Evan Currie - Heirs of Empire

“The prisoner is secure. All systems on board remain at their nominal state. We arrive in nine hours, forty minutes.”

“Very good. Dismissed.”

The man saluted again, then retreated, leaving Mira to her thoughts as the train burst out of the final shadow of Nanna’s Great Island and into the open heat of the desert sun. With full light now, and a double duty of guards posted around the train, Mira stepped back from the post and made her way back through the cars.

The remaining men-at-arms assigned to the train were camped out in the troop cars. She walked through quietly. Many of them had just finished a double shift and were still on emergency call, so they needed what rest they could get. Her objective was three cars back, barricaded by four men-at-arms who barred her way as she approached.

“Stand at rest,” Mira ordered, tilting her head and gesturing them out of her way.

They moved.

She walked into the secure car, a long empty expanse with a single cell in the center and a lone man sitting within.

“We can’t be there already,” he said as she approached, “not unless they’ve improved the train’s speed a bit since my day.”

“We have another ten hours,” she said, her tone cool. “But I’m sure you knew that.”

“Of course. Mira, I believe … Delsol?” he asked, raising his head to look at her for the first time.

Mira nodded. “I am.”

“I saw you test for Cadre. Impressive. Pity you didn’t test a few years earlier. I’d like to have recruited you.”

She snorted. “I am no traitor.”

“Is that what they call me?” the man asked. “I believe that I really need a better image coordinator.”

“I think you missed a few,” she countered. “Monster, I believe, is the most popular.”

“Well, slaughter a few thousand people and you do get a bit of a reputation,” he said, standing up. “I honestly should have killed more. No one really seems to mind if your kill list tops a million for some reason. The difference between a murderer and a statesman, don’t you know?”

“Statesman? You led a revolt against the lawful government, using chemical warfare as your lead weapon. That’s not statesmanship; that’s a psychotic break,” Mira told him. “What troubles me most is just how many knights you got to go along with your insanity.”

“Ah, insanity.” He smiled. “The fun thing about insanity is that it is often so very hard to tell it apart from brilliance.”

“Outcome would be one way to tell them apart,” Mira said.

“So very true,” he agreed. “So I suppose we’ll find out shortly which it is.”

She was about to respond but froze, eyes narrowing as she turned to look at him sharply. “You are in a maximum-security cell on a train bound for the most secure facility in the empire.”

“Yes, yes, I am.” He smiled at her. “Tell me that you don’t really believe that’s a coincidence?”

Mira chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Don’t try your mind games with me. I just wanted to know how a disgrace like you ever made Cadre in the first place.”

“Please, love …” He smiled. “You’re young yet, still filled with all that lovely idealism.”

He walked over to the field separating them. “I suppose you still believe in all that ‘corps is mother, faithful forever’ nonsense. Took me a long time to shake the mind molding and see the way things really are.”

“And just look where that got you,” Mira said, shaking her head. “A failed coup.”

“It’s only failed if I’m not sitting on the throne when it’s over, love,” he countered, smiling, “and it’s so very far from over.”

A siren blaring in the distance stopped the conversation. Mira half turned, looking forward, then glanced back at the prisoner, who was now looking far too smug for her comfort. She lifted a link to her ear and touched it on. “Delsol. What is it?”

“My lady, there is an ambush ahead of us. Men flanking the tracks with weaponry we can detect from here. Should I send more men-at-arms to the front?”

“No!” she snapped. “If they have weapons to bring down the shield, we’d lose every man standing. Call back our forces from the engine and have them arm for siege.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Mira cut the link and looked back at the prisoner.

“As I said, we’ll see when the game is over,” he said.

“If they bring down the shield, they’ll crash this train. That’ll put everyone on board at risk,” she said as she walked across the compartment and opened an electronics panel, violently ripping out a group of wires. “Some more than others.”

“What did you just do?” he asked, his tone suspicious.

“I am not stopping this train,” she told him, eyes meeting his. “If they want to stop us, they’ll have to do it … catastrophically … and you will have to endure it without inertics to cushion the blow.”

“You can’t do that … ,” he said, his tone almost wondering. “That’s against all regulations.”

She opened the door and stepped out, her voice wafting over her shoulder. “Do what? That was clearly battle damage.”

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving the prisoner alone in the dark once more.

The siren was wailing as Mira strode through the train, heading for the front of the long line of speeding cars. She reached up with her right hand to tap the trinity emblem on her left shoulder, not breaking stride as she activated the device with a thought and motion.

A shimmering iridescent field flowed around her body as she moved, expanding until her entire form was covered in glowing energy, and solidified into a gleaming white shell. In full armor now, Mira paused between cars, climbing up and knocking open the access hatch before pulling herself up.

“Delsol,” she said, speaking over the comm line in a calm voice. “Report.”

“Enemy ambush is three minutes ahead, my lady.”

“Clear the front car,” Mira said softly as she planted her feet on the roof of the train. “Everyone brace for impact. If they can take out the shield, this is going to be a rough ride.”

Mira didn’t bother acknowledging Stephan’s reply. She was too busy focusing on running forward along the moving train cars. The magnetic levitation of the vehicle was quite smooth, but enough vibrations passed back from the forward energy shield to keep her plenty busy when combined with the buffets of wind sweeping around. Through the display floating in front of her face, she could already see what her men had reported.

The ambush looked professional, two lines set up with an elevated cross fire clearly intended to catch the train as it passed. She didn’t know if the enemy had enough firepower to do the job but had to assume that if they were this far out in the desert, they had probably come prepared.

“Stephan, have you broken out the heavy weapons yet?”

Stephan’s voice came back almost instantly. “We have, my lady. What are your orders?”

“Stand by to engage from the second car,” she ordered. “They might get the first shot. But let’s be sure to get the last.”

“As you say, my lady.”

Confident that Stephan and her men had things well in order, Mira hopped the space between the second and first car. Now she was almost directly behind the forward energy shields, sheltered from the rushing wind and all but the heaviest weapons. Unfortunately, she was quite certain that whatever weapons the enemy had, they would not prove to be lightweight.

Mira settled to one knee, eyes examining the track ahead as they roared on into the ambush.

This could be a problem.

Even though it was outfitted with holding cells, the train was not made for heavy fighting. For better or worse, it was designed to be a sleek high-speed transport, and what little shielding it had was intended primarily to protect the vehicle and its occupants from the sonic shock wave it produced. While some defense would be provided by the systems, they wouldn’t hold up for very long against a concerted assault.