My Friend the Emperor

by William Lee Gordon

  “Jac, join me in my day cabin.”

  ΔΔΔ

  “Okay Jac, you’re as up to speed as anyone on the current political situation. What do you think is happening?”

  “Me? I am… not at all qualified to talk about Imperial politics.”

  “Jac, we don’t have time for this. I’ve asked for your thoughts, now give them to me.”

  Since he was putting me on the spot I might as well tell him what I think.

  “I think all the dishonest and backstabbing political machinations of your family are backfiring and starting to blow up.”

  The captain quickly thought it through and then said, “I agree with everything except the backfiring part. We don’t know if this is an accident or if it was planned. If it was planned what will be the next step?”

  “I think that depends on whose plan it is.”

  “Assume that my brother, the Prince, is behind it. What will he do next?”

  “I don’t have any idea,” I said honestly.

  “I don’t either,” said the Captain. “And that’s what bothers me. This doesn’t make any sense. If my brother was launching a coup all of the fighting should’ve been done politically. There’s no reason for ships to fire on each other.”

  “Maybe he couldn’t get everybody in the fleet to back him?” I said.

  “Then he would’ve waited. He’s too smart to destroy large amounts of the fleet for no reason. Something else is going on.”

  Just then the intercom sounded.

  “Captain,” came Maria’s voice. “We’re starting to get reports that more and more ships are firing on each other. It looks like Empire ships are fighting IDF ships.”

  The Captain and I shared a look.

  “Does that mean…” I said.

  “Yes. It means my father is probably dead.”

  Just then an alarm I’d never heard before sounded throughout the ship.

  ΔΔΔ

  “We’ve been boarded,” I heard the Captain say.

  We both started to move back towards the bridge when he said, “Hold on, Jac.”

  He opened a panel on the day room wall and pulled out two handguns.

  He handed one to me and said, “Don’t hesitate to use it.”

  We walked through the hatch and onto the bridge to find what can only be described as a calm chaos. Sergio was carrying a rifle and passing out sidearms to all bridge officers. Almost everyone else was at their stations and on their comms talking to others across the ship.

  “Status?” The Captain yelled out.

  “It’s not another ship,” Sergio said. “It’s the IDF detachment. They’ve taken over engineering and auxiliary control, and I assume they’re on their way here.”

  “Recommendations?”

  Sergio said, “I have a team tasked to retake the Auxiliary Control Bridge. Unless you think this is a suicide mission engineering can wait?” He finished with a questioning look at the Captain.

  “No, if that was the plan she wouldn’t need to take the rest of the ship. What else?”

  “Standard boarding protocol. We leave a skeleton crew on the bridge, lock it up behind us, and go hunt these frakers down.”

  The Captain look around and said, “Maria, Durand, we need communications and sensors manned so you’ll stay on the bridge. Monica you’re in charge here. Everyone else is with me.”

  “Captain!” Monica exclaimed. “It should be me that leads a hunting party, not you. Believe me, I’m very good at it.”

  “I’m sure you are, Monica, but this is my ship and I’m taking her back. Hold my bridge.”

  “Yes sir,” she said resignedly.

  ΔΔΔ

  There were six decks on the Halcyon. Seven if you counted the hanger bay that took up a third of deck six and jetted well below the ship’s otherwise sleek lines.

  The bridge was designed to be easily accessible. Unlike what we commonly see in the space vids this ship’s bridge was located in some of the most protected parts of the ship. The days of a ship’s bridge protruding with windows and being vulnerable had disappeared with interstellar flight.

  Outside of the bridge’s short access way was a three-way intersection. To our left or right were various departments, stairs, and elevators. Continuing directly ahead of us the corridor ran through Senior Officers quarters.

  The Captain’s cabin was a double deck suite that had two entrances. One was about 60 feet down the corridor in front of us on the right, and the other opened up on the deck below – not far from my own cabin.

  From the intersection all three corridors looked empty.

  Sergio and the Captain silently conferred and we moved silently forward. We stopped at the Captain’s cabin where Sergio disappeared inside and Consuelo quickly met us at the door. The Captain gave her an extra handgun and quietly explained the situation to her. Sergio reappeared and nodded that all was clear.

  “I’ll stay here,” I heard her whisper.

  We continued to the end of the ship’s passage and picked up five other crewman along the way. Suddenly, Sergio put his hand to his ear.

  “Captain,” he said quietly. “We have a running firefight on deck four near the crew’s mess. It’s confirmed, it’s Jac’s IDF troops.”

  If I wouldn’t have been so nervous I would’ve given him a nasty glare. I really didn’t like having my name associated with those guys.

  “Are they all accounted for?” The Captain asked.

  “It’s impossible to say, sir,” he responded. “We can’t afford to make that assumption.”

  “Okay, let’s sweep the second level,” he said pointing at the stairs.

  We exited the stairwell and were gathering in a four-way intersection approximately two thirds down the length of the ship. It was a tactical mistake.

  Before the last of us left the stairwell an energy bolt ripped through the midst of our group.

  Very few people have seen a portable Laz Cannon up close. This was the first time I’d seen one used on soft flesh.

  A Laz Cannon concentrates energy waves into a focused beam. Unlike the ship-mounted version the duration of this burst was just a blip. Only the diameter of a ping-pong ball, it took a ceramic bulkhead to stop it. Also unlike the lasers always used in the space vid’s the frequencies were invisible to the human eye. But the effects certainly weren’t.

  Three people in our party had suddenly screamed. They were the lucky ones.

  With no warning five of us had dropped to the ground. One cannon burst had sizzled through five of our people in the blink of an eye. Two of the shots were immediately fatal, three others took a hand, an arm, and probably a kidney. There was no blood because the wounds were instantly cauterized, but the smell of burning flesh made me gag. A small smoking divot had appeared on the bulkhead at the far end of the hall.

  Sergio and the Captain were already returning fire down the length of the lateral corridor. But it wasn’t just them; several of the crewmembers that we’d picked up along the way were also armed. We hadn’t passed any weapons lockers and fleet regulations prohibit crew from keeping sidearms in their bunkrooms. I could’ve cared less.

  I had plastered myself up against the side of the corridor and hadn’t even fired my weapon.

  We left our wounded along with two guards at the Number 4 Environmental Station and then headed down another flight of stairs to deck three.

  We emerged from the stairwell just in time to see an IDF trooper flash across the far end of the T intersection, running back towards the front of the ship.

  “Captain…”

  “I saw him Jac,” he responded.

  “He’s headed towards the bridge,” Sergio said. “He’s got to be.”

  “Maybe,” said the Captain. He then suddenly reached up to the COM device on his ear.

  “Monica, you have one bad guy headed your way. Leave the bridge secured but I need you to get to my cabin. I think he’s going after Consuelo.”

  As he raced back to the stairwell t
he Captain yelled back over his shoulder, “Ensign, you’re with me.”

  Chapter thirty

  LEUTENANT MONICA STILES

  Going Hunting

  Leave the bridge secured but I need you to get to my cabin. I think he’s going after Consuelo.

  The Captain’s voice was music to Monica’s ears. Not because she wished any harm to Consuelo but because she couldn’t stand to be cooped up waiting for an enemy to come to her. She much preferred to be the hunter rather than the hunted.

  She exited the bridge just in time to see a battle armored IDF trooper carefully slip into the open hatch of the Captain’s cabin. Making sure her gun was ready she quietly scurried down the hallway and flattened herself just outside the still open entrance.

  A ship in space is never totally silent. Even when it’s not under acceleration there’s always the hum of some distant motor or the sound of air circulating. Try as she might she could hear no other sounds from the cabin.

  She silently stepped into the room.

  She quickly scanned the main reception area. Not seeing anything she hurried over to the conference room doorway. When she was sure it was clear she continued on to the hallway on the far side of the room. Clearing the Captain’s office and other rooms as she went she finally reached the stairwell to the lower level.

  As she peered down those stairs she noticed a shadow. She realized the enemy was just leaving the stairs as she was entering. She had tracked many animals on her home planet and was confident that this one didn’t know he was being stalked.

  The bottom level was more partitioned. It held the kitchen, dining room, lavatories, and Captain’s sleeping chamber as well as an additional sitting area.

  She had just moved into that sitting area when there was a sound in front of her. She was looking down the gun barrels of Jac and Captain Alyster.

  Both of them had started lowering their weapons when suddenly, several things happened once.

  It was almost as if the world had gone into slow motion. It was like hunting a cornered hyenbeast that had turned to charge you. In those brief moments when you stood your ground, aimed your weapon, and dropped a mad beast that a short moment later would have eviscerated you with the sharpest talons and fangs on the planet. Time almost stood still in those moments.

  Now, Jac and the Captain were raising their weapons again. In that same slow-motion dream state Monica was registering the sound of movement behind her. She started to swivel and drop as she brought her gun around.

  It was too late. The unmistakable sound of sizzling flesh greeted her.

  ΔΔΔ

  As her butt hit the floor and she brought the gun up facing behind her she was just in time to see the crumpling image of the trooper she’d been following fall to the deck.

  Behind him stood Consuelo, still holding her weapon extended in a secure two-handed grip.

  The adrenaline was still pumping through her veins and she didn’t even realize she was still pointing a gun at Consuelo, who now stood in her line of sight. The Captain stepped forward and lightly put a hand on her arm helping her lower the gun.

  “I don’t know how he got behind me,” Monica said. “For that matter, where did you come from? I thought I cleared every room behind me?”

  “The trooper was hiding here,” Jack said. He was pointing at a small alcove that made up the wet bar.

  Monica was just shaking her head. That mistake had almost got her killed.

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” the Captain said. “You may be a great hunter but the skills of urban warfare are slightly different. Anyway, all’s well that ends well.”

  As he said this the Captain had walked up to Consuelo and enveloped her in his arms.

  As Monica was watching them she absently noted that Jac was intently watching her.

  Chapter thirty-one

  ENSIGN JACOBY NICOLAY

  A Surprising Turn

  As we raced towards the Captain’s cabin it was all I could do to keep up with him.

  He took a small moment to enter the cabin stealthily which allowed me to catch up. Once inside, everything happened quickly.

  We saw Monica almost at the same moment she saw us. But I noticed two other things, the IDF trooper had stepped out directly behind her.

  I was frantic. I didn’t have a shot; Monica was blocking the way. I was opening my mouth to shout when I noticed the second thing.

  Out of nowhere Consuelo appeared behind the trooper. With a calm steadiness that must’ve taken no more than a fraction of a second she aimed and fired.

  Monica had dropped to the floor and at first I thought she was hit. It wasn’t until the Captain lowered her arm that I realized she was okay.

  In that moment when I thought she was hurt my soul had screamed. It was a sudden feeling of horror and I was grateful that it had only lasted for a second.

  My relief quickly retreated to a hollow pit at the bottom of my stomach.

  Still on the floor, Monica’s gaze was transfixed on the image of Consuelo in the Captain’s arms.

  I can only imagine what she must be feeling. Having been used by a second brother of the same family and now watching him embrace another with a passion I’d never before seen from him.

  My heart went out to her.

  ΔΔΔ

  The mop-up operation was slow and methodical.

  The crew of the Halcion had taken the IDF troopers completely by surprise.

  It’s true that the crewmembers of an IDF ship retained more loyalty because of their promise of Citizenship, but none had expected our crew to be as loyal – or as fierce.

  We lost 4 Citizens and 23 crewmembers. Of the 20 troopers in the IDF attachment only three remained alive.

  All Citizens were trained marksmen and a number of the trooper’s bodies showed pinpoint cauterized wounds associated with Imperial sidearms.

  The majority, however, had been stabbed, sliced, or diced to death. The most of the bodies showed little or no defensive wounds, suggesting that they had been taken by surprise or from behind.

  Score another one for our crazy Captain’s policies.

  At his request I entered the Medical Bay to see what could be learned from the three wounded troopers. Doctor Atoka had screened them off in a separate area. I could hear the moans even before I walked through the curtain.

  Two of the troopers were obviously asleep or in a coma. The third was writhing in a semi-conscious state and obviously in pain.

  I turned to the med tech crewman that, except for myself, was the only other ship’s personnel in attendance.

  “Is her pain so bad that she can feel it even through all the meds?” I asked.

  The med tech looked at me without emotion and said, “I have no idea. We haven’t given her any painkillers.” He added with a thin smile, “We thought you might want to question her first.”

  There would be no questioning this woman. Her total focus was on trying to stay alive.

  “Give her the meds,” I commanded.

  “She’s going to die anyway,” he responded.

  “Do everything you can to save her,” I insisted. “But for now take her pain away.”

  ΔΔΔ

  Monica had found me sitting by myself in the Citizen’s mess. She sat down across from me.

  “Are you okay?” she asked while nodding at my bandaged thumb.

  “Yeah, it’s just jammed.”

  She raised an eyebrow in question.

  “It was stupid. I slipped coming down the stairs. I think most of the fighting was already over.”

  “You know, Jac,” every Citizen I’ve ever met would be making up some grand war story.”

  At first I thought she was making fun of me but then I looked up at her and realized her laughter was genuine. We were all somewhat giddy with relief. The adrenaline of the battle had worn off but the seriousness of our situation had not.

  Her laughter died off and she sat staring into space.

  “Are you okay” I as
ked her.

  Blinking a couple of times she refocused on me and said, “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. I just still can’t believe I let that trooper get behind me. And I must’ve walked right past Consuelo too. My skills are rustier than I thought.”