Confluence

by S. K. Dunstall

  “But then, it’s easy to see how they knew so much,” Orsaya’s voice was harsh.

  Ean didn’t answer.

  Sale was giving last-minute instructions. “Bhaksir, full report to Orsaya about what happened with the trainees.”

  Bhaksir nodded.

  “Craik, you’re responsible for the injured. And for getting the trainees back to the Gruen.”

  Not the Lancastrian trainees; they were prisoners.

  “Tell Gruen to keep them under lockdown, and if a word of this emerges before the Department of Alien Affairs says it can, whoever leaks it is out of the program.”

  Craik nodded.

  “The three spacers who came with me,” Radko said. “Can someone look after them?”

  “Hana, Ru Li,” Bhaksir said. “You’re responsible for looking after Radko’s team. Look after them well, or you’ll have Radko to answer to later.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Sale looked at their last prisoner. “Admiral Orsaya. Prisoner Vilhjalmsson will likely escape if he’s imprisoned in a regular cell.”

  “I don’t see why I am a prisoner. I was working with Radko.”

  “You’re in enemy territory,” Sale said.

  “You and I will talk, I think,” Orsaya said. “The images the Confluence sent back of the inside of that station—the experiments on the linesmen—looked most interesting.”

  Ean shuddered. “How do you know they were experimenting?” But then, Orsaya had seen everything Sale and her team had seen, and one thing she knew well was linesman.

  “I would think it obvious. Their reactions to line eleven. The references to Dromalan truth serum, which, before it became the favored drug of interrogators everywhere, was used to enhance line ability until they realized its side effects. I wouldn’t mind Dr. Quinn’s notes.”

  Ean had to force himself not to move away. “You’re not experimenting on any of the linesmen here.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it, Ean. I know what you can do with the lines. But it would be good to see what they did.”

  “You should ask Vilhjalmsson about Quinn’s work,” Radko said. “He stole the report I was sent to collect.”

  Orsaya’s eyes gleamed.

  “I sent it on to Markan straight away,” Vilhjalmsson said. “I was worried someone might steal it back.”

  “She would have, too,” Ean said.

  “Pity.” Orsaya motioned to more of her staff to cover Vilhjalmsson. “Be extra careful with this one. He’s a trained assassin and works directly for Markan.”

  The little group of Sale, Bhaksir, and Craik broke apart.

  “Talk to you when we get back,” Sale said. “If I’m not in jail.”

  Ean and Radko followed them onto the shuttle. Bach was already seated, restrained at the wrists and ankles. “You won’t be in jail.”

  “You think not. Disobeying a superior officer comes to mind.”

  “You didn’t disobey anyone.”

  Sale looked at him.

  “I should be in jail then. Not you,” Ean said.

  “On a line ship. That’d be effective.”

  They both glanced at Bach and fell silent.

  “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know already,” Bach said.

  “That’s for sure,” Radko said grimly, but they were all silent for the rest of the trip.

  THIRTY-ONE

  EAN LAMBERT

  VEGA AND A team of guards waited for them as they docked on the Lancastrian Princess.

  “His Imperial Majesty is in his apartments,” Vega said. “Admiral Galenos will be here soon. Group Leader Sale, I expect a report on my desk by the time this meeting is over.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Sale left to record her report.

  “Speaking of reports.” Radko unzipped a pocket, took out three comms. “One of these is a copy of the report Callista OneLane acquired. Unfortunately, Vilhjalmsson got the original. He’s already sent it on to Admiral Markan.”

  Vega nodded and handed the comms to one of the people with her. “Decode it. I want that report when I come out of this meeting.”

  The meeting. What could Ean do to prevent Yu’s arresting Abram for treason? He checked the Lancastrian Princess. “Is everything all right?”

  “Waiting,” came the reply.

  Helmo was in the captain’s chair, sitting back, letting his instinct tell him what was happening. Michelle was working at one of the screens in her workroom. Yu and Sattur Dow were smiling over a drink in Yu’s quarters.

  As Ean watched, Abram’s shuttle signaled that it had arrived. Helmo stood up. “Give Galenos’s shuttle permission to land. Inform Her Royal Highness he is here. Vanje, you’re in charge. I want you on the bridge, staff on alert.”

  He left at a brisk walk.

  After Michelle received Vanje’s call, she moved over to a cupboard on the wall. Ean could hear through the lines that the lock was coded only to her, Abram, and Helmo. She took out a small, needlelike weapon and slipped it into an inside pocket of her jacket.

  Had Michelle just armed herself?

  She whispered something that might have been a prayer, her emotion too raw for Ean to read properly—or too raw and personal for him to want to read—and started for the meeting.

  The atmosphere in the large meeting room was suffocating. Ean found it hard to breathe. Ship lines were a dirge.

  Ean checked the other ships in the Eleven fleet. On Confluence Station, armed soldiers in Balian uniform were loading prisoners onto a shuttle. Orsaya’s captain, Auburn, and two teams of Yaolin soldiers stood ready to assist if required.

  Katida and Orsaya were dining with Jordan Rossi and Stellan Vilhjalmsson.

  Both admirals looked grim.

  Ean suppressed a shiver.

  Radko said, quietly, “Relax, Ean. Do what you do naturally. Things have a way of working out.”

  They wouldn’t work out all the time. You only had to miss once, and Ean didn’t even understand what the problem was yet. It should have been simple. A Lancastrian traitor, trying to steal the ships. But it wasn’t about that at all. It was about a ruler who was prepared to frame a good, honest man to gain a seat of power.

  He breathed in deep. There was no word in Abram or Michelle’s vocabulary for failure. Not in Radko’s, either. There were just setbacks to be overcome. Abram was right when he’d told Radko that Yu would catch up with him eventually. Keeping Abram away from Yu wasn’t the solution. Getting Yu to change his mind was.

  Helmo arrived, followed quickly by Michelle, and finally Abram.

  Abram smiled at Michelle, nodded to Helmo and Ean’s group, then looked at Bach, still cuffed at the wrists. “Commodore Bach.”

  “I request His Imperial Majesty be present at this meeting,” Bach said.

  Michelle nodded—once—though the refusal was pouring out of her. A hot yellow denial through line one.

  “I shall request His Majesty’s presence,” Vega said.

  Ean watched Vega’s brisk march through the ship to the Emperor’s quarters.

  Yu was still holding court with Sattur Dow. Guards in pairs stood at attention around the room. Two behind Yu, two off to one side, another two near the door. Tiana Chen and Ethan Saylor were among the silent observers. Chen’s hands were balled into fists as she glowered at the back of Dow’s head. Ean wished her glare were more lethal.

  Vega saluted, then stood to attention. “Commodore Bach requests your presence in the large meeting room.”

  “That was quick.” Yu looked pleased as he stood up. He turned to Sattur Dow. “Sattur, would you like to be present at this historic occasion.”

  “I don’t think Yu is expecting this,” Ean said. “But he is expecting something.”

  Bach said, “You should refer to him as Emperor Yu, or His Imperial Majesty.”
>
  In Emperor Yu’s quarters, Vega said, “It would be inappropriate to invite a civilian to this meeting. This is a matter for the Crown alone.”

  Yu towered over her. “You presume to tell me what to do?”

  Vega inclined her head and turned away. “The large meeting room, Your Majesty.”

  Ean’s back itched until she was around the first turn in the corridor. “He’s bringing Sattur Dow.”

  Abram blew out his breath but didn’t say anything.

  Ean didn’t want Sattur Dow in the same room as Radko. If Dow attempted anything, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. He’d think of something.

  The Emperor swept in three minutes after Vega arrived. He’d changed his clothing and was now wearing a traditional, wide-sleeved, ceremonial jacket. He was accompanied by Sattur Dow and the full team of guards.

  Helmo made a face, and Ean got a strong sense through the lines that this was unexpectedly fast.

  Yu smiled when he saw Abram, stopped smiling when he saw Bach under restraint. “What is this?”

  Vega spoke before anyone else could. “Please be seated, Your Imperial Majesty. Merchant Dow.” She indicated the seats around the table. “Team Leader Radko has returned and is ready to make her report to Admiral Galenos and me. Commodore Bach has requested your presence.”

  “Radko.” The Emperor rolled the word around his tongue. He looked closely at Radko, then at Michelle and Abram, and settled into a seat. “Cousin. So you are back. And just in time.” He smiled at Sattur Dow, then waved a hand. “Report.”

  Radko looked to Abram, then to Vega, who nodded brusquely. “Go ahead, Team Leader.”

  “My mission was to meet with a trader on Redmond and investigate the sale of a report purportedly about line experiments.”

  Sattur Dow started. Ean watched him closely.

  “Our team managed to contact the seller, but we weren’t the only ones after the report. Gate Union sent someone in as well. Stellan Vilhjalmsson.”

  Abram made a face but didn’t interrupt.

  “Redmond soldiers attacked the shop just after we arrived.” She looked to Vega and Abram. “Unfortunately, Vilhjalmsson got away with the report.”

  “So you failed,” Yu said.

  Radko turned back to stare him in the eyes. “Of course we didn’t fail, Your Imperial Majesty.” Cold and professional.

  Ean wanted to cheer.

  “We traced the report to a Redmond company, TwoPaths Engineering. Specifically, to a TwoPaths site on the Lesser Gods world of Aeolus. Right against the palace wall, actually.”

  Did Ean imagine it, or did the Emperor sit up straighter?

  “The Lesser Gods?” Vega asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. We discovered later that the experiments were a joint venture between TwoPaths Engineering, and the militaries of Redmond and the Worlds of the Lesser Gods.” Radko glanced at Bach. “We discovered artifacts that could only have come from the alien line ships; could only have come from one of the New Alliance worlds. From someone who had access to the alien line ships.”

  “Enough,” Yu said. “We don’t need the details.”

  Ean moved to stand close at Radko’s back.

  “I sent Radko on the mission,” Vega said. “I need the report. And there is the matter of the consequences. If you prefer not to be here, by all means, there is no obligation to remain. Commodore Bach requested that you be here.”

  Yu looked at Abram. Ean couldn’t see any reason for the look, especially since it was Vega who’d spoken. Or for the look he shared with Bach afterward.

  Yu waved irritably. “Proceed.”

  “We were captured attempting to retrieve the report and the artifacts,” Radko said. “The site was a laboratory and a hospital. They appeared to be experimenting on linesmen.”

  The linesmen Ean had heard on the station. No wonder they had seemed crazy.

  “After our capture, the people in charge there believed the lab had been compromised. They withdrew the linesmen from Aeolus and took them to the fallback lab on the space station I was rescued from.”

  The Emperor stood to pace. Everyone seated rose, as was custom.

  It was better to be standing. More voice for the lines when Ean needed it. He was starting to worry that Radko’s report was putting her in danger. Would Emperor Yu leave her alive to testify against Bach?

  But then Yu would have to imprison them all. Including Michelle. He wouldn’t do that. Would he?

  “We have heard enough.” Yu turned to Bach. “Free this man.”

  Vega said, “Commodore Bach is under arrest, Your Majesty. For treason against Lancia.”

  Ean was surprised Yu didn’t order her immediate demise.

  The Emperor glanced at his guards and at Bach again.

  “If it pleases Your Imperial Majesty, I would prefer to have the issue resolved.” Bach bowed low.

  Yu turned to Radko, who stared him down again. Ean readied himself to sing, for the tension was a sudden crackling energy that tasted like ozone on his tongue.

  Line eight was ready. It might not know what it had to do yet, but it was ready. He could hear it, now he was listening properly to the lines. He didn’t have to force it to work his way. It was ready to work its own way.

  “Continue,” Yu said.

  Radko glanced at Bach. “I was about to be interrogated when the Factor’s bodyguard, Jakob, came in with Commodore Bach.” She paused again, then continued, flat and harsh and unlike her usual tone. “Jakob accused Bach of having had him arrested. Bach countered by saying he had given Jakob access to the ships, and that Jakob was the one who had mucked things up. Then Jakob said Bach had promised that if they brought one ship through, the whole fleet would come. But it hadn’t.”

  She tilted her chin and looked directly at Bach. “It was obvious to me that Commodore Bach was working with Captain Jakob to steal the Confluence fleet. When the opportunity arose, I arrested him and brought him home to face trial.”

  “It’s a grave accusation,” Abram said to Bach.

  “It is,” Bach agreed. “But I am loyal to Lancia.”

  Michelle rubbed her arms, as if she was cold. “Loyal. As in attempting to steal a New Alliance fleet and hand it over to our enemies.”

  Ean remembered, suddenly, the earlier conversation between Yu and Sattur Dow, with Dow saying, “She bought it,” and Yu’s reply. “I knew exactly how my daughter would react, Sattur. She has been protecting this linesman all along. Of course she would send him to what she perceives as safety.”

  Maybe Bach was telling the truth.

  “This isn’t about killing Abram to get onto the council at all, is it,” Ean said. Emperor Yu had set the whole thing up. “That was to distract us, and keep Abram away from Michelle, because together they might suspect something. Yu tricked us into going out to the Confluence today so Lancia could steal the ships. This isn’t Bach’s plan, it’s Yu’s.”

  For a moment, the silence was absolute, except for the whispering of life support.

  To Ean, that sound was gradually overcome by a stronger susurrus of betrayal. It came with a strong, sweet scent. Who would believe betrayal could smell so beautiful?

  Yu’s smile had the same dimples his daughter had.

  “Why?” Michelle’s voice broke on the words. “You have destroyed Lancia’s future.”

  “Future, Daughter? When we are treated like second-rate citizens here? Everything we want, everything we do, has to go through a committee and be voted on. Where is the power Lancia once had? Given away. By you and Galenos. We have no wish to be part of a government in which we are powerless.”

  “Whether we want to or not, we have to be.” They could have been the only two in the room. “We had two choices. Give in to Gate Union and become a second-rate world, for Gate Union would never let us remain a power. Or join up with the
New Alliance and use the one lucky break we had—Ean and the alien fleet—to give us a chance at starting afresh.”

  “We had a third choice.”

  “Go it alone?” Michelle said. “We can’t even get jumps. Most of Lancia’s income is derived from New Alliance worlds. Our people would starve; we’d have nothing. How long will Lancia last as a power when we’re stuck in our own solar system?”

  “Your imagination has become limited of late, Daughter. Are they the only options you can think of? You are right. Lancia doesn’t care about the New Alliance. The New Alliance doesn’t care about us, either. We have been left powerless and helpless. Because you will not think past the obvious.

  “I do not plan on being part of a government I have no control over,” Yu said.

  “So you planned to steal a fleet of ships and start out alone.”

  Yu smiled. “Hardly alone.”

  A fleet of alien ships didn’t make it any less alone.

  Michelle opened her mouth to speak. Closed it again.

  “Warships will not keep Lancastrians fed,” Abram said. “Lancia is an old world and has never been particularly fertile. We import half our food and 90 percent of our technology. We can use the alien ships to bomb worlds and ships as much as we want, but other worlds will stop supplying us with goods long before it is effective. That’s assuming we had full crews for the ships and could replenish supplies. Which is also unlikely.”

  Yu spun around to Abram. “I plan for everything, Galenos. Even supplies. Even your opposition.”

  Michelle put a hand to her head in sudden understanding. “You teamed up with the Worlds of the Lesser Gods.”

  “Of course I did.”

  “And when Gate Union stops the Worlds of the Lesser Gods from jumping?”

  “Ah, Daughter. This is where you lack imagination, and I can see the future. A grand future for Lancia. Can Gate Union stop Redmond jumping?” Yu looked at Abram again. “Can they?”

  “It would be more difficult,” Abram admitted. “Redmond controls the line factories.”

  “Precisely.”