Hidden Enemies (Book 9 of The Empire of Bones Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  That made Talbot grin. “Knowing criminals, they probably already have. Those guys are always on the cutting edge of identity theft. I’d wager the AIs come down on that kind of thing hard to dissuade the survivors from doing it anymore.

  “What about the people she might meet from Fleet? They’re going to know she’s not assigned there. That her ship has been missing for a year. That makes for a lousy cover.”

  Giguere shook her head. “The differences between your Fleet and mine are tripping you up. The people here will have no insight into where she’s been or what she’s done since she left. The AIs makes certain that all data from different sections of the Empire is segregated.

  “Trust me when I say that no one here is going to know that her ship has been missing. No one other than the System Lord. Our goal is to keep her off its scanners. That shouldn’t be hard. We’re not coming in with a warship. We’re sneaking in on a freighter.”

  Talbot rose from behind his desk and began pacing. “That’s another can of worms. That ship is going to be known to the System Lord. We stole it from Dresden and you can be sure that word of that theft has gotten out by now.”

  Giguere shrugged. “From what I hear, there’s still a lot of debris floating around Dresden. They might realize the orbital is gone, but maybe not the ship. In any case, we can give it fake papers and a new name. It, too, can be coming in from another sector.”

  “That seems chancy. While they won’t have the information for a ship coming in from outside, it seems that would be a rare occurrence. Like you said, the System Lords don’t exactly encourage immigration. Won’t that attract the attention of the AI?”

  She raised a finger. “I’ve come up with a solution for that. The freighter that was originally accompanying the dead commander’s ship was of the same class. It was destroyed in the fighting, but your records have its codes. That’s really all we need since there’s no reason the AIs would be looking for that ship. Not here, anyway.”

  He wasn’t completely sure about that, but it was a potential solution to their problem. At this point, he was ready to present the idea to Kelsey and see what she said. If anyone could make it work, it was his wife.

  “Good work.”

  The Fleet officer nodded. “I’ve been talking with Commodore Murdoch and getting a feel for the place. That’s a really conflicted woman, by the way. She hates your people but blames the Rebel Empire for her medical condition.

  “If I were you, I’d double check everything you possibly could that she’s passing along. It wouldn’t surprise me if she tries to betray you at some point. The woman has a reputation for being an asshole.”

  Talbot shook his head. “She wants to walk again. To make that happen, we have to get back with the right equipment. She’s going to give us everything we need to succeed because her own future rides on it. Trust self-interest to trump everything else when it comes to Commodore Murdoch.

  “That said, where possible we’ll be very cautious with information we haven’t verified. This mission isn’t going to necessarily work if we rush it. One mistake could sink us. We’ll be as careful as possible.”

  He rubbed his face. “I just can’t help but worry about what we’re doing. There’s so much that could go wrong. Frankly, I can’t imagine how we’re going to pull this thing off.”

  Giguere rose to her feet. “It may seem impossible, but I’ve seen you and your friends work. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

  “Let’s go present this crazy idea to Kelsey and see what she says,” he said as he rose to his feet.

  Zia sat at what passed for a command console on the captured freighter tensely, waiting for something to go wrong now that she’d taken it into the Archibald system.

  Intellectually, she knew she didn’t have much to worry about because Persephone had led the way. There was no enemy shipping close enough to detect them arriving.

  That didn’t keep her from clenching the armrests on her ratty chair anyway. This was a big step, and her new command was a lot less capable than her old one.

  Unlike the magnificent bridge aboard Audacious, the freighter only had three console positions: helm and navigation, engineering, and cargo management. Since they’d unloaded the cargo before this mission, storing it inside the carrier, there was no need to man that last spot.

  At least there hadn’t been until Carl had made a few upgrades to the freighter’s passive scanners and communications array. Nothing that would be visible from the outside, but ones that might make their lives a little easier.

  That meant he was currently occupying the cargo management console, testing out the equipment to make sure everything was functional.

  He turned his seat to face her. “The flip drive came through fine, but that’s not a surprise. The segment of the multiflip point linking Pandora and Archibald has a fairly wide frequency band. Much bigger than the one between Icebox and Pandora.”

  Alan Barnes, the piloting specialist that came with the recovery team headed by Cain Hopwood, cleared his throat. “Persephone is headed in. Based on the pre-mission briefing, they’re going to get into a decent overwatch position as we follow them. If we have to run, they’re supposed to provide security for us, but you’ll forgive me if I hope that isn’t necessary.”

  She agreed with that assessment. If they had to flee, she didn’t want to lead the Rebel Empire to the multiflip point. So long as they remained ignorant of these odd versions of the standard flip point, that meant that the New Terran Empire could continue sneaking around without being noticed.

  They weren’t going to be able to get all the way in before Princess Kelsey and the rest of the people selected for the mission took a cargo shuttle over to join her on the freighter. Zia had tried one more time to convince Kelsey not to put herself at risk. Once again, she’d been politely rebuffed. The small woman had a will of steel.

  Thankfully, the multiflip point in the Archibald system was about as far off the beaten path as one could get and still be within a decent transit range with the main world. It sat above the plane of the ecliptic far away from anything interesting.

  The trick was going to be inserting the freighter into the traffic pattern coming from the main flip point that sat on the other side of the sun from Archibald prime. Any ships making their way into the system or back out again would note the freighter coming in at the odd angles necessary to join them. Her worry was that someone might talk.

  Archibald had a second flip point, but while it was guarded, it didn’t seem to get any use. That meant they could only use the main one in their ruse.

  The probes that Persephone had sent earlier were keeping an eye out for any gap between ships that might give them the time to get close to position without being noticed by other vessels.

  It wasn’t as if freighters would be actively scanning for anything beyond debris avoidance. That would give them a window.

  “What’s our situation looking like for getting into the traffic pattern?” she asked Barnes.

  He shook his head. “No openings large enough right now. We haven’t been watching long enough to see if this is going to be constant or not. This is one of those things you can’t rush, Commodore.”

  According to the plan, they’d edge as close to the traffic pattern as they could and wait for a suitable opening. When it came, they’d be able to make their way into the pattern and hopefully not draw any undue attention.

  The main flip point had a battle station guarding it, but they didn’t seem to be using it for traffic control. There was no sign of communication between the incoming ships and the battle station. The other side must be a trusted system.

  Carl straightened abruptly at his console. “We might have a problem.”

  “What?” she said, a chill racing down her spine. They hadn’t even been here long enough to settle in. What could possibly have gone wrong already?

  “The probe at the main flip point just showed the arrival of half a dozen Rebel Empire Fleet warships. Two
cruisers and four light cruisers. We have a second transit. Half a dozen destroyers. That makes a dozen enemy vessels.”

  That spelled trouble. Warships tended to be a little bit more observant. They might see something out of place when the freighter made its entrance. All it would take to ruin them was for someone to send over a boarding party to inspect their supposed cargo.

  “What’s their ETA to Archibald?” she asked.

  The scientist shook his head, his expression pale. “They’re not headed for the planet. They’ve set course into the outer system. We need to reverse course or we’ll probably end up inside their detection range before they pass our location.”

  18

  Kelsey examined the scanner intake through her implants as she sat down at the head of the small conference table aboard Persephone. The other senior members of her team began filing in moments later.

  Talbot sat down beside her and took her hand. Not the most professional thing in the world, but she wasn’t going to argue, squeezing back with a smile.

  Carl Owlet, Commander Giguere, and Doctor Parker were next. Followed quickly by Zia Anderson and Cain Hopwood. The final two through the door were Doctor Zoboroski and Angela Ellis.

  Well, she supposed that the final person wasn’t actually there in the flesh. Fiona, the artificial sentience, was present in much the same way that Marcus was aboard Invincible for Jared.

  Kelsey cleared her throat. “I’m sure by now that all of you are aware of why I’ve called you here. The Rebel Empire has invested the Archibald system with an additional dozen military vessels. We’re not certain how many are already here, though we’ve detected some suspicious grav signatures.

  “Two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and six destroyers entered through one of the two regular flip points a little bit more than an hour ago. That would be the flip point that has traffic. The other one is also guarded by a battle station but doesn’t have ships coming through. The other side must not be occupied or along any major trade routes.”

  “Do we know what they’re up to?” Angela asked. “The last I saw, it didn’t look like they were headed toward Archibald prime.”

  Kelsey shook her head. “They seem to be heading for the outer system.”

  “Is it possible they’re searching for us?” Doctor Parker asked. “Could someone have detected our arrival?”

  “It’s always possible, but they don’t seem to be looking for anyone. They’re on a course that probably leads to the outermost gas giant. So far as we know, there are no facilities there, so I’m not sure what they’re up to.”

  “Could it be the System Lord?” Veronica Giguere asked.

  “Probably not,” Carl said. “The AIs like being somewhat closer to the action than that. They like asteroid belts, if possible. The only known facility at a gas giant held reserve warships. Battlecruisers the AI could use in an emergency. It doesn’t seem likely they are going to something like that or it would ruin the secrecy.”

  “Is there any point in moving forward with the mission at this juncture?” Talbot asked. “If security is at a heightened state, it would be better to wait until things quiet down.”

  That left them all quiet for a few moments. Kelsey took advantage of that to lean forward and look around the table, capturing each of their gazes for a few seconds.

  “I don’t think slipping the freighter into place is going to be as much of a risk as you think. They’re not going to be in range to detect us shortly. The one thing that we’ll have to change is where we position Persephone. I don’t believe that it’s safe to leave my ship near the multiflip point now. We’re going to have to take her deeper into the system.”

  Angela shook her head. “Anyone seeing a strange warship of a design they’ve never encountered before is going to sound the alarm. Once forces in the system get agitated, we’re never going to escape. Or, if we do, we’ll lead them right to the multiflip point and that would be worse.”

  “I don’t see that we have much of a choice.” Kelsey rose to her feet and paced a little. “Also, the risk isn’t nearly as significant as you might think. Persephone is designed to penetrate hostile systems without being detected.

  “She’s done similar things in the past, slipping up on Singularity warships without being noticed. Admittedly, that was before the Fall, but my people are up to the task. Ned Quincy saw to that.”

  Ned Quincy had been a Marine Raider before the Fall. In fact, he’d been the commanding officer aboard Persephone in those days. Fatally injured during one of the final fights, his crew had placed him in stasis. They hadn’t survived the Fall and neither had he.

  Somehow—they still weren’t quite sure how—Kelsey had brought many of the man’s memories into her own implants and used software modified by Marcus to help sort through them. That had the unexpected side effect of creating an artificial intelligence inside her own implants.

  Imperial theory said that wasn’t possible. No one with any knowledge on the subject whatsoever could understand how it had happened, but it had. It wasn’t the original Ned Quincy, but it had started life with many of his memories and experiences.

  That gave Ned the ability and experience to train Kelsey’s people in every aspect of what they needed to excel at operating a Marine Raider strike ship.

  Before he’d gone to sleep and allowed Carl Owlet to extract him from Kelsey’s implants, Ned had admitted to her that her crew was almost as good as his people had been. Almost, but not quite. They still needed to keep working hard if they wanted to be the best Marine Raider strike ship in Fleet.

  And, of course, they needed to become Marine Raiders in truth. Angela had now been through the full conversion. The large woman still had weeks of workups and training before she was completely attuned with her new body, but she’d already proven she could take Kelsey in a full on fight with no limitations one time out of three.

  Give Angela a week and she’d win every single fight. That annoyed Kelsey, but she’d known she wasn’t a warrior. Angela had been fighting for the Empire her entire life and she was so much bigger than Kelsey.

  The only thing advantage Kelsey had in fighting the woman was her speed and experience. Sadly, that wouldn’t be enough as Angela grew into her enhanced body.

  That was one person. Talbot was next and then the rest of Persephone’s crew. There wasn’t time to make it happen now. There wasn’t even time to get it done over the next couple of months, not for the whole crew.

  While she’d been reviewing her thoughts, the rest of them had been considering what she’d just said. No one seemed convinced, but in the end that didn’t really matter. She was in command and she would make the final decision.

  “Once the freighter is in orbit, the locals won’t be paying it much attention so long as there is no unusual traffic to catch their eye. We should be able to get the people we need onto the orbital station without too much trouble. Once we have the lead team in place, we can get the rest of our folks aboard without taking that kind of risk.”

  Veronica Giguere frowned. “I’m not sure I follow. How will you get more people aboard without drawing attention?”

  Kelsey smiled. “You haven’t been completely briefed on some of the technological breakthroughs we have access to. Maybe we should take a couple of minutes to explain phase two of the plan. After all, Fiona has confirmed your loyalty. It’s time to bring you all the way in.”

  Veronica stared at the massive ring they were assembling in the freighter’s engineering compartment. Even after reviewing the recordings that Carl Owlet had made on board the alien station the New Terran Empire had discovered in the Nova system, she’d had difficulty believing this was even possible.

  “I felt the same way,” Doctor Parker said. The woman had been standing beside Veronica the last few minutes in silence.

  She turned toward the research scientist. “This violates just about every concept I’ve ever had about how science works. Yes, flip points traverse great distances in the blink o
f an eye, but science can explain them. In general, anyway. Once you start getting into the specifics, only the experts really understand the science.”

  “Don’t let them fool you. Even the experts really don’t understand what’s going on with them. Hence, the multiflip points and the far flip points. Imperial theory predicted neither of those two potentialities and no one noticed.”

  The older woman gestured toward the ring. “This is something completely different. Point to point matter transportation. Better yet, you can relocate the rings wherever you want within a short distance and they still work. And yes, I’m calling five thousand kilometers a short distance. On the scale of flip points, that’s nothing.”

  “How does it work?” Veronica asked. “How can it possibly work?”

  Parker shrugged. “Not even Carl has managed to explain the science to me yet and he has all of the research that the Omega race compiled on the subject. There are a couple of barriers to understanding: first translating the original documents into Standard, then trying to get a grasp of both the science and manufacturing processes, and finally just getting a clue how they developed the science in the first place.

  “This has to be connected in some way to their station in the Nova system. From what I understand, it’s a transport ring taken to ludicrous extremes. One that doesn’t need a matched pair which strongly implies the possibility that a ring this size could be used solo, though even the Omegans never cracked that mystery.

  “The ring station originally tapped into the power of a star to create an opening into alternate realities. At least that’s the story the alien tells. Somewhere in the theory for that lies the source of these transport rings.”

  Veronica could sort of see the connection. In a vague way.

  “Do you think the transport rings came first?” she asked.

  “Almost certainly. How an aquatic race ever developed this kind of manufacturing in the first place is beyond me. It seems extremely unlikely that they were able to work metal in an ocean. For the life of me, I don’t understand how they became technological at all.