Wrath of Axia (The Arcadian Jihad) (18 page)

“Admiral, what is going on here?”

“It’s a security matter, Ma’am, nothing to do with you. I’m about to arrest these traitors.”

She laughed. “Arrest President Xerxes Tell, are you out of your mind? Captain Sharon, take the Admiral and lock him up. He appears to be ill. Perhaps it’s some kind of a breakdown.”

“But, Ma’am, he said these people are impostors. The President is Fabian Bartok, on Axis Nova.”

“You know very well he only took the Presidency on the death of Xerxes Tell. Now that we know the President is alive, Fabian Bartok no longer has power.” She smiled at him. “Captain, what this means is that anyone who supports Bartok is committing treason. Is that your intention, surely not?”

He shook his head uneasily. “No, Ma’am.”

“Good. As Tricon Ambassador for Cadmus, I have seniority on this ship. Arrest Admiral Voss, Captain, or I will have you locked away as well.”

He accepted defeat. “Yes, Ma’am, at once. Come on, Admiral, we’ll get the doctor to look after you.”

Voss spluttered, screamed and choked but only managed to sound genuinely insane.

The Ambassador turned to Rusal. “Admiral, you will assume command of this ship.”

He nodded. “Yes, Ma’am, gladly.”

She looked at Tell and his party. “Mr. President, we could all retire to my cabin for some refreshments. I’m sure we have much to discuss, and I would like to know how you arrived here when you’re supposed to be dead.” She looked at the armed squad that had guarded Tell. “You men stay on the bridge and guard against further treason. You will take your orders from Commander Yalonda.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

 
“And keep an eye on Captain Sharon, for I fear he could still be a threat to our President. If you think he poses a threat, shoot him.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

They saluted her and the party followed the Ambassador to her quarters. When the door closed Evelyn gave her a hug. “What a lucky break finding you here on Cadmus.”

Her fellow Orphexian hugged her back, Nightingale, and the woman who had been her constant companion in the fight against the Axian tyranny. She had become the Ambassador to Cadmus. She was as beautiful as ever, slender and regal. They quickly got down to business. Despite their success in taking the Magellan, they faced many problems. The biggest threat was the Sword of Axia, the vast warship that lay on the pad less than half a mile from their ship.

“Surely we can just take off,” Evelyn pointed out. “This is a diplomatic mission, so they won’t try to stop us.”

Rusal nodded. “That is probably correct, and they won’t try to stop us. But the problem is deeper than that. Where do we go next? We have one ship, they have vast fleets and they’ll come after us with everything they’ve got.”

“You’ve done it before, Admiral.” She pointed out. “When everything seemed lost you fought back and built up a strong fleet that conquered the Universe.”

Blas nodded. “Evelyn is right. We once had nothing and we fought back. We can do it again.”

Rusal looked puzzled. “What do you suggest?”

“Planet Isolde, the naval shipyards that supply the whole of the Nine Systems. That’s where we should go.”

“That’s crazy! You know they’ll be waiting for us. They’ll blast us out of space.”

“Not if they thought we were already dead.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We need a diversion, something big.” Blas explained the idea that had been growing in his mind.

“It could work,” Rusal acknowledged. “It could also cost us everything if they see through it.”

“Then let’s make certain they don’t.”

An hour later Ambassador Nightingale, with two troopers as escort, climbed into a ground transport and rode across the spaceport to Rad Bose’s giant flagship. She climbed out and told her escort to wait with the ground car while she paid her respects to Admiral Bose. The ramp guards saluted and followed her on board. They didn’t notice the two troopers walk casually across to the Nebula, now back in the hands of Bose’s men. A sentry had been posted outside the stolen ship, and he scowled as the escort troopers approached.

“This is a restricted area. You can’t come any nearer.”

Blas smiled. “Hey, isn’t this that ship that they stole, you know, the rebels?”

The sentry nodded. “Yeah, this is the one. It’s grounded, and they’re waiting for a ferry crew to come from Axis Nova to take it back to its base.”

He hadn’t noticed Berg Smetana edging behind him. The movement was almost invisible. One moment the man was speaking, the next he was being lowered to the ground. They looked around, but no one glanced their way and they carried him up the ramp and through the airlock. Inside the ship, they removed their breathing masks.

“Are you sure you can do this?” Smetana asked.

“Sure, of course. It’s nothing unusual. Ship’s computers all have the facility to take-off automatically. It’s just a matter of setting the coordinates and the departure times, override the locks that prevent an unauthorized departure and set the timers. Provided the ship is fully sealed and ready to go, she’ll take off.”

“Have you ever done this before?”

Blas grinned. “Not exactly, no. But there’s no reason in theory why it shouldn’t work.”

They reached the bridge. It was eerie as only the life support systems were operative to keep the internal atmosphere breathable. A few lights were on, but the ship’s main systems, the engines, navigation and weapons systems were all on standby. Blas went to the engineer’s console and switched on the control system. The screen sprang to life. He brought up the ship’s remote system and starting programming the automated commands that would send the ship into space without a crew. He looked over, Berg had activated the ship’s external screens, and he was watching a group of soldiers approaching the empty ramp. He spoke to Blas without taking his eyes off the screen.

“We could have trouble. It looks like a patrol coming this way. How long do you need?”

“Another fifteen minutes should do it. Can you get rid of them?”

Smetana nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Try to do it without killing them, Berg. Someone might notice.”

“I’ll do my best,” he grinned. “I think that sentry’s uniform will just about fit me. I’ll see if I can fool them.”

Smetana went down to the external airlock where they’d left the dead sentry. He swiftly took off the man’s uniform and put it on. It stretched over his muscled torso, but it would have to do. He adjusted his breathing mask and stepped through the airlock, just in time. The patrol had halted at the bottom of the ramp and was looking curiously up at the ship. Berg walked down with a cheerful expression on his face.

“Hey, what can I do for you guys?”

The officer in charge, a lieutenant, looked stern. “You know the rules, trooper. The ramp is not to be left unguarded at any time. Where were you?”

“Look, it’s no sweat. It must have been something I ate last night. I needed to use the head inside the ship.”

“You should have called someone,” the officer persisted. “You know the rules.”

Berg spread his hands. “It’s no big deal," he whined. "I just needed to take a crap.”

“I don’t care, orders is orders. I’ll have to report you to headquarters. Tell me your name.”

“It’s Bose, Trooper Bose.”

The man looked up. “Bose? Any relation to the Commander in Chief, Admiral Bose?”

“He’s a distant cousin, yeah. I don’t see him very often, though.”

“I see. Perhaps you’re right that it’s a minor thing, but next time you need to leave your post make sure you call it in and we’ll send out someone to cover for you.”

“Alright, Sir, I will. Sorry about that.”

“Ok, then. We’ll forget about it. Keep alert, trooper, those rebels could be back at any time.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He called up to Blas on his wristcomm. “They’ve gone away, how much longer?”

Blas answered immediately. “Yes, I was watching on the screen. I’m working on it again. I need another twenty minutes.”

“Good. I’ll stay out here, just in case another patrol happens along.”

Berg stood and watched the activity in the spaceport. Since their attack the defenses were all manned, and it only an oversight that they were all looking and pointing outwards. So far, the Tricon troops didn’t consider there to be any threat from within the spaceport. That could change at any moment. Twice he thought about calling up to Blas. What in space was taking him so long? But he wanted to give him the space to do the job, and he knew it was complicated and difficult. If he got a single thing wrong, it wouldn’t work. That would be disaster. Finally the airlock hatch opened and Blas emerged, his breathing mask in place. He walked down towards Berg.

“It’s all done. You’d better change back into naval uniform. Otherwise they’ll start to wonder when we escort Nightingale back from the Sword of Axia.”

Berg nodded and ran up the ramp while Blas pretended to be a sentry. He came down a few minutes later.

“How are we going to stop the maintenance crews from getting on board the Nebula? If they find you’ve changed the automatic controls, they’ll reset them.”

“It’s no problem, you see. The sequence starts in,” he checked his watch, “eight minutes from now. The first command will lock all of the ship’s access points. Anyone trying to enter the ship will get a severe radiation leak warning, that’ll hold them up for a minute.”

“I imagine it will. What then?”

“Two hours after, the take-off sequence begins. First of all the systems will come online and the engines will start to spool up. At the same time I recorded a message that will start to be broadcast to the tower, and every ship will pick it up. The message threatens to start shooting up the spaceport if anyone tries to interfere. Five minutes after that, the ship will take off on a pre-determined flight path back to Axis Nova. I’ve opened up a secure channel too, so that I can patch into the ship’s control systems in case there are any problems.”

“They won’t let a rebel ship leave the planet’s atmosphere.”

“It won’t get that far. Exactly two seconds after lift-off the ship will explode. It’ll only be a few yards above ground, and the explosion should do some damage to the Sword of Axia, too.”

Berg grinned. “It’s a good plan. But we need the Ambassador to return, as soon as possible.”

Rad Bose was doing his best to be pleasant to the Orphexian witch. His feelings towards her were ambivalent. Most of these Orphexian females were incredibly beautiful, so cool and poised that he felt almost like a peasant in their company. At the same time, he was a man, and she would be a magnificent prize for a senior military commander. She was an accomplished and rising diplomat, she could go far. The ambassadorship to Cadmus was another stepping stone on the career path to the highest office. He wondered did she even aim for a cabinet post. Anything was possible, but all he knew was that he wanted her. More than he’d wanted any woman.

“Is there anything else I can get you, my dear?”

He saw her flash of irritation. “I’m sorry, I meant Ambassador.” Damn, why couldn’t he get it right with this woman? What was it that made him feel such a clumsy clod?

“That’s perfectly alright, Admiral, the reputation of your hospitality is well known. There’s nothing I need from you, thank you.”

There it was again, the ambiguous comment. Was she being grateful or was she subtly mocking him. He couldn’t even think straight in her presence.

“Perhaps you would like to take coffee in my cabin. I have a fine selection of Hesperian sculptures that would be worthy of your appreciation.”

 
“Thank you, but perhaps another time. I have to get back to my ship. We leave shortly for Axis Nova.”

He thought of her in this cabin, totally at his mercy. He was already mentally undressing her, and she was squirming, terrified on his bed. Then he forced himself to listen to what she was saying.

“What? What was that?”

“I said we are leaving shortly to return to Axis Nova.”

Bose smiled. She didn’t yet know. “Ambassador, I have been forced to put the whole of Cadmus under martial law, following the attack. Until I give permission, no ship may leave or enter the planet.”

She looked at him. Her expression was neutral, but he felt something touching his mind, something horrible and awful that threatened to consume his very soul. He felt himself shaking and made an effort to be still as she spoke.

“Admiral, you know as well as I do that you cannot make an accredited diplomat subject to martial law. Neither can you prevent my movements, so I shall leave this planet as and when I please. You would do well to remember intersystem law.”

He gave her a tiny bow. “Of course, Ambassador. But there is also the matter of the control tower. It was damaged during the rebel attack. Nothing can leave the spaceport until it is fixed. It is a safety matter. As soon as it is repaired, I will let you know that you may depart.”

She smiled and nodded at his trump card. She could only hope that Rusal, Blas and Smetana could get around it. “You’re very thoughtful, Admiral. I will consider what you say. Now I must go.”