War for the Iron Planet

Chapter 25: The Hunt

Vanbrook followed Jasken through the fort, into the Wingspan and into Jasken's quarters. After they were in the room, Jasken closed the door and punched Vanbrook in the face. It was sudden, and much quicker than Vanbrook would have thought Jasken capable of. Vanbrook reached for his saber, more out of instinct than anything, but again Jasken's hands flew like lightning.

Vanbrook was turned away from him and he grabbed the swashbuckler's wrist as it went over his shoulder to grab the saber's hilt. Held like that, Vanbrook was scarcely able to move.

"Don't," Jasken said levelly, "I don't want this to escalate any further, but I do want you to understand the sheer contempt I have for you. If you had come back without her, you'd be in the brig right now. But you came back as a hero, and my options are pretty limited.

"I will be waiting for the slightest excuse to take you off Talon Squad and, if possible, throw you out of the Navy entirely. Until then, I expect you to follow orders and pretend like you can respect the idea of military discipline." Vanbrook loosened his grip on his saber. "I wouldn't have come back without her." Jasken huffed and let go of Vanbrook's arm with a shove. "Get out of my office."

***

Lord Raelik stood in his quarters, fidgeting as he waited for the High King to appear on his screen. Talking to the old bat always made Raelik feel like a child being scolded, even when things were going well. Unfortunately, things were not going well.

The screen rippled to life and the King's face appeared.

"Hello, Raelik," he said with practiced patience. His eyes were faded with age, but still carried a deep hardness. His head bore a huge silver crown, bejeweled with the death crystals of his predecessors, cut and polished. He held himself casually, as though daring his subjects to question his authority.

"High King Hylik," said Raelik with a stiff bow. "May your ancestors guide you."

"I'm sure they will," said Hylik wryly. "But perhaps you could use more guidance, hm?"

"My liege," answered Raelik, "the guidance of the ancestors would be most welcome, but much of our trouble stems from Sir Jacrill. Breaches of security during his watch have caused us significant loss."

"You are granted the permission to execute him, since you seem eager to do so, but tell me, between us lords, can we really blame Jacrill for all our troubles? I believe he was in your dungeon when the most recent breach occurred." Raelik cringed internally, hoping his body language didn't betray his emotions to the King. Of course Hylik would have spies onboard, but he had hoped the King would play the game his way; execute Jacrill and send more troops to deal with the Republic. Let the blame lay on Jacrill's death crystal and move on.

"Raelik, I am sending my son Jylik to you. The map to the Cornucopia Cluster is too valuable to lose, and it is clear you need additional help." The King sighed and continued. "You know, we really are an empire. We control worlds across the galaxy, either by treaty or because they were unoccupied when we arrived. But we dare not call ourselves an empire for fear of galvanizing our enemies against us. Much more than that, we have avoided open conflict. I would like to keep things that way.

"Our intelligence indicates that the Blue Griffon Fleet is unable to communicate with the rest of the Republic. I expect you to aid the crown prince in retrieving the map and then wiping out any and all survivors. The Republic will not risk open war with us if they cannot convince allies we made the first move."

The screen rippled again and was blank. Raelik fumed. The crown prince! It was a slap in the face. He didn't need more leadership, he needed more firepower. Frustrated that there was little he could do about it, he went to make preparations for Jacrill's execution.