Jack Campbell - Perilous Shield

Drakon shrugged. “Coequal is fine. It has been from the first. You’re right. I want Black Jack to know more of who I am. If half of what we’ve heard about him is true, he’s someone I would like to meet in person.”

“You’ll have to settle for long-range communications,” Iceni said, gesturing to the desk. “We’ll sit side by side to emphasize—”

Malin burst into the room. Iceni could see Togo just beyond him, ready to act if Malin threatened her. But the colonel just spoke with unusual rapidity. “General, there’s been another arrival in this star system.”

Drakon frowned as Malin hesitated. “Who?” he demanded. “More Syndicate forces? More enigmas? More Alliance ships?”

“No, sir.”

“No, sir, what ?”

Malin shook his head, looking bewildered. “The new arrivals are not Alliance or enigma or Syndicate. They do not match anything we’ve ever seen.” He moved to the desk’s display controls and brought up the images. “There are six of them. Whatever they are.”

Iceni stared, aware of Drakon watching her for some sign of recognition. “What’s the scale?” she demanded of Malin, who made the adjustment while Togo stood nearby, glowering at the colonel who was usurping Togo’s rightful role as Iceni’s assistant.

“You don’t recognize them, either?” Drakon asked.

“No.” Iceni bit her lip, then drew in a deep breath. “Featureless ovoids. Almost perfectly smooth. Are they following Black Jack’s fleet or pursuing it?”

“Why would Black Jack run from six ships that size?” Drakon wondered. “They’re about the size of our light cruisers.”

“We have no idea what armament those ships carry,” Malin pointed out. “Or who or what is inside them.”

Drakon didn’t reply. Iceni was aware out of the corner of her eyes that he was watching her. “You see something,” he finally said to her.

“Yes,” Iceni agreed. “The formation of the Alliance warships. It is oriented forward, facing the enigmas. Those new ships had to have come from Pele also, so the Alliance ships must have seen them before they jumped for here. But Black Jack’s fleet isn’t worried about what’s behind them. Are they allies?” Iceni wondered aloud. “Did Black Jack find someone else out there? Someone besides the enigmas?”

“He has led them here,” Togo said, his voice accusing. “Whatever they are, they know where Midway is now.”

“Let’s hope they are allies, then,” Iceni replied, wondering how she should spin this for public consumption. No one should be talking about those new ships to anyone outside of here. The workers in the command center should be watching, learning what they could, awaiting instructions. But she knew workers. They had doubtless already spread the word to friends and acquaintances across half the planet. And anyone else with access to information about that region of space, anyone simply looking in that direction with the right equipment, would have seen the six new ships as well. “They are allies,” she said confidently.

Drakon eyed her, then nodded. “Yes. Allies. Of course.” He understood as well as she did the need to keep this news from rattling the defenders of Midway.

Getting up from the desk, Iceni walked back into the command center. “Find out everything you can about those six new ships,” she ordered in a firm, self-assured voice. “Black Jack has brought allies to assist him and us against the enigmas. We need to know what those allies can do.”

She turned with measured assurance and strode back into the office, where Drakon, Malin, and Togo waited.

Drakon watched Iceni walking back into the office, her movements broadcasting a sort of serene confidence. President Iceni is even better at lying than I had realized.

“We’d better make that call to Black Jack,” Drakon said. “Colonel Malin, while the specialists outside see what they can learn by observing those six new ships, I want you to dive into every record we’ve got for any indication that ships like that have ever been sighted. Maybe the snake files we captured will have something that was kept secret from everyone else.”

“Yes, sir,” Malin said, saluting and departing in a single, swift motion.

Iceni took a seat behind the desk, indicating the chair to her right. For a second, Drakon pondered the idea of sitting on her left just to emphasize that Iceni didn’t tell him what to do, but his common sense very quickly quashed the notion. Save it for something important, so you don’t seem insecure and petty.

He sat down to Iceni’s right while her assistant Togo adjusted the field of view for the transmission. “What do you want to say?” Iceni asked.

What do I want to say? This is primarily a space engagement until someone tries to land troops somewhere, and space is Iceni’s playing field. Besides, this is Black Jack. I don’t want to sound stupid the first time I talk to him. “I’ll just introduce myself this time. You can handle the rest.”

“Really?” Iceni leaned close. “Are you really beginning to trust me, General Drakon?” she teased.

But he knew there was a world of meaning behind that apparently amused comment. And, with at least two groups of powerful enemies vying to kill him right now, Drakon suddenly decided to stop playing the games he had been forced into for many years. “Yes… Gwen.”

Iceni just looked at him in reply, skeptical, her own defenses still up, before finally smiling slightly. “Thank you… Artur.” Settling in her chair again, she nodded to Togo. “Start.”

“This is President Iceni of the independent star system of Midway.” She stopped speaking.

Drakon kept his own voice professionally sharp. “This is General Drakon, commanding officer of Midway’s ground forces.” There. He knows who I am. That’s good enough for now.

“We are happy to welcome your fleet back into our star system,” Iceni continued when she was certain that Drakon was done. “Especially considering current circumstances and previous agreements between us. We will do our utmost to defend our star system against invaders and ask only that you assist us in that task until the people of Midway are once again secure. Kommodor Marphissa, our senior warship commander, has been sent orders to follow your directions unless they conflict with her obligations to defend this star system.

“Be aware that the battleship located at our main military dockyards has functional propulsion but not working shields or weapons at this time, so it cannot be counted upon to assist in the defense of this star system.

“This is President Iceni, for the people, out.”

The transmission ended. Drakon relaxed. “By the time we get a reply, there’ll have been a lot of fighting.”

“Yes,” Iceni agreed. “Perhaps that will let us see what those six new ships can do.”

“We’ve committed our mobile forces, so Black Jack won’t have any reason to doubt our resolve. I wonder how Boyens will react to Black Jack and those new players with him?”

Before she could answer, Colonel Malin returned almost as swiftly as before. “General… Madam President, my research on those six new ships was interrupted by the results of my attempts to localize the tight-beam burst transmission sent earlier from this planet to the Syndicate flotilla. That transmission came from within two kilometers of this command center.”

Drakon looked steadily at Malin as he considered what that implied, what it might mean in terms of the woman he still sat beside. Had she been dealing under the table with him the entire time? “Or from within this command center?”

“I can’t rule that out, sir.”