by J Palliser
Each pilot nodded an acknowledgement of his or her assignment.
"Konrad, you are Knight Six with Rahm Tulla as your wingman, Knight Five. You'll be in charge of Two Flight. Milos Dinar and Inri Vachs, Seven and Eight, will remain wingmates and join Konrad's Flight."
Konrad gave one of his rare smiles since Amira had been killed. Ares was glad he had put him in charge of Two Flight. Perhaps some responsibility was just what the young man needed to help him move on.
"Otto, you and Owais are still Nine and Ten, together as always. Otto will be in charge of Three Flight. Hanson, you're Eleven and Jarro, Twelve. I've paired you two together because no one else wanted you."
There were some chuckles from the back row, but Jarro's glare quieted them.
"Although Jarro will be in charge of the entire group in my absence, I've left Captain Kitt in charge of Three Flight. I hope that is all right with both of you." Both pilots nodded.
"Okay. As of now, you are all under the usual security restrictions. Get all your affairs in order and pack what you'll need. We have no idea how long this will take. We will be basing our operations from Thula. Your coordinates and search grids have been downloaded to your smart-pads and mech-droids. Study them before we leave. Any questions? Dismissed."
Otto and Mira remained behind after the others had filed out of the room. "Do you think searching deep space is really going to help find Aiden?" Otto asked.
"I doubt it, but unless you have some way of pulling his location out of thin air, I don't see any other way of going about it."
"That's what I thought. I hope Borne has something for us."
"So do I, Otto. So do I."
***
The Prefect's party hadn't ended until well after midnight. After the guests had departed, Aiden's wrists had been bound again and he'd been escorted upstairs to what he discovered were Prefect Tanweer's chambers. After shoving him into the room, the two troopers remained on guard outside the door, leaving Aiden alone with her.
She sat at an elaborately decorated dressing table, brushing her hair with her back to the entrance. When the door closed behind Aiden, she turned to look at him. She had changed from the elegant dress she'd worn earlier to an enticingly low cut nightgown of diaphanous silk. It left almost nothing to the imagination. In just the right light, sheer and see through.
And although the picture she presented was an extremely agreeable one, Aiden tried to keep his mind on the present. Over a long career of surviving whatever his enemies threw at him, he'd developed a number of instincts that warned him of impending danger. As he stood staring at her, every single one of those alarms was sounding at full volume.
"Ah, Commander." Her smile was dazzling as she stood and moved over to sit on the bed. "Come. Sit and we'll... talk." She patted the bed next to her.
Aiden shook his head and remained close to the door. "Thank you, your Excellency, but I'd rather stand. If you don't mind."
"Don't tell me that you're shy about being in a lady's bedroom. Don't be afraid. I won't bite. Unless, of course, you'd like me to."
"No. It's not a question of fear."
"Love, then? You have a sweetheart that you've pledged yourself to, and you don't want to betray her."
His thoughts turned briefly to Ajax, but he tried to push them aside. "There would be no betrayal... if we just talk." His mind reeled as he tried to imagine where Tanweer was going with this whole seduction scene.
She stood and moved over to him, the silk of her nightgown spread out behind her like the tail of a comet. "Commander, what is the real reason that you will not remain here with me?" She moved around him lazily, running her hand along the small of his back then playing with the gray belt at his waist. She reached up and brushed some stray hair from his eyes.
"Well, you're a Khawarij Prefect." He looked at her steadily. "I make it a rule never to go to bed with someone who intends to kill me, which makes life less complicated. Not to mention longer."
"Ah. But..." She moved closer to him, lifting his bound hands to slip them over her head so that his arms encircled her. "Rules are made to be broken, and sometimes complications can be quite pleasant."
She put her lips to his and kissed him provocatively, insinuating all sorts of interesting possibilities. She stopped after a long moment when he refused to respond.
"Really, Commander, you disappoint me. I would have thought you'd be a bit more... responsive." She slipped a hand inside his jacket, caressing his chest. He winced slightly as she reached his bruised ribs. Her hand dipped further still, making him extremely uncomfortable and his cheeks burn despite his best efforts.
He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. "Sorry, but I haven't had quite enough to drink to make you desirable. And it would be wrong of me to take advantage of you while you're in such an obvious state of grief." He met her withering look as her hand retreated and she freed herself from his arms.
"Very well. If that is the way you want it." She reached out and caressed his face with one hand. "But it is a pity. It could have been very interesting."
"I'll bet," he replied sarcastically.
She slipped her hand from his cheek, her nails scrapping his skin as she did so. "Guards!" The door opened and the two troopers entered. "Take Commander Hunt to his room. His interrogation will begin in the morning."
"Yes, your Excellency. Move it, you!" The trooper jabbed Aiden in the ribs with his carbine rifle, shoving him out the door. Aiden clutched his side, but he welcomed the pain as it returned him to reality. A reality that Prefect Tanweer seemed to be living outside of.
After the door closed behind Hunt and his guards, a dark figure moved toward Tanweer from the next room.
"You see, my dear? I told you that your offer would be wasted on him. He suffers from an unfortunate case of moral decency. Besides, I doubt that you would find him very satisfying." The man walked up to her and put his arms around her. "You need someone with stronger passions. More varied experiences. Don't waste your time with his... kind."
She reached up and removed the silver medal from his black uniform, tossing it onto the dressing table, before beginning to unbutton his black jacket. "I suppose you're right, Omar. But it's a pity that now I'll never know. Still, there will be the pleasures of making him pay for his crimes against the Empire and the death of my family. And that will satisfy me very much."
"Assuming that the Reich Ministry does not find out where he is and send a fleet in to destroy us."
She fixed him with a hard stare. "You have assured me that you took proper precautions when you captured him. Your report stated that you made sure to collect all debris from the area and that you jammed all transmissions. There is no way for the Reich to trace Hunt here. Unless you have something you wish to tell me, Omar?"
"No, of course not. The mission was completed to your specifications. But the Luftwaffe are notoriously lucky. Should they stumble across..."
"Omar, I have waited six very long years for just the right moment to put this plan into motion. Waiting until Commander Hunt was alone, vulnerable, in a position where we could capture him without the knowledge or interference from his friends. Now that that time has come, I will see him die. The Reich cannot steal that moment of revenge from me as Hunt stole my sons. This I swear. And once I kill Hunt, Khawarij Command will finally see that I am worthy of my status. They will give me a position of real power, and you, Omar, will follow me to greater heights as we crush the heart of this Reich once and for all!"
15
XIV
Standing at the window of the small bedroom that served as his temporary cell, Aiden watched the Artemis sky as it changed from night to earliest morning. Traces of pink and pale yellow had begun to ease their way into the deep blues and purples of the night. It held the promise of a beautiful sunrise, and the thought struck him that he should probably enjoy it, since it might be his last.
Instead, he turned away and moved deeper into the shadows of the room. Looking
around, he finally sat down on the barely disturbed bed. He'd been unable to sleep after Hashir had locked him in, and had spent the night replaying the events of the previous days in his mind.
First there was the bizarre situation of his being at a dinner party in a room full of Khawarij sympathizers who probably intended to kill him. The food and drink had been delicious and he'd been treated like any other guest, except for the constant watchfulness of the two troopers shadowing his every step.
There had been the polite conversation. He was questioned by some of the guests about his reasons for being a member of the 'criminal' Reich, and then called a liar for giving his honest answers. And through it all, he'd seen the looks that Samra gave him. They had become more and more poisonous every time they made eye contact.
There had also been a tour of the monument that the Prefect was having built in honor of her sons. It was huge, made from a black granite material and had two heroically posed statues of the slain men, each easily twenty meters high. There were Defenders, the Lucifer, and a eulogy carved into the stone.
Someone had asked what the purpose was of the large, empty area at the front of the monument. The Prefect had smiled mysteriously and said that they'd know within the next few days, that there would be a "special addition" to the work.
Then there was the big Lieutenant who had cared for him since he had been beaten by the troopers and the Admiral. He had never met any active Khawarij quite like him before. Hashir was a puzzle that he hoped he had time to figure out before they eventually got around to executing him.
Aiden rubbed his face with both hands and looked around the room again, wondering how much longer he had before they came for him. He hadn't heard anyone stirring yet.
As he glanced at the window again, his thoughts turned to home. He knew that K9 had managed to send some kind of rushed signal, but he didn't know if anyone would receive it and if it was even complete enough for them to figure out where he was. With that thought, he wondered what had happened to his mech-droid and his Valkyrie.
He knew that Ares and the squadron would have figured out that he was missing by now and had probably mounted some kind of search for him. How much of one, and how long they'd keep at it, he didn't know. But if Ares or Otto had any say in the matter, it would be pretty thorough.
He doubted that they'd find him though. He'd been back over the details of his ambush numerous times, and came to the same conclusion each time. He'd simply vanished, leaving no trace, between Thula and Daraa. And he was pretty sure that was Tanweer's intention. Finding him would be next to impossible.
Hey, impossible is Knight Squadron's stock in trade, Konrad's voice reprimanded him.
Then he thought of Ajax, and a pang of regret cut through him. He had told her that the reason he remained alone was because he never knew if the person he got close to would be around for much longer. And here he was, a few days later, half a step from being killed.
He almost regretted the fact that they had gotten together before he left. She would be suffering because of his disappearance. At least he liked to think she would be. But she was one strong woman, and he knew that she would get through it. That was just one of the hundred things that attracted him to her.
He remembered their dinner date for the night of his return. Their time together had been brief, but the memory of her kept his spirits up. She'll be looking for me, too.
The clatter of armor down the hall and voices approaching the door brought Aiden out of his reverie. He remembered the bottle that Hashir had slipped into his palm before locking him in for the night. Reaching deep into one of his pockets, he brought out the small glass vial and held it up to the morning light. It contained several grams of a transparent green liquid. He hesitated before opening it, not fully trusting what the Lieutenant had told him. Before they come for you in the morning, swallow this. It'll make things easier on you. It's the best I can do.
It could be a trick to drug him so he'd talk easier, but he didn't get that kind of feeling about the man. From all that Hashir had done for him since his arrival, it looked more and more like he was defying, albeit surreptitiously, his commanders. That may be something that Aiden could use.
He looked down at the small bottle, and decided that if they really wanted to drug him, he doubted he would be able to prevent it. It was a risk worth taking.
He could hear the combination being punched into the pad outside the door, and he hurriedly opened the bottle, downed the contents, then slipped it into a drawer. The liquid was bitter and he had to try hard to swallow it. He felt, not for the first time since his capture, a twinge of fear. He wasn't looking forward to this.
He took a deep breath and stood to wait for them. The door opened and four troopers walked in, followed closely by Admiral Samra.
***
Ares's Valkyrie screamed through the early morning atmosphere of Thula, the only inhabited planet of the Senda System, on a heading given to him by Jace Borne. Much as Aiden probably did three days ago.
He looked over his left shoulder and caught sight of the Raven about a hundred meters behind and fifty meters above him. Beyond the Raven was the green and black outline of Otto's Valkyrie. The rest of the squadron would be coming in to Thula in eleven hours for some sleep and then return to the search grid that he had set out for them.
That is unless we find something here that gives us a new destination.
Otto's voice broke into Ares's thoughts. "I sure hope Jace has managed to dig something up on this end. Not finding any kind of clues is really starting to annoy me."
Ares could hear the frustration in Otto's voice and felt some of it himself. "Agreed. The longer it takes to find a lead, the less chance we have of finding Aiden. But I guess we'll know soon." Ares tried to sound optimistic, but underneath, there was a great deal of tension in his voice that only someone who knew him well could recognize.
The Raven, flanked by her Valkyrie escort, circled then settled onto the concrete landing field in the Thula city of Sirwah. They cut their engines almost in unison, but Ares was first out of his ship. He didn't wait for a tech to put a ladder up against the side of the fighter. Instead he slipped up and over the lip of his cockpit, hanging over the side and dropping easily to the ground a few meters below. Otto was soon at his side, glancing behind him to see if Mira and Ajax were within sight yet.
Jace Borne emerged from the hangar to the right and jogged over to them. Jace had flown with the Knights when Aiden had reformed it three years earlier. He had returned to his home planet when a member of his clan was reported to be fatally ill, but his Valkyrie was ambushed and destroyed by one of Yasmin Jaza's ships and he was presumed dead. In actuality, he had gone underground on Thula and was helping the Sabaean Rebels to overthrow Jaza.
When he came back from the dead, he had briefly flown again with his former squadron in the Battle of Thula. After that, he had been assigned by his government to head the formation of the Thula Defense Corps.
He greeted Otto and Ares both with back slapping hugs and Mira with a gentler hug. Otto shook his head and pointed to Jace's short pants, grinning. "They're still not letting you shop in the adult department, I see."
"No, this is a pair of your hand me downs."
The two men, who had once been rivals in the squadron, laughed. Jace gave Otto a friendly punch to the shoulder. Ares looked over at Ajax, who had just joined them after emerging from the Raven. She was shaking her head. "They do this all the time," he explained with a smile.
"Oh. Friendly rivals, huh?"
"Exactly. Jace?" Ares motioned to the woman standing next to him. "This is Major Ajax Tiara, of the Waffen-SS. Ajax, this is Major Jace Borne of the Thula Defense Corps."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Major." He shook her hand then turned back to Ares and Otto. "We've made some headway on our end of the investigation. Come into the Operations Center and I'll tell you what we've managed to find."