Morgan's Choice (42 page)

“Behind the flagship, Morgan. Quickly,”
Ravindra said.

The dive had taken them beneath the battle
cruiser. A burn of the lower thrusters brought the Starliner beyond
its bulk, protected by its shields from whatever might come from
Artemis. She burned the thrusters again to bring the ship to a halt
relative to
Vidhvansaka
.
Tired. She’d never been so tired. Or so hot.

“Can you show me Artemis?” Ravindra’s eyes
were on the screen.

Her mind flowed through the data connection
to the battle cruiser and found the sensors. She brought the images
back and directed them to the Starliner’s audio-visuals.

Artemis’s bulk hung directly
between
Vidhvansaka
and
Krystor, seeming to cut the planet in half. The rear of the ship
erupted, flinging debris from the ruptured hull into space. For a
moment the image was clear until the released energy lit up the
battle cruiser’s shields. Fragments followed, bursting apart,
sliding off, hurtling past the edges. She clutched her hands to her
head. The entity’s shriek of fury sawed at her nerves. Then there
was silence.

Ravindra blew out a sigh of relief. She
could almost see the tension draining from his muscles in response
to the light show on the battle cruiser’s shields. If he’d been
wrong about the energy sink, he wouldn’t have had time to apologize
before
Vidhvansaka
was
destroyed, and the Starliner with it. She’d bet there would be some
cheering on the warship’s bridge.

“
Vidhvansaka to Starliner, we have dropped
shields in sector eight four. Airlock AF forty is available for you
when ready.”

“Acknowledge,” Ravindra said. “Morgan, take
us in.”

“
Srimana
.”

Might as well let the auto-pilot take them
in. She selected the position of the airlock as the destination and
let the ship plot its own course. The battle cruiser’s flank grew
larger in the view screen, the line of airlocks like dark windows
in an apartment building. A light flashed above AF forty. Something
wasn’t right, though. Something hovered, a dark cloud, a niggling
feeling. Something.

“
Starliner, shut down engines.”

“Acknowledge.”

She shut the engines down and settled into
her seat. It would be pretty on Krystor, all this stuff burning up
as it hit the atmosphere. Hot. She was so hot. Maybe she was
burning up, too. Sweat dripped from her chin. She wished she could
rub her face.

“Morgan?”

She opened her eyes. Ravindra gazed at her
from his seat, still in his harness, eyebrows drawn together. The
equalizer gauge beeped, signaling airlock opening.

“Sorry. A bit tired, that’s all.” She managed
a smile. “It’s been a busy few days.”

The Starliner lurched as the tugs brought the
ship into the hangar. The harness lifted from her shoulders.

He bent over her. “You’re ill.”

She waved him away. Why wouldn’t her eyes
open properly? “I’ll be all right.”

He straightened. “Get a medical team here.
Now.”

“No. No, not yet.” She waved a hand to stop
him. “Yes, I’m sick but this is… this is something else.”

Her heart lurched. Artemis. Artemis hid in a
corner of her brain. Oh fuck. She tried to dislodge the function,
neutralize it.

Artemis chuckled. “
You cannot defeat me.”

Morgan opened her eyes and stared into
Ravindra’s face. “She’s not defeated, Admiral. She’s only wounded
and she’s here.” She pointed at her own head.

He blinked, startled. “We’ll destroy the
ship.”

“You’ll have to do it quickly. And she’s
orbiting very close to the planet.”

In her mind she saw blue tendrils like
mist around her data stores, probing, twisting like tree roots into
rock.
No you
don’t bitch. You will NOT get into my implants.
Blocking, blocking all the time Morgan
spoke to Ravindra.

“If she overcomes my defense she has access
to the knowledge to get into your systems, destroy the ship. Don’t
land anything on her and work quickly. And don’t on any account
allow them to sedate me. I have to be conscious.” She shooed him
away. “Go on, go.”

“What will you do?”

“The only thing I can do. Fight. But if I
lose… you’ll have to kill me.”

Chapter
Forty-Eight

Ravindra ran for the transit and selected the
bridge. The transit car moved to horizontal, numbers flicking by.
He sucked in a deep breath. Set her to one side. He could do no
more for her. Except destroy that mother ship.

“Admiral on the bridge.”

Men and women slammed to attention when he
appeared in the doorway. He took it all in with one rapid glance,
the curved line of stations, each with a screen, the central
hologram of the current sector with the huge rectangle that was
Artemis at its center, the captain’s command chair.

Lomandra stepped forward and bowed,
leading the salute. “
Srimana
. Welcome
back. And may I say, it is good to have you back.”

“Captain,” Ravindra said. Good to have him
back, eh? Perhaps. Certainly Lomandra was smiling.

“What are your orders, Admiral?”

“The alien ship is wounded, not dead. But we
must be mindful that it is in a comparatively low orbit around
Krystor.”

“With respect, Admiral, the orbit is already
beginning to decay. The technicians estimate fifteen hours before
the ship begins to enter the atmosphere.”

Ravindra suppressed a shudder. “We can’t let
that happen.” A twenty klick ship plunging into Krystor. The effect
would be catastrophic. What survived the impact would perish in the
storms and dust clouds. “We’ll just have to tow the thing away. I
don’t want anybody going on board. Have the grav beam generators
deployed along the starboard flank and use them to tow it out
beyond the planet’s moons.”

“
Srimana
.” Lomandra looked at his boots. “Admiral… there
are so many questions.”

“
There are, Captain. But right now I want
someone who can give me a situation report while I shower and
change.” He’d almost said SenComm Lindar, but Lindar was dead, one
of Asbarthi’s first victims. Anger boiled in his stomach. He hoped
Asbarthi was still alive. When he got his hands on the
slimeball…
Enough of that.

“Have SenComm Radisar attend to me in my
quarters. I’ll be back shortly.” He afforded Lomandra a bow and
strode the short distance to his quarters.

Tullamarran opened the door for him,
bowing especially deeply. “I have a uniform laid out for
you,
Srimana
.”

“Thank you.” Ravindra returned the bow,
kicked off his boots and began to peel off the flying suit.

“I am very pleased to see you back. I grieved
at your reported death.”

Ravindra paused in the act of taking an arm
out of a sleeve. The man had been an integral part of his life
since he’d reached the rank of captain, silent and efficient. What
could he say? “I’m pleased to be back.” He met the man’s eyes for a
little longer than usual. Tullamarran smiled and averted his
gaze.

“
Get me a new
sanvad
, will you, Tullamarran.”

“
Srimana
. Will you be dining here?”

Dining here. With Morgan. Oh, how he wished.
No, not yet. “I think I will be expected to make an appearance in
the senior officers’ mess.”

He showered and dressed while SenComm
Radisar briefed him on the situation on the ground. The
Yogina
had targeted all major cities.
Zaffra Bay was destroyed, as far as they could tell fighting
continued in Krystor Central, Al Nara and Quito. No one had
seen
Hai
Sur
Devagnam or
Asbarthi. The
Yogina
were
spreading out over the less sparsely inhabited areas, killing as
they went. Fires had broken out in many places.

“Why did the fleet return to Krystor?”

“
Because of a speech
Hai Sur
Devagnam gave at a victory parade. He said
the King and Queen of the Orionar had returned to lead all the
worlds of the Union, that their message of equality for all would
be spread.” Radisar grinned. “He even said they would avenge the
death of the King at the hands of the Mirka.”

“Huh. It seems I owe Devagnam thanks. So does
his planet. Arrange a meeting with section commanders for an hour’s
time.” Ravindra finished fastening his jacket. A singular luxury,
this, to wear a uniform that fitted correctly.

****

Morgan lay back on the med sled and closed
her eyes. She probably had a fever, picked up from those pesky
insects in the jungle. That would explain the heat. Artemis worried
at her security like fingers picking at knots.

“
You cannot defeat me.”
The voice cooed, almost a
lullaby.

“No, Artemis, you’re not defeating me. You’re
crazy. Gone mad in your own mind, haven’t you?”

The mind-fingers tore, vicious as hooks. She
forced them away while her body was shifted onto something more
comfortable. A needle pierced her skin and she felt the biots
squirt into her blood stream.

“
You and I together would be
invincible, I with my ship, you with your body. You could go down
to these planets, lead my warriors. We could pave the way for the
settlers.”

“There are no settlers. No ships come
behind.”

A pause, a momentary lifting of the
attack. “
Doctor Rosmenyo promised settlers.”

“He was killed. He couldn’t get to you,
remember? He and his Makers. And you destroyed the rest of the
facility. How could they leave? And where to?”

Another probe, a lightning attack on three
fronts, savage, uncoordinated. Morgan blocked and blocked again
while the biots attacked the virus.
“Settlers will come. All your primitives
will die. You have wounded me. But my attendants work even now on
restoring the energy sink.”

The energy sink must have been badly
damaged, surely? She hoped Ravindra was doing something about
destroying Artemis, but if she checked, if she became distracted,
the entity in her mind might… Morgan stiffened…get a foothold
in
Vidhvansaka
,
transfer from her ship to this one. Not the same, of course not.
She would have no warriors but she would have weapons.

“
Let go, Morgan. I don’t want to
hurt you
.” Soothing as
the waves on the shore.

If she had
Vidhvansaka
, perhaps she could run her own ship from here.
For a time, at least. The battle cruiser’s fusion engines would run
for many, many years. There had to be a way of fighting back, not
defending all the time. How had Artemis gained a toe-hold? Not by a
direct connection. Her defenses prevented that. Morgan hadn’t been
able to penetrate Artemis’s security, either.

“
Let me in, Morgan.”

She blocked again, deflecting a thrust as
deadly as a knife blow to the ribs. But the blocks were harder
every time, sapping her strength. Oh hurry up, Ravindra, kill the
bitch.

****

Ravindra gazed down at Morgan’s inert body,
lying in a bed in the ship’s isolation ward. She looked rigid, as
if in pain. Sweat had gathered on her forehead. Her eyes moved
behind closed lids. “She doesn’t look peaceful. What is it?”

“She has an infection, a virus. We have
injected biots into her blood stream and you can see here that’s
working.” The doctor waved a hand at a screen by the bed, where a
red line was curving downwards. “What else is affecting her we
don’t know. There doesn’t seem to be any medical reason for it.” He
ran his tongue over his lips. “If we could give her a sedative,
something to relax her—”

“No. It would be dangerous, believe me.”

Fight. That’s what she’d said. Fight that
spawn of hell his flagship towed. “All right. Inform me if the
situation changes.” Ravindra turned on his heel and went back to
the bridge.

In the central hologram the enormous bulk
of Artemis dwarfed
Vidhvansaka
with
Krystor now a large, bright star. Artemis’s hull had been breached
when the energy sink exploded but already the hole was reported
smaller than when the ship was first scanned.

“We have reached the target distance.” The
tech called from the bridge’s navigation station.

“In your own time, Captain,” Ravindra said.
“Destroy her.”

Lomandra targeted his fire power
carefully, spreading the explosions along the alien ship’s length.
With no shields and no power of her own she wallowed helpless.
Strike after strike impacted her hull. Atmosphere vented;
equipment, tiny bodies blasted out into space. As a final blow, one
of the frigates maneuvered to a position where it could fire
missiles directly into the energy sink. The explosion tore the ship
almost in two, releasing a brief, spectacular display of energy
jetting out from the ship like a deadly flower that sprayed
against
Vidhvansaka’s
shields.

Victory. Ravindra allowed himself a grin. The
two frigates would set Artemis on a course into the system’s
sun.

****

Morgan blocked again. The fucking ship just
wouldn’t go away and she was tired, brain-dead in a way she’d never
been before.