Pledge Allegiance (8 page)

We passed underneath the
Zodiac
’s hull and into a flurry of fire from her lower mounted cannons. The
Finch
shook from the impact as we were hit repeatedly.

Morrow had gritted his teeth and was staring at his navigational computer as it displayed a diagnostic of the predator class vessel above us. “Got it,” he said. He pulled on the yoke and our nose lifted. The window showed nothing but white steel. We were close enough to count the rivets on the
Zodiac
’s hull.

Then Morrow released two missiles before dropping the nose again and taking us out of range of the cannons. He turned his attention to another screen—one that showed an array of numbers. He grinned. “Two direct hits, Captain. Their engine capability has been reduced to forty percent.”

“Good work,” I said. “Does that mean we can outrun them?”

He compared the readout on one screen to that on another. “They have no chance of catching us,” he said. “The computer estimates that their engine repair will take at least six hours. We can get to the gate before that happens.”

He slid his chair back to his usual console and typed on the keyboard there. “At our current reduced speed, we should be at the gate in eighty-four minutes.”

If the damaged generator was brought back online soon, our speed would increase, reducing that eighty-four minutes further. We’d make it there before the
Zodiac
’s engines were fixed, but Partridge knew where we were going and it would be easy for him to follow us to Savarea and blow us out of the sky there.

“Prepare to fire missiles,” I told Morrow.

He looked at me closely for a moment but then said, “Yes, Captain,” and slid back to the console with the flight yoke and weapons systems.

“There are extreme penalties for destroying an Imperium ship,” I told Vess, “but we don’t have any choice. The
Zodiac
will keep coming after us. It’s better to strike back now than be on the run forever.”

“That sounds like a thought for the day,” Morrow said. “But we’ll be on the run anyway. Like you said, there are extreme penalties for destroying an Imperium ship. The penalty is, in fact, death. The Imperium won’t let us get away with this.”

“They will when we show them that Partridge and Everson are working with the Outsiders,” I said.

“And how are we going to do that?” He raised his eyebrows querulously.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, we have to take action or be hunted down by Partridge and his crew.”

“You don’t have to justify your actions to me, Captain,” Vess said. “That ship stands between me and my daughter so I say let’s blow it out of space.”

I looked at Morrow. “Whenever you’re ready. Unless you’d like me to push the button.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have a problem pushing the button.” He fired off three missiles. They sped toward the
Zodiac
and hit her underbelly, causing flashes of fire and eruptions of metal where they struck.

“We’re being hailed by the
Zodiac
,” Morrow said.

“On screen.”

The screen showed Partridge on a bridge that was caught in chaos. Crew members ran back and forth, trying to put out fires on the computer consoles. An alarm rang stridently and red lights flashed. A female computerized voice was repeating, “Damage critical” over and over.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Blake?” Partridge asked, his face a mask of fury. “This is an act of war. You’ll be hunted down by the Imperium wherever you go. Not even the remotest corner of the galaxy will be able to hide you. Cease fire immediately and we can discuss this like rational human beings.”

I unfastened my safety belt and got up from the chair. Stepping over to the control console, I said to Partridge, “Human beings are the people you’ve betrayed. It’s you who’s carried out an act of war.” I leaned forward over Morrow’s shoulder and pressed the missile release button.

When the missile hit the
Zodiac
, the Imperium ship seemed to break into two pieces, cut down the center by a series of bright yellow and orange explosions. The image on the screen wavered for a second and then went dead.

I
sat
on the sofa in my quarters with a glass of rum on the table before me. We’d passed through the final gate twelve hours ago and had met no resistance from any other ships, Imperium or otherwise. I felt tired and in need of a drink. But even though I’d poured the rum as soon as I’d entered my quarters, I hadn’t taken a sip of it yet. It sat, untouched, on the table and had been there long enough for the ice cubes to melt into the dark, spiced drink.

Since destroying the ISS
Zodiac
, I’d had time to consider the consequences of my actions. I had no regrets but I knew that when it was discovered by the Imperium that one of their ships had been destroyed by an Avis class fighter known as the
Finch
, they would issue a warrant for our arrest—or, worse, a kill order. We would be fugitives from the most powerful force in the galaxy. Partridge had been right when he’d said there would be nowhere to hide.

The only way to clear our names was to prove to the Imperium that Partridge had connections with Commander Everson at Druun-9 and that Everson was working with the Outsiders. Then, instead of being branded fugitives, we’d be heroes for uncovering a plot against the human race by rogue members of the Imperium.

But how far did the Outsiders’ influence stretch? I suspected Commander Everson to be in league with them but what about the other Imperium commanders near Druun-9? Or, for that matter, what about members of the Imperium all across the galaxy? The corruption could go deep, maybe even all the way to the Imperium Supreme Headquarters on Earth.

That thought made me feel cold inside. Ever since I was a farm boy in Idaho, the Imperium soldiers had been my heroes. I’d read about them in comic books, seen them on TV, and read every
Imperium Adventures
novel I could get my hands on. They had the coolest weapons, the best armor, and the fastest ships. They protected the galaxy from the evil Horde. They were the good guys.

At least, that was what I’d believed. When I left my sheltered existence on the farm and joined up, I realized that not everything was so black and white as the comic books and TV shows portrayed. There were shades of gray. But every single member of the Imperium lived by one inviolable law: protect the human race from the Outsiders and their Horde.

Now, it seemed that law had been violated.

The medical team had written up a report regarding the autopsies of Provost and Gorman. The two dead soldiers had no toxins in their systems, no drugs, and no obvious damage to their brains. The medical examination had been a dead end, revealing nothing about the Outsiders.

I picked up the rum and gazed at it through the condensation on the glass as if I could scry a vision of the future in the dark liquid. But the future was unknown. We might rescue the survivors tomorrow or we might be blown out of the sky by an Imperium ship. In a way, I preferred not to know. If destiny was inescapable, there was no point trying to run from it. Better to fly toward it unknowingly at faster-than-light speed. At least I’d die on a ship in space and not in an alley on Iton-3.

Now I was getting maudlin. I considered drinking the rum. It wouldn’t help my mood any—in fact, it might make it worse—but it seemed a shame to let it go to waste.

The computer signaled that I had a call from the bridge.

“Blake,” I said.

It was Baltimore’s voice that came from the speakers. “Captain, you’re needed on the bridge. There’s something you need to see.”

“On my way.” I got up, adjusted my uniform, and checked the blaster. Then I left my quarters and headed for the transporter.

The rum was left on the table, untouched.

W
hen I stepped
onto the bridge, Morrow, Baltimore, and Vess were standing in front of a wall-mounted screen on which I could see some sort of news broadcast. As I got closer, I saw my face on there. The photo was an old one, taken when I’d joined the academy. There were also photos of Vess, Baltimore, Morrow, Hart, Prime, and Shibari.

“These are the people thought to be responsible for the destruction of the ISS
Zodiac
,” a female voice was saying. “The Imperium Supreme Headquarters on Earth released a statement just one hour ago, naming the suspects and their ship, an Avis class fighter with the designation of
Finch
. This information was retrieved from the
Zodiac
’s auto-log before the ship was destroyed by the
Finch
. The Imperium headquarters released the following piece of footage, also retrieved from the
Zodiac
’s log.”

An image appeared on the TV. It showed the bridge of the
Finch
as seen on Partridge’s screen during our communication. I was standing behind Morrow and Vess was seated at his console. I looked at the camera and said, “Human beings are the people you’ve betrayed. It’s you who’s carried out an act of war,” and then leaned over Morrow to press the button that fired the final missile at the
Zodiac
.

The female voice said, “It’s believed that Shaun Blake, the man seen pushing the button that brought about the destruction of the
Zodiac
, was once an Imperium captain himself but disappeared after his own ship, the ISS
Oregon
, was destroyed.”

Vess pointed the remote at the TV and turned it off. “We’ve seen enough of that,” he said.

“So now we’re all wanted criminals,” I mused. “But if the Imperium has the log of my conversation with Partridge, why didn’t they show the earlier part where I named Everson and said that he and Partridge were working with the Outsiders?”

Vess looked at me solemnly and said aloud what I’d been thinking about in my quarters. “Perhaps the corruption goes deeper than we think.”

“All the way to Supreme Headquarters?” Morrow asked. “If the Outsiders are running the Imperium, then we really are fucked.”

“That isn’t necessarily the case,” I said. “If whoever retrieved the log sent a redacted version to Supreme Headquarters, editing out the part where I mentioned Everson and the Outsiders, the Imperium SHQ might not know anything about the traitors in their organization.”

“Or the Imperium Supreme Commander is an alien,” Morrow said.

I didn’t want to believe that just yet. Even though we were on their wanted list, I still had to believe that the Imperium was an efficient fighting force that could combat the Horde and was free of corruption at its highest levels. Because the alternative was too dangerous to consider and could mean the end of the human race.

“I’m sure we can still clear our names,” I said. “We just have to get evidence against Everson and prove that Partridge was working with him.”

“Good luck with that,” Morrow said. “They put a kill order on our heads. Every Imperium soldier in the galaxy has been ordered to kill us on sight. You’ll never get close to Everson. You’ll be shot down as soon as you get anywhere near Druun-9. We need to get out of here and find a place to lay low for a while.”

“No, we continue with our mission as before,” Vess said. “I won’t leave my daughter stranded on an alien planet just because we’re being chased by a bunch of soldiers.”

Morrow looked incredulous. “A bunch of soldiers? That’s the largest and best-equipped fighting force in the galaxy you’re talking about. They’ll freeze our assets. All that money you had? Gone.”

“They can’t freeze what they don’t know about,” Vess said. “You may think I’m a silly old man but age has made me wise. I’ve taken precautions for every eventuality. I have more money hidden away than the Imperium will ever know about. And I’m paying you handsomely for this mission, Eric, so we continue as normal, understood?”

Morrow let out an exasperated sigh and shrugged. “Sure, I guess so.”

“After we’ve rescued Georgia and the others, then we can decide what to do next,” Vess said.

“Agreed,” Baltimore said, nodding. “We’ll reach Savarea tomorrow so we might as well carry out our original mission.”

“That’s decided then,” I said. “Let’s try to get some sleep before we reach Savarea. We have no idea what we’ll find there so we need to be rested and alert.” I left the bridge and went back to my quarters. Once inside, I took the neglected glass of rum into the kitchen and poured its contents down the sink.

Then I went to bed and watched the stars through the window until I fell asleep.

“
C
aptain
, you have incoming communication from the bridge.”

At first, I thought the female voice was coming to me in a dream but then I sat up in bed and realized it was coming from the speakers in my bedroom. Someone was calling me but when I hadn’t answered, the ship’s computer had decided to wake me.

“Blake,” I said groggily.

“We’re approaching Savarea, Captain,” Vess said. There was a note of extra excitement in his voice that I found annoying in my half-awake state. “Would you like to put together your landing team?”

I slid out of bed and rubbed my forehead with the heel of my hand, trying to dispel the grogginess I felt. “Get Hart to assemble a handful of his best men. As well as them, I’ll take Shibari and Baltimore. That should be more than enough for our first recon.”

“I’ll do that,” Vess said. “I’ll assemble everyone in Conference Room One”. He signed off.

I took a quick shower and dressed hastily before making my way to the conference room, where I found everyone I wanted on the landing team as well as Vess, who looked at me wide-eyed and expectant when I walked into the room. He looked wired but I guessed he was just overwhelmed by the fact that he might see his daughter today. I thought that unlikely because we had a big area to search for the survivors but I couldn’t blame Vess for being excited.

There was a buzz of nervous energy in the room. Hart had chosen three men and two women from his force. All five of them wore jungle camouflage and carried blaster rifles. And they followed Hart’s lead and stood at attention before me, as if I were carrying out an inspection.

Shibari wore her black and brown leather outfit and had armed herself with a crossbow that was slung over her shoulder and a katana sheathed at her hip. Also fastened to her belt was a leather bag that I assumed contained healing substances. The onna-bugeisha were known for their herbalism as well as their fighting prowess.

Baltimore had donned her Legion outfit. It was a form-fitting catsuit of dark blue flexi-armor with an insignia of crossed gladius—ancient Roman swords—beneath a spiked helmet on the left arm. She wore her blaster pistol at her hip and had a blaster rifle slung across her back. She also wore a sheathed gladius, which I’d heard was deadly in the hands of a legionnaire.

“This is a good team,” I said to Vess. “We’ll bring your daughter and the other survivors back.”

He beamed. “Excellent.”

“Listen up, everyone,” I said, addressing the landing team. “We don’t know what lies ahead of us today but we are skilled fighters. Whatever is thrown at us, we will deal with it. Those survivors are counting on us and we will not let them down. Everyone meet in the landing bay in thirty minutes. Dismissed.”

They left the room and headed for the transporters. Baltimore, Vess, and I went up to the bridge. Morrow had positioned himself at the flight yoke and was piloting the
Finch
through Savarea’s cloud layer.

“I thought we were going to take the shuttle to the surface?” I said to Vess.

“That was the plan, but Eric thought that if he can get the
Finch
closer to the planet’s surface, we can get a map of the area. The signal jammer on the planet prevents computer scans but the
Finch
can map the area visually using her hull cameras. The ship’s computer will put it all together into a map. It could prove useful.”

I nodded. “Good idea.” Looking at Morrow, I said, “Are you going to land on the planet’s surface?”

“No, I’m only going to get close enough to do some mapping. You can take the shuttle down to the surface.”

Baltimore handed me an earpiece. “Wear this. It will keep us in contact with the ship.”

I put the small of piece of plastic into my ear. Its size adjusted automatically to fit snugly.

“And put this on your uniform,” she said, handing me a small black button. “It’s a video camera. Morrow and Vess will be able to see what we see from here on the bridge.”

The button, which I could see was a tiny vidcam when I inspected it closely, had a pin attachment in its rear. I fastened it to the shoulder of my uniform. Morrow hit a switch and a screen on the wall displayed a view of the bridge from my cam. The word “Blake” was showing on the top right of the image. A second screen showed the bridge from a slightly different perspective with the word “Baltimore” in the corner.

“Looks like we’re good to go,” I said.

Baltimore nodded and turned to Morrow. “We’ll test the earpieces when we’re in the landing bay.”

Morrow gave her a thumbs-up.

“Be careful out there,” Vess said. “If I were fifty years younger, I’d be coming with you but these old bones mean I’m going to have to put my trust in you to bring my daughter back safely.”

“We’ll do our best,” Baltimore said.

We left the bridge and entered the transporter. Baltimore hit the button to take us to the landing bay. “You nervous?” I asked her when the door closed behind us.

“A little,” she admitted. “We don’t know what we’ll encounter down there. Anyone who isn’t nervous is a fool. Besides, nerves heighten the senses and that is useful in battle.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said.

The transporter doors slid open and we stepped out into the landing bay. Hart and his team stood by the shuttle in an orderly line, standing to attention as usual. Sumiko was kneeling on top of the tarp-covered tank, her eyes closed and head slightly bowed as she meditated. She was wearing a blue silk kimono decorated with embroidered gold flowers over her leather battle outfit. I noticed that the tank had Japanese characters painted in white along its side.

Sumiko must have detected my gaze upon her because she opened her eyes and leaped down from the tank, smiling as she walked over to the shuttle.

“Did you write that on the tank?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Yes, I did. I thought it deserved a name and so I gave it one.”

“Oh?” I asked, wondering if Vess knew his tank had been given a new lick of paint, “What does it say?”

“It says
Doragon
. It means dragon.”

“Very fitting,” I said.

She grinned and walked up the ramp into the shuttle. This wasn’t the luxury shuttle we’d arrived on; it was a military-grade personnel carrier with a rear loading bay. Instead of side hatches, it had a ramp at the rear that descended to allow equipment to be loaded or a large number of soldiers to exit the shuttle at the same time.

I followed Sumiko on board and went up front to the cockpit where Baltimore was playing with the controls, prepping us for flight.

I got into the seat next to her and strapped myself in. Vess’s voice came into my ear. “Captain, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” I said. “Are you receiving me?”

“Yes, there’s a microphone built into the video camera. I’m receiving you clearly.”

“Great,” I said.

Baltimore made the same check with her earpiece and then hit a switch that raised the rear ramp. It whirred up into position and locked with a metallic clunk.

I looked out of the windshield, through the open bay doors to the blue sky beyond. To the naked eyes, it looked as if the landing bay were open to the elements but I knew that two invisible walls of energy stood between us and the opening, acting as an airlock.

As the shuttle approached the first wall, the energy field would drop and then rise immediately behind us. At that point, the outer wall would drop and let us fly out of the landing bay. It worked in reverse for craft entering the bay.

Even in space, the bay doors could be left open and personnel inside the bay were perfectly safe, protected by the invisible air lock. The lock was controlled by the ship’s computer and could be pressurized instantly.

We lifted off from the floor and moved slowly forward. Baltimore increased our speed and we flew out of the bay and into bright sunlight. The windshield dimmed automatically.

“You know where we’re going?” I asked Baltimore.

“According to the calculations, this part of the planet is where the life raft most likely landed. The shuttle’s underbelly cameras should relay a bird’s eye view to us anytime now. Then we can figure out where to land.”

The screen she’d indicated flickered to life and showed an aerial view of the topography below us. It looked like mostly jungle down there with a mountain range and river system.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at what looked like a small city in the middle of the jungle.

“Looks like buildings,” Baltimore said. “It’ll be as good a place to land as any.” She pushed a button that let her communicate with the people in the rear section of the shuttle. “Brace yourselves. We’re going in for a landing and it could be rough.”

“There should be rooftops or roads down there,” I told her. “The landing shouldn’t be that rough.”

She shook her head and began our descent. “Take a closer look at the screen. There’s nothing much down there other than rubble. The entire city’s been destroyed.”