Fracture Lines (The Glass Complex Book 2) (34 page)

“Yes, sir.” There was a chorus of acknowledgments.

Steg boarded the small Alliance craft from another egress point along the docking arm, only thirty or so meters away from their shuttle. The crew welcomed him and departed with a roar of power.

“The skipper wants you on board as quickly as possible, sir,” a rating explained.

There was a small welcoming group of officers inside the destroyer’s lock. Steg recognized one, the security lead who had inspected
Wasp
, and greeted him. “My turn to inspect,” he commented.

“I think you’ve already managed that, sir,” the young officer replied. “My name’s Roscoe. We had to disconnect and remove the damned AV device that you activated.”

“It was an intriguing anomaly,” Steg said with a grin as he followed his escort.

Roscoe returned his grin. “The Captain’s in his conference room; it’s not far.”

The lieutenant waited at the door for Steg to enter the conference room. About fifteen of the destroyer’s officers were in attendance, and as one, they stood and saluted him. Captain Montrose held out his hand and grasped Steg’s firmly.

“Well done, Captain de Coeur. Please accept our thanks. I was not unhappy to miss going up against that monster.”

“Sir, please call me Steg. I did what was needed for us to survive. I wanted the Xesset to return to their base; they chose self-destruction, instead.”

“Sit, and let me introduce my people. My Tac is ever so eager to meet you. I think she’s a fan. Mind you, she’s not the only one, based on what I’ve heard. Commander Jessie Brent, Captain de Coeur.”

The Tac commander stood and made a small bow to Steg, and he matched her gesture. “Please to meet you, Commander.”

“Jessie, please.”

Montrose took over and called out the names of his officers around the table. “I’m sure you won’t recall all the names, well, apart from Jessie’s, I suppose. They all have name tags, though. Now Steg, what debriefing can you provide?”

“Sir—”

“Richard, please. We can be informal, here.” At the skipper’s signal, a rating proceeded to pour coffee and distribute finger food, first to Steg and then to
Defender’s
officers.

“Thank you. Richard, I can give you some details. You may or may not find them credible, however.”

“I’ve seen the results.”

“Well, yes. I was impressed with your team’s ability to detect my involvement.”

“So was I. Now, tell us about the Xesset.”

“I learned Xesset—High Xesset—when I was—seconded—to a Special Forces team. They—the Xesset—had taken over a planet and were treating the inhabitants as slaves. I was a friend of the planet’s diplomatic representative to the Empire, and I wanted to help. We—the surviving military force on the planet and our Special Forces—forced the Xesset off the planet. Our team chased and boarded one of the fleeing ships. We had a battle on our hands. We managed to prevent them self-destructing and captured a lot of material.”

Steg went on to describe their hive-like culture and their inability to even consider other intelligent species, human or other, as possible peers. He mentioned the impressions of evil he had encountered without elaboration. The security lieutenant was taking notes, and Steg was sure he was being recorded.

“Do you know the location of their home system or even a base?” Lieutenant Roscoe asked.

Steg shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. I suspect they move from system to system, like a swarm. Although they must have some industrial facilities—or enslaved planets—to help them build their starships. That dreadnought, for example, would require a substantial industrial infrastructure for its construction.” There was silence for a moment, and Steg waited for the next question.

“Do you have any details of their power systems? Their ships seemed incredibly fast.” The officer’s name tag read Eliza Jones. “I’m Engineering.”

“Eliza, again no, unfortunately. Yes, they are fast. An Imperial destroyer could not match the pace of one of their smaller ships—the one we managed to board, which then fled. The destroyer only caught up when we disabled the Xesset starship’s drives.”

The Engineering commander sat back, her expression worried. “That is scary.”

Steg smiled. “I agree. It was extremely so, at the time.”

“I have a question—it’s the key for me,” Julie said.

“Yes, Commander?”

“Julie, please. As the skipper said, we’re informal, here.”

Steg surrendered. “Yes, Julie?”

“How the hell do you communicate with starship systems? Is our starship safe?”

“Firstly, yes, you are safe. At least from anything I could achieve.” He didn’t say that status would prevail as long as the Alliance starship did not treat him as an enemy. “We do have some skilled computer people on board and they—by error—let loose a virus, which affected data centers on Eos. It also contaminated the way station. Some of the starships docked at the way station may have been affected. You weren’t docked, so you’re safe. We’ll check and clean systems as part of our search and rescue activities. The same virus was loaded into the Xesset dreadnought’s systems; it totally degraded both their defensive and offensive capabilities. Apart from that, I’m not able to provide further details.”

“You realize Julie will spend the remainder of her career—likely to be decades—trying to get the answer you omitted?”

Steg smiled at the Alliance skipper and shrugged. “The answer—you would find unbelievable. Julie, please do not try to explore this; if you did discover the answer and publicized it, your credibility would be in absolute doubt. In other words, no one would believe you, no matter how much evidence you revealed.” He made eye contact with
Defender’s
Tac and shook his head. “At times, I don’t even understand or believe it myself.”

“I’ll try to restrain my curiosity.”

Steg somehow doubted the restraint would be effective. “Thank you.” He turned back to Montrose. “A couple of topics. The most critical item, we should get search and rescue underway. Could your marine officers liaise with our Captain Dean? He’s in operational command of our mercenaries and is probably now setting up his search and rescue teams.”

Montrose signaled to one of the officers seated at the conference table. “Major Tonyn Carter. Please work with Captain Dean. We’ll excuse you; go organize your marines.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll place a hundred of my men on the station to work with
Wasp’s
team.” The major rose and edged away from the table.

“That’s welcome news, Major,” said Steg. “We have over two hundred marines available, so altogether that’ll be a good-sized force.”

“I agree,” the officer said. “Captain de Coeur, it’s been a pleasure meeting you, and I look forward to working with your Captain Dean.”

As Carter left the room, Montrose said, “He means it; he’ll ensure his marines fit in with your people.”

“That’s good to hear. As soon as the station’s computer system is running properly, we’ll have access to utilities and repair bots. The bots will re-construct and repair; they’ll also ensure the station has atmosphere,” Steg said.

“I think we all hope there’ll be survivors. That was a devastating barrage.”

“The Xesset don’t make distinctions between civilians and military forces.”

“So we saw.”

“Richard, I have a suggestion, which might seem odd, but which I think will help the planet and its people recover and stabilize. I’m going to recommend
Wasp
remains in local space to manage rebuilding the Eos way station and to provide security, at least until the local officials are back in control. This will take months, perhaps a year.” He shrugged. “It’s difficult to estimate. If we don’t help, the planet will be exposed to attack by opportunistic pirates and by the Xesset, if they decide to return. Of course, I wouldn’t expect
Defender
to remain here. However, five or six missile pods and a missile control system would certainly provide additional teeth to
Wasp’s
weapons. Is there any possibility—?”

“An excellent idea, Steg. Yes, we’ve been enjoying your escapades for far too long, and
Defender
needs to return to base. I’m not sure what my Admiralty will say when they receive our reports. Missile pods—I can see the advantages. Lay out some passive sensor arrays, with pods distributed to protect the way station and
Wasp
to oversee. Yes, I can support you. Once
Wasp
confirms the contract, I’ll transfer two pods each with twenty missiles and arrange for delivery of another four, so you’ll have some spares. Eos will have to cope with Alliance inspections every six months or so, which will add to their security profile. We’ll end the inspections when Eos decide they no longer need our missiles.”

“Thank you. I need to convince both
Wasp
and Eos authorities.”

“I’m prepared to add weight, if you encounter difficulties with either party.”

“Good, we may need it for the Eos side, at least. Is there anything else I can address?”

“No—well, apart from Julie’s outstanding question.”

“I’ve heard disappointment is character building,” Julie said, “However, I think my character is already built. Steg, if you decide you can tell me—any time in the future—I’ll give you my contact details.”

Her fellow officers laughed, and Julie’s face turned pink. “It’s to find out how he did it,” she protested.

“Hmm. Steg, our shuttle’s waiting to return you to the station. I’ll keep that isolated compad open for you, in case you have any requests or problems. Let me know.”

Steg stood and said, “Thank you. Everyone, if I can help in future—” There was a chorus of responses. Steg could feel the intensity of the Tac commander’s curiosity, and he added, “Well, except for Julie’s question, of course.”

Steg thanked the shuttle crew when they returned him to the way station, and he then headed to
Wasp
. Once on board he made his way to the bridge. As soon as he stepped through the hatch, the bridge crew stood and applauded.

Commander Gillespie smiled at his discomfit and said, “We all appreciate the defeat of the Xesset dreadnought even if we don’t know how you managed it. You protected
Wasp
. I know, we could have headed away from Eos and avoided any conflict; however, you and some of our people would have been left behind, so we used our shields to hide and watch, in case we could assist. We appreciate the results of your actions.”

“Thanks, Commander. It was stressful, I’ll admit. I’m hopeful the Xesset won’t return. The cost to them has been exceptionally high, and I think we can assume they won’t keep sending forces against us or Eos.”

“How was your meeting with the Alliance skipper and his officers?”

“Very good. They also were thankful they didn’t have to fight the dreadnought. The CO of their marines should be meeting with Dean; they’re adding a hundred marines to our search and rescue operation.”

“Dean said they were meeting. We’re all hoping we find people still alive.”

“Me, too. I want to discuss an idea with you. Can we use the small conference room?”

Steg looked across the table at Gillespie when he concluded his suggestion. “I think we can establish stability here. Otherwise, if
Wasp
doesn’t take up this role, the planet will be in total chaos within months.”

“I’m interested, of course. We still have an outstanding contract item to complete, too.”

“The rebels have lost their munitions shipment, they’ve been spared the support of the Xesset, and we’re taking over all their funds. Once search and rescue is done here, we’ll complete the contract.”

“They’ve lost their funds?”

“I trust our two computer experts are making sure of that while they tidy up the mess made by their virus.”

“We’ve some responsibility for the mess; the Intel team is ours.”

“I know. That’s one of the reasons why I’m suggesting
Wasp
takes on the role of providing reconstruction assistance in addition to mounting a security operation.”

“The Eos government will contract with us?”

“I’m going to talk with the president. We’ve got support from Montrose; he was willing to provide the missile pods, which is a good start.”

“Very well. I’ll schedule a contract meeting with the senior officers. As soon as you have the president’s reactions, let me know.”

“I will. We can use the funds we’ve taken from the Joy producers—after we’ve paid the Stingers and Wasp’s crew—to help with expenses. I think the balance will be substantial. If necessary, I’ll suggest that to the Eos authorities.”

“What are you going to do about the frigate captain who you’ve locked up? The one who assaulted Stacia?”

“I’d like to push him out of a lock. However, I may be able to use him as a bargaining lever with Eos. He’s been transferred to
Wasp
?”

“Yes. Riddell was adamant he needed to be locked up and guarded.”

“Good. Let me check progress with Howe and Beagle, and I’ll make a call to Eos after that. We need Dean to give us regular status reports, too.”

“You know, if
Wasp
remains here, you’ll have to amend the arrangements with
Djamu
? We can’t meet them at Sicca if we’re on duty here.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. They’re probably on approach now. Rose and Kirby are senior and reliable. We can authorize them to sell
Djamu
—and the weapons, of course—and buy a small ship. Perhaps a corvette? Something large enough to comfortably accommodate Ebony Company on the journey here?”

Gillespie reflected for a moment. “Y-y-yes, that would work. Do you want me to draft a message?”

“Please. Draft and send—I’ll leave the details to you. Specify a top of the line corvette, something like an Imperial Swan class—a craft about fifty thousand tons, which will be large enough. It should be fast and maneuverable. We can install weapons, shields, and so forth, when they return here.”

“Rose will love you. She enjoys the challenge of purchasing warships and equipment. We don’t do it often, though. She should register you as owner, of course?”

“Yes, please.”

“Good. I’ll send the message.”