Ghosts of Empire (Book 4 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (13 page)

Lacking options, Sean backed up and watched them load his terrified men and women into the grav cars with impotent fury.

Ross stepped up beside him. “What do we do now?”

He glanced at the senior noncom. “We find out what they’re going to do. If they’re ready to start questioning us, we need to break out and get our people back. Then we’ll find a way to signal Mertz for a pickup. Get some men ready to head to the shipping docks. I’ll be going with them.”

Chapter Eleven

Olivia worked for another hour before shutting her console down. Her assistant looked up from his work as soon as she stepped out of her office.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I’m making an early day of it. There are a few things I need to take care of and Abigail has my blood pressure up. You really need to come up with new words to describe her mood. ‘Urgent desire’ was a little understated.”

He smiled blandly. “I’ll work on that, ma’am. Perhaps a flashing light when she’s frothing.”

Olivia laughed a little. “That would work. Call my driver up to the roof. I want to stop in to see someone before I go home. Privately.”

“Of course, Coordinator. I’ll see to it right away.”

She headed for the lift. He was a good man to have on her payroll. Smart, perceptive, and unusually competent. He’d see that her guards stayed some distance away, yet close enough to protect her. He’d also make certain that only her most trusted security people were on watch for the flight home.

William Hawthorne had visited her, so she could plausibly return the favor. He’d be a fine sounding board for her suspicions.

The Hawthorne estate was located in the same general area as her residence. Most of the higher orders lived in estates grouped close to one another for exclusivity. Of course, that meant the AI had virtually exterminated the most prestigious families in the orbital bombardment a decade ago. In the old days, her family would have been strictly second tier.

Her security team meticulously cleared her flight path with all of the estates they overflew. Even as the coordinator, she needed to mind her manners. It wouldn’t do for someone to make a “mistake” and shoot her down.

Her family and William’s had been close before the rebellion. Five hundred years had allowed for many cross connections between them. They’d intermarried to the point that everyone was related to everyone else to some degree.

That was true of most families in the higher orders, but not like the West and Hawthorne clans. They hadn’t been nobles when the Empire fell, but merchant families. Ones that had gone out of their way to prove their allegiance to the machines when they took over.

That sickened her, but her ancestors had done what they needed to do to survive. And those terrible deeds had gone a long way toward shielding the resistance.

That loose group of loyalists hadn’t been in charge of the families back then, of course. They’d slipped into leadership roles generations later. They’d still be working to make up for what their ancestors had done for many years to come.

She relaxed a little once her air car settled onto the landing area beside William’s home. His mother occupied the large house, but he preferred the more relaxed lifestyle of living apart from the hubbub with his husband.

William came out from the patio as soon as her car settled onto the ground. “Coordinator, it’s good to see you again so soon.”

“It’s been a rough day and I wanted to run something past you, if you have time.” She motioned for her guards to wait outside. They didn’t like that idea very much, but they obeyed.

William led her into his home. “Craig is off looking over the South Shore power plant. He’ll be sorry he missed you.”

“I hope nothing is wrong.”

He shook his head. “No, nothing like that. They’re upgrading the backup circuits to handle more of the load. Transmission technology has improved significantly since they built the facility. As one of the senior engineers, he wanted to be on hand for the tests. He’ll be inconsolable once he realizes he missed you.”

Olivia smiled. “I’m sure that isn’t true. He’s a remarkably steady fellow. You know, the kind you want around when something goes terribly wrong at a fusion power plant. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Might we retire to your den to discuss something?”

His exquisitely manicured eyebrow rose. “Of course. I do hope my reputation won’t be tarnished when word gets out that the two of us were huddled together without a chaperone.”

“I’m tempted to start some rumors to see what people say.”

He laughed. “Alas, I’m afraid no one would believe them. Would you like a drink?”

“Some red wine would be wonderful,” she said as he led her into his exceptionally comfortable den. He’d decorated it in dark fabrics and subdued lighting. The bar built into the wall held some of the best liquor on the planet. She’d spent many an evening here plotting her ascension to the coordinator’s office.

His dashing demeanor made many people assume he wasn’t more than a social butterfly, but appearances were most deceiving. William Hawthorne was the leader of the resistance on Harrison’s World and she’d never met a more brilliant and determined man.

He poured their drinks and came back over to sit beside her. “The house is clear and I’ve engaged the privacy screens. What’s wrong?”

Olivia sipped her wine. It was excellent, as always. “I couldn’t risk sending a message, but I have two issues for us to worry about. First, the people in orbit aren’t Fleet. I’m not even sure they’re really from the Empire at all.”

His hand paused while pouring his drink. “That’s not what I expected to hear at all. Explain.”

“Their ship isn’t just a superdreadnought like
Invincible
. It
is Invincible
.”

“You’re certain?”

She nodded. “Completely. I’ve compared the flag bridge to the one on
Invincible
in the messages Brian sent me. There are a few flaws in the admiral’s console that precisely match. Also, when I asked them a question about Terra, their answer told me that they had no idea of the conditions there. They made as though it was still a civilized world. One Admiral Mertz claimed he’d visited.”

“It might be,” he said. “Just not on the surface. So, who are they? And how did they gain control of this system without the AI roasting them? They wouldn’t try to pass
Invincible
off as their own if they had a similar ship.”

Olivia took another sip of wine. “Precisely. I have no idea what they’re doing, but they don’t know about the Empire. At least not as it is today.”

He sat back and considered her words as he stared at the ceiling. “We need to know more about them as quickly as possible. The prisoners might be a source of information. They want them back very badly, after all.”

“My thoughts exactly. Can some of our people look into questioning them?”

“Of course. They’re isolated on Spark Island, just offshore, so they’re close by. Other than airships patrolling overhead, no one is directly interfacing with them. After all, they’re only of the lower orders. Or so we thought. They might be something completely unexpected. Also, a few of them are still under medical care.”

“I’m going to invite Admiral Mertz down to the surface, along with the mystery woman, Kelsey Bandar, tomorrow morning. A trip to inspect their people might be just the time to ask some pointed questions.

“Which brings me to my second problem. The conservatives are furious that I’m not holding out for complete freedom. Abigail stormed into my office and made some particularly pointed threats about impeachment.”

William waved his hand as though dispersing a cloud of smoke. “They don’t have the votes to sustain that kind of motion. No one really wants to see them back in power. They’d be fools to try.”

“They’ve been fools before.”

He inclined his head to acknowledge the point. “I’ll make some calls and get our people in the other parties to start spreading the word. Perhaps dragging their plan into the open will encourage them to see reason. It can’t hurt.”

He sipped his drink. “Now, send me everything you recorded on that ship. Every word they said. We’ll go over it with a fine-toothed comb and see if we can come to some conclusions about them before they come down. And I want to meet them.”

They sat up late into the evening dissecting every moment of her visit to
Invincible
. It was late when she headed home, but she felt more certain than ever that they were on the cusp of something that would change Harrison’s World forever. If they could survive the transformation, that is.

* * * * *

Sean couldn’t believe how easy it was to slip over to the other side of the island. The guards had rigged a fence that wasn’t climbable, but they hadn’t searched the abandoned buildings very closely. One near the edge shared power and cooling with another outside the fence. A tight service tunnel connected them.

The marines that had been conducting the reconnaissance led him across. They all changed into pilfered coveralls in the deserted building’s first floor bathroom. The three of them slipped into the more occupied areas of the port.

Sean had overseen the loading of supplies before, but this operation was significantly larger than anything he’d imagined possible. The massive ships offloaded huge containers that workers moved into a number of warehouses. Looking down the docks, Sean could see several different colors of coverall. That would distinguish one company from another, he supposed.

A number of men wearing the same color coveralls as them greeted the marines. They in turn introduced Sean as the new guy. They all assured him that he’d learn how the real world worked now.

He worked side-by-side with these men loading containers onto large grav lifts. He even accompanied several across to the city to unload them.

When he raised an eyebrow at one of the marines, the man shook his head. “Shift ends in a few hours. Then we go back with everyone else without making people wonder what we’re up to.”

By the time the shift was over, Sean was beat. He hadn’t worked at something this physical in years. He really should make more time for the gym.

Crowds of men filled empty grav lifts and made their way to the city. The other workers invited the marines to bring the new guy bar hopping, but they declined. In a few minutes, they’d walked away into the strange city, blending in with the working class crowd.

The marines led him to a rundown parking garage. They went up some darkened stairs and came out on a floor containing some of the shakiest grav vehicles Sean had ever seen. They didn’t look capable of flight.

Sean gave the men a look. “You can’t be serious.”

One of them grinned. “I worked on all kinds of vehicles before I joined up, sir. Most of these are junk, but I found one that was repairable. We worked on it last night, stealing parts from the others as needed, and I got it working. No one will report it missing. Hell, I’m not completely sure these aren’t abandoned. They don’t look as though anyone’s been in them for years.”

Against his better judgement, they slipped into a vehicle so rusted that he couldn’t be certain what its original color had been. It started, though it made noises that he feared meant something important was about to fail.

“That sounds bad.”

The marine shrugged. “It’s the backup grav generator. It should work well enough to get us down in one piece if the main fails. Not much more.”

“I didn’t think grav generators made noise.”

“Only ones that are
very
out of tune. What’s the plan, sir?”

“First, what do you know about this area. What kind of people work and live here?”

“Working class poor, sir. I grew up in a neighborhood like this. People are trying to make ends meet any way they can. If you’re worried about someone calling the security forces, well, that isn’t the norm for this kind of place. Only when things go really bad.”

Sean nodded. “Okay. That sounds good. We’ll need to find a place where we might be able to hide a few thousand people in a pinch.”

“Bad idea, sir.” The marine in the driver’s seat turned to face him. “This close to the island, the security forces will tear everything up. They’ll search every building. We’ll need to take everyone further away from here.”

That wasn’t what Sean wanted to hear, but it was probably true enough. “Then we focus on finding our people. I know the general area where they took me and what the building looked like. If we can find it, we might be able to locate everyone and find out what their intentions are.”

“And if not?”

He grimaced. “Then we stash the grav vehicle and slip back onto the island before breakfast. Who knows? Maybe they’ll bring everyone back before we need to do something.”

Sean doubted that. They wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of taking so many people if they were just going to bring them back. The clock was ticking.

Chapter Twelve

Jared hadn’t expected quick action from Coordinator West, so he was surprised when she called him early the next morning. He’d just arrived on the flag bridge when the officer manning the communications console turned to him.

“I’m glad to see you, Admiral. I have an incoming communication for you from Harrison’s World. It’s Coordinator West.”

He sat in his chair and tugged his uniform jacket tight. “Put her on my console, Lieutenant Carver.”

The right side of his curved console came to life with an image of the coordinator. She sat behind a large desk made of honey-colored wood. The wall behind her was a subdued blue and he could see a painting over her shoulder. It looked like a landscape.

“Good morning, Coordinator,” he said politely. “I hope you slept well.”

“You mean you hope I slept at all,” she said with a sardonic smile. “I had a lot of people to talk with last night. As you might imagine, not everyone is as ready as I am to make concessions.”

He tipped his head in acknowledgement. “While I can see your point of view, I’m concerned about my people. Every day this remains unresolved, they stay locked up.”