The Prisoner of Eldaron: Crimson Worlds Successors II (15 page)

“Is that really necessary, Darius?” Sarah looked impatient, but it quickly faded. “Very well, whatever you feel is…appropriate.”

He felt another pang of guilt. He was uncomfortable dealing with his mother, and that fact increased his anxiety. Feelings mingled…guilt, love, resentment, sadness. “I afraid it is, mother. It has nothing to do with you. We have security protocols that are never overridden. Under any circumstances. An occupational hazard, I’m afraid.”

He watched the screen, waiting the two seconds for his words to reach her location. There it was, the flash of disapproval on her face at the mention of his occupation. She stifled it almost immediately, but he still saw it. It was almost involuntary, the impression people had, the idea that anyone who had to maintain almost paranoid security was suspect. Cain usually ignored it, being almost completely unconcerned with what most people thought. But it stung coming from his mother.

“
Eagle Two
will be there shortly, mother,” he said, his voice clipped, uncomfortable. “I will see you soon.” He cut the line, and he turned around and walked toward the door.

He wondered why no one considered how disciplined his soldiers were before they formed their judgments, or compared the Eagles to the packs of brigands and vandals many of the warring planets fielded as armies. He wished for an instant that they ever considered the fact that he had turned down dozens of jobs, accepting contracts only in legitimate conflicts, where war was almost certain with or without the Eagles’ intervention. He’d turned away an endless parade of would-be tyrants and brutal dictators. Sadly, many worlds suffered under such kinds of leaders, but the service of the Black Eagles was off the table for them…because of an ethical decision made by the monster who commanded the great mercenary company.

Why is morality so overly simplified…even by people like my mother? Corrupt governments can imprison and kill their own citizens, often for simply disagreeing with outrageous mandates…yet they are usually spared the kind of universal condemnation the Eagles so often suffer. Such hypocrisy. They all act as judges, as arbiters of right and wrong, so ready to make determinations without facts, without analysis. They don’t even realize they disapprove of us not because of what we do, as they state, but because we are the best…and because they fear us
.

He paused at the edge of the control room. “I want
Eagle Two
back as quickly as possible, Captain Anders.” Then he slipped through the door into the corridor. He headed first toward his quarters, but he stopped just short of the lift. Ana was there. If he went back, she would try to comfort him…and she would probably succeed, at least to an extent. But there was no time for that now. He had to stay sharp, be the ruthless monster everyone thought he was. His mother was here for a reason, and whatever it was, he suspected he would be compelled to take some kind of action. Sooner rather than later.

He turned and walked back down the hallway toward his office. He had a feeling he would soon need the Darius Cain they all feared so greatly, the cold-blooded warrior…and Ana Bazarov saw right through that mask, to the man below the invincible armor. And there was no time for that man now.

*  *  *  *  *

Sarah Cain walked through the clear umbilical connecting
Eagle Two
to the Nest’s primary surface airlock. She didn’t approve of many of the choices Darius had made, but she still felt a bit of awe seeing the scope of what he had built in so short a time. She’d known about the Nest, of course, and the Eagles’ fleet, but actually seeing the scale of her son’s power up close was a shock.

The Eagle vessels were lined up in neat rows, each one of the strongest warships still in Occupied Space. They were smaller than the old Alliance Yorktowns certainly, far smaller. But there were none of those behemoths left, and most of the worlds of Occupied Space struggled to field squadrons of frigates and other small craft. Looking out over Darius’ fleet, the ships perfectly lined up in their landing cradles, made her truly realize just how superior the Black Eagles were, how much stronger and more capable than the other military forces in Occupied Space. Even the Marines had wasted away over the years through endless rounds of belt-tightening until only two regiments remained…along with the hospital and a dozen ships still left over from Augustus Garret’s mighty fleets.

She knew Erik would be proud too, gratified by Darius’ capabilities, despite any disapproval he might have felt for his son’s mercenary activities.

If he disapproved
…

Erik Cain had been a Marine. He’d fought for his comrades, not for pay, and so mankind could have a chance at a brighter future. But he’d always been an enigma, a man who didn’t think much of the people he struggled to protect. He wanted to have faith they could learn from history’s mistakes, build a future based on freedom and not coerced obedience. But Sarah more than anyone knew he’d never really believed it.

She was sure his doubts would have become set in stone if he’d seen how many worlds—Atlantia among them—had changed since he’d been gone, how quickly the descendants of the adventurers who’d left Earth to find freedom among the stars were prepared to surrender it, just as the people of Earth had so long before.

He might have made the same choices as Darius
.
Perhaps he’d be here on this moon with his son, commanding the greatest mercenary company in human space.

No, he was a Marine. If he’d fought again it would have been for the Corps
.

He might have accepted Darius’ choices, but she couldn’t imagine Erik Cain fighting under any banner but that of the Corps’. She pushed back a wave of sadness, the pain and loneliness she’d learned to handle, but that had never really gone away. And now it was trying to flood back into her mind…

“This is the lift, General Cain.” The lieutenant’s voice pulled her from her daydream. His tone was respectful and courteous. She knew the Eagles were savage fighters, feared throughout Occupied Space, but since the moment she’d set foot on
Eagle Two
, she’d seen nothing but courteous professionalism from everyone she’d encountered.

Two of the soldiers of her escort were already inside the large car, standing at attention along the back wall. The lieutenant and the two other Eagles stood outside, waiting for her to step in.

She nodded and walked in, followed by the three remaining soldiers. An instant later the door slid shut, and the lift began to drop. The feeling in her stomach told her it was moving quickly, very quickly. Still, it was several minutes before it came to a stop and the doors opened.

Her eyes widened as she looked out into the large room. It was at least fifty meters square, and the ceiling was ten meters above, carved from the solid rock and polished to a glossy sheen. There were soldiers in two long lines, three meters apart, creating a path for her party to traverse. The men and women wore what had to be full dress uniforms, sleek black tunics with bright white pants and polished black boots. The tunics were covered with platinum lace and insignia, and the soldiers held assault rifles at their sides.

Sarah had been part of the Corps since she was seventeen, and she was no stranger to military ceremony. But she couldn’t recall seeing a more perfect assembly of troops before. Again, it ran counter to her expectations of the Eagles, her imaginings of a bloodthirsty group of brigands, coarse men and women, clad in torn fatigues with bloodstained bandanas tied around their heads. This force was as disciplined as any she’d ever looked upon…as perfect as any group of Marines she’d seen.

Her first two guards stepped out of the elevator car, falling in next to each other in perfect formation. The lieutenant gestured for her to follow, and walked next to her when she stepped out, followed closely by the last two troopers. The second she set foot outside the lift, a band she hadn’t noticed began playing the Marine Corps Hymn.

She walked slowly forward, still shocked at the rigid perfection of the ranks of soldiers around her. Whatever Darius had inherited from his parents, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind all of Erik’s military aptitude had passed to his son.

She looked straight ahead as she walked, trying to see over the shoulders of the two hulking guards in front of her. But then they stopped abruptly and stepped to the side, revealing Darius standing there in his own dress uniform. He had a serious expression on his face, but when he saw her, he smiled.

“Hello, mother.” He leaned forward and embraced her. “Welcome to the Nest. Your visit is long overdue, and I hope you will find the time to come more often in the future.” She could hear the emotion in his statement, though she realized it would not be obvious to most listeners.

“Darius, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see you.” She returned his hug, and she extended herself up on her toes and kissed her son on the cheek. She held onto his shoulders as she pulled her lips away slowly, and she whispered into his ear.

“I have to speak with you alone, Darius. It’s important.”

*  *  *  *  *

“If this is true, I will destroy them! I will raze their cities, and kill them all. What Rome did to Carthage will seem like a love tap.” Darius was furious, and the anger pulsated through every nerve in his body. The room seemed to shake from the cold energy of his voice, and his stare was like death. His right hand was clasped in a tight fist…around a small chunk of metal. His father’s Marine Corps ring.

“I don’t know anything for sure, Darius. But I can’t think of any way someone could have gotten that ring unless…” He voice tailed off as she tried to choke back tears. “Unless your father did not die on that ship. His ring would have been with him, and if the ship lost containment it would have been vaporized…along…” She paused again briefly. “…along with everything else onboard.”

“If father survived the attack on that ship…it means he was taken prisoner. That the ship was disabled and boarded. But who?” He looked at his mother, his gaze a mix of fury and almost childlike confusion. “Who would have attacked that ship and taken prisoners before destroying it?” His mind was already answering his question, but he wasn’t ready to face the possibility that whatever force his people had faced on Lysandria and Eris had been in existence all those years ago. Was it possible that an organized powerful enemy had been operating in total secrecy for decades, gathering strength as the worlds of Occupied Space became weaker and ever more disunited?

Sarah’s eyes were locked on her son’s. “I came right here. I wanted to tell Cat Gilson, but the Marines aren’t strong enough to do anything. If we even knew what to do.”

“I know what I am going to do. I am going to Eldaron…and I am going to tear apart every millimeter of that world, search every room, every cave, question every leader. If he is there, I will find him. If the people of Eldaron know anything about this, they will tell me.” His tone on the last few words was like ice.

“But we don’t have any proof, Darius. Just this ring.” Sarah’s voice was uncertain, shaky. If there was the slightest chance Erik Cain was alive somewhere, she knew she had to do something, anything, to try to find and rescue him. But she couldn’t condemn an entire world to the apocalypse that would follow an invasion by the Black Eagles.

She turned and looked into Darius’ eyes. She saw nothing there but rage…and determination so resolute she realized in an instant no force in Occupied Space would stand in his way. Her son did not share her ethical doubts about invading a planet on such thin evidence, and if they found that the Eldari had kept Erik Cain prisoner for so many years…she shuddered to think of what he would do to them. His rage would run as hot as the core of a star, and millions—whether they’d had any involvement in the scheme or not—would die.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have told him, she thought
, feeling a flush of doubts. But they quickly subsided. If there was any chance Erik was still alive, she had to see everything possible done. Sarah had always been disciplined, and her Marine training and years of service had only increased her capacity to control herself, even if difficult situations. But it was taking everything she had to stay focused now. A thousand questions bombarded her mind from the nether land at the fringe of her thoughts.

Was it really possible that Erik was actually alive? Or had he been captured and died in the interim? And perhaps the worst of all…how badly had he suffered? Fifteen years of captivity…what kind of hell had he had to endure for so long? She, more than anyone else, understood how helplessness would be the worst torture Erik Cain could experience. If by some miracle he was still alive, what had the years of captivity done to him?

Then there was the other thing that had been plaguing her since she’d discovered the source of the ring. “Darius, if this is more than some kind of hoax, if Erik is a prisoner on Eldaron…then this may all be some kind of trap. Who would have sent the ring to me except someone who
wanted
us to come to Eldaron…who
wanted
the Eagles to attack there?

Darius stared back at his mother, not the slightest change in his expression.

“Of course it’s a trap,” he said calmly. “Whatever is waiting for us on Eldaron, we can be sure our enemies believe it is enough to destroy us. No doubt that is the purpose behind the sudden appearance of this ring.”

Sarah nodded, wiping a tear from her face. “So, what do we do? We can’t just ignore this, not if there’s a chance your father is still alive.”

Cain maintained his stare, his face rigid, like something carved from a solid block of stone. “I’m not going to ignore anything, mother. We go in, that’s what we do…and we show these bastards that whatever they have planned, they underestimated the Black Eagles.”

Chapter 11

Central Broadcast Center

Beneath the Ruins of the Ares Metroplex

Planet Mars, Sol IV