Confluence

CHAPTER FOUR: DOMINIQUE RADKO

Iris recognition got Radko into the barracks, where she hunted up an old squad mate she hadn’t seen in years. Toll had been at headquarters forever.

“It’s a little early for partying,” Toll said. “Incidentally, your hair’s sticking out like you’ve plugged your arm into an electricity supply.”

She fixed that by pulling off the cleverly designed hairpiece Pieter had made for her. “Do me a favor, Toll. I’ll owe you forever. My kit is in the Emerald waiting room at the palace. Can you send a guard to collect it?” Toll was a group leader. He’d have the authority to send someone.

“Emerald. We do live the high life. A little too grand for a simple spacer now. Or are you team leader?”

Another advantage was that Toll knew about her family.

“Please, Toll.” She was begging, and he could see it.

“Owe me forever, right.”

“Thank you. I’m going to wash this makeup off.”

She recycled the fresher twice before Toll arrived back with her kit, but she couldn’t wash the stupidity out. What was done was done. Should she warn her family?

“Your kit’s here,” Toll said. “And the guard I sent said there were a lot of minor dignitaries in that room. All twittering.”

Twittering. What an apt word. Radko smiled as she came out to dress.

The bag vibrated. Her comms. She ignored it while she pulled on her uniform.

“And she said someone wants you really badly. They called you four times on the way across.”

Radko could imagine what it was about. She ignored it.

Dressed, cleansed of all her makeup, she felt capable of thinking again.

She had to tell Vega and Galenos what had happened. Vega was here, on Lancia, but she’d be at the palace. Not the smartest place to talk when you wanted to inform on Emperor Yu. Should she go back to the ship and report to Captain Helmo instead?

At least Dow had given her enough of a reprieve to report to someone.

“That’s much better. You look like you.” Toll focused on the braid on her shoulders. “Royal Guard. We are moving up.”

Radko slung her kit bag over her shoulder. “Thank you, Toll.”

“Although seriously, Radko. Don’t stay too long in the Royal Guard. It’s a career killer.”

“It’s been fun, lately.”

Her bag vibrated again.

She didn’t want to talk to them. Unless… maybe it wasn’t about her. Maybe it was about Ean. She snatched the comms out of her bag.

Vega.

She clicked it on.

“I hope you haven’t done anything stupid,” Vega said, by way of greeting.

It wasn’t about Ean. It was about her. “I might have done, ma’am.”

Vega sighed. “Where are you?”

“At the barracks, ma’am.”

“Which barracks?”

“Baoshan Barracks.” As if there was more than one.

“So you’re still on Lancia?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That’s something to be grateful for. Report to me. Now. I’m at the palace.”

“Yes, ma’am.” That solved one problem. Vega must know something already. She’d want to hear the rest.

“It will take you twenty minutes. If you’re a minute late, I want to know why.”

“What a dictator,” Toll said, as Radko slipped the comms into her pocket. “Who is she?”

“My boss. Gotta go. Thanks, Toll. I owe you.” Radko took off at a run.

Radko arrived at the palace barracks as paramedics wheeled a stretcher out. It was Sasha Martinsson, one of Michelle’s bodyguards.

Vega took her job as head of Princess Michelle’s security seriously. Anything that got in the way of her doing her job upset her. Sure enough, she was scowling at the empty space in the assembled team where Martinsson would have been.

“What are the chances of one of my crew collapsing two minutes before they’re due to escort Her Royal Highness to the Emperor?” Vega demanded of Radko.

“Low,” Radko said.

Commodore Bach, in charge of the Emperor’s Royal Guard, stood beside Vega. “We can supply a guard for you.”

“One I don’t know? I’d rather go in understaffed.”

She wouldn’t, of course, and she couldn’t go in herself. That would look bad. “You,” to Radko. “Get in line.”

Radko obediently got in line. Yu wouldn’t recognize her. She hoped. He didn’t recognize house staff or guards. They were like furniture, and just as dispensable. But Bach’s soldiers would.

Or maybe not. She was in uniform now, without the makeup that had covered her face. They might recognize her as a relative of the Emperor, but he had lots of relatives—particularly illegitimate ones, for Emperor Yu’s relationships had been prolific in his youth—and there were half a dozen in the fleet.

It was too late, anyway, for they were already marching out the door.

“Wait.” Vega put a hand to Radko’s arm to stop her. The whole team stopped as a synchronized unit. “This stupidity of yours. How urgently does it need fixing?”

Sattur Dow wanted something. He’d organized a reprieve. Could it wait? Probably. Unless Emperor Yu recognized and killed her this time.

“It can wait,” Radko said, and the team marched out.

Down the corridor, away from anyone who was likely to pry, Radko said quietly to Ashleigh, beside her. “In case I don’t survive tonight, tell Vega I don’t trust Sattur Dow. He has plans.”

Ashleigh’s shock was palpable. “You think Sattur Dow was behind the bombing of Confluence Station?”

Radko misstepped—she never misstepped—and concentrated on getting back the rhythm.

“No,” but then they were outside the princess’s apartments, and Michelle was walking out to join them. They surrounded her, like the well-trained protective machine they were, and marched her to the throne room.

Radko’s training let her make the right moves, which was just as well, for she wasn’t thinking about them any longer. What had happened on Confluence Station?

Was Ean all right?

What if Ean wasn’t there to protect? What if he’d been killed in the attack? What would that do to the line ships? No wonder Vega had asked if she had done anything stupid.

They entered the throne room.

Radko took in the changes at a glance.

Sattur Dow had gone. The guards had changed.

Michelle moved to sit on the seat Sattur Dow had been sitting on before. She was smiling. “Father. It’s good to see you looking so well.”

Of all the Emperor’s family, the Radko branch included, Michelle was possibly the only one who retained a genuine affection for the Emperor.

“One cannot say the same of you,” Yu said. “You are looking tired. That last news conference you gave.” He waved a hand. “Perhaps you are working too hard.”

Radko stared straight ahead. She couldn’t tell if the comment was genuine concern, delivered badly, or a veiled dig.

“It won’t be forever,” Michelle said. “It’s for Lancia, and we both want the best for our home.”

“For Lancia. Yes. Although, Daughter, I have some concerns regarding what you perceive as good for Lancia.”

“I do not understand.”

“It is for this reason I have called you home. Without your shadow.”

“My shadow?” Radko couldn’t read the look Michelle gave her father. “It is unusual for you to be so oblique, Father.”

“Then let me be blunt. Lancia has half a garrison on Haladea III, plus a number of high-ranking executives and statesmen.”

“Hand-chosen,” Michelle agreed. “People who will bolster Lancia’s standing in the New Alliance.”

“Therein lies our problem, doesn’t it? They have been chosen by you. You and Admiral Galenos. Yet you block me and my representatives.”

Michelle stilled. “I assume we are talking about my refusal to allow Sattur Dow to set up offices on Haladea III.”

Sattur Dow again. Had Michelle’s refusal triggered Yu’s plan to provide Dow access through Radko?

“Your refusal. Or Galenos’s?”

“Mine.” It was firm. “The worlds of the New Alliance associate Merchant Dow too closely with the palace here at Baoshan. They believe that anything Dow does is with your tacit approval, and with some advantage to you. We cannot afford to lose all our goodwill. Sattur Dow’s reputation as a ruthless businessman who destroys everything that gets in his way is well deserved.”

“So is that of Merchant Pact, from Yaolin, and Merchant Fanko—”

“As is your reputation for swooping in after Dow has destabilized commerce and taking concessions for Lancia.”

“Only a foolish man would ignore something ripe for the picking. Ignore it, and other worlds get the fruit.”

“Rightly or wrongly, the New Alliance sees Sattur Dow both as a threat to the economy of Haladea III and as the beginning of Lancia’s attempting to take control of the New Alliance government. They see it as Lancia’s attempt to take over the commerce of the Haladean worlds. And once we own the commerce, to control the government, for that is what happened on Pasko.”

Michelle paused. “I see that, too.” She sounded calm, but her back was damp. “We cannot afford to lose what support we have by bringing in people other worlds don’t trust.”

The Emperor stood to pace. Radko watched him, while the guards on either side of her kept their eyes on the Emperor’s guards. “In the old Alliance, Lancia never had problems placing people.”

“The old Alliance was losing a war,” Michelle said. “This is not that Alliance. This is a new governing body with a different structure. Lancia cannot simply walk in and take over. They have equal power with sixty-nine other worlds.”

“And we agreed to that?”

“We did. You know as well as I do that had we not, we would be a second-rate Gate Union world right now. Or at the top of a third-rate Alliance with maybe ten worlds left.”

“I took my daughter’s advice. Maybe I was misinformed.”

Michelle sighed. “Maybe you are getting bad advice from elsewhere, Father. Or your wits have finally left you permanently.”

Yu swung around. “My daughter certainly isn’t giving me any advice. Other than to stay away.”

The turn placed him face-on to Radko. If he recognized her, he didn’t show it. Radko watched his movements without seeming to.

“Maybe I am not the one getting bad advice. Admiral Galenos also voted against my request.”

He swung around to face Michelle again. “What advice is he giving you, Daughter?”

A flush flamed Michelle’s skin, and fire sparked deep in her eyes. She lifted her chin, and her tone crackled ice as she said, “You should apologize for that. Abram Galenos works for Lancia.”

An answering spark ignited in her father’s eyes. He turned away. Radko thought his lips quirked in the beginnings of a smile, quickly tamed.

“So ready to defend him.” Emperor Yu resumed pacing. Maybe it hadn’t been a smile. Radko couldn’t tell if he was genuinely angry or acting.

“I am the ruler of Lancia. Where is my seat on the council? Where is my vote on matters concerning my world? Where is my voice? Last week, the council voted that each world would crew its own alien ship. What power do we have?”

“Equal power with other worlds, and whatever our alliances can bring. We are trying to build alliances.”

“Daughter, I have been building alliances for longer than you have been alive. Now you tell me I don’t know my job.” He started to pace again.

Michelle’s pause seemed interminably long. “Yes. I am. We are doing what we can to keep Lancia powerful.”

The only reason Lancia had any real power was because their representatives—Crown Princess Michelle and Admiral Abram Galenos—worked hard to prove they weren’t a threat. Radko should have told Vega about her earlier meeting with Yu and Dow.

Emperor Yu stared at Michelle. “Sometimes it seems, Daughter, that you are happy to allow Lancia to decline to a second-rate world, to allow other worlds to bully you.”

Michelle chided gently. “Bullying me in return, Father? That worked when I was five. It doesn’t work now.” She sat up straighter. “I want Lancia to be a power as much as you do. We have to remain in the New Alliance long enough for us to become that power. And I don’t want us feared by everyone when we do. I want us to be a respected ally.”

“Power brings respect,” Yu said.

“That sort of power is not respect, it’s fear, and the problem with fear is that people who are afraid are likely to destroy what they are scared of if they can.”

“My own daughter lectures me on politics. Me, who has twice her experience and ten times her power.”

“We are trying to make a future for Lancia.”

“We?” Yu turned so fast every soldier in the room instinctively put their hands to their weapons. Radko was pleased to see that on average, Vega’s team was a second faster than Bach’s. “You and who?”

“All of us working with the New Alliance,” Michelle said.

“You and Galenos.”

“We are both in charge.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Yu said. “Galenos forgets that he is not in charge, that he answers to you. Instead, he fills your head with foolish notions like respect supposedly earned by showing how harmless we are.”

“They’re not just his notions. They’re mine as well.”

“Are they, Daughter? Maybe I left you too long under the protection of a man who chooses not to put Lancia first.”

Michelle opened her mouth to argue. Yu silenced her with a hand. “Do you know what I call someone who refuses to put Lancia first, when they are employed by the government of Lancia?” He waved her quiet again. “Traitors. That’s what I call them.”

“You can call it what you like, Father, but you know as well as I do that Galenos only works for the best of Lancia.”

“Not according to my sources. As head of Alien Affairs, and with his seat on the council, he has more power than anyone in the New Alliance, you included. Has power gone to his head? I ask again. What has he done for Lancia? Where are our ships? Where are the secrets from those ships? Where are our benefits?”

“The alien ships are a shared New Alliance resource,” Michelle said. “Lancia is already getting more access than anyone else.”

“Then why do we not have instant communication with Haladea III? Why are we not jumping ships the way you jumped that alien ship earlier?”

Michelle could still smile. In her place, Radko wouldn’t have been able to. “That was an emergency. One of our bases was under attack. We would prefer not to have jumped the ship the way we did today without a lot of testing beforehand.”

Alien ships moving unplanned sounded like Ean. As soon as this meeting finished, Radko would find out what had happened.

“As for instant communication, is that not what we have done?” Her voice hardened. “Is this not the first time we have communicated between sectors? Between the Lancastrian Princess and a small number of designated ships back in the Haladean sector.”

A lot more had happened than Radko realized.

“Would Galenos have mentioned this if it hadn’t made the evening news? I think not.”

“You would have known once tests were completed.”

“Are you certain of that, Daughter? Of course not.” Emperor Yu moved back to sit on his throne. “It is time to tip the balance of power our way.”

Radko hadn’t thought Michelle could get any stiller, but she did.

“How?”

Yu put his palms together in what might have been a bow, or an attitude of prayer, and rested his chin on his fingers as he smiled. “How many votes do we need for a majority in the New Alliance government?”

“Fourteen. Seven worlds if both the military and civilian councilors vote the same way. They will be difficult to get. We will alienate worlds if we push too hard.”

“I can get you twenty votes.”

“How?” Michelle asked again.

“I have ten worlds who would take full membership in the New Alliance and support Lancia in all things.”

“Who?” If Michelle looked wary, who could blame her? Most worlds were rushing to join Gate Union, sure that line restrictions would soon mean the end of the New Alliance as any real power. That would have happened already if the New Alliance hadn’t had the alien ships.

And Ean Lambert.

“The Worlds of the Lesser Gods,” the Emperor said, and waited for her reaction.

He got a puzzled frown in return. “The Lesser Gods? If they affiliate with anyone, surely it would be Redmond.”

Yu’s smile was wide. “I, too, have been making alliances, my daughter. While you sit in parliament too scared to oppose those who oppose you, listening to the advice of a man who has let power go to his head.”

Michelle’s mouth became a straight line, but she remained silent.

“I have been building a power base for Lancia’s future. The Worlds of the Lesser Gods recently fell out with Redmond over mineral rights on Satan’s Gate. They came to us, for Lancia has the only other known supply of pelagatite.”

“Which was mined out two centuries ago. Not to mention that it’s beneath Settlement City, and you gave that to Sattur Dow years ago.”

Yu waved dismissively. “I have offered Sattur something in return.”

Access to the line ships through his new wife.

“Maybe so,” Michelle countered. “How will the Factor feel when he realizes you have duped him? One worked-out mine is not enough to create an alliance.”

Yu smiled. “The mine was only the start of negotiations, Daughter, and the Factor has evinced a certain… interest in my bait.”

“Which is?”

The New Alliance would certainly be interested in the Worlds of the Lesser Gods, for while they were small, politically, they shared space close to Redmond. Having access to ten worlds in the same sector would make it easier to strike at the enemy.

“Tell me, Daughter, would not a bloc of ten votes—twenty votes—be to our advantage?”

“Of course it would. If we could be sure the Worlds of the Lesser Gods would vote for us. They are known to be unfriendly to Lancia. What bait did you use to get them to agree?”

“A close binding of our worlds. You, Daughter, will marry the Factor of the Lesser Gods.”

Michelle laughed. She was the only person who would have dared. “Maybe.” She stood up. “I will investigate the Worlds of the Lesser Gods and take your news back to the New Alliance so they can prepare for their request for membership.”

He walked with her to the door. “And Daughter, beware of who you take advice from. When I say something is to happen, I expect it to happen.”

Michelle glanced back. “I hear you, Father. Loud and clear.”

Vega had a replacement guard ready when Michelle left the throne room.

The team followed Michelle while Radko waited with Vega.

“Turns out Martinsson’s allergic to his own world,” Vega said. “Or the pollution in it, anyway. He hasn’t been back here since Sattur Dow extended his factory at Settlement City. Airborne particulates.”

Like any world, Lancia had minimum clean-air requirements, but those requirements were specific, and easy to get around if you had the money or power to buy exemptions.

Vega scowled in the direction of Settlement City. “So let’s hear how bad it is.”

Radko was strongly aware of Commodore Bach at his desk. These rooms, used exclusively by the guards working for the Emperor’s household, were as secure as the Lancastrian Princess, but after what she’d heard, Radko thought that anything she told Vega would go right back to the Emperor.

“I left my kit at the barracks, ma’am. I’ll need to collect it if I’m to leave now.”

Vega nodded and walked with Radko. One thing about Vega. She picked up messages very quickly.

They were both silent until they were in the aircar taking them over to the barracks.

“What happened at Confluence Station?” Radko asked, for that was safe talk. Anyone would want to know about it. “I hear it was attacked.”

Vega’s eyebrows rose. Radko didn’t have to guess what she was thinking. If she hadn’t known about Confluence Station, how could she have done anything stupid?

“It’s all over the vids. Galactic News and Blue Sky Media filmed it for us.”

“I haven’t seen the vids.”

“I’m surprised.” Vega folded her hands in her lap. “Confluence Station was attacked by an armed ship disguised as a freighter. It did a lot of damage.”

“And Ean?”

Vega’s tone turned dry. “The linesmen are safe. Before the freighter could destroy it, the station switched places with the Eleven, leaving the two ships to battle it out.”

No one listening would have understood what Vega had told her in those short sentences. They hadn’t known before today that two ships—or a ship and a station—could switch places. Ean was the only person who could have done it.

“There is some conjecture in the media as to whether the Eleven destroyed the freighter or whether it jumped,” Vega said. “And the captain of the freighter hasn’t come forward to say, one way or the other. I’m sure you will make up your own mind when you see the vids.”

Judging from the grim way Vega smiled, the freighter had been destroyed.

The aircar landed.

“Thank you for taking the time to inform me, ma’am,” Radko said, as they stepped out onto the tarmac.

The aircar lifted on auto and whisked itself away.

It was safe to talk now, but Radko kept her voice low. “Did you see Michelle’s audience with her father?”

“I did.”

“Did you see my audience, earlier?”

“No.”

She wouldn’t have had a reason to.

“Sattur Dow was there. I think he wants access to the alien ships.” Radko reported the whole conversation as precisely as she could, including her own pending marriage. “Not only that, I traveled to Baoshan in an aircar with Tiana Chen and Ethan Saylor. They’re connected with Sattur Dow. Saylor let slip that they believe they’ll have access to Lambert soon.”

“That’s worrying. Especially in light of the later meeting.”

They walked together in silence around the parade ground at the barracks. “Your kit is at the palace,” Vega said, eventually. “Let’s hope Bach doesn’t realize.”

There was no excuse for clumsiness like that. “Sorry, ma’am.”

Vega waved that away. “Emperor Yu does not like people who defy him. He’s just as likely to change his mind and call you in for an accounting, no matter what Dow says.”

An accounting like that only ended one way. With the accountee being wheeled out dead.

“If you stay on the Lancastrian Princess, he can call you in at any time. Even if he doesn’t, you become Dow’s access to the alien ships because they have plans, and you’re important to them.”

She’d expected it, but a slow hatred started to burn against the two men who would destroy her life.

“You could always transfer me.” Her voice wasn’t as steady as she wanted it to be.

“We could. But why break up a good team? We’ll send you away temporarily, for your own safety, until we work out what the plan is and find a way to circumvent it.” Vega smiled, albeit grimly. “Let’s hope Dow has overreached himself this time, and we can take him down for it.”

That was almost treasonous talk. Radko glanced around, instinctively taking in who might have been listening to them. No one.

“Lambert won’t take it well. Especially if he knows you don’t want to go.” Vega looked at her. “Unless you do want to go, that is.”

“No, ma’am.” It came out more fervently than she’d planned.

Another grim smile. “Lambert will do fine without you.” Then Vega amended that to, “Well enough, anyway. Personally, I’d prefer you there to handle him, but under the circumstances—”

“He doesn’t need handling, he needs understanding.”

“He’s like an out-of-control weapon. You never know whether the recoil will kill you.”

“But it’s more likely to turn around and hit the enemy,” Radko said.

“So far. But don’t worry, I’ll keep him safe until you get back. Inasmuch as I can because we all know Lambert.”

The brusque words relieved Radko, for she had wondered if she would be allowed to return. “How long?”

“As long as it takes. We’d best get you off now. Make it look as if you were already assigned, rather than us bundling you off in a hurry.”

Vega stopped and tapped something into her comms. “A temporary promotion, I think. I’m trying you out as a team leader. The lines know, you’re long past ready for it.”

Ean had once told Radko that he could sometimes hear when people like Abram or Helmo or Michelle made decisions. “It’s like a snap,” he’d said. “A sharp color, and they’re done. Instant decision, with a whole plan behind it. As if they’d spent hours thinking it out.”

Radko would bet Vega had just made a decision like that.

“Hah,” Vega said. “And I’ve the perfect job here, especially in light of your recent information. You’ll like this one. You’ve done covert ops before.”

It wasn’t a question. Before she’d come aboard the Lancastrian Princess, Vega had studied everyone’s dossier. Radko answered anyway. “Yes, ma’am.”

Not many, but enough.

“And your Redmond-language skills are good?”

“Yes, ma’am.” In fact, all of Radko’s covert operations to date had been on Redmond, for her parents had planned a career for her as a diplomat long before she’d chosen to join the Lancian fleet. She was skilled in three languages outside Lancian and Standard. Redmond, Carina, and Aquacaelum—and had spent time on each world as a child.

Interestingly, they were all in what was now enemy territory.

“Get yourself some clothes,” Vega said. “Formal business attire. I’ll have someone collect your kit and send it home.”

When Radko came out of the tailoring machine, Vega had gone, but her orders were on Radko’s comms, coded and backdated.

A Redmond trader, Callista OneLane, has acquired what she hints are details of groundbreaking experiments on linesmen. Further, she hints that the records include the data from the last six months, when the parameters changed, and they started getting real success with the experiments.

Six months ago the then-Alliance had discovered the alien spaceships. And realized that current line theory was flawed. And made massive leaps in communicating with the lines, themselves. Radko’s breath quickened. They had to be using what the New Alliance had learned from Ean and his work with the alien lines.

As you can imagine, we’re keen to see those plans.

So was Radko.

They were offered to Sattur Dow, who has bought contraband from OneLane before. Until your report, we had no idea why. Now we do.

Sattur Dow was never getting close enough to Ean to use what he might have learned from those experiments.

Dow is sending Tiana Chen to purchase the report.

Vega was right. Radko did like it.

We’ll delay Chen for twenty-four hours.

You are ideally situated to know what the report shows and how important it is. Check it out, pay what you think we should offer for them.

Above all, don’t get caught, and don’t get yourself killed.

That was Vega, blunt and to the point. Abram Galenos would never have said that. He would assume she was smart enough to stay alive. Radko rubbed her eyes. Change was inevitable, and she liked Vega, but everyone on ship had been comfortable with the old regime.

They’d been happy, Ean had said.

You have been assigned a small team. Your “other” job—

Based on the quotes Radko assumed this was unofficially as important to Vega as the first.

—is to assess them for line ability. Every one of them went through line training and failed certification. I want a full report on each of them, including their level and your assessment of their capabilities.

Radko wasn’t a linesman, but she was better equipped than most to recognize the individual songs of each line. Vega must have been planning this part of the operation for a while.

There’s a ship leaving for Mykara at 1800 hours. Be on it. Leave the ship at Shaolin. Lancia has a cache there. You can arm yourself, and from there you can catch a ship to Redmond.

She had exactly fifteen minutes to make the shuttle Vega had booked for her. Radko shouldered her bag and ran.