The Santana Nexus (Junkyard Dogs Book 3) (31 page)

"I'
m certain she will see the wisdom of your request," replied Juan Carlos. "When do we leave?

"I'd like to get underway as soon as possible but I can certainly give you
a day or so to make some preparations."

"Sounds good.
I'll go and get ready. Ah...after I have convinced my Rosa of our need to join up with you!"

Chapter
45.

UTFN Reclamation Center, January 11, 2599.

The small fleet returned from the Secret Scrapyard and over the course of the next twenty-four hours was joined by
the
Asimov
and the
Dingo
, now laden with supplies for the Scrapyard, from Heard's world. As the supplies were being distributed and packed away, Corporal Donahue personally delivered the computers and drives recovered from the Veritian Derelict to Ensign Carlisle. With Kresge's blessing, she took them immediately to Heskim on the
Istanbul
who accessed them for her and loaded the output onto her wrist computer as he had done with the data from the original computer drive. She then went back to her quarters on the
Greyhound
to run the decoding software and see if there was additional information concerning the Veritian Derelict's special passenger.

She
attempted to access the information from the quantum drive that had been taken from the Command post computer on the auxiliary bridge of the wreck as it seemed to be the most obvious place to start. She noticed immediately that this drive hadn't contained nearly as much information as the one from the bridge had yielded. That made sense because the auxiliary command station had only been used for few days, no longer than a week, before the ship had been set down on the moon in the Heard's World system and then abandoned. She found a concentration of files in the download and set her translation software to work decoding it.

As had been the case with the first drive, t
he download contained several days worth of routine, mundane, clerical information. This material was translated quickly. Carlisle scanned the information to see if it contained anything important while the translation software churned away at another of the large concentrations of information that turned out to contain another of the Veritian Captain's video logs. She accessed the file when the software announced that the conversion had been completed. Another video featuring the Captain Josiah Dobbins dictating his log came up.

"...This is Captain Josiah Dobbins of God's Almighty Sword reporting. With the help of the Almighty, we have managed to escape from the New Ceylon system. We could not have cut our departure any closer; a major battle had just begun as we translated out through the hyperlink point. As we were hoping, the badly damaged state of our ship and the fact that the damage had been inflicted by non-Federation warships meant that we were welcomed and essentially hustled through the jump zone by the ships on guard there.

We jumped
directly into the Heard's World system and will be abandoning this ship as soon as I can reach a suitable spot to hide it. The damage inflicted by our allies to convince the enemy forces that we were on the side of the Federation was almost too thorough. All of the ship's vital systems are still working but I don't know for how much longer.

I have
been able to glean a little more information on our special passenger. He is not allowed to interact with myself or any of my crew but I overheard one of his handlers refer to him as 'the young Prince.' I can't know for certain but there is a distinct possibility that we are transporting none other than Prince Merrikh of Jasmine himself! I cannot think of anyone else that my former allies would have gone through so much trouble for.

Dobbins out
..."

That turned out to be the last entry contained in any of the downloaded material. Over the next two hours, Carlisle looked through the remainder of the files that Heskim had been able to pull off from the other Veritian computer drives but she was unable to find any additional information. To her immense frustration, the recorded logs from the Captain of the Veritian derelict concluded at this tantalizing but ultimately inconclusive point.

The brief reference to "the young Prince"
was not the definitive proof she was looking for but it was the strongest evidence to date that Prince Merrikh may have survived the final battle. He wouldn't have been killed when the
Alexandria
was destroyed because he had no longer been on the ship. She rolled these thoughts and others around in her mind while she went to find Kresge.

She found him at his
customary station on the bridge of the
Greyhound
. Irene Marshall and Allison Steuben were with him again and the three of them were tallying up the wealth of badly needed materials that had just been brought into the system by the two freighters from Heard's World.

Kresge looked
anything but unhappy about the intrusion.

"Ensign Carlisle," he said, "What can I do for you?"

"I have some more information on my special research project, Commander."

Kresge turned to his fiancé, "Can you
excuse me for a few minutes?"

Irene smiled at him and with a twinkle in her eye said, "With all due respect, Commander, we can probably do this better without you! How about
Allison and I finish this up and give you a full report afterwards?"

Kresge
tried but couldn't completely hide his relief. "Carry on," he said as he got up from the station. He turned to Carlisle, "Let's go to my ready room."

The two of them went the short distance
down the corridor to Kresge's office. He closed the door behind them and they both took a seat.

"
Okay, show me what you've found, Ensign," he said.

Carlisle
brought up a holo projection with her wrist computer and showed him the short video containing the new information. They both sat in silence for a few moments after it had finished.

"Not the rock solid proof you were looking for," said Kresge,
finally, "but it certainly brings all of what we think we know about the Prince into question."

"These videos
seem to answer a lot of questions," Commander," said the Ensign. "How and why the Veritian derelict escaped. Too bad the information on the mysterious passenger is still too vague to be really useful."

"The fact that we have the strongest evidence to date that the Prince actually survived the final battle is still pretty big news, Ensign. Maybe if we
check into some of the reports regarding the Prince from after the war that were dismissed because he was thought to be dead, we can find some new leads."

Carlisle still looked disappointed.

"But it seemed like I was so close..." she said.

"
Don't worry, Ensign, something else will come up. By the way, I have been discussing the Succession War with Amanda and Faiza as part of their studies. You should tell them what you just found out. They'd probably find it really interesting."

"
You know, I haven't talked them for quite a while. I'll go and do it right now," said Carlisle.

The
two of them got up and left the ready room.

Kresge, following the explicit orders he had received from his fiancé, did not return to helping with the inventory.

Chapter 46.

"...Not everyone who has the capability to be a great leader is willing to take on the responsibility. On the other side of the coin, not everyone who wants to be a leader, has the capability. Sadly, I'm afraid, we have always had too many leaders who fall into the latter group.

Far
too many!..."

Hartwell wrist computer note highlighted for further review by Tamara Carlisle. Quote is attributed to Dr, F.C. Talbot
and was recorded during an interview with Rebecca Tyndall of the Intergalactic Digital Press

Santana Nexus Station, ring ten, level one, January 11, 2599.

Gazwhan Kassab, Captain of the
defected Jasmine Republican Navy Cruiser,
Hercules
, was responding to a request to attend an audience with the Sheik of Barsoom on the Santana Nexus Station. He was only too happy to do so. The mind-numbing routine of presiding over a ship lying parked near one of the Santana System's hyperlink zones, essentially doing...nothing, was becoming oppressive. Though Kassab would grudgingly admit that maintaining power to the device that was cutting off transportation between Sol-Terra and the Santana Nexus was an important task, there was little glory in it. Perhaps this private meeting with the Sheik of Barsoom would provide an opportunity for him to get closer to the action he craved.

Kassab always traveled with his own armed guards and today, onboard the Santana Nexus Station
, was no exception. He and his two men were directed to the Sheik's private offices but when they arrived, the Sheik's own guards, posted at the door, informed the Captain that they could not permit him to enter without surrendering his sidearm. His personal guards were told they would have to wait outside as well. After handing over his pulse pistol, Kassab gave his men a nod, to assure them that it would be alright. Only after all of these preliminary precautions were completed was he admitted into the Sheik's presence.

Kassab had only met the Sheik a few times and had never actually spoken with the leader face to face, with just the two of them present. The fact that Kassab had possession of the most powerful ship in the Sheik's fleet and it was
this ship that was currently keeping the might of the Federation out of the Santana Quadrant meant, in the Captain's mind anyway, that the two of them would meet as equals.

"Ah, Captain, Kassab," began the Sheik,
as he stood up but did not come out from behind his desk. "Do come in. Please, have a seat."

"Peace
be onto you, my Sheik," replied Kassab.

The Sheik ackno
wledged the greeting with a nod, "and to you, Captain Kassab."

The two men
sat down.

"I am having some
coffee sent in. I hope you like New Ceylon Arabica?"

"Some coffee will be fine," said Kassab.

The two men made small talk about the burdens of command and the challenges of boredom setting in while their men waited for something to happen. A server came in with a tray that had a small urn of coffee, two cups, cream, sugar and a plate of very fine cookies. The server poured them each a cup and bowed before he left. The two men each added the ingredients they preferred to their respective cups.

"You must try th
ese cookies, Captain, two of my soldiers found them at a small import shop up on the third ring of the Station. They are from Jasmine and are simply divine!"

Kassab selected one of the cookies and took a bite. They were indeed delicious. He followed that with a generous sip of the coffee which turned out to be exquisite as well.

"You are probably wondering why I asked you to a private audience with me," began the Sheik.

Kassab could think of a number of reasons why the old fool would want and need to talk to him but he decided it was probably best to allow the Sheik to reveal his own thoughts in his own good time.

"It is an honor, my Sheik, but I confess that your invitation did catch me a little off guard," was his careful reply.

"
Excellent," said the Sheik, "I see that you are a man of caution."

Kassab did not reply but merely gave the Sheik a short nod of affirmation. The Sheik's next statement caught him by surprise.

"I needed to talk to you to ask you if I can count on your support for the next phase of my Glorious Revolution."

"
I assume you are referring to a confrontation with the current government of Jasmine?" said Kassab.

"Yes,
of course, but Jasmine is nearly ours already. The Commander of the Navy has secretly pledged to support our cause. When the time is right, we just need to show up there with a fleet of our ships and, with the might of the Jasmine Navy behind us, the opposition will be so intimidated that our victory will be quick and almost bloodless." He paused to let that sink in before continuing, "Jasmine is only the beginning, however. I have my sights set on a much greater prize...I am talking about assuming control of the entire Islamic Alliance. I will need your support for the far more challenging conquests posed by Meridian and New Saudi Arabia."

Kassab had
heard rumblings about the Sheik's plans but the rumors tended to be so audacious that he had failed to take them seriously. The revelation that Sheik's ambitions actually
did
go way beyond Jasmine caught the Captain totally off guard and he hoped that his shock wasn't too obvious as he sought to assimilate at least some of the implications during the short time it took him to formulate what he hoped was an appropriate response.

"
Umm...What did you have in mind for me, my Sheik?" he replied, finally.

"I think perhaps command of the
Bahamut
would be a just reward for your loyalty."

The
Bahamut
was one of only two genuine, full-blown battleships in the Jasmine Navy. Though she was currently decommissioned and would have to be returned to operational status, command of such a ship would indeed be a promotion and an honor of no mean stature! A genuine battleship would be vital to the success of any campaign that sought to prevail against the Naval might of Meridian and New Saudi Arabia. If this offer was legitimate, Kassab would be elevated to the status of being one of the most powerful figures in the Sheik's hierarchy!

"I am humbled by such an honor, my Sheik," replied Kassab, shock
ed all over again at the enormity of the offer. He had come to the meeting hoping for a modest expansion of his responsibilities. He had no idea that this Sheik had intended to offer him command of one of the mightiest battleships in all of human space!

"I had thought you would be favorably impressed. I'm afraid the
Hercules
will need to remain where she is for the foreseeable future, as she is keeping the Federation from meddling in our business. Perhaps we shall open the hyperlink zone once we have consolidated our power in this Quadrant, when it will be too late for them to do anything about it. In the meantime, you should stay here on the Nexus Station for a while. If we are to be running an empire together, I would like to get to know you better. That and we are having a meeting to officially announce the start of our Glorious Revolution in two days' time. My ships and my men are gathering here from all over the quadrant. You will sit at my right side during the meetings."

"I am honored, my Sheik," replied Kassab, still
coming to grips with the enormity of what had just transpired between him and the overall leader of the Revolution.

The Sheik stood up, indicating that the meeting had come to an end. He ushered
Kassab out and called to the Captain of his guard. The Captain came into the office and closed the door behind him.

"I am at your service, Sire."

"Guard that fool well, Akif, he is too ambitious for his own good and will bear watching. When the time is right he must be...removed as a threat. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

The guard captain
remained silent and nodded as he drew his finger across his throat.

The Sheik nodded in return.

In the meantime, Captain Gazwhan Kassab, currently making his way back to his temporary quarters, was coming to the conclusion that the Sheik's offer was indeed too good to be true. Way too good!

He would do well to watch his back.