It Ain't Over... (Cole & Srexx Book 1)

by Robert M Kerns

  “There’s just one problem,” Cole said. “I’ve been hiding for thirteen years, and all the assets and authority haven’t been transferred to me yet. To do that, I need to make a run to Zurich, which is a hair under two days one-way at 95% on the engines. Once I have the authority as Majority Shareholder of CIE, I’m in a much better position to express my family’s displeasure at the Provisional Parliament’s violation of the contract. This will also destabilize them. They’ll think Sasha is walking in there to save her parents, but before she says a word, I step forward and make a statement on behalf of CIE. That should kick off enough of a furball that capable people can retrieve Sasha’s parents while the Parliament and I are circling each other for a fight.”

  “So, what do you need from us?” Lindsey asked.

  “Access. Jeb Hanson made a big deal of how much he owed me last night at the soiree, and I want to hire Harlon to command the Marine contingent aboard Haven…if Harlon’s willing. I’ve already looked into his record and the circumstances of his capture on Oriolis. Sev, I have a job offer for you, depending on how tied you are to Tristan’s Gate and the shipyard here. Emily, I have a job offer for you as well. These jobs are not short-term gigs related to the current unpleasantness; they are long-term, ‘build something that lasts’ jobs that could be considered the challenge of a lifetime. Once we get through this current situation with Sasha’s parents, I’d like to sit down with both of you to discuss the offers in depth.”

  “Care to give us the ‘Executive Summary’ version right now?” Sev asked.

  Cole’s eyes flicked between Sev and Emily. “Emily, Haven’s designation is ‘Battle-Carrier.’ I realize the naval term ‘carrier’ is old school by our experience, but this ship was built to carry a wing of small craft that would’ve once been called fighters, bombers, and the like back on Old Earth. I want to hire you to be my CAG, which is shorthand for Commander Air Group; you’d be the senior-most flight officer aboard, the Wing Commander if you will. Sev…those fighters and bombers and such? I will need a place to build them. I want to hire you to work with Julianna Painter; she’s already signed on to oversee my merchant fleet, and if you accept, you’ll be in charge of all system infrastructure.”

  “Which system will receive this infrastructure?” Sev asked.

  Cole grinned. “I would’ve thought it would be obvious: Beta Magellan. I’ll be moving CIE’s headquarters from Alpha Centauri to there, just like my father intended.”

  “But Beta Magellan’s jump gate is down; it hasn’t worked in years,” Emily protested.

  Cole shook his head, still grinning. “No. I’ve been using the system as my personal hidey hole. I only activated the jump gate when I needed to go into the system…but we’re getting a little off-topic. The bottom line is this. If Sasha’s parents are being held anywhere in the Aurelius system, I have a friend who can find them. Once we have a location on them, we’ll drop ground forces under stealth and Electronic Warfare to effect their release…but first, I have to go to Zurich to secure our diversion.”

  The meeting broke up after that. Sasha took Talia to her quarters. Cole walked everyone to the airlock and messaged Julianna Painter to secure transportation back to Tristan’s World for Carl and Lindsey Vance. Once all guests had left, Cole went to the bridge; he wasn’t surprised that Sasha wasn’t there.

  The moment Cole stepped onto the bridge, Mazzi stood from the command chair and said, “Captain on deck!” She moved to the weapons console as Cole headed straight for the helm.

  “Jennings,” Cole said, “get us immediate departure clearance with a clear transit vector out of near-station space. We will be leaving the area at speed.”

  A few moments later, Jennings announced, “We’re clear to depart, Captain. All station traffic in our vicinity is holding position.”

  “Thank you,” Cole said, “and pass my thanks to Station Control, please.”

  Cole fired a burst of the engines to push the ship backward out of the docking slip. Then, he disabled the vector control system to allow the ship to maneuver through any orientation while maintaining its direction of movement. With the VCS off, Cole then rotated the ship 180º to port, flipped the ship end for end so that the bow now pointed away from the station, and rotated the ship back to be parallel to the plane of the docking slip. The sensor display showed him a clear corridor out of near-space with no movers anywhere close to his heading, so Cole locked in that heading and set the sublight engines to seven-tenths’ of lightspeed. Despite its immensity, Haven shot out of near-station space like the projectile from a gauss cannon. Once they were free to navigate, Cole locked in a destination of Zurich and brought the ship in a sweeping turn to point toward the star in question. A little over thirteen hours later, Haven vanished from Tristan’s Gate.

  System Periphery

  Zurich System

  13 October 2999, 00:37 GST

  Haven appeared on the periphery of the Zurich system a little under two days after they reached the periphery of Tristan’s Gate. Cole sat at the helm, alone on the bridge, and regarded the sensor display for several moments before he chose the destination and set the sublight engines to half-lightspeed.

  Star systems are huge, and the star system named Zurich was larger than most. According to the ancient main sequence spectrum developed before Humanity ventured beyond its own moon, Zurich was an A-type star in the process of transitioning to an F-type star. As such, the goldilocks zone—which allowed for the potential of a habitable, life-giving planet—was much farther into the system than the goldilocks zone for Old Earth, and the planet the founders of Zurich settled on occupied a position in the solar system similar to that of Saturn in Sol.

  Three massive stations orbited the settled world in Zurich, and Cole selected Zurich One as the destination before setting the engines to half-lightspeed. It was 85 AUs to Zurich One from the periphery, five AUs longer than the diameter of the entire Sol system, and it would take a little over twenty-three hours and thirty minutes to make the journey. Cole programmed the computer to alert him of any anomalies or problems and went back to bed. After all, it was the middle of the night.

  Even as he laid in bed, though, Cole couldn’t sleep. He felt using himself as a distraction in Aurelius was the best option, but stepping forward after all these years and admitting to the galaxy he was Heir to the Coleson Trust was unsettling. Someone had massacred his family in Beta Magellan, and whoever it was must’ve had a very powerful reason to commit mass murder. Was the reason no longer valid, or was Cole about to put the largest target in Human space on his back? Only time would tell.

  And if he was being honest with himself, his potential fate wasn’t the sole reason this course of action unsettled him. Stepping up and claiming the Trust would put him in his father’s shoes, and looking back over his life, Cole felt certain beyond any doubt he wasn’t worthy. Not worthy at all.

  In Transit to Zurich One

  Zurich System

  13 October 2999, 12:47 GST

  “Captain,” Jennings said, “we’re being hailed by a destroyer off our port side attempting to keep up with us.”

  Cole grinned. “Put the call through.”

  The speakers chirped as the forward viewscreen activated and displayed a young woman looking immaculate in the green and gold colors of the Zurich Defense Force. Her expression implied a certain level of both determination and dedication.

  “Attention, unknown vessel. I am Lieutenant Commander Caitlynn Hendry of the Zurich Defense Force. State your intentions in this system.”

  Cole smiled and gestured for Jennings to transmit. “Hello, Commander Hendry. I am Bartholomew James Coleson, aboard the Battle-Carrier Haven, and I need to visit the headquarters of Credit Suisse. I have banking to do.”

  “It is most uncommon to see a capital ship without screening elements, and with all the unpleasantness occurring in this region of the galaxy, I’m sure you can understand why we might observe a heightened state of alertness for any encroa
chment in our system.”

  Cole nodded. “It’s very understandable. Zurich’s neutrality is legendary, and sometimes, extra vigilance is necessary to ensure it.”

  “Thank you, Captain, for your time. We’ll transmit a record of our conversation to Defense Command.”

  The speakers chirped once more, and Cole leaned back against his seat. He was afraid it was only a matter of time before more partisans were pulled into the conflict spiraling around the flailing corpse that was the Aurelian Commonwealth, and Cole wondered how many innocents would get caught in the crossfire.

  Twelve hours later, Haven docked at Zurich One. While the headquarters of Credit Suisse were open and operated as a branch of the bank, the officers Cole needed to visit did not return to the office until 08:00 later that morning. Cole announced liberty for the crew with the provision that all hands were subject to recall at two hours’ notice.

  Cole entered the Credit Suisse offices to see the same level of understated elegance he’d seen in other branches. Wood paneling on the bulkheads, area rugs in warm welcoming colors, soft lighting that struck a happy medium between too bright and too dark…Cole felt an immediate welcome, and he hadn’t even spoken with anyone yet.

  “How may I help you, sir?” the young man at the reception desk asked when Cole approached.

  “I need to speak with an officer overseeing the Coleson Trust,” Cole said. “I carry a sealed writ from the Tristan’s Gate branch, and I’m afraid I must hand-deliver it.”

  “Of course, sir. If you would please have a seat, I’ll see that the proper individuals are notified. May I offer you some refreshment?”

  Cole smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but I finished breakfast about thirty minutes ago.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  After a few minutes, Cole noticed movement nearby in his peripheral vision, and he looked up…and froze. Standing a short distance away was a man Cole remembered from his childhood, when he came to the bank with his father. He was older now, his hair almost all gray with more of a midsection than Cole remembered, but there could be no mistake. Cole was looking at his father’s close friend and personal banker, Leland Graf.

  If Mr. Graf recognized Cole, he was astute enough not to show it, offering Cole a pleasant welcoming smile. “I believe you have something for me, young man. If you would follow me to my office, we can discuss the matter there.”

  Mr. Graf maintained his polite indifference all throughout the trip to his office, but once the hatch sealed, all that changed.

  “By the stars, boy, it’s good to see you! Did you know you have your mother’s eyes and your father’s chin? Seeing you sitting there in the lobby damn-near stopped my heart,” Leland said as he took Cole’s hand and pumped it in a fervent handshake. “So…how have you been these long years?”

  Cole shrugged. “Some years have been better than others, sir.”

  “Sir? What am I, some random soul you met in the corridor? You used to call me Uncle Leland, but I suppose there’s so much reaction mass out the thruster nozzle we should just go with Leland. Thank you for visiting Beta Magellan every so often. Those visits allowed me to ensure the vultures on the Board of CIE didn’t force the Trust onto one of your unworthy cousins…not that they deserve to be called cousins, no matter how entitled they act. What am I doing? Please, have a seat; have a seat.”

  Leland grabbed one of the two chairs placed for guests and spun it to face the other, sitting without delay. Cole sat in the other guest chair and produced the sealed writ, extending it to Leland.

  “Here. Ms. Obrist in Tristan’s Gate said I’d need this.”

  “I’m sure she did, but she didn’t know my history with your family. Still, though, I should file that to establish your bona fides with the bank. I wouldn’t want anyone thinking I’d slipped a ringer into the system. What made you come forward after all this time, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “The Aurelian Commonwealth is coming apart,” Cole said, “and in their death throes, the Provisional Parliament has violated its contract with Coleson Interstellar Engineering. They are blockading the jump gates and have declared them off limits to most civilian traffic, being restricted to government and military use only. They need to learn the error of their ways, and I feel I have no other choice than to be Majority Shareholder of CIE when I educate them.”

  “If they’ve blockaded all the jump gates, lad, how are you going to reach Aurelius to educate the Provisional Parliament? That seems to be a small hole in your plan.”

  Cole grinned. “Not at all. I discovered an ancient alien starship back in June and claimed it for myself when I was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. It doesn’t have jump engines, so I don’t need the jump gates to reach Aurelius.”

  Leland adopted a thoughtful expression for a few moments before he nodded. “You’re the Lone Marine people are whispering about.”

  Cole shrugged. “It’s almost impossible to see inside heavy armor, Leland. It could be anyone.”

  “Oh, naturally…naturally.” Without warning, Leland shot to his feet. “Well, let’s get the unpleasantries over with and get you access to your family’s Trust.”

  Leland moved to his workstation, opening the writ and dropping the data card into a reader slot in his desk. He worked for several minutes, humming a tune to himself while he tapped away at his workstation.

  “And there we are,” Leland said at last. “We must confirm your identity to be sure it matches with our records and the sealed writ, but you and I both know there won’t be any deviation.”

  Another thirty minutes later, Cole left the headquarters of Credit Suisse in total control of assets worth more than the GDP of several star systems. The account Leland called his ‘petty cash’ held more credits than Haven’s ship account by at least a couple orders of magnitude. Leland fired off a notification to CIE that the Heir had stepped forward and claimed the Trust and would call on them when time permitted, afterward providing Cole another sealed writ containing records of every identity verification he’d undergone. That writ would come in handy if the Board of CIE tried to contest his identity.

  What Cole also had, though, was authority to speak for CIE, because the company charter was written in such a way that the Coleson Heir became the CEO upon accepting the Trust and ownership of the shares. Cole felt rather certain whoever served as CEO might find that unsettling, but his family’s company was a matter for another time.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Docking Slip 12, The Gate

  Tristan’s Gate

  17 October 2999, 04:53 GST

  Haven slid back into Docking Slip 12 and engaged the forcefields to create—or at the least simulate—the hard seal a traditional docking collar would produce. Not for the first time, Cole wondered if Docking Control saved the slip for them. He never let himself ask them, though, because he didn’t know whether it was good or bad if they did.

  Just as the helm station reported docking complete, two messages dropped into Cole’s queue. Cole accessed the first; it was from Sev, and it was a report they were rush-constructing four dropships using the best stealth technology available and that they could retrofit the three dropships Cole carried if he brought them over as soon as they docked. The second message was from Emily; it contained only two words: We’re on. Cole couldn’t escape the feeling that things would move very fast from that moment forward.

  Cole stood up from the helm, turning to the bridge. “Jennings, put me on ship-wide address.”

  The speakers chirped once, and Jennings said, “You’re on, Captain.”

  “Attention, all hands; this is Cole. We have docked at the Gate after a whirlwind tour of Zurich. To answer a question I’m sure is on someone’s mind, yes, you’ll be getting liberty. However, all hands are subject to immediate recall, so I will ask you not to pursue some of the more raucous entertainments spacers can be known for on liberty. We’re on a timetable, and when everything comes together, we will be lighting ou
t of here like we’re two steps ahead of Station Security…except I’d better not learn any of you are two steps ahead of Station Security. Once we’re underway, I’ll inform everyone as to what’s going on and why the liberty this time is more restricted than usual. As of this moment, liberty rotations begin. Cole out.” The speakers chirped as the ship-wide address channel closed, and Cole turned to Sasha. “You have your pilot rating?”

  Sasha shook her head.

  Cole nodded and pivoted to Mazzi. “Mazzi, I need two pilots rated for the dropships. If they’re part of the first liberty rotation, tell them they’ll be allowed to run over an amount of time equal to what I use. Have them meet me on the flight deck in ten minutes or less.”

  Cole and his two shadows that were masquerading as dropships had just departed Haven when text appeared in Cole’s field of view.

  Incoming Comms Call: Battle-Carrier Haven

  [Wink left for ‘Accept.’ Wink right for ‘Ignore.’]

  Cole winked his acceptance and chose the following option for his implant to route the call through the dropship’s audio system.

  “Cole here.”

  “It’s Sasha, Cole. The people leaving the ship are reporting something odd. They’re saying there’s a military checkpoint just inside the airlock with additional personnel recording everyone’s name, picture, and biometric identifiers, and here’s the weird thing. The checkpoint isn’t intended to keep our people out of the station; it’s set up to block general access to our airlock. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

  “No,” Cole said, shaking his head even though Sasha couldn’t see it. “I have no idea. Are the SDF hassling our people at all?”

  “Not even a little. Everything is pleasant and smiling, and they’re even exchanging jokes.”