THE PALATINE

General Cole Bennett was furious.

He stood on the raised platform over the bridge, staring out the large window at the stars. He’d stood here just a short time ago as Colonel Jackson Hauler, in a similar pose, watching them approach Altara, but the feeling then had been entirely different.

Back then he had been on the cusp of victory, every piece of his complex and thorough plan in place. He had been preparing for years, carefully building covert alliances, stockpiling weapons, terrazine, and jorium, conducting strategic attacks on Dominion strongholds to weaken morale, and growing his team of spectres. Gehenna Station was fully operational, one of the most advanced and deadly battle stations ever created. Lio Travski was ready to infiltrate the Dominion network and paralyze its operations from within and allow them to steal Mengsk out from under the security forces’ noses. Michael Liberty, the legendary rogue reporter who had a cult following through his pirated holo reports, had already agreed to broadcast Mengsk’s confession to the universe, once they had the emperor in their hands. And Bennett was ready to step into the power vacuum, a benevolent leader who was simply looking out for what was best for the people. At least, that was how he would appear until it was too late.

He remembered thinking that it was only a matter of time before he would rule the Koprulu sector, while Arcturus Mengsk would be begging for his life.

How quickly things change. Even hours ago, Bennett had felt invincible as he watched Terra bow her head and acquiesce to his wishes. Then, just a short time ago, he had received word that she had escaped from the medical unit, and that Shaw was dead. She was gone. Rourke had alerted him to the unauthorized launch of wrangler Kelerchian’s personal ship, the November, from one of the landing bays on the Palatine, but had been unable to stop it, and before they could fire on it, most of their tracking and communications systems suddenly went dark.

It seemed that he had badly underestimated her. Terra was certainly inside the little ship. Where she was headed now was anybody’s guess, and it was possible she would try to warn Mengsk immediately. In fact, that made the most sense. But Bennett felt sure she would not waste any time before trying to locate Gehenna Station and rescue Kelerchian. He didn’t think for a minute that she would find it; one of the greatest triumphs of his plan was the massive cloaking device Lio had helped devise and operate with the aid of Umojan researchers, a device that completely hid the giant station from any terran sensors. But she was dangerous, and with the communications system down, he couldn’t even contact Tosh and order Kelerchian’s execution, which was something he desperately wanted to do purely for revenge.

General Bennett seethed with anger. He had never met anyone able to hide her true thoughts the way she had done in that jail cell—anyone other than himself, of course. And she was resistant to mental suggestion, unlike most terrans. Rourke, for example: he knew she didn’t like him, but it was a simple task to put a little “push” inside her head and make her do whatever he wanted. Including going to bed with him, when he felt the urge.

“Captain,” he barked, turning away from the window and facing the bridge. “Status update.”

Rourke looked up from where she was bent over the communications officer’s station. She whispered something to him and then straightened. “We’re still down, sir,” she said. “She’s fried the communications system at the source.”

“Well, try it again,” he shouted at her.

“The hardware’s damaged. I have a man down there working on it, but it’s going to take a while. The Palatine has limited abilities, sir. We were already locked into a flight pattern for Gehenna before this happened, and that’s where we’re headed now. I can pilot her in manually when we get in range. But anything else—” She shrugged. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to get lost in deep space.”

“Dammit!” Bennett slammed his hands down on the rail, feeling the metal bend under the force of his blow. He pulled the canister of terrazine from his belt and took a deep drag from its contents, feeling the gas fill his lungs and spread through his tingling limbs. Normally he was meticulously careful about his dosing schedule; one of the things he had learned through the years was that the side effects were manageable, if terrazine was used in moderation, and particularly if combined with the mineral jorium, which seemed to make it more stable. But right now, he needed to feel the power that terrazine gave him, the familiar feeling of euphoria.

It did not disappoint him. He felt as if he had grown in stature until he loomed over the bridge, dwarfing all others on board. They were all staring at him now in awe. He was destined to lead the terran race back from oblivion, and they all knew it.

He was amazed at how concerned he had been only moments ago. He had made a few small miscalculations with Terra, but all was not lost: far from it. He simply had to regroup, get to Gehenna Station, and prepare for the full-scale invasion of Augustgrad. The pieces were still in place, and he had prepared for too long for this moment. Nothing could stop him now. Certainly not a lone ghost agent, who didn’t even have her ghost suit to protect her.

“Get Lieutenant Ward,” Bennett said, “and have him prepare the vikings. When we find Nova Terra’s ship, I want it captured immediately. I want her alive.” He turned back to face the darkness of space, watching for any movement that would signal a small ship. She was out there somewhere, and she couldn’t be too far ahead of them. They would find her, and when they did, he would make her watch as he skinned Mal Kelerchian alive, one limb at a time.