The subsequent interrogations of the three captives revealed much in the way of details, but little in the way of motive. Even when Chancellor Vulem was captured and questioned he couldn't seem to name who had set everything in motion in the first place. In fact, each party seemed to think they were getting something that the others had no knowledge of. The ConFed thought they were getting a destabilized Avarian Empire to begin exploiting.
Crisstof Dalton actually thought that he was to be named interim ruler when the Sovereign and his daughter were disposed of. Jason was permitted to question him directly and he noticed the old man seemed confused, but clearly remembered that he was approached by the ConFed about the whole thing. Apparently members from the Council had shown him convincing evidence that the "cruel" regime of the Empire was on its last leg and that they were close to throwing their arms open to the warm embrace of democracy, even the ConFed's own unique brand of it. They'd convinced him that it would be beneficial to all if a temporary regent was appointed with no ties to the ConFed government, but still with executive experience and vast resources to tap into. In the end, they'd appealed to his ego and greed, able to push all the right buttons to get Crisstof to go along with a plan he should have been far more suspicious of.
Vulem's role was easy to figure out. As likely the last Chancellor of his people he held a special hatred for Avarians and the Sovereign and his daughter in particular. It hadn't taken much to convince him to go along with the plan, apparently. He was in chains and on the way back to his homeworld where they'd promised a very public and very messy trial, the legislative body already professing its adoration for Imperial rule.
"You seem troubled, my young friend," the Sovereign said as they rode back to the palace compound in a well-appointed aircar.
"Too much just doesn't make any sense," Jason said. "People acting completely out of character, an asinine plan to get you out of the way, and nobody remembering who had thought of it all in the first place ... it doesn't strike you as more than a little odd?"
"I have the advantage of more information than you do," the Sovereign said with a smile. "The facts you've listed in context with what my intelligence service has been able to uncover sheds a certain light on things."
"I don't suppose you'd care to indulge me?" Jason asked.
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be wise at this juncture," the Sovereign said. "You have impressed me and earned my trust and respect, but I am still responsible for trillions of people on countless worlds. Some things must remain a secret ... for now."
"Understood," Jason said, looking out the window.
"And what will be next for you, Captain Burke?"
"How do you mean?"
"Annada has told me of the hard times you and your crew had fallen on before taking on the task of rescuing her," the Sovereign said. "So what will you all do now? Go your separate ways again, or try to again find that common sense of purpose?"
"It's hard to say," Jason said uncomfortably, wondering if the whole damn family was able to read him like an open book.
"Well, whatever you decide, just know that I can never fully repay you for what you have given back to me."
"We can see about that," Jason said with a smile.
The Sovereign couldn't help himself and laughed heartily, scaring the attendant in the car half to death.
As they climbed out of the aircar and onto the soft grass of the landing field an explosion rocked the grounds and a fireball erupted from a window halfway up the wall facing the landing area. Security instantly covered the Sovereign and began sweeping the area. A familiar screaming caught Jason's ears, and it was coming from the blast area.
Without thinking he sprinted across the grass, adrenaline fueling his enhanced muscles so that he quickly blew past the running guards as they approached the building. Jason quickly gauged the distance and leapt from the ground, barely clearing the blasted-out window frame and slamming into the wall of what ended up being a wide, spiraling staircase. He looked down and saw the heavy char marks along the stone, but no real structural damage. There was also a lot of blood.
"Jason!" Annada's voice called from above him. He looked up and saw her standing at the top of the stairs, crying hysterically.
"What happened?" he asked, leaping up to where she was and inspecting her for wounds, heedless of the fact he would be manhandling the netjere when the guards finally made their way up there.
"It was Kalette!" she cried. "A man from Vulem's party came up here with a bomb. She grabbed it, trying to wrestle it from him. When she couldn't she threw herself down the stairs, taking him with her."
Jason looked down and saw that the bomb must have detonated as they'd rounded the turn, the pressure wave blowing out the window.
"Is Kalette …?" Jason asked, trailing off when she nodded and began sobbing again. Jason wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the guards as they streamed into the room and began sweeping it for any other devices. "She gave her life to save you," he said into her ear. "Despite anything else she might have done, this should be the act she's remembered for."
"Sir, we need to move the netjere to a secure location," a young guardsman said. "Please step aside."
Jason let her go and watched as they quickly moved her away so they could continue their sweep of the compound. He took a moment to absorb the enormity of what had just happened as well as say a few words for Kalette. He didn't know if she was a religious person, and he knew that he wasn't, but he couldn't think of anything else to do.
Chapter 22
After weeks of negotiations and messages back and forth the ConFed representatives were sent back to their own side of the expanse with a warning: any more transgressions would not be tolerated. It was also sent with a detailed report that showed that the Empire was well aware of how weak and overextended the ConFed military machine had become.
Crisstof Dalton was executed after a brief trial in which he offered little in the way of defense. The lethal shock to his brain stem was administered mere hours after his trial. Jason stood next to a numb-looking Kellea Colleren, holding her hand as the man who had mentored her and given her the life she enjoyed as a starship captain was put to death for betraying nearly every principle he claimed to live by. If he was honest, Jason was more than a little overwhelmed by the moment as well. He'd spent the last couple of years despising the man, but this wasn't the end he'd had in mind for him, put down like an ailing pet while strapped to a table after a trial of questionable integrity.
The Defiant was allowed to leave under Kellea's command, but would be escorted all the way back to ConFed space by Imperial Fleet ships. It was a small concession and Jason didn't envy her the task ahead. She would have to report back to Crisstof's enormous family about his death and then watch as the wrangling started for his vast fortune and powerful network. He'd promised to keep in touch with her when they'd hugged and parted ways. He didn't know what was in her future, but the chances didn't look good that it would be on the bridge of a battlecruiser.
As promised, Annada had found them a private getaway near the equator of Avaris that was absolutely ideal. It was so much like the Caribbean that he began having pangs of homesickness for Earth, something he hadn't even thought about in years. Everything was perfect, for at least a few days. But like everything else ... it couldn't last forever. Eventually they all had to get back to their normal lives.
"Looks like rain," Twingo said as he and Jason walked across the tarmac to the Phoenix. The ship had been moved to the regular starport to make room for all the dignitaries flying in and out in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Annada and the incident with the Defiant.
"Yep," Jason said even as a few fat drops started hitting the ground around him. They broke into a jog and hustled up the ramp of the Phoenix before it really started coming down. The crew stood at the lip of the cargo bay and watched as the rain soaked the ground and began to run off the ship in rivulets. The perfect symmetry of the moment was not lost
on Jason as he thought back to the last time they'd all stood there and looked out at the rain.
"So," Kage said, again being the one unable to remain silent. "Are we back?"
"I can't go back to Galvetor," Crusher said firmly. "I've never been so bored in my life."
"I'm sure as hell not going back to being a delivery boy," Jason said. "Besides ... I'm sure my ship is in pieces by now."
"Twingo?" Doc asked.
"It turned out to be an awkward reconciliation with my former mate," Twingo said. "Especially with her new mate constantly interrupting us. I'm in."
"Lucky?" Jason asked.
"I may hold out for a better offer," the battlesynth said. Jason just rolled his eyes as Crusher laughed and slapped his friend on the back.
"Looks like it's unanimous, Captain," Kage said.
"Well then ... I guess we're back."
Epilogue
"Here's the money I owe you, plus twenty-five-percent interest," Jason said, sliding a stack of credit chits across the table.
"I thought I had made it clear that it wasn't a loan."
"And I made it equally clear that I still intended to pay you back," Jason said.
"That you did," Saditava Mok said, vapor curling up from some sort of pipe he kept pressing a button on. "Tell me, Captain ... why are you so insistent on throwing my gifts back in my face?"
"To be blunt, I'd rather not owe someone like you," Jason said.
"Someone like me?" Saditava laughed. "And just what do you think I am?"
"A gangster," Jason shrugged. "Crime lord. Whatever you want to call yourself, it all means the same thing."
"And Crisstof Dalton was not?" Saditava asked, seeming amused. "You really think he was just a businessman? Do you realize how many times he showed up and squeezed entire star systems in order to force favorable concessions from them? Do you know how many times you've helped him? You really think that you stopped a terrorist attack for the Eshquarians? Do you still believe that Crisstof was innocent when you stepped in and destroyed all the evidence of his son's side project, getting him released from prison in the process?"
Jason remained silent as Saditava showed him the not-so-shiny side of the coin that was his life.
"So what's your point?" Jason finally said. "Yes, I've come to realize that Crisstof likely misrepresented things to us on more than one occasion. How would working for you be any better?"
"Who says I want you working for me?" Saditava said. "My point in bringing this up is that good and evil are simply a matter of perspective, something I feel you often lack."
"There's your money," Jason said, standing up. "You can take it, leave it, or give it away ... that's not my concern. Just know that you no longer have any pull to ask for favors from me."
"I never did ask for favors, nor would I have," Saditava said. "Things are not always as they appear, as well you've learned, Captain Burke. It's a lesson I hope you've learned well, considering your new friends. I still may come calling, young captain, but it will not be to coerce you into violent actions against those who might stand in my way."
Jason paused at the door, listening, but he didn't turn around. He stepped out of the small restaurant and into the midday sun. Lucky was waiting aboard the Phoenix and the others had scattered across the quadrant to close out their former lives once again. Jason promised himself that this time would be different. Omega Force would actually be what he had envisioned all those years ago standing in the rain on Breaker's World. Saditava's words burned into his brain and, for once, he could clearly see all the mistakes he'd made since assuming command of the Phoenix and her crew.
This time would be different.
"How did it go?" Lucky asked.
"It wasn't what I was expecting, but we're free and clear," Jason said as he slid into the copilot's seat. He'd been allowing Lucky to fly the ship while they were settling everything. It had been a suggestion under the guise of "training" though in truth he knew the battlesynth loved flying the ship but was still hesitant to ask for things he wanted for some reason.
"I was thinking," he said.
"Should I be afraid?" Lucky asked.
"Funny," Jason said. "Why did we live on this ship before? We spent most of the time burning fuel and hanging out in some pretty disgusting places just waiting for something to happen. We could just as easily do that back on S'tora."
"Our house will not be big enough for everyone," Lucky pointed out.
"True, but we have enough money to get a couple more places so we'd have some room to stretch out," Jason said, warming up to the idea. "It might cut down on some of the conflicts if we weren't always piled on top of each other. We could even get a permanent hangar built for the Phoenix."
"You are trying very hard to convince me, yet I am not disagreeing with you," Lucky pointed out as the Phoenix shot up through the clouds and hauled ass for orbit. "But with our newfound funds might I suggest that you replace the food synthesizer in the galley? It might go a long way towards crew morale."
"Yeah," Jason agreed. "That thing has to go. I can't believe we've been eating that the whole time."
"What is our next destination?" Lucky asked.
"That was our last stop," Jason said. "I'm setting course for S'tora and sending it to your station. Let's go home."
Thank you for reading Omega Force: Redemption.
If you enjoyed the story, Captain Burke and the guys will be back in:
Omega Force: The Human Factor.
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From the Author:
While I don't always include one of these after every book I figured some explanations were in order after this one. It's book seven and the first of a new overarching plotline for the crew. Even though you only get a few clues as to what's really going on in this book the main point of "Redemption" was to reset the Omega Force universe. By the end of "Secret of the Phoenix" I felt that there were subplots and relationships that were going nowhere, so it was time to prune things a bit and get back to the core group while introducing some new supporting characters and backgrounds.
As I've often stated, my goal is to keep this series fresh and running strong for a long time so with this book I wanted to shake up some of the character dynamics a bit while still sticking to the episodic format. Hopefully it was every bit as fun for you as it was for me to write. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and suggestions ... as always they're all appreciated.
Cheers!
Josh
Omega Force 7: Redemption Page 25