“He says he doesn’t understand how they were enemies. Do you want me to fill him in?” Constantine asked, and Tom shook his head.
“Not yet. I want to learn more about their history before we disclose how dire our relationship is,” Tom said.
“Bridge to Captain Baldwin,” the speaker said, and Tom glanced at Nee, who shrugged. He’d remained quiet for most of the discussion, only watching vitals on his tablet.
“Go ahead, Zare,” Tom said.
“A Concord vessel has arrived in the system, and they’re sending a communication. Would you like to hear it?” she asked.
“Of course, patch it through.” Tom glanced at Ven, who looked perturbed at the notion of a Concord ship nearby.
“Captain Thomas Baldwin, this is Admiral Hudson. You’ve disobeyed orders. Prepare for our arrival and notify the ship that I will be taking over as acting captain for the time being.” The image of the man appeared in a projection along the edge of the room, and Tom grimaced.
“Great. Just when things were getting interesting,” Tom said, wishing he had more time.
Seventeen
Brax controlled the robotic arms, lifting the material high into the air. Beside him, Penter tapped the archaic keyboard, instructing the drone to weld the two sheets to the exterior hull. Sweat poured off Brax’s head, and he had to pause the two-handed operation to wipe his brow dry.
The sun was intense, and they’d been going for at least five hours without a break. Already he’d seen some of Penter’s people passing out from exertion, and Brax made a point of telling the guards they needed a break and water.
They hadn’t listened to a word he’d said. If they understood Standard, they didn’t show it.
“How long do you think it’ll take to build one of these warships?” Penter asked.
“At this rate? A year or so,” Brax said. It was a slow process, which involved heating metals using some rusty old smelter, the fumes rising from the ground in waves. They were offered no masks, no gloves, and Brax knew this wasn’t going to end well for the slaves, or for him.
The melted ores were placed into cooling molds, where they came out in thin sheets. Each sheet was a slightly different color, depending on the percentage of elements inside the rocky substance they were manipulating. They had a crude frame of what would eventually be an arm of a warship, and Brax and the larger Bacals were in charge of adding the cooled sheets to the exterior, overlapping them sixty percent of the sheet, and welding them together. So far, they had a whopping five sheets attached, with at least another two thousand needed before the arm was completely covered. It was going to be a long venture.
Judging by the slaves’ pace, Brax didn’t think half of them would survive a week at this camp. The Statu had no interest in creating a passable workplace environment. They were only interested in results, and not how many slaves they killed along the way. It was sickening.
The controls were rigid in his hands, and the robotic arms clenched one of the sheets, Brax judging it to weigh at least a hundred kilograms. He twisted one, lifting the other handle, as the sheet found purchase beside the other five welded pieces. Penter’s drone was there in a second, the arc of its flame shooting out as the solder was dropped in a crude line by yet another drone.
“This could be a weapon,” Penter whispered the suggestion, but Brax doubted it.
“Those suits are pretty tough. It takes a few blasts from our XRC-14 to disable them, and that’s at close range. I don’t think the little torch will be enough,” he told Penter, who only took a deep breath in response. “There’ll be an opening eventually. We’ll find it. This is day one.”
“We’re far from anything. Why do you think they keep the camps separated so far apart?” Penter asked.
Brax had given it a lot of thought, and he’d come up with one solid hypothesis. “There aren’t many guards, so they have to keep us apart. Can you imagine if all ten thousand Bacals were together and decided to revolt? Sure, we’d lose a few, but we’d eventually overwhelm them. That’s why they kept us weak, starving us before we arrived. We were confused, no leadership, no plan. Now that we’re in these secluded groups, we have no way of communicating, decreasing our chances of dissent.”
Penter moved the drone, stumbling a bit with his weld before compensating and continuing the line. “That’s quite the assumption. One I’d agree with. Then what do we do?”
Brax made sure that none of the few guards were nearby and leaned closer. “My tracker will lead my crew here. When they find out we’re isolated from the main ship, they’ll be able to send a rescue mission.”
“What about the rest of my people?” Penter asked.
“Don’t worry. We won’t leave anyone behind,” Brax said with false security. The truth was, he was uncertain if anyone was coming for him. And if they did, would his new captain risk their ship and other crew to help a non-Concord member? There were rules about this kind of thing, and the deal hadn’t been solidified between the Concord and Greblok yet. Brax doubted it ever would be now.
“Good. How long will it take for them to follow?” Penter asked. They finished the sheet installation, noticing the pile of supplies was empty. Brax glanced to the first stage, where the people were struggling with the raw materials. It would only be so long before the Statu would begin making examples of the people responsible for the bottlenecks.
“Not long,” Brax said without confidence. “They’ll come.” He waved for Penter to follow him to the first stage, as someone needed to help melt the ore in order to keep everyone alive on their first day as working slaves.
“They have to,” he whispered to himself as Penter began moving through the motions, showing a thin woman how to optimize her station.
____________
Thomas waited in the docking bay for the transport vessel to arrive. He’d been shocked to learn his old craft, the Cecilia, was the cruise ship that had brought Admiral Hudson to the outreaches past the Border.
The transport liner latched on with ease, and Thomas nervously watched the inhabitants step through the hatch and onto his ship. His ship. He doubted he’d be able to say that for long.
Admiral Hudson was the first off, and he glared at Tom from across the bay. Next was a familiar face, the captain of Cecilia and his former leader, Yin Shu. Even from that far away, Tom noticed a twinkle in her eye at seeing him standing there in uniform, the red collar denoting his rank.
“Hope you get a good look,” he mumbled.
The third person emerged, and Tom coughed as he saw who it was. The Prime herself was here, on his ship, for some reason. She rarely left Nolix, and never to somewhere as dangerous as beyond the Border. Tom suddenly wished he had Brax Daak beside him to add some imposing muscle on his side.
They were flanked by security officers, each obviously armed, as their handhelds were mounted on their belts at the hip. One was a human man, the other a female Zilph’i.
“Just what in the Vastness do you think you’re doing, Baldwin?” The admiral walked fast, his boots clipping away and echoing in the vast chamber.
Tom saw the anger in the other’s eyes, and he stood tall, ready to take the brunt of the older man’s wrath. He wasn’t going down without standing his ground. “I was thinking that our newest Concord partner was all but destroyed, the mining materials beneath their ocean you so desperately wanted taken, along with thousands of potential slaves.”
Captain Shu arrived right behind the admiral and, judging from the look of shock on her face, this was news to her. “Admiral, you told me Tom disobeyed you. What are we really doing here?”
The admiral cleared his throat and glanced at the incoming Prime. She was small in person, her lined face more wrinkled than Tom had suspected. Her head was bald like all Callalay, her forehead ridged along the temple and between her eyes. She stared at Tom with a hard glare, unspeaking.
“Captain Shu, we told him to return to Nolix with the information he’d gathered so we could assess and de
cide our next course of action,” Admiral Hudson stated. “Isn’t that true, Baldwin?”
Tom had the audacity to smile and wink at his old captain. They’d been close, friends even after serving together for years along the Border. She didn’t return the grin, but only watched him with tight-lipped patience.
“That’s right. I did disobey the order, but only because one of my crew was in danger. The Code states…” Tom started to say, but the admiral raised his hand, cutting him off.
“To hell with the Code,” Hudson said, and Shu gasped. Tom’s superior crossed the distance between them quicker than Tom would have thought possible, and he grabbed Tom by the collar, shoving him backwards. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Tom was at a loss. “I’m only doing what I think best for the Concord.”
“Do you think there would still be a Concord if it wasn’t for the Prime and me? Do you?” He remained clutching Tom, spittle flying from his lips. “The Statu were never going to stop; you see that now, don’t you? We had to give them something.”
Hudson released his collar and stepped back, suddenly deflated.
Captain Shu spoke next, stealing the words from Tom’s mouth. “What did you do?”
The admiral glanced around nervously, the guards holding their guns after their boss’s tirade, unsure of the next course of action.
The Prime spoke for the first time, her voice as calm as her demeanor. “We’re not doing this here. Tom, bring us to your private office.”
Shu appeared ready to say something, but Tom noticed her pursing her lips, deferring to the Prime’s idea.
“This way,” Tom said, leading them from the bay.
“Stay here,” Prime Pha’n said to the two guards. They glanced at the admiral, who nodded his agreement. Tom thought that was interesting. They should have accepted the Prime’s lead without further question.
“Captain Baldwin, where’s your commander?” Shu asked. She was always so formal, even in private settings. It wasn’t a habit he could fault. She was meticulous and a great leader. He felt a little put off by having her here. Most people would have been thrown by the presence of the Prime, the leader of the entire Concord, with over a trillion lives under her wing, but Tom was more worried about showing the captain of his previous post how revolutionary his new station was.
Constantine was unlike any Concord vessel to date. It had been built with only the best materials, the newest technologies, and a crew unlike anything the fleet had ever seen before.
“Is it true you have an Ugna on board?” Captain Shu asked him.
“Why don’t you ask the people responsible for putting the crew together?” Tom said, nodding toward the admiral and the Prime.
“Wait. You didn’t even have a say in your own executive team?” Shu asked quietly.
“Captain Baldwin was lucky to have been granted this posting, and so are the rest of them. If I’d have known how much trouble he would give us, I never would have…” Admiral Hudson stopped at a glance from the old Prime.
No one spoke as they trekked through the corridors, past the open topiary, simultaneously as mist settled from the platform above, watering the plants. Tom caught Shu staring at it all, soaking in the sights of the amazing new flagship as they walked. He could have led them to his office another way, but he wanted to show them what they’d given him for a ship.
“Nice place,” Shu said softly as they neared the courtyard’s exit. Tom glanced up toward Treena’s room, where Nee’s nurse was watching over Starling’s real body for anything out of the ordinary. She was under orders to advise him the moment anything strange occurred.
Eventually, they wound their way to his office, the lights turning on at their arrival. Tom wasn’t used to having so many guests, and he found a spare chair in a closet, unfolding it and setting it across from his seat at the desk. He waited, seeing if the admiral or the Prime would take his chair, the power position in the office; when they sat in a line, he finally took his own seat.
“Are you going to throw me in the brig?” Tom asked, growing restless of their games.
The Prime looked at Tom before watching Captain Shu. “It crossed my mind, but now, perhaps we can come to an understanding.”
Tom had trouble assessing how old she was, but her skin was loose, her eyes puffy and tired. She wasn’t the same powerful leader in person. Here, she seemed like someone’s grandmother.
“What kind of understanding?” he asked.
“What you saw were not the Statu,” she said.
“But they were… Tubers, Movers, the warship. It’s them,” Tom said.
Admiral Hudson leaned forward, frowning at Tom. “Baldwin, your grandfather was always a little hard of hearing too. The Statu aren’t back. You didn’t see them. The official report will say that Greblok was attacked by Border pirates from Reepa, and Brax Daak was lost in the skirmish.”
Tom’s back straightened, alarm bells ringing in his head. “And what of the ship we found?”
Hudson had the audacity to smirk, sending shivers down Tom’s arms. “We’ll take the contents on Cecilia, and it never happened.”
Tom peered over at his old captain, seeing the familiar consternation at a problem coursing through her mind. “And if I don’t?”
“Then we remove you from power, take the ship, and follow what we ordered regardless. Baldwin, you can’t win this one,” Hudson said.
Tom took a deep breath, assuming this was going to be a huge risk, but he didn’t care. There was no way he could leave his people across the wormhole, and the fact that he had live Statu on his ship, claiming to be innocent, couldn’t be swept under a bureaucratic carpet. The Concord needed to know the truth.
“Constantine,” Tom said, and the AI appeared. “You have my grandfather’s memories, is that correct?”
The AI stood beside Tom, on his side of the desk, and all eyes were on him. “As previously mentioned, I recall his tactical…”
“But you told us about something interesting from the Yollox Incursion. Can you tell Captain Shu here what you found inside the single Statu suit that had a faulty Scrambler?” Tom asked, and Hudson’s face turned red.
“What do you hope to accomplish here?” Hudson barked. “This is a computer program. You might have tampered with him!”
“I want to hear this,” Captain Shu said. “Go on, Constantine.”
“We’ll throw you both in the brig. Stop this now. Obey our orders and stand down!” Hudson stood quickly, sending his chair to the floor behind him.
The Prime didn’t move, and Tom swore she aged another few years in an instant. “Hudson, stop. Maybe it’s time…”
Hudson moved for the door, but it was locked and didn’t open for him. “Baldwin, open the door.”
“No,” Tom and Constantine said at the same time, bringing a grin to Tom’s face. Tom kept talking. “Captain Shu, it appears that it was a human.”
“What? How is that possible?” Shu asked, her eyes going wide.
“They were both there.” Tom indicated Hudson and Pha’n. “Why don’t you ask them?”
“Is this true? What really happened that day?” Captain Shu asked.
“We don’t need to discuss this.” Hudson banged on the door, and Tom let him continue for a while before standing up.
“I think they struck a deal with the Statu, but it only bought them some time. They’re back now, and the Concord knew what they were up to this whole time. The Statu were enslaving races, sticking them in suits and using them as fodder.” Tom crossed his arms, standing tall.
“Then all those people they took… they didn’t only use them as work slaves? They… They sent them against us? We were killing our own people?” Captain Shu looked like she was going to be sick.
Tom knew her grandparents had both fought in the War and had been part of an early attack where nearly the entire fleet had been taken by the enemy. There had been millions of Concord lives lost or stolen during the War, and to realize
that the very enemy the Concord had fought was indeed their own was almost too much for her to handle.
The Prime’s voice was soft, even gentle. “We couldn’t let it leak. Can you imagine the uproar? It was our job to protect everyone.”
“Not this way,” Captain Shu said, and Tom let her do the talking. “What of the Statu? Did you have word of their emergence?”
She nodded. “They swore they would stay away. We nearly decimated them, and when we learned their ways, we had to end it. They told us they would stay far from Concord space.”
“They’re animals. How did you even negotiate with them?” Shu asked.
“We…”
Hudson cut the Prime off. “We don’t have to answer them!”
Pha’n waved a dismissive hand. “I fear it’s too late. If the Statu have returned, we need to destroy them, once and for all.”
“But our accord…” Hudson said.
“It said they wouldn’t return to Concord space,” she replied.
“They haven’t. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re outside the Border,” Hudson said.
Tom gauged what little information he’d been given, watching the two high-level leaders interact. Maybe this could work itself out.
“But they attacked Greblok. They must have known about our agreement. They were about to join the Concord, and they stole the ore we desired. This cannot be ignored. They did it on purpose,” the Prime told him.
“It was an act of war,” Captain Shu said. “According to the Code, Greblok was no longer outside the Border. The instant an offer was extended to Greblok, they came under our protection until it was decided one way or another if they were joining. The Statu have broken the Code and must pay.”
Tom smiled. He was proud of his previous captain. He knew she’d have the facts to back up what needed to be done.
“No,” Hudson said. “We will not be attacking them. We don’t have the resources to go on a fool’s errand.”
Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series Page 18