The Ascendant Stars (45 page)

He heard heavy footsteps in the corridor outside, which he knew to be the sound of the night-duty officer leaving to take over the sentry watch. In a few minutes the relieved officer would come up and enter the room across the corridor, slamming the door shut. Kuros also knew that Gratach would soon lie down on one of the couches while performing whatever optimisation tasks it found necessary, and it duly did. The room was small but sparsely furnished, one of two officers’ quarters on the main building’s third floor.

Neither the AI nor Kuros needed sleep, and at such times Kuros kept himself mentally active by recalling small details from happier times. He was just trying to picture the exact shade of blue of the ceremonial cloak he’d worn during his tenure as Second Suppressor all those years ago when a hand rose up from the right and stabbed him in the neck with something unseen.

Gratach had started to react as soon as it appeared in his peripheral vision but not fast enough to prevent the stab, a second after which the AI seemed to freeze, slumping back onto the couch. The muscles were locked in paralysis, leaving Gratach
unable to even make a sound. But who would want to do this to the ambassador? Kuros wondered. Then the assailant came into view and everything changed – it was Vashutkin, the Human politician, altered by the Blue Chain nanodust to be his loyal servant.

Smiling, Vashutkin nodded, then showed Kuros a transdermal injector before leaning in to apply it to the left side of the neck, close to where the AI implant was.

‘I have retasked a portion of my cognitive particles to attack the implant’s interface tendrils,’ he whispered. ‘Once it’s been isolated from your cortex you should regain control … ’

It was already happening. Tingles of sensation were sparkling on the periphery of his awareness. Kuros felt almost delirious with anticipation as he began to feel sensation coming from his fingertips, impressions like the weight of his hand, his arm, his head. Then it all came at him in a rush, as if he’d fallen into his body … and it was all too much, a cascade of sensations coming from every bit of skin, the mingled torrent of smells and tastes was all just overwhelming.

But then the intensity of it waned, subsiding from a roar to a manageable background murmur. He sagged back on the couch for a second then swung his legs round to stand, feet planted apart, revelling in his stature relative to the Human. He clenched and unclenched his fists, touched his face, breathed in and out deeply.

‘The Clarified Teshak,’ he said, pleased to hear his own words in his own voice. ‘We must deal with him.’

‘Something is happening,’ said Vashutkin as he moved over to the window. ‘The Clarified One is about to receive a visitor.’

Kuros went to join his diminutive rescuer. Outside, a steady rain was falling and wet surfaces gleamed. Teshak was standing off to one side of the floodlit base courtyard while a flat-canopied aircar swept in from the direction of the downed ship, slowing to land, its positional lights winking. Kuros was suddenly full of suspicion – what had really passed between Gratach and Teshak earlier? He had thought the minuscule head movements to
indicate a later meeting, but what if it was something else entirely?

‘We must go down there,’ he said. ‘I think that Teshak may be about to kill a potential ally.’

Gratach had thoughtfully strapped on a fully charged Brolturan-issue beam pistol. As they descended the stairway Kuros explained his plan and made sure that Vashutkin understood his part. When they reached the main exit the Human was already in front with hands clasped behind his head while Kuros pointed the weapon at his back.

The Ezgara-Human Becker and a four-strong armed escort had disembarked from the aircar and were walking towards the Clarified Teshak, who stood flanked by a pair of Brolturan troopers. There were other troopers posted along the courtyard wall facing in, Kuros noticed, with weapons at the ready. This would have to be crushed in the cradle, he realised, so, pushing Vashutkin on ahead of him, he strode out of the building and bellowed:

‘Wait!’

All eyes snapped round at him, apart from Teshak, who gave him a sidelong, smiling glance.

‘Ah, so the ambassador has decided to grace us with his presence,’ the Clarified said.

‘I have brought you a gift,’ Kuros said, trying to emulate Gratach’s harsher tone.

The Clarified Teshak turned, frowning as he considered the Human walking at gunpoint towards him.

‘I noticed that a certain level of communication had ceased,’ Teshak said.

Becker and his men had halted, distrust showing in their posture as they watched this exchange. Kuros knew that Teshak could order them burned down at any moment. The time to strike was now.

‘This Human infiltrated the main building,’ he said. ‘Assaulted me, damaged my equipment before I subdued him. His punishment will be … elaborate!’

That last word was the signal for Vashutkin to attack. He had covered two-thirds of the distance to the tall, black-garbed Sendrukan when he broke into a mad dash. Teshak was in mid-grab for his own handweapon when Vashutkin feinted right but lunged down the centre with an elbow aimed at the Sendrukan’s midriff. Teshak doubled over but he was already stepping back. As the pair of them rolled backwards, the Clarified grabbed handfuls of Vashutkin’s heavy coat and used the momentum to throw the Human over his head. Teshak rolled and bounced back to his feet.

‘This is a conspiracy – kill the … ’

He stopped, eyes bulging, tongue straining from an open mouth as both hands leaped to his throat. Kuros had shot him twice in the neck.

The blood leaking between the Clarified’s fingers was black in the flood’s harsh light. Teshak sank to his knees. His eyes burned with hate as Kuros walked up to him, and his bloody lips framed the words ‘Not the end’ repeatedly until Kuros shot him through the head, and kept shooting when the body fell over. Only when the cranium was a shapeless mess of churned bone and brain matter did he turn away and address the watching Brolturans.

‘The Clarified Teshak was acting in disobedience of orders that came directly from the Hegemon’s most trusted ministers. Pact arrangements and chain-of-command protocols remain in effect so senior officers will now report to me. All other ranks may now return to your stations and your duties.’

As the Brolturan troops hurried about their business, Kuros glanced over at Vashutkin, who was back on his feet, brushing off wet grit and mud. Then he strode over to the Ezgara Marshal Becker and his men – the former bowed with his head, the latter from the waist.

‘Marshal, my apologies that you were forced to endure such an unpleasant start to your task here on Darien. However, the Clarified Teshak intended to have you murdered prior to taking control of your ship, which left me with few options.’

Looking up, Becker gave a wintry smile.

‘Exalted Ambassador, I confess that I had anticipated something untoward – my body armour is fitted with partial shielding.’

Kuros smiled. ‘Such precautions are the burden of leadership, Marshal. Let us continue our discussion in a less exposed location, over in the main building.’

Some minutes later they were settling into the wide chairs of the Brolturan officers’ mess, hastily cleared of cast-off uniforms and equipment. Apart from Becker the Humans remained standing while Kuros leaned back in an articulated altercouch.

‘Marshal Becker, firstly you should realise that the Clarified Teshak has been holding me under a psychonarcotic captivity for several days. I only broke free with the help of my associate, who administered an antidote into my bloodstream.’ Kuros indicated Vashutkin who sat behind him, near the wall. ‘Like you he is Human. I will explain a little more about him later, but for now we must address crucial matters.’

He straightened. ‘I do not know what your orders are, Marshal, but you probably realise that we are no longer in control of the landmark known as Giant’s Shoulder and the secret facility concealed within it. In fact, the withdrawal from Giant’s Shoulder was directed by Teshak soon after he placed me under his vile influence. Now, however, Teshak is no more and I am myself again, and I want to use the resources of this base to mount an assault on Giant’s Shoulder and retake it in the Hegemon’s name. Hopefully, my plans do not run counter to your orders.’

Becker, looking almost childlike as he sat in the Sendrukan-sized chair, smiled thoughtfully.

‘As fortune would have it, Ambassador, our goals coincide perfectly. The Second Tri-Advocate was of the opinion that your silence since the destruction of the
Purifier
signified your death or imprisonment, thus I was assigned the mission to regain control over the Forerunner facility. Your re-emergence, however, is most gratifying and I would be willing to defer to you on matters of the strategic overview.’

‘An interesting proposal,’ Kuros said guardedly. ‘How do you envisage such an arrangement working in practice?’

‘I would see my role as tactical commander under your supervision,’ Becker said smoothly. ‘We already possess significant intelligence gathered over the last few days, which reveals that the Human insurgents have been reinforced by renegade Ezgara, traitors from my world armed with powerful weaponry.’

‘I had heard something of this very recently,’ Kuros said.

‘But there is more, Ambassador. These insurgents are planning to mount their own raid on Giant’s Shoulder in just a few hours – and they have made a pact with a sizeable faction of the Spiral zealots.’

Kuros stiffened at this news, glanced sideways and made a beckoning gesture. In a moment, Vashutkin was at his elbow.

‘Did you know about this?’ he said to the Human.

‘There were some offworlder Humans calling themselves Tygrans,’ Vashutkin said. ‘I know nothing of any Ezgara, and this pact with the zealots is also unknown to me. It could have happened after I left Tusk Mountain.’

Kuros looked at Becker. ‘These new collaborations could present a problem. They must be stopped, a pre-emptive strike against that mountain lair of theirs.’

‘I agree, Ambassador,’ Becker said with a sharp smile as he glanced at Vashutkin. ‘So who is your companion and how does he come to know about these … Tygrans?’

‘This is Alexandr Vashutkin, only surviving minister from the last legitimate Darien government and, by virtue of Blue Chain, my faithful ally. Until recently he was working alongside the insurgents of Tusk Mountain, one of his primary tasks being the elimination of Greg Cameron, which I trust has been carried out.’

Vashutkin frowned. ‘I cannot be certain of his death. I had him cornered on Giant’s Shoulder, I turned to observe approaching mechs and when I looked back he was gone. I thought he could have fallen over the edge, or that the Forerunner facility device had somehow transported him away or even killed him … ’

‘I know of this Cameron,’ Becker said. ‘And he is not dead. We
picked up comm traffic which proves that he is aboard one of the vessels preparing to defend Darien.’

Vashutkin bowed his head and stared at the floor. ‘I have failed you, master.’

‘A minor failure next to your successes,’ Kuros said. ‘My deliverance, for example. So, Marshal, what is your proposal for the order of battle?’

‘Together we can field an effective airborne task force comprising Brolturan troopers and my commandos. If we come in fast and strike hard we can crush any local opposition, regardless of their offworld friends. After that, Ambassador, we can move against Giant’s Shoulder, which seems to be overrun with rogue mechs led by some cyborg creature. This isn’t the by-product of an unsuccessful Hegemony experiment, by any chance?’

‘No, Marshal, I can assure you it is not.’

Becker nodded and said over his shoulder, ‘Nathaniel, the slate.’ One of his commandos, a man with a disfiguring burn mark down one side of his face, leaned in to hand him a large datapad. Becker thumbed it on, then paused to look again at Vashutkin.

‘Ambassador, I’ve just thought of a great service that your faithful ally could perform for us, especially since the battle above us has not yet commenced.’

As he outlined the idea, Kuros found himself amused and curious to see what the result would be.

‘I approve, Marshal. Proceed.’

Becker beckoned Vashutkin over.

‘I have configured the slate to record, and this is what I want you to say … ’

The transition to normal space was not pleasant. The Shyntanil assault craft’s hyperdrive was poorly shielded and its control systems, especially for the field alignment regulator, lacked a certain precision. After nearly five hours journeying up the tiers of hyperspace, nearly all the
Heracles
’ survivors had regained consciousness and everyone was expressing how hungry they were. But there were no rations to be found anywhere on board, apart from a curved tap that gave forth some suspiciously brackish water. So when the assault craft dropped out of hyperspace to appear in the Roug system, several stomachs rebelled even though there was little to bring up.

Robert had warned Kao Chih about this possibility in advance and some containers had been rustled up or improvised. So while the crew were coping with the aftermath as best they could, Robert beckoned Kao Chih up to the cockpit section. He sat in the other padded chair and looked out at the star-strewn blackness beyond the viewport. Then he faced the elderly-looking Construct sim.