The Prodigal Emperor (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 3)

by Kal Spriggs

  Lucius stood straight, “This is Baron Lucius Giovanni, out.” He cut the transmission and stepped back. He hoped that had been enough.

  “Sir,” an Ensign said from near the sensor display. “I'm detecting targeting sensors from the Saladin.” His nametag read Miller and he vaguely recognized the officer from when Lucius had commanded the Peregrine at the Battle of Melcer.

  Lucius looked over. Sure enough, the Crusader class ship's sensors had gone active and Lucius could recognize the signs of weapons powering up. It was equally clear that the enemy didn't have full control of the ship, however. Senior Captain Ngo has hostage several thousand innocent crew against retaliation, Lucius thought. “Rory, can we power up the defenses?”

  “What?” Rory asked. “Yes, I suppose. I mean, I don't see any reason why not.”

  “How?” Lucius asked as he moved over to what he thought was the defenses console. In truth, he guessed that all the consoles were reconfigurable, but this one, at least, had some controls he recognized as jamming.

  “Uh...” Rory said. “I'm not certain we should do this, just now. I mean, this control module is only barely functioning and maybe we should evacuate?”

  Lucius looked over to where his sister still lay comatose. “Our shuttle pilot is still down from whatever that alarm was, so unless you feel like flying a shuttle through interceptor fire...”

  “No, no,” Rory said quickly, “I think we had better work on defenses. Feliks!” Rory called imperiously, “Come take over here, I need to get to the bridge.”

  “Of course,” Feliks said over the net. “Don't ask me to activate the defenses...”

  “Feliks, we both know perfectly well that you could activate the defenses,” Rory puffed as he hurried down the corridor, hopefully on his way to the bridge. “But I could do it better than you.”

  Lucius ignored the muttered imprecations from Feliks as he brought up a diagnostics and then slowly began to feed power to the systems. He had almost finished as Rory hurried onto the bridge. “What are you doing?” He demanded.

  “Just getting things online,” Lucius said as he monitored the power flow carefully. Just a bit more, he thought as he tweaked the throughput a bit more.

  “Don't be absurd!” Rory said, “This is a very complicated alien system that you know almost nothing about. To make things even more complex, we are docked with a space station. You would have to angle the ship's shields to either avoid or encompass...”

  Rory trailed off as the defense console's display shifted. A moment later, it showed a rapidly expanding bubble that encompassed the ship and station.

  “...and as I was saying,” Rory said, “Clearly, I made the entire control system easy to understand and figure out so that you wouldn't be entirely dependent upon me.”

  “Right,” Lucius said with a smirk. In truth, he had relied heavily upon the intuitive nature of the controls, but he thought the arrogant engineer could use a little bit of an upset. Lucius looked around the bridge, “We have defenses, sensors, and communications all online, what about engines and weapons?”

  “You know, you're asking for an awful lot,” Rory ran a hand through his thinning hair and his plump face looked strained. “We haven't tested any of these systems. The power system is barely holding, half of the conduits are untested and the other half are still damaged. We're working with technology that we barely comprehend–”

  “Enemy weapons are coming online!” Ensign Miller said.

  “Now is the perfect time for a live test!” Rory all but shouted. He rushed over to another console. “I'll bring the engines online. The main weapons are over there,” he waved generally at another console.

  Lucius nodded at another officer who came over to take his place. On his way to the weapon's console, he helped Alanis to her feet, “You okay?”

  She shook her head, “I have a throbbing headache. What was that?”

  “Some kind of psychic alarm system,” Lucius said as he helped her to a seat and then moved to join the officer at the weapons console. The weapons display showed power available to the primary and secondary weapons systems. Lucius nodded at Lieutenant Shaw, “Bring those online, let me know when you're ready to fire.”

  He looked over at Ensign Miller, “You know the layout of the Saladin?”

  “Yes, sir,” the officer said.

  “Get on those sensors, get me the tightest target you can for her command section.” It was deeply buried, Lucius knew, and heavily armored against such a shot. Yet the big ship was an unmoving target, her defense screens were offline, and the jamming was completely focused on communications rather than targeting. Given the demonstrated power of the Balor weapons, the shot might be possible. Taking out the Saladin's command bridge would put them out of the fight. It might take the fight out of the cabal as well and convince those who hadn't yet decided to pick the right side.

  Ensign Miller gave him a nervous nod and Lucius moved over to where Rory had brought the engines online. “We're still attached to the station,” Rory said. “We don't have much of an airlock in place...”

  “Saladin's weapons power levels spiking,” Ensign Miller said. “They're about to fire!”

  “Engines online!” Rory shouted. “Feliks, close the airlock!”

  There was a distant chuff, cut off a moment later as they broke away from the station. Lucius brought up visual and saw a trail of debris spew from the station as it spun. Rory winced, “That was my stuff...”

  He trailed off as the Saladin fired. At this distance, Lucius could see the ionized gas of the directed fusion beam. The platform didn't explode, it turned into a cloud of ionized metallic gasses that spread in a huge, multicolored cloud that slammed the destroyer hard enough to send it into a spin. Lucius stumbled back and his grasping fingers barely caught the edge of his console as the ship spun madly. This is getting a little out of hand, he thought.

  ***

  “Admiral Balventia,” a gruff voice spoke from the display.

  “Ah,” Valens smiled politely, “to what do I owe the pleasure, Admiral Dreyfus.” He didn't bother to hide his pleasure at the frazzled look to the other man's face. While he couldn't say he was fond of Lucius Giovanni, he could admit to some relief to the man's survival.

  That relief was matched by a bit of glee to see how he had upset the man who conspired to hold the Emperor hostage to Valens' good behavior.

  “I'm afraid that I can no longer afford to have you sit this out,” Admiral Dreyfus said. “I need you to move your fleet forward, engage the Balor destroyer, and launch your Marines to support my people.”

  “What?” Valens asked. On the one hand, the fact that Admiral Dreyfus needed the Nova Roma ships to engage Giovanni's vessel suggested that the Admiral had lost control of his ships and the demand to send his Marines to support them only emphasized that.

  On the other, clearly, he knew that Valens had prepared his Marines to launch or else he wouldn't have requested it.

  “Launch your Marines,” Admiral Dreyfus said. “I've uploaded target coordinates and priorities. Please don't force me to be so crass as to state what I can do to your Emperor if you refuse my orders. We still maintain a company in position.”

  Valens saw the Saladin fire at the destroyer, a near miss that still knocked the tiny vessel about. Yet the fact that he had missed at such close range told Valens that even aboard the one ship he trusted to fight, the Admiral didn't have everything his way.

  Admiral Dreyfus leaned close, “Valens Balventia, this is your opportunity, you realize this, don't you?” His voice was low and intent, “You can prove yourself the better man, purge the stain upon your family placed there by the Giovanni family. I've been informed that not only is Lucius aboard that ship, but so is his sister. Two birds with one stone and then you would be positioned as not only the Emperor's protector... but also his only heir.”

  Valens met the Admiral's gaze. The offer would be insulting, but for the man who made it. Admiral Dreyfus was a hero to Nova
Roma. He had defended the system from the Wrethe Incursion. He had won numerous battles against the Provisional Colonial Republic Army, back when Nova Roma had supported Amalgamated Worlds. He had exterminated the Tersal Pirate clans.

  If Valens had his support, he could return to Nova Roma not only as a hero, but as their new Emperor, acclaimed not only for his successes but also by a hero of legend.

  All he needed to do was to reach out and exterminate his rival.

  Valens gave Admiral Dreyfus a nod. “Understood.” He brought up the generic combat orders for his combat shuttles and quickly adjusted their priorities, before he authorized them... in the name of the Emperor.

  “Orders to all Fleet Elements,” Valens said, his voice cold. Despite the risks he took, he felt remarkably calm. Treason, it seemed, was easier than he had ever imagined. “Advance and prepare to receive targeting orders.”

  ***

  “They're going to kill us!” Rory shouted. Despite the obvious panic in his voice, he still worked frantically at his console.

  “They're the enemy, that's what they do. Luckily, their aim was a bit off,” Lucius said. “and they are not engaging with more than one of the weapons,” he brought up a closer image of the turret that had fired. “I'd guess they only have control of the one turret and probably only the manpower to operate one of the weapons.”

  He worked on his console for a moment, “Alanis, take the helm, I've plotted an evasive course that takes us out of their firing arc.” The bulk of the Saladin should protect them from additional fire at close range... so long as the conspirators didn't get other turrets online. “Shawn?” Lucius asked.

  Ensign Miller looked up. “I think I've got a shot lined up, sir,” he said. “There's a lot of armor on the underside, so I plotted it through the side. It's a longer distance through the ship, but the shot goes through the aft hangar decks and should actually cause less damage.”

  Lucius frowned, “What about any antimatter warheads in storage?” The hangar deck would have storage bays for the fighters and if Lucius remembered right, they would have ready munitions aboard those same fighters. Unlike conventional fusion warheads, antimatter ones had a tendency to detonate when damaged.

  A chain reaction of antimatter warheads would rip the Saladin apart, killing the entire crew along with the handful of conspirators.

  “I've angled it through the aft hangar bay because it's the shuttle bay and we should be clear, sir,” Ensign Miller said. “It's either that or we risk hitting one of the reactors on the bottom.”

  Lucius gave the Ensign a nod, “Very well.” He hoped that Shawn Miller was right. He wished that he had a good engineer who knew those ships. Rory was focused entirely on his work on another panel, “What's our weapons status?” Lucius asked.

  “Primary weapons are online,” Lieutenant Shaw said. “I'm getting some kind of error message with the secondary weapons.”

  “Don't fire the secondary weapons,” Rory said. “The power conduits for those are still iffy, you might well vaporize half the ship if you try to fire them. The primary weapon should be fully operational, I'd give it a ninety-five–”

  “Seventy,” Feliks interjected.

  “Ninety-nine percent chance of fully functioning,” Rory snapped

  Lucius laid the target on his display and adjusted the evasion vector he'd given Alanis. “Ideal shot in twenty seconds,” he said. He took a moment to marvel at the light ship's acceleration and maneuverability. They had closed three quarters of the distance between them and the Saladin in under a minute, even while conducting extreme evasive maneuvers.

  Even as he thought that, the Saladin fired again, this time the directed fusion explosion passed close enough to flare against the destroyer's shields. Lucius winced as he saw the energy output, yet the shields held. On his visual sensors he could see them fluoresce as they bled excess energy.

  “We can not take another near miss like that,” Rory snapped from his console. “We just had a hiccup in the control module when the shields dumped energy back into the control system.”

  “They won't have time for another shot,” Lucius said with far more confidence than he felt. They were firing an untested, possibly damaged, alien weapon at one of their own ships. The attack that would probably kill hundreds even if they made the shot perfectly. If Ensign Miller was wrong or if Lieutenant Shaw didn't get the shot just right, they might destroy the Saladin and kill thousands.

  Yet, as they came up on the engagement point, Lucius didn't let any of his worry reach his voice. “Engage,” he said.

  Lieutenant Shaw fired. The destroyer's energy weapon lanced into the hangar bay doors and for a moment, Lucius thought they had missed. He saw no sudden outburst of debris or gas. He brought up visual sensors and only then, under magnification, could he see the small, precise hole drilled through the armored hatch. They were depressurized, he realized, so our shot shouldn't have done much damage there. He wasn't certain if the enemy had depressurized the bay to prevent loyalists from accessing the shuttles or if it were the other way around.

  After a moment, Lucius saw a slow stream of debris. “Damage estimate?” Lucius asked.

  “We're not being hit by targeting sensors anymore,” Ensign Miller said. “I'm not showing any of their other systems coming online, either.”

  Lucius brought up the communications controls on his console, “Attention all United Colonies Fleet vessels, this is Lucius Giovanni. As you can see, I am in possession of a fully operational Balor destroyer. I have engaged and destroyed the Saladin's command bridge and I am prepared to do the same to any vessel which does not immediately power down their systems and surrender.”

  “Sir,” Ensign Miller said, “I'm showing that the Nova Roma Fleet ships just launched combat shuttles and a fighter screen. They're also closing the range.”

  Lucius bit back a curse. It didn't take a genius to guess that Admiral Dreyfus must have offered them something. He wondered if it was Emperor Romulus IV who had accepted or if Valens had simply jumped at the opportunity to finally end their families' feud.

  “I'm picking up a broadcast from the Emperor Romulus,” Ensign Miller said.

  “Show me,” Lucius said.

  Admiral Balventia's face filled the screen. “Attention all United Colonies Fleet personnel,” he said, “I am Lord Admiral Valens Balventia of the Nova Roma Imperial Fleet. Believe me when I say to you that I take no pleasure in what I am about to say.”

  He took a long moment, almost as if he had to force himself to speak. “Admiral Dreyfus is a traitor and a coward. He has threatened the life of my Emperor, my sworn liege, to blackmail me into firing on Lucius Giovanni. Furthermore, he has offered me his support in supplanting the Emperor should I follow his orders.”

  He looked as if he had swallowed a frog. “He has insulted my honor and the honor of all those who wear a uniform. So I say to you all: those who fight Lucius Giovanni's forces will also fight my forces. Those who fight the United Colonies Marines will also fight the Emperor's Marines... and any vessel that does not power down and await boarding will face the entire might of the Nova Roma Imperial Fleet.”

  Lucius felt his jaw drop in surprise.

  “Admiral Valens Balventia, out.”

  ***

  Lucius stepped around the twin hulking figures of Nova Roma and United Colonies Marines in powered armor and through the hatch they guarded.

  The room inside showed signs of the conflict as did much of the rest of the Crusader. The smashed furniture, in a way, seemed far more dramatic and the military memorabilia that had been ripped or blasted from the walls gave Lucius a stark feeling, a symbol of sorts to the destroyed lives and betrayed trust.

  Admiral Dreyfus reclined against the far bulkhead while a corpsman worked to save his life. Colonel Prosica stood over him, carbine held at the low ready. The Marine Colonel somehow managed to direct further combat actions while watching the fallen Admiral with a hawk's eye.

  Lucius came forward unti
l he finally stopped a meter or so away. For a long moment, he struggled to find words, but his eloquence failed him. Finally, he asked, “Why?”

  Admiral Dreyfus just gave a gasping chuckle. “You know, you Giovanni's are like cockroaches. Almost impossible to exterminate.”

  Lucius blanched at the vitriol in the other man's voice. “I thought we were friends,” Lucius said as he shook his head. “My God, you were a mentor to me. For heaven's sake, I even offered you command of everything from the very beginning. There was no need for any of this!”

  Admiral Dreyfus spat phlegm and blood on the deck at Lucius's feet. “You offered it, yes, but I knew I couldn't have it. Hell, I didn't want it anyway, but I knew that no matter what happened that you would be the one to have it... unless I took it from you.” He shuddered and the corpsman gave Lucius a shake of his head as he struggled to seal the wounds enough to make the old Admiral stable for transport.

  “Do you think the people of Faraday would ever trust someone besides you to lead them, even with your assurances?” Dreyfus shook his head. “Do you think that Emperor Romulus IV would listen to me? Do you think that your homeworld would honor me?”

  “You're a legend,” Lucius said, “You're a god-damned hero, why?”

  “Because I saw the truth,” Admiral Dreyfus snarled and struggled upright. He shook off the medic's attempt to restrain him and leaned forward. His bloodshot eyes were intent. “I saw the future, Giovanni.” He all but spat the name. “My wife was a telepath, which is how John Mira convinced me to abandon Amalgamated Worlds to save the human race... he convinced her and she showed me what he had seen... but she showed me more than he realized.”

  Dreyfus sat back, his energy suddenly spent. His gaze went distant, “I've seen things, Lucius. Battles where casualties are in the millions, where victory is accounted by being able to muster any ships to fight another day. War and death on a scale that beggars the imagination.” He dropped his head, “Billions dead, Lucius... and this is the hope that John Mira and Kandergain preach about. This is their candle in the darkness. You will lead us into that future, Lucius, and damn me, I would have followed you blindly, sending men and ships to their deaths to haunt my dreams forever.”