by Mike Smith
“There is no danger.”
“Senator Calis is dangerous. I don’t understand why you cannot see that,” Paul insisted. “I know that you care about Miranda, we both do,” Jon raised an eyebrow at this comment, but Paul continued on heedlessly. “I don’t understand how you can so calmly put her at risk.”
“There is no risk. Senator Calis is dead, she has been for almost two months now.”
“What?” Paul exclaimed shocked.
“That is why she was not at the Senate,” Jon explained patiently.
“She’s dead? How?”
Jon shrugged unconcernedly. “The unofficial post mortem concluded she died of a heart attack, but my source informs me that her heart probably had some encouragement to stop. Poison would be my guess.”
“Your source,” Paul repeated with narrow eyes. “This all seeing, all knowing deity that you have never been willing to divulge.”
Jon just shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say? He likes his privacy, and anyway you are much better off keeping your distance. He is a very disagreeable sort.”
“But I don’t understand,” Paul said with a confused expression. “If you knew the Senator was dead, and has been for quite some time, then obviously she cannot have been involved. Hence, why are you so insistent that Miranda goes and meets her?”
“According to my source,” Jon emphasised the word with a grin, waving his glass of Scotch in the air simply because he knew it would drive Paul crazy. “Her son, Robert Calis is now in charge. He seems to have the support of their military, having spent most of the past few years working his way up the ranks, and is currently trying to consolidate his position,” Jon explained patiently. “As to why I was so insistent that I wanted Miranda to go, it’s simple. I want her as far away from here as possible. A harmless system, far out on the Rim, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a Confederation Navy taskforce is about the safest possible place that I can think of right now.”
“Her son?” Paul replied surprised. “The one whose nose you broke?”
“The one and the same. He seems to have made quite a name for himself in their defence force,” Jon nodded approvingly.
“Wait one minute,” Paul interrupted, Jon’s earlier words just sinking in. “Why do you want Miranda away from Terra Nova? Unless—you think they are going to try again for the boy, Sofia’s son, Marcus. Don’t you?”
Jon looked Paul in the eye for a moment then emptied his glass in a single mouthful. “Yes. As I said in the meeting, I don’t know how or why but this is personal. Whenever they find out that the boy is still alive, they will try again.”
“We’ve already had this argument before, remember? You are very blasé at putting my family at risk.”
“It’s my family too this time,” Jon replied mildly. Attempting to pour himself another glass, he found that the bottle was already empty and set it back down on the table despondently. “They’re going to be in danger wherever they go. This happens to be the safest place that I can think of at the moment, apart from putting them on a ship with Miranda.
Observing Jon closely, Paul realised he already had too much to drink, and perhaps, if pushed, “What are you going to do about him?”
“About who?”
“The boy, Marcus. Sofia’s son.”
Jon stood up, walked to the small viewport in his personal quarters and stared out, lost in thought for a long time, before replying hesitantly. “I promised them, I swore on my life to the Emperor that I would protect his family. All of his family, including Marcus.”
“And are you going to try and find out who the father is?” Paul asked tentatively. “With the Emperor and Sofia now gone, he is the only family that the boy has left.”
“Marcus already has a family,” Jon replied firmly. “My parents. Me. I don’t want to know who Sofia turned to after I left.”
Paul was silent for a long time, staring at his oldest friend in contemplation, before finally dipping his head in acknowledgement. “I’ll be sure to let David know.”
“Good. Also brief him about the Erebus depot; give him the necessary codes and tell him to take whatever he feels necessary,” Jon added, still with his back to Paul.
“You sure about that Jon? That is a closely guarded secret. I thought that they were meant to only be used as a last resort.”
“They were put there to defend the Empire—against any threat. I think that time is long overdue, don’t you?”
“Very well, I’ll let David know. Is there anything else?”
“You are my oldest and most trusted friend, therefore I can only ask this of you. If anything happens to me, promise me that you will look after my family? Especially the boy. He is all that I have left of Marcus and Sofia,” Jon pleaded.
“I will look after him as if he was my own, but nothing is going to happen to you.”
“It’s just a feeling I cannot shake. As if my time is fast running out. The informant on Eden Prime said that a storm is coming, and I believe him. It’s coming, and I’m now all that is left to stand in its path. And I don’t think I can stop it.”
“Then don’t do it alone. Let us help you.”
“Thanks Paul.”
Jon turned to watch Paul depart and, as the door slid shut behind him, he turned back to look out of the small viewport. “Not this time,” he whispered to the empty room. “This time I stand alone. Too many people that I love have already died.”
*****
With a sigh Jon turned around to face the station one last time. Having spent most of the past few years of his life here, it was the closest that he had to call home. However, it was not his home and never really had been. His place had always been at the side of the Emperor and with Sofia. This had simply been a convenient place to hide away, from his mistakes and fears. But he could hide no longer.
“Goodbye old friend,” he uttered affectionately, laying the palm of his hand flat against the bulkhead.
“So you can say goodbye to your station, but not me?” Miranda’s amused voice floated through the air.
“Now that you are in charge around here, I doubted that I was going to get permission to depart until I had said a proper goodbye,” Jon grinned, as he opened his arms to her. As she stepped into his embrace, he tightly wrapped his arms around her. “Goodbye Miranda,” he breathed into her neck.
“You stay safe, okay?” She returned the embrace just as tightly.
“You too.”
“I’m sure that the meeting with the Senator will go fine,” she replied with just a hint of doubt.
Jon just smiled knowingly at her, “I’m sure that everything will work out fine. Who knows, you might even be surprised at who you find there. You look after my station now,” Jon added with a laugh, easing himself from her embrace.
With a final wave of goodbye, he stepped up the boarding ramp of the Endless Light, disappearing into the ship.
“Light, are we ready to depart?” he called out.
“Yes Commander, all pre-flight checks have now been completed,” the ship responded. “Please select destination coordinates for the navigational computer.”
“Home,” Jon replied unthinkingly.
After a momentarily pause the ship repeated, “Please select destination coordinates for the navigational computer.”
Which was the ships way of asking where the hell was home these days, Jon sadly concluded. “Confederation flagship Relentless, 8th Fleet, in orbit around Altair V,” Jon clarified.
*****
Stepping out of the Endless Light onto the flight deck of the Relentless, Jon immediately noticed the line of troops at parade ground rest, with the senior officers neatly aligned in front of them. Standing at the front of the line to greet him was Admiral Romanov. The moment that he stepped onto the flight deck the crew immediately saluted, the senior officers falling to one knee, the Admiral included, bowing down before him.
In Jon’s opinion, as a welcome home, it was more than a little overdone.
“Anna, I have already told you once before, there is no need to kneel before me,” he reminded her gently.
“Proper Fleet etiquette needs to be adhered to at all times,” Anna replied, adding after a pause, “My Emperor.”
Jon winced at the biting tone of her voice. It was obvious that she was quietly furious. “Sorry about departing without any forewarning,” he apologised belatedly.
“It is my responsibility to protect you, my Lord. A little hard to do when you up and vanish,” she carried on, as if she had not heard a word that he had said.
Jon corrected his earlier thought, she was royally pissed off. “I apologise. It won’t happen again,” he said stiffly, remembering all the times Marcus had vanished without any forewarning. “Let me buy you dinner to make up for it.”
For the first time since his arrival Anna looked up into his eyes. “I was not aware that the navy charged for food these days.”
“It was worth a try,” he laughed. “Obviously you are not a cheap date. How about, dinner, dessert and coffee then?”
“I guess that you have tried that line before,” Anna smirked.
“Many times.”
“Did it ever work before?”
“Never,” he added with a broad smile, offering his hand to her.
Accepting the hand, she struggled to her feet, laughing. “Okay, then I’ll accept, and it can be a first for you.”
Motioning her ahead of him toward the exit from the flight deck, he enquired. “So how goes my Empire? Has it collapsed from my absence yet?”
“Not yet,” Anna reassured him. “But there have been reports of increasing pirate attacks and the Planetary Governor here has been demanding an audience with you to know when their Tachyon relay is going to be replaced.”
“Looks like it will have to be a short dinner,” Jon sighed. “We will be lucky to make it through dessert, let alone coffee.”
Chapter Twelve
Callas Prime, Tau Ceti System, Callas Star Cluster
Rolling over onto her side, Sofia leaned into her husband’s warm embrace. She let out a quiet, satisfied sigh, refusing to open her eyes, instead trying to shrug off the nightmare that she just had. She could still picture the scene of the shells impacting the Senate, the blinding light, and the heart-stopping fear.
She struggled to open her eyes, blinking several times to try and clear her vision. Like every other part of her body, they responded sluggishly, taking a long time to focus, as if her eyes had been shut for an overly long period of time. As her eyes came to rest on the person sitting beside her, she felt the caress of his hands suddenly vanish, and moaned at the loss of his touch.
It was not until her vision cleared and her brain started to process the images that she realised the handsome man sitting beside her was not her husband. He was dressed in a dark uniform that she did not recognise, and had black hair and warm brown eyes, high cheekbones and a determined chin that defined his face. The uniform emphasised his long, firm limbs and broad chest. The man had an aura of quiet authority about him, almost bordering on arrogance. Obviously he was a man used to giving orders.
“Robert?” Sofia replied confused and disorientated. “Robert Calis?” she echoed, as she almost did not recognise him. The last time that she had seen the man was almost five years before, on the Imperial Star, just before she and Jon had been forced to flee from Harkov. “What are you doing here?” she asked. Looking around, she did not recognise her surroundings, and was definitely no longer in her home on Eden Prime. “Where am I?” she asked in a daze.
“It’s okay,” Robert reassured her soothingly. “You are safe and well and that is all you need to know at the moment. As to where here is, you are at my home, my personal apartments on Callas Prime.”
“Callas Prime? But what am I doing here?” she replied confused. “The last thing that I remember is—” but the last thing that she remembered was the horrific nightmare that she had woken up to, with death and destruction raining down all around her. Worse she remembered with absolute fear, something that she had to do. “My father!” she cried out in terror. “I must go to him, he needs my help.” Sofia tried to sit up, but once again her limbs failed to respond and she would have fallen, had Robert not caught her in time.
“Sofia stop,” he instructed her firmly. “There is nothing you can do. You must rest now and let your body recover. You are safe here and that is all that’s important.”
“My father,” she begged him. “Where is he? What has happened to him? Is he also safe?” Robert didn’t need to reply, as she could see the answer in his eyes, as he looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. “Tell me,” she begged, desperately reaching out to him.
He caught her hand in his own, bringing it to his chest as he first looked back at her hesitantly, before finally focusing on their hands. “I am so sorry Sofia, there was nothing that I could do for him. Your father was already in the Senate at the time of the attack,” he trailed off sadly.
“My father?” she asked again, helplessly.
“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you. Your father died in the attack. Marcus Aurelius is dead.”
For the longest time Sofia just could not accept the news. She had spent years coming to terms with his loss, only to find that he had not in fact died, but instead been held captive, imprisoned by Sejanus, once a loyal Praetorian, but who had been dismissed and turned against his former master. Only now to be informed that once again he was gone, torn from her, but this time forever. Unable to find the words, she instead sobbed loudly, tears running down her grief-stricken face.
Unsure what he could do, or say, to help her overcome the grief, Robert just pulled her against him, cradling her as she cried. He could feel the sobs wracking her whole body.
Eventually she fell silent and, after a pause, asked in a small voice. “What about Jon? Is he also dead?” She looked up in surprise, as instead of replying to her question, Robert released her from his embrace. Getting to his feet, he turned his back to her and took a few steps away.
“Jon Radec still lives,” Robert confirmed reluctantly. “But perhaps it would’ve been better had he also died.”
Sofia just closed her eyes in relief. She did not know how she could have managed if they were both gone; the two most important people in her life taken from her at the same time. “Where is he?” she asked, surprised he was not here at her side, worried he might also have been badly hurt. “Is he injured?” she asked anxiously.
“No, Jon Radec is fine, or at least he was the last that I heard,” he explained slowly. “But you must understand that a lot has transpired in the past couple of days. You have been unconscious for almost a week. There was no time to explain to you what was happening, so the team that I sent to protect you had to move quickly. They used a fast acting nerve agent to knock you unconscious but, as it turned out, they used far too much. When you arrived here the physicians recommended that it was safer to let your body naturally purge the drug. You’ve been unconscious for several days, and a lot has changed in that time. There’s a lot that you don’t know and don’t understand. I’ll do my best to explain but—”
“All I want to know is where my husband is and why he is not here.” Sofia interrupted him.
With a sigh Robert explained, “Your husband isn’t here, because he doesn’t know that you are alive. I haven’t told him.”
“Why ever not?”
“Because I promised you that I would keep you safe. I cannot do that if he knows you are here. You see, your husband knew of the attack in advance and yet did nothing. Your father is dead only because of the actions of your husband, Jon Radec.”
Sofia looked at
Robert in stunned disbelief before she shook her head. “No. I don’t believe you. I cannot believe that. Jon wouldn’t do such a thing. He loved my father. You are wrong.”
“Am I?” Robert asked quietly. “You see, I know that your husband knew in advance about the attack and yet did nothing, as I was the one that forewarned him.”
Sofia was shocked, unable to believe what she was hearing. He couldn't of done such a thing, could he? “Why?” she demanded. “What could Jon possibly gain by doing such a thing?”
“I know what he would gain, as he has already obtained it,” Robert replied. “Power. Wealth. He came from nothing and has always coveted what you had. He used you both, first your father and then you. You were both just a means to an end. He never cared for either of you, just what he could profit from you both.”
“No,” Sofia disagreed. “I know Jon. He never wanted any of that; he never cared about the wealth, or the power. He never wanted any of it. He told me so.”
“Are you so sure of that, Sofia? Have you ever considered that he was just playing you? That he lied to you like he lied to everybody else? If he never wanted wealth, or power then perhaps you can explain this to me?” Robert walked to the communication desk, activating the viewer and, with a few deft touches, started the replay of the broadcast from several days earlier.
*****
As the recording came to an abrupt end it froze on the final frame, her husband’s resolute gaze staring out from the display. It seemed to Sofia that he was staring directly at her, beseechingly, begging for her forgiveness. It was not his words, but his eyes that frightened her the most. They were like two deep, dark, burning obsidian orbs.
Lifeless.
As hard as she tried she could not find a single spark of life in them. It seemed like nothing remained of the loving husband that she once knew. Those eyes were now hard, determined and ruthless. It was the look of a man that had already lost everything and had nothing else to lose, a person that had already seen his own fate and accepted it, who had given up all hope and pretence of happiness, but only lived for one thing—revenge. Sofia shuddered at the look in those eyes, and had to cast aside her gaze, otherwise she would be consumed by it, unable to ever escape.