by JC Cassels
Blade clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Be patient,” he said. “And pray.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“This is insane,” Stett said softly.
Blade checked the charge on his sidearm and slid it into its holster underneath his arm. Reaching into the case for extra power packs, he glanced up at his friend. “What part of it?”
“All of it!” he hissed. With a worried look around to make sure they weren’t overheard, Stett leaned closer to him. “Listen, I can look the other way if you want to play dress up and go on one last commando run. I get it. You have the training to do it. But you are out of your mind bringing Lord Marin along on this.”
Blade followed his quick gesture. Wearing an assault suit like the rest of the team, Andre huddled against the bulkhead, grinning like a child waiting for a birthday party to start.
“He’s had military training,” Blade said. “And this is the one time he’s promised to do as he’s told.”
Stett didn’t look convinced. “Well, I don’t like it.”
Blade bit back a smile as he tucked power packs into loops on the bandolier across his chest. He schooled his features into a look of appropriate concern. “I don’t like it either, but we need him if we want to prevent a war with the Second Sector.”
Ian snapped the case shut and slid it along the deck plates to the next group in line. “Personally, I think we did well,” he said. “Chase didn’t come with us.” His teeth bared in a smile. “That bodes well for the future of the House of Marin, don’t you think?”
Blade chuckled and clapped his hand on Ian’s shoulder. “Thank you for scaring the piss out of him.”
Ian shrugged. “The pleasure was all mine.”
The interior lights dimmed and red lighting filled the compartment. The men looked up from their tasks. The energy in the craft abruptly changed, buzzing and crackling with sudden tension.
“Coming up on the drop zone,” Ian said, climbing to his feet. “I gotta go link up with your father.” He offered Blade his hand. “Don’t do anything stupider than usual.”
Blade grinned and shook his hand. “Challenge accepted.”
Ian fondly cuffed the side of his head before moving to the Overlord’s side.
Lord Marin didn’t have the proper qualifications to risk a solitary jump. Ian, as head of security, would make a tandem jump with the Sovran. In all truth, Blade would never have risked his father’s safety in this operation if not for Ian promising to take personal charge of him.
The men ran through final gear and safety checks. Blade hooked the NS-10 energy rifle to the rings on his suit, then pulled the cowl over his face and activated the HUD. He cleared his mind, focusing only on the job ahead of him.
It was one thing to sneak into the Sovran Palace on Trisdos by himself. It was something else entirely to lead a black ops team into the Second Sector Sovran Palace on Cormoran…with the First Sector Overlord in tow.
Holy Maker! Someone should have talked him out of this crazy plan when he’d first proposed it.
The ramp at the rear of the craft lowered, and every member of the twelve-man assault team rose and took their positions.
The green light flashed, and one-by-one the black-clad men stepped off the ramp into thin air.
Taking a deep breath, Blade followed them.
***
If this didn’t work, the war would be lost here, in the middle of nowhere.
Too late now to race back through the airlock and beg Royce to come with her. He and Chase were listening, along with Edge – or what remained of him – safely aboard Sundance.
Bo stared directly ahead as the outer hatch whooshed closed behind her. Her heart hammered against the confines of her chest. For good or ill, her course was set. There was no room for retreat. Her future, and the future of the House of Marin, teetered precariously on the next few minutes.
Bo tugged the creases from her Black Wing uniform. Putting on the severe black uniform for the first time in seven years had felt like slipping into a well-worn glove.
Whether her people would accept her after all this time was the question.
Bo lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. The airlock hissed open. She stepped through the open hatchway and paused, gathering her calm as she assessed the armed security team assembled in the corridor. They leveled their NS-10 energy rifles at her.
Inwardly, she quaked.
“At ease, gentlemen.” Her voice came out strong and steady, projecting clearly through the corridor.
The armed detail didn’t lower their weapons. They didn’t show any signs of being trigger-happy either.
“Barron?”
One man, not much older than her, stood apart from the rest.
Bo nodded in acknowledgment. “Squad Leader.”
The squad leader advanced, careful to remain just out of her reach. Bo arched an eyebrow at him with an amusement she didn’t feel.
“Surrender your weapon, ma’am.”
A hot and cold wave of adrenaline flooded her system, preparing her for close combat.
Resisting the urge to reach for the butt of the Capre, still holstered at her hip, she conjured a smile, intent on maintaining the illusion of icy control. This was a Five-Point game, nothing more. Just another bluff in a long line of mind games.
“That’s not how this works, Squad Leader. I am The Barron. I give the orders and you follow them, not the other way around.”
“I have my orders, ma’am. Sorry.”
Bo’s gaze flicked over the men, all Mondhuic, each prepared to pull the trigger on The Barron. A chill rippled down her spine. What had she expected? Seven years absent from her people, with Galen doing a hatchet job on her, undermining her authority wherever possible. Of course they wouldn’t give her their blind obedience. They were Mondhuoun’s finest, and she was the Scourge of the Seventh Sector.
Blade was counting on her to succeed.
The situation left no room for failure.
Bo reached up and pulled off the mirrored sunshades.
Very well. If they won’t stand down for The Barron, let’s see what they’ll do for the Scourge of the Seventh Sector.
With a flick of her wrist, she closed the sunshades and tucked them into the breast pocket of her jacket. “I’m afraid you don’t fully grasp the situation, Squad Leader,” she said. “Hell, this isn’t some game.”
She nodded toward the bulkhead.
“Those ships out there are filled with Mondhuic expats ready to return home and give their lives in defense of their home planet. They’re here because I called. I am The Barron. This weapon on my hip isn’t just a blaster. It’s the Mergent Arms Capre X2S. It’s not a sidearm, it’s a badge of office. It’s been the Barron’s weapon for a very long time. Not even the Second Sector Consular Guard has the right to order The Barron to turn it over.”
Her gaze narrowed and she lowered her voice.
“I don’t surrender my ships and I don’t surrender The Barron’s badge of office. You’re going to have to take it.” She held his stare for a long moment, letting that sink in. “Fair warning, soldier, you didn’t bring enough men to take it from me by force.”
His grip tightened on his rifle.
She lifted her gaze and studied the other men dispassionately.
“Now, today, is not a good day to die,” she said, loud enough for her voice to carry to the rest of the squad. “Mondhuoun stands on the brink of a war we didn’t start. I am here because the fate of the Commonwealth hinges on what we do – what you do – right here, right now. Your actions in the next few minutes will set off a chain of events that will be felt throughout the Commonwealth for generations to come. This is history in the making, gentlemen. Make up your minds very quickly how you want to be remembered. You have three choices: you can take me to Jaden Barron now, you can get the hell out of my way and I will find him myself, or you can raise arms against your Barron and I will execute you all on the spot for treason – and if you don’t th
ink I can do it, try me.”
She met the stare of each squad member. Many of them blinked over their weapons. Some had begun perspiring. Bo met the squad leader’s stare once more.
“Which is it going to be? You either stand with your Barron and with Mondhuoun, or stand with traitors.”
The echo of her words faded in the corridor, leaving behind an expectant silence, broken only by the distant hum of the ship’s sublight engines and the hiss of the environmental systems.
Blood pounded in her ears as her fight or flight impulses kicked into overdrive.
The click of a safety being engaged came from the knot of soldiers as one of them lowered his weapon. Like so many puzzle pieces falling into place, the corridor echoed with clicks as each lowered his weapon and stood down.
The squad leader likewise followed suit.
One hurdle crossed.
Bo’s breathing eased.
“Where is my cousin?”
The squad leader took a few steps back. “This way, Barron.”
Bo’s lips twitched. Barron. She wasn’t ma’am anymore. Good. It was a start. She descended the steps from the airlock. “Lead the way.”
Weapons held at the ready, the security team fell in around her as an honor guard. Setting a brisk pace, they drew curious looks from those they passed. Bo heard her name spoken in hushed whispers. Keeping her eyes straight ahead, she couldn’t help but notice as they progressed through the ship that the numbers of people filling the corridors swelled. Surprised and shocked expressions gave way to cheering and applause as her people gathered to see for themselves that The Barron had indeed returned.
By the time they exited the lift, the corridors were lined with Mondhuic. Just ahead of them, a small knot of middle-aged men in uniform blocked their way: the ship’s captain, a Wing Commander, and the requisite aides. Bo halted in front of them.
“Welcome aboard, Barron. I am Captain Montgomery. May I present Wing Commander Scott?”
Bo nodded. “Gentlemen.”
She looked from one to the other. Scott looked familiar. No doubt she had encountered him in the past. He opened his mouth to speak, but Bo cut him off.
“You will accompany me,” she said, brushing past them. “I wish to speak with my cousin. Now.”
Leaving them no choice but to comply, they fell into step, rushing to keep up with her.
“Barron, there has been a great deal of confusion regarding your actions lately…” Scott ventured.
“That’s putting it mildly, Scott.” Bo didn’t look at him. “Word on the vines is that I’ve gone over the hedge.”
“Indeed, Barron.” He coughed to hide his discomfort. “It makes one wonder about your intentions.”
Bo stopped so abruptly that he nearly crashed into her. Turning, she met his curious stare with a small lift of her brows. “My intentions, Wing Commander, are to confront a nest of traitors before they hand over The Black Wing and Mondhuic autonomy to a power-mad Sovran intent on using my people to seize control of the Commonwealth for himself. What are your intentions, sir? Do you stand with Mondhuoun, or do you stand with the men who killed my father?”
The two men exchanged a look.
“Barron, surely you’re not accusing…”
Bo turned on her heel and set off down the corridor again. The men behind her scrambled to keep up.
“Either you are with Mondhuoun or you stand against her, Wing Commander,” Bo said over her shoulder, loudly enough to be heard by the soldiers lining her way. “There is no more middle ground. Men we have trusted to see to Mondhuic interests in The Barron’s absence have betrayed us. They are poised to sacrifice everything we hold dear. The stand we make here will forever determine the future of all Mondhuic. Either we rise up as free citizens of the Commonwealth, or we kneel and accept the tyrant’s yoke.” She stopped and turned again. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good at being a slave.”
Not giving him a chance to respond, she resumed her course.
The hatch hissed open, Bo and her entourage entered without waiting for an invitation. Seated behind the desk, studying his data reader, Jaden looked up. There was no surprise on his handsome features. His amber eyes narrowed as he studied her. He set the data reader down and slowly rose. Light glistened off the metal sight of the sidearm on his hip.
“Bo.” He said by way of greeting.
Not Barron.
Just Bo.
Bo’s lips curved in a social smile.
“Jaden.”
She studied the face she had once loved so dearly. Age and responsibility had added lines that hadn’t been there the last time she’d seen him five years ago. There was a hardness about him now. Her childhood playmate was long gone.
He held himself at wary attention. Anxiety stiffened his broad shoulders.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Edge is dead.”
Surprise flickered across his face, followed quickly by loss. “What? How?”
Heartened to see a glimmer of the man she recognized, Bo filed that away. It didn’t prove he wasn’t a part of the conspiracy.
“Irrelevant,” she said.
He flinched at her icy tone.
“I have to know if you were a part of this.”
He looked to the silent men behind her for clarification.
“Part of what?”
“Did you know that your father had my father murdered?”
Jaden shook his head in denial. “Are you crazy? Father would never…”
Not taking her eyes off him, she tapped the com-implant behind her ear. “Transmit data to this terminal.”
Immediately, the holographic display lit up with the incriminating data. Staring through the hologram, Bo studied Jaden’s face as the display flashed with the internal security footage of her father’s murder. Her jaw set, she tried not to look at the images of her father’s last moments. She couldn’t shut out the audio, however.
“Here, use this to kill him with.” Galen’s voice came over the speakers. “It has to look like Royce snapped, or no one will believe he did it.”
The sickening sound of metal piercing flesh, and her father’s pained grunts, filled the room.
Color drained from Jaden’s face as he watched the footage. His shoulders sagged.
“That’s not possible,” he said softly.
“Count them, Jaden,” Bo said.
“Fifteen times.” Galen’s voice rang out. “One for every year I’ve ruled under his shadow.”
Unable to stand it, Jaden turned away.
“How long before you will be able to eliminate Bo?”
“I can’t get to her until I get Devon out of the way.”
Varo’s voice washed over her, filling her with loathing.
“When will that be?” Galen demanded.
“I don’t know. Look, you need to call for help. I didn’t hit Royce that hard with the neural scrambler. I can’t be here when he recovers, and if you don’t get your security in here before he’s fully mobile, he’s likely to kill you. I’ll take care of the internal security footage on my way out.”
“Tell Gad I owe him.”
The holo flickered off.
An expectant pall fell over the room. No one spoke for a long moment as the men processed the full import of what they had just seen.
Jaden braced his hands against the bulkhead. His shoulders shook. Whether he was laughing or crying, Bo couldn’t tell.
“Look at me, Jaden.”
He hesitated, but turned to face her, squaring his shoulders and standing at attention. His face was a mask of agony striped with the tracks of his silent tears.
“Where does your loyalty lie, Jaden?” she demanded sharply.
He shook his head. “I can’t…”
“Your father assassinated The Barron.”
“He practically raised you!”
“After he poisoned my father!”
Jaden extended his hand in supplication.
&nbs
p; “He’s my father, Bo…”
“Bhruic was my father!” she snapped. “You saw the footage. Galen not only saw him murdered, but directed it!”
“I find it hard to believe that my father would condone anything like this. He loved Bhruic. He loves you like his own daughter. How can you be sure this is even genuine? How do you know it wasn’t fabricated by that holofeature bastard who’s been jerking you around for years, manipulating your emotions? How many times have you complained to me that he’s a lying bastard?”
Jaden nodded toward the imaging platform. “This…this is about family! Who are you going to believe?”
She lifted one eyebrow. “I’m going to believe my father.”
The image of her father shimmered above the imaging platform.
“Hello, Bo. If you’re seeing this, then I’m dead.”
Jaden shifted uncomfortably. “How do we know this isn’t a fake?”
“I knew they wouldn’t let me live very long. They can’t afford to. They’ve struck a deal with Lord Scull. The Barron in exchange for the Black Wing. They’ll be coming after you next. You can’t trust anyone…”
“My father made this recording aboard my ship.”
“…especially not Galen or Jaden…”
The officers began murmuring among themselves.
“Don’t be shocked. Galen’s not just a diplomat, he’s patient and ambitious. I’ve done an audit of his executive decisions on your behalf. He’s been undermining you and increasing his power base…”
“This is ridiculous!” Jaden shouted.
“If you name either Galen or Jaden as your successor, you’ll be signing your own death warrant.”
“He’s been trying to kill me for years. The Ostra sweets you brought me in the diplomatic pouches – they were poisoned,” she held up a data card. “Here is the analysis of them I had my ship run. They’re laced with the same substance that my father’s stasis pod showed in his system.”
Jaden paled and shook his head.
“Galen Barron is guilty of treason, collusion, and murder. He must answer for his crimes against Mondhuoun and the Commonwealth,” Bo said. “What I want to know is how involved you are in this.”
“I want you to name Inner Circle Agent Blade Devon as your successor.”