Hers to Command (14 page)

“
Admiral Lockwood, Conte DeTano would like to meet with you, privately, at the first opportunity. Name the time and place. He will be there.”

“
How do I know you are who you say you are?” She would not put anything past Herrimon Augoust.

There was
a sound of amusement from the other side of the room. “His lordship said to tell you he will forever associate
chaleureuse
brandy with an intimate portion of your anatomy.”

She choked on a laugh but sobered
in the next breath. She thought for a moment. “All right. Tell Ari, the Clasterine Orchid Pagoda. Eastern end of the public gardens. Tomorrow. Nuovo Terra Solar 630 hours.”
It will be good to see him again.

“
Thank you, Admiral. Now, please leave the room. Shut the door behind you.”

Charise heard the lock slide home as she closed the door.
By the time she had it reopened, he had vanished. She made no attempt to have the grounds searched. They wouldn’t find him.
Damned Verdantian assassin could infiltrate anything.
A chill ran over her. Had DeLorion wanted her dead, she would be. Her
emitter
lay on the bed pillow.

* * * * *

In his opulent apartment on Raegill II, Augoust slowly sipped his drug-laced brew. He didn’t think he could be in the same room with Krakoll without some tempering of his terror. With the message to expect the Haarb leader, his bowels had threatened to disgrace him. The first drugged cup had done little to blunt his hysteria so he had poured another. Now, with reality pleasantly distanced, he could face Krakoll.

“Tell me you have succeeded, Herrimon. I want control of that planet.” The Haarb leader stepped out of the deep shadow that had hidden him. “The LFP has cost me a fortune in
cinnagin
.”

“Krakoll!” Augoust transferred his cup to his other hand and swiped at the brew spilled down the front of his jacket. “Yes. Yes. I am sending my personal militia planetside. They will replace the LFP’s ground marines. We will have no problem with a military take over. The
Verdantians won’t even know it is happening.”

Krakoll’s snake-like eyes examined the Nuovo Terra council head. His lips curled in disgust. “You are drugged.” He spat a stream of brown liquid out the side of his mouth. “That will stop until you have delivered Verdantia to me.”

“Just a little
Ardamonian
spice. Surely, there is no harm in that.”

“You whimpering slug. I am beginning to doubt your usefulness.”

“No! No! Krakoll. I have done what you asked, The LFP will deliver Verdantia to you and it will not cost you a thing! It is only a matter of a few weeks.” Herrimon felt the sweat rolling off him. His knees trembled and the room spun. Perhaps that second cup had been ill advised.

“The vote to make them a protectorate is just a matter of time. When I am the
Protectorate General
, all obstacles will be gone.” Augoust’s voice trailed off as Krakoll approached him.

“I am not a patient being, Herrimon. You won’t have another chance. Fail me this time and I will find you. You
cannot run far enough to hide from me.”

The blood drained
from Augoust’s extremities as he watched the Haarb leader bare his pointed teeth in a parody of a smile. “You were unexpectedly entertaining, Herrimon. I would keep you alive for a while.”

The council head lost the fight with his nausea as the Haarb leader slipped back out and disappeared. When he could finally stop retching up the contents of his stomach, he sent for his secretary.

“Yes, sir, you need me?”

“Clean that up
, then call Captain Oestral. Send him to my office. I am going to change.”

Augoust collapsed in his office chair
, almost too weak to control his tremors. The universal credit chips stacked on the desktop in front of him would purchase a small country. Certainly they would guarantee that a particularly troublesome admiral would cease to bother him.

A mercenary captain with a reputation that would
have him killed on sight on most planets in the charted systems paused in the doorway. “What do you want?”

“Not very respectful for a purchased talent, Captain Oestral. I suggest you amend your tone.”

“What do you want,
Councilor
?”

He chose to ignore the sneer. “I need a person to become gone.”

“Who?”

“Admiral Charise Lockwood.”

“No.”

Augoust pursed his lips. “The five hundred thousand in universal credits stacked in front of me say
yes
. They are yours if she ceases to bother me in the next three days. But, Captain, it cannot be traced back to me.”

“Five hundred thousand.”

“Yes. Five hundred thousand.”

Oestral walked over to the desktop and slid the credits into his hand.

* * * * *

Ari
watched the sunrise filtered through the leaves of the small pagoda. The exquisite little structure was tucked away into an obscure niche in the large public gardens surrounding the government buildings on Raegill II. Heavy flower-bedecked vines wove through the latticed walls, perfuming the air and enclosing the small pagoda with a veil of seclusion. It was perfect for a lover's tryst, or anything else requiring privacy.
Ah, here she is.

Lockwood entered through the other archway, throwing back the hood of her long cloak.
Her expression was sober. She stopped, considering, her eyes taking him in.

“
I kept telling myself my memory was at fault. No one could be as gorgeous as I remembered you.” Charise Lockwood's mouth quirked up wryly. “There is nothing wrong with my memory. How are you, Aristos?”

He smiled and crossed to meet her, stopping and picking up her hand.
He pressed a kiss on its back then held it lightly against his chest.

“
I am well. Time has bypassed you entirely, Charise. I trust Fleet Captain Ardain's efforts put that youthful blossom on your face?”

She shook her head, disbelieving.
“I keep no secrets from you, do I? How is it you know about Micheol?”

“
I make it a point to stay current on the whispers circulating that concern the LFP's fleet officers.” He released her hand and took a few steps to gaze out the latticework. “I am sincerely glad you found someone who appreciates you.” Ari glanced back at Charise with a warm smile.

The admiral looked abashed.
“It seems you raised appetites in me I didn't know I had. When you had to leave, it was difficult to go back to my staid lifestyle. Mic was an answered prayer.”

“
You don't need to explain, Charise. You deserve only good things.”

Ari
and Charise exchanged affectionate glances before Lockwood teased, “So, Ari, who is this angel with the courage to take
you
on 'till death do us part'?”

He threw his head back and laughed.
“Fleur is no angel, more like a she-devil. She is terribly young, painfully brave, amazingly competent. You will like her, Charise. The
L’anziano
, our genetic council, arranged my marriage to her when I was sixteen. My fault that fifteen years passed.” He smiled ruefully. “I ran like the demon-wolves from the seven hells were tracking me. But it is a long story for another day.” He sobered.

“
I asked you here because I am concerned about the Council's recent activities, Charise—the covert ones.”

“
Precisely what activities?”

He
turned away from her and carefully scanned out the archway, keeping an eye open for unwelcome company.

“
You moved two heavy battle cruisers into our orbital space and held several secret meetings of the LFP council heads regarding Verdantia's status as a LFP member. I would very much like to know what was said in those meetings.”

Charise shook her head, disgusted.
“I
really
need to stop underestimating your sources for intelligence.

Ari,
there is a war for power going on among the Council Chairs. Herrimon Augoust is assembling a cadre of supporters with a very different agenda from what the Council publically states it will be. He is arguing that the military support for Verdantia is ruinously expensive, given the uncertain return. He maintains that what remains of your government is unable to adequately administer our repayment or enforce our trade agreement. He wants to see the LFP revoke voting-partner status for Verdantia and place you as a non-voting protectorate. He argues the Haarb de-stabilized Verdantia to the point where social order is in chaos and you would be better served as a protectorate of the LFP.”

“
Of course,” Ari said bitterly. “Then the LFP would step in to ‘re-structure’ our government and ‘re-establish’ social order.” He eyed her grimly. “Augoust would designate himself as Protectorate General. He might as well crown himself King of Verdantia. We would no longer be self-governing. And as to the re-establishment of social order? Augoust would make certain that didn't happen.”

Lockwood nodded.
“And line his pockets accordingly. Well cloaked under ‘let’s help the poor Verdantians’. The outcome is still very much up in the air. The vote will occur sometime after the reception on Verdantia for the LFP Council Chairs; our Secretary General wanted to see, first hand, what conditions were like before he voted.” She paused, her lips pursed. “I am very concerned, though. It will come as no surprise to you that several of the initial dissenters reconsidered after receiving a large monetary incentive, quite under the table, of course. While I cannot prove it, I strongly suspect Augoust is being funded by the Haarb.” She crossed her arms and paced several steps, only to stop and face him again. “The two heavy battle cruisers contain fresh squadrons to 'relieve' those currently planetside. Augoust knows those planetside squadrons and their commanders are of compromised loyalty to the LFP.” Lockwood gazed, unseeing, out the archway. Her mouth quirked up in a brief, sardonic smile. “Seems a certain Conte DeTano is very popular among the ranks. There is a question as to whose side the ground-based commanders would choose, should they be forced to it.”

Charise leveled a concerned look at him.
“I can do nothing about it, Ari. Herrimon 'volunteered' his territorial militia. He must feel very certain of his support. He is picking up the cost.”

He
listened in grim silence.

She stood and thought for a few moments.
“I would feel vastly more comfortable if Verdantia could defend herself. I have great faith you will reorganize your government, given adequate time.” She eyed him in question. “Can the sigil tower grid be made operational again? Any outside attack could be repulsed if those energy walls surrounding Sylvan Mintoth could be extended to the entire planet.”

“
No.” He adamantly rejected Fleur's participation in another
Great Rite,
not even to stymie the plans of Herrimon Augoust.

“
Why not, Ari?” she pressed. “You revitalized the Sylvan Mintoth sigil. Can’t your
magisters
, or whoever, work whatever damnable ‘magick rites’ necessary to power up those other sigil towers?
Your High Enclave has these strange rites using some kind of ‘magickal’ hocus-pocus. Use one of them.”

“
Charise, the
L’anziano
geneticists bred
us for over five hundred years to get fifty females with the right gene to interact with the planet.
Fifty
, Charise, in the entire population who could, with the right partner and
cinnagin
, energize the
diamantorre
sigil towers.

“
To bring up the entire grid would require performing the
Great Rite
in each of the thirty-five towers, a difficult task with
fifty
female, seventh-level
magistras
. It is impossible with one, poorly prepared, fifth-level. It was a miracle she lasted long enough to re-energize Sylvan Mintoth’s sigil. I refuse to risk her again.” He looked at Charise grimly. “It was not by chance the Haarb murdered our women. The loss to Verdantia…” He shook his head, his expression bleak.

“
I am sorry, Ari. The LFP should have moved faster.” The admiral cast him a pained look.

“
I cannot risk her, Charise. She…” He pressed his lips together in a tight line and shook his head, looking away. “She matters to me. I will not risk her, not even to stop Herrimon.”

“
As I said, the decision has not been made. Circumstances can still change.” Charise moved to stand beside him and looked out onto the greenways of the public gardens. She stroked his back. “I will do what I can to help you, Ari.”