The Lost Stars: Shattered Spear (6 page)

“Then we will arrange your transport to Ulindi,” Iceni said, “along with our assurances to what few authorities Ulindi still has that you have been cleared by security.”

“We won’t tell Ulindi anything else,” Drakon said.

“You need to tell them more. People there will know me,” Boyens objected. “You rescued those survivors of the Reserve Flotilla. I was in a senior position in that flotilla for a long time.”

“That’s right,” Drakon agreed. “And you were a CEO, but you weren’t an awful CEO. You didn’t make a good impression when you were here commanding that other Syndicate flotilla, but images from transmissions you made, images that show that snake CEO Happy Hua at your back ready to plunge in a knife, have been popping up in a lot of places, along with comments that she must have been forcing your hand.”

“Still manipulating social media, and every other form of media?” Boyens asked sarcastically. “I guess some of those Syndicate habits die hard.”

“Those skills are useful and essential for survival,” Iceni said. “It is also being noted that when Happy Hua operated that flotilla alone, she acted much more ruthlessly. There were no bombardments of worlds when you were in command, creating the impression that you acted as a check on Hua’s natural cruelty.”

Boyens straightened in his seat, looking legitimately affronted. “I did act as a check on her. That’s not just an impression. I took some serious risks to hold her back. I’m not a butcher, Gwen. Why do you think the Syndicate turned on me? Because Hua’s report painted me as the cause of that flotilla’s failure, saying I was
insufficiently zealous
in pursuing Syndicate objectives.”

“We know,” Drakon said. “If you had a history anything like Hua’s, you’d never leave that cell you are in. But Gwen and I know that you’re
actually telling the truth, that you haven’t been a cold-blooded killer, that none of the survivors of the Reserve Flotilla have called for your head on a plate, and even Black Jack saw something worthwhile in you. You can go to Ulindi as the man who prevented Happy Hua from doing the sort of thing she did to Kane
after
you were relieved of command of that flotilla, and as the CEO in the Reserve Flotilla who may not have been a hero of the workers but did treat them like they were human.”

Boyens shrugged. “Rewriting history is easy. I always knew rewriting the memories of those who know you is another matter altogether. All right. We have an agreement. Once you let me out of here, I’ll let you know everything else I found out in the Syndicate. There’s nothing remotely as big as the trap that was being set at Ulindi, that was my trump card and I gave it to you freely, but perhaps you can use some of the other gossip. Oh, one other thing. I have no ambitions to be a general like you, Artur, but if I manage to attain the power I need at Ulindi can I call myself a president as well, Gwen?”

She smiled again. “If you earn it, Jason.”

This time, Boyens smiled back. “Then let’s get in the same room, raise some glasses, and toast the resumption of a beautiful friendship.”

“Just a few minutes, and you’ll be out,” Iceni said. “We’ll see you soon afterward.” She closed the virtual window, leaving the blank wall in its place, then sighed. “I hope we’re not screwing this up.”

Drakon shook his head. “We know Boyens. He’s a smart operator, and he can be a decent guy if properly motivated. He’s going to be seeing agents of ours around every corner at Ulindi and be constantly worrying about what we’ll do if he starts acting like a snake or a Syndicate CEO. Between that and fears of the Syndicate and the enigmas, he might just be what Ulindi desperately needs.”

“And what we need,” Iceni agreed. “My agents at Taroa report we have enough elected officials in our pockets there to ensure Taroa goes along with reasonable proposals from us.”

“My agents at Taroa tell me the same thing,” Drakon said. “If we get Ulindi and Taroa tied to us, Kane and Kahiki will do the same. Ulindi, Taroa, and Kane can all support substantial populations and have decent resources, or will once Kane rebuilds. And Kahiki offers us the sort of research labs it would be beyond our means to re-create here. Give us a few more years and we’ll have enough strength in these star systems to hold off even the Syndicate and the enigmas.”

“But will we have a few more years?” Iceni asked. “Or even a few more months?”

Drakon didn’t answer, because he didn’t have any answer to offer.

*   *   *

MANTICORE
left jump space at Iwa with every weapon fully ready and her shields at maximum strength. As Marphissa shook off the effects of the transition from jump space she stared at her display with a growing sense of dismay.

A low murmuring came from the others on the bridge as
Manticore
’s sensors reported what they could see.

“Is there anything left?” Kapitan Diaz asked the senior watch specialist.

The specialist shook his head, his voice trembling slightly. “No, Kapitan. The city has been totally destroyed by orbital bombardment. All occupied off-planet sites have been destroyed. So have automated sites. Even small satellites have been blown apart.”

“But no sign of enigmas, either?”

“No, Kapitan. The ships that must have destroyed Iwa are no longer present.”

Marphissa spoke in a low voice that carried across the hush on the bridge. “The enigma ship detected by
Pele
must have been a final check before their attack force jumped here. There are no distress signals from any surviving humans?”

“No, Kommodor. There is no indication that any humans survived.”

The recently promoted CEO that Kontos had encountered here had not ruled Iwa Star System for very long.

“Look at that,” Diaz said in a wondering voice. “They even flattened abandoned weapons emplacements. There was nothing in those emplacements, but they destroyed them anyway.”

“Black Jack told us the enigmas had wiped every trace of human presence from the star systems they had occupied,” Marphissa said, feeling numb. She had seen worse in her time. Much worse. The war with the Alliance had created scenes of destruction that dwarfed this one. But few that were as complete in their annihilation, and the people here had been totally helpless. They would have been able to do nothing as the enigma bombardment approached. Nothing but wait until nothing was left.

“What should we do, Kommodor?”

Marphissa took a long, slow breath as she considered her options. “Our orders are to warn Iwa and to establish contact with Granaile Imallye. Midway is already aware of a possible threat from Iwa. Moorea is not. Neither is Palau. We will continue on to Moorea, try to speak with this Imallye, and warn everyone that the enigmas have an alternate attack route into human space. And we will not waste time. Proceed toward the jump point for Moorea at point two light speed, Kapitan.”

“Yes, Kommodor.” Diaz glanced at his display. “That jump point is four and a quarter light hours distant from us. The transit will take a little more than twenty-one hours.”

“Very well.”

As
Manticore
came about and accelerated toward the jump point for Moorea, Diaz gazed morosely at his display. “Do you think the enigmas will try to establish a base at Iwa, Kommodor?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Black Jack reported that Pele has remained completely vacant since the enigmas pushed the Syndicate out of that star system. But Iwa would be a toehold in human-occupied space.”

“Why, Kommodor? Why do the enigmas do this? Didn’t Black Jack tell us they don’t want us to know anything about them? Fine. We’ll leave them alone.”

“They are afraid that we won’t stop trying to find out things about them,” Marphissa explained. “They must view the entire universe with fear, and fear creates cruelty and ruthlessness.”

“It does in people,” Diaz agreed.

Marphissa closed her eyes, wanting to block out the vision of what had been done to Iwa Star System. “We are fortunate they could only reach Iwa. This is a tragedy, but there wasn’t much here. If the enigmas could have hit Taroa or Ulindi the loss of life would have been much, much greater.”

It was cold comfort, but it was the only comfort that Iwa offered.

And it helped distract her slightly from the even colder fear that the enigmas might have also found a way to get the extra jump range they needed to reach Taroa and Ulindi directly.

*   *   *

HABITS
taught during Syndicate rule died hard. The ambassadors from Taroa and Kahiki sat apart from each other, uncomfortable with their bodyguards forced to remain outside. A woman who represented what was left of Kane after the civil war and Syndicate bombardment had taken a chair to one side, her eyes shifting rapidly about the room as if expecting ground attackers or a weapon dropped from orbit to strike at any moment. A young man who had somehow survived the snake purge of suspected traitors on Ulindi looked both determined and frightened.

Iceni noticed that the representatives from Taroa, Kahiki, and Ulindi all kept glancing at Drakon as if regarding him as the one who was in charge. Drakon was the one they knew from his time in their star systems. The woman from Kane gave those kind of glances to Iceni, who had herself visited there. All of the representatives gave the
appearance not of ambassadors for their star systems but like junior executives facing Syndicate CEOs who could ruin their lives and their worlds on a whim.

“Not much, is it?” Iceni murmured to Drakon where he sat beside her. “Four star systems, and only Kahiki is intact.”

Drakon nodded, keeping his eyes on the star system representatives as he answered in the same low tones. They didn’t have to worry about their comments being overheard since the security field would hide both their words and the movements of their lips, but still they spoke discreetly because another lesson of the Syndicate was that you never knew who might be listening despite all of your security measures. “None of them can even defend themselves, let alone contribute to defending anyone else.”

“Not today,” Iceni agreed. “And not tomorrow. But Kane, Ulindi, and Taroa have the resources and the worlds to support decent defense assets someday, and the labs on Kahiki might produce the advances we’ll all need to hold off the Syndicate and the enigmas.” She reached out one finger to tap a control and negate the security field, then spoke in a normal voice. “We have a matter of great concern to discuss with you, as well as a proposal that should work to all of our mutual benefit.”

The suspicious eyes watching her grew even warier. “Madam President,” the ambassador from Taroa said, “we have all had far too much experience with Syndicate offers that were supposedly to our benefit. We know that
you
would not make that sort of offer,” she finished, sounding hopeful and almost sincere in her belief.

Drakon replied, sounding appropriately gruff and foreboding. He and Iceni had agreed that he would best serve as the bad cop in this negotiation. “With the exception of Kahiki, Midway has taken substantial risks, and combat losses, to aid your star systems. And we have already committed to defend Kahiki. That’s in addition to our mutual defense agreements with Taroa.”

The woman from Kane shook her head rapidly. “No one would
accuse you or President Iceni of not having aided us,” she said. “Is the Syndicate preparing another attack?” The question came out with a pleading tone, as if begging them to tell her the answer was no.

Iceni spoke soothingly. “We have no information about Syndicate attack plans, though as you all know the Syndicate will not stop trying to regain control of all of our star systems. After their defeat at Ulindi, it should take the Syndicate a little while at least to muster major new forces to attack any of us, though smaller attacks are possible at any time. I’m afraid the larger threat that concerns us comes from another direction.”

“Imallye?” the Taroan asked. “She was threatening Moorea, but that information was over a month old by the time we heard it here.”

“We can handle Imallye if we have to,” Iceni said, making her flat statement sound confident despite their lack of knowledge of just how powerful Imallye actually was. “No. This threat is not from a human source.”

That information hit the four representatives with the force of a blow. They actually all flinched or jerked back as if Iceni had swung a fist their way.

“There were alien ships in this star system recently,” the man from Ulindi said.

“Those were Dancers,” Drakon replied. “Perhaps not allies of ours, but certainly not enemies. You’ve all heard that Dancer ships saved this world from being devastated by an enigma bombardment.”

“The enigmas? Is that the threat?” The representative from Ulindi looked at the others as if seeking either confirmation or support. “Is Midway asking us for help to stop another enigma attack? We have none to offer.”

“We are all too aware of that,” Drakon said.

The man from Ulindi flushed with embarrassment. “As grateful as we are for your assistance in throwing off the Syndicate yoke that bound us, we lack any warships. You know that. You took with you every Syndicate mobile forces unit captured at Ulindi.”

Drakon’s eyes narrowed.

Iceni considered intervening, but decided to let Artur run free a little longer. She wasn’t too pleased with the attitude of the representative from Ulindi.

“You mean the Syndicate units that
we
captured at Ulindi,” Drakon said, his voice low and powerful. “While
we
liberated Ulindi from the Syndicate. I lost good men and women in that fight.”

“So did our warships,” Iceni said, more pleasantly than Drakon, which somehow made the point just as effective.

The young man from Ulindi turned even darker with embarrassment, then shook his head, his hands moving indecisively. “I’m sorry, honored—I mean, we lost people, too. The snakes killed so many. Everyone who they suspected might have planned or led or done anything else against the Syndicate. We lost all of the people who should have been here instead of me, all of the people who would have known how to talk to you. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”