Command Decisions (Book 3 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (15 page)

“As a matter of fact I did.” He pulled one off the shelf above the clothes. It wasn’t very long, but it had some heft. Having someone beat you with this would be painful. Very painful.

Talbot held up one of the uniforms. “This is almost your size. With a little bit of tailoring for your height, you could wear it.”

“Thankfully, I don’t have to.” She stared down at the safe. “I’m almost afraid what we’ll find inside it.”

“Only one way to find out.”

She nodded and sent the code she’d stolen from the console. The safe clicked open. “Remind me to start picking a different password for everything that needs one.”

“Me, too. What’s inside?”

There were several shelves inside. The topmost held two sleek pistols. The top one’s barrel told her it was a neural disruptor, but it was substantially smaller than the pistols they’d found so far. The one under it was an even smaller flechette pistol. Both easily concealable.

She picked the neural disruptor up and queried it with her implants. It rejected her attempt to connect with it. She’d seen this before. Weapons could be set so that only a particular set of implants could fire them. The marines had figured out how to reset them.

She pocketed the pistols and their custom power packs. The middle shelf held folders of printouts. She flipped through several of them and determined they were personnel files of some kind. A few of the subjects were Fleet personnel, but many were civilian. She’d take them with her and examine them more closely when she had time.

The bottommost shelf had the most interesting items thus far. Data chips in small cases. Dozens of them. And any data worth locking into a safe had to be important to the person keeping it. Perhaps critical data on this Rebel Empire.

“I want all of this back on
Courageous
,” she said to Talbot. “This captain seems like the devious type. There might be hidden stuff we haven’t found. Go over her quarters with a fine-toothed comb. We’ll need every edge we can get once they find out about us.”

Chapter Fifteen

It took several hours for
Courageous
’ small craft to tow the crippled destroyer back into the flip point. Jared sent one of the Pentagaran warships through first to be sure that everyone knew not to open fire when the destroyer appeared. They’d sacrificed a lot to capture the ship and he didn’t want to see it destroyed.

Zia turned from her console. “The destroyer is inside the flip point, Captain.”

“Give them the signal to flip in thirty seconds. Take us across.”

The flip made him momentarily dizzy, but he recovered quickly. The Old Empire implants made the process easier. That was a nice bonus.

He quickly picked up a number of Pentagaran warships surrounding the flip point. No Fleet ships though. Those were all still engaged in search and rescue.

Jared quickly sent a prerecorded message to the ships around him, reiterating his instructions not to open fire on the destroyer. It appeared a few seconds later without incident.

“Signal incoming from
Spear
,” Zia said.

“Put it on screen.”

A furious Captain Breckenridge appeared. “God dammit, Commander, I gave you a direct order to leave that ship there and return as quickly as possible. Are you deaf?”

“Captain Breckenridge, do you need further assistance with rescue operations?” Jared asked, ignoring the other man’s bluster.

“It’s a little late now, don’t you think? No. We’ve almost completed rescue operations at this point. We could’ve used your help a few hours ago. Give me an update on your status.”

“We ambushed the destroyer and disabled it. I sent marines aboard to capture it before he could self-destruct. We have prisoners, including one of the officers. We’re questioning them.”

Breckenridge shook his head. “Negative. I’ll take possession of the prisoners and that ship at once. My officers will see to any questioning.”

Not a chance in hell. “Princess Kelsey has decided that she’s going to question the prisoners. And she has determined that she’s not releasing control of that ship until she has finished. She has instructed me to set up a meeting on her behalf so that we can discuss this in private. If all of your cutters are engaged in rescue operations, I’d be happy to send one of ours to pick you up.”

Captain Breckenridge’s face turned a bright purple. “I made it perfectly clear that she was not to be allowed into this system. You’ve disregarded my orders again. You’re going to regret that, Commander. I need to get things in order here before we speak again.”

The screen cleared without a goodbye.

“He’s never going to admit he made a mistake.”

Jared turned and faced the lift that had just opened. Commander Meyer stood there. Jared allowed himself a small smile as the man took a seat at the rear of the bridge. “Forgive me, Commander, but I didn’t think you believed he made mistakes.”

The other man shook his head. “I’ve had time to think about all the mistakes that he’s made. And the mistakes that I’ve made. After your doctor patched me up, I reviewed the engagement records. He’s not going to admit that he botched everything. That’s not his way. He’s going to take it out on you.”

“He’s going to try to take it out on me,” Jared corrected. “Not that it’ll work. He’s been spoiling for a fight ever since he got here and he’s going to get it. His actions contributed to the deaths of thousands of Fleet personnel. If he wants to push this issue with me or the princess, we’re going to push right back.”

Commander Meyer shook his head. “You still don’t understand. He’s in command of that task force. Nothing that you do is going to change that. If the princess tries to relieve him of command, it’s going to cause a complete break. And frankly, he hasn’t demonstrated any behavior that actually warrants being relieved of command. Just poor judgment.”

As annoying as that was, Jared knew Meyer was correct. If only it was so easy.

He rose to his feet. “Walk with me, Commander. I think it’s time we had a long talk and settled a few things. Zia, you have the bridge.”

“Aye, sir.”

Once inside the lift, Jared started them on their way towards where they were keeping the prisoners. “Doctor Stone tells me that your injuries were minor, but I know that that doesn’t mean they don’t feel serious. Are you all right?”

The tall officer nodded. “It wasn’t a direct hit and my armor absorbed most of the damage. It scared me. I thought I was going to die. But you know what really made me reconsider so many things? Princess Kelsey.”

Jared led the way out of the lift as soon as it stopped. “How so?”

“When we were ambushed, she never hesitated. She jumped right into the middle of the enemy marines and attacked. She hit them, she shot them, and she never showed even the slightest hint of fear. It makes me a little ashamed. No, it takes me a lot ashamed. When she ran toward the enemy, I held back. I could’ve helped her, but I watched, too afraid to act. And then someone shot me.”

The officer rubbed his face. “I’ve never felt like that in space combat. Before I became executive officer on
Spear
, I commanded a light cruiser. I took her into simulated battle and fought tooth and nail. I thought I knew what fear was, but I was wrong.”

Jared knew exactly how he felt. “Someone once told me that only idiots aren’t afraid of dying. He said that bravery just meant riding the wave of your fear and doing what you had to do. If you were still in command of that light cruiser, would you do what Captain Macumber did? Put your ship between a wounded comrade and certain death?”

Meyer’s expression hardened. “Of course I would.”

“Then you’re brave enough. Fighting hand-to-hand isn’t something that everyone can do. I’ve been where you were and I didn’t like it very much either. Give me the command deck of this ship any day. I think if you find yourself in the same situation again, you’ll do what you have to. Don’t tear yourself apart, second-guessing everything you did. Learn from it and do better the next time.”

They passed between the armed marines guarding the prisoners. More marines armed with neural disruptors set to stun lined the cargo deck bulkheads. The prisoners sat on bunks set up in an open area. Each had a restraint around their ankle bolted to the deck. If they needed to use the head, two marines of the appropriate gender would release them long enough to take care of business.

The most seriously injured of the prisoners was still in the medical center. Also under guard.

Jared stopped far enough away from the prisoners so that they couldn’t overhear him. “Commander Graves has been interrogating these people. They wear Fleet uniforms, but they don’t serve any Fleet that I’m familiar with. They all fought ferociously when we boarded the ship, but once the fighting was over, they seemed to just give up. Commander Graves intimidated them. Not because he was the enemy, because he was a Fleet officer in uniform.

“We’ve started collating their statements and certain patterns are emerging. They believe that they are serving members of Imperial Fleet, but they don’t see the rebellion the same way the history books do. And their Fleet has significant differences from ours.”

Meyer scanned the prisoners. “How so?”

“In their Fleet, officers occupy a higher social position inside the Empire. Though they live in an Empire, no one we’ve spoken to mentioned anything about an emperor. In this Fleet, officers are people they fear and obey. They fill the enlisted ranks via conscription rather than by looking for volunteers.”

Meyer looked at him sharply. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that the Old Empire still exists? We thought the rebels exterminated humanity. Are you telling me they enslaved them?”

Jared shrugged. “It’s hard to say if the Old Empire still exists in the way you mean. None of these people refer to themselves as citizens of the Empire. They’re very specific that they are subjects of the Empire. The officers are citizens of the Empire, and so are the political classes. The nobility.

“Graves made sure that he didn’t feed them any information about what we think happened during the rebellion. He asked a lot of questions and let them fill in the blanks. It certainly seems as though none of these people is aware of artificial intelligences running things. Perhaps the upper classes of their society know, but until we can get our one high-ranking prisoner to talk we won’t be sure.”

“Was the procedure to remove the virus from his implants successful?”

“We’ll know in about an hour. I’m hopeful that he’ll talk with Princess Kelsey or myself. And because of the incredible loss of life this battle caused, I have no intention of turning any of the prisoners over to Captain Breckenridge. I’m not certain I trust him with their well-being.”

Meyer frowned. “The laws of war are clear. Captain Breckenridge will not mistreat them.”

“I’m not so certain that I agree with that statement. In any case, I don’t believe that he’ll be as successful as we are at drawing information from these people. Commander Meyer, we desperately need to know what we face. Our civilization is small and technologically inferior when compared to what we’re starting to see. If they come for us, we’ll lose. Our only hope is to keep them ignorant of the Empire’s existence until we know enough to survive. You need to help me convince Captain Breckenridge.”

Meyer sighed. “I wish it were that simple. The captain doesn’t change his mind easily. After losing so many people, he’s not going to admit to making any mistakes. Not even to himself. Whatever you do, it needs to take that into account.”

A hatch at the end of the corridor opened and Kelsey stepped through. “There you are, Jared. Breckenridge just called me. He wants to meet with us and get onto the same page. Too many mistakes have been made.”

Jared exchanged a glance with Meyer. “That’s unexpectedly conciliatory. When is he coming over?”

“He’s not. He asked that we meet on
Spear
. They’re too deeply involved in rescue operations for him to leave the scene of the battle. Come on.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Why not? He’s not going to fight about command of this mission again. That’s settled. We have to start relying on each other or we’ll never get home.”

Jared had his doubts. “I hope you’re right.”

He used his implants to call Graves and direct him to Jared’s office. It was still surreal to do this in his head while those around him were unaware he was even talking to someone else.

Charlie, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. The man hates me.

His exec nodded, responding to the audio from the console. “That he does. Still, his options are limited. He’s not going to do something with the princess right there. Keep things civil and it’ll work itself out.”

I sure hope so. In any case, I have some orders for you. You are not to hand the prisoners over to anyone. They stay in our custody. You’re also to retain possession of the destroyer. Finally, remember that you are not under Captain Breckenridge’s command. We answer to the princess.

Graves looked surprised. “Surely things won’t get that bad.”

I certainly hope not, but we’re going over to his ship. If he’s going to do something rash, this is the perfect time. Let’s call this a contingency plan.

“Aye, sir. I’ll keep things under control.”

Good man. We’ll see you shortly.

He kept his worries to himself as their cutter undocked, but his misgivings grew stronger the closer they got to
Spear
. He watched her closely through his implants as they approached the battle site.

Spear
was following along behind
Shadow
. The light cruiser tumbled, completely out of control. Her damage was severe. The ship wouldn’t be going anywhere but a repair dock or a scrap yard. He hadn’t heard how many of her crew had died in the attack, but it would be a lot.

The pilot brought the cutter up to the heavy cruiser and docked smoothly. “I’ll be here when you’re ready to go, Captain.”