Chapter 32
“Clear all moorings.” Garret ordered from the command seat of the new Adamant. Like his old ship, this one had its bridge in the front of the ship on the deck right above the centerline. Unlike his old ship, it had never been converted into a passenger liner, and the bridge was both more spacious and more crowded. It was still a semi-circle, with the helm and navigation station in front of him, along with large bay windows and a holoprojector. More workstations arranged in neat rectangles were on either side of him, and behind him was a large holographic situation table he could get up and look at for a better picture of a large battle operation. On either side of his command chair were two stations, one for his tactical officer and one for his executive officer. Both chairs had full computer stations sitting in front of them to use even as he had a similar panel in front of him. He could use it to monitor information from any other station on the ship, or to take control of any function he desired.
The ship’s bridge and interior were brighter than the old Adamant as well. That was because the walls were polished metal instead of painted over or covered by wallpaper. The only carpeting on the ship was in his cabin, a few VIP quarters, and selected other select rooms. There was no mistaking this ship for anything but a warship, plain and simple.
I like this new body. Ada said for the umpteenth time in his head. When she’d been reactivated she’d been surprised, and then absolutely delighted as she explored her connections with the new ship, and she was given to a litany of its expanded capabilities over her other ‘body’. Yes, it held four hundred naval crew members, and yes it held all of three thousand marines. Two hangar bays held twelve assault shuttles and twenty-four ground attack jets capable of both atmospheric flight and space combat. There was also an armed gig that acted as a ‘Captain’s Yacht’ in the starboard hangar deck. She had six, not four primary laser cannons, and each of them was capable of delivering a more powerful punch than her previous lasers, although they had the same range. There were also more point defenses, and a full complement of planetary assault cannons in the lower hull. Her only real disappointment was that the torpedoes were the same as she had before, as was the mass driver cannon.
“Moorings cleared.” Markal reported from the left side, where his communications station was located. He was wearing black Republic Navy coveralls, as was about a third of the crew. Harrington wore them while Ricko Darenal, the new tactical officer wore his skin-tight blue Atrix Guard uniform. Darenal was in his mid-thirties and a child of one of Atrix Prime’s original colonists with dark hair and dark eyes as well as being almost the same height as Garret, remarkably shorter than the standard in the Republic. The uniform difference worried him a bit, as was the rivalry that was growing between those who wore different uniforms. For the first few days, Lukas had flittered back and forth between black and blue, finally deciding on blue. A few other crewmen had made similar changes as Lukas, and Harrington had given harsh words to Garret about the ‘defections’.
He hated overruling her, but she was officially the Executive Officer now. An offer to transfer her had met with total disdain from her, and he had resigned himself to hearing her complaints. At least all the new crew members had military-grade implants and were easily ‘assimilated’ by Ada as being part of her crew. Garret wasn’t sure if he could have withstood the problems that might have arrived if she hadn’t.
“All moorings are cleared.” Harrington reported succinctly. The new ship had already been around the system on a shakedown cruise and all systems had passed their tests without a single problem.
“Five percent aft thrust.” Garret ordered and the ship moved backwards, away from the docking station under Lieutenant Gardner’s steady hand. The black-clad officer had worked for Commander Westley on the old ship, and had that pilot’s full recommendation. Garret issued more orders to flip the ship and begin it’s journey to the anomaly.
“Escort ships are in position.” Darenal reported even though Garret could see that on the computer panel in front of him.
“Let’s get a move on.” Garret said before ordering his new ship to maximum thrust. Ada enjoyed the workout, flexing her muscles as it were and before he really had time to reflect on the slight differences between the old ship and the new, they were through the anomaly and back in Republic space. “Set course for our first jump point, ahead maximum.”
“Aye sir.” Gardner replied and Garret stood up to stroll around his new bridge/combat information center. Things ran smoothly, and he hoped the transport ship would be at the rendezvous point so he could get his flag officers aboard and be ready for real combat. Behind them, the four destroyers fanned out into a protective diamond formation as they matched the flagship’s acceleration. All four gleamed from the light of the white dwarf reflecting off their silver hulls, and Garret accepted the knowledge that he enjoyed this.
“Mister Harrington, you have the conn.” Garret said as he strode off the bridge. Her acknowledgment was cut off by the door closing behind him. On the way to his quarters, he passed several crew members, some in the blue of the Atrix Guard, some in the black of the Republic Navy. All saluted him, and he reflected that there were more true borns in blue than true borns in black.
It took only a few minutes and a short lift ride to reach his cabin two decks above the bridge, located in the same forward section of the hull. The hatch opened for him and he stepped into the main room of the half-circle shaped cabin. There were five separate compartments, although he could see the huge bay windows that gave a view off the bow of the ship and around the port and starboard sides. The room had thick, plush carpet underneath and wood-paneled bulkheads lined with bookcases and shelves for knickknacks and similar items. Right now they were sparsely furnished, but he knew over time he’d fill them up with lots of things.
“You’re back.” Neal’s voice from the doorway to his right didn’t surprise Garret, nor did the boy’s attire. The 05 Model wore a skin-tight blue uniform just a slight bit lighter than the standard Guard uniform, and he had the cadet insignia in silver on his cuffs. His wide shoulders and slender hips gave his upper torso a ‘v’ shape. His freckles on creamy pale skin were clearly visible in the dimmer lights of the cabin, and his teeth reflected the light back at Garret as he smiled.
“When a 05 chooses, that’s that.” Sven Holden had said when Garret went to him after Neal’s visit to his space station office a few days ago.
“Be good to him.” Helga said with a slight frown from where she’d stood near her father in the Governor’s office. “He’ll need a lot of attention at first, from you most of all. I’ll make sure you get his education curricula so you can continue his lessons. It’ll be important to pay him a lot of direct attention, not just mental and emotional, but physical as well. Don’t get sexually intimate with him yet, but cuddle with him, hold him, hug him often. Wait at least two years before you let anything sexual happen. That way he’ll know your affection for him is based on more than just sex. When my Jamie chose me a few years ago, I was so worried how it would affect my relations with my husband, but by waiting until Jamie had matured a few years that confusion and jealousy that can happen with the 05’s didn’t happen.”
“Hello, Neal.” Garret said as he remembered her words, and he opened his arms up to the teen. Neal practically ran across the space between them and hugged Garret tightly while Garret lowered his arms to pull the boy tight against him. He leaned his head down and kissed the top of the boy’s head, and Neal giggled.
“I’m doing well.” Neal giggled. “I’ve finished today’s assignment; do you want to see it?”
“Yes, I do.” Garret said as the boy broke the hug and scampered back into his room. There was a long table under the forward windows and Garret took a seat at the head of the table, pushing a button underneath. The rich oak wood slid aside and a computer terminal opened up for him to use. His chair was a comfortable office chair, just as the other six were around the table. It doubled as a desk and a dinner table. One of the four rooms that were part of his cabin was already assigned to Neal. Another was his private bedroom, while Masako would take the third. The fourth would probably be taken by Davin and/or Devin when they rendezvoused with the transport.
Of course, Masako was staying on Calos for this trip, so her room would probably be occupied by someone else if he knew his ‘bodyguards’ Davin and Devin.
“Here it is.” Neal said with a broad smile as he handed over a data pad filled with a ten-thousand word essay on the history of the Deliberatorium. Sure, Garret had gotten a curriculum for Neal from his teachers and from Helga, but he’d expanded on it a bit. The expansion kept the boy busy, but it also meant that Garret had to spend more time reviewing the work. It wouldn’t do to have others review the boy’s work. Neal might feel unwanted if that were to happen.
Garret almost cursed that the boy had chosen to ‘bond’ with him, but the truth was he was coming to have a great deal of affection for Neal. He hoped he’d feel this way one day about his own son. Neal’s enthusiasm and genuine, unvarnished, and unrestrained affection for him lifted Garret’s spirits no matter what might be going wrong elsewhere.
“A good beginning.” Garret said after perusing the first few paragraphs. “I’ll look it over and mark it up for you tonight.”
“Thanks.” Neal said with a smile. “So, that weird feeling I had earlier, was that us going through the anomaly?”
“Yes it was.” Garret answered as the teen settled into his lap and leaned back against Garret’s chest. He was a bit heavy, and not that much shorter than Garret, but Garret had no problem slipping his arms around the boy’s waist and pulling him in tighter. Neal sighed and laid his head on Garret’s shoulder.
“It was a little scary.” Neal admitted. “Will it always feel like that?”
“No, a regular jump doesn’t feel that bad at all.” Garret assured him.
“Good, because I’d hate to feel like that every time we jumped.” Neal said. “How is Alex dealing with the blues?”
“She’s still having trouble.” Garret laughed. Neal had picked up on his X.O.’s dislike over the ‘Guard’ uniforms. “Don’t worry about that, she’ll get over it eventually.”
“She really likes you.” Neal said. “I can tell by the way she looks at you. Not like she wants you in bed the way Lukas always looks at you, but she really cares about you.”
“What do you know about how Lukas wants me?” Garret asked with a laugh and Neal giggled.
“I may be a virgin, but I know what sex is, Garret.” Neal said through his giggles. “They made me go through a crash course before we left that was much more detailed than the lectures last year, but they said I had to wait a few years before you showed your love for me that way.”
“That’s what they told me too.” Garret agreed. “I think we’ll listen to them, okay?”
“Okay.” Neal giggled again and settled in on Garret’s lap until he was breathing softly into Garret’s neck, already asleep. He did that a lot when he snuggled up on Garret. Some of the files he’d read on the 05’s suggested it was an effect of the 05 adjusting his mental state to respond to his ‘bonded’. When Neal met Masako, he’d do much the same with her, and with other people who were common fixtures of Garret’s daily life. At least now they didn’t have to worry about a governess for their son. Neal would naturally fall into the roll according to everything he’d read and been told. Still, the boy’s bony ass on Garret’s lap was causing him a little bit of discomfort. The boy grew more attractive to Garret every day, and Garret took a deep breath of the boy’s hair, enjoying the scent. No, that would wait as he’d been advised. The last thing he needed was another jealous lover, worse than Aaron.
That was when Garret realized that he hadn’t even thought of Aaron in days. Now that they were back in Republic space he could compose a letter to Aaron. Instead of doing that though, he picked up the data pad and began to read through Neal’s essay. The teen had a refreshingly innocent outlook on things, and while he might miss political subtleties, he also saw things from a perspective that Garret never really remembered having. Yes, it was a bit naïve, but it was an innocent naivety that was a breath of fresh air. He was debating on how to grade the essay, mostly because he didn’t want to ruin the teen’s innocence. The universe would do that well enough in later years.
Harrington is calling for you. Ada said into his mind. I muted her so the boy would sleep. He’s a good boy, you know. I like listening to him thinking sometimes.
I like him too. Garret responded to her. What does Harrington want?
To remind you that you have a staff meeting in a half hour with the senior officers. Ada answered.
Tell her I’ll be there, and wake me if I fall asleep. Garret told his ship’s AI and she chuckled before going quiet.
He sat there with Neal in his lap, and quietly wondered about the upcoming meeting and the overall future of the Republic. The retreat at Atrix Prime had done him a lot of good, and he felt renewed, reinvigorated by the planet’s people. They had an outlook on life that he found inspirational, if slightly disturbing since he was such a key figure in their outlook, but the Atrix Creed was a good one to live by, and he silently vowed to do his best to make it a part of every day Republic life.
Still, he had duties to perform, a world to watch out for as their Speaker and the Commander of their defenses, a wife, and children on the way. There were also several businesses to run, and he had many other programs to oversee. Life on Atrix Prime would be so much simpler, and part of him longed to move there, but he knew that by doing so he’d break the Creed that he’d recently vowed to live by, and that the people of Atrix Prime expected him to represent.
You have ten minutes, Commodore. Ada said softly to him as his thoughts drifted along peacefully with Neal’s breathing. Would this be how he felt when he held his own son in his arms?
Thank you, Ada. Garret said in the privacy of his mind. He gently shook Neal awake. “Heya, Neal, it’s time for me to go to a meeting.”
“Already?” Neal complained as he yawned and stretched, but a second later he grinned and hopped off of Garret’s lap. “I’ll work on my mathematics until you return, okay?”
“That sounds good.” Garret said as he stood up and ruffled the boy’s red hair. Neal smiled and ran off into his room where he had a desk installed already by the ship’s Engineering Division.
Garret straightened out his black coveralls with his Commodore’s rank on the shoulders and smiled at how refreshed he felt. If a little bit of time with Neal in his lap helped him feel like this, he’d have to do it several times a day. He was whistling happily as he strolled out of the cabin towards the conference room a deck down and halfway to the stern of the ship.
Harrington at least seemed to be mollified that half the officers in the staff meeting wore black Republic coveralls, including Garret. She’d point-blank asked him if he planned to change to the blue uniform and he’d laughed at the idea. He was sure that given time, she’d overcome her distaste for the blue uniforms of the Atrix Prime crew.
The meeting went smoothly to Garret’s relief and he was pleased at how well the ship was operating so far. Atrix Prime had done a good job building her, and even Harrington had to express that the new ship was every bit as good as the old, and slightly better in a few ways. The meeting ended in a half-hour, and he returned to the bridge where he ran the crew through a simulated battle-drill. Their responses weren’t quite as good as he wanted, but time and practice would take care of that slight deficiency.
Eighteen hours later they made the first jump to the rendezvous point, and he held his breath as they appeared in space, a few thousand kilometers from the ships waiting for them. The Tarawa hung in space with a cruiser and two destroyers as escort. After establishing communications, three shuttles left the old planet assault ship’s hangar bay and headed for the Adamant. Garret waited until the passengers had all disembarked and the shuttles launched to head back to their home before giving his farewell to Tarawa’s commander and ordering his ship to maximum acceleration. The wedge-shaped destroyers moved with them easily as they headed for their next jump point. Garret turned in his chair and stood up when a team of newly arrived officers entered the bridge.
“Have any trouble finding your way around?” Garret asked the black-clad Captain Montagne. The young officer saluted him, as did the other Marine Major next to him, who Garret recognized as the Marine officer who had assisted him in the battle above Peladon.
“No sir, she may have a few more compartments than the old Adamant, but her voice in my head is the same as is her general layout.” Montagne said with a grin. “I believe you’ll remember Major Mjolnar, sir? He’s been assigned as your Marine commandant.”
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Major.” Garret said with a smile. “Congratulations to both of you on your promotions.”
“Thank you, Commodore.” Mjolnar said gruffly. He was a handsome blond man in his mid to late twenties, and his ice blue eyes took in the bridge. “What’s with the blue uniforms?”
“Yes.” Harrington hissed from her seat and hid her grin when Garret looked back at her before answering the Major.
“That will be explained shortly.” Garret said. “Where’s the rest of the command staff?”
“Waiting in the conference room, Commodore.” Montagne answered. “Captain Melmaker stayed on Calos to assist with continued emergency operations there. You should know Captain Lars engaged a sizeable group of enemy ships along Lane Thirty-three almost two standard days ago. He lost one of his ships, but he took three of theirs out and managed to scrape two more before they got some reinforcements in there to force him to retreat.”
“That’s mixed news.” Garret said with a frown. Lane Thirty-three was halfway between Calos and Lemos and that worried him. “Hopefully our current mission will help deal them a more deadly blow.”
“I’m looking forward to that, sir.” Montagne said as Garret led the way off the bridge and the two officers followed him. Harrington acknowledged the transfer of bridge command as he left, and her voice was a little smug.
When they arrived in the conference room, a different one than the one he’d used earlier that day, Garret felt himself relax even more. These officers were trained combat operations officers, experienced and with the bonus of having fought beside him in the past. Many of them had served with him above Peladon, and their experience would be helpful once he had the information on the locations of the bolt-holes of the other houses.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the new Adamant.” Garret said as they all sat down and looked at him expectantly as he took the head seat. “I know you’re wondering where this ship came from, and what’s the deal with the blue uniforms you’ve seen on some of the crew. The long and short of the story is that in the early days of the Great War, the Deliberatorium authorized the creation of House Militias to be created in remote, secret sectors of space in case the Empire ever overran the Republic. The theory was that the forces in these bolt-holes would be able to launch retaliatory strikes against the Empire forces and hopefully one day drive them from Republic space. As you know, the war ended, but recent events have revealed the foresight of our grandfathers as the need for forces from our bolt-holes has grown. The Republic is unable to take offensive action against the traitors with the forces at hand from its regular forces.”
“These bolt-holes, all the Houses built them?” Mjolnar asked.
“Yes.” Garret agreed, fairly sure the man was guessing correctly.
“Then these raiders behind our lines our coming from the bolt-holes belonging to the traitor houses?” Mjolnar asked.
“Yes.” Garret answered with a smile. “This ship was built in the Atrix bolt-hole and has been brought into active duty. The blue-clad crewmen you see on board her are the crew trained in the Atrix bolt-hole to operate this ship, and the four destroyers escorting us. Our current mission is a rendezvous that will hopefully yield the location of at least one enemy bolt-hole, or as many as three of them. Once we have those locations, we will be joined by a flotilla of ships from the Atrix and Lars bolt-holes and we will take out the enemy bases behind our lines and as many of their ships as we can. Those we don’t get will likely flee back to the three traitor worlds for supplies or repairs.”
“It’s nice these ships are available so easily.” Montagne said as he ran a hand over the oaken wood table that was highly polished. “This looks like real wood. Where was it manufactured?”
“Do not ask questions about the bolt-hole’s location.” Garret said firmly. “It is one of the highest secrets of the Republic. Even mentioning the existence of bolt-holes or merely hinting about them will result in the rest of your life passing in a solitary confinement cell where the guards will wear ear plugs to keep you from ever spilling the secret again.”
“Understood.” Montagne said weakly as Garret had been looking at him the entire time he gave that warning. Garret knew Montagne had shared some basic, non-secret information with his friends in the Twilight City’s Hand, and while the end result had been positive, he’d had a talk with the young officer before approving his promotion to Captain in the Marines.
This meeting went longer, nearly an hour, and he returned to his cabin to find a staring match underway. Neal stood in the entrance of his room, and was staring at Devin, who had come aboard with the others and was staring back as if he was examining a bug under a microscope. As soon as Garret entered, Neal broke the stare and flew to Garret’s side, wrapping his arms around Garret tightly.
“He’s not nice.” Neal said softly. “He’s your’s though. I can smell that. He’s very protective of you. That’s good, right?”
“Yes, that’s good.” Garret said with a smile as he hugged Neal back and looked at Devin who had a look of confusion on his face.
“They have such a poor selection where you went that you had to pick up a kid for your bed?” Devin asked in a teasing tone as Neal stiffened against Garret.
“Neal, are you done with your math assignment yet?” Garret asked him.
“No, I’m having trouble with some of it and need some help.” Neal said defensively, glaring at Devin. “Why does he look so much like you? I thought making clones that looked like you was illegal.”
“Not in the Republic, just at home.” Garret answered. “Go get your assignment and find Lieutenant Shirana. She should be off-duty now and able to help you out.”
“Yes, Lord Atrix.” Neal said formally with a look at Devin before going into his room. He was gone out of the cabin a moment later.
“What the hell was that?” Devin asked with a guffaw. “That kid looks cute in one of those blue outfits I see most of this crew’s wearing, but isn’t he a little young? I swear he looks like one of those 05 Models they discontinued.”
“He is a 05 Model.” Garret said in a low voice. “A different series, but he’s a little sensitive and they have this weird bonding thing. The kid chose me when he saw me and it’s either let him go all crazy and have to be put down or bring him along.”
“Ouch.” Devin said with a shake of his head. “At least he’s a cute little thing.”
“If you so much as lay a hand on him, I’ll gut you.” Garret said fiercely, surprised by his reaction and he blinked quickly.
“What’s gotten into you, my lord?” Devin asked in a soft voice. “I was just teasing about the kid.”
“It’s kind of hard to explain.” Garret said softly. “For now, let’s just say I like him a lot, and yeah, he gets the blood moving every now and then but that’s not why he’s around. There’ll be none of that with him for a couple of years. The experts on the 05’s say it should happen when he’s been ‘bonded’ for a couple of years to allow for proper development. He is affectionate though. I swear, having him sit on my lap for ten minutes is like a good rest. I feel relaxed and actually cheerful no matter how bad the day’s been.”
“Interesting.” Devin grinned. “I know quite a few of your staff back on Calos that will be ecstatic to have the kid around. They’ll shuffle him into your office to sit in your lap when they have to give you bad news. Speaking of which, can we call him back in here before I give you my bad news?”
“Spill it, Devin.” Garret growled.
“It’s confirmed we have a traitor in the House staff and the military staff.” Devin said dourly and Garret’s heard did a flip-flop. “Your brother’s ships walked into an ambush, they knew where he was going and only six people on your military staff had that information. Melmaker’s still on Calos because we wouldn’t let him leave, although he doesn’t really know that. He’s the top suspect there. We’ve got all six of them under close observation though in cooperation with military intelligence.”
“What about the House staff?” Garret asked angrily. He hated traitors and spies, although he employed enough spies of his own.
“Someone leaked news of the roundup of Jordanite groups to the Jordanites.” Devin continued and this time he did grimace. “Twelve people on staff knew it was going to happen before we informed the Calosian police forces. They acted promptly enough, but we had observers in place before we even told them, and still about a third of the Jordanite cells got away. The leak had to happen on our end. The police found their own leaker and locked him up yesterday.”
“Suspects?” Garret asked.
“Two in the intelligence unit, three in the administrative wing.” Devin answered. “We’re hunting them all down now.”
“You should also look in the family wing.” Garret said with a heavy sigh. “Are there any signs of collusion between the Jordanites and Leonev’s followers?”
“Your chef has already been cleared.” Devin answered. “There’s no way he had information on the Jordanite groups and we’ve been monitoring him for weeks. Aaron’s clear, sir. As far as connections between the two groups, we’re not certain but the Jordanites might be giving safe houses to Leonev’s groups.”
“That would be a scary proposition, an alliance between Earth sympathizers and the traitors.” Garret said.
“Yes sir, and Republic Intelligence has been providing monetary and technical assistance ever since we reported this possibility.” Devin said with a sly grin. “That gives us a lot more powers under the law, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” Garret said.
“So what’s with the blue uniforms?” Devin asked. “I have to admit, they look a lot better than those crappy black coveralls. Some of these boys look downright hot in them. Can I get a set? Davin would go ape if he saw me in one of them.”
“Sit down, I’ve got a lot to tell you.” Garret said. Devin and Davin were two people he trusted completely. They’d been with him nearly since the beginning, and they’d been utterly loyal to him.
“I’m definitely getting me a blue uniform and wearing it from now on.” Devin said with a shake of his head. “These are my kind of people.”
“Just be careful until they get use to seeing 10 models around.” Garret warned him. “10 Models aren’t produced on Atrix Prime, and they’re not accustomed to telling us apart.”
“You’re not really a 10 Model sir, and you know it.” Devin reminded him. “So they all call you ‘my lord’, right? No more complaints about Davin or I doing that?”
“No, no more complaints.” Garret muttered sourly. They were sitting on one of the couches between two bookcases chatting softly when Neal returned. He stopped dead on seeing Devin in the room, but sucked in a deep breath and strode purposefully towards Garret, crawling into his lap as soon as Garret held his arms opened. He was staring at Devin with one light green eye still open though.
“He scared me.” Neal complained. “It wasn’t the words he said, but when I first saw him I thought it was you but then I realized it wasn’t and that scared me.”
“Sorry about that, my friend.” Devin said in a kindly tone and Neal opened both eyes before lifting his head to look at the 10 Model. “I didn’t know about you, but Lord Atrix here told me about you and him while you were gone. I think it’s great he’s got someone like you, and I hope we can become friends eventually. You know we really should when you think about it. I work for him, protecting him and House Atrix, and you’re part of his House now so it really is best if we get along.”
“What exactly do you do?” Neal asked with real curiosity and he shifted in Garret’s lap so that his back was against Garret’s chest and his hair filled Garret’s nostrils with that delightful scent. Garret found he was relaxing again as Neal and Devin talked to each other for a long time. He barely noticed when Neal shifted to Devin’s lap until Devin started chuckling softly. Neal was already asleep.
“He’s got this smell to him that just relaxes every muscle in the body better than any massage I’ve ever had.” Devin whispered in surprise.
“Yeah, and it doesn’t leave you fog-headed or anything like that.” Garret said with a smile of his own. “They said he’d bond to those close to me over time. It’s nice to see he’s doing that.”
“Is that what he’s doing?” Devin asked and Garret nodded. “Damn, everyone’s going to want him in their laps.”
“It’ll only be those closest to me, who are usually a part of my every-day life.” Garret explained and Devin’s eyes lit up.
“You know, my lord, sometimes I feel like I’m not all that close to you, but I guess this lad proves otherwise, don’t he?” Devin said softly with a slight bit of moisture in his eyes.
“Yes, yes it does.” Garret said as he put a hand on Devin’s knee.
Two days later the Adamant was at the rendezvous point when two Federation Mother Ships appeared just three thousand kilometers away. Garret suppressed the urge to order battle stations. His ship and its four escort destroyers were on alert status, but their weapons weren’t armed.
“We’re being hailed.” Markal reported.
“On screen.” Garret ordered as the holoprojector hummed to life to show a visage similar to his own, but with a fine pattern of scars on the left cheek.
“Commodore Atrix, how pleasant to see you again, and without you shooting my ship out from under me.” Johan Pembry said with a vicious smile as he touched his scarred cheek. “I still bear this reminder of our last meeting.”
“I believe you have business to discuss?” Garret said, ignoring the jibe. He felt a bad taste growing in his mouth just talking to the pirate.
“Your ship or mine, Commodore?” Pembry asked.
“Mine.” Garret said succinctly.
“I’ll be over in a minute, Commodore.” Pembry said and the signal ended abruptly. Garret let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding and turned to Harrington.
“They charge weapons, get us the fuck out of here.” He told her and she nodded. With Devin and four marines behind him, Garret left the bridge. Devin had indeed taken to wearing blue to the delight of Darenal, and to Harrington’s disdain. Today he was wearing the camouflage fatigues of a Marine though, as were the Marine guards. The only way to tell the difference between Republic Marines and Guard Marines were the undershirts they wore. Three of those following him to the conference room had blue undershirts while the fourth had standard-issue Republic olive drab under his camouflage blouse. Once in the conference room, Garret sat at one end of the table and waited while four more Marines escorted Johan Pembry, clad in black leather pants and leather jacket, into the room. All four of those marines had blue undershirts.
“Do we shake hands?” Johan asked as the Marines took up stations around the room.
“Have a seat.” Garret said curtly.
“You don’t like me.” Johan said in a jovial tone as he sat down and stared across the length of the table at Garret. “Why don’t you like me? We’re brothers, almost, even though we’ve never really met. We were raised as an experiment in the Republic.”
“You left the Republic’s service.” Garret said simply and Johan leaned back, with his fingers forming a steeple in front of his face.
“Is that it?” Johan asked.
“Lieutenant Commander Albert Golan, commanding officer of the Republic Destroyer Sprugle, killed in action above Lemos along with two hundred and twelve crew members.” Garret said in a tight voice. “Twenty-six crew members of the Republic Frigate Feargus killed in action on that same date. Six hundred and twelve civilians killed on Lemos station or in Lemos orbit on that date as well.”
“I lost nearly four thousand crew and officers on that same day.” Johan said in a fit of anger as he slapped his hands on the table and leaned forward. “As well as one-third of my fleet!”
“You lost them because you violated your oath to the Republic.” Garret shot back in a calm, deadly voice. “Those I listed died in the service of the Republic. I am a Speaker of the Republic, and a Commodore in its Navy. Do you expect me to hug you and welcome you home as a brother?”
“But you’re here talking to me now.” Pembry retorted as he calmed down. “Now why would that be?”
“You claim to have information that would help the Republic.” Garret said. “If I expected any loyalty from you towards the society that created you, raised you, and trained you, I’d expect you to hand me the information over without condition. It’s too bad you aren’t the man you were raised to be.”
“How do you know anything about how I was raised?” Pembry spat back. “Those idiots hated clones! I should have never been placed there!”
“That was a mistake.” Garret said with a shrug. “It’s unfortunate, but the Republic isn’t perfect.”
“Then why do you still serve it?” Pembry asked after gaining control of his emotions again.
“It may not be perfect, but it’s better than the alternatives.” Garret said with a shrug.
“Why settle for less than perfection?” Pembry asked. “Why not create a new, better option?”
“Because the Republic is the best option.” Garret said with a shrug.
“That’s your indoctrination speaking.” Pembry dismissed the statement.
“And your failure to see my point is the result of your mistreatment at the hands of the family whose name you still bear.” Garret retorted.
“I keep it to needle them every time they hear it.” Pembry sneered.
“Fool yourself with that explanation if you wish, but don’t try to fool me.” Garret answered the statement and Pembry shook his head in anger.
“Do you want the information or not?” Pembry asked harshly. “I should just get up and walk out of here with the way you’re treating me. You haven’t even offered me something to drink like an officer and gentlemen.”
“You’re a pirate, no more, no less.” Garret answered the implied insult. “You gave up the right to be considered an officer and a gentleman when you attacked Lemos.”
“That was a mistake.” Pembry said with a snort. “Your friend Leonev was in contact with me, did you know that? He offered me as much citeesium ore as I could carry out of there. All I had to do was attack when you came in with your cargo ships. He neglected to tell me you still had heavy armaments.”
“Bad intel kills you as surely as your enemies will.” Garret quoted an old Academy saying and Pembry winced.
“That it does.” He muttered. “I nearly lost my grip on the Federation clones after that. Now I need to give them something to hope for, beyond a few raids on shipping here and there.”
“What do you want for the information on bolt-holes?” Garret asked. “I won’t give you money.”
“There are still a couple things I’d like.” Pembry asked in a milder tone now that negotiations had begun. “Did you know the Federation knows about your House bolt-holes? That surprised me, that the Republic had been able to keep the secret that well within its borders, but the Federation knew about them, and so did the Sol Empire. The only thing is, the Sol Empire did not know any of their locations, but the Federation did. The memory banks of the ship you destroyed over Lemos had information on six bolt-hole locations. I transferred them to a memory stick when I first found the data, thinking maybe some day I could sell it to the Earthers.”
“Why didn’t you?” Garret asked with real curiosity.
“I decided that I wasn’t that big of a traitor.” Pembry said with a shrug. “I don’t want to see Earth in control of the Republic, which is what could happen if you’re not careful.”
“Why is that?” Garret asked.
“Leonev is reaching out to the Imperials through Federation channels.” Pembry said. “That bit of information is free, by the way.”
“You have the location of six bolt-holes?” Garret asked, returning to the business at hand.
“I’ll give you the three that belong to the traitors.” Pembry said sternly. “The others, well I’ll negotiate my own deals with those Houses. You may not give me cash, but they might.”
“That’s between you and them.” Garret said scornfully.
“This ship is from your own bolt-hole, isn’t it?” Pembry asked as he looked around. “I wish that information was in the databanks so I could force you to eat your words and pay me, but it isn’t one of those known to me. The three traitor bolt-holes that are though, that’ll be a big boost to your war effort, won’t it?”
“Yes, their locations would be a big boost.” Garret admitted the obvious.
“Fourteen thousand tons of medical supplies in accordance with this list I have prepared.” Pembry said as he pulled out a pad from the leather jacket he was wearing and tossed it across the table. Garret perused the list carefully, and all the medicines were acceptable with his guidelines. A few could be made into weapons, but they were far more valuable as medicine and would save lives. He’d taken a measure of Pembry now, and knew the man did care about those who had gone over to his service.”
“It’ll take two shipments, to this location I assume?” Garret asked.
“That’ll get you one bolt-hole location.” Pembry stated and Garret nodded.
“Do you want to wait for delivery?” Garret asked. “It’ll take at least a week to gather this much stuff.”
“I will accept your word on the honor of your House, Speaker Atrix.” Pembry said and Garret could see that the Marines with blue undershirts all stiffened slightly while their eyes beamed pride.
“You have my word, this list of supplies in two shipments, the first to arrive at this location within seven standard days, the next no later than fourteen standard days.” Garret stated formally.
“Here is the first location.” Pembry stated as he slid a memory stick over. Garret resisted the urge to plug it into his implant directly. Instead he touched a button on the underside of the table and stuck it into a slot in the computer revealed by a sliding panel. Pembry’s eyebrows shot upwards but he smiled when Garret nodded a moment later. They were valid coordinates, and even better news they were less than two jumps away from the location where Garret would rendezvous with the rest of the fleet from the bolt-hole, and Billy’s squadron.
“What do you want for the next location?” Garret asked.
“I want this sector of Republic space as a safe haven.” Pembry said flatly and Garret started to voice his immediate rejection. “Don’t answer just yet. I’m not asking the Republic to cede it to me as sovereign space. I want a safe haven for three light-years from this exact location. My ships can move in to a repair base and supply dump we have nearby. This safe haven will be dependent on my continued good behavior towards the Republic. In addition to the information, you will get my promise that none of my forces will harass or attack any Republic shipping, planets, colonies, or any other possession. Anything belonging to the Republic will be safe from us, anywhere and at anytime. No more attacks on Lemos or any other facility.”
“Further, you will launch no attacks at the Federation from this safe haven nor will you retreat here directly from battle.” Garret added after thinking for a moment. “If your ships are damaged but able to escape their pursuers after at least one full jump, then they may use this space as a safe haven. The launching of any attack from a ship that has not made at least one previous jump from this location will also nullify this area as a safe zone.”
“Deal.” Pembry said quickly and with an edge to his voice. Garret wondered if he’d missed something, but he realized that Pembry had just needed this deal badly. The pirate clone shot over another memory stick and Garret loaded it into Ada’s system where she again scanned it and removed two viruses that had been attached, scanned it again and then loaded it into her system.
“Nice virus, by the way.” Garret commented. Pembry shrugged.
“They were relatively harmless, just tracking viruses to send a log of your travels.” Pembry said carefully. “I figured your AI was good enough to catch them, but I had to at least try.”
“Yes, now the third location.” Garret said. If Pembry hadn’t tried to plant such a virus he’d have been worried.
“I want the word of the Republic that it will not hunt me or mine down so long as we do not attack Republic interests, and I want that to include complete secrecy of this location as a safe haven and a promise that a Federation intrusion into this sector won’t be tolerated.” Pembry said and Garret smiled tightly. Smart of the man to ask for that, because nothing Garret had promised so far prevented them from leaking the location to their putative allies, the Federation.
“Done.” Garret said instantly and it was Pembry’s turn to look nervous as if he had asked for something too easy. Nonetheless he held up one last memory stick.
“Your word?” Pembry asked harshly.
“Yes.” Garret said calmly and Pembry tossed the stick to Garret. While it loaded in the machine he looked up at the former Republic officer and shook his head.
“A drink to seal our deal?” Pembry asked and Garret scowled. The last stick’s data was loaded and cleaned of viruses. He had all he needed from this pirate.
“Get this fucking pirate out of my sight and off my ship.” Garret ordered while grinding his teeth and two marines with blue undershirts leaped forward to haul Pembry out of his chair and out of the room before Garret took another breath. Two more followed him and Garret punched a button on the computer.
“Bridge, this is Commodore Atrix, set a course for the jump to the rendezvous as soon as that pirate is off my ship. Engage at maximum burn.” Garret ordered tightly.
“Aye aye, Commodore.” Harrington’s voice echoed his own mood and he cut the channel before leaning back in his chair. He was surprised when Neal sauntered in a few minutes later, and went over to crawl into his lap. When Neal and Devin shared a look though, he knew he’d been set up by them, but he didn’t care. His anger turned into laughter as the deck thrummed with power.
They were under way, and soon enough the traitors would lose three very important bases.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
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