Infinitys end books 7 9, p.59
Infinity's End: Books 7-9, page 59
“You took away my involvement!” she yelled. “I was supposed to be the one who helped him, who woke him back up. He trusted me. And then you tell me I can’t go on the mission because they will detect me, despite the fact that Athru woman has some kind of technology to confuse their scanners—”
“Listen to me. We don’t know how Esterva’s bio blockers would work with your system. They could be harmless, or they could kill you. And right now, we have too much on the line to be taking stupid risks. I’m sorry you can’t go with them, but we need you, here, alive and functioning. We can’t do this without you.”
She leaned over his desk. “How would you feel, if Chief Jann was sick and you were barred from helping her in every way possible? How do humans deal with that sort of disconnection? Do you just shrug it aside?”
“That would be terrible. And I would hate every minute of it,” Cas admitted. “But this is the only way we have to help him. I know you two were very close. You don’t have to tell me about losing someone.” A memory of the onboard funerals hit Zenfor. She remembered seeing Cas, hunched over in one of the front rows as people gave their favorite memories of Commander Blohm. It had taken him a long time to process his guilt over losing her. Maybe he did understand, at least in some superficial way. Trying to explain to everyone the connection she’d formed with Sesster was like trying to take a hold of smoke…or fire. It was impossible and burned every time.
She stepped back. “I’m holding you to your promise.”
“I expect you to. No matter what happens I’m getting him back, alive. He’s not going to die, Zen. That is my solemn oath.”
She regarded him a moment, then left the command room without another word. She could feel the eyes of everyone on the bridge on her back as she waited for the hypervator, and when it arrived she stepped inside without turning around. “Engineering,” she said as the doors closed. If she couldn’t help to upgrade the shuttle, she could at least take some time to say goodbye. She needed it, if for no other reason than to close that chapter of her life, knowing they would never again be in each other’s presence.
As the hypervator descended, a rogue tear escaped her eye and struck the deck plating at her feet.
Chapter 13
Cas watched as four anti-grav generators hovered below the form of Commander Sesster as he was guided up the ramp on the newly-modified medical ship. It had been repainted all white to emphasize it was nothing more than a medical vessel, but any other insignia had been left off.
The bay was a flurry of activity as maintenance workers loaded supplies in the other, smaller cargo hold and the two Sil engineers continued to perform checks and evaluations of the ship’s readiness. Back at the door leading to the corridors stood Zenfor, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face a kilometer wide. Xax and Box stood beside the anti-grav generators, making sure to guide Sesster inside safely. He was still curled up in his oval shape and Cas couldn’t detect any movement from him. He’d been down to see their chief engineer a few different times, trying to reach out with his mind and finding nothing. He just hoped they weren’t too late.
“Solemn occasion.”
Cas turned to see Evie and Esterva had come up beside him. Lately they seemed nigh-inseparable. Where one went—usually Evie—the other followed. He wasn’t sure if it was creepy, or if the woman was just trying to catch up on all the time she’d missed with her daughter. “Yeah, now if only our pilot would get here,” Cas replied.
Evie looked around the bay. “Where is he?”
“Oh, he’s been enjoying the fruits of our bar ever since he brought the ship over from the Hiawatha,” Cas replied. “Which doesn’t give me a lot of confidence about his abilities.” Tos, the N’galian, had exited the ship as soon as it had landed and made a beeline for the bar, ignoring any attempts for Cas to get him into some crew quarters. Eventually Cas gave up and had Vrij post a guard outside the lounge doors. As far as he knew, Tos was still in there.
“Wait,” Evie said. “This is too good. You’re telling me it’s your job to get a drunk Sargan mercenary to accept his mission and take a ship back into Coalition territory?” A huge smile had formed on her lips.
“Yes, very funny. See how I’m doubled over with laughter?” He cut his eyes toward her. No doubt she was referring to their very first encounter, when she’d gone undercover in the Sargan Commonwealth to retrieve him. Though he had to admit, there was some irony in there somewhere. “It’s not the same. The N’galian was never an officer.”
“Still, maybe his inebriation is for the best. If he’s drunk enough, we can drug him, and I’ll pilot the ship.”
“I’m not too worried,” Cas replied. “Between you and…” He nodded to Esterva, “…I don’t think you’ll have any trouble keeping him in line. Rutledge said something about listening outposts, so it may be better to take an indirect route around those, if you have the time. I assume Tos knows where they are.”
“He better,” Esterva said, having been listening in. “Otherwise he’s little more than dead weight to me.”
Cas’s comm beeped. “Go ahead.”
“Captain. Mister Rutledge on the Hiawatha is attempting to contact you. He wishes to discuss strategy once the ship has departed for Horus.”
“Tell him he better get his pilot down to the Bay unless he wants the ship to leave without his representative aboard,” Cas replied.
“Yes, sir,” Zaal replied. “What would you like me to relay about your meeting?”
Cas rolled his eyes, shooting another glance at Evie. “Tell him I’ll call once the ship is away.” He didn’t want to talk strategy with Rutledge. But considering they were something of partners now, he had little choice. Since Evie would be coming back with the intel, they needed to start planning out the next steps. If they got too complacent the Athru might take advantage of their apathy. “And I’m serious about the N’galian. Get him—”
Evie tapped him on the shoulder. “Look.”
The N’galian came stumbling into the bay, a dazed look on his face and his eye stalks swinging back and forth as he walked. Zenfor stared at him as he passed her and made his way to the ship. “You watch your back around him, got me?” Cas said. “Just in case he’s decided to put on a performance.”
“Yeah,” she said, eyeing him. “Got it.”
Tos strode by Cas and the others and gave a short, two-fingered salute before walking up the ramp into the ship behind Xax and Box. “I’ll see you on board,” Esterva said, following him. “Good luck, Captain.”
“Thanks,” Cas replied, but she was already on her way to the ship, gliding across the deck. She passed Box who, presumably, had finished helping Xax secure Sesster inside. Cas turned to Evie. “Good luck to you too.” Now that he was really looking at her, he couldn’t help but notice she looked paler than normal. Maybe it was the light. He couldn’t tell.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice distant. “I’ll see you when I get back.” Something struck him, like a phantom or an afterimage, but it was as if he was looking down on the two of them standing there, facing each other, instead of actually being there with her. It was a very strange sensation and he couldn’t help but wonder if this might be the last time he ever saw her. It was a dangerous mission, but they’d been through worse together. Cas shook the thoughts and the feeling from his mind. He stuck out his hand and she took it, giving it a shake. Cas couldn’t decide if he should hug her or not, but before he could decide the moment was gone and she was making her way over to the shuttle. She too passed Box on the way and he offered her luck as well. Box came up to Cas and stood beside him, watching as Evie walked up the ramp. As the ramp retracted and the doors began to close, she turned one last time and offered a wave, which both Cas and Box returned.
“I guess that’s that,” Box said. The ground crews which had been seeing to the ship’s maintenance decoupled all the fuel and sensor equipment. Cas was about to respond when he felt another presence beside him. Zenfor had come up on his other side, watching along with them.
“This is the right decision,” she said.
“It is,” Cas replied. “Did you make sure the Sil made all the necessary adjustments before they left?”
“I did,” Zen said. “It was curious though. The ship was already outfitted with the same technology of the Tempest. It may at one time have had a Claxian on board regulating the undercurrent flow.”
Cas’s brow creased. “Are you sure?” A Sargan vessel with room for a Claxian. That didn’t sound right. As far as he knew, no other Claxians had ever served aboard a ship—any ship—the way Sesster had. But then again, it had been eighteen years since he’d been up on the most current news. Perhaps in that time some disgruntled individuals left Claxia Prime in pursuit of something else. Rutledge had given them the perfect ship at the perfect time. And that didn’t sit right with Cas, no matter if everything checked out or not.
The ship fired its main thrusters and lifted off the deck. Within seconds it was already through Tempest’s force barrier and into open space. Cas and the others watched until they could no longer see the ship, at which point Zenfor walked away without another word.
“Well,” Cas said, feeling an empty pit in his stomach. “I guess I have a call to make.”
Chapter 14
“Robeaux,” Rutledge boomed, his face taking up most of the display. Cas had come back to the Command room to make the call once they confirmed Evie’s ship entered the undercurrent. “Did they depart?”
“You know they did, Daniel. You were monitoring.” Cas had no patience for Rutledge’s games. Cas sat back in his chair, doing his best to contain his annoyance.
“What did you do, leave a tracker on my ship when you were over here?”
Cas ran his hand through his hair. He needed a shower. “Of course not. Do you think I don’t know you’re monitoring everything we’re doing? Enough of this, Zaal said something about strategy.”
“I’ve been going over my old tactical strategies—it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to command a fleet of ships—and I think we need to consider our options.” He glanced down at something outside the range of Cas’s display.
“You realize you’re not commanding anything, right? The only reason you’re still here is because I haven’t ordered the Sil fleet to destroy you.”
Rutledge tsked. “Empty threats aren’t like you, Robeaux. I taught you better than that. Regardless, assuming the mission is a success and they return with our enemy’s locations, we need to think about our attack strategy.”
Cas suppressed the urge to rebuke him. Instead, he tried to decide if Rutledge’s thought process had any merit. “How are we supposed to devise a strategy before we know the location of their ships?”
“I’m speaking of an overall strategy. We can’t make any concrete plans until we know the details, but this is higher level, more global, not all the detail.” By Kor, would he just spit it out already? The man could talk a Vurn back into its hole again. How did he ever accomplish anything when he had to draw it out like this?
“Daniel, I have a lot of work to do over here,” Cas said.
“What I’m talking about, Robeaux, is we need to catch the Athru off guard, no matter what. Surprise will be the biggest and most powerful weapon we have. I assume the Sil have weapons that can disable their ships.”
“We think so,” Cas replied. “But they’re untested.”
“Regardless,” Rutledge replied. “We need to move the fleet.”
Cas sat up. “What?”
“Move the fleet. They have to assume an attack is coming. And which direction do you think they’ll plan for? Which direction will they set up blockades and mines and all sorts of goodies for us?”
“The direction of Sil space,” Cas said, realizing Rutledge might be right.
“Exactly. They know the Sil are the only real threat to them anywhere around here. So, they’re going to be prepared for a confrontation. What we need to do is circle around, hit them from the back or the side. Where they won’t see it coming. But we can’t do a full-on frontal attack; they’ll be prepared for that no matter how much intel we collect.”
Dammit. He hated to admit it, but he was probably right. Even though there hadn’t been a formal dissolution of the treaty between the Athru and the Sil, they had to know something was up. The Sil had closed off all borders, and hadn’t responded to any Athru communiques, despite Cas’s insistence they keep up the charade. The Sanctuary had told him—Evie really—there was no need. And unnecessary actions were not tolerated or sanctioned. Their hubris infuriated him. Didn’t they understand the concept of subterfuge? Or had it been so long since they’d been in any meaningful confrontation they’d forgotten? Things got dirty in war, and he didn’t want to be in the middle of a confrontation when the Sil finally realized it. Cas wondered, when the Coalition launched its attack over a hundred years ago, if they weren’t as unmatched as they’d originally been led to believe.
“So, what do you say? Agree?” Rutledge asked.
“You’re not wrong,” Cas replied.
“While I’ll take what I can get,” he said, a smile on his face. “It’s okay to say I’m right, you know.”
“Don’t push your luck.”
Rutledge cleared his throat. “As I understand it, the Sil won’t move against the Athru until we’ve got all the intel. But will they move the fleet? Allow us to get into position so as soon as Diazal returns we can strike and strike hard.”
Cas ran his hand down his face. Damn he was tired. When was the last time he’d slept? “I don’t know. But without Evie here it’s a moot point. They won’t talk to anyone but her.”
“That’s inconvenient,” Rutledge replied. Something in his voice had changed, it had become softer in some way, less combative. Or was Cas just imagining it? He couldn’t be sure.
“Where would we take the fleet anyway? And how would we tell Evie and the others where we are? No comms, remember?”
Rutledge sat back, thinking. “What’s the top speed of the Sil ships?”
Cas shook his head. “They’re comparable in speed to Tempest. I’ll have to check with Zenfor for specifics. What are you thinking?”
“Sargan space,” Rutledge replied. “It’s been in disarray ever since the Athru came in. We could move a fleet there with little to no confrontation and then strike the heart of the Athru stronghold from a direction they’d never expect. They don’t have anything out near Sargan space.”
“Nothing?” Cas asked. They couldn’t be that complacent.
“Other than a few patrol vessels, no. They keep mostly within Coalition-held territory. Though I’ve seen them chase down and destroy ships coming from Coalition space into what used to be the Sargan Commonwealth. When the Athru attacked, most of the warlords dissolved their formal operations, preferring instead to work from the shadows.” Rutledge’s voice was weary, as if he’d witnessed this for a long time.
“What about humans? The Commonwealth was full of them when I left.” Cas was thinking specifically of Veena and her operations on Devil’s Gate. She’d been semi-important in the Commonwealth; her family controlling a large swath of the southern borders.
“They’re around, but you won’t see their faces,” he replied. “Some took ships and headed out into open space, willing to take their chances. Most went into hiding. But some, like me, decided to fight back in the best way they could. Using whatever tools they had.”
“But you said you don’t have any other humans on your crew.”
“Personal liability.” Rutledge produced a smug smile. “It’s better to limit our exposure. A ship like yours, full of humans, will do nothing but light you up like a beacon. But mine…they might just pass by if I get into trouble. There are ways to mask the fact I’m on board. Which reminds me…” Ah, shit. Cas knew this was coming. “…how did Diazal disguise her biosignature? That would be useful information.”
“That’s classified,” Cas said, aware he was using the same excuse to keep a lot from the man. But what choice did he have, tell him about her dual nature? About Esterva? That wouldn’t go over well and he was willing to bet Rutledge would try to find a way to use Evie for his own personal gain once she got back.
He rubbed his graying beard. “Very well. But keep in mind I’m trusting you here. I’m taking your word the Athru won’t detect any humans aboard because if they do—they’ll kill everyone, not just her.”
“Yeah,” Cas replied. “I know the drill. We’ve been to Sissk.”
“Ah. Planet of a thousand voices.” He sat back, reflective. “From your demeanor, I won’t assume they’re sympathetic to our cause.”
Cas had to choke back a laugh. “Not exactly.”
“It’s a shame most worlds have written us off,” Rutledge said. “Us, the founding members of the Coalition. And when we turn to them for help, they banish us. It’s wrong. I thought we had a stronger union.”
“Maybe that was part of the problem,” Cas replied. But he wasn’t thinking of the other member worlds of the Coalition. He was focused on exactly how he was going to convince the Sanctuary to let him move their fleet to Sargan space. With Evie gone, talking to them would be difficult, if not impossible. But he had to try.
“Always the optimist,” Rutledge’s human eye squinted while the artificial one remained completely open. It put Cas off, and he decided he didn’t want to be in this conversation anymore.
“Was there anything else?”
“Just strategy. Contact me when you have the Sil’s approval. I’ll begin planning where we can stage the fleet. And don’t forget to get me the info on the speed of the Sil ships. We’ll want to make sure we can circumvent enough of Coalition space, so we catch them completely off guard.”
