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

by Terry Mixon

  Doctor Leonard was over there scanning it now. The initial readings told the tale of why their beams and plasma were ineffective. The hull was some kind of collapsed matter. Perhaps even neutronium.

  The scientist was unwilling to guess at how strong the material might be, but he’d already determined that it wasn’t as massive as theory predicted. He’d keep working, but time was running short.

  Jared would hate to do it, but he’d punch a missile into the station to gain access if he had to. Searching the wreckage might take a while, so he was only giving the man another half hour. If he didn’t find a way in before that, Jared would do so on his own.

  The scientist had a dozen marines in close proximity, all of them heavily armed and loaded down with supplies. If they got in, he wanted extra air and gear to keep them going while they figured out how to create an exit.

  Remotes were recording everything and sending it to Invincible. For all the good it seemed to be doing.

  * * * * *

  “How’s it coming, Doc?” Talbot asked. “You found anything yet?”

  The older man gave him an exasperated look. “Not since you asked me two minutes ago, Major Talbot. I’ll certainly inform you the moment that changes.”

  “I’m not trying to rush you or anything, but Carl only has two hours of air left. Admiral Mertz doesn’t want to do it, but he’ll put a missile into this thing in half an hour if you haven’t found the way in.”

  “I’m quite aware of the time constraints, Major. I’m not seeing anything. Almost literally. The skin of this station is blocking my attempts to get any data.”

  “So, that was what Carl saw, too. What would he do to get around that?”

  The other man nodded. “I’m already doing that. I’ve increased the power of the scan as much as this equipment will allow. Nothing.”

  Talbot had guessed as much. “Is there any way you might be able to get a better reading?”

  “Perhaps if I modulated the frequency I might find one that gives better results. It will take me a moment to set up an oscillation.”

  “I suggest you try to mimic what you think Carl would’ve done.”

  “Yes, indeed. Thank you, Major Obvious.”

  Talbot smiled. Some of those old movies and entertainment shows were gaining a cult following. Even the so-called commercials.

  Without warning, the hull sank, pulling Leonard, Talbot, and the entire cluster of marines into the cavity. It flowed around them and closed off before he could even kick his own scanners into high gear.

  “I believe I replicated the sequence Carl found,” Leonard said.

  “And thank you, Doctor Obvious. First squad, go left. Second go right.”

  He switched to the channel he’d been using to communicate with Carl earlier. “Buddy, can you hear me?”

  A moment later, Carl Owlet called back. “I hope you brought something that can get us out of here.”

  “The jury’s still out on that. We’re headed your way.”

  “I have him,” Talbot said on the general frequency. “He sounds okay.” He consulted his implants and started toward the left. Carl wasn’t that far away.

  “I’m unable to signal the ship,” Doctor Leonard said. “We appear to be just as muzzled as Carl is, even with the higher powered gear I brought along.”

  “I’m not that surprised. What’s this stuff around us?”

  The scientist scanned the liquid. “It is water, with a number of trace elements mixed in. It appears our mythical builders were either water breathers, or amphibians. That rules out humanity. Congratulations, Major Talbot. We’ve discovered an alien civilization.”

  “Whee. Now all we need to do is get out and tell someone.”

  He led the marines around the ring until they found the airlock. Carl floated outside it.

  “How are you doing, pal?” Talbot asked. “Is your life support good? We have air and other supplies for you.”

  The boy shook his head. “I’m good for a few more hours. Thanks for coming, but I really wish you’d stayed away. I’m very much afraid we won’t be getting back out.”

  He slapped Carl on the shoulder, an odd feeling in the water. “Don’t be so negative. How hard can it be to get back out?”

  “Ask the guys that built this.” He gestured at the airlock. “They’re still inside. They never made it out again.

  “And that’s not all. You need to come in and look at them. There’s not a whole lot of room, so I suggest only the three of us go in.”

  Talbot started to insist he go in first, but decided that was silly. Carl had already been inside the room. He’d have known if there were any dangers. He’d settle for going in before the doctor.

  Once they followed Carl through, he saw what the younger man meant. Someone had taken a fairly large compartment and sealed it off. They’d managed to pump out the water after they’d built the airlock. Quite a feat on an alien space station.

  The down side was that they were still here. One side of the compartment had dozens of bodies in armored vacuum gear identical to their own. Even from here, he could tell they were still inside those suits.

  The only one of them not stacked like cut wood was sitting in a makeshift chair. He, too, was suited, but he’d rigged up some kind of screen in front of him. The keyboard looked virtual, but the rest had come from a large communicator, something like what Doctor Leonard had brought along.

  “Who are they?” Talbot asked. “Old Empire?”

  “It’s a lot more complicated and confusing than that,” Carl said. “Ping his implants.”

  Talbot was surprised the dead man’s implants were still active. That was a first from an Old Empire Fleet body. He pinged them for the man’s identity and immediately realized what Carl had meant.

  The body belonged to Carl Owlet.

  * * * * *

  Kelsey watched the technician disassemble Mjölnir with interest. Some of the parts looked familiar to her—such as the grav drive/fusion combo—but the rest was new. And Carl had really packed it tightly. There was no room to spare.

  The woman put on a pair of magnifying goggles and looked at the connections. “This is the quantum validation unit here, Captain. It’s pretty small, but I don’t have any experience to tell me what that means about capability.

  “It’s wired directly into the central processor and linked to the communicator. The connection is parallel, so I’m assuming that it can operate independently, but the two are somehow both required.”

  “That’s what the technical specifications say,” Angela said. “It uses the quantum unit to validate commands sent by the standard communicator.”

  “Can you isolate the quantum unit and use it for communication?” Kelsey asked.

  The tech looked up at her. “I can isolate it, but I’m not even sure how it works. I could probably send a signal of some kind, but I’m unsure what the input is supposed to look like. If it’s only built to authenticate the commands, it might just be a code.”

  Angela nodded. “That’s what I gathered from reading the specs. It has a large list of valid codes. It uses one and moves on to the next. All are just different spin states for the various photons.”

  “That makes sense, if both ends work off the same list and have a means of discerning when a code was missed, for whatever reason. I’ll examine the system in a little more detail and determine if I can send some kind of meaningful sequence to Mister Owlet. I have to be sure of the mechanism first.”

  Kelsey nodded. “Call me when you have it ready to test.”

  * * * * *

  Elise went over the research she’d gathered about Ethan Bandar. It was scant on details, other than what was in the public record. She resigned herself to the fact she just wouldn’t be able to pin him down without actually meeting him. She couldn’t really ask the people that knew him best for crucial details.

  But, perhaps she didn’t have to. Jared must have confided in someone. Captain Graves was his oldest friend and for
mer executive officer. He must have heard an earful. But he wasn’t available until the ships regrouped.

  He might also have confided in Doctor Stone. Elise had found there were several classes of people that knew the most about someone’s life: mates, close friends, priests, bartenders, and doctors.

  There was only one way to find out.

  She made her way to the medical center. The place was a hive of activity. Elise hoped that didn’t mean there was some kind of emergency.

  Doctor Stone spotted her from across the compartment and made her way over. “Are you having a problem with the implant updates, Your Highness?”

  Elise shook her head. “Not at all. I had some personal questions, but I see you have something in progress. Has something happened?”

  “There’s an unfolding situation on the alien station, but I can spare a few minutes. Until the admiral gets more information and we get the people back out, we won’t know if there’s really a problem.”

  “They got in? That’s good, right?”

  “Only if we manage to get them back out. Come into my office and we can talk.”

  Stone led Elise into her office. They sat in a comfortable set of chairs off to the side of the desk. “What kind of personal questions are we talking about? You’re not writing my unauthorized biography, are you?”

  Elise smiled. “No. I’m trying to make plans for when we get to Avalon. Based on a number of comments, I’m fairly certain that Jared, and to some extent Kelsey, are going to have problems with Ethan Bandar. I need to get a feel for the man so I can make some contingency plans. I’ve heard some rather dark whispers.”

  That last made Stone nod. “Well, I’ve heard a few things, too. Some I’d slot under the doctor/patient confidentiality umbrella, but others I can talk about. What dark whispers have you heard?”

  “Jared told me that he was pretty certain that Ethan was responsible for someone’s death. He thought it was an assassination attempt gone wrong.”

  “Yes,” Stone said. “The mission’s original ambassador, Carlo Vega. He ate something that really disagreed with him. There was an investigation, but it proved inconclusive.”

  “And you think the heir to the Imperial Throne is capable of that?”

  Stone considered that. “I hate saying so, but I’ve seen how he feels about Jared. I think it’s a reasonable suspicion. No one will ever prove it, mind you. And that doesn’t even begin to count the number of rumors I’ve heard about the man.”

  Elise sat up straighter. “What kind of rumors?”

  Stone leaned forward and lowered her voice. “None of this is more than gossip, mind you. Ethan Bandar has worked hard to get Jared ejected from Fleet. When that proved impossible, he settled for poisoning his reputation. Whispers about his character here, pushes to keep him out of promotions or better postings there.

  “Honestly, Jared was a full grade behind where he should’ve been. And that’s all because of Ethan Bandar and the people in Fleet carrying his water.”

  Elise nodded slowly. “I imagine he’s not going to be pleased when Jared returns as an admiral in command of a fleet like this. As the one to have met the Pale Ones and emerged victorious.”

  Stone’s lips quirked. “You have a talent for understatement. Based on what I’ve seen of the man, he’s going to have a stroke. Or die of apoplectic shock. If he somehow survives, he’ll come out swinging. If he tried to have Jared killed before, he’ll try harder.

  “And he’ll immediately have his Fleet stooges take everything away that he can. Expect a court-martial.”

  “Seriously? For winning? What does the loser get? A blindfold and the final meal of his choice?”

  “They’ll charge him for the loss of his ship. For what he did to Captain Breckenridge, too. Ethan Bandar can’t allow Jared to emerge victorious.

  “It’s like a medical condition, his paranoia. The heir will feel justified doing whatever it takes to stop Jared. Including murder, in my opinion.”

  Elise sighed. “That matches everything I’ve heard about the man. What can we do to protect Jared?”

  “Make certain the emperor is behind him, which I suspect he will be. The strike will come from the shadows or through proxies in Fleet. We’ll need to be in control of Jared’s transport. We wouldn’t want any unfortunate cutter accidents, would we? That sort of thing.”

  “And there’s no way to prove Ethan Bandar was behind the assassination attempt?”

  “I’ve been over Vega’s body with every tool this Old Empire ship has to offer. I can say with certainty what killed the poor man, but not who was behind it. But I promise I’ll be with you every step of the way making sure we protect Jared from that man’s twisted hatred.”

  After a deep breath, Elise continued. “What about Kelsey?”

  “Are you asking if she thinks her brother is a murderer? I doubt it. Jared kept that theory away from her and she’s never approached me about it. Ethan is her twin brother. I can’t imagine she believes him capable of something like that.”

  “I’ll have to talk with her,” Elise said. “Just to let her know I’m worried. Especially with the changes she’s gone through. He might turn some of his anger on her. If she’s not on guard, something terrible might happen.”

  Stone grinned. “Oh, I do hope he tries something. I remember the vid of the assassination attempt in your parliament building. That’s when she could barely walk. Now that she’s fully integrated with her implants and hardware, it would be brief and very messy for her attackers.”

  “I hope it doesn’t come to that. A shot from the dark could kill her before she knows a thing.”

  “Then we’ll have to work hard to make sure that never happens.”

  Elise extended her hand. “Welcome to the conspiracy, Doctor. Let’s hope we can keep anyone from making a terrible mistake. There are enemies more deserving of our attention. I’d rather we all focus on the Rebel Empire before they come looking for us with a fleet of ships.”

  Chapter Nine

  Carl helped the others move his…his other body away from the computer and lay it on the deck. He was no medical specialist, but the other Carl had been dead a while. Weeks. Maybe more. It was hard to tell.

  The other him had purged his atmosphere, so he had the look of a man who’d been in a vacuum. Not as bad as the corpses from Courageous, but it still made estimating time of death difficult with only his eyes.

  If they ever got out of here, someone could tell them. If not, it hardly mattered.

  He sat in the chair and it creaked ominously under his weight. The armored vacuum suit wasn’t light. He hoped his seat didn’t collapse. The air in the room was foul and unbreathable, so he’d have to make do.

  “I’m going to see who else we have in the pile,” Talbot said. “Give me a hand, Doc.”

  Carl tapped the keyboard and the screen came to life. The message it displayed was no surprise.

  Hello, me. That is, if you’re Carl Owlet.

  You’ll have to forgive my gallows humor, but I’m almost out of air and I’m sure no one is coming for me.

  Yet, based on the people I found here when I arrived, others have made it inside looking for me. Well, for other versions of me.

  In case you haven’t checked, there are five others just like us in the pile. The one before me had a marine escort. Apparently, they came in with him. Two others had some marines that followed them in later, and one had Doctor Leonard.

  So, that makes six of me, three Talbots, one Doctor Leonard, and from one to three of various marines. I wonder how many make up a set.

  Anyway, the first Carl died quickly. His implants were still active, so I was able to access all his recorded data. Useful. He started tearing equipment on this station apart to build an airtight area.

  It took two additional groups to get it finished. My immediate predecessor was able to get this computer set up and attempt to interface with the station. He wasn’t successful, but I knew all the things that hadn’t worked
. That saved me time.

  I think I’m close. Based on some of the environmental clues, I think the station is aware of me. I just can’t hear what it wants to say. If it’s really trying to communicate.

  It has to be tired of us littering the corridors.

  In any case, I’ve compiled everything from the logs our predecessors made into one for you. I hope you succeed in making contact and getting the hell out of this deathtrap.

  Wait. What? You’re wondering what the hell is going on with a half-dozen Carls?

  Damned if I know. We all have identical implant serial codes. Which makes accessing their implant records a breeze, I have to tell you. Make a note that you might want to close that security loophole before the AIs hear about it.

  Based on the complete implant records, I think we have to be from different universes.

  Congratulations. This is going to win you the Lucien Prize for sure. And honestly, you deserve it. You really gave everything for this project. Several times over.

  Anyway, there are minor differences in a number of things. People who some of us know that I don’t recognize. Other references to events not going as I remember. The first Carl arrived here almost nine months ago. You’d have to compare the date to see how that works out for you.

  It has to be the black hole. Somehow, it’s turned the inside of this station into some kind of shared space. Frankly, even if you get out, I’m not sure how you’d know you got out to the right universe.

  Not that I suspect you’d care. It beats dying.

  Well, my air just gave out and I need to bring this heart-to-heart to a close. I’m rooting for you, buddy. If anyone can do it, it’s you. Do us proud. If you make it out, give Angela a kiss for me. Adios.

  Carl

  Well, that certainly wasn’t what he’d expected.

  And kiss Angela? That would be a good way to die. The other him sure had a twisted sense of humor.

  He pinged the dead man’s implants and discovered he had access to everything. That cloned serial number issue was a real thing. Though he supposed it wasn’t cloned in this case. He’d be sure and fix that if he got out.