Schism of Blood and Stone (The Starfield Theory Book 1) (15 page)

“Lord Damien Sten has hired Hronguards in the past to fight Dominion troops and Drayton's now hired them as security. Lord Morlan was not amused, but he seems a good fellow.”

“Seems a good fellow?” Nick's screwed up face screwed up even more.

“They just want to get home and are happy for the help.”

Nick snorted.

Chris ignored him. “Make sure Claire takes a look at you. I don't want my XO looking like he got his ass beat either. We have a reputation to maintain.”

“You should see the other guys,” Nick said nonchalantly but did not elaborate. “Listen, I don't think I made any friends, just now. Maybe we ought to get out of here as soon as possible,” Nick added without looking back.

And that's not just a suggestion,
Chris knew instantly.

“Alright, that's fine. Kerali's just putting the last touches on our new gear. We'll go as soon as she's done.”

Nick stomped on to the ship looking decidedly unhappy.

Chris looked in the direction Nick had come, a thought in the back of his mind suddenly worrying about what Nick had said.
The sooner we get this done the better for all of us.

Lord Damien Sten

Duke of Hidelborg, Defender of the Border, The Gray Knight

Crimson Lady,
Goteborg, Magdeborg Commonwealth

______________

“No mistakes today,” Damien murmured to himself on the
Crimson Lady's
command bridge. He rubbed at the chair's arms, feeling the familiar fabric that countless leaders before him had settled in.

The crew was busy with their assigned tasks and the vessel’s captain silently watched over them, mindful of the Commonwealth’s royal family present. They kept a polite distance, acknowledging the gulf that divided them in status. The captain was a nobleman from one of Hidelborg's vassal houses, but not of royal descent, but he might as well have been a commoner like the rest of the crew. The interior of the bridge was small as far as flagships went and was home to only a dozen or so crew.
They work more diligently when I am here,
Damien thought.
It is awkward for Captain Branah, but this matter is too important to allow for any mistakes. If I have to make him uncomfortable then so be it.

Damien's command chair overlooked the strategic tank as well as the other stations on the second floor. He had complete control of the bridge from this central location, overriding even the captain. He
watched the giant strategic tank that dominated the bridge. It reached from floor to ceiling and emanated a blue light that Damien found irritating. The rest of the bridge remained dark so the contains of the tank could be observed. Tiny labeled spots indicated the location of Damien's ships as well as civilian and Azuren vessels. As civilian ships jumped in system they were cataloged and then deleted from the tank if they did not meet the specifications he wanted. Damien kept all the Azuren vessels labeled and tracked out of abundance of caution.

Usually the Azuren thoroughly checked each and every ship that entered and left the system, but many of these ships were left undisturbed. Aaron and Slader spoke with the legate, but Ojressi did nothing to help them. The number of private and corporate vessels fleeing the system had increased substantially and the Azuren and Averi simply did not have the manpower to search each one.

State military ships and those of the nobility were typically jumped to the head of the inspection line and only given a cursory look over, especially when it was commanded by house royalty. Even the Azuren knew when to appear to respect local authorities. Some of the more arrogant heads of state liked to pretend the lax practice indicated respect for their titles, but Damien knew better. Azuren political doctrine was based on order, not political nicety, and certainly not because they felt any respect for the primitive human governments. They generally trusted the interstellar core states to manage their territory jealously and allowed them to do so almost as a form of power outsourcing. Therefore, holding up their ships in inspection lines only decreased their ability to keep order. They were simply achieving their own ends by proxy in the same manner the human lords allowed their vassals local control of their territory. The Azuren could manipulate the human states into obeying just by pretending they had legitimacy. Damien had to tip his cap to the Azuren; it was a brilliantly managed strategy. Like any good strategy it achieved maximum benefit at minimal effort.

Currently, the
Crimson Lady
was stationed at Goteborg along with the majority of the border fleet. Damien had scrounged as many of his forces as he could and posted them here to fend off the inevitable Dominion attack. Because the Azuren controlled the stargates, they alone determined who could travel through them and when. The movement of military equipment to attack other states required Azuren clearance. The only forewarning Damien would receive would be the disappearing of Azuren vessels from the stargate that indicated a large incoming fleet. He had scouts deployed around the gate at all times, analyzing the movement of Azuren ships that would give away the Dominion invasion force.

Other civilian vessels arriving from nearby Dominion systems were routinely stopped and searched by his own troops. Their crews were interrogated for information, but so far nothing had been uncovered about the Dominion plans or about Lord Morlan's whereabouts. If the Dominion was planning an invasion, it was being kept well hidden. How the entire Dominion fleet could not be spotted along the whole length of the border was troubling. Damien knew the invasion wouldn't proceed without Lord Morlan at the helm, but the general hadn't been found yet after his escape and he had no way of knowing if he had sneaked back to the Dominion. There were a lot of unsettled solar systems with token garrisons manned in some cases by private firms who could, easily, be bribed. Pershing certainly had the weight of his wealth and power behind him so passing through those systems would be easy.

He ordered Aaron and several security teams to Garda to go top to bottom, tearing the place apart if they had to. They were already en route. It was vitally important to get to the twins before the Sørensens did. They would be escorted back to the
Crimson Lady
and gently informed of their heritage and their future. They needed to see an ally in Damien Sten, and ideally understand that they were not prepared to lead the Commonwealth and abdicate in his favor at the appropriate time. It was slow, Damien consented, but legitimate and legal. Seizing power now would set half the houses against him and a little patience would go a long way. With the Commonwealth on edge between the war and the sudden death of the Archduke, any more shocks might trigger outright civil war.

Captain Branah maintained his distance, but kept an eye on the activity of the nobles on his bridge. He had been told only that an important arrest would be made shortly and Damien would personally oversee the operation. Branah made no complaint and allowed Damien exclusive use of his ship.

Damien kept the
Crimson Lady
in orbit around Goteborg, and
had Reyna take over a communications station so he could be confident the information he received was accurate. She would also notify him discretely if there were any other warnings about roundups of Theorists. This was not a mission he wanted to leave to just any ship’s crew. Even though the
Crimson Lady
was one of the most advanced ships in the Commonwealth fleet, he wanted this operation done quickly and quietly and he could trust only those loyal to House Sten or himself.

“Lord Damien,” Reyna said suddenly.

“Yes?”

“I just got a hit on his ship,” she said. “He's leaving Garda on a course for the stargate.”

Damien narrowed his brow and turned his attention to the strategic tank. “Show me.”

Reyna manipulated some controls and brought up an overlay of Goteborg and the immediate area. Garda hung near the planet and tiny representations of ships were flowing in and out of its hangars. One ship in particular was highlighted then expanded. Data streams emerged on the curved glass of the tank detailing the ship's characteristics: freighter class, seven years old, crew of twelve, registered to Kristoffer of Goteborg (Evers), purchased by Sir Ian Evers (Evers). The last part concerned him. Destination: unknown.

“It's tagged
DLT MacCleod
, looks like a medium sized converted civilian vessel,” Reyna added.

“I was hoping to avoid any sort of deep space encounter. Has Aaron docked at Garda?” Damien asked.

“Negative.”

“Pull them out of the docking queue and send a priority message to Aaron to intercept that ship,” he barked. “Comms, place an emergency call to the legate's office. I want that ship stopped.”

Reyna cast a glanced in his direction. He nodded sharply, indicating he knew perfectly well the dangers of Starfield Theorists contacting the Azuren. If they even bothered to take his call they might not be able to act in time either and he really had no justification for stopping the ship anyway without needing to explain the incident and reveal more to the Azuren than they needed to know. The less the Azuren knew about the twins, the better.

“I'll pull the logs from his company,” Reyna said. Before she could do so she added, “Aaron is reporting.”

Damien donned a pair of headphones and signaled the transmission.

“Go ahead.”

“We're not going to be able to catch him,” Aaron warned. “Even if he gets in the stargate queue quickly, the Azuren might not put him through customs since he's such a small civilian ship.”

“His course changed,” Reyna reported suddenly. “He's pulled away from the jump queue and is headed deeper into the system. His speed in increasing rapidly.”

“Don't bother with the company logs. Hail him directly, order him to stop his ship,” Damien commanded.

He leaned back in the chair, tapping his fingers together anxiously. Long minutes seemed to stretch on forever. A boarding in space would attract attention. It would be even worse if they had to forcibly stop a vessel that at one point was owned by Sir Ian Evers. The media would catch wind of this and no matter how hard he or House Evers cracked down on them, news would still leak. Something is afoot in Goteborg. The rumor mills would be at full production.

Damien watched the tagged ship travel through the tank passing Goteborg itself and heading deeper into the system.
What is the young man up to? There's nothing in the far reaches of the solar system, but a few research stations and a tourist hotspot around the purple gas giant.

After a few moments, Reyna looked back at him. “No response.”

“Just get us closer. The intercept ships are taking too long.”

Damien watched his nephew’s ship icon flash on the screen as the
Crimson Lady
maneuvered to close the distance. The
MacCleod
was faster than he gave it credit initially and a big warship like the
Crimson Lady
would take far too long to get into position.

The icon vanished.

Damien leaped from his chair. “What happened?”

“We lost the signal. Trying to get it back,” Reyna reported.

“How did we lose the signal? He’s in open space,” Aaron murmured quietly, apparently listening in on the conversation from his shuttle.

“Did the sensors fail?” Damien asked, composing himself again. The flame in his mind was flickering with nervous tension.

“No. He jumped out system,” Reyna said calmly. As absurd as the suggestion was, there was no other logical conclusion.

“Impossible. Only the Azuren possess mobile generators. Use of it is illegal on human civilian and military vessels,” Aaron protested, his voice tinny and distant through Damien's headset.

“Illegal, but not impossible, Aaron. Just because someone says you can’t do something doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t. Mere words on paper do not govern. Reyna, start putting together a list of potential systems he jumped to-”

“My Lord General, message coming in from Goteborg Command and Control,” Captain Branah said. “It's a private message, my lord. Urgent,” he added as excuse for interrupting.

Damien sighed, irritated. They must have noticed the ship vanish as well, but the only way they'd have detected the signal loss is if they were tracking it directly.
Who else has their eyes on him?

“Route it to my chambers, Captain,” Damien said. He restrained the urge to throw the headset across the bridge and walked smartly to the exit. “Reyna...”

“Yes, my lord,” she said following in his wake.

Once they were safely in the empty corridor Damien spat in sharp tones. “Get Aaron back to the ship immediately. This could be anything.”

Reyna nodded. She knew anything other than absolute obedience when Damien was as agitated as he was. He appeared to be in complete control of his emotions, but boiling under his facade was a barely controlled rage that in his younger years was expelled on the battlefield, but now was more frequently unleashed on his subordinates.

Damien flashed his thumb over a reader and his office door slid open. Reyna followed quietly. He fell into his chair and regarded the blinking light on his screen suspiciously. No good news ever came via urgent emergency channels. He hit the switch.

The sigil of House Sten flickered onto Damien's desk screen and it slowly dissolved into the familiar throne room on Magdeborg. Damien had spent plenty of time in the chamber when his father was Archduke. He and Peter would play there as children while sycophant nobles would often try to amuse and entertain them as their parents watched on in approval.

The camera took in the throne room then slowly zoomed in on the center throne. Salena Teton-Sten sat comfortably in its embrace, her gown regally arranged to show a careful degree of power and feminism at once. She abandoned the purple highlights of House Teton and preferred the deep blue, white and gold of the Sten family. Behind her the Commonwealth's insignia in a stained glass window filtered the mid afternoon light giving the chair and its occupant an aura of divine power. She held herself with a sense of purpose and authority with such skill that even Damien would have struggled to maintain the regal posture.

Damien narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Surely, Salena couldn't be on Magdeborg and certainly not in the throne room.

“Lord General Damien, I hope this message finds you in good health. I felt the need to dispatch an urgent message to you, a warning of a great deception that nearly cost our house our rightful place as Amrah's sovereigns and rightful owners of the title to Magdeborg and all its fiefs.”