Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race (16 page)

The last representative was Matthew Nogita.  The small man who ran the fighter facility on Faraday took the place of the last two representatives after Lucius refused to deal with them.  How he managed to get elected, Lucius didn’t know.  He suspected Nogita to have spread about the fact that he worked with Lucius before.  It didn’t matter, Matthew was perfectly happy to make polite noises and go along with whatever Lucius said, as long as it didn’t hurt his people.

All in all, the council worked because the other four had similar opinions.

They argued and fought with him when they disagreed, but when the matter was finished, they backed him and took his reasoning to their people.  The council maintained a unified front, because they needed to.

Lucius had become a warlord, somehow, somewhere.  He had lost his lands when he lost his homeworld, but he had gained followers.  His ships' crews were startlingly loyal and they trusted him.  Lucius had learned that the trust they gave him went both ways.  He could no more abandon the refugees than he could cut off his own leg.  They’d become his people –even the loudmouthed ones.

He shook off those thoughts as he took a seat.  He looked around at the expectant faces, and the pile of writhing tentacles that was the Iodan.  “Anything new?” he asked, informally.  There was no reason for formalities.  They didn’t have the time or patience for it.

They all signaled negative.  Each of them had taken over different tasks, Matthew Nogita managed salvage and repair operations around the base.  Kate Bueller managed personnel, she found people with the necessary training to fill needed positions.  Aaron Dallas and Max Nyguyen worked together to solve problems that involved resource management, everything from food acquisition, their most pressing problem, to the sale of items they’d salvaged, mined or made.  The Iodan managed their medical and biological needs.  The creatures had already stopped one viral outbreak and performed wonders on the environmental systems in the abandoned base.  Their knowledge had brought the systems online far more rapidly than would have otherwise been possible.

“I may have found a buyer for the last of this gold.” Max Nyguyen said, finally.  “It’s too early to say, but it looks like this guy will trade fair for it.”

Lucius grinned wryly, “It will be nice not to have to discourage pirates from following our trading ships anymore.”  They’d found a damaged mining ship in the asteroids of the inner system.  From the ship’s log, it was evident that the miners had struck it rich when they discovered an almost pure lode of gold in one asteroid.  The crew had celebrated with copious amounts of alcohol and thirty years later, Lucius’ salvagers had discovered the ship, holed from a collision with a medium sized piece of space detritus.

Lesson learned: don’t let a drunk pilot get behind the controls.

Trying to sell a large quantity of pure gold ingots, unfortunately, seemed to draw scavengers like flies.  Burbeg intercepted five pirate craft and two mining vessels who had attempted to follow their trade ships.

Three of those pirate ships would never bother anyone again.  The other two were taken intact.  Lucius had both corvette-sized ships out to scout the local systems for any other potential salvage opportunities.  The small vessels served well to scare off further mining ships without the need to reveal their larger vessels.

“
I got a message from one of our agents.  She’s on her way back with the man who reported the sighting.”  As Lucius spoke, he brought up the recording up on the wall screen.

Everyone turned to look.  The image was grainy.  It was a copy off of a pirate’s computer after the pirate ship in question got smashed to wreckage.  The pirate’s encoded copy came from the black market.  Governments didn’t pay individuals for that kind of information.  They took it.

The vessel revealed was large, larger than a Chxor dreadnought, if the scaling was correct.  It was a squashed cylinder, heavy armor formed an arc at top and bottom, to sandwich the vessel in the center.  Massive doors and paneling along the side showed what might be hangar bays.  Part of one engine was visible in the frame, a massive protrusion from the hull.  All in all, the vessel was a ponderous seven kilometers long and one kilometer wide, perhaps half a kilometer thick at its deepest.  Parts of the ship were masked in what looked like a dust or vapor cloud.

The visual feed zoomed in to focus on the stark lettering that had to be fifty meters tall.  Between the grainy feed and whatever cloud enveloped it, it was hard to make out, but it appeared to say
AWS Patriot
.

“
What is the purpose of finding this vessel?” The translation software the Iodan used was emotionless, it sounded like how a Chxor wanted to sound.  Lucius realized that non-humans probably didn’t have much human history spoon-fed to them. 

“
The
AWS Patriot
was said to have been Admiral Dreyfus’ command ship…” Lucius began.  He paused, thinking for a moment.  “Eighty-four years ago, Amalgamated Worlds created a large fleet of very advanced warships.  Those ships were far more advanced than anything they’d ever made before.  The cost was incredible.  The Fleet was named the Agathan Fleet, for the design of the command ship, a ship deemed so expensive it was never made.”

Kate Bueller spoke, “And several million rogue psychics hijacked that fleet and escaped into shadow space with it.  They went on the run, and they smashed every Amalgamated Worlds fleet that tried to follow.”

The Iodan twitched its limbs, and the translation software spoke, “I thought Amalgamated Worlds was defeated by the Colonials.”

Lucius nodded, “They were.  The psychics fled persecution, they weren’t out to overthrow the system.” 
Well, not that we know, in any case,
Lucius mentally added.  “They still represented a tangible threat to Amalgamated Worlds, who… well, their general paranoia and specific hatred against ESP caused them to put a lot of resources towards exterminating that threat.”

He typed in some commands, and the hologram put up an overlay showing six massive ships, surrounded by a haze of other vessels.  “They constructed the Dreyfus fleet.  It was designed with the sole purpose of hunting down and exterminating that threat.”  He shrugged, “Not a moment of human history of which to be particularly proud.”

“This Admiral Dreyfus succeeded then?” The Iodan asked, “Was he a great warrior?”

Lucius stared off into the distance as he remembered books he had studied in his youth.  “He was their best.  Dreyfus was one of the rare Amalgamated Worlds Fleet officers who was outside their normal politics.  He wasn't a political appointee or someone's nephew or son, he was the military figure they turned to when they needed to win.  He defeated the Wrethe Incursion.  He smashed the Tersal Pirates.  He…” Lucius shook his head, “He was their best.” Those words said it all, he decided.

“He came out of retirement and told Amalgamated Worlds Fleet what he’d need.  They gave him everything he asked for.” Lucius didn’t need to look up the list to recite the numbers, “Half a million ship crew, selected from the best and brightest of the Fleet.  Two hundred thousand Marines, again, the best and brightest.”  He shook his head, “Six ships, each of them larger than any human ship ever built, larger than any ship the human race had encountered.  Those ships carried dozens of parasite frigates. They had a full escort of battlecruisers, cruisers, and destroyers.  They had a dozen massive transports for equipment, supplies and personnel.”

“
Over a million personnel departed under Admiral Dreyfus, they set out from Earth on the Fourth of July, in a huge celebration.”  Lucius snorted, “Admiral Dreyfus broadcast a final message from Alpha Centauri on the Eleventh of July.  They were never heard from again.”

“
What happened?”

“
No one knows.  No one ever found any sign of them.” Mathew Nogita said, “There have been rumored sightings, ghost stories, legends…”

Lucius brought up the gritty picture, the battered lettering only just legible.  “Until now.”

***

January 6, 2403 Earth Standard Time

Zeta Tau System

Unclaimed Space

Mason frowned and shot a glare over at Lauren.  “Never again.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him as he kicked the organic detritus off of his boots.

“
Never again.” He repeated.  “Once you get those, those...” McGann paused at a lack for words.  “Once they’re off, never again will something that foul board my ship.”

The foul creatures in question mooed, as several people began to herd them off the ship.

“You got your ship back and we’re paying you for carrying a cargo on top of that, which we loaded and unloaded ourselves, after we broke your ship out of a government impound,” she answered.  “Now, you’re free, you’re here, where without a doubt, someone will be glad to tell you our story as soon as you ask.  I believe you owe me something.”

“
I’ll take you there,” he replied, “just as soon as you get my ship cleaned up.”

She shook her head, “The deal was that you give us the coordinates.”

“If Mr. McGann wants to take us there personally, he can do so,” a calm, cultured voice said from behind.

Mason turned.  He found himself looking at a short middle aged man in a crisp black military uniform.  “Who are you?  Dark Helmet?” Mason asked.

Surprisingly the man caught the reference, “You’re hardly Lonestar, though you may look the part.”  He bowed politely, “I am Baron Lucius Giovanni, late of the Nova Roma Fleet, Captain of the battleship
War Shrike
and commander of several other vessels.”

“
Hmmm,” Mason paused for a moment in thought.  “Some kind of warlord?”

The man smiled politely, “Something like that.”  He turned to Lauren Kelly, “Excellent job, Lieutenant.  I know you probably want a break, but could you get our guest up to the
War Shrike
?”

She nodded, “Yes, sir.”

With that, Baron Giovanni turned and strode away.  Mason looked after him, “Interesting fellow.”  The man didn't look imposing, but he had a certain spark, one that even a cynic like Mason could feel.  Men like that inspired from their own actions, Mason knew.  They also tended to get themselves and a lot of other people killed, from his experience. 
People with dedication like that don't know when to quit,
he thought.

“
He’s one of the sharpest minds I’ve ever known,” the hero worship was almost painfully evident.  “He’s saved all of our lives at least once.”  The brown haired woman stared after the Captain with a look that mixed awe and dedication.

Mason sighed, “Any time you want to tell me what the hell is going on would be great.”

Lauren Kelly looked over at him and smiled.  Something had relaxed behind her brown eyes and it seemed like the first time that Mason had seen her drop her guard.  “I’ll tell you on the shuttle ride,” she said.

***

“
So after we withdrew from the Faraday system we came here, eventually,” Lauren Kelly finished her explanation as the shuttle docked.  The two stood and waited for the other passengers to disembark.  Mason used the time to think... and a lot of his thoughts were confused, to say the least.

The two finally strode off the shuttle and aboard the battleship
War Shrike
.  “You expect me to believe that story?” Mason asked, finally, his voice heavy with skepticism.

“
I wouldn’t believe it myself, Mr. McGann,” Baron Giovanni stated from further down the corridor.  He turned away from a meeting with several of his crew.  “Now, we’re all ready to go, so if you’ll just come to the bridge and input the coordinates, we’ll be on our way.”

Mason straightened to his full height, “I just give you the coordinates and I go on my way?”  He cocked an eyebrow at

There was an almost painful silence.  “You did insist on coming here, on seeing this.  You know our entire story, you know where we are, and probably can put together some easy guesses on our current armaments.”  The Baron's voice was slightly sad.  “Would you want to put the lives of over sixteen thousand people in the hands of a mercenary you’ve only just met?”

“
I’m also giving you what is potentially the most powerful fleet in the known universe.”  Mason said defensively.  “It’s not like I’d betray you anyway.  It’s not like there’s any profit in it.” 

The Baron shook his head, “Now you’re just being naïve.  Those ships will be the most valuable items in known space.  The information on where they are won’t cease to be of value until they’re fully recovered, refitted, and crewed.  Do you think for an instant that a band of refugees can do that in any reasonable amount of time?  Do you think that knowledge of who has them once they have been recovered won’t be of value?”

Mason looked away. 
I wouldn't tell anyone,
he thought angrily,
and with my ship, I don't have to worry about being cornered like on Anvil.
  Still, some part of him knew that the officer was at least partially correct.  Mercenaries, pirates and that ilk would still seek him out for that information.  It would be valuable for months, if not years. 
And yeah, I can draw some pretty detailed guesses as to their military strength, despite the abridged story that Lauren gave me,
Mason privately admitted.