Last Measure of Devotion (TCOTU, Book 5) (This Corner of the Universe) (6 page)

Covington
and Tannault exchanged knowing looks.  “I guess that exchange explains why
Gables is leaving Seshafi,” Tannault judged.

Hall’s
eyebrows arched upward.  “She’s leaving?  Interesting.”  He scratched his chin
purposefully.  “Anyway,” he resumed, “Gables left the bridge at a run.  As she
was going to the main deck on the starboard wing, Miranda said that Gables
contacted her to get more information on the heat exchange control panel.” 
Hall stepped forward as he delivered the penultimate gossip.  “Miranda wished
her luck and the last thing Gables said was, ‘If Anelace could make it to the
end then this piece of Hollie crap can too.’”

Covington
shrugged dismissively.  “Naval officers disparage their ships in the heat of
the moment all the time, Mark.”

Hall
shook his head and replied, “That’s not what I’m talking about, Clayton.  I
spent the last week in Records.  The only information I could find about a ship
named Anelace was a corvette that held off a flotilla of pirates but was ultimately
lost with half her crew over a year ago.”

Tannault’s
eyes widened.  “Half her crew?  Ouch.  Well, that certainly sounds like the
calling card of our fleet commander.  Was Garrett Heskan the captain?”

Hall
raised his hands upward as he shrugged uncertainly.  “I don’t know.  It was
just a two-line blurb in a larger article.”  He smiled impishly as he doled out
the information.  “But get this, the article was a propaganda piece about how
the
Brevic Republic
was making remote mining operations safer by cracking
down on pirate activity in their,” he made air quotes as he said, “Northern
sector.”

“What?”
Covington cocked his head to a side.

Hall
was nodding now.  “Anelace was a ‘Vic corvette, Clayton.”

“That
can’t be…”  Covington’s head shot upward.  “Wait a minute!  Didn’t Captain
Heskan say ‘East’ during this last briefing?”

The
rolling, green waves in the nearby ocean were buffeted under the Hollaran
shuttlecraft’s downward thrust.  The tiny transport teetered slightly as it
approached the shuttle pad before settling upon its landing gear.  A
kontradmiral quickly descended the shuttle’s ramp and was escorted toward the
Roman-styled palatial estate.  Neither the man’s rank nor his position as
Assistant to the Chief of Hollaran Coreward Intelligence allowed him to bypass
the security procedures waiting attentively for him at the estate’s entrance.

Once
past those protocols and inside the main quarters, the flag officer walked hurriedly
to a library that not only contained a dizzying collection of actual, leather-bound
books but the frail woman he sought.

Samanta
De Luca smiled but did not rise from her seat.  “Hello, Daniel.  What has taken
you all the way from Ocean and down to the surface?”

Kontradmiral
Daniel Nichols returned the matriarch’s smile and answered, “I have some
important news regarding the problem we fixed several months ago.”  He circled
around a broad, padded ottoman to sit across from De Luca.  “It seems there has
been a firestorm of inquiries about one person we implanted into Secure
Solutions.”

Ancient
brown eyes swept over the flag officer.  “Your man inside the Foster Fifteen
has given them nothing, yes?”

Nichols
nodded.  “Of course.  He and I share a bond that transcends his time inside
that organization.  He won’t divulge the true nature of the man we helped
disappear.  However, this firestorm has now spread to us.  The head of the
Saden navy has been discreetly using his contacts within the Commonwealth.  I
know, personally, of five attempts by this man to gain access to the personnel
records of one Komandor Garrett Heskan and those are just the efforts I’ve been
made aware of.”

De
Luca shrugged while shifting her cane to the front.  The elderly woman began
the slow, torturous process of standing.  “Let Wallace waste his resources. 
He’s obviously never going to find such records.”  With a painful huff, the
woman leaned heavily on her cane and rose from her chair.  She looked at the
intelligence officer with a questioning eye.  “You came all the way here to
tell me this?”

“No,
there’s more.  My contact also says that because Secure Solutions has no
suitable explanation why they sent a privateer to fight on behalf of Seshafi,
they are planning to provide an unusual level of support to Sade during any new
casus belli
between the two star systems.  Their conflict is far from
over.”

De
Luca frowned as she moved her gaze to the full-length wall screen set to window
mode.  It was another perfect day in the Chausible Archipelago.  “That was an
unfortunate mistake but how could we have known that Sade paid the Foster
Fifteen for non-interference in the matter.  It makes no difference, however. 
I will do what I must to protect my niece’s love.”

Nichols
shifted uncomfortably at the unusually personal candor from the woman.  Wanting
to change the delicate subject he questioned, “How is Isabella?  I heard she
was promoted before accepting command of the Tikoloshe.  Wasn’t her task force
involved in defeating the Brevic counterattack in Kalyke?”

“Yes,
her cruiser sustained moderate damage,” De Luca replied.  “But her task force
retained control over the Brevic system and smashed what we believe to be the
last of the ‘Vic carriers.  Not only have we forced the Republic to the
bargaining table but we have united the New Roma star systems once again.”  De
Luca smiled slightly to herself as she added, “And my blood was instrumental in
the reunification.”

“Where
is the Tikoloshe now?”

“Isabella
received orders to sail to Devera for repairs along with the other damaged
ships from the task force, although the bulk of that fleet remains in Kalyke under
Wiceadmiral DeTongas.  My understanding is that we will use that system as a
bartering chip for the peace process.”

“She’s
so close to Hollara,” Nichols observed.  “Why doesn’t she come home while her
cruiser is in the repair yard?”

“Because
she is still running from herself.”  De Luca sighed.  “She is running from her
feelings of personal loss and we both know that throwing yourself into your
work is the most common means of distraction.”

“And
we both know the futility of it,” Nichols replied forlornly.

De
Luca took several seconds to turn her unwilling frame toward her companion.  “I
will not shatter her illusions.  She will discover this for herself but every
day apart is one more day that weakens their bond.”  She lowered her head
fractionally as she admitted, “Perhaps I am being selfish but I’m afraid of
losing her again.”

“We could always
choose not to intercede in the matter of Secure Solutions and Sade,” Nichols
offered.

*  *  *

The announcement
from the Devera tunnel point controller crackled over
Caracaras’
bridge
speakers, creating a natural lull in the routine conversations playing out
inside the compartment. “AV Caracaras, your flotilla is clear to dive.”

“It’s
about time,” her captain muttered.  He briefly glanced at the zoomed-in
tactical plot showing a narrow section of space to confirm his six-ship privateer
task force was in good order.  “Casey, send this:  Squadron One-One, this is
Komandor Lake.  We’ve been cleared to tunnel, finally.  Prepare to dive for
Devera upon my signal.”

The
delay in the Acca Larentia system had actually been minor, his squadron forced
to heave to and give a small task force of Hollaran warships priority over the
tunnel point.  Delays could always be expected.  The Secure Solutions privateer
company was based in an important Hollaran star system and the squadron was sailing
a major traffic lane.  However, each hour waiting at various tunnel points
added up and his squadron still required seven additional dives to arrive at
Sade.  It would take the better part of two weeks to make the voyage, providing
them barely a week to integrate into the Saden defense fleet.

“Navigation,
commence our dive when ready,” Lake ordered as he settled himself into the
comfort of his captain’s chair.  The nausea of the transition into tunnel space
would still strike at him, like all other humans, despite a full career of
sailing the tunnels.

“Aye,
Komandor,” came the reply after a brief pause.

It
promised to be a busy couple of months, Lake realized.  Eleven days sailing to
Sade, an intense week’s worth of exercises and then a defensive action against
the neighboring star system.  Upon conclusion of that engagement, he would
immediately return to Hollaran space, to Secure Solutions’ homeport, and repair
and provision an even larger squadron.  That force would face the inevitable
return trip to Sade in support of IaCom’s anticipated
casus bellum,
the
next retaliation in the ongoing conflict.

Lake felt almost
sorry for the Seshafian fleet commander his squadron would surely pummel as the
disorientation of
Caracaras’
dive overtook him.

*  *  *

Heskan
stood in his quarters and stared at himself in the mirror.  While some may have
thought his Seshafian naval coat looked sparse, a mere two medals rested across
his left breast, Heskan preferred the sleek look of a uniform unburdened by
rows of awards.  Given the corporate system’s standard policy of permitting
medals awarded from past navies on their uniforms, Heskan certainly could have
significantly augmented the meager line had he not wanted to conceal his
origins.  The truth, however, was that even if Heskan could obtain the Brevic
medals awarded him, he felt those medals would be somehow diminished by placing
them on his current coat. 
Those medals were paid for with Brevic blood,
he thought. 
They deserve a Brevic uniform
. 
Besides, I don’t mind
making a fresh start here
.  He looked again in the mirror and for the first
time in many years, his eyes did not linger over the location where he refused
to add a certain awarded medal. 
Fresh starts are good
.  Heskan took a
final check of his uniform starting at his shoes.  Critical eyes moving slowly upward,
he inspected every line and thread to ensure compliance with AmyraCorp’s dress
and appearance standards.  He was pleased to see the uniform’s occupant smiling
when he reached the top.  A knock on the door punctuated his ritual.

“Enter,”
he said loudly.

The
door to Heskan’s cabin opened to reveal the lithe form of Vernay.  The dark
blue of her service dress counterbalanced the striking blue in her eyes.  With
a smile, she walked in.  The smile twisted roguishly as she brought her right
hand up to the single, gold braid that wrapped under her right shoulder’s
epaulette.

“Nice
to see you found the time to fit the command braid to your coat, Stacy,” Heskan
quipped.

She
ran slender fingers delicately over the cord.  “Oh, this?  Is that what this
is?”

Heskan
returned her playful smile.  “I saw your latest report on Ajax.”

“She’ll
be ready, sir.  We’ve been working like mad since I’ve taken command. 
Midshipman Pruette has cracked the proverbial whip with the gunnery crews,
although he may never forgive you after you promoted and transferred PO Thomas
off Ajax,” she teased.  Former Gunnersmate Second Class Tyler Pruette had
accepted his commission and subsequent elevation to the fourth-rate’s WEPS
position with aplomb.  The new status helped him swallow the bitter pill of
losing Gunnersmate Third Class Lee Thomas.

“Did
that sub-lieutenant cope with the fact you placed a midshipman over her?”
Heskan asked.

Pruette’s
promotion to
Ajax’s
weapons section commander came with the
uncomfortable task of explaining to a Seshafian sub-lieutenant why a junior
officer would be installed above her.  Ship captains inside the Republic held
wide latitude on arranging their ship’s command hierarchy however they saw
fit.  However, Seshafi practiced a much more traditional naval regime and the sub-lieutenant
had taken the perceived slight poorly.

“I took
the Chief’s recommendation and transferred her off Ajax, sir,” Vernay
admitted.  “However, I did give her a good OPR before she left.  I didn’t end
her career or anything but she wasn’t going to adjust and I don’t have time for
babying her ego.”  Her smile widened.  “I think it also sent a message that the
times are a-changin’ on Ajax.  My ship
will
be the best ship in the
navy.”  The determination in her voice was easy to perceive.

“Hey,
hey, hey,” Heskan warned.  “I think that distinction will be reserved for Dioscuri.”

“Have
you told Nguyen yet?”

Heskan
shook his head.  “I want to wait until after this ball.”

“Captain,
don’t you think you’d be safer on the C-Three ship?”

Heskan
growled lightly.  “Stacy, I’ve already told you that in order to inspire, you
have to lead from the front.  I’m not hiding in the rear echelon and ordering
sailors to take risks that I’m unwilling to take.”

“Garrett…”
Vernay said softly.

Heskan
shook his head fiercely.  “No, Stacy.  End of discussion.  I don’t care about corporate
tradition.”  He gestured between the two of them.  “We’re Brevic and we lead the
charge.”

“Like
Hayes?” Vernay asked sarcastically.

Heskan
looked at her sternly.  “That’s not fair.  Admiral Hayes did lead from the
front.  He was on Avenger and took the same risks as everyone on that ship.” 
He paused slightly as he sighed at the memories.  “And he didn’t run away in
Helike.  He preserved a priceless asset so it could be used again in the war
effort.”  Heskan lowered his head in thought and his voice became less certain. 
“Frankly, I wonder if Captain Gray was wrong and we should have just left the
pilots and cleared the system.”

Shock
washed over Vernay’s face.  “You don’t mean that, Captain.  What about the
Brevic tradition of not leaving our people behind?  Gables would be dead along
with all the other pilots.”

“I
know you’re right,” Heskan conceded.  “I guess what I meant to say is that war
never gives you easy choices and oftentimes the ones that end up saving the
most lives are the hardest ones to make.”  Real concern leaked into his voice
as he prophesized, “I think we’re both going to experience that firsthand,
Stacy.  This war with IaCom could go very badly for us.”

Vernay
tilted her head in agreement and stepped closer to a higher-ranking officer
than she had any right to.  Her voice softened as she stared into Heskan’s
eyes.  “That’s why I wish you’d command from the C-Three ship, where it’s safe. 
The vanguard is going to get pounded, Garrett.”

“Not going to happen,
Stacy.”  Heskan took an unconscious step back from the intimacy her proximity
had created.  “That’s final, Commander.”  He turned from her and walked habitually
toward the closet for his cover before remembering the Seshafian navy did not use
hats.  “Besides, I think the last battle proved there are no safe places in a corporate
war.”

*  *  *

The
center of the Saden star system shone crimson.  Like nearly three quarters of
all stars in the galaxy, it was a cool-burning, red star with a habitability
zone much closer than Sol’s.  Expanding outward from the center, nine planets
orbited the red sentinel at measured paces.  The second planet possessed the
necessary ingredients to sustain human life.  Three additional terrestrial
planets followed Sade proper but were barren, arid wastelands.  The system’s
trio of jovians came next with a tiny dwarf planet capping the major bodies of
the star system.