Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (10 page)

Before anyone could argue the point I cast my spell, grabbed Rigal, and started to walk slowly and carefully down the corridor towards the encamped position. I could feel the sweat beading on my brow, and my legs got dangerously weak as I walked, but there was no turning back now. My stomach was doing cartwheels, and I strained to maintain my focus as we continued to close in on the deathtrap.

Rigal stood at the ready with his arms up to cast the moment something went wrong, but nothing did. We slowly closed the distance to the guns undetected and then hit a problem. I could not scramble over the wall without breaking my spell.

“
Now what?”
I sent over our telepathic network.

“
Master, can you hold that position, and we will join you? We can all storm the wall at once, then,”
sent Ferran.

“
I think so,
” I sent. “
Come quickly
.”

“
Master, we will come as fast as we can
,” sent Ferran.

They came running full speed down the hall, hit the wall just in front of my illusion, and sprung over, swinging their staves into position. Once they were all clear I let my spell end, and as I leapt over to join them I saw them firing their staves at the pirates, who attempted to run for cover but were quickly cut down.

“Where are the wounded?” I asked.

“Master, we left them around the corner with the last Knight guarding them. Once we are secure here we should call them to us,” said Ferran.

Once we had everyone safely in engineering and the station’s defenses turned off, I called the Nevermore II and requested back-up.

“Hello, Master Dougherty,” I said as I entered Doug’s office.

“Hello, Admiral MacGregor,” he responded.

Shadow’s father stood to greet me and held out his hand. He was from an older, more formal generation of soldiers. The modern navy seemed more casual.

When my sister told me that her father-in-law was taking the position, I was concerned about us bringing someone out of retirement for such a critical position. Upon meeting him, I quickly realized why he had been chosen. His wisdom and understanding of naval operations was second to none.

“It’s good to see you! Mom wonders when you and your wife will make it to dinner,” I said with a grin as I grasped his forearm in the traditional warrior’s greeting.

He laughed heartily and said, “Seriously, Bill? We were there last week!”

“Doug … ” I started, pausing
for a chuckle, and then said, “Face it, you’re family now.”

“Well, your mother should let us treat them for a change,” he said.

My mom hated the idea of leaving the planet, having spent her entire life there. I knew that the Doughertys came from a much richer life, and while they enjoyed visiting my more primitive world, they wanted to show us what they considered to be a proper dinner.

“But I suspect you did not stop by just to deliver your mother’s invitation,” he said.

“I’m afraid not. It seems that we have a couple of situations on our hands,” I said, taking
a seat in front of his desk.

“Situations that need my help?” he asked.

“There is a situation on one of our planets where the peacekeeping security forces are having a hard time keeping the locals under control. I am going to deploy some navy regulars there to assist, but I was thinking that we might want to send a squad of your Battle Wizards along for some field training.”

“What is the problem there?” he asked.

“Well, this colony was one of the ones that we abandoned when we were forced to fall back under the pirate attacks, and they haven’t really forgiven us for that. They stood on their own against the pirates and don’t feel that they need us,” I said.

“I thought we pulled out all the civilians in that withdrawal,” he said.

“Yeah, that was the plan, but they refused to evacuate. It was such a rush job that we couldn’t take the time to argue or force them. Apparently, after we pulled out the pirates made one run at the system, failed to take it, and never came back.”

He leaned back in his chair and thought about that for a bit. “So they must see us almost as a conquering force now?”

“That is my best guess. They originally welcomed us back in, but as we started to enforce law and take over their military operations they started to rebel.”

“Rebel? That is a strong term to use for some disturbance of the peace.”

“Maybe too strong a term, so far, but the resistance has slowly been escalating. They are now trying to enforce their own laws with their own police, to the extent that their police will interfere with our peace officers whenever they can.”

“So your response is to escalate the situation?”

“Escalate? No, I am just sending reinforcements,” I said.

“Yes, and how do you think they will respond? Will they see the increase in military strength as a good thing?” he asked.

I stopped and thought about it. After a moment I saw where he was going. “I guess not. I guess they would try to match our increase in force?”

“Yes. Bill, from their perspective we left them to die, and they did fine without us. Now we are coming in and throwing our weight around. I suggest that we back down our stance: call them to a meeting and offer to make their police official peacekeepers, move their judges into office, and the like. Where we can bend our laws to match theirs, we should do so. We need to restore order, but use local people to do it instead of the military.”

“Treat them like a merged nation instead of a rogue colony?” I asked.

“In a sense, yes. The goal is to get them on our side. Let them run their planet with their people. Have them choose their representatives through local elections. Treat them with honor and respect, and they will be loyal forever. Beat them down with force, and they will be looking for their first chance to turn away.”

“Doug, that is a great suggestion. I will definitely try that,” I said.

“Now, you said there were two situations?” he asked.
      

“Yeah, but the second one is more clear-cut. There is a group of unknown soldiers who have taken a star base hostage. Currently it seems that everyone is fine, and they haven’t made any demands. Obviously we cannot let this go on, so I would like to take a team of our elite infantry supplemented by some of your Battle Wizards to retake the station.”

“That would be a great exercise for the Battle Wizards, as it would force them to work with the mundane forces.”

“Still having trouble with the prejudice?” I asked.

“Not personally, but I seem to be the one mundane they respect. Nothing major ever happens; it is just that the mundanes and magi each keep to themselves. It’s more like boys and girls separating in the playground as small children. How large a strike force were you contemplating?”

“There appear to be twenty to thirty enemy targets on the station, which is large, with a few hundred civilians. So I think we could easily move the same number of troops onto the station unnoticed over a period of a few days.”

“Are you thinking you need ten or twelve Battle Wizards?” he asked.

“Yeah, that should work,” I said.

“I know some who would be ready for a mission like this. Just let me check with them first, and I will get back to you. I assume we need to move quickly?”

“As quickly as possible without jeopardizing the mission,” I said.

“Of course. Just give me a few hours, and I will have a team for you,” he said.

“Spectra and Rocky, meet me in my command room,” I said over the comm.

“On our way,” came their reply.

Once we were all in the room I asked, “So, what next?”

“Master, we completed our mission. We should return to the Nevermore II,” said Rocky.

“I realize that, but I would really like to find out first who is behind all this. Have we any clues other than the signal and the make of the robots?” I asked.

“No, Master. None of the debris has yielded anything of interest,” said Rocky.

I looked at Spectra, and she said, “Rocky is right. We should report what happened with the hauler, but maybe you can ask Shadow for more time.”

I paced for a few moments. We had already sent Shadow an update when we destroyed the station. At that time he agreed with the wisdom of hanging around to see if anyone came. If I had a decent plan, I am sure he would let me follow through with it. “Okay, pretend we did have more time. What would our next step be?”

“To contact the Thelthronians and see if they can tell us anything,” said Rocky.

“That would be a waste of time. They are well-known for protecting the secrecy of their clients,” said Spectra.

“Then we have nothing to go on?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not, Master,” said Rocky.

“Then I guess it doesn’t make sense to stay here. Rocky, contact the Nevermore and arrange a rendezvous point with them,” I said.

“Yes, Master,” said Rocky as he left.

Spectra walked over and put her arm around me. “Cheer up. We accomplished all of our objectives.”

“Yeah, but I really wanted to … ” I began but was interrupted by the blaring of the ship’s tactical alarms.

“Sounds like you might get your chance! Let’s go!” said Spectra as we quickly left my office and entered the bridge.

“Status report?” I asked.

“An unknown vessel just de-cloaked and is collecting the debris,” said Rocky.

“Opinions?” I asked.

“Probably just a scavenger. The explosion of the hauler and the station will draw them from great distances,” said Spectra as she took over the science station.

“Is it alone?” I asked.

“Unlikely. It is just a hauler, fairly defenseless. Most likely it has an escort that has remained cloaked,” said Spectra.

“Then keep us cloaked, but bring us close to their hull. I want to check them out,” I said.

“Dusty, we should get out of here,” said Spectra.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because others will be here soon, and then there will be a fight for this debris,” she said.

I knew Spectra was probably right, but I really wanted to assume that this hauler was connected in some way and continue the investigation. Someone built that station and expended a considerable amount of resources on doing it; it should be possible to find them.

“Spectra is right, Master. We should leave while we still can,” said Rocky.

“Then take us out of here, slowly and quietly. Once we are clear, jump,” I said. I would have to contact Master Shadow, but we could not do that while cloaked.

“Dusty, something is not right,” said Spectra.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, the hauler is putting out a sensor pulse,” she said.

“So? Are they watching for others who might make a claim?” I asked.

“No, this pulse is at the wrong wavelength for that. The only reason for this kind of pulse is that they know there is a cloaked ship here and they are trying to force it out.”

“Can it find us?” I asked.

“No, we should be fine,” she said.

“Then, Rocky, get us out of here carefully,” I said.

Rocky said, “Yes, Master.”

“Dusty …” Spectra began but was cut off by more tactical alarms. I looked up at the display as Rocky said, “Five sparrow class fighters de-cloaked and are sweeping the area.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Not sure, Master, but our best plan is still to slip away,” said Rocky.

“We might be in the middle of some kind of feud,” suggested Spectra.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They might be watching for an ambush from a competing scavenger group or some such thing,” she said.

“Rocky, how long until we are far enough away to safely jump?” I asked.

“If these sparrows keep up their current sweep pattern, at least several hours,” he said.

“Is there any chance they will find us?” I asked.

“No, they lack the technology to sniff us out. We just need to keep our cool and coast to the jump point,” said Spectra, but she did not sound sure.

I looked over the tactical displays and wondered what Shadow would do. As I did, I could hear Master Mathorn in my head saying, “
You are not Shadow, you are Dusty
.” Still, Shadow’s experience would be handy here, but
he had sent me out to learn to lead on my own.

“Opinions?” I asked.

“Master, let’s just coast out of here and move on as planned,” said Rocky.

“I am not sure,” said Spectra.

“Something is bothering you. Speak up,” I said.

“It’s just that nothing they are doing is consistent with normal scavenger behavior,” she said. “Well, other than actually picking up the debris, which they are doing.”

“Are you thinking they are connected to the station?” I asked.

“The odds are against it, but it still seems strange to me. Maybe we should slip on board that hauler briefly for a peek.”

“Rocky, what do you think?” I asked.

“Master, I think it would be fruitless, but there is really no danger of them finding us, so I don’t see any real harm in it.”

“Spectra, are we out of your range to gate us back yet?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Rocky, work with her to get in her range and stay within that distance. We can fly over in Night Wraith Form but might need to gate back if things go poorly.”

“Yes, Master.”

Spectra and I slipped on board the hauler and found more of what we had seen on the station. That is, we discovered nothing but automated systems and robots.

“
I assume this is not normal?
”
I asked.

“
No, this is just like the station. Nothing like I expected,
” she sent.

“
Spread out like we did on the station, and let’s see what we can find,
” I sent.

We zigzagged back and forth through the hauler looking for anything to indicate who owned it and why it was out here, but as with the station it was completely automated.

“
Is it really all that implausible for a scavenger to use an automated hauler?
” I asked.