Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (37 page)

* * * * *

Jared was just about to order
Invincible
out of orbit when the general quarters alarm sounded.

Winslow hunched over her console. “Missile launch! Multiple missiles inbound at point blank range.”

“Battle screens up,” Marcus said. “Firing beams. Impact in two…one…”

The massive ship lurched under the explosions, but no fresh alarms wailed.

“Status,” Jared snapped.

“Battle screens at sixty percent,” Marcus said. “No loss of hull integrity.”

“Who fired those missiles?”

“No one, Admiral. They came to life near where the area
New York
was in her parking orbit. They must’ve pre-programmed them and ejected them.”

Jared slowly nodded. “That’s actually pretty clever. We didn’t spot them because we weren’t looking. If you hadn’t had the battle screens ready for immediate use, they’d have sucker punched us. Scan for any other little surprises he might have left for us.”

The AI was silent for a moment. “No other anomalies detected, Admiral.”

“Good. Commander Winslow, signal our ships to leave orbit at flank speed. Let’s see if we can close the distance enough to talk them out of this insanity.”

* * * * *

Ethan sat at the command console on his yacht. He had Breckenridge on screen from
New York
. The officer had scraped the barrel and gotten enough men and women personally loyal to him to control the ship. Barely.

“Are you certain this is the right way to go?” he asked the renegade Fleet officer. “Other than the basic data, we have no idea where this new flip point leads. The report was heavily restricted and I never looked into it. I had more important things on my mind.”

“We know the important part, Highness,” the renegade Fleet officer said. “It leads to the Old Empire where they got those ships. You can order the Fleet units there to stand down. We can still turn this around. Many officers will rush to support you over the Bastard.”

Ethan nodded. Of course they would. Except for those who had been secretly against him from the beginning. Like Breckenridge’s former executive officer. He’d have to go. There would be no more coddling traitors.

Mertz had been diabolically clever. He’d sewn men loyal to him in so many places. Everything was a gamble. But he knew he could overawe the Fleet stooges Mertz had left at Harrison’s World. They would never defy him in person. He could turn this all around.

“What kind of force is guarding the flip point?” he asked.

The Fleet officer looked at his console. “A single destroyer. I’ve already sent them orders to move away from the flip point.”

“Will they?”

The other man laughed. “They won’t fire on the heir to the Throne, if that’s what you’re worried about. And if they don’t, I have a lot more experience than they do. I’ll take them out.”

The commander of the Imperial yacht turned toward Ethan. “Highness, we’re receiving a signal from Fleet.”

“Put it on the main screen,” Ethan said. “Split the view between it and Admiral Breckenridge.”

Rather than one of the officers from the destroyer, he found himself looking at Jared Mertz and Kelsey. Mertz was in uniform, but Kelsey was still in her prison clothes. He wondered what that meant.

“Ethan Bandar, Wallace Breckenridge, I’m ordering you to heave to and prepare to be boarded,” Mertz said sternly. “This is over. We have the emperor under our care and he’s going to survive your assassination attempt.”

The officers on the yacht bridge all looked up at that, shock clearly written on their faces.

Ethan sneered. “You don’t frighten me, Bastard. This fight is far from over. If you think you can just fire on the heir to the Throne, you’re very much mistaken. The people would rise up against you.”

He smiled a little wider. “Even if what you said just now were true. Which of course it isn’t, the Empire would go up like a tinderbox. No matter what you do, you lose.”

* * * * *

Kelsey sighed. “He’s right, Jared. Blowing him up would tear the Empire apart.” She stared at her brother for a long moment. “Let him go.”

Jared turned to her, surprise written all over his face. “But—”

She felt hollow inside as she held up her hand. “This is my decision to make. It’s the best thing for the Empire if we don’t stop him.”

Kelsey kept her eyes steady on Ethan’s smirking face. “Make no mistake, anyone taking that flip with you is guilty of treason and subject to death. No warning and no quarter. Your crew doesn’t know what you’re asking of them. Give them a choice to leave.”

Ethan laughed. “They swore their lives to serve the emperor. They know where their place is. But, if any cowards want to scamper away, good riddance.”

He smiled nastily at her. “We’ll meet again, dearest sister. And sooner than you think.”

“Make your peace with God, Ethan,” she said, he throat closing up on the words. “His is the only forgiveness you’ll find in this life or the next.”

She made a gesture to cut the signal.

Jared rose from his seat. “The yacht doesn’t have battle screens. The radiation will kill him.”

“Yes, it will.”

The silence on the flag bridge was deafening.

Jared nodded slowly. “I understand and I’m sorry, Kelsey. They have another half hour to change their minds. To come to their senses.”

But they didn’t.

A number of escape pods from both ships told her that they’d allowed those wanting to leave to depart. That made her feel a little better. Only those embracing Ethan would die.

* * * * *

Far too many of the crewmen on the yacht had abandoned Ethan, but Breckenridge had sent a few more trained officers over by cutter as they approached the new flip point.
New York
would guard the flip point to give Ethan time to sprint to Harrison’s world.

“Transition in ten seconds, Highness,” the new help officer reported.

“Take us over when ready.”

The time dragged until the universe twisted. They’d flipped.

A loud alarm blasted from the overhead speakers. Ethan covered his ears. “What is that?”

The helm officer spun in his seat. “We’re being bombarded by heavy radiation, Highness. It’s blasting right though the hull.”

“Are we in danger? Get us out of here.”

“The flip capacitor is charging. I’ll flip us back as soon as I can. Highness, the dosage is high enough to be fatal in just a few minutes.”

Ethan leaned forward, staring at the man incredulously. “How did they ever get through here? And why didn’t that idiot Breckenridge warn me?”

He suspected this was some kind of twisted assassination plot. Breckenridge had been some kind of plant. As stupid as that sounded, he’d been in Mertz’s pocket all along. The man’s entire plan had been to trick Ethan into killing himself.

Well, that wouldn’t work. He’d flip back to Avalon and overcome this. Somehow.

A different alarm began sounding.

“What now?”

The man stared at his console for a long moment without responding. When he turned, his expression told Ethan he had bad news.

“The flip drive has shorted out. All the systems are taking damage from the radiation. They’re trying to get it back online, but it won’t matter.” The man’s eyes were hollow. “We’re going to take a fatal dose before they’re done. We’ll be walking dead men even if they succeed.”

Ethan swallowed noisily. “And if they don’t?”

“I’m no doctor, but in five minutes we’ll be in excruciating pain. We’ll be throwing up and voiding from the other end as well. In fifteen minutes, we’ll be glad it was over.”

He felt as though he could already sense the churning in his gut as the lethal radiation rotted him from the inside out.

“Are there any other options?” he asked, his throat dry.

“One,” the man said. “We might be able to overload the fusion plant. That would be a lot cleaner way to go.”

“Kill that noise.”

The silence was almost more deafening than the alarm.

Ethan waited for the time to run out. Once it became clear that they weren’t going to make it, he nodded toward the man. “Do it. Blow up the ship.”

The lights flickered and went out. After a moment, they came dimly back on.

“The fusion plant just failed, Highness,” the man said. “The capacitor is less than half charged. I don’t suppose any of your people brought sidearms.”

“My guards,” he said numbly.

“I suggest you call one up here. We have need of his services.”

* * * * *

Once the yacht had flipped, Kelsey sat at one of the auxiliary stations. It was done. Only the pain remained to endure. Something she knew entirely too much about.

New York
stayed in the flip point, possibly guarding it to give Ethan more time. Breckenridge had no way to know her brother was already dying.

Oddly, the emotions inside her were subdued. She knew what she’d done, but it didn’t feel real. Not yet.

Twenty minutes later, just as
Invincible
and her escorts were coming close,
New York
flipped to the Nova system. Moments later, they were back. Breckenridge must have realized his mistake.

Their exposure had been short. If he surrendered now, he’d live.

Jared nodded to Winslow. “Signal
New York
to surrender.”

Of course Breckenridge didn’t. The destroyer opened fire on
Invincible
. It was ridiculous. They couldn’t even get through her battle screens.

“Return fire,” Jared said coolly.

He’d probably meant just the superdreadnought, but all their ships fired a salvo.
New York
never stood a chance. She died in fire long before the massed beams of the Old Empire ships destroyed every missile had Breckenridge fired.

Kelsey felt bad for Eliyanna Kaiser. The woman had lost her ship. Well, Jared would find something for her. Somehow, the fact all of Breckenridge’s task force was now gone made perfect sense.

“Send a destroyer over to recover the yacht,” she said, her voice sounding tired and hollow to her.

Jared rose from his seat and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

She should’ve cried like a baby, but the tears refused to come. She knew the shock wouldn’t last long. The flag bridge wasn’t the place to have a breakdown, either. “Thanks. I’m going down to check on my father.”

The trip to the medical center was a blur. Her mind couldn’t pull away from the horror she’d tricked her brother into. Even after everything he’d done, she’d still loved him deep down.

And she’d killed him just as effectively as if she’d leveled a plasma rifle at him and pulled the trigger.

The little boy that had chased her through the Imperial Gardens, laughing like a fool, was dead. And she’d killed him.

Kelsey walked into the medical center in a fog of grief so strong she almost ran into Lily Stone.

The other woman gripped her shoulders and pulled her into her office. “Kelsey, what’s wrong?”

“I killed my brother.”

“Oh, honey.” The other woman pulled her into a tight hug and Kelsey cried. Another pair of arms surrounded her. Elise was holding her, too. All three of them cried.

No one said anything or asked questions. They just gave her the support she desperately needed right then. She knew Jared would have done the same, but she couldn’t afford to break down in public like this.

They pulled apart at last and Lily brought Kelsey some tissues. “I know this makes no difference whatsoever, but you did what you had to. He was a mad dog bent on wrecking the Empire.”

“I know,” Kelsey said, her voice filled with grief. “But we were kids together. He was my world once. That doesn’t go away even when people go bad. And I have to tell my father, if he ever wakes up.”

“Then let me give you some good news. The nanites have turned the corner for him. He’s going to be fine.”

A man in white knocked on the hatch. “Doctor, the emperor is awake.”

Kelsey hurried out after Lily. Her father lay on a bed surrounded by medical equipment, but his eyes were open. It took all her willpower to stand back and let Lily check the readings.

“How are you feeling, Majesty?” Lily asked.

“Like a grav truck ran over me and then backed up to make sure I was down.” His voice was a ghost of its normal self. “What happened?”

Lily glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll let Kelsey tell you.”

She stepped back and lowered her voice. “No stress just now. Save the bad news until he’s stronger.”

“I’ll keep it easy, but he’s the emperor. I have to tell him something or he’ll keep after me and worry even more.”

Kelsey stepped up beside the bed and took his hand in hers. “I’m so glad to see you getting better, Papa. You really scared us.”

He smiled up at her. “You haven’t called me that since you were a little girl. Tell me true. Is everything okay?”

She shook her head. “No, Papa, but things will get better now. I did what needed to be done. The Empire is safe and you’re going to make a full recovery.”

“What happened?”

“Not now. You’ll just have to trust me when I say the danger has passed. When you’re stronger, we’ll talk about it. I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

He looked at her steadily. “Where’s Ethan?”

“He can’t be here right now,” she said with more strength than she’d thought she’d had. “You’re on
Invincible
.”

“I feel as though you’re leaving something important out, but can’t seem to focus. I’m sorry, but I’m so tired.”

Lily stepped in. “Your father needs to rest. He’ll be a lot stronger tomorrow. Why don’t you get some sleep yourself?”

“I think I will. Goodnight, Papa.” She kissed him on the forehead.

Elise limped over to her as she was heading for the hatch. “Would you like some company?”

She shook her head. “Thank you, but no. I need to be alone.”

The other woman hugged her again. “Call me if you want to talk. Day or night.”

“I will. Thank you.”

A check of the ship’s systems told her that the pinnace with Talbot on board was just leaving Avalon. She had hours before she could cry all over him. In the meantime, she’d sit in the observation lounge and watch the stars. And remember the laughter of a little boy who’d once meant the world to her.