by Terry Mixon
Sean nodded. “Okay. That sounds good. We’ll need to find a place where we might be able to hide a few thousand people in a pinch.”
“Bad idea, sir.” The marine in the driver’s seat turned to face him. “This close to the island, the security forces will tear everything up. They’ll search every building. We’ll need to take everyone further away from here.”
That wasn’t what Sean wanted to hear, but it was probably true enough. “Then we focus on finding our people. I know the general area where they took me and what the building looked like. If we can find it, we might be able to locate everyone and find out what their intentions are.”
“And if not?”
He grimaced. “Then we stash the grav vehicle and slip back onto the island before breakfast. Who knows? Maybe they’ll bring everyone back before we need to do something.”
Sean doubted that. They wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of taking so many people if they were just going to bring them back. The clock was ticking.
Chapter Twelve
Jared hadn’t expected quick action from Coordinator West, so he was surprised when she called him early the next morning. He’d just arrived on the flag bridge when the officer manning the communications console turned to him.
“I’m glad to see you, Admiral. I have an incoming communication for you from Harrison’s World. It’s Coordinator West.”
He sat in his chair and tugged his uniform jacket tight. “Put her on my console, Lieutenant Carver.”
The right side of his curved console came to life with an image of the coordinator. She sat behind a large desk made of honey-colored wood. The wall behind her was a subdued blue and he could see a painting over her shoulder. It looked like a landscape.
“Good morning, Coordinator,” he said politely. “I hope you slept well.”
“You mean you hope I slept at all,” she said with a sardonic smile. “I had a lot of people to talk with last night. As you might imagine, not everyone is as ready as I am to make concessions.”
He tipped his head in acknowledgement. “While I can see your point of view, I’m concerned about my people. Every day this remains unresolved, they stay locked up.”
“I understand. With that in mind, I’d like to invite you and Miss Bandar to come visit your people and see our capital while we clear this regrettable situation up. You’ll be here as my guests and you have my word that you will not be restrained or prevented from departing as soon as you wish.”
“I’ll admit I still have some lingering concerns. Deputy Coordinator King painted a very firm picture of how she’d like to conduct negotiations. Forgive me, but what’s to stop you from taking me hostage as soon as I land?”
“I’m not Abigail King, Admiral. And, not to point out the obvious, you have the means to enforce your will upon us.
“That’s not to say you’d use weapons of mass destruction to secure your release, but rest assured I have that clearly in mind.”
“Very well. The better we know one another, the faster we can come to an agreement we’re all satisfied with. As a gesture of goodwill, I’ll bring the prisoners we rescued from Boxer Station with me. Since we rescued almost a hundred and fifty people, it’ll take a few trips from orbit, but those poor people deserve to come home as soon as possible.”
West inclined her head a little. “We appreciate that. In exchange, we’ll immediately return five times that number of your enlisted personnel.” Her smile turned wry. “That’ll make a few people down here a bit testy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
That was almost a third of the prisoners. The unexpected gesture made Jared feel like this whole negotiation might go off in spite of his doubts.
“When and where would you like to receive us?”
“I’ll give you a code to call me back when you’re ready. Rather than meet in the middle of the city, I was thinking an open setting would make us all feel more comfortable. A friend has agreed to host the negotiations on his family estate. You’re more than welcome to keep a cutter or pinnace there for your convenience and safety.”
He nodded. “That sounds perfectly fine.”
“Excellent. I look forward to your call, Admiral. Good day.” The transmission ended.
Jared reached for the communications controls and stopped himself. He needed to get used to using his implants as much as possible or he’d never master them. He pinged Kelsey for an implant link.
She answered a moment later. Morning. What can I do for you?
I just got off the com with Coordinator West. She wants us both to come along. Against my better judgement, I’ve decided to agree to you joining me.
He could imagine her smiling.
I’ll be good. I assume powered armor is overkill. What can I take?
Whatever seems appropriate for someone of your rather murky nature. We can keep a pinnace down there with us, too. We’re bringing the prisoners from Boxer Station with us. They’ll give us five times that number of our people back in exchange.
That sounds good. Really good. I’ll meet you at the marine docking level in an hour. It’ll take at least that long to get those people ready for transport. Anything else?
Nope. See you then.
He disconnected the call. Going into the lion’s den worried him, but he didn’t really have a choice. Not if he wanted to get his people back.
* * * * *
Sean and one of his marine guides made it back a few hours before dawn. They’d found the building housing the guard commander, but they couldn’t get in without raising a ruckus. So, they’d left a man in a nearby parking garage to monitor who went in and out.
It was a risk, but his mechanic had salvaged some of the parts from the dead vehicles and found a contact to sell them to. Sean wasn’t exactly sure how the man had been able to find a buyer in the early morning, but he wasn’t going to ask questions.
There’d always been a market for proscribed items in Fleet. Usually nothing serious. Mostly things that broke minor regulations when aboard ship. Sean had the idea that his man might have made supplying those needs a sideline. Or maybe a second career.
A month ago, he’d have been outraged. Now, he welcomed the man’s skills with open arms.
They’d used the local funds to procure half a dozen civilian com units, a few civilian-grade stunners, and a pair of highly illegal flechette pistols. He’d told his scrounger to find others that could help them get more money and buy other weapons. The man had smiled and asked Sean what limits he wanted to set. Stripping vehicles, burglary, armed robbery, or something else.
It made Sean feel like a criminal overlord. He restricted them to criminal acts that didn’t involve coming face to face with the locals. No one was to be hurt.
The man nodded and gathered his team. Sean promptly dubbed them his pirate crew. They’d slipped back to the island before dawn.
Sean felt as though he’d barely drifted off when a hand shook him awake. It was Ross.
“We have company,” the noncom whispered. “More grav vehicles and guards. Different uniforms this time. They’re asking for you by name.”
Sean sat up and rubbed his face. “Tell them I’ll be right out.”
He hoped that didn’t mean they’d caught any of his people on the mainland.
It took a couple of minutes to get dressed and brush his hair. He walked out into the early morning light and spotted Ross. He was standing near a man in what certainly looked like a military uniform.
The man extended a hand to Sean. “Force Chief Meyer, I’m Detachment Leader Tomas Brent. I’m here at the instruction of Coordinator Olivia West and the ruling council of Harrison’s World.”
Sean shook the man’s hand firmly. “Detachment Leader. What’s going on?”
“Your commanding officer, Admiral Mertz, has arranged for a prisoner exchange. As the senior prisoner, you need to designate 750 of your people. Whoever you choose will be taken directly to an exchange point and turned over to Fleet representative
s for repatriation.”
That was unexpectedly good news. And Mertz was styling himself as an admiral now? Interesting, but probably necessary to negotiate from a position of strength. Sean didn’t know anything close to the real story of what was happening between the AI’s forces, these people who thought they were still part of the Empire, and Mertz’s ships. And he didn’t dare ask any questions.
He smiled at the detachment leader. “I’ll get that underway at once. Does that number include the hundred people you took away yesterday?”
The man frowned. “We haven’t taken any of your people anywhere.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t the case. Some of the men assigned to guard us took a hundred of my people away yesterday. I don’t know where or for what purpose because they threatened to shoot me if I made a fuss. They claimed it was at Coordinator West’s direction. Will you shoot us for asking for them back?”
The man shook his head. “I will not. You go select the people you want to send back to orbit while I go ask a few questions of the contractors who’re guarding you.”
* * * * *
Jared made his way to the quarters they’d assigned to Commander Richards. He nodded to the marine guard just down the corridor and pressed the admittance buzzer. The hatch slid open almost immediately. Richards was rising from the small desk off to the side of the compartment.
He gestured for Jared to come in. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon, Admiral. Is there something I can help you with?”
“I’m about to go down to the planet and wanted to run some things by you. I’m not certain you’ve heard, but we met with Coordinator West yesterday. Things seemed to have gone very well. We’re sending the Fleet personnel we rescued from Boxer Station down to them in exchange for about a third of the prisoners they have in their custody.”
The Rebel Empire officer nodded and offered Jared a seat. “That’s good on several fronts. The longer you had them on your ship, the sooner they would’ve realized something was different about you. No offense, but you people have some odd behaviors. As I’m sure you’d say we do. Can I get you something to drink? Water?”
“Thank you, no. It’s hard to know what seems odd when we have no common experience. Coordinator West seemed undisturbed, so I think we pulled it off for the moment. Now, we’re going on a longer visit and I’d like your advice.”
The officer sat down across from him. “My first piece of advice is not to get drawn into any long discussions about your home. While each of the worlds of the Empire are separate from the rest, the less specific you are, the less likely you are to give them something to think about. Ignorance is your enemy here, Admiral. Especially since you don’t even have current information on any of the possibilities.”
“That’s excellent advice. I think our general comments about the Empire weren’t specific enough to cause us any grief. The only world that came up was Terra and we kept our responses very general.”
The other man nodded. “Good. Keep doing that. I’ll make a short list of planets and the general information about them. Stick with that and you should be safe enough.”
Jared considered him. “You don’t have to help us, so why do so? Your parole is to behave. This is more like collaborating.”
Richards shrugged. “I’ve been able to access a lot more data and talk to dozens of people since you let me out of the brig. Any doubt that I had of your sincerity is gone. You and your people come from worlds isolated from the Empire. I’m certain of it.
“That doesn’t mean your assessment of the Empire is correct, but it does mean that the data you recovered from Courageous hasn’t been tampered with. And that troubles me. The people fighting the rebellion didn’t seem as though they were under anyone’s heel.”
The Rebel officer sighed. “Worse, Princess Kelsey has shown me some of the recordings she recovered from the graveyard. Horrifying. Add that to what I saw of the attack on Boxer Station and I’m almost to the point of conceding I was completely wrong.”
He leaned back in his seat. “If so, I can’t help the Empire. That’s hard for me to admit, but I can’t think of anything else to do.”
Jared could only imagine how hard that must be for the other man. To have his entire world upended. To find out that the monsters under the bed were real and that you’d been working for them.
“You say you’re almost there. What’s holding you back?”
“Stubbornness,” Richards said. “The evidence is there, but I can’t bring myself to admit it. Yet.”
“I’m sorry this is causing you so much pain, Commander. We’ll do what we can to help you get through the trauma. You’ll find friends among us, I hope.”
Richards smiled. “I already have, I think. Let me get something together for you, Admiral. I’ll have Invincible verify I’m being honest and send it to you before you leave. Good luck and watch your back. The higher orders are a snake’s nest. Trust no one.”
Chapter Thirteen
Kelsey stood outside the pinnace docks and watched as the men and women they’d rescued from Boxer Station board vessels that would take them down to Harrison’s World. They were going to have a hard time of it. In one way or another, each of them had profound post-traumatic stress disorder.
Several had attempted suicide and they’d had to restrain them. Some were insane. Ten years under the control of an AI would do that. It chilled her to imagine the poor bastards in the Old Empire that had lived for centuries under those circumstances.
And it made her even more determined to bring the AIs down.
Each pinnace took just over a dozen of the prisoners, so that it could return filled with seventy of their people. That way neither side had to trust that the other would follow through on their promises any more than they had to.
Jared exited marine country and waved as he walked over to her. He had two marines in unpowered armor around him. “I’ve got my honor guard. Are you ready?”
She nodded. “My people are inside. As is a full strike team of marines who’ll wait in the pinnace, just in case we need rescue. Shall we?”
“A flechette pistol and a neural disruptor? Isn’t that a little bit of overkill?”
She smiled. That didn’t count the miniature versions of both pistols she’d hidden elsewhere on her person. Or her knife. The old Kelsey would be horrified. The new Kelsey felt a bit underdressed.
“Not if I need them,” she said. “And there’ve been too many times I’ve needed something and not had it. I wish they made a plasma pistol.”
He shuddered. “That’s really overkill. I’m glad they don’t have things like that.”
She probably shouldn’t mention the powerful Old Empire grenades in pouches on her belt. As Talbot said, it was easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission. If she could’ve gotten away with wearing her armor, she would have. She’d even considered bringing her new swords, but they would’ve stood out too much.
“You didn’t leave your neural disruptor at home,” she said, changing the subject slightly.
“I’m not crazy. With our record, something is all too likely to go wrong. Come on. Let’s go meet our hosts.”
They made their way into the pinnace and it undocked moments after they’d secured themselves.
“While we make the descent,” he said, “let me share some data on a few Rebel Empire worlds that Commander Richards gave me. If pressed, use the data to make a cover story and be sure I know about it. We can’t afford any conflicting statements.”
Kelsey reviewed the data he sent her. There were a few dozen worlds mentioned, along with some basic information about them. She selected one at random and sent her claim to Jared.
“What do we do if they press us harder?” she asked.
“Change the subject,” he said. “We can’t afford to slip up. Even the little we said about Terra could have gotten us in trouble. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to bother Richards.”
“What about the AI from Boxer Station? Have they been able t
o get its data unlocked? Surely it must know a great deal about the Rebel Empire.”
Jared shook his head. “Not yet. Doctor Leonard said that Carl Owlet was close. That might mean tomorrow or next week. I’m not sure. Once we have access, we’ll do what we can to filter the data and beef up our stories.”
Kelsey split her attention between the conversation and the external scanners. The view of the planet was stunning.
The pinnace entered the atmosphere slowly, at least in comparison to a combat drop. Kelsey was able to look ahead in their course and zero in on the landing area. The other pinnaces were going there as well. Local ships were ferrying people in from the large city nearby. Perhaps that meant the prisoners were there.
She found her attention on the local vehicles sharpening when she saw them flying higher and faster than the grav cars at home. Their designs were probably far in advance of what she was used to.
Their pinnace landed a bit closer to the sprawling house than the others had and a small delegation of people came out to meet them. She recognized Coordinator West. The other two were strangers. She supposed she was lucky that Deputy Coordinator King was absent.
The ramp at the rear of the pinnace lowered as they approached. Jared led the way down. Their marine guards followed them out.
Coordinator West extended her hand to Jared. “Admiral. Welcome to Harrison’s World. Miss Bandar. This is my associate, Lord William Hawthorne. He’s graciously allowed us the use of his home for our talks.”
A tall man with a rather flamboyant beard and mustache held his hand out. First to Jared, then to her. “Admiral Mertz, Miss Bandar, welcome to my home. Allow me to introduce my husband Craig.”
The thin black man beside him shook Jared’s hand. “Admiral. Miss Bandar.” He bowed over her hand.
“Thank you for having us,” Jared said. He turned to Coordinator West. “I hope the transfer of your people is going well. Many of them will need some serious help over the next few months and years.”