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  “The Emperor is old. He has two sons. Marcus and Cato. Intel tells us Cato is open to reform and the treaty, Marcus is not. There is no succession, the Emperor will choose one. And at 140 years, he doesn’t have long left.

  “If Marcus is chosen, the progress we’ve made might disappear overnight. We may just be where we were nearly a year ago. However, Cato has voiced his support for his father’s opposition to the continued research of subspace weaponry. Their senate is still wrangling over the issue. I want you to show the flag in Imperial space as a guest of the Empire. When you leave Imperial space after your diplomatic sojourn, I want Phoenix to disappear and get a deep scan of the system where we believe the research facilities are located. Easy enough for you right?”

  “Sounds very exciting, sir. We have just the reason to go to Imperial space, to return Platus. Your timing couldn’t be better.”

  “Of course it couldn’t. After all, I arranged for his retrieval from the slavers. They knew they had an Imperial citizen, but they didn’t know they had Platus Scipio. Platus seems to have been on his own mission these past months, infiltrating slaver networks. You think they actually captured him? Not quite, Commander. After war was averted and Platus was presumed dead, he used the opportunity to work with us to expose unlawful Imperial collusion with slavers who kidnap citizens of independent worlds to be used as Imperial slaves. It’s a prelude to our demand that the Empire end Imperial slavery, and us finding and shutting down every slaver outpost in the galaxy. Only we know he’s alive. He didn’t want Quintus to know because surely their enemies were watching Quintus closely. We’ve supported Platus during his operations. Now, rumors are surfacing of a possible civil war throughout the Empire. This goes way beyond conspirators. Platus opted to return to the Empire now and find out what’s really happening.”

  The complex web Shepherd crawled on never failed to render Aaron speechless. “You, we . . . working with an Imperial Agent?”

  “All for the greater good, Rayne. We had tabs on Platus. We wouldn’t have let anyone harm him. But don’t think for one moment Platus is of the same ilk as Quintus Scipio. Quintus is like you, a captain who clawed up the ranks. Although, Quintus is a much smoother customer than you—methodical, not so reckless, rude, etcetera. However, Platus . . . no Rayne, Platus is a different—how would your twenty-first century people say it?”

  “Kettle of fish,” Aaron said.

  Shepherd continued, oblivious to the expression. “I’ll go with that. Platus is a career operative—their best. He’s infiltrated the USS countless times. We’ve come close to nabbing him on occasion. While we can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, we suspect Platus of many high-level bombings. Oddly enough, there were no casualties, only destruction. The Scipio brothers serve the Empire in very different capacities.”

  Aaron shifted. Was Shepherd trying to shape his opinion about Platus? “In addition to helping you, sir, Platus saved my life on Atlas.”

  “Platus more likely saved your life out of loyalty to his brother’s wishes, and the belief they couldn’t win a war against us. Everything he’s done, he did serving the interests of the Empire, not out of idealism.”

  Aaron swallowed. Regardless how Aaron felt, the Supreme Commander clearly had no liking for Platus. Aaron should probably leave out the part where he authorized the Imperial’s trip to Earth. “If that’s how you feel I’ll see to his repatriation as soon as I finish evaluating Phoenix.”

  Shepherd’s eyes narrowed. Could the SC tell when he was trying to hide something? It sometimes felt like it. “Pack Platus on that ship and back to the Empire. No delays. Use the time while you’re there and keep an ear to the ground. Don’t let down your guard. There are still elements on both sides who don’t wish us coexisting. I don’t mean they want all-out war. They aren’t a bunch of warmongers. But remember the Empire has very different cultural norms and laws. Imperial slavery is a very contentious issue in the ongoing negotiations. We’ve demanded they outlaw it unconditionally. They’ll likely see us trying to impose our will and culture and ideals on them. That’s where problems might arise.”

  “I understand completely, SC. What am I to do if I find evidence of full on subspace weapons manufacture?”

  “Nothing,” Shepherd rounded to face him. “Not. One. Damn. Thing. Don’t even try to claim I wasn’t clear. You observe and report. Do not under any circumstances get too close and expose yourself. Stay far outside your ship’s known stealth capabilities. I can tell you the Empire hasn’t penetrated our stealth as yet. Or at the very least they haven’t shown they can.”

  “Not comforting.”

  “You’re still here?” Shepherd asked, standing.

  Aaron stood, nodded and left.

  He hoped Platus hadn’t stolen any State secrets or murdered anyone else while on Earth. He wouldn’t want to zap the Imperial when he’d just returned from the dead.

  How was he going to get that damn Imperial off Earth, without Shepherd finding out he’d been there?

  Chapter 13-Unwelcome Guests

  “Him being on this ship, is more dangerous than walking through a minefield blind folded” – Sergeant Randall Dawes

  Phoenix, Docked

  USSF HQ

  Yuri eyed the endless containers in the docking bay. No way was he moving all that stuff. Antigrav or not, he hated confusion.

  Dawes and the others were off to the side rummaging through their equipment. Hopefully they had new tech to show him. Yuri approached the ramp to the cargo deck on Reliant. Just a few more steps.

  If he could just slip away into Reliant, no one would even check for him. But he wanted to see Hammerhead’s replacement dock.

  Reliant was a fine ship too, but she wasn’t Hammerhead. He shared a special bond with the latter. He still remembered the first time he saw her angular lines and sweeping curves. She was the first auxiliary craft he’d flown into battle.

  Hammerhead had taken him to the edge and back. Her first scrap in the X-1501-D nebula facing off against a huge Imperial warship. The Commander had really let that oversized hunk of junk have it.

  Then the resilient, tough little ship had protected him during a high-speed impact with an ORA fighter. The impact had vaporized most of Hammerhead, but the bow shell had ejected, saving him. The designers had built an emergency capsule into the bow. Smart folks.

  Yuri only remembered the emergency shell at the end. Did that make him brave? Knowing he would give his life for Lee and the others before he realized he had a way out?

  Excelsior was the name of the replacement auxiliary craft. No one else must board it before him. He had to connect with the ship first. To let her know her sister ship had died bravely in combat saving him and others. He had to establish that synergy.

  Most everyone believed machines were just machines. That it didn’t matter how they were treated. But then why did that one atmosphere craft land through that horrific damage when others didn’t? Why did that one combat craft stay space-borne when hit with the same weapon as another that burned up? Why did the engines hold that final long burn to escape danger? It was the ship, protecting its pilot.

  If a pilot took care of his craft, the craft would take care of him or her. Like how starship captains felt about their starships.

  Excelsior eased in and settled onto the deck. Not a bad landing. Now, to bond with his new craft. He approached the craft’s cargo bay ramp.

  Chen sauntered down the ramp.

  “Corporal, what are you doing flying Excelsior?”

  “Ensign? Didn’t know you were aboard. We’ve been trying to reach you the past fifteen minutes. Didn’t get a response. We all figured you’d want to fly her in. But I was summoned when they didn’t reach you.”

  Damn it. Yuri checked his handheld. Several missed messages.

  “I’ll handle it from here then.”

  Yuri took a step forward.

  Slap!

  He swung.

  Lee . . . damn.

  “Whe
re you off to, Ensign?” Lee asked.

  Could Lee tell he was nervous? “I was going to check the stabilizing inducers on Reliant.”

  Lee raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Yeah, they’ve been out of alignment and I’ve been tweaking them to make sure everything’s good. Never know when I have to pull some death defying maneuver to snatch you from harm’s way.”

  “Flaps, I might not be a hotshot flying runt like you, but I know stabilizing inducers haven’t gone out of alignment since the twenty-second century.”

  Yuri gave his best innocent smile. “Of course not . . . I was just testing you!”

  Lee gave him a disproving look. “Quiet with your rambling. I want you to meet Platus. He’s the Lord Commander’s brother. We’re transporting him to Hosque. Platus,” Lee gestured to a tall, thin man wearing a dark tunic. “This is Yuri Miroslav, our pilot.”

  Yuri extended his hand. “Platus? Great to meet you, sir. Welcome aboard Phoenix. We’re all big fans of the Lord Commander around here.”

  Platus stared. Didn’t flinch, or even blink for that matter.

  “I’ve been told. So you’re the helm officer?”

  Yuri slowly lowered his hand while looking at Lee. “You’re not about to give me a list of demands on how fast, where I can fly and so on are you?”

  “The thought never occurred,” Platus said. “Are you in need of such a list?”

  Yuri narrowed one eye. “Not at all, Mr. Platus, sir. I can tell already you’re going to get along just fine with everyone, we love a good joke.” Yuri glanced at Lee. Lee shrugged.

  “Whoa!” It was Dawes. “A real life Imperial spy—up close and personal. And none other than Platus Scipio.”

  Apparently, their guest had drawn the marines’ attention. Ubu and Chen also came over.

  Platus didn’t respond.

  “Where did you dig up this one?” Dawes asked Lee.

  “More curious to know how you know who he is, Sergeant,” Lee replied.

  “Oh, me and my boys are very familiar with ol’ Platus here. Part of an operation to nab him once—he slipped through. But not before doing a bit of damage on Centus-6.”

  Centus-6, Yuri remembered hearing that somewhere. Sergeant Dawes continued.

  “Blew the advanced bionics research facility to smithereens he did. Never could prove it. But we know it was him. Probably figured we were researching how to make cyborg soldiers or something. That’s how they think.”

  “Calm yourself,” Platus told the Sergeant. “The Empire and United Star Systems are on friendly relations now, are we not?”

  Dawes lifted a finger to Platus’ face. “Just steer clear of me and mine on this ship the next two weeks.”

  Platus’ expression didn’t change. The bloody Imperial was as impassive as Lee. “Understood. Just know . . . that I never wished for war between our enclaves and fought to prevent it. We are not barbarians—as seems to be the common misconception among you and your citizens. Don’t judge us by the actions of a few conspirators. Anything else I did in the past, was to safeguard the future of the Empire, no different to your operatives and their methods.”

  Lee cut in. “The Commander will bring everyone up to speed when he’s aboard. This way, Platus, I’ll show you to your quarters.”

  As Lee led their guest away, Dawes said aloud. “Him being on this ship is more dangerous than walking through a minefield blind folded. I’ll be keeping a close watch on him.”

  Yuri didn’t think Centus-6 was all that troubled Dawes. He wasn’t certain, but he didn’t recall casualties at the facility. An evac had been triggered before its destruction. Maybe this Platus had triggered it himself.

  Yuri wasn’t sure whether to be uneasy at his presence aboard or not.

  ***

  Captain’s Ready Room

  Phoenix, docked USSF

  Aaron dropped his handheld on his desk.

  “I know I just didn’t hear you right,” he said.

  Vee sighed. “You heard me right, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t try to undermine my wishes on this.”

  “Vee, you know you’re my pillar strength, my island of solitude, my—”

  “I get the point, Aaron.”

  “—rock of strength.” Aaron finished.

  Vee opened his mouth. Aaron held up a hand. “I can’t justify sabotaging your career. Allowing you the position of XO on Phoenix might end your command opportunities.”

  “I don’t want command. You need to see this from my perspective. You’re imprinting your thoughts on how I should feel. I can’t possibly not want command, because it’s something you would never consider. Consider, not everyone wants that role. An engineer loves his ship, he wouldn’t give up the engine room for anything, same thing with a pilot.”

  “Are you robbing the Fleet of a good captain with this decision?”

  “Maybe . . . maybe not. I think I can best serve the Fleet as your XO. It’s not about ambition. My ambition is to see us continue to forward and secure the ideals of the USS.”

  “What did Shepherd say?”

  “That you had the final say, since a ship captain’s input is the biggest sway.”

  Aaron studied the Fleet’s logo. “I still think you would be an asset to the Fleet as captain of Endeavor or Exeter. I wouldn’t push you away if this is the assignment you want. But Ayres already has the spot.”

  “Shepherd is going to offer her command of Endeavor. O’Brian isn’t quite ready yet, so she’ll continue to serve as Exeter’s XO when Shepherd finds another captain for the ship.” Vee inclined his head. “Is this why you summoned me?”

  “More or less.”

  Vee shook his head. “I’m never quite certain what you mean when you say that.”

  “That’s the idea.”

  Aaron stood and approached the mural of the Fleet’s logo he’d had painted on the bulkhead. It depicted an old starship accelerating to warp speed from Earth’s orbit.

  Everyone in the fleet and throughout the USS remembered Tyler Quinn—Captain of Earth’s first warp-capable starship—Pathfinder. After a successful shakedown cruise to Alpha Centauri, Pathfinder returned to Earth. She was preparing to embark for one year on deep space exploration.

  That’s when disaster struck.

  It was never conclusive, but one of Earth’s fanatical groups who believed humankind shouldn’t meddle with things they didn’t understand, sabotaged the ship’s fusion reactor containment while it was in low orbit. An explosion at that distance would have inflicted catastrophic casualties on Earth.

  Quinn had one option—take the ship to warp—despite the belief that using the warp drive within a star system would result in catastrophic failure due to the gravitational forces present. For obvious reasons, no one had ever confirmed the theory.

  Until now.

  Having mere minutes, Quinn ordered his crew to abandon ship. A ship’s autopilot could only control a ship with at least one crewmember aboard, it couldn’t even engage a remote warp. It was a built-in safeguard to protect the ship from cyber-attacks and being remotely controlled by an enemy. A safeguard still present on Fleet ships today.

  Quinn engaged the warp drive with only seconds left until containment failure. The ship disintegrated in a spectacular subspace tear. Tyler Quinn’s sacrifice saved millions of lives on Earth.

  An awkward silence had settled in the ready-room.

  Vee broke it. “Subspace weapons then.”

  Aaron jumped. His thoughts had drifted from Tyler Quinn, to his mother and father beyond the wormhole.

  “Shepherd seems to believe in the intel,” he said.

  “You don’t?”

  Aaron leaned back in his chair. “I don’t put anything past the Imperials, but a weapon which could destroy a star system? Reminds me of twentieth century Earth. Maniacs with fingers hovering above buttons to launch nukes. What would be left to fight over?”

  “You’ve always said we can’t begin to comprehend the machinations of luna
tics. That somewhere along the way, they’ve lost the ability to think rationally.”

  “It doesn’t prevent one from contemplating the mystery. Imagine if you could read their thoughts.”

  “Not sure what insight you’d hope to gain,” Vee said.

  “Just to know, to understand the process. The motivation.”

  “Such motivations remain a mystery even now, and I suspect long after we’re gone, future generations may be having the same discussion with no further insight.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “I’ll leave you to it then,” Vee said, rising.

  Aaron smiled. “I’ll see you in the gym, XO.”

  Vee nodded and left.

  Aaron had meant what he said. For him, Vee was that lighthouse on a dark night, guiding ships along the coast ensuring they didn’t break apart on reefs or cliffs.

  There was often a crossroads one reached. Maybe every captain faced this dilemma. Often now Aaron’s thoughts drifted to family. What would a little Aaron look like? Who could he grow to be? Would he follow Aaron’s path and join the USSF? Would he be an astrophysicist like Zane? Perhaps he’d prefer to fly starships or fix them.

  In other ruminations, Aaron pictured himself living a quiet life in a log cabin somewhere on Epsilon-4.

  Maybe all this time spent in space, he just wanted to slow the pace a little. He could request a leave of absence and take a trip to ride horses on Paradise. He could convince Shepherd to give him a small ship and go visit all the USS member worlds. Would Rachael want to come?

  There was only one way to find out.

  ***

  Phoenix, Docked

  USSF HQ

  Rachael rounded the aft corridor and through the doors to sickbay.

  Doctor Tanner was checking his inventory. He looked up when she entered. “Lieutenant Delaine, how can I help you?”

  She presented her arm. “Sparring with Lee in the gym. He got me good.”