Resolute Alliance (The War for Terra Book 6) Page 19

  “Gizzeen,” Lee said quietly. “Have you ever heard of the Gizzeen?”

  Dalton paused as though frozen to the spot. For a moment he stood motionless, not appearing to breathe. Lee thought he saw something cross his dark face even as he began to turn back to the guards. He stepped close to the larger of the two men and leaned in close. The guard looked back to the captain in confusion. Another nod from Dalton and the man looked to his partner. As Dalton stepped back to the chair, the guards lowered their weapons and exited the room. As the door slid shut, Dalton cleared his throat.

  “Lee,” he began, “I need you to listen to me very carefully. The word you just uttered is a myth. Admiral Chang was insane and spreading strange rumors around the fleet. We have been trying to keep information out of the hands of the public out of respect for the man, but we didn’t think you were involved.”

  “I’m not involved with anything. I just—”

  “You will not talk about that word or anything you have heard about it to anyone on my ship. Is that clear?”

  “You know something,” Lee said. “You know what this is all about, Franklin. I’ve been flying all over hell and creation to learn bits and pieces and you know everything, don’t you?”

  “I told you I don’t know anything,” Dalton replied. “The Gizzeen are a myth and I don’t want you spreading lies to my crew and starting a panic.”

  “Panic? Why would anyone panic?” Lee said, rising from his chair and looking down at the other man whose hands were flat on the table. “Look, the least you could do for me is to tell me what you know. If the war and my part in it mean anything to you, you can at least humor me and tell me the story.”

  “There’s no story to tell, Lee,” Dalton shouted, rising fast from the table and knocking the chair back to the floor. “Admiral Chang was delusional. The man was seeing monsters in the corners of every glass he drank. Now it looks like he got you looking at the same shadows.”

  “The only thing I’m chasing is the truth, Captain,” Lee replied, looking to the taller man’s eyes for some understanding. “I lost my father and I want to know why. Admiral Chang was arrested and I want to know why. The Ixloab were slaughtered by the government I helped to create and I want to know why.”

  “Because that’s what Ronald Chang wanted you to do!” Dalton shouted back. “He’s been playing you for a fool this whole time, Lee. He’s the one who bombed the conference.”

  Lee leapt across the table at Dalton. The bigger man, however, was expecting the attack. He twisted as Lee jumped, avoiding the impact and grabbing the back of Lee’s flight suit. The pressure suit underneath protected his skin, but the fabric of the flight suit tore as he was pulled up to face Dalton. As his back was arched up, Lee brought his hands up to claw at the man’s face. Dalton let out a yell as blood was pulled from the skin beneath Lee’s fingers. Lee was released and fell across the table again. This time he used the momentum to flip over and land on his feet. Dalton rushed him just as he stood up, slamming into his chest and pushing him against the wall.

  “You dumb bastard,” Dalton spat in Lee’s face. “Your career is over. They’re gonna take your ship, your command, and then your life for this, and you know what? It was all for nothing. You’ve been searching for an enemy and you never saw he was right behind you all the way.”

  “You lying sack of—”

  “I’ve seen the evidence, Lee,” Dalton said. “You’re the one who’s been lied to.”

  The door slid open. Guards rushed in and grabbed Lee’s arms, pulling Dalton away. Lee struggled to escape. He kicked out, catching Dalton across the jaw and knocking the man off his feet. The carrier captain landed hard across the table. As he pushed himself back up, he swept his arm around, punching Lee in the stomach. One of the guards released Lee as he doubled over. His knees buckled and he fell to the floor. The other guard released him as he clutched at his abdomen with both hands.

  “You know,” Franklin Dalton said. “A long time ago I came to grips with the fact that you killed my father. He was a mean, bigoted son of a bitch, but he was still my father. Now I think we may have been better off with him on Resolute instead of you. Take this piece of trash out of my sight.”

  The guards reached down and grabbed Lee by the shoulders. He groaned as they picked him from the floor. As they brought him up to eye level with Dalton, Lee looked into the man’s eyes one last time. Instead of rage or blame, he saw only pity and disappointment. As the guards moved, Lee heard a comm panel beep. Dalton stepped over and tapped the button.

  “What is it?” Dalton barked into the panel.

  “Captain,” the voice from the speaker replied crisply. “Resolute has moved off. They’re preparing an M-space exit jump.”

  “Lay in pursuit,” Dalton replied. “See if you can get a tracker on her.”

  “Sorry, sir. They’re gone. They must have a modified system. I’ve never seen a vortex open and close like that before.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Dalton replied, looking back to Lee. “They’ve got nowhere to go. We’ll take Pearce back to Earth and then go back out and find them.”

  Dalton closed the channel and let the guards drag Lee past him. As the door slid shut, Lee had one last look at the man he had once fought alongside. There were no tears and no remorse. Franklin Dalton was too much of a servant to his duty to care about those things. The last sight Lee had was of the man standing tall and straightening his uniform. For that one moment, Franklin Dalton looked identical to his father, then the door slid shut.

  The guards dragged Lee further down the corridor. Lee had once been stationed on Zeus before the war, and knew her layout pretty well. He had been taken below the flight deck, but not all the way to the ship’s brig. The interrogation room doubled as a private changing room for repair crews. The guards would be bringing him to a nearby transit sled to take him to the brig soon, and he knew it was time to act. As they lifted him over a bulkhead doorway, Lee planted his feet and pushed against the metal doorway.

  Both guards were momentarily stunned as Lee pushed backwards. One hesitated to let go and was pulled down through the door onto Lee. The other stood still, not comprehending what had just occurred. As Lee fell backwards, he pushed hard, sliding himself back so the guard fell across his legs. He reached down and grabbed the man’s head, smashing it down against the deck, stunning the guard into submission. The other guard took the cracking sound as motivation to move. Lee pulled his legs up and pushed against the first guard’s shoulders. He slid back, unbalancing the second guard as he reached for him.

  Lee rolled back, flipping over and landing on his feet. The guard stepped over his partner and reached out further just as Lee jumped forward. He slammed into the man above, pushing him back into the bulkhead wall. Two quick punches knocked the guard senseless. Lee grabbed his shoulders and pushed the man down into the other guard. He was dazed but still conscious, so Lee left him on the deck. He looked behind him, careful to make sure Dalton hadn’t yet come after them. He sprinted back up the hallway, past the door to the interrogation room.

  The door slid open just as Lee passed. Dalton saw Lee running and slapped a button on the comm panel. Sirens blared from the hallway speakers. An automated voice called for additional security to the flight deck even as Lee increased his pace. Two more armed guards were waiting as he turned into the corridor outside the repair bay. Instead of slowing, Lee rushed the men. As they raised their pistols, he ducked, using his smaller size to his advantage. He dropped down and slid between the legs of one of the guards, grabbed the man’s legs and pulled. The guard was pulled off his feet and fell. His partner turned, but was pushed hard as Lee recovered his feet. Unable to pursue, the two guards were left staggering and confused in the hallway as Lee opened the repair bay door and entered.

  Inside, the flight deck crews were working on older model fighters and a few of the new style of ships. Lee noticed his own ship was absent from the bay and swore. He had hoped he would be able to ta
ke the ship with him when he left. It had been with him since the beginning. He supposed it was fate the ship would end up back on the ship where he had flown it, unprotected, into M-space. The crews gave him a look and moved toward him. He realized by now the entire ship must know who he was and what he had done.

  A quick look around the bay, he found what he was looking for. He ran to a nearby tool cabinet and grabbed a plasma cutter. The tool ignited and spat a short flame of superheated plasma a few inches from the tip. It wouldn’t be a great weapon, but he didn’t intend it to be. As he turned back, the crews saw the flame and slowed. He must have looked like the wild-eyed prisoner he was. His flight suit was torn and his face was bloody and he waved the plasma cutter at the crews. They backed away, and he moved towards the far wall of the bay, to the airlock.

  The outer door opened and Franklin Dalton stomped in, followed by the two guards he had left in the hall and four more. The men pulled their firearms and took aim. Lee slowed but kept his destination in sight. The repair deck airlock was meant for crews to exit and work on the outer flight doors, but he had another use in mind.

  “Pearce,” Dalton shouted. “You’ve got nowhere to go. Give it up or I will order these men to shoot you.”

  “Can’t do it, Dalton,” Lee responded, stepping next to the airlock door. “I won’t go out like this. I have to find the truth.”

  “Lee, I’ve already told you the truth. I’ve seen the evidence. Drop the cutter and we’ll take you somewhere safe.”

  “No,” Lee replied, adding a little tremble to his voice for effect. “I need to do this my way.”

  Lee’s hand went to the airlock controls. He slapped the safety off and heard the siren wail as the inner doors opened wide. Flight crews raced for the door when the outer airlock doors began to cycle. The guards backing Captain Dalton started to back away as well, afraid of the impending decompression.

  “Pearce, don’t do this,” Dalton said, stepping to a diagnostic console bolted to the floor. This isn’t how you want to go. Let’s all go back to the brig and talk this out.”

  “Sorry, Captain,” Lee said, tossing the plasma cutter aside and jumping into the airlock tube. “I gotta go.”

  Lee blew out a breath and pressed the door controls. The inner doors closed as the outer doors opened. All sound stopped. The pressure suit he wore under his flight suit was keeping his skin from freezing, but he had exited without his helmet. The skin on his face and hands flash froze, feeling as if it were on fire and freezing at the same time. He pressed his eyes shut but could feel the pressure behind them building. He felt the sensation of movement, but it was only falling, falling…

  He wanted to scream, wanted to pray, but both were denied him. An eternity of cold and pressure seemed to enclose him. Until he felt his shoulder impact something hard. Vibration and pain lanced through his body as sound returned to his ears slowly. His ears were ringing but the pressure in his head was abating. He hadn’t been in the vacuum long, maybe thirty seconds, but it had been forever for him. After another long period of whooshing air and metallic clangs, Lee heard footsteps approaching. Rough hands grasped his own and deactivated the transponder patch on the back of his right hand. He rolled over to see the smiling face of Connor Jakes looking down at him.

  “That’s about three you owe me.”

  23

  Battleship Resolute

  Rendezvousing with the battleship had proven a simple enough task, and Lee had accompanied his first officer and the guards back aboard his ship. Alice was waiting at the airlock with hands on hips, ready to scold him, until she saw the despair lining his eyes. Sweet Liberty Too had managed to escape without pursuit due to some creative modifications to her sensor systems and Lee wanted his own people to take a look. Connor, however, wanted to leave his secrets where they were and would not allow any more of Resolute’s crew on board. Instead of congratulations or welcoming pats on the back, Lee opted to head straight for the conference room and the holo-projection table.

  “Lee,” Alice said as they made their way deeper into the ship. “Shouldn’t you see the doctor? You were exposed to space. There might be damage.”

  “Whatever I have on this data chip is more important. Let’s get it to Melaina and see what it is,” Lee replied. “If Chang thought it was important enough to hide, I want to know what it is.”

  Lee pulled ahead of his fiancée, trying to avoid any more discussion of his condition. While the pressure suit had saved his life, the exposed portions of his face and hands were red and scaled with frostbite. He wanted to lie down or to get the doctor to give him something for the headache, but Dalton’s words echoed in his head and kept him moving forward. He had to see if whatever the plot was about was important enough the admiral would allow himself to be slandered and accused of treason.

  The door to the conference room slid aside as Lee approached. Melaina, who had stayed on board to continue the research, was seated with her back to the door, and turned as the group entered. Farthing continued on to the bridge as Lee, Alice, and Connor stepped in. Melaina stood and flung her arms out to Jakes, holding him tight as Lee stepped to the table.

  “I got the data from Lira,” he said. “I want this analyzed and the data interpreted. I want to know if there is anything that might link the admiral to the separatists and who the hell Bugs might be.”

  “All in good time, Cap’n,” Jakes said, drawing Melaina in closer. “We got a minute for sayin’ hello.”

  “Now!” Lee ordered. “I just risked my life and the lives of every person on this ship to retrieve this piece of … data. I want to know if it’s worth the price we’ve been paying.”

  “Lee,” Alice said, stepping between him and the others. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but—”

  “Alice, I don’t have time for this. The Alliance is moving the admiral and I want to know what this chase of ours has been about. If you can help interpret this data, then stay. Otherwise, stand aside so we can get to work.”

  Alice stared at Lee, mouth open. He held her gaze with one of his own, daring her to reply. Instead, she stepped past him and took the small box. Opening it, she took the data key and placed it on the reader panel. The panel glowed for a moment and began to scroll with encoding data. When it stopped, the data key was accepted, and disappeared into the machine. The projection, which had been showing the same image of the beehive engine, snapped off. In its place was a rotating question mark with an ident-reader floating in the space above the table.

  “Well,” Connor said as the door opened and Henry Moore, the real one, stepped into the room. “Ain’t that just like Ronnie.”

  “Henry, have you ever seen anything like this?” Lee asked the security man. “Is it safe to activate this system?”

  “Lee, I heard about—”

  “Henry! Is it safe to activate?”

  Lee stared Henry down, and the man turned to look at the code projection. The atmosphere in the room was tense. Lee was like a lightning rod, just waiting to be struck. Henry tapped a few keys, examining the data, and finally shook his head.

  “I don’t know,” he explained. “I’ve really never seen anything like this. I think if the right person inputs their finger it will give up information.”

  “And if the wrong person does it?” Alice asked.

  “I don’t know,” Henry replied with a shrug. “It’ll probably do nothing, but it might also erase the whole thing … and maybe our computer core with it. I just can’t say.”

  “Connor, can the twins help with this?” Lee asked, turning to the pirate captain. “Can they bypass the lockout?”

  “They talk to systems, but I ain’t never asked if they can override this kind of thing,” he replied, taking a look at the control panel. “Henry’s probably right, Lee. It’s an all or nothin’ kind of thing. I imagine Chang had the thing coded to keep his secrets in case he wasn’t around to unlock it.”

  Lee stared at the rotating lock. For a long moment, nobody moved. F
inally, Lee began a slow rotation of the table. Melaina moved to the control panel and began examining the data scrolling on the encoding screen. Alice kept her eyes on Lee. He looked exhausted, his face red and blistered from exposure and stress. As he came back around to where he had begun, he stepped closer to the table, peering closely at the ident-panel. In a startling display, he lifted both hands and brought them down hard on the table, letting out a long bellow of rage. Everyone stood back as the captain slammed down his fists again.

  “Lee!” Alice shouted, afraid to approach the man she loved.

  “Dammit! All this time, all those people who’ve died, and where has it gotten us? Nowhere! The Ixloab, the Raoists! The whole damn human race is going to hell and we’re out here chasing breadcrumbs left by a man who was probably delusional and drunk.”

  “Lee, wait,” Henry started, trying to step in and restrain him. “You’re just tired from the battle and—”

  “Don’t, Henry. Don’t say this is just stress, because I know what it is,” Lee spat back. “When I was on Zeus, Captain Dalton told me they had evidence against Chang. They said he was the one who blew up the conference.”

  “Oh hell, evidence can be planted,” Jakes said, taking a position on Lee’s other side. “I should know. If the Alliance wants a scapegoat, they’ll find one, and Dalton ain’t much more than a huge tool anyway.”

  “No, this is different,” Lee replied, holding his arms up. “Franklin may be a loyal officer, but this time he wasn’t just toeing the line. He fought with us out there during the war. If he believes the admiral is guilty—”

  “You need to calm down,” Henry said, reaching out to take Lee’s shoulder. “You’re getting a bit hysterical.”

  Lee turned to avoid Henry. As he moved, Connor reached out and took his other shoulder. Lee pulled away, twisting his shoulder away from the pirate. As Henry moved in closer, Lee tried to avoid him, too, but tumbled back over the table. His hand passed through the projection, disrupting the image for a moment. As he rolled back up and the men grabbed him by the arm, the image snapped off and was replaced by the smiling face of Ronald Chang. A gasp from Melaina got their attention, and the three men turned to look. Lee shrugged away again and stared as the admiral, in a fresh uniform and looking as he did just after the war, turned to look straight back at him.