Paying the Price (Book 5 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (7 page)

In fact, Lord Hawthorne was the one she was coming here to meet. She found him standing beside a tall shelf with an old book in his hand. He wasn’t alone. Reginald Bell sat in a chair nearby, examining a portfolio of some kind.

“Gentlemen,” she said as she came over. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.”

William Hawthorne slid the book back onto the shelf and bent low at the waist. “Elise. It’s a pleasure as always. May I say you look stunning?”

“Flatterer. No need to rise on my account, Reg. Your knees aren’t as young as they used to be.”

The older man gave up on standing and bowed his head. “Princess Elise. It’s good to see you again. The trip here was a trifle more tiring than I’d imagined. Though these new nanites are helping some.”

Kelsey had Doctor Leonard remove some of her Marine Raider nanites and examine them. The little machines were markedly more advanced than the ones given to regular Fleet personnel, but the scientists could reprogram them to work in others.

They’d need periodic replacement, but they might keep the old gentleman with them a few more decades. He had so much to tell them and so little time left to do it. They could harvest enough Raider nanites from her for that.

Reginald Bell was the only person alive who’d seen the Empire before the Fall. Even his ancient appearance belied his true age. The Terran Empire had gone down fighting more than five centuries ago. That was far longer than even Fleet nanites could extend someone’s age.

And that was a blessing. The poor people the AIs had enslaved during the Fall were all dead. God rest their souls.

He’d spent more than two centuries in a stasis unit. Generations of men and women had watched over him as they were born, grew old, and finally passed on. They’d done so solely in the hope that, one day, his intimate knowledge of the Old Empire would once more prove valuable.

Now that Jared and Kelsey had freed Erorsi from the thrall of the crazed AI, the people that had survived in the old planetary defense center could finally live their lives out in the open. And now they could save Reg’s knowledge of the Old Empire.

That wasn’t to say that he hadn’t recorded a lot before he’d gone into stasis. Only, he hadn’t known what those outside would lose over the years. He’d stuck to large events, but current day anthropologists and historians wanted to know the minutia of his life. He spent hours every day telling stories and answering questions.

He’d also decided to record him memories in the same way Ned had. It probably wouldn’t result in an AI of him after his death, but it would save the only direct memories of the Old Empire they had left. Other than Ned, of course.

“We’ve just been amusing ourselves while we waited,” William said. “Please, join us.”

She sat in the chair he held for her and waited for him to sit. Then she launched into her semi-prepared speech.

“I appreciate you both taking the time to meet with me. Marcus is also in attendance, though the subroutine is not going to report our conversation to his main memory unless we decide that’s appropriate.”

“What’s the old saying?” Marcus asked from a speaker under the table. “Four people can keep a secret if two of them are dead and one is an AI that isn’t talking to itself?”

“I’m fairly sure that’s almost correct,” William said with a smile. “This is all suitably mysterious. What, if I might ask, can we help you with?”

“Something very important,” she said. “Jared is going to need our assistance when he gets home. Crown Prince Ethan Bandar has a very real and very deadly grudge against him.”

She leaned forward. “Jared is intensely loyal to the Empire and Kelsey has blinders on when it comes to family. That means it’s up to us to protect him. Ethan Bandar will try to kill Jared. I will not stand idly by and let that happen, and I want you to help me stop him.”

* * * * *

Kelsey sat in the command chair on
Persephone
. She’d been studying her ass off and now had what Jared charitably called an ensign’s skill set. She was hoping to bump that up to at least lieutenant by the time they got home.

Ned said that was really all she needed for a ship this size. Yes, there were some specific skills required for operating a Marine Raider reconnaissance ship, but he was helping her learn those.

She’d never be as good at piloting as someone that started learning a decade ago. She’d be happy if she learned enough to be competent.

That was why she had primary on the ship’s helm as they prepared to flip to the Nova system. Lieutenant Thompson would be watching her like a hawk from his console, though he’d never say so. She felt like a kid riding her bike for the very first time. The mental image of a powerful warship with training wheels almost made her laugh.

“All Fleet elements, this is Admiral Mertz. Flip in sixty seconds and report to
Invincible
upon arrival. You all have your assigned sectors, so get about it. Remember, you’ll be out of direct communication once you move any distance at all into the radiation, so you’ll have to use your discretion on approaching anything anomalous.

“Be careful and rendezvous at the Harrison’s World flip point in twenty-four hours. Good luck. Mertz out.”

She took a deep breath as the timer counted down. She had the helm on manual, so this wasn’t just pushing a button. She was adjusting the power output and frequency of the flip drive by hand. If she got it wrong, the ship might not flip at all. Wouldn’t
that
be embarrassing?

Thompson hadn’t said a word about her settings. She wasn’t sure if that was because she had them right or he wanted her to learn something. When the timer hit zero, she activated the flip drive.

Thankfully,
Persephone
flipped.

“Good settings, ma’am,” Jack said. “A trifle low, but within the margin of error. Watch out for
Ajax
.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

The destroyer in question had appeared just in front of them and was cutting across their bow. Kelsey adjusted course enough to be certain they’d miss one another. In the radiation field, it wasn’t easy to see everyone at a glance.

She sent a message to
Invincible
and then eased the ship away from the flip point. Once they were clear, she headed off toward their assigned search area.

“Doing this all by hand is complex,” she said. “It’s a lot simpler to have
Persephone
do the fine details.”

“True, but then you wouldn’t know what to do if you ever had to do it yourself under pressure. For example, what if Captain Baxter had blown his attempt when
Athena
was running from the Pale Ones?”

She’d been unconscious for that, but she’d heard the story. Once Jared had rescued her from the Pale Ones, they’d chased the ship back to the Pentagar flip point.
Athena
had lost power and bridge control seconds before flip and the engineer had calculated the settings in his head.

If he’d screwed it up, they’d all be slaves to the Pale Ones right now. She made a mental note to see that he received the Imperial Cross for that. Her father wouldn’t argue. That was over and above whatever Fleet Command and the Imperial Senate decided to do.

The highest award for valor in the Terran Empire came with a few perks that only the emperor could bestow. A small plot of land somewhere and a knighthood. Sir Dennis. Wouldn’t that tie his trickster tongue?

It also bumped someone up the chain when it came to salutes from his fellows. All Fleet personnel owed a holder of the Imperial Cross a salute, regardless of their respective ranks. Admirals saluted sailors if they held the Imperial Cross.

Since the Fall, they hadn’t had an opportunity for anyone to earn that high award. Peacetime wasn’t the kind of forge that created moments that earned one.

This mission was going to change that. She wouldn’t be surprised to see a number of people receive the Empire’s highest honor. It saddened her that all too many of them died doing so.

“Well, yes,” she said after a moment. “That would’ve been awkward. As an engineer, I’m not sure how he knew what to do.”

“It’s part of their training, just because it might prove necessary. Score one for the training weenies. I never thought I’d say this, but I may have to buy some of them drinks when we get home.”

“Your secret is safe with me. I’m transferring the helm back to you, Lieutenant Thompson.”

“Aye, ma’am. I have the controls.”

Once he’d accepted the helm, she brought up a display of the Nova system. They were going about a third of the way around. They’d be looking for planetary bodies and flip points. If they hadn’t found any in twelve hours, they’d circle around and come back via a different route.

Part of her was disappointed that she wouldn’t be exploring the strange station, but the rest of her was thrilled to avoid being at the sharp end for once.

That’s violating the Marine Raider code.

“Use your outdoor voice,” she subvocalized.

He laughed. This time it came across as an actual sound. Of course, it only came through her auditory implants, but this was better than the disembodied voice in her head.

It had taken her quite a bit of practice to learn to speak without others either hearing her or seeing what she was up to. Or being so incomprehensible that Ned couldn’t understand her.

They’d come to this compromise because she needed the privacy of her mind left intact. The shade of Marine Raider Major Ned Quincy, the previous commander of
Persephone
, was a resident in her implants.

It was ludicrous on the face of it. Her implant processors were far inferior to the most basic of Old Empire computers. At least the ones that were of any size. Yet, somehow the memory recordings that he’d left had come into a life of their own. He was an AI. A real one, similar to Marcus, but different enough to be unique.

That had sent Doctor Leonard and Carl Owlet into a tizzy. That was the only word for it. Yet, so far, they’d been unable to recreate that lightning in a bottle. They were still hopeful, though. It had worked once, so they could do it again. All they needed to do was figure out the critical elements they were missing.

Even Marcus was at a loss to explain it. All he could do was confirm that Ned Quincy was undoubtedly sentient.

She hadn’t needed anyone to tell her that. The man’s odd sense of humor didn’t allow for any other possibility. He was a real person, even if he wasn’t the man who’d created the recordings before the Fall.

And living with him in her head had proven…challenging. She wanted her privacy, too. So, they’d made a compact. She was the arbiter of when he could use her senses. As he was resident in her implants, she had to trust that he would respect her wishes.

Otherwise, she’d go crazy.

So, he was on his word that he didn’t monitor her when she told him to get lost for a while. Like when she and Talbot retired for the evening. Or when she had to use the restroom.

Since he lived in her implants, he could interface with the ship and do any number of things. Watch entertainment vids, read, and visit with friends. Of which he had some. How that worked, she wasn’t precisely sure.

He even claimed he was able to sleep. That involved putting part of one of her implant processors into a low powered state that he claimed allowed him to dream.

Ned also wasn’t normally supposed to monitor her thoughts. She’d given him permission while she was flying the ship today. That way, if she was about to screw up, he could warn her. A second safety net.

That meant under normal circumstances, he only heard what she said to him and she only heard his “voice” in her real ears. That made things bearable.

“Now that we’re in the Nova system, no more monitoring my surface thoughts. Was my transition for crap?”

“I wouldn’t say that. It could’ve been a little steadier, but you made it. Just keep working the sims and you’ll get better. Practice makes perfect.”

She didn’t need a lot of sleep, so she spent a fair amount of time in various sims. Some for the piloting, others for combat. She’d also visited a number of Old Empire worlds via recordings.

Ned’s input on combat was immeasurably helpful. He’d made complete copies of all his training in his implants. They’d been among the files she’d taken over when they recovered his body.

Having the files didn’t directly translate to her being able to use the skills. It did make her processors’ use of combat mode significantly more effective.

That wasn’t good enough for her, though. Kelsey coveted his skills. She wanted to be the badass that he’d been.

Direct access to his memories of using the techniques gave her a leg up, though. The style of fighting favored by the Raiders was a distilled compilation of many different Old Empire martial arts. Almost all of which had been lost during the Fall.

With him in her head, she was the last remaining practitioner of this dead art. One day she’d have to teach others and she wanted to be able to do that. She felt like that kid in one of the old vids with the quirky master. Wax on. Wax off.

“That reminds me,” she said. “I have a question for you.”

“Since I’m not reading your mind, you’ll have to clue me in.”

“Sorry. I was thinking about an old martial arts vid. Pre-spaceflight. What degree master were you?”

He projected a mental image of himself standing beside her. It was spooky really. He could overwrite her optical input and add himself to the scene around her. It was just like what he did for her auditory implants. No one else could see him, unless he chose to go wide, so he was like a ghost.

“We didn’t use the black belt rankings a lot of the civilian martial arts favored,” he said. “Those got all funny once you made black belt. We made an intentional break with that tradition. We use the colored belts for lower levels and a black belt to indicate mastery. The only level we have above that is sensei. One capable of teaching.”

“And I’d imagined you were some super badass. What a letdown.” She smiled to take any sting out of her joke.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I was the Raider’s unarmed combat champion six years in a row. And the woman that broke my streak? She cheated.”