Stacy leaned forward, her anger forgotten. “Then by all means,” she ordered, “jump!”
Jeremy braced himself as the flicker drive engaged, launching the superdreadnaught across five light years in a split-second. The scientists swore that the transits were not instantaneous — they lasted a certain infinitively-tiny length of time — but it felt instantaneous. It also felt, just for a second, as if his insides had been turned upside down. It was a gentle transit, yet it was something that no one ever got used to feeling. He’d been on ships that had jumped while travelling at high sublight speeds and the crews had ended up vomiting badly on the decks.
“Transit completed,” the helmsman said. The display updated rapidly as the gravimetric sensors picked out Jackson’s Folly, the primary star and the handful of other planets within the system. IFF beacons began to appear as the passive sensors picked up the freighters moving between planets, although he had to remind himself that a hostile starship could be keeping its emissions to the bare minimum, rendering it nearly undetectable. “The flicker drives are cycling down now.”
Jeremy relaxed and settled back into his own chair. The flicker drive might have given mankind the stars, but it had also introduced a whole new degree of tactical problems. It was impossible, even for the Empire’s most advanced and powerful ships, to keep the flicker drive spun up and ready to jump out. It would burn out the drive and leave the vessel stranded. What that meant, from a tactical point of view, was that if they ran into trouble, it would take time — at least ten minutes for a superdreadnaught — before the drive could be powered up again and jump them out. They would have to stand and fight until then.
“Get me a direct link to the Observation Squadron,” Stacy ordered. Her clear voice echoed in the bridge. “I want to talk directly to Captain Howell.”
“I confirm nine superdreadnaughts and seven heavy transport ships,” the tactical officer said. Colin nodded as the icons appeared in the display, further from the planet than he had anticipated. Was it a simple navigational error or something far more sinister? The flicker drive wasn’t known for being supremely accurate, certainly not at interstellar distances. “The IFF signals match the 123rd Superdreadnaught Squadron.”
“Send them a standard greeting,” Colin ordered, as the superdreadnaughts came alive, their tactical sensors scouring space for potential threats. Commodore Roosevelt wasn’t even trying to hide, or to conceal what her sensors were doing, although there was no real need for her do either. It wasn’t as if there was something in the system that could threaten her. “And then hold the holographic program on standby.”
“Aye, sir,” the communications officer said. The tension on the bridge rose sharply. They were committed now. “We are picking up a response. Commodore Roosevelt would like to speak to Captain Howell.”
She isn’t giving him his brevet rank, Colin thought, with a flicker of grim amusement. “Activate the hologram,” he ordered. It had taken several weeks of preparation, before the mutiny had been launched, to construct a hologram that would fool basic security checks. He’d tested it against Shadow’s security systems and it had fooled them, but if Stacy asked a question they couldn’t answer… everything would fall apart. “Send her the pre-recorded message.”
“Commodore, welcome to Jackson’s Folly,” Captain-Commodore Howell said. Jeremy watched impatiently as Howell ran through a series of greetings. He had never served with Howell, but he knew — from Stacy — that he didn’t have the initiative to get dressed in the morning without orders from higher authority, in triplicate. Maybe not the desired kind of person for a major command… unless, of course, one wanted the commander to do nothing, but wait until higher authority arrived. “I’m afraid that there has been an incident.”
Stacy sucked in her breath sharply. “We discovered that certain other elements were collaborating with the illegitimate government on Jackson’s Folly,” Howell continued. “I have ordered those elements arrested and I intend to transfer them to your loyal ships at once. I have also arrested the government of the planet, as per the contingency plan you sent me, and they too will be transferred. Please prepare to take them into custody.”
Jeremy blinked at Stacy’s savage smile… and then understood. Howell had discovered that the other elements were not rebels or terrorists from beyond the Rim, but others from the Empire — from other Families. If another Family had wanted to derail the Roosevelt Family’s expansion into the new sector, it would make sense for them to provide covert assistance to Jackson’s Folly. Given time, they might even manage to get their clients onto the Observation Squadron and use the starships to assist the local government. And yet… Howell had detected the plot and arrested the people responsible. Stacy could take them into her custody and use them to embarrass their superiors. They might even be so embarrassed that they would back off and leave the sector to the Roosevelt Family.
“Of course,” Stacy said, sweetly. She looked over at Jeremy. “Have some of my household troopers moved to supervise the prisoners as they are unloaded from the shuttles. They are not to come to any harm, but they are not to be allowed a chance to escape.”
“Yes, Commodore,” Jeremy said, surprised. She sounded almost competent… but then, she’d just been offered a chance to secure her position in the line of succession. The Roosevelt Family would want a new Head one of these days and Stacy almost certainly had her eye on the prize. She would be the most powerful woman in the Empire. “I shall see to it personally.”
On the display, nineteen heavy transport shuttles were launched from the Observation Squadron. There were too many of them to land on any one superdreadnaught, Jeremy realised; they would have to be staggered out or spread out over the other superdreadnaughts, presenting him with an interesting logistics challenge. He considered asking Stacy if he could delay their arrival times until he could organise space for them, but he knew her too well. She had no concept of delayed gratification. She would want to have them all under her control as soon as possible.
He keyed his console, authorising the shuttles to dock, scattered out over all nine superdreadnaughts. The Household Troops could escort the prisoners to their quarters — if they were members of the Thousand Families, they could not be mistreated or Stacy’s superiors would disown her — and then secure them until they could be sent home in disgrace. Another feather in Stacy’s cap… who knew, perhaps her superiors would be so pleased that she would be promoted away from his superdreadnaught squadron.
“Bring them in as soon as possible,” Stacy ordered, tightly. “And then prepare to engage the enemy.”
Jeremy nodded. The red icons on the display — the battleships protecting Jackson’s Folly — were already moving into a defensive formation. He was privately impressed by their determination — he would have considered jumping out and waging a hit-and-run war against the Empire rather than standing in defence of their homeworld — but it wouldn’t matter. They couldn’t stand against his superdreadnaughts, even with Stacy in command.
The thought was bitter, yet it had to be faced. Another world was about to be ground under and brought to heel… and there was nothing he could do, but watch.
“The shuttles are away, sir.”
Colin nodded, watching as the icons accelerated towards their target ships. Preparing the holographic message had been a gamble, even though they’d discovered Commodore Roosevelt’s secret orders to Captain-Commodore Howell. If she’d insisted on the shuttles all going to one superdreadnaught, the Marines would have to have used the emergency plan and if that had failed… they would have died, followed rapidly by the Observation Squadron itself. He wished, desperately, that he was flying with the Marines. It was the first time he had sent men into danger, where some or all of them might be killed, without being with them.