New Dawn (Divine War Book 1) (15 page)

“The Emperor trusts Hansola too much,” grumbled Kameru, taking his seat again.

“All will think you jealous of Hansola's success,” said the oldest of the men at the table. “You will need irrefutable evidence if you want to bring him down. Something he cannot deny.”

“Perhaps you can help me, Lord Yealosi. Together we can find a way to defeat this wily old fox,” said Kameru, hopefully.

Yealosi waved a hand, dismissive. “I'm too old for this infighting. Hansola can have my place at the table if he wants.”

Kameru sat back in his seat and brooded. There was nothing more that he wanted than to see the proud Hansola fall. One by one, the other men left the chamber, and Kameru remained alone with his thoughts.

*

Lord Hansola entered the bridge of the
Orion
, ignoring the saluting officers he passed.

“What is it?” he demanded.

He sat in the heavy captain's chair. “Put the Admiral through,” he ordered.

“Ad...al St...kie sp...k...ng,” said a distorted voice through the bridge's speakers.

Hansola huffed in irritation. “What are you doing here, Stookie? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the borders somewhere?”

The Admiral was no great friend of Hansola's, though neither was he an enemy. He was aware of the Admiral's history, which was why he'd made the sarcastic comment about guarding the borders. But he would, nevertheless, remain cordial as long as both men were on the same side.

“My sh... has problems,” the voice crackled again. “Re...ting assistance... please allow... anchor... next to your vessel...”

The transmission was terrible, and Hansola was rapidly losing patience at trying to decipher whatever it was that the Admiral wanted. Obviously he needed some help and wanted to tie up to the
Orion
. Hansola gave a sigh of irritation.

“Fine,” he said to the com.

He turned to his first officer. “Supervise the tie-up, and find out what mission he's on. But no one is to board the
Orion
, and no one is to speak to anyone on board the
Argonis
without my express permission.”

“Yes, sir,” said the young officer. After saluting, he left the bridge.

*

On the bridge of the
Freedom
, the crew had been waiting with bated breath. When Hansola's word ‘fine’ echoed through the ship's speakers, there was a collective sigh of relief. The bait had been cast, and the fish had bitten. Now all that was left to do was to put a daring plan into action.
That shouldn't be a problem,
Lucia mused wryly.

“How do we proceed now?” she said, turning to Kabi.

Kabi quickly recounted his plan, keeping instructions simple and brief, and finished with a warning. “We must not underestimate this Lord Hansola. He was the youngest Mageling ever to become a fully fledged Magi Lord. His powers are said to be second only to those of the Supreme Emperor himself. I have planned carefully so that we shall avoid meeting Hansola. But if we should, I want you to leave him to me.”

Benho coughed, and the others turned to him. His face reddened, but he was determined as he said: “I wish to go with the assault team. I wish to re-acquaint myself with Lord Hansola.”

Maicee stared at his friend in disbelief. “You know Hansola?”

Benho's green eyes burned, and his jaw muscles tensed. He had a vow to keep and hadn't expected his opportunity to come so soon. But now that it had, he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers. Even if that meant revealing a small sliver of his past to those around him.

“Hansola killed my mother,” he said, his voice barely audible.

Maicee was about to speak, but Kabi threatened him with a glare. Now was not the time to discuss Benho's history. He knew little about the boy, but he knew vengeance when he saw it, and also knew that vengeance would not be stopped. If he didn't allow the boy to come with him, then Benho would find a way to face Hansola alone. It would be better all around if he was on the assault team, where Kabi could keep an eye on him.

“It will be dangerous,” Kabi said, looking at Benho.

“I understand,” Benho said, looking Kabi straight in the eye. “But I have waited long for this, and I will not be deterred.”

Maicee shook his head slightly. This was not the Benho he knew. Something had passed between Kabi and Benho, and he didn't know what it was. But he saw that Kabi understood far more than he did, so he was not surprised when his guardian nodded.

“Fine. But you will follow my plans,” he said.

Benho bit his lip but bowed in assent.

“I will lead an assault team on board the
Argoni
, which will tie up alongside the
Orion
. A bomb will be placed that will detonate on the
Argoni
at the given time and will hopefully cause enough confusion to allow us to board the
Orion
unnoticed. We rescue Princess Ausanne and leave the ship immediately. Understood?”

The others nodded, but Kabi looked again at Benho.

“The one and only priority of this mission is to save the princess,” he restated.

Benho closed his eyes but then nodded in agreement.

“Maicee, Benho, Lucia, and I will go aboard the
Argoni
. Bettie will remain here as contact person on the
Freedom
,” Kabi said.

“Should we fail,” Lucia said, turning to her first officer, “it is up to you to get Niku and her data disk to Britannia. Whatever the cost, you will act under orders. You will make no attempt to come to the aid of the assault team once the
Argoni
has set sail. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Captain,” said Bettie, her hand trembling slightly as she saluted. “Orders received and understood.”

*

The battle cruiser
Argoni
powered down its engines as it neared the massive, hulking shadow of the
Orion
. The dreadnought was almost twice the size of the cruiser and sailed slowly as she approached. Signal lights from the
Orion
guided the smaller vessel safely to the leeward side of the ship, until the
Argoni
was close enough to tie up alongside her sister.

The hatch of the
Argoni
opened, revealing an officer in the standard Imperial Navy uniform. The first officer of the
Orion
raised his hand, and in one synchronised movement the Black Knights surrounding him lifted their weapons.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Maicee, the naval uniform uncomfortable and starting to scratch at his skin.

“I am Major Jansen, first officer of the Supreme Emperor's dreadnought
Orion
,” said the man, arrogantly. “I am under orders from Lord Hansola that no member of the crew of the
Argoni
should be allowed to board the
Orion
. I hope I have made myself clear.”

Crystal clear,
thought Maicee to himself, but he forced a small smile onto his face as he saluted. “Loud and clear, sir,” he said.

“Excellent, I'm glad we have an understanding.” Jansen turned to leave but then swung back to add, almost as an afterthought: “My men will kill anyone who emerges from that hatch.” He gave a curt nod and walked away, leaving the Black Knights still pointing their bolt blasters at Maicee.

Maicee went back into the
Argoni
, cursing Jansen under his breath.

“You did well,” said Kabi, noticing his return and the anger on his face. “You were the only one I could trust to go out there and not lose his temper.”

“Arrogant bastard,” said Maicee.

“As are all Black Knights,” Kabi said with a smile. “It will be their arrogance that will be their downfall.” He patted Maicee's shoulder. “And now, you shall have an interminable wait until nightfall.”

Maicee groaned. Piracy seemed like an awful lot of waiting and not much action. If he'd have known what was coming, he might have been grateful for the few hours of quiet rest.

*

Maicee didn't know what Kabi had done or how he had done it. All he knew was that the bomb was on board the
Argoni
and waiting to be detonated. He had a sneaky suspicion that this all had to do with the mental tricks that Kabi had shown him when he was disarming the bomb on board the
Freedom
, but he said nothing.

Benho was pacing. He was worried, though he said nothing. His moment was going to come this night—he was sure of it. And he wanted to speak to no one. He rebuffed conversation even with Maicee, who, far from being offended, had simply retreated, understanding that Benho needed to be alone with his thoughts. And they were terrible, unspeakable thoughts, ones that he had dwelled on for too long. Tonight, though, tonight he would vanquish them forever.

Nightfall came quickly. The thin slice of moon hung in the sky, trying hard to illuminate the darkness of the sea. The waves were calm, the night silent except for the soft splashing of water on the hull. And still they waited.

It was long after midnight when Kabi nodded. There was an occasional patrol of Black Knights circling the decks of the
Orion
, but most of the dreadnought’s crew seemed to be sleeping. It was time. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Lucia, who nodded in return. She too agreed that now was the hour. Closing his eyes for a moment to centre himself, Kabi reached down to his chronos and placed his finger on a red icon to the left of the clock face.

A deep explosion echoed through the
Argoni
, continuing to grumble for a few moments after the initial blast.

“Blowing up the ship that we're currently on seems somewhat counterintuitive,” said Maicee, still waiting as he knew he must.

“A damn sight easier than blowing up the
Orion
and possibly taking the princess with it,” observed Kabi, reaching for his chronos a second time. “Besides, it's certainly going to be a distraction.”

He pressed the red icon again, and a second explosion rocked through the
Argoni
's engine room, strong enough this time to damage the hull of the
Orion
. There was already a flurry of activity on the second ship, with Black Knights running here and there, and now a loud alarm began to ring.

“One more time, then we need to get going,” Kabi said.

This time the explosion succeeded in creating a large hole in the side of the
Orion
, one that was easily reachable from the deck of the smaller
Argoni
. Running out onto the main deck, Kabi quickly bent to one knee and placed his hands over the side of the vessel. Within seconds, a crystallised bridge had formed between the two ships. Beckoning the others and still holding his hands raised, he crossed from the
Argoni
to the
Orion
, unnoticed by the Black Knights, who were all still trying to figure out what was going on.

Benho crossed, his heart thudding with excitement, adrenaline pouring through his veins. Lucia unholstered her dagger and motioned for Maicee to cross next. With his hand on his bolt blaster, he did as he was bid, and the beautiful captain followed him.

They emerged in a small cabin, the occupants of which were lying dead on the floor, killed by the blast that had created the unnatural entryway into the ship.

“You have an hour before the entire vessel blows,” Kabi warned them, looking at each in turn. “You know what you have to do.”

Lucia grinned at him. “See you in an hour with the princess,” she said.

“Look after Benho for me,” Kabi told her. “Please.”

“You can depend on me,” she said. And without a further word, she grabbed Benho by the sleeve and pulled him out of the cabin, turning right onto the small corridor that ran below the main deck.

“Follow me closely and don't try to be a hero,” cautioned Kabi as he too pulled Maicee by the sleeve and went out into the corridor, this time turning left.

They ran through smoke-clouded hallways, meeting no one and hearing nothing but the commotion from above decks. They made it down two levels before encountering anything. Once more dropping down a level, they heard the sound of a voice barking orders. Kabi smiled to himself.

“Wait here,” he told Maicee.

Maicee was only too glad to wait. Running through all that smoke had left him with a raw throat and gasping for air. He put a hand to the wall and struggled to regain his breath. Meanwhile, Kabi peeked around a corner and down a long corridor. Seeing three Black Knights, two obviously guarding either side of a door and one yelling at the two guards, he grinned. Bingo. He'd beaten Lucia to it.

Looking further down the corridor, he saw another four Black Knights approaching. A random patrol or maybe a changing of the guard. It didn't matter. Now this, this was a challenge. Thinking quickly, he smiled to himself. Yes, he could get them all, though he'd need both hands to do it.
And even better,
he thought,
I can get all of them without any of them making a sound.
A very satisfying challenge.

He closed his eyes for a moment until he found the place of focus in his mind. Once the power was thrumming through him, he opened them again and reached for his dagger. Moving out into the corridor, he lifted his knife by the hilt and threw it, letting it spin lazily through the air until it landed with a thunk in the nape of the soldier who was so rudely barking orders.

All eyes turned to see where the dagger had come from, but Kabi was ready. His hands lifted, his fingers directed just so, he released a bolt of the power. Six small, sharp shards of crystal shot out of his fingers, travelling faster than the eye could see and impaling themselves neatly in between the eyes of each of the remaining six Black Knights.

Not bad,
he thought.
Not bad at all.

Hearing the thud of falling bodies, Maicee rushed around the corner, almost bumping into Kabi as he did so. But all he found was his uncle, surrounded by fallen soldiers and crystal spikes. His eyes opened in wonder, but he had no time to speak.

“Let's go before reinforcements arrive,” Kabi said.

He made for the door and, as he'd suspected, it was locked. He sighed theatrically and placed his palms just in front of the wooden surface, finding the place of focus easily and letting the power run through him until the once-solid door was a sliding pile of sand at his feet. That was when the screaming started.