by Kal Spriggs
“How are we doing at sensors?” Daniel asked.
“We had all sensors set to maximum sensitivity,” Lieutenant Cassat reported dully. The young officer looked exhausted. “Most of our passive sensor arrays are burned out. We're repairing and replacing what we can as fast as we can.” He gave a sigh. “We've also been reviewing the data we did get in as much detail as possible, and...” Lieutenant Cassat shrugged and then brought up the conference room display.
The Akris system appeared again. Dozens of objects flashed, highlighted by Ensign Yamahito. “Those are all ships,” Lieutenant Cassat said, his voice leached of emotion.
Daniel winced. “How many?”
“My techs confirmed thirty-seven. They identified three of them, one was a pirate vessel, the other two were missing refugee ships.” He nodded at Ensign Giovanni, “Communications picked up transmissions from several other vessels, some of them near the event horizon.”
Daniel winced at that, “Surely they're not...”
Ensign Giovanni shook her head, “I think they were all automated recordings, sir. Most of the data is badly garbled. I've transcribed what I can. There's crew rosters, pleas for help... some of it will take weeks to repair to generate readable data.”
Daniel closed his eyes as he considered that. In all likelihood, any ship in the Akris system for more than a few hours would be empty of life. Yet the thought that he and his crew had fled to safety while someone might have been praying for rescue...
“Thank you, Ensign. Let me know when you've finished transcribing the data.” Daniel opened his eyes. “Anything else?” When no one spoke, he gave a nod. “Dismissed.”
He waited as they left. A moment later, Commander Bowder spoke, “How many, do you think?”
Daniel closed his eyes again. “Thirty-seven ships that we saw. Probably dozens more in the accretion disk or on the other side or simply destroyed. Refugee ships, pirates, merchants...” He shook his head, “Thousands, maybe tens of thousands.”
Commander Bowder nodded, “That's what I thought, too. He shifted uncomfortably, “Have you thought about what I said before?”
Daniel nodded. “I have.”
“You know that if we don't send out a warning, other ships may come. The Ghornath Fleet might come through Akris... they might lose every ship.”
“Yeah, I know,” Daniel said. He looked up from the display and met his XO's gaze. “But there's something you need to know, something I haven't told anyone else yet.” He raised a data chip, “I had Rory and Feliks analyze the probability of Akris's primary star going supernova and forming a singularity and then working back the timing based on our observations of the supernova remnant. They project that Akris Prime wasn't a good candidate for it. In fact, they assured me that it was 'statistically unlikely' in the extreme. They also project that it happened around twenty years ago... roughly around the time of the fall of Ghornath Prime.”
His XO blinked at him as he thought that through. The Akris system lay on the only known route towards the Ghornath's “Sacred Stars.” Something... possibly someone... had destroyed the star to block any ships seeking the Ghornath's past at the same time as they would be mostly likely to venture there. Daniel gave a grim nod as Commander Bowder's face went pale. “So we have an unknown enemy who can intercept ansible communications and destroy star systems... do you still think we should call home and let them know where we are?”
***
“What have you learned?” Her fellow conspirator asked.
“Our Captain has a bigger stick up his ass than even I thought,” Lieutenant Krysta Busch responded with a scowl. Her handler didn't so much as smirk at her humor, he just stared at her with cold, dead eyes. Krysta glanced at the sensor indicator on her quarters, but as she had suspected when her handler arrived without the door sounding as he opened, the sensor's indicator light had gone dark. He's suborned the system, she thought. Not a big surprise given some of his access, but it did leave her feeling unsettled.
He could do anything he wanted and no one would ever know he was here, she thought and shivered. He'd told her once that he’d long since done away with a real name, that he was so embedded in his role that he actually thought of himself as the man he portrayed. Still, that didn’t change the fact that he was the sole surviving senior member of the Dreyfus Conspiracy. He'd taken the time to explain to her all the resources he could access and that would have convinced her to sign on even if his threat of silencing her permanently hadn’t.
He gave her a cold smile, a clear sign that he'd read her fear. He wanted to unsettle her... and the fact that he had even bothered to do that meant that her predicament was worse than she'd feared.
“What do you want me to do?” Krysta asked in a quiet, subdued voice. She didn't think for a second about trying to turn evidence on him. He'd know the second she went to any of the senior officers.
“Clean up this mess,” he said. He passed over a cheap datapad. “I don't care what the Ghornath are into, but it's their business. There's no point in risking our lives for theirs.”
She nodded in instant reply. Back when she'd signed up with Amalgamated Worlds Fleet, there'd been no talk about alliances with aliens. The Chxor were just some backwater aliens trapped on one world and the Ghornath were just a cultural oddity, scientifically advanced but societally primitive, they even had an Emperor!
How ironic that I now 'serve' an Emperor too, she thought with a sneer. “What do you want me to do, then?”
“Access the ansible compartment and send a distress call. Fleet will pulse our ansible with override codes and that will yield our information,” her handler said. “That should be enough, but in case it isn't, I've already programmed a bypass for the armory.”
“You want me to kill the Captain?” Krysta asked in shock. It wasn't that killing someone sat poorly with her, she just didn't think she could get access to his quarters with his Marine guards.
“No,” he admonished. “Not the Captain. If he dies, the XO takes over and this mission continues. No, you need to kill Ensign Giovanni.”
Her eyes went wide at that. Lucius Giovanni had already proven remarkably dangerous, especially in the few attempts on his life. She didn't want to think about what he'd do to her if he found out she'd killed his little sister.
“Don't worry,” he said, “as soon as you do the deed, I'll move to protect you. You aren't my only agent aboard the ship.”
Krysta nodded in response. It would look bad, her disappearing on a ship in shadow space, but from what she knew, her handler had arranged for even more impressive disappearances. He'd hidden his own survival, after all, despite everything that “Emperor” Giovanni had done to find him.
It would serve the little bitch right, Krysta thought, after she took over my department. A smile began to grow on her face. It would be so easy, after all. Just the squeeze of a trigger and then the little princess would be dying, bleeding, not even knowing why.
She took the datapad. “How much time do I have?”
“The security network comes back online in thirty minutes,” her handler said.
I'd better get moving, she thought.
***
“Oops,” Alannis said as she ran into someone in the hatch.
“My fault,” Lieutenant Perkins gave her an apologetic grin, “I saw Ensign Shan and didn't notice you coming behind.” He gave her a look, realizing that she must have just finished up here at the ship's gym. “All done, I take it?”
Was it her, or did his eyes linger a little too long on her? I'm imagining things, she thought. Not that she would have minded him looking at her a bit. He was tall, with a friendly smile and jet-black hair. His gaunt features were about as far as one could get from those of Reese, yet still oddly handsome and definitely masculine.
She realized she'd been quiet too long, “Uh, yeah, we just finished up.”
“Darn, I wouldn't mind some company,” Lieutenant Perkins said. He stepped out of her way, “have a good ni
ght, ladies.”
“So,” Ashtar Shan asked as Alannis joined her in the hallway, “he's cute.”
“Ashtar!” Alannis hissed, “He might hear you!”
“Nah, he put his earbuds in,” her friend responded as they started down the corridor.
“Well,” Alannis said, “Someone might hear.”
“So?” Ashtar asked, “I'm just commenting. It isn't like I was ogling him in his tight workout shorts.”
Alannis's face flushed, “I wasn't... was I?”
“Oh, yes, dear, you were,” Ashtar said. “Now, I can hardly blame you, coming from a more conservative culture, I rarely see that much leg on a man, but I at least had the good grace to stare at his back-side.”
“Oh, god,” Alannis said. Her hands went to her face, “Now people are going to think I'm some kind of sex-driven...”
“No,” Ashtar said, stepping forward to stand in front of Alannis. “Don't you dare start!” She shook her head, “Look, I come from a culture that is downright repressed compared to the rest of human space, and even I think you live like you took an oath of chastity.”
Alannis scowled, “That's not fair, I've been pretty busy...”
“You've gone out of your way to avoid any kind of social event, Alannis,” Ashtar said. “Even I went out more at the Academy than you did.”
“I'm a single mother,” Alannis growled.
“Who has dumped her kid off on her brother,” Ashtar scowled. “Trust me, if you were super-focused on your kid, I wouldn't be critical. But it's more like you're too scared to get yourself hurt. Look, I don't know the details about what happened with your ex-husband...”
“He betrayed me, he's worked with pirates and he murdered Lieutenant Commander Douglass,” Alannis snapped.
“...but not all men are like that. And really, sometimes it doesn't hurt to just have some fun, you know?” Ashtar finished. “Or just to admit you like window shopping. Even I do that.”
“Okay,” Alannis threw her hands in the air as they approached their quarters. “I give up, I'll admit it: I think Lieutenant Perkins is cute, okay? Are you happy now?”
“That's a start,” Ashtar said as she halted outside the hatch. “Just don't think that you have to be all prim and proper all the time. I hate to see you punishing yourself for something your former husband did, you know?”
Alannis's eyes misted up. She tried to tell herself that she wasn't punishing herself, but she couldn't force those words out. “I'll give it some thought.”
“Good,” Ashtar said as she toggled open the hatch, “and one other thing--”
The shots rang out in quick succession. Alannis saw her friend stumble back as the shadowed figure in their quarters continued to fire. The pistol clicked on an empty chamber and Alannis gave out a shout and charged.
Her attacker fumbled a new magazine in just as Alannis ran into her. Alannis grasped the pistol and twisted it, trying to get it away. In the dark and confusion she lost track of where it was and when the shots rang out and hot blood spattered her, for a second Alannis didn't know if she'd been hit or not.
Her attacker fell back, though and Alannis stared down at the dying woman. She recognized Lieutenant Busch, the woman's face pale with blood loss and pain. “It wasn't... wasn't supposed to...” Her eyes rolled up in her head and Alannis didn't spare her another thought.
“Ashtar,” Alannis spun and rushed to her friend's side, even as she pulled out her comm, “Security to officer's quarters!” she shouted into her comm, “Medical to officers’ quarters, now!”
The security team and corpsmen showed up in only a few minutes. She didn't need to see the sad look in their eyes to know that her friend was beyond saving.
***
While he had several names, Minder was the one he liked to use. Like most of his kind, he drew his name from his assigned task. Since that task was minding several races for threats, he liked to consider himself as Minder.
Most of the time, he liked his work. All of the threats he monitored were low-level and generally he only had to take small actions. A murder here or an assassination there and the threats were averted. Lately, however, his efforts had required far more effort... and garnered far greater losses than he'd prefer.
We have confirmed it, his subordinate told him, Giovanni's ship and a slave-race vessel are headed to the forbidden zone.
Minder snarled. He hated Giovanni. The human leader had become a thorn in his side. Too powerful to directly move against and too well protected to indirectly remove. If Giovanni had formed some partnership with the slave-race, then that increased their threat substantially. The two groups working together would be a serious upset to his race's plans... and that might well result in his removal.
Send warning to our scouts, he thought. He would have himself, but the Enemy's barrier proved extremely resistant. Positioned closer to the slave-race's bastion, his subordinate would be able to push a signal through the barrier. Prepare our strike force for immediate departure.
His subordinate's thoughts were wary, the strike force has taken substantial losses fighting the slave-race fleet.
We have no choice, Minder sent greater detail with the words, with the full implications that he foresaw. He let his subordinate think through to the inevitable conclusion. If their superiors removed Minder for failure, then it only followed that they'd remove his subordinates as well. Such removal would only result in termination, since their kind had little need for their agents elsewhere.
We will replace their losses soon enough, he told his subordinate, mostly to placate him. Most of the crews of their ships were sub-sentient menials. While neither of them felt good about sending them to their deaths, that didn't mean they wanted to lose more of them.
For that matter, replacing the ships wouldn't be easy. Building up their fleet in secret had been difficult, especially with the necessity to repurpose human technology for the task. Even if they lost the entire fleet, Minder knew, they would be able to recover.
I will give the order, his subordinate sent.
***
Chapter XV
UCS Constellation, Shadow Space
December 27, 2407
“It isn't your fault, Ensign,” Captain Daniel Beeson said. From the look on Ensign Giovanni's face, she wasn't hearing it.
“How is it not?” Ensign Giovanni shook her head. “That bitch was there to kill me. She got Ashtar, instead.”
Daniel Beeson shook his head, “I will repeat myself, Ensign: it isn't your fault. Lieutenant Busch pulled the trigger.”
His XO spoke up, “I might also add that she hacked our communications and armory with a cheap datapad with a hacking mod. Ship's security is still trying to figure out why she targeted you, but you didn't do it, she did.” There was an angry edge to Commander Bowder's voice, as if he were personally offended that the renegade officer had done so under his nose.
Ensign Giovanni didn't respond. Not that Daniel blamed her, she'd just seen her friend gunned down. Daniel could tell that his words weren't having the desired effect. “Ensign, you aren't the only one who's hurting. Our Marines just lost their commander.” His eyes narrowed, “In fact, haven't you been training with them?”
“Yes, sir,” Ensign Giovanni said, her voice dull. She clearly didn't see what that had to do with anything.
“Good,” Daniel said. “For now, I'm assigning you as their temporary commander. Get down to Marine country and give them some leadership.”
“Sir?” Ensign Giovanni asked in surprise. From the way her face went pale, she clearly dreaded the thought of seeing Ashtar's Marines right now.
“They're holding a wake. Go down there and join them,” Daniel said with a voice of exaggerated patience. He waited as she rose and left, her face wooden and her gait that of a woman of extreme age.
“You think that will help?” Commander Bowder asked.
“It can hardly hurt,” Daniel said. He rubbed a hand over his face, “My god, how did we miss this...
how did I miss this?” Bad enough that he'd lost Lieutenant Commander Douglass, but now one of his officers had taken a shot at the Emperor's little sister and had murdered another of his officers.
“Things happen, sir,” Commander Bowder said with a gruff voice. “I should have caught something. Security is one of my baliwicks. I just never would have suspected that Lieutenant Busch would snap like this.”
And there's no question that she snapped, Daniel thought. The same datapad Busch had used to access the ansible and the armory had page after page of hate-filled screed. Apparently Daniel's rejection of her offer had incited a breakdown in an already mentally unstable woman, who had somehow come to believe that Ensign Giovanni was at fault for all that had befallen her.
“So... are we going to turn back, sir?” Commander Bowder asked.
“Hardly,” Daniel shook his head. If anything, the death of Ensign Ashtar Shan had only galvanized him. How could he turn back and abandon this mission when
“But, sir,” Commander Bowder said in surprise, “we know that her emergency call got through. We were queried by Fleet Command and their overrides pulled all of our data. If what you said about this unknown threat is true, then they'll know our course, our location, they'll expect us. Even some of the crew might think continuing on at this point would be foolhardy.”
“We're only a few days away from the Gates of Hallidas,” Daniel said and he chose his words with care. He knew that his XO was supposed to be the voice of caution, which was why he forced himself to remain calm. Commander Bowder wanted him to examine the course of action as clinically as possible, that was his job, after all. “Even assuming these unknown enemies of ours did pick up our transmission, then they'd have to be in position to intercept us. More likely than not, they can't have the resources to simply garrison the system, especially so far from any staging area, so it's likely that we're ahead of them.”