The Thin Blue Line (The Empire's Corps Book 9) (v5.1)

by Christopher Nuttall

  The temperature started to drop rapidly as earthquakes ran through the giant structure. Glen watched, almost hypnotised by the sight, as the air started to flow out of the wheel. It moved slowly, hesitatingly, but there was no escaping the fact that Island One was dying. He wondered just how many others were still alive on the wheel, how many were going to die because they hadn’t been able to gain shelter in time. Losing Island One, and many of the wealthy residents, would do considerable damage to the economy.

  They won, he thought, as another piece of debris struck the ground. The conference has been torpedoed and some of the delegates are dead. And the remains of the Empire will die with them.

  He flinched as the shockwave slapped his face, knocking him to the ground. The shock jarred him out of his trance. He pulled himself to his feet, then turned to run back to the trains, cold terror snapping at his heels. He’d done some training for emergency decompressions, but they’d always assumed that survival gear would be within reach. If it wasn't, the instructor had pointed out, there was no point in doing anything other than kissing one’s ass goodbye. Only a heavily-enhanced human could survive in outer space without protection.

  The train was waiting for him, door gaping open invitingly. Glen jumped inside, then pushed the door shut with all his might. And then the shaking really started.

  ***

  Belinda turned her spacesuit so she could watch as Island One slowly tore itself apart. It was slow, slower than she’d expected, but there was a cold inevitability about it that sent chills down her spine. The spokes shattered, one by one, throwing pieces of debris into trajectories that would impact the wheel. Belinda doubted they carried enough weight to smash the hullmetal, but they would definitely mess up the interior. If there was anyone left on the surface, they were dead.

  A movement caught her eye and she shivered. The hub was stronger than the spokes, but it was starting to come apart anyway. More pieces of debris spiralled out into interplanetary space, some drifting towards Terra Nova as they were knocked away from the Lagrange Point. The planetary defences would stop them long before they posed a threat, she hoped, if the defences remained intact. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get an idea of how the fighting had gone. The flashes of light in deep space told her nothing.

  And, oddly, it was surprisingly beautiful.

  I’m sorry, Glen, she thought. She wondered, briefly, if there was a prospect of sharing a life together. Her emotions were such a tangled mass that she had no idea where she stood. But if he was dead, there was no point in tormenting herself. I’m sorry.

  She had failed, she knew. The conference had failed. Even if it were to be reconvened somewhere else, on Terra Nova perhaps, there would be so much suspicion it would be impossible to come to an agreement. She peered into interstellar space and wondered just how many people were going to die, if civil war broke out. There was little hope of salvaging anything from the wreckage now.

  And then light flared around her as a shuttlecraft approached.

  Belinda closed her eyes, taking a moment to centre herself. If they were about to be picked up by enemies, she wanted to fight. But she was tired, so tired. It was hard to think straight any longer. Perhaps this truly was the end.

  No giving up now, Doug’s voice said. You’re not dead yet.

  I know, Belinda thought. But what do I do now?

  You survive, Doug said. His voice held nothing, but confidence. He'd always believed in her, once she'd proved herself. It isn't in you to give up while there’s breath in your body.

  The shuttlecraft opened its hatch, then slipped forward, sucking both Helen’s ball and Belinda’s spacesuit into its gaping maw. Belinda grunted in pain as gravity reasserted itself and she plummeted to the deck, then staggered to her feet as the inner hatch opened, revealing two men in white uniforms. The uniforms were unfamiliar, something that bothered her more than she cared to admit. It was yet another sign of the collapse of the unity that had made the Empire strong.

  “Greetings,” one of them said, as she pulled off her helmet. Her voice was concerned; she leaned forward, holding a medical scanner towards Belinda. “What happened to you?”

  “You need to get a stasis tube,” Belinda said, ignoring the question. She’d try to save Helen, because it was the right thing to do. Glen would thank her for it, if he’d survived. She wasn't used to caring this much about someone who wasn't a Marine.

  Oh, you’ve got it bad, Pug mocked. Not that I can blame you. He could give you something you couldn't get from your past boyfriends.

  Belinda ignored him. “And then you need to start looking for survivors”, she ordered. Glen’s crazy plan might have worked. But even if it had, there wouldn't be long before the life support failed. “They’re in the transit cars.”

  “Understood,” the woman said. “We’ll get right on it.”

  “Good,” Belinda said. She wondered about the fighting, then cursed herself. She’d have to tell them something, just to stop the crossfire. “And get me to a radio. I have something to tell the fleets.”

  “If you think they’ll listen,” the woman said doubtfully, “you can certainly try.”

  Chapter Forty

  And so the Empire continued its steady descent into catastrophe.

  - Professor Leo Caesius. The Decline of Law and Order and the Rise of Anarchy.

  Glen hadn't been sure what would happen to him after he'd been rescued from the transit car, once the various fleets had backed off. There had been a long debriefing, a brief – and very polite – chat with the Governor and finally an invitation to leave the system on a starship belonging to the Marine Corps. His superiors had raised no objections, which rather suggested to him that Belinda must have arranged it. It didn't bother him, not really. He missed her more than he cared to admit.

  He missed Helen too. The girl had brought something into his life he’d known was missing, but she’d been a disguised weapon. He mourned for the young life, ruined by the shadowy masterminds behind the attack on Island One, and swore privately that he would do whatever it took to bring them to justice. And yet, if his private theory was correct, it would be almost impossible to find them. Perhaps, just perhaps, the Marines could help. The thought had encouraged him to board their starship when he'd known he could easily refuse.

  But, when his starship had docked with another ship, he found himself escorted through a maze of gunmetal-grey corridors and into an advanced sickbay. The room was impressive, the very latest in Imperial medical technology. There was only one bed in the room, surrounded by a faint blue glow that warned of an active stasis field. And, lying on the bed, was Helen.

  “A pleasure to meet you, Marshal Cheal,” an unfamiliar voice said. Glen turned to see a short man wearing an urban combat uniform, with a single golden star pinned where his rank stripes should be. “You did well, I am told.”

  “Thank you,” Glen said. He wasn't in the mood for games. “And you are ...?”

  “Major General Jeremy Damiani, Commandant of the Terran Marine Corps,” the man said. “Perhaps the last Commandant of the Terran Marine Corps, but we will see.”

  Glen shrugged, unimpressed. He’d heard that the Marines practically worshipped their Commandant, but he'd worshipped Patty – he’d liked, trusted and respected Patty – and she'd turned out to be a traitor. The Governor had made noises about offering Glen her post, something else that had prompted him to go with the Marines. He didn't want to be tied down to a desk. It was quite easy to wonder if that had driven Patty mad.

  He looked down at Helen, instead. “What have you done to her?”

  The Commandant looked up. “Doctor?”

  A thin brown-skinned woman emerged from the rear of the compartment, carrying a datapad in one hand. “The patient is currently stable,” she said, “but she’s going to have a very nasty few months. We need to remove most of her augmentation before she starts her next growth spurt.”

  Glen winced. Children grew up rapidly as they entered th
eir teenage years. But Helen’s bones, replaced or enhanced by solid metal, wouldn't grow with her body. She would be doomed by her own growth, if something wasn't done first. Whoever had turned her into a cybernetic killing machine had known she would die, if she somehow managed to wander away from the Nihilists – or Glen. Her implants would probably destroy themselves – and her – before she grew up.

  He looked up at the doctor. “Can you remove the implants?”

  “We can break most of them down,” the doctor assured him. “A combination of tailored nanomachines and various .... classified ... treatments will take care of them. The remainder will either have to be removed surgically or simply left in place, for fear of doing worse damage as we try to take them out. But none of them should be dangerous. Belinda crippled the processors that took control of her.”

  Glen looked back at Helen. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” the doctor said. “We scanned every inch of her body as soon as we brought her into the sickbay. There isn't any room for a single piece of hardware to hide.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Glen said. “Will she survive?”

  “We think so, but it’s never easy to judge with mental trauma,” the doctor said. “She may blot it all out of her mind or she may be completely traumatised, assuming she wakes at all.”

  The Commandant frowned. “We will give her the best care we can muster,” he said, quietly. “You have my word.”

  “Thank you,” Glen said.

  A hatch opened behind him, but he didn't look round.

  “You’re out of uniform, Specialist,” the Commandant said. “Is there a reason for that?”

  “Yes,” Belinda said, as Glen turned to face her. She was wearing a shirt and long trousers, rather than the BDUs worn by the other Marines. “I’m off duty.”

  The Commandant gave her a sharp look, then motioned for them both to follow him into the next room. Belinda winked at Glen as soon as the Commandant’s back was turned, then followed the Commandant. Glen brought up the rear, taking one last look at Helen before the hatch hissed closed behind him. They walked through a handful of unmarked corridors until they reached a small office. It had to belong to the Commandant.

  “The conference failed,” the Commandant said, without preamble. He waved them towards the coffee machine in the corner, then sat down behind his desk. “Ships from New Washington were reported in the Trinity System, presumably ... convincing Governor Heston to join New Washington. There are several other reports of military manoeuvres, but we have yet to receive confirmation. I am not hopeful they will prove false.”

  Glen shuddered. Transit times between the Core Worlds were measured in days, not months. The failure of the conference would be common knowledge everywhere by now. And the surviving delegates had presumably left with nothing, but bitterness towards Terra Nova and the idea of saving what remained of the Empire. All hell was about to break loose.

  “Yes, sir,” Belinda said. “We underestimated our enemy.”

  “We don’t know who our enemy is,” the Commandant said. “Or do we?”

  Glen leaned forward. “I have a theory,” he said. “But I don’t have any real proof.”

  “Go ahead,” the Commandant said.

  “The question facing any criminal investigator is means, motive and opportunity,” Glen said. “How the crime was committed, why the crime was committed and when the crime was committed. Means and opportunity we have. I started to wonder about motive.

  “The Governor has no motive for destroying his own conference,” he continued, remembering how Belinda had thought it was the Governor. “He doesn't benefit from shattering any trust the rest of the Core Worlds might have placed in him.”

  “If any,” Belinda said.

  “If any,” Glen agreed. “Nor do the other delegates have much to gain from sabotaging the conference. At best, they'd start a war, a war that could easily see their own power bases destroyed in the fighting. My belief is that whoever attacked the conference wanted to start a war – and believes himself immune to discovery or reprisals.

  “And then there was the weapon herself,” he added. “Helen had to have been modified some time prior to the conference being held. I think they knew, perhaps through Patty, about the conference as soon as it was planned, maybe even ahead of the rest of the delegates. And Helen was a trader, from a trader family, a family that hasn't reappeared since leaving Terra Nova. That much about her origins checks out.

  “I think our enemy is numbered among the traders – or perhaps the RockRats,” he concluded, slowly. “They could have taken Helen and turned her into a weapon, then used her own parents to deliver her. A war that tore the Core Worlds apart would leave them alone, without having to suffer under repressive regulations that cripple their activities. And, perhaps most telling of all, Patty was involved in an attempt by a large interstellar corporation to drive independent traders out of a particular system. She was trying to defend the traders when she was reassigned to Terra Nova.”

  “You think she was sympathetic to them?” The Commandant asked. “It seems too thin.”

  “There's no one else who has a plausible motive, as well as means and opportunity,” Glen said. “The Nihilists would never have lured Patty into their clutches – and if they had, they could have depopulated Terra Nova by now. They weren't involved, I suspect, apart from being used to force the Governor to ramp up security. Patty could get away with a lot under martial law. No one would think to question her.”

  He paused. “She once talked to me about our role in the Empire,” he added. “I think she might have been trying to recruit me.”

  “Good thing she failed,” the Commandant said.

  Belinda coughed. “Wouldn't the traders suffer if the Core Worlds were destroyed?”

  “They’d have a chance to survive, if they tended to the worlds outside the Core,” Glen said, slowly. “The Empire was strangling the life out of them. This way, they get some breathing space.”

  “While hundreds of billions of people die,” the Commandant said. He looked down at the empty table. “They have to be mad.”

  Glen shook his head. “Their community is quite democratic, to the point where they even have a tradition of collective punishment,” he said. It was impossible to apply their system to anything larger than a small town, but it hardly mattered. People from one society rarely understood that other societies could be different. “From their point of view, holding the entire population of the Core Worlds accountable makes a great deal of sense.”

  “I see,” the Commandant said. “What do you suggest we do about it?”

  “I was planning to leave Terra Nova,” Glen said, frankly. He had no real intention of returning. Everything he’d left behind could be replaced, if necessary. Isabel was dead and he’d built up no real ties to anyone else. “I intended to go with Helen and become a trader, but I could go alone. Given time, I could hunt down the people responsible for the disaster ...”

  “If you had a ship and a cover story,” the Commandant mused. “It might be workable. We could see to getting you a ship. And Helen would be able to join you, if she recovered.”

  “Yes, sir,” Glen said.

  The Commandant looked up, meeting his eyes. “You do realise you might be completely wrong?”

  “I know, sir,” Glen said. “And I might never work my way into their counsels. But I cannot think of anyone else who has the means, motive and opportunity.”

  “The Traders have always tried to push the limits of technology,” Belinda added. “Helen’s implants weren't exactly Pathfinder-grade, but they were alarmingly close. What might they have become if they’d been merged with a willing brain?”

  “Something like you, perhaps,” the Commandant said. He keyed a switch. “Molly, please show Marshal Cheal to his quarters. He can dine with us tonight.”

  “Marine-issue rations,” Belinda said. “Men have cut off their own toes rather than eat them.”

  Glen smiled, then sto
od as Molly entered the room.

  “You’ll have my decision soon enough,” the Commandant said. “Until then, I suggest you get some rest. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Glen nodded, then left the compartment.

  ***

  “I would like to resign, sir” Belinda said, as soon as the hatch was closed. “My conduct has not been in line with the traditions of the service.”

  The Commandant held up a hand before she could start enunciating her failures. “You saved many of the delegates,” he pointed out. “Given how badly we were blindsided, it could easily have been a great deal worse.”

  “I know, sir,” Belinda said. She felt the sudden urge to throw a tantrum and stamped on it, hard. Her emotional control was also slipping. “But I am starting to lose myself.”

  “If there was a way to help, I would take it,” the Commandant said. “I told you, when this started, that I would prefer to keep you on the sidelines.”

  “Yes, sir,” Belinda said. She took a breath. “I am becoming dangerous, to myself as well as my fellow Marines. That is not a good situation.”

  “No, it isn't,” the Commandant agreed. “Do you believe the Marshal?”

  “I think he has a point,” Belinda said, slowly. “But I was prepared to blame the Governor for everything. I never really considered the possibility of someone else plotting to blow up Island One and kill everyone onboard.”

  She sighed. Augustus and Violet had survived, at least. God alone knew how long that would last. Terra Nova had a considerable amount of industry orbiting its star and the various warlords would definitely want to get their hands on it, even if the Governor didn't become a warlord in his own right. She'd considered sending them both a message, telling them to get out while they could, but she'd known it would be far too revealing.

  “I am minded to let him take a starship and go,” the Commandant said. “We have no other leads to follow.”