Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection Read online

“Now superimpose the pulsar beam on top of this one.”

  “No fucking way.”

  “If you don’t want to it’s fine, I—”

  “I mean no fucking way.” She yanked the pulsar beam graph out of the corner and dropped it in the center. It wasn’t a surprise to him, and he assumed no longer a surprise to her, when the pulse spikes lined up perfectly on the crests of the crimson line.

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  She still stared at him instead of the graph. “Explain.”

  “Last month we sent in a prototype, state-of-the-art probe for testing. Among a few other things, it returned this congruence. My government would like to determine what it is.”

  “But you’re not a scientist. Why send in a black ops agent?”

  “Well, the thought was the level of precision strongly suggests it’s artificial, and thus it might be hostile….” He sighed. Shit. “I never said I was a black ops agent.”

  She gave him a wicked grin. “Not until now.”

  She had managed to fit in manipulating him in between sophisticated data analysis. Impressive.

  He brought a hand up to run through his hair, still damp from the shower. “Well played. Anyway, given the concern it might be hostile they were reluctant to send civilian researchers. And while I’m not a scientist, I know my way around spectrum analyses and whatnot better than the average black ops agent.”

  Her gaze had finally returned to the graphs, and his returned to her. “Is this what you’re here for?”

  Her voice was soft, almost whimsical. “Maybe.”

  “Look, you don’t have to tell me, but there’s no reason to hide it.”

  She half-smiled. “Not what I meant. The Nebula caught my eye. I knew there would be something to find…I didn’t necessarily know what it would be.”

  Her expression shifted even in profile. “Did you learn what it was? You know, before you tried to shoot me down.”

  “No. I had only been here a few hours when you blew my ship out the sky.”

  “Right.” She rolled her eyes a little. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. In the same circumstances I’d do it again, but I am sorry.”

  He looked at her askance. “Um, thanks?”

  “Certainly.” The graphs abruptly vanished; the cabin darkened in the absence of the holographic images. “I’d like to get an early start in the morning, so good night.”

  “Good night….” He frowned, taken aback by the sudden shift in tone and quick exit. In a few brief seconds she had waved the lights dim, descended the stairwell and disappeared.

  Then he was alone and unrestrained on the main deck of her ship.

  He noted the previously identified stations, controls and junction points. While the security on them was doubtless more complex than his restraints had been, he suspected he could hack at least some of them.

  But he didn’t need to, and gained nothing by doing so. The repairs weren’t complete; if he tried to fly away now he’d just get himself and her killed. And given their ‘relationship’—if one wished to call it such—was improving, odds were decent once the repairs were complete she would in fact drop him on an independent world and be on her way.

  So instead of hacking her ship he unfolded the cot from the wall, pulled the privacy screen over, took off his shoes and lay down. The cot wasn’t too bad; he’d slept on far worse.

  He laced his hands behind his head and pondered how she had managed to get him to tell her his name, his profession and his mission, all in less than a day.

  It went against one of the mandates of his job: never reveal anything more than is necessary to finish the mission. On the other hand, he was in a compromised position and reliant on her to get out of it. In such a situation exceptions could be made.

  Even so, he should get on his game. Though….

  As long as he didn’t kill her and she didn’t kill him, this would likely end with him making it back to settled space in one piece. Therefore, other than ensuring she felt enough goodwill toward him to not throw him out the airlock—which seeing as she had gone out of her way to rescue him in the first place, he suspected was a fairly low threshold—he really didn’t need to play her.

  He had been trained to always be looking for an opening, for a weakness he could use to his advantage to cripple the enemy and complete the mission. But she wasn’t an enemy. She wasn’t even a mark.

  So he decided he was marginally comfortable with her knowing a few truths. Which was interesting, seeing as he allowed very few people to know many truths at all about him.

  Special circumstances and all.

  Alex crashed onto her bed, relishing the sensual, almost carnal feel of her head sinking into the silky pillow.

  After several deep, luxurious breaths she glanced up, and promptly scowled. The viewport above the bed often revealed twinkling stars or occasionally a glowing nebula, but at the very least the blurred shimmer of superluminal travel. Tonight it revealed a thick haze of sickly amber dust and little else, serving as a stark reminder she lay stranded on a nasty uncharted planet with a broken ship and a confounding…she didn’t even know what he constituted now.

  Why had she let him see the scans? Worse, why had she explained them to him?

  Because he was putting on a very convincing act of being friendly and nonthreatening? Of course he was convincing. It was his job to convince people he could be trusted until he was ready to kill them or arrest them or dispense whatever justice he fancied upon them.

  Because he was a good cook? While a rather nice surprise, it hardly qualified him for ‘friend’ status.

  Because he was disturbingly good looking, with hair as black as the void between stars which sent her pulse aflutter when it fell across his brow? Because he had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen—the color of the uncut natural sapphires they displayed in geology museums—which sparkled from a thousand facets when he made a teasing remark?

  Yep, that was probably why.

  She groaned and rolled over to bury her face in the pillow. “I’m waxing poetic about a man. Kill me now….”

  In a world of cheap genetic enhancement before and even after birth, handsome men were a dime a dozen. They’d never distracted her or done much of anything in particular for her, at least not from looks alone.

  No way was she going to be led astray by a pair of pretty blue eyes. Especially not when they belonged to a Senecan, and a Senecan black ops agent at that.

  She possessed enough self-awareness to realize her view of the world was slightly jaded and perchance cynical. Nonetheless, objectively she recognized being born on Seneca did not automatically make him an evil monster. Granted, hardly a galaxy-altering revelation. Seneca was an adversary, one toward which she bore deep-seated animosity for her own personal reasons. But most people living there were no different from everyone else, spending their time doing the things most people did and not torturing puppies or sacrificing virgins.

  And even being a black ops agent didn’t automatically make him an evil monster, though it did make him dangerous. Her mother was and her father had been military; Richard, Malcolm and a number of her acquaintances were military—and thus trained killers. She had no right to judge him for engaging in activities those closest to her would do, and had done, if asked by their government.

  The experience of the day seemed to bolster the decision she had made this morning. He appeared to be a smart, rational guy and not a zealot or fanatic or psychopath. As such, he presumably realized getting along and not causing trouble for her would result in him getting out of this situation alive and unharmed, and anything he did to actually help would speed up said resolution.

  Thus, she came to the conclusion that while she definitely couldn’t trust him, she could perhaps ‘trust’ him a little for now.

  She went through the reasoning two more times to make certain it was sound, logical and had nothing whatsoever to do with a pair of pretty blue eyes.

  19

  DEUCALI


  EARTH ALLIANCE COLONY

  * * *

  LIAM ENTERED THE PUB as unobtrusively as possible. His tall, stocky frame placed a lower limit on his ability to be unobtrusive, but he did try.

  The pub was located many kilometers from the base, in an upper-middle yet not quite upper class neighborhood. He had dressed out of uniform, wearing navy slacks, a crisp white button-down shirt and a navy blazer. Well, perhaps not far out of uniform. But he wore an unadorned navy cap over his distinctive ginger hair so as to avoid being recognized.

  When one was a Regional Commander of the Earth Alliance Armed Forces, one possessed no ‘peers’ in the region—no one it was appropriate to go out with for a couple of beers, or watch the game or barbeque with on the weekend. No one to assemble with to watch the tides of war gather.

  Maybe it was better this way, lest he give something away in a careless laugh or knowing nod at a crucial moment, but a man such as him did not have friends. Subordinates, professional colleagues, rivals and enemies. But not friends.

  If he stopped to give thought to it, there did exist a time when he had had friends…teammates in primary, a few worthy cohorts in university ROTC. But that had been before. Before the war against Seneca, before his mother had returned home in a flag-draped coffin and gutted his father’s spirit. Before he had sworn a vow to his mother’s eternal soul and the God who shepherded it that he would have vengeance.

  As an only child, since his father died in a construction accident seven years earlier he had no family of note either. He’d never married, unwilling to let another person inside his private affairs much less his private emotions. His spouse was the Alliance military, which was all he’d ever required. And it worked out for the best, as it meant the chance of bringing shame to his family had not needed to be a consideration in his decision whether to collude in recent events, and events soon to come.

  He acquired a chair at a high table in the bar area and motioned for a waiter, remembering at the last second not to bark an order for immediate service. He ordered an Earth ale; since he was out of uniform he didn’t need to publicly support the local economy, and Deucali’s meager attempts at hops brewing left a good bit to be desired.

  Deucali wasn’t a particularly scenic world either. Its landscape had been painted in browns and yellows and decorated with dull waters and minimal mountain ranges. Nevertheless, it was rich in natural resources and boasted a calm, temperate climate, one reason it had been the first world colonized on the Perseus Arm of the galaxy and for a brief time the most distant colony in existence. The Alliance had established a strong presence here and for decades used it as a base from which to expand outward along the southern arc of the Arm.

  After a hundred and ten years a thriving, self-sufficient economy was firmly established, even if much of it continued to be centered around military operations. The patrons of the pub were engineers, defense contractors and civilian managers, yet even they retained a rugged, down-to-earth aura. You wouldn’t find glitzy balls or elaborate sensory circuses on Deucali, and he thanked God on an almost daily basis for their absence.

  The waiter delivered his drink and a bowl of crusted bread, then vanished upon his disinterest in further purchases. The pub was busy bordering on packed, and he assumed the young man had others to service who would be freer with their credits.

  He twisted the cap off the pure-bottled ale and rotated the chair toward the nearest exanet news screen in time to see Prime Minister Brennon walk to the podium.

  Brennon was a sturdy, solidly built man, with a slightly lined face and slightly graying hair that could mean an age anywhere from sixty to a hundred sixty. He held himself as all politicians did, shoulders back and chin a notch high.

  “As you no doubt know by now, yesterday we suffered a great tragedy in the loss of Trade Minister Mangele Santiagar. He was one of our brightest young stars, a dedicated public servant and a personal friend. He volunteered to lead the delegation to the Trade Summit because he believed in the possibility of a peaceful future with the Senecan Federation and the benefits which could result therefrom.”

  The Prime Minister paused to look troubled. In the pub, most of the patrons shifted their attention away from the various sporting events playing out on the other screens; the previously lively room grew subdued. Though situated in nearly the opposite corner of settled space from Seneca, the strong military presence here meant even civilians on Deucali exhibited a strong patriotic streak.

  “It was a good dream, one we all hoped would come to be. But it, and he, were betrayed by those who might have reaped its benefits—by the very Senecans he reached out to in a gesture of peace. He was savagely murdered by those who came forth in a costume of friendship but wielded daggers beneath their cloaks.”

  Liam took a sip of his ale. Politicians could always be counted on to turn a phrase when the fires of outrage needed to be fanned. Hyperbole and metaphor were powerful tools in the right hands. He doubted the PM was anything other than a vapid politician in an empty suit, but he certainly knew how to give a performance when a performance was required.

  “The General Assembly has convened in emergency session and is discussing the best manner of response to this shocking outrage. Rest assured that our response, when it comes, will be measured, deliberate and commiserate with the crime committed against the Earth Alliance.”

  He paused again, his voice softening in tenor. “For now, our hearts and prayers are with Minister Santiagar’s wife, his children and all the members of his family. I grieve with them, as we all do, in their time of loss. Thank you.”

  Liam gestured to the waiter for another drink. The pub had a nice atmosphere and safe anonymity. He decided he might linger awhile.

  Perking up at the renewed prospect of further purchases, the waiter quickly reappeared to deliver his drink. Liam nodded to himself as he turned the fresh bottle up. He didn’t know whether Santiagar had been a good man or a bad one, but it made no difference. He had been a sacrificial lamb to the mission.

  Mr. Prime Minister, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

  COSENTI

  INDEPENDENT COLONY

  A chill breeze drifted in from the flatlands as Thad Yue instructed the bots to bring the crates down the ramp and move them into the unmarked hangar.

  Eight crates in total were unloaded from the transport. Each one contained four autonomous VI-guided short-range Earth Alliance missiles tipped with high-density HHNC warheads. As missiles went they were lightweight and compact; even so, each crate required two of the industrial-grade mechanized bot lifters to be moved inside.

  As soon as the last one cleared the ramp he signaled the transport to depart. The pilot had no knowledge of the contents of the crates, and probably didn’t care to find out. Just another routine delivery from New Babel.

  Cosenti was a tiny colony not far outside Senecan Federation space. Nominally independent, it maintained only the most basic governance infrastructure, and in practice the criminal cabals ran things here. It served primarily as a storage and staging location for smuggling illicit goods onto Senecan worlds, which was just as well, for its arid, infertile soil and flat landscape rendered it suitable for little else.

  Although it sported fairly substantial defensive measures, if the Senecan military really wanted to they could wipe the colony off the map. Thus far they hadn’t chosen to, presumably because they realized a replacement would spring up somewhere else within a month. The real source of illicit trade—chimerals, weapons, gear and all manner of cyber tools and unauthorized enhancements—was New Babel. And wiping it out would be another matter entirely.

  The land outside the small town which constituted Cosenti’s sole inhabited locale was populated by a patchwork of warehouses, flight hangars and plain structures of hidden purpose. Kilometers separated each cluster of buildings and perimeter drones guarded every region, programmed to eliminate any vehicle or person who did not possess the correct code. Various organizations controlled the
buildings, but no markings, signs or other identifying features designated ownership. Visitors either knew where to go, or had no business going there.

  By the time Thad walked in the hangar the others were already unpacking the crates. He watched several of them guide the smaller, more precision-oriented bots in securing the first missile beneath one of the fighter jets while the others readied the next missile.

  The four jets dominating the hangar’s open space had arrived two days earlier and were carbon copies of current generation Earth Alliance Navy ships. The paint on the Alliance logos and distinctive blue stripes shone like new. Which it was of course, having been applied about eighteen hours earlier.

  This particular hangar belonged to the Zelones cartel, so named for the family who founded and ruled it for almost two centuries. Their rule had ended decades ago, though, with the rise to power of Olivia Montegreu. Formerly the chief lieutenant to Ryn Zelones, following his death under the suspicious circumstances typical of a criminal kingpin’s demise, she had rapidly secured control of the cartel under her sole and absolute authority.

  He had met the woman on several occasions, and found she more than lived up to her reputation—sharp, cold, beautiful and utterly, soullessly ruthless. It didn’t represent a problem for him. He was confident in his ability to meet her admittedly considerable expectations.

  The others didn’t know for whom they worked; from their perspective he had hired them for a job, end of story. They were all independent mercs-for-hire, all skilled enough to actually be able to maintain their independence and all being paid quite well for the op. Still, he imagined their payment en masse didn’t touch the cost of the fighter jets. Most were ex-military, a mix of Alliance and Federation, and brought with them the requisite knowledge and understanding of military procedure. None possessed sufficient morality to harbor any qualms about the nature of the op.

  He came from a military background as well, having departed the Alliance armed forces in the wake of an unfortunate incident during ground operations on Elathan in the Crux War. Unfortunate indeed.