Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (32 page)

Elise stared at the potential cure. “And how does someone sneak into a place like that? The emperor must be under heavy guard. It seems impossible.”

“Welcome to the big league. Talbot, Angela Ellis, and Carl Owlet are down there. If you can get some assistance from Senator Breckenridge, it might be possible. It’s the only hope we have of stopping the heir. Otherwise, he’ll find a way to kill Admiral Mertz and probably the princess, too.”

Elise nodded. “I’ll do it, of course. Anything for Jared.”

“Excellent.
Persephone
has a second stealthed pinnace. It will take you and some additional marines down to support any actions they feel necessary. Planetary control is denying Fleet traffic access to the surface. There’s some kind of confrontation building there.

“I’m not sure how the heir means to take control of Fleet, but I’m sure that’s on his list of things to do. He certainly doesn’t want us helping his father or rescuing his prisoners. I hear he told the Senate they couldn’t have custody. That he would hold onto the admiral and princess until his father either recovered or died. He didn’t make a lot of friends, so that might help you, too.”

“I’d best go pack a bag. If this drags on, I’ll want some clean clothes.”

Chapter Thirty

Carl listened to Angela’s summary of their situation, including the news they’d need to smuggle people into the Imperial Palace with growing worry. How the hell were they going to do something crazy like that?

The security system there had to be the best in the New Terran Empire. Which meant he needed to use the best he could cobble together from Old Empire technology. And they had less than twelve hours to make it happen. It seemed hopeless.

Unless he really went outside the box.

“I need to get back to the university,” he said. “To the lab where my equipment is stored. There’s something there that might help us.”

Angela looked unconvinced. “Like what?”

“Some equipment I got from Omega. A way of going from one place to another without crossing the intervening space. We might not be able to make the sample hardware work, but I don’t know if we have another option.”

“Well, some chance is better than none. We have a grav car that won’t raise any eyebrows. I’ll get a team together.”

She called Major Talbot and gave him the rundown. He sent them on their way with his blessing.

They sat in the back of the grav car while two marines sat up front. He took a deep breath and pitched his voice low. “I’m sorry for the rumors.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Did you start them?”

“No!”

The two marines up front glanced back at them.

“Ears front,” Angela said firmly. “Carl, the situation dictated what we did. Don’t let this freak you out.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry for what it does to your reputation.”

The other eyebrow went up. “Seriously? What does that even mean?”

“I’m a kid and they’re saying…you know.”

She laughed softly. “Let’s spin this in a different direction. They’re saying I slept with the man who took out a hit team sent to kidnap or kill him. With a freaking hammer out of legend. One that can fly like a superhero.”

“That’s not who I am.”

“That’s exactly who you are,” she said firmly. “I fell into the trap of seeing what you look like and thinking it was who you are. Don’t make the same mistake. Inside that nerdy body is a man with the heart of a hero. One not afraid to risk death for what he believes in.”

He felt his face heat. “I’m not sure you know me as well as you think. I was terrified.”

“Everyone mistakes courage for lack of fear. We’re all terrified when the shit hits the fan. Bravery is doing what you have to do in spite of your knees knocking.”

He thought about that all the way to the university.

* * * * *

Ethan swept into a room deep in the bowels of the Palace. He only had his most trusted men with him now, because of who he was meeting.

Someone had found Captain Breckenridge a replacement uniform, he saw as the man came to his feet.

“Captain Breckenridge. Welcome to the Imperial Palace.”

The renegade Fleet officer saluted, as he should. “Highness, it’s an honor.”

Ethan sat on the other side of the table. “Please have a seat. Time is short. I apologize for any discomfort you experienced during your rescue.”

The man smiled as he sat. “It was all worth it. I assume you brought me here for a reason.”

He wondered if the Fleet officer knew how inane that sounded. “As you could no doubt tell from the method of your rescue, I need a man I know I can count on at my side. Fleet has proven treacherous. Are you willing to help me tame it?”

Breckenridge’s smile widened. “Of course, Highness. They were about to take everything from me, all because I was loyal to the Empire. And to you, of course. You’re obviously willing to give me my life back. How can I help?”

“I can no longer trust Admiral Yeats to lead Fleet with the Empire’s best interests at heart. I need a man at the top who will remember who he serves. Are you that man?”

“I am. And I know these rebels better than any other officer you’re likely to find. Together, we can not only unite the Empire, but also crush our enemies. The ones Jared Mertz brought down on our heads. I have a number of people I can call on to assist us that are personally loyal to me. And you, of course.”

Ethan smiled. “Then I think we have a deal, Admiral Breckenridge. Call your people. I want to head up to Orbital One shortly.”

* * * * *

Elise smiled at Senator Breckenridge’s assistant as he let her into the man’s office. That smile faded when she saw Breckenridge’s grim expression.

“Have a seat, Highness. It’s early for a drink, but one certainly wouldn’t be out of line with the awful events of last night.”

“Coffee would be good, if you have any.”

“That I can do.” He made his way to the bar and set some to brewing. “I assume you’re fully aware of the emperor’s condition.”

“Yes.” She considered telling him what was in her pocket, but decided to feel out how he was doing first. “I’m horrified, of course, and worried about the future. That’s the main reason I’ve come to speak with you.”

He nodded. “You aren’t sure how I’m seeing the events. Allow me to lay my cards on the table, because I need your help.”

The coffee was beginning to come out of the spout and into a cup. He arranged the fixings to go with it. “Cream or sweetener?”

“Black and straight.”

That caused the corners of his lips to rise. “A woman after my own heart.”

He fixed them both cups and returned to the seats they’d occupied last night. “His Highness called me late with the news. He’s offered me my family’s reputation for my support. All charges against Wallace dropped and he implied he would put him in charge of Fleet.”

It took all her willpower to sip her coffee without spilling a drop. It was excellent.

“I see. And you accepted?”

“I did, but I have no intention of actually enabling him. For a number of very good reasons, starting with the main one. I think he poisoned his father and is framing your fiancé and Princess Kelsey. I cannot and will not support this, even if defying him means the ruin of my reputation.”

He smiled at her over the rim of his cup. “You hide it well, but I think I’ve surprised you. You wonder why someone in politics for the power would cast it away. I could be the right hand of the Throne itself.”

She shrugged. “I’m curious, but I suspect you’ll tell me soon enough.”

“As with most things, it’s complicated. I truly do value my personal honor and that of my family. That only occasionally has anything to do with what others think of me.

“A pre-Empire novelist called Lois McMaster Bujold from Terra said it like this. ‘Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.’ The two can be wildly at odds. Jubilant throngs might cheer a man while inside he’s torn to shreds. Or reviled for doing what’s right.”

Breckenridge set his cup onto the saucer. “I’m prepared to embrace the latter to save the Empire. And that’s exactly what’s at stake. Wallace is incompetent and Prince Ethan is an ambitious fool. Together, they would be the death of us all.”

Elise put her cup down and stared him in the eye. “That couldn’t be plainer. I’m sorry he put you in such a quandary.”

The man laughed bitterly. “You have no idea the minefield I had to navigate last night. His Highness dropped another bombshell on me. He told me his sister informed him they were both illegitimate. He apparently confirmed it.”

She tilted her head a little. “Awkward, but troublesome in what way? He’s already the confirmed heir. Is that likely to change?”

Breckenridge shook his head. “No. He’ll remain the heir. The problem for me is that I’m virtually certain I’m his father.”

That hit her like an unexpected bucket of ice water. “That
is
remarkable, if true. You had an affair with the empress at around that time?”

“I did. One that she ended abruptly a few weeks before the official announcement that she was with child. At the time, I assumed she was cutting things off because of the added attention she knew was coming. Now that I know the emperor is not their father, I’d bet everything I hold dear that they’re mine.”

He rubbed his face. “And no matter how this plays out, one of them will probably die. Or spend the rest of their life in prison. The die is cast, Princess. I must pick a side. Though it will ruin me politically, I choose the Empire.”

“You’re a powerful senator. You’ll survive this, too.”

Breckenridge picked up his cup and sipped his coffee. “Not if I defy Ethan and fail. The winners write history. I’ll end up a traitor and die beside everyone else before it’s all over. Everything hinges on either the survival of the emperor—which seems unlikely—or outmaneuvering the murderous heir.

“And if we win, then the emperor and Princess Kelsey will eventually find out the truth. My political career will end. My fellow senators will find reasons to shun me. For the good of the Empire, I’d have to retire.”

“Is retirement so bad an option?”

“Compared to dying or being one of the causes of the destruction of the Empire? No, not at all. I’ll take disgrace and even prison, if I must.”

She nodded. “You really do value honor over reputation. Perhaps we have a chance after all.”

Elise took the vial from her pocket and set it on the table. “This has the possibility of saving the emperor’s life, but only if we get it to him in the next ten or eleven hours. I’m sure the Imperial Palace is a fortress. Could you find someone to help us get it to him?”

A flash of hope appeared in Breckenridge’s eyes. “Perhaps. We’d need someone skilled with locks and alarms, but there may be a way to get two people, perhaps three, into the palace. They’d need to elude the Imperial Guard and slip into a no doubt heavily guarded medical center. This might only give us a small chance, but I’ll take it.”

* * * * *

Angela didn’t contact the chancellor. He seemed a nice enough man, but he might do something rash. They couldn’t afford to have the police called.

Carl wasn’t forthcoming with additional details on the device he’d mentioned. That was probably for the best. She was already doubtful it would work. It sounded like sorcery.

Dressed in casual clothes, her people didn’t draw any unusual attention. Much of the conversation she overheard revolved around the wild fight last night. More people than could possibly have been anywhere near the apartments were claiming to have seen the whole thing. Usually male students talking with young women hanging onto every word with wide eyes.

It made her want to puke.

“Those lying sacks of crap,” she muttered to Carl. “This pisses me off.”

“Why?” he asked curiously. “Because they’re trying to use reflected glory to get lucky?”

“It just seems skeevy. Doesn’t it bother you?”

He shook his head. “You ever see the birds in the zoo that puff themselves up and strut in front of the females to attract a mate? This is like that. All posturing. I couldn’t care less what they say.

“I heard one guy claiming he was in on it. That he helped stop the attackers. I think he overplayed his hand, though. The woman laughed at him and walked off.”

Angela nodded. “I bet. I heard one guy that actually saw us. He told his friends about a man flying off with a woman. His friends verbally abused him. One thing is for sure. They’ll be talking about that attack for a long time to come.”

The building with the restricted access was just ahead of them. Carl and she both had codes, but she’d prefer not to leave a record they’d been here.

Getting in proved to be horrifyingly easy. Carl struck up a conversation with several women in lab coats that were going in. He pulled the exact same crap those boys had been doing, though he stuck to an accurate viewpoint.

His story so enthralled the two that they didn’t notice he never swiped his card. He had it in his hand, but held the door for them. He left it open just long enough for her to keep it from closing and walked deeper into the building with them.

As soon as they were a dozen meters away, Angela opened the door and motioned her men to follow her inside.

Carl said his goodbyes to the women and entered a stairwell beside the lift. She followed as soon as the women walked into a first floor room.

He was waiting at the next landing. She gave him a hard look. “What the hell was that?”

“A lesson in security training they obviously forgot,” Carl said with a grin. “The easiest way to get into a building and past a lock is to distract someone with access and go in with them. Holding a bunch of donuts and coffee works well, too. Doctor Leonard told me if I ever fell for anything like that, he’d assign me an essay on the subject.”

She shook her head. “You’re a damned wonder. Come on. Let’s get to the lab before someone asks us how we got in here.”

“We have access cards. They’d let us walk.”