Ep.#6 - "Head of the Dragon" (The Frontiers Saga) (26 page)

“Of course, but I don’t see…”

“Well, how can you be translating when the Prime Minister isn’t even speaking?”

Mister Briden suddenly seemed more nervous. “I am well aware of the Prime Minister’s position on the matter,” he defended as his eyes danced from person to person.

Nathan noticed Mister Briden’s dancing eyes as well. They seemed to be constantly checking out not only he and Tug, but also the two Corinari guards at the doorway and the one standing next to him that had accompanied them on the flight from Corinair. “Well, maybe his position might change if you would tell him what everyone is saying.”

Jessica charged down the main corridor aft toward the hangar bay. “Seal off all corridors leading to that section,” she barked over her comm-set as she ran. “I want armed guards at every intersection! No alarms, understood? And no one moves in or takes any overt action until I say!”

Sergeant Weatherly was on his way to chow when he saw Jessica running toward him. “Sir?”

“Fall in behind me, Sergeant,” Jessica ordered.

Sergeant Weatherly fell in behind her, matching her step for step as they jogged down the main corridor. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got a spy on board, and he’s with the captain and Tug right now.”

Jessica came to a stop at the aft end of the main corridor where it split to wrap around either side of the main hangar bay. She was immediately met by two armed Corinari coming from the port corridor.

“Port side is locked down, sir,” the first guard reported. “Main hangar bay is also locked down. The aft end should be locked down any moment now.”

“What about vertical access ladders?” Jessica asked.

“Men are moving into position above and below that section now. Give them two minutes to get set.”

“Comms, Nash,” Jessica called over her comm-set. “Patch me into the comm-sets of the two Corinari guards that are with the captain and isolate. I don’t want anyone else on the line.”

“
Yes, sir,
” Naralena answered. “
One moment.
”

“Weatherly you’re with me,” Jessica ordered. She turned to the Corinari guard. “Tell all your men Briden does not get off this ship alive.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s go,” she announced as she pulled her weapon and brought it up to shoulder level. She held it out in front of her with both hands in a firing position and started moving carefully forward into the starboard corridor. The sergeant brought his weapon into the same position and followed.

“
I have you patched into the guards only, sir. As soon as you start talking, you’ll be speaking to them and myself only
.”

“This is Lieutenant Commander Nash. Do not respond, do not flinch, do not make any movement that might indicate someone is speaking to you over your comm-set. The man in the room with you, Mister Briden, may be a Takaran spy. We have sealed off all exits and there are armed guards everywhere. Do not take any action until I say. We are moving into position now. We should be set in one minute.” Jessica continued moving down the corridor, turning and heading aft as the corridor wrapped around the starboard side of the main hangar deck. “Stand by.”

The older Corinari guard standing next to the exit and closest to Captain Scott did not move as Jessica’s voice had instructed, he only continued staring straight ahead. His training and years of experience had taught him how to take note of details within his field of vision without looking directly at them. His younger partner, standing on the other side of Tug, was not as experienced. When Jessica’s announcement squawked on his comm-set, his hand instinctively reached for his comm-set. A moment later, his eyes shifted toward Mister Briden, quickly assessing the threat level. The first thing he noticed was that the civilian security guard that had come with the Prime Minister and Mister Briden was standing on Mister Briden’s right side. The guard was left-handed and wore his weapon on his left hip, the one closest to the suspect. Despite his best efforts, the younger Corinari guard’s eyes widened slightly in concern.

The Corinari guard’s sudden change in expression did not go unnoticed by Mister Briden, just as the hushed chatter over the guard’s comm-set had not. Mister Briden’s complexion paled somewhat, small beads of sweat forming on his brow as his body physiologically prepared itself for action and adrenaline dumped into his arteries.

Nathan, who had not heard Jessica’s comm chatter, noticed Mister Briden’s sudden change. “Is there a problem, Mister Briden?”

That was enough to trigger his instincts. Mister Briden’s right elbow shot up into the nose of the civilian security guard, stunning him just long enough to pull his weapon from the man’s holster on his left hip. In one smooth motion, Briden pressed the activation button on the energy pistol and fingered the safety off just as the tip of the weapon found its place at the back of the Prime Minister’s skull. He held the Prime Minister in front of him as a shield.

Both Corinari guards drew their weapons in an instant, each taking immediate aim at Mister Briden as best they could.

“Drop your weapons!” Briden yelled. “Drop them now, or the Prime Minister dies!”

Neither Corinari guard did as they were told.

“DO IT!” Briden repeated, more adamant than before.

“Shit!” Jessica swore as she heard the yelling from just outside the flight ops briefing room. “Change in plans,” she ordered, changing direction toward the access ladder on the opposite wall. “Follow me,” she ordered Sergeant Weatherly as she dropped her gun back in its holster and slide down the ladder to the deck below.

“Do as he says,” Nathan ordered the men calmly.

The guard to Nathan’s left glanced at him for a second, unsure if he should comply.

“That’s an order,” Nathan added. The guard began to lower his weapon slowly to the floor, his partner doing the same.

“That’s right,” Briden said. “Do as he says.” He watched as the guards set their weapons down on the floor. “Now, kick them toward me.”

The guards gently kicked their weapons, sending them sliding across the deck so they stopped at the feet of the Prime Minister. Briden looked down at the civilian security guard who was down on his knees, holding his bleeding nose. “Move over there,” he ordered the bleeding man. The civilian guard continued to hold his nose, moving across the room to stand next to Major Prechitt and the Corinari guard next to Nathan.

“What do you think you’re going to do?” Nathan asked. “Walk out of here?”

After moving to the next corridor over, Jessica and Sergeant Weatherly ascended the next ladder to the main deck again, finding themselves on the opposite side of the flight ops briefing room and just aft of it. She moved forward, drawing her weapon once again as she peered into the open doorway to the flight ops briefing room. She could see Tug clearly, and she could make out the captain’s hands as he talked to Mister Briden. She could also see the Prime Minister’s feet as well as the two weapons lying in front of them. There was also blood on the deck, but she didn’t know who it belonged to. She gestured to Sergeant Weatherly to move into position on the left side of the doorway, then looked directly at Tug.

“I was thinking I might borrow one of your little jump ships, Captain,” Mister Briden answered. “One big enough to take the Prime Minister, Mister Tugwell, and myself back to Takara.”

Tug noticed Jessica outside in the corridor as she signaled for him to move to his right. Tug did not look directly at her for fear of alerting Mister Briden to her presence. Instead, with his hands still held up at shoulder level, he took a step to his right. “What interest am I to you?”

“You think I do not know who you are?” Briden answered. “When I return to Takara with a jump drive and you as my prisoner, Caius will reward me handsomely.”

“I think not today,” Tug stated calmly. He then looked to Jessica. Briden’s eyes widened as he realized that someone was behind him. Instinctively spinning around to his right, the muzzle of his weapon left the back of the Prime Minister’s skull and swung slightly to the right toward Nathan.

The Corinari guard to the captain’s left saw the change in Mister Briden’s weapon and quickly moved out in front of the captain.

Jessica, who was standing in the corridor, fired a single shot from her pistol, placing her bullet squarely in the middle of Mister Briden’s forehead as Tug pulled the Prime Minister away from Mister Briden’s grip. Briden’s weapon discharged as blood and brain tissue spewed out of the gaping hole blown in of the back of his head by Jessica’s single, well placed round, sending a bolt of red energy across the room into the chest of the guard attempting to shield the captain from harm. The guard fell backward against Nathan, taking them both to the deck at the same time as the lifeless body of Mister Briden.

“Clear!” Jessica yelled. Corinari guards rushed in from the far door behind Nathan with two more following Sergeant Weatherly in from Jessica’s side. Jessica also entered the briefing room and looked around. Tug was on the floor on one side holding the Prime Minister and shielding him from harm. Mister Briden was lying on his left side, the back of his head oozing copious amounts of blood onto the deck. Nathan was on his back near the other door waiting for the guards to pull the wounded Corinari guard off of him. Jessica picked up the weapon that Mister Briden had dropped and handed it to the civilian security guard still holding his nose. “I think you lost this,” she told him with disdain as she tapped her comm-set. “Med teams to flight ops briefing room.”

Jessica reached out her hand and helped Tug off the floor. “Good job,” she told him.

“How do you say it? Nice shootin’, Tex?” he joked.

Jessica smiled. “Yeah, something like that.” She moved over to Nathan, squatting down next to him as the wounded guard was lifted away by the rest of the Corinari quickly filling the room. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nathan answered, a bit dismayed at what had transpired. “What the hell happened?”

“Briden was a spy,” Jessica told him.

“What? How did you…”

“You can thank Mister Willard,” she told him as she helped him to his feet.

“What?”

“I’ll explain later.”

Nathan looked at the wounded Corinari guard. He was still awake, but the expression on his face told Nathan that, although the man would live, the pain he was experiencing was considerable. He turned to the wounded guard. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, sir,” the wounded Corinari guard answered, wincing in pain.

Nathan brushed himself off and made his way over to Tug who was speaking with the Prime Minister and Major Prechitt. “Everyone okay?”

“We are all fine, Captain.”

“I believe we were discussing the Prime Minister’s objections to Major Prechitt assuming command of the Corinari,” Nathan stated.

Tug looked briefly at the Prime Minister and Major Prechitt who appeared to be getting along much better than before. “I suspect we will be able to come to an agreement, Captain.”

* * *

Nathan strode into the command briefing room, the day’s events racing through his mind. “As you were,” he ordered before the guard at the door could alert the other attendees to his arrival. It seemed the more tired he was, the less patience he had for military protocol.

“I’ll get straight to it,” Nathan announced as he took his seat at the head of the briefing room table. “I’m inclined to approve Tug’s plan, but there are a few things I’d like to go over before I green-light it. My first concern is the space jump. Assuming that it is possible, is there any chance the Answari air defense batteries will detect the jumpers and fire on them?”

“Doubtful,” Tug responded.

“Not exactly the response I was hoping for,” Nathan admitted.

“Captain,” Major Prechitt interrupted, “I would be inclined to agree with Mister Tugwell. When I bailed out in orbit, my transponder was damaged. I had to hike several kilometers to the nearest city in order to call in and request pick up by Corinari Command. I later learned that, without the transponder signal, our forces had no way to track my descent. There is almost no metal in our suits, so they do not show up on most tracking systems. So unless the Ta’Akar have some tracking system we do not yet know about, I am confident that our strike team will go undetected.”

“At least until they get into visual range,” Jessica pointed out.

“If we jump at night, wearing black gear, no one would see us until we were practically on top of them,” Tug pointed out. “In fact, as Answari is near the coast, she sometimes has a thick layer of fog in the early morning that does not burn off until the sun rises. That might give us additional cover.”

“It would also make it more dangerous for the strike teams,” Nathan observed, “so let’s be careful what we wish for.”

“The auto-nav systems used by Corinari paratroopers does not require good visibility to operate,” Lieutenant Waddell added. “The fog would not impede their accuracy.”

“They’ll be dropping into a city full of buildings,” Jessica pointed out. “Will your auto-nav systems steer them around man-made obstacles such as building spires, streetlights, trees…”

“Unfortunately, no,” Lieutenant Waddell admitted.

“Okay, so weather might be an issue,” Nathan said, “not only at the drop zone, but also at the upper altitudes that they’ll be passing through. All of that will have to be taken into account.”

“We have ample data on the weather patterns of Takara,” Tug explained. “This information is publicly broadcast all around the planet. We can pick up the forecasts during our last recon before the attack and adjust our timetable accordingly.”

“Very well,” Nathan said, accepting their answers. “My next concern is with the palace guards. Historically, such guards are the elite of any military. They are also usually the most loyal and, therefore, the most dangerous.”

“That was indeed the case in the past,” Mister Dumar admitted, “but over the last decade as the Ta’Akar have withdrawn their forces from worlds outside the cluster and concentrated them in and around their home system, the people of Answari—as well as the palace guards—have become more complacent. In addition, it is common for noble families of greater influence to get their sons assigned to positions in palace security. Many believe this has had a negative effect on the combat effectiveness of the palace guard. In fact, many consider the palace guards to be more a ceremonial group than an effective combat unit.”