Empire of Bones (11 page)

Kelsey rubbed her temples. “The irony makes my head ache. I’ve been an insufferable bitch to Jared for almost my entire life because my father cheated on my mother. Now I find out my mother did the exact same thing. She didn’t know about Father’s infidelity at the time, so it wasn’t even a case of revenge. That’s rich.

“I’ve had a hard time forgiving my father for what he did. Now I have to start over with my mother. She had to have wondered if we were his. What woman wouldn’t connect the dots with the timing? Her outrage at his indiscretion really burns me up. She made such a spectacle of playing the injured spouse. God, that’s infuriating!” Kelsey was so angry that she felt her eyes tearing up.

The doctor again took Kelsey’s hand into hers. “I’m so sorry to have been the messenger of this bad news.”

Kelsey wiped at her tears and squeezed the woman’s hand. “It’s not your fault. No one on this ship is responsible. I have plenty of time to contemplate what to do about it later. What can you tell me about Carlo?”

Stone released Kelsey’s hand. “That’s more complex. The precise cause of death was an acute myocardial infarction. Even if he’d been standing in the medical center, I probably wouldn’t have been able to save his life. There was nothing you could’ve done.”

“What about the indigestion? Was that a symptom?”

“It often is, but in his case it wasn’t because of the heart attack. The complexity came into play when I started looking for the cause of the heart attack. It turns out he somehow suffered an overdose of a chemical agent. One he shouldn’t have had contact with under any circumstances I can imagine. I don’t even believe there is any of this substance on this ship.”

Kelsey shook her head. “Hold up. Are you saying he was poisoned?”

“Possibly.” The doctor softened her tone, “Who might have wanted him dead?”

A wave of nausea washed over Kelsey. “I have no idea. He got along with everyone we met. Can you tell when it happened?”

“I’m still working on that angle. It’s possible he consumed the poison at breakfast. Did you eat with him that morning?”

She shook her head. “I was up late, so he went over without me. I’m not a morning person. I think he was over on
Best Deal
for a briefing with Jared.”

Stone nodded. “I’ll ask the Captain when I update him on this in a few minutes. There’s going to be a full investigation. If this was murder, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

They talked a little longer, but Kelsey eventually excused herself. She needed to mull over everything she’d just learned.

She retreated to an out of the way spot she’d discovered—the navigator’s cubby. The small chamber was little more than a seat and console within a concave bubble. The view was extraordinary and it never seemed occupied. It probably existed in case there was some kind of major systems failure.

She strapped herself into the seat and raised it into an extended position, giving her a near 360-degree view. The sea of stars washed over her, dim until her eyes adjusted to the faint light. The view never failed to make her feel insignificant. Particularly so today.

The news about Carlo stunned her, but she kept thinking about her parentage. Was keeping silent the right decision? No one had found out in over twenty years. Given her family’s position, the odds were very good they wouldn’t ever find out.

Yet, did she have the right to keep that information from Ethan? He tended to be something of an ass at times, but he was her brother.

It would wreck him. He’d tied his whole identity to his position as Imperial Heir. To say he wouldn’t take the news well was a profound understatement.

For her, it wasn’t that important. She never expected to inherit the Throne. That was someone else’s job. She cared much more about her family bonds than her social status.

Did this change everything for her?

Perhaps not. Her father and mother loved her, and she loved them, even if she was furious with Mother right now. The doctor was right. If she ended up separated from an Imperial title it wouldn’t change who she was. Father wouldn’t toss her out the door. Based on how he treated Jared, the news wouldn’t alter his behavior one bit.

However, the Imperial Senate would strip Ethan of his position. She had no idea who they’d replace him with. Neither did they, she was sure. Although they might all refer to one another as good friends and colleagues, the fractures in the Senate were deeply divisive. A vote to remove the confirmed Heir would take a two-thirds majority. So would approving another Heir.

They might agree on removing a bastard from the succession, especially if he wasn’t the Emperor’s bastard. They’d never agree to a replacement that wasn’t the child of the Emperor. The conservative senators would staunchly favor one of their own, as would the social liberals. Since each had more than a third of the membership in the Senate, there would be no compromise. Goodness knows how long that stalemate would last.

Even if they did settle their grievances, they would probably install a Senator as the Heir. A disastrous precedent. A coup in everything but name. She’d spent her life learning that the needs of the Empire were more important than her own.

No good could come of letting the truth out. She had to keep the knowledge to herself. She couldn’t allow her father to know. He’d feel obliged to make the knowledge public. Just look at what he’d done with Jared for example.

Ethan would act out in some way if he found out. She knew it. He was entirely too impulsive and ruled by his emotions when he felt threatened or slighted. So she could never tell him, either.

Jared would probably keep the knowledge to himself, but she couldn’t be certain of that. He had his own version of honor and he hated being the Imperial Bastard. No, she could only trust herself…and Doctor Stone…to keep the secret.

“Ambassador Bandar, please report to the bridge.”

The voice from the console startled her. She touched the now glowing icon to acknowledge the page with an acceptance signal. The man who’d called would see that she’d responded.

The call likely meant that Jared was ready to fill her in on his plans. Or he’d talked to Stone about Carlo Vega. She’d find out soon enough.

Jared had just finished giving his orders to Ramirez and was watching the ship begin moving toward the flip point as Kelsey walked onto the bridge. He gestured for her to join him at his console. He looked furious.

“Doctor Stone just left. She told me you know what she found.”

Kelsey’s expression darkened. “About Carlo. Yes. It’s horrible. Who would do such a thing?”

“We don’t know. Yet. You can rest assured that we won’t stop looking until we do. A destroyer doesn’t need a security department like
Orbital One
, but we have some qualified people. Since he ate breakfast with me on Best Deal, it may take quite a while to determine exactly what happened.”

Though Jared had a few ideas. He suspected the situation was more complex than it appeared. Since Kelsey hadn’t been spending time with him, she didn’t know one critical piece of information. Vega had brought a gift for Jared from the Imperial Family: candies from a specialty house. Unfortunately, Jared secretly hated coconut.

Or perhaps fortunately. At least for him.

He’d taken advantage of Kelsey’s absence to tell Vega to enjoy them with his compliments. He’d watched the man have one that morning. Now Jared suspected someone had poisoned at least one of the treats and that Jared had been the intended target.

Stone hadn’t been able to tell if the poison had been in any specific food and Jared had no proof that Crown Prince Ethan wanted him dead.

Allowing his suspicions into the record would have any number of negative consequences. Kelsey wouldn’t believe her brother was a killer. No loyal Imperial citizen would imagine the Heir to the Throne as a murder. Especially with nothing but the word of the Imperial Bastard.

Jared would let the investigation go forward and let it come to its own conclusions. He’d searched for any remaining candies, but Vega must’ve eaten them all. Based on how they were packaged, the fatal dose would’ve probably been in the last few pieces. No evidence left to link the poison to the true killer that way.

Maybe his people would find a surprise on Best Deal. Someone who secretly hated Vega. Not likely, but possible. That would be the best possible outcome. Otherwise, Jared would be watching his back for the rest of his life once they made it back home.

He pushed the thoughts out of his head. He had more pressing things to deal with. “In the meantime, we’re going through the flip point. The plan is to take
Athena
across and send word back via probe. They’re based on standard data drones, and still have the communication and data storage equipment installed.”

Communication drones routinely flipped back and forth at the major flip points throughout the Empire, accepting data transmissions and sending them on at the other side. They couldn’t do many flips without maintenance and recharging, so the Empire didn’t use them in less traveled areas. Though that might change if they found anything half as interesting as he imagined they might on this trip.

“I’ve got a cutter standing by to take you over to
Best Deal
,” he continued. “They’ll follow once
Athena
is safely over.”

Kelsey shook her head. “I’m assigned here and I’ll go across with you.”

Her answer set him back for a moment. She’d been so cooperative the other day that he’d forgotten how willful she could be. This was more like the Kelsey he knew.

“That’s not open to negotiation, Kelsey.”

“Ambassador Bandar in this case, Captain. I’ve reviewed Ambassador Vega’s orders. The Ambassador goes wherever this ship does. Those orders fall to me now. I’m sorry if I seem obstinate.”

He considered arguing, but he was honest enough to admit that she was probably within her rights. “Let’s hope we don’t regret that decision.” He raised his voice. “Zia, have the cutter pilot stand down. She won’t be needed after all.”

“Yes, sir,” she responded. “We’re inside the flip point.”

“Helm, bring us to a stop in the center.”

Lieutenant Ramirez touched his console. “All stop, Captain. Flip drive standing by.”

“Ambassador,” Jared said formally. “We are prepared to flip. Please strap in to one of the observation seats.”

Kelsey did so without any fuss. She sat facing the screen with her hands folded on her lap when she finished securing her belt.

Jared opened the ship wide channel. “All hands, this is the Captain. We’re about to flip to an unexplored system through an untested flip point. Secure your sections and report to operations when you’re ready.”

“Where is Commander Graves?” Kelsey asked.

“His battle station is in the operations center. On a destroyer, that means a three-man backup control room. If something disastrous happens to us, he’ll assume command. Otherwise he’s responsible for supporting us while we control the ship.”

On a larger ship, they’d have a dedicated staff to interpret the scanner readings and help keep the Captain informed about the tactical situation, but a destroyer really didn’t need that level of support. Admittedly, it would have been helpful in this case.

Perhaps a light cruiser would be a better choice for future missions. The improved command and control systems would be a plus. And more missile tubes never hurt.

“Bridge, this is operations,” Graves said over the communications link. “All departments report ready to flip.”

“Thanks, Charlie.” Jared nodded to Ramirez. “Give us a thirty second warning and flip the ship.”

“Aye, sir.”

The flip warning sounded from the overheads. The countdown went by silently until Ramirez spoke again. “Flipping the ship.”

A normal flip was over in less time than a person could detect, though it didn’t feel instantaneous. It disrupted people’s equilibrium for a few moments, which was why everyone strapped in before a flip. Once that effect passed, everything was back to normal before the helm officer announced they had made it.

This flip was anything but normal.

According to Jared’s inner ear, some giant hand picked up the ship and spun it like a top. As the ship reeled, he felt glad he’d strapped in. He would’ve fallen out of his seat if he hadn’t. The sensation persisted and he almost lost his lunch. Someone did, although he couldn’t to tell whom. The dull sound of them retching and the smell almost pushed him into joining them.

He forced himself to focus on his console. They’d completed the flip and were floating in a new system. Obviously. If they hadn’t made it all the way, he probably wouldn’t be feeling so terrible. The ship’s status was still green so the mechanical parts of the ship had made it just fine.

“Flip complete,” Ramirez gasped. “Holy God. I feel like someone kicked me in the…well, you know.”

Jared most certainly did. The nausea was actually very similar to that event, though the disorientation wasn’t. He pushed the feelings to the back of his mind and focused on his job. “Operations, I want a status on every person onboard.”

“Aye, Captain.” Graves sounded just as bad as Jared felt.

A glance over at Kelsey revealed that it had been her he’d heard retching. She sat bent over and holding her gut.

He unbuckled his restraint and staggered to his feet. He managed to make it to her side without falling over. “You okay?”

She looked up, her eyes not really focused. “That sucked.”

He chuckled ruefully. “Indeed. Chin up. It’ll wear off.”

Jared found some rags in the emergency repairs cubby and cleaned up the vomit. He could’ve called someone to take care of it, but his people had more important things to do. The rags went into the disposal bin. The life support system quickly whisked the sour odor away.

He held himself upright against the bulkhead and verified everyone else seemed to be recovering. He made it back over to his chair without mishap and sighed gratefully as he strapped himself back in.

“Bridge, this is operations,” Graves said. “All hands are accounted for. A few will be going to the medical center when someone can help them, but everyone is conscious and responsive.”