“What's happening?” I cried. “Switch to an external feed!”
Space appeared before us, and far away a battle was raging beyond our sight. I zoomed in as far as it could go and saw in the blink of an eye the Pearl bearing straight down on the Corvettes, all gun-ports blazing.
“Move to engage!” I said, tapping the NavCom. “We might just survive this day after all!”
The Pearl and her sister ship the Achilles had been able to pass through our scanners and cause a devastating amount of damage on Corano's ships before they could even register it. In the first minute of the battle, three of the Corsairs were destroyed with all hands and two of the Corvettes were crippled. As the remaining ships began to withdraw, two more were destroyed by a withering amount of lancer fire from the Achilles and Corano's own ship, the Wandering Star, was now dead in the water.
We powered down once the battle had ended and waited for both ships to return. Eventually, Corano's entire force was destroyed and the crippled ships were taken by Marine contingents.
I looked at Mason who looked at me. There were no words. Once again, either by good luck or good fortune or by a power some people believe guided the lives of mankind, we'd been snatched out from the jaws of death and allowed to live. It was a sobering moment when we saw both titanic ships coming towards us, gun-ports wide open and the scars of recent battle damage marking their hulls like warpaint.
“Carter?” said a familiar voice over the comms. “Damage report.”
“Shields took a beating but we're still in the air. We've got two seriously wounded, one of which needs treatment for an amputated leg,” I said. “You've gone and messed up our ledger again. I'm in the red, Captain.”
“Was your mission a success?” he asked.
“It was.”
“Then perhaps the score will be even once again. We'll escort you back to the fleet and send our medical team to deal with the wounded.”
“What about Corano?” I asked. “On the Wandering Star?”
“My Marines report that he was not aboard that ship.”
“But I spoke to him,” I cried. “He was piloting it!”
“The bridge was empty,” said Sole. “Unless he somehow escaped us, I don't believe he was ever there to begin with.”
I looked at Mason who scratched his chest without thinking. Had Corano been speaking remotely? Observing the battle from Remus IV somehow? Was that even possible? We were too far away for the level of technology required to remote-pilot such a ship. Or had he escaped somehow? I was tired and weary and I wanted to sleep. Answers to those questions would have to wait.
When our wounded had been taken on board the Achilles to be treated and we were safely on our way to rendezvous with the fleet, Mason and I sat on the bridge, exhausted.
“You should get some rest,” he said to me. “It's been a long day.”
“Likewise. The medic says that Baz was lucky – the cauterisation sealed his arteries and prevented bleed-out. They'll be able to graft an artificial leg once they've done surgery on the area.”
“Alice won't be happy.”
“I don't think Baz will be happy. It'll harm his image.”
“Death would have harmed it more.”
“True enough. Sam has lost a lot of blood but his suit managed to keep him alive long enough for the medics to work on repairing the damage. They're pretty sure he'll live but he won't be fighting again any time soon.”
“That's good news. I really thought we'd lost him when they pulled him out of the vault.”
“So did I.”
Behind me, the door opened and Mason, seeing who it was, stood up. “I'm going to get my head down,” he said. “I'll leave you to it.”
“Wait,” said Jo, stepping onto the bridge barefoot. “Have a drink with us, please.”
He nodded and she placed three glasses on my console and poured. Then, raising them, we clinked and drank. I dimmed the lights a little and turned the viewscreen onto the stars before us.
“How's Thor?” asked Mason, leaning against the rail.
“He's with Jimmy,” she replied, pouring him another. “I think he's feeling pretty guilty about the whole thing.”
“So he should,” I cried. “We nearly bought the farm, the land and the barn full of cows because of him. He's got some making up to do once we're home.”
“He's...” She searched for the words. “He's like a teenager, trying to figure out where he fits in the 'gang'. Take it easy on him, guys.”
We nodded. It made sense but most teenagers don't almost get you killed every time you did stuff together.
“So what happens now?” she asked. “Do we just sprint home or what?”
“We'll have to enjoy the pleasure of Captain Argo's company a little while longer,” I said. “He'll want a full briefing on what happened now that it's open knowledge that his Uncle is actually alive and going under the name of Corano.”
“And Angel?”
“The Intelligence officer aboard his ship should handle all that. You'd better speak to Aleksei and warn him,” said Mason, pointing at me with his glass which he emptied again in one long gulp. I hadn't seen him drink that hard for a long time. Jo poured him another.
“Sit down before you fall down,” I laughed and he did, dragging a chair over for Jo and one for himself. We sat around the main console and the drink flowed.
“To Columbine,” I said and raised my glass. “And to Baz' leg – perhaps the most useful part of him I've ever seen.”
“Here here!” said Mason. We clinked again and drank.
“How can you laugh about it?” cried Jo but with a guilty grin on her face. “The poor guy just-”
“But did you see Thor use it?” said Mason, warming to the subject of reliving the battle. “He took out two with one swing! Magnificent.”
“Poor Baz,” she said and began giggling to herself. “It was a pretty good weapon to be fair.”
We laughed it out, feeling the tension drain away. When we began to give a blow-by-blow account of the entire battle, Jo went into full swing, gesturing wildly with her hands as she explained her part, how amazed she was with Grant and Fara just getting on with it and how the rounds had felt slamming into her armour. Mason and I chipped in too, filling in gaps we both had until the entire thing was out there, not in the shadows where monsters hid, but in the light where the pain and the trauma wouldn't get a chance to fester.
The bottle was soon empty and I pulled another from one of the storage lockers on the bridge. It was then that I remembered the data cube I'd taken from the vault, the one of Bourmont and the soldier. I saw my armour still standing near the door where I'd left it and Jo was looking at me.
“What's wrong?” she asked, seeing my expression.
“It's nothing,” I lied. Then I shook my head. “I'm sorry, it's not nothing. It's something I-”
Walking towards the suit I thought it over again and decided that, just like we'd dragged the battle into the light, this too had to be brought out from the dark where it would rot quicker and with much more far-reaching consequences. I popped open the storage compartment and took out the cube.
“What's that?” asked Mason.
“The data-sniffer found it,” I explained. “It relates directly to Angel.”
“Shouldn't it be with the rest? Unless...” He stopped. “Play it.”
I went over to the console and fitted it into the slot. Then, locking the bridge door, I played the recording, sitting back down with my glass. We watched. Nothing had changed since I'd last seen it, no fresh insights or misunderstandings. It was there in plain sight.
The recording stopped and the bridge fell silent.
“Holy shit,” whispered Jo. “She-”
“She knew,” said Mason. “She knew what Bourmont was going to do and she did nothing.”
I let the thought sink in like it had done with me back in the vault. A few moments passed.
“I feel sick,” said Jo. “How could-”
“We need to be careful,” I said softly. “None of us here is guilt-free. Maybe Corano had a point – we didn't need to go to war with him to get that data, there were other ways, but a lot of people died today because of us. And Sargon?” I looked at Mason who agreed with a slow nod. “And what about just recently? We watched a whole space-station filled with women and children vaporized because of our actions. Maybe we didn't directly kill them but without us, it wouldn't have happened, would it?”
“Good point,” said Jo. “I've got my own demons too I guess.”
“And we're talking about her Father. How far would you go to protect family? I know that if it were Alice or you or any of this team, I'd do a lot more killing to get you back.”
“She couldn't have known beforehand what the full extent of the defeat at Noctis would have meant, not completely,” said Mason. “Thousands upon thousands of soldiers died in that battle. She's had to live with that all her life since then.”
I had a sudden thought and I began working the console, searching the history files for the casualty lists on both sides. It took a while but, in the end,, I found it.
“There,” I said. “Not only has she lived with their deaths, but it was all for nothing. Her father died anyway.”
“Poor girl,” said Jo.
We sat back down and lapsed into silence, lost in our own thoughts. Then Mason spoke.
“Now what?” he asked. “What do we do with that?” He indicated the data cube. I shrugged.
“There was enough in the vault without it to set her free. This would, in fact, do the opposite. It would condemn her.”
“You knew that, didn't you?” said Jo. “When you programmed the sniffer to look for data. It pulled out that cube because you'd set it to find anything that would convict her as well as set her free.” I nodded. “Why?”
“I suspected something was wrong,” I said. “She didn't try and defend herself when she was arrested, there was no attempt to prove her innocence. She went quietly, like someone loaded down with guilt and who wanted to be punished.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Mason.
“Don't you think she's been punished enough?” I said. “If I hand this over I'm basically saying that we're somehow morally superior to her. We've just done illegal arms deals with Madam Sill for fuck's sake! If we start cleaning house where do we stop? We'll all be inside by the end of the year.”
“So what? We just forget about it?” asked Jo.
“No,” I said. “I don't have the answer just yet. Maybe I won't until I see her face to face. Maybe I-” I shook my head. “Maybe I just need to see that guilt for myself just to make sure...” I trailed off but Jo's hand fell on my knee and she smiled.
“You'll know what to do,” she said. “You always have done – when the time is right.”
“I don't envy you,” said Mason, getting to his feet a little unsteadily. “But as you say, I've got two fresh reasons to be grateful for merciful friends. None of us has a clean ledger. But I don't think I'd be able to get past that much blood. She has my pity either way. Goodnight, folks.”
And with that he unlocked the bridge and left, heading for his room no doubt. That left Jo and me alone.
“He's a good man,” she said, getting up out of her seat. “Scooch over.” I did, making room for her to curl up beside me on the chair. I reclined a little and she snuggled up under my arm, resting her head on my chest.
“I can't believe you knew all that while the fighting was raging around you,” she said. “How did you feel?”
“Stunned,” I said. “But I carried on. There's time for thinking when the battle is over, not during it.”
“I think I'll pass on any more of those,” she laughed. “I've never been so scared and yet so alive in all my life. I'll stick to looking after the engines.” She looked up and at me and grinned. “And you of course.”
33
We made the rendezvous in good time and thanks to speedy repairs we were able to dock directly with the Agamemnon and walk safely onto her decks. Captain Argo met us there along with his book-ends and Mr. Beard.
“Do you even have a name?” I asked him as he saw the first of the data bags being off-loaded.
“Smith,” he grinned. I shook my head.
“I'll stick with Mr. Beard.” At this, he let out a bark of laughter and walked away like a man who knew he was about to count a hell of a lot of money.
“Carter,” cried Argo. “I can honestly say I'm glad to see you on this occasion.” That lop-sided grin, that scarred face. “So I hear you met the infamous Uncle?”
“He's better looking than you,” I said. “But not as charming.” He laughed too. It seemed that no matter how insulting I was people still laughed. I guessed that the data meant a lot more to him than the barbs of one of his minions.
“Will you join us for some supper?” he offered. I shook my head.
“Our business is done here,” I said. “You have the data you asked for and now you have a bonus Uncle to send Christmas cards to. I think me and my crew have earned a swift return home, don't you?”
“Indeed,” he said. “Indeed. I have one small request though, a personal one this time.”
Suddenly he looked very sheepish and he wrung his hands nervously before him as he looked up and down the docking arm for listeners. His two lieutenants appeared to be looking the other way.
“Go on,” I said.
“It recently came to my attention that... after a... friendship developed a little too much with one of my crew, said person might have illegitimately sired a-”
“Get to the point,” I said. “It's been a really long couple of weeks and I'd like to be on my way, Captain.”
“Of course,” he said and flushed pink at the cheeks in spite of his scarred complexion. “This is-”
A young man dragging a case behind him appeared on the arm, ushered in like a performer from the stage wings. He was dressed in plain fatigues and had a haircut to match Mason's and he looked just as awkward as Argo did.
“This is Steven Riggs. Nice boy. Could do with a little experience and thinks that TRIDENT INC. is the kind of place he-”
When they were stood side-by-side I realised what he was saying. My jaw involuntarily dropped for an instant as I saw the same features I'd noticed in two other family members – but under a different name.
“Riggs?” I said. “You've got to be kidding me.”
“I just thought-”
I shook my head. I didn't have the strength to argue and if, as I suspected, he was unfortunate to be the bastard-child of Captain Argo, maybe taking him away from his Father would be doing him a favour. No doubt Argo's wife and family back on Earth would prefer me to do that too.
“Paperwork,” I snapped, holding out my hand. One of the stone-faced lieutenants marched towards me and passed me a sealed envelope. Hard copy. No traces. “Grant and Fara have also decided to apply for TRIDENT. Must be my lucky day. So many new-starters.”
“Marvellous!” said Argo, retreating a few steps. I noticed that Riggs hadn't even looked at his father before walking past me to board the Hikane. “Then I bid you a safe journey. Angel will be free by the time you reach Titan 5, make no mistake.”
“It won't be me making a mistake if she isn't,” I said. I turned to go but stopped. Looking back, Argo was still smiling. “It was a big vault, Captain. A very big vault.”
“I'm sure it was,” he said but his words faltered a little on his lips.
“Bear that in mind from now on,” I said with a smirk. “A very big vault.”
The smile vanished. We understood each other. As the door sealed shut behind me I gave the order for us to depart. Steven Riggs was standing in the corridor looking lost when I caught up with him. He was hopelessly young, barely eighteen years old and I noticed a slight tremble in his hand when we shook.
“Thank you, sir,” he said. “For the opportunity I mean.”
“I said exactly that when I
was recruited into the army,” I said. “Then they shipped me off to Mars to put down a war of independence. Most of my friends were killed and those that survived were broken men and women. I barely made it out alive with that man,” I pointed to Mason who stood with his arms folded at the top of the stairs. “We've just come back from a mission to save someone who is responsible for a hell of a lot of deaths by her inactions. Before that, we helped blow up a station full of women and children and before that we butchered a planet full of undead-civilians.”
Riggs had gone pale and beneath our boots I felt the ship lurch out of the docking bay and into the cold void of space.
“Now come with me and let's say hello to the rest of the crew.”
We walked down the corridors until we came to Baz's quarters. When the door opened, the injured man was just coming round from the pain meds. The timing couldn't be better.
“Baz – you're awake,” I said and stood beside him. “How do you feel?”
“Awful,” he groaned. “Who's he?”
“That's Riggs, he'll be joining us on the ride home. What did they tell you on the Achilles?”
“They said that the graft had been successful.” He looked down at the sheets covering him. “I can't feel anything though. Is that normal?”
Mason tutted and shook his head. I put my hand on Baz's shoulder and tried to look sympathetic.
“I've got some bad news, mate,” I said. “Your body rejected the synthetic limb.”
“What?” he cried. “How? They said-”
“It's true, pal,” said Mason. “I'm sorry.”
“This can't be happening,” moaned Baz. “What will I do without my leg?”
“Don't worry,” I soothed and patted him on the shoulder. “Thor stepped in. He knows all about robotic limbs and such. I hope you're happy with what he's come up with.”
“You're shitting me!” he said. “Don't let him come near me!”
“It's a little too late for that,” said Mason. “I think he's done a bloody good job if I'm honest.”
“Show me!”
Raw Justice Page 29