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

by Terry Mixon

  Yeats doubted that very much, but kept his opinion to himself. The heir was going to be one of their problems. He just knew it.

  * * * * *

  “Senator Breckenridge, I need a moment.”

  Nathaniel Breckenridge looked up from his meeting with his Senate allies, not bothering to conceal his irritation. His assistant knew better than to interrupt him at a moment like this.

  He rose to his feet. “Pardon me, gentlemen. Ladies. If my man feels the need to disturb me, I should probably hear what he needs to say.”

  “And it better be good,” he said softly to the man as they stepped over to the far side of the room.

  “I received word that a large fleet of ships has arrived in the system. Not, I might add, by any of the flip points Fleet protects.”

  Breckenridge frowned and turned his back on his Senate allies. It wouldn’t do for them to read his expression. Or his lips. His man knew well enough to shield both.

  “That’s very interesting, but what does that have to do with me?”

  “One of the ships in the group is the destroyer New York. It’s assigned to your nephew’s task force. None of his other ships is present, but it strongly implies that he is somehow connected to the events.”

  That didn’t bode well. Wallace was usually a problem to solve. Or cover up.

  “I see. Well, if these people didn’t come through the flip points, where did they come from?”

  “Supposedly through a newly created flip point, according to my contact. And Senator, I’m told there are over a hundred vessels. Many powerful Old Empire warships.

  “Frankly, my source is hearing so many stories that I’m certain most of them have to be tall tales, but one comes across as ominous. She said that Wallace lost his entire task force and is under arrest. Rumor has it that the emperor is considering adding treason to the list.”

  Shit.

  “We need to get in front of this if we’re to salvage anything,” Breckenridge said. “I’ll wrap up the meeting as quickly as possible. As the head of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, I can get some answers and start changing the narrative.”

  He walked slowly back over to the conference table.

  “My apologies, but I’m going to have to bring this meeting to an unexpected close. If you’ll check with your staffs, I believe you’ll hear some of the same rumors I was just told. If any of them are true, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Call my assistant and he will schedule a follow up where we can plan.”

  He watched his associates depart with a blank expression. What had his idiot nephew done now? How much was it going to cost to fix it and who would he need to ruin in the process?

  * * * * *

  Ethan Bandar read the information again, slowly.

  How was this even possible? Not only was Mertz still alive, but he’d come home with more firepower than the Empire. In one ship. The others were apparently just for added emphasis.

  All the Bastard had to do to seize the throne was reach out and take it. And instead of stopping him, his sister was to all appearances aiding him. They’d become allies.

  There were so many aspects of this that he didn’t understand. He was certain there was more to the story than what his contact in Fleet had heard. He wasn’t on the scene, after all. And they were treating everything as classified.

  But he would. He had the clearance to hear everything. Once he knew precisely what the Bastard was doing, he’d stop him. The man was no match for him. No one was.

  He’d need to be certain he cleaned up any loose ends from the assassination attempt. There would be no strings for the Bastard to pull is plans apart before Ethan ended him and the threat he posed. He couldn’t allow anything to stop his ascension to the Throne.

  It bothered him that his father had gone out without him. Had he turned against Ethan, too? He’d thought he could trust his family, but perhaps that was a mistake.

  Or perhaps his father had finally sensed some of the threat Ethan had been warning about for the last decade and more. Perhaps he wanted to be certain his heir was safe while he determined how dangerous the situation was.

  No. His father had rushed out to embrace the man who’d take everything away from his son if he could. Now he’d become one of the ever shifting list of people that put on masks of deference while they plotted to ruin him.

  And what was Kelsey thinking? She’d always been stubborn and slow to see the truth about Mertz, but Ethan had been certain he’d finally opened her eyes.

  Now she’d taken it into her head to make the Bastard an admiral. God only knew what else she’d done. He needed to find out everything he could and take steps to eliminate Mertz as a threat as soon as possible. Had she turned on him as well?

  Well, he’d have to take steps to eliminate the growing threats to his rule before they realized he was onto them.

  He dialed a number from memory. “Victor. Ethan here. How would you like to get together for drinks this evening? I have some work for you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Karl Bandar came through the docking hatch and caught his daughter as she threw herself into his arms. He held her close as she cried, saying nothing.

  He’d heard enough to know that she’d been through some kind of trauma. He didn’t have the specifics, but it had been bad. He knew it deep in his bones.

  Only a marine officer stood at the far end of the corridor, so he knew she’d arranged to have it cleared. His guards surrounded them, but it was as though they were alone.

  When she’d cried herself out, he tilted Kelsey’s chin up. “I’m so glad you made it home safely, dear one. If I’d known what this trip would subject you to, I would never have allowed it.”

  She wiped her red eyes. “And you would’ve been wrong. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it was worse. Worse than you could ever imagine. Yet, without it, everyone would have died. And then our enemies would’ve come for you and the Empire.”

  “You make it sound grim.”

  “There were moments when I was certain we would all die. We showed a basic vid to Admiral Yeats. I need to show you the part of it that I know will hurt you first. I need to do it alone.”

  His heart sped up. “You fill me with dread, Kelsey.”

  “If it makes me cry when I see it, I can only imagine what it will do to you. I want to have privacy and be there for you. Come.”

  She gestured to the marine. “This is Major Angela Ellis. She’s acting as my guard commander. I’d like to keep it that way.”

  He inclined his head. “Major.”

  She saluted. “Majesty. Your daughter is a brave woman and an inspiration to us all.”

  “She inspires me every day.”

  They took a lift to the largest set of quarters on a ship he’d ever seen. Two armed marines stood guard outside the door.

  “Are these Jared’s quarters?” he asked.

  “No. They’re mine. Invincible has a lot of space and this was originally for visiting VIPs. I’d prefer your guards wait outside. There are no other entrances and I need to show you this alone. Major Ellis has seen it, but will also stay outside while we talk.”

  There was a note in his daughter’s voice he’d never heard before. Command. She couched her words as a request, but they were really an order from someone that expected obedience.

  Of all the changes to his daughter, that was one he thought he’d never see. And that wasn’t the only one. Her face was leaner, he thought. Her body more toned. Though small, she’d always had a hint pudginess in the face. That was gone now replaced by flat planes and a hawkish stare.

  Based on her arms, she was more muscular, too. She’d never been a physical child, though active. She looked as though she worked out regularly now. Shed changed a lot in the last year.

  “Colonel Andrews, wait outside with Major Ellis. I’ll be fine.”

  The man nodded. Considering Karl’s somewhat rusty hand-to-hand training and his daughter’s petite size, he no doubt felt he
was safe enough.

  Once they were alone, he put his hands on his daughter’s shoulders. The muscles under her skin were even more pronounced than he’d guessed. “Don’t drag this out. Tell me what hurt you.”

  She gestured toward a couch in front of a wall-mounted vid screen. “Sit. Part of this is visual.”

  Once they’d both sat, she took his hand in hers. “The Old Empire enhanced their Fleet personnel with equipment implanted in their brains and bodies. This allowed them to interface with equipment and ships.

  “That’s how the rebellion started. Someone corrupted an AI and it in turn hacked Fleet officers and crew. It literally forced them to fight against their friends.”

  He nodded slowly as he considered that. “It would explain so much. The speed of the change and the ferocity of the attack. I understand now.”

  “I don’t think you do. The poor bastards were still alive in their own heads. Forced to watch as they did horrible things. And the Old Empire had something called medical nanites. They greatly enhanced a person’s life span. Those first people might have lived for centuries.”

  Karl was horrified, of course. That was a terrible story. “I accept that it’s worse than I can know right now. What does that have to do with you?”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “There was an old ship’s computer still forcing the changes on captured prisoners near the Kingdom of Pentagar. Pentagar is one of the allies we found. Crown Princess Elise is here as head of their diplomatic delegation. And as Jared’s girlfriend.”

  “I…see. Well, that might complicate matters, but you were in charge of any diplomatic work, so perhaps not too much. That ship’s computer did something to you?”

  She nodded, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. “I’m past it, mostly. The nightmares still come sometimes, but I’ve become accustomed to the changes and they eventually meant the difference between life and death for all of us and Pentagar as well. In the end, it was worth suffering through everything, but that won’t take away one bit of the pain I’m about to cause you. I love you and I’m so sorry.”

  Kelsey took another calming breath and continued. “I was stupid. I went somewhere Jared didn’t want me to go and they captured me. I defied common sense and this was not his fault. He blames himself, but I don’t. And I don’t want you to, either. Am I clear?”

  He allowed a small smile to touch his lips. “Yes, ma’am.”

  That made her smile in turn. “Sorry. I’m going to have to get used to someone else being in charge.”

  “What happened to you?” he asked gently.

  “The computer forcibly implanted me,” she said. “Not just with the cranial implants, but with something called Marine Raider enhancements. Graphene coated bones, artificial muscles, a pharmacology unit with advanced combat drugs, cutting edge medical nanites, and more. They turned me into the most deadly fighter the Old Empire could produce.

  “But that didn’t come without a steep personal cost. The machine that did the work was programmed by an AI that didn’t give a damn and I’m very sorry to say it used no painkillers whatsoever when it cut me open.”

  His heart stopped. He could barely grasp what she was saying, but he felt the horror of what she was describing.

  Before he could say anything, the display came to life, showing a scene from someone’s helmet cam. He’d seen enough video like it during his time in Fleet. A group of Fleet personnel was pushing a medical cart through a ship’s corridor at a breakneck pace.

  Kelsey was on the bed, and something was wrong with her face, but he couldn’t quite catch it with all the movement.

  When they boarded a lift, he recognized one of the people as the medical officer from Jared’s ship. What was her name? Stone. The marine cam was pointed at the door, so he couldn’t see Kelsey.

  When the door opened again, they raced out of the lift as soon as the doors opened and into the medical center. He had enough experience to recognize there were two complete trauma teams standing ready to receive his daughter.

  Stone pushed the cart near some equipment he didn’t recognize. “Get the regenerator ready. If we don’t get these incisions healed now she might have permanent scarring.”

  The image froze. Terrible, raw scars covered his daughter’s face.

  He rose slowly to his feet, his heart frozen. “My God.”

  “Those cuts covered my entire body,” his daughter said matter-of-factly. “The agony was indescribable. I didn’t want you to see this without knowing that I’m fine now. It was horrible, but it’s over.”

  He pulled her up and into his arms. It was his turn to weep while she comforted him.

  * * * * *

  Jared finished his presentation to Admiral Yeats. It had taken hours to go over every aspect of the basic situation. At least his commander now knew the full danger they faced.

  The older man rubbed his eyes. “I have to say that I’m horrified at the scope and power of the enemy you found. And very impressed with what you did to stop them.

  “Would I have made different choices? Yes. I can’t tell you if they’d have worked, though. It’s very easy to judge with the luxury of hindsight. What counts are results. And you brought more of your people home than I’d ever have expected.”

  Jared shook his head. “So many people didn’t make it. And that brings up another matter. Where do we put them all? The grounds around The Spire are too small.

  “We have our people and all the Fleet personnel recovered from the ship’s we’ve refurbished or scrapped. Almost a hundred thousand bodies. And that doesn’t even begin to count the rest of the ships. The final count from the graveyard will be in the tens of millions.”

  Yeats rubbed his eyes. “I have no idea. I’ll get a team of people working on that as soon as possible. There are so many hot items on my plate that I’m not sure where to start.”

  The hatch behind them slid open. Since Admiral Yeats had ordered the marines to leave them undisturbed, it could only be one person.

  His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Karl Bandar, walked into the compartment. “Gentlemen, no need to stand on my behalf.”

  Jared stood at attention, saying nothing. This was Admiral Yeats’s show.

  The admiral shook his head. “The day Fleet officers don’t stand for you, I’ll retire in disgust. How was your meeting with Princess Kelsey?”

  “Heartbreaking and eye opening. She’s been through so much.”

  The emperor stepped over to Jared and gave him a long, intent look. Then he pulled him into a hug. “Thank you for keeping my little girl alive. And for bringing her home to me.”

  Jared might have adjusted to this kind of thing from Kelsey, but it was never going to feel natural with his father.

  “I screwed up so many times, Majesty. What happened to her is my fault and I accept full responsibility for it. I could have stopped her, stopped them, but I was too slow.”

  “Sometimes, the biggest regrets come from the shortest periods of time. I don’t pretend to understand the full scope of what they did to her, but I know enough of the circumstances to be sure you did everything you could to protect her. For that, you have my unreserved gratitude.”

  He waved at the chairs. “Sit. We have a lot to discuss. We’ll want food and drink, because we’re going to be here for a while. I want to get a plan of action agreed on before we let this story go wide. It’s already leaking, but we have a little time to shape the way it’s received.”

  Jared sat back down. “Before we stop talking about Kelsey, there’s something you need to see to understand the person she is now. She left home—forgive me—a pampered little darling. That’s most assuredly no longer the case.

  “Both of you have heard what the Pale Ones did to her. That doesn’t really explain it. I have several videos you need to see. They all came from either her own implants or from security recordings. I’ll lay out the background for each one before I play it.”

  He queued the assassination attempt at th
e Pentagaran parliament building. “This was just a few days after we got her back. Before she could reliably walk again. Some people tried to assassinate the King of Pentagar, Crown Princess Elise, Kelsey, and myself.”

  He played the recording.

  The two men sat there, their jaws hanging open when it finished.

  The emperor turned to stare at Jared, his eyes glazed with shock. “That’s my little girl? She took them apart with her bare hands. Six armed men. She killed all of them.”

  Jared nodded. “That’s exactly what she did. With her bare hands. She calls that combat mode. Her Raider implants have hardwired threat responses. All she has to do is direct them and they can deal with some very hairy situations.

  “You saw how fast she was? That was a combat drug from her pharmacology unit called Panther working in tandem with the modifications made to her brain by the implants. Together, they speed up the nerve impulses and the ability of the brain to process information. Doctor Stone said something about nerve conduction velocity.

  “Basically, she had all the time in the world to figure out what to do. She’s had a year to master her implants and learn how to fight for herself. Now she can do things like this.”

  He played the video of her assault on the asteroid base where they’d recovered the hardware for Marcus. Then without letting them recover, he played the video of her on Boxer Station. Some was from her own implants, but more was from marine helmet cams. For good measure, he added the attack she’d led on the hidden battlecruiser base at Harrison’s World.

  The two men looked shell-shocked when the videos ended.

  Jared waited for them to wrap their minds around what they’d seen. “That last video was about three months after the first video. She’s had nine additional months to work on her form under what I would call expert instruction. In everything from hand-to-hand combat to fighting in powered armor with weapons you can’t begin to imagine, she has few peers and no masters. Princess Kelsey is a warrior now.”

  “Training from who?” Yeats asked. “From the marines?”