The Iron Admiral: Deception Read online

  Erascu handed Allysha her bag at her door. “Here you are. It’s been a pleasure. If you ever need anyone to spar with.” He lifted his shoulders very slightly. “I’m not always around, but if I am…”

  She smiled at him. “Thanks, I’d like that. And thanks for the drink.”

  She closed the door, then crossed to the window to stare across the park to the Fleet buildings, burnished in the glow of the lowering sun, her mind whirling with questions. She’d have to get hold of the logs forProserpine andIntrepid .

  ChapterEight

  Allysha arrived at her office a few minutes late again. Nightmares. This time, she relived a dream she’d had many times after Jossur. She ran through burnt-out buildings among ptorix bodies, searching for her father. Room after room, each filled with mangled metal, dust, filth. Overhead, a huge shadow blocked the sun. Smoke filled her lungs, the stench of death hung in her nostrils as she searched. “Father, father,”

  she called. But the only answer was a fiendish chuckle.Chohzu the Destroyer, the great space demon who rained down death and destruction; the name the ptorix used for Saahren.

  She went through to the workroom.

  “Hey, Lysha,” Anna said. Her teeth gleamed white against her dark skin. “Great to see you back. Life’s been boring.”

  Everyone else nodded agreement.

  “I’m glad to be back, too,” she said. “Today, we’re going to look at the InfoDroids the Fleet uses to monitor the maintenance logs on ships.”

  She’d brought one of the interface units into the training room and left it to hover in the corner, a featureless, dull grey sphere fitted with an imaging display outlet. The works were inside; sensors that could connect to anything.

  The team had just started on their first exercise when the IS spoke. “Allysha, you have a delivery.”

  Allysha straightened up beside Sirikit’s workstation. “Delivery?”

  “Yes. Flowers.”

  Leonov’s clerk brought them in and left. Allysha flushed. Flowers again. They were beautiful, ten tall stems with blossoms like wine flutes arranged to display their deep red throats. Their fragrance was unmistakable, delicate and delicious.

  “Are they from Brad?” Anna asked, her eyes dancing.

  All of the others stared at Allysha, equally curious. She felt like a fugitive under a spotlight as she read the note. ‘I hope your week went well. Brad.’

  “Well? From Brad?” Anna repeated.

  Please, leave it alone.But they wouldn’t. “Yes.”

  “Was he there? At that course?” Anna asked.

  She had to think for a moment. Oh, yes. She was supposed to have been instructing at a senior officer’s course. “No, he wasn’t.”

  “Ah hah. So heis a senior officer.”

  “Where did you get that from?” They were guessing; they had to be.

  “The way you said it. As though no, he wasn’t there but he could have been.” Anna’s eyes sparkled with gleeful delight. “Besides, these are love lilies.”

  “What?” Allysha collapsed into her chair. She didn’t need this. But shewas intrigued. “Love lilies?”

  “Yep. It’s a Fleet thing. If a man gives you just one of those,” Anna jerked her head at the flowers, “it’s understood to mean he’s serious.”

  Sirikit nodded, her liquid eyes sparkling.

  “They’re hideously expensive,” Todd chimed in. Allysha thought he looked rather somber. They might be hideously expensive to a lieutenant, but not to the man who sent these.

  “Have you given one of these to anybody, Hassan?” Allysha asked.

  “Me? Not a chance. Like Anna said, those lilies make a statement. I’m not ready for that, yet.” He scratched at his cheek. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to disappoint anybody.”

  Todd rolled his eyes at Hassan. “Yes, of course, you’d have to consider your harem, wouldn’t you?” In a different tone he continued, “I gave one to Cornelia and I’ll bet Tensan gave one to Jinsu.” He cocked his head at Tensan, who nodded.

  “And Brad hasn’t sent one, he’s sent ten.” Anna tilted her head and stared at Allysha. “So, you might not think it’s serious, but Brad sure as shootin’ does.”

  If she told them who Brad was, she was certain they wouldn’t believe her anyway. She took the flowers into her office. Maybe she could pretend they gave her hay fever and throw them away? She shook her head. That would just excite even more speculation. Best to carry on as if nothing had happened.

  “Okay, excitement’s over,” she said. “Let’s get back to the exercise.”

  “Are you going to the ball with Brad?” Sirikit said.

  The posters were everywhere, had been since she started work with Fleet. “No.”

  “He hasn’t asked you?”

  He’d know not to bother. “You’re assuming he’s a Fleet officer.”

  Anna tossed her head. “’Course he is.” The others sniggered, even Tensan.

  “We’re all going,” Anna said.

  “I know. I won’t go by myself and there’s nobody I’d want to go with.”

  Hassan grinned. “What about Captain Stevenson?”

  Allysha rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Lieutenant Mustafa.” Slimy Stevenson? If he asked her one more time, she’d probably use her new martial arts skills on him.

  “Ooh, she’s getting all military on us,” Hassan said, chuckling. They all laughed.

  “Work, people. That’s what they pay us for,” Allysha said. She didn’t mind a bit of repartee but not too much. “Let’s get back to those exercises.”

  ****

  The first tinges of sunset had smudged the sky outside in streaks of pink when she called a halt.

  “Okay, that’s enough for today.” She stood and stretched as Anna, Tensan, Sirikit and Hassan collected their belongings and strolled out, chatting. Todd hovered, tongue flicking between his lips.

  “What’s up, Todd? Do you want to cancel our training session?” She hoped not. The exercise was good for her and it might help her sleep.

  Todd frowned. “No. Um. I just wanted to ask you something.” He looked flushed as if he was embarrassed.

  “Yes?”

  “Um. Cornelia can’t come to the ball. Her mother had an accident and she has to go home to look after her brothers and sisters while her mom’s in hospital. She won’t be back in time.”

  “Gee. Nothing too serious, I hope?”

  He shook his head. “She just needs to rest and that’s difficult with a couple of youngsters running around.”

  “I expect so.”

  She waited as Todd, scarlet-faced, dithered. Ah. She grinned. “Let me guess. You want me to go to the ball with you.”

  He breathed out a huge, gusting sigh of relief. “Would you?”

  She hesitated. She hadn’t meant to go. What if Saahren turned up? But then, why would he? He was safely away onArcturus . Besides, it was innocent enough. Todd was ten years her junior and safely engaged. And what if Saahrendid turn up? It was none of his business.

  “Sure.”

  All the same, she’d have a discreet word with Vlad’s wife, Irina and see if she could find out if he was likely to show up. Without letting on she’d be there herself, of course.

  ****

  GPR cruiser Provenance.

  Lomas Frensberg fidgeted with his ceremonial sash. Despite his attempt to arrive comfortably late for his meeting with Azzenaar, the blasted toe rag had out-done him.Provenance drifted in orbit around the icy snowball that was the outer-most planet of the Caucassar system. Remote and unremarkable, the location was a perfect place for a meeting between himself and Lord Governor Anxhou’s representative.

  He wished he’d been able to use a decent civilian cruiser. But secrecy was vital.

  At last his comlink buzzed.

  “The ptorix battle ship has exited shift space, Your Excellency.” The captain’s voice was measured and carefully correct.

  “You have a shuttle prepared for me?” Of course he had, the
question was rhetorical but routine is calming.

  “The shuttle is ready. I’ve sent an escort to take you to the hangar. We will launch as soon as we receive acknowledgement from the ptorix vessel.”

  His heart beating too fast Frensberg nevertheless walked down the shuttle’s ramp between his escorts at a measured pace. His ceremonial robes were hot and stiff but no matter. Appearance was important. He descended into a cavernous hangar bay, its furthest walls hardly visible in the gloom. The air was moister and warmer than on a GPR ship and his nose detected a hint of acrid spice mixed with the smell of lubricants. A phalanx of ptorix soldiers formed a corridor to where Azzenaar waited. They were the stuff of nightmare, animated blue cones as tall as a man’s shoulder with three eyes, and four arms that ended in

  a bunch of waving tentacles. What blighted creator could have invented something like the ptorix was beyond his comprehension. He paced between the rank of warriors, eyes straight ahead, and yet he detected the restless movement of tentacles around their weapons as he passed. Sweat gathered on his chest.

  “Welcome to the Khophirate, Lord Frensberg.” Azzenaar’s eyes glowed green-gold and his tentacles waved around in the sleeves of his ornate orange costume.

  Frensberg suppressed the involuntary shudder. This meeting was vital. The last thing the GPR needed was for Anxhou’s troops to keep going after they crushed the Confederacy. “It is my great pleasure to meet with you on this auspicious occasion.” He bowed from the neck.

  “If you will come this way.” Azzenaar led the way through dimly lit corridors to a conference room.

  Complex patterns wove around the walls just below the ceiling. They couldn’treally be moving, surely?

  A

  large table stood in the center of the room. There were no chairs.

  The treaty documents, printed on heavy parchment, lay on the table, one copy for each party, the capitals at the start of each paragraph illuminated in red and gold. Frensberg leaned over the table to read

  through the clauses. He’d written them so the process didn’t take long. The phrases were couched in the usual cumbersome legal wording, designed to cover all eventualities but the essence was simple. The GPR would assist Lord Anxhou in his endeavors to reclaim those planets that the human Confederacy had stolen from the Khophirate, starting with the Qerran Suldanate. In return, the Khophirate would not attack the GPR, nor intervene if the GPR claimed Confederacy planets.

  The translation had been certified. “This appears to be in order.”

  “It does,” Azzenaar rubbed a tentacle across the lower of his two mouths; the speaking mouth.

  He took out his pen and signed one document, then the other. Azzenaar did the same. Frensberg licked his lips. He hated shaking hands with toe rags. He held out his hand and Azzenaar engulfed the fingers with tentacles that moved like worms. His skin crawled. At least the flesh was soft and dry, not slimy.

  “Now all that remains is for us to coordinate the attack,” Azzenaar said.

  If he understood the body language correctly, the ptorix was satisfied. Tepich had better hurry up and bring that system engineer to the research lab. Now they were on a timetable.

  ****

  Somewhere in Malmos

  “We have to do something,” Sean said. “The clock’s ticking.”

  “She never goes out on her own,” Pyndrees said. “And we’ve got no chance of getting to her in the Fleet complex.”

  Sean frowned at the screen. Allysha’s icon rested on the middle Fleet tower. Tepich had said three months. Three weeks had already passed with no end in sight.

  At least with this new identity Sean was able to get rid of the stupid little beard. Liam McNeill was no more, of course. Jak Constaz had replaced him; younger, fitter with more hair. His eyes were green and his hair was dark red. The shape changers had done a good job.

  Pyndrees, too, had undergone a change. Elric Hudson was still a buyer for a large firm but his appearance was quite different from that of Kris Hybent.

  Sean dropped into a chair and put his feet up on the kaff table. “We should’ve tried when she was in the city with Leonov’s wife.”

  Pyndrees swung around. “I told you then, and I’ll tell you again. I saw two obvious guards and I’d wager a week’s takings that the tall blonde was an agent, as well. There were probably others. If we’d tried a snatch, we’d be finished.”

  Sean raised a lip in a snarl. “I’ll be finished anyway if I don’t deliver her.”

  Pyndrees sat down and started to clean his fingernails with the tip of a knife. “You’ll just have to be patient. Be ready to take a chance when it arrives.”

  ****

  ProserpineandIntrepid , thought Allysha as she closed her apartment’s door. But first, maybe a bit of Fleet tradition.

  “Brew me some kaff, Albert, then tell me what you know about love lilies.”

  Allysha took her cup over to a chair while Albert talked.

  “It’s something of a Fleet legend, Allysha. It harks to the times when space travel took months or years and even moving from a planet’s orbit to a point where a ship could transfer to shift space could take days. Captain Isaac Ishkar finally found the woman of his dreams. But he was called to war before they could marry. He knew months would pass before his return and, having very little time to do much else, he organized with a florist to send his lady one of these flowers every week to remind her of him until he could return.”

  “Hm. And did he?”

  “Yes. He was captured and imprisoned so he wasn’t able to return for two years, but then, at last, they were married. And now it has become something of a tradition for male Fleet officers to declare their intent by giving their lady one of these flowers.”

  One. He’d sent her ten. “Are they expensive?”

  “It depends on the time of the year. Perhaps I should say, they are always expensive. When supply is low, they are extremely expensive.”

  “Why is that? Surely they’re cultivated?”

  “They are. But the cultivated blossoms are not of the same quality.They lack the fragrance and glowing color of the wild stock.”

  He’d sent her the wild ones, of course. Never mind. For now, Allysha had more important things to do.

  She went to her study and set up her techpack. All she needed now was access to the maintenance logs forProserpine andIntrepid .

  ****

  Hours later, Allysha rubbed her face with her hands. The security was tight, with passwords that changed over time. Even then, the encryption algorithms were complex. But if an InfoDroid could get in, so could she; if an InfoDroid could unencrypt, so could she. And she’d found out, working with her team, which subsystems to look at for her own investigation.

  First, she found footage of Jossur before the battle of Forenisi. The planet had two space stations; the military station was in the outer orbit, a gleaming oval dotted with nodules. Allysha supposed they were the retracted service connections. Several smaller ships were docked. She searched forward in time.

  The

  station was still in place, in stationary orbit but the ships docked to it changed. In the last image, a massive ship almost dwarfed the station. A similar vessel hung in orbit close by. The two ptorix battleships, both eight kilometers long from tip to stern, curved layers on top of each other, horn-like appendages and tentacles sweeping into space. In contrast to the Confederacy Fleet’s matte black, these

  ships sported swirling designs in deep purples and violets, the ptorix colors of anger and aggression.

  Allysha switched toProserpine’s visual log and found the exact moment when the ship transferred out of shift space well within the Qito Jossur system.

  Proserpinecame out fast. Jossur hung ahead, a blue-green ball streaked brown and white. The military space station blazed with light. She recognized two docked ships as frigates. One battleship was tethered

  on the far side of the station away from the planet. The second battleship drifted close by. />
  Proserpinehurtled on, hardly slowing. Jossur grew rapidly larger. According to the Confederacy ship’s vector, she would pass the planet with the space station—and the planet—to starboard. The image showed the target; the battleship attached to the space station.

  The missiles launched. The ptorix battleship’s shields weren’t even up.Proserpine powered past. The images now came from-rear mounted sensors. The target ruptured. The second battleship had also been hit. Explosions bloomed soundlessly; one, two, three, four, five, six along the length of her hull. All of them were candles in comparison with the massive internal detonation that burst the space ship open.

  The

  one tethered to the space station seemed to be out of control, its vector altered by the force of the attack. The footage ended asProserpine transferred out of the system.

  Allysha’s head dropped. Saahren had told her the truth. But if this was the truth, everything she’d ever heard on Carnessa about the attack was false. One more test. Images could be altered, but the maintenance logs couldn’t lie. Allysha looked for the shift drive figures and the sub-light data. Dates and times and velocity.

  She didn’t know the details but what Erascu had told her made sense. How long hadProserpine and Intrepid been in the Qito Jossur system and at what speed? As a comparison, she found another trip whereProserpine had gone into orbit. He was right. Both ships had simply passed through the system.

  They hardly slowed down and beyond the planet, they moved to transfer back to shift space.

  Allysha’s mind whirled with questions. Okay, Saahren’s version of the events at Qito Jossur was true.

  But Xanthor himself had given a public lecture in Shernish, decrying the Confederacy Fleet for having bombarded a planet. Xanthor wouldn’t have lied. Not Xanthor. He’d been almost an uncle to her, all her

  life. She’d spent hours at his house, played with his children, learned about ptorix culture from him. Like her father had been, he was a professor at Shernish University, committed to developing better understanding between humans and ptorix. And yet, he must have either lied, or he’d been convinced in some way that the ptorix version of events was true. So many other questions nagged. Had Saahren really sent Anxhou’s son, Admiral Xendo, back home or had Xendo died in the fire-fight at Forenisi?