“What trickery is this?” Keen asked. His PL-25 was still tucked into his belt holster.
Tom’s hands rose. “No tricks. I have nothing to do with this.”
Constantine appeared behind Keen, and Tom’s eyes widened at the sight of his grandfather’s AI. “I may have something to do with it, Captain Baldwin.”
Keen spun and fired, his shot coming quickly. Constantine grinned as the beam struck the doors after passing right through him. “That won’t be necessary.”
The viewer turned on, and Tom understood Constantine was in control here. The power was on, and the AI was defending his crew.
“So you’re the old bastard. I heard they put you on this ship, but I expected a crusty ancient man like the one I remember,” Lark Keen said.
“I’m afraid I can recall you as well, Lark. You were always incompetent, even as a child.” Constantine walked closer to the man, and even though he wasn’t real, Keen stepped away. “You were never as smart as my grandson, never as charming with the girls, and never as athletic. How that tore at you, didn’t it, Lark?”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Lark said.
“Sure I do. I saw a thousand of you during my tenure. The kind that would scrape through the Academy because of their name. Keen. The great Admiral Keen, the same man that had my commander killed and bribed the rest of Andron’s crew to stay silent about the Statu. Including me. I can’t say I was innocent.”
Tom watched this all, his heart racing. He’d never seen the AI act like this before. He was so… real. It was like the actual youthful version of the Concord hero was on the bridge with them. Zare was thumping against the door, but she’d given up on shouting.
“I was good at what I did. I would have passed anything on my own,” Keen said.
It was obvious Con was goading him on, but their adversary seemed blind to it. “You would have passed, yes. Then what? You would have burned out on some backwater world, staying there because you felt too much pressure from your name.”
“That’s not true,” Keen said quietly.
“Then why did you turn on everyone? On your best friend?” Tom asked, taking the reins.
“Tom, you wouldn’t understand. Seda’s father showed me…”
“And you ended up marrying her? Having a child. That somehow makes me not hate you quite as much,” Tom admitted.
“Tom, enough of this. You’ve lost. I’m going to detain you and hold the rest of the crew in the courtyard until we return to Nolix. It’s over.”
Constantine shook his head. “No, it’s not.” He pointed at the viewer.
“What are you trying to show me?” Keen asked gruffly. There was nothing but Andron, Remie, and Persi left to see.
A communication came in, and Tom tapped the console at the front helm position, accepting it. It was Tarlen, wearing glasses and a different uniform. It matched the one Keen was wearing. What in the Vastness was going on?
The Bacal teenager sat straight in his pilot’s seat, aboard an unfamiliar vessel. He straightened the glasses and spoke in a steady voice.
“Lark Keen, I’m here to accept your surrender,” Tarlen said.
“Are you kidding me? What is this? Are you in a cruiser?” he asked, and Tom thought he saw a glimmer of recognition in Lark’s face. The doors to the bridge opened, and Zare stumbled in. She came to stand behind Tom with her gun in her grip.
“That’s the cruiser I brought to Andron,” Zare whispered to Keen, and Tom was beginning to understand.
“Will you surrender and give yourself into our custody?” Tarlen asked.
“I will do no such thing. There are things at play that a mere child would not—”
“Daddy?” The voice was timid, and the girl climbed across the seat to sit beside Tarlen. She was in white pajamas, her hair long and blonde, pulled in a ponytail. Her green eyes widened as she stared into the screen.
“Luci!” Keen stepped forward, and Tom glanced over to see Reeve sneaking behind Zare. She had a gun in her hand and a second at her hip.
“Daddy, when can I go home?” the girl asked, her father visibly affected by her presence.
“Soon, honey.”
Zare was frowning. “Keen, you can’t…”
Tarlen spoke again. “We have your daughter and are willing to return her to her mother. You’ll stay in our custody, and we can drop the two of them off on a distant world where they can live their days out in peace. We promise you this.”
Tom wondered where Tarlen was creating this dialogue from. It sounded nothing like the boy.
Keen was shifting on his heels, acting like a caged animal. Tom could see the man weighing his options. “I’ve come so far. I can’t tell them it’s off. I just can’t.” His posture slouched as he sat down in Starling’s chair.
“Do we have a deal?” Tarlen asked.
The girl began crying at the perfect time. “Daddy, I want to go home.”
Keen stood and raised his hands. “We have a deal.”
“We’ll stand by our end of the bargain. Once you’re detained and your people are no longer armed, we will return Luci to her mother,” Tarlen said, and the screen flicked back to the view of the old fleet.
The second his daughter was no longer on the screen, Keen’s hands dropped, and he went for his gun. Tom kicked out at the man’s hands, hitting his wrist as he lunged for him, taking Keen to the ground. His PL-25 clanged to the floor, a blast erupting and nearly scorching Tom’s hair.
Behind him, he heard Reeve as she struggled with Zare. Tom received a hard jab into his ribcage, right before Keen’s foot found his chest, shoving him off. Keen rolled for the gun, but he was too slow. Tom had it first, and he fired, hitting the Assembly leader in the chest.
“Baldwin…”
Tom glanced behind him, finding Zare sitting on the floor, her hands intertwined behind her head. Reeve was panting, her dreads hanging in her face. She was bleeding from the nose but appeared otherwise unscathed.
“Baldwin,” Keen said again, clutching his wound.
Tom crouched, leaning toward the man.
“Don’t let anything happen to her. I know you…” He coughed, blood spilling out. “You and I had our differences, but make sure she’s fine.”
Tom stood, nodding his head slowly. “I will.” He turned his attention to Reeve. “Good work, Reeve.”
“Thank you, sir. Now what?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “I should ask you. You seem to have had a handle on things while I was gone.”
“It’s a good thing you put me in charge,” she said.
Tom glanced from Zare, who was staring at her dying leader, to the viewer. “I guess we better start bartering with the Assembly. This could be a long night.”
Twenty
Tarlen headed toward Constantine. He’d spent another four hours out there, waiting for word from the captain that he could return safely. Now that he’d been called in, Tarlen assumed the Assembly had relented.
Luci dozed in the seat behind him, her crying all spent. Tarlen hated that he’d needed to use the kid as a bartering chip, but it had been the only one they had. Treena had assured him it was the right move, but it sat uneasily in his gut. What would have happened if the man had rejected their offer?
From what he’d heard briefly, Keen had attempted one last-ditch effort after the communication ended, and Captain Baldwin had shot him. Tarlen glanced at the sleeping girl and felt sad that she would never see her father again. Tarlen suddenly ached to see his own parents, but that was impossible. Not until he met them in the Vastness. At least he still had Belna … in a way.
He neared Constantine, the immense cruise ship finally powered up again. He was heading for the hangar when he saw the other ship. It didn’t show up on any of his sensors, but it was there, only a hundred meters away from him.
“Treena, do you see that?” he asked. They hadn’t spoken in a long time, and he’d nearly forgotten she was still watching along.
&nbs
p; “I see it. Zoom in,” Treena ordered, and Tarlen found the proper controls, obeying the command.
“It looks like Cleo.”
“It is Cleo.” Treena’s voice was low.
“There’s no energy or tracking information,” Tarlen said.
“That’s because it’s been shot. We need to bring it in,” she said.
Tarlen had no idea how to accomplish that. “How?”
Treena went on to explain the tether drones, and after a few misguided attempts, one of them latched to the hull of the dark craft. He moved toward the hangar, using a winch to reel the expedition ship in. Another ten minutes later, both vessels were inside Constantine, Cleo banging the walls and then the floor as he tugged it inside, where gravity took over.
He ran from the cruiser, finding Reeve there to greet him.
“Luci is still in there. Can you send someone to take care of her?” Tarlen asked one of the nearby guards, and the woman nodded. It was strange how easily they deferred to Tarlen, who ran with Reeve to Cleo.
“Where did you find this?” she asked Tarlen.
“It was only a few kilometers out, heading toward our ship. I… there’s no readouts from it,” Tarlen said, still wearing the glasses.
Treena’s voice carried through his earpiece. “Use the cutting tools. See the hatch? It’s sealed.”
Tarlen repeated this to Reeve, but she was already running to the edge of the hangar, pulling a large tool from a utility bench. She was wordless as she fired it up; a bright red laser torch emerged, and she pressed it into the hull, sparks flying as the metal melted.
____________
Reeve was shaking as she pried the freshly-cut exterior panel off Cleo. “Someone bring Doctor Nee in here now!” she shouted.
She stuck her head into the ship and shoved the torch inside to light the dark interior. There were two forms, both in Concord-issued suits, helmets still on. She heard no beeping, no signs of life.
Reeve was frantic as she felt for her twin brother. She thought she could sense a connection to him, albeit a faint one, but that could be wishful thinking. There was no way they’d been shot that long ago and made it. All these hours, Reeve had been mourning Brax, and now she had to see his dead body.
It wasn’t fair.
Tarlen moved past her, and she let him. He rolled over the first body, and glanced at Reeve. “It’s Ven.” He moved to the other, and she watched Tarlen’s facial expression. “I think he’s alive!”
Reeve didn’t wait. She climbed into the damaged ship and placed her hands on Brax’s helmet, turning his head toward her. The HUD was flashing a light red against his face, warning him the support was about to give out. She started to drag him over the pilot’s seat, Tarlen helping her, and in a minute, he was lying on the hangar floor as Doctor Nee arrived.
He was bedraggled, his hair sticking straight up, and there was blood on his white coat. “Oh my. What have you done to yourself?”
Reeve helped him remove her brother’s helmet, and it clanged to the metal floor, rolling a few feet away. His head was shiny, his skin pallid but warm. “He’s alive,” she whispered, more for her own good than anyone else’s.
“Yes, he is, but he may have suffered some serious damage.” Kelli was there with a hovering gurney, and Reeve and Nee helped a crew member lift Brax onto it.
“What about Ven?” Tarlen asked, and Reeve had been so preoccupied, she hadn’t noticed the crew members pulling the Ugna from the wreckage.
Nee knelt at his side, and they popped the helmet off. Nee ran a scanner over him and shook his head, his chin falling to his chest as he was propped up on his knees over the albino’s body. “He’s gone.”
Reeve’s intake of breath was sharp and cold. Dead. His eyes were red, staring straight up, unblinking. His suit was expired, the support probably having run out some time ago.
But her brother was still alive, and they could help him.
“Get him to the medical bay, Nee. Save my brother!” Reeve followed as they ran with the gurney hovering in front of them.
____________
Thomas Baldwin brought the carried with him into Treena Starling’s room. His heart was heavy as he passed through her doorway, seeing her inactive body lying on the bed. The now-familiar sounds of her machines whirring and beeping around her almost calmed him as he found the chair beside her.
He had two cups with him, as per tradition. The glasses Tarlen had been wearing were on a nightstand beside her bed, and Tom turned them to face his direction, so she could see him with clarity.
“Hello, Captain.” Her voice was comforting through the bed’s built-in speakers.
“Hi, Treena.”
“Quite the couple of days,” she said.
“You would know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. There was a hint of laughter behind her words.
“Somehow, even without your artificial body, you managed to find a way to hide Tarlen on the enemy ship, kidnap the most important hostage, and guide him through it all,” he told her.
“It was no big deal.”
“No big deal,” Tom muttered.
“How did you get them to surrender?” she asked.
Tom poured two cups half-full of the brown liquor, and set one on the nightstand. “Once Seda heard about Luci, she gave in pretty quickly. We have their captains on board Constantine now, all behind energy bars.”
“How can you be sure they really sent you their leaders?” she asked.
It was a valid question, and one he didn’t have a great answer for. “I can’t.”
“What are you going to do with them all?”
Tom took a sip, the liquid instantly warming his throat. “We’ll figure that out together, Commander. I suspect we’ll deliver them to Nolix and let the powers that be sort them out.”
“Do you really trust them with something so important?” Treena asked.
Tom took another drink. “If I can’t trust them, what are we even doing?”
“What’s with the two cups?” she asked.
“You don’t remember the tradition? On Cecilia, Captain Shu would bring me into her office every time we successfully finished an important mission, and we’d share a drink. Just captain and commander. Since we didn’t have a chance to do this after we returned from the Statu, I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.” He saw her eye twitch.
“You know this is never going to be easy, right?” she asked.
“You being in here?” he asked.
“That… and the Concord. We’ll encounter constant obstacles.”
“I know, but I’d say we’re up for the task. Wouldn’t you?”
“I think so.”
“We’re going to return to Nolix, pick up the body you were promised, help this Shengin fellow take his seat as Prime, and take our next assignment. The Concord will stick together, and we’ll thrive once again,” he said, wishing he felt as confident as his words.
“Ven is dead. How will we deal with this?” He heard the thickness of her voice, the emotions that were welling at the surface beginning to break through the cracks of her hard exterior.
“We’ll manage. We always do.” Tom took another sip, thinking about his time with Ven on Leria, seeing the Elders and walking through the village with his Ugna crew member. It was hard to believe the man was dead, and so early into their time together. What a waste.
“How’s Brax shaping up?”
It had only been a day, but things were running as smoothly as they possibly could. Tom was down so much of his executive crew, but Brax would heal, Treena would have her replacement body, and they’d need to replace Ven when the time was right. Zare’s betrayal still stung Tom, but he’d recover.
“Brax is a strong Tekol. He’ll be fine,” Tom said. “He’s already trying to change into uniform and escape Nee’s clutches.” Treena laughed, and he joined her. “So you really followed Tarlen around, talking in his ear for two days. How interesting. What was that lik
e?”
“It was like being part of something you couldn’t touch or taste or smell, but you were still there for the ride. It was better than staring at the blurry wall in here, not knowing what in the Vastness I was missing out on.”
“We couldn’t have done this without you. It’s unimaginable being trapped in here, but what you did was exemplary. If you ever for a moment questioned your position as commander of Constantine, discard those notions now.”
“Thank you, Captain. It means a lot.”
“We’re heading to Malrun XBH to return Nomin the Vralon home. She’s not in a great place after learning Oquid didn’t make it, but they’re already planning an expansion on the Nek mines, with the assistance I assured them they’ll get from the Concord,” Tom said.
“I don’t think that would be a hard sell.”
“Not with the sample Nek Drive ship from the asteroid we picked up and have sitting in our hangar.” Tom smiled, finishing his drink off. “About the ships…”
“Persi was the one,” Treena said, cutting him off.
“I know,” he said.
“It was there when my ship was destroyed. They tried to kill me. It wasn’t the Concord after all. It was the Assembly.”
“I’m sorry, either way. We checked the database on Persi. Captain Lark Keen was in charge during that time. It was before they’d stolen Andron.” Tom almost regretted that the wound from his shot hadn’t been fatal.
“At least we have him,” she said. “Now I can put it to rest.”
“Precisely.” Tom rose, brushing invisible lint from his pants. “Treena, is there anything I can do for you?”
“There is one thing.” He could almost hear the grin behind her words.
____________
Doctor Nee had never been busier, at least not during his new posting on Constantine. Just when he was close to solving the mysterious death of Basel, he’d been distracted with an endless stream of demands.
Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series Page 55