Ghosts of Empire (Book 4 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (22 page)

Newland shook his head. “Too open. They’d be right on the lift deck for the guards to see.”

“Well, then,” Sean said. “We’ll just have to focus the guards’ attention at the critical moment. Leave that to my team and me. Go get everyone moving. This could go bad any minute.”

Sean left them to it and rounded up his shore team. They met in one of the barracks. In the shower, of course, though they kept their clothes on.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “the time has come for us to decamp. Timing is critical, and while we don’t want to draw the guards’ attention too quickly, we’ll need to provide a few minutes of entertainment to get them all looking away from the port. I don’t suppose anyone brought explosives back from the shore?”

They shook their heads. One man, the scrounger, spoke up. “Explosives are harder to get than crappy weapons, sir. We have some civilian stunners and flechette pistols. Maybe we can cause them some grief with those.”

“I’m not sure I’d want to get them shooting at us, Corporal. All in all, I’d prefer to escape without them knowing we’re gone for a bit.”

“What about the air patrols?” one of the others asked. “If we stun the two men in one of the vehicles, they’ll figure it was a mechanical failure and get into search and rescue mode.”

Hmm. SAR might be just what they needed. “They might see the beams. And those stunners are short-ranged weapons. Probably not that accurate, either.”

The man nodded. “We can tune out the color. If we focus the beams as tight as possible, we might be able to tag someone flying low and slow. It would have to be a two man team to get the lookout, too.”

“And are any of the guards patrolling that low?”

“Occasionally. Some of them like to show off.”

It wasn’t the best of plans, but he supposed they could light one of them up with flechettes if they had to. “Okay. We’ll set up on the far side of the camp. I’d prefer the thing to crash on the other side of the fence, but we don’t have a lot of choice. As long as everyone else gets away clean, I can deal with that. Which two men are staying with me?”

* * * * *

Jared looked over the town as their air car came in for a soft landing. It wouldn’t have been out of place in Avalon’s agricultural districts. The driver stayed in the car while Olivia led Jared inside. He’d taken off his jacket, to reduce the number of people that might recognize his uniform.

Something smelled good, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten in a while.

Despite what he’d told Olivia, he felt hollow inside. The crash could’ve killed his sister. He was putting on a good face, but it could all be true. He prayed it wasn’t. That would be a disaster, personally and professionally.

Olivia went to the counter and put in an order for food. The man behind it leaned over and said something to her. She stiffened and then sagged a little.

Jared saw something very much like joy in her face as she came over to him. “They got out of the car here. They’re okay.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “Thank God. If they’re here, who was in the car?”

“Some poor people who were providing cover for them. Stunt doubles, as it were. It doesn’t look as though you’ll need that change of clothes just yet. We won’t be under observation as we make our way to them. Come on.”

To say that he was surprised when she handed him a bag of food and led him into the freezer was an understatement. The secret tunnel under the diner was even more of a shock.

“What the hell is down here?” he asked.

“That’s going to take a while and I think that it would be best to get together with William and Miss Bandar for that explanation.”

They boarded the grav train and ate as it bore them into the darkness. The food was good, but he couldn’t remember what it tasted like as his mind swirled. What was this place? One of the planetary defense centers? Something else?

It only took ten minutes for them to make their way to another station and disembark. The large armored door failed to open when they arrived.

Olivia tried it again and frowned. “That’s odd. It should’ve opened right up. And I’m not getting ahold of anyone inside.”

* * * * *

Kelsey smiled at Captain Black and William. “I’m glad that we were able to settle that so easily. Computer, restore access to everyone affected by my earlier instructions.”

“Done. Coordinator West and an unknown visitor are at the station and requesting admittance. They signaled during lockdown.”

“I hope that’s Jared with her. That would make explanations much simpler.”

William headed for the door. “I’ll go get them and be right back, Highness.”

She scowled at him. “That’s going to get old fast. I thought I told you to call me Kelsey.”

“So you did, but that was before you told me who you
really
were. One simply doesn’t chat up their social superiors in a public setting. Perhaps in private. We’ll see.”

He left and she shook her head. “What about you, Captain Black? Can I get you to call me by my given name?”

The dark skinned man smiled a little. “Is that an order? I’m still not even certain I’m in your chain of command.”

“I think we can work that out,” she said as she gestured for him to sit beside her. “I’m curious. How did a senior Fleet officer become a member of the resistance?”

Black sat and regarded her for a moment. “They caught me young. My father is a member. After I joined Fleet and passed the security screening, they felt out my allegiances. Once they were certain I was fully committed, they used some hardware here to overwrite the code in my implants to allow me to be their spy. I was down here when the axe fell, so we faked my death for official purposes.”

“Wow,” she said. “That sounds exciting. I’m sure our scientists will want to compare notes to see if your code matches what we’re using. But that will come in due time.

“As for whether you’re in the same Fleet as my Empire, I think being a member of the resistance counts for a lot. With my brother being a Fleet admiral, I think I’m going to go with yes. Unless you have some reservation, of course.”

He inclined his head. “My allegiance is to the Empire, but Lord Hawthorne and Coordinator West are going to have to tell me if this counts. If they get behind you, I will, too.”

The door slid open and William escorted Jared and Olivia West in. Her brother rushed to her side and pulled her into a hug. “I thought we’d lost you.”

She gave him a confused look. “I told you we were going to be incommunicado for a bit.”

William looked grim. “And things have happened while we were. Abigail King shot down my car. She killed everyone. She tried to kill your brother and Coordinator West, too. It seems that we have a coup in progress.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Sean watched as the people under his command slipped out of the prison camp one small group at a time. The remaining personnel kept moving around the open areas enough to simulate the correct number of prisoners for the guards.

The marine armorer used the time they had left to modify the stunners. With the color inducer bypassed and the range boosted to the maximum, this might just work.

He asked the question that had been bothering him while the man worked. “How do you know what to do? I didn’t think we had any of these weapons.”

The man grinned. “I knew some people on
Athena
. They slipped me the tech manuals and a few pistols to study. One neural disruptor and one flechette pistol, as well as a maintenance kit. I didn’t tell the LT, but she might have guessed. I have no idea if she reported it up the chain. It’s too late to ask her now.”

That was the damned truth. He sighed. When he’d read Mertz’s report on how many people they’d lost fighting against the Pale Ones, he’d been certain the man was a colossal screw up that had gotten most of his people killed for no reason.

Now that he’d seen how many of his crewmates they’d lost, he knew the truth. Mertz had pulled off a miracle. Breckenridge’s task force had started with a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and two destroyers. They’d lost all three cruisers and most of the people on them.

In hindsight, it was obvious who the incompetents were: Wallace Breckenridge and Sean Meyer. It was too late for his former captain to learn from his mistakes, even if he could, but Sean was determined to make up for his own failures.

“You did exactly right, Corporal,” he said. “And your foresight might save thousands of people. You can count on me recommending you for a damned medal if we make it off this planet alive.”

The man started putting the stunner back together again. “If it’s all the same, sir, I’d rather you didn’t. I didn’t exactly do it for the right reasons. I was— “

“It doesn’t matter,” Sean said, guessing what the man’s original intent had been. “I’ve learned a few hard lessons over these last few weeks. It doesn’t matter why you did the right thing. Just that you did.”

He looked out at the sun. “It’s about time for us to make our move. What are the possible repercussions of your modifications?”

The man finished putting the weapon back together. “The pistols might burn out, but they should get one shot, minimum. I was real careful, so hopefully they’ll still be accurate. These things have no recoil, sir, so aim right where you want to hit. No leading and no dropping of the shot with range.”

Sean picked one of the pistols up. “How will we know when they’re close enough?”

“If they’re close to the fence, these should reach them.”

“Good enough. Come on.”

They went outside and joined the people moving around the camp. Command Master Chief Ross fell in beside them smoothly. “Things are on schedule and I have some good news.”

Sean smiled. “I love good news. Tell me more.”

“We’ve seen one of the air patrols that has a history of making close passes. We’ve moved as many people out as we dare. Our people are standing by to make their move on the cargo lifts as soon as I give the signal.”

“Well, then, let’s not keep them waiting.” Sean led the way to the building where they’d decided they had the best chance of hitting the target. With the stunners modified the way they were, they had to make direct hits to have any effect at all. And without the color traces, they’d have no idea where their shots were really going if they missed.

“How many people are still in camp?” he asked Ross.

“About a hundred. They’ll scatter as soon as the air car comes down and make their way clear. We’ll be the last ones out.”

The senior noncom eyed the stunners when the corporal laid them out. “How good is your aim, sir? You want me to take the second shot?”

Sean settled in next to the window and picked up one of the stunners. “I think I can handle it, Command Master Chief. Why don’t you go outside and stand next to the window here. You can give us a warning and countdown to shoot.”

“Aye, sir. Shoot on zero.”

They only had a few minutes to wait before Ross spoke. “Here they come. Left to right, moving about thirty kilometers an hour. Two guards, the one on the left at the controls.”

“You have the one on the right, Corporal,” Sean said.

“Aye, sir.”

“Stand by to fire,” Ross said. “Three…two…”

The air car flew into view, moving slowly enough for Sean to line his sights up on the driver. When Ross said “zero” Sean pulled the trigger. Even without a beam, he knew right away that he’d hit. The driver slumped.

The corporal missed, though. The passenger lunged for the controls.

Sean snapped off a shot as the corporal fired again. One of them hit the man, because the air car veered off course and slammed into a building outside the fence. The impact was impressive, even without any explosions. If that didn’t get the guards’ attention, nothing would.

“Time to go,” he said, tucking the pistol into his tunic.

The two of them stepped outside and joined Ross on a casual walk toward the other side of the camp. A pair of air cars flew overhead, racing toward the crash site. The guards on the ground were also looking in the right direction. Sean figured that the communications channels were alive with chatter right now.

The few remaining Fleet personnel in evidence quickly disappeared in the same direction they were heading. Three minutes later, they were under the fence and into the port. The only question now was how long it would take for one of the guards to notice the camp was deserted.

If anyone in the port had noticed, Sean couldn’t tell. Everyone was still loading cargo. Well, everyone except for the people at this dock. His people had taken the loading crew prisoner and were efficiently boarding four lifts in small groups. It looked as though they already had more than half the camp population on board.

As soon as everyone had boarded, Sean shook Ross’ hand. “You’ve got the coordinates to the island. Get them there safely, Command Master Chief. I’ll find our people and make my way to join you as quickly as I can. Good luck. Oh, and here’s Admiral Mertz’s Fleet com. You’ll need it to get hold of the marines on the island.”

The older man pocketed the com. “We’ll be fine, sir. You’re the ones that need the luck. Be careful, Commander.”

“Bet your ass. Get going. It won’t take them long to find the people we have locked up, and once they do, all hell is going to break loose.”

Ross saluted him and made his way out to a lift. They’d kept the drivers on board, but had them under close guard. A few of his men had previously finagled their way into the control rooms and knew something of how the process worked. They’d keep the drivers from doing anything to give them away. With the number of lifts working this area of the coast, it was almost certain that no one would notice anything amiss, even after the alarm went out.

Sean motioned to the dozen men he’d selected to join him. They’d all changed into coveralls and would be taking a small grav car over to the city. The warehouse supervisor’s car. They’d sell it to a dealer in stolen vehicles that his streetwise marine had buddied up with. It might have a hidden tracer in it, or he’d have kept it. It ran better than the ones they’d secured for their own use. Pity.