.
“It looks too small,” Marli argued as she reluctantly climbed up the side of the slender, black vessel.
“There is plenty of room,” Stethan insisted. “Just climb in, and move over.”
Marli did as instructed, stepping up over the edge of the hatch, getting both legs inside, and then lowering herself down into the sub. Once inside, she could see Jessica in the single seat in front of her.
“Slide to your right,” Jessica instructed as she prepared the sub for departure.
Marli immediately moved over as her father’s legs came down through the overhead hatch. Stethan quickly dropped down into the left seat, reaching up to pull the hatch closed. “The hatch is secure,” he reported as he reached over to strap his daughter in.
“Hang on,” Jessica warned as she increased the sub’s buoyancy and activated its reverse water jets. The sub bounced a bit in the waves, and there was a grinding sound coming from under its nose as it dragged along the coarse, sandy bottom, pushed backward by its reverse water jets.
After a moment, the sub’s nose broke free, allowing it to sway and roll with the waves.
“I don’t do well on boats,” Marli admitted, her hands grabbing for anything she could find to steady herself.
“It will get better once we’re out of the shallows,” Jessica promised.
The sub continued to slide backward, being pushed away from the shore by its water jets.
“Come on,” Jessica complained, watching the displays.
“What’s wrong?” Stethan wondered.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Jessica insisted. “It’s just slow going. The incoming tide is pretty strong, and this thing isn’t exactly a speedboat, especially in reverse.”
“Can you turn it around?”
“Not until we reach deeper water.”
“The water is very shallow here,” Marli told her. “You can walk out for at least fifty meters and still be only knee-deep, during low tide.”
“When is that?” Jessica asked.
“Usually in the early morning.”
“I guess I should’ve considered that,” Jessica admitted as she continued to monitor the sub’s displays.
“I don’t feel well,” Marli said as the sub continued rocking in the waves.
“Barf bags are in the seat backs,” Jessica told her.
“I’ll be okay,” Marli assured her.
“We’ve almost got enough water under us to submerge,” Jessica told her. “I’m going to take her down a bit, now.” Jessica pressed a button, allowing water to enter the sub’s four ballast tanks. After a few seconds, the sub began to slowly sink and the rocking subsided, becoming less pronounced with each passing second, as the sub became completely submerged.
Jessica adjusted the rate at which the sub was taking on ballast water, keeping them a meter above the sea bottom as it gradually sloped toward deeper waters.
“Coming about,” Jessica finally reported, twisting her control stick to bring the sub’s nose around one hundred and eighty degrees, while also killing the reverse water jets, and engaging the sub’s main propulsion jets as their nose came around. The force of the jets gently pushed them back in their seats, and the rocking motion was all but gone.
Marli looked relieved, easing her grip on the wall and Jessica’s seat back. “Are we underwater?” she asked her father.
“I believe so,” Stethan replied.
“We’ve got two meters of water above us,” Jessica reported.
“How deep are we to go?” Marli wondered.
“About a kilometer,” Jessica replied.
“Oh, my God,” Marli exclaimed.
“We need to go deep enough to have room to pick up speed and get on our departure course.”
“This does not seem like a good idea,” Marli said.
Jessica laughed. “Like father, like daughter.”
* * *
Loki stood in the doorway to the quarters that he and Josh shared while aboard the Aurora. Although he had spent most nights with his family in their apartment on Rakuen over the last few weeks, there had been times when their rotation schedule required him to sleep here, in the company of his oldest friend. Next to packing up all of his late wife’s belongings, this was the task he was dreading the most.
Summoning up his courage, he pushed the door open, and stepped inside. As expected, the compartment was less than tidy. Josh’s dirty clothing was heaped in a pile in the corner, and the remains of his last two or three meals were still sitting on the table. It was easy to tell which bed was Loki’s. It was the one that didn’t look like a hurricane had hit it.
Many a night had been spent in this room, talking about women, debating issues, arguing about trivia, and more talk about women. They had been completely unproductive moments, but ones he wouldn’t have traded for anything in the world.
Well, almost anything.
Loki approached the locker next to his bed. Inside was his spare uniform, a picture of his wife and daughter, and his data pad. If it hadn’t been for the picture, he doubted it would have been worth coming back.
“I heard you’d come aboard,” Josh said from the doorway.
Loki said nothing, just continued staring at his open locker.
“I take it you’re not coming back to work,” Josh surmised.
“I am,” Loki replied quietly. “Just, not here.”
“The Mystic?” Josh surmised. “You do know how boring that’s going to be, right?”
“I know.”
“You’re going to miss all of this,” Josh pointed out. “The bad food, the long shifts, the lack of sleep, and me. You’re going to miss me.”
“The dirty dishes, half-eaten food, piles of dirty clothes, the farts in the middle of the night?” Loki replied. “Yes, it will be difficult.”
“You sure about this, Lok?” Josh asked, becoming serious.
Loki sighed, finally turning to face his friend. “No, but I don’t have a choice. Ailsa needs me.”
“She’s a baby, Loki. She doesn’t even know who you are.”
“She knows.”
“Fine, she knows, but it’s not like she’s going to miss you any more if you’re working here than if you’re working on
the Mystic.”
“Except that I’m far less likely to make her an orphan if I’m working on the Mystic,” Loki told him. “I have to do what’s best for my daughter. I hope you can understand that.”
“This isn’t about your daughter, Loki,” Josh argued. “You’re leaving for the same reason you didn’t stay on the Seiiki with us the first time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That need for a normal life. That sense of responsibility that makes you feel obligated to do what society expects, instead of doing what makes you happy.”
“You mean, like you.”
“Hell yes, like me!” Josh exclaimed.
“I’ll be happy knowing that my daughter will have a father,” Loki insisted. “As my friend, I was hoping you would understand that.”
“I do understand, Loki,” Josh assured him, “but did you ever consider what Ailsa would want you to do?”
“Ailsa’s a baby, Josh, you said so yourself.”
“How is she going to feel when she’s older, knowing that her father left his true calling when he was needed most, all for her?”
“I don’t know…loved?”
“She’s going to feel guilty, Lok,” Josh insisted. “Guilty that you gave up what you loved, for her. Guilty that you stopped making a difference for everyone just to change her diapers. Think about it, did Lael ever ask you to quit and take a safer job? No, she didn’t, and you know why? Because she knew how it made you feel. She knew that her husband made a difference.”
Loki continued staring down at the floor. “Ailsa needs me.”
“She needs more than just a warm body,” Josh argued. “She needs her father, her real father, a man she can look up to and respect. If you do this, you won’t respect yourself. I know you. Every day you step onto the Mystic’s bridge to sit and stare at her flight displays for hours on end, you’ll be reminded of what your life could have been; what it should have been; what you wanted it to be. You’ll resent your own daughter, and she’ll feel it.”
“Josh,” Loki begged.
“Look, you do what you have to do, Lok,” Josh insisted, “and I’ll support your decision, no matter how dumb it is. That’s what best friends do.”