A Confusion of Princes (29 page)

Unless the agents had artificial gills, they wouldn’t be following me anytime soon, and I would be really, really surprised if the Kharalchans still had that tek. If I was lucky, they wouldn’t even have seen the rescue beast and would be scouring the edges of the lake, waiting for me to reemerge somewhere along the shoreline.

There was a rigid, water-permeable membrane between the lake and the reservoir to keep fish and presumably swimmers out of the drinking water, but I knew there had to be some other access point. As the rescue beast had a sonar imager that I could tap into, it didn’t take long to find an interestingly broad airlock, much larger than any technical access required. It was locked, but I bypassed the security with a direct Psitek command that opened both doors.

It was completely dark inside the reservoir, and not for the first time I missed my augmented eyes. But the beast had its sonar, and using that, I began a search routine, building up an image of the reservoir interior.

I was most interested in the outer wall, because this was also the outer wall of the Dolphin ring. If the reservoir narrowed at any point and this wall got thicker than its usual five metres or so, it would be a giveaway that something was hidden there.

But when I found it, it wasn’t in the outer wall. It was right out in front of me, in the very middle of the reservoir, sitting on the floor as brazen as anything. I supposed it could be mistaken for some sort of huge filter system, but I recognised the round dish shape immediately.

It was a Khorkrek-class Mektek-Bitek hybrid slingship, a design only three or four hundred years old. Which, if it was fully fitted out, not only had a Mektek wormhole drive and Mektek
and
Bitek interplanetary drives, but also carried a Kragor singleship, which could be launched at very high acceleration via its ‘slingshot’, a weaponised extension of Imperial gravity control that could be used to pick up and throw space junk as well as launch fighter craft.

It was
exactly
the kind of ship I’d always wanted for myself, in those daydreaming years in my candidate temple. It was highly automated, so I could fly it alone, at least for a while. It was precisely the sort of ship a Prince would hide away as a fast personal escape vessel that also had its own very nasty kick if it came to fighting.

I rode the rescue beast to where the hatch would be, even though nothing showed up on the sonar, laid my hand on the smooth metal hull, and sent my command.

:Report status immediately Prince Khemri <>assuming command:

I almost forgot to breathe from the tube as I waited for a reply. It wasn’t immediate, and I felt a vibration through the hull before I sensed the Psitek response, but at last it came.

:Welcome Prince Khemri <> to Khorkrek 1118. Status is alert from rest, rising, all systems going to full operation:

The hatch beneath me opened, and a cascade of water carried me and the rescue beast inside.

:Hold outer door open:

I held my breath and instructed the rescue beast to swim back and out into the lake, where it could survive and perhaps even prove useful to the Kharalchans. Plus it would distract the security duo and their inevitable reinforcements who would be looking for me.

The second the rescue beast was away, I told the ship to shut the outer door and pressurise. This took less than two minutes, but it felt a lot longer. Once again I’d forgotten that without augmentation, even a simple thing like holding my breath deep underwater was a considerable challenge.

Spluttering a little, I left the airlock and entered the ship. It had a Mektek hull, but that wasn’t apparent, because the last Prince who had commanded it had obviously had very particular ideas for starship interior decoration. The floors were of some kind of pseudo-marble, veined with gold, and the walls panelled in Bitek reproduction chestnut, with a deep-yellow sheen that would never need polishing. The hatches and doors, though actually Imperial Mektek armour, were also clad in Bitek fireproof timbers, so the whole ship interior looked and felt like a house of antiquity from ancient Earth. There was even a spiral staircase up to the bridge, though as I ascended, I picked up a Psitek overlay showing controls to retract the stair, and it would become a drop shaft.

I liked it. Whoever had decorated this ship had experienced a lot of the same kind of Psitek bios as I had. It even could have been modelled on one of the ships from an episode of
The
Achievements of Prince Garikm
.

I entered the bridge through a double door of studded bronze and green leather that swung open noiselessly on my approach. Inside, a fireplace lit itself and a huge scarlet leather armchair rotated to face me. I sat down in it and felt the presence of the ship’s Bitek intelligence, eagerly awaiting my attention.

:I am in command:

There was an odd delay before the ship answered.

:Psitek confirmation. Bitek confirmation anomalous. Request code phrase:

I felt a sudden apprehension. In this body I didn’t have the correct Bitek signature, and I certainly didn’t know any code phrases relevant to this ship.

:I am an Adjuster operating in nonaugmented physicality.

Allow command on interim basis until connection to Imperial Mind possible for confirmation:

I sent that with some vehemence, putting all my mental strength behind it. Hopefully this would help convince it. Or it might know about Adjusters, with some secret instructions hidden away in its intelligence base.

There was another delay. I could almost feel the Bitek brain deep inside the ship thinking this through.

:Acknowledged. Temporary command confirmed. Relay to Imperial Mind not possible. Priest complement incomplete.

No priests in stasis:

I let out a small sigh of relief and relaxed back in the big chair. It was interesting that the ship had stasis chambers. Few Imperial ships of this size had the facility to store personnel in cold sleep until they were needed. The technology did have its drawbacks, with a loss rate of some one in ten revivals, but it saved on life-support consumption and you could stack a lot of personnel into a small space.

:Report stasis complement:

:In stasis fourteen mekbi servitors model Kergekh-Alish; ten mekbi troopers model Gilgakhr revised II; six mekbi small-access drones model Leeish; three mind-programmed humans class courtesan, gender male; three mind-programmed humans class courtesan, gender female.

Seventeen empty stasis pods, fully functional. Four empty stasis pods, compromised:

That was interesting. I’d definitely found a Prince’s personal escape ship, given the servitors and courtesans. It also begged the question of why Prince Xaojhek hadn’t taken this ship when he’d left almost three hundred years ago. I’d asked Raine and her parents about the sudden Imperial departure, in as roundabout a way as possible, but they hadn’t shed any light on the matter, and as I couldn’t look into the Hab’s knowledge base without Alice wondering about my choice of information retrieval, I’d not pursued it. All I could find from general sources was that the immediate period after the Prince bugged out had been very problematic, with few surviving records and no clear indication of what had happened.

So I thought I might as well ask the ship.

:Was Prince Xaojhek your former commander?:

:Yes. Prince Xaojhek <>:

:Report last confirmed status of Prince Xaojhek and how long ago:

:In transit for system Jeghre aboard INS Lorghra. Time elapsed since report 262 years, four months, three days, six hours, and forty-five min—:

:Report rank and service Prince Xaojhek:

:Planetary Governor, Kharalcha Four, Imperial Government:

:Was Prince Xaojhek recalled by a superior Prince or by the Imperial Core?:

:No information:

:Do you know why Prince Xaojhek left the system and did not return?:

:No information: I decided to let the past go, and concentrate on the present.

:How long until systems are operational for launch and manoeuvre?:

:One hour thirty-three minutes fifteen seconds . . . fourteen sec—:

:Show available scan data for system:

:Null-Space scan single pass done eighty-two per cent confidence continuous scan not yet operational projecting now:

I looked at the wall and then at the ceiling but couldn’t see anything. Nor was there a direct Psitek neural feed.

:Uh, where is the scan projection?:

:The fireplace. Prince Xaojhek liked to see data presentations in the fire:

Unusual, but each to his own, I guessed. I started to turn to look at the fireplace. The chair, equipped for biofeedback, swivelled around. Sure enough, there, framed by actual flames, was a holographic representation of the system, in great but tiny detail that I couldn’t see without augmented eyes. Impatiently, I reached out and pulled the holo out of the fire and then, using the standard swipe-and-pinch technique, enlarged and scrolled it until I could see what I wanted to see.

Sixteen ships had come out of the wormhole, in four formations of four, showing considerable military precision. They were boosting toward Kharalcha Four at five G’s, indicating that they had gravity control and so were
not
beaten-up old hulks. They were on an interception trajectory that would meet the five considerably slower outbound ships of the KSF in about forty hours. One of those KSF ships was the
Firestarter
, and on board was Commtech Lieutenant Raine Gryphon.

I highlighted the pirate fleet.

:Get me all data on these ships and estimated interception time at full combat acceleration . . . uh . . . do you have an operational singleship aboard?:

:One Kragor III-class singleship is being crash-prepped from stand-down. Permission to revive mekbi servitors to accelerate preparation?:

:Permission granted. Ah, revive the mekbi troopers and the drones as well:

:And MP-human courtesans?:

:No . . . keep them on ice:

I looked at the holo again. I was out of practice for ship command, and I knew my brain just wasn’t working as quickly as it used to. I was also a bit distracted by the water dripping off my nose.

:Uh, report combat capabilities and send a servitor with a towel:

:Servitor revival in fourteen minutes. Weapon bays one to six topside no weapons in place. Weapon bays twelve to eighteen downside no weapons in place. Weapon bays seven to ten operational, in place Lixgur Standard Fourteen Mektek missile load Bitek penetrator kinetic sliver:

The ship droned on in my head, basically telling me that half its weapons had been removed, but we still packed enough missiles and two reality-stripping beam weapons to cause someone a lot of trouble, and the singleship was almost fully armed and would have a complete combat load in a few hours.

But I wasn’t giving it all my attention. I was looking first at the KSF fleet, and in particular the ship I thought was the
Firestarter
, and thinking about Raine. However things turned out, I would never see her again. That little orange ship icon was my last connection to her. I stared at it and wiped my nose again, and then my eyes for good measure, because some of the water had dripped into the corners and was making my sight blur.

The ship was still droning on in my head when I noticed something else in the holographic display. A tiny green icon amid the great swath of asteroidal dust and debris that made up the ring around Kharalcha Six, the gas giant.

I touched the icon.

:What’s that?:

The ship stopped telling me about its armaments in too great detail. There was another curious pause before it answered.

:That is Imperial Survey Watch Post Lozhren-Wassek:

:And what’s at this watch—:

The icon under my finger faded out of the display.

:Hey, what happened?:

:Query not understood:

I stabbed the holo with my finger.

:What happened to the Survey watch post in the gas giant ring just there?:

:Information base update lag. Null-Space/real space dissonance. There is no Survey watch post:

I guessed that was possible, but I was suspicious. That IS watch post was there, for sure, but a Prince—or maybe the Imperial Mind—had just told my ship not to notice it.

The whole thing smelled to me. Atalin sent in to wipe out the defenders, a pirate fleet with relatively modern ships and training, a Survey post hidden in the gas giant ring . . . even my own appearance in this, of all systems. But I couldn’t be sure whether this was all set up as part of my test to join Adjustment or whether someone else was involved, pulling other strings.

‘Whoever you are, I hope you enjoy the show,’ I muttered.

:Query?:

‘Not you, ship,’ I answered aloud. ‘Which reminds me, do you have a name?’ :What did Xaojhek call you?:

:Ship:

:Uh, do you have a name on the Navy list?:

:Reserve Vessel Khorkrek 1118:

I sighed. I’d got used to conversing with humans. Communicating to the Bitek brain of a starship was all too like talking to a mind-programmed servant.

:I’m going to call you Korker:

:Korker. Kore-ker:

:Very good, Korker. I want a course that will take us out of here with no or at most minimal damage to the Habitat, then at maximum acceleration past the KSF fleet here, staying beyond their weapon range, to attack this fleet here, first launching kinetic slivers to be followed up by singleship to mop up, which I will pilot. I will then loop back to rendezvous for retrieval and we will depart through the exit wormhole here:

I tapped the holo as I gave
Korker
these directions.

:Bring up wormhole connections from that exit to the closest

Imperial possession according to your information base:

I’d looked at the Kharalchans’ star maps, but they weren’t very useful. They had good data spinward to the Confederation and for some parts beyond, but very little coreward to the Empire. Apparently ships just didn’t go through that wormhole exit anymore, or if they did they didn’t report back.

Korker
, on the other hand, had all the star maps I might need, even if they were a few hundred years out of date. According to this information, the nearest Imperial possession was a mere three wormhole transits away. An alien world called something unpronounceable by its inhabitants and Xinxri by the Empire, it was under Colonial Government, which meant there would be a Prince in residence, and a temple. This was unlikely to have changed in the few hundred years since
Korker
’s information base had been updated. I still didn’t understand why the Empire had left Kharalcha, but alien worlds of worth were relatively rare, and I was sure Xinxri would still be firmly under Imperial control.