The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) (14 page)

United Colonies

August 7, 2403

Alicia Nix, the new head of the United Colonies Federal Investigation Bureau, stepped into the antiseptic interrogation room and took a seat across the table from the man who waited there.  He was a tall man, gaunt after working in the Chxor labor station from where they had rescued him, along with seven hundred and fifty thousand other prisoners.

Sorting those prisoners had fallen to the Federal Investigation Bureau.  Most of it was relatively simple, in part, due to the Chxor's excellent record-keeping.  They sorted out the common criminals from political or military prisoners.  From there, each of the groups were sorted out by skill set, background, and nationality.  The Nova Roma citizens most commonly were passed along to the other Nova Roma refugees.  Most of the others were helped to get a life started here on Faraday or offered tickets to Colonial Republic space.

Some handful, however, had hidden among the other slave workers under false papers.  Most of those, after processing, came forward to identify themselves.  They were commonly political or military prisoners who feared the Chxor would execute them.  Some, mostly criminals, had tried to remain hidden.  Alicia had not been entirely surprised when she learned about the lucrative black market enterprises going on under the bulbous noses of the Chxor overseers.  More than a few of the men and women who ran such illicit businesses had lived lives of relative luxury... until the breakout which had cost them most of their ill-gotten gains.  Needless to say, they had not been entirely welcoming of the rescue.

Thus far, between freed workers, extensive searching of criminal databases, and people coming forward, Alicia's people had managed to identify everyone... except this one man.  “Good morning,” Alicia said as she slid a cup of coffee across the table.  She personally couldn't stand the vile stuff, but most of the prisoners couldn't get enough of it.  “I'm Alicia Nix.”

“I don't care who you are.”  The man ignored the coffee, “As I've stated before, I am a Nova Roma citizen.  I insist I be released to the Nova Roma authorities.”

“That's nice,” Alicia said.  “But as you have yet to identify yourself, we are unable to verify that you even are a Nova Roma citizen, much less in the military as you claim.”  She kept her voice friendly, but she hoped that the man could tell just how irritated she was. 
Seriously,
she thought,
I don't have time for this... I've got two hundred thousand Chxor prisoners to sort through.
  From his looks, his accent, and his overall attitude, she didn't doubt he was, in fact, a Nova Roma citizen.  He was tall, had dark hair and eyes, and had the olive complexion common to the Nova Romans.  His broad lips held an arrogant smirk and his jaw jutted forward antagonistically.

“I am a senior officer of the Nova Roma military.  Any Nova Roma ship should be able to contact high command and send them my DNA scans.  They can confirm my identity.”  His broad lips gave a sardonic twist, “Unless, of course, your claims of working with Nova Roma are false.”

Alicia gave an exasperated sigh, “As my people have told you before, Nova Roma has fallen.  They have established a government in exile, but they have limited data from their evacuation.” 
Almost none,
Alicia thought,
seeing as they hijacked whatever damaged or not-fully-constructed ships they could find from the shipyards for their escape.
  The young Emperor Romulus IV had as much as admitted to having to rely upon captured Chxor files to identify some of the officers and enlisted she had already turned over to him.

“Whatever their status, they will have senior officers capable of identifying me by sight, I'm sure,” he said.  “And as I stated before, I will not be seen by lackeys.  I have information crucial to the war effort.  I
must
speak with senior officers as soon as possible.”  His voice was earnest, but Alicia didn't miss the jibe behind it.  He still thought the United Colonies was some kind of joke.

“You've said that to my people before,” Alicia said.  “And as they have explained, we only have your word on this.”

“My word, as an officer of your self-proclaimed
ally
should be enough...” the man sneered.  “We both know the power and authority that Nova Roma commands.  You may claim to be an ally, but you are likely little more than a client state.  Think of how your leadership will react when they realize that you have detained a senior officer of Nova Roma without charges during a time of war.”

“Look,” Alicia said.  “I'm as senior as it gets as far as this interview process will go.  I answer to the leader of the United Colonies, and Baron Giovanni doesn't have time to interview a troublesome former slave with delusions of grandeur.”  She stood up from her chair, finally frustrated beyond caring anymore if the man was who he said he was.

“Wait...” the man said.  His olive skin had gone pale.  “Baron Giovanni... you can't possibly mean Baron
Lucius
Giovanni?”  His voice held a level of shock and horror.

“Of course,” Alicia said sharply.

The man looked away.  “Then he has forsaken the Empire and set himself up as warlord.  This little farce is no doubt some part of his punishment for me.  I see it all now.”  His tone was one of resignation.

“No,” Alicia said.  “He is one of the senior officers of Nova Roma who survived its fall.  He is working with Emperor Romulus to oppose the Chxor.  And as far as some kind of punishment...” Alicia frowned, “If my people have no idea who you are, how do you think he would?”

“He knows,” the prisoner sneered.  “There's no way he couldn't know.”

Alicia rolled her eyes, “Why is that exactly?”

“Because,” the prisoner said, his voice empty of hope.  “I am the man who ruined his life... and I'm his sworn enemy.”

***

“He is Admiral Valens Balventia, he's the son of Duke Balventia... probably the Duke, himself, now,” Lucius said, his voice soft.  He saw that Alicia Nix looked puzzled and he gave her a grim smile.  “His family and mine have a... history.  His grandfather was the younger brother of Emperor Romulus II, which would mean he's a cousin to the Emperor... and to me, through my father being his grandfather's half brother.”

Alicia's face still showed confusion.  Lucius looked over at Kate Bueller who had accompanied the head of the FIB to the meeting.  She was here to learn about any foreign policy issues rather than any real suspicion of the importance of the prisoner, Lucius would guess.  Kate's blue eyes showed as little understanding as Alicia's brown eyes. 
That only makes sense,
Lucius thought,
no one here on Faraday had any interest in the lineage of the Nova Roma elite before now and I hardly encourage discussion of my own family.

Lucius sighed.  “Short version: he's my cousin, but his family has a long term grudge against my own... because my father was Emperor Romulus I's illegitimate son... his
firstborn
son.”  He saw some understanding begin to dawn in their eyes as he continued, “More to the point, my father rebelled against Emperor Romulus III, turned traitor and led his fleet in a coup attempt.”  Lucius sighed, “And to top it off, Valens and I were in the same class at the Nova Roma Military Academy... where, my junior year, he brought charges of cheating against me to get me expelled.”

He saw both of them blanch.  “Exactly.  We are hardly good friends.  More to the point, while I was expelled, he was promoted up the chain of command.  He probably has seniority over every other officer we've found from Nova Roma thus far... short of Admiral Mund, who has already retired twice and has made no bones about the fact that he wants to leave this fight to a younger, healthier man.”

Kate sat down slowly, “So you're saying he's their third most senior officer, right after the Emperor and Admiral Mund... and he's your sworn enemy?”  She looked over at Alicia, “I'm somewhat tempted to ask that he disappear in custody, if only to prevent the diplomatic incident.”

“Don't even suggest it,” Lucius said.  He shook his head, “As it is, we'll never convince him that this wasn't done on purpose.  For that matter, half the Nova Roma officers we've released will suspect it was intentional.  His family's grudge against me is something that has been talked at various levels.” 
They slowed my promotion,
Lucius remembered,
but they also threatened officers who worked with me and went after the careers of those who stood with me.
  He thought of Anthony Doko, who would have never risen above the rank of Commander due to his history aboard the
War Shrike
as Lucius's Executive Officer.  “And, as much as I hate to admit it, he's a capable and skilled officer.”  Lucius grimaced, “I can't say I like the man in the least, but his record doesn't lie.”

“So...” Alicia said, “What you're saying is that he'll be useful to the Nova Roman's, but he's going to poison our relationship with them?”

“Worse than that,” Lucius grunted, “But the sooner we inform the Emperor that we have him, the better.”  Lucius took a deep breath.  “And as little as I like it, there's probably one thing I can do to help ease the situation.”

“What's that?” Kate asked.

Lucius grimaced, “The one thing I
really
don't want to do... give him a personal apology and appeal to his hatred of the Chxor to put our rivalry in the past.”

“You think that will work?” Kate asked, a look of surprise on her face.

“Absolutely not,” Lucius said.  “But it's worth a try.”  He sighed, “If nothing else, it will assuage his pride enough that he'll at least pretend to be civil.”

Alicia nodded and straightened, “Thank you, Baron.  If that's all, then I'll get back to work.  Kral the Chxor has arranged for the first few thousand Chxor prisoners to head to the colony we've established on the ice moon.”

“Thanks, Alicia,” Lucius said.  He waited as she left and then quirked an eyebrow at Kate.  “So, what else did you want to discuss?”

“Well, I'll need some time to contemplate the repercussions of this little incident,” Kate said with a smile.  “But I also wanted to bring up that offer from the Shogun to see if you had time to think on it.”

Lucius cocked an eyebrow, “His emissary getting impatient?”

“No,” Kate said.  “He's actually quite comfortable discussing minor trade issues at the moment.  What I'm worried about is that we might miss a window of opportunity.”

Lucius sat back, “Oh?”  He thought about the recent raid and he wondered suddenly if the Shogun's emissary had known about it ahead of time.

“We know that the Colonial Republic is on the verge of collapse,” Kate said.  She leaned forward in her chair.  “An alliance with one of their most powerful factions would be a sign of strength.  As it is, most of the diplomats and emissaries we've received have suggested that they're shopping around already.  We know that the Centauri Confederation is basically a dying beast.  We could establish ourselves as a safe harbor for other worlds to flock to... or we could end up being a target for everyone, the prize being our technology, resources, and, especially, the Dreyfus Fleet.”

“You've a point,” Lucius said.  “Yet I'm not certain we can uphold construction on the scale of supporting our own war effort and still provide ships for export to even one ally, much less multiples.”  The shipyard under construction was designed for their own use.  Granted, no one had thought, until now, that they would need to build more.  That would require more shipyards, more infrastructure, and most importantly, more time.

“I understand,” Kate said.  “But even if we refit captured Chxor ships or Republic Liberation Fleet ships, the Shogun might still feel it's a good deal.  For that matter, Faraday has long produced smaller ships on the ground.  Most of those facilities are intact.  We could upgrade those easily enough to build up to frigate size... or so Matthew Nogita told me.”

Lucius smiled, “Doing some research, huh?”  He nodded slowly, “That's not a bad option, actually.  Alright.  I'll meet with this envoy of the Shogun, but I'd like to go into that meeting well prepared.  Give me a week to get some better estimates of what we can supply at what options.”  His smile grew broad, “Oh and you get to wade through diplomatic legalese to see what we can actually agree to as some kind of alliance, both if they remain members of the Colonial Republic and if they break away.”

Kate gave him a nod and Lucius let out a sigh, “I didn't want this job, you know.”  He looked out the window at the night sky and his eyes sought out the brighter specks of light, the hulls of ships in orbit.  “I never wanted to worry about alliances and diplomacy and all the rest.  I just wanted to command a ship in battle.”

He looked back at her chuckle.  The smile on her face and the blue twinkle in her eyes spoke just as well as her words about her feelings on the subject, “Well, keep doing the job you're doing, Baron, and I think we'll get through this just fine.”

Lucius grimaced, “I want to take this fight to the enemy.  Preparations are underway, but all the rest of this feels like a side show.”  He saw a look of hurt go across her face and he waved a had.  “I'm sorry.  I know this is important... but the Chxor are killing millions of people.  The current rumors say the Balor have halted their advance, but that doesn't tell us what is happening in the systems they've conquered... which if General Mira is to be believed, is too horrid to describe.”