Silent Order: Wraith Hand Page 3

  Yet there was the woman, and the Marines had not even glanced at her as she passed.

  The woman saw March staring, and then she smiled.

  “He’s a smart one, Mal,” said the woman.

  March blinked, the realization blurring through his mind, and he saw Caird frown. He was looking at March’s gloved left hand, and then a realization went over Caird’s own expression.

  Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Caird was considerably more than a Calaskaran naval officer. He was, in fact, one of the Kingdom of Calaskar’s most important secrets.

  He was one of the Navigators.

  Which meant that the woman standing next to Caird wasn’t human.

  And that also meant Caird realized that March had once been an Iron Hand.

  “We really do need to talk,” said Caird.

  “Hyperspace first,” said March. “Get that lifeboat undocked.”

  Caird nodded, and March raced across the cargo bay and scrambled back up the ladder. He sprinted down the dorsal corridor and went back to the flight cabin, dropping into the pilot’s acceleration chair, and glanced over the displays. The Ninevehk were engaging the Machinist ships, clouds of fighters and drones rushing to attack each other. The Ninevehk fighters and attack shuttles were still heading for the Tiger, but he had a few minutes before they were in range.

  The hyperdrive was ready, as was the dark energy resonator. Beneath the ready light was a long list of damage to the dark matter reactor. The hyperdrive had just enough power left for one jump, and then the dark matter reactor would need repair.

  March knew that could find that repair in the Eschaton system.

  Assuming, of course, they were not all killed first.

  He pulled the levers, and a thrum went through the ship as the hyperdrive ripped open a tunnel to hyperspace, the Tiger leaving behind normal space and entering its tunnel with a surge of dark energy. March glanced at the displays, checked the status until he was satisfied that the hyperdrive was working and that the resonator’s field was covering the ship.

  If the resonator failed, that would be very, very bad.

  Especially since his guests would have no protection against the macrobes that dwelled in hyperspace.

  Well, Malcolm Caird would be protected, but there was a very good reason for that.

  March nodded to himself and stood up.

  It was time to deal with his guests.

  Chapter 2: Survivors

  Before he left the flight cabin, March took precautions.

  Caird and the Marines were men of the Kingdom of Calaskar, and March would not abandon them to die. Nevertheless, he would not relax his vigilance. It was possible that none of the Marines would know about the Covenant’s true mission, and they might try to take over the ship. That could be disastrous, especially if Lorre’s device fell back into the hands of the Final Consciousness before the Navy could examine it.

  As if the loss of the Covenant and its crew was not already disaster enough.

  March ordered Vigil to lock down the ship’s systems, granting access only to him and him alone. He locked the door to the flight cabin, the armory, and the engine room as he passed. Of course, with their battle armor, the Marines could batter through the doors, but Vigil would not let them access any systems.

  He would have to persuade Caird and the Marines not to make any trouble. That could be a problem. March was good at a lot of things, but talking was not one of them, and he might not be able to convince Caird and the Marines to see reason.

  There was also a possibility that one of the seven men was a traitor.

  Of all the Covenant’s lifeboats, only Caird’s had been able to get away. All the other lifeboats had tried to make for Tamlin’s World and been captured. Only Caird’s lifeboat had headed for deep space. For that matter, the Covenant looked as if it had been ambushed. How had the Machinists known where to find the heavy cruiser?

  Had someone tipped them off about the ship’s mission?

  March checked his gun in its holster, nodded to himself, and headed to the cargo bay.

  When he slid down the ladder, he saw that the Marines had set up camp in the corner. They had also taken off their helmets, which was a good sign. If they had intended to take over the ship, they would have kept their armor on and powered up. The faces March saw looked slack with shock and anger. Their ship had just been blasted out of the sky beneath them, and out of a crew of thousands, they had been the only ones to escape. Caird stood talking with the oldest of the Marines, gesturing, while the Marine nodded, grim-faced.

  The woman stood next to Caird, watching March approach with an odd little smile.

  He put her out of his mind as best he could.

  All seven men looked at March as he approached.

  “Gentlemen,” said March. “We have some things to discuss.”

  “That we do,” said Caird.

  “Best start with introductions,” said March. “My name is Captain Jack March, and this is the Tiger, a privateer vessel with letters of marque from the Kingdom of Calaskar.”

  Caird nodded. “Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Caird, Royal Calaskaran Navy. We spoke over the communications channel.”

  “Captain Nicolas Vasquez, Royal Calaskaran Marines,” said the oldest of the Marines. He was in his mid-thirties, but his face was prematurely lined, and his brown hair had gray at the temples. Evidently, he had seen some things. In the rank structures of the Calaskaran armed forces, a Navy lieutenant commander outranked a captain of Marines. Maybe that was a good sign. That meant March would only have to convince Caird.

  On the other hand, since Caird was a Navigator, that might be a problem.

  “Sergeant Jeffrey Perry,” said the next Marine, a vigorous-looking man with brown eyes and close-cropped red hair that looked like a layer of rust against his scalp. One by one the other Marines gave their name and rank.

  No one introduced the dark-haired woman. March wasn’t surprised.

  “Here’s the situation,” said March. “I arrived at the Tamlin system and ran right into an outer patrol of Machinist interceptors. I fought them off, but one of their missiles got through and damaged my ship’s dark matter reactor.”

  Caird frowned. “Is your dark energy resonator still up?”

  The Marines shifted with unease.

  “Seeing as how none of us have been possessed by macrobes and mutated into monsters,” said Vasquez, “that’s a safe assumption.”

  “It is,” said March. “The dark matter reactor had only enough energy left to power the hyperdrive for one jump. We are on route to the Eschaton system.”

  As he expected, that drew a chorus of reaction from the Marines. Several of the men cursed, and a few crossed themselves. Vasquez and Perry scowled and shared a look, while Caird did not react.

  The woman smiled and tapped one finger against her lips.

  “Are you insane, man?” said Vasquez. “The Eschaton system is not friendly territory.”

  “It’s not hostile territory, either,” said Caird. “The Custodian has stayed neutral in every war we know about, and it hasn’t sent ships out of the Eschaton system. The only time it’s ever engaged in hostile action has been in self-defense.”

  “It’s a demon,” said one of the Marines.

  “It’s an artificial intelligence,” said Caird. “That’s not exactly the same thing.”

  “It turns out to be the same thing in the end,” said Vasquez. “Every single true AI ever built in human history, every single one, inevitably goes insane and homicidal. And you’re taking us into the reach of an AI?”

  “Every single human-built AI went insane,” said Caird. “That’s why our computers are limited to pseudointelligences, not true AIs. But humans didn’t build the Custodian. Some alien race or another did. It’s been in the Eschaton system long before humans ever came to this part of space, long before we ever left primeval Earth a hundred thousand years ago…and so long as it’s left alone, it doesn’t make trouble for anyone.�
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  “But we’re not leaving it alone,” said Perry. “We’re flying into its solar system.”

  “We are,” said March, “but as Commander Caird said, the Custodian has acted as a neutral power, and doesn’t attack unless provoked. There is a station there called Monastery Station. The Custodian permits trade and commerce on the station and enforces neutrality.”

  “Well and good,” said Vasquez, “but once the Machinists and the Ninevehk track our vector and figure out where we’re going, what’s to stop them from following us?”

  “Nothing,” said March, “but if they start a fight at Eschaton, they’ll regret it. The Custodian does not permit fighting in its solar system. If the Machinists or the Ninevehk take a shot at us, the Custodian will kill them all so long as we don’t fire back.” He looked at the others. “Once we arrive at Monastery Station, I will either find a way of repairing the dark matter reactor or hire a ship capable of carrying the Tiger back to Calaskaran space. Then we can drop you off at the nearest base.”

  And March could hopefully hand over the Machinist device to someone in the Navy.

  “It is risky,” said Vasquez.

  “Yes,” said March. “It is. But our options were limited. The hyperdrive had power left for one jump, and the Eschaton system was the only place where we could hope to either repair the reactor or find a ride to friendly territory. Best of our limited options.”

  Vasquez shrugged at last. “A reasonable explanation.”

  “Thank you,” said March. “Though I think I deserve an explanation as well.”

  Vasquez frowned. “For what?”

  “When I exited hyperspace the Covenant was finished,” said March. “The lifeboats had all launched and were heading towards Tamlin’s World, and the Machinists were scooping them up one by one. All except yours, which was heading towards deep space.”

  “Ah,” said Caird. “That was my doing. The Machinists like to take prisoners, and I knew they would try to capture as many of our lifeboats as they could manage. I piloted ours for deep space. I figured we would take our chances with the unknown instead of the Machinists.”

  “We might have starved to death,” said Perry.

  Caird offered a humorless smile. “Better that than what the Machinists do to their prisoners.”

  He was right about that.

  “I also knew the chances were good that we might encounter another ship,” said Caird. He grimaced. “I tried to convince the other lifeboats to head this way, but they refused.”

  “Seems like they should have listened,” said Vasquez.

  “Yeah,” said Caird.

  “What I want to know is why the Ninevehk showed up,” said Vasquez. “Tamlin’s World is a long way from their territory. Why show up in the middle of a battle and demand the surrender of both our side and the Machinists?”

  “I doubt they were showing up to help us,” said March. He suspected the Ninevehk had arrived to try and capture the device in the Tiger’s hold. Most likely Vasquez and the Marines had not known of the Covenant’s real mission.

  “Captain March,” said Caird, “I think it is time that you and I and Captain Vasquez had a discussion.”

  “That seems wise,” said March. “We can use the galley.”

  “Very well,” said Vasquez. “Perry, you’re in charge until I get back. Set up a camp down here. It looks like we’ll be Captain March’s guests for at least few days.”

  “It should be fifty-three hours to the Eschaton system,” said March.

  “Run checks on the systems in your armor as well,” said Vasquez. “I suspect we might have trouble when we arrive at Monastery Station.”

  March agreed with that assessment.

  “This way, please,” he said, and led the way up the ladder to the dorsal corridor. Caird and Vasquez followed, Vasquez’s armor clanking, and March opened the door to the galley. Like the rest of the Tiger, the galley was sparse, with a metal table and a pair of mental benches.

  The woman followed them, silent as ever, but she smiled at March.

  “I would sit,” said Vasquez, “but it might destroy your bench in this armor.”

  “I appreciate that,” said March. He looked at Caird. “Perhaps it’s time to be blunt.”

  “I agree,” said Caird. “Things have gone badly.”

  “Obviously,” said Vasquez, looking back and forth between them. “But what do you mean?”

  “It wasn’t just a gamble,” said Caird. “Flying out into deep space, I mean. I was pretty sure that a ship would be exiting hyperspace somewhere in that area.”

  “Why?” said Vasquez.

  Caird took a deep breath. “What I’m about to tell you is way beyond top secret. It’s beyond your clearance level, and frankly, it’s probably beyond mine. If you breathe a word of this to anyone, at best you’ll go to prison for treason. At worst, you’ll be executed, and your body dumped into space. Am I clear, Captain?”

  Vasquez didn’t blink or look away. “I understand.”

  “All right,” said Caird. “Our primary mission was to do an extended patrol of the Tamlin solar system. Our secret mission was to rendezvous with Captain March and the Tiger.”

  “Why?” said Vasquez. “No offense to Captain March, but privateers are common. Why come all this way to meet the Tiger?”

  “It’s not because of me or the Tiger,” said March, “but because of what the ship is carrying.”

  “Captain March happened to come across a dangerous Machinist weapon,” said Caird. “Our real reason for coming to the Tamlin system was to take possession of the weapon and get it to the Admiralty and their scientists.”

  Vasquez frowned. “How does a privateer get ahold of a dangerous Machinist weapon…aw, hell. You’re Silent Order, aren’t you?”

  “I can neither confirm nor deny that,” said March. He knew that was a useless answer, and both Vasquez and Caird knew it.

  Vasquez was still frowning. “I’ve been on a few operations that had Silent Order involvement. Messy, all of them. Though none as bad as losing a heavy cruiser and two thousand good men.”

  “How did that happen?” said March.

  “Bad luck,” said Vasquez. “We exited hyperspace…an hour ago, was it? God, it feels longer.”

  “Anyway,” said Caird. He seemed to be keeping his head better than Vasquez. March suspected that the naval officer had been through a few more disasters. The woman standing behind him was proof of that. “Those Machinist ships were waiting for us in orbit around Tamlin’s World. The Covenant and its crew put up a hell of a fight. Took down a few of the capital ships and most of the carrier’s fighters. But in the end, we were overwhelmed.”

  “The Covenant and its crew?” said March. “You weren’t part of the regular crew?”

  “No,” said Vasquez. “He wasn’t. He came aboard at Manzikert Station before we left on our patrol.”

  “Captain Vasquez is correct,” said Caird. “I joined the crew as the senior navigator.”

  “Appropriate for a Navigator,” said March, wanting to see how Caird would react.

  The woman smiled, but Caird only nodded. “My real mission was to ensure that we took delivery of the Machinist weapon from you and that we brought it back to Manzikert.”

  “This weapon,” said Vasquez. “What does it do?”

  “I don’t know,” said March. He looked at Caird. “I don’t suppose you happen to know?”

  Caird shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Think it’s some kind of brainwashing device,” said March. “The Machinist sympathizer I took it from implied he could use it to convert someone into a Machinist agent.”

  “They can do that already,” said Vasquez. “Take people and turn them into drones.”

  “It’s obvious, though,” said March. The fingers of his left hand twitched. “If someone is turned into part of the Machinist hive mind, their blood is replaced with nanobots, and large portions of their bodies are replaced with cybernetic
implants. That can’t be hidden, which is why the Final Consciousness recruits fully human agents for spies and covert operations. The Machinist sympathizer implied that the device could turn someone into an agent without their knowledge.”

  “Is that possible?” said Vasquez.

  “Damned if I know,” said March. “That’s why I wanted to get it to the Navy’s scientists.”

  “How did the Machinists know we were coming?” said Vasquez.

  “The Machinist agent who had the device escaped,” said March. “The machine must be important enough to the Final Consciousness that it sent capital ships to recapture or destroy it.”

  “And to kill two thousand men of the Royal Calaskaran Navy,” said Vasquez, his temper flaring. “Just to get this damned toy of theirs.”

  “Yes,” said March. “That is what the Final Consciousness is. That is what we are fighting. The Machinists killed billions of people on Martel’s World to keep them from joining the Kingdom of Calaskar. Killing two thousand crewers is nothing to them. They think they’re going to remake humanity and transform us into galaxy-spanning cybernetic gods. A few trillion dead here and there won’t make much difference to them.”

  He realized that he had said more than he intended, and he forced himself back to calm. Vasquez was staring at him, but the Marine captain looked impressed. Perhaps he thought the same way.

  “What I would like to know,” said Caird, “is what the Ninevehk were doing there.”

  Vasquez shrugged. “Maybe that was just bad luck. Their last transmission demanded the surrender of all human forces in the system, and I doubt they distinguish between the Final Consciousness and other human nations.”

  “Maybe they were after the Machinist device as well,” said Caird.

  “I can’t imagine why,” said March. “It wouldn’t work on them. Their biochemistry is similar enough to ours that they can eat humans…”

  “Which they do enthusiastically,” said Caird. Vasquez shuddered.

  “But a machine configured to work on a human neurological system wouldn’t work on a Ninevehk brain,” said March. “Maybe the Ninevehk were just on a hunt. They do that sometimes when they think they can get away with it.”