Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (26 page)

“By god man, you should have seen the mistake
I made during my first official simulation at primary tactical. I
inputted a wrong vector and ended up shooting half my LPAs into a
friendly battle group, it was a disaster,” his laughter faded as he
took a few steps back, squeezing Daniel's shoulder again.

“Come on, let's grab some grub. It'll make
you feel better, and I have a feeling the captain may not let you
off as light as me,” the XO winked. Daniel, completely confused by
the XO’s banter, nodded stiffly and stood, following him off the
bridge, into the tube transport, and to the waiting officer's
mess.

Knight Admiral Bhool stared intently at the
two catillian's wrestling playfully before them, swirling her
snifter in one hand, while tapping a finger on the dining table’s
surface with the other. Sasha couldn't help but gaze expectantly at
the old admiral, knowing without her unwavering support, there
would be no way to resist Duke Zehman if he decided to push his
hand.

Over dinner, Sasha had explained the
situation as best she could, allowing Tiana and Alutia Guard
Lieutenant Lia'Sil to fill in any pertinent information she may
have missed. The major issue she faced with her justification was
that she was not allowed to reveal how she came upon the majority
of her “facts”. She half expected the commander of the Alutia
Battle Fleet to call her claims ludicrous and refuse to help. But
when Knight Admiral Bhool looked up, staring deep into Sasha’s soul
for what felt like an eternity, she just nodded, running a hand
through her shoulder length brown hair, then went straight to
business.

“We have one major issue, Knight Rear-Admiral
Quo'Nup’s battle group. Officially, his allegiance is to Alutia and
you, Your Grace, as is mine. But by all reports, his ties to Duke
Zehman are still strong and may sway his actions if this escalates
into a direct confrontation,” Knight Admiral Bhool explained,
turning the discussion to the major issue facing their plan to
travel to the Earth star system and meet with the duke personally;
how many “trustworthy” battle groups would they have at their
disposal if the duke decided to resist?

Normally, a new duchy was required to build
and man their own starships, half of which would be transferred to
the emperor, while another ten percent to the galaxy king. But
until the duchy was sufficiently established, security still needed
to be maintained. So a minimal number of battle groups were
typically loaned or sold from the kingship or other duchies at
inception.

Sasha had been surprised to learn that Alutia
had been granted a special boon, being gifted, at no cost, three
fully manned battle groups, one more then traditionally allocated
during the creation of a new duchy. It appeared that her father had
pulled some strings, allowing her to receive two newly formed
battle groups from his own King's Fleet, the starships brand-new
and the crews taken directly from the population of the Vn’Oco
Kingship.

She was beyond grateful to her father, though
the obvious preferential treatment could lead to issues with the
ruling nobility if it became widely known. But even beyond the
potential diplomatic issues, she couldn't hide her concern about
the loyalties of the crew and officers, even if they were from
Vn’Oco. They were still being forced, along with their families, to
immigrate to her duchy, and she knew, firsthand, that could cause
great distress.

“What of the other two?” she asked carefully.
A barely perceptible grin, or what Sasha thought was grin, appeared
within Lady Bhool’s professional facade.

“Your Grace. Beyond me personally vouching
for each every officer and crewman under my direct command,” Sasha
bit her lip, feeling beyond embarrassed, “the battle groups were
formed by volunteers who, along with their families, willingly
immigrated to the Alutia Duchy. Though this does not hold true with
the third battle group, commanded by this Knight Rear-Admiral
Quo'Nup, which was transferred directly from the Hulk’Zif Duchy
with none of the same considerations,” Sasha blushed an apology,
realizing she had questioned the Lady Bhool’s loyalty.

“I'd have to agree, Sasha,” Tiana leaned
forward, flicking a lock of curly blond hair over her shoulder.
“During my research, I was able to locate a connection between Earl
Ti'Nic, Knight Rear-Admiral Quo'Nup's brother-in-law, and the group
of traditionalist nobles that were involved in Knight Captain
Quinn's trial 30 years ago,” explained Tiana, furrowing her brow as
if having trouble recalling all the information from her
research.

Sasha was beyond pleased by her
lady-in-waiting, who had discovered a treasure trove of political
insight on all the great noble houses of galaxy 189, from where no
one would have ever expected; the Lady Regalia. Apparently,
Regalia’s mother, Lady Belia, had been preparing her daughter for
court life from a very early age. So beyond the tutoring and
firsthand experience received during the time she was a part of her
father’s court, she’d been forced to travel between the many
different traditionalist and realist courts of galaxy 189 since.
During that time, she had become quite accustomed to the intrigue
required to survive within those hostile environments.

“Then we shall proceed with the assumption of
having just the two battle groups of your escort available, Your
Grace,” Knight Admiral Bhool decided, her attention seeming to
again be pulled to the catillians, that now scurried between their
drinks, like two children playing tag.

“How many can we expect from Duke Zehman?”
Sasha wondered out loud.

“One moment, Your Grace,” Lia’Sil’s
expression went distant as she accessed the local BAP.

While they waited for her to locate the
information, Regalia stood, tiptoeing around Tiana to Sasha’s side,
where she leaned close to her ear.

“That man by the door is trying to hide
something,” Regalia whispered. Before Sasha could ask her to
elaborate, Regalia hurried back to her seat, expression
unreadable.

Her curiosity perked, she glanced at the
Alutia Guard Private stationed by the door, quite obviously “node
locked”, as guards would be from time to time during their duty
shifts. Sasha didn’t find anything odd about his actions, but she
was still bothered, having learned Regalia was particularly keen on
picking up changes in behavior that others may have missed. Again,
she glanced to Regalia, who stared intently at the guard
private.

“According to the last fleet census, the
Hulk'Zif Duchy has a total of 506 active battle groups, 253 of
which are transferred to permanent duty within the Emperor's
Fleets, plus an additional 51 transferred to permanent duty within
the King's Fleet,” Lia'Sil listed the numbers she'd located,
pausing as she again accessed the BAP with her BC node. “He has
official obligations that should occupy around 197 of his remaining
battle groups. So, Your Grace, based on these numbers, I believe we
will be dealing with at most eight battle groups, give or take any
that may be in refit or newly commissioned.”

Knight Admiral Bhool, expression
indecipherable, gestured for her catillian to return, Terra
squawking in dismay at being left behind by his mother. Sasha,
feeling his sadness like it was her own, waved for him to return.
Reluctantly, he hopped away from his mother and up Sasha’s arm,
using its six legs like springs, before climbing into her dress’s
modestly cut top to curl up in-between her bosoms.

“Those numbers are about what I expected. We
will have to avoid a direct confrontation until we can verify the
numbers or find an ally willing assist with his removal,” Knight
Admiral Bhool explained, downing her drink and waving for the
servant, who hurried from the dining hall to fetch another.

Sasha, still bothered by Regalia’s words,
stretched to mask her glance at the guard private stationed by the
door, though still didn’t notice anything out of place. Regalia
cleared her throat, staring intently at her, trying to speak with
her eyes, which told something was definitely amiss. Tiana appeared
to catch the exchange, glimpsing between Sasha and Regalia, a
questioning half-smirk on her lips. Sasha, trying her best to not
alert the guard of her actions, gestured with her eyes while
angling her head towards the door.

Tiana, obviously thinking it a game, winked
before reaching across the table for a biscuit, carefully turning
in the private's direction in process. After staring at the guard
for a moment too long, she slipped back into her seat, staring
intently at Sasha, her eyes, like Regalia’s, telling something was
definitely wrong.

“What is it?” Sasha asked, having given up on
secrecy.

“Why is he sweating so much? It’s not that
hot in here,” Regalia responded, her whisper barely audible, but
loud enough to pull all eyes to her.

“Who is that, Lady Regalia?” asked Knight
Admiral Bhool, looking to the guard by the door when Regalia
pointed.

“Private, are yo-.” Knight Admiral Bhool
started, but cutoff when Lia’Sil tensed. It took only a moment for
Sasha to realize why.

A narrow silver cylinder had slide from the
private’s cuff into his left hand, only its end visible, while what
looked like an emergency oxygen mask appeared from other. He turned
in their direction, eyes wide, skin a pasty white, with sweat
raining from his brow.

“That’s a...” Lia’Sil started, climbing to
her feet, just as the guard tossed the silver cylinder towards the
table while covering his nose and mouth with the oxygen mask.

“Assassin!” Knight Admiral Bhool shouted as
time seemed to slow.

Sasha reacted without thinking, grabbing
Tiana’s hand while diving towards Regalia, pulling her two ladies
along as she desperately rushed away from the dining table. At the
same moment, Lia'Sil and Lady Bhool pulled free their laser arcs,
two laser bolts sizzling through the air to burn holes through the
guard’s chest. The bomb seemed to hover in midair, its rotation
slowed, as if someone could easily grab and stop it from going off.
But it was too late, and just as she was about to reach the
servants exit, the cylinder struck the table and with a blinding
flash, a pinkish gas erupted throughout the entire dining hall.

“Vin! Emergency deco-,” Lia'Sil shouted, but
was cut off suddenly.

Sasha's ears popped painfully as the dining
hall depressurized, pulling the gas, along with the life-giving
atmosphere from the room. Sasha held her breath, smothering her two
huddling companions against her chest, hoping to protect them from
what she could only guess was a lethal gas. Time started to
accelerated as her mind screamed for her to breathe. She started
gasping for breath, reaching desperately for her throat when
everything went completely silent, a dull white shimmer growing
within the edge of her vision.

An image flashed before her, that of a man
crying out to her, crying out for her to breath...to just
breath...
a man she knew, a man she lo-.

A defining hiss erupted throughout the dining
hall and the image faded alongside the white shimmer. Her ears felt
like they would explode, an intense pressure pushing against them.
She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the debilitating pain as
the dining hall gradually regained its normal pressure. Slowly, the
throbbing in her ears cleared and the sounds of her companions
gasping for breath took its place.

“Is anyone hurt?” Sasha wheezed. Regalia and
Tiana looked up, both dazed and eyes full of fear, but neither
showing signs of inhaling any gas. Carefully, she recovered her
feet, shuffling back towards the dining table, where Knight Admiral
Bhool kneeled, back expanding with every breath, over Lia'Sil, who
convulsed, foam spilling over her lips as her eyes rolled back into
her head.

“I was too slow,” Lady Bhool glanced up to
Sasha, who felt burning tears start to trickle forth, “we can save
her, Your Grace, if we hurry,” she reassured with an honest
confidence, though her voice was throaty. She forced a rolled up
black glove into Lia’Sil’s clenching jaw when she started to bit
her tongue.

“I'd say call for your guards, Your Grace,
but I am afraid that we may have a bigger issue,” Sasha wondered
what she meant, then realized, to her growing horror, there may be
more than one assassin within her guards.

“Why would he do this? I don't understand,”
Tiana whimpered, clinging to her side.

Why would he do this?
Sasha mind
repeated Tiana’s hysterical question, only to hear a terrifying
answer echo through her mind in response.

“Vin! Who formed my guards? Was it not
handled by my father?” Fear overtook her, already knowing the
answer that would come, and realizing, too late, that she should
have asked this question as soon as she left Planet Tidelia.

“King Johan Vn’Oco ordered the creation of
the Alutia Guard from the existing populous of the Alutia Duchy.
Marquis Rostil Don’Alutia handled the logistics of the creation.
Please be advised; the Marquis Rostil Don’Alutia provided only
guards for selection who the Duke Zehman Hulk’Zif had recommended,”
Knight Admiral Bhool hissed and Sasha cringed, horrified by her
mistake, and its near fatal repercussions. She stared at the still
convulsing body of Lia'Sil and thought it may still be
...how
could she have let this happen?

“That sneaky bastard,” Knight Admiral Bhool
said through gritted teeth while wiping Lia'Sil's lips clean.

“Vin,” Sasha started, voice bereft of all
emotion, “send a message to Flight Captain Jeb'Tol and the rest of
the officers and general crew. Tell him to arm the crew and take
any of my guards into custody,” she paused. “Actually, Vin, can you
tell me which, if any, of my guards were not recommended by Duke
Zehman?” Sasha felt her mind spiraling into despair as she
spoke.