Secrets of Silverwind

by Sanders, Richard L.

  “There is no doubt,” said Kira. “We recovered the bodies and belongings of some of the assailants.” She waved to Captain Grayson who presented a green enforcer’s helmet.

  “This is indeed a tragedy,” King Talonis said, he looked at a loss for words.

  “They have abducted the Paribus prince, my brother, and this is their second trespass against thee, milord. The first being their attack on the Prefect’s estate, and the murder of a member of your government. The Prefect himself.”

  Caythis noted that Jaden held his tongue, despite the immense amount of rage that turned his face red. It was all he could do to remain composed and not slam his fist down on the table and demand the king release the men-at-arms to his command, and approve an immediate assault of the Elite Quarter.

  “Please, explain how the security of the Hiding Place was breached.”

  Kira deferred to Captain Grayson.

  “We estimate that six or more enforcers used plastic explosives to breach our complex. They flooded it with smoke and entered, killing anyone in their way. They raided each of the rooms, including the storehouses, and left quickly thereafter. They were last seen heading for the surface.”

  “And was the abduction of the prince their primary objective?”

  “We believe they intended to abduct both of the Paribus heirs, milord.”

  “How did you escape, Princess?”

  “They didn’t find me. I tried to hide Gavin too but couldn’t get to him fast enough,” said Kira, regret poured through her otherwise regal tone.

  “I see. And, why was that their objective? Why abduct you two?”

  Kira deferred to Dr. Erikson.

  “I speculate,” he said, “they wanted to use the heirs as bargaining chips with Rigil. Perhaps to trade them for some favor from Rigil. It is possible that Lucida believes Rigil will assist her in weakening your hold on the city. Enabling her to challenge you openly.”

  “That’s preposterous,” one of the governors said, speaking out of turn. King Talonis silenced him but it was clear that his sentiment was shared among at least half the politicians in the room.

  “It seems unlikely,” the king said, “that the enforcers could be in league with Rigil. The enforcers of the Silverwind Combine did not participate in Antares’ rebellion. Why would they be sympathetic to Antares’ successor?”

  “It’s not so much a matter of sympathy, or loyalty, as it is an issue of opportunity. If Rigil is uninterested in controlling Silverwind, and Lucida is uninterested in controlling—or liberating—Citadel, there could be room for them to cooperate to their mutual self-interest. Lucida’s elimination of the Paribus heirs on Rigil’s behalf strengthens his argument that he holds the Citadel throne legitimately. Of course, this is only speculation.”

  The king nodded grimly. “This is truly a dark hour when rebels terrorize our streets, and the enforcers threaten our peace. And an honored guest, a child, in my protection, can be taken so easily, and there is almost nothing we can do. I see no clear course of action to take.”

  Jaden, clearly, could bottle-up his opinions no more. He spoke out of turn, and very loudly. “We must act! My father’s blood cries out for justice and Prince Gavin is a prisoner, they may even kill him! Every further encroachment of the enforcers on your land, milord, on your territory is a threat to your sovereignty. To our state! If you do nothing, I promise you, you will lose everything. And so will Silverwind.”

  The king listened patiently, choosing not to rebuke Jaden. Then, to Caythis’ surprise, he turned to Caythis. “And what is your opinion, Captain Ceteris?”

  “I agree with what’s been said. Jaden is right that if we do nothing, then Lucida and Rigil have won already. Silverwind can have no hope. Neither can the world. And as for Dr. Erikson’s speculations about possible cooperation between Lucida and Rigil, that seems like the only plausible explanation.”

  The king stroked his chin. “Thank you, Captain.” He turned to one of the ranking governors. “Sir Brown, in your estimation, could an attack against the enforcers succeed, without leaving the government vulnerable to Rigilian uprising?”

  “No, milord,” he said. “I know the Irons Borough well, they are my people. It is my duty to consider their welfare and I implore you to not pursue this path of action. The consequences of this would be untold destruction. There is a heavy Rigilian influence there, without an enforcer presence they will come out in droves and numbers you cannot imagine.”

  “If necessary, we commit extra brigades to maintaining the peace,” said Jaden. “If the additional soldiers are in place by the time the enforcers are eliminated, there will not be an opportunity for the Rigilian uprising to gain strength.”

  “There is a high probability that any attack we attempt will fail,” countered Sir Brown. “Leaving us more vulnerable than before, and providing Lucida the excuse she needs to attack us on the palace floor. But, even if we do succeed, there is no guarantee we can divert enough forces to maintain order in Irons without putting other sections of the city, including this borough, in unnecessary peril. It’s an invitation for our own destruction.”

  A hush fell over the room. People looked to each other, unsure what to say. This was a heavy issue and a lot of innocent people would get hurt no matter what. After a minute, another governor stood up from the opposite table. He had a disproportionately small head and big ears. Narrow spectacles sat on his nose and his swollen cheeks were bright red. When he spoke it was slowly and clearly.

  “I appreciate the difficult position we have put Sir Brown in. And he is right to consider the effect this situation will have on his borough. But it is unfair to forget the effect it might have on the rest of us. As you all know, I am the governor of the southernmost district. Every day there is some kind of new terrorist attack we must deal with. And every time I come here and ask for more men, they just aren’t available. How many of you have asked for more soldiers and been denied because they must remain here, guarding Manors Borough, or are quartered near Irons for fear that the Rigilians there, or the enforcers, will begin marauding the city?”

  There were several nods. “We have the men, but we can’t use them, because as ridiculous as we always pretend it is, every one of us goes to bed each night in fear. Wondering, will tomorrow be the day the enforcers wipe us out. We keep our army close to dissuade Lucida’s ambitions, but all the while our own people suffer. And now, even our best efforts aren’t keeping her in check.”

  Many of the governors, especially those seated next to the speaker, began tapping their fingers on the tables in assent.

  Sir Brown looked furious. “Sir Cottam,” he faced him. “Your words are eloquent but they are born of paranoia. You say your streets are flooded with Rigilian terrorists, but you condone a movement that would leave fewer enforcers and soldiers alive to resist them,” he then looked to King Talonis. “My lord, this path will only lead to civil war. Thousands of people will die, probably tens of thousands. Is that something we can have on our consciences?”

  “Do we want to serve our people?” asked Sir Cottam. “Or do we want our children to live in fear?”

  “At least they will have lives to live.”

  “If we take down the enforcers,” said Sir Cottam slowly. “There will be a price. But we give ourselves hope that we can save Silverwind in the long run. Our city is broken, make no mistake. Choosing to do nothing only allows it to destroy itself in slow motion, and we give Silverwind no chance of a peaceful future at all.”

  “Fighting only leads to destruction. And I reject the idea, out of principle, that violence is the only solution. If violence is the answer, we are asking the wrong question.”

  “A vote is called,” interrupted King Talonis, taking charge. “Because this is an emergency session, you will not have your typical three days of deliberation, this vote must be done immediately. If you favor the use of military force against the enforcer Combine, you will rise from your chairs when the vote is called. If you oppose
the action, you will remain seated. If you wish to abstain from voting, you will step away from the table before voting begins.”

  Three people abstained and stepped away. Caythis watched the political workings with jaded eyes. He’d found the political process to be slow, bureaucratic, cumbersome, and run by self-interested men and women who were afraid to take meaningful action, and seemed more inclined to represent their special interests than their constituents. Especially when there was no possibility of removal from office.

  “The vote is called.”

  Several people rose from their chairs but it was less than a majority.

  “The initiative fails,” said King Talonis, there was a heaviness to his voice. “Emergency session adjourned. Members of the District, Princess, Prefect, and Captain Ceteris, you will please remain.”

  The king waited for the others to file out before speaking. “I am ordering the assault tonight.”

  “I thought the motion was defeated,” said Dr. Ferguson.

  “It was, so technically I don’t have the authority to do this. But I made a promise to a dear friend once, that I would protect you,” he looked kindly at Kira, like a father would his daughter. “Protect both of you. And I’ll be damned if I don’t fulfill that promise. I also swore I would protect this city, but the stench of death has been on it for some time, and now the vultures are circling us. I’ve been stuck here, forced to watch ideas for action get debated and overruled, again and again. We can’t agree amongst ourselves so the law prevents us from acting. And finally, today, I realized that the law doesn’t work. And if the law doesn’t work, it’s time to break the law. But most of all, I’d like to know that I made at least one meaningful decision as king. Even if I lost the crown because of it.”

  Jaden seemed extremely pleased. “History will remember you as the great leader who took the window of opportunity when it presented itself, milord.”

  “I don’t give a damn about what history says, so long as it isn’t written by the enforcers. Now, Prefect, assemble your TAC teams. We can only use a fraction of the army, so we’ll have to use stealth and surprise to our advantage.”

  “Relative superiority,” said Jaden. “I like it. Thank you, milord.”

  “Yes,” said Kira. “Thank you.”

  12

  A heavy rain poured down on him and his boots splashed through water in the streets. The wet blacktop glistened in the twilight and Caythis stopped at the street corner and waited.

  Two minutes later, a black van approached and stopped in front of him. The bulletproof windows were tinted black and nobody could be seen inside. The door slid open. “Get in.” Once he was inside, the van took off.

  There were six other passengers, all soldiers, and all in black. They had infrared goggles and various advanced-looking tactical equipment. Their suits and masks protected them from radiation and hid their identities. Their arsenal of weapons included a rocket launcher, several grenades, a flamethrower, two shotguns, two assault rifles, and a large tubular device, plus whatever they carried in their tactical vests.

  “Proceeding to target. Confirm vector,” one of them spoke into the radio.

  “Clear vector confirmed.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Approach south. Hold at grid 4120 by 2314.”

  “Wilco.”

  The ride was peppered with radio speech between their van and the other teams. Caythis peered out the window and watched the dimly-lit houses pass by. So many people, living private lives, peacefully, having no idea what would happen tonight. A stab of envy hit him, how easy life was for them. Knowing everything and fearing nothing. How very simple...

  He spotted the Elite Quarter a mile away, its brilliant lights and ostentatious grounds made no effort to blend into the dark, crumbled, dilapidated buildings surrounding it.

  They turned off their headlights and slowed, stopping once in position. And waited. Caythis felt tense.

  “In position.”

  “Delivery in thirty seconds. Hold position.”

  “Wilco.”

  Through the window, Caythis could barely make out another black van approach the elite quarter very slowly. It pulled up onto the Elite Quarter’s grounds and stopped. He put on his helmet, switched to infrared, and could see a lot more clearly.

  Two enforcers, who had been patrolling the Elite Quarter’s grounds, approached the van. The nearest one started tapping the driver window.

  “Echo Three,” a voice crackled over the radio.

  The van exploded in a roaring green fireball, throwing shrapnel everywhere and killing the two enforcers instantly.

  “Bravo Two, engage at will.”

  Caythis saw a blazing rocket jet down from the roof of an adjacent building, it exploded near an enforcer who was running to investigate the burning van debris. The explosion tore him to pieces, despite his armor.

  Another two enforcers began taking fire from 50-caliber anti-material rifles, able to penetrate enforcer armor. At least one of them went down, the other escaped Caythis’ line of sight.

  “All units, engage at will.”

  With that order, their van lurched forward, stopping abruptly at the foot of the Elite Quarter. One of the soldiers threw open the door and they all charged out of the van and up the path to the main entrance.

  Other soldiers, all wearing radiation gear, streamed out of other vehicles, flooding the courtyard with troops—most were men-at-arms not TAC soldiers. Caythis snapped his sword out from behind his back and activated it.

  Above him he heard the sound of glass breaking. He looked up to see cables shooting out from the nearby structures forming ziplines into the upper levels of the Elite Quarter. Soldiers started sliding across on them, supported by heavy sniper fire.

  Caythis entered the building. It was already a smoky, fiery, chaotic mess. Plasma burns scorched the walls and several corpses littered the floor. Only one was an enforcer, the rest were friendlies. The enforcer’s comrades were in full retreat, shooting plasma and other magic at the invaders. The TAC teams focused heavily on them. One team used a rocket-launcher, careful not to upset the building’s integrity. Another team was pushing back an enforcer with two flamethrowers, supported by covering fire. Their efforts were sure to set the building ablaze so this operation had to be swift.

  The hall shook with a noise so loud his helmet’s speaker went out for a second. Sheetrock dust and smoke blocked his view. Caythis kept pushing forward, after the retreating enforcers. Through the haze and dust, bright glowing swords could be seen, followed by screams. More bursts of plasma flashed and Caythis moved in deeper. His visor had difficulty sorting things out, intense heat was everywhere so everything was blindingly green. He switched to visible light, which was not much better.

  Two TAC teams were dead with casualties mounting. He heard the news as part of the radio chatter his helmet picked up. The perimeter had been locked down tight but progress was slower than expected. It was estimated that the building would lose structural integrity within ten minutes.

  As Caythis joined the fray, stepping over the corpse of a fallen TAC soldier, he spotted some enforcers and attacked. He melted one with a stream of fire and locked blades with the other.

  He kept his attack hot, placing every stroke near its mark. This one was skilled, however, and gave Caythis a real challenge. Their strokes were a blur of hot streaking plasma crashing together again and again, and his arms became sore from the impacts, but he would not be bested.

  The tide turned in his favor when bullets from men-at-arms began slamming into his opponent’s armor. It threw the man off guard and gave Caythis the window he’d been searching for. Without hesitation he slashed through his opponent’s armor and stepped over his corpse when he fell, searching for his next target.

  “Eight minutes,” someone said over the radio. No one knew for sure when the building would collapse, but that was the window of safety. Time was of the essence.

  Down one of the halls he saw a fami
liar glimmer of silver armor fighting, and besting, her enforcer opponents. She was working in tandem with a TAC team and had made tremendous progress into one of the more secure areas. Caythis considered going to help her, if for no other reason than to interact with her again, and learn more about her, but realized—if anything—she was doing better than he was. And there wasn’t time. He had to press on and search the part of the building he’d been assigned. So he continued. Up the stairs and all the way to the top. Hoping he’d find Lucida along the way.

  On the highest floor he stormed out into the hall. The fighting hadn’t reached this far yet but it still seemed chaotic. The lights were flickering on and off and he could hear muffled explosions and gunfire from below.

  He passed a large, thick glass window. It revealed some kind of control room littered with computers and radio equipment. Probably where Lucida’s minions monitored the facility and, if needed, activated the Leech. The people inside weren’t attending the computers, however. They were fighting each other. Enforcers locked against enforcers. White, Red, and Blue desperately destroying equipment and holding at bay the green-clad loyalists. It was vicious and violent, and both had taken losses and severe injuries. This was the true fight, Caythis realized. Over whether or not Lucida could retain control of the enforcer Combine, or if they’d win their freedom. The TAC/men-at-arms assault had only given these dissenters the opportunity they’d been waiting for. Caythis smiled, realizing Lucida’s defeat was now inevitable.

  He thought about helping these rebellious enforcers, joining in against the green ones, but instead pressed on. Time was short and Gavin had to be found. And Lucida had to be dealt with. Caythis hoped he’d be the one to do the latter.

  He reached what he knew was the most elegant room in the Elite Quarter. The double mahogany doors were no match for his plasma sword and he entered, walking straight to the center. It was a beautiful room, lavishly decorated, well-lit, and covered with precious art. Truly a waste that it had to be burned to the ground.