Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Consequence (26 page)

              Shae swallowed and tried desperately to not look nervous.  He recognized the man, had in fact met him ever so briefly when he'd gone to Priman space to negotiate the sham 'treaty' on behalf of Senator Dennix a year or so back.

              The Priman gave the tiniest of smiles.  "You recognize me, do you not?  I realize your time among my people was mostly spent with subordinates, but I remember you well."

              Shae nodded.  "I remember you, sir."

              "Good.  I would talk with Senator Dennix.  Now is a good time."  The Commander simply leaned back in his chair in the darkened room he was broadcasting from, staring at Enric expectantly.

              "I'll go get him." 

Fourteen

              Enric Shae stood outside the inner quarters of Zek Dennix.  While he had housing elsewhere in the city, he hadn't gone there in as long as either of them could remember.  Zek had once accidentally admitted that he felt as though if he left the building for too long somebody would try to wrest control for themselves.

              To that end, he'd had quarters intended for visiting dignitaries renovated as his personal living space, complete with a private gallery that led to his main offices as well as back entrances to a number of other spaces in the building.  Enric could see the man had begun to show signs of paranoia; not the healthy sort that kept politicians in business and on top of the game, but the kind that would get a normal civilian checked into a facility where there were padded edges on everything and people always spoke slowly and softly to people for their own well being.  Soon now, the Primans would finally ditch Dennix, and Enric sincerely hoped they'd follow through on their part of the bargain to prop him up in the Senator's place.

              For now, all he could do was enter the code to open the door, which slid quietly into the wall.  He took a few steps into the dimly-lit chamber and tapped the wall console, bringing the lights slowly up to half bright.

              He stood in the main living area, though he could see the double doors to the master bedroom were ajar.

              "Senator," Shae called.  No answer, so he did exactly what he'd been ordered to do.

              "Senator!" he said, noticeably louder.  The Senator only trusted one person to enter his quarters, but Enric didn't want to startle the man, either; he wasn't entirely sure the Senator wasn't armed in there, and he didn't want to find out.

              "What?" came a muffled response.

              Best to just shock him to full consciousness.  "The Priman Commander is waiting for you on the comm system.  He called me directly and he said he'll hold the connection while I get you."

              Shae heard scrambling, something hitting the floor, a few muffled curses, then the lights went on.  A minute later, Senator Zek Dennix emerged from the master bedroom, dressed in fresh, pressed clothes and running a cleaner through his hair.

              "I'll take it here in the sitting room."  Dennix pointed to a screen on the wall near a bookcase that held some old fashioned paper books.

              The Senator sat down, composed himself one last time in the way only a seasoned political veteran could, then nodded to Enric, who transferred the connection.

              The face of the Commander appeared, someone Dennix had never seen in person before.  Always his dealings had been with Priman handlers; sometimes messages were passed through Shae, a source of deep irritation to Dennix.  Talking to the Commander face to face, though, was both a relief and source of much concern.

              "Senator Dennix," the Priman began, "I am short on time so I will be brief.  I have an opportunity to seize a great number of our holdings and place them firmly under Priman control right now.  This cannot be ignored, so I will be arriving in the Delos system within twelve hours with a sizable fleet.  When I arrive, you will have your fleets stand down and not approach my vessels.  We will enter high orbit over Delos, and together and I will announce the formal integration of the Confederation into the Priman hierarchy.  You will continue to rule, nothing will change.  This merely cements the treaty stipulations we've been working under these past months.  Your population will formally recognize the change of status from adversaries to partners.  The rest will sort itself out in due time.  You shall have your peace, Senator, and you can claim it all as your own doing for all I care.  I simply need to remove the Confederation from my list of active enemies."

              Senator Dennix didn't know what to say at all.  He knew, as an abstract idea, that this day would arrive, but not this soon!  This should have taken years to arrange, and now he was being told to expect a turnover within twelve hours!  He had no idea how this was going to go smoothly, but obviously there wasn't much choice to be had.  He would make do, somehow.

              "Commander," he replied, trying his best to not let any cracks in his composure show through, "there is an issue that will require addressing before you arrive."  He took a breath and saw the annoyed look on the Priman's face, but pressed on before the other man had a chance to speak.  "We recently received an all-frequencies message from Admiral Nodam Bak, in command of a fleet near the front lines.  He claimed there was an attack force arriving to destroy us.  I assume that he was talking of your force?"

              The Commander stood up and leaned in towards the camera pickup, annoyance turning to barely bridled anger.  "I am the one in charge here, Senator!  Those absurd claims are from a fleet containing the biggest obstacles to our consolidation; Avenger, Majestic, Nodam Bak, Sirian Elco, Loren Stone!  You are accountable for them and their actions, Senator, and they are trying to steer events to their own ends.  Perhaps they favor endless conflict.  Perhaps they want the military to control the Confederation.  I do not know nor do I care.  They are an impediment, a thorn in the side of my people and should be considered the same to yours as well.  Who will you side with, Senator, because I must know this instant how my fleet will disperse and organize upon arrival at Delos!"

              Dennix froze.  Who was right?  Did it matter?  What if Bak and Elco were telling the truth, that the Commander was there to level Delos and take power?  But then Confed would never stop fighting and the Commander would be no better off, would he?  So then what if the Priman was telling the truth; that they were arriving to enforce their end-game and place Confed under their control with himself, Senator Zek Dennix, at the head of the table?  Who should he side with?  He apparently didn't have time to decide.  The Primans would be here first, that was for sure, and he wouldn't have any help; he'd ordered Enric Shae to block further transmissions from Admiral Bak, told the military to disregard the rogue signal, and even turn away the few offers of help that came trickling in after the message was received.  There was no help coming; that made the decision a fairly simple, if painful one.

              "We await your arrival in peace, Commander," Dennix replied flatly.

              The screen went blank and Dennix sat there, shocked, unable to move or think clearly.  The world had stopped spinning, and all he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears, like listening to the ocean in a seashell.  Finally, he noticed Enric Shae standing off behind him, face an impassive mask, no emotion.  He couldn't read the man, but their fortunes were tied together so he assumed Enric would take the next step with pragmatism.

              "Enric, there is the small, off chance, slightest risk that this may not go well for us, either at the hands of the Primans or our own populace.  Maybe even the military.  It's just too soon, dammit; the people aren't ready to transition yet." He paused, ashamed to ask the question but knowing it must be done.  "Do we have a plan to get out of here if necessary?"

              "I can make some calls." 

              The Commander severed the connection and laughed, glad he'd stayed in his VIP cabin to make the call.  It might have bolstered the crew if they saw him make the deal and force the Confed politician to grovel in front of him, but he hadn't wanted to take the chance of an insubordinate response. 

              It didn't matter in the end, in any case.  Once they arrived over Delos, they'd level the capital, destroy what few ships were there while their shields were down and submissive, then be waiting for the pathetic little Confed fleet to catch up with them along with Ravine and her foolish followers.  He'd have to destroy her vessel immediately so she couldn't try and usurp his power somehow, but once that problem was taken care of, he'd rally another force of ships and move on to the Talarans, and then the Hamm Collective, and the Dreen, and all the way into the galactic core.  Nobody would stand up to them once this spiral arm was his.

              Tash stood next to the ship's captain, hands clasped behind his back in an unconscious mimicking of Velk's posture and bearing.  As much as he despised the man, it was not for his abilities to command ships or men.  No, it was because the men and women of the Priman military truly respected and liked Velk, whereas Tash knew they simply followed his orders.  If somebody had pointed out his parroting of the former Commander's traits, Tash would probably have reacted badly.

              Right now, though, he was riding high.  They'd revert in the Delos system in less than a minute and proceed at max speed right to the planet itself.  Based on what they found there, they'd disperse the fleet as necessary and deal with the ships they found.  His analysts assured him he'd have almost ten minutes before the remains of the Confed fleet could arrive and cause problems.  His jamming would be in full force by then, both within his own fleet and affecting the rest of the system if need be.  Nothing was going to stop them.

              "Reversion," announced a bridge officer from off to the side.  The front bulkhead of the bridge shimmered and appeared to vanish, holographic fields creating a virtual view of the system ahead.  A smaller holographic display, much like Confed's own ships sported, sparked to life on the port side of the bridge as well.  Tash strode a few steps forward, inspecting Delos.  Several Confed navy vessels were identified, all holding station with weapons unpowered and shields down.  There was a Centurion class defense platform ahead as well, bit it too looked like it was at a complete stand-down.

              They'd be in orbit in ten minutes.

              "Lieutenant," Elco said softly from where he'd taken a seat next to Caho's station in the sensor shack at the rear of the bridge, "we have a problem."

              "This is in addition to all our standard problems?  Something new?" she asked with a straight face.

              "Yes.  New and horrible."

              "What do we need to do, sir?"

              "When we get to Delos, the Primans will have a head start.  They'll probably be right over Delos, right in the middle of everything.  They'll have twice as many ships as us, be in a better tactical position, and will have us reacting to their moves instead of us calling the shots.  This all ends, though, if we destroy the rogue Commander's ship.  Kill him, the jamming signal drops.  A few hours ago, we received a text burst from the new Priman Commander and her force, along with some tasking from Admiral Bak.  The Commander assured us that if we destroy this Tash fellow's ship, the jamming signal will reset because it's coordinated under his authority on that particular vessel.  When the signal resets, the Commander will regain communication and take control of all Priman forces.  The goal, Lieutenant, the only thing we need to do, is find out which ship is Tash's.  The Priman Commander will be looking too, of course, but the only thing that concerns me is finding Tash's ship and ending it violently.  I need you to tell us which ship he's on, Lieutenant."

              Caho understood.  Rarely was the captain so somber.  Serious, yes, but he spoke now with a gravity that emphasized the importance of this task.  She took it as a badge of honor to identify the rogue Priman's ship before the other Primans did.

              "I'll find them, Captain."

              Tash was trying his level best to not laugh.  They'd arranged themselves in orbit high above the capital city.

              "Captain," Tash said evenly.  "Let's show them some sort of parade formation, let them think we're showing off a bit.  In reality, we need to make sure we get maximum coverage of our weapons on the capital."

              Captain Toron, master of the ship Pincer, showed a feral grin.  He'd followed the leadership's policies as they'd gone back and forth, but right now, in this moment, he saw the endgame his people had been promised all those generations.  The humans wouldn't surrender, and now they would perish.

              "Establish a connection to Senator Dennix," commanded Tash.  "I want to see the look on his face when we open fire."

              Dennix received the hail he'd been dreading.  It was the Commander, and he knew the Priman expected a quick reply.  The Senator sat at his desk, back straight, clean garments, polished rings; he'd look regal when he met with the Priman later.  He tapped the flashing icon to accept the connection.

              "Commander," Dennix started.  "Welcome to Delos.  I trust our preparations are within the guidelines we agreed upon?"

              "Oh yes," the Priman agreed.  "You have done everything I asked.  Your ships, your capital, your entire Confederacy; they all look so vulnerable like this, I suppose.  Good thing we have such a fine working relationship, right?"

              Dennix suddenly got the chills.  Despite his best efforts, a shiver raced down his spine

              "Good riddance, Senator Dennix," said the Priman, formerly impassive face turning angry as the facade crumbled.  He turned his head ever so much.  "Open fire!"