Starhold (29 page)

He opened the comm to the rest of the fleet. “This is Captain Pettigrew.
Goshawk, Rasiel, and Brigand
—you are to move immediately to pick up the enemy life pods.
Goshawk and Brigand
, concentrate on recovering those pods closest to Earth’s atmosphere. Pettigrew out.”

“You know, it’s funny,” said Adams, standing beside him.

He cocked an eyebrow her way. “Funny?”

“Not funny ha, ha,” she said hastily. “It’s just that, a few minutes ago, we were trying our hardest to kill those people and now we’re trying to save their lives.”

He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”

Adams paused to absorb the words. “From one of your old books, sir?”

“Yeah, from an old book,” Pettigrew said wearily. “Those people aren’t the enemy anymore. Now, they’re just helpless victims, people hoping to stay alive and see tomorrow. Burning up in Earth’s atmosphere—nobody deserves to die like that.”

“A lot of people died here today, on both sides, and they didn’t deserve it. What a way for humanity to return to Earth.”

“I know. It’s like we never left.”

The two of them watched the viewscreen, which showed the Union destroyer and her frigate companions moving off to carry out their assigned task.

“Once we retrieve them, what are we going to do with them?” Adams asked.

“I don’t know,” confessed Pettigrew.

30: Challenge

Government Compound

Bakkoa, Earth

In the back of the militia vehicle returning to Bakkoa, they actually fell asleep. The pair had been captured so many times by so many people over the past few days that fatigue overcame fear. Just to look at them, they could have been back on Sarissa, riding home in a friend’s car after a party—or a date. Sanchez rested her head on Carr’s shoulder with her arm wrapped around his. It might even have been romantic, had it not been for the handcuffs.

Denlora and her friends had been loaded into another vehicle. If Korab got word of what transpired, and Carr had no doubt that he would, perhaps the Underground leader could mount a rescue operation. Maybe they had put those kids’ lives at risk for nothing. The Sarissan fleet looked in rough shape, and the Rhuzari forces could be too much for them to handle even without the titan. The whole thing could have been a futile gesture. Hell, after Denlora’s squad dropped them off, he and Sanchez should have just climbed into
Kite
and flown away—to anywhere.

The time display in the foyer of Governor Sheel’s office said it was 04:04. Despite the earliness of the hour, the Government Compound was teeming with activity. Taken inside Sheel’s huge office, both were pushed into chairs and told not to get up. Three greenshirt guards remained with them, each man looking anxious to use his gun.

“We must have stirred them up,” quipped Carr.

“Must have,” Sanchez replied. “Wonder if they’re serving breakfast—I’m starving.”

“Shut up!” yelled the guard in charge. “You two keep quiet and wait for the Lord Governor.”

They didn’t have to wait long. Sheel entered wearing one of his tunic suits. To look at him, one would think it was four o’clock in the afternoon instead of the morning. He was followed closely by Naar, who had obviously been on a sleepover, as she was donning a blue-flowered yukata-like robe and bedroom slippers.

“I should have known,” said Sheel as he sat down behind his desk. “As soon as the first reports came in, I should have known you two were the source of this mischief.” A staff member entered the office with glasses of some sort of juice for the governor and his paramour. As the staffer left, Carr noticed that another man had slid into the room. Standing quietly in the back was the guy with the high forehead, the one Sheel referred to as Deputy Governor Goran.

Sipping his juice, the Lord Governor looked at the Sarissans. “According to reports coming in from the captain of the
Imperial Wrath,
you two have nearly destroyed the flagship of my fleet,” he stated matter-of-factly, then moaned, “I really wanted that titan.”

“Maybe they can repair it,” suggested Naar.

“Don’t be obtuse!” Sheel thundered. “You know, this is entirely your fault. It was your bright idea to let these two escape, and what—”

Sheel was cut off by a disturbance in the foyer. Just as Goran moved to check on the trouble, the door burst open as armed men in black uniforms flooded in. Sheel’s protest of “What is the meaning of this?” went unnoticed as his own guards were quickly disarmed and removed, replaced by the grim looking soldiers in black. It all happened so quickly that Sheel barely had time to stand up, but as soon as he saw Fleetmaster Haldryn and High Captain Balasi enter the office, he fell back into his chair.

“Well, well,” bellowed the fleetmaster, “look Balasi, everyone’s already here. It’s so convenient.” Haldryn and Balasi’s uniforms looked dirty and disheveled, as were the uniforms of many of their soldiers. Carr silently congratulated himself.
We must have caused a real mess up there…

Sheel rallied and stood back up, discreetly cracking open one of his desk drawers as he did. “I’ll ask again, Fleetmaster, what is the meaning of this? Shouldn’t you be trying to save what’s left of my flagship?”

Haldryn smiled and gave a short chuckle. If Sheel didn’t realize he was in trouble, Carr did. Haldryn had reached his breaking point and then some. “You have no further power here,
Sheel
,” Haldryn spat out, with special emphasis on not using the older man’s title. “I am hereby removing you as Lord Governor and appointing myself to that position.”

“On what grounds?” snapped Sheel, fire in his normally composed eyes.

“Conspiracy, Sheel. Conspiracy to destroy the property of the Rhuzari Empire, which by definition is property of the Emperor himself. And that crime is considered a personal assault on the Emperor, punishable by death.”

“Have you lost your mind?” the Lord Governor blurted out. “High Captain Balasi, you are hereby promoted to fleetmaster, and your first duty is to place this man under arrest.”

Balasi held fast, loyal to Haldryn. Sheel moved on to the guards, calling on them to arrest both the fleetmaster and the high captain, but they remained motionless.

The Lord Governor then tried a different tack. “There was no conspiracy in the destruction of the
Imperial Wrath,”
he said calmly, pointing toward Carr and Sanchez. “Right there are your culprits.”

Haldryn acknowledged the Sarissans and walked over to them. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to you two shortly,” he said bitterly, redirecting his attention back to Sheel. “Where were we? Oh, yes, conspiracy to destroy Imperial property.” Haldryn walked to the center of the large office. “I know their crimes, Sheel, but I was speaking of yours.”

Carr noticed that Naar was fidgeting—she had already figured it out. The woman was eyeing the doorway to the garden off to her left as an escape route. Sheel, however, had been completely thrown off his game by this turn of events.

The Lord Governor leaned over, placing his hands on the desktop. “Fleetmaster, I don’t know what you—”

“The Threshold,” said Haldryn.

Naar turned a peculiar shade of pale, while Sheel scrunched up his face, as if he had never heard of the thing before. “The Threshold?” Sheel repeated.

“Bring in our star witness,” Haldryn bellowed. Through the foyer doorway came two soldiers dragging a man. They threw him down near where Carr was seated. It was young Tharp, or what was left of him. The boy had been brutally beaten. Carr also noticed burns on his body, as well as numerous cuts that had probably been made by surgical instruments.

“Behold, Sheel,” roared Haldryn pointing at Tharp, “your weakest link.”

Naar spoke in a peculiar whimper. “Is he…”

“Dead?” Haldryn finished for her. “I’m not sure and the truth is I don’t care. But before he reached this pitiful state, he was very… cooperative.” Haldryn moved to stand in front of Naar, whose composure was collapsing.

“I would find your concern for the boy’s condition touching if I thought it was genuine. However, the only thing you’re worried about right now is whether that,” he pointed to what was left of Tharp, “is going to happen to you.”

Naar was trembling. “I didn’t do anything,” she said meekly.

Sheel tried to intervene. “Naar, stop talking.”

Haldryn cupped Naar’s right cheek in his hand. “You know that morning I came to your apartment, I really just wanted to talk about my family and how I would never see them again. I thought a woman would understand my loss. But then you—”

“I didn’t do anything,” Naar repeated in an even weaker voice. A single tear slid down her cheek, which Haldryn’s thumb pushed aside.

“Naar, be quiet!” barked Sheel.

“I just wanted to talk, about my wife and children. But instead, you….”

Naar’s eyes were fixed on the body of Tharp. “I… I…”

“The boy said you planted a bomb on the Threshold,” Haldryn continued, stroking her cheek. “The boy said it was you, that you were the one that separated me from my family—forever.”

“Sheel made me do it. He made me,” she sobbed, her eyes transfixed on the dead Tharp. “You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”

“She’s lying!” Sheel yelled.

Haldryn ignored the Lord Governor. “My wife, my precious Jenrina. Our son, Ludan, who will grow to be a fine officer in the service of our Emperor, a handsome sight in his uniform. And Sava, my daughter, so much like her beautiful mother.”

Naar was quaking now, as tears rolled down her melting face. Haldryn had stopped stroking her cheek, roughly taking her chin into his hand, pulling her close and making her look him in the eye.

“And I shall never see them again!” he screamed, spittle hitting her face. “Ever!”

“Please,” she cried. “I’ll do anything. It was all Sheel’s idea. I’ll do anything you want—anything. You can have me—take me any way you want. Just please don’t do that to me. You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”

“Shh, shh. Be calm. No, I would never do that to you.”

Naar tried to bring herself under control, looking into Haldryn’s eyes and forming a tentative smile. Haldryn placed his left arm around her, pulling her close to him, hugging her.

Naar’s chin rested on Haldryn’s right shoulder as he embraced her. Suddenly, her small smile became a grimace. She tried to push away from the fleetmaster, but he pulled her into him. Naar made a small screech, and looked like she was trying to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth—only some blood.

Haldryn had knifed her, his right hand thrusting upward under her chest using the ceremonial dagger he always wore on his belt. The serrated blade cut deep into her body, penetrating her heart. Both Carr and Sanchez instinctively started to stand up, but both were slammed back into their chairs by the Black Caps.

Naar fell to the floor. She thrashed around for a few seconds making gurgling sounds and futilely clutched at her chest, blood washing through her fingers. A red stain grew across her chest, seeping through the blue flowers printed on her robe. As she fell still, her lifeless eyes stared up in the direction of Sheel.

It seemed like Haldryn understood that he had taken something from Sheel. It was nothing compared to what he had lost, but the officer looked satisfied nonetheless. Sheel started to say something, but could not. The Lord Governor quickly reached into the desk drawer he had opened earlier and produced a small plasma pistol, but before he could raise it, one of the black uniformed soldiers shot him in the stomach. The gun dropped back into the drawer and the bearded man doubled over, falling back into his chair. Without looking up, his body slumped forward and his head crashed to a landing on the desktop.

Haldryn dropped the knife next to Naar’s body. As he removed the blood stained outer shirt of his uniform, he spied Goran standing at the back of the office. “Ah, Deputy Governor Goran,” he said casually, as if the two had run into each other on the street.

“Captain Balasi’s investigation indicates that you had no part in or knowledge of the Threshold’s destruction,” declared Haldryn, dropping his bloody shirt across Naar’s face. “You will serve me here as you served Lord Governor Cheprin.” Goran didn’t say a word—in fact, he didn’t react at all.

Haldryn’s going down his list,
thought Carr. Naar: guilty and executed. Sheel: guilty and executed. Goran: not guilty and returned to his proper place. He and Sanchez would be coming up for judgment soon and the Sarissan’s mind raced. The fleetmaster was in control, and unless Carr did something to change the dynamics of this situation, he and Sanchez would be slaughtered within the next few minutes.

The imposing Haldryn stood before them, looking even more daunting after removing his uniform tunic. His undershirt showed off a muscular body. Carr also understood that few people could kill quickly and efficiently with a knife. His clean dispatch of Naar was a sign of a well-trained warrior. Haldryn might be thickheaded, but he was also deadly.

The fleetmaster turned to his foreign prisoners. “And now for you two. Do you remember what you told me a few hours ago, Carr? You said that your lives would be forfeit if you double-crossed me. And now, I’m ready to collect on that debt.”

“I have to give you credit, Haldryn,” Carr said. “You do a good job of stabbing hysterical women and letting your guys blow away old men for you. Why don’t you show me how well you do against someone who can fight back?”

Haldryn snorted at him. “I’m going to oblige you on that. I’m going to kill you right here, right now, with my bare hands.” The fleetmaster waited for Carr to rise, but the Sarissan just sat there.

“Oh, were you speaking to me?” Carr said finally. “I figured you were talking to Sanchez. I wouldn’t advise messing with her though—she’d whip your ass.” Sanchez wanted to laugh, but couldn’t manage it.

“Always trying to provoke,” mused Haldryn. “I’ll take care of Sanchez in due course, believe me.” The fleetmaster’s eyes lingered over her. “I’ll take her to my new flagship. She’ll pleasure me for a week or two, and when I’m done with her, we’ll shove her out an air—”

Carr leapt to his feet and charged. Ramming his shoulder into the fleetmaster’s midsection, he drove the man back into the front of Sheel’s desk, where the Rhuzari’s body made a satisfying “thwack.” Some of the soldiers started to raise their weapons, but they were stayed by Captain Balasi’s command not to interfere.

Carr lost his footing when Haldryn abruptly hit the desk, which let his opponent have time to recover. Haldryn reached for something on the desk, it looked like a datapad, and tried to hit Carr over the head with it, but Carr blocked him. He didn’t block the left fist to his side however and tumbled back onto the floor landing near Tharp’s body.

The distance between them allowed both men to stand up and reset themselves. After dancing around for a few seconds, Haldryn, who still held the datapad in his hand, tossed it. Carr ducked, but in doing so, he gave Haldryn a chance to make a run at him. Carr caught him and the two men danced for leverage, each trying to throw the other down. Finally, Carr tried to pull Haldryn to the floor, but as he was falling, Haldryn managed to tumble over Carr and landed on his knees near the door to the garden.

Carr was up quickly and attacked again, pushing his opponent through the door and into the courtyard area. The Rhuzari Black Caps who were outside danced out of the way as the combatants traded blows with their fists. Carr was definitely getting the worst of the exchange. The operative was in good shape, but Haldryn was bigger, stronger, and in incredible shape.