Black Legion: 02 - Assault on Khorram (16 page)

“Take two squads and check the engine rooms. You stay here,” said an unseen man.

They were interrupted by shouting and then two gun shots. The sound made Xenophon stumble, and he crashed to the wall. He was falling, but the mysterious woman pulled him to the shadows and out of sight. A face peered inside the shaft and waved a torch, checking for signs of movement.

“What was it?” asked a man.

Two more shots rang out, and the entire group rushed away, but whether it was towards or away from the gunfire wasn’t certain. Xenophon reached out to the woman and spoke as quietly as he could.

“Who are you and what’s going on?”

“I will explain later, but for now we need to help turn this around before the mutineers get us near Tissaphernes.”

She started to move, but he reached out and stopped her.

“What do you know about Tissaphernes?”

“All you need you know is he is no friend of Lord Cyrus and has been bribing your people. Some of the commanders in the Legion have been paid off, even some of your politicians. Do you think the trouble on Laconia that forced them to leave your world was a mere coincidence? Most of the Thirty Tyrants were in his pay.”

“What? My father was one of the Thirty!” he snapped, almost shouting.

She pulled him back to the darkness and placed her hand over his mouth.

“Your father was Gryllus, was he not?” she asked, almost reverently.

Xenophon nodded, saying nothing.

“Yes, we knew of him. He was a proponent of the plan of Cyrus for peace between Terrans and Medians. There was to be an agreement announced in the Assembly before the uprising brought him down.”

“He wasn’t brought down. He was murdered by one of the Thirty,” he replied angrily.

“Interesting, I did not know that. Anyway, all you need to know is that I am on the side of the Legion. Cyrus is my master, and it is my job to ensure the tendrils of Tissaphernes do not delve any further into this force.”

Xenophon stood upright and looked at her carefully.

“Why bother with this contingent? We have already split from the Legion.”

“True,” she replied, nodding gently. “Cyrus has an agent on each Titan to ensure none are used against him. There was always the possibility that they might turn against his own forces at the critical time. Don’t forget, his money runs throughout this expedition. You think the Cilician Gates were a coincidence? Tissaphernes wants nothing less than the destruction of the Legion and the humiliation of Lord Cyrus.”

Xenophon wasn’t sure he believed any of this, especially about her knowledge of Tissaphernes or his agents. The Medes were well known to be the greatest tricksters in the known galaxy. If a deal or deceit was to be conducted, and a Medes was present, the deal would frequently be invalidated, such was the reputation of the Medes for subversion.

“Assuming you are right, we need to help stop this mutiny. Where are the crew? The ones we can trust I mean.”

“I will take you to the last place I saw them. Most of the commanders have been taken to temporary prisons near the command deck. I did see a group heading to port armoury, probably to arm themselves for the fight.”

“Good, take me.”

They started to move from their hiding place when Xenophon tapped her gently on the shoulder.

“Your name?” he asked.

She glanced at him and looked back to the sound of the battle. She spoke quietly, almost too quietly for him to hear.

“My name is Artemas of Caria, now follow me!”

She moved out into the open and directly to the body of a woman on the ground. The body was that of a junior crew member, evident by the uniform and regulation sidearm holster. Artemas looked up to Xenophon.

“You see, she is one of the crew and has been butchered by Andronicus’ men. We have to stop this before we lose what is left of this force.”

Xenophon nodded in agreement but stayed a safe distance behind her. He had little experience of the Medes. Most of what he knew was negative, and he didn’t want to test his experience in such a dangerous situation. Artemas moved forward after checking the body and away from the sound of the shouting to the left. Xenophon felt unarmed and helpless, especially when being led by an unknown and armed Medes agent. They moved from their position and out into one of the parallel service corridors. These were more frequently travelled but had the benefit of being the quickest way to move through the ship. Every twenty metres, a thick section of metal jutted out to mark the frame of the emergency seals. It was critical that this part of the ship could be sealed from major breaches, depressurisation and from boarding actions. What caught the attention of Xenophon was that all the doors were open, bar one. This single airlock seal was heavily burned with scorch marks and dents. A body lay nearby, along with several empty weapons.

“I don’t understand. Who exactly would side with a turncoat like Andronicus?” he asked, more to himself than to his Medes friend.

“He is a Komes, so I assume that means he has his own retinue of warriors. It is convenient that of the survivors of Olympia, the bulk of the warriors were from his unit.”

She moved a little further and stopped to look up at a circular seal above them. It was hexagonal in shape, and a series of metal bars stuck out to form handles. As she looked at the seal, Xenophon pulled one of the empty carbines from a dead crewman. He checked the magazine and sighed, like the others it was empty. Even so, he slung it around his body. It lacked ammunition, but there was a chance he might find some. If not, then he might be able to trick somebody, or possibly hit them over the head.

“What now?” he asked.

“We go up and reconnoitre the command deck. I have these to leave behind when we get there.”

She held out four small metal spheres. Each had small bumps and ridges on their surfaces. At her touch, tiny mono-filament spines appeared to unfurl almost transparent wings.

“Bugs,” she said with a bemused smile.

Xenophon hadn’t seen this particular type before, but it had much in common with some of the new developments back home. They were semi-autonomous and could travel short distances before hiding away in the shadows. The wings were an interesting idea, but how effective they would be was of much interest to him.

“Audio only?” he asked.

“Of course not, it’s a full spectrum audio-visual system with a range of fifty metres. All we need to do is get access to one of the main corridor that serves the command deck.”

“Didn’t you say they are keeping prisoners nearby?” he asked.

“Yes, that is right, but we need information before we can act.”

She tensed herself and then ran to the wall, jumping at it. With great skill, she bumped off the wall and higher up to the ceiling to reach the grab handles. She hung like an acrobat with both of her hands wrapped around the metal. Just one tug and the short extending ladder dropped down a metre so that he could reach it. Artemas launched herself up the ladder and deactivated the seal, forcing it open with a hiss. She was already through before Xenophon even had his hands on the rungs.

“Well, you coming?” she asked coyly.

She moved up into the blackness of the hatch, giving Xenophon a fleeting glimpse of her legs as she wriggled her way inside. He couldn’t deny she was one of the most unusual and agile people he had ever met. He glanced around to check they were not being followed and pulled himself up after the strange Median woman.

Laconian Titan ‘Valediction’, Aronton Sector

Clearchus, Lord Cyrus and a dozen senior officers stood on the command deck, each watching the final destruction of the small mechanised defenders. The Virtual Observation System (VOB) gave them all the sensation they were floating, almost like demi-gods, above the destruction of the ships. Terran heavy cruisers had surrounded the last two ships and were quickly cutting them apart with their powerful beam weapons. Clearchus looked to the assembled group and grinned, his entire body shaking with enjoyment.

“This, gentlemen, is how we Terrans deal with robotic defence systems.”

Lord Cyrus looked uncomfortable at the enjoyment the humans seemed to be taking at the expense of the defence systems. It wasn’t that he had feelings one way or another, but it was that he knew their pleasure derived from knowing they had bested Median technology and by extension, himself.

“Perhaps you might be able to achieve the same level of success against an intelligent opponent rather than simple machines? You do realise these are mere guardians against pirates and raiders. They are not for fighting conventional military forces.”

The Terrans continued to laugh and joke between themselves, and the destruction of the last two ships lasted just a few more seconds. With the final explosions, came the shutting down of their automated jammers.

“Strategos, we have a clear signal through to Ariaeus,” said the Auletes.

Clearchus nodded in pleasure.

“Excellent, put him through on the main screen.”

Lord Cyrus motioned towards the Laconian commander, but he either didn’t see him, or chose to ignore him. The video feed from the station filled most of the main screen, and it gave an odd look to the deck, the screen to the centre and the VOB system all around them. Cyrus felt a little queasy at the visual and sensory overload he experienced. Ariaeus was already speaking before he was able to reassert himself. He stepped closer to the display and interrupted the violent discussion between him and Clearchus.

“Ariaeus, I’m glad to see that you are well. What are you doing on the station and more importantly, where are your ships?”

“Lord Cyrus,” he replied, bowing in an extravagant fashion, much to the amusement of the assembled Terrans. The Medes moved with the grace and elegance that every Laconian on the deck considered to be feminine.

“Upon my arrival, we conducted a series of scans to establish the viability of harvesting resources for the fleet. We were about to contact you when the sentry fleet and base turned on us. I lost three ships in the first minute and was about to withdraw when I picked up the signal.”

His statement surprised everybody, including Clearchus. Lord Cyrus looked to the Laconian with a raised eyebrow and then looked back to Ariaeus.

“I see, go on.”

Ariaeus signalled to somebody out of sight, and a few seconds later a Median nobleman appeared. Even the Terrans recognised the clothing and lavish decorations on the man that marked him out as nobility.

“Menon?” asked Cyrus in surprise.

The stranger bowed, though by no means as low and as over the top as the bow of Ariaeus. Clearchus racked his brain, trying as hard as he could to remember the lineage of Cyrus, but the name still made little difference to him. Cyrus continued speaking with him when Kybernetes Ditha Artell approached. He stood to the side of the Laconian leader and handed him a small electronic slate. Clearchus glanced down to see an image of the newcomer, along with critical information direction from the Laconian Intelligence Archive. The part that caught his attention was that the man was flagged as a rogue Satrap of one of the inner provinces. The last data said he had been operating a unit of Median corsairs out on the border. He looked to the conversation and listened carefully.

“My Lord, the Imperial Fleet has been sent away for manoeuvres. I don’t know what is happening, but it appears they are massing for a major exercise.”

Clearchus was already suspicious of Ariaeus, and this new character did nothing but heighten his doubts about everything the Medes said to him. He lifted his hand and jumped into the conversation.

“Menon, what about the defence of this area? Why is it so insignificant? Surely a resupply station this far inside the Maelstrom should expect a reasonable defensive force?”

Menon ignored him and looked to Cyrus. Clearchus fumed at the insult, but the Medes commander could see what was happening and instantly diffused the situation.

“Answer him,” he snapped.

“My lord, this site is insignificant to the Empire. We have hundreds, no, thousands of similar sites all around the Empire. Nothing more than remote sentries and combat drones are needed for their defence.”

Clearchus snorted in derision.

“Really? I suppose Ariaeus was unable to overcome them, though they put up little resistance to our forces. Even so, where is the rest of your fleet, Ariaeus?”