Blood of the Cosmos (40 page)

One of Duquesne's comrades lifted a tall drink in a toast. “Want to join our celebration? To competition!”

“You will regret this, Aaron Duquesne. You don't understand what's at stake.”

“Ooh, a threat!” He laughed loudly and his expression darkened. He jabbed a finger at Elisa. “You don't own the whole damn universe, and you'd better stop acting like you do.”

Not only was this an unforgivable grab at Iswander profits, it could also hamstring Lee Iswander's return to prominence. As the sole provider of ekti-X, he was a very important man, but if these buffoons had somehow learned about the bloaters, what if they got drunk and blabbed about their discovery? Then the downfall would be swift.

Elisa would never allow that to happen to him. Not to Lee Iswander.

Feeling her cheeks hot, she turned and stalked out, as Aaron Duquesne and his friends continued laughing. Her instinct was to run back to the extraction field and report to Iswander what she had found, but Elisa was a person who took care of problems herself—directly.

No, she would wait in her own ship, a fast and well-armored vessel with weapons that Elisa could put to good use. She remained aboard for two days, alert, monitoring Aaron Duquesne's ship. Waiting for him to move.

When the young man finally departed, Elisa powered up her engines, dropped away from Ulio Station, and followed him.

 

CHAPTER

64

GENERAL NALANI KEAH

“All right Dr. Krieger,” General Keah said, “impress me.”

Aboard the Manta cruiser heading out to the rings of Saturn, the weapons scientist fidgeted before dredging up a wave of self-confidence. “Very well, General, I will. I promise I'll make up for last time.”

Jocko Krieger glanced away, looking guilty; General Keah didn't press the conversation. After the debacle at the sun-bomb fabrication plant had cost dozens of lives and a vital production facility—not to mention a stockpile of one of the only weapons that had so far proved effective against the Shana Rei—Keah had railed against the mistakes, the ineptitude, the cockiness. But then she had stopped. Dr. Krieger knew damn well that he had screwed up, and no amount of knuckle-rapping from her would make him learn his lesson any better.

Tragedy was an unwanted, but often effective, teacher.

When Nalani Keah was a young pilot in training with the Earth Defense Forces, flying combat training missions with a souped-up Remora, she had been cocky too—reckless, invincible. She viewed safety margins as nothing more than suggestions. In the first days of the Elemental War, when the hydrogues had just begun to attack Earth colonies and Roamer skymines, she was a daredevil pilot and damn good, too, just like all the pilots in her squadron. They played tag through dense asteroid clusters, and it was all thrilling fun … until one of her fellow pilots discovered he wasn't quite as immortal as he thought he was. He grazed an irregularly shaped asteroid, and the spectacular explosion was over in a nanosecond. The rest of the squadron circled back, stunned and horrified, combing the glowing wreckage while praying that their comrade had managed to eject. But of course he hadn't.

Tragedy had taught Keah her lesson then. It dispelled some of her cockiness and made her an even more competent pilot. Half-measures simply wouldn't do.…

Now as the CDF test ship arrived at Saturn, the General hoped Krieger had learned his own lesson, achieved the same balance.

“These are dangerous times, Dr. Krieger,” she said. “Overconfidence and cutting corners can lead to disasters—I don't need to remind you of that. But an overabundance of caution can also cost lives, if we don't produce weapons that can kick the shit out of those shadows and their damned bugbots.”

The scientist gave her an uneasy smile. “Given the yield calculations on the modified designs, General, we don't have to worry about an overabundance of caution. I just hope people aren't too upset if we create a noticeable gap in Saturn's rings today.”

General Keah raised her eyebrows as the Manta dropped down to the plane of the rings. “You're kidding, right?”

Krieger just shrugged.

She had been skeptical when he wanted to test his enhanced sun bombs again. He had come to her, metaphorical hat in hand—along with a new prototype and a request for a full-fledged demonstration. “I know I caused the problem before, General. I made an error in my calculations. It won't happen again. This time I've run checks and double checks.”

Keah had frowned at him. “You have a tough hill to climb to make up for that setback.”

Jocko Krieger crossed his arms over his chest. “Will ten times the destructive yield make up for it?”

The General considered. “Yeah.”

Now, upon reaching the spectacular rings of Saturn, the Manta dispatched a sequence of probes at the maximum safe distance from the test zone. Below them, the rings looked like a golden highway of rock and ice fragments.

In her career, Keah had seen numerous gas giants across the Spiral Arm, but Saturn always struck her as a calm place, devoid of the huge hurricanes and multicolored bands that were so characteristic of Jovian-class giants. During the Elemental War, the hydrogues had emerged from their hidden empires inside those gas giants, but they had not appeared in many years. Keah certainly hoped this new sun bomb test didn't rile them up.

“Just be sure you don't miss, Dr. Krieger.”

Previously, he'd been a blustering tyrant among his lab assistants, shouting and driving them like slave workers. But after the accident, he had grown much meeker, exercising caution and actually listening to other opinions. “If your people shoot straight, General, we won't miss. And if I did my part right, the sun bomb won't fizzle.”

Keah cracked her knuckles. “Let's see for ourselves.”

Catching the light of the distant sun, Saturn's rings flowed around the planet in an unending river of rocks, ice, and dust—placid and sparkling. Keah turned to the weapons officer. “Everything's ready?”

“Just waiting for you to give the command, General.”

She had been cooling her heels in the Earth system, monitoring activity around the Confederation, staying in touch with Adar Zan'nh during preparations for the mission to explore the Onthos home system. But there was no reason to waste time.

“We haven't got all day,” Keah said. “The shadows could show up any minute. If this works, Dr. Krieger and his crew have to get busy fabricating a hell of a lot of these things.” She gave a quick nod. “Time to brighten somebody's morning. Bombs away.”

The crackling, pinwheeling sphere of plasma leaped out like a supernova cannonball and burrowed across empty space into the wide swath of Saturn's rings. There was no actual target, but the General imagined all the tumbling rocks to be a thousand bugbot ships.

The prototype rolled forward, pulsing, brightening. When it reached the center of the rings, it flickered. Then an outpouring of light expanded in an incandescent hurricane so intense that the Manta's safety systems shut down the main screen before in-place filters resolved the images again. Keah could see ever-expanding ripples from the new sun bomb mowing a widening path through Saturn's thin ring. The blast swept the rocks and ice away, clearing a hole in the plane of the rings—a hole that kept growing, and growing, and growing until the glare finally dissipated.

Krieger stared with his mouth open. The bridge crew whistled and cheered. General Keah said, “Holy crap with a turbocharger! That was just
one
sun bomb?”

“Just one,” Krieger said. “And we can make more. A lot more.”

“Doctor, that does indeed make up for the setback.” She stared at the still-dissipating light. “I'd like to put in my order for a few thousand of those. The Confederation Defense Forces—hell, even the Ildiran Solar Navy—need as many new sun bombs as you can manufacture.”

Krieger looked relieved and pleased to be back in the CDF's good graces. “We'll get on it right away, General, but with sufficient safety precautions. No more accidents.”

“Good call. And in the meantime…” she said with an optimistic lilt in her voice, “we've still got all those original sun bombs to use up before they get stale.”

 

CHAPTER

65

RLINDA KETT

It was a favor at the request of King Peter and Queen Estarra, but she was really doing it for Reyn. She hoped that the people behind the mysterious Pergamus medical station would be compassionate, or at least reasonable. Even though the planet wasn't part of the Confederation, she would twist arms or grease wheels, as necessary.

As the head of Kett Shipping, Rlinda could commandeer any vessel she liked. An available ship in the company hangar was fueled and ready to go; it bore the name of
Declan's Glory
, though Rlinda didn't know who Declan was or what his glory might have been. It was an older model, certainly not a combat ship, with too little cargo space to make it a profitable trading vessel, but as long as the ship took her to Pergamus, it would do just fine.

Somehow, the medical research center had remained off the radar for years, operating outside of Confederation laws. From what Dr. Paolus had revealed about the place, Rlinda expected to encounter high security and a chilly welcome, so she approached the planet cautiously and ran subtle scans to get a clear picture. She knew perfectly well how to sneak around; she and BeBob had tiptoed into plenty of planetary systems, even slipped under the notice of hydrogues during the Elemental War.

After her long-range scans mapped the planet, the sealed domes on the surface and the Orbital Research Spheres, Rlinda assessed the well-armed mercenary ships in orbit. She frowned and ran the scans again. It was a serious fleet, and they looked ready to defend against pirates or even the CDF. Unfortunately,
Declan's Glory
had only a minimal defensive weaponry complement, so she wasn't going to intimidate anyone. Rlinda would have to use charm instead.

She reminded herself that she was here on behalf of the King and Queen. She posed no threat to them, so she damn well wasn't going to hide. If Zoe Alakis had vital information that could help Prince Reyn, then Rlinda would walk over coals—or breathe poisonous gas, in this instance—if necessary. Time to go in and get what she wanted. Reyn's life depended on it.

Once she had a handle on the situation, Rlinda dropped all pretense, activated her engines, and cruised in from the outskirts of the system. She kept all weapons shut down (such as they were), sent out an ID signal, and made sure they knew she was coming, whistling and waving. A visitor on a diplomatic mission with important business and nothing to hide.

“Hello? Calling Pergamus. My name is Captain Rlinda Kett, a representative of the Confederation government with a special request from the King and Queen.” She guided the ship forward on a steady course, closing the distance rapidly. “We need a big favor, and you're in a position to look like heroes. I'd like to request a meeting with Zoe Alakis, please.”

Pergamus reacted as if she had lobbed a bomb at them. In a scramble of activity, the mercenary ships activated their engines and moved into defensive positions. Some remained as guard dogs near the research spheres, weapons activated and directed outward. Others charged out to intercept
Declan's Glory
.

A gruff voice spoke, “This is a restricted system. Depart immediately.”

Rlinda felt a prickle of cold sweat all over her body, but she didn't flinch. On the comm, she kept smiling. “Come on, now. I just want to talk. I don't want any trouble.”

“Then depart,” said the voice. “You have no authority to be here.”

“Did I mention the King and Queen sent me, alone, on a diplomatic mission? I'd say their authority is worth something.”

On screen, the gruff mercenary was replaced by a mahogany-skinned man with high cheekbones and a gaunt face. His eyes looked like black holes. “Pergamus is not a signatory to the Confederation, and so your authority is not recognized here.”

Rlinda raised her hands and let out what she hoped was a disarming chuckle. “You haven't even heard my pitch. It's a small thing, but lives are at stake. Let's meet like grownups and discuss this.” She smiled. “We can even do it over a nice dinner—my treat, and you definitely won't regret it.” Who could resist that?

“Please leave, or we will enforce our security perimeters.” The mercenary ships closed in, and they made a point of activating their weapons. “With all the means at our disposal.”

So, it was going to be like that. She knew her shielding wouldn't withstand a full barrage, and even on her best day she couldn't outfly all of them, certainly not in
Declan's Glory
. Rlinda found this very disturbing; their response didn't make any sense. She had already identified herself, and they had to know the CDF would come breathing down their necks if they harmed her. Was this small isolated facility trying to start a war with the Confederation?

Somehow, though, she didn't get the sense they were bluffing.

She dropped the conversational tone and put an edge in her voice. “Look, I'm the Confederation's former trade minister and I have full diplomatic credentials, as well as the protection of the Confederation. I don't believe you want to create an interstellar incident. I formally request a meeting with Zoe Alakis. I would prefer to deal with her directly.”

“You can speak with me.” He didn't offer his name.

“All right, then, I'll tell you,” she said, fighting back an exasperated sigh. “We know that Pergamus is a medical research facility and storage archive for numerous diseases and their cures.” She spread her hands, sounded a little more placating. “Now, I won't go into the questionable nature of your activities, but we've been informed that Pergamus may have some medical research that could be vital to the treatment of Prince Reynald's illness. The King and Queen have taken notice.”