Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Consequence (12 page)

              "It's all military traffic," he stated.  "I'm going to engage the autopilot and let it take us up the corridor with the rest of the people riding the beams into orbit.  We'll just blend in, all part of the same big bloodthirsty, power-mad family..."

              Nobody spoke after that as they climbed.  The air thinned, the sky became darker as it faded from light to dark blue, then further to black as they left the atmosphere behind. 

              The stream of ships started to scatter as everyone headed off on their own trajectories.  Web picked a direction where nobody else was headed and watched the sensor readouts carefully.  A bead of sweat ran down his temple and followed the curve of his jaw, joining the slow but steady parade of drops that gave away his nervousness despite his calm demeanor.

              "Halley," Web said softly, as if speaking loudly would somehow give them away.  "You're sitting at a console that can do nav work.  See if you can plot us a destination straight ahead and get the computer to give us the OK.  I can't make sense of every display up here, but best I can tell we're still in the gravity well.  As soon as we're out, we'll need to hit the burners."

              Halley swiveled her chair to the station and got to work.  Much the same as Web had dealt with, the controls weren't Confed standard, but there were only so many ways of setting up a navigation console.  She had a slight advantage over Web in that she could understand a small amount of both written and spoken Priman.

              "I think we're about thirty seconds away from being clear," she said slowly, scanning the display to see if she was making the right call.

              "Got it."

              Web was starting to feel better about things, and naturally that is the point at which fate turned on them.  He saw a pair of Priman fighters to their port side make a correction towards their path, and a light cruiser on their starboard did the same. 

              "I think we have Priman units about to catch us in a pincer," Web said slowly.

              "What's that?" asked Senator Thyatt.

              "Bad things," Halley spoke for Web.

              The communications board pinged at an incoming message.  Web snapped his head to look at Halley, who nodded.  She stabbed the spot on the display that had lit up, but held her hand over the video pickup on the console in front of her.

              There was a burst of rapid fire Priman, too fast for Web to try and make out anything useful.  He waited for Halley say something, not wanting to interrupt her efforts at translation.

              "I'm pretty sure she's demanding a flight plan and name of the officer who approved this ship's departure," Halley said, dread in her voice.

              "Try the old equipment malfunction excuse?" Web suggested.

              "It's all we have, I guess."  Halley turned to the console and tapped the transmit button, then spoke in halted Priman, purposely breaking up her words and sometimes just pausing for a second or two.

              "What did you tell them?" asked the senator.

              "That we're moving troops but must be having equipment problems because we're not receiving their transmissions very well," Halley replied.  "I think."

              "Didn't they teach you those sorts of things?" the senator replied.

              "Hey, it was either take night classes in Priman or rescue you and the rest of our government.  It seemed like a good idea at the time."

              "I for one am grateful," Web said.

              Web saw it a split second before it happened and responded.  The fighters snapped their noses over towards the transport and opened fire, lasers slashing away at mostly empty space since Web had clicked off the autopilot and dumped the nose, changing their flight path barely in time.

              "Or I might have said their mothers were primates," Halley admitted.  "It's a complicated language."

              "Autopilot's off," Web said through gritted teeth.  "Hang on."

              "Panicking now," Halley replied, winking at Web as he glanced over at her comment.

              "I am
not
including you in my acceptance speech."

              Web didn't catch her reply because he was already absorbed in the act of trying to keep them from getting blown to pieces by laser fire.  The light cruiser's main ship-to-ship batteries opened up, their shots extremely powerful but turrets slow to traverse and recharge.  He was less worried about that ship than the pair of fighters circling around to drop onto the transport's six and shoot them down.  The transport juked and rolled, Web always rolling back towards the general direction they'd originally been headed.  Once Halley confirmed the nav computer was set he'd need to be pointing in the right direction in order for the route to validate and allow the hyperdrive to engage.  At least, that's how a Confed ship worked. 

              There was a loud bang as one of the cruiser's shots hit a glancing blow on the transport's starboard engine pod.  Indicators turned red and warnings in a language Web couldn't understand scrolled by his face in thin air.

              "Halley," Web called to her in the jumpseat, "can I assume all these messages are not happy ones?"

              "Very unhappy, Web.  We're seconds away from a jump, but the sublight engines are almost toast.  In fact, one of them just dropped offline."

              "It's not like I needed another challenge," Web muttered.

              A handful more strikes on the hull shook the ship, but they were lighter blasts from the fighters.  The transport stood up to these better, but the fighters were scoring a constant stream of hits now, and with the damage from the cruiser's blast having wiped out the shields, all of them were gouging into the hull.  Web heard a wrenching sound, twisting metal and cracking bulkheads, and the ship picked up a vibration that grew in intensity.

              "Halley," Web said, concern obvious in his voice.

              "Ready!" the yelled as she send the commands through the system.

              Web hit the release to engage the hyperdrive, and the computer did the rest.  A split second later, the ship vanished at faster-than-light speeds.

              It had taken half a day to get back underway for Ravine's ship.  Loren and Velk had worked to restore the bridge, though they'd taken their leave before the crew returned and could notice the Representative and human who were wandering about.

              Likewise, they'd rescued everyone aboard the two damaged ships.  They were both determined to be too far gone for easy recovery, so had been destroyed.  Now, their crews were all confined to quarters or the common spaces that had been set aside for them.  While Ravine believed that most of them were just following the orders of their captains, there were two problems.

              First, the captains and senior bridge crew had knowingly attacked another Priman ship.  And not just any ship; the personal vessel of a Representative's family.  In addition, everyone aboard now knew that a Confederation vessel had been shadowing them through Priman space.  With both these issues in mind, Ravine reluctantly decided that the crews would be held as 'guests' upon their arrival at Callidor so that he could conduct his business.

              A day passed uneventfully and they found themselves in the Callidor system.  Loren and Velk watched from the Representative's salon just off the bridge, the elder Ravine staying out with the crew as they proceeded into their stronghold.             

              Loren took note of the system's defenses, something that Velk was obviously not too pleased with.  He didn't say anything, however, and stood there with Loren as they watched the system on the monitors.

              "So, here we are," Loren said quietly.  "Now what?"

              "We will meet with the Representative," Velk replied confidently.  "We will go to the surface and receive an audience in her offices.  I will make my case as I told you I would.  As an outsider to the command structure, you are not expected or encouraged to say anything, though if she asks you something decorum requires you to answer."

              "Will she hear you out?"

              "We wouldn't be risking all of this if I didn't think we had a chance," Velk said solemnly.

Seven

              With the cruiser docked in orbit, Loren and the rest of Ravine's party rode a shuttle down to the surface.  Callidor looked much the same as Loren remembered it from the start of the war.  The Primans hadn't leveled the place and rebuilt it in a new image or anything so drastic.  There were a number of new buildings, mostly near the drastically expanded spaceports that dotted the surface.

              The shuttle headed for a cluster of hundred story tall buildings.  There were a series of landing platforms on the fiftieth floors of the towers, and the shuttle landed on one of these.  The party marched quickly through deserted hallways to a turbolift that took them to the top floors.  These levels were given over to large penthouses, the owners and CEOs of the building's commercial occupants often feeling the need to live close to the action.  Now the spaces were home, at least in this building, to the extended Ravine clan.  As a family with a currently in-service Representative, their status was among the highest of all Priman families; their decades of commitment had earned them that.

              Guards having remained outside the doors, Loren and the rest were alone in the large, two story living space.  One wall featured floor to ceiling windows which gave an amazing panorama of Harkor, the capital city.

              "So what's next on the agenda, then?" Loren asked after he'd given everyone else a fair amount of time to direct the conversation.

              "My daughter will join us shortly," the elder Ravine replied.  "We will have an open and honest talk about the future of our people.  Please know that your involvement in that discussion is not needed.  This is a matter strictly for my people.  In due course, Representative Velk will take the floor.  He will no doubt call on you then for comment.  Decorum dictates that is when you will have your chance to be heard."

              Loren nodded, trying to make sure he remembered everything.  As much as he wanted to just shake this Ravine woman, he had to play by their rules if he wanted them to take him seriously.

              "How do I address her?"

              "As astute observation, Commander," Ravine said, nodding thoughtfully.  "You no doubt have heard various methods of address amongst us by now.  We shall start at the top.  The Commander has a first and family name like every other Priman.  However, when serving as the Commander of our forces, he or she is addressed by that title alone; no family name is required.  There is only one Commander, and to use any other method of address insults the person and position.  Representatives are the next highest in the day to day structure.  They are addressed by their family name only; no first name is used.  Once again, each family is therefore recognized as having offered up a Representative, but since there is only one per family and only two serving in close advisory roles to the Commander at a time, no first name is used for them.

              "There is a Council, made up of a combination of appointed, elected, and inherited positions.  The Council determines the overall course for our people as a whole.  They provide broad directions, while the Commander decides how to achieve those goals."

              Loren only nodded now.  He knew some of the basics from talking to Velk and from what little Fleet Intelligence had managed to put together, but this was largely news to him.

              He was about to ask when this meeting would take place when the large double doors to the suite opened.  In walked a middle aged Priman woman.  She was tall, athletic, and had an air of confidence about her.

              "Representative Ravine," her father said, all smiles as he walked over to offer a quick embrace.  She smiled as she returned the gesture.

              Her father stepped away, holding one of her hands in his own as he swept the other towards Loren and Velk.

              "Daughter, please let me introduce Representative Velk, whom you already know.  Also Commander Loren Stone, Executive Officer of the CSS Avenger, of the Confederation of Systems."

              Ravine's smile froze, then faded and was replaced by a thoughtful look as she took him in.  She took a few steps closer, Loren standing his ground and waiting for her to set the tone.

              "I know you, Commander," she began.  "We've fought each other, in fact.  My ships tended to lose those engagements."

              Loren wasn't sure what to say.  He couldn't risk putting her at odds with him before the day even started, but sure as hell wasn't going to seem repentant for fighting on his people's behalf either.  "It was just business, Representative," was the best he could think of.

              Ravine pursed her lips, canted her head a bit as she looked at him, and only replied with a "Hmm." 

              "Let's all sit, shall we?" she continued as she indicated an immense table made out of some sort of bluish tinted crystal.  "Representative Velk, you and Commander Stone have come a long way to tell me a story of intrigue, deception, and danger to our combined peoples.  Please begin."

              Web and Halley sat alone on the bridge in what was only the second span of uninterrupted time they'd had in the last half day.  Already the senators were getting anxious about where they were going, when they'd get there, and who was in charge of the mission. 

              "Hell of an afternoon, eh?" she said as he grabbed her hand from the seat next to hers.

              "Could be worse," he replied.  "I could still have no idea where you were and if you were alive.  Even being in a position of impending doom is better with you around."

              "You're such a smoothie."  She leaned over and planted a quick kiss on him, grimacing as her injured side gave her a brief pain flare-up.

              "You won't be saying that after I tell you the news."  He pointed to a series of displays in between their stations.  "Coolant temps are on the rise, core temps are falling, and the main computer has gone into some sort of diagnostic safe mode.  Best guess is that in about a half hour, we won't be able to maintain a hyperdrive field and we'll end up stranded in realspace.  Priman charts are a bit scarce in this area, and to be honest I don't think there's much out here anyway."

              "Ideas?"

              "Only one.  We call our Fixer pal Garrett.  I still wouldn't trust a comm link into Confed after what you told me earlier; we're evil, subversive terrorists so we can't use anything connected to our normal logistics chain.  I figure he could tell us where to look for a repair depot, transportation help; hell, maybe a whole new ship."

              "We could try contacting Admiral Bak.  I have some back channels I can use."

              "Well hell, let's do that, too.  Between the two of them, we have to find a way to get this ship of fools back onto Delos."

              Halley didn't bother hiding her smile.  "Ok, but first we need to tell these people why we're keeping them stuffed in a cargo hold like livestock."  She stood up and held out her hand.  "Come on; you're going with me for emotional support."

              They left the bridge and walked the dozen steps through a crew jumpseat area and the rear hatch.  They were on the upper of the two decks of the ship, which had been fitted as a troop transport.  There were two aisles down the passenger area much like a widebody civilian transport.  At the middle of the passenger cabin was a large opening through to the lower deck.  It was equipped with a hatch, but had been open when Halley acquired the ship and she hadn't seen a reason to close it.  As a cargo transport, this allowed items to be moved between decks while in transit.  Halley and Web walked down the aisle and took up station at the railing.  There, hands on the rail and speaking in her crowd control voice, Halley began.

              "Senators of the Confederation.  My name is Lieutenant Halley Pascal.  Standing with me is Commander Web Exeter, of the CSS Avenger.  We are the ones who were in charge of the raid to break you out.  You no doubt want and definitely deserve a briefing on what's been going on.  Trust me when I tell you it's been a hell of a couple years.  I'll try to make this quick, because we'll need to get back up front soon in order to work on the next part of the plan."

              There was a stirring among the passengers, though to their credit they patiently waited for what came next.

              "First, a quick recap."  Halley took a deep breath.  "After you were abducted, the Primans scored a lot of victories.  The Talaran Collection has fairly dissolved; their government was also attacked but didn't recover like ours did.  The Primans were working with the Enkarrans; they eventually turned on the Enkarrans and claimed their entire empire as their own, casting the Enkarrans out much like what was done to them over a thousand years ago.

              "For those of you that don't know yet, the Primans came from this galaxy.  A hundred thousand years ago, they sailed through and gave a helping hand to dozens of species in this part of space.  Short version: they got power hungry, wanted to rule everything, and there was a war.  A very, very big war.  The Primans lost and were banished beyond the galaxy in their motherships.  A thousand years later, they came back and started up Round Two.

              "We've been fighting them ever since, going on three years now.  We have a bit of a stalemate right now; they've take a decent chunk of Confed space, but that dovetails into the next problem.

              "One senator escaped capture.  His name was Zek Dennix."  At this, Halley had to pause.  People started talking.  She heard both good and bad comments around her, and gave it a second before continuing.  "We didn't know it at the time, but Senator Dennix had been turned by the Primans."  This time, there was no stopping the senators.  Some cried out that he was a traitor, some yelled back that it just couldn't be true. 

              "Please," she yelled, "I need to continue."  She waited a minute and everyone calmed down enough to press on.  "Working for the Primans, he declared himself head of an emergency Governing Committee.  He managed to get friends, yes-men, and people who owed him favors elected to fill all of your places.  Senators: you have been replaced during emergency votes.  You were considered lost or dead and so your seats had to be filled.  Unfortunately, your successors found their ways into office less because of their ideals and more because of their allegiance to Senator Dennix.

              "Now, he rules the Confederation.  He's given parts to the Primans and brokered a deal to stay in charge.  This led to a civil war; more than a third of the Confederation no longer recognizes Delos and Senator Dennix.  There have been battles; not many, but our forces are divided and fight each other more than they fight the Primans."

              Halley couldn't talk above the din now.  Rigged elections, a compromised Senate and civil war were too much to take without some sort of reaction.  People yelled now, emotions flared as people started making accusations.  Some even called out to Halley, accusing the military of encouraging the conflict or simply letting it happen.

              Web could see her hands grip the railing tighter at that, her knuckles go white with strain.  If there was anyone more committed to restoring Confed than Halley, Web didn't know who it could be.

              "Listen up!" she yelled, her sharp voice and something in her tone commanding quick silence.  "My orders as a SAR operative are vague, and necessarily so.  My mission is to make life difficult for the Primans.  So, I thought it would just be a swell idea if we could drag all of you properly elected officials back to Delos.  You march right into the halls of government, demand an accounting of what's been going on, and clean up this mess.  You kick out the impostors, restore government and order, reunite our scattered forces, and annihilate the Primans like the infestation they are.   Can you do that?"

              Again, a chorus of voices rose, each one louder than the next.  As the first round of comments died down, Web heard a measured voice from near them.  It was Senator Thyatt.

              "You say it like it's going to be a problem."

              "Perceptive, Senator," Web replied.  "Senator Dennix has taken steps to block anyone from shining the light on what's been going on.  Our ship, Avenger, has been declared AWOL and convicted of treason.  Communications have been locked down, even among Confed ships.  Not only can we not tell anybody we've rescued you, but if we just go sailing into Confed space there is a good chance we'd be destroyed or imprisoned by Confed forces."

              "So what do we do?" asked Thyatt.

              "We know a guy," Web and Halley said in unison.

              Velk took a half hour to tell his story start to finish.  He began with his early removal as Commander, something that was by itself not an indicator of anything ominous.

              The problem was that he believed it was orchestrated by Representative Tash in order to get control early.  Once he was Commander, Tash consolidated power and even Velk could determine at the time that he was trying to build alliances among the Council.

              Banished to the outskirts of Priman territory, he was captured by Loren and his team, to which Velk admitted it was a daring and brave raid which Loren could be commended on.