Lost heir, p.13
Lost Heir, page 13
Maeve’s mind refused to recognize or believe this could be happening. Petty officers didn’t threaten officers; he would be spaced for that. How could he think he could get away with it? But even as those thoughts swirled in her head, she remembered rumors about other crew women who had gone missing. Red anger exploded as she prepared to fight, but her momentary disbelief had been all he needed.
In that moment, Welks’s arms were around her, his face, his breath, on her. She struggled, but her arms were pinned. For such a huge pile of flesh, he had amazing strength. Trying to kick him, she found her legs were pinned by his. Digging her thumbs into his sides, the only thing she could move, she screamed out, “Let go of me! I’ll kill you, Welks!”
He chuckled, a sound of deep satisfaction. “No, you won’t, but I’ll kill you when we’re done, and no one will ever know the difference.”
Suddenly, he woofed, letting go of Maeve except for a hand clamped to her right wrist. Maeve saw him turn away, giving her the chance to break free. She had been straining against his grip so hard that, when she broke free, she fell to the ground. From the deck, she could only see his back as he brought his hands up ponderously before taking a swing at someone she couldn’t see very clearly in front of him. Maeve knew the power in those arms and hands. Whoever he connected with, when he did, would be dead or seriously injured. As he swung at a shadow, she watched the punch go wide, missing completely.
Then he shouted in pain. A counter punch must have been thrown by his opponent, obviously connecting. She dimly saw Welks’s attacker deliver a snap kick to the knee that brought him to a standstill. A moment later, a punch to the throat left him gagging. Then a kick aimed at the top of the legs made contact. Although she couldn’t see exactly where that kick connected, from Welks’s reaction it appeared to be somewhere extremely sensitive.
He hit the deck, retching, his left leg sticking out at an unnatural angle. By the time she got to her feet, ready to help, Welks had already toppled to the floor. Maeve realized he wouldn’t be getting back up. Without Welks blocking her view, she finally recognized her rescuer. Mai Ling! So short and petit, if Welks had connected even once, she would have been done, but, instead, he lay moaning on the deck. As he lay there, Qi Mai Ling hit him twice more in the face. Maeve heard a bone crack as the second strike landed.
“That’s enough, Mai Ling,” Maeve ordered. “He’s down and injured, you’ve hurt him enough. After Captain’s Mast, they’ll space him and that’ll be that.”
Mai Ling just shook her head. “You know what Pogue is like,” she answered, breathing heavily as her right foot slammed down, like as piston, breaking his left arm against the deck. “He’s likely to get a promotion and you’ll come to Pogue’s attention as a possible bed companion. Do you want that?” She kicked again.
Panic rose in her throat. In her opinion, Pogue treated women as badly as Welks, which meant Mai Ling might be right. Whether true or not, Maeve didn’t know for sure but didn’t want to find out. “Fine. Let’s get away before someone finds us here.”
Mai Ling gave one last kick to Welks’s face, which might have dislocated his jaw, before standing upright. “Okay. Let’s go. Remember your things.”
Maeve realized she hadn’t even given her com pad or other items lying on the deck a thought. She had just wanted to run, needing desperately to get away from this already ugly memory. Grabbing her comp pad and shoulder bag, she began stooping for the wire when she decided. I don’t care if they do find out about me having been here because of the wire. This job has to be done and I don’t want to lug it down here twice. “Let’s go.”
Together, they headed back toward the code room. “How did you happen to stumble on this?” Maeve asked, a question that hadn’t occurred to her in the heat of the moment.
“I keep tabs on you and knew you were headed down here. I happened to be in the mess when a couple of Welks’s guys came in with big cheese-eating grins on their faces talking about how they were glad for this unexpected break. They’d apparently been told not to come back for an hour.”
An hour, after which she would have been dead, never to be seen again. “Thank you,” she said fervently, reaching out to touch Mai Ling’s arm.
Mai Ling patted her hand. “It’s become something of a habit, watching over you all these years. We need to keep moving before someone stumbles on all of this.”
Tears prickled at the edges of Maeve’s eyes as they headed up-ship together. After a few steps, Mai Ling slid her arm around Maeve’s shoulder. Maeve slid her arm around Mai Ling’s waist, grateful for her nearness and love.
Maeve picked at her food while she waited for Mai Ling. Over the last week they had gotten in the habit of meeting for lunch. Today, Maeve had been waiting for forty-five minutes, but no note had come from Mai Ling explaining her tardiness.
Unfortunately, Maeve couldn’t wait much longer. A glitch in one of the pumps feeding a hydroponics vat had developed an intermittent fault and almost killed a large portion of the carbon dioxide recycling system in hydro two. Enjoying breathing as much as the next girl, nothing except lunch with Mai Ling could have interrupted her diagnosing the problem.
Worry began to tie her stomach in a knot. Did Welks say something implicating Mai Ling in his accident? If he did, he would need to explain about assaulting Maeve. He couldn’t be that stupid. But what if? What if he’d concocted some story? Was she next? Could she do anything to find out? No, not even make discrete inquiries. That would be the fastest way to join Mai Ling, making her possible sacrifice worthless. The reality of being the last of her team began to grow in her chest, along with a sense of awful aloneness.
Just then, two women on Mai Ling’s team walked in, talking in low voices. As they looked at Maeve, she waved them over. Looking at each other, they slowly moved in Maeve’s direction.
“Hi, I’m waiting for Mai Ling for our lunch. Do you know how long it will be before she can take a break?” Maeve waited anxiously while the two looked at each other and seemed to come to a decision.
“She never came in this morning. Don’t ask around if you want to stay safe. Keep out of it,” the shorter one hissed.
“Thanks,” Maeve murmured to the back of the rapidly departing women. She felt sick inside. Looking up, the chronometer on the bulkhead showed she needed to be on her way. Leaving three-quarters of her food untouched, she took her tray to the disposal area for recycling. Her face hardened. Whatever had happened to Mai Ling, Welks undoubtedly must be involved. I will make his life so miserable for this, he’ll wish he had died last week.
CNS Pechnaya
1020 BBMT 11 October 3473
Seated at the center of CNS Pechnaya’s spacious flag bridge, Morgain uch Robert bathed in the almost sensuous feeling of power flowing around her. This supernova—her supernova—counted as one of the most powerful ships not only in Ninth Sector but the entire empire, which meant the galaxy. The men and women around her obeyed her immediately, catering to her every whim. Her task group counted as the strongest single fighting force in the sector.
She glanced about at every station. And if anyone failed to comply? That man or woman would never make another mistake ever again. When her strength in men and women dropped, her task group would capture other ships and give the crew a simple choice. Very few rejected her offer to join her, none twice. What could be better?
The sudden startled movement of a communications rating caught her attention. The woman printed out a hard copy before placing it in a high-security envelope. Morgain felt the entire business of maintaining some things highly secure silly, but the military would do things their own way. The rating handed the envelope to a lieutenant, who passed it to a commander, who then brought it to her. “A high-security message, Your Majesty.”
Opening the envelope, disbelief and a thrill of purpose coursed through her. One of Trevor Cascade’s sons had somehow survived! And, he had a proctor. Her moles within Prime Fleet were definitely paying off. How convenient. She could kill two birds with a single stone.
Plus she had a good idea where they might be going outside the empire for this test. When your grandmother reigned over an independent planet, you learned all sorts of interesting things, one of which she would put to good use now.
Focusing, she noted the commander still standing at rigid attention in front of her. Of course, she had not dismissed him. Rising from the command seat, she ordered. “Plot a course for Alpine. My ships will refuel there before beginning a search for a stealth ship, the Ambrose B.”
Leaving, she barely heard the “Aye, aye, ma’am.”
Jeffco Secondary Command Post
0930 Local/0330 BBMT 20 October 3473
Vice Admiral Ngaio tried to focus on the fleet logistics download displayed on the screen, but his mind kept wandering to the boy out there. Hugh and his ship had left nine days ago and were beyond the boundary of the empire. He was safe from interference now. A window popped up on his screen further distracting him, his bosun Wendy Yu. “Your archeonA call to your mother through the planetary archeonA on The Crossing is connected, Admiral.”
“Thank you, Bosun. Make sure the line is secure and no listeners, please.”
Wendy nodded, her face replaced by a weathered woman who appeared to be at least eighty. “Duong, my son!” The old woman’s voice sounded strong although she looked as if a stray breeze would blow her away. “So good of you to call.”
Behind her, Admiral Ngaio could see the shrine she kept to her son lost not long after Deft eight years earlier. “Quong Ngaio how are you?” he said.
His mother cocked an eye at him. “Why won’t you call me mother as you used to?”
Duong Ngaio smiled. “When you stop asking when I will give you grandchildren.”
“Humph,” she snorted. “Not likely.”
“Then I will not stop calling you ‘phoenix.’ That is what your name means, after all, and the meaning of the name tells us who the person really is.” Before she could say anything else, he went on, “I have great news. Chi did not protect the heir in vain on Deft. He would be so proud to know this news.”
Suddenly Quong Ngaio’s eyes shone with a special intensity. She could only utter, “What?” before choking up.
“It is secret, but I know you will tell no one. The boy Chi died to save has entered on the Test of Heirs to become emperor. I thought you should know; Chi’s sacrifice may be partially responsible for saving the empire.”
Tears began to flow down his mother’s face. “Now I know he made an especially noble sacrifice. Thank you for telling me.”
“You are welcome, Mother.”
A bit of strength returned to her voice with a hint of asperity. “The only better news I could have is that you will provide me with a grandson, firstborn!”
Duong chuckled. “Are not your eighteen grandchildren enough, Mother?”
“No! Not until I have one from you!”
Treadle Communications Array
0340 BBMT 20 October 3473
Based upon the keyword Deft, an electronic tap on the central archeonA processor node recorded the entire conversation before disconnecting itself. It dutifully bundled the entire message for transmission to its master on planet Treadle in Sector Four. Three days passed before it could piggyback the message unnoticed. When it arrived, an alert chimed on Commander’s Belle, a non-military corvette in Treadle orbit. The communications tech sent it unopened addressed to the ship’s owner, Austin Carhart. Although it arrived after 3 a.m. local, the receipt chime woke him instantly. His wolf-like features sharpened as he listened to the conversation.
Opening his strictly prohibited and very expensive database, he located Duong Ngaio, listed as an officer in Seventh Fleet. “So that’s where you went to hide him, Doña Carlota,” he muttered.
Doña Carlota Gonzalvez y Rodriguez de Castillo, the Protector of the Succession, had evidently taken Hugh Cascade to Jeffco ten years before. After all these years spent eluding rebels and fleet alike, this gave him a chance to get back on top. Now he knew where Hugh had been.
The only question the man once known as Austin Carhart needed answering now was where to go to find Hugh at this moment? He intended to find out, be there when Hugh arrived, and take up where he left off back on Deft. And with any luck, Sergeant Major Ward would be there, too. He looked forward to initiating his long-delayed plan. And getting payback for being thwarted so long ago.
Archived Imperial Classified Documents
Declassified 24 September 3485
Implacables Training
Top Secret—Medical Department Only
Synopsis of Information to be Protected
A candidate for the Full Alternate Test will need to take one of two courses in order to allow complete evaluation. The regular course passes through the same planets Joe Jackson used as supply points when he and his task force headed to the core, as well as on his return to Earth for the Final Battle. They are as follows:
Nighthawk, a thieves’ paradise; Alpine, hegemonic despotism; Deveroe, slave market; Pi Nu, the perfect anarchy of a planet without agreed legitimacy of authority. All of the characteristics necessary to pass the test can be examined by stopping on these planets in sequence.
The secondary course is a single planet, code name Lorelei.
All information on the intersection of the test with these planets must be protected by memory block until needed.
10
* * *
White Knight
CNS Bring It, Nighthawk System
1805 BBMT 24 October 3473
Focusing on her duty pad and the listed tasks, Maeve blocked out everything else, even ignoring the com panel. She didn’t expect any message traffic from any of the other ships in Captain Hamilton Pogue’s pocket fleet. He discouraged unnecessary messaging between ships. Commander Milton Jay, Pogue’s second officer, never bothered her since she kept all her systems operating. He only cared about efficiency when it involved this ship. Nor did she expect anything to come in from the planet Nighthawk, either. Besides, Tavares, sitting beside her, could handle anything that came up. She had more important things to do.
After all these years of her acting like a nerd, the rest of the crew expected her to ignore anything except a nearby exploding supernova and would be surprised if she noticed that if it weren’t on her schedule. This allowed her to remain deeply focused on Wally Welks, a look of wariness in her eyes as he hobbled about checking electrical connections as per the monthly SOP.
She had included a monthly check of every connection in the ship for corrosion in the new SOP and made sure that former Petty Officer Welks always got the duty. Of course, she had gotten the XO to believe that the idea for the SOP had come from another of her section chiefs, but it had been all her. Giving the credit to someone else kept her from appearing too competent, which gave her an added benefit: she avoided bringing herself too much attention.
She felt hatred and loathing churning in her guts for Welks. His broken bones hadn’t knitted properly from Mai Ling’s beating, which made this type of duty particularly difficult for him. She didn’t care. Correction, she did care. She had chosen him specifically for this duty to keep her vow as part of her debt to Qi Mai Ling, whatever had happened to her. Maeve’s discrete questions about the disappearance produced exactly nothing, not even getting her a visit from security. Just nothing.
She hadn’t been able to break Welks in rank for, or even say anything about, the attempted rape. So, in order to punish him, she had been forced to get creative. Surprisingly, Welks had been standing by in hydroponics when a control valve, a repair he signed off on, broke loose. Maeve smiled darkly. The valve breaking loose didn’t constitute an offense that would generally get someone broken, of course, unless it happened as Admiral Pogue came through inspecting the area and liquid “fertilizer” soaked his uniform. As he screamed at Welks, she hadn’t been completely sure that Welks wouldn’t end up being spaced. Unfortunately, that particular fantasy hadn’t come true. Instead, the admiral had busted him to electronics mate second class, which kept him crawling all over the ship from morning till night. For now, it would have to do.
With half an ear she heard the com chime. Probably one of the corvettes with some fanciful reason for a supply run down to the planet so they could see girlfriends or something. Without even bothering Pogue or Bhat, ninety percent of the time Maeve could have told them the answer. No, you cannot make a run for toilet paper at this time. A flotilla run will be organized in due course. Submit your needs on this and all other consumables by 1800.
Normally, Commander Bhat said exactly that after she took the message pad to his office for him to review, sign off, and take action, but it saved her an hour when she did it herself. Plus, if she took the message pad, she wouldn’t be able to gloat over Welks suffering through that mindless duty. However, if she blew the requester off in a particularly absent-minded fashion it would enhance her reputation as a complete geek.
She prepared herself to be annoying when Tavares flipped the autoresponder, a demand sent to incoming ships that they identify themselves and then leave the system. Turning toward him, she felt a quiver of alertness. Who could be coming in? On Tavares’s board she saw a red warning light showing a ship approaching on preon drive. Although an imperial ship, it was obviously not one belonging to Pogue’s squadron. Too far out. TechMech came from that far out, but they only had graviton drive. So who? She prayed it didn’t carry another heir, fake or otherwise. The duty laid on her by Priscilla before she died had been clear: if another heir came through, she must blow up Bring It to stop Pogue from torturing him or her. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to do it and, if she did, to escape and survive the explosion. If I can.
“Nighthawk, this is Core Naval Ship Ambrose B on recon,” came the response.
Maeve took over the com. “You’re who?” she asked. A real imperial ship might give her a chance to get off this death trap.
