The jump went smoothly. The emergency jump point proved good and we didn’t end up inside the moon or another ship, so we were off to a stellar start. Now I just had to get us to Earth.
I plotted a sweeping course to the North Pole, which was marginally closer to our current position. It also had the benefit of being dark, which wouldn’t protect us from the sensors, but would at least shield us from normal human vision.
“If everything goes well, we’ll be on the ground in sixty-three minutes,” I said. “I’m not picking up any other ships or signals, but I’ve got us in deep stealth, so that’s not unexpected.”
“Can you tell if the gate is up?” Ying asked.
I brought up a list of the raw messages Chaos had received passively. There was a lot of noise coming from Earth, but I didn’t see any of the usual gate transmissions. “I don’t see anything, but I can’t tell for sure, not without potentially giving us away. I’ll ping it once we’re on the ground. I am seeing a lot of other message traffic, mostly encrypted.”
The next forty minutes passed with tense silence and sparse conversation. With just another twenty minutes to go, we were now within prime range of the orbital array. I’d already shut down the engines and we coasted silently toward Earth. I’d have to fire them up again to slow us down before we slammed into the atmosphere, but I’d wait until the last second because the heat signature would give us away.
In full stealth, Chaos wasn’t using any active sensors, so we could only find other ships visually or if they were transmitting positioning data. So far we hadn’t found anything, but that also wasn’t too unexpected.
I’d already closed the window shutters in preparation for landing, but the transparent video screens that covered the windows were transmitting the video from outside the ship. Earth loomed large in front of us. The pole was dark but bright sunlight limned the horizon, turning it blue and gold.
And just beyond the horizon, sunlight glinted off metal. I brought the forward video feed up on my console and zoomed in to maximum magnification.
I blew out a slow, quiet breath. The question of Silva’s involvement was now definitively answered because at least one of their giant battle cruisers was in orbit around Earth. I put the image up on the main screen.
“Is that a Syndicate ship? Can they see us?” Aoife asked.
“That is definitely a Silva ship, but we’re in the planet’s shadow and not emitting any light. We should be hidden for now. Once I fire the engines they may be able to sense us.”
“How long until then?”
“Five minutes. Then it’s fifteen minutes to the ground.”
“Are we landing at the Pole?” Ying asked.
“No, we’re just getting close enough to lose the ground cannons, then we’re headed for a supply cache.”
“There’s a second ship,” Ying said. “You can just see the bow peeking out on the left. The Syndicate ship isn’t one of our designs, but the second ship is.”
I squinted at the image. The second ship was even farther away. Ship identification had been part of my training, but a part that I’d hated and avoided whenever possible. I could recognize whole ships with decent accuracy, but I was hopeless at piecemeal identification. I supposed the bow did look like it could be vaguely Yamado, but I had no idea what kind of ship it was attached to.
“It’s a House Yamado battle cruiser. Is that a red stripe?” Ying leaned forward as if that would help her see.
With the angle, distance, and sunlight, I couldn’t see well enough to know if the ship was painted red or not. Ying apparently agreed with me, because she shook her head. “I can’t tell.”
Top-tier House Yamado ships were painted to show their allegiance to both the House and their captain. The overall House colors were yellow and red, but each family member had a personal color, as well. Ying’s was azure, which I knew because many of her clothes also incorporated the color.
And, as the heir, I was pretty sure Hitoshi’s color was red.
“Was Hitoshi’s battle cruiser scheduled to be here?”
“No. Vermillion should be on a routine patrol of the outer rim. And Hitoshi would rather destroy the ship than surrender it.” Her voice was flat and cautious.
I tried to keep my own tone level and not accusatory. “You know I have to ask: is there any chance that he’s working with Silva?”
“I don’t know. My gut says no. Hitoshi is cunning and ambitious, but he’s too smart to get tied up with the Syndicate.” Then she quietly added, “I hope.”
“Are any of House Yamado’s battle cruisers unaccounted for? Do you sell that type of ship to third parties?”
“None of our ships are missing, but we do sell battle cruisers to the RCDF. Other than that, no.”
“Damn.”
We all watched the two ships until they disappeared behind the planet. I checked the other views, but nothing else was visible.
I waited as long as I could before I brought Chaos’s engine up to full reverse thrust. Almost immediately alarms started going off. After a brief debate, I brought up the shields. It was another possible target point, but if we were hit without a shield, we’d be toast.
“The orbital targeting system is taking an interest in us,” Alex warned.
We didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver, and too many adjustments right now would just alert the system that we were definitely a ship and not space debris. I kept us on the same course. In another five minutes we’d be low enough to be past most of the orbiting cannons, but we’d still have to avoid the ground defenses.
Usually, the orbital defense system didn’t act without human intervention. Once the system was confident an object was a potential threat, it would alert the operators and they would approve or deny an attack. But if they’d changed it to emergency lockdown, then automation took over and the system operated without supervision. That would be worse for us, because rather than waiting for human approval, which took some time, the automated system would try to eliminate us on its own.
A couple of minutes later, Chaos blared a short, sharp warning. I flexed my hands on the manual controls but didn’t alter our course.
“Cat—” Alex started.
“I see it. The defense system is locked on our heat signature, not the ship. We’re still going too fast to shut down the engines, but if we deviate from our course, we’ll be fired on immediately.”
“You’re playing chicken with a computer.”
“The autopilot would’ve taken evasive action as soon as a lock was detected. The defense system doesn’t have enough confidence to determine if we’re a ship or not, so it’s testing us.”
“What happens when it decides?”
“It’ll start shooting.”
If we were very lucky, the system would assume we’d burned up in the atmosphere and not send the battle cruisers after us. Although they could land, they were unwieldy in the air and usually only landed for emergencies, but their real threat was the air wing they usually had onboard. Chaos was good, but she couldn’t outgun a flock of fighters.
We were out of range of the orbital cannons and low enough to be in the atmosphere. I’d just begun to cautiously hope that we would make it to the ground undetected when Chaos repeated the target lock warning and followed it with a solid tone.
I jerked the controls hard to port and felt the pull on my restraints as the compensators failed to counteract the force of the turn. The first cannon blast skimmed by our starboard side. “They know we’re here. Get the decoy and jammer drones in the air,” I barked at Alex.
The console showed me the approximate location of the cannon that had fired on us. It was far off to starboard. At our current rate of descent, we would be under its firing zone in approximately twenty seconds. I dodged starboard as another blast just grazed the outside of our shields.
It was going to be a long twenty seconds.
“Where are my decoys?” I demanded.
“They’re out, but the system is ignoring them.”
“Jam their tracking. I need another fifteen seconds.”
The heat of reentry now exceeded the heat produced by the engines. There was no hiding from the thermal imagining, but the jammers would at least make it more difficult to target the ship itself.
I flew us on a jerky path that put the restraints to the test. I heard something crash from the direction of the mess hall, and the ship complained with a litany of new warnings about exceeding force tolerances. That would be a problem for future me, assuming we made it to the ground in one piece.
The next blast glanced off the shield, setting off a new round of warnings. The defense system was getting better as we slowed down. I pushed us as fast as I dared and we plummeted toward the surface.
In the dark, I had only the ship’s systems to guide me. We dropped out of the firing zone and I ramped up the engines to slow our descent. My console glowed with a dozen warnings ranging from informational to major.
But we were in one piece.
I brought Chaos far enough out of stealth to scan our surroundings and check for communications. The sky was clear of other ships but the surface was being buffeted by strong winds and ice. I kept our heading the same. I would dip into the top of the storm to lose any drones sent to track us, then head south toward the nearest supply cache.
“How much damage did we take?” Ying asked.
I looked over the various warnings. “Not too much, considering. The ship is still spaceworthy, but the hull shielding took quite a bit of heat from our entry and needs to be replaced. As long as we don’t plan to land hot on another planet with atmosphere, we’re good.”
My com pinged as I received a batch of new messages. Hopefully that meant that someone in House von Hasenberg was still alive and fighting, but I would have to wait until we were on the ground to check.
Ying’s com pinged and a second later her breath caught, but I didn’t have time to ask her about it. “Two drones inbound,” Alex warned at the same time the ship chirped an alert.
“Don’t engage unless I can’t lose them in the storm.”
The ship bucked as we dropped into the heart of the blizzard. Between the darkness and the whiteout, I was flying completely blind with only the instrument readings to guide me. I edged closer to the ground.
“First drone pulled off,” Alex reported.
I banked away from our plotted course to keep us in the storm. I needed that other drone gone, but it proved damned persistent. “Shoot it down,” I said.
Alex acknowledged me with a grunt, his hands already flying over his console. I heard the lock tone, then a second later the blip chasing us disappeared.
One final sweeping circle didn’t draw out the second drone, so I dropped Chaos back into full stealth and headed for the supply cache.
CHAOS SLID UNDER THE NATURAL ROCKY OVERHANG AND disappeared from the sight of anyone looking for us from above. And based on the number of drones I’d had to dodge, someone was actively searching for us. Sadly, my trip through the storm hadn’t fooled them into thinking we’d crashed.
The ship settled to the ground with a gentle bump and I breathed out a sigh of relief. We’d made it. For better or worse, we were on Earth.
“That was exciting,” Ying said with false cheer, “but let’s not do it again anytime soon, okay?”
“Works for me,” I agreed. It would take me a month to use up all the adrenaline I’d produced in the last twelve hours. I turned to look at her. Deep lines bracketed her mouth, but when I met her eyes, she barely shook her head. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to talk about it in front of the others.
I pulled out my com. “I’m going to check my messages before we head out. If you need to do anything to get ready, now is the time. I’ll meet you in the cargo bay in ten.”
The others nodded and pulled out their own devices. I skimmed the messages I’d received. The destruction was even worse than what had been reported in the initial messages. House Yamado’s ballroom was obliterated. House Rockhurst and House von Hasenberg had also suffered attacks on their buildings. All three appeared to have weathered the attacks well enough to remain mostly standing, but Bianca’s apartment was a smoldering ruin.
Someone knew exactly where to find all of the High House heirs, but didn’t have insider information about whether or not the heirs were home at the time of the attacks, so they were taking a scorched-earth approach.
Both of my parents had been at the gala. There were no status updates on either of them, but the House network had blown up with messages. With Albrecht and Maria both out of the picture and everyone else, including Ian, off-planet, Marta Stevens, the deputy director of House security had taken over. I’d worked with her on the initial investigation into Ferdinand’s disappearance and I liked her quite well. She’d ordered everyone into the stronghold and was sending small teams out to search for survivors.
I couldn’t risk sending her a message yet, but I would once we were closer to Serenity. If anything had happened to Father and Mother, I would be the default person in charge of the House until communication to Ferdinand was restored.
I really, really did not want to be in charge of our House, even for a short time.
From Marta’s messages, both Anne Rockhurst and Ren Yamado had attended the gala. There were no mentions of any of the heirs, but all three High Councillors were currently unaccounted for. They were all presumed injured, possibly dead.
The news caused a riot of emotions. My feelings for my parents were complicated—at best—but they were still my parents. I felt a certain amount of filial loyalty that could be classified as love, I supposed, though it paled in comparison to the love I felt for my siblings.
On one hand, I would be sad if Mother and Father were dead, but on the other, I would be profoundly relieved, which made me feel guilty. But Ferdinand would never force me to marry someone I couldn’t stand, no matter how badly the House needed the alliance. Perhaps I was just being selfish. Mother would certainly think so.
I put away my com. Alex, Aoife, and Ying were all staring at their devices with grim expressions. Apparently they weren’t getting good news, either.
“Mother and Father are missing,” I said. “Our deputy director of security is in charge of the House right now. I didn’t see anything about the RCDF forces on the ground, but we can assume that at best they are scattered, at worst lost.”
“How many troops does the RCDF keep on Earth?” Aoife asked.
“Generally, a battalion is stationed on the surface to police Serenity and defend the command center, but the majority of Earth’s defensive forces are in ships. At least four battle cruisers patrol the solar system at all times, each with two battalions of ground troops and a similarly sized air wing. As far as I know, all four battle cruisers were lost in the initial attacks.”
Those ships each had over four thousand troops onboard. Losing one was a tragedy; losing four was unfathomable.
I continued, “In addition, each House employs a number of private security personnel. I know we have over a hundred people on our security staff. Probably two-thirds of them are ex-military or field-trained.”
“Will they fight for you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“They will,” Ying said. “Your bodyguards adore you because you care about them. You can ask Cira if you don’t believe me.” She caught my skeptical look and asked, “When is Susan’s birthday?”
“February fifth.”
“And what did you get her this year?”
“A necklace that I saw her admiring while we were out shopping, plus dinner and theater tickets for her and her husband.”
“A sapphire necklace and box seats to her favorite sold-out show,” Ying corrected. “She was the envy of the Serenity security forces for a month. Everyone wants to work with you because you remember their birthdays, ask about their kids, and treat them like family. They’ll fight for you.”
Aoife nodded in agreement, but I still wasn’t convinced. A necklace wasn’t the same as risking one’s life. Susan and I spent a lot of time together. Taking care of her was less about my charm offensive and more about being a decent human. And I knew for a fact that Ying knew Cira’s birthday, too, so I was hardly unique.
I slid out of the captain’s console and rose to my feet. “Ying, would you mind helping me for a second?” When she stood, I waved to Alex and Aoife. “I’ll meet you in the cargo bay in five minutes.” It wasn’t subtle, but I didn’t have time to be subtle.
Ying followed me to my quarters. Once the door closed, her shoulders slumped and her face crumpled. “Father is dead,” she whispered.
I pulled her into a hug. Her breath hitched and she buried her head against my shoulder. I squeezed her tight. “I’m so sorry.”
She slowly pulled herself together and stepped back, wiping away her tears. “Mother is alive, but Tae’s status is still unknown. Hitoshi wasn’t at the event. He survived, and he wasted no time taking over the House. Father’s body isn’t even in the ground yet.” Her voice had a bitter bite.
“Was Tae at the gala?”
“It’s unclear.” She sighed. “What about your family?”
“Mother and Father both attended, and they are both still unaccounted for.”
Ying squeezed my arm. “I’m sorry.” When I nodded, she asked, “Have you heard anything about House Rockhurst?”
“I heard Anne attended, but that’s it.”
“Me, too.”
We stood for a moment, just letting the enormity of what had happened sink in. No matter what happened now, the universe was forever changed. It could be an improvement, or it could be the start of something far worse. Only time would tell.
“Let’s load up on guns and get moving. The faster we get the defenses down, the faster we can get some backup.”
Ying went to update Cira, and I headed for the cargo bay. Both Alex and Aoife had donned lightweight ballistic armor and sported high-powered rifles.
“Where’s your armor?” Alex asked, concern in his voice.
“I’m getting there.” Much like in my quarters, the cargo bay had a hidden armory panel in the wall. I swiped my identity chip over a seemingly random spot and the door popped open. I pulled out a pair of rifles and two sets of the same type of lightweight armor that Alex and Aoife wore. Because it was sized for me, it would be a little big on Ying, but the fit shouldn’t be too bad.
Alex helped me put my armor on, and when Ying arrived, Aoife helped her into the second set. I didn’t think we’d need it, but with drones in the air it was a smart precaution. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and put on a pair of smart glasses. They connected to my com and gave me heads-up directions to the bunker.
We left Chaos and ventured into the prickly winter forest, dappled with morning sunlight. The air had a frosty bite and I wished I’d grabbed a cloak with a temperature regulator to keep me warm.
Trees towered over our heads, bare limbs providing some cover from the sky. Leaves crunched underfoot and the underbrush was thick and healthy. Looking at it now, it was hard to imagine that Earth had ever been in such bad shape that humans had abandoned it completely, but it had taken the Consortium decades to terraform it back into a habitable state.
Old photos from before the terraforming showed dry, bare dirt and small, sickly plants. Now, centuries later, it was as rich and alive as the ancient paintings had made it seem. The Consortium had made the entire planet a natural park and being out here with nothing around, it was easy to see why.
Animals had been reintroduced as well, but black bears were the largest predator common to this area and they mostly left humans alone. They should also be hibernating now. None of the other small animals posed a threat. As long as whoever had taken over Serenity hadn’t been able to track our flight path, we should be safe.
And even if they had tracked us, drones would be useless here. They would have to send ground troops and that took time. If we were lucky, we’d be gone before the first ship arrived.
With a cautious glance at the sky, I led us deeper into the forest.