Loyalty to the Cause (TCOTU, Book 4) (This Corner of the Universe) (46 page)

Heskan
blew out a breath, connected to the fleet comm channel and addressed his
captains earnestly.  “I know.  Each of you is getting a whole lot more than you
deserve.  I didn’t intend for it to be this way but we’re fighting to the end
so Seshafi’s families won’t have to.”  He sighed before saying, “I hope you can
live with that.”

“Or
die with it,” Vernay added from Heskan’s left.

“Captain,”
Lieutenant Baldwin responded, “to be honest, I never thought we’d get this far. 
None of the captains in our navy would have dared push us this hard, but, you
know what?  I’m glad you did.  After years of meaningless pageantry, I’m proud
of what my crew has accomplished today and even if Wallace takes my life, he’ll
never take that.”

“Here,
here,” echoed Covington.  “I feel like I’ve finally earned this gold command
braid, Captain.  Thank you.”

Heskan
blushed at the sentiments and ordered, “Then let’s form up.  Elathra will take
the lead.  I want Fame, then Honor, followed by Ravana.”

Vernay smirked at her
captain and quipped, “I’d rather have honor first but fame is always appreciated.”

*  *  *

“They’re
forming up, Admiral.”

Wallace
looked toward the heavens in exasperation.

“You
must put a stop to this,” his assistant pleaded.  “No privateer will ever
contract with us again!  Admiral, we have but four snows and a brig left from
the entire fleet!”

The Red
Admiral cast a sideways glance.  His voice no longer held contempt, just
desperation.  “That’s not true, we’ve only strictly lost a brig.  The other
ships have just retired.”  He gritted his teeth and said, “We just need one
more pass.”

“It
won’t be just one more pass, Admiral.  This man won’t stop!  It’ll be another
pass and another until we’ve ground ourselves into oblivion.  For all we know, the
Lagrin system hired him to come here and attrit our fleet into extermination. 
As damaged as our forces are now, Unadex Corporation could take our system with
barely a fight!”  His assistant stepped closer.  “I beg you, Viscount.  You
must withdraw while we still retain rights to our retired ships.”  The man
bowed his head subserviently but persisted, “We all know you are the better
man.  We all know that your will would win the day should you wish it but what
good is winning this battle if it causes us to lose an even larger war?”

Wallace’s eyes stared
into infinity.  All motion in the command center had stopped.  Finally, the
elder man’s eyes closed.  “Very well.  Strike our lights.  You will negotiate
the withdrawal.  We can concede the entire
casus bellum
but we must retain
our ships.”

*  *  *

“I
don’t believe it,” Covington’s stunned voice sounded over the frequency.

“It’s
official, Clayton,” Heskan confirmed.  “I just received Sade’s surrender from
Wallace’s assistant.”

After
the cheers over the fleet channel died down, Lieutenant Baldwin asked,
“Captain, permission to break formation?  I need to recover my shuttle.”

Heskan
nodded even though she could not see him.  “I saw the launch…”  He stumbled. 
I
can’t remember her first name.

As
if reading his mind, an answer came through the channel.  “It’s Jaynee,
Captain.”

“Um,
yeah,” Heskan fumbled.  “Sorry about that.  As I was saying, I saw the launch…
wondered if maybe one of my ship captains was going AWOL.”

The
jest brought a chuckle from
Honor’s
commander.  The agreeable voice
quickly turned wicked.  “No, I just figured you might want back the crewmember
you jettisoned, sir.”

Vernay’s
eyebrows launched skyward as she eavesdropped on the conversation.  She stepped
over to Heskan’s console and announced tersely, “This is Commander Vernay, Honor.
What the hell are you talking about?”

Baldwin’s
manner was instantly cowed by the coldness in Vernay’s statement.  “Sorry,
Commander.  We detected a distress signal during the battle and launched a
shuttle to recover it.  It was the shocksuit beacon from one of your crew, ma’am. 
The shuttle reports she’s in critical condition and has both burns and severe
frostbite but she’s alive.”

“Gables.” 
Vernay said the name as a statement of fact.

“That’s
right!” Baldwin answered.

Vernay’s
expression erupted into a broad smile as Brown hooted behind her.  “Why am I
not surprised.”

Less
than twenty-four hours later, Heskan exited a shuttle to step onto the surface
of Seshafi Major for the first time.  The shining sun emitted a familiar yellow
light, slightly tinged with orange.  He was escorted from the sunshine and brisk
winds, past a swarming crowd of shouting media, and into a building with a
historical fascia but modern interior.  He walked through the security sniffers
in the lobby and shortly came to a large office cohabitated by two
secretaries.  He stood at the entrance, staring beyond the administrators at
double doors that bore the name “Archduke Joshua Covington, CEO.”

Heskan
no sooner opened his mouth to greet one of the women when she pointed toward
the double doors and stated, “The archduke is waiting for you, sir.”

Heskan
walked to the doors to knock while his escort sat on a nearby couch.  He raised
his hand but both doors opened automatically.

“Please
do come in, Captain,” a friendly voice greeted.  “Welcome.”

The
opulent room was unlike anything Heskan had seen before.  Despite knowing that
the title of archduke was contingent on Covington’s job as CEO of AmyraCorp, it
was easy to believe the man was true royalty.  Priceless, real oil paintings
adorned the walls.  Oak furniture resided upon luxurious carpet.

Joshua
Covington himself seemed a simple man.  His suit, immaculately tailored but
otherwise plain, elegantly draped his slight frame.  He traveled around his
desk and stepped deliberately toward Heskan, extending his hand in friendship. 
After Heskan shook his hand, he was directed to an antique couch.

Covington
appraised Heskan through sparkling, grey eyes.  The man’s apparent stiff
demeanor broke with a slight smile of amusement.  “My son simply cannot stop
raving about you, Garrett.”

Heskan
returned the man’s smile with a generous one of his own.  “Your son has the
heart of a lion, Archduke.”

Covington
waved a modest hand.  “He takes after his mother I’m sure but I must confess
that I’ve never been more proud.”  The gentleman looked away humbly and snorted. 
“I may never get him out of the service now.”  He sat in contemplation for
several, quiet moments before looking again at Heskan amicably.  “Do you know
why you’re here?”

Heskan
scratched his chin.  “To get paid, I suppose.”

Covington
barked with staccato laughter.  “Very good!”  He huffed for several seconds,
regaining his breath.  “Actually, you’ve been paid, Captain, and it’s the best
money AmyraCorp has ever spent, truthfully.”  The man paused and then said,
“But to the matter of why I requested your presence, Seshafi finds herself in a
very vulnerable period.”  He sighed heavily.  “Admiral Cooke is gone, killed in
a perfidiousness that, while a civilian murder, I fear will be ruled as an
event preceding the
casus bellum
and without recourse under our rules of
war.”  He shook his head precisely twice and then continued.  “We’ve also lost
most of our navy’s senior command officers, especially those with combat experience.” 
He tapped his knee with fingers as if counting before confiding, “We now have
exactly eight ship captains who have seen battle and the highest ranking one is
Commander Nguyen.”  Covington sighed.  “He’s a good man but entrenched in
corporate mores, and I suspect that you turned our covenants on their head
yesterday.”

“I
didn’t mean to—”

Covington
placed a hand on Heskan’s knee.  The gravitas of the simple action made Heskan
silent.  “We all know you didn’t mean to, Captain, but what’s done is done and
I dare say IaCom did so first, even if The Courts may not see it that way. 
Mind you, I am grateful for your actions, as is the entire board and all of
Seshafi, but you must understand that IaCom will be back.”  He rubbed at the
dark circles under his eyes and continued, “This obstacle will not stop them,
not when they’ve revealed they want nothing less than a complete takeover and
were willing to commit such treachery to secure it.  Or, try to that is.”  He
looked at Heskan with a rueful smile.  “I suppose they can’t stop even if they
wanted to, now that we know their intentions.  And so, we will be faced with
more war, whether it be next month or next year.”

“I
understand your position,” Heskan said with empathy.

Covington
raised a finger with a grunt, “Heh, and that is just that, as they say.  You
see, we are very much hoping that
our
position will become
your
position.”

Heskan
felt his eyebrows furrow.  “Okay, now, I don’t understand.”

Covington
smiled charmingly at Heskan.  “We need each other, my good captain.  Oliver
Wallace wasn’t bluffing when he said he would make sure you never worked as a
privateer again.  He has powerful connections and you need us as much as we,
now, need you.”

Heskan
arched an eyebrow upward.  “What exactly are you proposing, sir?”

“I’m
offering you a position in our navy, a commission, not just as a privateer,
Garrett.  Oliver will throw everything he has at us next time and Nguyen won’t
be creative enough to stop it.  I can offer commissions and incentives to any
of your crew who might wish to join us.”  Covington motioned to his window-mode
wall screen.  “Wallace will force you into retirement, Garrett.  This is as
good a place as any to make a living and call home.  Better than most, I would
even say.”

Heskan’s
heart leapt into his throat. 
Home.  I want that.
  He thought of his
crew. 
They deserve that, at least the choice
.  “I think we have a deal,
Archduke.”

The
man grunted slightly as he pushed off the couch cushion to stand.  He took
several truncated steps as he turned in a half circle to face Heskan with a
smile.  “Splendid, and call me Joshua when we’re in private, Garrett.”  He walked
deliberately to his desk.  “I’ll take care of the arrangements, starting with
your citizenship status.  Since you are choosing to be Seshafian, you can pick
your land anywhere on the planet.  I’ll have Stewart place a shuttle at your
disposal, but don’t dally.  We have a lot of work to accomplish before we
receive the next
casus bellum
from IaCom if we want to assure the upper
hand.”

Heskan
looked down at his suit and laughed.  “I guess I should be happy that I never
bothered with a privateer’s uniform.”

“Indeed. 
You’ll look smashing in our blues.”  Covington circled the desk and huffed as
he sat down.  “Now go back to the orbital and retrieve me your entire crew.  We
would not have prevailed without them and our dependency on those sailors will
only increase in the future.”

Heskan
straightened formally as he came to attention.  Though not in uniform, he rendered
a precise salute.  Midway through it, he realized it was a Brevic salute. 
Oh
well, he’s going to find out eventually anyway.

The
archduke nodded at the honorific and chortled.  “I suppose you’re going to tell
me an interesting story soon, Garrett, but it can wait.”

Heskan dropped the
salute and winked before executing an about face and retreating from the
extravagant office without further word.

*  *  *

The
Red Admiral had faced a very different set of meetings after the battle than
Heskan.  Wallace now balled the anger and humiliation of the last forty-eight
hours and launched it at the Secure Solutions representative in his office.  “We
paid
you for noninterference, Colby!  Your outfit has thrown their
reputation away and for what?”  He stepped back from the man to regain his
composure.  After several breaths, he resumed in a more civil volume.  “I
promise you that I will expose your duplicity to the entire Court and no
corporation will dare trust you again.  Do you have any idea how my personal
standing may suffer because of the actions in Seshafi?”

Wallace
began to pace in front of the representative who threw his hands up in
defense.  “But, Viscount, hear me out!”

Wallace
spun in place and scolded, “There is no excuse!  You violated your own agreement
not to send Secure Solutions privateers to Seshafi.  We paid you, and dozens of
other privateer companies, to ensure a quick victory.  I
promised
a
quick victory.”

“But
that’s precisely it, Viscount,” the man argued.  “We didn’t send a
representative.”

Wallace
stomped to his desk and lifted the physical file bearing Secure Solutions’
name.  “He’s right here, Colby.”  He threw the thin file at his target and
bellowed, “In your own records!”

The
representative bent over and picked up the paper before continuing in a
measured voice.  “Viscount, I’m not disputing that this Garrett Heskan is in
our records but nobody knows who he is or how he got there.  Nobody in our
company has even met the man.”