The Prisoner of Eldaron: Crimson Worlds Successors II Read online

  “I would say delay it,” replied Two. “After all, Atlantia is but a single world, and not one of the most powerful. But Elias Cain is on Atlantia. Our operation there would not only secure our control of that world through a proxy government, but it would give us the chance to eliminate a Cain. Elias is not in the position to threaten us as directly as his brother, but I strongly counsel that we do not underestimate any member of that family. Our latest reports suggest that Elias was involved in some way in the debacle in the Sol system that resulted in the loss of our base on Eris and a sixty percent reduction in the number of slave shipments from Earth. I need not repeat the impact this has had on projected troops levels and industrial output.”

  One moved his head slightly, the best version of a nod he could manage. “I agree with Two. Elias Cain is currently out of favor with his superiors, which limits his present capabilities. However, the most the Atlantians are likely to do under the current regime is to dismiss him from his post…or possibly to imprison him for a limited period.” The malevolence in his voice grew. “However, if our proxies assume total power, Elias Cain can be easily disposed of…shot in some cellar without significant difficulty.”

  “So it is agreed then,” Three said. We will divert resources from the strategic reserve to support the government takeover on Atlantia. I propose that we suspend any action on assessing punishment for the debacle over the Atlantian freighter. My reasoning is specific. Agent Mazeri has always been reliable, and if we are going to invest directly in the Atlantian government, I for one would be more comfortable with her in place to watch over events as they unfold. People being what they are, we do not want to allow the Atlantians to feel too independent. They must be made to understand that they are in charge on Atlantia…but also beholden to us, part of our new regime. Agent Mazeri has always been particularly skilled at…educating those in such positions.”

  “I concur,” One said. “Indeed, Agent Mazeri should be expressly told that any guilt in the matter of the Carlyle will be extinguished by successful stewardship of the Atlantian transition.”

  “Yes,” Two added. “We are agreed.” He paused, a soft rattling sound coming from his voice synthesizer as he drew in a deep breath. “And now, to the most important piece of business. The package has been delivered to General Cain on Armstrong. She took the courier prisoner as we anticipated, but he knows nothing except what we wanted him to know. Undoubtedly, despite his assurances of secrecy, he passed on the source of the package to her. We know she departed from Armstrong almost immediately after, and we can only surmise her destination was the Nest. Unfortunately, between the vigilance of the Black Eagles and the paranoid quality of Jarrod Tyler’s government on Columbia, our intelligence capacity in the Eta Cassiopeiae system is extremely limited.

  “There is nowhere else she could have gone,” Three said, his struggling voice nevertheless presenting an air of certainty. “There was some concern she would go to General Gilson, but her departure from Armstrong suggests she is indeed going to seek out Darius Cain’s assistance…just as we anticipated.”

  “I submit that General Cain did not even advise General Gilson as to the package’s contents,” One said. “The Marines would no doubt go berserk if they knew what was in that box, but they are simply not in a position to mount an attack on a target as strong as Eldaron. Sarah Cain would have known that Gilson in all probability would have nevertheless launched even a hopeless attack. And she also knows the Eagles are stronger…our prediction that she would immediately go to her son appears to be confirmed.”

  “Indeed,” Three said, “we are down to the last variable, the reaction of Darius Cain. Everything we know about the man suggests he will attack Eldaron immediately. He will suspect a trap, of course, but his belief in the invincibility of the Black Eagles will support a rationalization that his people can prevail nevertheless. Even without knowledge of the secret forces we have stationed there, he will see a difficult target…one that will cause him to deploy his full strength. And once they have landed all their forces, we will release the secret armies. And at long last the Black Eagles will be overwhelmed and destroyed.”

  “And then the invasion can begin.” One managed a smile, one that would have chilled the spine of anyone less reptilian than his clone partners. “And we will establish a new order that will rule all mankind for millennia to come.”

  Chapter 10

  “The Nest” – Black Eagles Base

  Second Moon of Eos, Eta Cassiopeiae VII

  Earthdate: 2318 AD (34 Years After the Fall)

  “We have a scanner contact, Captain. Approaching from the Delta-Vega warp gate.”

  “Details on my screen, Lieutenant.” Captain Rolf Anders sat in the middle of the Nest’s small command center, supervising the overnight watch, guarding over the Black Eagles’ home base and the space around it. Time of day was a relatively meaningless concept in a place like the Nest. Eos was the seventh planet from Eta Cassiopeiae, so far from that sun that it hardly received enough illumination to justify the term daylight. And the Nest itself was mostly below ground, buried kilometers under the surface of Eos’ second moon. But Darius Cain felt that humans needed to maintain some connection to natural norms, so the Nest functioned on Earth time. And Anders and his skeleton staff had pulled the graveyard shift.

  “It’s a small ship, sir. Approximately 4,000 tons. Decelerating at 3g on a vector almost directly toward the Nest.” The lieutenant had relayed the incoming feed directly to Anders’ display, but she still reported each data point as it came in.

  “Warn them off, Lieutenant.” There were buoys all around the outer system, advising all approaching vessels the area was off-limits. The pre-recorded messages started off polite but progressed through several stages of increasing intensity until they outright threatened the destruction of any unauthorized vessels. But the ship was still approaching. “And put Eagle Two on alert.” The approaching vessel didn’t look particularly threatening, especially to an installation as strong as the Nest. But Eagles doctrine was clear. It was far better to take excessive action than to cede the initiative to a potential enemy. In simpler terms…don’t take any chances.

  “Captain, we’ve got a response coming in. The ship requests permission to dock at the Nest.”

  “We’re not expecting any vessels, Lieutenant. Advise them permission is denied.”

  The lieutenant turned back to her workstation, but an instant later she spun around, looking over at Anders, her eyes wide with surprise. “They advise that General Cain is aboard, sir.”

  Anders shook his head. “General Cain in on the nest, Lieutenant…in his quarters. That’s…”

  “General Sarah Cain, sir.”

  Anders opened his mouth, but he closed it again without saying a word. Sarah Cain had never visited the Nest, but every Eagle knew who she was. If it really was her in that ship. The Eagles had plenty of enemies, and any of them could pretend to be Sarah Cain. Indeed, someone could even have captured her to use her as a way to get past the Nest’s defenses. He had no idea how to proceed. This had just gone way above his pay grade.

  “Lieutenant, get me the general’s private line.” Waking Darius Cain in the middle of the night wasn’t near the top of any Eagle’s to do list. But failing to report something like this—whether it turned out to be genuine or a trick—was even lower.

  “General Cain…this is Captain Anders in the control center, sir. We have a ship approaching, and they request permission to dock…”

  * * * * *

  “Who is aboard?” Darius was groggy, and Ander’s words were still sinking in. He’d always been a poor sleeper, not as bad as his father certainly, but he’d rarely slept for more than four hours, and even then he usually woke a few times during the night. But Ana was in bed with him now, and he found her presence made him more restful. He’d even slept straight through the night a few times since she’d moved into his quarters.

  “Your mother, sir. The vessel is the Westw
ind, an Armstrong-registered transport.”

  “My mother lives on Armstrong, Captain, but if she was planning a visit to the Nest, she would have sent me a message so advising me.”

  “Yes, sir. I understand. Nevertheless, there is a woman on that vessel insisting she is General Sarah Cain and requesting permission to dock.” Anders paused. “I didn’t know what to do, sir.”

  Darius sighed. “You did the right thing, Captain. I’ll be right up.” He slapped his hand down on the com unit, closing the line. Then he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

  “Your mother is here?” Ana’s voice was soft, and he could feel her hand gently stroking his back.

  “I don’t know,” he replied. “It’s a surprise if she is. I would have expected her to send a message first. She’s never been to the Nest, you know.” He tried to hide the twinge in his voice, the sadness at his mother’s disapproval, but it slipped out anyway. Darius had lived his life according to his own code of discipline, and that meant never showing weakness. To anyone. But he found it difficult around Ana. She saw through his defenses…right to the inner man no one else knew existed.

  “I’m sure your mother would have come to visit you before…but she is busy, you’re busy…”

  He stood up and began to get dressed, turning back toward her as he pulled his tunic over his head. “No....” He shook his head slowly. “It is my fault. I left. After my father disappeared. I was young, angry, in pain like I’d never imagined. I just went my own way, left everything behind. She was devastated too, alone…she needed me. But I just couldn’t stay there anymore. I don’t like Elias’ chosen path any more than he does mine, but at least he remained on Atlantia for her. I just added to her pain…”

  Ana held his gaze—something few people did. To most people, General Darius Cain was a figure to be feared, a dangerous and impatient man. But it was clear that Ana Bazarov saw something different when she looked at her lover. She looked like she was about to say something, but the words didn’t come. Instead, she just got up and walked around the bed, putting her arms around him for a few seconds.

  “I’ll be fine, Ana,” he said, putting his hand on top of hers. “I don’t even know if it is my mother…or just some kind of trick. It wouldn’t be the first time somebody lied to try to get close to the Nest. The Eagles have many rivals and enemies, and they’d love to get inside our defenses.” He returned her hug for a few seconds then he slowly pulled away. “One way or another, I’ve got to go deal with this.”

  He walked toward the door, stopping just short and turning his head back to Ana. “If it is my mother, it won’t be good news she brings. If she just wanted to visit she would have sent word ahead. She is a very strong woman…whatever sent her running to the Nest has to be downright critical.”

  He turned back toward the door and continued walking, slapping his hand against the sensor to open the hatch. Then he slipped out into the hall without another word.

  * * * * *

  “This is General Darius Cain.” He sat at a workstation, staring at the ship on his display. The vessel had followed all the commands Captain Anders had issued, and it sat at a dead stop, 500,000 kilometers from the Nest. “I wish to speak to General Sarah Cain.” He turned toward Anders. “Get me visual on this line.”

  “Yes, sir,” Anders replied. An instant later, the room’s main screen activated. It was blank for a few seconds, as the signal passed through the kilometers of empty space and back again. Then an image appeared, a tall, slim woman, her long blonde hair, now streaked slightly with gray, tied up loosely behind her head.

  “Hello, mother.” Darius Cain stood in his control room, the nerve center where he’d planned and launched his many meticulous campaigns. Cain was widely considered to be fearless, pitiless, an unstoppable force. But the face on the screen unnerved him, and his voice was tentative, uncertain. He knew enough about his mother, career Marine and battlefield surgeon that she was, to understand she wouldn’t have shown up on his doorstep unannounced without a good reason. And that almost certainly meant trouble.

  “Hello, Darius,” she replied, the words reverberating in his headset. The four second delay while signals moved back and forth made conversation annoying, but not impossible. “I must talk to you immediately…in person. It is important, not something we can discuss over the com. Please advise your people to let my ship through.” Her voice was strong, direct, but Darius could hear—feel—something else there. Tension. Confusion. Her façade could fool most people, but he saw right through it.

  He felt his stomach tense. She is upset…I’ve never seen her so unnerved. Not since that night…

  He turned toward Anders. “Captain, Eagle Two is to launch immediately and dock with that vessel. I want an honor guard aboard to escort General Cain back here.” He felt an odd feeling, a twinge of guilt at his caution. His mother had come all this way, clearly upset about something…and he wouldn’t allow her ship to land. But the Eagles had a lot of enemies, and any of them could have captured his mother…or impersonated her somehow. Darius Cain was a suspicious man who trusted almost no one outside his inner circle, but he knew it couldn’t be any other way. When he made mistakes, men and women died.

  “Yes, sir,” came the crisp reply.

  Darius turned back to the screen. “I am sending a ship to dock with you, mother. It will take you aboard and bring you back here. If you have any companions, they may accompany you, though I request that you limit this to personnel you trust completely. This is the quickest way to get you here. Your ship will have to submit to a full search before I can allow it to approach the Nest. The vessel may leave immediately after you transfer, or its commander may allow my inspectors aboard. Once it passes the security check, it may approach and land…and we will provide it with any required refit or resupply.”

  “Is that really necessary, Darius?” Sarah looked impatient, but it quickly faded. “Very well, whatever you feel is…appropriate.”

  He felt another pang of guilt. He was uncomfortable dealing with his mother, and that fact increased his anxiety. Feelings mingled…guilt, love, resentment, sadness. “I afraid it is, mother. It has nothing to do with you. We have security protocols that are never overridden. Under any circumstances. An occupational hazard, I’m afraid.”

  He watched the screen, waiting the two seconds for his words to reach her location. There it was, the flash of disapproval on her face at the mention of his occupation. She stifled it almost immediately, but he still saw it. It was almost involuntary, the impression people had, the idea that anyone who had to maintain almost paranoid security was suspect. Cain usually ignored it, being almost completely unconcerned with what most people thought. But it stung coming from his mother.

  “Eagle Two will be there shortly, mother,” he said, his voice clipped, uncomfortable. “I will see you soon.” He cut the line, and he turned around and walked toward the door.

  He wondered why no one considered how disciplined his soldiers were before they formed their judgments, or compared the Eagles to the packs of brigands and vandals many of the warring planets fielded as armies. He wished for an instant that they ever considered the fact that he had turned down dozens of jobs, accepting contracts only in legitimate conflicts, where war was almost certain with or without the Eagles’ intervention. He’d turned away an endless parade of would-be tyrants and brutal dictators. Sadly, many worlds suffered under such kinds of leaders, but the service of the Black Eagles was off the table for them…because of an ethical decision made by the monster who commanded the great mercenary company.

  Why is morality so overly simplified…even by people like my mother? Corrupt governments can imprison and kill their own citizens, often for simply disagreeing with outrageous mandates…yet they are usually spared the kind of universal condemnation the Eagles so often suffer. Such hypocrisy. They all act as judges, as arbiters of right and wrong, so ready to make determinations without facts, without analysis. They don’t even re
alize they disapprove of us not because of what we do, as they state, but because we are the best…and because they fear us.

  He paused at the edge of the control room. “I want Eagle Two back as quickly as possible, Captain Anders.” Then he slipped through the door into the corridor. He headed first toward his quarters, but he stopped just short of the lift. Ana was there. If he went back, she would try to comfort him…and she would probably succeed, at least to an extent. But there was no time for that now. He had to stay sharp, be the ruthless monster everyone thought he was. His mother was here for a reason, and whatever it was, he suspected he would be compelled to take some kind of action. Sooner rather than later.

  He turned and walked back down the hallway toward his office. He had a feeling he would soon need the Darius Cain they all feared so greatly, the cold-blooded warrior…and Ana Bazarov saw right through that mask, to the man below the invincible armor. And there was no time for that man now.

  * * * * *

  Sarah Cain walked through the clear umbilical connecting Eagle Two to the Nest’s primary surface airlock. She didn’t approve of many of the choices Darius had made, but she still felt a bit of awe seeing the scope of what he had built in so short a time. She’d known about the Nest, of course, and the Eagles’ fleet, but actually seeing the scale of her son’s power up close was a shock.

  The Eagle vessels were lined up in neat rows, each one of the strongest warships still in Occupied Space. They were smaller than the old Alliance Yorktowns certainly, far smaller. But there were none of those behemoths left, and most of the worlds of Occupied Space struggled to field squadrons of frigates and other small craft. Looking out over Darius’ fleet, the ships perfectly lined up in their landing cradles, made her truly realize just how superior the Black Eagles were, how much stronger and more capable than the other military forces in Occupied Space. Even the Marines had wasted away over the years through endless rounds of belt-tightening until only two regiments remained…along with the hospital and a dozen ships still left over from Augustus Garret’s mighty fleets.