The Glory of the Empress

by Sean Danker

  “I’m what? Thirty kills behind Kladinova?”

  “Way more than that by now.”

  “Paint my targets. I’ll take it from there.”

  Bjorn nodded and moved on. It looked as if Master Sergeant Golding was finishing her checklist. This would be her first time in a live cockpit. But she’d been putting in her time in the simulator; she was as ready as anyone.

  “I never did thank you,” he said as he approached, and she looked up.

  “For what?”

  “You did save me back there, on Oasis. You and the general.”

  “You were taking care of Rada.”

  Bjorn shook his head. “I just wasn’t letting myself admit it. She took a hit from the one in the power armor. Hit her head. She was probably done for even before they shot her.”

  “You got her into stasis. She still has a chance.”

  He hesitated, and she could probably see his doubt. Golding looked up at him.

  “You need to shower the blood off that EV while you’ve got a chance. You look scary.”

  “Yeah.” Bjorn pulled back.

  He left the bay and followed the spine down to the infirmary. The lights came on as he entered. The little room wasn’t exactly in disarray, but under the circumstances no one was being terribly careful about picking up after themselves. No one said it, but they were all thinking it. The entire ship would likely be atoms in an hour. Maybe less.

  The whole ship was a mess. Shooting. People dying. There was blood on the deck; there were even casings from the contractors’ primitive weapons. And no time to clean it all up. Bjorn could see impacts on the walls where bullets had struck them.

  He found himself in front of Rada’s stasis module again. There wasn’t any visible damage to her head, but that didn’t mean anything.

  Perhaps Evagardian medical technology really could bring her back. But for that to happen, they’d have to get her home.

  Bjorn left the infirmary and stared down the long corridor, the spine of the ship.

  Time had to be running short. He looked at his holo and winced. This was probably the last time he would get to make this walk from one end of the ship to the other. Bjorn decided to enjoy it.

  Mao was on the bridge, cross-legged in her command chair again. Her face was serene, and she was staring out at the debris from Oasis. Gas and coolant leaks had laced the wreckage with trails of blue and pink. There were still odd packs of golden lights floating around the remains of the station. There were only a few major sections still intact, including the one sheltering Sunbath.

  It was the very picture of absolute devastation, but it was still rather pretty.

  Mao got up as he approached the console. “Well?”

  “They’re ready.”

  The commander nodded. “Thank you. For everything.” She looked over, putting out her hand.

  Bjorn reached out and shook it. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you analysts don’t know how to have fun.”

  She squeezed his hand, but didn’t let go. “You do know that’s out of regs,” she said, eyeing his bloody EV.

  He looked down. There was more crimson than white.

  “I meant to rinse this off,” he said.

  The console chimed. “Contact,” the ship’s AI announced.

  “Too late,” Mao said, and she let go of his hand.

  28

  “THAT’S a clear signal.” Mao opened the main feed. “Looks like they’re keeping their distance.”

  “Jumping in out there, then coming up quietly?” Bjorn asked.

  “Seems like it. Tenbrook doesn’t know if he’s going to find us here. To him, there’s a good chance we’ve already cleared off. Or he might see all this wreckage and think we were destroyed. Someone jumped out at the beginning and told him we were here, but we didn’t let anyone else get away. He doesn’t actually know what happened here.”

  “Why look at all? Of course we know he’s coming,” Bjorn said.

  “He probably doesn’t care. His chasers weren’t targeting us—they were after Doyle. That’s always going to be their game, Bjorn. They want to disable Doyle so he can’t run. They’ve tried it before, and they’ll do it again. That’s how they pin us down.”

  “Go to standby,” Bjorn said into the com.

  “Lydia, will we have a decisive reading when Perdita jumps in?”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “Get me Doyle.”

  The Ganraen pilot appeared, rubbing at his eyes.

  “Commander,” he said.

  “How’re we coming along?” Mao asked.

  “It won’t be long. Any sign of them?”

  “The front-runners are starting to show.”

  Doyle’s face fell. He clenched his jaw. “We’ll keep on.”

  “I don’t have to remind you to run quiet.”

  “How do we look to scanners?” he asked.

  Mao shrugged. “You’re invisible in there. As long as you stay at the heart of the interference, nobody’s going to know you’re there until they’re close enough to confirm you visually.”

  “They’ll search.”

  “Probably. But they’ll be careful. It’s the perfect place for an ambush, and no one wants to be the first to die. Doyle, when it’s done, you don’t say anything. You just go. Understand?”

  “Yes, Commander. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet.” She cut the com and put her hands on the controls. “Even without all this cover, they wouldn’t be able to detect us in full stealth. Bjorn, how safe do you feel?”

  “At least I have job security.”

  Bjorn called up Diana. “This is it.”

  “I’m fine,” she told him.

  “They’re hanging back,” Mao said, bringing up the grid.

  Bjorn gazed at Diana for another moment, then caught Mao’s eye and pointed at the starscape. “Look at these two. They think they’re being sneaky.”

  “They don’t know that only they’re blind here. Now that we can read the xenos’ field, it can’t bother us anymore.”

  “The human body generates an electromagnetic field. All living things do. Is that what’s happening here? The xenos do something like that naturally?”

  “That, or they’re intelligent aliens that are doing this to punish me because of what I did on my sixteenth birthday,” Mao muttered.

  “What did you do?” Bjorn asked.

  “It’s embarassing, but I blew something up.”

  Bjorn raised an eyebrow. “I never took you for the New Unity type.”

  “What? No. It was an accident.”

  “Oh, so you weren’t a terrorist. Just an idiot,” he said, turning back to his console. “That’s a relief.”

  “You do get me,” Mao said, smiling.

  “Now I’m curious.”

  “Another time. These two are going for visual. Doyle had better not do anything stupid.”

  “They don’t want to come in here. They know it’s suicide if we’re still around.”

  “They won’t have the luxury of choice when Tenbrook shows up,” Mao pointed out, looking resigned. She took a deep breath and removed her hands from the controls. She sat down almost gingerly in the command chair, as though the ships out there could actually hear her moving. “So for now, let’s all just stay quiet for a minute.”

  Bjorn understood her thinking. Every second was precious to Doyle. If Tenbrook’s people wanted to drag their feet, all the better.

  “Here he comes.”

  “I see him,” Mao said.

  Perdita jumped in at the rear of the growing fleet, easily dwarfing even the largest privateer warships. Bjorn felt his blood run cold. It hadn’t been all that long since he’d seen it, but the massive battle station hadn’t gotten any less intimidating.

  I
t didn’t move quickly, but it didn’t have to. Perdita was a battle station that could jump. It blurred the line between fortress and warship, and with it backed by a fleet of this size, it was no wonder Commonwealth leadership was so intent on staying in Tenbrook’s good graces. There were perhaps a dozen mobile battle stations that Bjorn knew of, but this was the only one that belonged to a private citizen.

  “Incoming broadcast,” Lydia reported. Mao enabled the viewport.

  Tenbrook’s face appeared. Very little of his bridge was visible behind him, but a woman in expensive-looking formal wear was momentarily visible, walking past his command chair.

  “Well,” he said. “Oasis never was much to look at, but last time I was here there was still a space station. Commander Mao, are you there?”

  Mao said nothing. Bjorn watched her study Tenbrook’s face intently.

  “He’s fishing,” he said.

  “I see that.” Mao began to drum her fingers on the arm of her chair. “Hold this course,” she ordered the AI.

  “Commander Mao—Kelly—can I call you Kelly? I appreciate what you’re trying to do. And I’m sorry my people troubled you earlier. That was a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean for them to attack you. I meant for them to kill you. But lately my luck’s been almost as bad as yours. I thought for certain you’d go running to that watchtower by the third marker. You know the one. The one with that terribly lonely woman there. Maria. Maria Nelson.”

  Bjorn twitched.

  Mao didn’t react.

  “Don’t get the wrong idea,” Tenbrook said, waving a hand. “Yes, I did bring her along. And no, she didn’t want to come. But I’m not going to use her as leverage or anything. See? That’s me being a gentleman. So help me out and talk to me. At least tell me if you’re here. It’s the polite thing to do. Actually, do you know how many ships of mine you’ve destroyed? We can talk this out. I certainly don’t feel a pressing need to lose more. I hope you can trust me on that much.”

  He looked expectantly at the camera.

  “Does he know?” Bjorn asked.

  “No,” Mao replied.

  “Do you think he really has her? Major Nelson?”

  The commander hesitated. “She’s probably dead.”

  “Why would he kill her? He could use her,” Bjorn said.

  “She most likely committed suicide before he could capture her. Or after he did. I don’t know. If he had her and she was still alive, he’d be showing her to us.”

  “How did he know about the outpost?”

  Mao shook her head. “Probably Cophony. It’s time to start asking what information he didn’t take with him.”

  “He’s only one man.”

  “But they’re getting their money’s worth out of him.” Mao continued to gaze at the screen.

  “The silent treatment, eh?” Tenbrook cocked his head. “You remind me of my wife, Commander. You’re both expensive. And neither one of you is ever happy.”

  “I’m losing signals,” Bjorn said suddenly, sitting up and focusing on the grid.

  “Jamming?”

  “No. And it’s not our scanners either.” He swallowed. “They’re leaving. Jumping out.”

  “Who?”

  “Tenbrook’s ships.”

  “Which ones?” Mao demanded.

  “I’m not seeing a pattern. I don’t know where they’re going. Are they actually pulling out? They bought it?”

  “Not a chance. It’s a trick.”

  “Commander, I’m trying to be civil here. Don’t be like this,” Tenbrook was saying. “I thought we had something. You told me I was special.”

  “He’s coming in,” Bjorn said. “Here.” He pointed at the scattering of signals moving into the debris field. “Skiffs and shuttles. More visual scouting.”

  Mao bit her lip. “He wants to be sure. We can stay quiet and hope he loses interest,” she said. “But he won’t leave until he’s thoroughly checked the field. He’ll miss us, but he’ll find Doyle.”

  “Then we have to attack. We can still buy him time.”

  “Not necessarily.” Mao straightened in her seat. “I might be able to stall him. Lydia, put me through.”

  Bjorn took a deep breath.

  “Mr. Tenbrook,” Mao said, doing a reasonable job of looking unconcerned.

  “Fancy seeing you here, Commander. I was afraid you’d already moved on.”

  “And leave this view?”

  “I take it this is your doing,” Tenbrook said.

  “I haven’t seen any flashes, so I assume you’ve spotted my mines.”

  “Nice try, but I know your ship’s kit doesn’t have anything like that. Why don’t you want me to come in there?”

  “Because I’m afraid for my life, obviously.” Mao shrugged. “Why else? Please. Please don’t hurt me.” She yawned.

  Tenbrook’s brows rose. “I would never,” he said, grinning.

  “That’s sweet.”

  “If I didn’t have to, I mean. You do realize you can still abandon ship and detonate the Lydia, and I’ll take that and go. I told you, I don’t need to lose more ships.”

  “And hand you hostages with secret clearance? You’ll have to do better than that,” Mao said.

  “Hostages? No. I’d be saving your crew from death in space. You know there’d be no one to rescue you out here. Incidentally, I know you managed to call for help. Or to send something back. It hardly matters, Commander. No one’s coming. Do you know how I know?”

  “How?”

  “Because there’s no one to help you. There is exactly one imperial warship without a critical assignment and with time on its hands. Do you know which one I’m talking about?”

  Mao looked thoughtful. “The Julian,” she said after a moment.

  “That’s right. But the Empress is aboard the Julian, and she’s got better things to do, I’m sure. It’s an impressive ship, but the Empress wouldn’t be seen in these parts. Particularly when her ship does not yet have functioning weapons. You didn’t know that, did you? Yes, they’ve all been trotting out the new flagship like it’s going to single-handedly win the war, but behind all the propaganda it’s just a half-finished shell full of people with fancy genetics. It’s amazing the things you learn when you talk to people in the know.”

  The commander kept her face impassive. Bjorn wondered if Tenbrook was talking about Cophony or Major Nelson.

  “Go on,” Mao said.

  “I’m telling you this so you realize I’m on your side. You can nobly destroy your ship, and I’ll rescue you from your escape craft. I’m all heart, Commander. Why can’t you see that?”

  “Tell you what,” Mao said, leaning forward. “Do you really want to negotiate?”

  “Of course. I’m a reasonable man. Haven’t you seen the dramas about my colorful but totally ethical rise to power?”

  “I haven’t, actually. But if you want to talk, let’s see this hostage.”

  Tenbrook shrugged. “I live to serve.” He waved a hand. “Can we show that to her?” he asked someone Bjorn couldn’t see.

  Abruptly there was a second feed. Bjorn thought he was about to be sick. It showed Major Nelson lying on the floor of what looked like some kind of cell. She was covered in blood, and her elbows and knees were bent at unnatural angles.

  “What?” Tenbrook asked blankly, staring at Mao. “Oh. Well, this is why I didn’t want to show you. Like when I said I wasn’t going to use her as leverage. I didn’t want to show you; I knew it’d just upset you. I was trying to be considerate. See,” he said to someone out of sight. “Imperials. You can’t please these people. I don’t know why I try.”

  Mao’s face hadn’t flickered, but her skin had grown several shades paler.

  “Is she alive?”

  “Do I look telepathic to you, Commander? She’s twenty decks away. I
don’t know if she’s alive. She was when I was talking to her, more or less. But that was a while ago. She might be. I’m not her mother. Why do you ask?” He chewed his lip. “I took away her little suicide pill, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  Mao cut the com. “Jam him,” she said.

  “Yes, Commander.” A blue readout began to flash on the viewport.

  “Why?” Bjorn asked.

  “Can’t let him do any more talking. Can’t give him the chance to give me an ultimatum.”

  “She’s dead.”

  “I know. He’s not as crazy as he wants us to think. He wouldn’t close the door on her without getting something first.” Mao swallowed. Bjorn could tell it was taking everything she had to maintain this facade of calm. “What about Doyle?”

  “He hasn’t started to spin up yet,” Bjorn said.

  “Then he’s not ready. Tenbrook’s guys?”

  “No one’s on a direct collision course with him. But if this keeps up, they’re going to spot him. Soon,” Bjorn added, watching the signals move around the grid. “He doesn’t have long.”

  Mao leaned back. “It’s already too late.”

  “What?”

  “Look.” Mao pointed at the screen. “Tenbrook’s shuttles are too close. Interference or not, they’ll pick it up when Doyle starts his jump drive. They just have to give his coordinates to Tenbrook’s artillery ships. He won’t let Doyle jump.”

  “We’re jamming them,” Bjorn pointed out. “They can’t pass along targeting information.”

  “These are pirates,” Mao told him flatly. “They’re more resourceful than you think. Look.” She jerked her chin at the viewport. “Do you see those lights?”

  It took Bjorn a moment to realize what she was talking about. Tiny flashes in the black.

  “I see them,” he said.

  “Visual code. Look at his positioning. These shuttles are being careful to keep line of sight. They’re talking to each other that way, and we can’t jam that. Tenbrook knew what I’d do. That’s why he didn’t bother with Nelson. He knows I won’t bargain. Cophony probably found a way to get at my file. Tenbrook knew my name before I introduced myself, and Cophony and I have never met. He’s still plugged in. He knows every move I’m going to make before I do. He’s doing this the smart way. I didn’t want to admit it before, but it’s not what he’s doing; it’s what he’s not doing. He’s got me figured out.”