The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) (51 page)

“It's been a while,” Harris said.

“Yeah,” Garret answered.  He thought about all the diatribes he had practiced on late nights on distant worlds.  Finally, he shrugged, “Sorry.”  It seemed inadequate, a sort of generic apology, not even for what he'd done and said, but simply for not being around.

Harris snorted, “You're a damned liar.  But I'll accept it anyway.”

***

Out on the back porch, the house seemed far less ostentatious.  His brother had a secluded area, screened by trees, for a patch of lawn and a barbeque pit.  The area looked a lot more rugged than the manicured front area.  While Abigail and Garth horsed around, Henry sat on a rock and read, and Garret, Harris and Jessica sat at a table.  Harris finally said, “It's been interesting times since you left.”  He pulled some beers out of a refrigerator tucked under the table and passed one each to Garret and Jessica.

“So I heard,” Garret said as he popped the top.  He grimaced a bit at the sour hoppy flavor.  His brother's taste in beer hadn't changed a bit.

Jessica laughed, “Clearly, Garret's been off-world, he's lost his taste for good beer.”

Garret smiled at that, “Never had a taste for this stuff, anyway, though both of you always did.  I just smiled and drank it because I didn't want to stand out.”  It seemed to him that, looking back, much of his younger life had been that way.

Harris shook his head, “No accounting for taste.”  He took a long pull of his own beer and sighed contentedly.  “Anyway, you've probably heard what happened with father after the business with Nova Corp went public.”  Garret just nodded.  “Well, Joseph Monaghan came out of it all as the only one who wasn't in someone's pocket... and I threw my support behind him.  He won the elections by a landslide and his party has had control of the government ever since.”

“Father couldn't have been happy about that,” Garret said cautiously.

“At that point, I really didn't care,” Harris said.  “He... well, let's just say he wasn't happy with me anyway.”  Garret didn't miss the look of affection on Jessica's face... or the way she squeezed his hand in support. 
They must have married against his wishes,
Garret realized.  Suddenly the estrangement seemed to take on a new light.  If his brother really loved Jessica and his father had put his foot down, Garret could understand entirely too well the reaction his brother would have had. 
Let's face it,
Garret thought sadly,
it was half the reason I ran off... because I couldn't stand to live here and not have her.

“Well, things have shaken out fairly well.  Joe Monaghan has managed to play Nova Corp and President Salazar off one another and get us a bit of freedom, particularly a few sources of income, both in tourism and then later with a small merchant fleet,” Harris said.  He looked off in the distance, “We were going for a long game plan, but then Salazar made some kind of deal with Nova Corp and suddenly they were in here with their goons, shutting down businesses and paying in their company scrip.  We saw the way it was going.  We had some options then and we called in some favors, got Admiral Mannetti and Admiral Collae both on our sides... but we knew we couldn't trust them.  So we hired you.”

“You hired the War Dogs,” Garret corrected with a slight smile.

“No...” Jessica said softly, “We hired you.”

Garret froze, beer halfway to his mouth.  “Wait... I could imagine that you knew I was in the War Dogs, but you couldn't have hired them just because I was there.”

“Oh,” Harris waved a hand, “We knew they had a good reputation, even for guild mercs.  We knew that we'd be getting what we paid for... and that they'd be loyal enough to us.”  He glanced at Jessica who squeezed his hand again.  “But we were looking long term.  Yes, we wanted a loyal and capable element to support us.  But we also wanted someone with military experience... the experience to command our own forces.”

“What?” Garret asked, shocked.  He looked between the pair of them.  “You can't be serious.  I walked out of here... walked out on both of you, ten years ago.  Why would you even think I would be what you needed... that I would even be capable no less?”  His voice raised and he saw Abigail look up from where she and Garth played.

“I've tracked your record,” Harris said quietly, with a glance at his two boys.  “You may have turned your back on us... but that didn't mean you weren't family.  Hell, did you think I argued with you about leaving so much because I didn't agree with you?”  He shook his head, “We had to change things and we have a bit, but we have a lot more to do here, I'm well aware of that.”  He sighed, “But while you stayed away, we knew you hadn't given up on the values that made you leave.  You still care about people, still fight to make the universe a better place.  Hell, you signed up with the company with the highest ethical rating in Tannis's Mercenary Guild!”

Garret looked away.  He wanted to explain that it was business ethics, that he still killed people for money... yet he didn't want to see disappointment in their eyes, either.  “So what exactly are you saying?”

“We want you to step in as our overall force commander, probably in a few years as our secretary of defense, though that will be a toss up between whether we need you to command in battle or prepare and train our forces.”

Garret shook his head.  In some ways, the plan reminded him of his father's machinations... in others, it sounded far too optimistic, without the decades of jaded political favor trading and ambition.  “I... I can't just quit, you know, even assuming I wanted to do so.  I'm signed up for the duration of this contract, at least, and another couple extra years, besides.”

“We understand that, Garret,” Jessica said.  “But we also know that your commander could cut you loose, if you asked.  And this kind of offer is not one that comes every day.  Dammit, Garret, we
need
you.”

Her words echoed their final conversation, a decade ago, and a wash of pain went through him as he remembered her tear-filled eyes as he had turned away.  He nodded slowly, “I can see that.  Still, it's not a decision I can make lightly.”  Under the War Dogs, he could rise high, perhaps even taking over an independent command as the company continued to expand. 
I could retire,
he thought,
no responsibilities, no worries, and all by myself... no friends, no family, and utterly alone. 
Garret would never have considered himself the kids in the backyard and barbeque type, but just now, seeing Jessica and his brother... it gave him pause.

“We don't want you to rush into it,” Jessica said softly.  “This isn't a small decision.  For that matter, we'd like you to get more combat experience.  We're going to place one of the privateer squadrons under your command.”

Garret remembered his ulterior motive for coming.  “What is it you
aren't
telling me?”  He looked between them and saw masks settle over both their faces.  “You've got something over Admiral Mannetti and Admiral Collae.  Collae
might
back something like this from the standpoint of building an ally up, but Mannetti is a pirate.  She's not into charity or goodwill, she's got a bottom line.”

Harris pursed his lips and shot a glance at Jessica that Garret couldn't read.  Neither answered him for a long moment.  The sound of Garth and Abigail laughing seemed incongruous with the serious expressions Harris and Jessica.

“Look, at least tell me that it's secure,” Garret asked.  “It's got to be something physical or some kind of information she needs.  Please tell me you have someone competent in charge of protecting it.”  He almost laid out all his cards, asked them straight out about Brokenjaw Mountain, but he didn't want to push them too far.

“It is secure, more secure than you might believe,” Jessica said softly.  “And it will stay that way... even if we might wish otherwise.”  She looked, for a moment, as if she felt like she had said too much.

“The full answer,” Harris said, “will have to wait until we are absolutely certain we can trust you...”

Garret scowled, “You offer me command of your military forces but you don't trust me enough to tell me about whatever this is?  This feels all kinds of dangerous... and trust me, with people like Mannetti and Collae, there's no such thing as
too
secure.”  He sighed, “But I'll accept your answer and I'll think about your offer.”

“Good,” Harris said.

“One more thing, Garret,” Jessica said, her voice light.  Garret heard the solid steel under the silk glove though, “If you get my little sister killed, I swear to you, no matter where you run, no matter what you do, no matter
how
essential you are to our plans, I'll kill you myself.”

Garret's gaze went over to where the cheerful young woman played with his nephew.  She glanced over her shoulder, as if she sensed his gaze and gave him a merry smile and wave.  Garret sighed, “I promise you, Jessica, that I'll do everything I can to keep her alive.  That said, she's a big girl, she makes her own decisions.”

“Well,” Harris said into the icy silence that followed.  “Garret, have you caught yourself up on the lacrosse teams, yet?  New Texas still insists they have the best team...”

***

Faraday

United Colonies

October 19, 2403

Lucius stood as the Emperor of Nova Roma stepped into the conference room.  “Thank you for coming to this meeting, your Highness,” Lucius said politely.  He gave a nod to Admiral Mund and even managed a civil nod at Admiral Balventia.

“Of course,” Emperor Romulus IV said.  “Though I must admit I wanted to speak to you on another subject.”

“We wish to begin rear area raids against the Chxor, immediately,” Admiral Balventia said brusquely.  “We feel the Dreyfus Fleet is too slow to keep pressure on the Chxor, we need to push at their stress lines and multiply their issues.  Destruction of their supply convoys would make their defense tenuous.”

Lucius winced, “I applaud the idea.  However, some information we have just learned has suggested that would cause us all rather more issues than you might realize.”

Admiral Balventia grimaced, “I realize that you wish to maintain security of this system, however, even a light force could secure the perimeter and prevent anyone from ascertaining that our forces have withdrawn for long enough that you could return some of your own forces to secure the system.”

Lucius looked over at Kate Bueller and Reginald.  Kate spoke up, “There is an issue with that.  It has to do with our newest visitor.”

At the looks of confusion from the Emperor and his two advisers, Lucius said, “Shadow Lord Invictus gave us a bit more information for the puzzle.  Apparently there are currently five Shadow Lord fleets in shadow space, just outside the system.  They're all prepared to attack, to gut the support structure of the Dreyfus Fleet and eliminate the threat that we pose to them.  The only thing holding them back, apparently, is the agreement that your great-grandfather made with them.  That makes your fleet inviolate to three of them... and would force them to not only avoid attacking but to attack Shadow Lords Gargant and Sanctus if
they
attack.”

“What?” The Emperor demanded, “But that's absurd.  Why would they find themselves bound to that at this point?  We can't possibly uphold our end.”

“Not at this moment, but your family has upheld their end for the past eighty years,” Reginald said.  “And the Shadow Lords are bound by their own sense of honor.  If they violate that, their own followers would turn on them.”

“Could Invictus be lying, trying to deceive us?” Emperor Romulus IV asked uncertainly.  The tone of his voice suggested he
really
didn't want to be stuck in the system.  Lucius couldn't blame him.  The man had driven his crews hard to bring them up to a fighting standard.  In Lucius's opinion, they could use a few months of additional training and workup, but he also understood their desire to get back into the action.

“He's almost certainly trying to manipulate us,” Lucius said confidently.  “From what I understand, that's his method of operation.  However, since we were his invited guests, he was required by his own code to speak to us honestly.  He couldn't lie about the five fleets or the agreement... he
wanted
us to know about what is protecting us, so that we could use it against his true enemies: the other Shadow Lords.”

“That seems rather petty,” Emperor Romulus IV said.  “He's maintaining this standoff to hurt the others, but your survival can't work in his favor.”

“Spiteful is something that all the Shadow Lords are by definition, your Highness,” Reginald said with a nod of emphasis.  “Invictus might be doing this from just the amusement of his fellow's frustration... or he might be doing it to keep them distracted.  He told us five fleets were out there... but he didn't say how
much
of his fleet was present.  It could very easily be that Invictus told us this because we continue to distract the others while his forces are free to operate unopposed by them elsewhere.”

“That's... devious,” Emperor Romulus IV said softly.  He looked at Admiral Mund, “But that essentially keeps our forces pinned here.”

“It would,” Admiral Mund said.  “Our initial deployment plans were to send out large raids to hit some of the Chxor convoys and infrastructure.  Assuming that the Shadow Lords view our main fleet as the preventative measure... well, then we
can't
pull enough forces out of that without making the raider units too small.”