Empire of Bones (6 page)

He swept the room with his gaze. “I don’t expect you to run into trouble you can’t handle, but if you do, I expect you to be prudent. Retreat if there is danger beyond your ability to handle. The Empire needs to know what you find. If things really go into the toilet, the science ship will retreat while the destroyer provides cover. Understood?”

Once they had all muttered their understanding, he turned off the screen. “The Terran Empire is proud of each of you. You’re our best and brightest. I have no doubt you’ll make us proud. Good luck. Dismissed. Commander Mertz, a moment.”

Charlie leaned over as he rose to his feet. “I’ll get the marines to organize a rescue party if you’re not back to the ship in half an hour.”

“Thanks,” Jared muttered.

Once everyone else had left the room, the admiral took a seat beside him at the table. “Would you care to explain your tardiness?”

“I have no excuses, sir.”

Yeats’ expression cracked a little, allowing a small smile through. “You sound just like your father when you say that. It’s a bit uncanny. I’m not looking for an excuse, just an explanation.”

Jared took a deep breath. “Dinner went much better than I anticipated and I stayed very late. I missed the first shuttle and the departing shipyard crew delayed me. I’m sorry, sir.”

The admiral’s smile widened. “That’s excellent news. I officially retract my disapproval. Hell, you could’ve missed this briefing and I’d still be happy to hear things are improving on that front. Might I ask what happened to make things better?”

“Princess Kelsey expressed an interest in the expedition. She wanted to hear everything I could tell her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she started working on an angle to help with future expeditions.”

“I hope she does. An Imperial patron would be helpful in a number of ways. She could help shepherd an increased budget through the tight-fisted old men in the Imperial Senate. Of course, a major find by any of the teams will spark a full-blown follow-up and have incalculable benefit for Fleet.”

Admiral Yeats rose and Jared stood. He clapped his hand on Jared’s shoulder. “I wish you the very best of luck, Commander. Go bring home the bacon, and bring your people back with it.”

“Yes, sir.”

He followed the admiral out of the briefing room and fought the crowds toward the upper levels of the orbital.
Athena’s
cutter waited there. The rest of the crew was already aboard ship so he was the only passenger.

The trip was brief. He took a moment to admire
Athena’s
lines through the port.
Athena
was only a destroyer, so she looked like a toy beside
Best Deal
, the converted freighter housing the science teams.

Freighters needed to be large to carry as much cargo as possible between systems. It stretched 3,500 meters and looked like a block 450 meters wide and tall. It displaced millions of tons and could only crawl along under that tremendous load, even with upgraded drives.

The labs only took up a small amount of that vast space. They’d left the remaining cargo areas as-is to carry any recovered artifacts. Six cargo shuttles seemed like overkill to Jared, but the ship normally carried them as well as two civilian personnel cutters. Jared had to admit they might come in handy.

The freighter normally flew with thirty officers, and three hundred and seventy crewmembers, but that took a full load of cargo into account. The Captain of
Best Deal
had released two hundred of his crew slots to the science teams. That made the remaining crew grumble, but if push came to shove, they could compel the scientists into manual labor. Although Jared was sure doing so would cause innumerable complaints.

Athena
might look like a minnow beside
Best Deal
, but she was a deadly one. She was a mere six hundred meters in length. Her hull was one hundred and twenty meters across and eighty tall. Her crew compliment was much larger than the size difference would suggest, with twenty-one Fleet officers and two hundred and twenty nine crewmembers. The ship also had a detachment of thirty marines to provide armed personnel.

She also had twice the speed of the massive freighter. This meant that she could make the journey to the target star system in a little over two weeks if traveling alone.

Thankfully, the flip points in a system were usually just outside the system’s habitable zone. If they were further out the trip would take even longer.

The placement had something to do with the mass of the host stars, but that didn’t seem to dictate the number of flip points in a system. It made cosmologists a little crazy because no one really knew why only some stars had them. If someone ever figured out that mystery, he or she would win the Lucien Prize for sure.

The cutter maneuvered adroitly to the forward docking port assigned it and mated with hardly a bump. Jared waited for the light over the lock to go green and entered his ship.
Athena
had three personnel cutters and two marine combat pinnaces. The marine small craft berthed at the aft of the ship near marine country. Up front, the cutters took up three of the four docks. The fourth was for visiting vehicles.

The closest lift took him to the bridge in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t in the nose of the ship as the entertainment vids liked to portray, but in the ship’s center. Command and control needed to be one of the most protected areas of the ship—not because the commander was more important, but because loss of control meant probable death in combat.

Not that he’d ever been in real combat. No living Fleet officer had.

Helm and tactical took up the front of the bridge. His console was in the center of the compartment and three unattended consoles faced to the rear and side of the oval chamber. Extra crew could staff those positions if something happened to the main consoles, but they typically housed observers.

It was a much tighter fit than in the vids, too. Barely seven meters long and five wide. A heavy cruiser’s bridge was about twice that size.

Graves stood as Jared entered. “You made it back alive, I see. I was just about to send the marines.”

Jared smiled and took the seat his XO had just vacated. “It was a close thing, let me tell you. What’s our status?”

“All personnel are present. The last load of supplies came on board five minutes ago.
Best Deal
is running behind. Of course. Things seem a little disorganized over there. Captain Keller said they would be ready in ten minutes.”

That likely meant fifteen or twenty minutes. Anything that had to do with the civilian scientists seemed to be prone to delays.

Jared shook his head with a smile. “There’s no use pushing for them to go faster. That would slow them down even more. I can’t wait to see the first emergency drill over there.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “No kidding. People running in every direction and some not bothering to go to emergency stations at all. Too busy with real work to be playing sailor. It’ll be a real laugh.”

“I wouldn’t start chuckling just yet. I’m sending you over to set it up and grade the results. Then you’ll work with Captain Keller to get a training plan in place to see they get better. If things go to hell, I don’t want them killing themselves.”

“Thanks,” Charlie muttered.

Lieutenant Anderson turned toward them. “Captain, there is a cutter requesting permission to dock. It says they have a couple of late arriving crewmen.”

Jared arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said everyone was aboard, XO. Did you misplace someone?”

Graves looked puzzled. “Everyone
is
accounted for.”

“Zia, who are the crewmen?”

She spoke into her headset. “They say they have the diplomatic representatives on board.”

Jared brought up the crew manifest on his console. No diplomatic representatives. According to his orders, he’d be representing the Empire if need be. “Permission to dock is granted. I’ll go down myself and find out what’s going on. Charlie, you have the bridge.”

“Aye, sir.”

Jared took the lift back down to the forward docking bay. He heard the muffled clank of the cutter docking just as he arrived. A bit of cold mist puffed out of the lock as the interior and exterior doors slid open. A crewmember in a dark grey flight suit stepped out and saluted him, right fist to chest. He’d just returned it when two other people followed the man out.

Jared didn’t know the gentleman in the lead, but he looked like a diplomat. Tall, his dark hair shaded with distinguished gray, and impeccably dressed. However, the young woman behind him was all too familiar.

“Princess Kelsey,” Jared growled. “What are you doing here?”

Kelsey made certain to keep Carlo Vega between Jared and herself. The diplomat didn’t react to her half-brother’s expression as he held out his hand. “Captain Mertz. So kind of you to meet us. I’m Ambassador Carlo Vega from the Department of Imperial Affairs. I’ll be your diplomatic attaché on this voyage of discovery.

He stepped to the side, exposing Kelsey. “I believe you know my assistant, Kelsey Bandar. For the duration of our assignment, she will not be acting in her Imperial capacity. Rather she will operate solely as Deputy Ambassador.”

Jared’s face clouded even further. “This isn’t a casual trip through the park, Ambassador Vega. It has the potential to be very dangerous. I cannot be responsible for a member of the Imperial Family under these conditions, no matter how they choose to style themselves.”

A mulish expression settled across her face, although she tried to fight it. “I apologize for the surprise, but this matter is settled. I’m staying.”

“The devil it is. I cannot be responsible for your safety in this environment, Your Highness. You’re leaving, even if I have to strap you into that cutter myself.” Jared assured her. He looked like he’d do it, too. She’d never seen him so angry.

Vega’s bland expression didn’t flicker at their exchange. “I’m afraid this assignment isn’t open to debate, Captain. These orders come directly from his Imperial Majesty. All four expeditions are receiving experienced diplomats and young people with extensive negotiating experience to train in this role for future missions.”

As two crewmen wheeled a cart full of luggage from the cutter and began unloading it on the deck as, Jared swore creatively. Kelsey made note of some of the catchier phrases for personal use later.

“This is madness,” her half-brother finally managed. “What if she’s injured or killed? She’s second in line to the Imperial Throne!”

Vega smiled. “And I believe her father was a Fleet officer when he was Heir to that very throne. He understands the dangers inherent to her making this voyage. No fault will attach to you or Fleet if such a tragedy were to happen.”

“I am well aware of the risks as well,” Kelsey said. “I’m fulfilling my duty to the Empire just like you are, Jared.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, possibly counting to ten. “Fine. I’ll see that we assign appropriate quarters to you. But I want to make a few things very clear.”

He stepped into Kelsey’s personal space and stared down at her. It took a great deal of willpower not to step back. “This is my ship. I am the commander of this mission. You may be an Imperial Princess, but on my ship you will obey my orders. I will not tolerate disobedience or disrespect of any kind. You are subject to the same rules and expectations as the rest of my crew. Do you understand me, Deputy Ambassador Bandar?”

She opened her mouth to say something, but Vega cut her off. “Yes, Captain. We understand completely. I accept full responsibility for educating Deputy Ambassador Bandar on the behavior required of her.”

Not bothering to hide the doubt on his face, Jared stepped back. “See that you do, Ambassador. How many guards has she brought with her?”

“None. When I said she wasn’t acting as an Imperial Princess, I wasn’t kidding. And before you offer, she will not need any marines to act in that capacity. We trust this environment to be free of that kind of threat.”

Jared shook his head. “More madness. Very well then, I’ll send some crewmembers to get you settled in. Report to the Executive Officer once you’ve stowed your belongings.”

He turned on his heel and stormed to the lift without any parting pleasantries. That was probably for the best.

Kelsey had never seen that side of her half-brother before. Gone was the polite officer that came to visit a few times a year. Missing was the man who’d accepted her cold anger and indignant distain without a word in his own defense. The intimidating man she’d just seen was no less a ruler than her father inside this, his domain.

Vega turned to her as the crewmembers from the cutter brought out the last of their luggage. “I trust you see how serious Captain Mertz is. He’ll be looking for any reason to drop you off in a life pod and let someone else pick you up, so you’d best keep that sharp tongue of yours under firm control, Kelsey.”

“I have no intention of getting crossways with my half-brother, Carlo. I’ll behave.”

“And that is your first mistake. Listen to me very carefully. Forget that man is your half-brother. We are no longer in your domain. Captain Mertz is now God and his Executive Officer is his Prophet. Familiarity is your enemy. If you want to make this assignment work, you need to treat him as a total stranger. Be formal. As far as you are concerned, his first name is now Captain. If it’s a really good day, perhaps ‘sir’ will work.”

“And if he says ‘run’ I ask how fast?”

“No. You don’t say a word. You run as fast as you possibly can. Consider this your first challenge as a diplomat of the Empire. If you avoid getting locked up, you’ll be doing pretty well.”

She pondered that while they waited. The crewmember waved at them and shut the hatch to the cutter. A loud clank announced its departure. A departure that trapped her on a ship with an angry man that didn’t want her anywhere close. She’d best listen to Carlo’s advice and take this very seriously.

They only waited a few minutes before the lift opened again and three men came out. Their uniforms were subtly different from one another. The man in front had the same blue tunic over black pants that Jared…Captain Mertz had worn.