by Kal Spriggs
“Mister King has struck a bargain with me,” Thomas Kaid said. “An offer that I couldn't pass up... even if it wasn't what I'd originally asked of him.” He took a seat, “Now that we are present, I think it best for you to explain.”
Tommy King took a seat himself, feet crossed and lounging back in a relaxed pose, yet there was nothing relaxed about his eyes. They were the fierce, hungry eyes of a predator... one which barely clung to anything resembling civility. “Admiral Collae and your father,” he nodded at Garret, “tried to use me to get close enough to Mannetti to kill her and thus prevent her superior from seizing Halcyon and taking it themselves.” He pointed at Garret’s brother and sister-in-law, “It seems that your brother and Councilor Penwaithe hoped to use Collae and Mannetti against each other to prevent one or another from taking over.” He gave a little shrug, “Admiral Mannetti is working for persons unknown, with the goal of seizing Halcyon.”
“But why?” Garret asked. The planet was his home, but he knew his father wasn't sentimental about it in the slightest. His wealth lay mostly off-world, anyway, tied into various schemes and enterprises. “Some alien tech shouldn't be that valuable.”
“No, but an entire fleet of alien warships is,” Tommy King said, his voice cold. “These two, along with the late President Monaghan thought they could play the various groups against each other and somehow come out on top. That is, until everything came apart.”
“It wouldn't have if you hadn't betrayed us to Mannetti!” Jessica snapped. “With the disaster suffered at the Anvil system, Pierce pulled out and...” she trailed off as she realized that Commodore Pierce stood there and that he hadn't abandoned them... yet he also hadn't stayed at Halcyon.
“Admiral Mannetti had a force in the Anvil System to ambush you,” Commodore Pierce said to Garret. “Thanks to Thomas Kaid, we were able to destroy that force before you arrived. But we knew if the War Dogs remained at Halcyon, Mannetti would escalate until she moved openly. We wanted her to be fat and happy until we could move against her. More than that, we found out later that Admiral Collae already knew about it, so did your father, Spencer, though I hadn't thought he would be that callous about his own flesh and blood.”
“More than you know,” Harris said softly. As everyone's gazes turned to him, he seemed to shrink on himself. “You all may have noticed that Garret and I both very closely resemble our father. What isn't common knowledge is that our 'mother' was merely the surrogate. Garret and I are both clones.”
Garret winced at that. It wasn't something he was proud of. Cloning was legal in most systems, as was reproduction through that method, but it was generally seen as narcissism of the worst sort. It was, in fact, part of why their father had originally rejected Garret’s relationship with Jessica.
Commodore Pierce looked troubled, “That explains his willingness to sacrifice either or both of you, I suppose.” He cleared his throat, “What it doesn't explain is how it was that he is the one pulling the strings on Admiral Collae... and not the other way around.”
“That I have no idea,” Garret said. “I knew he had off world contacts, but not to that extent.”
Harris looked down, “Before I broke away from him politically, he had me sit in on a few odd meetings with enior representatives from a number of systems, both in the Colonial Republic and the Centauri Confederation. It might have something to do with that.”
“Spencer Penwaithe is involved at very senior levels of the Colonial Republic,” Thomas Kaid said after a long moment. “I am not the least bit surprised to hear the Admiral Collae works for him, directly or indirectly.”
“How exactly do you know that?” Garret asked.
Thomas Kaid gave him a level look. “I'm an information broker. I know a little bit of everything, the more secretive, the juicier, and the more valuable it is for me to know.” He gave a shrug, “Besides that, Spencer Penwaithe was the brains behind the Centauri Treaty, which created the Colonial Republic and divided the Amalgamated Worlds.”
“What?” Garret demanded. That made little sense. If it was true, then why would his father, who seemed to crave power and benefits, live in relative seclusion on Halcyon?
“He helped me to found the Provisional Colonial Republic Army,” Thomas Kaid said as he sipped at his wine. “As I focused on the conduct of the war, he became entrenched in the politics and economics of it. He was the main money man for the entire movement at one point and he used the political power from that to forge quite an alliance. He easily won over enough support to have several other prominent leaders of the revolution sold out to Amalgamated Worlds in order to gain political power and a strong hold over what became the Colonial Republic.” His smile was tight, “It is fortunate, I suppose, that you are estranged from him. Otherwise, I might have you two killed to hurt him.” His eyes were cold, dead, the eyes of a shark as he casually contemplated Garret's murder.
“Now we know his connection to Collae,” Tommy King said. “Of course, right now he's something of an ally. After my cover was blown on Halcyon, I managed to convince Admiral Collae to help me slip off world with his forces as they withdrew.”
“Collae withdrew?” Garret asked in surprise. “Without a fight?”
“I traded him data that told him how worthless the prize was, so he and his forces pulled out. I gather that Spencer Penwaithe evacuated as soon as the word got out that Admiral Mannetti was still alive,” Tommy King said. “I took a datapad that had information about the ships, they're not operational and they may never be... Admiral Mannetti hasn't been able to activate them.”
“Wait, the fleet is worthless?” Garret asked and he turned angry eyes on Harris, “Damn you! You put our entire world at risk for a fleet of ships that no one can use?”
Harris held up hands in protest, “We didn't know. Hell, we didn't know what we had found, not until Admiral Mannetti was already there. She brought scientists, engineers, technicians, support we couldn't have got from anyone else...” Harris trailed off at Garret's furious expression.
“We did our best,” Jessica said, her voice entreating. “If not for Admiral Mannetti, then it would have been Nova Corp, and our world would still be part of the Colonial Republic.”
“How is that working out for you?” Garret asked angrily. Yet the hurt in her face showed he had gone too far. They had lost everything. He didn't even know if they'd managed to slip out with their sons or if they had to leave them behind. At least they were there, he thought, I spent the last ten years doing everything I could to stay away.
“In any case,” Tommy King said, “Admiral Mannetti has the planet. She doesn't have the fleet online, but she does have a large force of her own and many privateers and pirates have signed on with her. She's brought in her Helot-class carrier and a number of other ships. It's a fight that the War Dogs cannot win, not on their own.”
“What do you propose?” Garret asked with narrow eyes. Tommy King, while something of a folk hero for his victories against a number of totalitarian system governments, was still every bit as much a pirate as Admiral Mannetti.
“You need allies,” Tommy King said as he looked around the room. “You need a fleet that is capable of taking on Admiral Mannetti, one which won't need to be bribed or bought to do so. More than that, once word gets out what you have there on Halcyon, you'll need a fleet to defend it. You will want men and women who fight for a cause rather than money.”
Garret nodded, but he couldn't think of a nation that would support them. The Colonial Republic was rampant with corruption and cronyism. The Centauri Confederation was rife with civil war and police states. Nova Roma was fallen and even at their height they had betrayed far too many allies for there to be any security in an alliance or partnership with them.
“You are suggesting the United Colonies, then?” Commodore Pierce asked.
Tommy King nodded, “Baron Giovanni is a tough, capable leader. More than that, he'll deal with you fair, whether you ask for an alliance or membership.” He shrugged, “I've no do
g in the fight, but I would suggest annexation and membership. I almost guarantee there will be a dozen or more systems as members within another year and getting in early means you'll have more control over how everything is shaped later on.”
“But we attacked them,” Jessica said, her voice quiet.
Tommy King shrugged, “Tell them the truth, that it was Admiral Mannetti's idea and that she betrayed you too. You have that in common, after all.”
“Fine, so we go to this Baron Giovanni, then what?” Harris said. “What if he can't or won't help?”
“You'll have the War Dogs,” Commodore Pierce said.
“More than that,” Tommy King said, “You'll have my fleet.”
Garret cocked an eyebrow at that, “You haven't been pirating for what, at least a decade? What kind of fleet can you muster?”
Tommy King looked over at Thomas Kaid, “Lauren told me that you agreed to my earlier offer?”
Thomas Kaid gave a slight smile, “I did. I put out your message and your people have been arriving over the past few months. It's been quite entertaining keeping their arrivals hidden and their training secret, especially with so many of Admiral Mannetti's people moving through the system.”
“Good,” Tommy King said. “If they've trained up already then it will save us some time. I've a score to settle with Lucretta Mannetti. I'd hate to keep her waiting longer than necessary.” His smile was polite and urbane, yet the look in his eyes was enough to make Garret shiver.
“Lady and Gentlemen,” Commodore Pierce said, “Down with Admiral Mannetti!”
Thomas Kaid raised his glass of wine, “I believe I can drink to that.”
***
Nova Roma
Chxor Empire
April 4, 2404
Armand grimaced as he looked at the clock one last time. Jacobo was well overdue. Marco had covered for his absence, no doubt thinking that his henchman had found some woman to screw or something equally asinine. It had taken three hours before Marco admitted that he didn't know Jacobo's location.
Armand figured that the Chxor had him. Either Marco's depredations had caused the locals to turn him in or the idiot had slipped up. Either way, Armand figured that it was time to go.
“Start packing up,” he said.
“Boss,” Marco said, “We can't leave, without Jacobo he doesn't know the location of our fallback site.”
“Which is the way it should be,” Armand snapped. He shook his head, “You do understand the purpose of secrecy, don't you?”
Marco straightened, “Jacobo would never...”
“He'd do whatever he could to save his neck,” Armand snapped. “And even if they don't give him the opportunity, are you certain he's cleared his comm of messages? I know you've passed information to him that way, the Chxor could trace it to your comm and then track us back here.” Armand shook his head, “Dump your comm, pack our gear, let's get out of here.”
The damp and gloomy warehouse had never been an ideal base site, but it was all that they'd been able to establish. The gutter scum with him had managed to piss off the local population to the point that even Armand didn't dare go out unarmed.
I hope that the Emperor planned for this, Armand thought darkly, because we're probably about to be wiped out. Even if the Chxor hadn't already found them, it wouldn't be hard to notice such a large group moving at once. Yet he had no other choice, their smaller safe-houses weren't safe, not with how Marco's people had burned bridges. Damn him, Armand thought, and damn me for thinking I could keep them in check.
He still didn't know if this mission was in earnest or if it was some kind of decoy operation. Certainly he wouldn't have sent pirates and thugs like these men to liberate a world. Yet he didn't see the angle in sending them. He wished he remembered more of his training from the Academy, but that had been decades ago... and Armand could admit that he had never been the best student.
Armand went back into the warehouse office and picked up his go-bag. He was already packed, ready to move with all his essentials. As he turned around, though, he heard a shout.
A cloud of smoke filled the space. Gas, he thought, either to kill or incapacitate. He donned his gas mask quickly, even as he hoped that it wasn't a contact agent, else the mask would do him little good.
He heard shouts and screams in the warehouse as men rushed around trying to get their masks. Most of Marco's people wouldn't have their masks on hand, not like Armand.
He shook his head as the shouts and screams dropped off. Pathetic, he thought, that I must die among men so incompetent, I wish I hadn’t screwed up and been thrown out of the Marines. At least then he could have died among brave men.
A moment later he saw movement as a team of Chxor moved through the group. He saw one of them pick up Marco by the arms and drag him out. The others seemed to be comparing the downed pirates to something on their datapads. Pictures, he thought, either they have information on us from the locals or maybe that idiot Jacobo was carrying his datapad when they captured him.
They would be after him, then. Armand glanced behind him, but he knew the back wall of the warehouse was solid, there was no escape.
That didn't mean he couldn't accomplish one last thing. They had Marco, but some of Marco's men knew details that might help the Chxor. Together they might be able to put together the fact that their group was a decoy or distraction.
He wouldn't go to his death dragged in chains or on his knees. Armand knew he had sins aplenty to atone for, but at least he could go to God as a free man. Armand smiled as he pulled a large explosive charge out of his bag. Tied into it were seven plasma cylinders, the same as would be used in a plasma rifle. He stood up and stepped out of the office. “Friends, I have important information for you!”
The Chxor spun and they leveled their weapons at him, yet he saw them hesitate at his tone. They thought he was going to bargain with them.
“The rebel leader is still at large, I know where he is,” Armand stepped forward a couple more meters. The Chxor looked between each other, clearly confused.
“Where is he?” One of the Chxor officers asked.
“Right here you bastards,” Armand said as he activated the explosive charge.
***
Captain Tommy King stepped up to the sensor display, “Not long now.” He hadn't thought of himself as Mason since he left the base at Brokenjaw Mountain. In many ways, his life as Mason McGann had ended in the corridors of that base just as surely as if Admiral Mannetti's people had gunned him down.
“Are you sure about this?” Kandergain asked. The psychic had finally met up with him just before he left Port Klast, without a word as to her absence in the past months.
He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Of everyone involved on this venture, I would think you would be able to read my certainty the clearest.” For the first time in years he felt confident in his every action. It felt good to have eased the bindings on himself, to slip back into the old role, if only to an extent. The predator had goals... rescue and, if necessary, revenge.
“I try to restrain myself from reading other people unless I have to,” Kandergain said without looking up from the ship controls. “Besides, it isn't as if I could divine your real purpose from your surface thoughts or emotions. I know you feel this is necessary, but I have to wonder how much thought you put into it.”
“In truth?” Tommy asked. He considered it for a moment, “This feels like the worst choice that I could make. I'm unleashing all the things that I spent the past decade repressing. In the process, I've called together an assembly of rogues and scoundrels who had happily parted ways and I am about to unleash a fleet that has sacked worlds.” He shrugged, “The only binding thing I have is affection for a woman who is probably dead and a letter of marque from the United Colonies.”
Kandergain's eyes went wide at that. “Lucius gave you a letter of marque?”
Tommy shrugged, “He gave it to Lauren, who left it back on Port Klast so it wouldn't be found by so
meone aboard the Kraken. Just as well, since Mannetti's spies seized the ship.” At least he didn't have to worry about fighting that ship. He had locked it down before he went planet-side and he felt confident that it would take them at least a month to get through the multiple layers of security, even then they might have to dump the data core and start over from scratch, especially with some of the security protocols he'd had added after capturing the ship.
Kandergain still seemed taken aback, so Tommy smiled, “Look, right now Halcyon's happy representatives will be arriving at Faraday with escort from the War Dogs. Lucius should be able to send a sizable portion of the Dreyfus Fleet to squash Admiral Mannetti using the secret shadow space route that Mannetti had plotted. So even if I go mad pirate and start looting and raping everything in sight, Lucius should be along soon to put things right.”
“Don't forget the burning,” Kandergain said with a sigh.
“I didn't,” Tommy smirked, “The maxim goes: Pillage, then burn. Got to get the good stuff before I have my fun.”
“If you think that quoting twenty first century cartoonists will put my mind at ease, you're mistaken,” Kandergain said and looked up at him from the ship's controls. “Don't forget, I've seen you at your worst.”
Tommy met her gaze. He knew full well how dangerous she could be... and the once-chained predator in him wanted to back down from the challenge it saw there. The man in him, however, refused to back down. I am more than an animal, he thought defiantly, I have mastered my nature, not been mastered by it. “Don't worry, Kandergain, that's behind me.” His gaze went to the screen, where a pinprick point of light had appeared. “This is a new Tommy King... one the universe hasn't yet met.”
He put a hand down to her shoulder, “You'll want to stop here and tell the other ships to stay back until I say.”
She did as he said. That in itself meant less than nothing, of course. She knew well enough that he would have some traps in place.
At this range, the silent fleet seemed inactive. The ships drifted, engines and weapons powered down. It looked like a graveyard or a ghost fleet, far on the edge of the Epsilon Pacifica system, so remote that no one should have stumbled upon it. However, a glance at the sensors showed some faint clusters of ionized gas, the remains of those who had intruded on the graveyard.