Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (23 page)

When his guard politely declined to disturb Karl, his son got louder. Karl sighed and walked to the door.

“It’s alright, Les. Ethan, come in.”

“Father, we need to talk about—”

“Sit,” Karl said firmly. “And listen. That entails closing your mouth, in case that wasn’t clear.”

The boy obviously wanted to argue, but clamped his lips shut with obvious impatience and fury. He also sat, if only grudgingly.

Karl locked the door and engaged the privacy field. That would keep the sound of the inevitable argument out of the ears of even his loyal guards.

“You’re trying my patience, Ethan. You’re running around with your hair on fire over things that don’t deserve that level of response and you need to dial it back.”

He held up a finger to forestall this son’s hot words. “Your turn to speak will come, but not until I’m done. What you did out there showed an extreme lack of respect for me. If I leave orders not to be disturbed, being pissed off isn’t an excuse to disobey them.

“For reasons that seemed good at the time, I’ve let this behavior slide, but that stops now. You’re my son and heir, but that also means I’m your liege. The man you’ve sworn an oath to support and obey. I expect obedience from you. And respect. I’ll have them both or you will regret it. Is that clear enough?”

Ethan pressed his lips into a tight line and his eyes flamed with barely suppressed fury. “Perfectly, my lord.”

Karl sighed. It was never easy with his son. Or his daughter, sometimes, but that was a completely different kind of trouble.

He sat on the corner of the desk. “Since you’ve already interrupted my work, you might as well tell me what has you in an uproar.”

“Do you know what Mertz has done to Kelsey?”

“He didn’t do anything to her, but yes. I’ve not only read the summaries, I’ve spoken in depth with Doctors Stone and Guzman. They both have a far deeper understanding of the implants than I do. I expect that other medical experts will be up to speed to check their assumptions soon enough, but I believe I know more than enough.”

“Now who’s being naive? Mertz may not have ripped her apart and rebuilt her, but he took full advantage of it. Those monsters put things in her brain and he’s had access to sway her for a
year
.

“Hell, everyone on that mission did the same to
themselves
. How do we know it’s anything like they say? Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to enslave us? To get us to put those machines in our heads for them? Then Mertz can just waltz in and seize the Throne. We need to lock them all away until we’re sure it’s really safe.”

Karl sighed inside. “Your incessant paranoia about Jared Mertz is tiresome and beginning to worry me. Forget him. As to the implants, I’ve done some checking. I don’t want word getting around, but I had Emperor Lucien disinterred. With all due reverence, I assure you. He had implants just like the Fleet people do.

“I’ve see that his body was delivered to Orbital One. It’s possible that some data will be recoverable, even after all this time. Scientists trained in doing so will get what they can before we bury him again.”

He shook his head. “I’m finding it hard to believe that we never knew. Think of the trove of historical data from the first days of Avalon. Or the critical information his father might have given him.”

Karl sighed. “Clearly, they were once a common part of Imperial life. Based on the advantages I’m starting to grasp, they will be again.

“I confirmed that by having some of the Fleet personnel that died here examined. They too had this equipment. Someone I trust is extracting the hardware and will see about powering it up in due time. Then we’ll know if the programming is the same.”

Karl leaned back in his chair. “They’ll have to learn a lot about the programming language and the hardware, but we’ll get to the bottom of this. We’re taking nothing at face value.”

“Aren’t you?” Ethan asked with an edge to his voice. “How do we know this supposed edict is even real? Mertz could have very easily concocted it to get a leg up and move toward his real target. The Imperial Throne.”

He’d hoped his son would come to his senses, but that was seemingly off the table. Time to address the issue squarely.

“You’ve always thought the worst of your half-brother. And don’t even think of snarling at me. That’s what he is, like it or not.

“Tell me this, Ethan. If he were looking for a way to seize power, and your concerns of the implants were correct, why didn’t he use force when he arrived? We couldn’t have stopped him. If that is indeed his plan, we still can’t. His people are in control of more firepower than we could muster in our defense.”

Ethan leaned forward intently. “Then now is the time to strike. Get them off those ships under some ruse and get loyal officers aboard them before it’s too late. I’m not sure why he’s delaying, but we can’t wait much longer.”

Karl shook his head sadly. “The Senate would never accept his claim over yours. Or Kelsey’s, for that matter. Even if they did, the people would rise up. Son, this is paranoia. You’re seeing shadows behind every event that just aren’t there.”

“And you’re being willfully blind, Father. I’ve always known you were soft where Mertz was concerned, but I never dreamed you’d just hand our birthright over to him. How can you be so blind?”

“Enough,” Karl said firmly. “You need a vacation, son. Take a trip out to the lake in the mountains. Stop obsessing over these crazy theories.”

“I will not abandon the Empire when it’s in such peril.”

“You misunderstand me. That wasn’t a suggestion.”

Karl smiled and touched a key on his desk.

Les opened the door. “Yes, Majesty?”

“My son needs to take a trip out to the lake to get away from everything. Take him there and see that he stays put.”

He turned his attention to his fuming son.

“I can’t force you to rest and reconsider, but I can put you in time out. The heir to the Throne cannot afford to be so willfully paranoid. Once you’ve had time to think, we’ll talk again.”

Ethan surged to his feet. “You’re making a grave error in judgement, Father. Don’t compound it by taking the one person who sees the threat clearly out of play.”

When Karl said nothing, his son stalked out of the room.

Once he was alone again, he called his guard commander. “I’m sending Ethan to the mountains. I want extra people in place to make sure he doesn’t sneak away. He’s to be kept there until I say otherwise.”

“Is he under arrest, Majesty?”

“No. Think of it as protective custody. Isolation to keep him from making a fool of himself. Make sure the guards aren’t ones he can browbeat.”

“I’ll take care of it, Majesty.”

Karl sighed and leaned back in his chair. This had all gone wrong so quickly. Ethan’s unreasoning hatred of Jared was going to cause real harm if he didn’t put a stop to it. He made a mental note to confer with Ethan’s private physician to check and be certain that there wasn’t a true pathological behavior behind this.

At least his son would be out of the way for a little while. He couldn’t cause too much harm up in the mountains.

* * * * *

Ethan fumed as the guards herded him back toward his rooms to pack. The gall of the old man. He treated his chosen heir as if he knew nothing at all. As if his concerns were nothing more than the ravings of a madman. It wouldn’t surprise him if there were a visit by doctors while he was away.

He’d turned against Ethan, too.

Everyone had. And they’d soon strike, unless he acted to mitigate the threats against him. It was regrettable that things had come to this, but he had to do what was best for himself and the Empire.

He leaned against the wall as soon as he was back in his rooms. First Kelsey and now his father. How could they choose the Bastard over their own blood? Mertz’s sickness had infected them.

Unlike his sister, he couldn’t allow his father to orchestrate the overthrow of the rightful heir. He loved his father even more than he did Kelsey, but the old man was going to have to die.

Did he? Ethan ran through the possibilities in his mind. Surely there was some way to spare his father.

But no viable alternatives came to mind. The loss of the man who’d carried him on his shoulders as a boy ate at him, as if the man were already gone. Really, he was. He just didn’t know he was dead, yet.

There would be mourning for his father across the Empire. The Empire would commission monuments beyond counting to remember his memory. Ethan would see to that.

He packed in the privacy of his room, which gave him the opportunity to stash a few items he might find useful. Starting with a very concealable communications unit. He would be able to oversee every action his minions performed right under the noses of his watchdogs.

Ethan had paid good money to be sure it wasn’t traceable. They wouldn’t even detect the signals on the security screens. It was that good.

He called his man. “How goes the preparations, Victor?”

“They’re good. I should have it resolved tonight.”

Ethan smiled. “Excellent. I have a few other tasks for you. I want you to pick up someone with those damned implants. And another person who is familiar with the technology.”

“Do you have a specific target with implants in mind?”

He smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do. But first, I’m afraid things have taken a bad turn here at the palace. My father is shipping me off to the mountain retreat. While I’m gone, I want you to work with my man in security to get in and take care of something for me. Several things, actually.”

* * * * *

Talbot stayed up late drinking. The marines he’d visited had reacted as well as he could hope. Word would spread and people would make up their own minds, but at least the base slanders of the admiral’s blood wouldn’t come into play. Mostly.

The board would want his testimony at some point, but they still hadn’t finished with the admiral. A full day wouldn’t even scratch the surface of what they’d done over the last year.

He was about to cross the street when his internal alarms sounded. This late at night, the street was pretty empty, even in the downtown, but the group of young men coming toward him didn’t look like revelers out for a stroll.

A glance behind him showed a number of men following.

This was an ambush. At least, that’s what his instincts told him.

He had a neural disruptor on him, but by the time he was sure what they were up to, it might be too late. He needed them to spring their trap early.

Talbot bolted across the street, hauling ass for the closest alley. That got them all to chasing him, so he knew he was on the right side in this fight.

He set the neural disruptor to wide beam and fired at the forward group. They went down in a heap. They’d be under about half an hour.

That didn’t keep the second group from opening fire on him. One of the slugs hit him in the arm, but he managed to retain his grip on his weapon.

He linked his implants to his com and called emergency services just as a noise in the alley gave him a split second’s notice that there were people waiting. He ducked and lashed out with his foot in a savage kick as the emergency operator came on the line.

“Emergency services. What is the nature of your emergency?”

I’m being attacked! Near the Excelsior!

The hotel was the closest landmark. They could track his transmission, too. The com would convert his implant communications into his voice for the operator.

One of the men in the alley leapt over his screaming comrade and brought a metal bar down on Talbot’s arm. It snapped with a sickening crack. His weapon spun off into the dark. The second swing caught him in the head and he was out.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kelsey woke when her com sounded an emergency tone. She rolled out of bed and answered before her toes touched the floor.

“Bandar.”

“Kelsey, it’s Jared. I just got a call from emergency services in the capital. Something happened to Talbot. He was attacked and is missing.”

The last remaining fog in her brain blew away as if a hurricane had swept in. “Shit. What do they know?”

She raced to her closet and dressed as quickly as she could. Something suitable for rough and tumble.

“Very little. He called and told them that much, then the line went dead. Someone killed the com. Crushed it, as a matter of fact. Police are swarming the area, but they haven’t found him or the attackers yet.”

She cursed under her breath. “He was armed. A neural disruptor. Something people here don’t know about yet. That means this was organized and there were a lot of people.”

“Don’t rush in. This could be dangerous.”

Kelsey laughed grimly. “I sure as hell hope so. Someone is going to bleed for hurting my man. Guard your back. If they came after him, they might have more important targets in mind.”

She killed the call and opened the pack with her weapons. Oh, how the Imperial Guard had argued against her bringing them into the palace. Too damn bad, she’d said. And now she’d been proven right. She should’ve brought her armor. Though, to be fair, it wouldn’t be of much use right now.

Kelsey used her implants to call Marcus on
Invincible
through the palace systems. That had been the first upgrade she’d seen to. The AI answered at once.

“What can I do for you, Highness?”

“Someone attacked Talbot. They took him. I want a strike team ready for my call. Have them prep my armor and bring it along if things work out that way.”

“Of course. You do realize that the planetary authorities will take a dim view of Fleet marines making an assault on the capital world of the Terran Empire, don’t you?”

She snorted. “You think? I’ll have that conversation with them up front. Is there anything you can do to track down his implants?”

“Not at this range. I’d need a receiver in close proximity for that. However, he’s a marine. He has an implanted locator beacon. If we can activate it, any receiver within a dozen kilometers will have his stats and location data.”