The Price of Conquest

Richard Shaw sat alone in the bridge conference room, elbows propped on the long table, forehead pressed into his palms. He struggled to clear his mind, even for a moment, but the swirl of thoughts and images representing everything that had gone wrong recently refused to be quelled. If only Emre were here to help.

He lifted his head from his hands and frowned.

Emre gone.

Yet another thing to add to his growing list of bad luck: the black ship, the loss of Bryant at Terra, his forces' inability to locate the Arecian Guard's new base of operations, the travesty at Vsuna, returning to Arecia to discover the Guard had destroyed the Liaj armory and made off with a Patrol supply transport. And to top it all off, someone had tried to kill Aidan Terling.

The door from the bridge slid open. Shaw glanced toward it, a rebuke forming on his lips. He had given orders he was not to be disturbed.

Captain Terling stepped into the room, and the door closed behind him. He looked tired and pale, but far better than Shaw would have dared hope given the injury he had reportedly sustained.

"Shouldn't you be in sickbay?" Shaw said, wondering whether to be worried about his friend's health or pleased to see him up and around already.

Terling shrugged gingerly. "I was, but I figured you had me transferred to the Esprit because you wanted to see me."

"Damn it, Aidan!" Shaw snapped, settling on worry. "I had you transferred here to make sure you were getting the best care possible."

"I got great care," Terling said. "Now let's get to work." He pulled out a chair and grimaced.

Shaw started to rise, but Terling shook his head.

"I'm all right." He lowered himself into the chair, his movements slow and careful. "Maybe not one-hundred percent, but well enough to be up and dealing with all the crap that's been going on."

Shaw scowled and settled back into his seat, arms crossed before him. "In that case, let's start with the crap you pulled."

Terling raised an eyebrow. "And that would be…?"

"Ordering your people not to report what happened to you until I got back to Arecia." Shaw stood and started to pace the room, but forced himself to stop. "Don't you think I'd want to know that someone tried to kill you?"

"What if you had known?" Terling asked. "Would you have turned the fleet around and come back to Arecia?"

Shaw gave him a disgruntled look. "Of course not."

"Right," Terling said. "It wouldn't have changed a thing. You had enough to worry about. It's in the past. I'm alive and feeling pretty good, all things considered. You should know it takes more than an amateur stinger like Devin Tyler to take me down. The bastard should've stuck to bounty hunting."

Shaw stared at Terling for a long moment, surprised by his friend's words. "Tyler's the one who shot you?"

Terling nodded. "Didn't you read the report?"

"Not in detail," Shaw admitted. He dropped back into his chair and stared at the tabletop. "Devin Tyler. Damn. You know what this means, don't you?"

"That you pissed Tyler off enough for him to try getting at you through me?"

Shaw shook his head. "No. Devin Tyler doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for him, and revenge doesn't count. What this means is that Gaunis has finally crossed the line. He hired Tyler to kill you."

Terling gave a long, low whistle. "That's one hell of an accusation, Rich. I trust you have evidence to back it up."

"Nothing that would stand up in court, assuming there was a court we could take it to, but everything adds up. After Tyler visited me at Terra, I told Maeller to keep an eye on him. Gaunis showed up at Terra after we left, and Tyler went to see him. Maeller's people lost track of him soon after, and Maeller is certain Gaunis helped him disappear. He's also convinced Tyler is now on Gaunis's payroll. Maeller's not the only source of that information either. I've heard chatter about it within the ranks."

Terling pursed his lips. "Gaunis doesn't want us to get control of the Free Worlds. He knows we'll use them as a power base to challenge him."

The comm chirped. "Admiral?"

Shaw recognized his security chief's voice. "What is it, Maeller?"

"Sir, I know you don't want to be disturbed except in an emergency, but I think this might qualify."

"Go ahead."

"We've just finished processing the prisoners captured during the Guard attack on the weapon transports," Maeller said. "One of them is Kressa Bryant. She's in sickbay now, under guard."

Shaw froze, and an odd mixture of worry and triumph swept through him.

Kressa Bryant, he thought. Here. Aboard the Esprit. Maybe his luck was finally beginning to change.

"Let sickbay know I'm on my way." He stood.

Terling started to rise. "Richard, are you sure—?"

Shaw motioned him back into his seat. "Wait here. This won't take long."

The comm beeped again. "Uh… excuse me, Admiral, sir." It was Lieutenant Teague.

"What is it?" Shaw asked, a new type of worry flaring at the hesitation in his comm officer's voice.

"It's one of the black ships, sir. Stingray One, or so they claim. It's hailing us."

Shaw's shoulders tightened. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. So much for a change of luck.

"I'll be right there." He stepped toward the door, motioning for Terling to follow.

"Sensors," Shaw said as he entered the bridge, "use visual sweep. Find that ship."

It took only a moment to locate the vessel.

The image on the main screen switched to show a black ship hovering in plain view less than fifteen hundred meters off the Esprit's port bow. Unlike the perfect black wedges they had faced at Terra and Vsuna, bare metal patches covered sections of the vessel's hull.

Shaw took a seat in his command chair and studied the image. "Answer their call, Teague."

After a brief moment, a low, restrained voice filled the bridge. "Greetings, Admiral Shaw. This is Jonathan Westlex, captain of Stingray One. You are to order all United Galaxy vessels out of the Arecian system immediately." There was a short pause, barely enough time for a heartbeat, and then the voice returned, its tone far less formal. "Unless there's a hell of a lot of activity in the next ten minutes, Admiral, Arecia will briefly enjoy the light of a second sun. If you think I'm bluffing, I beg you to try me."

Shaw glanced at Terling, expressionless, and switched on the comm at his station. "What about my ground forces, Westlex? You can't seriously expect me to just abandon them."

"We'll arrange a prisoner exchange once you and your ships clear Arecian space. For the present…" Westlex paused. "For the present, tell them to surrender to General Halav Kamick of the—um… of the Free World Confederacy."

Shaw scoffed and touched a button to mute the comm. "Impudent bastard."

"Are you going to do what he says?" Terling asked.

"I don't know," Shaw answered honestly. "I didn't think there really were two black ships, but now I'm not so sure. That must be the ship Gaunis fought at Vsuna. The report he filed said he damaged it. The metal plates could be temporary repairs. Which leaves a second, undamaged vessel out there somewhere."

"I have my doubts about that," Terling said.

"I saw the second black ship at Vsuna."

"Did you?" Terling asked. "Or did you see what they wanted you to see? Your report said the energy readings from the vessel were unusually low. How do you know it wasn't just a sensor image or some other trick?"

Shaw considered his friend's words. Had it all been a ruse? He shook his head. It didn't matter.

"One ship or two, the mines were real, and we've barely begun repairs on the damage they caused. So, we call Westlex's bluff and hope it really is a bluff, or we back off and give up Arecia."

"An interesting dilemma," Terling said.

Shaw looked at the black ship on the screen again.

Without warning, the vessel disappeared.

Shaw's brow furrowed. "What the—?"

"Call from Admiral Gaunis, sir," Teague said.

Shaw turned his head slowly toward his comm officer. "Gaunis? Where is he?"

"The message says the Kinsa's just arrived in the Arecian system, but the coordinates are outside of our sensor range."

"Out of our sensor range," Terling said, "but clearly not out of the black ship's."

Shaw glanced at the viewscreen where the vessel had been a moment before. Was Westlex trying to hide his presence from Gaunis? Or was he simply unwilling—or unable—to face both the Kinsa and the Esprit at the same time?

And what about Gaunis? He had brought the Kinsa into the system out of normal sensor range, which suggested he was worried about what he might find when he arrived. Had his defeat at Vsuna so unnerved him that he was unwilling to chance another encounter with the black ship? And what the hell was he doing in the Arecian system in the first place?

"Put Gaunis on," Shaw said, realizing there was only one way to discover what the man was up to. "Audio only."

A moment later, Gaunis's voice filled the bridge. "I haven't heard from you in some time, Shaw. I was beginning to get concerned."

"What are you doing here, Gaunis?" Shaw made no effort to hide his contempt for the man.

"Now, now, Shaw, I thought we could be civil about this and share. After all, you did pay an unapproved visit to Terra awhile ago. I thought I'd return the favor. Besides, I heard your friend Captain Terling wasn't feeling well. I thought I might be able to assist him until you returned from Vsuna."

Shaw ground his teeth. "Everything is under control," he said, his voice tight.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"So it seems. What happened at Vsuna? I've yet to receive your report."

Terling shook his head and whispered, "No details."

Shaw nodded in agreement. He'd put off sending an official report on the Vsunan incident for the same reason he knew Aiden wanted to keep Gaunis in the dark as long as possible: The less he knew about what was going on with the Free Worlds, the less successful he was likely to be in any further attempts to interfere. However, his presence in the Arecian system indicated his determination to capture at least a few of the worlds for himself had not waned.

"The mission was unsuccessful." Shaw kept his tone neutral as he'd learned to do long ago when reporting unsatisfactory results to a senior officer.

"Ah, well." Gaunis sounded not the least displeased. "What is the situation on Arecia?"

"Excellent." Shaw found it easy to lie to the man. "We just put down a Guard raid on one of our bases. We took prisoners, Kressa Bryant among them. I'll be sending them to Eminence shortly for interrogation."

"So you finally caught up with Bryant? Congratulations." Gaunis paused, and Shaw suspected he was conferring with someone on board the Kinsa. "You'll be pleased to know you'll be rid of her sooner than Eminence."

Shaw sensed one of Gaunis's schemes brewing. He gave Terling a brief glance, and then waited, expectant and tense.

"I'm sending her to Marasyn," Gaunis said.

"What?! You can't do that! I need to question her about the remaining Guard forces, and we need to—"

"Shaw." The threat behind the single word halted his argument.

He drew a deep breath and forced diffidence into his voice. "Yes, sir?"

"Are you questioning my orders?"

"No, sir. I—"

"Good. See that you never do."

Shaw held his tongue, and Terling gave him a tight, supportive smile.

"The th'Maran leader has requested the presence of a few humans on Marasyn," Gaunis said. "Who better to send than Bryant and a couple of her Guard friends? Let the th'Maran worry about them. The other prisoners can tell us everything she could.

"Besides," Gaunis continued in a friendly, conspiratorial tone, "shipping the prisoners off to Marasyn will guarantee they'll never bother us again. We're finished with the th'Maran. Once we've delivered the prisoners, we're going to destroy their gate. After that, the error you made as a foolish young newlywed will never trouble you again."

Shaw ignored the barb. He muted the comm and looked at Terling. "Destroy the gate?" he said quietly. "Is that wise?"

Terling shrugged. "It will certainly solve a lot of Gaunis's problems."

Shaw smirked and switched the comm on again. "Will that be all, Gaunis?"

"Not quite. I'm taking you out of the Free World sector. I'll be handling it from now on. You can keep the Esprit, but leave your fleet. We'll be heading for Arecia soon. I'll send one of my transports ahead to pick up any prisoners you've managed to take. After that, return to Eminence and await further orders."

Anger flared in Shaw's chest, and he started a heated comeback, but Terling stopped him with an upraised hand and a sharp shake of his head.

Gaunis continued, "One last thing, Shaw. Your th'Maran friend—Emre, I believe her name is—has been connected with the disappearance of the girl who helped Bryant escape from Eminence. I've got her with me now. We'll be putting her on the transport to Marasyn to let her people punish her as they see fit. Prepare your prisoners. My transport will be there shortly. Gaunis out."

Shaw drew a deep breath and reined in his reeling emotions. "I guess that solves the problem of whether or not we leave Arecia," he said to Terling, his voice calmer than he dared hope.

"It might also solve our problem with Gaunis, assuming Westlex follows through."

Shaw raised a questioning eyebrow. "You think he's planning something?"

Terling glanced at the main screen. "At this point, I wouldn't put anything past him."

"Helm, take us out of orbit," Shaw ordered. "Teague, I want our last communication with the black ship stricken from the log. Have security prepare the prisoners. Inform the fleet of the change of command, but tell them there is to be no communication with the Kinsa until after the prisoners are picked up and the Esprit has left the system." He followed Terling's gaze to the main screen.

All right, Westlex, your turn.

* * *

Jonathan slouched into his command chair and rolled his head back, his gaze lost in the dark ceiling of the Stingray's bridge. "Comm off, Dakk, but continue to monitor their transmissions." He let out a slow breath and whispered, "Thank you, Admiral Shaw."

After a brief moment, he sat up straight. "Aerhom, keep us out of the Kinsa's sight. Dakk, heads up. If there's even a hint dropped about our presence, let me know. I think the Esprit was the only ship that saw us, but I don't want any ambitious officers trying to get on Gaunis's good side by reporting about us."

"Aye, sir," Dakk said. "Do you want me to jam local communications?"

"No, Gaunis might notice and get suspicious."

"Captain?" Aerhom approached Jonathan's station, his pale features tight with barely contained emotion. He started to speak, hesitated, and then began again. "Sir… are you sure this is wise?"

Jonathan shook his head and gave his first officer a wan half-smile. "Not at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's amazingly unwise, but I don't see that we have much of a choice. Gaunis is coming in to take over, and Shaw just handed us the genocidal bastard on a silver platter. We'd be fools to pass up the opportunity."

Aerhom nodded and turned away. After a moment he looked back. "What about Bryant?"

Jonathan pursed his lips and tried to ignore the sudden tight feeling in his chest. "It's the same thing, Kai. We need to stay and deal with Gaunis. This isn't about me or you or Kressa. It's about keeping the Free Worlds free. I'm sure Kressa would agree." He met Aerhom's gaze. "I didn't want it to come to this, but if we can take out Gaunis, maybe the rest of the admirals will leave us alone." He stood and started toward the conference room at the rear of the bridge. "Dakk, have my combat officers report immediately. Aerhom, you have the bridge. Let me know of any changes."

* * *

Gaunis sat at his desk on board the Kinsa and studied the list of prisoners his people had picked up from Shaw's forces. His men had captured several of them during raids on the th'Maran temples and turned them over to Shaw's forces for safekeeping. He reviewed the charges next to each name, deciding who he would send to Marasyn and who would receive a one-way ticket to an interrogation session on Eminence.

One name on the list drew his attention.

He scowled. Not only had Devin Tyler failed the attempt on Terling's life, he'd gotten himself captured, as well. Gaunis wondered if he'd told Shaw who gave him the orders to remove Terling. Not that it mattered. Shaw was no fool; he could figure out the truth on his own. He might even accuse Gaunis before the Council, but it would take more than Shaw's testimony or a recorded confession from Tyler to get the other admirals' attention. It would take Tyler himself.

Gaunis ran a hand through his hair and pondered Tyler's fate. Execution or a convenient accident seemed the most likely answer, but such actions might give Shaw something to use against him. He had to get rid of Tyler in some other way.

The desk comm pinged and Gaunis answered it. "What is it?"

"Sir, our recon units have returned from Arecia. The Esprit has left the system, as you ordered. The rest of the fleet remains. Many of the ships show signs of recent damage, presumably from their unsuccessful attempt to capture Vsuna. Inter-fleet communications suggest some of the ship's commanders will need to be replaced due to continuing loyalty to Shaw. Only one discrepancy was found in Shaw's report. The Arecian Guard captured a Patrol supply transport during the raid he mentioned. Orders, Admiral?"

Gaunis pursed his lips. So Shaw hadn't been completely forthcoming about the Arecia situation. Not that he'd expected him to be. And it wasn't as if the contents of a single supply ship would enable the Arecian Guard to take back the planet, not with the forces Gaunis had brought with him on board the Kinsa.

"Have the prison transport prepare for immediate departure to the th'Maran gate," he ordered. "They'll be taking four…" He hesitated and looked at the list of prisoners again. "No, make that five prisoners with them. As soon as they're away, have the Kinsa set course for Arecia."

"Aye, sir. Will that be all?"

"That is all."

* * *

"Captain, sensors here. The Kinsa is pulling into orbit around Arecia."

Jonathan looked up from his command console where he'd been going over the plan he and his combat officers had devised. "Any word about us, Dakk?"

"No, sir. It's pretty damn quiet. From what little I've managed to pick up, it sounds like most of Shaw's people aren't too happy about the change of command."

Jonathan gave a grim smile. "Good. ITD, prepare a transfer. I want us to come in fast, below and behind the Kinsa. Guns and missiles, keep to your assigned targets. The goal is to disable the dreadnought, not destroy her. Alyn, have your fighters ready to launch in case we get any resistance from the other Patrol ships. ITD, let me know when you've got the jump plotted." He turned his attention to the empty starfield on the main viewer and tried to keep his mind clear of what they were about to do.

Time seemed to slow. Finally, the ITD officer signaled the transfer was ready.

Jonathan drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Do it."

The familiar alarm sounded. Seconds later, the universe twitched and tilted. Jonathan felt simultaneously squeezed and stretched in all directions; he tasted tart berries and smelled loam. Golden light filled his vision, and chill liquid bathed his flesh. With a final disorienting twist, the universe returned to normal. He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.

The Kinsa, still showing signs of damage from the Vsunan battle, hovered in the lower left corner of the main screen for an instant, and then swept to the center as the Stingray adjusted course and started her attack run. Jonathan set the screen to keep the dreadnought's image centered. He didn't bother with having it rasterize the Stingray's pulse beams or switch on his battle schematic. If the attack went as planned, he wouldn't need it.

Along the length of the Kinsa, shield generators, weapons emplacements, communication arrays, and missile bays sparked and exploded as the Stingray began to fire. Larger blasts indicated where the first of the Teneian ship's missiles struck.

After several moments, the Kinsa's remaining shield generators activated, and she began to return fire with her still-functioning weapons.

Jonathan watched his board as the dreadnought's pulse cannons tore at the temporary metal patches covering the damage from the Vsunan battle while her defensive batteries tried to take out the Stingray's missiles. But the surprise was too great, and the dreadnought's response proved to be too little too late.

A massive explosion tore through the vessel's aft section, and all attacks from the Kinsa ceased. Flames shot like geysers from her ruptured hull as the internal atmosphere escaped and ignited.

The Stingray slowed and made an easy turnabout. Jonathan watched in lurid fascination as internal and external explosions continued to rock the Kinsa. Shuttles, emergency lifecraft, and fighters streamed from her bays.

"Keep an eye on the rest of the fleet," Jonathan said, his voice too calm even in his own ears. "If any ship tries anything other than to aid in rescuing the survivors, warn them off with a low-power shot."

"Yes, sir."

The bridge fell silent, and Jonathan stared at the image of the doomed dreadnought, numbed by the destruction.

Commander Aerhom stepped up beside him, his features paler than normal.

With a grim look at the man, Jonathan rose to his feet. "Dakk, inform the remainder of the Patrol ships they have two hours to complete the rescue and get out of Arecian space. If they don't leave, open fire on them one at a time, heavy cruisers first. That should get the message across. If not, call me. I'll be down at the Guard base."

He turned and left the bridge.

* * *

Jonathan entered the conference room where Halav and Lieutenant Satra sat with several men and women he didn't recognize. He noted with interest that one of the women was th'Maran. Clearly, Ciroen and his crew weren't the only ones to rebel against their Patrol masters.

Satra stood and saluted. "Welcome back, Captain."

Jonathan returned the salute and motioned the lieutenant back into her seat. He noted the forlorn looks the others turned on him and mustered a smile. "Glad we didn't lose."

Halav returned his smile weakly. "We heard what happened at Vsuna. I suppose congratulations are in order."

"Congratulations are in order for you, too. I only wish we could have been here sooner."

Halav shrugged and offered Jonathan a seat. "They have Kressa."

"I know." Jonathan dropped into the chair. "Gaunis's people are taking her to Marasyn, then they plan to destroy the th'Maran gate."

The general's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "Maybe she'll find answers to some of her questions about the th'Maran there, but it seems an awfully high price to pay."

"She's not going to pay it alone," Jonathan said. "I've got access to a th'Maran ship at Vsuna. Maybe we can use it to find Marasyn, with or without the gate, and get some answers of our own."

"Like why their technology is so similar to ours?" Satra asked.

Jonathan glanced at her and nodded. "For starters." He looked at Halav again. "How'd you do with the supply transports?"

"We lost one of them," the general said, "and probably would've lost the other if you hadn't shown up. We're still inventorying what's on it. It looks like a nice haul." He paused and glanced away briefly. "Even if all of the Patrol forces surrender peacefully—something I strongly doubt—we couldn't take Arecia back without it. If that's any consolation."

"It is," Jonathan said and wondered what he might have done differently.