“That’s impossible,” Groven objected. “She’s a cruiser. A large one, yes, but I’ve seen her sails. You can’t sail above the wind layers, not much above them at least.”
“Her sails aren’t her primary drive,” Mira said, correcting the field marshal. “The Caleb is how Corian cracked the Imperial palace in the first place.”
“There is something different about the Caleb,” William confirmed. “I’ve seen her hover over a battlefield, no sails visible. I’d assumed they were just well masked.”
“Impossible,” Groven muttered again.
“Unfortunately not,” Mira said. “I’ve seen the specifications. I don’t know what Scourwind was thinking, but the Caleb Bar is a certified nightmare. It uses a prototype quantum-rail system that can generate its own rails in the substrate of space. It has no drive limits, practically speaking, given our current problem.”
William grimaced. “So that’s what the big secret was.”
“William?” Kennissey looked at him.
“I knew that there was a highly secretive military construction going on in the desert Redoubt,” William said. “Highly unusual, given that we generally use that as a secure holding facility. However, the isolation that made the Redoubt perfect for holding also makes it perfect for keeping secrets. What was Edvard thinking?”
“We may never know,” Mira said. “However, for the moment, that’s not our main concern. We need to strike at the Caleb Bar before we move in with conventional forces. If we can’t bring that ship down, it could turn the wind of battle all by itself.”
“Blast! Doesn’t that damned bastard have enough advantages?” Groven growled, shaking his head.
“They are what they are,” William said, looking evenly at Mira. “I don’t suppose you have a plan?”
Mira smiled thinly. “I’ve had a while to think of one.”
“Let’s hear it, then,” he said tiredly.
Mira nodded and started to explain the plan she’d been working on since first laying eyes on that beast of a ship floating over the capital and the devastation it had wrought in the palace grounds below.
CHAPTER 22
Brennan was waiting when Lydia and the others returned.
He’d swapped off with another of the Andros’s crewmen, leaving the Naga visibly “manned” and ready to fly. It was more symbolic than anything. One Fire Naga wasn’t going to do much if they were betrayed by the number of troops they’d been surrounded with, but the empress’s guard was to always be on alert.
Lydia looked tired, not that he was surprised. She headed for her cabin with barely a word, to sleep, he assumed, but he was surprised when Mira nudged him.
“You’d best pack too.”
“Pack?” Brennan asked, confused. “Where am I going?”
“Away from the Andros,” she said, smiling very slightly. “You can keep your Naga. She won’t be needed where we’re going.”
“Where you’re …” Brennan scowled. “Where are you going?”
“My crew and I have a personal mission,” she answered vaguely. “William will look after Lydia and your friends.”
“Lydia is going with William?” Brennan asked. “Wait, what about me?”
“I have a mission for you, if you’re willing.”
Brennan wasn’t quite sure what to say. “What sort?”
“Courier,” she answered. “Messenger, really, but it’s a very important message, and it has to come from you or no one.”
That wasn’t quite true, but Mira knew that Brennan was the least vital of those who could deliver the message. He wasn’t expendable by a long shot, but he wasn’t necessary to what was coming.
“It’s that important?”
“Vital, I think,” she said. “If you’re willing, meet me on the flying bridge as soon as you’re packed. I’ll have Kennick go with you in your Naga.”
She didn’t think he’d need a gunner, but it was better to be cautious.
Brennan eyed her warily, wanting to say something about it but not sure what there was to say. He had a gut feeling that whatever personal mission the Andros was about to go on, it wouldn’t be remotely safe.
“All right.”
She watched him head out, then she turned and began walking toward the bridge of the Andros, waving to Gaston as she passed. He joined her in her quick step, obviously curious.
“We’re enacting the Stone Protocol,” she said with determined force.
Gaston smiled, shocked but pleased.
“I thought it was too risky.”
“With the assault being planned, it’s time to take risks,” she said firmly. “Get what you need. I want the crew on deck in ten minutes. I’ll ask for volunteers. Everyone else is free to go if they like. I’ll do this alone, if I must.”
Gaston nodded, then split off as he headed for the lower decks of the ship.
Mira continued on, pausing only to detour to her quarters. She lingered there only long enough to unseal a security safe and disarm the explosives she’d trapped it with. Mira drew out the contents, including a few server blades she’d been holding in reserve for a rainy day. Originally, she’d intended to copy out a little useful data, then burn the rest in lase fire. However, once she realized that she had the Scourwind twins under her wing, well, that changed the equation.
Blades in hand, Mira made her way to the flying bridge of the Andros. Out in the open air, Mira felt a weight lift from her. There were no more decisions to be made now, only a path to follow.
There was a freedom of mind when you no longer had to worry about decisions, and Mira reveled in what she had long considered her mission mind-set. No more worries. Questions of right and wrong were behind her. All that mattered now were the mission goals and the people to her right and to her left.
Those behind her were barely worth a passing thought, and as to those in front of her?
May the universe pass judgment on them with mercy, because she would not.
On the flying bridge of the Andros, Mira planted a foot on the rail and a hand on the wheel as she looked down over the open deck where the crew—her crew—was gathering.
She’d assembled them from some of the dregs of the empire, using contacts from her time in Cadre Shadow Operations. Men and women who couldn’t work in the light of the sun under the empire’s laws. Some were former legion, others had grown up in the slums that existed in nearly every major city despite the best efforts of both those who wanted to improve them and those who just wanted them gone.
Mira looked on the crew fondly, realizing that it was probably the best she’d ever served with. Perhaps not in individual skill, to be sure, but it was her crew—and a damned good one. Together they’d raided the empire with impunity, and now she was going to ask them to do it one more time.
She waited until she got a nod from Gaston, telling her that everyone was there, then Mira looked them over one more time before speaking.
“Not all of you joined with me because you hated Corian. In fact, I think few of you did,” she said. “Most of you don’t know him except by reputation. You joined with me because I promised you a paycheck, an adventure … or just because I asked.”