Lost heir, p.15
Lost Heir, page 15
As if in slow motion, Pogue drew a hideout gun from under the arm of his chair and Bhat came up with one from the chair’s back. They began firing before anyone could react! The average looking Marine guard in front of Pogue went down, clean shot right between the eyes. Pogue now shifted his aim toward the second guard. Bhat shot the old man in the head. Bhat’s aim then shifted toward the woman, the ship’s captain who apparently knew Pogue from before. She should have known to never trust Pogue!
Unexpectedly, it ended. Bhat lay on the carpet, blood gushing but obviously already dead. Pogue had slid to the ground clutching his stomach, hands red from the blood welling up from a deep wound. Who shot them? Had she missed seeing someone in the room? She found herself breathing again, but what had happened? A small feeling of pleasure popped up as she realized that that scum Paul Bhat lay dead. With a little luck, Pogue would die too. She had wanted to be the one who killed him for the sake of Patel, Erdogan, Mai Ling, Priscilla, and all the others, but this would do. That he had died, when he thought he would be the one doing the killing, felt glorious.
Rerunning the tape, her understanding of the scene changed. Her focus had been on the dead, which meant she missed the key element, one she had never expected. Neither the crusty, old Marine nor either of the guards with them had shot Pogue and the exec. It had been the kid, the cadet. She could hardly believe it, but there he stood, a curling wisp of smoke rising from his pistol barrel. She focused on his eyes. They were a steel gray with no give in them. Through them she could see his will, undeniable, irresistible as a black hole. At that moment, she could almost believe that he would overcome all odds, any obstacle, to achieve his goals. He must be a true heir.
Sitting back, she tapped her lower lip with a fingernail, watching. She had consciously adopted tapping her lip from Priscilla. Initially she had used it to tease Priscilla, but now it reminded her of her friend. Doing it really distracted her, often breaking her concentration, but it kept Priscilla alive in her heart. So she tapped while watching the unfolding scene. If she had been down there, she would have gladly let Pogue bleed to death, but they didn’t. They were smart enough to try and keep the captain alive as a hostage, which appeared to be their plan.
Let him die! Maeve’s shout echoed in the halls of her mind. That dirty old man held direct responsibility for uncounted innocent deaths, including her friends. Let him die! The cry vibrated in her heart.
Ignoring her, they called for the medics instead. Thankfully, it appeared that that old Marine might live, too. Maeve used the cameras to follow the young man in gray. Hugh Cascade, Pogue and his own captain had both called him. She just couldn’t really think of him as Your Highness. As he headed out into the corridor to get the medics, surprisingly, the boy staggered slightly and looked like he would be sick. He might not be a cold-blooded killer after all.
Changing her camera to see the corridor beyond the hatch, her veins went icy; Zane Weston and Gene Nantz stood at the hatch. They were medics, true, but also some of Pogue’s worst enforcers. They not only would do anything he asked them to, but they liked to hurt people. She knew of a couple of occasions when Pogue’s fun got too rough, they had been standing by. They could fix problems. Or end them.
Maeve’s stomach began to hurt again, constricting into another ball of anxiety. The man mountain in the corridor, the one Hugh called Jebet, stood focused on the far hatch, away from the one Nantz and Weston were entering. At that hatch stood just the good-looking one, Peterson, with Hugh, and the solidly muscled pair coming through the hatch individually stood taller and easily outweighed either Hugh or Peterson.
Then it happened. Weston pulled a gun out of his bag as he followed Hugh to catch him by surprise, while Nantz did the same to Peterson. Priscilla’s security tapes included an incident where Weston sliced three loyal crewmen to ribbons and one of them had a gun. What chance did Hugh have alone?
Then Weston hit the deck, hard. How?
She’d have to go back to the tape later to see, but now Hugh kneeled atop the brute on the deck and didn’t seem to be even sweating! Vaguely disappointed that it had been so easy, she realized that Hugh hadn’t been fooled for a minute. He’d been waiting for just such a stunt.
Moments later, Hugh took Weston into the cabin. Hunching forward, she watched as Weston began trying to save Pogue’s life and then called Doctor Davison for help. She considered jamming the signal but decided it might reveal her presence. She’d have to find another way to finish Pogue off later. What happened next froze her into immobility. Hugh in a very matter of fact way said “Listen, Zane. Be sure the doctor knows not to bring weapons other than his knives. If he does, you’ll be needing a new doctor because I’m losing my patience.”
“I’ll tell ’im,” he sneered. “Who do you think you are, anyway?”
“The heir apparent,” Hugh answered with a hard smile, one she wished she could match. Weston’s head snapped around, giving Hugh a hard stare.
Hugh just smiled more broadly, but the short Marine’s enthusiastic agreement really caught her attention. “Better believe it,” he said, total conviction in every word. That Marine—named Dunn, according to his name tape—believed in this kid younger than him and had followed him into what might have been a death trap, as had the older and supposedly wiser man, the captain of the ship, and the other three Marines. Come to think of it, the women on the supply run had done the same thing. They had been alert, ready to react at a moment’s notice, and confident. She had seen it in every move they made.
But they had one thing more, something that had given their actions an edge. They believe in him. The possibility of surviving began to flicker back to life. Maybe he could be her way off the ship. Hope grew, beginning to replace the despair she had lived with for too long. Still, she couldn’t be sure if she should hope, because they were a long way from getting off alive. Perhaps wanting to believe in Hugh blinded her to the impossibility of ever escaping, but for now she’d rely on the faith his people had in him.
What could she do to help? As things stood now, there were simply too many variables to come up with a plan. She sat back again to watch, but seeing so many of Pogue’s people, the ones she had been most afraid of, dead, out of the picture, or humiliated, exhilarated her all by itself. Looking around for something to munch on, she found only a small bag of stale popcorn. Sighing, she stood up to get a snack from the mess.
This probably would take hours, so she better pretend to be busy before Jay sent someone to find her. Setting the system to record, she closed the special security application on her com screen before heading down-ship. She had work parties in Engineering and laser three and needed to make sure they were doing what she had told them to do. After that, she should check up on electronics and signaling. Last, she’d step onto the bridge and make sure Tavares had the watch. She wanted to saunter, but found herself almost running when the corridors were clear. She checked the time. To get to all these places and supervise normally would take her an hour, often longer if Pogue or Bhat were prowling around. Thank goodness that wouldn’t happen. Today, she barely stuck her head through the Engineering hatch before heading off to laser three.
“Ensign,” Petty Officer Marley called to her there as she prepared to duck back out, “we have a little problem.” Maeve gritted her teeth but stepped back in. If she left now, Marley might be sharp enough to notice her acting abnormally. Maeve always took a personal interest in every project, especially if a problem cropped up. Soon she found herself deep into the innards of the control panel with two techs, talking electronics. Unexpectedly, someone kicked her boot. She backed out of the cramped space to see what they wanted.
“Commander Jay wants you, Ensign,” Marley said. “Apparently, they’re having trouble communicating with the captain’s cabin. Wants you on the bridge now.”
Cold sweat sprang up on her back. Maybe her active recorder had blocked incoming calls. “Tell Abercrombie to get up there and handle it. I need to finish this up and I have some other things to do.”
Marley looked doubtful but nodded. Abercrombie, although useless, looked impressive as he messed around. His attempts at fixing things would give her time to return to her cabin and take the recorder off-line. Maeve tried to concentrate but recognized she had become more of a hindrance than a help right now. After a while, they found the glitch, no thanks to her, but every moment had been an agony not knowing the current state of events in the captain’s cabin.
She pounded off to her cabin, by way of the Signals room, fortunately nearby. Tension almost made her ill as she hurried. She didn’t know what had been going on in Pogue’s cabin and Jay wanted her up-ship! She couldn’t stand it. What’s happened?
Nerves taut as piano wires, she locked the hatch to her cabin before opening her security application. The usual time delay necessary for opening the channel physically pained her. Then it opened and showed Hugh standing there, pointing a pistol at the doctor!
Opening a quarter-screen box, she ran the recording at high speed. Called doctor, doctor came, doctor operated on Pogue. Saved him too, drat. Doctor on his normal high horse, this time demanding Pogue be moved. Oh my! The doctor demanding that they move Pogue had almost gotten Davison killed and certainly scared him to death. Ah, that’s what’s bugging Jay. When they called, Hugh had kept the screen blank.
Maeve felt relieved. Her communications tap hadn’t caused the problem after all. She knew that the camera on the com could only be authorized from Pogue’s cabin. He didn’t want anyone seeing what went on in there without his permission.
She smiled evilly. Abercrombie will be even less useful than normal. Jay will probably be calling for me again soon. Better send reinforcements so Jay won’t miss me. Hitting the com, she called Signals.
“Have Welks and two more ratings go to the bridge to help Abercrombie.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” came the laconic answer. That should keep Jay off her back a while longer. Now to enjoy the show some more. Her stomach grumbled. I didn’t stop for a snack! she realized, and she simply couldn’t go now; things were becoming too interesting.
Interesting, indeed! This boy appeared to be the son of the last Fleet Overlord, Trevor Cascade. Before today, Pogue certainly had thought he’d killed all of Cascade’s sons, but Davison knew the warlord personally and believed in Hugh Cascade, too. That brought up a fascinating question, Where has he been hiding all these years? They didn’t explain it to the doctor, so her curiosity would go begging a while longer. The doctor appeared convinced, though.
Now what? Suddenly apprehensive again, Maeve wondered what they would do. Dunn, the little Marine, dragged Weston out into the main cabin. She just stared, not believing what happened next. Hugh, the boy who’d fooled Pogue into thinking of him as an overbred snob, who’d proved to be a dead shot but treated the doctor with kindness, now threatened to cut Weston to little pieces personally, and Weston believed him!
How did this kid really stack up, as a good one or bad one? Truly confused, she simply couldn’t decide. But what followed drove all thoughts about Hugh from her mind as Weston admitted to atrocities she had suspected but never could have proven. The things he described she never wanted to hear again. The doctor’s reaction showed he agreed with her. If she succeeded in getting off this ship, she’d take the doctor with her. He didn’t belong with the rest of the crew.
So, what should she do? The answer came simply because she knew what she must do, no question: help Hugh, his men and women, and then go with them. This floating nightmare must be destroyed once and for all before it ruined any more lives. She activated the cursor on Pogue’s computer screen to flash in a series of colors . . .
NAVWAR OFFICER COURSE
Introduction to Military Technology Sensors
Naval Officers Basic Course issued 3411 with revisions
There are three general types of sensors used by CNS units: light speed, gravitonic, and preon. The successful midshipman will be able to integrate incoming data from all three for use by the tactical officer. The student will be able to determine whether gravitonic sensor data comes from a natural or man-made source. The student will be able to pinpoint to within one light minute the location of a ship using preon drive. The student will be able to determine whether integration of light speed sensors is appropriate based upon speed and distance to target.
11
* * *
The Escape
CNS Bring It, Nighthawk System
0115 BBMT 25 October 3473
Maeve’s nerves had been abused so much today that waiting for someone, anyone, to notice her flashing cursor became torture. Look at the computer screen! Then, a miracle! Prince Hugh, or whatever he called himself, noticed.
Finally! Hallelujah! She waited as they decided whether it might be important. No duh! Could he really be that dense? What can I do to convince them? She entered a command to activate the camera icon. Now maybe they’d all get a clue! She wanted to scratch someone’s eyes out! She took this huge chance revealing herself, and they were deciding whether they wanted her help?
Fools! Without me you’ll never leave the ship alive!
Then Ward, the old Marine, faced the computer as he spoke to Hugh. “Whoever it is wanted us to notice them by making us aware by enabling a camera icon while blinking that cursor at us. They could have continued to monitor in secret, so what do they want?” Maeve turned the cursor amethyst purple, the imperial color of protection. That should be obvious enough for even these two.
“Sergeant Major?” Hugh began, “if someone can monitor the captain’s day cabin secretly, I would guess they have set up a monitor in the bedroom also.”
The cursor cycled to white against the black. Impatience filled Maeve. That would be yes. White stood for virtue or truth.
“Also, they haven’t transmitted any threats or demands, which indicates what to your mind?” Hugh asked.
Ward suggested. “We need to get Captain Felt in here.”
Maeve almost came off her seat. When she finally seemed to be making progress with these people, they bring in someone new, so she had to start all over? The doctor stayed with Dunn in the other room when he went to get the woman. At least Davison wouldn’t know too much if things went badly. Ward now lay slumped back into his seat. In moments, Gail stepped in, before heading directly to prop Ward up. It warmed Maeve’s heart to see the concern Gail had for Ward. Hugh, the only other person in the room, sat facing the camera.
For a minute, Gail busied herself making Ward comfortable.
Indicating a chair, Hugh ordered Gail, “Grab that and sit so you can see the monitor better. Someone has been watching us secretly and just let us know. Let’s see what they have to say for themselves.” As soon as Gail settled into the chair, Hugh asked in conversational tone, “Can you hear and see us okay?”
Maeve typed Yes. Their lack of expression indicated that they weren’t quite sure about her motives, but they all needed to hurry things along. They didn’t have time for this. Tick tock, tick tock.
“I take it you are in a private area but still need to be careful?”
Yes! Obviously. That didn’t mean she could be careless, though, duh.
“You are not the acting commander or a member of the command group?”
No.
That Hugh seemed surprised by something this basic unsettled her a little. She needed to remember that he could make mistakes, something good to know.
“You’ve been listening in. Do you have a suggestion for our little predicament?”
Surrender?
Hugh’s look of disgust with her answer amused her.
She typed, Can’t take a joke? I will have the sensors in the Oort cloud simulate a full on TechMech assault. The other ships will head to the cloud to pick up leakers that get through.
“Then what?” asked Hugh.
Elmira Hayes stays here under Bring It’s guns, which is standard procedure. Admiral Pogue doesn’t trust Lieutenant Brennan.
“And?” prompted Ward.
You tell Commander Jay you are taking Pogue to your ship. He will follow the security cameras showing you moving the admiral to your ship, so everyone will back off. Jay won’t do anything to harm Pogue. As soon as you’re aboard and away, I will take a shuttle to the Hayes and follow you out of here.
Hugh asked, “How do we keep Bring It from following us or just blowing Ambrose B up as soon as we’re off?”
They won’t be able to. Trust me. Maeve held her breath, hoping they wouldn’t ask how she would prevent Bring It from intervening, because she absolutely wouldn’t tell them. She couldn’t. If they were captured, she needed to keep her ace in the hole secret.
Hugh turned his back on her to face Gail and Ward. Obviously, he wanted their private, honest opinions. Smart boy, she thought approvingly.
Gail and Ward’s incredulous expressions spiked her agitation. Maybe they wouldn’t accept her help. Then what? Gail finally answered. “It’s crazy. Trust someone we don’t know to do things we can’t monitor and hope to get away.”
Maeve typed furiously. Do you have a better plan?
Hugh turned back. “Captain Felt,” Hugh asked formally, “what do you have from your team?”
Gail became stubborn, refusing to speak.
Hugh glanced at Ward, who shrugged as he caught Gail’s eye. Hugh then added, “If this person has eyes in the captain’s quarters, there are probably eyes and ears everywhere. I would say it is even possible our com channel has been identified, even if the signal hasn’t been decrypted. All they need is a fix on the transmission site to find the team. So, where are we?”
Although still not happy, she answered, “We have the supplies and fuel on board, but Bring It’s guns and missiles are live. We have no way of turning them off at this point, as we are stuck far from all the control lines and nodes, which means we can’t get away without being blown up.”
