by Terry Mixon
“I’m sorry we had to come here with no warning, but I’m going to see your leaders right now. They’ll tear a strip off me, I have no doubt. Let’s not start a riot here.”
That didn’t fully mollify them. They were scared people spoiling for a fight, if his guess was correct. No matter that their government was declaring their neutrality, they’d heard what had happened at Mars and Saturn. They’d be worried and frightened, and people in that frame of mind might fight when it better suited them not to.
“You there,” a voice bellowed. “Stand down.”
Brad turned and found an imposing man in coveralls similar to the first man approaching, his eyes locked with Brad’s. “You’re stalling my incoming flights. Get your asses out of here and get that ship back where it’s supposed to be before I fine you for that stunt.”
When the first man started to say something, the larger one shook his head. “Control retroactively cleared the landing, Vic. Let it go.”
Not wanting to chance the tide of opinion changing, he nodded to the larger man and headed for the vehicles. “Thank you.”
“You can thank me by killing that Cadre scum,” the man said coldly. “And give the damned government a backbone while you’re at it.”
“I’ll do my best, but don’t expect miracles.”
The other man held the vehicle door open. “I’ve heard of you, Madrid. You’ve pulled people out of the fire before. Now shut up and do it again.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, not seeing any other answer that would satisfy them both.
The man slammed the door as soon as Brad was inside, and the vehicles took off for the designated meeting area. Brad really hoped he could perform the miracles needed to save the Commonwealth and the Jovian system. It was all on him now.
Chapter Seventeen
Brad expected the convoy to head for the Governor’s office but was surprised when they instead went to the Mercenary Guild Hiring Hall.
Basing his company out of Io, Brad was intimately familiar with the building. The large building was where prospective patrons came to meet with officials and company leaders to discuss terms and measure one another up.
As Brad was exiting his vehicle, he noticed that the guards arrayed around the building weren’t just the security details for the various officials he was expecting to meet. Oh, they were there, but there were more armed and armored mercenaries mixed among them than Brad had ever seen outside an actual raid.
The layers they occupied were interesting as well. The civilian security details were the outer shell, and the mercs protected the inner layer and the building itself. He wagered that he’d find more mercs inside.
That said a lot about how much trust the various Jovian leaders had at the moment. They had more confidence in the Mercenary Guild than in one another, at least when it came to their own precious skins.
They had picked the right man for the job, though. A large man with dark red hair—though now with some grey mixed in—dressed in combat armor stepped up to Brad with a grin.
“You’ve stepped up in the world, Madrid. Or down. The jury is still out on that.”
Brad smiled warmly and shook Commander William Branson’s hand. “How are Heimdall’s Raiders treating you, Bill?”
“Pretty good. The Commodore retired last month, and I drew the short straw.”
Brad’s grin widened. “Congratulations, Commodore. Now all you have to do is make the final leap to Platinum.”
The other man clapped his hand on Brad’s shoulder. “That’ll be easier than you bringing all these stuffed shirts around to your way of thinking.”
“That bad?”
“That bad. Look, I know you’ve been out here with us for years, but I’m not sure you really understand how pissed-off people are. The idiots on Earth treat us as if they’re doing us a favor by letting us bend over and grab our ankles. They don’t just talk down their noses at us; they hire subordinates with longer noses for the express purpose of looking down on us.
“We’re tired of being treated like we owe the Inner System just because we’re alive. You’re not going to find it easy to convince anyone in there to back you without a fight, even with the damned OWA breathing down our necks.”
“Perfect,” Brad said with a sigh. “As if this wasn’t going to be hard enough already.”
“Hey,” the other man said with a firm squeeze of Brad’s shoulder. “That’s why you run a Platinum outfit. You solve tiny problems like this every day before breakfast.
“Seriously, though, good luck. We know how this is going to end and you’ve got to make them see the light. If you don’t, those Cadre bastards—no matter what they call themselves—are going to see us all dead or enslaved.”
“No pressure,” Brad said with a shake of his head. “You just keep anyone from shooting us up while I do it.”
“We’re on that. Lock this down, Madrid, and do it fast.”
With a nod to his guards, Brad headed into the Mercenary Guild Hiring Hall and got his next surprise. Rather than mercenaries keeping the inner watch, the open area was packed with men and women in matte-black clamshell armor and carrying stubby-barreled riot guns.
He’d seen something almost exactly like them before, but it took the slender woman stepping out to greet him to spark the memory. It had been a long time since they’d met. Even before he’d become a mercenary.
“Arbiter Blaze,” Brad said, extending his hand. “They brought you all the way from Ganymede for this?”
Kenna Blaze, the arbiter who had awarded him ownership of Heart of Vengeance after he’d killed all the pirates on the small ship, smiled at him as she firmly shook his hand.
“They decided they needed someone of impeccable character to moderate the sure-to-be-tumultuous negotiations about to take place. Since nobody like that was available, they called me.
“For the duration of these talks, I’ll be hosting the conversation and making sure that we stay on track as much as possible. Tempers are high, Admiral Madrid. I’m the bucket of ice water on hand to put out any unexpected fires.”
She was more than that, he knew. If the Arbiter Guild was involved, the woman in front of him was going to have a hand in making the final decision. He’d need to convince her that his plans were the best course for survival if he hoped to come out on top.
His wrist-comp chimed with an incoming signal just after they started into the large building. “If you’ll give me a moment, I should see what this is,” Brad said.
“Of course,” Arbiter Blaze said. “We’ll wait just ahead.”
The message ended up being a high-priority message from President Barnes. A small video of him appeared on the screen. It was straight and to the point.
“I hope I catch you before you’re already caught off guard, but the Jovian systems have contracted the Arbiter Guild to come to a decision on how or if they will assist in their own defense.
“I don’t know who will be there, but you’re going to have to negotiate hard on the behalf of the Commonwealth. Let me stress that. The Commonwealth. Not the Inner System.
“No matter how much the outcome of this meeting might annoy the vested interests on Earth, Mars, and Venus, you need to do what it takes to get these people fighting the OWA.”
His image held Brad’s eyes for a few moments. “We’ve moved past the point where a reasonable man could hope the Commonwealth will emerge the same after the conflict is done. The goal isn’t to save that entity. The goal now is to save us all from a brutal dictator and then let the pieces fall where they may.
“Good luck, Madrid. You speak now with my voice and on behalf of the Commonwealth. Do what needs doing, no matter the consequences to the current order. Barnes out.”
Well, that was unexpected. He’d come to cajole the Jovian politicians as a Fleet officer, not to represent the entire Commonwealth. Since he had no idea what they’d say or do, much less what the Arbiter Guild would decide was the best course for all involved, this was anyone�
��s game.
Arbiter Blaze led him to the largest meeting room in the hall and stopped at the well-guarded door. “Pick two people to come in with you, Admiral. The rest can join the other guards outside the building. We’ll call them back in to pick you up once we’re done.”
He could see that Major Papadakis wanted to argue, so he held up his hand. “This isn’t our call. You take the outside guard command, Major. I’ll take Colonel Saburo in with me. Just him.”
The woman wasn’t happy, but she knew how to obey orders. “Yes, sir.”
Brad followed Blaze inside with Saburo at his heels. This was the best choice, really. Saburo was an Io local, as well as a mercenary in good standing. Considering how Fleet had treated the Jovians over the years, he’d send a different message to the politicians than Major Papadakis.
People filled the conference room, some of whom he recognized but many he didn’t. Someone had helpfully put placards in front of the seats. That was how Brad was able to find where he was supposed to sit.
Someone had thoughtfully placed him beside Ilene Johnson. The tall blonde governor of Io smiled somewhat wryly at him as he took his place.
“You certainly know how to get everyone stirred up, Admiral. Leading a Fleet here was a bold move that could end up backfiring on you.”
“It’s a gift. What am I looking at?”
“A fight,” she said, her expression sobering. “I’ve already decided what I think the best course of action is. The only course of action, when you get right down to it. I’d rather you hadn’t put me into the hot seat, but I agree with your basic analysis.
“Many of my compatriots are unconvinced and believe this is just another ploy to string us along to get what the Inner System wants, and then to let us deal with all the fallout. We’d do all the fighting and they’d reap the profits.”
“I hope I can convince them otherwise. Who decided to let the Arbiter Guild make the final decision?”
“They were something of a default. No one here is going to let someone else dictate their actions, so we needed someone who could make a decision without all our drama and personalities. Not only is the Arbiter Guild trusted, they’re unlikely to have any infiltration from the Cadre or, more recently, the OWA.”
Brad nodded. That made sense.
“I was given authority to negotiate on behalf of the Commonwealth. Knowing how the Arbiter Guild works, I’ll have to agree to be bound by their decision.”
Johnson raised an elegantly sculpted eyebrow. “President Barnes is taking quite the risk there. A lot of powerful people won’t be pleased that the Commonwealth isn’t telling us how we need to behave. Or them being bound by someone else’s decision.”
Brad looked over at where Arbiter Blaze had been standing, but she wasn’t there. In fact, she wasn’t in the room at all.
“I trust Arbiter Blaze. Where did she go? Shouldn’t we be getting this started?”
“She’s bringing in the final party to the discussion.”
At that moment, the door opened back up and Arbiter Blaze walked in with three men behind her, none of them known to Brad.
The rear two took up places with the other guards while the man sat at the table, just about as far from Brad as it was possible to get.
Brad focused on the man’s placard and his blood went cold and then hot. It said Jamal Youden, OWA Representative.
Arbiter Blaze stepped up to her chair before Brad could decide how he should react. She picked up a small gavel and rapped it on a hard plate of the same material set in front of her. The negotiations were under way.
“As all are now present,” Blaze said in a professional voice, “we should get started. I’ll require the Commonwealth and OWA representatives to be bound by my final decision. Do you agree?”
“Yes,” Brad said.
“Of course,” the man representing the OWA said with something of a smirk.
“I believe everyone knows me and one another, with the exceptions of the Commonwealth and OWA representatives,” Blaze said. “In the spirit of expediting things, I believe we should disallow any opening speeches stating everyone’s positions.
“In the case of the Jovian system, I have received all your position papers and will take them into account in my decision. You will, of course, be allowed to ask questions and make statements as we proceed, but we don’t have a week to allow everyone to repeat at length what they’ve already told me.”
That caused a rumble of discontent in the crowd, and Johnson leaned over so that she could speak softly in his ear. “That’s going to piss them off. Politicians love the sound of their own voices, me included. Still, that kind of posturing wastes valuable time, so I think I agree with her this time.”
“Who is Youden? Is he from the Jovian system or is he here special for this meeting?”
The governor shrugged slightly. “I’ve never heard of him. Until I saw the sign, I didn’t think the OWA was going to be represented at the meeting. Frankly, I’m not sure where Blaze found him. It’s always possible he was planted here like Mader was back before he stuck a knife in my back.”
Brad’s never-too-damned brother had once served the woman beside him as a trusted aide and confidant. He’d almost certainly been the one to betray her son to the slavers that had tried to kidnap him.
No matter where Youden had come from, Brad had to deal with his presence. Frankly, it might be better to have him there to attribute the actions of the OWA on rather than speaking hypothetically.
Auditor Blaze turned to Brad. “Admiral Madrid is here to represent the Commonwealth and Fleet. I suggest we allow him to state his position, though I suspect we all know what he wants.”
Youden stood before Brad could, obviously primed to act. “I object.”
Blaze turned toward the other man, looking somewhat bemused. “People usually wait for someone to actually say something before they object to it, Mister Youden.”
The OWA representative smiled, an expression that wouldn’t be out of place on a shark. “I object to your introduction as it isn’t accurate. These people deserve to know who they’re listening to.
“Allow me to correct the record. The man in the uniform is Brad Mantruso, the Lord Protector’s younger brother. His representation to you is thus already proven a lie and his position is little more than sibling jealousy.”
Well, that certainly tore things.
Chapter Eighteen
To say that Youden’s announcement caused consternation among the gathered politicians was something of an understatement. At least two-thirds of the people gathered leapt to their feet and started shouting. It was so loud that no one could understand what they were saying, but the tone certainly indicated their negative reception to the news.
Arbiter Blaze’s expression said that she wasn’t pleased at the revelation or the interruption—possibly both—and she began slamming her gavel down and didn’t stop until the noise level dropped to the point that she could shout over those who were undeterred by her attempts to regain control of the meeting.
“Order! Order!” she bellowed in a voice even Saburo nodded his approval of.
When several loudmouths kept demanding Brad answer the charges—at least he could now understand what they were saying—she gestured for several of her troops to grab the offenders.
They objected to the treatment, but she was unmoved. “You were warned that I would not tolerate disruption of these proceedings.”
“He has to answer the charges,” one of the men being held. “Release me at once! Do you know who I am?”
She frowned slightly. “Actually, I don’t, but even if I did, the results will be the same. Admiral Madrid will have a chance to respond to the OWA declaration, but you won’t be here to hear it. Escort these gentlemen out to their guards and then bar them from the building.”
That sparked another round of swearing and threats, but she seemed unmoved and silence fell in the room as her guards removed the offenders.
Blaze
looked around the still-crowded conference room. “Disruptions will not be tolerated. I don’t care who you are; if you interrupt these proceedings, I’ll throw you out. If you can’t live with that, leave now.”
When no one made to leave, Blaze rapped her gavel once and looked at Brad. “The gentleman from the Outer Worlds Alliance has called your identity into question, Admiral. As I’ve personally known you for quite some time, I feel there must be more to the story. How do you respond?”
Brad rose to his feet and smiled at her before looking around the room of suddenly hostile people. And the smirking Youden.
“I was born Brad Mantruso but took another name after the Terror killed the only family I had ever known. Anyone that knows me knows that I’ve devoted my life to getting some revenge on the Terror and the Cadre.
“What they don’t know is that the Terror was my uncle by birth. I didn’t know it either until very late in the game. And, in any case, I killed him for the crimes he committed against humanity.”
He paused to let that sink in. “I felt changing my identity was the best way to keep word of my quest for revenge quiet. That worked out just fine.
“Since the representative from the OWA brought my relationship to their Lord Protector into this conversation, I’ll address that, too. I had no idea who Jack Mader was, or that his name was actually Mantruso. It came as a great shock to me but changes nothing about him.
“He hid in the offices of the Governor of Io for decades, working for his uncle, the Terror, and the Cadre. When I killed the Terror, he stepped in to lead the Cadre as the Phoenix. I’ll wager none of you knew that.”
“Objection!” Youden said, leaping to his feet. “That’s a lie! The Lord Protector has never been a pirate! He’s a freedom fighter that wants the same thing as everyone else here in this room.”
“Sit down, Mr. Youden,” Arbiter Blaze said. “You opened this can of worms, so you get to see it dumped onto the table. Interrupt again and I’ll make you eat them.”