The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) (40 page)

Lucius took a deep breath.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kate begin to smile wickedly.  She recognized his tone, he knew.  “I don't like being blackmailed.  I don't like people who claim to be my
friends
trying to put me off balance.”  His gaze went back to the Ambassador, who he refused to think of as his father, especially not until he had some form of proof.  “Now, then.  State your business here.”

Marius Giovanni's amusement vanished, replaced by an icy expression that mirrored Lucius's own.  “Very well, Lucius.  As I said, I understand that this may have come as a shock, so I'll not take offense at your attitude.  I did bring this upon myself, in a way.”  He took a deep breath, “As I stated, Volaterra and Lavinium have both held out against the Chxor advance.  When I heard that Nova Roma had fallen, I marshaled what forces I had to come to their aid.  As a result, both systems have sworn themselves over to my service.  I am firmly allied to the Centauri Confederation and have been President Spiridon's personal guest for the past four decades of my exile.  I count him as a close, personal friend and confidant.  When I heard of your survival, I made my case to him, and he in turn, began to work towards offering you a similar arrangement to what I have obtained for Volaterra and Lavinium, as well as any other Nova Roma worlds and systems I liberate.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Kate asked.  “Satrapy under President-For-Life Spiridon's burgeoning empire?”  Lucius heard Envoy Xinghan choke at her words, but something like amusement flashed over Marius's face.

“No,” he answered.  “Despite what you may have heard, President Spiridon isn't quite the heartless, power-hungry monster that his enemies have made him out to be.”  He shook his head, “Yes, we would be subjects under his new nation, what we have discussed is actually an arrangement similar to what the United Colonies already has in place, whereby planets retain local autonomy but are subject to an overall higher nation.”

“Except they wouldn't have any say in this nation, would they?” Kate demanded.

Marius threw up his hands, “Look, this is the survival of our species we are splitting hairs over.  Are things within the Centauri Confederation ideal just now?  No.  But President Spiridon takes only the actions he must to keep things together.  For that matter, under this proposed alliance, you would retain control over the Dreyfus Fleet... which I assume would go a long way in showing not only his true intentions, but also in preventing any type of military takeover from the supposed evil Machiavellian forces at work behind the scenes.”  His tone of sarcasm was sharp enough that it could have drawn blood.

“So,” Lucius said, his voice calm.  “The carrot is to retain what we already have... At the same time, the Centauri Confederation gains access to a powerful fleet and the moral high ground gained in being the defenders of humanity.  I assume this would probably settle a great deal of their political unrest.  What's in it for us?”

“Seriously?” Marius asked.  “Such cold calculation I did not expect from you.  Look, your nation gains access to our technology, to our manpower.  Imagine the fleets we could marshal against the Chxor and Balor with a unified Centauri Confederation...”

“Which would require we crush any opposition before we get that kind of backing,” Lucius interrupted.  “Which would almost certainly mean a break in our current offensive.  That gives the Chxor time to rebuild and refit as well as fortify their current holdings.”

“Look, we can discuss the strategic and tactical benefits at a later date,” Marius said, his own voice calm.  “I have the complete offer,” he held up a data chip, “for you and your senior government officials to look over.  You can take the time to think it all through and we can discuss alterations if necessary.  And before you even ask, I'll make myself available for any type of biological investigation, to include full genetic scans to prove my identity, as well.”

Lucius nodded at that, despite his own reservations.  This was a big offer and it deserved consideration rather than being dismissed out of hand.  Yet his instincts told him not to trust any of it.  He just wished he could trust his instincts as not being emotionally compromised.

“Once that is done, however,” Marius Giovanni said softly, “I would like the opportunity to get to know both you and Alanis... and to get to know my granddaughter.”

Lucius felt his throat close up.  He managed a sharp nod.  Kate, thankfully, spoke up, “We'll accept the time to look the offer over.  Now, if you gentlemen would excuse us, I think that we all have a lot of work to do.”

***

“So...” Lucius said, once all his people had assembled, “how much of what they've said is true?”

He'd called the meeting in the new government building in one of their secure rooms.  That meant they could pipe in a feed from Admiral Dreyfus as well.  Lucius couldn't tell whether it was paranoia or caution that had caused him to ask Admiral Dreyfus to keep the information from most of his staff until they knew more.  Lucius had introduced the new faces, to include Reginald, who he had said was there to provide additional security in regards to psychics.

“Well, what they said about Volaterra and Lavinium matches what we already suspected, to an extent,” Admiral Dreyfus said.  “Though it seems highly suspicious that they gave him their allegiance upon his arrival.”

“Even more so with who their commanders were,” Lucius said softly.  Duke Balventia was the governor of Volaterra.  Admiral Tiburus was the commander of the Nova Roma garrison from the records they had.  Neither of them were even remotely likely to have supported Marius Giovanni... quite the opposite in fact.

“There's the possibility that they were in desperate enough straits that they would have accepted help from anyone,” Kate said.  “As much as I hate to admit it, that's basically where Faraday was before your arrival... we just didn't realize it.”

“Yes,” Max Nguyen said softly.  “But what if he made certain that no one would oppose his triumphant arrival?  If he had access to Centauri Confederation assets, then he would have access to some of their special units, like the Centauri Commandos.  They have a lot of expertise in assassination and kidnapping.”

“Yes,” Lucius said.  “They do.”  Those kind of tactics seemed abhorrent to him: killing the leadership of a planet or system to ensure the population would welcome their new
savior.  He knew it was a common tactic in the Centauri Confederation, though.

“So, it is at least possible that they have Volaterra and Lavinium, what are the effects of that on the Centauri Confederation's internal politics?” President Cassin asked.

“Hard to say,” Kate answered.  “Much of their populace are jaded when it comes to their news outlets.  Still, once there's confirmation, it will be seen as a huge blow to President Spiridon's opponents.  Someone signing on with him voluntarily will be a sign of legitimacy.  I'm betting they'll use this to try to turn some Colonial Republic worlds and systems, as well, particularly ones who want access to their technology.”

“It's worse than that,” Lucius said.  “Both systems are on the flanks of the Tau Ceti Separatists and their allies.  The overall military strength at Volaterra, in particular, will be a threat that will force them to increase their rear area forces.”

“Assuming they have the strength to take away from defending themselves, in any case,” Admiral Dreyfus said.  His gaze went off the screen for a moment as he thought, “Baron Giovanni... that brings me to the question I hesitate to ask...”

“Is he really my father?” Lucius said.  “I don't know.”  He looked over at Alicia Nix.  “Have your people had a chance to do the comparisons?”

She pulled out a file and slid it across the table.  “Yes, Baron, that's why I was a little late.”  She sighed, “I can tell you positively that he matches all records of your father that we can access.  Biometrics is a complete match.  Genetics, too.  He physically appears to be a man of his age and, short of a complete interrogation, which is off the table for obvious reasons, he seems to be who he says he is.”

“Which isn't to say that he
is,”
Lucius said with frustration.

“There are ways to modify a likely candidate's biometrics, I'm told it's very difficult, but possible,” Alicia said.  “But a genetic modification...”

“Is possible,” Lucius said.  He sighed, “It's experimental technology, but Nova Roma has dealt with a few such cases, most often with the subjects having been traced back to the Centauri Confederation.”

“Oh,” Alicia said.  He could see a sudden dark suspicion behind her eyes, “My people had not heard of that, but we'll begin to look into it.”

“There was a professional thief, by the name of Crowe, who has a certain level of infamy,” Lucius said.  “He made use of stolen nanotech, presumably from the Centauri Confederation, to mimic the appearance of people with access to his targets.  That's one place to start.”

Alicia nodded, but before she could speak, the doors to the conference room flew open.  “I demand that the traitor Marius Giovanni be remanded to my custody!” Emperor Romulus IV shouted.

Lucius looked over at the two Marines who stood uncomfortably behind him. He shook his head at them and they parted to let Admiral Mund and Admiral Balventia follow the Nova Roman Emperor.  “Good...” Lucius glanced at the clock and winced at the hour, “...morning, your Highness.”

“If you protect him, regardless of any ties by blood, that makes you a traitor and would...”

“I can't turn him over,” Lucius said calmly.  “For that matter, you can't take him, not without setting us all up with a huge diplomatic incident.”

“What do you mean?” Emperor Romulus demanded.

“He's the Centauri Ambassador,” Admiral Mund said softly.  “Which means we can't touch him.”  It was one of the first things that Lucius had realized, with such an appointment, the man was untouchable, short of a defacto declaration of war against the Centauri Confederation. 
Hell,
Lucius thought,
even the Tau Ceti Separatists would probably take that as a declaration of war, ambassadors are supposed to be inviolate.

A look of shock went over the young Emperor's face as he made the connection, “But he said outright that he usurped control of Nova Roma worlds, I cannot let that go unpunished!”

Lucius made mental note that someone among his guests had leaked the news to the Emperor.  The news should not have made its way back from the Centauri Confederation, not yet.  “We still don't know what is going on at Volaterra and Lavinium,” Lucius said.  “For all we know, he's lying.” Though Lucius doubted that the Centauri Confederation would bother to lie about something so easily disproved.

“For that matter, your Highness,” Admiral Mund said, “Both Volaterra and Lavinium have not responded to any of our communications.  We cannot assume that they remained loyal.”

“My father would never–” Admiral Balventia began.

“Your father may well be dead,” Admiral Mund said. “And if so, you are not the only one to lose family in this.”  He looked to the Emperor.  “Regardless of what occurred in those systems, we have to face the facts.  Marius Giovanni is untouchable.  We also have to remember that our allies, the United Colonies, are the strong partner in our arrangement.  We cannot alienate them, your Highness.”

The young Emperor looked away.  Correcting him in front of them all was tantamount to a slap in the face.  Still, he took it remarkably well, Lucius saw.  Emperor Romulus IV straightened, “Very well.”  He met Lucius's gaze, “My apologies, Baron.  I must say that my emotions go the better of me.  It was just such a shock.”

“To me, as well, your Highness,” Lucius responded.  He saw surprise on the faces of the three Nova Romans and gave a humorless smile.  “The first I knew of the supposed resurrection of my father was when Envoy Xinghan introduced him.”

“Indeed?” Emperor Romulus sounded shocked.  “Then they must have done that for some reason...”

“Which is what we are gathered here to discuss,” Alicia Nix said, somewhat acerbically.  She clearly disapproved of the presence of a foreign nation's leadership involved in their discussion... and the way they had barged in.

“My apologies, again,” Emperor Romulus said.  He shot a glance at Admiral Balventia.  “I was led to believe that you were informed of his arrival and that this meeting must therefore be a discussion of how to go about announcing the acceptance of their terms.”

“Quite the contrary,” Kate said.  “We're trying to figure out just what is going on and how to best counter it.”  She shook her head and pointed at Lucius, “Regardless of what supposed blood ties their Ambassador has to our dear Baron, we aren't about to throw our lot in with the likes of President Spiridon on his say-so.  For that matter, something like that would have to make its way through Parliament and I don't see President Cassin signing off on that.”

The Emperor flushed in embarrassment, “Well...”

One of the communications officers stepped up to the door, “Pardon me gentlemen, but there's a message from the Shadow Lord emissary.”

Lucius frowned.  In all the excitement, he had entirely forgotten about the mysterious ship and the man aboard who claimed to come from Shadow Lord Imperious.  He glanced over at Reginald, who gave a shrug.  Lucius nodded, “Well, since we're all here anyway, patch him through.”

“Yes, sir.”  He spoke into his com link and a moment later a screen in the room came to life.  The man on the screen had short, dark hair and dark eyes.  His face looked familiar and after the night's earlier events, Lucius felt his heart sink.  Only his face from the neck up was in view.