by Randal Sloan
“You two should get a room,” Amy told them. She laughed. “About the Princess thing: When I first met you, back when I thought you were just another lowly lieutenant, I already knew you two were an item. Even then I knew there was something special about you. Just for fun, I imagined you were a princess, hiding away so you could learn about the navy. Imagine my surprise when I learned you really were a princess.”
Jarra smiled at her. “And yet you went out of your way to become my friend, even though you really didn’t believe that was true. Despite the fact you wanted Jason to be interested in you.”
Amy smiled back. “I knew that was a lost cause. I saw the way the two of you looked at each other.”
Jason laughed. “Guilty as charged. I’ve been in love with her for years, although I did try to hide it at the time. I didn’t even know why she was there on that ship, only that I probably didn’t need to blow her cover.”
“I think I already knew how I felt about you too, Jase. I just didn’t know what to do about it. You have to understand — dating as a princess just isn’t done. Not that I had the time to do it anyway.”
“Luckily, I wasn’t in your chain of command. That gave us all that time to get to know each other, without actually dating.”
Amy’s smile grew bigger. “Yeah, all those after dinner walks and time spent in the observation lounge. It wasn’t long before everyone knew you two were an item. We even had a pool going for when you’d make it official.”
She laughed. “I won the pool, by the way. Thanks.”
Kaeden had been listening to their banter. He understood about the companion to the One and he was glad that they were together. Based on their current understanding of the Prophecies, their children would be very important; more specifically their daughter. But the last confused him.
“What is this pool you speak of?” he asked. “I don’t understand. Did you have a pool to swim in on the ship?”
Amy laughed. “I guess I left that out of your Galactic Standard module. We actually did have a pool we could swim in on the Relentless, but I’m referring to another form of human gambling, a mild form of it. We each put money into a ‘pool’ and everyone chooses a point in time when we believe a certain event will happen. I guessed the closest, so I won all the money in the pool. It’s more for fun than for real gambling, although I was glad I won.”
She lowered her voice. “We have a new pool for when they officially get engaged. Do you want in?”
Kaeden wasn’t sure he would ever completely understand these humans, but he knew he had to try. He spoke in an equally low voice. “I would like to do so. How do I do that?”
Jarra just shook her head. “You know I can hear you two, right?”
Amy smiled at her friend. “I’ll send it to your implants. We can’t let them hear the details or it would possibly change the results. I intend to win this pool too.”
Jason leaned in to give Jarra a kiss. “I might have known about this pool. I even tried to put my own entry in, but for some reason, they wouldn’t let me.”
Jarra gave him a dirty look, but secretly she was pleased. She kept her thoughts to herself, but she couldn’t help but think, We’ve got to find a way to survive this mission. We have so much in our future and I can’t wait to see it.
Chapter 11
Aerstone
The Rim District of Aerstone space was rather unique. The Aerstone had defenses out there, but those defenses tended to be mobile versus fixed. For starters, none of the Aerstone risked having their primary backups anywhere near the Rim. Even if they lost entire worlds in the war, as far as they were concerned the Rim no longer mattered to them.
In the core worlds of their space, the Aerstone had built up their defenses to the point of absolute redundancy. It was all because of the last war, where the enemy had managed to destroy many of the facilities where their backups had been stored. That meant that when a ship was destroyed, those soldiers were lost forever.
That had terrified their whole race despite their limited ability to feel emotion. It had generated a huge outcry among the people and the rank and file of the Aerstone had been near the point of revolting against their leaders. Only by gaining a respite from the war had they been able to maintain their positions, but it had been a near thing.
This time they were determined to keep that from happening and they’d delayed the start of the war they intended to be the final war against their enemies. Instead, they worked on their defenses around those core worlds until all the rank and file believed they were safe. That, and even as they began their efforts to use the humans for their own benefit, they were being extremely cautious, even tentative in their efforts. It helped that the humans were so stupid they came very close to betraying themselves.
Now that most of their efforts to use the humans against themselves had failed, the leaders of the Aerstone realized that they needed to come up with a new strategy. The leadership of the Aerstone was made up of the Dark Council and the highest member of that group was called the Supreme Leader.
All of the Dark Council professed their belief in the Dark Prophecies, the collection of predictions from the Forerunners that the Dark Master proclaimed signified that they should dominate and control the entire galaxy. If that had been their only plan, perhaps they would have already won. But gradually their plans moved away from their original intent.
The creed that all biological life in the galaxy needed to be eradicated had been started by the Dark Master and the Dark Council had accepted that as a means to get the populace to buy into their plans. At first, none of the Council had believed their own proclamations, but more and more, the members of the Council had come to be made up of true believers in the philosophy. That faction had now achieved a significant amount of control over the council and they planned to push for their agenda more aggressively. That same faction more or less disbelieved in the Dark Prophecies and the Dark Priests, which was rather ironic if one thought about it.
That left Supreme Leader AersTwo in a rather difficult situation. He himself had a strong belief in the Prophecies and yet he knew for a fact the decision to destroy all biological life was only a means to an end. He blamed the Dark Master for starting them down such a pointless path. Not that he was concerned one way or the other about the biologicals. As far as he was concerned, they were mere insects that deserved to be stepped on if they got in the way. All he cared about was galactic domination.
The most important thing the Dark Prophecies had predicted was that the third war would be the one that would decide the fate of them all. After their latest setbacks with the humans, even as Supreme leader he had begun to doubt his own beliefs. We must be doing something wrong. All of that led to his decision to speak with the Master of the Dark Ones and get some real answers. Otherwise, he feared this fool of a Council would get them in real trouble.
Of course, he didn’t tell the Council his real reason for the visit. Instead, he called his assistant in to discuss his plans. The Aerstone communicated with radio signals and that communication took place on different levels, depending on the circumstances. When among equals, it was somewhat more difficult to lie, although not impossible, for a high level connection was demanded. When speaking with subordinates it was much easier to disseminate untruths, since the subordinate did not receive as high a communication connection and could not detect the untruths.
“I am planning to pay a visit to the Sentinel plant,” he told the construct that carried the consciousness of his assistant. “I need to know how fast they will be able to produce new Sentinels as we begin to take over human space. That will help me facilitate the attack plan the Dark Council is demanding we put together.”
“But that is out in the Rim District, Supreme Commander,” Arbid8219 told him. “It is several days journey and somewhat risky. What do you want me to tell the Council when they ask for updates?”
“How dare you question me, you fool! You will tell them I am doing what is necessary
to complete their latest request. They won’t like it, but they will have no choice but to wait for me to return. And don’t worry. I’ll make sure I have enough ships with me to be safe.”
Arbid8219 wasn’t happy with the response, but he knew he had no authority to continue with his protest. “As you wish, my Lord.” The Council could deal with his master if they didn’t like it. He turned to leave.
“Oh, Arbid,” AersTwo told him, leaving off his designation in a fit of pique, “Send the Dark Priest in to visit. I will need his blessings for my travels.”
“As you wish, my Lord.”
Arbid8219 quickly hurried out, lest his master make another demand. He would have shaken his head in disgust if Aerstone did such a thing. The Dark Priests were creepy ones. He couldn’t believe his master still dealt with them. Nevertheless, he sent word to the Dark Priest who served in the Capital to attend to his master.
The only beings the members of the Dark Council were still considered below in status, the Dark Priests had lost much of their power over the last few decades but still held on to it to the extent no one dared challenge them yet. As the second to his Dark Master, Aers11 demanded that respect and longed for more. He took his time in coming to see the Supreme Leader.
Supreme Leader AersTwo had grown quite angry as he awaited the Dark Priest. He hated them and their Dark Master most of all and he tired of putting up with their airs of superiority. Still, for now he needed them. He considered himself nearly an equal, so he did not give the Dark Priest the due he would have wanted, refusing to even pretend to offer the Dark Priest the deep bow normally demanded. Instead he only gave him a nod and left off the honorary title of Dark Master by tradition used for the highest ranked priest in the Capital.
“Aers11,” he told him, “I need to speak with your Master. It is imperative that we meet prior to the start of our next campaign. I will be traveling to the Sentinel plant on the Rim, and I need him to meet me there. It is the only place I believe we can talk without risk of discovery.”
Aers11 was quite angry at the way the Supreme Leader spoke to him, but he held his com. He had noticed the guard that stood beside the door. It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility that something would happen to him if he pressed the issue. It would be blamed on the unbelievers he was sure, but that wouldn’t help him. He also believed the Supreme Leader held enough power that even his backup could be at risk.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t resist expressing his displeasure. “This one time, I will not demand the level of servitude you owe me, only because you are correct in your request in discussing your plans with my Dark Master. Do not make this a habit, or you will pay, Supreme Leader or not.”
He turned to leave, ignoring the flash of anger in the Supreme Leader’s own red eye. Still, he sent the request to his master using the encrypted com he was allowed due to his position. Let the Dark Master deal with him.
That left AersTwo with his thoughts. The Sentinel plant was out on the Rim because, truth be told, even the Aerstone feared them. That fear went both ways. The Sentinels controlled the plant because they didn’t trust the Aerstone leaders either. They were very much afraid the leaders would shut them down once they had their victory. Someday AersTwo would have to rectify that situation too.
Katarina cautiously began her exploration of Aerstone space, staying within fast hyperspace for the initial part of her journey. Amfiltrite hung back at their original anchor point, awaiting the return of her companion. Katarina would return to their position on a preplanned schedule to shoot them a data stream. If they missed more than two rendezvous, the Amfiltrite would assume they had been discovered and would immediately flee back across the void.
They had to proceed slowly, using only passive scans. Galen carried them in an approximate crosshatch search of the real space outside of their hyperspace position so they could search for an appropriate spot to attempt their interception of the Aerstone NET. After all, what they were looking for was only going to be found in real space.
Finally, Gabo signaled Jarra excitedly. “I think I’ve found our first candidate for our attempt to hack the Aerstone NET. It is located in orbit around the populated world I’m displaying on the main screen. It is actually nearest populated world to our point of entry into the Aerstone arm. Although, it’s a stretch to call the world populated — the only presence I see is on the space station that is orbiting the planet. Apparently, it’s too inhospitable even for the Aerstone, or perhaps the signals for the Aerstone NET don’t reach the surface, because I don’t see any evidence of any Aerstone presence on the planet.
“The other advantage, a nebula is located just outside the system and it should be the perfect place for us to hide, although I recommend we stay in stealth.”
Jarra looked over the data he had displayed. “It looks like a good candidate, assuming Sara is able to hack into their NET. We’ll also have to see if they have a stream of data recent enough for Sasha to use.
“Keep our stealth systems on full and don’t break out of hyperspace until the entire area has been scanned. I want two full scans, just to be sure, since we still only dare use passive scans.” She shook her head. “Based on what we’ve seen so far, it appears we don’t have a lot to worry about, but we dare not take any chances. It seems rather odd to me, but it appears the Aerstone presence on the Rim is extremely limited, even less than we could have possibly believed…”
As Gabo completed his scans and Galen anchored their ship within the vicinity of the nebula inside fast hyperspace, Jarra pondered the lack of presence of their enemy. It appeared they had a number of asteroid mines and only enough Aerstone to support those facilities. If they were planning a war, she would have thought they would have built up their presence even on the Rim. The Borjon had to be right in their assumption that their enemy had not detected the fast ships.
Still, their lack of presence in the area confused her and her inability to understand the minds of the enemy worried her. Just what was going on with them?
As soon as they were safely hidden within the nebula in real space, Sara immediately set about hacking into the Aerstone NET, totally surprised to find their protocols hadn’t changed since the Borjon scans a millennium ago. That made her job easier, but it didn’t mean she could proceed without due caution. She dared not trigger anything that would allow them to be detected.
Nevertheless, it took her less than an hour before she was in. What she found was quite astounding, and she knew that was only what she could see on the surface of it. She couldn’t wait until she saw the results of Sasha’s data dive.
“We’re in luck,” she told Jarra as she sent the data stream to Sasha’s panel. “The station we saw provides primary support for all the mining facilities in this section of the Rim, so they have an up-to-date data stream. Not only that, but the Aerstone apparently don’t bother to differentiate between such a minor station and one somewhere more important. It appears they send the same stream to everyone.”
Jarra nodded. “The more we study these aliens, the more alien they appear. Even though sending all that data is rather inefficient, it appears they don’t care that much. I just can’t figure out how they can be so careless with everything out here on the rim.”
Sara shook her head. “I have a pretty good idea on that. I believe they’re just that arrogant that they can’t conceive anyone would be able to penetrate their systems. I’d say wait for Sasha’s confirmation, just in case I’m completely off base, but that’s probably it.”
Jarra knew Sara was likely correct. It didn’t really matter — they had a mission to complete. As soon as Sasha had received the entire stream, she gave the order for them to retreat once more into hyperspace. Unfortunately for them, they missed the last update the Aerstone sent — it came in just as they disappeared into fast hyperspace.
That update had information that they really, really needed to know.
Safely anchored in fast hyperspace, once more on the edge of Aerstone s
pace, the small crew of the Katarina gathered again in their tiny galley. While they had been traveling back to their hiding place, Sasha had been deep in the data stream. She was now ready to update her friends on her findings. Some of those, she knew, were going to be quite a shock. She also didn’t like what she’d found.
“Master Hadassah is going to be quite surprised about some of what I have to tell you,” she told them as a way of getting their attention. “It appears that the Aerstone had a strong reaction to the events near the end of the last war.”
That brought them to the edge of their seats. Just what kind of reaction could she mean.
Sasha didn’t give them long to speculate. “Due to the fallout from the first real deaths the Aerstone had experienced for millennia, they came close to a rebellion against their leaders. The end result was that the leaders had to change their basic philosophy and it led to the development of two separate factions within their Dark Council, as their leaders call themselves.
“The old faction were followers of the Dark Prophecies, a perverted version of the prophecies the Borjon monks have received. This faction is the main reason the Aerstone haven’t pursued the war for the third time, although they’ve only delayed it while they built up insane protections around their core worlds. I don’t believe with the technologies we have at this time that it will be possible to repeat the strategy the Borjon employed to end the war. We do not possess a weapon powerful enough to penetrate their defenses.”
Everyone just stared for a moment. Finally, Jarra looked back up at her friend. “You better tell us the rest of it,” she told her. “What do you mean when you say they’ve only delayed the war?”
“That’s the other bad news. The faction that has stayed their hands has slowly begun to lose power. As soon as the others gain enough support, they’re going to push for a resumption of the war. That could happen any day now, based on the evidence I saw. What we’ve seen up until now have only been minor skirmishes in a prelude to that war.”