ONE

  Admiral Russ Danner’s office on the Fremont base was deep underground. A year or so ago – the last time Grisham had visited the facility - the Admiral’s office had been high up in a glass-fronted building with a commanding view across the base. Times had changed.

  One thing which hadn’t changed, was the antique wooden desk, behind which Danner was currently sitting. Grisham was beginning to wonder if the man had a collection of them.

  “You had an interesting journey,” said Danner without preamble. He looked older than last time they’d met, with some extra lines at the corner of his eyes, and he hadn’t shaved in a few days.

  “Yes, sir,” said Grisham. “You promised me safety and instead I was attacked by a tank.”

  Danner grunted. “You made it here alive, didn’t you?” He met Grisham’s gaze and his expression appeared to be one of genuine remorse. “I’m sorry about that, Jed. Really, I am.”

  “I thought you told me the manoeuvrings are still in the early phases - that’s why I agreed to leave the Voltran. Our enemies took over a damn tank and tried to murder me in the middle of a damn military base!” Despite his efforts to remain calm, Grisham’s voice climbed.

  “I personally vetted everyone involved in escorting you here,” said Danner. His own anger glimmered like a shark breaking the surface of dark waters, before it vanished once more out of sight. “And I’ve learned a lesson from this.” He nodded. “A valuable lesson.”

  There was nothing to be gained by pursuing the matter and Grisham let it drop. “Tell me what’s going on, sir.”

  “You’ve already heard the most of it,” said Danner. “The Senate is split, the military is split, and the Unity cabal are pushing for us to agree a surrender.”

  “And if we don’t agree to that surrender?”

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?” said Danner. “They have a big stick to use against us if they choose to do so.”

  “The location of our worlds,” said Grisham. “Handed to the Kijol on a plate.”

  “So far they haven’t made the threat,” said Danner. “If I can use the old saying, that would truly be the nuclear option. At the moment, the violence within the HF is contained – though your recent experience might have convinced you otherwise - but there’s plenty happening behind the scenes.”

  “And the fleet?”

  “The answer, as you might imagine, is not straightforward,” said Danner. “I know some I can trust and some who I can’t. In the middle, it’s grey.”

  “What about those warships keeping watch over the Voltran?” asked Grisham.

  “The Damocles is mine,” said Danner. “Captain Avery on the Eldan Blade I’m less than sure about.”

  “Then why not send him and his battleship to the frontline?”

  Danner leaned forward suddenly and thumped his fist on the table. “Because I’m fighting for the Human Federation, damnit! Humanity needs that battleship! This terrible game won’t be won by sacrificing our own warships. We need to emerge from it stronger than when we started.” Danner fell silent. “And besides, even if I ordered Captain Avery to go elsewhere, I’m not sure he would obey. That would only bring the waiting crisis closer.”

  Grisham tipped his head back. He’d been effectively out in the wilderness for several weeks. Rigging up a comms link from the Voltran to the Human Federation hadn’t been difficult, but the Ax’Kol warship was an unknown. For a time, nobody – not even Admiral Danner – had been willing to risk allowing the Voltran anywhere near a populated world. And, since Corporal Barkley’s comms pack only had routing information for the HF proxy hubs, Grisham had been unable to set a course for home until he’d obtained the agreement of high command.

  During his time out in space, Grisham had spoken to Danner on several occasions and learned that the HF was being assailed both from within and without. The Kijol fleet was in the ascendancy, while internal strife was threatening to tear the HF apart. Although funding was still pouring into the military, the two factions – those who would surrender and those who would fight - were doing their best to install their own personnel into positions of advantage. The side which controlled the fleet would ultimately come out on top, even though the only real winners would be the Kijol, and the Unity members who hoped to gain advantage from a surrender.

  Against this backdrop, Grisham – now that he commanded an alien war vessel, albeit one with unproven capabilities - was viewed by many as an uncontrollable variable. His opponents had already shown how they intended to deal with him, though they’d played their hand early and screwed up badly by doing so. Grisham’s anger was simmering and his determination to play an active part in resolving the Human Federation’s internecine conflict had only been strengthened by the attempt on his life, though part of him was still wondering if he’d have been better off staying on the Voltran.

  “So what’s the plan, sir?” asked Grisham. “The Human Federation is internally crippled and our opponents might, at whichever moment best suits them, betray our location to the Kijol. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Kijol will likely defeat us anyway. Beyond that, we have the Ax’Kol to think about.”

  “The one thing which gives me hope is that the schism hasn’t yet affected our warship construction, nor our weapons research,” said Danner. “If we can resolve matters decisively, the HF might well emerge in a position from which we can make life difficult for the Kijol. And by that, I mean holding them at bay long enough that they’re forced to recall their new generation hardware from our territory to help them fight the Ax’Kol.”

  “The Ax’Kol are a threat, sir,” said Grisham. “Not to us – yet - but I’ve had a sense of them from my time on the Voltran. They’re driven by a need – a need to kill and destroy. This isn’t a case of cutting off the head and the body withers. The Ax’Kol enjoy what they’re doing, and they won’t stop.”

  “There’s little I can do about them now,” said Danner. “My plate is full with everything else. Maybe once everything else is behind us, I’ll be able to divert more resources into planning for a potential war with yet another alien species.”

  “If we don’t improve our technology and soon, it won’t be a long war, sir,” said Grisham. “I’ve watched the feed recording from Sergeant Maxwell’s helmet sensor on Xaros a dozen times, and the Ax’Kol warship beneath the lake wasn’t anything like the mass of the Voltran, yet the Kijol Eternus had a real hard time bringing it down.”

  “The Voltran is untried,” said Danner.

  “I know what it’s capable of, sir – I ran some tests while I was away. One-on-one, neither the Eldan Blade nor the Damocles would stand a chance.”

  “What about an Eternus?”

  “I wouldn’t shy from the fight, sir,” said Grisham. “But we both know the Voltran is too valuable to throw away in a muscle-flexing competition.”

  Unexpectedly, Danner laughed. “You were always asking to be given command of a battleship, and here you are, in control of a vessel with even greater potency.”

  “I’m not too proud to say it’s what I deserve, sir. And my crew and I are the ones who pulled it out of the desert.”

  Danner stayed quiet for a few moments and Grisham could read the thoughts going through the Admiral’s mind.

  “The Voltran is of great interest to many people, Jed.”

  “Yes, sir. We need its technology.”

  “Opinion within both the military and the Senate is almost unanimous – across every faction.”

  “They want to take the Voltran away.”

  “Yes.”

  “If I thought the Voltran would be used solely for humanity’s benefit – if I truly believed it would be broken apart and its components reverse-engineered - then I’d say it’s the right thing to do, sir.” Grisham smiled thinly.

  “You don’t believe that will happen?”

  “I can read the same in your face, sir. Neither side within the Human Federation’s conflict would use the vessel for research. I’ll bet there are many people wondering exactly what the Voltran is capable of, and asking themselves how beneficial it would be to have control of such a spaceship.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “And I’m sure if the Voltran fell into the wrong hands, then it might well be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Kijol.”

  “I see you’ve considered the matter,” said Danner.

  “Tell me, sir, what would you do with the Voltran?”

  Danner’s eyes glinted dangerously. “It’s not my ship, is it, Jed?”

  “No, sir, it is not your ship.” Grisham held the other man’s gaze. “Before the mission to Ovintus, you asked if you could trust me. The answer I gave hasn’t changed.”

  “Because I need to trust you,” said Danner.

  “I thought long and hard before I came here, sir. I asked myself what might happen once I was away from the Voltran.” Grisham looked around the room. “And here I am.”

  Almost imperceptibly, Danner nodded, as if he’d settled an internal conflict. “You asked me what I’d do with the Voltran.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s not so much what I’d do with the warship, as what I’d ask of you, Captain Grisham.”

  Grisham was fast learning how Danner’s mind turned. “My enemies will easily be convinced that I’m a loose cannon, sir. Whatever I do could be attributed to the actions of an officer who has exceeded the bounds of his orders.”

  “And would you accept that?” asked Danner quietly.

  “For a time and to a degree,” Grisham nodded. “As long as the results were worth the sacrifice.”

  “The winning side writes the history, Jed, though I hate to say winning in a situation like this. If Unity fails in its aims, I’ll make sure you come out of this as a hero.”

  “I don’t want to be a hero, sir.”

  “Our actions define us, Captain Grisham. Whether we like it or not.”

  “What would you have me do, sir?”

  “I mentioned earlier that some are undecided about which side to take in the Human Federation’s conflict.”

  “Yes, sir. How many are undecided?” asked Grisham, to see if Danner would commit to an answer this time.

  “I would guess at a third – both within the military and the Senate. Of those who are already pledged to one side or another, I’m sure many could be persuaded to change their allegiance.”

  Grisham narrowed his eyes in thought. “How many of those in favour of surrender are within the Unity cabal?”

  “I don’t have precise figures,” said Danner. “At a guess, I’d say there’s an inner circle which stands to gain the most from handing the Human Federation’s planets over to the Kijol. The others have perhaps been convinced that our position is hopeless. I’m sure many truly believe they are doing the right thing.”

  “And if enough people are convinced that the Human Federation’s best interests are served by fighting, Unity will have failed.”

  “Unless Maynard and his cronies decide to go it alone and provide the Kijol with the locations of our planets anyway,” Danner agreed.

  “Can we stop them doing so?”

  “Not without wholesale murder.” Danner raised a hand. “And I’m not ready for that.”

  “Not yet, or not ever?”

  “Some things are best not discussed or decided until there’s no choice.”

  As answers went, it was an evasive one, but Grisham didn’t push. “How do you propose to convince people that surrendering is the wrong solution?”

  “We have talked about the Voltran,” said Danner. “About its memories.”

  “Yes, sir. It knows where it has been and it remembers events in those places.” Grisham suppressed a shiver at some of the things he’d seen through the interface link.

  “It has been to Kijol worlds.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Defeated Kijol worlds,” said Danner, leaning forward.

  Grisham had a good idea where this was leading. “If we have proof that the Kijol are not as strong as they claim, the undecideds within the Human Federation will be less likely to accept surrender.”

  “Exactly,” said Danner.

  “The Voltran remembers, but I can’t transfer those memories into a databank for others to view.”

  “You would need to obtain conclusive evidence using our own hardware,” said Danner. “If you took the Voltran away from here and returned with a recording of a dead Kijol world, I could use it as evidence that the Human Federation is in a stronger position than it appears.”

  “I’ll do it,” said Grisham. “Provide me with a few drones, or one of those survey vehicles we deploy on the surface of the real shithole worlds and I’ll come back with the proof.”

  “You’ll have the hardware you need,” said Danner. “In fact, it’s on its way to the shuttle pad, ready for you to load it onto your transport.”

  Grisham smiled inwardly that he’d been so predictable. “I don’t have access to the warship’s memories from here, so I don’t know how long the journey will take.”

  “You can tell me when you return to the Voltran,” said Danner. “The quicker, the better. As each day passes, the likelihood of outright conflict within the Human Federation increases.”

  “I understand the urgency, sir,” said Grisham.

  “I’m glad that you do.”

  The meeting was coming to an end. While Grisham could have stayed longer, asking questions, he realised that, even though he was neck-deep in political machinations, he still didn’t want to find out all the grubby little details – assuming Danner was willing to disclose them. Grisham knew his strengths lay elsewhere, and he didn’t want to dig too deep. He had a good idea what he’d find.

  “Am I going to be safe on the return journey to the Voltran, sir?”

  “Yes. There’ll be no repeat of last time.”

  Grisham had little choice other than to believe. He stood and then headed for the door.

  TWO

  Grisham returned to the shuttle pad in the same Storm tank which had brought him most of the way to Danner’s office. Air support was provided by the See No Evil, though the sound of the warship’s Charos drive was drowned out by the tank’s own propulsion and by the vehicle’s thick armour.

  When he stepped out onto the shuttle pad, Grisham found it deserted. The reason was clear – Danner had been caught out once, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again until he’d assured himself exactly who could and couldn’t be trusted. That meant the Admiral had real confidence in the commanding officer of the See No Evil and the crew of the tank. Maybe they’d served under him long ago.

  It was raining heavily now and, despite the warship overhead, the wind somehow managed to drive the raindrops onto the shuttle pad. Grisham cursed the bad weather, more out of habit than anything else.

  The Ax’Kol transport was exactly where he’d left it, and, floating nearby on their gravity drives, were a dozen half-metre cube-shaped drones. Grisham recognized the type – the drones were fitted with sophisticated sensor hardware and could be controlled using the computer in a standard combat suit.

  Next to the drones was a one-metre storage container, also fitted with a gravity drive. It contained the replacement equipment that Grisham had asked for – that being replacement spacesuit power cells and ammunition.

  In less than five minutes, the cargo was loaded into the shuttle’s rear bay and Grisham was once more in the cockpit. He requested a comms link to the Voltran.

  “I’m on the shuttle,” he said.

  “Glad to hear it, sir,” said Deneuve.

  Grisham had already informed his crew about the attempt on his life and it had been difficult to persuade them not to bring the Voltran any closer to the base. That might have stirred things up a little too much.

  The See No Evil acted as escort once more and Grisham couldn’t fail to notice that the warship maintained a position directly between the shuttle and the Eldan Blade.

  Soon, the transport neared the Ax’Kol warship. Grisham intended to use one of the docks in the Voltran’s portside, which would keep the shuttle out of the Eldan Blade’s firing line. The commanding officer on the See No Evil knew what he was doing and remained as close as possible, to protect the shuttle from any accidental weapon launches.

  The portside bay was protected by a door, which rose to admit the shuttle. A long tunnel – compartmentalised by several additional doors – led deep into the Voltran. Grisham brought the transport to a halt adjacent to a narrow platform. The bay was lit in dim blue and had only a single personnel exit.

  Having made his way from the shuttle’s cockpit to the flank door, Grisham jumped the metre-wide gap onto the platform and left the bay. The bridge wasn’t far and soon he had re-joined his crew.

  “Good to see you, sir,” said Deneuve. She had one hand on an interface post and her voice was distant. Despite her link to the Voltran, she still managed an expression of disapproval. Deneuve had not agreed with Grisham’s choice to leave the warship in the first place and she wanted to remind him of it.

  “It’s good to be back,” said Grisham.

  The bridge was circular, with a six-metre diameter and a high ceiling. Eight interface posts, which were arranged in a circle, rose from the floor. Grisham stepped onto the low podium in front of the command station. A few patches of char reminded him of the huge Ax’Kol which had been dead on the floor when he and his crew had taken over.

  Those aliens were gone now. They’d been chopped into pieces by Sergeant Maxwell and his squad using sharp blades they’d found elsewhere on the Voltran, and then dumped in a room a short distance from the bridge.

  The indentation in the wall to Grisham’s left - caused by what he’d always assumed was a Kijol missile strike which had penetrated the bridge and killed the Ax’Kol crew – was now hardly visible. The Voltran had been wrecked once, but now it had healed itself.