by Joe Vasicek
“Ah, Princess. How can I help you?”
“Hello, Captain. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Of course not,” said Danica, but she stood in the doorway without inviting her in.
Hikaru gave her a short bow. “I’m sorry to take your time,” she said. “I was just wondering—what is going on?”
Captain Danica’s lips narrowed, and she took a deep breath through her nose. “You haven’t heard the news, have you?”
“News? What news?”
“A little over an hour ago, we arrived at New Vela. The Hameji had gotten there before us, though. When we jumped in, they had just finished slagging the second planet.”
Hikaru frowned. “Slag? What do you mean?”
Danica put an arm around her shoulder her and walked with her out into the corridor. The door to her quarters hissed shut behind them.
“When the Hameji conquer a heavily populated world, they bombard it with asteroids until everyone on the surface is dead. That’s what they did when they took Gaia Nova, and what they did to our homeworld at Tajjur almost sixteen standard years ago.”
“Wait—you mean they did that at New Vela?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Danica, her expression grim. “This whole region of space is swarming with them now. The way things currently stand, it isn’t safe to push on to New Rigel.”
“It isn’t safe?” said Hikaru, blood draining from her cheeks. “What do you mean? Where else can we go?”
“Until the sector quiets down, our safest course of action is to find a place to hide and wait for the Hameji to pass over.”
“But—but what about my brother? Is he still alive? And the people back home—what are they going to do?” Her hands shook, and her voice was starting to sound frantic.
“I’m sorry, Princess. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“The Hameji—are they going to slag Shinihon the way they slagged Gaia Nova?”
Danica said nothing. That was answer enough.
“Stars of Earth,” Hikaru cried, leaning against the wall for support. “This—this can’t be happening!”
“I’m afraid it is, Princess. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed on the bridge.”
As the captain walked away, Hikaru covered her mouth with her hands and slid down until she was practically sitting on her ankles. Her head spun, and her legs felt weak and non-responsive. All she had wanted was to get away from the palace for a bit—just a few days, maybe a week at most. She had never thought that she might not have a home to go back to.
* * * * *
Roman rose to his feet as Danica returned to the bridge. Yuri and Mikhail both glanced up from their posts, while Al-Najmi kept her eyes focused on her work.
“Captain,” he said, giving her a quick salute. “Al-Najmi and I have entered coordinates of secret Federation base. It is small outpost, probably abandoned, at rogue planet not far from here. Our scanners have picked up faint signal, too weak to be certain, but we think that is it.”
“Good work,” said Danica, taking her seat in the command chair. “Are we ready to go?”
“Sorry, Captain,” said Lieutenant Yuri, “but could you fill us in on what the hell is going on?”
Danica looked at him and narrowed her eyes. Roman noticed with some satisfaction that he actually flinched. Tensions were high for all of them, but the last thing they needed right now was for anyone to let it out.
“I understand you had a little run-in with our prisoner,” she said, her voice low and even. “Is there anything you care to say about that, Lieutenant?”
Yuri’s cheeks turned bright red. “I’m sorry, Captain. It won’t happen again.”
“Good. We’re not in a position to take disciplinary action at the moment, but if I hear of anything like this again, you will no longer be welcome on my ship. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Captain. Perfectly clear.”
She took a deep breath and surveyed the room. Only Zura was absent; everyone else watched her with expectant eyes, their expressions dark and somber. Roman didn’t know if he’d ever seen morale so low.
“Lieutenant Al-Najmi has informed me that there’s a small Federation outpost not far from here,” Danica began. “It orbits a small rogue planet with a very low albedo, so there’s a good chance that the Hameji haven’t found it. The Federation probably abandoned it after the fall of Eyn-Gatta, but if we’re lucky, there should be enough stores left behind for us to resupply.”
Mikhail grunted. “Are you sure?”
“We can’t be sure of anything at this point, but it seems like our best course of action at this point. We can’t move forward, and we can’t stay here much longer either. But if we fall back to this base and find enough supplies there to keep us going, there’s a good chance that we can hide out until the Hameji pass out of this sector.”
“Hide where?” Yuri asked. “The Hameji are in a frenzy—they’re going to want to loot every base that they can find. Maybe they passed this one over, but it won’t take long for them to find it.”
“We don’t have to stay at the station itself,” said Danica. “The planet is actually more of a large planetoid; its delta-V index is small enough that we should be able to land and take off from the surface. Once we’ve resupplied at the station, we can take the ship down and hide ourselves until the threat has passed.”
“And after that?”
Her lips tightened as she took in a deep breath, her expression grim. Roman didn’t have to hear her say it to know what the answer was.
“I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about that now. If New Rigel falls, the best we can expect is to leave the war-zone and hope that the Hameji don’t remember us.”
A hushed silence fell across the room. Roman rose to his feet and saluted.
“I am with you, Captain.”
“As am I,” said Mikhail.
“And I,” said Yuri.
Danica nodded. “I appreciate your support, men. May the ancient stars of Earth align in our favor.”
Roman nodded and sat back down. If they were going to get out of this one, they would certainly need all the luck they could get.
Chapter 14
Katsuichi felt as if he were living a nightmare.
The eyes of his best commanders glanced over at him in barely disguised terror, as if looking for some word that would save them. Men twice his age waited anxiously for his command, loyal servants to the bitter end. And bitter it was—none of the reports were encouraging. The Hameji battle fleets had routed New Vela and were now converging like a pack of blood-frenzied sharks on New Rigel and Shinihon.
“Most of the Federation forces are fleeing to the Zeta Sector,” reported Admiral Uematsu. “Only Colonel Webb’s fleet has remained to oversee the refugees.”
“The cowards!” shouted a gray-haired commander. “Have they no honor to abandon their charges at the first sign of battle?”
“Colonel Webb is the true coward,” said another commander, his cheeks red with rage. “But because he positions himself in the rear, he’ll be received as a hero while half of the refugees die under his watch!”
“That’s enough,” said Katsuichi, motioning for calm. “We don’t need to worry about that right now—only the defense of our homeworld.”
The room grew as silent as death, as the full weight of all their gazes fell on him. He bit his lip and tried to look brave, but inwardly, he wanted nothing more than to run away.
“Is there nothing we can do?” he asked finally, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “Is everything lost?”
“Your Imperial Highness,” said Commander Takahashi, rising to his feet and bowing with his face pressed almost to the table, “so long as I retain my breath, I will fight to the last man on my ship to defend Shinihon.”
“As will I,” said another commander, rising and bowing all the same.
“And I, sir.”
“So will I, Your Highness.”
“Our li
ves are in your hands.”
A lump rose in Katsuichi’s throat, threatening to make his emotions break. He gripped the armrests until his knuckles turned white and took in a deep breath.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
As his men returned to their seats, he clenched his fists and pounded the table—hard. “There has to be something we can do!” he shouted. “I refuse to believe that we’ve lost.. The Hameji have failed to break our spirit, and with that spirit, we can crush them!”
“Sir!” shouted his men, filling the room with their enthusiasm.
“But how?” said Katsuichi, rising to pace the space behind the table. “Where is their weak spot? How can we take the battle to them, when they sweep toward us like a raging hurricane?”
“Sir, if I may,” said Commander Takahashi.
“By all means.”
The commander bowed quickly and looked him in the eye. “Sir, if you remember the battle at New Vela II, the Hameji forces demonstrated a critical weakness. After the Federation forces were routed, several of their squadrons fought among themselves for the spoils.”
“Yes,” said Katsuichi, bringing a hand to his chin. “I remember.”
“This uncharacteristic break in discipline shows that the Hameji fleets are not united. When your father was still emperor, it was these internal schisms that prevented them from coming upon us in full force. As the original Hameji Generals grew old and passed away, several of the younger commanders fought among themselves until Tagatai was acknowledged as their supreme commander. If their newfound unity is only skin deep, perhaps we can stem their tide by cutting off the leviathan at its head.”
A low mutter rumbled around the room, some commanders nodding in assent, while others frowned in skepticism and disbelief. Katsuichi glanced at Admiral Uematsu and raised his eyebrow.
“Sir,” said Uematsu, bowing quickly, “our most recent intelligence indicates that Tagatai has taken his personal battle fleet to the brown dwarf Eyn-Jalla, only two light-years from New Rigel. In all likelihood, he will consolidate his forces there before attacking—but the window is very short; only forty-eight hours at the longest before the rest of his fleets arrive.”
“Then let us take the advantage while the window is still open,” said Takahashi, his eyes blazing. “This may be our only chance at stopping the Hameji.”
“But Tagatai’s position is too strong,” said Commander Ishihara, too agitated to stay still. “He will be surrounded by almost half the Hameji fleet. Even if we do break through, his flagship, the Demon of Tenguri, is powerful enough to engage five of our cruisers at once. It would take a miracle to defeat him.”
“A miracle,” Katsuichi muttered, rubbing his chin. “We will have to rally all of the Federation forces in this sector, including Colonel Webb.”
At that, several of his commanders rose to their feet. “Fight alongside that spineless bastard?” hissed one of them. “Your Imperial Highness, I hardly think that—”
“We have no choice,” said Katsuichi, raising his hand for silence. “As great as our spirit may be, we will not win this battle alone. Get to your ships and see to your men—I will go directly to the colonel to compel him to join us.”
“Sir,” said his men, rising to their feet. As they bowed and left one by one, he folded his arms and took in a deep breath. It seemed like too much to hope for—but the fact that they were taking action gave him a refreshing sense of control. If they died now, at least it would be on their own terms, with their swords drawn and their enemies before them.
All except one.
* * * * *
The sound of heavy footsteps on the hard metal floor alerted Abaqa that someone was coming. He opened his eyes and roused himself. After a brief moment of silence, the locks on his cell door clicked open and the hinges squeaked as it swung open.
“Prince,” said Captain Danica, nodding as she stepped inside. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
The old cyborg, Roman, stood in the door, his laser-eye steady and unblinking.
“The healing accelerant has helped, then? Lieutenant Avanadze—Maia, not her husband—told me that it would.”
Abaqa shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”
“Good.” She took a seat next to him on the cot, while Roman folded his arms. “We need to talk.”
“About what?”
She took a deep breath, her expression hardening. “The situation has become a bit … precarious.”
“After fall of New Vela, we have become trapped behind enemy lines,” said Roman, his voice low. “At any moment, Hameji strike team could find and destroy us.”
Abaqa snorted. “So you want to use me as a bargaining chip? Exchange your prisoner for safe passage—is that it?”
“If we had any reason to believe that the Hameji would honor such an arrangement, we’d agree to it,” said Danica. “Unfortunately, if we tried to approach them with a deal at this point, we have no way of knowing that we’d come out of it alive.”
“What? Are you saying that my brothers would be so dishonorable as to kill an enemy who’s already surrendered?”
“That is exactly what we are saying,” said Roman.
Abaqa bristled, but Danica held up her hand before he could shoot back with a retort.
“At this point, we can’t trust anyone to act on good faith. Tagatai’s battle fleets are in a blood frenzy, destroying everything in their path. Our best strategy is to hunker down and wait things out.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because we need to work together if we’re going to survive this,” she said. “If the Hameji find us, they will kill us all—even you, Prince Abaqa. Tagatai’s hold on his men is not as strong as you would like to think.”
Abaqa scoffed. My brothers would never destroy this ship if they knew I was here, he almost said aloud—but even as the words came to his mind, he knew that they weren’t true. If his older brother Gazan found him before Jahan did, there was no telling what might happen.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“There’s a Federation base at a small rogue planet not far from here,” said Danica. “We’re going to resupply there, then land on the planet to wait things out. We want you to work with our cybernetics officer to monitor the radio frequencies in this sector and alert us of any Hameji activity. If they come looking for us, we’ll need your help to determine whether you think we can reach out to them, or whether we should stay hidden.”
He looked to both of them and nodded. “Fair enough. And if they are friendly, you’ll release me?”
Roman grunted. “Only in exchange for safe passage. As you said, you are valuable bargaining chip.”
Abaqa looked back and forth between the two of them. Their faces looked more somber than any he’d ever seen. It made his chest tighten, and not just from the pain in his side.
“Just one question,” he said. “Did—did Tagatai really slag New Vela II?”
Danica looked at him in silence for a moment, then nodded. “He did,” she said.
“The planetborn, then—they’re all dead?”
“Yes.”
The confirmation affected him a lot more than he’d thought it would. He took a deep breath.
“All right,” he said softly. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Good,” said Danica. She rose to her feet. “Once we arrive at the station, we’ll take you onto the bridge. The plan is to land on the surface after we’ve resupplied and stay hidden until the Hameji pass out of this sector.”
“Or until they find us,” said Roman. “If that happens, Prince, I hope you live up to your word.”
“Of course,” said Abaqa, bristling. “I might be half-planetborn, but I’m still a man of honor.”
“We’ll arrive at the rogue planet in a few hours,” said Danica. “Until then, get some rest. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”
She stepped out the door, followed by the cyborg, who gave Abaqa
one last piercing stare. As the door swung shut with a clang, he collapsed on the hard cot, trying in vain to process everything that had happened to him in the last few days. Capturing the princess, falling prisoner, learning the truth about his mother—and now this, making a deal with his enemies that would only bring him more humiliation. And yet, strangely, he felt no shame in making it.
Honor and glory are not the only virtues in this universe, his mother had told him. But the more he thought about it, the more his entire universe seemed to be falling apart.
* * * * *
“Your Majesty,” said Colonel Webb, his voice scratchy over the ship-to-ship connection. “I must admit, it’s a surprise to hear from you so soon. What can I do for you?”
“I’ve come to request your help in a joint operation that may change the course of this war,” said Katsuichi, gripping the armrests of his command chair. “My fleet is about to make a surprise attack on General Tagatai’s flagship, and you are the only Federation commander in a position to assist us.”
The colonel chuckled good-naturedly, making Kenta bristle. “Your Highness, my men are busy escorting the refugees from New Vela to safety. Would you have me abandon them?”
If you truly want to protect those refugees, then join us, you spineless bastard.
“Once Tagatai is killed, the Hameji forces will be thrown into disarray, effectively halting their advance.”
“But Your Highness, that’s a suicide mission,” said Webb. “I couldn’t sacrifice the lives of my men on a mission that will most likely fail. It would be grossly irresponsible to do such a thing.”
The officers on the bridge eyed Katsuichi with concern. They knew, as he knew, that if no one from the Federation joined them, the colonel’s words might well prove true.
Katsuichi glanced behind him shoulder at the unsheathed heirloom sword over the bridge doorway, then leaned forward and smiled. “The true warrior fights as one already dead,” he said over the transmitter. “If I must sacrifice my life and the lives of my men to save my people, that is a price I’m willing to pay for victory.”