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“We get within visual range to show them we’re serious,” Vere said. “But no matter what, we don’t power up our weapons systems. We don’t want them to get the wrong idea. Also, it goes without saying that we don’t fire on them. And we hope for our sake that they don’t fire on us.”
Traskk nodded, then made a series of hissing grumbles.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Vere said. “What would you do if Mowbray approached our fleet all by himself?”
Her reptilian friend didn’t like the scenarios playing out in his head and once again growled to let her know his feelings about the plan. He would have liked the plan even less if he knew that she had just had a dream—or a vision or whatever it was—of Mortimous telling her this was a mistake.
Looking down at the navigational display in front of her, she said, “We should be within range in four minutes.”
Traskk’s tail slithered back and forth against the floor as they approached the Vonnegan fleet. With all lights off in the cockpit, except for the blinking system and navigational controls, Vere’s hearing was more attuned to what was going on around her. She found her shoulders tensing each time she heard Traskk’s leathery skin slide one way and then the other.
Rather than scold him as she would have Fastolf or Morgan, she tried to make conversation. “I had a dream about Mortimous,” she said.
She still wasn’t sure if it really was a dream. If it wasn’t, she had no idea what to call it.
Traskk’s tail stopped moving, and he turned to look at her. His tongue darted in and out as he spoke in Basilisk.
“Black robes,” she answered. “I couldn’t see his face, but I know it was him.” After he asked another question, she said, “I don’t know. Everyone says he’s dead. But he seemed very much alive to me. And”—she hadn’t mentioned this next part to anyone before—“Galen said he made a deal with Mortimous six years ago to send the Green Knight to find me.”
Traskk’s eyes narrowed as he gave a low hiss.
“I know,” she said. “But I had to go in alone.”
He still chided her when she reminded him about the cave because it hurt his feelings that she had gone in without him. It wasn’t that he thought she needed protecting; he had seen her defeat the largest thugs in Eastcheap when brawls had broken out. Not to mention, she had been the only person with the nerve to accept the Green Knight’s challenge when everyone else had suddenly become interested in whether the laces of their boots were tied. He simply wanted to be there—and everywhere else—that she was. It was the debt he owed her for having saved his life back when he was nothing but a young Basilisk without a home.
Inside the cockpit, a series of lights began blinking and a steady beeping began to sound.
“There they are,” she said, pointing out the front viewport of the Griffin Fire’s cockpit.
The Vonnegan fleet was so far away that she wouldn’t have noticed it if the ship’s sensors hadn’t alerted her. But the Athens Destroyers would get bigger and bigger until each one of them made her own ship look insignificant by comparison.
Traskk gave a soft hiss at the sight of the Vonnegan fleet. The claws on his feet began making nervous scratches on the cockpit floor. Vere loved him like a brother, but all of his little quirks—his tail sliding across the floor, his claws scratching against the metal—offered reminders of how much she missed the utter silence of her former copilot. Not only had A’la Dure never spoken, she had no nervous tics or any other peculiar mannerisms. If an android and a ghost had a child that grew up to be a remarkable copilot, that person would have been A’la Dure. It would take a very long time to stop thinking about her every time Vere got into the pilot’s chair.
Of course, if she were to tell Traskk any of this, even in a way that emphasized only how much she missed her friend, he would probably whimper and shuffle out of the cockpit. He might not talk to her again for months.
Awestruck by the approaching Vonnegan fleet, Vere gasped but said nothing. Traskk’s eyes bulged in shock and his tail stopped moving.
“What is that thing?”
She knew what it was, though. It was Mowbray’s Supreme Athens Destroyer, which dwarfed a standard Destroyer.
Traskk hissed and growled.
“Bring up the visual comms,” she said, trying to stay focused on the mission.
The Vonnegan fleet was still far in the distance, but already the individual Athens Destroyers were becoming distinguishable from one another. All of them were slightly smaller than the dozen Commander Class Destroyers that also made up the new navy. In turn, those twelve ships were half the size of the giant one at the rear of the sprawling convoy.
Traskk tapped a pair of buttons. Nothing happened.
“The visual comms,” she said again, leaning over to see which buttons he had pressed instead.
Rather than send a holographic image of herself from the cockpit of the Griffin Fire to the deck of the lead Athens Destroyer for Mowbray to see, the ship’s navigational computer was trying to communicate with a ship from its memory banks that was currently light-years away.
Traskk’s claws tapped at a series of buttons to fix his mistake. A display lit up, showing the Vonnegan Supreme Athens Destroyer was receiving their message. But when the ensign aboard Mowbray’s ship tried to open a communication channel, rather than seeing and hearing Vere, he heard a string of incomprehensible beeps and pulses and the same noises also began sounding throughout the Griffin Fire’s cockpit.
Her copilot’s tongue slithered around his mouth as he concentrated and tried not to get flustered. When a tiny blue light flashed in front Vere’s face, she knew the appropriate channel was open. She waited for the officer on deck to notify Mowbray. After a minute, the blue light turned to green and she knew her feed was actively being watched. Everyone on the deck of the Supreme Destroyer would now see and hear a hologram of her sitting in the cockpit of her ship. A moment later, a second light came on, and in front of both her and Traskk, a holographic image of a tall and slender man appeared.
“Vere,” Mowbray said.
Vere nodded. “Mowbray.”
“There’s no need to come out and meet me halfway. My fleet will be above your planet in a matter of days.”
“Mowbray, listen, this isn’t necessary. It’s senseless.”
“Senseless? My son’s death was senseless.”
“Your army was invading my father’s kingdom!”
“Your father’s fleet destroyed an innocent crew in my space.”
She took a deep breath. There was no use going back and forth like this. When someone wanted to make war, they wouldn’t let reason bog them down. No matter what she said, in Mowbray’s eyes she would be responsible for killing his son.
But no matter what he said about the cause for that invasion, she couldn’t let him send his fleet to conquer her father’s kingdom. He had been set on doing it six years ago, and his resolve was even greater now. It hadn’t mattered then that a terrible mistake, an act of treachery, had caused Hotspur to destroy that ship in Vonnegan space. Now, and until the end of time, it would still be the only excuse he needed to kill and conquer until there was no such thing as Edsall Dark or the CasterLan Kingdom.
“Mowbray, please reconsider. There’s no need for the rest of the system to get caught up in this. These are innocent people who just want to be happy with their families. My father was being poisoned. The general who carried out his orders never should have been allowed to pursue that ship through the portal. Those things happened, but we can stop this all right here. You and I, we can stop this.”
While they spoke, the endless line of Athens Destroyers grew bigger and bigger.
Mowbray’s eyebrows raised in confusion. “Are the subjects of an unjust ruler innocent if they allow themselves to belong to that kingdom?”
Vere said, “I’d be happy to discuss the philosophy of kingdoms and their rulers some other time. Right now, I implore you to call off your fleet.
”
“My son deserves justice. And justice is vengeance.”
She bit her lip and, out of sight of the video feed, dug her fingernails into her other arm. If she repeated that his son had only died because he was part of an invasion party, Mowbray would only mention once more that the Vonnegan fleet had only been there because a ship full of innocent workers had been killed by a CasterLan vessel in Vonnegan space. It was a circle with no end, and so she instead said that they should settle things between them.
“Just the two of us,” she said. “There’s no need for everyone else to die.”
When Mowbray smiled, only his mouth moved. His eyes remained fixed on the holographic image of her hovering in front of him on the deck of his Athens Destroyer.
“It’s an enticing offer, Vere CasterLan,” he said, and she let out a long sigh, already knowing he was going to refuse. “But nothing will keep me from wiping every trace of the CasterLan Kingdom off the galactic map. You aren’t the CasterLan dynasty; you are only a single person. I could kill you and nothing would change. I must destroy the very idea of the CasterLan Kingdom.” His smile got bigger. “And I can only do that with much death and destruction.”
“Mowbray, please—”
“The planet known as Edsall Dark will still exist. But anyone who refers to it with that name will be put to death. Instead, it will be named after my son. It won’t take but a few years before people forget it ever had a different name than the one I gave it.”
“The people will never bow down to viciousness,” she said.
“Oh? I guess the history books have it wrong then. I guess Iqur the Horrible didn’t really bring the seven Nebulous systems together through sheer force and brutality. I suppose Halexedion the Great didn’t really build a vast empire of over thirty solar systems through nothing more than a tireless army and a desire to possess as much of the galaxy as possible.”
The Griffin Fire was alongside the closest Athens Destroyer now. She had never been this close to one of the Vonnegan ships before. It was roughly the same size as one of her Solar Carriers, but flying so close to it in a ship that was a fraction its size was humbling. And there were hundreds more in the distance.
She thought to tell Mowbray that none of those empires still existed. But of course he already knew that as well. More important, he didn’t care. Iqur the Horrible and Halexedion the Great hadn’t sent their armies all around space because they thought the solar systems they conquered would forever be ruled under their name. They had amassed a collection of systems knowing that one day someone else would take them. They had done it simply because they cared only about the glory of the moment.
“So, what are you going to do?” Vere said. “Kill us?”
Beside her, Traskk growled.
“I could, Vere CasterLan,” Mowbray said. “I very well could. Any one of my Destroyers could wipe every trace of your puny ship away. But I won’t. If I did kill you in cold blood, you might actually become a martyr, a symbol for people to rally behind. No, I want you to have to return to your kingdom knowing that there is nothing you can do to save your people.” He rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. “Or rather, your father’s kingdom, I suppose.”
“Mowbray, I promise you, your entire fleet will be destroyed if you attack us again.”
“I grow tired of you, Vere CasterLan. Be gone.”
“No amount of Athens Destroyers will bring you victory if you attack our kingdom. You don’t know what we have in store.”
“I will give you until the count of three. Then I will release one new Thunderbolt each additional second you remain here.”
They stared at each other for a moment.
“One.”
Beside her, Traskk gave a low growl.
“Two.”
“Mowbray, please don’t do this.”
“Three.”
She saw his hologram image nod to someone on the other side of the deck from where he was standing. Almost immediately, the Griffin Fire’s sensors began to beep. A fighter had launched from the hangar of one of the Athens Destroyers and was already targeting her with its computers.
“Full shields,” she told Traskk. Then, to the comms feed in front of her, “Don’t do this, Mowbray.”
The first Thunderbolt fired a pair of blasts right at her ship. Instead of being absorbed by the Griffin Fire’s shields, a jolt of energy shook the vessel. The Thunderbolt roared past her, circling for another attack.
“Full shields,” she yelled at Traskk. “I said full shields.”
But when she looked over, she saw his giant claws hovering over the array of buttons and lights, trying to remember which one to press.
A second Thunderbolt had left one of Mowbray’s ships and was heading toward her. She throttled the Griffin Fire so it began to race past one Athens Destroyer after another. The Griffin Fire was speeding through space so fast that she passed by a different Athens Destroyer every two seconds. But each second that went by, a new blip appeared on her radar because an additional Thunderbolt had taken off and was heading her way.
“Mowbray,” she said. “I thought you said you weren’t going to kill us.”
“I gave you fair warning. If I had unceremoniously blasted you out of space, I could see how you might garner some sympathy. But I gave you a chance to leave and you refused it. No one will make a martyr out of a fool.”
She saw more dots on her radar than she could keep track of. Laser blasts from the Vonnegan fighters were flying past at every angle. She slowed the Griffin Fire and threw it into a series of evasive maneuvers, going in between the Athens Destroyers like they were part of an obstacle course. One of the Thunderbolts, going too fast to make the same turn in between Mowbray’s giant ships, crashed into the front edge of a Destroyer and erupted in a brief explosion.
“Damn it, Mowbray,” she said.
He was smiling now, enjoying the show.
Traskk finally had the shields up so any laser blasts that did hit them would do little damage.
“I swear, your fleet will be ruined if you attack us,” she said.
“How could you possibly imagine accomplishing that?”
Only three words popped into her head, and so they were the three words she spoke: “The Excalibur Armada.”
Mowbray’s smile flickered. For a moment, his eyes narrowed as he stared at her. His head moved slightly left, then right, as he surveyed her face for signs of deception. Then, instead of saying anything, he erupted in laughter.
Vere reached over and turned off the comms channel. The hologram of Mowbray instantly vanished.
“Okay,” she told Traskk. “We need to get out of here.”
Every second, a new Thunderbolt was still appearing from the sides of the Athens Destroyers that they were flying past.
Traskk gave a series of croaks.
“If we head back the way we came, we’ll only get back to Edsall Dark a day or two before them. If we fly where they came from, we can take the closest portal. Then take connecting portals back to the new one they’re going to turn on.”
He growled at this suggestion, not liking that they were going to be flying even further away from home.
“It’s the only way” she said and began putting the flight calculations into the computer.
Thunderbolts were racing all around them now. Laser blasts were hitting the Griffin Fire just as often as they were missing.
“Give me full rear shields,” she said, knowing that it was easier to keep all the ships behind her than it was to avoid getting hit anymore.
Traskk began changing the shield settings. But when another blast hit the ship, the explosion sounded throughout every part of the vessel and a pair of alarms began sounding in the cockpit.
Vere took a look at the display and said, “Rear shields! Rear shields!”
Traskk’s tail slammed in frustration against the floor, denting the metal platform, but he immediately began fixing his mistake.
“It’s ok
ay,” she said. “Take a deep breath. Stay calm. You know what to do, we’ll get through this.”
She scanned the displays to see what damage the ship had incurred. One of the rear guidance levers was destroyed, as was one of the rear cannons. She was lucky the engines were intact or their next step would be decided for them.
“We need to get out of here,” she said. “Get ready to switch all power from shields to engines.”
She jerked on the Griffin Fire’s controls. Her ship plummeted into a spiral, directly at one of the Athens Destroyers they were racing past. Just as fast, she brought the ship out of its spin, doing a circle around the Destroyer as it moved along with the rest of the Vonnegan convoy. Two of the Thunderbolts got the turn wrong and collided with each other as they tried the same loop around the ship. A trail of white and orange fire burst from both ships until the oxygen tanks were empty and the ships became charred debris.
She saw the last Athens Destroyer in the line, four times the size of a regular Athens Destroyer. Only Mowbray would be egotistical enough to have such a large personal ship. Another Thunderbolt took off, this time from a ship directly next to her. She had to jerk the Griffin Fire’s controls sideways to keep the Thunderbolt pilot from accidently ramming her ship and killing all of them.
So many Vonnegan fighters were racing through the black void of space trying to shoot the Griffin Fire that they were accidently shooting each other.
And still the Griffin Fire raced toward the end of the fleet as fast as it could, swerving in between, under, and over Athens Destroyers anytime the Thunderbolts got too close. If A’la Dure were there, Vere could have sent Traskk to one of the turrets to clear away some of the fighters. But with only the two of them on the ship, she needed all the help she could get in the cockpit.
Circling back in order to get the Thunderbolts off her tail, they raced past three Destroyers they had already passed. As they did, errant laser blasts sailed past them on every side. But even with most of the shots missing, a few made contact, sending jolts through the entire ship and rattling Vere and Traskk in their seats. The rear shields could only withstand so much force. The sheer number of hits the ship had taken was taking a toll. A pair of alarms began sounding, indicating the Griffin Fire had taken substantial damage. Another cannon was destroyed. One of the radar systems was gone.
The Excalibur (Space Lore Book 2) Page 9