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  “I’m sure the horror stories of the effects are exaggerated by those who haven’t yet made breakthroughs with subspace weapons. Which is why they banned further research. This is our advantage.”

  Quintus shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe what I am hearing.” His voice cracked. “Father would be ashamed.”

  Platus struck.

  Quintus fell backwards. Perhaps he hadn’t read Platus accurately. Either that or the charade had become a little personal.

  “How dare you speak of father to me? He would never betray the Empire.”

  Quintus wasn’t backing down. “You’re blinded by devotion to selfish reasons, your own people, your way of life, nothing else matters. These are the reasons men used to justify doing unspeakable acts throughout history. Now you spit them here to me. You’ve been in your world for far too long, Platus. You know only one thing, protect you and yours. It is loyal, but it isn’t honorable.”

  Platus ignored him and turned to leave. Quintus moved to go after him and was held by two centurions.

  “Release me!” he spat.

  “You will remain here in protective custody until such time as I release you, brother.”

  “Platus, you’re making a mistake. You don’t know him. Commander Rayne is not to be trifled with. He can be unpredictable.”

  Platus smiled. “So can I, brother. Something you’ve clearly forgotten.”

  Chapter 23 - Loyalty Above Honor

  “Marcus thanks you for your loyalty to the Empire” – Imperial Centurion

  Imperial Light Transport

  Draconis

  Aaron sat on the deck with the others with his back to the bulkhead. Lee sat next to him, forlorn by the loss of his arm. Dawes chewed his gum, fidgeting and getting shocked by the restraints when he moved too much. Ubu was on his knees and his eyes were closed.

  Aaron’s thoughts drifted to Rachael. He’d been in this position before with her, back on Atlas Prime. She’d pretended to be allied with Ben James. On Atlas the Immortal held a weapon to Aaron’s head. Time stopped. Aaron stopped caring about death and was hurt more by Rachael’s apparent betrayal. Then the flicker of movement before the world had exploded and Lee burst into the room. She had moved to strike Ben James from behind after wrestling with her inner demons over the consequences of exposing herself to the conspirators too early.

  Aaron was yanked back to the present as Platus stalked into the cell. Normally the Imperial bore no expression. Now he pounded the deck with his boot heels and gestured wildly at the centurions. Where was Quintus? What had they discussed?

  The force field shimmered. The centurions entered the compartment and dragged them to their feet.

  Aaron wrangled. “If you don’t allow us to communicate with our ship, they’ll send word of this place. I will be the least of your problems.”

  Platus yanked Aaron away from the group. “Not to worry, Rayne,” his lips curled into a hideous smile. “I’ve informed the authority here of your incursion. More ships are on the way. They don’t care what’s happening here. Not interested. Only that it must be protected.”

  “Platus, you’re a fool,” Aaron said. “Hard to believe you and Quintus are brothers.”

  Platus ignored him. “This transport will rendezvous with our destroyer squadron. You and yours will be transferred as prisoners. You trespassed into Imperial space on a covert mission to sabotage an Imperial facility. Out of respect for our past cooperation, and your actions which saved my brother, I will stay your execution—the only just punishment for your crime.”

  “Trespassed? Crime? Did that grenade scramble your brain, you were—”

  Platus tightened the grip on Aaron’s forearm.

  With Platus, who knew what game he was playing? The man was a career operative. And he was loyal to the Empire. Only that much Aaron was certain of. Platus might be playing his own games now.

  “If you keep us, there will be a war.”

  “I don’t think so,” Platus said. “The United Systems will never admit to dispatching you. I am sure the record is there waiting to be placed on their computer systems detailing your theft of starship and AWOL status. We will however have a particular new talking point at the next round of talks. Your dark matter weapon. They’ll probably deny it. We’ll show them the proof. They’ll say it's forged. We’ll continue our subspace weapon research.”

  “If I hadn’t hauled your conniving self off that slaver ship you’d be missing some parts by now,” Lee said.

  “That’s where your compassion and misguided ideals land you, Lieutenant Lee. Not too far removed from your Commander.”

  The deck rattled.

  “We’ve docked with the lead destroyer.” Platus gestured for the centurions to bring his prisoners.

  They were still powerless to do anything. With restraints on, any sudden moves would send an immobilization surge through their body. An effective restraint. And insanely annoying.

  Platus led them through the transport and onto the destroyer. Everyone was hustled onto the ship. Quintus was escorted by two centurions. Platus now held his own brother.

  “Aaron, I’m sorry,” Quintus said.

  “You will have more than ample time to tell him all about it, brother.”

  Aaron trudged along while thinking of creative ways to smash Platus’ smug smile when next he got the opportunity.

  ***

  After transporting them to the destroyer, they shuffled across the ship’s hangar bay. It was just a few square-meters smaller than its counterpart on Phoenix. The Imperial auxiliary craft were tucked neatly away in their hangars. The Imperials sure maintained a disciplined hangar deck. Lately, Dawes and Flaps seemed to use Phoenix’s bay for all kinds of shenanigans.

  It was a long walk to the hangar bay’s hatch. If they left the hangar bay, his meticulous last minute instructions to Flaps would never work.

  Platus continued his taunts. “Be grateful you aren’t off to an Imperial prison planet, to spend your days mining ore for the Empire. Your punishment for this incursion is light.”

  Aaron snorted. “Platus, no hard feelings. If you let us go now, I’ll only smash your fine Imperial nose with my fist.”

  Platus threw his head back and laughed as they walked. “Quintus warned me not to underestimate you. But such idle threats of violence? You wouldn’t land a blow. Not judging by what I saw on Atlas.”

  “Try me,” Lee said.

  “No doubt you’d try. You won’t be prisoners indefinitely, Commander Rayne. Out of respect for my brother and your earlier actions, I will lobby for your release. But you will be used as a bargaining tool. That’s all there is to this. Like I’ve told Quintus, I don’t hold you or your crew responsible for the actions of your government. I almost rather like you, Rayne.”

  Aaron scoffed. “The feeling is hardly mutual, and I’m not placated by your overtures of kindness. Still, my offer stands.” Aaron grinned. “Just your nose.”

  A group of Imperials approached. One appeared to be the vessel’s commander.

  “Platus Scipio. On the authority of Emperor Marcus Sotomerius, I’m here to take Lord Commander Scipio into custody.”

  Platus frowned. “He is already in custody, Sub-Commander. My custody.”

  The Sub-Commander shook his head smiling.

  “No, I’m afraid he is to be handed over,” he said. “Marcus thanks you for your loyalty to the Empire. He has declared Lord Commander Scipio guilty of treason. His sentence is hereby delivered, and to be carried out summarily.”

  Platus looked horrified. “The penalty for treason is death. Are you saying you are here to execute the Lord Commander of the Imperial Navy without a trial?”

  The Sub-Commander stepped forward. “Step aside, Urbanae.”

  Platus shifted to the side. “The Lord Commander is guilty of no crime, and these prisoners are under my protection.”

  “You have no authority here, Urbanae.”

  “I carry with me the authority of I
nternal Security. Absolute, over the Navy and Legions. You know who I am, and what that means.”

  “There’s been a change in the order of things. Our Emperor has ordered Quintus Scipio’s execution summarily. If you interfere, you will be arrested.”

  Platus turned to say something. Clearly, he hadn’t expected this.

  He never got the chance to form any words before the hangar bay exploded.

  Chapter 24-Plan W

  “Commander, you and Lee always have the worst plans” – Ensign Yuri Miroslav

  Phoenix

  Four hours earlier

  Aaron pulled Flaps shoulder.

  “Flaps.”

  The ensign jumped.

  “Commander?”

  “If things go south over there, this is what I want you to do.”

  “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

  “Quiet, Flaps. Just listen. We don’t know what defenses are aboard. Hopefully minimal, but we must cater for any unforeseen eventualities. If we’re killed, you dock with Phoenix, and you and the rest high-warp out of here. Don’t linger. Shepherd will decide what happens next. Now, if we’re captured, they’ll likely rendezvous with the outer system patrol to transfer us to one of their faster moving destroyers, either to take us inside the system quicker, or take us out system. It’ll be the fastest way. When one of those destroyers maneuvers for docking with the light transport. Once we’re in, give it a minute, then you micro-jump from your hiding spot and force this ship straight into that bay.”

  “Commander, you and Lee always have the worst plans.”

  Aaron grinned. “And they always work.”

  ***

  Excelsior

  Yuri sat up as he monitored the sensor readings. It happened just as the Commander said. The destroyer rendezvoused with the transport. Some Imperial fool broadcasted he’d taken the Commander and the others prisoner. So there wasn’t any doubt they were being transferred to the destroyer. A small shuttle departed the transport and docked with the Imperial destroyer.

  Yuri had positioned Excelsior outside Imperial detection range and engaged full stealth. Now he lined up for the final run and the virtual alignment with the destroyer’s hangar bay once he transitioned from the micro-jump on top the Imperial ship.

  It sounded more absurd to him now than when the Commander first gave him the orders before departing Phoenix. Ram Excelsior right into them, the Commander said. Right in the hangar bay as the shuttle transferred them from the transport to the destroyer.

  In the event he didn’t make it before the destroyer’s bay doors shut, Yuri had calculated the density and strength of the Imperial armor without its polarization active, the strength of Excelsior’s outer armor, and run simulations on the speed and angle of likely impact. He’d be more like a lance piercing a shield. The destroyer’s deck was large enough, but it was going to be a hard landing. Luckily, the docking bay doors weren’t as heavily armored as the rest of the ship. But ideally, he wouldn’t have to worry about it, if he timed it right.

  If the Imperial ship saw his approach and turned at the last moment—even a couple hundred meters—Excelsior would be a floating hunk of junk. The speed, the angle, the acceleration the deceleration—it had to be perfect.

  He’d done all he could. Yuri figured the Commander was eagerly anticipating his grand entrance while they were still on the destroyer’s hangar deck. Time to go.

  Yuri engaged the micro-jump and exited the transition. He slammed the throttle. Excelsior rocketed towards the destroyer’s hangar bay. At the precise moment, the computer fired Yuri’s pre-determined emergency deceleration.

  Excelsior crashed through the partially closed bay doors, and burst into the bay. Flaps angled her down and skated across the deck. A couple hundred meters a second was still a fast landing! The distant bulkheads loomed, the little Imperial peons scattered, and he slammed into a crash barrier protecting the rest of the destroyer’s innards.

  ***

  Quintus, who wasn’t restrained by the energy bands, acted first. He’s a sharp one. He ripped the scrambler off Lee’s arm before he helped the rest.

  Lee ignored the chaos on the deck as men scrambled around the crashing patrol craft. With a wide sweep of his arm, the Imperials and their Sub-Commander took a trip to the other side of the hangar bay. Several more sweeps and he’d cleaned the immediate area of Imperials.

  Quintus finished freeing the others using a guard’s handheld to turn off the restraints.

  Blood flowed from a wound on Platus’ head. Next to the Urbanae, Ubu clutched a shoulder wound from exploding debris and Dawes lay sprawled on the deck.

  “I’ll carry him,” Aaron said, and moved to hoist Platus. “Lee, get Dawes.”

  Quintus reached for Aaron. “No! Platus must follow a different path. Leave him.”

  Aaron didn’t argue. “Get to Excelsior, now!” He shouted at the rest.

  They sprinted for their ride out of hell.

  Flaps stood at the bottom of the patrol craft’s cargo ramp. He’d brought the pain. The helmsman grinned hysterically with the barreled pulse weapon in his hand. Excelsior’s countermeasures counteracted any Imperial dampening field from draining the power in the weapon. But he couldn’t move far from Excelsior.

  A squad of Imperial troopers entered the hangar bay and opened fire with pulse weapons.

  Flaps returned fire.

  Beams of destructive energy scattered around the bay.

  “I love this thing! I never get to do this!”

  “Do what, Flaps?” Lee asked, as he vaulted up the ramp.

  “Be the one to cover your asses while you retreat.”

  “That’s great but can you come fly now?” Lee called from the cargo deck.

  They were all in and Aaron slammed the control. The ramp closed as pulse blasts struck.

  Flaps jogged by and slapped Aaron on the shoulder.

  “Buckle up, Commander!”

  The mad little pilot grinned ear to ear and disappeared up the flight deck, followed by Lee. They would be safe on the cargo deck. “Stay here,” Aaron said to Ubu, “take care of Dawes, I’m going above. The medkit is in the overhead.”

  ***

  “Status?” Aaron asked, as he reached the small flight deck.

  Lee was at tactical. “Three Imperial Hemiolia-class destroyers. This rescue will be over soon one way or the other. Couldn’t you have rammed them near deep space? We could have just warped off.”

  “You want to go back?” Flaps asked.

  “Focus,” Aaron said. “Full power to the armor. Full reverse. Then swing us down the plane relative to that destroyer and burn through them. Evasive maneuvers as we pull away. Deploy the PDCs once we’re out.”

  Excelsior reversed thrust and grated, scraped and battered the destroyer’s inner hull as it emerged from the hangar bay.

  Aaron assisted Lee with painting targets. “Fire at will, Lieutenant.”

  The railguns unleashed a hail of rounds. At close range, they passed through and through the destroyer. The other destroyers, while close in terms of space warfare, were a hundred thousand kilometers off. They’d begun evasive maneuvers.

  The railguns would hurt, but they wouldn’t cripple the destroyer, a lucky shot might disable it if they hit the sub-light engines. Unfortunately, Excelsior didn’t have more than one magazine of ammunition.

  Excelsior accelerated away as destroyer lasers splayed across her vector.

  “Armor is weakening. Those things had quite the sting if I recall!” Lee said.

  Aaron engaged his harness. “They won’t have a free shot for long.”

  More lasers struck. The farther destroyers would soon fire a volley of missiles once Excelsior cleared their ally. Right about now.

  “Missiles in the black!” Lee called.

  “Flaps…”

  “Working, Commander, but we’re too close, not much I can do.”

  Flaps was right. The missiles launched from too close—the PDCs wouldn’t
get all.

  “Brace everyone!” Aaron said.

  Where the hell was Avery?

  Chapter 25-Falling Out

  “Your authority is due for execution” – Aaron Rayne

  Phoenix

  Avery watched quite horrified as Excelsior plowed its way onto the hangar deck of the Imperial destroyer. Such a reckless stunt smacked of one of Aaron’s wild ideas. Avery wished Aaron had told him this was his contingency plan.

  He supposed it might not matter since Phoenix was well within range of a micro-jump. With full stealth engaged, at this distance, the destroyers had no idea Phoenix was nearby.

  Chen was at the helm. Avery took the command chair and engaged his harness. “Corporal, align us. I want to jump thirty thousand kilometers off that destroyer’s port quarter.”

  Avery craned his head over to look at Delaine. “Lieutenant Delaine, you’re alone at tactical, you’ve been understudying Lee. Make it count.” He turned to the scientist slash ops officer. “Zane, as soon as we’ve jumped, polarize the armor, ready the kinetic barrier. Excelsior is your priority when we transition. Protect her.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Avery watched the tactical readout.

  “There they are! Now, Corporal!”

  It happened fast. Excelsior burst from the mangled destroyer’s hangar bay spitting tungsten like fireworks on the greatest historical celebrations, the Imperial warships returned fire with lasers. As Excelsior accelerated, the trailing destroyers fired missiles.

  Phoenix jumped.

  “Delaine, PDCs . . . target those missiles burning for Excelsior! All weapons fire at will.”

  ***

  Excelsior

  Aaron wanted to close his eyes as the missiles approached. But he willed himself to stare at death as it reached out to embrace them. A series of bright short-lived flashes was all the sensors registered. When the sensors recalibrated to penetrate the noise…