Admiral's Nemesis (A Spineward Sectors Novel: Book 11) Read online

  Only time would tell if I was making the right decision, but with a large fraction of the Imperial Reclamation Fleet still out there—and at least two Sectors still currently under their control—I wasn’t willing to risk the survival of my fleet and possibly the free and independent spine on the good judgment and forbearance of Governor Isaak and the Sector Government.

  Chapter 2: Sweeping the Table

  The door swished open behind me and, since my personal armsmen were now posted outside of whatever room I was in at all times, it meant one of two things. Either the follower was a highly-skilled assassin who had taken down a full team of also-highly-trained Caprian Royal Armsmen, or it was someone from the MSP here on business.

  Since I didn’t think I could take an assassin of that skill level, I chose to believe it was one of the few people authorized to come in and bother me. I gave him or her a two finger wave as I continued to sit with my back to the door as I contemplated the handheld in my lap.

  “Bad news, Sir,” reported my new aide, a confederal pawned off on me from Captain Hammer by the name of Rick Jones.

  “Yes, Ensign?” I slowly spun my chair around to face the newcomer.

  “The new convoy coming in wasn’t just a convoy, Admiral,” he reported, stepping up to my desk and bracing to attention.

  “We figured that from the battleship and four cruiser squadron flying escort duty for only four freighters,” I said drolly. “But now that the Multiplex and the trillium shipment from Tracto are finally here, unless they want to make a fight of it there’s not much they can do...” I paused and then leaned forward, feeling a fire kindling in my belly, “unless you’re telling me they think they can take us?”

  If they did then I was more than willing to teach them the error of their ways. We’d won 3rd Easy Haven because the enemy had apparently lost the will to fight when we destroyed their Flagship, killed Janeski, and then unveiled the Lucky Clover 2.0 version. And while any victory where you took the field and send the enemy packing had to be chalked up in the win column, I’d definitely wanted to crush my enemy and drive them before me directly, not watch as they left of their own accord with still intact warships in their employ. The bad taste in my mouth left me eager for action.

  “Worse than that, Sir,” Ensign Jones pulled out his data slate. “It’s a message from Governor Isaak,” he said tapping on his data slate and then shooting a vid file up on the screen, “he’s here—in system—and he’s left a message.”

  I froze and there, in all his self-aggrandizing cowardly glory, was the former Ambassador from Capria and current 'Leader of Sector 25' on my own personal vid-screen. The gall of the man!

  “Do you want me to play it, Sir?” asked Jones.

  I reached up, running a finger across my right eye and pulled free a loose eyelash. Examining it closely I determined that, yes, it was a perfectly normal eyelash before I focused back on the ensign.

  “Yes do,” I said.

  The screen flickered and then started to play.

  “Vice Admiral Montagne, it’s so good to see you again,” Sir Isaak—Governor Isaak, now—said with a smile so utterly false I had to resist the urge to throw up in my mouth.

  I shook my head in disgust, coldly wondering what little trick or maneuver he was going to use to make a try at my interests. Because, make no mistake, that’s what this was: a try against our interests. And there were only so many such things here at this star system—including the star system itself.

  Uncaring about my rapid fire thoughts, the new minted Governor continued on blithely. “Let me be the first to congratulate you on a battle hard fought and yet another triumphant victory to put under your cap!” he urged, even though he had to know that it had been months since the battle and he was far from the first person to have already congratulated me. “We literally couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Looking over at the old-style bowler helmet I occasionally used for my ‘cap’—which wasn’t often these days—I shook my head.

  “Although it was indisputably a team effort, it was you and your leadership—and the small but vital contribution of your fleet of course—that made this victory possible,” he continued, clearly setting me up for a good hose job.

  Not that I was interested in playing his game. He could play politics all he liked but I wasn’t biting. My days of eagerly searching for acceptance and a good atta-boy from the Sector Government were long past. They’d died when he—this very man, Sir Isaak, later elected to the position of Governor by the wise and farseeing body politic, such as it was in these dark times—had perpetrated a fraud upon the electorate by accusing me of being a pirate called the Tyrant of Cold Space so as to make me a convenient scapegoat for the government’s failures. This despite the fact that I had literally just been busy cleaning out a den of pirates before I’d been captured by those very same pirates and then handed over into his tender care.

  To say that I despised the man wouldn’t be taking things far enough. I respected the man’s political skills but nothing else.

  I snorted as he continued with his lube job, trying to ease me into seeing things whatever way he was trying to set me up for.

  “Small contribution, is it?” I muttered.

  And then, just as I’d been expecting, we got down to the real reason he was here.

  “However, despite your heroism and great leadership as the Sector Commandant of our local SDF volunteer warships on the battlefield, it has come to my attention that there have been complaints....” there was a pregnant pause before he continued, “reasonable complaints even about the manner in which you have conducted affairs—post-battle, as it were.”

  There it was. He was unhappy with the distribution of the ships we’d captured. Or, more specifically, the ‘battleships’ we’d captured.

  “We need to talk before things blow entirely out of proportion. I am sure that this was just routine military oversight and that everything can be worked out as soon as we are able to meet face to face,” he flashed another patently false smile before concluding, “this is the Governor, out.”

  If he thought I was about to turn loose one single ship that had fallen into my hands then he had another think coming. Despite attempting to call the MSP and our close allies a ‘small contribution,’ this entire Sector would have fallen without us. As it was, this battle took place inside a Confederation star system. In fact, it was one of the last true Confederation star systems if the rumblings I was hearing from what little news we received from the Sector Assembly, mainly CNN broadcasts carried in by tramp freighters, was anything to go on.

  Easy Haven had been, and still was as far as I was concerned, a Confederation Fortress system. LeGodat’s reserve squadron had been posted here since before the great Imperial Withdrawal, everything he and his people had struggled to build over the past years had just been shot to Hades and I would be good and fried before I let the Governor swoop in to claim all of the rewards.

  “Do you want me to stall him, Sir?” asked Rick Jones with concern.

  I looked over at him in disbelief. “Why would I want to do that? I have nothing to hide and I certainly don’t fear the man or any threats he might make. If he wants to impose economic sanctions, we have new trading partners. If he threatens a war… well that’s nothing we haven’t already had to deal with, and it would make a fine case that he and his entire government are in rebellion against lawful authority,” I said forcefully, “set up the meeting for as soon as he arrives. I want this over and done with.”

  “All right,” Ensign Jones said, his brows lifting but I noted that as he left he appeared to have a confidence in his step that had been lacking before.

  “Hmmph,” I grunted. He was just a Sector Governor, after all. Then, flipping a switch on my com-panel, I pulled up Engineering.

  “This is Commander Spalding,” the old Engineer said as soon as the channel opened, “what can I do for you, Sir?”

  “What’s the status on Project Green Pea?
Are we still on schedule?”

  “We’re finishing up with loading the trillium now, Sir,” Spalding said with complete confidence, “and we started moving everything into position with tugs as soon as we saw the Governor's transmission. Should have everything in place in another seven or eight hours, and then it won’t matter what the Governor or anyone else thinks they have the right to.”

  “You saw that, did you?” I fought back a grin.

  “The day I can’t get access to a simple encrypted communication from a Sector Government is the day I hang up my tool belt,” the Commander said, sounding offended.

  Even though he was in another part of the Star System entirely, and this was only a voice transmission, I covered my mouth with a hand.

  “Alright then, Spalding. Make it so. I’ll deal with our esteemed guest in the meantime.”

  “The man didn’t bother to show up to the biggest shindig in maybe the history of the Spine when the fate of the entire Sector was on the line. Too busy hiding in his hole, probably,” grunted the old Engineer, “I don’t have time for any cowards. But I need to get back to work; Spalding out.”

  “Gods speed, old friend,” I said to the now inactive console.

  I had a Sector Governor to prepare for. The things I needed to do right now were set up a secure conference room and bring on extra security.

  The Furious Phoenix was a little smaller of a flagship than I was used to, but every single battleship I could lay hands on needed some yard time; needs must when the demon drives, and all that rot.

  Chapter 3: Face to Face with Governor Isaak

  “How was the grand battle to defend this star system from the ravening hordes?” Sir Isaak asked without preamble the moment the door to the conference room swung open.

  “Harrowing, Governor,” I said with a blink. I’d expected more in the way of small talk and perhaps actually sitting down before we got into that particular topic.

  There was a slight pause before the Governor nodded, a faint smile creasing his features. “It’s heartening to see with my own eyes that you survived the invasion and resulting fleet battle intact,” Governor Isaak said as he—and three aides—swept into the room like they owned the place. Without bothering to ask for permission or go around the table to shake my hand, the Governor and his staff promptly sat down, “Of course we hear reports and read files but nothing is quite the same as seeing it with your own eyes.”

  “Is it? Heartening that I survived, I mean?” I quirked a brow. “Because as I recall the last time you and I were in the same room together you were attempting to frame me for piracy. Had a staged tribunal and everything.”

  “A grievous error in judgment, as events themselves proved out,” Isaak replied without the slightest twinge of guilt before continuing evenly, “not exactly one of my better moments, I’ll admit.”

  “I’m frankly surprised you were willing to step into the same room as me without your security present,” I retorted, eyeing the man and wondering just what kind of weapons he could have smuggled past our security scanners that would give him this much confidence in meeting with me.

  “I hold firmly to the principle that there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests,” the Governor of Sector 25 said smoothly. “Today’s enemy is merely tomorrows ally. While today’s tenuous alliance is tomorrow’s friendship for the ages.”

  “Right…” I drawled my brows lifting of their own accord, “I hope your enemies are aware of this sudden change of status you’ve bestowed upon them—before they blow your highly placed elected head off.”

  “My good man, there’s no need for threats. I realize that you and I are, perhaps, not destined to be the closest and easiest of allies, due to the… unique circumstances of our initial interactions. But I believe that, regardless of the issues that divide us, we both share and continue to strive for the best interests of Capria and the Sector as a whole.”

  “Perhaps you believe too much,” I said picking up a stylus and flipping it back and forth between my fingers before continuing, “my faith and goodwill toward this Sector has been sorely tested in the past...some would say right up to the breaking point. While my faith and goodwill toward Capria is almost entirely eroded. What little remains of my good graces toward our beloved home world exists for the families of my officers and crew that reside upon her.”

  The Governor looked temporarily stymied, but I knew it was nothing more than a ploy. “Setting aside your grievances with both my office and our mutual world of birth,” Isaak said after a pregnant pause, opening his mouth to continue but I interrupted first.

  “My issue is not with your office but with you, Governor,” I cut in.

  “Quite.” he said shortly. “But as I have said, and I feel events have proven out, no matter how...strained, let us say, your relationship with the Sector as a whole may have become, when the chips were down, like the loyal son you are, you brought your entire allied fleet to help repulse the malicious invaders.”

  “Confederation Fleet. As a Confederation officer it is my bound and sworn duty to protect and defend all ‘Confederation’ Sectors and worlds to the best of my abilities. Regardless of my personal feelings toward them,” I said flatly, “any allies that decided to come along and place themselves under my command during this time of trial and need were operating with their own agency.”

  “Yes,” Isaak said, nonplussed, “and we greatly appreciate the efforts of the Tracto-an Defense Force and their heroic allies, especially during the battle in this very star system. However, I would not be doing my duty as governor if I failed to point out that regardless of your… Confederation Status, you were here strictly in your capacity as the temporary Fleet Commandant of Sector 25.”

  “Tomay-to, Tamah-to,” I replied, leaning forward with a smirk,

  “I am forced to disagree wholeheartedly,” Isaak leaned forward to match his posture with mine.

  “I liked the way you slipped the word 'temporary' in there at the front of my position; nice move. Way to put your chips on the table,” my lip curled as I decided to stop dancing around the elephant in the room. He wanted a share, or perhaps all of the warships or at least the battleships captured outside of Wolf-9, and I wasn’t about to give them up without a fight he was destined to lose. “But ultimately it doesn’t matter because, whatever ‘you’ want to call me, I am the top Fleet Officer in this star system. And while the Commodore tasked with controlling this system might quibble, Easy Haven and everything within it—at least everything that’s not already part of another Sector or Provincial SDF—belongs to me.”

  “You see, there it is: exactly that. The rub,” Sir Isaak said, leaning back in his chair as if he’d just scored a major point.

  “Please—enlighten me,” I said, suppressing a sneer.

  “Are you really going to play out this little game to its inevitable conclusion?” Isaak lifted a brow.

  “Why, whatever are you talking about?” I asked in a pious voice laced with barely-concealed mockery. If he wanted to try and screw me he was going to have to work for it all the way.

  “As Sector Fleet Commandant, you have the right to command the Sector Fleet along with any and all SDF volunteers. But while no one would dispute your claiming a reasonable share of any prizes taken in battle, ultimately the exact disposition of any starships—including warships—taken while under the auspices of the Sector Fleet are the purview of the Sector Prize Court,” he said with a smile.

  I was so looking forward to wiping that smile off his face.

  “As Senior Confederation Officer, the disposition of our prizes belongs to me, not the Sector’s prize court,” I said evenly. “You can look it up in the manual—I know I did.”

  “Which is why it is fortunate that the agreement under which you agreed to take command of the defenses of our Sector specifically stipulated you do so in your capacity as Sector Commandant and Commander of the Tracto SDF,” Isaak said, shoulders tensing.

  “Do you really think
I’m going to just stand by and let you screw me, Governor?” I asked mockingly. “You don’t get to go and hide under whatever rock you were at while we were fighting and then show up in time to stick your hand out for a piece of the action. This is a Confederation Star System so it really doesn’t matter what my own personal status was during the battle. Whether you want to say that everything belongs to me or the System Commander because I’m somehow disqualified, the spoils of this war belong to the Confederation fleet to disperse however it sees fit. And I have to tell you, Governor, it doesn’t look good for your side.”

  Isaak glowered at me for a minute before opening his mouth. “The defeat of Warlord Janeski and his rogue pirate fleet was not accomplished by you or the forces native to this star system alone, your Highness,” Governor Isaak spoke as if he were informing me of something new I was unaware of. “'To the victors go the spoils' is, I think, quite a commonly held belief and understanding within the naval community. Don’t force our hand by pushing us in a direction we don’t desire to go.”

  “I don’t see how I could force you to do anything you didn’t want to do already, Governor Isaak.”

  “On your head be it then,” the Governor said with an aura of long suffering, “if you continue to be intractable in this matter then I have no choice but to inform you that the status of this star system as a Confederation one is highly debatable,” he lifted a finger, “as even at this very moment there is a strong and growing movement within the Sector that is calling for separation from a Mega System, like the Confederation, that has left us stranded and in chaos these past 3 years.”

  I gestured to my uniform with my hands. “As we both know how ludicrous that statement is, don’t let the fact that it was a Confederation Admiral and his fleet that saved this Sector keep you from saying whatever you please,” I said.