Ascendant Sun: A New Novel in the Saga of the Skolian Empire (10 page)

Annihilators fired,
the
Corona
answered.
Hits on EF4, 6 and 8—
Quasis jump.
Data flooded his mindscape: Maccar's ships had fired their Annihilators in a pattern Kelric had designed and labeled
Whip A4.
The three Eubian frigates they hit had gone into quasis, but the other Traders returned fire, forcing the flotilla ships into quasis.
"— the bloody hell are you doing, Garlin?" Maccar's words boomed like slow thunder, coming in real time rather than the speeded-up realm where Kelric operated now. Kelric couldn't stop to answer. With the battle's accelerated pace, it could be over before he convinced Maccar they needed to fight.
Annihilator hit on MF6,
the
Corona
thought.
Impactor hit on
Cor
—
Quasis jump.
Both the
Corona
and a flotilla ship had taken hits. Their quasis held at 79-84 percent, but neither would survive many more direct strikes.
Impactor hit on MF8,
the
Corona
told him.
Impactor hit on
Cor
—
Quasis jump.
The Impactors had fired clusters of bomblets that fused on impact like a swarm of enraged H-bombs. When they hit a ship in quasis, it kept going, unaffected, unable to change state. The warheads exploded uselessly against a rigid body. Most of their energy and momentum went into the recoil of their debris, and anything else unfortunate enough to be nearby. But it would only take a few hits before the quasis coils weakened. When quasis failed, a ship underwent the mother of all quantum-state changes and blew up in a dramatic show of flying debris and energy.
Whip pattern 17,
he thought.
Get the one that hit us.
MF3 Impactors fired,
the
Corona
answered.
Hit on EF—
Quasis jum—
Annihilator hit on MF4,
the
Corona
warned.
MF4 quasis at 42 percent.
Kelric tensed. MF4's quasis was crumbling under the assault of antimatter beams from the ESComm Annihilators. Beams were easier to evade than homing missiles, but a ship in quasis couldn't dodge. So the beams drilled into it, annihilating intransigent particles one by one. The perturbations in the ship's quantum state would soon become too extreme. The crew would drop out of quasis— in the midst of their ship's spectacularly lethal matter-antimatter annihilation.
Whip pattern A7.
he thought.
Cover MF4.
Annihilator hit on EF1,
the
Corona
answered.
Quasis jump.
Maccar's voice rumbled. "Commander Jaes, get us into inversion."
"I've cut the time to about a minute," Jaes said.
The
Corona
thought:
Alert: EF2 tau approach—
Quasis jump.
Stats flooded Kelric: MF1 had annihilated a Eubian tau missile just before it struck. The tau's antimatter-matter explosion, with its burst of high-energy photons and particle cascades, had forced every ship in the vicinity into quasis.
Die for me, little Skolians.
Kelric froze, hit by an attack invisible to any sensor save his own mind. Somewhere on the Trader ships, the Aristo warlord lusted for their fear.
Come, my Skolians. We'll have you now.
Kelric clenched his teeth.
Whip pattern T2.
Tau cannon fired,
the
Corona
answered.
Quasis jum—
Quasis jump.
He reeled with the jumps. His nausea surged, but he swallowed the bile. Maccar's ships were spreading decoy dust as they fled. The pursuing missiles were so close that whenever the dust detonated one, it forced Maccar's ships into quasis, delaying their acceleration by crucial seconds.
"— can't wait longer," Maccar said. "Invert the ships!"
Anatakala answered. "We have it down to fifty seconds—"
Alert!
the
Corona
thought.
MF4 quasis at 26 per—
Quasis jump.
Then:
MF4 destroyed.
No! Kelric's mind staggered as the deaths of the crew on Maccar's fourth frigate hit his heightened empathic state. Gritting his teeth, he thought,
Whip TI1. Get them.
Quasis jump,
the
Corona
answered.
EF3 destroyed.
Kelric's neurons knew no boundary between friend and foe: the deaths of the ESComm crew wrenched him just as much as those on Maccar's ship. Caught by both a tau missile and an Impactor shot, EF3's quasis had failed. Bomblets ripped through the fragmenting vessel and hit one of the Klein fuel bottles. In a rapid series of collapses, the containment fields ceased to exist and the bottle dumped its antimatter into real space. The plasma exploded outward, annihilating anything in its way, adding to the storm of energy, radiation, and enraged particle reactions that had once been a ship.
Quasis jump,
the
Corona
thought.
MF2 has lost starboard decks 2-4.
Kelric caught a sudden surge of anxiety from the Trader ships. He narrowed it to the sixth Eubian frigate:
quasis coils in collapse—
Whip A9 to EF6,
he thought.
EF6 destroyed,
the
Corona
answered.
Quasis jump—
Annihilator strike on Corona,
the
Corona
thought.
Decks 3, 8, 11-14, and 16-19 damaged. I cannot survive another direct hit.
"— vert, damn it!" Maccar shouted. "I don't care if you're not ready. Get us the bloody hell out of here!"
Pain exploded in Kelric's temples. He lost control of the mindscape, and it twisted as if reality had tied itself into a topologically impossible knot.
Then the universe went still.
In a sudden, splintering calm, the
Corona
bolted into otherspace. Surreal dust streamed past as they raced through the inverted realm of superluminal travel.
"Gods almighty," Ty Rillwater whispered.
For several seconds no one answered. Then Maccar spoke in a cold voice. "Commander Garlin, those were civilian ships you attacked. Ships hosted by the same Aristo who guaranteed us safe passage."
Kelric answered quietly. "They weren't civilian, sir. Nor were they offering an escort. They were ESComm, fully armed, in attack formation, led by an Aristo warlord. They had more ships and firepower than our flotilla. They also had the element of surprise, because they believed we wouldn't fire without provocation, whereas they were preparing to attack. They intended to destroy the flotilla and take the
Corona
."
Another silence followed his response. Then Maccar said, "Anatakala, can you verify any of that?"
"We've the entire battle on record," she said. "It shows the frigates were armed and approaching in an attack formation used by ESComm. Their response to our actions suggests their crews had military training. I can't verify anything else."
"Commander Garlin," Maccar said. "On what basis do you make your other claims?"
"I'm a Jagernaut. I'm trained to make that kind of detection. With my mind extended, I picked up crews on the Eubian ships." Kelric exhaled. "Captain, I've gone against Aristo warlords in combat before. You never forget."
"Are you in a link now with the flotilla?" Maccar asked.
"I lost it when we inverted. I can reform it if you wish."
"I wish." Maccar's words were chillingly calm.
Again Kelric submerged into his mindscape. Pain throbbed in his temples, but he ignored it, knowing that if he made a misstep Maccar would probably throw him in the brig. He had no proof of his claims, but Maccar was no fool. The captain had agreed to Kelric's stratospheric salary demand for good reason. The abilities of Jagernauts were well known. Feared, but vital.
He rebuilt his connections to the remaining ships. Then he thought,
Links established.
His console sent his words to the bridge crew.
"What is the flotilla status?" Maccar asked.
Kelric took in data and reported. Five lives had been lost in the destruction of MF4, the
Horizon,
Maccar's fourth frigate. One other ship had serious damage and all had taken hits.
The
Jade Sea
needs to dock for repairs,
Kelric thought.
The others can continue with us.
"Advise Captain Leefarer," Maccar said. "As soon as we come within range of a base that can provide repairs, the
Jade Sea
is released from its contract." In a quiet voice he added, "Notify all ships that we will hold a memorial at ten hundred hours for the crew of the
Horizon.
"
Kelric relayed the message and felt the grief from the others as they replied. Finally he said,
All ships acknowledge, sir.
Then he added,
Captain Leefarer also says, "Thanks, Jafe."
"Very well." Maccar exhaled. "Release your link, Commander. Then come up here."
Kelric disengaged from the weapons console and made his way to the command chair. When he reached Maccar, the captain toggled off the comm, giving them privacy.
"You do understand what you've done, don't you?" Maccar asked.
Kelric met his gaze. "I got most of your people out of there, alive and free."
Maccar pushed his hand across his short hair. "I've no doubt that's true. But we haven't enough proof. Lady Xir will claim she sent us an escort to ensure our safe passage home. The Aristos have every reason for wanting to restart the war, and you may have just helped give them cause."
"If they had captured this ship," Kelric said, "it would have created an even worse situation."
"Why?" Maccar asked. "Because you're Naaj Majda's brother-in-law? If you really are who you claim, why the blazes are you alone? Why aren't you under Majda's protection?"
Kelric grimaced. "If I go to them, I could be signing a warrant for my imprisonment or death just as surely as if Traders captured or blew up the
Corona.
"
"Why?"
"It's better you don't know yet. For my safety and yours. We still aren't out of Trader space." Kelric had been considering what to tell Maccar. The captain had earned his respect. To build his power base, he needed people like Maccar. But now wasn't the time to discuss that future.
Maccar studied him. "All right. Later." Grim satisfaction leaked from his mind. "At least we got paid. We're rich as rubies now." He paused. "The less we have to drop out of inversion on the way home, the better. Can you hold the psilink awhile longer?"
Although Kelric's head ached, it was tolerable. "I think so."
"Let's go, then." Maccar drew in a breath. "With gods' luck, we'll get back alive."

The flotilla skimmed through otherspace. It sailed a sea of slow photons that lagged behind their tachyonic siblings. The ships existed in a spacelike universe where light from stars behind them could never catch up, an eerie realm where charge, mass, energy, and perhaps even thought took on imaginary as well as real aspects.
Two hours into their race home, Kelric's link with the other ships slipped. Gritting his teeth, almost blind with the ache in his head, he strained to hold his bubble of psiberspace.
The bubble popped.
He groaned as pain stabbed his temples. Then he slid into gray nothing.

Kelric opened his eyes to a familiar sight. Radiance bars. He was lying on his own bed staring at the ceiling. The bars glowed dimly. His temples throbbed, but only with a dull pain. Someone had medicated him enough to blunt his headache.
"Ungh ..." he mumbled. It wasn't one of his more articulate moments.
"Commander Garlin?" The voice came from nearby.
Turning his head, he saw Mareea Gonzales, the ship's medical officer, sitting in a chair by the bed. With her long, dark hair, heart-shaped face, and large eyes, she reminded him of his aunt Dehya. The Ruby Pharaoh.
The dead Ruby Pharaoh.
"How do you feel?" Mareea asked.
Like a barbell fell on my head, he thought.
"Kelric?" she murmured. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes." He wished she looked less like Dehya. It hurt in a way that had nothing to do with his headache. It also made him think of Eldrin, his brother, who was probably enduring far worse right now than anything Kelric had experienced.
"Do you know what happened?" Mareea asked.
"Bashed my brain," he mumbled.
Her face gentled. "It wasn't quite that bad." Then her smile faded. "Did you know the Kyle Afferent Body in your brain is damaged? That's why you have headaches. Your KAB should send neural pulses only to your
paras
. But it's sending them to other neural structures too. They're telling you that you hurt even though nothing is wrong."
He started to shake his head, then winced and lay still. "I had to get us out of there."
Softly she said, "You took us over two thirds the way home. Now you can rest. We'll talk more later."
With relief, he closed his eyes. Then he absorbed her words.
We'll talk more later
. From doctors, that usually meant,
I'm not sure you're up to hearing this right now
.
He opened his eyes. "What else?"
"Else?"
"What else do you have to tell me?" Tiredly he said, "I know I'm dying, if that's what you're trying to avoid saying."
She pushed her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry." Her concern washed up against him. "But you've had treatment recently, yes?"
"On Edgewhirl."
"I can continue what they began. It's only a temporary fix, though. You need more than I can do here."
He had already realized the ship's medical resources were little better than the Edgewhirl hospital. The
Corona
had a reasonable facility for most of its crew. But not for him.
"I've spoken to the captain," Mareea said. "When we're free of Trader space, we'll take you to an ISC hospital."
"I need one equipped to repair Jagernauts and do Kyle surgery."
"Where do you suggest?"
He thought about it. "Diesha. Eos city on the planet Foreshires Hold. Or the Orbiter."
Mareea shook her head. "Even in normal times we wouldn't have clearance for those places."
"Maybe ..." In normal times he could have arranged clearances. Eos hosted government offices and embassies from all over settled space. It was also home to Jacob's Military Institute, which trained naval officers for the Imperial Fleet. The world Diesha served as ISC headquarters, its few cities and many underground installations all dedicated to the military. The Orbiter space habitat was home to part of Kelric's family. It also supported the War Room, where his half brother Kurj had overseen ISC operations. With no psiberweb, the War Room could no longer maintain real-time contact with the ISC forces, but it would still be a major ISC node.
Except Kurj no longer commanded there. For all his conflicted emotions about his half brother, he wished he could see Kurj again. So much remained unsaid.
His sister Soz would have been the last Imperator to hold sway in the War Room. Soz. He missed her. He remembered more each day. Ever since the
Corona
had upgraded his systems, his spinal node, Bolt, had been repairing damaged neural sectors in his brain. In the process, Bolt was retrieving data he had lost after his crash on Coba. None of it was vital to Kelric's situation as Imperator Presumptive. No, what he regained had far more value: memories of childhood.
He treasured one memory above the others. When he was seven and Soz sixteen, they had gone hiking in the Backbone Mountains. A sudden storm caught them. They had huddled together in a spine-cave, and she had held him in her arms, murmuring away his terror of the blue-white lightning and shattering thunder. The Imperialate remembered her as a war leader; he had known the woman-child who comforted a small boy. That day, as they clung together for warmth, their minds merged into a Rhon link. It had taken his fear and replaced it with warmth. Security. Affection. Gods, he valued that memory. He had never told her what it meant to him. Now he would never have the chance.
"Kelric?" Mareea's voice was soft in the dim light.
He focused on the doctor. Not Dehya. Not Soz. Simply a kind stranger. He could say nothing about clearances now, while they were in Trader space. What if ESComm captured them? Maccar had already guessed too much.
"Maybe we can talk later ..." His headache was making it hard to think anyway.
Her voice soothed. "Yes. Of course."
Kelric let himself drift to sleep. He woke several times over the next few hours, always to see either Mareea or a nurse sitting by his bed. The medicine patch inside his elbow eased the pain. As his headache faded, Mareea lowered the dose.
Finally he woke up feeling almost normal. He was lying on his side with one arm stretched out under his pillow. His blue sleepsuit wasn't much different from his black spacer's jumpsuit, except its soft, stretchy cloth felt more comfortable to sleep in.
For a while he simply lay, gratified his head no longer hurt. His thoughts turned to the Third Lock. Soon the Traders would take Eldrin there. He feared for his brother. Kelric had ISC training and neural adaptations to help him resist coercion, but even then he doubted he could hold out against a sustained ESComm effort. As a member of the Ruby Dynasty, Eldrin had some protections, but as a civilian he had taken far less training. At least he had a temporary reprieve. ESComm wouldn't let him near the Lock until they secured it enough to ensure he couldn't use it to escape, kill himself, or otherwise cause damage.
What made it so maddening was that Kelric knew the Lock could be turned off. It required a Rhon psion. Eldrin. But unless ISC policies had changed drastically, which he doubted, Eldrin would have no idea he could make it play dead. Very few people needed to know that weakness of the Locks. Kurj had known, of course, as had Dehya, Soz, Kelric, their brother Althor, and a few top ISC officers. Most of those people were dead.
Then Kelric realized that even if Eldrin had known, it would have done him no good. ESComm would work on him until they dragged out the information. In the end, they would get what they wanted. It would just take longer.
So Kelric lay, wishing he could do the impossible. Get to the Lock. Deactivate it. Get out again. The Aristos could never restart its control center. They weren't Rhon. Eldrin couldn't answer their questions because he wouldn't know answers existed.
Right,
he thought dryly.
Take on Eube all by yourself. Turn off the Lock. Rescue Eldrin. Wage one-man war against the Traders. Might as well create a few universes while you're at it.
Kelric smiled slightly. He could at least return to his post. Moving with care, he sat up. A nurse was dozing in the chair by his bed, a husky woman in a bronze jumpsuit. She wore her brown hair coiled on top her head, and large hoop earrings dangled from her ears. Such earrings surely violated some ISC regulation. Kelric had to remind himself he was on a civilian ship.
She opened her eyes. "My greetings."
He smiled. "And mine to you."
"You look better."
"Thanks." He swung his legs over the side of the bed. "What's happened? Have we dropped into real space?"
She shook her head. "Still in inversion. Maccar gave up trying to keep the flotilla together. We'll re-form in Skolian space."
Kelric frowned. "The ships will be spread out over millions of kilometers and several days." He made a frustrated sound. "I should have stayed in the link."
"And injured yourself more? I don't think so." She gave him a satisfied look. "We'll be fine. Got what we came for and we're almost out of here. Out and out like a red moon."
Kelric smiled, a pun about "read" moons coming to mind.
"What?" she asked.
He blinked. "I didn't say anything."
"It sounded like you spoke. Your voice echoed." She squinted at him. "And ... I know this sounds strange— your face rippled."
Kelric started to answer. He stopped when the right side of her body blurred. Then it solidified again.
Swearing under his breath, he stood up. Too fast. Dizziness hit him and he swayed, grabbing for the wall, which was out of reach. The nurse jumped up and grasped his arm, steadying him. Large and strong, she stood almost as tall as Kelric. He wondered if Maccar had assigned her to him. She was obviously also a bodyguard.
"You all right?" she asked.
Kelric nodded. "We're piling up inversion errors." He had seen the effect before. If a ship spent too long in complex space, it began to slip, different parts of the craft taking on different imaginary components, which meant they had different phases. It was no coincidence the errors caused ripples in space and time; people used complex numbers to describe wave phenomena because of their oscillatory nature.
A warning gong went off, echoing in the air. Maccar's voice came over the shipwide comm. "Prepare to reinvert. All hands strap down. This may be a rough one."
Kelric lay on his bunk and secured its webbing around his body. His nurse had just barely fastened herself into her chair when the ship began the drop back into normal space.
Kelric's mind fragmented. His brain was twisting through a Klein bottle, the 3-D equivalent of a Möbius strip. He clenched his teeth, fighting his vertigo. Their drop into real space was taking far longer than the usual one or two seconds.
It stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Reality settled around them. Then another alarm went off— the call to battle stations.
As Kelric yanked off his webbing, Maccar's voice snapped out of the console. "Lieutenant Droxilhiem, is Commander Garlin conscious?"
The nurse was extracting herself from her chair. "Aye, sir."
Kelric went to the console and activated the screen, bringing up Maccar on the bridge. "I'm fine, sir."
"Can you resume your duties?" Maccar asked.
"Right away."
Relief flickered on Maccar's face. "Report to the bridge. We came out in Eubian space— and we've got a squadron of ESComm Solos headed straight for us."