Saint (Gateway Series Book 2) (30 page)

“So you’re asking me to just accept there is something I will do that will determine both our fates and your status with all Akota but I can’t ask you about it.”

“Yes. For now.” She smiled. “I know it’s not easy and, given the deception of the Humani leaders, trust is something that must be earned.”

“Yes, it is.”

“I also know that she has long ago earned that trust. But that was your former life, before you realized you were Akota. Maybe someday she will have the same realization as you, but I doubt it. But for now please be wary of her influence, Tyler. She ties you to a world you no longer belong to.”

“But she is no different from me. She can see things as I have begun to…she just needs time.”

“She is not like you,” warned Mori. “I can see it. Even if there is truth in her intentions—”

“There is,” he interrupted.

“Even if there is,” continued Mori, “her path is straightforward. She does not see other paths or avoid pitfalls. I fear she will never accept who she truly is and accept her Akota or Iroqua heritage. Even if she fights with us, she will never be one of us.”

“Don’t ask me to choose,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have to…I can’t—”

“I’m not asking you to today, Tyler. But someday you will need to. For now, I’m only asking you to remember who you have become and not let her drag you back to who you were before…for us.” She stepped in closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I have made mistakes, I know. And I will make more.” She looked up at Stone. “But please believe I will do anything for us and
our
future…which is the future of the Akota people—your people.”

“I’ll try,” replied Stone as he returned her embrace. “And I will try to understand why you can’t tell me what I will need to do…someday.”

He slowly moved his hands to her waist and gently broke their embrace. “But no more secrets. Never.”

“Never,” she replied.

Stone leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers for a slow, soft kiss.

***

Stone could feel Mori’s hand on his as he sat next to her in the large briefing room onboard
Harvest Moon
. Also seated at the table were Orion, Thay, Magnus and Katalya, as well as several Akota field and flag grade officers.

“Where’s my seat?” came a familiar voice as Martin strode into the room.

“You can stand,” replied Thay without looking up from the table.

Stone looked on as Martin, with three guards in tow, confidently paraded across the deck despite the air of anger and hatred for her that hung heavy in the room. “Lively crowd,” she replied as she reached the bulkhead and fell into a leaning position.

“I didn’t think they would let her in the briefing,” whispered Stone.

“I convinced them to let her in,” replied Mori. “Since you trust her, I took responsibility for her.”

“Thank you,” said Stone as he gave her hand a light squeeze.

“Of course with some restrictions,” continued Mori.

“We’ll need your weapons before the senior officers arrive,” Stone overheard one of the guards say to Martin.

“Are you fu…” Martin paused and looked toward Stone. “Fine.” She pulled her pistol from its holster and let it hang from her finger as she presented it to the guard. She then handed over two knives and a short stabbing blade embedded in her belt. “There ya go, buddy.”

The guard remained in front of Martin.

“What?” she snipped.

“Your sword.”

“Not gonna happen,” she replied. “Unless you can take it from me.”

Stone closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Martin definitely walked her own path.

“I’ll be happy to!” declared Thay as he pushed himself from the table and turned toward Martin.

“Stop!” shouted Mori as she stood. “Thay, sit down. You are a guest among the Akota and this Humani—”

“Name’s Martin,” interrupted Martin loudly.

Stone inhaled deeply again. Sometimes Martin was just an asshole. He looked up to see Mori’s fists clenched so tightly her fingers were white as she fought to maintain her composure.

“Martin is a guest of mine. If you insult or challenge her, you do the same to me.”

“Fine,” replied Thay, still looking at Martin. “But one day you and I will finish what we started on that riverbank.”

Martin blew Thay a kiss before responding. “Looking forward to it.” She smiled before she turned toward Mori. “And I’m not giving up my sword.”

“Very well,” conceded Mori, “but please remember you are also a guest and I ask…I demand your respect as well.”

Martin slowly pushed herself from her leaning position and stood straight and tall. “Fair enough.”

“Thank you,” replied Mori as she returned to her seat.

“Thank you,” whispered Stone.

“She doesn’t make things easy,” murmured Mori.

The sudden sound of a large door opening near the head of the table drew Stone’s attention. As the door opened three high-ranking Akota flag officers entered the room with the former First Family general, Nero, at their side. Instinctually, Stone started to pop to attention but remembered his earlier embarrassment and stopped himself.

“Good evening, everyone!” declared the admiral in the center.

“That is Fleet Senior Admiral River, our senior flight officer and a shirt-wearer,” whispered Mori.

“Let’s begin,” continued Admiral River. “Thanks to Ka-itsenko Ino’ka and her team, we have gathered intel that changes the scope of the war as we know it. They have discovered a significant threat to not only the Akota people but the entire Confederation. The Humani, apparently unbeknownst to the Xen or Dorans, have started work on a secret fleet underneath the water surface of the gas planet Dolus on the Humani side of the Dark Zone.”

Stone heard a low rumble move across the room.

“There is more,” said the general standing next to River. “The increase in the slaver operations and the spread of the religious movement known as the Word seem to be part of a Humani and Association plan to supply a large army to augment the fleet being built on Dolus.”

“What is the status of this movement?” asked an officer from the crowd.

“There must have been some disruption,” answered River. “Intel shows several Humani battle groups operating in the area.”

“He’s dead,” shouted Martin from the back as the entire room turned to face her.

“Excuse me,” replied River.

“The Saint…the guy they propped up as their messiah—he’s dead.”

“Oh,” said River. “Our Humani guest. And how do you know this?”

“I saw him blow himself up and take a First Family general with him,” she answered. “But then his followers starting nuking their own populations to take out Humani troop concentration centers and launched hundreds of ships from Echo System throughout the Dark Zone to spread the Word. I’m betting Astra Varus will be looking for recruits somewhere else, but those followers are bona fide nut jobs and are going to cause trouble wherever they go.”

“Interesting news,” replied River.

“And news that will complicate everything,” added the general next to River. “And as our guest said, we are assuming the Humani ProConsul will most likely continue her efforts.”

You have no idea
, thought Stone.

“And that leads to the biggest threat,” said River. “It appears the Humani and the Association have been working on a virus that will significantly degrade human, Doran, and Xen life forms alike and devastate populations. After this happens, she will release her fleet and an army genetically altered to be resistant to the virus on the Confederation.”

Again a low roar consumed the room.

“Quiet, everyone,” ordered River. “With this serious threat in mind, we have laid out the initial planning for a major assault. The largest in our lifetimes.”

Stone’s attention was drawn to a massive digital screen, which illuminated above Admiral River and the other senior officers standing at the head of the table. On the screen was a stellar map showing the Gateway Station and boundary to the Dark Zone as well as Alpha Humana and Dolus.

Admiral River continued. “It is estimated that the Humani secret fleet and troops will not be combat ready, nor the virus active, for several years, but we have decided to strike early.”

“When?” asked a colonel from the group.

“Tentative planning is for eleven standard months. I will turn the details over to General Noe.”

“Thank you, uncle,” replied Noe as he stepped forward. “First, as Shirt-wearer River mentioned, this will be our largest single attack in over two centuries and it would not have been possible without the Iroqua matrons’ agreement to supply warriors to relieve some of our combat troops in less active regions so they will be available for the assault.”

“I only hope this is the first step to full military support and open involvement in the war,” added Thay from his seat.

Noe acknowledged Thay’s comment with a nod and continued. “Our initial objective will be to move through the satellite grid at subjump speeds to prevent deactivation of our reactors by the Gateway defensive systems.”

“But subjump speed will allow the Humani to concentrate their forces and meet us at the Gateway Station,” stated a fleet captain from the table.

“True,” conceded River. “And we will expect heavy casualties.”

“I have volunteered to lead the assault,” added the former Humani General Nero as he stepped to the front. “The losses will be heavy, but we must take out the station to allow the main force to attack Dolus. This is the only option available since we cannot obtain the required daily frequency settings to allow jump speed travel through the Humani side. I believe there are still First Family members that want to resist Xen rule and can obtain the frequencies, but I have been unable to get any agents in position to contact them.”

“You have supporters on Alpha Humana?” interrupted Martin again.

“Yes,” replied Nero. “Not all First Families want to remain under the yoke of the Xen or even the ProConsul.”

“You know this to be true?” asked Martin as she stepped up to the table. “Are you confident there are people on our home planet that will support us and can provide the frequencies?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can be your agent. I will make contact and get the frequencies,” offered Martin as the room again erupted.

“Everyone, keep it down,” ordered Noe as he turned toward Nero. “Will this give you the opportunity you have been looking for to carry out your proposed plan?”

“Yes,” replied Nero quickly. “If Martin can contact the right people quietly and get the information…this could be the day I have been waiting for.”

“Revolution?” asked Stone from his seat, unable to remain silent.

“I’m in,” added Martin.

A strange sense of excitement rushed through Stone’s body as he saw Nero, River, Noe, and the other general talk amongst themselves while the room again began to rumble with a dozen other conversations. After a brief moment, Admiral River turned to face the room.

“Please excuse us,” he said. “We will need to pause this briefing for another twenty-four hours, but I need all fleet admirals and division commanders to remain, as well as the Ka-itsenko, Mr. Stone, and our Humani guest.”

“What’s this about?” Stone asked Mori. “Why are we included?”

“I don’t know,” replied Mori.

Stone wondered what this special meeting would bring as the rest of the officers quickly left the briefing room. In a few moments the attendance had dwindled to the senior officers, including five fleet admirals and four division commanders, along with Stone, Mori, Thay, and Martin. All were sitting around the large table in the center of the room, except Martin.

“Please join us,” asked Admiral River as he motioned for Martin to take her seat.

“Guess who’s moving up,” said Martin as she bounced to the table and sat in the chair next to Stone.

With Mori and Martin flanking him, Stone felt an invisible force tearing him apart as if they were opposing forces of nature.

“This changes everything,” said Nero to start the meeting. “If Martin can return to Alpha Humana and retain her status, she can make contact with key opposition leaders.”

“I left Port Royal alone with the colonel and the others as prisoners. If we can come up with a story about them escaping and that keeps me on the planet for a while, I can do it. But it will have to be believable.”

“And if you can be discreet as you make the contacts,” added Nero.

“Discretion is my middle name,” replied Martin as she plopped her legs onto the table.

“Is she for real?” whispered Mori to Stone.

“She likes to put on a show,” answered Stone quietly. “But she’ll do what she needs to in order to complete a mission.”

“If you can pull this off. This will be the new plan,” said Nero as he again illuminated the large screen.

“Once you have support of the First Families—and I will give Martin the details after the brief—then you’ll need to find a reason to head back into the Dark Zone in about seven standard months in order to give us a debriefing and set a final assault date.”