"Congratulations, Admiral." Admiral Sime's face appeared in a corner of her screen. "It appears you were right."
"Thank you, Admiral." She nodded politely, accepting the compliment. "How are things aboard Dauntless?"
"We've taken damage, but it's nothing the yards can't fix." He smiled, white teeth glistening in a dark face. "With luck we should have enough time to give the rest of them a similar welcome once they show up."
"I hope so." She stretched, taking a moment to look around the flag bridge. Her people had already moved from their chairs and consoles, shaking hands and clapping each other on the back. She knew what they were thinking, they had done their job, and the other ships could handle the mopping up.
For just a moment she considered getting up to join them, taking the opportunity to be just one of the group. The moment passed, and another and she realized she wasn't going to join them. Admiral Vatriz Torrens had walked the lonely road too long. A soft sigh escaped her lips, then she turned back to the screens and the job of directing the mop up.
At least that Prince seems to be using his brains. Most junior officers would have come out of stealth the moment the battle seemed won. Her screen was echoing the sentiment, showing battle-cruisers and super-dreadnaughts harrying Enemy maulers to destruction. Vira's destruction seemed to have taken the fight out of them, which wasn't something she intended to argue with.
She clapped her hands over her ears as the alarm screamed; then cursed again as her implant carried it straight into her head, bypassing her ears. "No, not now," she muttered. It wasn't a threat receiver that had gone off. It was the collision alarm.
A great gray cratered sphere filled the screen, a planet half again the size of Earth, or Altiar. It had dropped from fourspace less than ten thousand kilometers from her fleet. Hammerbeams smashed upwards from continent-sized fortifications, and she gasped as Dauntless vanished in the first salvo.
"All ships, fire, fire, fire!" She yelled the words into her comlink and grabbed for the controls. No one had ever taken a mauler on manual, but there was no time for anything else. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her bridge crew dashing for their stations, trying to save the fleet. There wasn't going to be time. She could see that with perfect clarity. One hand grabbed the joystick, slewing the ship round to line on the planet, the other danced over the controls, setting up the planet-buster for maximum rate fire.
"You won't get me easily," she growled at the faceless Enemy. "None of you motherless bastards will ever forget Vatriz Torrens."
The planet hung their unresponsive, its weapons reaching out into the sky. Another of her maulers vanished, then there was a moment of peace, and Vatriz took a deep breath, enough air to last her the rest of her life. Imperial Protector lined up on the planet and began to fire. Buster after buster shot from her maw, and Vatriz began to feel that they would be able to do it. Other ships were firing too, and the Enemy was too slow.
*
"She's gone." Eron Makar's words echoed across the flag bridge. "Request permission to lift for Altiar."
Jhon did not answer; he just kept looking at the screen. Vatriz Torrens and her entire fleet were lost. Hundreds of thousands of people were dead. His status report showed five ships, five ships hidden in stealth. They were the only survivors of the two fleets that had clashed over a moon that was no longer present.
"Sir, I am requesting permission to lift for Altiar." The Commodore spoke again.
"Permission denied." Jhon didn't even look away from the screen. The Enemy hung there, a huge gray planet that looked like nothing so much as death. "We are not leaving here until we know there is nothing we can do for Belkrath." He turned towards the other officer, one arm out. "There are billions of people on Belkrath, and we are here to protect them. In case you have forgotten, Directive 207 still applies."
"Belkrath is only one of our planets," Makar protested. "Even if we lose here, we still have the Imperium."
"We have no way to know that." Jhon met his eyes. "Until we know differently we will presume Belkrath is the last remaining world of the human race. We are not giving up here." At that Jhon turned back to the screen, and the display that read 11:42
Chapter 19
Garlos put a communicator to his ear and listened intently. He reminded Jayne of someone, but she wasn't sure who at first, then it hit her, it was Bill. That was who Garlos reminded her of; the thought almost brought a tear to her eye, but she bit her lip. No time to get emotional.
"Admiral," the aide put the communicator down. "We have a problem. Tavrolan has moved up the meeting and is talking about a constitutional convention, something about setting up a republic."
Jayne could not resist commenting, "Good."
Garlos and Calthran both looked at her with the same expression, and she almost quailed, but put her back up instead and met their eyes. "What? I already told you I don't believe in any of this imperial nonsense. You need a republic."
Calthran's face grew very hard. "I will not debate republicanism with my monarch, save to make the following points." He raised a finger. "First, if this goes through the best you can hope for is imprisonment." He raised another finger. "Second, it is quite likely that the establishment of this republic would lead in short order to the extinction of humanity." He then raised a third finger. "Third, that is quite possibly the stupidest time to make that suggestion you could have found."
"Fine," she smiled sweetly at him. "We can have a republic later."
"None of that matters if we can't get you confirmed as regent." The old man lowered his brows and she realized how old he really was. "So let's worry about the future when it comes and fix the present so it will."
Chastened, she nodded her agreement. "Sorry about that, it's just been very difficult being the outsider here."
His gaze softened. "I understand that, I've been an outsider most of my life."
"Regardless, we can't just sit here in the car," Garlos cut in. "If you don't show up at that meeting he will be sure something's up." He glanced towards Jayne. "And I still don't know what we can do with her."
"Couldn't I be your aide?"
"I already have an aide, and they know who it is." Calthran looked like he was about to laugh. "I don't think they would be likely to confuse you for Captain Garlos. No offence intended."
"None taken," Garlos replied.
"She was the one I was trying not to offend, not you."
"Men." Jayne laughed. "Even on the far side of the galaxy you're all the same."
"So you know what we're up against." The admiral fixed her with another of those looks. "I'm sure your history is full of leaders who tried to do the right thing but did it for just the wrong reasons, and killed millions in the process."
A course she had taken on twentieth century history brought a picture to mind: Some political leader coming back from a meeting with Hitler saying "Peace in our time." Everyone knew how that turned out. Jayne nodded slowly. "I know what you mean."
"Good, then we may have a chance." The admiral looked at her appraisingly. "You have an implant, but how well do you know how to use it?"
"Use it?" Jayne stared at him blankly. "When they first put it in they told me it was to help me learn your language. Then when Jhon married me they did some sort of upgrade so it could be used as ID. I don't use it, it's just there."
"Actually, there's quite a lot you can do with one, especially an Imperial spec one such as yours." Calthran's brow furrowed. "Even if you haven't been confirmed, that should be enough to do quite a lot." He tapped the 'pad. "I have a schematic of the Star Tower, and if we put that in your implant we just might be able to get you where you need to be."
It was Jayne's turn to look thoughtful. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I can probaly get you into the Star Tower with no-one the wiser. Then you can split off and make your way down to get confirmed before the meeting ends." He smiled. "If you're willing to work with me to save the Imperium and prevent a republ
ic."
"Delay, not prevent." Jayne said firmly. "I'd support a republic in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the situation. As it is, I'm on your side." She twirled the ring she had insisted that Jhon give her. "I wouldn't have betrayed him anyway."
"Good, and it's a good thing too. Anyone who would have betrayed him wouldn't make it past confirmation. There would have been no point even trying to get you in then." Calthran rubbed his hands together. "Now, let's get things organized."
*
They got out of the car on the landing stage and into the bright sunlight. Jayne squinted hard,fighting not to sneeze. Why don't these people have sunglasses?
There were dozens of people visible, guards in shiny uniforms that she now knew were Tavrolan guard ringing the stage. Other people, often older and fatter looking people that she mentally tagged as politicians were getting out of similar vehicles and being escorted inside. It reminded her of some of those summit meetings she had protested back in college, only this time she was on the inside. She didn't have enough time to look around as Admiral Calthran led them across the stage towards a doorway flanked by guards.
"Admiral," one of the guards said as they approached. "I see you have a new aide." Jayne tried not to react as he looked her over. Maybe it was just professional paranoia.
"With a meeting this important it never hurts to have all the support you can get."
"Very well sir." The guard nodded. "You know the way."
From the look on Garlos' face Jayne was sure the Admiral more than just knew the way. At least the guards didn't appear to be paying much attention to him. Not at the moment anyway. Still if this was anything like back home no one really noticed aides anyway.
The temperature dropped suddenly as soon as they crossed the threshold, and Jayne realized how hot it had been out there on the landing stage.
There were no guards at the transport cars, which was what her implant had taught her to call elevators here. It had something to do with the fact they weren't limited to vertical movement like the ones she was used to on Earth. Stop it, she told herself this was no time for her mind to go wandering. Her body had already wandered far enough, her mind didn't need to follow its example. Jayne squared her shoulders and followed the admiral and his aide into the car.
Jayne braced her legs against the upward acceleration, then noticed the counter was showing they were already in motion. A sideways glance at the other two showed her this was normal and she tried to relax her legs without either of them noticing. What almost looked like a wink from Admiral Calthran showed her that it hadn't worked. She breathed innocently outward and looked at the wall; which picked that moment to turn into a door and open.
They came out the door and she could see a map superimposed on her vision. The symbols looked a little odd at first, but then they wavered into something that made more sense to her. The main council chamber was a good hundred yards to her left, and something was flashing just on the edge of her vision.
"Lieutenant." The admiral's voice drew Jayne's attention away from the internal display. "I seem to have brought the wrong 'pad. Can you go back to my office and get the right one?"
"Yes sir." She thought about saluting but decided against it. "I'll be right back."
Jayne turned towards the flashing light. The image her implant was feeding her showed an access corridor just another few yards down the hall, barely out of sight of the guards. The door to the corridor was barely visible, Jayne didn't think she would have noticed it without the implant's assistance. She reached for the handle, there wasn't one, and the door opened before her. Her mouth dropped open until she realized that she had pulsed the open command with her implant.
The access corridor felt different than the one she had come from. It was cooler, and ceiling walls and floor were all made out of the same dull-gray metal. Even their ships look less artificial than this. She almost echoed the thought again, but realized it wasn't really 'their' ships. They were as much hers as anyone. That thought gave her pause and she shook her head before continuing down the corridor.
The corridor ended in a drop shaft, and Jayne took a deep breath when she leaned over and took a look inside. It was a long way down and there didn't seem to be any handles. If she understood the symbols correctly she was at least a kilometer, why it kept using metric was beyond her, above where she needed to be.
Her implant kept flashing that she was to go down. She looked over the edge again, then backed up. It flashed downwards again. You go down, she thought furiously. There isn't a ladder.
Antigrav, a voice echoed in her head. Standard for all access shafts.You don't have much time.
Kneeling at the edge, she put her hand into the shaft. It didn't feel like there was anything to hold her up. This was not what she had wanted. Sure the technology was wonderful, but that was a long way down.
Someone is coming. You need to go. Now. The words were a catalyst. Jayne jumped off the edge, and slowly glided downwards. Her heart hammered in her chest like a hummingbird trying to get out. It felt like the time Joe Wilson had pushed her off the diving board before she was ready. Descent rate two meters per second, her implants helpful voice added. Eight minutes to destination level.
The hint of relaxation she had felt hearing the speed was replaced by a new anxiety. Jayne didn't care how slow she was falling, she didn't want to be doing it for almost ten minutes. Even five minutes was too long. She looked down and saw the shaft disappear at the limits of her vision. Gulping she closed her eyes and tried to stare straight ahead. It didn't work. Slow or fast she was still falling.
Jayne opened her eyes to see the shaft wall whizzing past much more quickly than the earlier two meters per second. She drew in breath to scream, and noticed it was slowing down. Tricky little bugger. The implant was obviously adjusting the speed, faster when her eyes were closed, slower when they were open. She let her breath out deliberately, without screaming, then closed her eyes again. I'll open them on ten; one two three...
You may open your eyes. You have arrived. She opened her eyes obediently, not sure how soon she would get used to the more talkative version of the implant. There was an opening in the shaft, and she reached out and pulled herself into another gray metal corridor.
This one only went a short distance before making a sudden turn to the right. Jayne stopped right before the corner, then eased her head around, but there was no one there. Her map showed she had another hundred meters, yards to go before she got back into the main corridors and the short walk to the Confirmation Chamber. This is easier than I thought. I wonder why the admiral was so worried.
Jayne reached the end of the access corridor and found out. The door was transparent from this side, and she could see a squad of guards in that now familiar uniform walking past in complete silence. Their mouths were moving, and she saw one turn to address another, but she couldn't hear a thing. Up against the doorway, she discovered it was like an LCD monitor on a computer, she could see quite well straight ahead, but the image wasn't good when she tried to look in the direction they had come from. Jayne could only see about half as far as she would have thought.
She waited two or three minutes, looking both directions as far as she could see then slipped out through the door. Her implant highlighted the path and once again she squared her shoulders and started off. She was in uniform, even if it wasn't hers, and there was no reason for her to be skulking around if she belonged here. So, arms swinging she walked down the corridor.
After all that, the rest of the trip felt uneventful. Jayne simply walked down the corridor, turned left, then walked to where the corridor ended in a large door embossed with the eight-pointed star of the imperial seal. A hand shaped imprint beside the opening glowed softly.
*
"Good." Tavrolan looked straight at Adric as the admiral walked in. "Now that we're all here, we can get started." He gestured towards the one empty seat at the council table.
Adric watched the room from the corner of hi
s eye as he made his way to his seat. Everyone was there all the Sector Governors in their usual places, with their aides seated against the walls. What was different was the number of armed guards in the chamber. It had been normal for one or two to accompany the Emperor in the old days, more for symbolic reasons than anything, but this looked like a whole platoon. Two dozen troops in battle dress with hammerbeams at the ready looked utterly out of place. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as he took his seat.
He turned to Terenc Hewl beside him. "Any idea what this is about? I thought we weren't meeting for another ten days."
The other man shook his head. "I don't know. This seems to be somethng new."
"Members of the Council." Tavrolan's rolling voice interrupted whatever Hewl might have been about to say, and Adric turned back towards the head of the table. "It has come to my attention that the Imperium is in the midst of a crisis which will require our every effort to avert."
Adric stared at the politician. Could he finally have looked at the evidence? Had he come to his senses?
"I am speaking of a Tarith plot to overthrow our lawfully constituted government, and put a puppet on the throne under the guise of restoring the Imperial System." He lowered his eyes in a way that made Adric want to look for the camera. "Even as we speak a Tarith agent is infiltrating the Star Tower, aided and abetted by members of this very council."
Adric made to rise, to protest, but was held in place by strong hands on his shoulders. A glance told him they belonged to two of the soldiers in the chamber.
"I know it's hard to believe," Tavrolan added, pointing towards an image which appeared above the table, "but just watch the following and you will understand.
"It first came to our attention when a Fleet destroyer arrived in Altiar space and the officer in command reported to Admiral Calthran, rather than the naval or Sector Guard authorities. This seemed unusual, but the Imperial Guard has been known to use smaller Fleet vessels as couriers, so it's understandable and certainly possible."
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