Hero's Return, page 22
The council leader turned and gazed out his office window. It was a gorgeous view, looking out over the government quarter of the capital city.
“Nieqids and I have discussed it. We understand all the pieces in play, but until the shit hits the fan, we won’t know what pieces to push around the game board, or when we should play them. But what about you? When you let the humans refuel, you put a target on your butt, as well.”
“It seems I am wagering everything on a single toss of the bones,” Gzax responded, “but I think you can turn the councilors who become outraged by the government’s support of the humans back to your side if the humans run the Eesni out of Doay.”
“There will still be many turns before that happens, and the controversy will already be brewing.”
Gzax cocked his head. “Will it? Neddin is a good ten turns away, so we’d have at least that long before the council could learn anything. And one of the reasons I want a flotilla of warships along is to lock down the system after the humans arrive. I’m not foolish enough to think I can get away with that long term, but most of the ships operating in that area are Pyrassun merchants. The Monkeys can have a talk with them and gain their silence.”
“You’ve thought this through thoroughly.”
“Because I don’t intend to rot away on a prison colony,” Gzax said with a snort.
“If that happens, I’ll likely be in the cell next to you. Your cousin Galvae would see to that.”
Ghih’liks Tirn’ek Galvae was the leader of the council’s Damas faction. Both Gzax and Chestrad knew the elitist wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to unseat Fav’or and become Speaker himself.
“He’s actually a second cousin,” Gzax stated, “and our two branches are not close.”
“Okay. Start getting ready, but do it quietly. I’ll meet with Galvae after lunch to discuss the open deputy administrator position. During the discussion, I’ll bring up your name and how the council could use this as a reward for your service in dealing with the humans.”
“Don’t forget to point out that if I’m out in the middle of nowhere, I can’t be politicking for a council seat. Galvae prefers Damas faction council members he can control, and my cousin knows he can’t control me.”
“I’ll make sure I drop that bit of information.”
“How will you get the system administrator recalled?”
“I’m not sure. Nieqids will handle that.”
Gzax nodded. “Which reminds me, I’ll need to speak to the fleet commander about a force to accompany me.”
“Ranuks?” Fav’or asked. He knew the force leader and Gzax were friends. “Ranuks has become Nieqids’ go-to Bear for tough jobs. He won’t want to give him up.”
“When this kicks off, I’ll be juggling a lot of balls, and I’ll need someone watching my back and taking care of the military side of things.”
“Okay. I’ll speak with the fleet commander after I meet with Galvae.”
Gzax nodded and stood. “Then I need to get busy. I didn’t expect this to happen so soon. When will we know anything about the humans?”
“Nothing for sure till we send them a message telling them they can refuel at Neddin.”
“Then send the message,” the former ambassador stated. “Let’s get this moving.”
* * * * *
Chapter 15: Awake
Near Baldor System
Interstellar Space
Empire Date: July 1049
Hazard was suddenly aware. He knew he wasn’t awake. No, he was in that shadowy, dream-like place. Mentally, Hazard reached out.
No, this isn’t where I was before, after being nearly killed during the Echo System Battle. I have to be dead, though. There’s no way I survived the missile strikes. But where is Jake? Kristen? Nicole? They should be here to help. If they aren’t…
Hazard remembered the shocks of the three missile strikes. The antimatter blasts. Remembered his command chair being ripped from its mounts and slammed into the aft bulkhead of Superb’s flag bridge with him still strapped into it. The pain. Then the darkness. There was a vague memory of someone unstrapping him, he didn’t know who, then being carried somewhere. Then nothing—till now.
There’s one way to find out. Open your eyes.
It was hard. His eyelids felt like the armored doors covering missile launchers. Hazard wondered if they were working, or if they didn’t want to work because, mentally, he didn’t want to know what was happening. Part of that, he knew, was because of the blame he was already heaping on himself. That had started as he sat dying in his command chair. He had screwed up. He had led the squadron into a trap and gotten so many killed.
Finally, there was light. Hazard could see, and he realized he was lying down and looking up at a white ceiling.
Maybe this is the place.
He tried turning his head to search for his friends—the dead friends he was certain were here to carry him over to the other side—but he couldn’t move. He became aware of sounds as his ears suddenly began working.
The sounds of a ship in space, he realized.
“He’s awake!” Hazard heard someone say.
* * *
“He’s awake!” the nurse sitting next to the emperor’s bed called excitedly into the intercom.
“Move!” Doctor Keefer Solinger barked at the young ensign as he moved up next to the bed. He passed a medical scanner across Emperor Hazard’s chest, staring at the data, then looked at the medical monitors showing the readouts of dozens of sensors attached to his patient’s body.
Keefer took a penlight from the breast pocket of his lab coat, turned it on, and shone the light into the emperor’s eyes.
“Can you hear me?”
Hazard tried to answer, but only a dry gasp came out.
Keefer turned to the young nurse who was this shift’s babysitter to the emperor. “Get me a cup of water and a straw.”
When the ensign just stood there, gawking, Solinger got angry. “Dammit, move.”
“Yes—sir,” she stammered and fled the room.
The doctor turned back to his patient.
“Obviously, you can hear me. We’ll get you some water. That will help. For now, just nod. Are you in any pain?”
Hazard heard the question, but shaking his head was hard.
Solinger saw the emperor’s barely perceptible head shake. If he hadn’t been standing and staring at the man, he’d have missed it.
“Here, Doctor.” The nurse handed Keefer a small cup with a straw.
Keefer used the straw as if it were a pipette, trapping liquid inside the tube, then letting it dribble on the emperor’s lips. When the man sucked in the drops of water, a wave of relief settled over him. One of his major concerns was the condition of Hazard’s brain. The scans showed that there was brain activity, but activity was a long way from saying the brain was working.
He understood my question and tried to respond, and he recognized the moisture on his lips. That’s a good start.
“Did you see how I did that?” Solinger asked the young nurse, who nodded that she had. “Good. Do that once a minute for the next ten minutes.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“I’ll be back before then,” Keefer added as he walked out of the suite.
In the corridor, he turned to one of the two Marines stationed as guards on the door. “No one enters until I get back, and that includes the admiral.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” the Marine sergeant acknowledged, though he was uncertain how he’d stop Admiral Evers if she insisted on going in.
Solinger hadn’t waited for the response. He had calls to make and strode with purpose down the passageway to the conference room that had become his office.
* * *
“Where—am—I?” Hazard asked, the words coming out choppy. For some reason, he couldn’t seem to make his words come out correctly. The bit of water the nurse had given him had helped.
“You’re aboard the Constellation. Last I checked, we were about a week from the Baldor System on our way to the Home System,” Doctor Solinger replied.
Hazard gave the man a slight nod, acknowledging the answer. That was all he could manage, and it frustrated him. There was so much he needed to know, so many questions he needed to ask, but his body didn’t seem to want to work correctly. He’d been in a cryo pod before, spent quite a bit of time in one, in fact, so he didn’t understand why his body was acting the way it was.
Keefer could see how anxious his emperor was. Even though he felt it was too soon, the doctor decided it was time for some truths.
“Your Majesty, you were in stasis for a long time. The Zenkarr launched the surprise attack in September of 1046. That was two and a half years ago.”
Two and a half years. Hazard mentally cringed. Was I that hurt? Did it take that long for the doctors to fix me?
Then what the doctor had said previously registered.
The doctor said we’re a week from Baldor, on our way to Britannia. But if it’s been two and a half years since the attack, I should have already been home. Something else…
The doctor continued, interrupting Hazard’s thoughts and filling in gaps.
“Someone got you into one of the flag bridge’s escape pods and stuffed you into a stasis chamber, saving your life. Good thing, too; another minute, maybe two, and you’d have died. But when your rescuers jettisoned the pod, it got jammed in the launch tube. The missile strikes damaged that portion of the ship. Superb’s crew made an exhaustive search but found nothing. A secondary explosion destroyed that portion of the flag bridge, so no one realized an escape pod was missing.”
“The war?” Hazard managed to get the question out.
“Over now,” Solinger responded, “but that’s for other people to explain to you. Right now, you need to rest to build up your stamina.”
“I—slept for—two years,” Hazard responded.
“Yes, and that means your body didn’t move for two years, as well. That’s the reason you’re having trouble talking. Even though the chamber stimulates muscles to keep them from atrophying, two years is a long time.”
Hazard simply nodded acceptance. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he was exhausted, and not just physically. Learning that he’d been in stasis for over two years had stunned him. So he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
* * *
Dorothy Evers could hear the two men arguing a good ten paces from the door to the conference room that Doctor Solinger was using as an office. She’d known this confrontation would likely happen but had desperately hoped she could avoid it.
After receiving Hazard’s recovered escape pod, Dorothy decided knowledge that the emperor was alive needed to be restricted. Part of that was for security, of course, but it was also because they didn’t know what condition Hazard was in. All they’d known was that he was alive. If the doctors couldn’t revive him from cryo-sleep, or he died during the process, it would destabilize an empire that was already on the brink of a civil war. Worse yet, what would happen if they revived Hazard, and he was different? What if, mentally, he wasn’t the same man?
To limit knowledge of Hazard’s recovery, Dorothy had one of the VIP suites on Connie’s flag deck converted for use as a medical suite. The battle carrier’s flag bridge and its attached suites, offices, and conference rooms were the most restricted and heavily guarded sections of the ship. So far, only Dorothy, Snake, and a handful of medical personnel knew the identity of the special patient. Even Constellation’s captain didn’t know.
Evers stepped into the room and saw Snake Atwater leaning threateningly across a desk, attempting to intimidate Doctor Solinger. She had to give the doctor credit; he wasn’t backing down. Physically, the former Imperial Security agent wasn’t an intimidating man, being of average height and build, but everyone knew of Snake’s reputation as a cold-blooded, ruthless spy who’d personally killed more than one person who’d gotten in his way. Dorothy knew Snake had exaggerated some of it, fabricated tales to enhance his tradecraft, but she’d read the reports. Darrel Atwater had killed his fair share of people, most of them up close and personal.
“Stand the fuck down, Snake!” Dorothy used her best command voice to get the irate man’s attention.
“Hazard’s awake, and this asshole not only didn’t notify me, but he won’t let me see him.”
“He’s responsible for Hazard’s health,” Dorothy responded, noticing Snake hadn’t backed away from the doctor, “and under fleet regulations, Doctor Solinger has ultimate authority in the matter. Only a fleet commander can overrule him.”
“Then overrule him. You’re a fleet commander.”
“And said fleet commander must be prepared to answer for such action to the next higher authority,” Dorothy continued to recite the regulation. “That would be Aiden Doheny. Thank you very much, but no, I don’t want Aiden to take a chunk out of my ass. So, we’ll let the doctor do things his way, unless you can show me he’s placed Hazard’s life in danger.”
“As I was saying, Ambassador Atwater, you’ll get to see the emperor soon. I just want to make sure he’s ready for the meeting.”
“Explain that to me, Doctor,” Dorothy ordered, then turned to Snake, who still loomed over the desk.
“I won’t tell you again, Snake. Back the fuck off, or I’ll call the Marine sergeant outside in here to help you back off.”
“I just want to see my friend,” Snake responded.
Evers saw him back away from the desk. She pointed to a chair.
“Sit, and stop whining. I want to see him, too, but we’re still several days from the Baldor System, and three weeks from Britannia. We have time.”
“The emperor is still very weak, almost feeble, physically. It hasn’t even been a day since he awakened, and he’s using muscles that haven’t moved in two years.”
“But that isn’t what you’re really worried about, is it, Doctor?” Dorothy asked, taking a chair next to Snake.
“No, not really. I’m more concerned about his mental state when he finds out everything that’s happened since the ambush.”
Dorothy nodded. “He has a habit of taking things personally, Doctor, and taking the blame.”
“I read that in his psych profile. That’s why I’m worried,” Solinger stated. “But I have you two to help with that. You’re both close friends who can ease him into things. Help him get over the rough spots.”
“Like the loss of so many friends in the war that followed the ambush.”
Keefer nodded.
“But only if you can keep your own emotions under control,” Solinger said, looking directly at Snake.
“I just worry—” Snake began, but the doctor raised a hand, stopping him.
“We all worry, Ambassador,” Solinger said coldly. “The problem is who we’re worried about. Is it ourselves or the emperor?”
“I’ll control myself,” Snake replied.
“Okay, I’ll take your word for it,” the doctor responded, “but as the old saying goes, ‘my philosophy is trust but verify.’ I’ll be watching.”
Seeing the two senior officials’ reactions to that statement, Keefer explained, “Emperor Hazard’s hospital room is under constant observation. As we speak, I have techs wiring the rest of the suite, as well. Someone will always be monitoring. If either of you gets out of line, you’ll get the boot.”
“And you’re the one who decides if we’re out of line?” Dorothy asked.
“Somebody has to do it, and I don’t have the emotional attachment or baggage the two of you have.”
Keefer gave Dorothy and Snake stares till each nodded acceptance.
“It’s important to the emperor’s mental health that we prepare him for what’s coming.”
“What’s coming, Doctor?” Dorothy asked.
“The good doctor is talking about returning to the Empire, Dot,” Snake said. “The dead hero suddenly returning from beyond the grave. It will be a zoo.”
Keefer nodded. “And not just a zoo, but a zoo we can’t control. Out here—” the doctor waved his left hand about “—we’re in control of the environment and the message. That’s one of the reasons we’ve sequestered the emperor and limited knowledge of his existence. But that’ll change in the Britannia System. People with far more authority than us will take over.”
Solinger let his last statement sink in. “We,” he emphasized, “need to ready him for that.”
“What’s next?” Dorothy asked.
“When he wakes up, probably early this afternoon, I’m going to get him up and into the living area, where the two of you will be waiting.”
“What do you need us to do?” Snake asked.
“Answer his questions,” Solinger stated. “Don’t fawn over him. Don’t gush and get emotional. Be his friends.”
“All I can say is, I’ll try,” Snake said honestly.
“Same for me,” Admiral Evers added.
“One question, Doc,” Snake said as they all stood.
Solinger cocked an eyebrow.
“Alcohol?”
Keefer cocked his head and thought about it.
“In moderation. And water his down. I hope you don’t get sad when you drink, Ambassador.”
Snake shook his head.
“Be available. I’ll let you know when he wakes up.”
* * *
“Did you have a good nap, Your Majesty?”
Hazard’s eyes snapped in the voice’s direction. He’d always hated the honorifics his birthright had bestowed on him, but as emperor, he’d learned to tolerate them.
“Just call me Hazard,” he said, his voice not sounding as weak as it had previously. “Or sir, if you can’t bring yourself to be so familiar.”
“Or Marshal?” the doctor asked with a chuckle.
“That’ll work, as well,” Hazard responded, then finding something familiar, took a harder look at his doctor.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we, Doctor?”
Solinger grinned. “Your question makes me less concerned about memory loss. Yes, we have met. I’m Commander Keefer Solinger. I was treating a Marine gunnery sergeant who was a friend of yours.”
“Beverly Horne.” Hazard nodded. “Weren’t you the CMO on the Typhoon?”
