by Terry Mixon
The Imperial guard’s eyes narrowed. “Then we’ll go over in force. I’ll summon the ready squad.” His eyes flicked to Major Smith. “You get everyone else ready to come over if we need them.”
The slender woman shook her head. “Won’t work. We only have a single cutter. You need to have it there at all times in case you have to retreat in a hurry. We don’t have suits to make the jump in this hellish environment, either.”
The man in Imperial whites scowled, but nodded. “Then we pack everyone into the cutter. Everyone. Get them there.”
The marine rose without a word and strode out of the compartment.
While they’d been speaking, Jared had pulled out his gun belt. He didn’t go armed as a matter of course—unlike Kelsey—so he’d left it in his closet. He certainly didn’t think he’d need a weapon now, but it was prudent to bring it.
A few minutes later, the entire security detail was crowded into the cutter. It was an exceptionally tight fit.
All told, he had over four dozen people in his security detail, so they could handle multiple shifts and situations. A cutter was designed to comfortably seat three dozen people in the passenger compartment.
It turned out one could hold everyone on his security staff. Barely.
Double Alex took one look at the sardine can and headed for the cockpit, declaring he would ride at the flight engineer’s station. A wise man.
Being similarly prudent, Jared evicted the co-pilot and took over control of the flight.
“Remind me to make sure we have a pinnace as our small craft going forward,” he told the Pentagaran. “It has a lot more internal space. It has to, to deliver seventy marines in powered armor.”
The man nodded. “I’ve already done so, Highness. One suitably modified for dual use, as I doubt you’ll be needing marines every trip.”
Jared exchanged words with Javelin’s bridge and detached the cutter. The trip to Lance would only take a few minutes. That still gave him plenty of time to worry.
What the hell was going on over there?
Work was continuing on preparing the destroyer for human habitation and control, but Sean was satisfied that she was far enough along for a test flip to be certain everything was functioning correctly.
He’d consulted with Fleet command about renaming the ship. R-4587 just didn’t have snap to it. With their concurrence, he’d secretly rechristened the ship.
Sean suspected Admiral Mertz would approve of her new name: Athena. The original would finally be sent to the breakers at Harrison’s World and remade.
“We’re at the weak flip point, Commodore,” Commander Janice Hall, their helm officer, said.
The position was a big step down for a woman who’d recently commanded a light cruiser, but she didn’t seem to mind. And, since the ship’s captain would be an admiral, well, it wasn’t too big a downgrade in comparison.
“Take us over as soon as we get the green light from our escort.”
Sean had chosen to have one of the fully operational ships flip with them, just in case there was a serious failure. Not that he expected any trouble, but the Nova system was not the place to have a break down.
The light cruiser Brazil had recently finished her trials and was heading for Avalon. He figured the two ships could travel together to the artificial flip point that Omega had created. By then, he’d be sure of Athena’s stability.
“My compliments to Commander Meissner, Wanda. Tell her we flip in sixty seconds.”
“Aye, sir,” Commander Wanda Dieter, their com officer, said. “She reports that they’ll be ready.”
“Battle screens up, Commodore,” Commander Evan Brodie said. Their tactical officer was grinning.
“Excellent,” Sean said with an indulgent smile. Something about the man excused his occasionally excessive exuberance.
Sean tapped his console and opened a link to engineering. “Are we there yet?”
“Obviously not, sir,” Commander Katheryn Pence said. The chief engineer’s tone was mildly acerbic, but neither of them were overly bothered by their antics. She’s served aboard Spear with him for years. “We are, however, ready to flip at your command.”
“We flip in…fifty seconds.”
“Copy that. Engineering out.”
The hatch to the bridge slid open and Olivia West walked in, accompanied by the ship’s doctor, Commander Emmett Dishmon.
“Am I in time?” she asked.
“Barely,” he said with a nod. “Have a seat. Forty seconds to flip.”
The new arrivals secured themselves at the observation consoles just in time.
“Flipping the ship,” Hall said.
Moments later, the familiar twisting tore at his guts. It lasted only an instant, but still made him grimace.
The view from the main screen had changed. Instead of a star field, everything was a haze. The radiation and stellar matter thrown off in the titanic explosion that collapsed this system’s sun into a black hole had flooded the outer system with this crap. It only cleared up once one reached the inner system.
“Brazil reports a good flip,” Dieter said. “They’re ready to proceed.”
“Set course for the inner system and take us in,” he ordered.
He turned to face Olivia. “How was your first flip?”
She stuck out her tongue sourly. “I’m glad I took Doctor Dishmon up on the shot. I can’t believe you do that all the time.”
“Fleet implants make it more tolerable. The civilian modules you have might not be up to the task. Trust me, before we had any implants at all, this was a real pain in the ass. First timers usually lost their lunches.”
Her face took on a look of revulsion. “Heaven protect me from that. How humiliating.”
“It was like a rite of passage,” he mused. “We’ll have to come up with new ones now.”
“You know that’s hazing, right? Can you do that?”
“Within certain limits, a little. You should hear what the fighter pilots do to their new recruits.” He shuddered theatrically. “Trust me. This is nothing.”
Doctor Dishmon was rubbing his chin. “I think I have everything on hand to update most of her implant components to Fleet standards. Maybe all of them. If not, I can get the missing equipment before we depart Harrison’s World. Would you like an upgrade, Coordinator?”
“I’d never considered it before,” Olivia said. “Should I?”
“The nanite package is worth it all on its own,” Sean said. “I say you should do it. After all, you’re normally so busy that you couldn’t block out the time. Why waste the opportunity?”
She considered that for a long moment and then nodded. “Then I will. What does the procedure entail?”
“I’d go in and swap out the implant processors, but the cranial wiring is the same for both Fleet and civilian,” Dishmon said. “You’d get some upgrades in processing capability and only half a day of light duty to make sure everything is calibrated.
“During that time, the new nanites will propagate. Once I insert the new population, they’ll override the civilian units and take over. That means I need to swap out the nanite fabricator, but that’s hardly worth mentioning.
“It would be different if you were getting Raider implants. Not that we could do them, mind you. Those would keep you down for a while and take multiple sessions over six weeks.”
He saw Olivia shudder. Knowing what he did of how the heir had gotten her implants, he understood.
“No,” she said. “I think Fleet level implants are quite enough, thank you. Perhaps we can get them done now? Then I’ll be fully back to normal by the time we get home. I’ll have a last flurry of things to take care of before we head into the Empire. Excuse me, the Rebel Empire.”
Dishmon glanced at Sean, so he nodded his approval.
“Absolutely,” the doctor said as he stood. “We can start right now. Commodore.”
She stepped over and kissed Sean. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
/> It amused him how the bridge crew were studiously working on their consoles after Olivia left. The woman really knew how to push his boundaries. He wasn’t the kind of man that appreciated public displays of affection, so she’d made absolutely certain everyone now knew they were an item.
Well, that would be obvious as soon as they started visiting one another at night. A destroyer was a small community. Far too small for secrets like that.
Knowing her, she also wanted to get the word out back on Harrison’s World. Olivia West did nothing by accident. Everything was always planned and considered.
Sean smiled. He’d have to take the chance to turn the tables on her with some surprising behavior. Fair was fair.
“Yes,” he said dryly. “Coordinator West and I are seeing one another. Carry on.”
“We’re not the ones carrying on. Sir.” Evan said in a sotto voice.
Everyone laughed, including Sean. “Touché. Now, how about we get this ship on the move. I’d like to get things wrapped up before the admiral gets to Harrison’s World. Make it happen, people.”
4
Olivia thought the procedure to update her implant hardware to Fleet standards took very little time and seemed to be a simple process.
At first glance, everything felt the same. She supposed that the differences in performance speed and capability were more subtle than she’d imagined. So long as they made the flips more tolerable, she could live with that.
Doctor Dishmon ran a set of diagnostics on her after the procedure. “Everything looks good. Remember to take it easy for the next twelve hours. Your new nanites are settling in, but I’d like to get them established before you need them.”
“I’m not seeing much difference between them and the ones I had before,” she said as she sat up. “Am I missing something?”
“The Fleet version has significantly more redundancy and will perform better when you have a lot going on. In general use, both are fast. I’d wager you see the difference after you really get to put them through their paces.”
She nodded. “That sounds good. I suppose I should let you get back to business.”
He laughed and gestured at the mostly empty medical center. “I don’t have a lot of customers right now, but that’s how I like it. I’m sure I can find some paperwork to handle. Fleet loves paperwork.”
Olivia started to make a joke about the nonexistent paperless society, but an incoming call preempted her attention. It was Sean.
“We have a situation developing,” he said tersely when she accepted the call. “Can you meet me at the docking level?”
“I’m on my way,” she said, waving to the doctor as she strode into the corridor. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure. Admiral Mertz is already here and is meeting Crown Princess Elise on her ship at Omega.”
That sounded innocuous. “They’re married. I think he’s safe enough.”
“Then why did they make sure he brought all his guards with him? All of them.”
“You’re right, that does sound odd. Why don’t you ask him?”
“I did. He’s heading over via cutter and has no idea. I tried to get the details out of the Pentagaran commander, but he said it was best not to say. I think we need to head over and see for ourselves.”
Olivia stepped into a lift and it whisked her down to the docking level. “Did you tell Admiral Mertz you were coming? Is he concerned? Might there be something wrong with the princess? What if we need a medical team?”
“Commander Parker told me no one was injured, but to have a medical team on standby. Nothing urgent, but it sounds damned odd.”
The lift opened and she stepped out to find Sean waiting for her. Together, they headed for the nearest cutter.
“They’re being very mysterious,” she said as they entered the cutter.
An ensign was waiting to see them strapped in. He gave Sean a nod and headed for the cockpit. Moments later, the cutter detached from Athena.
“We should arrive a few minutes after the admiral, but I asked him to wait for us,” Sean said. “This makes me nervous.”
They spent the next few minutes pondering what could be going on, but arrived at the Pentagaran ship as clueless as when they started.
“Admiral Mertz’s cutter is undocking to make room for us,” he said. “We’ll find out pretty quick, I suppose.”
The docking seemed to take forever, but they were actually standing in just a few minutes. When the lock opened, she found Admiral Mertz on the other side. He had his guards with him. Dozens of them.
“Don’t you think this is overkill?” she asked as she stepped out.
“Coordinator,” he said with a nod. “I suppose so, but Commander Parker said Elise had instructed him to tell me to bring them all. I’m not sure what’s wrong.”
The lift doors opened and Commander Parker stepped out. “My timing is good. Welcome aboard, Highness, Coordinator. I’m sorry to have been as mysterious as I’ve been, but Her Highness was very specific that I not say what the situation is.”
“Are we in danger?” Jared asked.
The man shrugged. “I’m not precisely sure I’d call this situation immediately dangerous, though it might have elements that I haven’t grasped yet. If you’ll accompany me to the main deck, I’ll give you a rundown of the basic elements I know.”
“Why isn’t Elise here?” Olivia asked. “Is she okay?”
“I saw her not ten minutes ago, Coordinator. She is fine.”
Jared turned to his guards. “Follow me up.”
“I think not,” a man in New Terran Empire Imperial Whites said. “We send a team up first and I go with you.”
“Is all this really necessary?” Sean asked Parker.
“I believe so, Commodore,” the other man said gravely. “Basically, we arrived here a few hours ago and Omega summoned Princess Elise. She didn’t come back alone. It seems we have a visitor.”
Olivia frowned. “A visitor? From Omega?”
Jared’s face showed he’d grasped the situation. “From another universe. Oh, crap.”
The lift returned from taking the first set of guards up. Parker, Jared, the guard commander, and she went into the lift with a few more guards. The trip up took only a few moments. They rejoined the other guards.
“I see you’ve grasped the basic situation,” Parker said. “Her Highness is waiting in our wardroom with our guest. She is concerned that this meeting might go…badly.”
“Who is it?” Jared demanded.
The hatch slid aside and Olivia looked inside the room. What she saw sent a cold chill through her. Crown Princess Elise of Pentagar waited inside, with a very familiar figure beside her.
The short woman in black armor had her helmet off and Olivia recognized Princess Kelsey Bandar. Only, this woman was not their Kelsey. This woman had a deep scar on the left side of her face and some kind of artificial eye under a metal plate.
What Olivia could see of the woman’s natural face didn’t hold the cheerful expression she would’ve expected. No, this woman glared at them all with a look of mixed anger and revulsion.
“Just my luck,” the new Kelsey said in a low growl. “The Bastard.”
Jared stood there in shock for a long moment before he roused himself. “Kelsey. I suspected we’d get visitors from other realities, but I hadn’t considered you might be the first.”
She visibly tensed. “Don’t be familiar, Mertz. You don’t get to use my first name. Only my friends do. I am your crown princess.”
The sense that he was caught in some strange nightmare washed over him. He opened his mouth to tell her that wasn’t how it was, but stopped himself. This might have been how they’d turned out if things had gone differently.
Obviously, it was exactly how they’d turned out in her universe. He’d best keep in mind that this was not his sister. This was Crown Princess Kelsey Bandar, a woman who obviously loathed him.
“Forgive me, Highness,” he said with a small
bow. “I will of course respect your wishes. Might we come in?”
The woman glared at him a moment longer before stepping back.
Elise stood there, a stricken look in her eyes. One she masked almost as soon as he’d seen it.
He wanted to take his wife into a hug, but he needed to keep his eyes on the unpredictable threat in the room. This Kelsey obviously hated him and, based on her armor, had Marine Raider implants. She could kill him anytime she chose.
Interestingly, she showed no sign of recognizing Olivia West. Yet, unless things were very different in the other universe, she’d come through Harrison’s World to get to the Nova system.
He started to step into the compartment, but his guards moved in first. By some unspoken cue, the Imperial Guards moved to the side of the compartment that Kelsey stood on and the marines backed him up. Their hands were close to their weapons and the tenseness in the air went up.
“Stand down,” Kelsey told the guards in white. “Call off your dogs, Mertz.”
Jared made a gesture and they all relaxed just a hair. Interestingly, she only seemed to associate the marines with him. He decided not to correct her misapprehension and communicated his intent over his implants to the guards.
Keep things low key. She’d not associating the Imperial Guard with me, so let’s keep it that way for now.
Colonel Branson looked unconvinced, but nodded almost imperceptibly. His implant response was very direct, however.
We’ll play it your way, Highness, but she’s not our princess. If she makes a move on you, we’ll come down on her.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. He stepped cautiously into the wardroom and gestured to his companions.
“You’ve already met Elise. This is Commodore Sean Meyer and Coordinator Olivia West.”
Kelsey’s natural eye narrowed again. “Mind your manners, Bastard. That’s Crown Princess Elise to the likes of you.”
The absurdity was almost too much, but this wasn’t the time or place to educate her.
“Of course. Forgive me, Highness,” he said to Elise.
Anger flashed in her eyes, but also horror and sadness. His wife visibly swallowed and nodded. “Of course, Admiral. Shall we all sit? This might take a while.”