The declinator checked the velocity and approximate arrival time of the object. He sighed in relief. The imperator could be allowed to sleep, as he would awaken soon.

  “Keep an eye on the object. Inform me when we’ve sharp resolution,” the declinator ordered. Then he contacted the bridge steward and ordered morning meal for the officers and himself.

  By the time the imperator woke, ate a meal, dressed, and stepped onto the bridge, he heard the third-duty telemetry officer say, “Declinator, it’s not an asteroid. It’s a ship. Worse, it’s a conclave shuttle.”

  At that moment, the image was relayed to the main bridge monitor.

  When the declinator spotted the imperator, who hadn’t been announced, he apologized for the lack of protocol, which the imperator waved away.

  “Report,” the imperator requested.

  “We thought we were tracking an inbound asteroid, Imperator,” the declinator explained. “We only recently were able to resolve the image.”

  “Any other conclave ships spotted?” the imperator inquired.

  “No reports of any ship activity but that of our fleet,” the declinator reported.

  The imperator stepped close to the monitor to examine the image. “From what I’ve learned, conclave shuttles are actually fighters. Also, I thought the bow was the pointed end of the craft.”

  “With respect, Imperator, the fighter pilots can sail their craft at any angle they choose,” the pilot explained.

  “And you know this how?” the declinator queried.

  “My patriarch is a peacekeeper imperator who survived a major conflict with a conclave fleet,” the pilot replied. “He described the action as terrifying.”

  The declinator would have shut down the discussion to prevent the officers from being terrified, but the imperator interrupted by encouraging the pilot to continue.

  “The battle took place outside a system,” the pilot said. “My patriarch warned me that the Tridents can use the dark to their advantage by disappearing and then quickly reversing course to return and fire. He also said that I should never be fooled by the conclave shuttles. The pilots can swivel their ships during passes and fire their energy weapons from any position.”

  The imperator considered what he’d seen and heard, and he sat in his command chair to think. Later, he said, “Pilot, what’s your opinion of this conclave fighter sailing directly toward us aft end first?”

  The pilot glanced guiltily at the declinator who motioned for him to speak.

  “The least likely probability is that there’s damage to the bow, which we can’t see,” the pilot offered. “That would mean that the pilot is either incapacitated or dead.”

  “Why is it the least likely probability?” the declinator queried.

  “Using the telemetry data, I traced the ship’s course backward from our initial point of contact,” the pilot explained. “This ship navigated one of the denser portions of the outer rim.”

  “That would mean the pilot is in control of the fighter,” the imperator said. “Continue, Pilot.”

  “My only other thought is that the pilot is deliberately flying backward,” the pilot said. “I think it’s a signal for us.”

  “What signal?” the declinator pressed.

  “That fighter came from a Trident or a carrier that is deep in the dark,” the pilot replied. “This fighter was sent to make contact with us. Instead of an out-and-out attack by forces we’ve yet to identify, a senior commander wishes to talk to us. The fighter pilot is using this tactic to communicate a passive approach.”

  “Well considered, Pilot,” the imperator said. “My respects to your patriarch for the information he provided you.”

  Then the imperator tapped his comms panel and called the fleet imperator, whose peacekeeper was about thirty degrees farther around the planet’s orbit.

  “Commander, we’ve been discussing the conclave fighter that’s on approach to my ship,” the imperator said.

  “I’ve just been made aware of the ship, Imperator,” the commander replied. “Proceed outward and destroy it.”

  “I’d like you to hear the thoughts that have been gathered,” the imperator requested.

  “Speak,” the commander responded.

  “The current wisdom is that this isn’t a derelict ship, Commander,” the imperator replied. “If it was, it should be tumbling or rotating. If the fighter is under control, then there must be conclave warships beyond the rim.”

  “Is that it?” the fleet imperator asked.

  “No, Commander,” the imperator replied. “We believe the pilot is flying the fighter backward to signal us that a conclave senior commander wants to speak to you.”

  The commander muted his comms panel and regarded his imperator.

  “I like their reasoning,” the imperator replied. “However, to be safe, we should keep that fighter at a distance from the fleet. While that’s taking place, our crews should be recalled from the planet.”

  “Send the recall,” the commander directed. Then he tapped his panel again. “Imperator, get your ship underway. I want you to meet that fighter as far out as you can. Let’s see what develops. Under no circumstance must that fighter get past you.”

  “Understood, Commander,” the imperator replied. Then he ordered the peacekeeper underway and the pilot to make for the conclave fighter. “Maintain a safe distance from that ship’s beam.”

  The pilot’s thought was that he had no idea how far the fighter’s beam might reach.

  Mila shared. She was linked to Salus, and her controller maintained connections with Ticnikrok and the Liberation’s controller.

  With a million kilometers to go before the approaching peacekeeper was met, Mila dropped her velocity.

  Mila sent on a private link.

  Salus used information carried on the commodore’s Trident. Then he returned a figure to Mila. He was pleased that she set the controller to maintain a slightly greater safe distance. His calculations of continuing his existence past this encounter went up slightly.

  “The fighter is decelerating,” the telemetry officer reported.

  Every officer on the peacekeeper’s bridge, including the declinator and imperator, breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

  The peacekeeper pilot chose to match the rate at which the fighter was slowing. His idea was that the conclave pilot had more to fear from the peacekeeper, which meant that pilot would set the safe distance. As both ships decelerated, the pilot was happy to see that his concept worked. The ships had taken up stations a comfortable distance apart.

  “Good job, Pilot,” the imperator praised.

  With the knowledge the SADEs had about peacekeepers, Salus had an easy job of connecting to the imperator’s comms panel.

  “Yes?” the imperator queried after he’d accepted the unknown caller.

 

  The imperator and the bridge officers were surprised to hear the clear diction of a Krackus speaker. Of course, Salus was translating for Mila.

  “This is the imperator. What do you want, Captain?”

  Mila sent.

  the imperator demanded.

  Mila said.

  Ticnikrok had to admit that he wouldn’t have opened negotiations that way. Yet, it was an inventive way to get the imperator to focus on the critical issues.

  “One moment,” the imperator replied. Then he muted the call and connected to the fleet commander. The moment he did, Salus was able to replicate the link.

  “We observed the fighter come to a halt,” the fleet imperator replied. “What does the pilot want?”

  “The captain asks permission for the conclave fleet commander to speak to you,” the imperator replied.

  There was a sudden stillness on the fleet imperator’s bridge. Every officer knew what had happened when a peacekeeper fleet engaged the conclave warships. It never ended well for them.

  “I’ll speak to this individual,” said the fleet imperator.

  Suddenly, the commander heard,

  Salus had switched from using Mila’s tonality to the manner in which Ticnikrok sounded.

  “Where are you, Commander?” the fleet imperator asked.

 

  “I’m listening,” the imperator replied.

  Ticnikrok sent.

  The imperator was tempted to gurgle derisively, but he wanted to hear more before he dismissed the commodore’s offer.

  Ticnikrok continued.

  “You destroyed transports?” the fleet imperator asked in outrage.

  Ticnikrok replied calmly.

  “You’re willing to let us sail away with Krackus crews to return them to our home worlds,” the fleet imperator surmised. “What makes you think the executor won’t send us back?”

  Ticnikrok replied.

  While the fleet imperator deliberated, Salus had used the near peacekeeper’s comm connections to infiltrate every ship’s system. However, he waited for a directive to commandeer the peacekeepers’ bridge systems.

  “How many prisoners do you have?” the fleet commander inquired.

  Ticnikrok requested privately.

  Sathus sent in Ticnikrok’s voice.

  “How did you accumulate so many Krackus?” the commander queried.

  Ticnikrok replied.

  “I’m not interested in hosting the Radags,” the commander said haughtily.

  Ticnikrok sent in a commanding tone.

  When Salus confirmed he was ready to exercise control of the peacekeeper fleet, Mila sent,

  Juno quickly inserted.

  Kelley noted.

  Ticnikrok pressed.

  “You’re forcing the empire to collapse,” the commander said accusingly.

  Ticnikrok countered.

  When the commander hesitated to reply, Mila lamented to Salus,

  “I’ve been informed we’re unable to accept the Radags,” the commander said, refusing to answer the commodore’s question. “We don’t have a store of their foods.”

  Ticnikrok returned.

  The fleet imperator sighed heavily. Then he asked, “How do we arrange the transfer?”

  Ticnikrok sent.

  Mila directed.

  Instantly, the SADE activated his control programs that every peacekeeper’s bridge held. Effectively, he’d frozen the ships’ systems governing navigation, engine control, and weapons.

  “Form up,” the fleet imperator commanded, expecting a trap. “Then we make for the open. I don’t want us pressed against the planet.”

  Declinators gave commands, and pilots replied that their flight systems were offline.

  It wasn’t long before the fleet imperator realized that his mistake was to allow the conclave fighter to close on one of his peacekeepers for too long. Now he and his fleet were at the mercy of the conclave warships. His only hope was that the commodore upheld the conclave’s accepted methods.

  The crews of the entire peacekeeper fleet waited tensely. It wasn’t long before telemetry showed tri-hulls arriving out of the dark and entering the system. They came inward from above and below the ecliptic and were focused on the ice planet.

  One thing gave the fleet imperator some confidence. Imperators from around the planet had signaled telemetry reports. The tri-hull count was fifteen. Based on news from previous encounters with the conclave, a single tri-hull was known to be deadly. Fifteen of them meant the commodore could have successfully destroyed many peacekeepers before the remaining imperators broke and fled.

  Within a cycle, the Tridents encircled the peacekeeper fleet. It was later that a freighter and a huge liner appeared.

  Still speaking through Salus, who handed off control of the peacekeepers to many SADEs, Ticnikrok sent,

  The bridge officers aboard the commander’s ship shuddered and relaxed. It had been a tense time, but it appeared that the commodore’s words could be trusted.

  “I want the Radags spread wide across the fleet,” the commander replied.

  Juno sent.

  “Who is this?” the commander queried.

  Salus sent, imitating Ticnikrok.

  “What’s the issue, Juno?” the commander asked.

  Juno inquired.

  The fleet imperator eyed his bridge officers. Several, including his declinator, were nodding their heads.

  “I’ve had that confirmed,” the commander replied.

  Juno queried.

  “One moment, please,” the fleet commander requested.

  The fleet imperator was deluged by opinions from the bridge officers. They were adamant about one subject. Confine the Radags to a single ship with the toughest imperator who would be able to enforce discipline.

  The Krackus commander relayed that opinion to Juno.

  Juno sent.

  As it seemed that the conclave knew more about the Radags’ conditions than the Krackus commander, he readily accepted the suggestion.

  The Krackus were transferred first and spread around the fleet except for three peacekeepers, including the one delegated to take the Radags.

  The imperator noted that none of the conclave shuttles came to his ship or the nearest peacekeeper to him.

  “I requested the imperators and the directors be transferred to my peacekeeper,” the fleet imperator said, hoping someone was listening to the bridge comm.

 

  “I must command the fleet,” the imperator objected.

  Kelley replied.

  “I find this treatment unconscionable,” the imperator squawked.

  Kelley replied.

  The imperator railed for a few minutes, expressing his anger. It didn’t do him any good. No one answered him.

  Soon, the transfers were complete, including a huge batch of fresh Radag food and the frozen meals stored at the admin buildings of the home worlds.

 

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