Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) (8 page)

Now that the wail of the wind was somewhat muted, Jon thought he heard other sounds. The piercing call of a baby screaming, frightened cries of pain, fear and anguish. The voices seemed to carry in the wind, but when he looked around, he could still not see anything, as the area appeared to show no signs of life. Unsure if the voices were real, or just his imagination, he stumbled to his feet and grasped the hilt of his sword. Wrapping the cloak tightly around himself, he headed onwards, quickly disappearing into the storm, with the noise swirling around him, a shadow vanishing into the twilight.

*****

“Admiral.” The voice of his Communications Officer carried across the bridge to Admiral Sterling on his return after briefing Paul on the rapidly unfolding situation. “I have managed to contact a Marine Sergeant Patrick Reynolds on the planet, who claims to know where the Commander is,” the officer explained.

Sterling nodded, recognising the name, and motioned with his hand for the Communications Officer to open a channel. “Gunny,” he demanded. “Where is the Commander?”

There was no reply for a while and all that could be heard over the channel was heavy static, interference caused by the storm. “We’re all fine Admiral, thanks for asking.” Even with the interference, the bridge crew could hear the sarcasm dripping from the marine. “You know, after falling several hundred meters, while travelling at several times the speed of sound. How are you all doing up there, by the way?”

The Admiral had known Gunny for many years. Like Paul, they had first met while serving in the Imperial Navy, hence he recognised Gunny’s frustration. Gunny was as hard as they came, tough as nails and hard as leather. The man was a legend in the Marine Corps. Sterling often wondered what it was about Commander Radec that seemed to draw people such as Paul and Gunny to him. “Gunny, I need to speak to the Commander. Immediately. Can you put him on?” he asked, deliberately ignoring the earlier sarcastic quip.

“Uh, the Commander isn’t exactly here right now,” Gunny hedged.

“What,” Sterling shouted. “Where the hell is he?”

“It would seem that the Commander has decided to proceed on ahead. On foot.”

Sterling could only pummel his fist into the armrest of his seat in frustration. “Gunny we have to find the Commander, he is possibly the only one left alive that can stop this madness, before things get out of hand.” During the past half hour a plan had slowly started to form in his head. It was crazy, more probably insane, but it was all that he could think of. But first they had to
find
the Commander. That was going to be the easy bit; the hardest part was having to convince him to go along with the plan. Sterling was certain that was going to take more than a little fast talking.

“I have injured marines down here Admiral, who are not fit to travel,” Gunny replied after a long pause.

“Understood Gunny. I am dispatching a search and rescue shuttle to your location now; they will be with you shortly. But Gunny, I need you to take whoever you can and find the Commander. Now.” The silence between the replies convinced the Admiral that Gunny was reluctant to leave injured men behind. After all, there was a reason why this man was a living legend in the Corps. “Gunny, I wouldn’t order this if it was not important. I cannot say more over this channel, but believe me when I say that unless we can find the Commander and bring him back to the fleet, then many more are going to die.”

“Understood Admiral, we will locate the Commander. I have a good idea of his intended destination.”

“Thank you Gunny. Signal us when you have located him and we will send an assault shuttle to retrieve you and your team.”

“Understood Admiral.”

Pleased that at least this plan seemed to be progressing, Sterling dispatched a search and rescue shuttle to Gunny’s current location and then went back to monitoring the
Indomitable
. Captain Harrington and the marines should be there shortly. Sterling wondered what sort of reception they would receive upon their arrival.

*****

Paul stepped cautiously off the assault shuttle that had landed on the flight deck of the
Indomitable
. There was little risk however, as three companies of angry, heavily armed marines had already disembarked and secured the few shocked crew that had been present. If the crew had not been frightened enough by the marines, the three assault shuttles still hovering in the background, guns and missiles extended, glistening in the lights above the flight deck, ensured no resistance. Major Thompson was taking no chances after Paul had briefed him on the short flight over from the
Protector.

Paul was less worried about facing stiff resistance securing the ship than he was with the conduct of the marines. Many of them were young kids, barely out of their teens. They had family on Eden Prime and Paul could see the shock, fear and anger in their faces after they had been briefed on recent events. Paul was certain that the majority of the crew were not implicated in the attack. He had been involved in enough covert operations to know that the more people who knew about it the greater the chance of it failing. In any case, only the senior officers had the necessary fire-control codes to be able to unleash the awesome weaponry of the ship. The crew would not have been briefed, as was obvious from the terrified expressions on their faces, as they lay restrained on the flight deck.

It was only going to take one crew member to panic, one marine to be a little too quick on the trigger and this operation was going to turn into a bloodbath. Too many people had already died today and Paul was determined there would be no further deaths on his watch. He didn’t even want to think about who might already have died on Eden Prime. Jon, Sofia and Gunny were his closest friends and they were practically family. He knew that nothing had been heard of their whereabouts since he had departed from the
Protector
. Meanwhile he was determined to remain focused on the task at hand, as there was nothing that he could do for them at the moment.

“Listen up, marines,” Paul called out at the top of his voice to get their attention. “Admiral Sterling has tasked us with securing this ship. You have all been briefed on recent events and know the necessity of doing this quickly, as we have no idea if the ship is preparing to fire once again.” Paul let the words trail off, easily conveying the urgency of their operation. “However, the crew of this ship are not our enemy. They are our brothers and sisters, just like us they have family down on Eden Prime. It is obvious that whoever is behind this horrific attack expects us to turn on each other and we will not allow that to happen. Our job is to secure the ship and find the perpetrators, not to exact revenge on the crew. So stay focused, keep in close contact with your platoon sergeants and move out.”

As the marines saluted and filed out from the flight deck, Paul was relieved to see some of the fire had left their eyes. Hopefully they would now demonstrate some restraint while securing the ship. Turning to Major Thompson who, via their tactical communications network, was monitoring the progress of the marines spreading throughout the ship, Paul ordered, “We will proceed directly to the bridge.” Withdrawing his sidearm, Paul made sure there was already a round in the chamber and the safety catch was firmly on. While Paul was confident the crew were not involved, he was worried about the position of the Captain and senior officers. Somebody had ordered those weapons to be targeted and fired and when he found out who…

Paul tightened his grip on the pistol.

*****

Not unexpectedly, the entrance to the bridge was guarded by two of the ship’s marines who raised their rifles on seeing Paul and his men. With Paul and the Major’s own marines responding in a similar manner, it quickly became a very tense standoff. Remembering his earlier promise to himself, Paul motioned for his men to lower their weapons, which they did reluctantly.

“I am Captain Harrington and I am ordering you to lower your weapons,” Paul called out to the two marines guarding the entrance to the bridge.

“I do not know you, sir, and I do not recognise your chain of command. Only the Captain or my Commanding Officer can order us to step aside,” came back the discouraging response.

Major Thompson took a step forward, so he was clearly visible to the two marines. “You might not know the Captain, but you know who I am. I am ordering you to stand down, marines,” he shouted down the corridor.

At the sight of the Major, the two marines looked at each other nervously, but remained steadfast, their rifles still firmly pointed at the two officers.

“I do not recognise your chain of command Major,” the marine replied hesitantly, as it was obvious that he knew the Major.

Recognising the impasse and their need for urgency, Paul took a step forward with his hands firmly in the air, to show that he was not reaching for a weapon. He was confident that by doing this, and with the Major at his side, they would not shoot him on sight. “I recognise your reluctance soldier,” Paul called out in a reassuring tone of voice, taking another step closer. “So how about we all go and talk to the Captain in person? I am sure that he can clear up this misunderstanding.”

The two marines looked unsure for a moment, before the lead marine lowered his weapon slightly and beckoned for Paul and the Major to approach.

As they got to the door Paul motioned towards the control and said, “Why don’t you call the bridge and announce our arrival. I am sure that Captain Harrison will explain everything.”

The lead marine, relieved he would soon be rid of this problem, twisted around to reach for the door control and just for a moment his rifle was no longer pointed in their direction. Catching hold of the barrel of the rifle to keep it pointed away from him, Paul caught the marine across the back of his head with a stunning blow that slammed him face first into the corridor bulkhead. Out of the corner of his eye, Paul observed the Major similarly disarming the other marine.

Once the two marines were disarmed and bound, Paul drew the pistol at his waist, motioning to the other marines to get ready. With a deep breath Paul activated the door control, charging onto the bridge with the Major and the remaining marines close behind.

It only took Paul three long strides to get behind the Captain, who was seated in his chair. Resting the muzzle of the pistol against the back of the Captain’s head he ordered in a firm tone of voice, “Not a move Captain, otherwise I will gladly put a bullet through your head.” Out of the corner of his eye, Paul observed the marines similarly immobilising the rest of the senior officers. Only once he was sure nobody was going to move a muscle did he slowly inch around the seat, his pistol not wavering in the slightest, until he stood face-to-face with the Captain. Paul’s eyes went wide with surprise, when for the first time he could put a name to the face.

He knew this man.

“I’ve seen you before,” Paul uttered in a surprised voice. “Several months ago. When Jon and I were on the
Sunfire
, you were on the bridge of the
Protector
, standing behind the Admiral.”

Harrison nodded, or tried to, before he remembered the pistol resting firmly against his forehead. “Captain Morden had taken ill. The Admiral ordered me to take temporary command of the
Protector
.”

Meanwhile Paul lowered his pistol slightly, his thoughts racing on ahead.
What the hell was going on?
The Admiral would never have offered this man command of his flagship if he did not trust him, implicitly. It was obvious that the Admiral and Captain knew each other well, very well. “How long have you known the Admiral?”

Eyes flicking to the pistol in the man’s hand, Harrison answered truthfully. “Ten years.”

Paul eyed the younger man warily; he could not be more than in his late twenties or early thirties, young to be a fleet Captain. “How did you meet the Admiral?”

“We met via my wife.”

“Your
wife
?” Paul exclaimed in surprise. “What has your wife got to do with this?”

“She is the Admiral’s daughter. Admiral Frank Sterling is my father-in-law.”

Paul almost dropped his pistol in shock

No wonder the Admiral was so desperate to find somebody else to lead this boarding action, somebody that was not under his direct chain of command. The two were family. Paul could not get his head around the implications. At the very least it cast the Admiral in a very bad light. At worst, it implicated him in a conspiracy to commit mass murder.

Matters were only made worse when Harrison continued, “There is no need to restrain my senior officers. I take full responsibility for the actions of my ship. It was me personally that gave the order to open fire. My crew were not involved. They bear no responsibility and it should in no way reflect badly upon them.”

The calm and unemotional way Harrison announced his sole responsible for the mass murder of thousands, maybe tens of thousands, had Paul once again gripping his pistol firmly and raising it to point at the Captain. Harrison didn’t even blink at the sight of the pistol, his lips in an upturned smile as if he would like nothing better than for Paul to pull the trigger. Reining in his temper, Paul stated, “Captain Harrison, by order of Fleet Admiral Sterling, I am placing you under arrest, pending the outcome of a full navy inquiry. Exact charges will be determined at a later date,” Paul snapped, beckoning for the marines to take the Captain to the brig. The rest of the senior officers were also restricted to their quarters, under armed guard.

Once the bridge had been cleared, Paul fell back into the seat now vacated by the Captain. He doubted that anybody survived the bombardment on the planet below and the plot to kill the Senate now directly implicated Admiral Sterling.

What a complete and utter mess
, Paul thought despairingly.

Paul remembered that he had promised to communicate with the Admiral as soon as the ship was secure. Walking to the now empty communication console, Paul found the necessary controls to signal the
Protector.