The ship slid out of hyperspace. It was bumpy. They were moving fast. Tayvis waited impatiently for the turbulence to clear.
"All ships accounted for," the com tech announced.
They had eight ships, the three cruisers they'd started with and five smaller ships that had joined them two jumps back. Tayvis silently hoped it was enough. It would have to be enough.
"Take us in to the planet," he said. They looked to him for orders. It was easy enough to slip back into the mold. Only this time he didn't have to answer to anyone. He flipped the switch on his private com line. "You ready, Paltronis?"
"Set to go. Just give the word and we'll have you down," she answered.
He flipped it back off. He was in command of their fleet, but Paltronis was in command of the marines. They were waiting in the transports. "Zubaida, you have command." He stood up from his chair.
Zubaida nodded once. Tayvis hadn't insisted on saluting or anything very formal. All he asked was their complete and utter obedience to any order he gave. It had only taken once for them to understand that. Anyone who didn't obey was left behind, wherever they happened to be when they chose not to listen. He left the bridge, knowing Zubaida would follow his orders to hold position, to stay in orbit until the marines were back on board. Zubaida would shoot at the Patrol, if necessary. So far, it didn't look like it was going to be necessary. There was no sign of Patrol ships in the area. There was no sign of any ships.
Tayvis paused by the scanning station and frowned. Linas-Drias should have been swarming with ships. Not a single one flew in or out besides their fleet. He frowned at the screen.
"Anything on the com channels?" he asked.
The com tech shook her head. "The public channels are broadcasting an emergency shutdown message. The newscasts are off air. The Patrol channel is full of chatter, but they're on top of each other. I can have some of it sorted out in ten minutes."
"Do what you can. Relay anything important to me on the transport," he said.
Something was up on Linas-Drias and it felt nasty. He knew it and his crew knew it. If it were for any other reason, he'd turn tail and leave right now. But Dace was down there. He was not leaving without her.
He walked through the ship to the transport bays. Paltronis held the door for him. He walked through and she let it slide shut.
"They saved a seat at the back for you," she said.
The transport was full of marines in full battle gear. He squeezed past them to the rear of the ship, the spot farthest from the doors. He had no intention of getting in their way. One of them handed him a rifle and a helmet.
"Paltronis' orders," the man said.
Tayvis put the helmet on and checked the rifle. The charge glowed green. The man turned away, satisfied that Tayvis knew what he was doing.
The transport undocked with a jerk. It swung about and headed down, engines roaring. They were coming in hard and fast. He expected a hostile reaction from Linas-Drias and the Patrol. He dialed his com into the ship link. There was some talk, coordination of orbits mostly.
"Tayvis." Zubaida's voice, he knew Tayvis would be listening in.
"Here," Tayvis answered, cutting into the chatter. It died instantly.
"We've got ships undocking from the stations. They look like merchants. Most are running scared. No sign of the Patrol ships."
"Hold orbit," Tayvis said. "If anyone threatens you, feel free to shoot them."
"Acknowledged," Zubaida answered.
Com chatter resumed.
They hit atmosphere and he heard nothing but static for a long five minutes. The transport dropped heavily.
Paltronis climbed over the marines to where he waited. She leaned in close. The transport was noisy, rattling heavily as it dropped through atmosphere. "Where are we landing? There's no sign of any air traffic. A few flitters running for the hills. We picked up a police band. They're fighting riots out there."
"Land us at the palace," Tayvis said. "Quick in and out. Take prisoners wherever you can."
She nodded, confirming their plan. It would take weeks to completely search the palace. Their best bet was to question anyone and everyone they could. The marines had orders not to hurt anyone who didn't offer a threat. Tayvis knew bribery could be just as effective as violence. Paltronis moved away, back to the front where the pilot sat.
There were five transports, each with forty marines aboard. The paint job showed a hasty patch where the Patrol logo used to be. They thundered to a landing in front of the palace. The doors opened. Marines jumped out, weapons ready as they deployed. By the time Tayvis was out a minute later, they had the area secured.
"Gate cleared," a voice crackled over his helmet com.
"Get inside," Paltronis said.
Tayvis moved with the bulk of the troops. A single flitter sped away into the distance, running for the city. Smoke trailed behind it.
"Sir? You should see this."
Tayvis picked up his pace. He held his rifle loosely, letting the marines clear the way for him. One group stayed behind to guard the transports and keep their escape route open.
The gate to the palace hung open. He trotted through and stopped. The courtyard beyond was covered with scattered blocks of stone. Half the buildings showed major damage. Right in the center, in the open, were three bodies. Several marines bent over them. The rest fanned out across the courtyard, searching.
"Any id?" Tayvis asked as he approached.
"I think you should see them yourself," Paltronis answered. She straightened from one body, turning away.
The first one Tayvis saw was a woman, her face burned away by blaster fire. It looked point blank range. She wore palace livery. It was dirty and torn, as if she'd been fighting her way through the halls in it. He turned to the second body.
He felt his universe turning inside out. The Emperor was on his back, staring sightlessly at the sky. Someone had shot him, close range. His belly was blackened. The shot was recent. The smell still hung in the air. He moved quickly to the third body. Speaker Iniuri Shiropi was still barely alive. He moved feebly.
"Get medics here, now!" Tayvis shouted.
"On their way," Paltronis answered. "We've got two more, still alive." She hesitated.
He looked up at her. "What is it?" He knew she didn't want to tell him. Bad news all around. "Dace?" He couldn't help the hurt and longing in his voice.
She shook her head. "One of them is Scholar. The other one is Commander Hovart. Both were shot. We also found Max, the younger one. He's dead. Shot in the back, looks like he fell from the balcony right after."
The medics rushed up. Tayvis started to move back. Iniuri grabbed his hand. He tried to talk. The medics began working on him.
"Stop her," Iniuri said. He coughed heavily, bright blood staining his lips. "Dace…" His voice trailed off. His breathing stopped.
Tayvis moved back. The medics were still working, even though it was hopeless. Iniuri Shiropi was dead.
He heard flitters arriving, sirens wailing. The police were coming. More complications. Tayvis wanted to swear. He was trying to hold himself together.
"Dace isn't here," Paltronis said as she joined him off to one side. "I've got men sweeping the rooms on either side of the courtyard. They've got a witness who said she saw Dace leaving with another woman. The flitter just left."
"Zubaida," Tayvis said into his com. He waited for the captain to answer. "Stop any ships. Disable them."
"Understood," Zubaida's voice was clipped.
"Which way?" Tayvis demanded.
"We've got at least a dozen flitters we're trying to track." Paltronis' face warned him to stay calm. "We've got other problems. The tech just picked up a Patrol signal. They're sending their ships out to attack ours. And the police are coming," she added unnecessarily as the flitters started to land around them.
"Dace didn't do this," Tayvis said tightly.
"Not Iniuri," Paltronis agreed. "She liked him."
Tayvis swallowed hard. He had to deal with the situation. Dace was still here, on Linas-Drias, but he wasn't going to be allowed to search the whole planet.
Zubaida signaled him, the com beeping in his ear. He answered it.
"We've got hostiles incoming, weapons armed," Zubaida said. "Every other ship at the stations and the planet is blasting free, too. There are too many to track."
"Hold them off. We're coming up soon." Tayvis hated it, but he didn't have time or the manpower to fight a major action, not yet. "Talk any of them into joining us that you can, Zubaida."
"Yes, sir." This time there was a hint of smile in the captain's voice.
"What about the wounded?" Paltronis asked.
"Bring them. I'd bet anything Scholar knows what happened. And Hovart did try to help us."
"He won't appreciate being taken prisoner." Paltronis flicked a hand signal to her troops. They gathered up the wounded and helped the medics move back to the transports.
"He isn't a prisoner, unless he wants to be," Tayvis answered. He watched the police land in the courtyard. "He'll appreciate being alive more than dying here."
Paltronis nodded. She gave the order for her troops to fall back. She stayed at Tayvis' side, watching the police approach them. They wore silver uniforms, a branch of the Patrol. They had weapons out. Tayvis waited, his own rifle hanging loosely from one hand. Paltronis flicked another hand signal to the few marines still in the courtyard. They took up guard positions by the gate, waiting.
"Put down your weapon!" The lead officer shouted.
Tayvis ignored him. The other police nervously lifted their weapons, training them on him.
"I said to put down—"
"I heard what you said," Tayvis cut in. "The answer is no. Don't do something stupid," he added as one of the police fingered the trigger on his gun.
"Who are you?"
The police officer caught sight of the bodies in the courtyard. His face went white. "You killed the Emperor!"
"No!" Tayvis's voice was sharp. The man jerked back as if slapped. "I found them like this. I want to know what happened here as badly as you do."
"Arrest them!" the officer shouted. The police hesitated as Tayvis brought his rifle up. Paltronis had her own weapon drawn before he was done.
"As I said, don't be stupid," Tayvis said, his voice cold.
The man hesitated. He slowly lowered his gun. The other police followed his lead. Tayvis shifted his rifle to a less threatening position.
"Drop it," the police officer said. "You say you didn't do this, but we'll know if you're lying."
"A flitter left here not long ago."
"With the real assassin on board? Likely story." The officer stepped forward. "You will put down your weapons and consider yourselves under arrest."
"You've got bigger problems," Paltronis said. Faint sounds of fighting echoed through the palace.
The officer glanced towards the shattered facade of the palace. An explosion echoed somewhere deep inside the maze of buildings. Smoke rose from the building. The police turned to the building. The officer stood over the body of the Emperor while most of the others ran into the palace.
"More flitters incoming," Paltronis said quietly to Tayvis.
"And Zubaida says things are getting hot above," Tayvis answered. "I don't like it, but I know. Time to go."
They backed out the gate, the marines falling in around them. Transports began to rumble into the air as they climbed on.
Tayvis sank into a seat, his head in his hands. Finding the Emperor and the Speaker dead was a blow to all of them. The Emperor was like a legend, an untouchable god larger than life. It didn't matter that they were from the fringes, most of them. It didn't matter that most of them had switched allegiance first to the Federation and now to Tayvis' mercenary fleet. The Emperor was still the Emperor. Change was too new, too raw. He was legend. And he was dead, shot in his own courtyard.
They'd come here with one goal: find Dace and bring her back. They'd missed her, by only minutes if the witness was to be believed.
The transport rumbled up through atmosphere and into space.
"Incoming," the pilot said over the com.
Tayvis grabbed webbing and held on as the transport pilot dodged. The transport wove a ragged path back to the ship.
"Tayvis?" Zubaida was calling again. "Things are heating up. You almost back?"
"On docking approach," Paltronis answered for him. "We missed her at the palace. Ran into the police instead."
"Police?" Zubaida sounded confused.
"The place was going up in smoke, literally," Tayvis said. He deliberately used an open channel for his next comment. Give them something else to focus on, and maybe they could get away in one piece. Another shot blasted past the transport. He waited for the static to clear.
"The Emperor is dead, and the Speaker," he said. "They were shot in the palace."
Zubaida swore. "Get docked. We've got to run."
The transport slammed into the docking webbing. Tayvis barely waited for the airlock to engage. He stalked off the ship. Paltronis grabbed his arm once they were off the transport.
"Tayvis, we can't fight off all the Patrol," she said.
"Dace is there, somewhere." He shoved his rifle into her hands and yanked off the helmet. "I am not leaving without her."
"This is bigger than you, Tayvis."
He jerked as if she'd slapped him. He closed his eyes.
"Zubaida says there are ships running every which way, half of them are shooting at anything moving. I doubt she's there any more. We don't stand a chance of finding her, not now."
Tayvis sighed and opened his eyes. "I know, Paltronis."
"What are we going to do now?" They both ignored the marines pushing past them, headed for their stations on the ship. The engines started up, vibrating through the floor. Evasive action, most likely. They could feel the guns firing, pulses of energy blasting away from the ship.
"We find the source," Tayvis said. "We find that elusive woman Will says is behind the whole scheme. And we kill her very slowly."
He'd given up on finding Dace alive. She had a limited time to live, they were going to miss their window to get her treatments started again. Without them, there was little hope for her.
"Zubaida," Tayvis snapped into the com. "Get us out of here. Set course for safety coordinate alpha."
"Yes, sir," Zubaida answered.
The orders would be passed to the other ships. They'd run and regroup.
Tayvis walked away from Paltronis, his shoulders slumped. They'd gambled and lost. There was only revenge left.
It left a sour taste in his mouth.