Tanis Richards: Shore Leave - A Hard, Military, Science Fiction Adventure (Aeon 14: Origins of Destiny)
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By the time the weapon was unholstered, she’d dropped to a crouch. Just as she’d expected, the soldier on her right fired his rifle, the rounds streaking above her, striking the enemy on the left, who had stepped aside to avoid Tanis’s flung weapon.
The shooter never had time to realize he was firing at his teammate, taking six rounds from Tanis’s sidearm right under the jaw, shattering the seal on his helmet, and then the insides of his head.
Tanis rose slowly to see Admiral Kiaan and Deering hadn’t moved—though both were wide-eyed.
“Fancy,” Admiral Kiaan finally said, as the barrel of Tanis’s weapon drifted in his direction. “But you won’t shoot me. I’m just as fast as you. Deering will be dead before your round leaves the chamber.”
Tanis glanced at Admiral Deering. The woman looked nothing like she had the other night at Chez Maison. She wore a running outfit with ‘TSF’ emblazoned across the chest and down one leg. Her hair was a mess, and her face was streaked with blood and tears.
“So, not a traitor?” Tanis asked. “Because from where I’ve been these past few days, it really feels like you’re a traitor.”
Deering pursed her lips and gave her head a slight shake. “Dupe, yes. Not a traitor.”
“How touching,” Kiaan asked with a sneer. “You going to hug? Deering’s an idiot and we played her like a flute. But so long as I have her, you’re going to do exactly what I say.”
“I could just kill you both,” Tanis suggested. “Lotta shit happens in firefights.”
“Nice bluff,” Kiaan said, barking a laugh after. “You’ve got moxie, Tanis Richards. Too bad you enlisted with the TSF; I bet the Marsian Protectorate would have loved to have an officer like you. But you went and pissed away your future with the Terrans.” He uttered the last word like it was a vile curse.
“There’s no way out of this for you,” Tanis said. “What are you going to do, stand there holding her for the next two weeks while we fly out to the Disk?”
A grin split Kiaan’s lips, and he gestured at the holodisplay behind him, which switched from a view of empty space to that of a cruiser, engines braking as it came down on their position.
“I assume you know of the Arizona?” he asked.
“There’s no way you got a whole ship to turn traitor,” Tanis whispered.
“Oh, they didn’t turn traitor.” Kiaan pushed the barrel of his gun into Deering’s head. “They think they’re here to save their dear admiral.”
Tanis shook her head. “Yeah and how’s that going to play out, now that the Jones has a hole in its hull? They’re going to come over here, and their reaction to you holding a gun to the admiral’s head isn’t going to be any better than mine.”
“It’s OK, Commander Richards.” Deering’s tone was mollifying. “Just do what he says, and we’ll work something out.”
“Yeah,” Kiaan glanced at Tanis’s weapon. “We’ll start working things out with you dropping your weapon, followed by your two soldiers back there in the corridor.”
Tanis considered her options, but knew that if things came to a head, Admiral Deering stood a better than average chance of getting shot by Kiaan; the man was visibly shaking, and twice now, his trigger finger had pulled off the guard, twitching toward the small lever that would spell the end of Deering’s life.
Tanis took aim at Kiaan, noticing that her prosthetic limb was wavering slightly. Must have taken a glancing blow or something, she thought before twisting her wrist, rotating the pistol horizontally.
“Are you posturing with me?” Kiaan snarled. “I’ll do it. If I go, she goes.”
Satisfied that her weapon was no longer wavering, Tanis double-checked the electronic sights, twitched her wrist to the left—and fired her pistol.
Her aim was true, and the gun spun out of Kiaan’s hand.
A second later, Tanis was on top of the man. She drove an armored fist into his chest, then the side of his face, shattering his jaw.
He went down in a heap, and Tanis rose to her feet, looking down at Deering, who had flung herself to the side in the brief engagement.
“Are you OK, Admiral?” Tanis asked.
Deering was shaking slightly, but nodded as she pulled herself up by a console.
“I told you not to shoot,” Deering said as she stared down at Kiaan’s unconscious form.
“I did what seemed best at the time, sir,” Tanis replied. “I had to, there was too much risk that you’d be shot, otherwise.”
Deering fixed Tanis with a narrow-eyed gaze. “And what about his claim that his reflexes were as fast as yours?”
“Sir. He’s a vanilla. I’m an L2. There’s no way his reflexes come close to mine. The only reason—”
“Incoming message from the Arizona,” a voice said over the bridge’s audible systems.
“Put it on,” Admiral Deering said, turning away from Tanis.
A woman’s face appeared on the bridge’s forward holodisplay, and Tanis recognized Captain Regina of the Arizona.
“Admiral Deering, I’m glad to see you’re OK. Have the interlopers been taken care of?”
Deering nodded, glancing over her shoulder. “Yes. Things are under control, thanks to Commander Richards here. Please send over a repair crew, and a pinnace to transfer me to your ship.”
“Of course, Admiral,” Captain Regina replied, and then the connection cut out.
“Well,” Deering turned back to Tanis. “For better or worse, your part in this is over.”
“Shit,” Tanis whispered as she turned to Admiral Deering. “You’re in on it…that hostage bit was just for show!”
Deering chuckled. “Well, Kiaan was getting a bit volatile there at the end; I’m not entirely certain he wouldn’t have shot me if he thought it would save his hide. Either way, the operation you royally fucked up when you boarded the Norse Wind two weeks ago can now get back on track.”
Tanis took a step back, placing a console between herself and Admiral Deering. “Why?”
“ ‘Why’ what?” Deering asked with a sigh. “Why facilitate the re-arming of the Scattered Worlds? Because there’s a lot of money in it. They don’t like Terra, and they want to protect themselves should the Jovians cause trouble. Honestly, that’s fine by me. No Terran blood needs to be shed if those two get into a fight.”
As Deering spoke, Tanis reached down to the console and keyed in the override commands that would allow her to take back full control of her ship. But as she went to hit ‘send’, the AI’s voice again came over the 1MC.
“Now, now, Commander Richards. We can’t have you thinking you’re in control of your ship. Just sit back and wait for the repair crew. They’ll square everything away.”
“Square it away as in shoot me and my team dead?” Tanis asked.
Deering sighed. “Picked up on that, did you? Don’t get any bright ideas. You kill me, and you’re dead. I live, and I can make sure that things go well for you.”
“Like hell you will,” Tanis said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to—”
“Hey, what!—” Herman cried out, then the AI’s voice cut off.
A moment later, Lovell’s replaced it.
“Hello, Commander Richards. Sorry about that, but I couldn’t abide another AI in my place on the Jones.”
“I felt the same way,” Tanis replied as she took a menacing step toward
Admiral Deering. “Now, let’s turn that around. You’re going to confess, and then things just might be passable for you. Alternatively, things can go very badly.”
“You wouldn’t dare extort me…” Admiral Deering hissed.
“I get the feeling people do that to you quite successfully all the time,” Tanis replied. “Besides, when you confess to your crimes, it’s not extortion. By any chance, do you also think that black is white?”
Deering didn’t reply, only set her jaw and glared at Tanis.
“Lovell,” Tanis called out. “Can you reopen that connection to the Arizona?”
“Yes, Commander.”
A moment later, Captain Regina’s face reappeared. “Admiral?”
“No subrosa chat this time,” Tanis replied. “The admiral has been quite bad of late, and has been moving illegal goods to the SWSF to aid them in bolstering their military. Something that’s in direct violation of the Phobos Accords, I suspect.”
“Funny,” Captain Regina scowled. “She said something similar about you.”
“Well,” Tanis took a step toward the holo, her unflinching gaze meeting the cruiser captain’s. “Do you want to go down with Deering? Because she’s going to pay for what she’s done.”
Captain Regina’s gaze flicked to Admiral Deering, then back to meet Tanis’s eyes. “Sorry, but the day I take a patrol boat captain’s word over an admiral’s will be the last day I spend in the TSF.”
Admiral Deering laughed and shook her head at Tanis. “Nice try, Commander. Now stand down, or Captain Regina will instruct her breach teams to use maximum force in taking out your people.”
Tanis gritted her teeth, desperately trying to think of a way to convince Regina that Deering was the enemy.
“What about my word?” a new voice came into the conversation, and then a man Tanis didn’t recognize appeared in a new panel on the holodisplay.
“Admiral Pella, I thought you were with the Normandy,> Captain Regina stammered.
“I am.” The view around Pella expanded, and Tanis could see a massive bridge filled with dozens of stations in the background.
She couldn’t help but notice the man working at a console just to Admiral Pella’s left.
Harm Ellis, Tanis thought. You sneaky bastard.
“You’ll recall your assault craft, Captain Regina, and then you’ll take a pinnace to report to me in person. Your ship will receive stationkeeping orders from my nav officer.”
Tanis could see Captain Regina swallow, then duck her head. “Yes, Admiral. Immediately.”
Admiral Pella turned his attention to Tanis. “Well, Commander Richards. From what I’ve been told, you’ve had quite an exciting week—what, with uncovering an SWSF plot on Vesta, and then tracing it all the way up to Admiral Deering, here.”
“Yes, sir,” Tanis nodded. “It’s been an exciting few days.”
“And do you have evidence of Deering’s involvement?” Pella’s eyebrows were halfway up his forehead as he asked the question.
“Yes, Admiral. We have ample proof that Admiral Deering has been working with the SWSF against the best interests of the TSF.”
Pella’s gaze flicked to the left for a moment, and Tanis saw Harm nod. Then the Admiral replied, “Very good, then, Commander Richards. We’re sending your nav a route to dock with us. The Norse Wind, too. We’ll bring you back to Vesta.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Tanis replied, and the connection ended.
“It’ll never go anywhere,” Deering growled at her. “They won’t put me on trial.”
Tanis collapsed in her chair and spun her pistol on her finger. “What are you trying to do, Deering? Convince me to just kill you now?”
Admiral Deering’s face lost all color, and from the bridge’s entrance, Tanis could hear Marian laughing.
“Corporal,” Tanis said after letting out a long, tired sigh. “Can you secure the admiral? Preferably somewhere I can’t see her pathetic mug.”
“You got it, ma’am,” Marian said, a smile evident in her tone.
SITUATION NORMAL, ALL…
STELLAR DATE: 01.26.4084 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Admiral Kocsis’s Office, Fleet Division HQ
REGION: Vesta, Terran Hegemony, InnerSol
Tanis stepped out of Admiral Kocsis’s office, still a little uncertain about what had just happened.
Admiral Kocsis hadn’t addressed everything that had occurred, and a nagging fear in the back of her mind said she was still facing a dishonorable discharge. She glanced at the master sergeant sitting at the desk across the outer room, and he gestured with his eyes toward a chair.
“Admiral wants to talk to you again in a minute.”
Nodding, Tanis blew out a breath while sinking into a chair near the door.
Darla’s silvery laugh resonated through her mind, and Tanis smiled in response, realizing just how much she’d come to love having another person with her at all times. Someone to bounce ideas off, and share reactions with.
Far from being intrusive, it was more like having a best friend with you always. But AIs weren’t needy, didn’t try to make you do the things they wanted—unless one considered Darla’s fashion sense—and were really just there for you all the time.
Not like she’s a dog, Tanis thought to herself.
Darla asked.
At least, not a very nice dog….
As if on cue, the admiral’s door opened, and Higgs strode out. He glanced at Tanis and gave her the briefest of nods.
“Commander.”
Tanis nodded in response, but did not rise, as it was not required in situations like this—though it would have been respectful. “Colonel Higgs.”
He didn’t slow his rapid strides, and was out of the room a moment later. The Master Sergeant looked back up at Tanis and gestured toward the door.
“The admiral will see you now, Commander Richards.”
“Thank you,” she replied as she rose and walked back into the room to see Harm Ellis still seated in one of the chairs in front of Admiral Kocsis’s desk, while the admiral stood behind his chair, slowly shaking his head.
Tanis didn’t ask what had been said in her absence, but she would have killed—well, maybe not killed, but definitely punched Admiral Deering a few times—to find out.
She stopped just short of the chairs, and stood at attention until the admiral acknowledged her, which he did with a glance and a wave at the empty chair.
“Too much has gone on today for me to rest on formality overmuch,” he said as she sat.
“Yes, sir,” Tanis replied.
“I won’t lie, Commander Richards, I half wish we could just sweep all of this under the rug, and pretend it never happened, but we can’t
. A whole lot of shit went down during the last week, and almost none of it should have been possible.”
Tanis couldn’t help an emphatic nod. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m not just talking about what Deering and the SWSF got up to, Commander. The fact that you were able to so easily move about Vesta while wanted for a whole host of crimes—not to mention that your attackers did, too—doesn’t sit well with me. The only thing that makes me feel remotely OK about this is that you had your MICI friend, here, helping you out.”
The admiral glanced at Harm—whose face was an implacable mask, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts.
“Not that I like having MICIs running around on Vesta, making a mess, but at least they’re on our side, and their messes are usually for the best.”
A smile cracked Harm’s smooth façade, and he winked at her. “Usually.”
That one gesture caused a wave of relief to wash over Tanis, and her fear of a dishonorable discharge lessened. Though she’d still take one if it meant protecting her crew from getting black marks on their records.
She’d said as much in the first part of the meeting, while Higgs was still present, but the admiral had dismissed it. Not in such a way that Tanis thought the matter was put to rest, but more like he didn’t want to talk about it at that time.
“I have a lot of work to do to shore things up, Commander Richards,” the admiral said. “A lot of security protocols need to be reviewed, but at the same time, my bosses don’t exactly want everyone to know that the SWSF is trying to smuggle components out to build a new fleet—or that a TSF admiral was complicit in it.”
“So, in a way, Admiral, we are just sweeping it all under the rug,” Harm chimed in.
Kocsis cast his weary glance at Harm. “In a way, yes. But just because we’re not letting the public know about this, doesn’t mean that Deering is getting off free and clear. She’s going to be running a rather unpleasant station for some time, with an XO that will be on her like gravity on a star. The TSF isn’t going to just let her walk off after betraying us.”
Tanis could only imagine what that would be like for Deering. As much as she wanted the woman to suffer public shame for what she’d done—after all, Deering had tried to have her killed more than once—there were some pretty unpleasant postings out there.