by Ryan Krauter
“Actually,” he said slowly as the grogginess started to wear off, “my plan didn’t get much past blowing up the viewport. I guess I was sort of hoping you’d pick up with the not-dying part and take care of that for me.”
“I assume you don’t plan to ever tell your wife about what you do to yourself while at work?”
“So,” Loren asked the doctor, very pointedly changing the subject, “what’s the prognosis?”
“Well, you took at least three blaster hits to your shoulder and left side torso,” she started. “You have medical nanites in you right now, and they’ve been working on your left lung and kidney. I had to do a bone knit on several ribs, and there’s still the off chance the repair on the organs won’t last and we’ll need to grow you another kidney. Cosmetic surgery to remove the scars is optional. Frankly, you’re a very lucky man, Commander.”
“I was talking about the DNA weapon, Doctor,” Loren replied without emotion, and Doctor Elrad knew he wasn’t just trying to put on a tough front. He cared less about his own recovery than the potential cure, which she supposed was understandable.
“We’re making progress already,” she replied. “We’ve sent all the data back towards Confed space as well, but I think we might come up with something as soon as anybody, since we’ve got a head start.”
“So this could just work?” Loren asked hopefully.
“Yes, Commander, I think it will. I also had a request from your prisoner, the Priman Velk. He asked to talk to you.”
“Interesting,” Loren mused. “I wonder what he wants.”
He pushed a button which raised his bed to a position that would allow him to sit up and slide his legs off. He stopped abruptly as his body responded with pain which burned through the medication he had been dosed with.
Doctor Elrad saw the look on his face. “It will hurt like that for a while, unless you’d like a more powerful painkiller.” She knew what his response would be.
“No,” he said, “I’ll manage. I want to see Velk and get to C3, and I can’t be foggy.”
He took a cautious step, and while he didn’t falter, he had to stand still and collect himself for a ten count before taking another. Finally, he looked over at Halley. “You going to help, or what?”
“Commander,” Doctor Elrad cautioned, “you can hobble over to Velk over there, but you’re not ready to return to duty. Please return here as soon as you’re done, alright?”
“Sure thing,” he replied. He didn’t mean it.
Loren took his time in the hall between his room and Velk’s, practicing walking on his own and finally getting to the point where at least he didn’t wince when he walked. It wasn’t pretty, but he could get around.
“You coming in?” he asked Halley.
“Actually, I’ll wait in the hall. I think he wants to bond with you, and I want him to talk freely. You never know what he might tell us.”
Loren simply nodded and limped up to the guards stationed at the open hatch. One was keeping an eye on Velk at all times, the other was watching personnel in the hallway.
“Ensign,” Loren addressed the one in the hall.
The Marine replied with a ‘Sir’ and a crisp salute, which Loren returned.
“Did Doctor Elrad tell you I’d be talking with the prisoner?”
“She did, Commander,” the Marine replied, and moved aside.
Loren walked in to examine Velk and the room. Sitting there, restrained to his bed and sitting upright, he didn’t seem nearly as intimidating as he’d first been when they’d fought in the Priman base. He looked a bit beat up as well, though most of that had been from Halley’s rough handling during their escape.
“Good evening,” Loren began when he was close enough to talk in comfortable tones. The room was private, but he didn’t feel like yelling across it, either. “I’m Commander Loren Stone, XO of this ship. I admit; I know your name, but not your proper title.”
“Representative is my title,” Velk replied neutrally.
“It used to be Commander, was it not?”
“Yes, at one time I was the Commander. Now I serve the one who currently holds the position.”
“Ah, and who would that be?” Loren asked casually.
“That bears no matter to why I asked to see you,” Velk replied smoothly. Oh well, Loren thought, I tried.
“Does a former Commander usually get sent to the rear end of captured territory to watch over science nerds?” Loren thought he might get a reaction if he insulted the man’s pride a bit.
“The current Commander and I,” Velk paused to consider the wording, “have a difference of opinion.”
“So, why did you ask to see me? I can’t imagine it’s to thank us for wanting to take you back to our side so we could get to know you better.”
“I wanted to meet the person who ran such a risky operation. You showed great determination and drive, but also a wanton disregard for your own life. I wondered what made you act like this, and if all Confederation soldiers act this way.”
“So there’s no chance you’ll just tell me where your headquarters is so I can have it blown up?” Loren asked in a mock exasperated tone.
Velk merely stared at him and waited to see if Loren would answer the question.
“Alright, you know what, I’ll tell you.” Loren pulled up a chair and sat down, unable to keep from wincing at the pain as he dropped carefully into the seat. “Your people launched a DNA weapon on the planet Toral. I’m from there.” Loren waited. He wanted Velk to wonder if there was more. “My wife is there right now, quarantined. She has, by our estimates, eleven days before her DNA stops functioning correctly.”
Loren leaned towards Velk now, faces at about the same height. “I dragged those people into the heart of your territory because I will do whatever I have to do in order to save my wife. Now, I probably would have done it anyway, because that’s my job, but with her life in the balance, it simply means I have no issues with the fallout over what I do. Is that a satisfactory answer?”
Velk nodded quietly, digesting the information. He seemed to be composing his thoughts. “For what it is worth, the new Commander ordered the weapon’s use. I of course knew about it, but I mentioned a difference of opinion earlier. That was a major factor.”
Loren was surprised the Priman would admit to this. He must have felt that it did no harm for the Confeds to know his supposed role in the weapon’s use. Of course, he could just be saying that so Loren didn’t smother him while he was tied down to his hospital bed.
“You realize I have to question your honesty on that,” Loren said.
“Naturally,” Velk replied. “However, this is why I wanted to see you. Your people and mine, as well as all the Humans, Drisk, and everyone else, are so alike in so many ways. I would have done the same as you have in order to help my mate. That tells me you are not just primitives, but that you are ready to be full citizens in our civilization. To be sure, we came here to reclaim ownership of this galaxy, but that doesn’t imply we would repress or subjugate everyone in it. Rather, the opposite. We expected you to welcome our assistance, especially considering the chaotic state so many of your empires are in.”
“You never gave us a choice.”
“Would you have accepted our rule?”
“I can’t speak for everyone, but personally, no,” Loren replied honestly.
“I had hoped to win control of your militaries, then take our case directly to your people. I was convinced- and I still am- that a great number of your people would welcome the change, the prosperity we offer. This was where my successor and I differed. I wanted to win you over and show you why you should listen to us without destroying you in the process. My successor will simply do whatever he feels is necessary to establish Priman rule. The DNA weapon is just one example of what you might expect to see.”
“And why are you telling me this?” Loren asked finally.
“Because I still believe we can coexist together. There is a way; we just
haven’t found it yet. But if the Commander has his way, you might not be around to sample Priman governance. Our peoples are not all that different, Commander, and I wanted you to know that not all of us favor simple eradication.”
“Thanks, I think,” Loren said, and got up to leave. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go work on saving a planet.”
Avenger had been headed back to the Waterpark at maximum speed to meet back up with the Ninth Fleet. It was just after midnight when they’d received a communication to drop out of hyperspace so they could have a real-time conference with Admiral Privac aboard his flagship, the fleet carrier Thunderbird.
Captain Elco had been woken up by the news, and grudgingly dressed and headed up to the conference room in C3. He’d alerted Captain Lazaf as well, so that he could use one of the conference rooms to call his own people and arrange for a pickup. Since communications in hyperspace were restricted to a few words at a time, the reversion to realspace was worth waking the man for, even in the early morning hours.
As he sat at the conference table waiting for Admiral Privac’s connection, he realized he wasn’t planning on telling his superior about Lazaf yet. Since technically the Confederation and Talarans were no longer allies, he probably shouldn’t have given the man as much freedom as he had, and decided to not bring it up unless asked.
Finally, the Confed seal was replaced on the viewscreen by Admiral Privac’s face. It looked like the Admiral was in his own day cabin, and though Elco realized he could have made the call from his own cabin as well, he had also been doing this long enough to know that a conversation under these conditions might require him to be on the bridge shortly thereafter.
“Captain Elco,” Privac began, “congratulations to you and Avenger on your success. I was amazed to hear you had not only captured the former Commander of all Priman forces, but that he was the key to curing the DNA weapon as well. We all owe you a great debt.”
Elco was a little uncomfortable with the praise, especially since he hadn’t been the one with boots on the ground. “Thank you, Admiral, but I need to tell you it was XO Stone’s idea, carried out with a small team including a SAR operative. They deserve the credit.”
“Quite the bunch you have there, Captain, in any case,” Privac continued. “In any case, their records will all note this accomplishment. Now, on to business.” The Admiral suddenly got more serious, and something about it sent Elco into a guarded mode. He had the feeling that Privac was preparing to deliver bad news.
“We’ve just received orders for the Ninth Fleet to conduct a recon in force of the Anderson system.”
The look on Elco’s face must have said it all, because Admiral Privac looked like he’d been about to speak again, but stopped instead. Sirian Elco could no longer keep Lazaf’s presence a secret.
“Admiral,” Elco started, “you should know we’ve rescued a Talaran captain whose force was destroyed in the Anderson system.” Best to just put it all out on the table.
“You have a Talaran aboard?” asked Privac.
“Yes. Our team found him in the Priman facility where they captured the former Commander, Velk. He had been part of a force send to conduct a hit and run on Anderson, and his forces had been destroyed by an unscheduled Priman relief force. I can’t imagine why we’d be ordered to investigate Anderson.”
“You’re sure his intelligence is accurate?”
“Our SAR trooper also found the briefing in the Priman computer system. It matches his story. The only question is whether they still have a large force there, and if that’s the case, we shouldn’t be sending in what’s left of this beat-up fleet.”
“It is odd, I’ll give you that,” admitted Privac, “but maybe that’s what this is all about. They want to know if the Primans are ready to fight for Anderson. Besides, we don’t need to engage, just scout the system. I also received a request for an accounting of every ship in the Ninth, and since you’re on your way out of Priman space, I told them you were not going to make the recon with us. I have several ships all over the place returning to the fleet, but I’m having any elements who aren’t with us already meet at the Waterpark for our return.”
“Can I ask where this tasking came from?”
“It was actually a directive from the Senate, Captain,” replied Privac. Which meant Senator Dennix, neither of them had to add.
“Seems a bit off, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does, Captain, but they’ve been issuing plenty of odd orders out of Delos lately. Just between you and me, Admiral Bak is convinced there’s some sort of conspiracy to destabilize the Confederation. There have been oddball deployments, and they even ordered us to cancel the heavy weapons program that they ordered restarted not more than a few months ago. It’s like they don’t know which direction to take this war, and it’s not doing us any good.”
“So what now?” asked Elco.
“You and a few other ships just head to the Waterpark,” said Admiral Privac. “If something changes, I’ll send a burst like I did earlier, either containing orders or a time to be ready for a conference. Until then, good luck and good work.”
Chapter 15
Tana Starr was furious. She’d received a message from the Commander himself, and his anger had made her uneasy, even all these light years distant from him. Confederation troops had broken into a top secret, hidden Keeper facility and kidnapped Representative Velk and were now making a run for Confederation space.
This presented two tremendous problems. First was that the Commander had made her aware that Velk’s DNA was key to the weapon on Toral, and if he remained in captivity the Confeds could very well find a cure. Second was that, as the former Commander, he was privy to knowledge that would be devastating if it fell into Confederation hands.
The Commander had told her that the Confed ship was identified as Avenger, but more detail than that was lacking. It was only after their call had ended that Tana realized Avenger was part of the Ninth Fleet. Not waiting to call the Commander back, she instead got herself to the Senate building as fast as she could and demanded to see Senator Dennix. Everyone knew he slept there; he hardly left the building anymore. It was sad, and she wasn’t sure if he was more afraid of the Primans or his own citizens. Either way, he was going to become afraid of the Primans tonight.
She was waiting in his office as he trudged in, looking exactly what she’d expect of someone who had been woken in the middle of the night.
“Ms. Starr,” Dennix grumbled, “this had better be good.” He knew she was nominally in charge, but there had to be some limits, didn’t there?
“I’ll decide what’s good,” she replied coldly. “I have new orders for you to send out right now.”
That stopped him. “Something that can’t wait until the sun rises?”
“Here it is,” she said, and tossed a data chip on his desk between them.
He stood there and looked at it, but didn’t pick it up. “And what does it say?”
“It orders every ship of the Ninth, no matter where they are, to take part in the recon. All ships not already with the fleet and thus unable to leave as part of the formation were diverted to a rendezvous point by order of the Admiral in charge. We need to change that so every ship goes to Anderson.”
Dennix looked at her with a slight shrug and a ‘so what’ gesture.
“We need to capture or destroy Avenger, Senator,” Tana said, and slinked around the desk to stand closer to him. The gesture made him nervous.
“There is something aboard Avenger that cannot, I repeat cannot, get into Confed hands. Most of the missing ships that could theoretically catch up to the fleet are Crusader class ships. So, by specifically ordering all available Crusaders to join up, we get Avenger. We have enough ships massing in the system to cut off almost any escape route, and even if those Crusaders use their magnetic shielding, they won’t escape so many of our own vessels. We need that ship, Senator. And if you don’t send it to Anderson, our arrangement here is through
.”
Dennix swallowed once and tried to compose himself. He had never seen her like this, and it was rapidly becoming frightening. He was once worried about his political future; now he was worried if she’d simply kill him if he didn’t cooperate.
Numbly, he fumbled with the data chip, dropping it twice. He placed it on the reading plate and scanned the dispatch Tana had constructed, deciding it looked legit enough. He then sent it through the comm system to his military advisors.
“It’s done,” he said quietly.
Elco was woken up for the second time that night, and had very pointedly decided to take the call in his quarters. He’d only finished debriefing Captain Lazaf half an hour before, and had to admit he believed everything the Talaran had told him about what had happened to his own ships. The Talarans were sending a sizable force by the Waterpark to pick Lazaf up enroute to another hit and run operation.
Now, Avenger was wasting time sitting in realspace, waiting for the call that he’d been told to expect.
The screen flashed to life, replaced by the grim visage of Admiral Privac. “Second time today, Captain Elco,” the Admiral said without preamble. “I’m sorry I don’t have the time to give you a proper briefing or explain why these orders came through, but I’ve been ordered to deploy every Crusader class ship that could possibly make the recon to Anderson. One of the Senator’s advisors on Delos said they wanted the Ninth to have full use of your stealth abilities. Something about reducing the risk to the rest of the fleet.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Elco let slip before he could stop himself. “Why hold up the rest of the fleet or throw ships in that aren’t part of the ops plan?”
“I don’t know for sure, but the orders were very specific. They want the Crusaders to lead the way when the Ninth scouts the system.”
“They know we have the former Commander of the entire Priman military aboard?” Elco asked. “I’m not afraid of a fight; at least let us drop him off somewhere in a shuttle with an escort.”