Mercurial: Ace Evans Book 5 (Ace Evans Series), page 3
“He did,” Cordair said. “I have the video footage from his suit if you want to see it.”
“Do you have a reading from the Starstruck? Do we know for certain that it was disabled and all on board were killed?”
“No,” the general replied calmly. “It’s possible some might have gotten into emergency space suits, but unlikely.”
“I need to know that Parleon is out of the game,” Lynn Faulk declared. “There’s too much at stake to take a chance.”
“I have all the information from his battle suit. I know what he did in it, but he gained control of the Starstruck with his mind,” Cordair explained. “There’s no way to monitor that.”
“He’s young,” she said. “Idealistic. He probably believes all the rhetoric the CDF spews to their Operators.”
“It’s a useful tool to keep them loyal.”
“Well, I want a better tool. Where are we on finding his family?”
“They were taken off Skandia Seven by someone and put on a transport to the Helena system. I have people standing by there to intercept the family.”
“Good,” Lynn Faulk declared. “What else?”
“We tried to contact his team. I think he would be more committed if he was surrounded by friends. But they’ve already been reassigned.”
“And you let that stop you?”
“No,” Cordair said. “But they were gone. They and the rest of the Ahzco fleet are no longer in the system.”
“Rushing to the Askerria Sector, no doubt. You have people there?”
“Of course.”
“And what are they telling you?”
“That multiple military forces are mobilizing in that sector, just as you expected.”
“They’ll tear each other to pieces,” she said with a grin. “It’s always beneficial when you can make your competition do the work you need for you. The fools will cripple any chance they have of opposing us. What of the Ahzco forces?”
“They’re gathering as well. A lot of ships. Colonel Chastain is in command.”
“Excellent. She’s a fighter. What of Loman Haley? Of all the people at Ahzco, he’s the only one who has managed to elude my grasp.”
“You could just fire him.”
“It wouldn’t change anything. His people are loyal to him, not to the company.”
“Not all of them,” Cordair said.
“The point is that we need to humiliate him. Once he’s lost his reputation with the CDF, then he can be swept away easily enough. But not before. I want to know where he is.”
“He was on the Currency during the crisis in the Skandia system. After that, we lost him,” Cordair said. “The last word we have is that he was going back to the Helena system.”
“Loman Haley is unpredictable. I need to find him and you need your spies to watch him at all times.”
“I understand,” Cordair said. “There is one possibility.”
“Go on.”
“I have word that an old Mora class battleship was activated recently in the Helena system.”
“By whom? For what purpose?”
“I don’t know,” Cordair said. “Someone gave the order and had it ready to deploy within days. Lieutenant Evans’s old squadmates and Controller were on board.”
“Who was given command?”
“We don’t know yet. But I’ve sent word for Captain Poe. He should have more details.”
“He better,” Lynn Faulk said. She despised Poe. He was useful to her, and loyal. She had given him enough money to ensure that, even if he hadn’t been a conniving, power-hungry fool to begin with. Poe was the complete opposite of Loman Haley. He had the look of a great leader, but none of the skill. He was hesitant, almost to the point of timidity, and unwilling to do anything that might besmirch his professional record. And worse still, he alienated his fellow officers and belittled his crew. His vessels were toxic places to serve, but despite all of that, he was willing to anything for Faulk, as long as she promised him advancement.
“I should go,” General Cordair said. “I want to debrief Evans. If he’s lying to us, I’ll know.”
She didn’t think he would. Alex Evans was a good person. He could sound sincere, even eager, while harboring a secret if he thought that he was doing the right thing. It made him dangerous, like his mentor, Loman Haley. They both believed they were doing the right thing, whatever that was supposed to be. In her experience, the only right things were those that benefited her. The galaxy was full of lazy, entitled takers, people who would stab their closest friend if it got them something they wanted. She knew they didn’t respond to charity. Not that they wouldn’t take it—they took everything they could as if they were afraid someone else might get more. What they needed was strong leadership. They were eager for the carrot, but what kept them in line was the stick.
“Do that. But don’t push too hard,” Faulk warned him. “We want Evans on our side, which means you need to befriend him. Convince him that what we’re doing is the right thing.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Cordair said.
“I have faith in you, General. Win his trust. He’s your issue to deal with. I have other pressing matters to attend to.”
“Very well,” Cordair said.
He saluted, then turned on his heel and walked away. She loved watching him move. He was graceful, yet there was also a precision to his movements. She found him to be a delicious distraction from the mundane work of keeping up the appearance that she was a singularly focused businesswoman. Soon, she would be able to drop all her pretenses. When she ruled, she would keep herself surrounded with fawning, beautiful men who would rush to carry out her every desire.
CHAPTER SIX
General Curtis Cordair didn’t like Lynn Faulk, which was strange to him. She was attractive, and he liked beautiful women, even those who were surgically enhanced. Furthermore, she was rich. And Curtis Cordair loved money. He considered himself to be lucky, not just because he was athletic and handsome, but because he had learned early on in life how to get what he wanted from people. He was getting more from Lynn Faulk than anyone really knew. He had a secret app, one that had cost him over ten thousand credits to have made, that had infiltrated the yacht’s financials. For the past year and a half, the app had been adding false charges to the huge ship’s payments. The stolen money, hidden between payroll, docking fees, upkeep, fuel costs, and provisions, was stockpiling thousands of credits in a small private firm. At last count, Curtis Cordair had stolen over a million credits. Not that Lynn Faulk would ever miss that small amount of money. It was more than most people earned in a year, but to an unsavory businesswoman, it was nothing.
And yet, although he was robbing her, Cordair didn’t like her. She had pulled him from obscurity, given him a title he had no hope of earn on his own, as well as a place to live on the ridiculously large yacht where he had everything he could desire. But none of that made him like her. Looking at Lynn Faulk’s beautiful face, all he could see were the dark depths of her penetrating gaze. It was like looking into the eyes of a monster, and he supposed that was what she really was. A monster. Had she not just ordered the deaths of possibly a hundred souls on the Starstruck. She had qualms about killing dozens of innocents just to strike at one person who was supposed to be her compatriot. She made him feel uncomfortable, and Curtis Cordair was a man accustomed to comfort. He avoided things that were too difficult, or those that required him to do things that were painful. Fortunately, as a general he could order others to do what he didn’t want to do. The only exception was his meetings with Lynn Faulk.
But the farther he walked from her office just above the elevated command center, the easier it was to brush off the ill feelings he got from her. Cordair went to the lift that would carry him down the massive ship’s many levels to the hangar section located on the belly of the big yacht. When he reached the lower level, he ran into a member of the crew whom he sent to fetch Alex Evans, who had just returned to the Silent Partner.
General Cordair had spent most of the operation in a small room down the hall from where the mechanized battle suits were kept on the ship. The other passengers, business associates and sycophants who were kept on board merely for the prestige of having wealthy guests, never even thought to come down to the lower decks where the crew lived and where the ship’s engineering work was done. But Curtis liked it down below. The crew of the massive ship would never speak ill of the owner in public, but he could see the judgment in their eyes. They didn’t like Lynn Faulk or her snooty guests. It was something he had in common with them. Although he still considered himself above them, by rank and by his good fortune, he rather enjoyed spending time with them.
The room was just one of many storage spaces, but it was well appointed, with glow panel walls and pristine tiled decks. He had taken over the space, bringing in a table he used for a desk when the need arose and some other furnishing. He sat in a leather executive chair, with the Titan PCS on the table nearby. It had recorded everything that the Titan suit did while on the mission. And even though he had lost contact with Alex once the Silent Partner went ahead of him through the space tunnel, the device synced to the MBS and downloaded all the data once Alex returned.
Most of it was inconsequential. Curtis focused on the video recorded by the battle suit. He saw what Alex had seen, which was the darkened Starstruck, spinning off course and out of control. The very sight of it made Curtis feel queasy. Fear was something he didn’t like to experience. It was the height of discomfort. And seeing a ship with no power, spinning out of control, was horrifying. The passengers and crew of the ship didn’t stand a chance. They were trapped in a dead ship that would be their tomb. He didn’t know if they would run out of air or freeze to death first, but both sounded horrific to the general.
He waited for Alex to be escorted to his makeshift office and tried not to think about the Starstruck. When the door opened a few minutes later, it was a genuine relief to General Cordair. He needed to move past the unpleasant business in the Gobal Sector.
“Lieutenant, welcome home,” Cordair said, even though the Silent Partner was not really their home. “Any problems out there?”
“No, sir,” Alex said as he approached the table.
“Please, sit down,” Cordair said.
Alex did sit. He looked tired. His clothes were wrinkled and his skin was pale.
“Tell me how things went out there,” Cordair said.
“As planned, save for nearly getting run over by that transport ship.”
“You didn’t notice the flashing buoys?”
“No,” Alex said. “And I wouldn’t have known what they meant if I had seen them.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you survived. I’m sure Ms. Faulk will be very pleased to hear about your success.”
Alex nodded but didn’t reply.
“You were able to shut down the entire ship?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
Cordair stared hard at his new subordinate. Alex Evans was a hard man to read. There was no deception on his face, no tremor in his voice. It seemed that he was being completely sincere.
“Any chance they can get it started again?”
“There’s always a chance,” Alex replied. “But they’re in the dark, no gravity, and no way of knowing what happened. It’s unlikely they could survive long enough to correct the issues I left them with.”
“If only they knew, eh?”
“Exactly,” Alex said. “They would have to know what I did. Otherwise, they would waste time trying to find out why the mechanical systems shut down. By the time they realized the truth, if they ever do, it will be too late to save themselves.”
“And you did all that? With your mind?”
“I was able to make their thrusters misfire,” Alex said. “That wasn’t too hard. Then I shut down all the computer systems. Ships like that, or like this one, for instance, are run mostly by computers. It’s not like a warship. That would make it much more difficult.”
“Why not just seize control of this ship?” Cordair asked.
“Why would I do that?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Well, there are several reasons,” Alex said. “First of all, I’m on this ship. I’m not going to do anything to the vessel I’m on. Second, I’m an officer now. My skills are used in combat and this isn’t a warship. Third, even if I had a reason to take control of the ship, or do something to disrupt it, you would know exactly who to blame and how to fix it. I’m not stupid enough to bite the hand that feeds me.”
“That’s good to know,” General Cordair said. “You have a gift, Evans. One that could come in very handy in the days ahead.”
“Why is that, sir?” Alex asked.
“There’s going to be conflict,” Curtis said, looking deep into Alex’s innocent eyes. The lieutenant didn’t look away or try to hide anything. He seemed genuinely curious and Cordair decided to trust him. They were on the same side after all. “Our benefactor is extremely generous. She’s given us a lot because she needs the support.”
“Support for what? She’s a businesswoman, right?”
“True,” Cordair said. “But all successful people want the same thing, Evans.”
“What’s that?” Alex asked.
Curtis couldn’t tell if he was hearing a note of contempt in the young lieutenant’s voice or if he was just imagining it.
“Power,” Curtis said. “Lynn Faulk is no different. She didn’t start Sigma just to make money, you know. We’re her own personal army.”
“Why does she need an army?”
“Why does anyone?” Cordair said.
“The CDF protects Ahzco’s employees and assets,” Alex replied, sounding like a recruiter for the megacorp.
“The boss has her sights set on more than just business,” Cordair went on. “She’s going to bring order to the galaxy. Unite the free worlds under a central government and break the monopoly of the big companies over the planets they control.”
“But they won’t go without a fight,” Alex said.
“Precisely. Which is why we’re here,” Cordair said. “We’ll take them out, one by one. Absorb whatever assets they have left when we’re done, and grow exponentially. Heck, by the time we’ve defeated one or two of the megacorp’s defense forces, we’ll be bigger than the rest of them. No one is going to be able to stop us. You and I are at the top. I’ll be in charge of the entire thing, but you’ll have control of the Operators. And Lynn Faulk rewards loyalty.”
“I’m loyal,” Alex said.
“Which is why you’ve been given a different room. It’s on B-level, just below the concourse. Go on up, get some rest. When you’re feeling like it, you can explore a bit. Just keep this with you so I can reach you when I need to.”
He laid a small PIL on the table and slid it across to Alex.
“It’s just temporary, until we get new gear specifically for Sigma,” Cordair said.
Alex picked up the PIL and looked at it while he asked another question.
“Are there other people in Sigma Services?”
“Sure, we’ve got Operators training. Controllers too. No officers yet. Just us.”
Alex nodded, and Curtis thought he saw the tiniest of grins. He knew how the young man felt. They were getting in early and would rise to the top. Soon, they wouldn’t need Lynn Faulk’s riches; they would have plenty of their own. It was exactly the kind of situation Curtis Cordair had been hoping for. And it seemed that perhaps he had found a kindred spirit in Lieutenant Alex Evans.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Alex couldn’t believe the arrogance of General Cordair. The man was a megalomaniac. Did he really think that he could just run over the CDF? He was a fool if he thought so, but Alex didn’t say anything. He didn’t like lying, and he worried that General Cordair was just pulling his strings, trying to manipulate him.
“If there’s nothing else, sir, I’ll hit the rack,” Alex said.
“Very well, Lieutenant.”
Alex stood and saluted. It felt wrong, but he had to keep up the facade. Cordair didn’t stand up, but he gave a lazy return salute. Alex left the man and hurried to find the lift that would take him up to B-level. He wanted off the ship, to get back to his squad and friends, but he couldn’t do anything that would reveal his true intentions. Alex didn’t know what General Cordair thought of him, but he was certain that Lynn Faulk didn’t trust him. So he did what he was told and tried to look as if he was enjoying himself.
He found his new suite easily enough, and was glad not to be forced back up the long, winding staircase that led to the room in the tower. It had had a commanding view, but he was too tired to climb that many stairs. The new room was much larger, with a sitting area, a computer console, and a massive bed with a crimson-and-gold comforter neatly stretched across it. The lights came on automatically when he entered, and there was a message on the computer screen waiting for him. It was a welcome program that showed him how to order food that could be delivered to his room, who to call if he needed anything, and how to sync his PIL to the ship’s computer systems so that he could control everything in his cabin at a touch of a button.
He ordered food—real beef steak with creamy pasta and broccoli. He also got soda, chips, candy, and a variety of snack foods. From the computer station, he even started the hot water running in the shower. The bathroom was lavish, with gold faucets and towel racks. The shower was a glass stall, but bigger than any shower he’d ever seen. When he walked into the bathroom just a few seconds after turning on the lights and the water, steam was already filling the glass stall.
He pulled off his clothes, tossed them into a dirty-linens basket under the marble countertop, and let the hot water cascade over him for several minutes. It was a luxury he wasn’t used to. Showers on his home planet, NP8261, had been lukewarm at best, and the water had a chemical smell to it from the waste treatment facility. He had enjoyed a few showers since joining the CDF, but on board a ship, those had been mainly steam baths with just enough moisture to wet his skin. Hot water running down his back and around his stiff neck felt wonderful.
