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––––––––
Empress Tenenial went down the flight of stairs to what had been a flight control center and was now a makeshift war room.
Lord Admiral Arathea was waiting for her, his expression grave as he oversaw his officers. The regular flight controllers had been evacuated when the emergency alert had come over. Tenenial knew this was harder for the lord admiral than he would admit because of the simple fact that he was on the ground while his ships were under attack.
“Your Imperial Highness,” he greeted her with a curt bow.
“I think under the circumstances,” Tenenial replied, “we can dispense with honorary addresses.”
It was clear this didn’t meet with Arathea’s approval, but to argue with his Empress was far worse in his opinion so he acquiesced with a slight bow of his head. “Very well.”
He waved a hand over the display screens before them. “The attackers are acting as one unit but we’ve identified the individual ships through their transponder signals. They have attempted to alter those signals of course but the underlying transponder programming cannot be erased. However, the ships are from the Kyrias and the Daeispa quadrants.”
“Any idea who’s leading them?”
“Yes,” Arathea replied. “Knight Admiral Alenski.”
“I see. I did not think that Lady Admiral Karaeli would be involved in something like this.”
“No,” the lord admiral said. “Nor I.”
“Lord Admiral,” Tenenial said, “is there any security bunker here that can be used in emergencies such as this? Something that only members of the Minstrah Defense Fleet would know about?”
“There is such a place,” Arathea told her.
“Then I’d like you to organize a group of your men to take the remaining lords and ladies of the ruling families there,” Tenenial said. “Along with Lord Admiral Calendres, Knight Commander Tanas and Lady Admiral Kallista.”
“Frankly, with those Kyrias ships up there, I’m somewhat suspicious of Lord Admiral Calendres.”
“What of Knight Commander Tanas?”
“This is just my impression,” Arathea told her, “but Tanas seems honorable to me. And I remember that Lady Valinski visited Lord Admiral Calendres shortly before she disappeared.”
Tenenial nodded. “True. Well, keep him under close guard then.”
“Your Im- Tenenial?”
“Yes?”
“We haven’t detected them yet but I can promise you that there will soon be landing ships on the way. I must insist that you remove yourself to the security bunker as well.”
One of the officers manning the radars turned around. “My Lord Admiral, they’re on the way now.”
“How many?”
“Three assault shuttles.”
“See if you can discourage them,” Arathea said. “I understand our ground defenses are minimal but they may be sufficient to dissuade them from landing.”
“What if failing to land, they choose to fire on us instead?” the officer asked.
“They won’t,” Arathea replied. “They want the ruling lords and ladies.” He turned to Tenenial. “And our Empress.”
She inclined her head. “If your men would be so kind as to guide me, I will remove myself to the bunker.”
“Thank you, Tenenial,” Arathea replied. He nodded to a man who had just entered the room. “Please escort the Empress to the bunker. Take as many guards as you feel necessary to ensure her safety, and take our ‘guests’ as well.”
The man bowed. “At once, my Lord Admiral.”
Arathea then raised a hand to stall him a moment longer. “Also, Lord Admiral Calendres is to be placed under immediate arrest. Take him to the bunker as well but he is to be isolated from the others.”
As the man left with the Empress, Lord Admiral Arathea turned his attention back to the battle at hand.
“Dame Admiral Basilia?” he asked, tapping the communicator. “Do you receive me?”
“I receive you, my Lord Admiral,” a woman’s voice came back.
“You are forming a defensive screen.”
“It is what you instructed me to do in your absence should Minstrah fall under attack,” Dame Admiral Basilia replied. “Do I do wrong?”
Arathea shook his head. “Not at all. However, you cannot hold back such a large force with so few ships. You are but one assault cruiser and six patrol cruisers. They have four Daeispa patrol cruisers, nine Kyrias patrol cruisers and Lord Admiral Calendres’ assault cruiser.”
“It is a superior force, but it is not vast,” the dame admiral said but she sounded doubtful as she said it. “However, if we abandon the defensive screen, we open Minstrah to a direct attack.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” Arathea told her. “I believe they want the Empress and the ruling lords and ladies of the Minstrahn.”
“That may be so,” Basilia replied, “but do they want them alive?”
Lord Admiral Arathea felt a lump rise in his throat. Dame Admiral Basilia was right. Although, there was of course the possibility that the enemy would not risk a planetary bombardment with Lord Admiral Calendres on the ground. But that was not a certainty. He glanced at the visual display of the three assault shuttles, wondering now whether they were really going to land or not.
“My lord admiral?” Basilia asked.
“No,” he said. “Even if their plan is to kill the Empress and the ruling lords and ladies, they will want to make sure. To see with their own eyes whether or not they have succeeded. They cannot do that if they fire on us from up there.”
“Then what do you command of me?”
“While your defensive screen is in place, send down what ground troops you can,” Arathea told her. “Then see if you can draw the other ships away. You must do what you can in my stead for I cannot direct a battle in the skies from the ground.”
“I will send you reinforcements,” Basilia promised. “What of our attackers? They are misguided, but they are still Minstrahn.”
“They forfeited any charity when they attacked their own people,” Arathea replied. “Do with them what you will.”
“Very well.”
“And may fortune smile upon you.”
“And on you,” Basilia replied and ended the transmission.
Lord Admiral Arathea watched the screens as the enemy shuttles drew closer. “May fortune smile upon us all,” he murmured.
“My lord admiral,” someone in the war room called out. “The shuttles are in range of our planetary defense weaponry.”
Arathea nodded to him. “Fire at will.”
––––––––
Adjusting the cuffs of his tunic, General Kellahav made his way onto the bridge of the Adjudicator. By his estimation, they would be coming out of lightspeed in the Minstrah system in a matter of minutes.
“Captain Teráji,” he said when he saw the commanding officer, “prepare the countdown. Also, inform Captain Dreimarc to be ready to move into the inner system but to wait until we have ascertained the situation before he joins us with his own ship.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Comm, signal the rest of the task force and bring them on screen.”
“Sir,” came a reply from somewhere on his right.
Kellahav watched the viewscreen in the center of the bridge as it split into six sections, showing the captain of each of the Class-A cruisers that were accompanying him. On the left of the screen was Captain Kalyias, commanding officer of the Resilient. To her right was Captain Nmenwe of the Charioteer, Captain Kariv of the Liberty, Captain Aradan of the Inexorable, and finally Captain Oreiri of the Majestic.
“Captains,” he informed them, “we will arrive momentarily at the Minstrah system. Given the loss of the long-range communications, we should be cautious. When we enter the system, I want all ships operating at full capacity, all weapon systems at the ready. That is all.”
––––––––
It was just as well they were ready for combat, Kellahav thought as they came out of lightspeed to the sight of a battle.
“Divert more power to the front shields,” Captain Teráji commanded.
Kellahav studied the ships in front of him. They were all Minstrahn vessels, which was odd. But given what he had learned of the situation that was unfolding, not entirely unexpected.
“I want a count on those ships, and a rundown of the sides,” he said.
A few moments later, he had a reply. “One assault cruiser and four patrol cruisers on one side, at least as well as we can make out. One assault cruiser and ten patrol cruisers on the other. Debris suggests that there were more ships before we arrived. Five more patrol cruisers.”
“Sir,” one of the communications officers called out. “The other captains want to know if we’re engaging.”
“Tell them not yet,” Kellahav replied. “Send out a broad signal and see if we can raise Admiral Roth. While he isn’t here, he may be close.”
“And if he’s not nearby?” Teráji murmured as they waited.
“Then we’ll contact the Minstrahn on the surface and find out what’s going on,” Kellahav replied. “However, I think I already know.”
“General,” a familiar voice said.
Kellahav looked at the viewscreen and saw the admiral.
“Admiral, the Minstrahn are engaging each other over Minstrah. My task force has just arrived and is ready to engage the enemy.”
“Is it clear who the enemy is?”
Kellahav hesitated. His record was hardly the most exemplary in the navy and if he attacked the wrong group here, he would be finished for good.
“If you could shed some light on that, I sure would appreciate it, sir.”
“The commander of the Minstrah Defense Fleet is Lord Admiral Arathea. If you can raise him, he might be able to shed that light. Stand by and I’ll send you a copy of the Defense Force encryption.”
A moment later, someone from the communication station nodded. “Encryption received, General.”
“We have the encryption, Admiral,” Kellahav said.
“Good,” Admiral Roth replied. “See if you can raise him, General. I’m on my way.”
Kellahav glanced at the battle, which was filling the rest of the viewscreen right then. “Yes, sir. Although with respect, we may not have much time.”
“Understood.”
Roth waited while Kellahav sent out his hailing signal. “Lord Admiral Arathea, this is General Kellahav of the Federation Navy, under orders from Admiral Roth. Do you read?”
He repeated the message one more time before a reply came through. “General Kellahav, this is Dame Admiral Basilia of the Minstrah Defense Fleet. Lord Admiral Arathea is currently groundside. We see you on screen.”
Kellahav looked at Admiral Roth, who gave him a nod. “Carry on, General.”
“Dame Admiral Basilia,” Kellahav said, “I have been instructed to assist you in whatever way I can. However, I need to determine which ships are under your command before my ships can engage the enemy.”
“I understand,” Basilia replied. There was a slight pause. “My ships are now transmitting a Minstrah Defense Fleet identification signal over this encryption. You should be receiving it now.”
“Copy that,” Kellahav nodded. “Comm?”
“It’s coming through, sir. One assault cruiser and four patrol cruisers.”
Which was exactly how one of the sides was drawn up.
“Dame Admiral Basilia, we have your ships on screen and we are coming to assist you. Stand by.” Kellahav turned to the main bridge viewscreen. “We have the enemy marked and are preparing to move in. Any last orders?”
“Only that you offer the enemy the chance to surrender,” Admiral Roth replied. “But if they refuse, they’re fair game.”
“I also have Captain Dreimarc standing by just outside the system. His ship would ensure there would be no casualties on our side.”
“Agreed,” the admiral said. “Call him in. Happy hunting, General.”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
Admiral Roth disappeared and the battle images and displays expanded to fill the viewscreen.
“Comm,” Kellahav said. “Relay the ship markings to the rest of the task force and instruct Captain Dreimarc to proceed here immediately. Then attempt to hail the enemy.”
“They’d be stupid to try to engage us though,” Teráji said. “Our Class-A Cruisers alone are more formidable than those larger assault cruisers.”
“They appear to be,” Kellahav cautioned him, “but never underestimate an opponent. Ah, I believe we have a response.”
A youngish man appeared on the screen before them, wearing a black tunic with silver trimming. “This is Knight Admiral Alenski,” he announced himself. “What is it you want?”
Kellahav fixed him with a hard gaze. “Knight Admiral Alenski, this is General Kellahav of the Federation Navy. You have fired upon ships of the Minstrah Defense Fleet. You are hereby ordered to stand down, power down your shipboard weaponry and prepare to be boarded.”
“This is no concern of the Federation,” the young knight admiral snarled. “This is a matter for the Minstrahn people and we will solve it ourselves. Nobody has requested your assistance.”
“On the contrary,” Kellahav told him, his voice taking on an icy undertone, “it has been requested by the Minstrah Defense Fleet and we are also acting under orders of Admiral Roth, who is in turn acting on the requests of the Empress herself. Tread carefully, Knight Admiral Alenski. You’re on dangerous ground.”
“Captain Dreimarc will arrive momentarily, sir,” one of his communication officers said somewhere behind him.
Kellahav smiled as another ship appeared on the viewscreen, a warship that dwarfed even the Class-A Cruisers. A year after sustaining heavy damage over Phalamki, the Annihilator was back in service.
The repairs had taken place in secret and there had been no grand unveiling in the Federation. However, it had made a grand entrance here. And unlike in the battle of Phalamki, this time the massive armored titan would do some good.
Kellahav saw some of the blood drain from the young knight admiral’s face. Maybe, he would surrender without the need for any further persuasion.
However, Knight Admiral Alenski was not so readily deterred. He swallowed to compose himself and then turned back to gaze at Kellahav. “Your vessel may be large, General,” he told him, “but we will see who is made of the strongest mettle.
“If you don’t surrender now,” Kellahav told him, “your mettle may not do you much good. Nor the men under your command. Think carefully, Knight Admiral. Surrender now or suffer the consequences.”
“We will never -”
Kellahav turned to his right. “Comm, end transmission.”
“Sir.”
The screen went blank.
“All ships,” Kellahav announced, “let us show the knight admiral just what he’s dealing with here.”
At once, the ships moved in and opened fire. Knight Admiral Alenski’s cruisers fired back but it was immediately clear they were outmatched. Then, at once, the sixty heavy cannons of the Annihilator opened fire, tearing one of the enemy cruisers to pieces in a matter of seconds.
“That’s probably an effective demonstration,” Captain Teráji said.
“I agree,” Kellahav replied. “But I want to make sure our arrogant young knight admiral is convinced. I’ll give him his chance soon enough though. Don’t worry. Comm, instruct Captain Dreimarc to recharge and fire again.”
There was a short wait while the heavy cannons powered up once more. However, the Annihilator was hardly sitting defenseless during that time as the Class-A Cruisers around it maintained their assault on the enemy ships unrelentingly. Then the cannons were recharged and in a repeat performance, the massive Dreadnought pulverized another cruiser.
“Comm,” Kellahav ordered, “instruct Captain Dreimarc to concentrate now on stripping the weaponry off that assault cruiser but tell him not destroy it yet.”
In response, the blasts from the Annihilator now drilled into the hull of Knight Admiral Alenski’s ship, tearing heavy guns from their casing in some places and scorching straight through in others.
“Now tell him to hold,” Kellahav said when he was satisfied.
There was a short pause while the order was relayed.
“Comm, flag to all ships. Cease fire unless fired upon and wait for my orders. Then raise Knight Admiral Alenski again.”
“Sir.”
There was another pause while the orders were carried out and the young knight admiral reappeared on the screen, so visibly shaken he looked sick.
“Knight Admiral Alenski,” Kellahav told him, “you have fired on my vessels and that makes you fair game. You are now down to eight patrol cruisers and we read your assault cruiser as being down to twenty percent of its weapons capacity. If you wish to persist in this assault, you will be destroyed. However, out of concern for the unfortunate men under your command, I feel compelled to offer you one last chance to surrender. The choice is yours.”
The young man sighed. “It does not appear I have a choice.”
“Oh, you do,” Kellahav told him. “You most certainly do.”
“All right, all right,” Alenski cried out. “I surrender.”
“Good. Inform all your ships to power down their weapons systems. I will be sending men to each vessel to take temporary charge until they can be handed over to a designated representative of the Minstrahn people, and you yourself are to be placed under immediate arrest. I trust you will have the good sense not to resist.”
After ending the transmission, he raised Dame Admiral Basilia once more.
“The enemy ships are presently powering down,” he informed her. “My men will take control of them until either your people or official delegates from the Empress come to reclaim them.”
“Thank you, General Kellahav,” Basilia replied. “The timing of your arrival was most fortunate.”
“Just carrying out my orders, Dame Admiral,” Kellahav replied with a slight nod. “My people will contact you again shortly.”
Once the transmission had ended and the communication officers began organizing the boarding parties, Captain Teráji quietly stepped to Kellahav’s side. “I wonder what that was all about.”
“It seemed like a group of dissidents were trying to take over the whole of the Minstrahn Empire by force,” Kellahav replied. “Although it’s probably a little more complicated than that.”
“Perhaps Admiral Roth can put it all into context for us.”
“Yes,” Kellahav agreed. “I look forward to meeting the admiral when he arrives.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Just then, someone called out from the communication station. “Sir. A shuttle has just entered the system and the pilot requests permission to come aboard. It’s Major Eslen, sir.”
––––––––
Admiral Roth’s flagship, the Sentinel, and the Titan arrived not long after the battle had finished. A half an hour later, the Magnanimous entered the system as well. Another hour after that, Admiral Roth and Captain Merrick were down on Minstrah, meeting with the Empress and Lord Admiral Arathea.
“This,” the lord admiral said, almost shaking in anger, “is an outrage.”
Captain Merrick glanced at his superior. This was hardly the display of gratitude they were expecting.
Admiral Roth however gave him a small glance with a barely perceptible shake of his head. Grimacing, Merrick listened as Lord Admiral Arathea continued to have his say.
“You have stepped well beyond your boundaries, Admiral Roth. Well beyond them.”
Roth bowed his head. “I do apologize, Lord Admiral. I was simply trying to help. It was certainly not my intention to cause offense or injury to the Minstrahn people.”
“You brought that thing,” Arathea stammered, gesturing towards the ceiling and what lay suspended far above it in orbit, “into the Empire completely in secret, without any authorization, and destroyed Minstrahn vessels.” He stared at the admiral in incredulous disbelief. “You did not intend to cause offence? To bring a naval vessel of such proportions into an independent region and then to use it on that region’s people is an act of war, Admiral.”
At this, Empress Tenenial, who had been quiet so far, finally stirred. “All right, Lord Admiral. That is enough.” She turned to Admiral Roth. “Why did you do it?”
“It was not my intention for General Kellahav to enter this sector at all,” Roth explained to her. “However, he had urgent news that needed to be brought to me as quickly as possible. And with the long-range communications down, he decided that the best course of action was to come here directly.”
“Again, with an extremely formidable warship,” Lord Admiral Arathea pointed out. “Or did the general have no shuttles that he could have used? He could have sent even just one of your Class-A Federation Cruisers if he were that desperate to contact you and it might have been all right.”
“What’s done is done, Lord Admiral,” Roth told him. “And I have apologized. However, if General Kellahav had not arrived when he did, then the Minstrah navy would have been overwhelmed by Knight Admiral Alenski’s forces.”
“Putting injury aside for a moment, Admiral, that is where the offence comes in. I trained Dame Admiral Basilia myself and she had the situation well in hand. Or did you fail to notice that with fewer than half the ships Knight Admiral Alenski had at his disposal, she destroyed three of his where his force destroyed only two?”
“That is certainly impressive,” Admiral Roth replied. “And I can see that Dame Admiral Basilia is a very fine commander. However -”
“There is no ‘however’,” Arathea cut him off. “I observed the strategy that she was deploying and Knight Admiral Alenski was outmatched. Three more vessels may have been lost, I fear, but Dame Admiral Basilia would have prevailed.”
“Then, forgive me if I am out of line,” Admiral Roth said, “but then those three ships were saved by General Kellahav’s intervention. Also -” At this, Lord Admiral Arathea appeared as though he were going to protest but Admiral Roth stalled him before he had the chance. “Lord Admiral, I have listened to what you had to say. Have the grace to allow me to respond.”
Arathea glowered and glanced to the Empress to see her reaction. Tenenial didn’t look happy but she gave him a nod to let Admiral Roth proceed.
“Very well,” Arathea said.
“Thank you,” Roth replied. “There are two more points I wish to raise. One is that General Kellahav did not intervene before first contacting Dame Admiral Basilia and that when he did proceed, he did so at her request.”
“Very well,” Arathea conceded. “I’ll grant you that. However, if I may, I would like to say one last thing. Let us put aside all the other issues for now - and there are many here - but with the advantage General Kellahav had over Knight Admiral Alenski’s forces, there is no reason he had to destroy those two ships. He could have averted more destruction, yet he chose to inflict it. Is this the way of the Federation?”
At this, Admiral Roth grew stern. “Forgive me for my impudence, Lord Admiral, but when the Empress accepted the Federation’s assistance, I made it very clear that our ways are not your own and that in accepting our help, she was also accepting our methods along with the fact that at all times, my first priority here is to serve the Federation.”
Lord Admiral Arathea nodded. “Yes, I can see where your loyalties lie, Admiral.” He rose from his seat and bowed to the Empress. “Your Imperial Highness.”
Once he had left, Empress Tenenial spoke once more. “You must understand, Admiral Roth, that Lord Admiral Arathea fears what the Federation’s aid will cost our people. He fears the Minstrahn losing their sovereignty in becoming dependent on the grace of more powerful sectors. This could change everything.”
“I understand,” Roth replied. “However, for the time-being, this is not good enough. I need the lord admiral on side and I need him to cooperate with both my own task force and with General Kellahav’s. And if your Imperial Highness cannot ensure that, then I will have no choice but to withdraw my forces and leave the Minstrahn to fend for themselves.”
Just then, Captain Merrick’s communicator chimed once and he left the room to answer it. The Empress watched him as he left then turned back to Admiral Roth. “Fend for ourselves against what?”
“There is worse to come, your Imperial Highness,” Roth replied. “Far worse.”
The door to the room opened once more and Captain Merrick stepped back inside. “My apologies for the interruption, your Imperial Highness. Admiral, message from the Sentinel. The Harpy and the Deliverance have just entered the system and they have Lord Ilian. Also, General Kellahav wishes to speak to you at your earliest convenience.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Roth replied. He bowed to the Empress. “Would you excuse me, your Imperial Highness? I shall be back shortly.”
––––––––
He met General Kellahav in the anteroom just behind the bridge of the Sentinel. After a brief discussion, Laila Casdan joined them.
“Well, it appears we have all been rather busy,” Roth said as they took their seats. “Lord Ilian and his fellow conspirators are in custody, we’ve picked up a highly wanted mercenary and a pirate gang, and now we’ve got more leads on this second group of Levarc than we could ever hope to follow up on. Now, as Laila has discovered that Lord Ilian’s agents only knocked out some of the long-range communication relay network, it seems likely to me - and to both of you, I’m sure - that it was this new group of Levarc who knocked out the rest of it. If that’s the case, we can assume they’re moving through this sector right now and we therefore may not have a lot of time to halt their advance. Now, Laila can you go over what you learned from Lord Ilian once more?”
“Well,” Laila started, “according to him, he acted in the best interests of his people. When he discovered that the Basilisks had encountered the Levarc, he was worried they might have prompted them to start looking around outside their borders. Lord Ilian knew about the original Levarc War and he wanted to avoid that at all cost so he tried to make a deal with this group of Levarc.”
“What kind of deal?” Kellahav asked, his gaze hardening.
“He’d give them some planets on the outskirts of the Minstrahn Empire that they could use as forward bases to invade the Federation.”
“And in exchange, they’d help him reach a position where he’d have the authority to hand over those planets?”
“Basically,” Laila said.
“So he pointed a hostile group of aliens at the Federation in order to spare his own people,” Kellahav muttered, shaking his head. “And does he believe the Levarc will spare them once they’ve got what they wanted?”
“He did,” Laila replied. “He doesn’t now.”
“Clearly, they’ve just used him to create enough instability to draw attention away from their movements,” Kellahav said. “Admiral Keigen - sorry, former Admiral Keigen - believes they’ve probably been setting themselves up on those worlds already without Lord Ilian knowing.”
“Yes, that seems likely,” Roth agreed. “Which means there’s one more thing Lord Ilian can tell us.”
“What will happen to him, by the way?” Laila asked. “I mean, once you’ve found out what you want to know.”
“When I’m finished with him, we’ll turn him over to the Minstrahn and they can do whatever they want with him. He might be useful to keep around for a while longer though, at least until they can uncover the rest of his network. Lord Admiral Calendres and Knight Admiral Alenski can keep him company.”
“Lady Valinski wasn’t with the knight admiral?”
“No,” Roth said. “I have no idea where she’s got to. Unfortunately, you can never catch them all. However, I’d say we rounded up a fair sized collection this time.”
A dangerous mercenary, a notorious pirate organization and three high profile traitors.
“Yeah,” Laila said. “I’d say so too.”
“So, what now?” Kellahav asked.
“Well, the communication network has to be restored,” Roth said. “And quickly. I’ve sent a shuttle to the Federation to request the immediate supply of the necessary communication relay satellites. I modestly asked for around a hundred and fifty. That ought to cover the ninety-three systems of the Minstrahn Empire as well as points between distant systems.”
“Does the Federation have that many spare comm satellites lying around?” Laila asked.
“You’d be surprised,” Roth told her. “These relay satellites often require maintenance and they are regularly replaced. There are several large stockpiles of prefabricated satellites in the Federation that can be used for this purpose. If supply shuttles move quickly, we could have the communication network back up in two weeks.”
“That’s impressive,” Laila replied. “Although, did you run this by the Empress?”
Roth shook his head. “There was no time. I’ll run it by her when I have her long-range communication network back on line."
“The Empress would already feel as if she were too much in your debt as it is. This might be too much for her.”
“If it’d make her feel better, this is as much for the Federation as it is for the Minstrahn,” Roth told her. “During the Levarc War, Lord Valaekei claimed many systems when the long-range communication relays surrounding Corsida were destroyed. And that wasn’t the entire communication network. That was just a section of it. There’s no telling what this new group of Levarc could be doing at the moment. For all we know, they could be attacking systems out in the Daeispa and the Chara quadrants right now.”
“And there’s no telling how large this second Levarc kingdom is either,” Kellahav pointed out.
“I don’t suppose anyone’s gone to investigate now that we know where to look?” Laila asked.
“I’ve sent one of my teams in,” Roth told her. “We should be getting an update on the situation shortly.”
“Now,” he said, standing up, “I have to go and have one last little chat with our charming friend Lord Ilian before I hand him over to the Empress. General Kellahav, I would like you and your task force to remain here for the time being. I will give you further instructions once I have a better appraisal of the situation.”
“Sir,” Kellahav replied with a slight nod, and made his way out.
“And my dear Ms. Casdan,” Roth said after he had left, “it certainly was a surprise meeting you again so shortly after you took your leave. I am very sorry however about everything your daughters went through in capturing Ilian. I had no idea of Aleida’s involvement and I hope they’ll find the extra hundred thousand to be satisfactory compensation.”
For a moment, Laila was speechless but she found her voice again. “Thank you, Admiral.”
“Call me Gilham,” Roth replied.
“Then, by the same token, you can call me Laila.”
Admiral Gilham Roth smiled and extended his hand. “Laila,” he said as she took it, “it has been a privilege. Have a safe voyage home and do pass on my regards to your daughters.”
Laila smiled back, although just as she did the last time, she felt a little sad to be parting company. “Thank you.”