The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) (45 page)

“Captain Stavros, we meet under such interesting circumstances,” Admiral Mannetti said.  “I hadn't even known you were headed here until your little display with Captain Archambault and now we cross paths again with Commodore Pierce.  You do have a way with people, don't you?”  She sounded both sincere and amused, Lauren noted, which was interesting because Kandergain assured them that her spies had reported their goal to her people before they left.

Mason gave her a nod, though he had a touch of worry on his face, “I'm afraid that the Commodore and I are well acquainted.  I suppose there might be some hard feelings, these things happen, you know.”

“Oh, I completely understand,” Admiral Mannetti said.  “The Commodore has this moral inflexibility to him, especially regarding his employers.” She said the last in a hard tone.  Clearly the Commodore was something of an annoyance.  “He also has a tendency to survive when the odds are against it, him and his 'War Dogs' both.”

“War Dogs?” Lauren asked.

The Admiral gave her a sharp look, as if surprised to be questioned by Mason's bodyguard.  Lauren bit her lip and looked over at Mason.  Mason dropped a hand on her shoulder, “The young lady is the orphaned daughter of an old companion of mine, a ward of sorts... though she does tend to speak out of turn at times.”  He squeezed her shoulder in warning.

“Ah, how quaint,” Admiral Mannetti said but her eyes appraised Lauren like a warship's lidar might scan a hull.  “Child, the War Dogs are a mercenary company, registered at Tannis and everything.  I think the Tannis mercenary guilds are a bit too drawn to the letter of the law myself, but the War Dogs are even worse, they can and have pursued contracts even to the point that it's cost them more than they earn from it.”  She made a moue of distaste, “Though even then they often find other ways to profit from their efforts.  They're well known for their loyalty to their employers... almost fanatically so.”  The tone of bitterness in her voice told Lauren just how annoying she found that.

“Thank you, Admiral,” Lauren said politely.  “Sorry that I spoke out of turn.”

“Of course, darling,” the Admiral said.  She rested a hand on Mason's shoulder, “And you have a fine patron, I think.  I must say that I'm impressed with you, so far, Stavros.  You're more than your reputation and that's a good thing in our business.  Continue to impress me and I might well find a place for you in my own fleet.”

Mason gave her a smile, “Admiral, I appreciate the kind words.” His voice rose just enough to be heard by anyone trying to overhear, “I am, of course, loyal to the fine people of Halcyon, they're my employers after all.”  The sarcastic smirk he gave the Admiral suggested that was a lie.  Lauren wondered if Mason were laying it on a little too heavily.  Then again, Stavros wasn't known for his subtlety.

“Of course,” Admiral Mannetti said with a matching smirk.  She also leaned forward a bit to show off her assets and Lauren grit her teeth at the flirtation.  Not that she was jealous, of course.  She was just irritated that the woman could be at once so degrading to women in general and so obsessed with her own personal power.  “Well, keep up the good work, Stavros, and here's to hoping they appreciate your value here on Halcyon.”

She let Mason kiss her hand and gave Lauren a nod and then sauntered away.

***

Garret winced as Jessica slammed the office door shut after they both stepped inside.  “Just what the hell are you thinking?!” she demanded.  As Garret stared at her he couldn't help an absent thought about her beauty.  She had clearly aged under the strain of the past decade, but her cool gray eyes and fine featured face showed experience rather than wear.  She wore her blonde hair in a severe fashion, pulled back and taut, rather than loose and long like she used to.

The Commodore met her angry gaze with one of his own, “I'm thinking that our original contract said nothing about working with wanted pirates and scum like Stavros Heraklion.”

She looked away first, “He does have a somewhat checkered past...”

“He's a known liar, thief, and murderer,” Commodore Pierce said.  “And he's not nearly as bad as Admiral Mannetti.  At least Stavros would betray you for profit, Lucretta Mannetti would do it because that's just her nature.”

Jessica scowled, “I know, but that's not the current issue.  The current issue is that you are
not
holding up your end of the contract if you're physically assaulting our privateers in my offices... nor are you doing so if you are refusing missions due to unspecified damages.”  From the way she weighted her words, she clearly put more importance on the former rather than the latter. 
She wants to keep us close to home
, Garret realized,
but she doesn't want anyone listening to know. 
That realization worried him, not just because she didn't trust the security of her own offices, but also because, even after a decade, he could still read her.  She glanced over and met his gaze, “As for you,
Commander
Penwaithe, are you seriously so strapped for personnel in your squadron that you recruited my little sister?  Is this some kind of game to you or do you really think you can come back here as the triumphant hero after how you left?”

Not one bit of faked anger in that,
he thought.  Before he could open his mouth to respond, the Commodore spoke up, “I recruited Abigail Gordon, because she applied and her test scores and interview matched our parameters.  Also, I assigned her to Azure Flight over
Captain
Penwaithe's protests.”

“Oh, she's not good enough for his squadron, is she?” Jessica growled.

“I don't want to get her killed,” Garret snapped, “Though with how things are looking, it's more likely that
you'll
be the one putting her in that position.  Especially with how close you and Harris are with Admiral Mannetti.”

Her face went pale, “Listen to me, you bastard.  You have no right–”

“Okay,” Commodore Pierce said levelly.  “I thought bringing Garret to this meeting might put things on better terms.  Clearly, I was wrong.  Can you two put aside your bitterness and let us discuss business?”

Jessica looked away and Garret let out an angry breath, “Sorry sir, I won't let my emotions get the better of me.”  He ignored how she rolled her eyes at his comment.

“My apologies, Commodore, regardless of my personal
distaste
for one of your officers, that does not carry over onto your entire command,” Jessica said in an icy tone that seemed to belie her words.  She cleared her throat.  “I'd called you here to discuss future missions with your forces.  I hope you understand when I say that I am uncertain where the
Warwagon
and your gunships fit into our overall offensive and defensive operations.”

“I understand,” the Commodore said.  “And in truth, you have a point.  The old ship is too slow to keep up with most of the raiders you've recruited and the same goes for our Hammers.  The War Dogs are designed for a brute force approach, either defensive or full offensive, not to skirmish or raid.”

“Yes,” Jessica said.  “As our military advisers have informed us.”  She sighed, “In truth, we can't afford to continue paying you if you can't perform the missions we need.”

“I'm not trying to pick a fight,” Garret said as preamble.  From the glare he received, he might as well not have bothered.  “But you need a strong defensive unit here.  Sooner or later Nova Corp or Presidente Salazar will get tired of the raids and try to take you out.  We can smash the backbone of any such attempt, something most of your privateers don't have the training or discipline to do.”

She scowled, but she nodded, “It's a conclusion we've come to ourselves.  That doesn't change the fact that we have a cash flow issue.”

Garret managed to keep from mentioning that was a problem they had created by bringing on so many privateers all at once.  From the look on her face, she could hear his unspoken criticism anyway. 
I guess she can read me just as well as I can her,
Garret thought,
or maybe I'm more like my brother than I realized
.

“Perhaps we can settle that,” Commodore Pierce said.  He lowered his tone, “Look, to be honest Counselor, it looks like you may need the protection and we don't like to screw over our employers or to leave them in the lurch, not when they're good people.”

She cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at him, but she nodded for him to continue.

“We just brought up Azure to a full flight, which Captain Penwaithe commands.  Our transport ships for those are perfectly capable of keeping up with most of these raiders and his Hammers can detach for battle as necessary.”  He shrugged, “The
Warwagon
took more damage than I'd like to admit in that last fight.  We'll be repairing her for a few more months, at least.  Let us keep our repair contract with you, keep us supplied, and we'll be your backstop here while we undergo upgrades and repairs.  You only pay for the Hammers and those will be out of your raid income rather than your war chest.”

Jessica frowned, “Will that repair contract include your damage and upgrades?”

Garret looked at the Commodore, who seemed very relaxed for the fact that he was going to be paying the
Warwagon
's crew's income out of his pocket.  “No, it doesn't.  We've already ordered most of those parts, anyway and it's good training for my people to do the work.”  Garret bit his lip nervously.  That was a huge expense that the Commodore had just added to their operating budget.  Like most mercenary companies, their budget was normally trimmed to the bone.  He couldn't guess how the Commodore planned to pay for it all, especially with the recent expenditures of the expansion.

“That's more than fair, actually,” Jessica said.  “I suppose you would want salvage rights over anything you stop in orbit?”

“Of course,” Commander Pierce said.

“Very well,” she nodded.  “I think that does settle the cost of keeping you on.”  She shook her head, “But that doesn't change how we're going to be operating.  Right now, Admiral Mannetti is our primary lead on operations, understood?”

“Yes,” Commodore Pierce said.  “Of course.”  The edge to his voice, however, suggested that would only last as long as it had to.  Oddly enough, Jessica gave him a single nod at that. 
I really need to find out what the hell is going on here,
Garret thought.

“Well then, Counselor, I won't take any more of your time.  Thank you,” the Commodore said and led the way out into the offices.  Garret saw that the pirate Stavros was still seated, waiting, along with his female companion.  The pirate gave them both an dismissive wave as they left the offices.

“That went well,” Commodore Pierce said.

“Sorry that I reacted to her like that, sir,” Garret said quietly.

“Oh, that's fine, Garret,” Commodore Pierce said.  “Apparently it was a day for high emotions.”  He paused, though on the steps and checked his datapad.  “Ah, good news, she's already pushed the contract through.”  Garret nearly choked at that.  For that to be the case, she must have already had their terms drafted.  Garret suddenly wondered if his boss had asked him along purely as a sideshow to distract any eavesdroppers.

“Commander Penwaithe!” Jessica's voice came from behind them.

Garret turned, surprised to see her only a few meters away.  “Yes?”

She sighed, “Your brother mentioned that he would like to see you.  If you can manage to be civil, you could come by our house this weekend.  You could meet your nephews, maybe pretend you give a damn about someone besides yourself.”  The dispassion in her voice cut him in a way her previous anger hadn't.

Garret managed a slight nod, “Of course.  I'll try to make it.”

“I'll send you the address, thanks.  If nothing else, your nephews would like to meet their uncle,” Jessica said and turned away.

Garret met the Commodore's gaze.  There was something there, like an echo of Garret's pain in the other man.  “Well,” he clapped a hand on Garret's shoulder.  “Perhaps we should get off this planet before we run into anyone else from our pasts, eh?”

***

Halcyon Colony, Garris Major System

Contested

October 7, 2403

Mason stepped onto the bridge of the
Kraken
in full raging Stavros mode, “Out, damn you worthless bags of excrement!  Out, off my bridge!” He shouted.  “That damned fool Pierce wants to insult me in front of Admiral Mannetti just show that he's a man, does he!  I'll give him a piece of my mind.  Out, all of  you!”  He waved his hand at the bridge crew, most of whom scurried out.  Lauren, who stood beside him, clearly intimidated them as much with her silence as Stavros's angry bluster.  The memory of what had happened to the Roirdan boy hung in the air.

“What's going on?” Lauren asked as the last of the crew hurried out.

Kandergain appeared from one of the side hatches, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.  “Something up?” She asked.  Mason quirked an eyebrow at Kandergain.  The psychic closed her eyes for a moment and then gave him a nod.  That meant they were free of any kind of bugs for the time being.

“You see the old dreadnought in parking orbit over Halcyon?” Mason asked.