The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) (10 page)

And yet... Lucius had served aboard the
War Shrike
for over twenty years.  In that time, he had risen from XO to Captain.  He had commanded that ship against various odds, at times aware that his demise was a certainty... yet his ship and crew had pulled victory out in the end.  That single ship had allowed him to possibly turn the course of humanity back from the brink of destruction.  Giving her up, even knowing he would never command her again as Captain, was a heavy task.  Yet, making those kinds of calls were necessary.  He didn't want to see the last of her, but he could at least ensure that the next commander was worthy of the task.  For that matter, the
Peregrine
had served as the rogue Lady Kail's flagship.  Lucretta Mannetti, the self-styled Admiral Mannetti, had commanded the ship for almost fifteen years after her own failed plot to seize power in Nova Roma... until Lucius finally got the upper hand when she tried to betray him again here at Faraday.  He quirked a smile at Admiral Dreyfus.  “I assume the plan is to give both vessels to the Nova Romans and let them crew and equip them?”

Admiral Dreyfus nodded.  “From what I understand, they've a wealth of experienced military officers and enlisted from the Melcer raid.  Admiral Mund is coordinating their rehabilitation and getting them spun up.”  Admiral Dreyfus smiled slightly, “From what I understand, the Emperor is very pleased with some of the personnel they've received.”

Lucius thought of Daniel Beeson and Anthony Doko, who commanded both vessels, “Do we have commands for their officers and positions for their enlisted and junior officers?”

Admiral Dreyfus nodded slowly, “Yes, Baron.  We've had extensive casualties from the fight with the Balor.  We haven't yet assigned commanders to a pair of our recently repaired battlecruisers, I'm sure we could make the move there.”

Lucius nodded slightly.  “Very well.  I think...” He sighed and tried again, “I think that the cost of the Desperadoes is such that we should transfer them over to the Nova Roma contingent.  They'll be able to crew and maintain them more easily.”

“Thank you, Baron,” Admiral Dreyfus responded.

Lucius sat back in his chair.  “Now then, what else did you want to bring up, since you have me by myself for once?”

“What makes you think this isn't all?” Admiral Dreyfus asked, his eyes narrow.

Lucius cocked his head, “While I appreciate you wanting to get me alone for that discussion, you could have done it remotely.  There's nothing sensitive in the information about our logistics situation.  So that means that you had an ulterior motive, in turn, that suggests that it's both something I won't want to hear... and also something sensitive that you don't want getting spread around.”  Lucius kept his voice level, but there were only a handful of things that he thought qualified for this discussion.  None of them were topics that he particularly liked to think about.

Admiral Dreyfus smiled grimly, “Well, I guess I'm not quite as smooth as I'd hoped.”  He sighed and slid a folder across his desk to Lucius.  “We have finished the initial vetting of personnel who might have been behind the escape of your rogue Admiral Mannetti.  As you know, whoever was behind it needed access to our codes, uniforms, and schedules.”

Lucius nodded impatiently, yet he didn't allow himself to flip open the folder.  He wanted to hear Admiral Dreyfus's explanation before he did so.  He was already inclined to disbelieve that any of his people would so betray him.  Yet at the same time, there seemed to be no other explanation.

“We've selected ten suspects, based upon their seniority, prior service or contact with Lucretta Mannetti, and a basic background screening of them all,” Admiral Dreyfus said.  “Captain Wu has done an excellent and very thorough job.  She has not been able to further develop his investigation without authorization to interrogate–”

“No,” Lucius said softly.  “There will be no interrogation of suspects.  For one thing, if her theory is correct, then this individual fooled the best of Imperial Intelligence and fooled my entire crew and I for the past fifteen years.”  He looked down at his feet, “And furthermore, without further proof of betrayal, I won't subject loyal officers to the shadow of disgrace on nothing more than suspicions and conjecture.”

Admiral Dreyfus cleared his throat, “If we have a sleeper agent within our organization...”

“Then he still can do no more damage than if we destroy the trust of our own officers and citizens by detaining them without evidence and of holding and interrogating them without trial,” Lucius said calmly.  He was certain of that.  He had seen the Imperial Security Bureau transform into an organization of terror in their hunt for Chxor collaborators and rebellious elements.  He did not wish to see his own nation's security and military forces do the same.

“Very well,” Admiral Dreyfus nodded.  “I can't say I wouldn't chose differently, but that is your prerogative.  The names are contained in the list before you, I just ask that it doesn't leave this office.”  Lucius flipped back the cover to the folder, not once tempted to push that knowledge off on someone else.  If he did have a traitor in his ranks, he needed to know, if only so that he could compartmentalize information more efficiently.  He frowned at the list.  All of the men and women on that list were people he trusted implicitly.  The fact that his sister's name was on the list didn't surprise him, though the very thought of Alanis betraying him for some shadowy cabal made him snort.  She was smart and devious, but almost painfully honest.  She was on the list because of her access to her husband, Reese Giovanni-Leone who was also on the list.  Sadly enough, Lucius
could
imagine Reese betraying him, if only in regards to their current disagreement over Alanis.  After his name was that of Anthony Doko, his longtime XO and now the husband to Princess Lizmadie, Emperor Romulus IV's half sister.  A quick glance confirmed part of the reason for his inclusion was his prior service with Lucius under Lucretta Mannetti as Captain of the
War Shrike. 
There was also a note that his marriage to the Princess showed social ambition.  Lucius could agree that someone without knowledge of the Princess's personal history might judge the same, but he had seen the affection they developed before her identity was established... before, indeed, she even knew her relation to the Emperor.

Of course, that put Princess Lizmadie on the list, with a note that she could access the information through her relationship with Anthony Doko.  Thus far, the implicated suspects were either very close personal friends or family. 
Hell,
Lucius thought,
Tony practically
is
family. 
The next names on the list were less surprising, but also just as hard to picture.  There was Chief Petty Officer Winslow, who had apparently served aboard ship with a young Lieutenant Mannetti.  Then there was Captain Naeveus, the former fighter squadron commander for the
War Shrike. 
He hadn't served aboard the ship with her, but he was her distant cousin, a fact which Lucius hadn't even known.  Given the... proclivity of some of the Nova Roma elite and nobility, that didn't necessarily mean much. 
He
was distant cousin to the Emperor, yet that hadn't exactly helped him very much.

The last four names were just as unlikely, yet Lucius read through them.  Colonel William Proscia, his former Marine Commander had access to the codes, but his only contact was he'd been at a base that Lucretta attacked after she went pirate, long before he served with Lucius.  Ensign Tascon was another one of her cousins and was also a communications officer, so might have been able to access the right information. 
While I'd love for it to be him,
Lucius thought,
I wouldn't be that lucky.
  Tascon was a snide, superior ass and his arrogance had received him multiple reprimands from the commanders Lucius put him under.  Tascon had applied for a transfer to the Nova Roma contingent just before the Third Battle of Faraday.  That transfer had been denied by the Nova Romans rather than United Colonies personnel.  From what he'd heard, the young man had already gained something of a reputation.

Lucius was very surprised to see Kate Bueller's name on the list.  She was the former leader of the Faraday colony, which had been independent and virtually unknown by most of human space.  With the arrival of the Chxor, she'd fled with Lucius along with some sixteen thousand other refugees.  Apparently, in her tenure as the Contractor, she'd had approved military sales of weapons which were matched to equipment found aboard the
Peregrine
after they captured her from Lucretta Mannetti.  That seemed extremely tenuous, especially given the rogue officer's history of piracy.  Yet it still seemed more concrete than the last.  “Seriously, you put Kandergain on here?  She was with me when Mannetti escaped.”

Admiral Dreyfus shrugged, “Yes, but she is a psychic.  She also had full access to all of us as well as a number of... questionable activities.”

“I'm not considering the mother of my child as a suspect,” Lucius said dryly.  “Even if I would... she's not here, so I don't think she's still a viable suspect.”

Admiral Dreyfus shrugged, “I'd agree, but as I said, Captain Wu is thorough.”  He sighed, “With your permission, I'd like to authorize her to do some data-mining.  She'll focus on off world activities, especially any accounts we can identify as Mannetti's against her records we captured aboard the
Peregrine. 
It's unlikely that we'll turn up any direct connections, but if nothing else, we might gain a bit of forewarning if she starts making a move in our direction again.”

Lucius pursed his lips.  “Agreed, that sounds like a good idea.”  He stood from the chair and pushed the folder back.  “Thank you and as much as I don't like thinking about my friends and family as possible traitors... well, thank you for having someone do the work.  As long as we keep this professional and, above all,
quiet,
I think we might figure out what happened without tearing ourselves apart in the process.”

“Agreed,” Admiral Dreyfus gave him a nod.  “Thank you for your time, Baron.”

***

Chapter III

Faraday System

United Colonies

August 1, 2403

Lucius stepped into his office and froze.  He knew that there should not be a man seated across from his desk at his ease.  For one thing, Lucius knew he had cleared his afternoon of appointments.  For that matter, he was certain that the Marine security contingent who secured the apartment complex would have kept any unauthorized personnel away.  

For that matter, the man in question wore the oddest attire that Lucius could imagine.  His white pants, tall, black leather boots, and red overcoat were all of the style of the ancient British Empire.  He had a tri-cornered hat on the small table next to his chair.  To top it off, he wore what looked like a flintlock pistol and a saber or sword of some kind on his hip.  Lucius stared at him for a long time, certain that he should call in the Marines or something, yet too bemused to do more than stare.

“Oh, hello,” the man said.  He stood and extended his hand.  “I'm Reginald.  It is an honor to finally meet you, Baron Giovanni.”  He said it with such a tone of certainty, as if he belonged here, rather than the opposite.

Lucius took the other man's hand.  “Why are you in my office?” Lucius couldn't quite find it in him to make it a demand.  The other man was far too polite.  That didn't mean he wasn't dangerous... it just meant that Lucius felt uncomfortable violating the societal norms by having Marines come in and tackle him to the ground.

“Oh, yes,” Reginald said.  “Sorry that I wasn't able to make an appointment with you directly.  Your secretary, Miss Cindy, was very polite in informing me that you couldn't possibly see me.  A charming young woman, very dedicated.  It took quite a bit of effort to get her to clear your afternoon meetings.”

Lucius felt his eyes narrow, “What exactly do you mean by that?”  Had this odd fellow found some leverage against his secretary?  For that matter, how had he bypassed the layers of security that surrounded him?

“Oh, yes, right,” Reginald said.  “Quite understandable, your curiosity.  General Mira and Miss Kandergain sent me.”

Lucius felt a shock, “You're a psychic.”  That made sense.  They had some security precautions against psychic infiltration aboard ship and at other facilities planet-side.  Lucius had actually discouraged that kind of paranoia at his own apartments and offices. 
Probably a sign that I should rethink that,
he thought.  His eyes narrowed at a sudden thought, “Shaden said he couldn't spare anyone and Kandergain never mentioned you.  How can I know to trust you?”

“Well, to be honest, I don't work for General Mira and I answer, more or less, to Miss Kandergain,” Reginald said.  He gestured at Lucius's chair behind the desk.  “This will take some time to explain, perhaps we could continue this seated comfortably, rather than standing awkwardly?”

Lucius crossed cautiously to his chair and took a seat without taking his eyes off the psychic.  “So, you've talked with Kandergain?” Lucius asked.  His heart twisted a bit that she hadn't called him or made contact in any fashion.  She'd claimed, in her letter, that the Shadow Lords would see her continued presence as a threat... but Lucius wondered that she hadn't contacted him at all.

“I did, though it was a short conversation, I'm afraid,” Reginald said, his voice proper.  “We were both running for our lives... she'd just sprung me from Shadow Lord Sanctus's prison cells.”

“What?” Lucius demanded.

“It's a long story,” Reginald said with a little wave.  “But once we reached the spaceport, we split up and I came here.  She told me to watch over you, to make certain that the Shadow Lords or their emissaries don't get a chance to twist you and to guard you against their assassins.”

“Assassins?” Lucius asked.  “You don't think...”

“It's one of their tactics, to strike leaders that they know are too well protected or mentally fortified to be turned, my lord,” Reginald said.  “It is what they did to Emperor Romulus I of Nova Roma.  Also to much of the Amalgamated Worlds leadership leading up to its collapse.” Reginald frowned a bit, “Though, from what I understand, that was part of their plan all along, they particularly hated Amalgamated Worlds.”

“So are you another one of these old psychics, like Shaden and Kandergain?” Lucius asked, his eyes narrow.  He still didn't trust the other man, not without some outside source to vouch for him.

“Oh, heavens no, my lord,” Reginald said.  “I'm not nearly so powerful or dangerous as them, and quite a bit younger, I might add.” He sat up straight, his chin raised a bit in pride.  “I'm more of a facilitator or organizer... rather than a direct action type.  In truth, this is something of an assignment outside my normal skill set... but I'm all that's available at the moment.  The Shadow Lords are very active, their agents are pushing us all across human space... and no small number of my companions have fallen in recent weeks, I'm afraid.”  His tone was distant, yet his gray eyes held pain in plenty.  Lucius gave him a moment to regain his composure.

“So what can you do?” Lucius said as the moment passed.  In truth, the admission that the other man wasn't an expert made him more inclined to trust him.  It seemed to him that someone inclined to deceive him would claim to be exactly what Lucius needed.

“I'm a telepath, which means I can screen people admitted to your presence for threats,” Reginald said.  “It also means I can get messages to others, in case it looks like we really need some psychic muscle.”  He frowned.  “I can also protect you from the influence of other telepaths.”

Lucius waited.  Reginald sat back, an expectant look on his face.  Finally, after a long and awkward silence, Lucius asked, “That's all?”  It seemed very underwhelming compared to Kandergain's impressive list of abilities.

Reginald looked a little hurt, “My good man, I'm very good at what I do.  It is somewhat limited, I must admit, but I'm quite talented compared to the average psychic.  I realize you have limited experience with us, but psychics like Miss Kandergain and General Mira are not common, not by any margin.”

“I realize that,” Lucius said.  He took a deep breath, “I apologize, I didn't mean to insult you.”

“Right, well,” Reginald gave a nod.  “I think it best if I take up some position where I can be present, yet not have any significant role.  I can work best if I'm not distracted by the need for interaction.  But easy access to the people I'll need to screen and protect would be best.”

Lucius frowned.  “I'd assume you can't just...” he wiggled his fingers, “slip in wherever you need to be?”

“It's difficult to maintain that and do other things at the same time,” Reginald said in response.  His voice made it plain that Lucius had ruffled his feathers somewhat.

“I'll have to give it some thought,” Lucius said.  He sat back in his chair.  “I trust you have some way for me to contact you?” Reginald passed him a black hand-held comm unit.  “In the meantime, you can let yourself out.  I'd planned to use some free time to spend with my daughter.”

Lucius waited until the other man had left before he picked up his personal comm unit.  He waited a moment until the number he had dialed connected.  “Matthew, yes, glad I could reach you.  I'd like a moment with some of  your engineers, the ones on loan from General Mira.”

***

587E73 System

Unclaimed Space

August 4, 2403

The
Second Chance
emerged from Shadow Space in high orbit above a green-brown world wrapped in dingy gray clouds.  Lauren stared out the view-ports at the murky world.  “You still haven't explained what this has to do with some pirate I never heard of,” she said sullenly.

Mason gave her a smirk, “Not my fault you haven't properly educated yourself.”

Lauren leveled a flat stare at him, but she needn't have bothered, he seemed even more cheerful at her obvious signs of irritation. 
Sometimes I hate men,
she thought,
overgrown boys, especially when they have a secret...

“Fine then,” Lauren snapped, “What about our passengers?  The lot of them haven't so much as poked their heads out of their rooms.”  It was creepy, in a way, how they had all stuck to themselves.  They all had the same looks, too, tan skin, dark hair and eyes.

“Them?” Mason asked.  “Ah, that I can answer.  They're Druze, decent enough fellows, but they keep to themselves.  Their elder owes me a few favors, so he loaned some of his boys to come help out.”

“They haven't even eaten any of our stores,” Lauren said.

“They'll arrange for their own food.  Like I said, they keep to themselves,” Mason said.  He shrugged, “More importantly, they won't talk, not to anyone. 
Especially
not to any of Admiral Collae's men.  For that matter, they're good at what they do.”

“Which is what?” Lauren asked, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Mason didn't respond though, as he brought the light freighter in on a course towards the planet's surface.  Lauren frowned, because he seemed to guide it towards a specific spot, though she saw no signs of civilization or even a landing beacon.

Mason's target seemed to be a large island in one of the muddy, marshy seas.  As they drew closer, a flashing light lit up on her screen.  “Crap, Mason, something down there is targeting us.”

“About time,” Mason muttered.  “Alright, what day is it...”  He peered at his console for a long moment in thought.  He slowly began to type in a string of digits into the communication console.

Lauren looked up as shrill alarms began to blare from the sensor station, “They have us locked!”

Mason waved a dismissive hand at her and then hit send.  A moment later, the alarms died and Lauren searched for any sign of their attacker.  “What was that?”

“Automated defenses,” Mason said, his voice calm as the
Second Chance
settled into a hover as the island rose out of the mist.  Lauren stared without comprehension at the overgrown hills, covered in gray-green vegetation.  She pulled up the sensors and plugged away at them.  “Atmosphere is... well, bad.  Very thick, looks like almost five atmospheres pressure.  Not enough oxygen, though, and way too much carbon dioxide, methane, and even some ammonia.  No wonder there's no colony here, they'd have to be buttoned up most of the time.”

“Predators are pretty nasty too,” Mason said.  He tapped something on his console and an image appeared on one of Lauren's screens.  A large, birdlike creature flew past the
Second Chance
, the wingspan was over five meters.  The huge claws that jutted from it's legs told what its preference of food would be... as did the beak shaped like a can opener.  “But we don't need to worry about that for the moment.”

He tapped in some additional commands.  The image shifted to a rocky outcropping.  Lauren bit back a cry of surprise as the surface of it split.  A moment later, part of the hillside folded back, to send up a rush of other birds.  Mason smiled a bit as they settled into the hidden hangar.  “You didn't pick up anything on the sensors, thermal, visual, nothing?”

“No,” Lauren said.  She watched as the hidden hatch closed overhead.  A moment later, her sensors reported that the air in the hangar was being swapped out.  She turned in her seat.  “What is going on?”

Mason stayed silent as he went through the complete shut-down sequence.  When he finally spoke, his voice was low, measured and he clearly chose his words with care.  “This is a hidden base, one that Tommy King made use of,” he met her eyes.  “I haven't shown this one to anyone, not in a very long time.  And everyone else I showed this place   to is dead.”

Lauren swallowed, “Why show me?”

“Because I trust you,” Mason said.  He patted the controls for his ship.  “And because if something goes wrong with our mission, you can tell your Baron about this place and maybe someone can make some good use of it.”

Lauren frowned, she didn't know why the Baron would be interested in some hidden base out in the middle of nowhere on an almost uninhabitable world.  But she kept quiet, for now.

Mason led the way down and out of the
Second Chance.
  The hangar was huge, from the inside, clearly designed for ships much larger than the small freighter.  Mason led the way over towards a personnel hatch.  “This hangar can accommodate almost any ship up to the size of a destroyer.”

“This hangar?” Lauren asked.

He gave her a smirk as the hatch opened at their approach.  He stepped into what looked like an elevator.  There was a complex looking keypad as well as a hand print scanner and a retinal scanner.  All of it looked odd, the panels looked old and archaic.  Mason tapped in a code and then held his hand to the scanner and put his eye to the retinal scanner.  At the same time, he spoke, his voice a sharper, more brusque tone, “Tommy King, access nine seven five three five seven delta three nine.”

“Identified,” A soft voice spoke from overhead.  “Please identify additional personnel.”

“New recruit,” Mason said.  “Initial clearance.”

“New recruit, identify,” the soft voice said from the ceiling.

Lauren looked over at Mason.  He pointed at the scanners.  “Just say your name and recruit.”