Finest Hour (The Exiled Fleet Book 3) Page 9

  He ushered Gage, the two Genevans and Diaz into the lift. With Klaven, the quarters were cramped. The two guards had their backs to opposite walls, staring each other down.

  “And you are?” Gage asked the man with the dead eye and monocle.

  “Diaz is the Kaiserina’s minder,” Klaven said. “Don’t…ah, mind him, forgive the pun.”

  “Your babysitter?” Gage asked, twisting the knife in Klaven’s pride.

  “Ha, ha, this is Albian humor, yes? Kaiserina Washington, in her endless wisdom, has yet to name her successor. As such, she’s sent minders to tend to each candidate and compile an extensive report on fitness, temperament…all that business. Albion succession is much different, I understand,” he said, glancing at Thorvald, “but likely more complicated at the moment. Given circumstances.”

  The lift doors opened to a wardroom with several couches, low tables and an actual stone-block fireplace. The head of a deer-like animal with razor-sharp antlers and black and white fur hung over the flames. Wagon wheels adorned the bulkheads, along with paintings of game birds and antique rifles. Windows looked out across the dorsal hull and Gage saw the Orion and the rest of his ships. Seeing them from here, from the enemy’s point of view, only strengthened how vulnerable his command really was.

  “My quarters,” Klaven said as he stepped out. “Have you ever hunted erdolchen stags? Difficult to stalk. Even harder to bring down with a bow and arrow, as the huntmeisters demand. Amongst the Reich we say that once you take a shot on an erdolchen, you best not miss, as the stag gets the next go.”

  “I’ve never cared for hunting,” Gage said.

  “Because you’re common born.” Klaven went to an antique globe in a stand and lifted it up, revealing a bucket of ice and several bottles of liquor. “Albion nobility are well-known for their safaris and whatnot. They tend to discourage the more common folk from taking part by putting ridiculously high fees on hunting permits and limiting the number available. Isn’t that right?” He turned over a glass and gripped an ice cube with a pair of tongs, then raised an eyebrow at Gage.

  “No, thank you.” Gage walked to the window to look out over the Castle Itter.

  Klaven shut the globe without fixing himself a drink and joined Gage.

  “Full disclosure,” Klaven said, “you are well-known to the Reich, Commodore Gage. We keep an eye on the competent leaders of all the major star nations. Your rise through the ranks was…it struck us rather impressive. And I must apologize.”

  “For?” Gage counted torpedo tube covers and noted the number of acceleration coils on the spine cannon running down the ship’s centerline.

  “For inviting you aboard my ship. I didn’t realize your…history with it until you were already on your way. This feels macabre, but my condolences for the loss of your father,” Klaven said.

  Gage nodded to him slowly. He doubted that Klaven came across that information when he claimed, but the acknowledgement and apology struck him as genuine.

  “Indeed, I lost relatives aboard this very same vessel at the Battle of Turnbull against the Albion Navy. A second cousin and a great uncle,” Klaven said, “but it’s no comparison. Distant relations that passed before I was born. It’s like they never even existed to me. Your loss was much more personal.”

  “What are we doing here, Klaven?” Gage asked.

  “What is that old Cathay curse? ‘May you live in interesting times’? These times are most certainly interesting, aren’t they? Albion and Reich ships within weapon range of each other and look…peace.” He raised a hand to Gage’s ships. “But even dark times can lead to something great. Do you know the history of the Reich? After the Great Winter following the eruption of Mount Edziza, the German people in central Europe were facing extinction. They did not go quietly into that good night. Rather, they remembered their ancestors…and remembered how many of their relatives settled in a place called Texas.

  “With the world’s governments in total collapse, a number of enterprising Germans organized an airlift out of Munich to Austin. For months, zeppelins ferried people out of the Artic zone while the sky was choked with ash. Not one was left behind—not that there were too many after everything collapsed…but I digress. The German people settled in and around Austin and declared the Fourth Reich at the Scholz Garten, a historic place linking Texas to Germany.”

  “And then the Reich went to war and conquered much of the American South and what was then Mexico,” Gage said. “They tried to take Arizona and Utah, where refugees from the British Isles settled…and where Albion drew its first colonists once the diaspora from Earth began.”

  “So our people have never been friends.” Klaven shrugged. “Back then glaciers and starvation were the great enemy…now these Daegon are here.”

  “The Kaiserina doesn’t know about them yet, does she?” Gage asked.

  “I suspect she’s heard by now.” Klaven leaned against the windowsill. “But she needs information, my good Commodore. I cannot return to Prussia Zwei with the name ‘Daegon’ and a few pic captures of their ships. It’s my duty to learn more.” He canted his head slightly to Gage.

  “Travel back to the Reich would take weeks,” Gage said. “There’s no way word could have reached Prussia Zwei yet.”

  “There’s a ley line between Reich space and Vishuddha, and after the disaster there, she likely realizes there’s a new force in the galaxy.”

  “What? But Vishuddha is one of the League’s locus worlds,” Gage said.

  “We caught bits and pieces, but it seems Daegon infiltrators sabotaged the habitat domes and the shipyards. The death toll…best not to think of the number. The League’s reconvening on Lantau. Cathay space.”

  “Lantau…is at least closer than Vishuddha.” Gage got lost in thought as his original plans went up in smoke.

  “But the Castle Itter is stuck in this system for a time,” Klaven said. “Might as well make the most of it.”

  “Are you going to fight the Daegon?” Gage asked.

  Klaven laughed and turned to Diaz, who stood next to the Reichsman’s Genevan guard, and wagged a finger next to the older man’s face.

  “We have a very clear policy, my good Commodore,” Klaven said. “The Reich never fires first, but any attack on a Reich ship is an attack on the Kaiserina herself. She has not declared war…and as such I will not place my ship in any circumstances that may commit the Reich to a war without the Kaiserinna’s blessing or knowledge. You understand?”

  “I do,” Gage said. “Francia didn’t. Though there’s still some confusion over whether the Franks really did fire on the Bismarck before the Reich declared total war.”

  “Bah,” Klaven said, making a face, “ancient history. The Francia planets have integrated fairly well into the Reich. After a number of pacification efforts. And resettlements. And none of that matters now. But let’s focus on another matter. Regent Christina.” A playful smile came across his face.

  “You see,” Klaven said, taking a seat on a couch and crossing his legs, “I didn’t think there would be any confusion over who the Albion Regent is. Christina is King Randolph’s …second cousin? By way of marriage, I believe. Maybe once removed? Needless to say, she has a blood right to the throne. Yes?”

  “Albion’s right of succession is different than you’re picturing.” Gage glanced over at Thorvald.

  “I thought her claim was legitimate—if not a bit tenuous—until I saw your Genevan,” Klaven said. “They don’t come cheap, and they only protect those within the scope of their contract. I’ve never known them to abandon those they’re assigned to…and you are common born, Gage. So if a Genevan is with you, then that means a member of the royal family is too…one that’s incapable of wearing the crown due to injury…or age.”

  “You’re clever,” Gage said.

  “I imagine you’d rather not have that walking relic with you,” Klaven said, “but they are just so dogged in their duties, aren’t they? I know your pain—in stereo, no less.�
��

  “Lady Christina approaches,” Klaven’s Genevan said.

  “Thank you, Rapoto.” Klaven rubbed his hands together. “This will be interesting.”

  The door to the quarters opened, and Lady Christina came in, her generous midsection straining the limits of her uniform. Gage had to bite his lips to keep from saying anything about how poorly she wore it.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, ambling over to Gage. “All this stress with the invasion has given me something of a tummy issue.” She held out a pudgy hand to Gage, then took it back.

  “Wait, where are your manners?” she asked him. “I am the Regent. I am to be treated the same as if I were Queen.” She looked at the deck, expecting Gage to take a knee as was customary for any Albion officer the first time they were introduced to the Crown.

  Klaven wiped a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide with suppressed laughter.

  “Lady Christina,” Gage said, “I came to this ship as a courtesy to you to escort you back to the Orion. Perhaps we can discuss matters once we’ve taken leave of Unter-Duke Klaven’s hospitality.”

  “You know who I am.” She put her hands on her hips. “You know what happened to Albion. How does this require any sort of discussion? Don’t let your rank confuse you as to your status, Gage. You’re common born. You’re not in the line of succession. At all.”

  Gage ground his teeth together so hard they clicked.

  “If I may,” Thorvald said, stepping away from the bulkhead.

  “Ah, Captain Royce,” Christina said. “Wait…Royce? How did you get here?”

  Thorvald drew his visor off his face so that Christina could see him. “Thorvald, my lady. Royce took his final breath in service to Albion,” Thorvald said. “I was forced to take on his armor and his AI.”

  “What is this?” Rapoto asked. “Royce would never—”

  Diaz cleared his throat loudly and the other Genevan went silent.

  “This…” said Christina, wagging a finger at Thorvald and Gage, “this is suspicious.”

  “I have full faith in Thorvald,” Gage said. “And he does bear Royce’s AI. As King Randolph’s personal guard…he carries the King’s succession plan.”

  “You think I’m not in it?” Christina asked. “I have a blood relation. Every member of the royal family is on the plan.”

  “The King was known to…prune the list,” Thorvald said. “When his brother renounced all claim to the throne to live as a commoner on—”

  “Just get it over with.” Christina rolled up a sleeve. “DNA test, yes? Go on.”

  Thorvald touched the palm of his armor to her bare skin and the mail beneath the thin plates glowed. He took his hand back and paused, head cocked to one side.

  “Well?” Christina knocked gently on the side of Thorvald’s head.

  “Something is…off with my AI,” Thorvald said. “The bonding was rushed. I’ve yet to gain full access to the deep systems and—you must tell them everything, Grynau—and there is no change to whom I must protect.”

  “Lies!” Christina turned to Gage. “What have you cooked up with him? Maybe this is some chauvinist plot between the two of you?” She pointed an accusing finger at Klaven.

  “I serve the Kaiserina,” Klaven said, “not a Kaiser. She would not stand for chauvinism, or even misanthropy. Rapoto? Perhaps you can help clarify this?”

  The other Genevan looked at Thorvald.

  “It is true that a rushed merging would limit some of his access, but the AI in the suit knows the truth, even if it will not divulge all of it. Grynau will tell us if Lady Christina is on the succession list.”

  “She is,” Thorvald said, “toward the bottom. The very bottom.”

  “Still more legitimate than that commoner!” Christina shouted. “Thorvald, is it? You’re my bodyguard now. Come to my quarters and carry my bags. We are leaving this ship and transferring my flag to the Orion.”

  Klaven looked away, his eyes squeezed shut as tears leaked from the sides.

  “That…my AI will not allow it,” Thorvald said. “It will not…it tells me that another is higher on the succession list and no change is allowed.”

  “Who?” Christina asked. “Who else is there?”

  “Prince Aidan,” Gage said. “I have him elsewhere, safe. Now that this question has been resolved, may we—”

  “This is not over,” Christina said. “Not over by a long shot, Gage.”

  “Then let us leave this Reich ship and sort it out properly,” Gage said.

  “I’m going back to the Adamant,” she said as she stomped out of the room. “And someone get my bags!”

  The door shut and Klaven slapped his knee, laughing so hard he had to gasp for air.

  “Unter-Duke,” Diaz said, running a fingertip along the edge of the monocle poised over his dead eye.

  “I’m sorry.” Klaven stood up and gave his belly a pat. “I am so sorry. You just…you have no idea how much I enjoyed that. She’s been on my ship eating all our Black Forest cake and planning her ‘government in exile’ on Prussia Zwei, and to see it all get crushed like that…does Albion have a word for schadenfreude?”

  “I’ll return her to—”

  “No, no,” Klaven stopped Gage, “as a gesture of goodwill, I will see her back to the Adamant…along with her bags.”

  “And then what?” Gage asked. “What will you and the Castle Itter do after that?”

  Klaven smoothed out his uniform.

  “We will stay out of the way and observe until such time as we can leave this system and return home. But as you still seem to be the Albion Regent, my ship did carry out a number of repairs on Lady Christina’s ships. She even opened a line of credit while she was aboard my ship. This is an expenditure,” he glanced over at Diaz, “that the Kaiserina has incurred. The Reich does not help anyone for free. You know this.”

  Gage reached into his uniform and pulled out a small data chit.

  “Here are the holo tank recordings of every battle we’ve fought with the Daegon,” Gage said. “Scrubbed of sensitive Albion data, naturally. I was going to give it you as a gesture of—”

  “Consider your debt paid,” Klaven said quickly and held out a palm.

  Gage tossed the chit to him and went for the door.

  “It has been my pleasure, Gage,” the Reichsman said. “Let there be no blood between us, yes?”

  Gage stopped at the threshold, gave Klaven a nod, and left. The door shut and Klaven stuck the data chit into a port on a coffee table. A holo formed over it and he swiped through data files.

  “You did well,” Diaz said. “He suspects nothing.”

  “Why would he?” Klaven fast-forwarded through the battle at the Wicked Sisters in wild space, then paused it. “The Kaiserina wishes to know if these Daegon are as powerful as they claim. They’ve offered her an alliance…we’re here to see if they’re dealing true with us.”

  “They’ve already wiped out Albion. That should be enough for her,” Diaz said.

  “Albion was only ever a burr in our boot,” Klaven said. “Too far from our stars to crush effectively, but when we did fight them…they fought honorably. To see them brought down like this…”

  “They stopped us cold during the last war,” Diaz said. “We could have had more stars for the Reich if not for them.”

  “But will these Daegon let us keep what we take?” Klaven brought the Daegon ship Medusa into focus within the holo. “Or will they stop after they have Earth, like they claim?”

  “That’s not for us to decide,” Diaz said.

  “No…not for us.” Klaven waved to his Genevan. “Rapoto, a moment?”

  ****

  Thorvald walked beneath the Albion shuttle in the Castle Itter’s bay, scanning for any devices—lethal or nonlethal—that the Reich may have attached. He felt a slight tremor through the deck and spun around, arms up.

  His forearm knocked away a blow from Rapoto and Thorvald stabbed his fingertips at the other Genevan’s thr
oat. Rapoto slapped the strike away then held up his own hand perpendicular to the bridge of his nose.

  “Benvegna,” Rapoto said. “Truce now.”

  “Benvegna to you,” Thorvald said with a sneer. “Explain yourself.”

  “I had my doubts you were a true Genevan,” Rapoto said. “You wear another man’s soul. House Ticino—that is yours, yes?—will have much to explain to the other Houses.”

  “Ticino protected their charges, kept to their contract. That matters more than disturbing the AI.” He tapped his chest.

  “Never has such a thing happened to House Solothern. Never in almost a thousand years of service.” Rapoto tapped his own chest harder.

  “May your House never go through what happened on Albion. Ticino fought and died as demanded. There is never shame in this,” Thorvald said.

  “I spoke harshly,” Rapoto said. “My apologies.”

  “What do you want? Is your curiosity sated?”

  “Who is the other Genevan with you? There must be one more…”

  “Anything you know, you will tell Klaven if it affects his safety,” Thorvald said. “I have no duty to you or him. As we say on Albion, go pound sand.”

  “Because if there is another, I may have a way to protect their charge,” Rapoto said. “I see the lines on your face. I see how stiff you are in the other man’s soul. You’ve been away from Geneva for so long—almost an entire contract of twenty years, if I’m guessing right. There have been developments amongst the Houses. Deep issues amongst the trade.”

  “I’m listening,” Thorvald said.

  “Trust for trust,” Rapoto said. “You have the word of us both that we will keep your answer to our heart, only to be shared if it risks Klaven’s blood.” A rune appeared on his chest armor, the name of the AI within.

  “Salis,” Thorvald said. “The other House Ticino is Fiona Salis.”

  The rune scrambled and vanished.

  “This is…good and terrible news,” Rapoto said.

  A pair of knocks sounded through the hull, the crew signaling that they were almost ready to leave.

  “What do you mean?” Thorvald asked.