“Odysseus is still attempting to repair the damage it took from the missile barrage. It did manage to shield the civilians, but Captain Hernandez reports it may be some time before they are capable of maximum speed.” Commander Mesic paused slightly. Then he sighed. “Among the civilians, at least six ships will need to be scuttled. They took too much damage to hold together through another resonance cascade.”
Susan forced herself to remain calm. “And their casualties?”
“Between the missile barrage and the enemy rigs and cruisers…” Mesic trailed off for a moment. Then he shook his head. “There are at least four thousand civilians missing and dead. The mercenaries managed to save some, but far too many were not able to be evacuated before their ships died. There were also many ships that were hit during the battle, and their hulls were simply not up to the punishment.”
She forced herself to nod slowly, though she continued to feel the burn of her anger. Every Directorate officer knew, intellectually, that civilian casualties were often inescapable. Years of convoy duty had taught the officers of the Known World to not bear any personal grudge against such casualties. They were simply a fact of life in a time of war and piracy.
Yet she had no apparent ability to wall herself off this time. She knew these people. They were Gabriel’s people. They were her people now, and these barbarians had killed them. All for nothing.
Susan drew in a slow, even breath, and let it out slowly. She closed her eyes for a moment, running through the calming exercises that had helped her so often early in her Directorate career. The anger dissipated slowly, giving her the chance to focus. When she opened her eyes and spoke, her voice remained controlled and professional. “Have there been any more contacts with the enemy fleet?”
“No, sir. After their retreat, there have been no further signs of them.” He paused. “Perhaps the casualties drove them off?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t believe so.” She glanced at the screen that showed the fleet. “They came after us for a reason, and we still haven’t seen the bulk of their forces. I don’t think they will leave us until one or the other of us is done.”
Mesic nodded slowly. He made as if to continue and then paused as if reconsidering his words. “Have we confirmed that they are Wild Colony ships, Admiral?”
Susan frowned slightly. “Not conclusively—but I believe it would be wise to assume that is the case.” Her eyes strayed to the far wall, in the direction where the OMNI was located. She still hadn’t reactivated the system. Part of her was afraid of how it would react. The override had worked this time. What would she do if it didn’t work the next time?
The Concord’s captain followed her gaze. “Have we been able to determine the damage to the flagship, sir?”
“Not yet, but I will update you when I know more.” Susan shook her head and turned her gaze back to him. “Have the civilians from the ships that were hit been isolated?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve been keeping them quarantined aboard the Concord.” He paused. “May I ask why?”
She tapped a finger on the table, debating how much to reveal to him. “I suspect the enemy knew which ships to target because they have spies within the fleet. I don’t want those spies to escape into the rest of our ships.”
“I see.” Mesic seemed disturbed, though he quickly smoothed over his expression. “How would these spies have revealed our location? I haven’t been able to discover any transmissions that would have given us away.”
“We’ll know more eventually, Commander.” Susan sighed. “For now, we need to—”
The door opened, and Gabriel stepped into the briefing room. He locked eyes with her and then braced to attention. “Admiral, I have information you need to know.”
Despite her joy at seeing him alive again, Susan shook her head. “It can wait for another time, Captain. For now—”
“I’m sorry, Admiral, but I need to tell you now.” He glanced at Mesic. “In private.”
Susan watched him closely, running back through what he could possibly want to discuss. Was it something he had seen during his dogfight? Something he had held back from his debriefing? She glanced at Mesic, who read all he needed to from her expression. The commander rose and braced to attention.
“By your leave, Admiral.”
As Mesic left, Gabriel turned and sealed the hatch. Susan gave him a half-hearted smile. “Well, Captain, what do you have for me? Any good news?”
“I wish, Susan.” Gabriel met her eyes again, and the worry in them cut her breath short. “I really, really wish.”
Mr. Grey sat in his new sanctuary and brooded.
The plan had been perfect. Beyond perfection, really. With the beacons deployed to the civilian craft, he’d been able to lure the heretic commander and her Device into the precise position to leave them vulnerable. With the Sirens active, the Device should have been paralyzed and unable to respond. He had seen the instability in how the ships had moved, at first, even as his marked targets burned in the void.
Then things had shifted. The Device should have been entranced by the Sirens from the Contact; such strategies had worked before. It had been a key part in destroying the other two Devices, both of which had left behind rich bounties to be exploited in their wreckage.
This time, however, it appeared the Device had somehow been capable of resisting the draw. The heretics had redeployed their forces, and countered the ambush with assaults of their own. He'd been forced to watch, burning in anger, as the assets the Contact had entrusted to his plan were destroyed or driven off. The Archive had escaped any harm whatsoever, and the Device remained operational. Mr. Grey had not sensed its interference in some time—one of the Contact’s gifts had been the schematics for a machine that could detect the Device’s operations and intrusion into the subspace realm—but he was certain that it was simply waiting. If it had managed to shrug off the influence of the Sirens, then it would remain a dangerous threat.
There had been no signals from the Contact, a fact that Mr. Grey was more than satisfied with. He was certain that the Contact would be fairly unhappy with the way things had turned out. A dozen cruisers destroyed, along with almost as many escort craft. A large number of long-range munitions and rigs had been expended as well, with only a paltry handful of shattered civilian ships to show for it. If anything, a part of him worried that the Contact’s next move would be to destroy him and attempt to ascend one of the Resources to act as its new Agent among the heretics.
A larger part of him dismissed that fear. The Contact was not a fool; it would have seen the discrepancies that had led to the disaster as easily as he had. Such defeats were unavoidable, even for the greatest of Agents, and it would not lay the blame at his feet. Instead, it would require a new plan, one that could account for the Device’s newfound ability to ignore the song reaching for it through subspace. One that could guarantee victory, even with the diminished assets available.
Accordingly, he was already maneuvering his forces for the next step. Several of his Resources had been liquidated during the attack. He had needed them to watch over the beacons, to make sure they were not discovered or interrupted. Once the scale of the defeat was clear, he had instructed them to destroy the beacons, and themselves. A few secondary explosions were hardly notable, given the condition of most of the targeted ships, and it made sure that no one among the heretics would be able to discover his involvement.
Those of his Resources that remained were already spreading to other ships in the heretic fleet. His new plan would need a far more thorough infiltration to occur; he could no longer count on simply incapacitating the Device, not when attempting to do so had led to such a disaster. Fortunately, he had managed to induct a shuttle crew into his growing fold. The passengers onboard the small ship would find themselves joining his Resources in short order. His influence would therefore spread to all of the fleet, rather than just the few vessels he had reached before.
Mr. Grey brought up an image of the fleet, examining the vessels intently. Many were still trailing debris or leaking atmosphere; their fragile hulls had fared poorly during the heat of battle. The heretics would not be able to flee the system yet, even if they wished to. Their futile compassion would bind them to those crippled vessels, keeping them from escaping. The Contact could likely follow, of course, but another cascade might at least have bought them time.
As it was, the delay would give him more than enough of a chance to complete the task he had been given. Unfortunately, none of his Resources had infiltrated the military craft of the heretic fleet, but he would accomplish such a task given enough time. With adequate preparation, perhaps he could even slip someone aboard the Concord as well. While it would be preferable to destroy the heretic flagship completely, the Device itself could be handled in multiple ways. A simple bomb, a major malfunction—there were myriad ways he could dispose of the thing, all the better to enable the primary goal of his mission.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His eyes went back to the Archive, fixing on the smaller ship. If the Device was destroyed, would it flee? Preliminary reports indicated it had a resonance drive of its own, though it was not confirmed. If it escaped, it was still possible that it would evade the Contact completely. While it would surely be captured on its return to the Known Worlds, he would not receive the credit for the work he had performed.
A part of him wanted to commit to eliminating the Device anyway. It would be for the glory of the Cause. In truth, it should not have mattered which of the Agents struck the final blow to take back the Archive. Once it was taken, the bounty of its knowledge would be distributed to all of the Chosen.
Yet it did matter. Mr. Grey shook his head slowly. He would not allow the Archive to escape his grasp. It would be his hand that secured it, and his ascendance that the capture guaranteed. The fact that he must do so with such diminished options would only add to his future glory. Only a fool would have surrendered that chance simply to accomplish a lesser goal, and miss out on the rewards that would come from only a little more risk.
He dismissed the plans to sabotage the Concord, and turned his thoughts to other possibilities. If needed, he could put those options into play later. Nothing would truly be lost, not if he worked quickly enough. The Archive remained in the air before him, hovering with tantalizing beauty among the dross of the heretic fleet. Mr. Grey reached out a hand, as if he could run a finger along its slender, elaborately worked hull. “Soon,” he whispered. “Soon.”
Gabe sat across from Susan and waited for her response.
The pause seemed absolutely interminable. It had seemed to take forever for him to describe what he had learned onboard the Compass. He was determined to not leave anything out, however, not after he had badgered the Keeper into giving him permission to tell Susan. She had to know what they were protecting and what they might be up against. Especially now, before she decided to turn the thing on again.
When she spoke, Susan’s voice seemed to carry a very heavy weight, despite the fact that her professional expression gave away as little as it always did. “So. You’re telling me that OMNI is possibly a real threat to the fleet.”
“Yes.” Gabe looked away slightly. “I know it has helped us in the past, but—”
“I understand.” Susan met his eyes. “Really, I do. The system was crucial to our defense against the Directorate, but against this new enemy…”
She paused and shook her head. “We cannot trust it. I think it was close to losing control during that last fight. If I had tried to shift our ships the way we needed to, it might not have carried my orders. It might have even seized control of our ships directly.”
“He might have.” Gabe gave her a grim smile. “You need to remember. Arland is not just an avatar. It’s him, probably. He might be half-crazy from isolation or corruption, but the man is in the machine. Maybe that means we can reason with him.”
“Possibly.” Susan tapped one finger on the tabletop. “At the same time, I suspect that you aren’t going to recommend we try.”
Gabe hesitated. “You’re right. There are so many stories from the Burning Times… An AI, even one modeled after Arland Schreiber, is a terrible thing to have to worry about. It wouldn’t take much for it to turn on us, if it has gone that far.” He tilted his head to one side. “As it is, I’m surprised your override worked.”
She nodded. “I know. Chief Kowalski was fairly confident in it, but I think the fact that the system was distracted might have helped.”
“Can he find whatever part of it has Schreiber’s…personality and remove it?” Gabe didn’t like the taste that question left in his mouth. It seemed entirely too much like trying to kill someone while they were asleep.
Susan shrugged. “It will be hard to tell. Do you think that the Keeper would be willing to lend us his assistance?”
“I’d imagine he would, as long as the system is shut down.” Gabe looked at the table. He pictured the ambush that had nearly claimed the Compass, that had nearly destroyed the Concord. The one that had very nearly killed his father and Susan in the same moment. “Can we afford to? I know I was the one who brought this to you, but if it really is the Wild Colonies out there, they are clearly not going to give up. Not after how close they came last time.”
She was quiet for another long moment. “We’ll have to risk it. The last time OMNI was active, I could feel something was off about him. Besides, if OMNI was such a guaranteed advantage, how did the Wild Colonies manage to destroy the other two examples? And why did the Directorate have this one shut down instead of using it? No, I want him removed. We can discuss whether the system can function without him, but for now, the engineers will need to get to work.”
Gabe nodded, and then he stood slowly. “All right. I guess we’ll just need to get moving then. The last thing we need is for something new to—”
He hadn’t even finished the sentence when a buzzer sounded inside of the compartment. Susan exchanged a half-chagrined look with him and then pressed the control to activate the link. “Admiral Delacourt. What is it?”
Commander Mesic’s voice came through the speaker, cool and professional as always. “Sir, we’re picking up a signal from ahead of the fleet. It’s on the same transmission pattern and wavelength as the one used by the strangers.”
Gabe looked at Susan and raised his eyebrows. He could see her asking the same questions that he was. Was it a trick, or had the strangers finally come out of hiding? Then he shrugged. “Maybe they picked our transmissions during the battle? Or maybe all the fireworks convinced them to come out of hiding.”
She gave him a quick half-smile, one she was quick to try to wipe away. “How far away is it, Commander?”
“I’d say that it is at least two hours from us, at full speed.” The commander paused for a moment, likely consulting something. “Given the damage we’ve taken, our best speed would probably put us closer to three and a half hours out.”
“A pretty long distance, if it was the enemy.” Gabe replayed the final moments of the battle. “They’d have to have some pretty serious propulsion to get into position there.”
“Or they have more ships than we believed. Or they could be using some sort of relay from a rig.” Susan frowned. “What message are they giving us, Commander?”
Rather than attempting to replicate it, the commander played the words over the speaker a moment later. Gabe instantly recognized the same unearthly warble to the words, though he hadn’t heard it directly in days.
“Ees palad kentra Aatanaas. Nustra oyud ti eria orfresem. Cuidse du Atanaas.”
He looked at Susan again. “Same voice. Same ending to the message.”
“The Wild Colonies have already been fighting with them. For all we know, they could have recorded it.” She didn’t seem convinced by her own argument, however. There was another long pause, with Susan still tapping the table with one finger. Finally, she sighed and shook her head. “The best way to know is to send someone out to investigate.”
Gabe grinned. “Can’t just send the RSRs. If it is a trap, we’d lose our scouts.”
She grunted, clearly still reluctant but unable to find a way out of the problem. “Then you’ll need to go. Take your flight, investigate the signal as soon as you are able.” Susan paused, her professional expression faltering for a moment. “Try not to almost die this time. We need you here.”
He laid a hand over hers for a moment. “I will.” Then he stood up and stretched. “I guess there’s really no rest for the wicked, is there?”
“Certainly not if they plan on getting anything done.” Susan stood also, her hand still on the table. The hatch opened, with Corporal Shen on the other side. “Good luck, Captain Miller.”
Gabe nodded, bracing to attention for a moment. Then he left, striding along the hallway. He couldn’t help her with OMNI anymore, but if they could make contact with the strangers, perhaps it wouldn’t be needed.
Either way, he wasn’t about to let this chance slip him by. The Wayfarers were counting on him—and so was Susan. He had no intentions of being the one who let them all down.
Susan watched Gabriel go, her heart still pounding in her chest. The idea of sending him out there again—again!—so soon was terrifying to her, on a level that she had not expected. In the Directorate, she had never grown close enough to any officer, let alone a rig pilot, to worry about them in this way. She should never have allowed things to develop this far. Her people needed an impartial, capable officer, not one that had her heart in her hands as she watched Gabriel Miller stride off into danger again.
She noticed Corporal Shen was watching her, and she switched her attention to him. It took more effort than she wanted to admit. “Corporal. Is there something you wished to report?”
“You had requested that we reserve a time to speak with Captain Wong.”
Susan nodded. After the clash with the enemy, and with OMNI down, she needed access to the Directorate intelligence now more than ever. “Has he decided to comply?”
“No, ma’am.” Shen shook his head. “The captain has apparently decided that there is no more reason to speak with you. He is currently confined to quarters, but the security personnel are not expecting him to change his mind anytime soon.”
She stared at him for a few more moments, options running through her mind in a rush. Her initial response would have been to do far more than confine the recalcitrant officer to quarters; the Directorate ships now serving as their prisons had plenty of enhanced interrogation and confinement cells. Even as she considered that option, however, she knew it would be useless. All Directorate officers had to endure several days of such methods as part of their training; he would have been just as resistant to it as she was. Besides, she remembered that training well; the screaming, the persuasive pharmacology, even the occasional darker turns into more…physical encouragement. It wasn’t likely that the Wayfarers would go along with any decision to rely on such things—not that she was disappointed. It felt…better to reject such things, like it preserved some small portion of her soul.
Instead, she forced herself to consider her options. If the attack from the Wild Colonies—she had finally decided to stop pretending that was not who they faced now—had not convinced him, then she did not know exactly what would. It was almost certain that he’d view any attempt at persuasion from her to be a lie, a deception that would only endanger the people he had promised to protect. How frustrating that his sense of honor was what held him back! If only they had managed to capture Admiral Nevlin. The man would have turned on the Directorate so quickly that others would have wondered if the man’s loyalty had ever existed—which, of course, she believed it did not.
Something about that line of thinking beckoned her further, and she frowned. She couldn’t quite tease out the thought, but there was something there that she might be able to use. Shaking her head, she focused on the situation again. “If Captain Wong will not see me there, perhaps I can convince him to see me here. Contact the Achilles and instruct them to prepare Captain Wong for transport. Let me know when he has arrived.”
Shen nodded and began to murmur something into his communications link. The bodyguard had a somewhat belligerent stance to him she didn’t think she’d noticed before, but perhaps it was simply tension from the battle. Or perhaps he disliked being ordered to drag a prisoner all the way to the flagship. Either way, she hoped that the man would be able to focus. She doubted that Captain Wong would want to attack her physically, but it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, she was hoping for a long shot with the interrogation, anyway.
And even if the entire conversation came to nothing, it beat having to watch Gabriel dive headlong into the unknown again. Of that much, Susan was absolutely certain.