THE PRIZE: BOOK TWO - RETRIBUTION, page 35
“You look pretty impressive yourself, Sergeant Brask.” He said, eyeing the seven-foot tall armored suited Estarian, now all shiny black from helm to foot. The gold stripe down his arms was a nice touch, as was the short blood red cape hanging down his back from one shoulder.
“The troops thought a red cape would stand out from the others so they’d know who the leader was.”
“Good point. Let go.” Before he could, Rem rushed forward and grabbed his left arm.
“Don’t forget this, sir.” He murmured softly and carefully tucked the yellow lace handkerchief into the cuff of his jacket, leaving four inches hanging. Penn smiled down at him and ruffled his hair in thanks.
“Thank you, Remy. You’ll have to remind me where to use it.”
“Yes, sir Penn.”
Penn marched out of the cabin with the two boys dressed in pink lacy outfits three paces behind him, and the black bulk of Brask thumping behind them. The few crewmembers they met immediately moved aside for the little cavalcade, looking scared. Scaring them was one thing, frightening a bunch of snotty nosed Var was another. Reaching the rear ramp, Penn paused a moment, seeing booted feet lining up at the bottom. Schooling his features into a cold mask, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, projecting a look of cold confidence and haughty disdain. Brask and others had told him he projected an aura, not that he could see or feel it himself or understand what it did to other people. He just hoped that whatever it was worked on these Var. Right now, he needed all the help he could get. Placing his hands behind his back, he paced slowly down the ramp and came to a halt at the bottom. Trust the Var to go overboard. They’d lined up an honor guard for him, something usually reserved for admirals or very senior officers.
“Welcome aboard.” A middle aged Var said, stepping forward and saluting. “I’m Captain… um… Admiral Danoff.” A look of surprise and contempt on his face. Maybe he hadn’t realized that Penn was human until this moment. Penn eyed the Var up and down and sniffed, his upper lip curling up slightly, making Danoff color. The Var hated someone outdoing them in the disdain department.
“Yes, I see.” Penn answered looking around at the assembled honor guard and not even bothering to return Danoff’s salute. “Let’s get on with it. I don’t have all day to stand around gossiping like a Surl wash woman.”
He marched forward, forcing Danoff to quickly step to one side and fall in step beside him. The clump of steel booted feet on the ramp made him look round, seeing five, black armored figures walk down the ramp behind two flowery dressed young boys. The look of fear on the honor guard’s face told Penn all he needed to know. Uncertainty was the look on the faces of the senior officers waiting at the end of the line. Penn didn’t even bother stopping to talk, or be introduced to them, but continued walking toward the huge cargo elevator instead of the lift tube. This way all of them, including his ‘guard’ could go up at the same time. That caught Danoff and the others off guard and they quickly changed directions only to be prevented from boarding by Sergeant Brask. With his rifle at high port, he waited until the massive blast doors started to close before stepping backward into the elevator. Penn touched his earpiece.
“That should piss them off nicely.”
“That was my thought, sir.” Brask chuckled.
The elevator stopped at officer country, the doors opening to reveal carpeted decks and richly paneled bulkheads instead of the gray-coated steel elsewhere. Here and there paintings of one sort or another were bolted to the walls along the passageway to the bridge all designed to intimidate the poor souls from below deck who’d had the misfortune of being brought, or ordered up here. The Var didn’t mix with the Surl crew if it could be avoided. Any interaction was done by comm systems, or junior officers were sent down to conduct any shipboard business needing the presence of an officer. To Penn’s mind, it was a shitty system, but one he was familiar with. Penn walked onto the bridge, and before anyone could say ‘officer of deck’, he took the Admiral’s seat. His black guard marching in behind him, took up positions beside the main hatchway while Brask took up a position behind his chair. The boys knelt down on either side, playing the part of submissive boy toys to perfection. That was the tabloid that confronted Admiral Danoff and his senior officers when they came rushing in.
“So glad you could join us at last, Admiral.” Penn took out the yellow handkerchief and waved it under his nose at a slight touch on his leg from Rem.
He crossed his legs and brushed imaginary dust away as he surveyed the bridge. The layout of the controls were standard for an Imperial ship, with engineering, environmental/life support and damage control on the left, tactical and weapons systems in the center of the horseshoe, and shield, sensors, communications controls on the right. The twin helm seat was centered below the Admiral and Captain’s seat. Unlike older designs, this ‘bridge’ was buried deep within the ship’s hull for protection. It should rightfully have been called the combat information center, or CIC, but, Var being what they are, they liked to give themselves airs and pretend this was the bridge of an old style man-of-war where they could stand proudly and face their enemy and trade shot for shot. Stupid really in a battle where nuclear weapons were used indiscriminately.
“Now that we are all here, I need to get this fleet moving…” Before he could continue, a group of Tellurians came rushing onto the bridge. Their leader halted and looked around, his face pulling into a deep frown. Penn felt his butt pucker. Here it comes, he thought, the big sell. The leader stalked across the deck and came to a halt in front of him one-step down from Penn’s seat. That fact didn’t sit well with him.
“And you are?” Penn asked, looking the Tellurian up and down, his lip curling up in disdain.
“I’m Commander Silkoff of Imperial Security, and the Security Chief, and I want to know who the hell you are, and why you are here?” His face reddening.
“Commander Silkoff, what is the meaning of this?”
“My apologizes Cap… Admiral, but this… human didn’t register on the ship’s bio scanner.”
“What, that’s impossible.”
“True, sir, unless he has no chip, which means he’s some sort of imposter, or worse.”
“Colonel… what is your real name, explain yourself!” The newly appointed Admiral demanded.
Damn it, Penn thought. He’d got them nicely off balance and this dickhead has to come along at this moment to screw things up. He heard Brask shift around behind him, probably more to reassure him that he was there to back him up, or to bring himself to the security chief’s attention. Either way, the Commander did take note of the massive presence behind Penn’s seat, and the others on each side of the hatchway, something he’d failed to note until then in his rush to confront Penn. The four security officers behind him also took note of the menacing black figures, wondering how long their light body armor would stand up to the combat blasters and armored hands of this human’s guards. All four kept their hands away from the stunners on their belts. After a suitable pause and stroking Remy’s head for a moment, he brought his attention back to Silkoff.
“I am usually not in the habit of explaining myself to mere Commanders… or Admirals for that matter.” He paused again. “However, as this situation is somewhat unusual, for once I will break my rules. Penn put his hand up and slowly bent it backward over his shoulder and waited. Brask placed the phony data chip in his hand, and he looked at it for a moment. Penn had to admire E’shee’s work. On one surface of the inch long crystal chip, he’d inscribed the imperial crest, while on the other he’d put the IMPSEC crest. Penn held it out to Silkoff. He immediately snatched it out of Penn’s hand, pushed it into his hand scanner, and pressed a button. The unit beeped at him, and gritting his teeth, he tapped in his clearance code. Again, the unit beeped at him and began flashing a red light with ‘insufficient clearance’ and ‘access prohibited’. He put in his security code again with the same results.
“It would appear you do not have sufficient clearance to read the chip, Commander.”
“T.. that’s impossible...”
“Unless you have an Alpha triple Delta clearance it is possible.”
“Alpha triple… I’ve never heard of such a clearance.”
“That’s above your pay grade, Commander. As you know, Alpha clearance is above Compartmental and Eyes Enly. The triple Delta means that very few people have access to Department X orders.”
“Department X? I’ve never heard of them.”
“And you still haven’t, Commander, nor have you seen me. The reason I have no bio-chip is that I am not here and never was.” The commander looked around as if to reassure himself that this was real.
He looked down at his hand scanner and tapped a few keys. It showed the basic details of a person who wasn’t here. His species was listed as human, his rank, blank, with no other information, except when he scrolled down to the bottom. He blanched slightly seeing the security code of Director Markoff, and the Emperor himself no less. That was unusual in the extreme and something he dared not ignore. Few orders from IMPSEC ever came with both signatures, as Director Markoff’s was usually sufficient.
“Anymore questions, Commander?” Silkoff drew himself up to attention. Like it or not, he dared not question this human’s orders. One word or signal from him and they’d all be dead.
“N…no sir. Your orders?”
“Go back to security and prepare the prisoners for interrogation. You know, the usual. Sleep deprivation, altering the temperature from high to low and all that. You know the drill I’m sure.” Penn waved his hand in a brushing motion as a way of dismissal. Gritting his teeth at the insult, Silkoff turned and pushed his way between the useless security detail. They quickly fell in step behind him and the fled the bridge with even more haste than they’d entered. Penn breathed a silent sigh of relief. Whatever magic E’shee had done on the chip, had worked. Now for the Admiral and the rest of the Fleet.
“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, Admiral. You will prepare the Fleet to move out immediately.”
“Yes, sir. Where to?”
“For the moment, move us out to the hyper limit and prepare to jump on my command.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll see you and your navigator in my quarters in one hour.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll have someone show you to the Admirals cabin.” A slight motion of the Admiral’s hand and a short, effete looking junior office came forward, almost bowing as he came up and stood by the Admiral. The sneering smile on his slightly effeminate face as he looked at the two boys almost had Penn leaping from his seat to rip the Tellurian’s throat out. Penn controlled himself with difficulty.
“If you’d follow sub-lieutenant Var Goloff, he’ll show you to your quarters.”
Even as they walked into the ex-Admirals stateroom, they were still struggling to move clothes and personal items out. Whether they were the ex-Admiral’s or the newly appointed one it was difficult to say. Penn suspected the latter. It said much to how effective his little charade on the bridge had been. Any question as to his authority or orders were now laid to rest. Now, all he had to worry about was getting assassinated by one of the disgruntled Var. He dismissed the effeminate little fop with a wave of his hand, breathing a little easier as soon as he was out of sight. The door opened and Brask ducked his head to walk inside.
“I’ve stationed one trooper outside your door and I’ll rotate them in four hour shifts. You want me to keep them in armor?” Penn knew how uncomfortable that could be after a while, but for their safety as well as his he thought it best to keep them that way.
“It might be best for a while. Who knows what these people will do now.”
“You have them all worried about what you’re going to do next.” He chuckled. “That was a great show you put on…” He stopped as Penn held his fingers to his lips. “Not to worry, sir. I scanned the place for bugs when I came in.”
“Oh, okay. Find any?”
“Yeah, three, but I zapped them. What now?”
“I’ll give the Admiral and the navigator their marching orders, and after a little rest and refreshment I’ll go down and interrogate the prisoners.” With his visor up, Penn saw the look on Brask’s face. “I need to keep up the charade of being this nasty mad human in search of traitors.”
“Oh right. Forgot about that. I’ll have another trooper standing by to escort you.”
“Give the boys a rest. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
Penn took his jacket off and looked at his ruffled shirt with distaste, but he had to continue playing the part so he left it on. The boys busied themselves finding the small kitchen and pantry and it wasn’t long before they had a pot of Kaf and some small sandwiches made for him with some unidentifiable meat inside. Whatever they were, they were delicious. He made himself comfortable at a handy desk and thought about his next move, but it wasn’t long before he was interrupted by a call from his door guard.
“Got the Admiral and another officer here to see you, sir.”
“Right. I was expecting them. Keep them waiting for a few minutes and then let them in.”
“Yes, sir.” He could hear the laughter in the trooper’s voice, betting it tickled them pink to lord it over the bony-nosed Var for once.
“We have company, boys, so do your thing.” They both grinned and nodded. As the two worried looking officers came in, Penn looked at his crono and sniffed before looking up at them as if to suggest they were late.
“Now you are here at last, we can get on with the mission.” He sipped some Kaf and took the handkerchief out to pat his lips before continuing. “Apart from discovering and digging out traitors, I also have the mission of capturing one of the Empire’s most wanted criminals. Namely a traitorous bitch name Ellis, ex-Sub-Major Ellis to be precise.”
“What crime did she commit, sir.” The admiral asked. Penn looked at him and raised one eyebrow. The admiral colored slightly at the rebuke.
“Not long ago, this traitorous bitch and her scurrilous mate attempted to assassinate our beloved Emperor and Director Markoff. They are also the cause of all the unrest in the Empire after broadcasting a message that the Emperor was dead.”
“Yes, sir. All the more reason to catch her.”
“I’m so glad you agree, Admiral.” His sarcasm wasn’t lost on the Var. “Information suggests that she is fleeing along the edge of Thrakee space in an attempt to escape justice. To effect the capture of this person, alive I might add, we need to jump into position ahead of her and set a trap.”
“And where would that be, sir?” Penn touched the controls on the desk and brought up a star chart. Zooming out he pointed to a position on the other side of Thrakee space near the edge of the arm.
“I’m not sure I understand, sir. That’s on the other side of Thrakee space, and…”
“I’m fully aware of that fact, Admiral.” He looked at the navigator. “You will plot a jump from here to this point, clear?” The younger Var swallowed.
“Yes, sir, but can I point out that a single jump to that point will take over two and a half months…” He trailed off.
“Thank you for telling me Sub-Lieutenant Obvious.”
“My name is…”
“I’m not interested in your name, only that you can plot the jump.”
“Sir, I must protest. You’re asking me to order this fleet to make a two and a half month uncharted jump across Thrakee space…”
“I’m not asking you, Admiral, I’m ordering you.” Penn sipped his Kaf, took another small sandwich, and popped it into his mouth.
“But… but… how? The effects of jump space…” He began.
“I’m well aware of how jump space affects you Tellurians. Apart from a standby watch, you will put most of the crew into their suits and administer sominex. Once in jump space, there is little to do aboard ship anyway, other than monitor the ships systems. You will rotate the necessary crew every two weeks, and wake the remainder of the crew and have them at battle station before we exit jump space.” The Admiral’s expression said he didn’t like it, not one damn bit but there was nothing he could do about it other than disobey his orders. Penn was prepared for that and would have him arrested, or suffer an unfortunate accident if necessary. On the other hand, other than the unknown at the other end of the jump, the plan was viable and he knew it.
“And if the Thrakee are waiting for us?”
“Was there something I said that gave you the impression that this was a discussion, Admiral?” Penn carefully wiped his lips and waved the handkerchief in a dismissive motion.
There was an intent in the Admirals expression that said he’d like to do more than argue, but the black bulk of Sergeant Brask standing behind Penn chair negated that thought. Not that Penn needed Brask’s support and was fully prepared to go into combat mode should the Admiral act on that thought. Gritting his teeth, the Admiral did an about face and stormed out of the stateroom. Penn breathed, as did the boys who looked at him with awe. From their perspective, they’d never seen anyone dominate a Var before.
“That went well.” Brask chuckled.
“You think?”
“The whole lot of them are going to be out for your head when this get round.”
“Not much they can do about it unless they want to defy the Emperor’s orders. By the way, what did E’shee do to that chip to stop the nosy security chief from looking inside?”
“He didn’t have to do much. He knew the chief probably had a very high clearance so he didn’t try to encrypt it. He just made a circular rout. No matter what code the chief put in, it would always default to insufficient clearance, or not authorized. Of course, you adding the Emperor and Director’s signatures helped. All the chip would show is some basic vague information and some encrypted files to make it look real.”
“Well, whatever he did, give him a bonus and a well done from me. He might just have saved our asses.”
