Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race (37 page)

He didn’t wait for the babble of confusion to die down.  “In a short time, we’ll be fighting for our lives once more.  We’ve driven the Chxor back, but now, we face the Balor.” Lucius shrugged, “I can’t say that a real government will help us to stop them.  I can say that it will do your defenders much good to know they fight for a country and to know their country feels their sacrifice worthwhile.”

Lucius looked down, “Right now, this ‘interim government’ is a joke.  You’ve met for the past two weeks, and you still haven’t come up with a name?”  Lucius swept his gaze around the chamber and few of the men and women gathered could meet his eyes.  “You’ve argued over this or that pet projects.  You’ve traded political favors while portions of this very city are still without food, power, and water.”

“
Your people,
my
people, deserve better.”

Lucius nodded once, “I hope this has come as a wake-up call.  I hope you’ll focus on what’s
really
important now.  Thank you for your time.”

Lucius stepped away from the podium.  On his way down the steps, Kate pulled up next to him, a small smile on her face.  “Excellent speech, Baron.”

“I couldn’t just read—”

“
All the better that you didn’t read words of the page.  Much better coming from the heart.”  She turned, about to retake the podium, “I’ll have to change strategy a bit, but I think this will work even better than I planned.”

Lucius shrugged, “Whatever.  Just make sure these people do something good.”

“Oh, they’ll look good for the cameras and they’ll have some good sound clips, but really, they’re just here for window-dressing.  The real vote just happened with you, just now.  They’re pudding in my hands, Lucius.”

Lucius looked over the faces full of consternation, fear, anger, and the handful that showed actual thought.  “We’ll see.”

***

“Please repeat after me,” Lucius said as he held up his right hand.

“
I, Lucius Giovanni, do solemnly swear,” he waited for the rumble to die away, “my loyalty to the United Colonies Fleet.”  He looked over the sea of uniformed men and women.  “I swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United Colonies,” Ten thousand men and women stood in the formation, right hands raised.  They wore their new gray uniforms with pride, “against any enemies, foreign and domestic.  I swear that I take this oath without coercion or personal reservation, so help me God.”  He finished his much paused repetition, the fifth ceremony today.  There would be two more.

“
Today, people, you are no longer deserters or mercenaries or anything else less than defenders of a nation.”  Lucius spoke without a written speech.  Each speech he’d given came from within and he hoped each word meant as much to those listening as they did to him as he said them.  “Yesterday, the interim government signed the Constitution.  A month ago, we welcomed our new brothers and sisters in arms from the Dreyfus Fleet.”

Lucius looked over the brave faces, “Today we begin a new tradition.  Today, we start a navy that will bring down the tyranny of the despots and the terror of the alien.  If they knew what we’ve done, they’d do everything they could to stop us.”  He gave a broad smile, “When the time comes, we’ll let them know that they should have when they had the chance.”

The formation cheered and Lucius nodded once.  “Thank you, I could not ask for better people to serve with.”

He stepped away from the podium and watched as non-commissioned officers and petty-officers marched the different formations away.  When he had stated his intentions to pull every man and woman in uniform planet-side, he had heard grumbles.  Certainly, the chore to shuttle them down in shifts and to coordinate the watches so that everyone had their opportunity to give their oath in that formation made things difficult.

Lucius knew, from the beginning, it would be worth it.  All those who had doubted it need only look upon the shining faces of the new Fleet.

All of the ships of the Dreyfus Fleet, as well as the vessels Lucius captured, had received new papers.  All of those ships would undergo a rechristening ceremony as darkness fell on Faraday’s capital city.  No more a ragtag group, no longer the hidden weapon of the human race, Lucius wanted to make a statement.  Something new came into the universe on Faraday.  Something bright, something conceived in hope that would change the human race, or die trying.

Lucius looked up at the brilliant blue sky, beyond which lurked so many dangers.

“
All enemies,” he murmured, “bring it on you bastards, we’ll be waiting.”

***

Lucius ran a hand over the hull of the Achaean scout as he stood near the airlock.  A ship carried a log of its history in the surface of a hull.  The scarred hull of the
Daedulus
showed the pitting of many atmospheric entries.  Battle damaged sections, replaced by repairs, showed as smoother patches against the worn hull.  Occasional seams and creases marked where stress and time deformed the hull.

All in all, the
Daedulus
showed her years.

“
Like what you see?” Kandergain asked as she came to stand across from him.

Lucius smiled, “Yes.”

They waited and Lucius waved Kandergain to lead the way onto the ship.  “How did you manage to find an Achaean, by the way?” Lucius asked, as he stepped in through the open airlock.

“
With difficulty,” She laughed.  From the tone of amusement in her voice, she preferred to keep him in the dark.

“
Is it a hard ship to keep going, just by yourself?” Lucius asked.

“
Who said I’m by myself?” Kandergain asked, over her shoulder.

“
Oh, I just assumed it was you alone,” Lucius followed her down the corridor.

“
Kitchen’s to the left, so is the mess.  There’s an entertainment unit against the wall,” Kandergain pointed.  “Living quarters are to the right.  I’ve got the closest one.  You can have one of the other five.”

“
Okay,” Lucius glanced down either corridor.  Neither went more than a couple meters. 

“
We’ve got a science lab on board, really more for prospecting than anything serious.  I doubt you’ll need to use it, but it doubles as the sickbay, just in case anything happens.”

“
If we need it, I think my lack of medical knowledge might be a problem.”

“
Noted.” Lucius could hear the smile in her voice.

“
Cockpit is up here.  Two seats, in case you want to watch,”  Kandergain said, as she keyed open the door.  “Are we clear with control?”

Lucius glanced in at the narrow cockpit.  The two jump seats were one right behind the other, but the array of screens and controls seemed far in excess to what two people could handle. “Yes, you probably should verify, though.  They’ve been touchy since Mannetti broke out.”

She looked over her shoulder at him, “Probably a good bet she’ll turn up again, Lucius.”

“
Oh, I know.”  He sighed, “Frankly, with everything going on, I’m beginning to regret the decision to leave.”

“
We haven’t even made it off the ground yet, Lucius.  Trust me, if this pays off, it will be worth the investment of time.”  She shrugged, “It’s not like Admiral Dreyfus doesn’t know what he’s doing militarily, either.”

Lucius nodded.

“Anyway, let’s get going.”

She climbed into the cockpit, and Lucius trailed her.  Unlike most ships, the
Daedulus
had an actual canopy that the pilot could look out.  Even most fighters had armored cockpits with nothing but sensors and screens to show the outside.

It was another reminder that the
Daedulus
came from a more peaceful time.  It was a ship from a time when unarmed scouts pushed out into the distant reaches, with few fears of hostile aliens, human pirates, or military interdiction.

Lucius seated himself.  He pulled the seat restraints tight and felt the seat adjust to his body.  Even though he saw Kandergain go through a complete preflight sequence, his eyes flickered over the co-pilot systems.

“You’ve got the nav-computer disconnected?” he asked with consternation.

“
It gets annoying,” Kandergain said, irritation plain in her voice.  “Damn thing thinks it knows better than me where we are, where we’re going, and how to get there.”

Lucius bit his tongue.  He knew Kandergain had a skill for navigation, but even so, she’d disconnected the navigation computer?

“Alright, control says we’re good to go.” She brought the light vessel up and kept their ascent subsonic, if only barely.  Lucius suddenly felt vertigo as he saw the stars through the crystal-clear canopy.  He fought the feeling back and then swallowed his stomach as Kandergain threw the ship through several gyrations.  “Ah, it feels good to be at the controls again!”

“
Oh?” Lucius asked nervously.  He could feel the thrum of the ship’s engine even through the padding of the seat.  The small scout massed only twice one of his fighters.

“
You never spent time as a fighter jock?”

Lucius shook his head, then realized she couldn’t see him, “No.”

“Ah, that’s right, you were expelled from the Nova Roma Academy,” she said, “Sorry.”

“
Nothing to be sorry about.” Lucius answered.  “I went through a stage where I felt bitter about it, but that passed.  I was more bitter when I got drafted back in, but at least they gave me a rank equivalent to my title.”

“
Well, I’ve got a thing for flying.” Kandergain said, “And the
Daedulus
is… indescribably perfect for that.”  She paused, “Okay, I’ve got the jump calculated, here we go.” 

They entered shadow space.  As always, the experience raised hairs on the back of Lucius’ neck.  He felt none of the physical discomfort that normally went with a transition.  As if she had heard his thoughts, she spoke, “I know the harmonics of my drive and I compensate for it when I make a jump.  You can program that into nav-computers, but they change over time.  Most people don’t bother.”

Shadow space remained the same gray and black void.  Lucius found the sight as discomforting as always.  In a larger ship, he could avoid it, but with the
Daedulus
’ canopy, the sight was unavoidable.  “Sometimes I swear I see things moving out there.”

“
Then you’re more observant than most.” Kandergain said.  “Trust me, shadow space isn’t nearly as empty as people think.”  She typed in commands to the vessel, “Hold on, this will feel odd.”

The ship
turned
.  Lucius couldn’t describe the motion.  They didn’t turn up or down or left or right, but they still turned.  “What—“

“
There’s more dimensions in Shadow than in the real universe.  Normal humans can’t perceive them, but most psychics can feel them.  That’s why we can plot better navigation courses than computers.”

“
More dimensions?” Lucius asked.

“
Yes, there’s more to shadow than meets the eye.” Kandergain nodded, “Here we go.”

Outside the canopy, the universe changed.  The gray and black void altered and suddenly became a spiral of blues and greens.

“What the hell?”

Kandergain unstrapped herself and turned around and gave him a broad smile, “Most people only ever travel on the edge of shadow space.  They only ever see the monochrome surface and never dive in.”  She shrugged, “Good enough for going from place to place, I suppose.  But this,” she waved a hand at the universe beyond the canopy, “is just one region.  There are colors out here that have no name, that only exist in some parts of this realm.”

“That’s…” Lucius stared at her for a moment and watched the myriad colors reflecting off her face.  “It’s beautiful.”

She looked up and out of the canopy and she smiled like a child, “Isn’t it?”  She sighed, “Sometimes, I sleep in here, if I’m passing through a portion I can afford to sleep in.”

Something in her voice put a chill down Lucius's spine.  “So this is dangerous?” Lucius asked.

Her smile faded, “Just knowing about this side of Shadow space is dangerous.”  She shrugged, “The Shadow Lords live in places like this, places only a psychic can reach.”

“And the Balor are psychic?” Lucius said.

“
Yes and so are some other things.”  She sighed, “As always, reality isn’t as pretty when you look closely enough to see the pimples.”

They sat in awkward silence for what seemed to last forever.  Finally, Lucius cleared his throat.  “Well... how long till we reach your friend?” Lucius asked.

“We’ll reach Lithia in a little less than two days,” Kandergain said briskly.

“
Lithia?” Lucius frowned, “Isn’t that on the far side of the Republic?”

“
Yes, that piece of junk,” she pointed at the nav-computer, “might get you there in two or three months, if you’re lucky.”