Prisoner's Hope (The Seafort Saga Book 3)

by David Feintuch

  “All ships to Battle Stations!” Admiral De Marnay.

  “OH, JESUS!”

  I came to my feet at the fear in the unknown voice. It went on in a whisper. “A dozen of them! More. They’re all around us. One is nuzzling our fusion tubes. Preparing to Fuse. Jordan, get me coordinates!”

  “Fuse immediately, you fool!” My voice was tight, though I spoke only to myself.

  “Our tubes are melting!” I could smell his fright. “We’ll try a Fuse!”

  “No!” Admiral De Marnay’s tone was sharp. “Churchill, don’t Fuse with—”

  “Christ, we’re overheating! Quick, shut it do—” The speaker went dead.

  Trapp spun to meet my eye, as if in appeal.

  “They’re gone,” I said.

  He shook his head, denying.

  “They blew themselves up.”

  Trapp swallowed. Midshipman Bezrel rushed in from the hall. “Ms. Triforth is here for her appointment, sir.”

  “Who? Tell her to come back—” I got to my feet. “No, I’ll see her. Trapp, keep me informed of our losses.”

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  “Mr. Bezrel, escort Ms. Triforth to the conference room.” Vapormask under my arm, I hurried down the stairs.

  Laura took her place across from me at the gleaming table. “You’re looking better than when last we met.”

  I waved the niceties aside. “This is a bad time, Ms. Triforth.”

  A knock at the door. Anton. “Excuse me, sir. That report you wanted.”

  “Keep it on your desk. Update it every two hours.”

  “Aye aye, sir.” He made no move to leave.

  “Well?”

  “Could you tell me why you need it, sir?”

  I made my voice icy. “Dismissed, Lieutenant Anton.” He left. “What’s on your mind, Ms. Triforth?”

  “Do call me Laura; I hate it when you’re so formal.” She waited for a response, got none. “The, um, hypothetical circumstance we discussed. Is it any closer to reality?”

  “I can’t discuss that.”

  “I appreciate your position, Seafort. But if anything should leave us on our own, we have to be prepared.”

  I was firm. “I won’t discuss that with you.”

  “Has the Venturas Base been attacked?”

  I was startled. “Not that I know of. Why?”

  She waved. “Just taking stock, as it were.”

  I ached to get back to the tactics room. “Ms.—er, Laura, what is it you want?”

  “To know what’s up. To help, if possible.”

  “You can’t fight the aliens.”

  “I can help root out Mantiet’s men. I can help you maintain control.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Why would you want to do that?”

  She smiled grimly. “I’ve made no secret of my feelings, Mr. Seafort. But you must understand: we want anarchy no more than you. We have hundreds of field workers roaming Centraltown. If authority breaks down...”

  “The Government is in place and functioning. Looters have been shot.”

  “As well they should be!” She spat the words. A pause. “Captain, this is our home, our society. Let us help.”

  True, we were badly understaffed. I thumbed through my papers, found a list of supporters Mantiet had named. “Can you help us find these men?”

  She studied the list. “Some of them, I think we—”

  The caller chimed. I snatched at it. “Yes?”

  “Trapp reporting, sir. You said to keep you informed. Fish swarming all over the patrol area! Two ships down, everyone’s Fusing like—”

  A knock on the door; it swung open. Bezrel saluted. “Lieutenant Anton said to give this to you forthwith, sir.”

  “Orbit Station beat off an attack too, sir. That’s the first time they’ve attacked—”

  I opened the note. Anton’s handwriting. “Message from Admiral De Marnay, for immediate delivery to Captain Seafort. 1800 hours local time. Destiny.”

  I crumpled the note, half hearing Lieutenant Trapp’s rush of words. “Hibernia Fused twice, sir, and they keep following. No sign of Churchill. The fleet is to regroup around Orbit Station. They—”

  “Enough.” It was 3:00 P.M. We’d have three hours.

  Laura Triforth came to her feet, eyes locked on mine. “Seafort, you’ve gone white. What’s happened?”

  “Wait here.” I strode out the corridor, closing the door. “Anton!”

  He stood from his console. “Yes, sir?”

  “Your list.” He fumbled, handed it to me. After a glance I thrust it back. “How many of our helis are on loan to the transport grid?”

  “Three, sir.”

  “Pull them out of service, flank. Emergency priority. Contact all officers and sailors, arrange assembly points. I want helis to pick up all Naval personnel and bring them to the spaceport in one hour. Everyone, without exception.”

  “An hour? That’s not possi—”

  I thrust my face at his. “Make it possible, God damn you!” He recoiled. “You have a list. Find them all. Stay on it. You have permission to stay at your console one additional hour. Then go to the terminal yourself.”

  “But—for God’s sake, why?”

  I snarled, “Because I gave the order!” Even now, it was best no one know the truth.

  “Aye aye, sir!” He snatched up his caller.

  “Where the hell is Tolliver?”

  “Sleeping, sir.”

  “Get him up. I need him.” I started toward the conference room, swung back. “Let me see that list.” I scrutinized it. “Alexi Tamarov. He’s not on it.”

  “He’s not active, sir. I thought you meant—”

  “Where is he?”

  “The transport center would know.”

  “Get started. I’ll find Alexi.” I strode back to the conference room.

  Laura Triforth stood as I entered. “What in blazes is going on, Seafort?”

  If I told her, she might argue, and nothing must interfere with the evacuation. “Problems.” I had to get rid of her, find Alexi. We had less than three hours—

  Annie! Lord God, I’d forgotten. Shame sickened me. I’d take a heli—no, they were all in use. I had to drive downtown, get my wife, pick up Alexi—

  I looked up to Laura. “You offered your heli. May I have it?”

  “I—of course. I can take you myself, wherever you want to go.”

  “Just a moment.” I picked up the caller, dialed Alexi. “Mr. Tamarov, report.” I waited; no answer. I tried again. “Alexi Tamarov, respond to Admiralty House!” Silence.

  Another knock at the door. Edgar Tolliver, bleary from lack of sleep.

  “Stand by, Tolliver.” Muttering under my breath I thumbed the caller again. “Patch me through to the transport center.”

  I pulled rank and got to the director in moments. “A volunteer, Alexi Tamarov. I need him at once.”

  “Tamarov...the Naval Officer? The young one? He’s directing a road crew in the west sector. I don’t know what street they’d be on at the moment, but they’re somewhere between Churchill and Washington.”

  “Very well.”

  I rang off. “Laura, I have to pick up Annie at the clinic, and Lieutenant Tamarov is downtown. I could drive, but your help would...”

  “Of course. When?”

  “Right now.”

  Lieutenant Anton appeared in the doorway. “Regarding your orders, sir?”

  I glanced at Laura Triforth. “Yes?” I was wary.

  “What about Mr. Mantiet, sir?”

  I cursed under my breath. Why hadn’t I had him sent downtown when I’d had the chance? “Ms. Triforth and I will take him. Tolliver, I want you along. And Bezrel, as an extra hand.” As soon as I said it I realized Kell would be a better choice, but decided not to contradict myself. Bezrel would do.

  “We’re taking Frederick?” Laura sounded tense.

  “Yes, if you don’t mind. After I pick up Annie we’ll drop him off.” What good would it do t
o turn him over to the civilians, if our fleet took Governor Saskrit home? Should I bring Mantiet along for military trial or simply hang him myself? No, I hadn’t the right.

  Laura asked, “Will you interrogate him?”

  She’d asked too many questions about matters that were confidential. “Perhaps.” My tone was cool.

  She shrugged. “He deserves it. When do you want to go?”

  “Right now. Tolliver, get Mantiet. Cuff his hands, but don’t rough him up. Gag him too, Mr. Tolliver.” If Mantiet spoke, Laura Triforth would learn what Mantiet knew.

  “Wouldn’t it be better to wait for a Naval heli, sir?”

  “I’m in a hurry.”

  “Aye aye, sir.” I picked up my vapormask, wondering how long Tolliver’s docility would last.

  I peered down the unfamiliar streets, while Annie pressed my hand. It had been only minutes since we’d swept into the clinic and bundled her out.

  “Between Washington and Churchill, they said.” Where the devil was Alexi? I’d told him to stand by, and...

  “They’ll have men and trucks; we’ll spot them.” Laura glided across town, barely above treetop level.

  Yes, but when? I tried to restrain my impatience, glancing surreptitiously at my watch. We’d been searching the indicated area for several minutes. Repeated calls on the radio failed to raise Alexi.

  Annie crooned to herself.

  “There, to the west!” Tolliver, from the back seat. We swooped across a block of ruined houses. A crew of ten was hauling debris from the blocked street into a truck.

  I muttered, “That’s got to be them. Land, would you?”

  “Anyone see wires?” Laura checked the landing spot. “Here we go.”

  A moment later I was beckoning from under the blades. “Alexi, get over here!” He was near the truck, gesturing at piles of crumpled roofing.

  The whap of the blades was too loud; Alexi waved happily and turned back to the crew. Enraged, I ran to him, ignoring warning pangs in my chest. I grabbed his shoulder, spun him around. “Get yourself into the heli!”

  “What—”

  “Didn’t I tell you to report regularly? Where’s your caller?”

  “In the truck, Mr. Sea—”

  “Move!” I shoved him toward the heli. Crestfallen, he obeyed. I faced him at the heli door. “Even a cadet wouldn’t pull a stunt like this, and you’re supposed to be a lieutenant! Can’t you obey a simple order?”

  He blanched. “I’m sorry.”

  “If you were on active duty, I’d—” I caught myself, finally comprehending what his eyes revealed. “All right, get in.”

  “I got involved in the work...” He looked at the private heli. “What’s up, Mr. Seafort?”

  “In, I told you.” He climbed into the back with Tolliver, Mantiet, and Bezrel. I should have explained outside, where Laura couldn’t hear. Now, it would have to wait. “Special duty.”

  Laura throttled. Over the engine’s roar she asked, “Where now, Mr. Seafort?”

  I looked again at my watch. “We’ll drop off Mantiet, then head back, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.” She pulled back on the collective, lifting us straight up. This time she didn’t skim the treetops; she brought us to a great height. I stared down at the stricken city. Would Centraltown ever recover?

  Laura continued to throttle up. Casually, she reached for her oxygen mask and slipped it on. Tolliver leaned forward. “We don’t need canned air this low, do we?”

  I growled. “Tend to your prisoner, Middy.”

  “Not really.” Laura idly flicked a switch on the dash. A dull hiss emitted from the air vents.

  “Then why are you—what’s going—” Tolliver slumped. My head spun. I grabbed for the vapormask in my lap. Laura Triforth’s hand pinned my arm. “Wait a moment, Seafort. You won’t need it.”

  She was right. In a moment I needed nothing.

  16

  THE ROOM WAS STUFFY and dark. I groaned, trying to clear my head. I was lying on a cold, damp floor.

  “He’s awake.” Alexi.

  I blinked. Annie sat slackly, her eyes straight ahead. Her hand clasped Alexi’s.

  Tolliver’s tone held a note of impatience. “About time.” He perched on a wooden desk, legs dangling. It was the only furniture in the room.

  “Where am I?”

  “Wherever your friend Laura put us.” Tolliver’s voice was acid.

  My anger gave me strength to scramble to my feet. I tottered to Tolliver, grabbed his jacket. “Tell me what’s happened!”

  “I passed out in the heli. I presume you did too. When I woke, we were here.” He gestured to the sparse chamber. What little light we had came from a narrow, barred transom over the door. “I found Bezrel sniveling in the corner.” He waved with contempt at the young middy, who, to my disgust, surreptitiously wiped his nose with his sleeve. “Alexi and Annie—Mrs. Seafort—woke a few minutes after. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Why are we here?”

  “We hoped you’d tell us, sir.”

  “The door?”

  “No knob on this side. I finally stopped bruising my shoulder on it.”

  I reached for my pistol, found an empty holster. “No one’s come in?”

  “No, sir.”

  “How long have we been here?”

  Tolliver made a show of checking his watch. “It’s going on five-thirty now. I’d say about two hours. What would you say, Mr. Tamarov?”

  “Damn your insolence!”

  “Yes, sir. You’ll remember I suggested we wait for a proper Naval heli. If we had...”

  I snarled, “Enough!”

  Alexi intervened. “Why would Ms. Triforth kidnap us? And where were we headed in the heli?”

  Legs weak, I pushed myself onto the desk and sat. Why did Laura waylay us, to free Mantiet? No, she’d helped us search for him. To stop us from leaving? She didn’t know I’d received the “Destiny” signal, and she would probably be glad to see the last of us, given her feelings about colonial rule.

  I realized what Tolliver had said about the time. “Five-thirty? We’ve got to get out!” I jumped off the desk.

  “Why, Mr. Seafort?” Alexi.

  “Because—” I tensed. No way to know if the room was miked. “Never mind why.” I banged on the door. “Laura! Ms. Triforth!”

  No answer. In the corner Bezrel stifled a sob.

  I shouted again and again, without result. Finally I sagged back onto the desk. But nervous energy pulsed, and I couldn’t sit more than a moment. I paced, squatted on the floor, got up to pace again.

  All too soon, it was past six. Was it my imagination or did I hear the distant roar of a shuttle?

  I slumped to the floor. Whether I heard it or not, the shuttle was gone, and with it our chance of rescue. We were marooned, with nothing to do but await the final assault of the fish. I had no doubt it would come. By careening off in Laura Triforth’s heli I had doomed not only myself, but Alexi, Tolliver, even poor bewildered Bezrel. And, worst of all, Annie. It was almost a blessing that she was barely aware of her surroundings.

  I withdrew into my misery.

  Hours later, footsteps sounded. I stood, fists clenched. A key scraped in the lock. The door swung open.

  Three armed men. I charged forward, but stumbled to a halt when a laser pistol swung toward me. “Where’s Ms. Triforth?”

  Ignoring me, the burly farmhand shoved a bound figure past his companion into the room, slammed the door. Hands lashed behind him, the man stumbled to his knees.

  I gaped.

  “I don’t suppose you’d, ah, consider releasing me?” Frederick Mantiet motioned with his bound wrists. “They’re starting to hurt.”

  “I hope they fall off!” Tolliver’s tone was savage.

  I’d been thinking the same, but instead I said perversely, “Untie him.” Tolliver had tortured him enough; we weren’t barbarians, though Ms. Triforth was that and worse.

  “But—”

>   “You heard me!”

  “Aye aye, sir.” With a curse Tolliver yanked at the thongs holding Mantiet. The cuffs I’d had placed on him were gone. While picking at the knots Tolliver grated, “Has it occurred to the Captain that Mantiet is no more a prisoner than Ms. Triforth? That he’s obviously a plant?”

  “Yes.” It hadn’t.

  “I’m not, you know.” Mantiet.

  “Right.” My feet hurt; I went to slouch in the corner, decided to preserve my dignity and leaned on the table instead. “Why were we kidnapped?”

  “You’ll have to ask Laura.”

  “I’m asking you!”

  “I could guess.” Mantiet winced as Tolliver yanked at a resisting cord. “She probably didn’t want me interrogated.”

  “Was she involved in your murder plots?”

  “You might say that.” Mantiet hesitated. “More than you can imagine.”

  “Don’t believe a thing he tells you!”

  “Tolliver, be silent. Why are you admitting it now?”

  Mantiet shrugged. “It no longer matters.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Laura will proclaim the Republic at midnight.”

  “The Re—” I shook my head. Too much, too fast. “Why are you detained?”

  Tolliver undid the last knot; stifling a groan, Mantiet rubbed his wrists. “I’m apparently not, ah, radical enough for her taste.”

  I couldn’t suppress a sneer. “A man capable of shooting down a Naval heli and killing his countrymen with a bomb isn’t radical enough?”

  Mantiet was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, “I didn’t do those things.”

  “You tried!”

  He made as if to speak, sighed instead. “So it would seem.”

  Alexi spoke from his forgotten corner. “If Mr. Seafort leaves us alone, I’ll kill you.” His tone was so casual it brought a chill to my spine.

  Mantiet raised an eyebrow. “An elegant solution. It would amuse Laura.”

  I intervened before Alexi could reply. “Never mind him, Mr. Tamarov. He’s scum, and all he says is a lie.”

  The Republic. I stared at the door, yearning for a weapon, some means of escape. An entire planet was sliding into eternal damnation, and I could do nothing. I muttered, “The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they shall receive to themselves damnation.”