Ghosts of Empire (Book 4 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (20 page)

“Is this a pre-Fall construction?” She felt the wall, but its rough surface told her nothing. “And are you going to eat those? I’m starved.”

He handed the food over without a word. The nuggets of fried meat were good. The savory flavor was unlike anything she’d tasted before.

“Mmm. These are excellent! What’s a malthar?”

“A large, flightless bird with less intelligence than my shoe. They make good food, though. The restaurant we just left is famous for its secret spices.

“And, yes, this tunnel is pre-revolution. The town is only a few hundred years old. People loyal to our cause set up shop here and are still a significant proportion of the residents. That helps with concealing everything, too.”

“Why don’t you tell me more about this resistance movement?” she asked as they made their way onto what looked like a rail tube stop. A sleek car sat waiting for them.

He shook his head. “I’d rather wait until we arrive at our final destination. Sometimes seeing is worth hours of chatting.”

The interior of the tube car was old, but serviceable. She sat on a faded blue cushion next to him. The marines took the spots opposite them. The car doors closed and it took off smoothly.

The trip lasted about ten minutes and the two of them chitchatted after they finished eating. William refused to discuss anything of substance.

Once the car slid smoothly to a halt, he led the way out onto a stop almost identical to the one they’d left. Only this one had other people waiting for them. Half a dozen men in full armor with flechette weapons and one with a plasma rifle. The man with the latter had it aimed conspicuously at her.

William shrugged apologetically. “I’m afraid that you’re going to have to turn over your weapons now. And, as sad as it would be, any resistance will result in your deaths.”

The marines had already raised their weapons and closed ranks with her. The tension was like a mist in the air. She knew that the next few minutes were going to be critical and they really shouldn’t throw away this opportunity.

“Lower your weapons,” she ordered. “We’re going to cooperate.”

Kelsey started digging out her pistols. “You know that I’m more than capable of taking you on hand-to-hand, right?”

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” he said in a sorrowful tone. “No one needs to get hurt. After all, if you’re telling the truth, I swear you’ll get everything back and we’ll become the best of friends.”

“And if, for whatever reason, I can’t convince the computer?”

“I’d regret having to explain your untimely passing. I wouldn’t have you killed of course, but you’d be our guest here for a very long time.”

She sighed. “Well, I suppose I’d better give this my best effort.”

* * * * *

Abigail watched her office chronometer make its way slowly toward the end of a regular workday. She’d been listening to the news through her implants with more than a bit of anticipation.

She’d already planned how to quickly consolidate power and isolate the most troublesome of the council members opposing the conservative alliance. Before any of the fools knew what was happening, she’d have her boot on their throats.

Then she’d execute stage one of Operation Damocles. That would get everyone’s attention. Perhaps at that point, Master Calder would read her into the rest of the program. She had her suspicions about what came next, but it was only guesswork.

A throwaway com unit she’d acquired chimed softly and she snatched it off her desk. A new file had arrived for her. She played it with shaky fingers.

The image showed that old stick Lord Hawthorne’s antique air car flying along. Abigail could just make out the back of the blonde rebel’s head. The woman started to turn toward the lens of the camera, but a bright flash of light shot onto the screen and the car exploded.

That made her grin. One down. Now all she had to do was wait for Olivia and Admiral Mertz to die.

Chapter Nineteen

It took longer than Jared cared for to identify all of the missing personnel, but he now had their names and faces. Exactly one hundred people were unaccounted for, so he was relatively certain their count was accurate. The number was too precise to be accidental.

Of course, that meant that the people Meyer had ashore had to have already slipped back into camp. He hoped that hadn’t screwed up some aspect of what the man was doing. They hadn’t had more than a few moments alone, so he really didn’t know what was happening on that front.

Honestly, an escape attempt right now might be the worst thing they could do.

Olivia turned away from the guard she was speaking with and stepped over to him. “Admiral, I’m satisfied that we have a good count of your missing people.

“Honestly, I know Abigail King is behind it, but I can’t figure out her reasoning. Mister Oliver’s testimony won’t be enough to question her legally, but I
will
get to the bottom of this. I doubt she’s seriously injured anyone.”

“She’d better not have,” he growled. “I’ll tack her hide to the nearest wall if she’s harmed any of my people.”

“And I’ll help you. It might be best if we go get the inevitable confrontation out of the way.”

He nodded. “I’d appreciate a moment with the force master chief.”

“Of course.” She walked back over to her guards.

Jared lowered his voice. “Can you get weapons in the city?”

Commander Meyer’s lips twitched. “Sir, I’ve discovered that you can get damned near anything as long as you have money. So, yes. We’ve already bought a number of flechette pistols and civilian stunners.”

“I’ll message you with the coordinates for an island we have under our control. If need be, get your people ashore and make your way to that general area. It’s probably only a few hours in one of those grav lifts. Call them for pickup once you get close and the marines will work something out.”

“Aye, sir. Let me give you a couple of civilian com codes, just in case.” He rattled off three strings of numbers that Jared committed to implant storage.

“Got them. Good luck. See you again soon.”

He made his way over to Olivia just as she finished her conversation with her lead guard. “Is confronting Deputy Coordinator King so directly safe?”

Olivia laughed. “What’s she going to do? Shoot us? No, she’ll deny everything, but she won’t attack us.”

He wasn’t so sure about that. “I’d recommend you have forces positioned in case you’re wrong. Recent history has taught me that it’s better to be ready when the sky falls.”

She seemed to consider that and slowly nodded. “I suppose having a plan B doesn’t hurt. Once we’re inside the council building, there’ll be too many people around. I suppose any attack would need to take place as we’re arriving or leaving.”

Her com chirped and she glanced at it. That became a double take.

“What is it?” he asked.

“The news service is reporting that a vehicle like William’s crashed outside the capital. They’ve found five bodies.” She looked up. “That would be William, Miss Bandar, the two marines, and the driver.”

Jared pulled out his com and called Kelsey. There was no response.

He cursed his decision to allow her to come to Harrison’s World. If she’d died in what he guessed was an attack, he’d never forgive himself. Still, she’d pulled off miracles before, so he wasn’t really going to believe she was gone until he saw her body for himself.

“Why would King attack her?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“To drive a wedge between us? Perhaps that’s also why she took the prisoners. Or, this could just be a terrible coincidence.”

They stared at one another and shook their heads.

Olivia headed for the gate. “We need to confront her as soon as possible. Then we should go to the crash site.”

“I couldn’t agree more, but I have an idea.”

* * * * *

Kelsey allowed them to herd her and the marines through a massive vault door. Inside was a lift easily large enough to hold ten times their number. It had to be for cargo. As soon as the door closed, it dropped at a fairly good clip.

She raised an eyebrow. “So, now that I’m a captive audience, would you mind telling me where we are?”

If he was worried about being within her grasp, it didn’t show. “Certainly. Though I suppose that makes me look like a clichéd vid villain. Should I explain my entire evil plan so that you can make good your escape and take me down?”

Kelsey shook her head. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Thank you. Well, this is a pre-revolution facility that we managed to hide from the AIs. It wasn’t known to the public, so that was easier than it sounds.”

“A planetary defense center would be the obvious choice,” she said, “but I’ll venture a guess that this is the Grant Research Facility.”

His eyes widened and his jaw literally dropped a bit. “My, my. You
are
full of surprises. I’d have sworn no one knew about this place before the revolution, much less after. How the devil did you know?”

“You’d be surprised what an ambassador plenipotentiary and daughter of the emperor is allowed to know.”

“For all our sakes, I fervently hope you’re telling the truth.”

The lift settled to a halt and the doors opened. A wide entry area with prominent weapons emplacements covering every angle greeted them. Depending on how far below ground they were, it would be difficult indeed to dig these people out.

A large set of armored doors slid open across from them and several men and women walked out eyeing her curiously. One of the men wore a Fleet uniform with captain’s tabs. He seemed to be in charge.

William bowed slightly to him. “Kelsey, this is Fleet Captain Aaron Black. Aaron, this is Kelsey Bandar. As to what she does…well, that’s a bit more complicated. Let’s leave it at saying she’s Admiral Mertz’s special operations officer. Be careful with any handshake. She’s a Marine Raider with full augmentation.”

If that disturbed the short black man, he didn’t allow it to show. And by short, Kelsey really meant it. His eyes were level with hers.

He extended his hand. “I’d be pleased to call you by your appropriate rank, Miss Bandar. At this juncture, is there really much point in keeping it to yourself?” His voice was a pleasant alto and his smiled revealed shining white teeth.

She shook his hand slowly. “I’ve already told Lord Hawthorne, so if he doesn’t want to share, who am I to ruin his surprise?”

The man shook his head. “Lord Hawthorne thinks he has a sense of humor. We’ve tried to correct his misapprehension. But he still feels compelled to try. Welcome to the Grant Research Facility. Still under the original management. It’s my privilege and honor to run it for the resistance.

“And before you feel compelled to attempt a daring escape, allow me to warn you that even a Marine Raider won’t be getting out unless we say so. I don’t know everything about your implants and enhancements, but I’ve looked over Lord Hawthorne’s scanner readings and you’re a marvel. It still won’t grant you a miracle.”

Kelsey laughed. “You’d be shocked at the things I’ve survived in the last six months, Captain. I believe we found some products from this facility on
Invincible
. Those flip point jammers really saved the day. Unfortunately, we broke one. The other two are covering the entrances to this system as we speak.”

The man raised his eyebrow. “Indeed? Well, that’s gratifying to know. It took us a very long time to take them from theory to hardware. We had no way to test them, either. But, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce my staff and lead scientists.”

Kelsey made note of each name and face as Captain Black introduced them. Part of her mind was still working on how she might escape. Perhaps blowing a hole in the roof of the elevator?

That probably wouldn’t work.

She almost jumped at the voice in her head. Again.
You really need to stop doing that.

Why?

Because it surprises me. I’m not used to having another person in my skull.

It’s not like there’s a real person monitoring everything around you.

No, she thought. Not exactly, anyway.

So, what did you see that I missed?

As the elevator descended, I detected several levels where there were emissions consistent with weapons platforms. Perhaps they’re targeting intrusion from above, but I wouldn’t bet your life on it.

Hmm. That was a point to consider.

Are you monitoring everything I do all the time? I didn’t see those things. I didn’t even have a scanner out.

Your implant hardware has adequate passive scanners, if you know how to access them. And of course I’m watching. It’s not as though I need to sleep. I’m adding your sensory recordings to the ones my creator made. Also, I’m pleased to say that I’ve completed the indexing of his files. They should be significantly more useful now.

Thanks. If I survive the next half hour, I’ll take a look.

The internal exchange had only taken a moment. She had to admit, even though the program in her implants was a little creepy, it had its uses.

“So,” she said to William, “what’s next? How can I prove myself to you?”

“Well, this facility has a computer built and installed by the most paranoid security freaks the Empire could find before the revolution. If you have the credentials you claim, surely you can get it to confirm them.”

He raised a hand to forestall her instinctive reaction. “I don’t expect you to gain access to the systems. That’s not really within the realm of possibility. All I want is to see the computer verify you’re telling the truth.”

She nodded. “Let’s get this over with so you can stop threatening me.”

The interior of the facility felt like the inside of a large orbital. They had to have put heavy shielding around everything, because the power emanations alone would’ve been detectable from the surface. If she’d known how to use the passive scanners that Ned had mentioned, she had no doubt she’d have detected any number of strange readings as they led her to an area deep under the entrance level.