Iceni and the others on the bridge of the heavy cruiser watched video from the surface, showing Drakon’s triumphal procession through the streets and the adulation the citizens were heaping upon him. “You’d think that I’d done nothing,” she commented to those around her, keeping her tones partly annoyed and partly amused to hide the concerns those images created. If Drakon becomes the face of the rulers of this star system, he can more easily push me aside. Drakon may have to be dealt with after all.
Chapter Five
Her assistant, Mehmet Togo, finally called in as Iceni’s cruiser neared orbit about the planet once more. “It took some time to override the locks placed on my systems by the ISS,” Togo explained.
“Did any snakes make it to my office complex?”
“No, Madam CEO. Several snakes were approaching our entrance when they encountered some ground forces.” Togo’s lips didn’t smile, but his eyes held wicked amusement. “The snakes got no farther.”
“Are there any ground forces in or near my offices?” Iceni asked.
“The nearest ground forces are on the streets outside, engaged in crowd control,” Togo replied. If there had been soldiers there, out of sight but with weapons aimed at Togo’s head, he could have used a code phrase to indicate duress, but that phrase hadn’t been in his reply. Everything is fine. A good code phrase to Iceni’s mind, since everything was never fine. Something would always be a problem.
“I’ll be taking a shuttle down in less than half an hour. I want a full report before then of what CEO Drakon is up to, and I want to ensure we have just as much access to the planetwide surveillance and announcing systems as he does.”
“Yes, Madam CEO.”
“I am streaming you some files of the engagement up here where we defeated CEO Kolani’s force. Make sure that those files and the news that my force defeated the threat of orbital bombardment are broadcast to the populace. I want the citizens to look upward and realize that it is thanks to me that the warships remaining in this star system are here to protect us, not threaten us.”
“A very good phrase, Madam CEO. I will make certain all of the citizens hear it before your shuttle has landed.”
Iceni grimaced with exasperation. It had been a long day and was far from over; there were too many variables to deal with and not enough information. At least Togo was still alive, and there weren’t soldiers crawling around her own offices. Drakon wasn’t being too obvious or brash if he intended taking over completely.
Maybe she should speak with him again before returning to the planet’s surface where she would be within reach of Drakon’s soldiers. Iceni was reaching for her controls when C-625 finally called in from its position near the gas giant.
The woman sending the message wasn’t C-625’s commander. She was also wearing a snake suit. Two bad omens whose dire implications were quickly confirmed. “This is ISS Executive Jillan to the traitor Iceni. The former commander of this mobile forces unit and several of her executives have been summarily executed. The ISS has established temporary direct control of this unit and will respond only to the orders of CEO Hardrad and CEO Kolani. For the people, Jillan, out.”
Damn. Either the snakes on C-625 had been particularly alert and ready to act, or the commander and executives on the cruiser had been too slow to make up their minds. Iceni hit the reply command. “ISS Executive Jillan and all personnel aboard C-625 and the other mobile forces at the main mobile forces facility, this is CEO Iceni. CEO Hardrad and CEO Kolani are dead. All ISS personnel elsewhere in this star system are also dead. I am in full control of the remaining mobile forces in this star system, and my ally CEO Drakon is in full control of the surface of the inhabited planet. This star system is now independent of the Syndicate Worlds and ISS authority no longer applies. You are to surrender C-625 to me. If you do so, the ISS personnel aboard C-625 and the units accompanying it will be granted safe passage out of this star system. A swift response is expected. For the people, Iceni, out.”
Akiri wasn’t asking, but he and Marphissa had surely already tapped separately into the message to learn what their superiors were up to.
Iceni faced them, keeping her voice level as she continued the pretence that the others did not know the content of the latest message. “The snakes control C-625.”
“Should we plot an intercept?” Marphissa asked.
Akiri shook his head. “They can easily evade us with the amount of distance between us. We’d never catch them.”
“Do we have other options?” Iceni asked.
Akiri paused, then looked to Marphissa, who also thought before making a helpless gesture. “We can’t catch them,” she agreed with Akiri. “Not unless they choose to fight us, and that seems unlikely. The ISS personnel in control of C-625 are not combat experienced. They don’t know how to operate that cruiser.”
“They could let automated systems on C-625 handle maneuvering and firing weapons,” Akiri grumbled. “They must know such an attack would be suicide, but we can’t assume they know how futile it would also be.”
Iceni nodded slowly. “That’s another good point. I’ve demanded that they surrender, but they won’t. They’ll head for the hypernet gate.” Both Marphissa and Akiri gave her surprised looks. “The snakes in control of C-625 aren’t like CEO Kolani. They were not responsible for controlling this entire star system. Their responsibility was to ensure control of C-625, and that they have successfully done. They can run to the central government at Prime and report personal triumph as well as the failures of their superiors. That’s what they’ll do.”
Akiri had quickly entered some data into the maneuvering systems. “If they do head for the hypernet gate, we still can’t stop them. They have too much of a head start on us. The civilian transport near the gate to act as a courier can’t do anything to stop that cruiser. You could order the defenses around the hypernet gate to engage C-625 when it gets close enough, but that might cause C-625 to fire upon the gate and damage it.”
Iceni brooded over that question, then made a helpless gesture. “It’s not worth the risk of damage to the gate. Tell the merchant ship courier to remain well clear of C-625 if it heads for the gate. There’s no sense in losing that ship.”
“Are we certain,” Marphissa asked, “that the snakes on C-625 won’t also launch a bombardment of the planet? The load-out on a single heavy cruiser isn’t huge, but it’s enough to seriously damage several targets on the planet.”
Targets meaning cities. Iceni thought again, then shook her head. “No. Snakes follow rigid discipline, which teaches them to do exactly what they’re told and nothing more. They don’t have orders to launch a bombardment, and devastating portions of the planet might be the wrong thing to do. Lacking anyone to tell them that they must bombard the planet, they’ll take the safe option of leaving that decision to superiors at Prime.”
The slight twist of Marphissa’s lips conveyed that she knew the concepts of rigid discipline weren’t confined to the snakes. But she was wise enough not to say that out loud.
“Let me know if C-625 leaves the mobile forces facility,” Iceni directed. She then checked a certain mailbox and found it still empty. Her source close to Drakon had nothing to report, or in the current rush of events couldn’t go through the many convoluted steps necessary to get something into that mailbox so that no one could tell where the message had come from. Or that source had somehow been compromised and cut off by Drakon. Nothing could mean nothing to fear, or it could mean a great deal to worry about.