Diamond Cut: Book Three in The Glass Complex Trilogy

by John Hindmarsh

CHAPTER 39

  FOUR DAYS later Steg joined in the early morning Ebony Company training session. He did not try to match the marines, but he needed to re-establish his fitness level. After an hour of light exercise, he showered and headed to the nearest mess for breakfast. He felt the holograms of Alke, Ioke, and Adrias walk with him. They did not speak; they simply accompanied him on the four hundred meter journey. When he reached the mess, the holograms disappeared.

  He selected food from the buffet and sat at an empty table after placing Ebony on the side. He still needed the sword’s micronic support. Within minutes he had company—Sergeant Riddell, Velez, and three marines, privates, sat down with their trays.

  “Sir, you don’t mind?” Velez asked.

  “Not at all—I welcome the company. So what’s happening?”

  “Sir, we’re waiting for you to recover. When you do, that’s the question we’ll be asking you.”

  “Unfair, Velez, unfair,” Steg said to shared laughter. “I hardly know what day it is.”

  “We have confidence, sir,” Riddell said. “I think we’ll be finished searching for survivors in another six or seven days. We’ve been on wreckage-recovery missions and there’s still a tremendous clean-up required. I’ll admit, I’ve had enough of wearing a space suit.”

  “Think of the bonus, though,” Steg said.

  “I do, sir, I do. That’s what keeps us going.”

  “Give me a couple of days more recuperation, I’ll meet with our teams, and we’ll do some planning. I need to talk with the Alliance, with the Imperial Navy, check with Tziksis and Theas, talk to Kirby. I need to catch up, find out where everyone and everything is.”

  “The Djiis want to give you another medal, too,” said one of the marines.

  He was immediately thumped by Velez. The heavyworlder did not restrain her blow, and Steg thought it must have been painful.

  The man frowned. “Why’d you do that, Sarge?”

  “I told you it was confidential.”

  “Oh,” he mumbled. “Apologies sir, for my big mouth.”

  “Relax. These things happen,” Steg said. “I’ll try to talk them out of it.”

  “See?” Velez said.

  The budding war was interrupted by Alke as she formed her hologram beside the table.

  “Admiral, you’re wanted on your bridge. In ten minutes, if you’re up to it.”

  “I’ll be there.” Steg stood and when his companions made to follow, he said, “Stay seated. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast, I’ll see you all later.”

  A small Alliance delegation was waiting for Steg when he reached his admiral’s bridge. Senior Captain Graham Hamilton and two of his Alliance captains were waiting. Jessie and Finch arrived in seconds accompanied by General Denke.

  Steg led them to small conference room off the bridge where he expected refreshments would be waiting. He was correct.

  “Please be seated, everyone. Captain Hamilton, congratulations.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. I’ve heard you’re recovering at a rapid rate.”

  “It seems. I’ve commenced training, although at a slow pace. Finch is watching me like a hawk.”

  Alke’s hologram formed beside the table. She was wearing her black Ebony uniform. She said, “And so am I, Admiral.”

  Steg ignored the intrusion. “Captain Hamilton—or if I may, Graham—what’s our agenda?”

  “Sir—Steg—I’d like to discuss our withdrawal so that I can advise General Kuzman of the timeline. Is that something we can discuss?”

  “I’m planning on reviewing everyone’s status over the next day or two. Let me meet with Admiral Tziksis and General Theas, then with Admiral Breval, before I make firm commitments. However, if we’ve a program for cleaning up Djii space—I understand that’s underway—and if the threat from the Xesset has been removed, I’m prepared to give you an informal go ahead to plan your return. Don’t set the date earlier than a tenday from now; I want some room to plan. Denke, do you agree?”

  “I agree. While we’ve a lot of planning to do, I believe we can start to unwind some of the task force.”

  “Good.” He turned back to the Alliance captain. “Does that give you a basis for planning?”

  “Steg, that’s more than agreeable.”

  “Is there anything else?”

  “I’d like to speak with you on a personal matter, if I may?”

  Steg was intrigued. “Certainly. Do you all mind leaving? Please excuse us.” He waited for everyone to leave the conference room. He added, “Alke, you, too.” The hologram disappeared. “Well, we’ve got an empty conference room. What can I do for you?”

  Hamilton fidgeted, gathering his thoughts. “This feels odd,” he said. “I may be responsible for you losing one of your team.”

  Steg smiled when sudden understanding struck. “Jessie?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “She will be a loss. She’s one of the best Tac officers I’ve ever worked with. However, to put you out of your misery, the decision is hers alone.”

  “Thank you. That’s a relief. Sir, tell me, did you really travel back in time?”

  Steg laughed. “Remember, if you try telling people that, you’ll be laughed at—unless they’re one of my Old Timers. If you don’t take Jessie’s word for her personal background, you’re skating on thin ice.”

  “I do take her word, it’s simply that it’s—”

  “Unbelievable? We need to believe one unbelievable thing every day. If Jessie says yes, let me congratulate you in advance. We’ll miss her.”

  “Thank you, sir—Steg. Only one unbelievable thing?” He left the conference room, laughing to himself.

  Steg rested for the remainder of the day, supervised by three Fain. He refused to tell Finch what Hamilton wanted to discuss, and she threatened him with all kinds of dire retribution, which he ignored. He scheduled meetings for the following day, starting with Denke, then Tziksis, followed by the Admiral Breval. It was going to be a busy day.

  Denke was early and joined Steg for breakfast. He’d had another training session, again taking care to not over exert himself. He was feeling fit and energetic. He planned to engage in a full training session with Ebony Company the following morning.

  “So, you missed a lot of the fun,” Steg said, as they headed to his conference room. The bridge was almost empty; there was very little happening from the task force perspective.

  “Yes. Although we captured a thousand-plus ImpSec personnel, from deckhands to senior captains. That’s without counting their marines—another thousand of them. One of their destroyers was badly beaten up, and we’re using it as a prison hulk until Mendoza lets me know what he wants to do with them. They should all be charged with treason.”

  “We could let the orbit accidentally degrade.”

  “Tempting.”

  “What about your recruits—did they arrive?”

  “Damn, I keep forgetting you’ve been out of the loop for a while. Thank the War Goddess you’re back. Wanderer is currently housing four thousand Special Forces and Imperial Navy marines. We’ll have to plan what we’re going to do with them.”

  “We’ll contract with Djiis to locate half of them here for a year. We’ll offer Mendoza a thousand to help with sorting out ImpSec. The remainder we’ll take to Homeworld on a one-year contract. Do you think that will work?”

  “Mendoza is good. He’ll take all of two thousand, for at least a year. I spoke with Theas; he wants to continue cleaning the system of wreckage and thinks he can use most of the remainder for a year.”

  “I didn’t realize you had the makings of a mercenary?”

  “It’s a learning curve. Kirby helped—he’s very experienced.”

  “Well, that’s settled. They’re your people, you’re their general. I’ll agree with whatever missions you decide.”

  “Hold on—I’ll need to return to my IIS duties with Boston.”

  “You have four thousand mercenaries, a fleet of thirty or so destroyers
, and you’re telling me you want to go back to your desk on Jochum II?”

  “You mean I can use the ex-ImpSec starships?”

  “They’re ours. Use them. Help Theas and Tziksis clean up their system.” Steg paused. “Alke?”

  “Yes, Steg.”

  “Arrange installations of shadow AIs in each of the captured ImpSec starships that we were going to crew with Alliance personnel. Work with Helen and Tobias. These AIs need to be capable of autonomous operation under command of an authorized captain. Either Denke or I will provide authority. Oh—these AIs must not be capable of replication. Understand?”

  “Yes and agreed, Steg. We were wondering how to manage those warships. I think your decision is correct. General Denke, welcome to our world.”

  Denke sat back in his chair. “This world is full of surprises. When will you have the AIs installed?”

  “Ah—we anticipated. It’s done.”

  Steg laughed at his friend’s dumbfounded expression. “Our world is an interesting one.”

  “I agree. With that settled, our meeting with Theas and Tziksis is going to be simple.”

  “The more problematic meeting will be with Admiral Breval, I suspect.”

  oOo

  CHAPTER 40

  STEG’S MEETING with Tziksis was straightforward. The alien admiral was still excited about the Xesset—one of the Djiis destroyers had seen action when a Xesset warship penetrated close to the planet. Tziksis said, “We defeated another Xesset starship—they should learn, I think. We examples set.”

  “It was your destroyer?” Steg asked.

  “Of course,” Tziksis replied. “Very good, very fast, loaded with missiles.”

  “Congratulations,” Steg offered.

  Theas said. “Compared with your efforts, nothing is. Again Djiis have major debt owing.”

  “We agreed to help,” Steg said. “Our AIs did an excellent job for all of us.”

  “Our king has medals—for the AIs, for Admiral de Coeur. You will visit soon?”

  “Do I really have to?”

  Alke, her hologram forming beside Steg, said, “Steg, you must. We’ve never been awarded a medal before.” She turned to Tziksis. “We’ll arrange for a trip planetside for him.”

  Eyestalks bobbing, Tziksis said, “Alke, esteemed AI, we owe major debt to you, to Ioke, to Adrias, to Zhu, to Echo, to Amber—”

  “Enough,” Steg said. “They’ll be impossible, now.”

  At last Denke was able to intrude. “Tziksis, we need to discuss future business. We have as many starships and people as you might need to finish salvage wrecks from your system. We’re prepared to contract for a year. We can retain title to everything we recover, or you can take possession, or perhaps we can find some middle ground—your decision will impact our fees.”

  Starship wrecks generally were valuable, especially if they had not been reduced to small fragments. Numerous Xesset hulks were adrift in the Djii system and posed a danger to shipping; the expense of recovery would likely be more than offset by the value of the salvageable components. The Djii shipyard would be busy for years.

  Tziksis said, “Discussion necessary is. We need to spend time—you, Theas, myself, of course, and possibly one advisor to our king. Why, even His Highness, Frjeric, might be involved in meeting. When can you meet?”

  “Whenever you arrange it. I’ll bring Colonel Kirby, and I’m sure one or two of the AIs will attend.”

  Tziksis looked at Steg. He said, “Admiral, will you attend?”

  The formality warned Steg that he was expected to attend, even though it was probably a ruse to entice him to the planet. He said, “Yes, Tziksis, I’ll be there.”

  The meeting turned to mundane topics, and after five or more minutes Steg said, “I need to prepare for our meeting with Admiral Breval and four or five of his senior officers. Later, everyone will assemble on level five. We have an open auditorium in the main park that will accommodate all the Imperial officers, and we can conclude their assignments. I hope you’ll both attend.”

  Steg was already in the small conference room when Richard Breval, Helen Galaway, and Vin Lai arrived. Breval had included two of his senior captains and Tac Commander Griffin. Denke arrived half a minute later. Finally, Alke’s hologram appeared, seated beside Steg.

  “Richard, everyone, thank you for coming.”

  “It’s good to see you up and about. We were all worried about you.” His officers murmured similar comments.

  “Thank you. I haven’t had an opportunity to discuss Admiral Galaway’s operation against the mixed Xesset fleet in AR 84993, although I’ve read and viewed the battle reports. The results were commendable.”

  Helen said, “We need to thank your AIs for their help. Of course, and your technical people—their virus was devastating. We did very little except guard your destroyers. Oh, we had to bounce a few ImpSec starships; that was only to be expected.”

  “Did you discover why they joined with the Xesset?” Denke asked.

  Breval replied, “We’re still working through their stories. They change every day. We’re proposing to charge them with treason, and that will focus their minds. We’re transporting them to Imperial Military Headquarters, leaving in two days. General Mendoza dispatched a troop carrier for them, and we’re providing the escort. We have more than a thousand ImpSec personnel, all tainted with the same crime. It’s unbelievable.” He seemed to be carrying a burden of disappointment resulting from the need to fight his fellow military units.

  Helen was more prosaic. When Breval stopped speaking, she said, “I have no time for them. The Xesset force—we saw the wreckage here when we returned—was alarming. For Imperial citizens—officers— to join with the Xesset against us and our friends was despicable.”

  One of the senior captains seemed about to demur, and Helen reacted sharply. “What? You have sympathy for these traitors?”

  “One of my cousins—”

  The other officer said, “My brother was a casualty—he was with the fleet that tried to capture Djii. I have no idea why—”

  Helen said, “I assume stories like this will be common—it’s still a betrayal of the Empire.”

  “Now, Helen—we’ve discussed this. We’ll do what we have to,” said Admiral Breval. “Merciless will have his say.”

  The two senior captains frowned. Neither spoke.

  Steg said, “If you’re providing escort, I assume all the Imperial starships will be returning to Eirie?”

  “One or two have other home bases, but yes, we’re all returning.”

  “I’d like to thank you for joining with us, for working with our task force.”

  “It’s been an experience,” said Helen. “I learned more than I expected.”

  Breval nodded. “I agree. We’ll increase our focus on team building and develop more war games. The one Zhu called The Battle of Harm’s Way was frightening. Without some of your AI support, an Imperial fleet of similar size would not have survived.”

  “We all think Zhu’s performance was exemplary,” Alke said. “We’re proud of his achievements.”

  “I was impressed with his actions in AR 84993,” said Griffin.

  “Thank you, Tac,” Alke said. “I’ll pass on your comment; he’ll be pleased.”

  “I do have a question,” Admiral Breval said. He was frowning.

  Steg said, “Yes?” He had an idea of what was coming.

  “Are you retaining the Imperial warships you’ve captured?”

  “Consider it the price ImpSec needs to pay. In your words, they are traitors. I’d add other crimes, against me, my friends, and numerous small independent systems, as well as against their own people.”

  One of the senior captains snarled, “That’s piracy—you’re as bad, if not worse. You’ve ruined numerous officers.”

  Steg held up his hand. “With respect, Captain Blythe, they ruined themselves. I didn’t persuade ImpSec to join with your enemies to fight against your Empire. I didn’t tell the
m to spy on the Alliance or to issue false orders to raid Jochum II, or to attack my yacht or to attempt to murder General Mendoza. I could continue—the list is almost endless.”

  Denke said, “Blythe, you’re out of order. Steg advised the Emperor and Mendoza there’d be a penalty if they didn’t bring ImpSec under control. None of us expected them to go rogue and join with the Xesset.”

  Blythe shrugged. He’d had his say.

  “Back to more immediate points. Admiral Breval, we’ve arranged an informal gathering in our auditorium on level ten. You should have all the details, for you and your officers, for the Djiis, and Homeworld contingents. It’s so we can offer our appreciation of your participation in our task force. While there may have been unexpected aspects, I believe our venture ended well for Djii and for every system that was under threat, including the Empire.”

  “Indeed. We’ll be there—looking forward to some finality.”

  With similar comments, the Imperial officers left the small conference room. The two captains, in particular, did not appear to be overwhelmed with happiness.

  Denke said, “Those two have not fully grasped reality. They may have family members now under arrest—they brought it on themselves.”

  “I agree.”

  “I’ll increase our security focus,” said Alke. “I’ve requested Kirby have all his marines on duty, in case.”

  She did not say in case of what, nor did Denke or Steg question her need for the Ebony marines.

  oOo

  CHAPTER 41

  THE GATHERING OF OFFICERS—Imperial, Djiis, Homeworld, from Ebony Company and Denke’s brigade, the latter as yet unnamed—was more informal than previous gatherings. The park on level ten accommodated the nearly three hundred and sixty people with room to spare; only one corner of the area was occupied. Catering bots were serving food and refreshments from a number of stands, there was a small Imperial military band playing a range of musical pieces, and the speeches had been short and well-received. Steg, Finch, and Alke were walking together, moving from small group to small group. Steg carried Ebony over his shoulder—he still required that small element of support.