Terminus (Fringe Worlds #1) (12 page)

Chapter 14

“What the hell happened to you?” Adames asked, staring at Maker’s puffy right eye and swollen lips. He had just come back into their office suite to find Maker flipping through a file on his p-comp and looking like he’d just been mugged.

“If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy,” Maker answered.

“Well, I hope you took something for the swelling. We can’t have the guy in charge looking like he’s been in a drunken brawl.”

“I did. You’ll be looking at my normal mug in almost no time. By the way, I had a talk with our missing soldier, Cano Snick.”

“Oh?” Adames raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s just say he won’t be AWOL at any point in the future.”

Adames looked at him slightly askance, feeling that there was more that Maker wasn’t saying, but merely nodded before changing the subject. “Anyway, our team’s all geared up, and the off-menu items you ordered will be here and loaded onto the ship by the time we’re ready to leave. Truth be told, though, I’d prefer to have more time to get our squad functioning together. We will be far from being a well-oiled machine when we reach Terminus.”

“I know,” Maker agreed. “But time is a luxury we don’t have. I’m betting the Vacra will only be there long enough to make repairs. Our allies, who they’ve ordered equipment from, can only stall for so long. It’s already been a month. It’ll be a miracle if they aren’t suspicious already.”

“Well, the place
is
situated in the Beyond. It’s not like ordering takeout from a place right next door.”

“True, but I don’t want to give them a reason to get their guard up.”

Adames went silent for a moment. “Gant, these things that we’re going after,” he said solemnly, “from everything you’ve said, they’re some vicious little buggers. Do we really know what we’re getting into?”

“No, not in the least,” Maker said, shaking his head. “But when has that ever stopped a Marine from doing his job?”

Chapter 15

The next few days passed without incident for the most part. Leaving any issues related to their new squad in Adames’ hands, Maker devoted most of his time to studying Terminus – its geography, terrain, etc. – in preparation for their mission. Thus, it wasn’t until he was actually entering the ship that would carry them to the Fringe, the
Mantis Wing
, that he realized with a shock that he’d have more to contend with on this tour of duty than just the mission.

The
Mantis
itself was an aging but well-maintained Navy vessel. It had impressive speed but also formidable firepower, making it both an offensive and a defensive weapon.

Upon boarding, Maker – with Erlen at his side, as always – was introduced (as a courtesy), to the ship’s officers. Starting with the captain, a hardened lifer named Ward Henry (better known as “Warhorse”), he shook their hands one by one, going next to the first mate, and so on.

Of course, the ship’s officers hadn’t assembled for Maker’s benefit – not with him being a lowly lieutenant. They had turned out for Browing, who was returning to Terminus on the same ship and whose political position (or connections) apparently afforded him some standing. Maker, officially listed as a member of Browing’s retinue, recognized that he was simply being given a minor bit of deference as a part of the politico’s entourage.

Anyway, it was there, near the end of the line of officers Maker was glad-handing like he was trying to get elected for something, that he came across someone he’d practically put out of his mind: Mr. Shank-you-in-the-shower himself, Lieutenant Kepler.

Maker hid his surprise well, shaking Kepler’s hand is if running into him were a pleasure. Inwardly, however, he cursed his bad luck. What were the odds that he’d end up on a ship with a guy who wanted him dead? Oh well, maybe they could each just do their jobs and stay out of each other’s way for the time it took to reach Terminus.

Unfortunately, that was not to be, as Maker discovered a short time later.

He was in his cabin with Erlen, just getting settled in, when the purser arrived with his luggage. Ordinarily, as this was to be a short trip, he could have allowed it to remain in the cargo bay. However, as he would be putting it into service at just about the moment they reached their destination, he felt better having it close at hand. Upon its delivery, he noted something missing almost immediately: his weapons case.

“I’m afraid it’s been confiscated,” the purser said in response to Maker’s query.

“I don’t understand,” Maker said, frowning. “My entire squad is cleared to carry weapons while en route.”

“Still, it’s being held,” the purser noted, checking her p-comp.

“On whose authority?”

“Lieutenant Kepler,” the purser answered, suddenly nervous as Erlen, who had previously been occupied touching his tongue to one of the walls, let out an irritated growl.

“We’ll see about that,” Maker said angrily, heading towards the door. It wasn’t until he’d actually exited his room, with Erlen and the purser at his heels, that he realized that he really didn’t know where he was going. Inadvertently, the purser provided the answer.

“–tain Henry,” she said.

“What?” Maker said, turning to face the purser with a scowl as he grasped the fact that, in his anger, he had been tuning her out.

“I said, impounding certain items falls under Lieutenant Kepler’s authority,” she replied. “Only the captain can override him.”

“Fine, let’s go see the captain,” Maker said.

********************************************

At the moment, Captain Henry was not a particularly happy man. Their voyage had barely gotten underway and he was already having to deal with obstinate passengers. Thus he found himself in his meeting room rather than on the bridge, which would have been his preference.

In the room with him were four other people. Most important among them was Browing, the Gaian representative (among other things) for Terminus. Next was Lieutenant Kepler, one of his officers. There was also a Marine lieutenant – Maker. Henry knew something of him by reputation, but had long ago developed a habit of judging people based on what he’d seen of their nature, not what he’d heard. Finally, there was a woman, Dr. Chantrey; Henry had no idea what her role was or why she was present.

The meeting room itself was a spacious interior cabin that had essentially been converted into a lounge with a plush sofa, several easy chairs and even a dart board. Maker found himself entertaining a vision of the place late at night and filled with cigar smoke, as Captain Henry and a bunch of cronies sat around playing poker with stogies hanging out of their mouths. At present, however, the good captain was seated in one of the easy chairs, scowling. Dr. Chantrey and Browing were seated as well. Maker, on the other hand, was standing – as was Kepler – but in a relaxed manner since the captain had already announced, “At ease.”

“Okay,” Henry said. “Somebody tell me what the hell this is all about.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Maker asked. Henry nodded. “We’ve been authorized to carry our sidearms in transit. Lieutenant Kepler has confiscated my weapon without justification.”

“The weapon’s been modified,” Kepler said defensively, not waiting to be given permission to speak. “It’s outside standard tolerances and has been enhanced to fire an irregular weapons load.”

“Irregular?” Henry repeated, slightly confused.

“Illegal, sir,” Kepler said. “It can still fire regulation projectiles, but it can also handle things like neuro-pellets, rocket rounds, shiver shots – all of which are banned forms of ammunition.”

A dark cloud passed over Henry’s face, and for a moment his lips worked involuntarily, and then he stated with finality, “Dismissed, Lieutenant Kepler.”

Kepler looked bewildered for a moment, then snapped to attention, saluted, and left the room.

“Listen,” the captain said, glaring at Browing, “I don’t give a damn what your mission parameters are, or what kind of authority you think you have. I won’t allow contraband weapons on my ship.”

“Actually, sir, the weapon itself isn’t illegal – even with the current modifications,” Maker interjected before Browing could reply. “It’s only prohibited to utilize certain forms of ammunition with it. That being the case, I’ve traveled regularly with it and never encountered an issue prior to this. Moreover, I think you’ll find no form of banned ammunition amongst our cargo.”

“Not
declared
amongst your cargo, you mean,” Henry retorted. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to smuggle something aboard my ship, so maybe it’s a good thing Kepler caught this.”

“Then, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess something,” Maker said. Captain Henry’s eyes narrowed, and both Browing and Dr. Chantrey leaned forward in their seats.

Maker took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m afraid that Lieutenant Kepler and I have had several run-ins over the past few days – once in the officer’s mess on base, and again at the gym. I don’t know how long he’s served with you, Captain, or the level of thoroughness he normally exhibits, but I think his confiscation of my weapon may be more the result of personal animosity rather than professional competence.”

Captain Henry reflected on this for a moment before responding. “Kepler’s actually new to my command, a last-minute transfer. I wasn’t wild about swapping out a seasoned officer for someone unknown, but the transfer came directly from on high. In essence, I don’t know much about him.”

Maker suddenly realized that Kepler’s presence on the
Mantis
was no coincidence. The man had gotten an eleventh-hour assignment to his current post (probably courtesy of his uncle, the admiral). They were obviously very serious about this grudge against Maker and determined to see it through to the bitter end.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll confirm that we had an…altercation,” Maker said.

“I’ll speak with Kepler, and if this is more of a vendetta on his part, I’ll see that you get your weapon back,” Henry said. “However, none of my crew know anything about your mission. I’ve deliberately kept them in the dark so as to provide them with some measure of deniability if things go haywire.”

Maker understood now why Kepler had been dismissed; the captain hadn’t wanted him privy to any discussions about their operation to locate the Vacra.

“In the meantime,” Captain Henry continued, coming to his feet, “bearing in mind the potential of your weapons, I’d be grateful if you’d refrain from committing any war crimes until you were off my ship.”

“You can rest assured that war crimes are the last thing you have to worry about,” Browing said, finally getting a word in.

The captain gave him a hard look, and then turned to Maker, who came to attention and raised his hand in salute. Henry returned the salute, then left the room. The minute the door closed him, Browing turned furiously to Maker.

“What the hell??” he almost screamed. “The doors have barely closed and you find a way to start screwing up.”

“Calm down,” Dr. Chantrey said. Frankly speaking, Maker had been surprised when she walked into the room with Browing, as he didn’t realize that she’d be accompanying them. “Let’s at least give him a chance to explain.”

“Calm down?!” Browing shouted. “We’ve barely set out, and he’s already making enemies and planning to commit high crimes?”

“I didn’t
make
any enemies; they were already in existence,” Maker retorted. “Apparently there have been people waiting in the wings for years, ready to sacrifice their firstborn in order to get a shot at me.” He then gave them an overview of his encounters with Kepler.

“Okay, it’s possible that this guy is out to get you,” Dr. Chantrey conceded. “But modifying your weapon? You have to admit that it looks bad.”

“Not to mention the fact that utilizing any of the outlawed ammunition that Kepler mentioned on the Vacra would be a violation of the Rigilos Convention,” Browing added angrily.

“Oh?” Maker said quizzically, raising an eyebrow. “Did these things sign some treaty that I missed? If so, then by all means, I will comply. But if not, then they can’t expect to be the beneficiary of an agreement or convention they aren’t party to. They certainly didn’t extend us any courtesies when they blasted three of our ships to bits.”

Maker stormed out of the room without giving the doctor or Browing a chance to comment further.