Ghosts of Empire (Book 4 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (8 page)

“Are you even listening to me?” William asked.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and focused. “Sorry. I let my mind wander. What did you say?”

He gave her an exasperated, but resigned look. “I said that we’ve gone over the data we stole from Lady King’s network. Leaving aside her profound incompetence as a negotiator, we’ve analyzed the video she recorded of the initial meeting.

“Admiral Mertz is definitely on a Holyfield class superdreadnought. The same kind of ship as
Invincible
. The flag bridge layout is unmistakable. With his support ships, he’s too strong a nut to crack, even if we managed to slip some people out to
Invincible
and finish bringing it online. His trained crew and support vessels would slaughter us. Whatever plan you formulate needs to be subtle.”

She nodded. “I’ll give it my best. I told Abigail that I was going up to negotiate in person. I’ll bring back as much data as I can. Is there anything else?”

“One more thing. We looked at the meeting with the Fleet landing party. Something odd came out of it. Look at this.”

He sent her a video snippet through his implants. It showed a woman in powered armor standing up to Abigail’s obnoxious demands. Olivia found herself liking the small woman.

“Okay. What am I missing?”

“The men behind her are in a variant of standard unpowered Fleet Marine armor. So far, so good. Her armor is not standard marine issue, however. Also, even though she never used them, Abigail noted she had implants, so she’s an officer.”

Olivia frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Only shock troops use armor.”

Imperial shock troops were the Empire’s most deadly ground weapon. The massive suits made them virtually invincible. The people inside them, though, weren’t trusted. Their officers kept them on a very short leash. At the first sign of a problem, their officers would eliminate them. The AIs didn’t want humans to possess that kind of destructive power.

“That’s what Captain Black said. We don’t have any marines in the families now, but we have the basic data. Marine officers use unpowered armor. No exceptions. And look at her size? She’s a tiny little thing. I could scruff her and she’d never land a blow on me. She’s not a marine.”

Bumped out of her comfortable mental space, Olivia took the time to consider the situation and listen to the exchange between the woman and Abigail again.

“She calls them ‘her marines’ right out in the open,” Olivia said. “What about her armor. If it’s not standard issue, perhaps identifying it will give us a clue who we’re dealing with.”

William shook his head. “That only deepens the mystery. The old databases identify it as Marine Raider armor.”

Olivia’s frown deepened. “What’s a Marine Raider? I’ve never heard the term before.”

“According to the records, Marine Raiders were the premier troops of the pre-rebellion Terran Empire. So heavily enhanced they could take out dozens of regular marines all by themselves. Artificial muscles, hardened bones, combat drugs that made them almost immune to pain, and faster than death.

“That armor is lighter than the stuff used by the shock troops, but these commandos could strike out of nowhere and be gone before you knew you were dead. There hasn’t been a Marine Raider in over five centuries. They died trying to stave off the AIs. Or, so we’ve always thought.”

Well, that certainly made for an unexpected surprise. Who was this woman, and what was her role? Had the AIs resurrected the Terran Empire’s deadliest killing machines? Was she a weapon the Imperial lords would use to stab Harrison’s World in the heart?

Her name was Kelsey Bandar, or so she’d said. Olivia looked forward to meeting this exquisitely deadly woman in person.

“Well, now that you’ve ruined my day,” Olivia said, “let’s have a drink. The good stuff. I might not be in a position to enjoy it tomorrow.”

She poured a drink for her friend and for herself. When he was ready, she raised her glass. “To the Emperor. May he rest in peace.”

William finished the ceremonial toast. “And to the Empire. May it rise from the ashes.”

Olivia drank deeply to that. One day they’d restore the Empire or die trying.

* * * * *

Jared awoke when his door chimed. A quick check showed Crown Princess Elise of Pentagar smiling at the pickup. His internal chronometer said he had an hour left before his alarm went off, but he’d cheerfully lose some sleep to see his girlfriend again.

He threw on some clothes and opened the hatch. “Hey! I didn’t expect you for a few more hours.”

She stepped into his arms and kissed him. “I know you have a busy day ahead of you and I wanted some time alone first.”

Her Royal Guard companions remained outside as he closed the hatch.

She hugged him hard. “I’m so happy you made it through that battle. I watched the vids on the trip out. God. If I hadn’t known in advance that you’d made it, I’d have been certain you’d all died. That was insane.”

The battle for this system had been brutal. “We didn’t have a choice. We had to win or suffer the consequences. We lost so many people, particularly the marines.”

“I saw some of that, too. While it won’t make up for the loss, we brought as many Royal Pentagaran Marines as we could pile into the corridors. They’re on Boxer Station. We left our ships there, too. They’ll need some remedial training on your equipment and how you operate, but that should help.”

He nodded. “It does. Not against the planet holding our people, but in case we have to do more fighting in space. We appreciate the help.”

“We’re allies. You’ve given so much to help us. How could we not give everything we could in return? We brought the heaviest ships we had upgraded to use the space-time bridges. We also brought extra crew to transfer to your ships. That should help fill some of the remaining gaps.”

Jared mentally translated space-time bridges to flip points. “I’m going to be in so much trouble when I get back home. Even with Kelsey making it an Imperial order to allow Pentagaran crew on our ships, the Admiralty is going to flip without a ship.”

“Leave tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow,” she advised. “I know you have a very important meeting this morning. Before then, I’d like to do something I’ve never done before.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And what would
that
be? I thought we’d been pretty…thorough.”

Elise smacked his arm and pulled him down to sit on the couch. “That, too, but not right now. We don’t have time and you are
not
going to meet a foreign head of state after a roll between the sheets with me. What did Kelsey tell you about what they found?”

“They found what might have been the implant center on the station. Are you wondering what they might be like? I thought we’d discussed that to death. You need to experience them yourself is the best answer I can give.”

She smiled oddly. “I’m ready to start.”

He opened his mouth to say something and stopped. A quick check told him that she had implants.

“I hadn’t heard the implantation center was operational,” he said. “I wish you’d waited. We don’t know this equipment as well as I’d like.”

“Kelsey seemed satisfied,” Elise said. She took his hand in hers. “And if she was going to allow Talbot to do it, how could I miss the opportunity?”

Jared frowned. “Wait. How many people are we talking about?”

Elise gave him a lopsided smile. “She’s already shepherded a few dozen people through the process. Some of my people, her guards, Talbot, Doctor Stone, and some scientists. The second round consisted of mostly my people. She didn’t want to get too far ahead of your approval in getting your crew done.”

He sighed. “Too late.”

“She said you’d say that and begs your forgiveness.”

“I should never have told her it was easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission. I’ve created a monster. If she’d asked, I would’ve said yes, but I certainly wouldn’t have put you in the first group.”

“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t wait. You need people to have implants, you know. The Rebel Fleet officers are implanted. If yours aren’t, that’ll set off alarm bells when your visitors arrive.”

“You’re right. Still, I don’t have enough time to get people to the station, see them through the implant procedure, and then get them back before the negotiating party arrives. Why didn’t she wake me?”

“It was late and she knew what you’d say. She invited certain crew members to come visit Boxer Station. If you approve, they have time for the procedure and the trip here. That’s one of the reasons I dropped in so early.”

Jared needed to have a long talk with Kelsey. It could wait until this situation was resolved, though.

He opened a channel to his sister through
Invincible
’s communications system. It would take minutes for her to respond, so he decided to make this brief.

Kelsey, you’ve officially gotten even. Go ahead with the people you sent for. And, in the future, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go behind my back where my people are concerned. The chain of command exists for a reason. Come back with the crew. I want you here on
Invincible
when King comes up. Mertz out.

He returned his attention to Elise. “There. I’ve scolded her and given her the green light. Now, what do we do about you?”

Elise shook her head with a bemused expression. “You stared off into space for just a few seconds. That must’ve been the fastest ass chewing in history.”

“Hardly. You should’ve heard what she said when I got implants and didn’t tell
her
. So, what can you do?”

Elise seemed to consider his words for a moment and then stood. “Actually, we can talk about that later. You have plenty of time to shower. I’ve missed you and have better things to do than talk.”

That was a plan he could wholeheartedly get behind. Worrying about King could wait.

Chapter Seven

Kelsey stepped out of the cutter. Jared’s bridge crew filed out as soon as she cleared the way. Her security team, Talbot, and Charlie Graves followed them. The cutter crew closed the hatch and decoupled, taking the senior officers from
Courageous
home.

Jared shook Charlie’s hand. “Looks like we’ll have to start cutting you in on the action.”

Graves grinned. “I’m looking forward to getting back to
Courageous
and testing these implants. Now that you and the princess aren’t hogging them.”

“I bet.
Invincible
, please grant everyone present with implants the appropriate access to your systems.”

“Done, Admiral,” the AI said. “Welcome aboard, everyone.”

Jared gestured toward the lift. “Zia, Kelsey, Talbot, Charlie, and Elise. Let’s adjourn to my office. Everyone else, you know where you need to be. Start getting familiar with using your implants.”

The large crowd dispersed and Jared led the way to his office just off the flag bridge. It was a large space seemingly designed to impress visitors. His desk was made of dark wood and so large that Kelsey doubted he could reach the other side while sitting.

She looked around the space with interest. The shelves were of a similar make. He’d picked up enough knick-knacks on Pentagar to fill them. The rest of the furniture was comfortable and expensive looking.

All in all, she thought the room set the right tone for the visiting negotiators. Of course, they hadn’t seemed very impressed with a fleet of ships in orbit, so she might be wrong.

They settled into comfortable chairs and Jared started things off. “I’m glad to see no one had any problems with the implant procedure. That’ll make things a lot better for us the next time we have to fight. Unfortunately, we have a battle of a different nature coming up. The woman assigned to negotiate with us is difficult. Now she’s coming to see me face-to-face.

“How do we keep her from knowing we aren’t Rebel Fleet officers? Or that this ship was the one they were getting ready to stage a coup with? One misstep and they could kill thousands of our people.”

Graves frowned. “I still don’t understand how they could be so suicidal. We control weapons of mass destruction that could obliterate millions of their citizens.”

“Weapons we won’t use,” Kelsey said. “It’s never a good strategy to bluff. If they call, we look weak.”

Talbot gave her a smile. “You bluff all the time.”

“Never so often that you can read me,” she shot back. “If we blow this, we have no leverage. Let them read the threat without us mentioning it.”

Jared nodded. “That’s probably for the best. I’d been planning to use a different conference room, but now that we have enough officers with implants, I think a trip through the flag bridge is in order. Impress her with this ship and its implied firepower.”

“You’ll need to replace the ship’s plaque,” Zia said. “The chances of there being two major ships with the same name are too small.”

“
Invincible
, can you do that?”

“Of course, Admiral,” the AI said. “What name would you like to use for our deception?”

He pursed his lips for a moment. “Let’s go with
Athena
. And you’ll need to tone down your interaction. You need to sound less capable.”

“This unit will comply, Admiral.”

“Perfect. Now, let’s talk about the meeting. I’m envisioning Princess Kelsey and myself as our faces. I’ll also need a flag captain.”

Graves smiled. “I’m ready to fill the roll.”

Jared shook his head. “You have to be on
Courageous
. What if they need to know who commands that ship later? No, it needs to be someone that’s here all the time.”

He looked at Zia. “And since you’ve been acting as my executive officer that makes you the logical choice. You’ll need new rank tabs, Captain.”

The woman’s eyes bulged a little. “I know it’s only pretend, but I was a lieutenant a week ago, sir. I’m feeling a little out of my depth.”

“Who said I was making this up?” Jared turned to Kelsey. “I’d rather have someone I trust implicitly at my back when trouble comes calling.”

Kelsey nodded decisively. “That’s the right choice.
Invincible
, please log Zia Anderson’s promotion to Captain and her assignment as flag captain of this ship.”