“How long ago was this?”
“Three months.”
“Three months! She’s been in that condition for three months?”
“Her wounds could not be repaired without a hospital. I, too, am amazed that she is alive. To have held on this long, she must have believed her purpose here was important. After what she told me, I believe she was right.”
He turned to Akurea. “Your loyalty to the Queen is no longer in question, Commander. It is time for you to tell us the rest of what you know.”
“I know that Mzdak is aware of Struthers’ interest in you. I believe his plan is to ferret out the Queen, and it looks to me like you fell for it.”
“What is his plan?”
“It’s two-fold. He hopes you will steal the cruiser, and if you do, it will be tracked to the Queen. There have been some tracker failures in the past, so he’s loaded the ship with a fatal toxin, enough to kill a world if it is released properly. The ship’s AI has been programmed to make that release at the appropriate time. He wants to kill her and everyone with her. If he takes out a whole planet in the process, he doesn’t care.”
Krys paled. Tarn went to her side and put an arm around her as everyone stared at each other in horror. Borg, efficient as always, stayed one step ahead of them. “How is it that you know all this?”
“I’m a senior engineering officer at the overhaul facility. There is not much that escapes my attention.”
“If you’re right, your warning is in time, and we thank you.”
“You’re not in time.” She turned to Krys. “You’re here, My Lady, and he’s not going to let you get away unless it’s on that cruiser.”
“We’ve been in difficult situations before, Commander. Because of you, we’re forewarned, and we’ll make good our escape. Thank you.”
“I believe there’s more,” Borg stated, unperturbed but very focused.
“No, sir. Not anything of significance.”
“Flan says there is, something to do with your work here.”
“I don’t see how that will benefit you.”
“What is it that you do?”
“I’m in charge of all work associated with the Chessori. My main project is to upgrade the Chessori ships. A smaller project is to supervise the modifications to our own ships that will enable the Chessori to install their hypercoms.”
Borg stared at her. “And you think that’s not important?”
“Of course it’s important, but there’s nothing you can do about it. As I said, both projects are on hold. When, or if, they resume, we’ll have some surprises for the Chessori.”
Stven was more concerned about escape. “What is the status of the cruiser and the Chessori ships parked beside it?”
“The cruiser is a decoy. They’re hoping you’ll take it, and we’ve installed a hypercom that’s just a shell. The military ships have been here for over a year. We installed new shields and weapons, but their drives cannot supply enough power to run them. We’ve removed their drives and started rewiring them for our own, larger drives, but Struthers placed a hold on our work. He wants the plans for the hypercom in exchange for our plans for better drives, weapons, and shields. Until an agreement is reached, the ships here will remain decommissioned. After what Flan told us, we’ve been trying to somehow disable the cruiser, too, but we haven’t been allowed inside. It’s fully ready to go once it gets a crew.”
Stven’s head swung from side to side. He felt a puff coming and swallowed it, then looked like he regretted the choice.
M’Sada said the words that were on everyone’s mind. “Do you know how the hypercom works?”
“I do not, Lieutenant. I’ve never been allowed to see schematics of the system, only its power requirements.”
M’Sada started a rapid preening of his antennae as he considered her words, but Tarn didn’t wait. “Can we get our hands on one of the units?”
“It wouldn’t do you any good. They’re too large and heavy to carry, and they’re well protected. Besides, reverse engineering of a system that complex is probably not possible.”
“How well protected?” Washburn asked.
“We were working around the clock until Struthers called a halt. Now, there’s little activity in their area, but they never leave it unguarded.”
“How many guards?”
“They always seem to do things in two’s and three’s. They’ve had three since your arrival, around the clock. I don’t know why, but we’ve been told that one of them is enough.”
Washburn’s gaze moved to Krys, and when she noticed him, he raised an eyebrow.
She stared back at him with a frown, then turned to Tarn. “I want to think about all this. I’ll see Commander Skvechavka’a in my quarters in half an hour.”
Tarn and Borg escorted Akurea to Krys’ suite, and on the way, Tarn gave her very simple instructions. “She’ll be meditating. You will not speak to her, nor will you distract her in any way. I want you to walk silently to her and take her hands. When she comes out of her meditation, she might have some questions for you.”
“Surely you jest.”
Tarn held out his own Knight’s pin, and she paled. “ Two Knights on the same mission?” she asked. “I don’t understand, Sire.”
“Explanations might come later. Just do as I say, Commander.”
“Yes, Sire.”
The door to Krys’ conference room was open, and they all walked in together. Akurea stepped softly up to Krys and took her hands in her own.
When Krys opened her eyes, she stared at Akurea with a frown on her face. “Will you wait outside, please? I’ll call you back in shortly.”
Borg escorted Commander Skvechavka’a to the corridor and closed the door, leaving Krys and Tarn alone. Tarn waited as she considered what she’d seen.
“She’s staring at a computer screen, Tarn. I’ve never seen one like it. It’s boxy, and it has a red screen. On the screen are lines and characters I don’t recognize. It appears quite technical.”
“Is that why you don’t understand them?”
“Maybe, but I get the feeling they’re not Galactic High Standard.”
“I’ve never seen a computer with a red screen.”
“Nor have I. I think it’s a Chessori computer.”
Their gazes locked. Tarn was the first to speak. “The plans for the hypercom?”
In a small voice, she said, “I think so.”
“Did you see anything else?”
“No, but it came with words:
‘ To be Named a Knight is a call to even greater sacrifice in my name.’”
She gave him time to consider the words and their relationship to the vision, then she rose and stood before him. He, too, rose, and they held each other for a long time. His skills at interpreting visions were not needed this time, and they both knew it. One of them was destined to make a great sacrifice in the coming days.
“I hope it’s me,” he said softly into her hair.
“I don’t.”
“If it’s you, I’ll be beside you all the way. I won’t desert you.”
“Nor I you. I love you, Tarn. Know that nothing will change that, and there is only one higher calling to which I answer, to which we answer.”
“Who? The Queen, or is it whoever’s sending you these visions?”
“Neither, my love. We answer to the Empire. These messages are not for us or the Queen, they’re for our people. I won’t shy away from danger if it means the Chessori will enslave everyone we’re sworn to protect. Nor will you.”
He squeezed her harder, then they parted. Tarn walked to the door and motioned Borg and Akurea back into the room. Krys was seated with dry eyes, and she invited Akurea to sit on the couch.
“Tell me what you know of the Chessori, Commander.”
“That’s a pretty open-ended question, My Lady. I know a lot. I speak their language fairly well, and I’ve spent a lot of time with them on technical issues.”