Ghosts of Empire (Book 4 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (7 page)

“Get up,” one said. “Hands behind your back.”

When some of the other prisoners stood, Sean held his hand out. “Stand down. There isn’t going to be any problem. I’ll be back shortly.”

The guards cuffed him, led him to their vehicle, stuffed him in back between two additional escorts, and lifted off. With a little height, Sean could tell the prisoners were on a small island. Hedged in between the guards, he couldn’t get a clear look at it, but the island wasn’t more than a half kilometer offshore. The water looked cold and a bit rough.

The grav car took them over what appeared to be slums. Further inland, the buildings became more upscale. One might charitably call them middle class, if one squinted. The car zeroed in on one of the larger roofs and landed. The building had a sign indicating it was owned by Roscoe Consolidated.

His guards escorted him through the roof door and into a lift. They went to the tenth floor and led him down a corridor with worn tan carpeting. The art on the walls looked inexpensive and generic.

One of the guards knocked on a door and led Sean inside without waiting for a response. The office consisted of a battered desk, an even more battered man behind it, and office furniture that someone probably should’ve junked years ago.

The man didn’t look at all pleased about the interruption. “Put him in the chair and wait by the door. This won’t take long.”

That didn’t sound promising at all.

The guards dragged a chair in front of the desk and sat Sean down with more force than necessary.

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to see me,” Sean said dryly.

“Don’t be a smartass,” the man said with a snarl. “I can have them let you out of the car over the ocean if you piss me off, prole.”

“My apologies. I’m Force Master Chief Sean Meyer, the senior Fleet prisoner. I have some concerns about my people and their housing.”

The man sneered. “So I gathered. As far as I’m concerned, you should feel glad we didn’t drop you a hundred kilometers offshore and let you swim for it, you bastards.”

Sean hadn’t expected this level of animosity. “Have we met? I certainly don’t remember harming you.”

The man rose abruptly and stomped around the desk. Sean thought he was going to hit him, but the man only grabbed Sean by his tunic and yanked him to his feet.

“Oh, no?” the man shouted, spraying Sean with spittle. “Maybe you remember Port City better? You know, the capital of Harrison’s World before you blew it up, along with my brother. Give me one excuse to rip your head off and I’ll dump your worthless body where no one will ever find it.”

The level of danger was significantly higher than Sean had anticipated, especially since he had no idea what the man was talking about. “I’m truly sorry that happened, but I didn’t do it and neither did the men with me.”

“You think that matters?” The man shoved Sean back down in the chair. “Say your piece so I can have someone come clean my office. Maybe the stink will go away in a few years.”

Sean had intended to probe for some idea of what was happening, but he didn’t dare.

“A number of our people were taken to a hospital. Not all of them have come back. I want to know how they’re doing.”

The man glared at Sean for a moment and returned to his desk with a muttered curse. He tapped on the keys to his console. “Six prisoners are in a guarded wing of a local hospital. If I could, I’d haul them back and let them die right in front of you. You want to know anything else?”

“I don’t suppose you might give us some reading material?

The man snorted. “As if you rats from the lower orders can even read. Get this bastard out of my sight. And the next son of a bitch that wants to see me? Shoot him.”

The guards hustled Sean out the door without a moment’s hesitation.

He had no idea what had happened on this planet, but it didn’t look good for him or his people. If the Rebel Empire Fleet had bombarded the capital of this world, he could understand the hatred they were expressing. It limited his ability to see to their conditions, but he couldn’t help that.

Based on how grave Captain Cooley’s injuries were before the AI ambushed them, Sean hoped he was still alive. He’d lost his legs and suffered life-threatening injuries when the Rebel Empire destroyer had wrecked
Shadow
.

They flew Sean back to the island without saying a word. He used the time to study the layout of the city and the island once they made the flight across the bay. The view reinforced the idea that the prison camp had once been a training facility. Parts of the island were still in use, though the people below weren’t Fleet. They looked like stevedores.

He had a tantalizingly brief view of some ships drawn up offshore unloading cargo containers. They were big. There were also some sizable grav vehicles. He imagined the cargo came by sea and made its way across to the city after sorting.

Maybe, just maybe, they could escape their prison if Mertz didn’t come through. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt to make some contingency plans. If they could get into the city, they might be able to get to a spaceport. It was a terrible risk, but if they had to run, they needed to be ready.

* * * * *

Abigail King stalked into her office. Her assistant started to say something, but rapidly found more productive things to do with his time.

“I’m not to be disturbed for any reason,” Abigail told him and went into her office, slamming the hardwood door behind her.

She immediately called a memorized number.

“Calder Consortium. How may I direct your call?”

“Put me through to Master Calder.”

As the head of the conservative alliance, Edward Calder was due the title even from the second most powerful official on the planet. After all, he’d been the one who put her where she was. He could take her out just as easily.

“Right away, Deputy Coordinator King.”

The line was silent for a moment before her patron came on the line. “Abigail, I’ve been waiting for your call. How are things proceeding?”

“Poorly, Master. Coordinator West has removed me from the role of negotiator and is going up to the Fleet vessels in orbit herself. It sounds as though she’s looking for a way to find common ground with Admiral Mertz.”

The line was silent for a moment. “Do you think she’s become aware of our plans?”

“It’s hard to tell, Master. It galls me, but she’s more subtle than I am.”

Calder laughed. “Don’t confuse the persona you play for who you really are, Abigail. You’re far more discerning than you give yourself credit for.

“Now, while I’ll admit that this might be a setback, I’m not yet ready to throw in the towel. You’ve put this Admiral Mertz into a heightened state of intransigence as I instructed. All we need to do is keep him and Coordinator West from coming to an agreement. If the progressive coalition negotiates our release from Harrison’s World, they will consolidate their rule for the foreseeable future. I won’t allow that to happen.”

“I’ve tried to assure that there is no agreement, Master, but if she makes more reasonable overtures he may well agree to her terms. If only to get back at me.”

He made a clucking noise. “You’re too pessimistic. We still have many avenues to disrupt the negotiations. Perhaps it’s time to remove West from power in a more permanent fashion.”

Abigail shook her head, even though he couldn’t see her. “I think it’s far too premature, Master. The council is still more in her camp than out. Her assassination would only make them more mulish. Perhaps the engineered execution of some of the prisoners with the finger of guilt pointing at her? An atrocity would both derail the negotiations and taint her reputation.”

“I wonder if we could merge those ideas,” he said thoughtfully. “Killing some of the Fleet prisoners and then assassinating Olivia West. Those linked events could get everyone looking at Admiral Mertz as the guilty party for her death. That has possibilities.

“Keep a close eye on the negotiations and begin setting up plans to carry out the execution of some prisoners. If the moment seems ripe, we’ll see if we can get the dogs to attack one another. Call me as soon as something important occurs.”

He disconnected without waiting for her response. Abigail scowled at the view outside her window. This was risky. Impetuous. If things went wrong, she’d be the immediate suspect.

Which might be Master Calder’s plan, she admitted. He led the conservative alliance and his family had been in power before the system lord had crushed the planet. As one of only a few surviving members of that clan, he’d want to sit in the coordinator’s chair himself. With the death of Olivia West, he’d see Abigail as an obstacle to his ambitions.

She owed her rise in power to him, but she didn’t owe him her life. She decided she’d take steps to see that certain information about him became public if something unfortunate happened to her. Done properly, he’d find out and understand the message she was sending him. In the end, the real winner was the one left standing.

Chapter Six

The communicator on Olivia’s desk chimed. She answered her assistant’s request with the touch of a key. “Yes?”

“My deepest apologies, Coordinator. Lord Hawthorne is here without an appointment. He’s very insistent about speaking with you.”

“Send him in.”

The titles accorded to the higher orders by birth always made her smile bitterly. They were lords and ladies, just like the AIs that ruled them. Their ruling society had three layers: the Imperial lords who ruled the Empire, the system lords who managed individual solar systems, and the higher orders of humanity.

The machine intelligences always spoke of how they worked hand-in-hand with the human leaders, and the lower orders believed that fiction. Little did they know that even the most powerful humans were just as much slaves as they were.

William Hawthorne was different for a number of reasons. She’d known him for most of her life. He was actually one of her few friends—and her mentor.

The tall man with sandy curls came in and bowed his head. “My deepest apologies for interrupting your busy day, Coordinator. I bring word from my Lady Mother. She commanded me to deliver at once and in person.”

“Then come in and tell me. I can hardly wait.”

He closed the door and gave her a questioning look.

“My security team scanned the room this morning,” she said. “I’ve been here ever since. Speak freely. Did your mother actually have a message for me?”

He smiled. “She did, though that’s not why I’m here. My youngest sister is getting married next month and my Lady Mother would be delighted if you could attend.”

“I’ll check my schedule and let you know, but only because I like your sister more than your mother. She gets on my nerves with all her matchmaking. I’m tempted to tell her about my unrequited love for you just to get her off my back.”

William gave her a semi-panicked look. “Don’t you dare! Not even in jest! She’d never give me a moment’s peace, urging me to divorce Craig and marry you straight away. Oh, the scandal that would cause.”

He sat and gave her a considering look. “I might be persuaded to name my daughter after you, though. She’ll be out of the artificial womb in another two months and we still haven’t agreed on a name. Craig would be honored, I’m sure.”

“As would I. What do you really need?”

“I’ve spoken with the others and taken them the data you provided. Captain Black searched the few Fleet databases we still have and came up empty. No mention of an Admiral Jared Mertz.

“That’s not really surprising, though. Fleet databases are fairly segmented. We only knew the officers and ships assigned to this sector and the surrounding ones. The admiral obviously came from further away. Perhaps even the core worlds.”

Olivia considered what that might mean. “They’ve had a long time to clean up the mess on Harrison’s World. Why wait a decade? To see if there are any rebels still hiding here?”

William smiled. “I’d think you, of all people, would be happy to have the time to consolidate your rule. The orbital strikes mostly destroyed the existing political structure. I’m not sure I’d have expected a resistance leader to end up in charge back then.”

“The irony isn’t lost on me,” she assured him. “We financed the restoration of
Invincible
and were only weeks away from striking at the system lord.” She said the last with all the bitterness she felt toward their AI masters. They’d taken so much from humanity. And from her personally.

Her fiancé, Fleet Captain Brian Drake, had almost certainly died when the AI realized the humans of Harrison’s World were planning a revolt. His death had almost destroyed her. It probably would have, if she hadn’t been running for her life and helping rescue people from the devastation.

The Lord had struck at them without mercy, killing tens of millions. Then it had crushed their necks under its boot. The slightest hesitation to obey brought wholesale death. It could’ve sent probes down to take control of the implants in their heads, but it hadn’t seemed interested in that level of domination.

Most of the nobles didn’t realize the AI could take direct control of their bodies through their implants. The code in them was perverted. They thought of the lower orders as their slaves, but that was the worst kind of deception. The AIs that had crushed the Terran Empire could make them dance any time they chose to do so.

She knew this because Harrison’s World had a loosely knit community of resistance members. They kept memories of what the Empire had once been alive. Maybe it was closer to a religion. They certainly felt a reverence for what they’d lost that was close to worship.

They’d thought a superdreadnought and a few secrets from the Grant Research Facility would be enough to subdue the AI. They’d been horribly wrong.

It had spies on the ground, though seemingly not in the resistance itself. It had gotten wind of the coup, or at least enough information to believe that humans were a threat to its rule.

Most of her allies on the ruling council would be horrified to know the truth about her. If they even suspected her role in the aborted coup, they’d speedily see her executed.