Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  Nine months ago, she’d been the commander of the destroyer Ginnie Dare’s marine complement. With the loss of the ship and far too many of her people, they’d assigned her to keep an eye on Princess Kelsey. Which was more of a challenge than it sometimes appeared. Even with a double squad of men and women working diligently to make it happen.

  Such as when Kelsey took off on her ship through an unexplored weak flip point without calling Angela back to the ship.

  “What did this?” she asked, gesturing toward the shattered armor and ruptured wall.

  He pointed to an innocuous hammer on the floor. It sat handle up, as though someone had just set it down.

  “That. He threw it at a suit of marine armor. The recorders say it broke the sound barrier less than five meters in front of him. It reached Mach 7 before it hit the armor. It was still accelerating. Don’t ask me what its top speed is. I have no idea.

  “It destroyed the lab on the other side of the wall with a double sonic boom when it reversed course. He ate a table and took another sonic boom when it decelerated on the way back. Even behind a blast shield, four sonic booms all on top of each other felt like being on hand for the apocalypse.”

  She bent down and grasped the handle. The hammer didn’t even twitch. Not even when she put her back into it.

  “Jesus. How much does this thing weigh?”

  “Somewhere in the ballpark of three tons. Imagine that with the full power of a grav generator pushing it to that kind of speed.”

  She tried and failed. “That makes the anti-vehicle weapons we have look like a kid’s popgun. Even the new plasma ones.”

  Black righted the table and sat on its corner. “My chief of weapons design locked himself in his office right after Carl wrecked his lab. He has this idea for a new set of implant-controlled ground assault weapons. Something with ‘real heft,’ he said.”

  “Jesus.”

  She ran her hand through her hair. “This kid is a menace. Why haven’t your people made something like this before?”

  “Because we didn’t put everything together. Even if we had, we couldn’t have solved the communications issues. Mister Owlet came up with the theories needed for these breakthroughs in days, though it took months to make working prototypes. You call him a kid, but that’s not what I see when I look at him.”

  She sat down beside the Fleet officer. “What do you see?”

  “You can never tell him this, but he’s the kind of man who redefines the course of entire civilizations. Like Einstein on old Terra. The man was such a giant that his shadow still falls across us today. People might mention him and Carl Owlet in the same breath one day, too. Assuming, of course, that he doesn’t kill himself before then.”

  Angela felt an expression of disbelief steal onto her face. “You’re kidding me. I’ve met the kid. He’s not all that.”

  “Forgive me for saying so, but you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried, Major.” His voice had gone hard. She felt her spine reflexively straighten. When a Fleet captain used that tone, you’d screwed up big time.

  Black waved his hand, dissipating the cloud of tension. “Sorry. I just don’t think you can see the forest for the trees. I work with geniuses here every day. Everything from the quiet, brilliant men and women to the screaming and shouting prima donnas that throw things when they don’t get their way. That kid is brighter than all of them.

  “The best minds in this research facility simultaneously worship and hate him. Once he gains the experience of age, I expect he’ll probe the very secrets of the universe. And with medical nanites pushing our lifespans to centuries, the mind boggles.”

  She shook her head. “We can’t be talking about the same person. He’s not old enough to drink. Hell, he couldn’t get a date if he tried.”

  The Fleet captain smiled. “I expect that will change with time. Meanwhile, we’re going to rebuild this room with a lot more protection. I imagine he’ll also put some more stringent limits into the hammer when the medics release him.”

  “What’s his condition?”

  “Shattered eardrums and a concussion. A few scrapes and bruises. He got off light. We both did.”

  She felt her lips tighten. “He won’t feel that way once I get ahold of him. If he thinks he’s giving that damned hammer to the princess, he’s got another think coming.”

  Black laughed. “Good luck with that. The boy has spine.”

  Chapter Three

  Kelsey guided Persephone deeper into the radiation-filled void of the nova star system with a hint of disappointment. She’d expected there to be more excitement running around the remnants of a supernova.

  Instead, she could barely see anything. The intense radiation made a hash of scanner readings in a ridiculously short distance.

  That wasn’t stopping Doctor Leonard from chortling over whatever it was he was seeing.

  She’d tried sampling the data feed, but didn’t have the background to understand it.

  “Captain,” Lieutenant Jack Thompson said, turning away from the helm console. “I think we’re closing in on a large planet. The ship is veering slightly off course.”

  She leaned forward and looked through the ship’s scanners. Other than seeing the course deviation, she wasn’t getting anything. Not even on optical. Frankly, they weren’t really even sure of how close they were to whatever was left of the sun.

  Kelsey frowned and did some comparisons in her head. “I’m not sure it’s a planet. That might be the star remnant or the black hole. We should try to triangulate it. Take us on a divergent course and tell me how far away that thing is.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  She returned her attention to Doctor Leonard. “Can you give me an update? We might have found the central body in this system.”

  He looked up from his borrowed console, blinking owlishly. “What? Of course you have. I spotted it five minutes ago.”

  Kelsey restrained her initial response. “Don’t you think you should share little details like that, Doctor? We’re flying blind here.”

  “Ah. Forgive me. The gravity pull you’re seeing is coming from the central object in the system. A black hole, I suspect, based on the type of radiation we’re seeing. And, in no small degree, the amount of stellar matter we’re flying through.”

  “Why so?”

  “If the sun were still intact, its solar wind would’ve pushed all these energetic particles clear. We’d see a starkly bright object where the sun once was. A star without its mantle of gas would be unmistakable.

  “Since we’re not seeing anything like that, it must be because the solar mass collapsed into a black hole and it’s drawing the remaining stellar matter inward without the corresponding push of the solar wind.”

  That made her sit up. “We’re not in danger of falling into it, are we?”

  “Oh, no. We’re still quite distant. The space around it will clear to some degree as we get closer. We won’t see it optically, of course, but we should have an unparalleled view of the event horizon. Which we also won’t see directly.”

  “You make it all sound so exciting. We should have Christmas cards made.”

  Doctor Leonard smiled. “That’s clever. Indeed, we should. What we will see shortly is the accretion disk. It’s spinning around the black hole and generating the radiation ahead of us. I imagine it will be quite spectacular.”

  He returned to his data and she had the ship move back into a course that would take them closer to the black hole. Slowly.

  Space cleared until they could see the vast emptiness that was the central system. The titanic blast had vaporized the inner planets, leaving only husks to circle what might have once been a life-giving star.

  The charged particles hid any gas giants in the outer system from view. The nova would have stripped them of their atmospheres, but their cores should be mostly intact. She imagined they would be very educational to the scientists.

  In the place of honor was a spinning disk of glowing dust. It wa
s very beautiful. And quite deadly, if the radiation levels were to be believed. As they grew closer, those kept going up. At some point, the radiation would be a threat even with their battle screens.

  “That’s it,” Doctor Leonard said. “The black hole at the center of the system.” He turned to face her. “It’s so powerful that even light cannot escape its clutches. The ultimate prison. Well, technically, the matter inside eventually evaporates, but I’ll stand with my analogy.”

  “If we can’t get close, how are you going to get more data?”

  “I believe we can get excellent readings from a safe distance. We’ll have to devise dedicated probes the size of cutters to get into close ranges, but that won’t be happening anytime soon. Rest assured, though, what I get here will revolutionize our understanding of black holes.”

  “Captain, what’s that?”

  She returned her attention to the helmsman. “What?”

  He highlighted part of the scanner readings. It was some kind of debris orbiting around the black hole. “An asteroid? Something blown off a planet?”

  “No,” Doctor Leonard said. “Lieutenant Thompson is quite correct. The orbit is unusually stable for such a small object near something with the mass of a black hole.”

  Kelsey made some measurements. She’d really rather not get that close, but they could get closer to the object and determine exactly what it was in relative safety.

  “Take us in,” she ordered, “but only until we get better readings.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  He took Persephone in closer. It took almost an hour before they were seeing details optically. The object wasn’t as irregular as she’d expected. In fact, it was far too regular to be natural.

  “That’s artificial,” she said. “Nature abhors consistent lines like those.”

  Leonard frowned. “Who would put something out here? How could they? Is it another Old Empire relic?”

  Kelsey shrugged. “I have no idea, but we’re going in for a close look. If this is something we need to explore before we head home, I want to take as much data back to Jared as I can. Get me the cleanest scanner readings you can, Doctor.”

  He nodded and bent back over his console.

  This little adventure was showing signs of excitement after all. Hopefully, without the kind of destruction that usually meant for everything around her.

  * * * * *

  Major Russ Talbot looked up from his console when someone knocked. Angela Ellis stood outside his office aboard Invincible. He gestured for her to come in.

  “I thought you were down on Harrison’s World, Major. What brings you here?”

  Nine months ago, he’d been a senior sergeant and Angela had been a lieutenant, the same rank as his now-dead boss.

  Kelsey had waved her magic finger—yes, that one—and made him a major. He hoped to God that someone didn’t convince her to make him a damned colonel before they got home. His career was already screwed all to hell.

  If the recent changes in their rank bothered her, she didn’t allow it to show. “I’ve got a big problem, Russ. Carl Owlet.”

  The marine grinned and leaned back in his chair. “Your idea of big differs from mine. I’m not sure he even shaves regularly. He hitting on you?”

  “What? No. No! He’s doing something much worse. Look at this.”

  She sent him a vid through his implants that made him sit up abruptly at the destruction.

  “Holy cow!” he muttered. “Is he okay?”

  “I’m told he’ll make a full recovery, but he made that damned thing for Princess Kelsey.”

  “Ah. All becomes clear. You’re worried he’s trying to kill your principle.”

  She sighed and sat abruptly in one of the chairs. “No, not really. He’s just not thinking and I’m worried about what something like this would mean for the princess. What if he makes it more dangerous?”

  “I’ve known Carl for over a year. He’s bright. Damned bright. Perhaps not as grounded in common sense as I’d like, but not a menace. And you’re not giving Kelsey enough credit. She doesn’t usually grab the biggest weapon handy to smash a problem.”

  Not recently, anyway.

  “So I should just let him give her that thing? It can blow holes in this ship.” She sounded resigned.

  He smiled a little. “I understand that you want to keep Kelsey safe, but you can’t just shoot everyone who might give her something dangerous. For Christ’s sake, she routinely wears powered armor and has an armory in our closet.”

  It was common knowledge that he and Princess Kelsey were an item. He shared her palatial quarters and her bed. He’d overseen the installation of the armory. It had everything from two spare sets of armor—one Marine Raider and the other an upgraded general marine assault suit—to an array of every weapon they’d found to date.

  If their commander had been anyone other than Jared, he’d have had a coronary.

  “Look,” Talbot said after a moment. “Talk with her about it. She’ll listen to your concerns.”

  “Yeah,” Angela said glumly. “She’ll listen and then do whatever she likes.”

  “Welcome to the Imperial Guard, in everything but name. And thank God it isn’t me keeping her from doing crazy stuff now.”

  She sighed. “The universe hates me.”

  * * * * *

  Jared walked into Invincible’s briefing room and nodded to the various officers and scientists gathered there. It was early in the morning and most of them looked a bit out of sorts.

  “Good morning, everyone. There’s coffee and a buffet against the wall. Please indulge yourselves.”

  He suited words to deeds and filled a plate. If this turned into anything like some of Kelsey’s other discoveries, it might be harder to find time for food soon.

  Kelsey had an even larger plate than his, but didn’t look nearly as discomfited by putting it all away as she used to. His sister was adjusting to her new condition.

  “I told you not to do anything to wreck my schedule,” he growled as he sat beside her.

  She smiled. “I didn’t put that thing there. Not my fault.”

  Once everyone took their seats, he nodded toward Kelsey. “Tell us what you found.”

  The screen came to life. She must’ve used her implants to load the files. They were all becoming more adept at doing things like that.

  An image of a large space station showed against a bright swirl of dust. It was difficult to make out the surface details, but it was undoubtedly artificial. They’d obviously enhanced the image, probably due to being so distant from the object.

  “We found this station orbiting the black hole in the other system,” Kelsey said. “Due to its proximity to the event horizon, we were unable to approach as closely as I’d have liked. Persephone told me our drives and screens were up to the task, but it would put us at almost 90% of capacity. I decided that was cutting it a little too close.”

  Jared nodded. “Good call. We don’t want a failure to send you falling into a black hole. Your father’s already going to kill me for everything you’ve been through.”

  The people gathered around the table rumbled with laughter. Even Kelsey. They had enough distance to find the humor in something like that now.

  “That’s what I was thinking, too,” she said. “So, while we couldn’t get close, we did creep up enough for the scanners to get some data. The layout is nothing like what we’ve found in any of the Old Empire databases. With Doctor Leonard’s concurrence, I’m declaring this as probably non-human in origin.”

  That set off a murmur around the table.

  “Wait,” Jared said. “You mean as in alien? Not just one of the other human polities that existed back then? The Old Empire never found evidence of sentient alien life.”

  “I submit that we just did,” she said seriously. “We attempted to communicate with it, but the station didn’t respond. It may be that our methods are so different that it didn’t recognize our message. It’s also possible it
isn’t completely functional. In that environment, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  Doctor Leonard cleared his throat. “The design elements of this station are markedly different than what we’ve seen before, Admiral. Rather than a sphere, this is more like a massive ring with the center aligned toward the black hole. That means very little in and of itself, but combined with its survival in the most hostile environment imaginable, and lack of battle screens, that has to mean something.”

  Jared thought about that. “Kelsey thinks the station’s protection might have failed. Perhaps it once had screens.”

  The older man shook his head. “The orbit is too precise for a derelict. If it were being flooded with radiation, the drives that kept it in place would have also failed. It’s protected by something we’re unfamiliar with.”

  “We’ll have to send a ship in more closely to find out,” Kelsey said. “And that falls to you to decide, Admiral. Do we look now or later?”

  “I can send a few ships in to take a closer look after you head out,” Commodore Sean Meyer offered.

  He’d recovered nicely from the injuries he’d sustained a few months ago and settled into commanding Boxer Station with more ease than Jared had expected. His cadre of officers from the destroyed heavy cruiser Spear was working out better for him than he’d hoped.

  “I could even task my exec with that,” he said with a grin toward Captain Paul Cooley. The man’s injuries had been far worse than Sean’s and he was only now getting used to the artificial legs they’d built for him.

  The emotional damage from losing his ship and many of his crew would take longer to heal.

  Paul nodded. “I can take some ships in to check it out.”

  Jared shook his head. “We should look before we head back for home. We’ll leave the follow up exploration to you two.”

  He leaned back for a moment and thought about it. “I’ll take every ship in my fleet through. We’ll search the system thoroughly and get as many readings as we can. Then we’ll head for home.”