The Excalibur (Space Lore Book 2) (32 page)

To her side, Vere saw Scrope and Pistol approach from the Llyushin transport that had landed. When they were halfway to the tent, Mowbray also began forward. Two guards remained in front of him, with another two behind and on either side, each moving in unison. Not even the best sniper, if Vere had been using one, would have been able to get a clean laser blast directly at Mowbray, no matter where the expert was hidden on the moon’s surface.

The two parties crossed the desert at the same pace. While they did, the lone Fianna guard remained only twenty yards away from Vere. She wondered if she could bring out her Meursault blade quickly enough to kill the guard. More likely, no matter how fast she moved, the guard would be able to move away and defend himself until the other eight arrived and cut her down. She guessed Morgan was making the same calculation and coming to similar conclusions.

Each Fianna carried an identical vibro halberd. The staff was as tall as the figure holding it. At its end was a blade as long as a man’s arm, with an axe in front and, in the back, a pair of small spikes. Where the blade met the staff, a small ion cylinder protruded from the side. This gave the Fianna the choice to slash someone if they were close enough, as Vere soon would be, or blast them if they were out of reach.

Everyone—Pistol and Scrope, Mowbray and his guards—reached the command tent where Vere and the others were at the same time. Pistol and Scrope stood slightly behind and to the side of Vere. The Fianna remained encircled around their ruler.

“Mowbray,” Vere said.

“Vere CasterLan,” the Vonnegan ruler replied, smiling.

She didn’t like his confident demeanor, but she understood it. As far as he knew, he outnumbered her three ships to one. She was looking forward to seeing his smug grin disappear when he realized the numbers were much more even than he suspected.

“This isn’t necessary,” she said, waving a hand at the two fleets above the moon. “We don’t have to do this.”

“I’m afraid it is necessary,” Mowbray answered, standing nearly as tall as Traskk. “You killed my son.”

Morgan gave a sad shrug and took a step forward. “He was invading our kingdom.” Her grip tightened on the handle of her own Meursault blade.

The Fianna in front of Vere turned his head slightly so that the demon imprint on his helmet faced Morgan.

“Stare at me all you want,” Morgan said to the guard in a taunt. “I’d make short work of you.”

“Quiet,” Vere said, not taking her eyes off Mowbray.

But Morgan’s outburst only made the Vonnegan ruler laugh. None of his guards moved an inch.

“She does have a point,” Vere said to the Vonnegan ruler. “If I came to your planet and tried to take over your kingdom, you would be well within your right to defend yourself. If you didn’t want your son to die, you shouldn’t have sent him to battle.”

Mowbray’s eyes narrowed. A drop of sweat got in Vere’s eye and she wiped it away. Sweat poured down her face due to the hot desert sun, and yet Mowbray didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable.

She thought he was going to tell her that she could have taken Minot prisoner. Or maybe that he had only sent his fleet to Edsall Dark after Vere’s father had ordered a ship full of innocent crew members to be destroyed inside Vonnegan space.

Instead, he said, “Let’s go for a walk, Vere CasterLan. Just the two of us, shall we?”

Morgan put a hand out to Vere’s arm and said, “Don’t—”

Traskk growled.

Vere raised a hand. “It’s fine. I’ll be okay.” Then, with a palm open to the wide expanse of desert in front of them, said to Mowbray, “After you.”

The Fianna opened their circle. Mowbray stepped to the side, away from his protection, and they began to walk. Mowbray seemed unconcerned by what might happen back at the tent. When Vere looked over her shoulder, she saw Traskk and Morgan standing only ten feet from the Fianna, who were all motionless like purple plated statues.

They walked to the top of the nearest sand dune before either of them spoke.

It was Vere who said, “Now that we’re away from your guards, aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

She tapped the handle of her Meursault blade to let him know she could do so if she wanted.

Mowbray smiled. “You can kill me if you want, Vere CasterLan. However, my guards will kill you and all of your companions immediately. And General Vion,”—Mowbray’s eyes pointed toward one of the Commander Class Athens Destroyers—“has orders to kill every single person aboard each of your ships if I don’t return safely. He will then, of course, head to Edsall Dark and kill everyone there as well.”

“And if you do return safely?”

His smile grew larger. “Then I’ll take as many prisoners as we can accommodate. After all, we’re going to need someone to keep Edsall Dark running after we conquer it.”

“Mowbray, we can still stop this battle before it starts.”

Mowbray shook his head. The slight smile he offered didn’t have a hint of happiness, only regret.

“But we can’t,” he said. “Someone has to pay for what happened to my son.” He waited for Vere to offer the same rebuttal as before, but she only opened her mouth, then closed it again. He continued, “And I need the rest of the galaxy to understand what happens when a Vonnegan is murdered. Yes, I suppose I’ll become the new ruler of Edsall Dark and of the rest of your kingdom after I destroy your forces, but that’s not what interests me the most. What brings me here, what drives me to produce one Athens Destroyer after another, is the desire to show every other ruler around the galaxy that they are king in name only. I am the one true ruler of the galaxy. They just don’t understand that yet. They will, though.”

“You sound like a madman.”

He smiled. “Geniuses often sound delusional to those who don’t share their vision.”

“This was never about your son?”

He looked surprised. “Of course it was. Who do you think was going to be the new ruler on Edsall Dark? Who do you think was going to one day continue my legacy?” He shook his head. “Now, I have to go with someone I don’t even like.”

She was going to ask what he meant by that, but then a thought entered her mind.

“What would it take for you to turn around, with no shots fired?”

Mowbray squinted for a moment as he gave thought to the question.

“As much as I want to demonstrate to the rest of the galaxy what happens when you go against the Vonnegan empire, there is one offer I wouldn’t be able to refuse.”

“Name it.”

“Tell your generals to power down their ships. Turn your entire fleet over to me. And you become my prisoner.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Mowbray, that won’t happen in a thousand years.”

“Oh well,” he said with a shrug. “Your loss.”

She turned to him and asked, “If your life could be described in one word, what would it be?”

As much as he didn’t want to betray any confusion or uncertainty, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in astonishment at the question posed to him as the two fleets faced each other.

Laughing, he said, “What an odd time to be reflective, Vere CasterLan, seeing as how your fleet will be destroyed today.”

Ignoring his bravado, she said, “A friend of mine used to be fond of asking me that question. I’ve been thinking a lot recently of how I might be remembered.” She nodded at him and added, “And how you’ll be remembered as well.”

He chuckled in amusement at this notion.

“Mowbray the Rancorous?” he said, then shrugged. “I kind of like the sound of that. Mowbray the Subjugator?” He clapped. “Yes, that is what it will be.”

“The thing is, Mowbray, you don’t control how you will be remembered. What if—”

They both heard a sound to their side and turned to see what it was. One of the Llyushin transports that had been there ever since Vere had arrived on the moon was lowering its ramp. Vere wondered what kind of trick Morgan was pulling and made a mental note to appoint someone else to command the military if she couldn’t trust Morgan. This wasn’t the time or place to pull a stunt.

But then she saw the lone figure descending from the ramp and her heart sank.

Fastolf.

“Vere, I’ll save you,” he called out as he stumbled down the ramp, his trusty flask in one hand.

His words were so slurred that she barely understood him. He wobbled back and forth, zigging and zagging down to the desert ground.

“I’ll show you who you can trust,” he bellowed.

Cringing, she looked out of the corner of her eye to see Mowbray’s reaction. The Vonnegan ruler had never seen or heard of Fastolf before but he immediately understood the drunk for the threat he was, which was no threat at all. Even when Fastolf pulled out a blaster from the holster at his hip and aimed it in Vere’s and Mowbray’s direction, the Vonnegan ruler didn’t stop smiling. Not even the Fianna, sworn to protect their ruler, did anything to stop the stumbling man.

“Fastolf, stop,” she yelled, but he kept coming forward.

Her old friend pulled the trigger and a laser blast flew wildly, missing both of them by the length of a starship.

“This is the company you keep?” Mowbray said, laughing.

“I’ll save you, Vere,” Fastolf called again. “I’m sorry for screwing everything up.”

Having difficulty with the sand, Fastolf almost fell onto his face each time he took a step. When he was standing up again, he pulled the trigger once more. Another laser blast went toward them. This one came closer to hitting Vere than it did Mowbray.

“Fastolf, stop!”

She began to put the pieces together in her head. The ship had been there since before she had arrived and it had never moved. Fastolf must have come here in the midst of the hustle and bustle of preparing for war. With so much going on, no one had paid attention to yet another Llyushin transport on the moon’s surface. There, he had waited until the opportunity arose to show her how much of a friend he was...

“All I ever wanted was for us to be happy,” he said, almost falling again.

He was crying now. Another laser blast went past them. This one came much closer to hitting Mowbray than it did Vere.

“Fastolf, stop!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the blades of all nine of the Fianna’s halberds begin to glow.

Her old friend continued forward, struggling to keep his footing.

“Fastolf, get back on board your ship. I’ll talk to you when this is over. Please.”

He raised the weapon again. Before he could pull the trigger, one of the nine Fianna had aimed his halberd. From the cylinder where the blade met the grip, a single laser blast flew across the sky and hit Fastolf in the hand.

He dropped his weapon and fell to the ground. It took him a while to get back to two knees. Watching in horror, Vere saw that he didn’t seem to understand where his blaster had gone. Or, for that matter, his hand. His other hand still held the flask, though, and from it he took another sip.

“Vere, I—”

The next laser blast passed straight through his neck, and he fell sideways onto the sand.

“Fastolf!”

She thought about pulling out her sword and removing Mowbray’s head from his neck. Then she remembered the orders he had given his general. She didn’t care about her own life, but she couldn’t allow all of her people to needlessly suffer the same fate.

She thought about running to Fastolf’s side. But she knew there was nothing she could do for him after a blaster shot directly through the neck. No amount of the best medical attention could save him.

“Vere,” he somehow managed to gurgle. His voice didn’t sound anything like it had. It barely sounded human.

Mowbray turned to her and said, “He’s already dead. Give him a moment and he’ll realize it for himself.”

Fastolf reached his good hand out to her even though she was impossibly far away. As he did, liquid sloshed out of the flask.

“Vere… Vere…”

She stood there, beside Mowbray, not knowing what she should do. Then Fastolf’s hand fell to the ground in front of him. His head sagged. His entire body gave out and he crumbled to the ground, perfectly still.

“See?” Mowbray said. “Now, where were we?”

Vere closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the Fastolf that had made her laugh so often back on Eastcheap. The friend who had taught her how to steal. The buddy that had distracted her from all the worries she had been fleeing. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Mowbray. Her jaw twitched. Her knuckles were white where she made a fist around the grip of her sword.

“Call off your ships, Mowbray. I’m giving you one chance. Give the order to return home before it’s too late.” She stared into Mowbray’s oblong pupils. “Do it now, before I destroy you and every single one of your ships.”

74

Two solar systems away, the forces of the warlord Arc-Mi-Die were assembled in front of the Tanner-Raan portal. As promised, forty of Arc-Mi-Die’s converted fighters had gathered at the area. A pair of small war frigates kept a constant distance away from the portal, waiting for the order to pass through. A single King-Class Battlecruiser, larger than all of the other ships combined, remained behind the two frigates.

On the other side of the portal, the gangster Ballona’s forces were also gathered and waiting: Twenty-five heavily modified fighters, most of which had gone through too many repairs and reworks for anyone to be able to determine what kind of vessel they had originally been; five cargo loaders, with cannons and heavy armor added onto them; a pair of space-to-space missile batteries.

The two criminal armies had to stay on opposite sides of the portal or else they were likely to begin firing on each other. Each time one of Arc-Mi-Die’s fighters soared in a circle around the portal, all of Ballona’s ships targeted it. And each time one of Ballona’s fighters sped in a loop around the portal, all of Arc-Mi-Die’s ships did the same.

Neither side fired, though. Both sides waited for the signal to begin entering the portal.

75

“Call off your ships.” Vere stared into the oblong pupils of Mowbray’s purple eyes. “Do it before I destroy you and every single one of your ships.”

The Vonnegan ruler began walking again, but only momentarily before he too stopped walking and turned to face her. He scanned her face to see if she was actually serious. She continued to look straight at him, unblinking. In response, he gave a short, scoffing laugh and began striding across the desert again.