The Trafalgar Gambit

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Well, Captain,” Doctor Hastings said. “How are you feeling?”

James scowled at her. “Like I’ve been shot,” he said. His palm ached terribly. “What happened to me?”

“You were shot,” Doctor Hastings said. She ignored his glare with practiced ease. “You took three bullets to the chest, Captain. Frankly, you’re damn lucky to have survived long enough to reach sickbay. You’ve got the constitution of a horse.”

“I must have bonded with them,” James muttered. He’d always enjoyed riding as a child, even though Aunt Cecilia had watched him like a hawk every time he dared to ride one of her precious horses. “And my hand?”

“They cut your ID implant right out of your hand,” the Doctor said. “And then they used it to open hatches throughout the ship. Good thing there weren’t more of them or they might have managed to overwhelm the crew and take the Old Lady for themselves.”

James swore, feeling his head threatening to explode. The Russians had clearly managed to put their plan into action, despite their best precautions. In hindsight, they should have grabbed the Russians from the start and thrown them into the brig, despite the diplomatic nightmare it would have caused. But they hadn’t and he’d been shot and…

He shook his head. “The ship,” he asked, urgently. “What happened to her?”

“Intact and operational,” Doctor Hastings said. She took a breath. “The Admiral wishes to speak with you as soon as possible. I’d prefer to put you back under, Captain, but if you feel up to talking to him…”

“Please,” James said. “Call him.”

The Admiral arrived two minutes later, looking tired and worn. James reminded himself that Admiral Smith had been the commanding officer of Ark Royal for years before his promotion, long enough to hold the ship firmly in his heart. Seeing her… violated in such a manner, through the darkest treachery, had to hurt. They hadn’t reacted so badly to the aliens who’d boarded the ship during Operation Nelson, but they’d been known enemies. The Russians, on the other hand, had pretended to be allies.

“Captain,” the Admiral said. “It’s good to see you awake.”

There had been a time, James recalled, when the Admiral would probably have been glad to have him out of the way. The older and more mature officer he’d become cringed at the memory of just what sort of fool he’d been as a young man. But now… the Admiral genuinely regretted his injuries. James felt a pang of bittersweet affection for the older man as the Admiral sat down next to the bed.

“Thank you, sir,” he said. He looked down at the bandages covering his chest. “What’s our current status?”

“I’d tell you not to worry, but it would be pointless,” the Admiral said, ruefully. “The ship is safe, for the moment. Commander Williams has taken over command and is supervising the effort to clear up the mess. Right now, we have thirty-two dead crewmen and fifty-seven injured, but no serious long-term damage to the Old Lady herself.”

James winced. Those crewmen had died under his command. He’d lost officers and crewmen before, during Operation Nelson, but it still stung. And all the worse, he reflected, for the treachery the Russians had used. Losing people to the aliens didn’t hurt so badly, somehow. He had known the aliens would do their best to kill him and his subordinates.

“What we do have is a diplomatic nightmare,” the Admiral continued. “The aliens want answers and, so far, we don’t know what to tell them.”

“The truth,” James suggested. “They have factions of their own. I think they’d understand if we explained that one of our factions tried to do something stupid.”

“The bioweapon came very close to being deployed,” the Admiral said. “If they find out what the Russians tried to do…”

James smirked. “Tell them something along the same lines, but not too horrific,” he suggested. “The Russians might have wanted to drop a dirty bomb into the planet’s atmosphere instead.”

“Or even kill our diplomats on the surface,” the Admiral said. He sighed. “The Russians killed their diplomats too. We’re working on coming up with some sort of explanation, but it’s going slowly. They’re not going to be pleased about losing their people to a faction fight among humans.”

“And killing ambassadors is practically a declaration of war,” James said.

“Merciless war,” the Admiral agreed. “We need to keep a sharp eye on the other diplomats too — the human diplomats. God knows if they have plots of their own up their sleeves.”

“True,” James agreed.

“I don’t understand it,” the Admiral confessed. “What the hell were they thinking?”

“They thought they couldn’t lose,” James speculated. He felt very tired, suddenly. His chest ached with sudden pain. “It’s the aristocratic delusion. You’re born to power, you understand power… and you don’t really think you can lose. You sport and play with your victims, convinced that — if they bit back — you could handle it. That they would suffer far worse than you.”

He sighed. “But you never really believe there might be someone more powerful than yourself out there.”

“No,” the Admiral agreed.

“We’ll have to do something in response,” James continued. “The Russians cannot be allowed to get away with attempted genocide and trying to restart the war.”

“No,” the Admiral agreed. “But that, I suspect, will be up to the diplomats.”

He stood. “I’d advise you to sleep, Captain,” he said. His face twitched into a grin, clearly remember James urging him to rest. “You may have to go home the express route.”

James looked down at his chest and shuddered. “I hope not, sir,” he said, although he knew it wouldn’t be the Admiral’s decision. “I can’t leave the ship.”

“She’s in good hands,” the Admiral assured him. “Rest now.”

He strode out of the room. James sighed and lay back on the bed, trying not to give in to the wave of bitterness and anger that threatened to overcome him. He’d need months, if not years, to recover from his wounds and there was no way the Admiralty would leave Ark Royal without a formal commanding officer for that long. They’d probably promote Commander Williams to Captain when the ship returned to Earth. There might be another carrier command in his future, he knew, but it wouldn’t be Ark Royal.

Maybe it will be one of the new carriers, he thought. Uncle Winchester had offered him a post on the design crews, pointing out that they needed officers with genuine experience to help them avoid old mistakes. No one had built a carrier like Ark Royal for sixty years. But he’d refused the offer at the time, intending to remain in command of the Old Lady. Now… now he might not have a choice. He wouldn’t be seeing action again anytime soon.

“Lie still, Captain,” the Doctor advised.

James started. He hadn’t even heard her walking up to the bed.

“I need a status report,” James said. “Can you ask Anderson to send someone to brief me…”

The doctor pushed something against his neck. James had barely a moment to recognise it as an injector before his head started to spin. Moments later, he was completely unconscious.

“She’s a normal human, for a given value of normal,” Parnell said, as Ted entered the brig. Doctor Galina Bezukladnikov sat on a chair in the cell, her arms cuffed behind her back. “But her companions were all augmented cyborgs.”

Ted cursed. No wonder they had caused so much havoc.

“And we missed it,” he said. “How did we miss it?”

“We didn’t do any deep scans,” Parnell said. “They didn’t look like normal cyborgs, not like the ones we landed on New Russia. As long as we didn’t scan them thoroughly, they could pass for normal without fear of detection. The implants must have been completely stepped down until they went active, sir. We didn’t have a clue they might have any form of enhanced abilities.”

“Clearly our security precautions need to be revised,” Ted muttered. The Admiralty would probably have a great many scathing things to say about the whole affair. He had a feeling the post-battle assessment would be unfriendly, if only to ensure that other commanding officers didn’t repeat their mistakes. “Next time, we’d better take the liner with us instead of housing the diplomats on the ship.”

“Yes, sir,” Parnell said. He nodded towards the girl in the cell. “Someone did some fiddling with her brain, Admiral. Doctor Bezukladnikov may not be completely human.”

“Shit,” Ted said. “Has she said anything?”

“Nothing,” Parnell said. We scanned her body thoroughly, Admiral, once we took her into custody. There were a handful of oddities, but nothing that would allow her to break out of the cell and cause havoc. Her ultimate disposition might depend on what happens when we return home.”

Ted nodded. The Russians would probably claim their agents had gone rogue. In their place, he would have had a contingency plan for outright failure. The agents had had families on New Russia, they’d planned their operation without consulting their superiors, no one on Earth had known what they’d had in mind, etc, etc. They wouldn’t be believed, Ted was sure, but it was quite possible the government would snatch at their excuses as a fig leaf to justify taking no direct action. The human race couldn’t afford an internal struggle, not now.

But they attempted to commit genocide on a terrifying scale, he thought, bitterly. The Holocaust was nothing compared to what the Russians had in mind.

He shuddered. As far as anyone could tell, the bioweapon had been completely vaporised when the two starfighters died. It certainly should have been vaporised, Ted knew, although the remaining researchers had been unwilling to commit themselves to any definite statements. They’d hemmed and hawed before admitting that they’d designed the bioweapon for maximum survivability. In the end, Ted knew, they’d just have to pray the bioweapon had been destroyed and no tiny fragments would make it through the planet’s atmosphere and down to the ground. If they did…

They must have been out of their minds, he thought. Humans tracked disease outbreaks with suspicious eyes, knowing just what an unscrupulous medical researcher could do with a lab and bad intentions. There’s no way such an outbreak could be regarded as anything natural, not when it was targeted on the entire biosphere. They’d know we intended to commit genocide…

… And if the war continues, we might have to do it again.

Parnell coughed. “Admiral?”

Ted hesitated, replaying their conversation in his mind. “Keep her here, for the moment,” he ordered. “We’ll take her back to Earth and hand her over to the intelligence officers there. I doubt the Russians will complain about us holding her, under the circumstances.”

“Others will complain,” Parnell said. He snorted. “I don’t think the remaining researchers have quite realised that she betrayed them. They want her back.”

“Ignore them,” Ted ordered. “Keep her in the cell.”

Parnell saluted. Ted nodded, then turned and walked out of the brig, heading down towards Pilot Country. The pilots, according to Commander Williams, had been badly shocked to lose Kurt Schneider, even though he’d died heroically. Ted understood. Whatever his faults, and he’d had many, Kurt Schneider had been a good commanding officer, very much a father to the young men under his command. There had been older units, built from officers and men over years, that hadn’t survived the loss of a beloved commanding officer. Or even any commanding officer.

And how, he asked himself, would Ark Royal react to losing a Captain?

He pushed the thought aside as he stopped in front of the CAG’s office, then keyed the switch to open the hatch. Inside, Commander Rose Labara sat at her former lover’s desk, staring down at the latest readiness reports. Doctor Hastings had warned that Commander Labara was physically healthy, after the Marines had recovered her from the office, but mentally unstable. She should have been placed on medical leave — and would have been, Ted knew, if he’d had any replacement for her. The only person who could take her place was Prince Henry and he didn’t have anything like as much experience.

“Commander,” he said.

Rose Labara started, then rose to her feet. “Admiral,” she said. Her face was stained with tears. The uniform she wore was crumpled, making her look sloppy or — worse — careless. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ted said. He’d never been one for military formalities. “Everyone needs time to mourn.”

She would have been discharged after the return to Earth, he knew, and spent the rest of her life with her lover, if fate hadn’t intervened. Ted couldn’t help wondering just how long their relationship would have lasted when one of the partners was far older than the other one. It was no solid basis for a relationship. And they would have given up their careers for each other…

Would there have come a time, Ted asked silently, when you cursed him for surrendering to your charms and taking you in his arms?

He pushed the thought aside, annoyed. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said. “I believe he was a good man, merely… misguided.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” Rose said, tartly. “Will you write that on the memorial stone after the end of the war?”

“I think so,” the Admiral said. He paused. “We recovered a handful of datachips from the Russians, Commander, including one that held recordings of your… activities. I doubt they’re the only ones they have, but I don’t think they’re likely to release the recordings now that Commander Schneider is dead. Even if they did…”

He shrugged. “He died well, Commander,” he added, “even though the truth will probably never be told. There will be an investigation, but your career should be safe.”

Rose shook her head. “I showed poor judgement during wartime,” she said. “How could my career be safe?”

“You also showed good judgement when you were confronted by blackmailers and threatened with exposure,” Ted pointed out. “I believe it was you, Commander, who insisted that Schneider bring his problem to my attention. Everyone makes mistakes — and your mistake was pretty damn stupid — but you also managed to deal with the consequences despite the threat of exposure.”

“And now Kurt is dead,” Rose said. She looked down at the desk, shaking her head helplessly. “What will become of his children?”

“I think they will be fine,” Ted said. He frowned at her doubtful expression. “They will have to come to terms with losing a father, of course, but they won’t suffer because of his mistake.”

“I hope you’re right, sir,” Rose said. “What will happen now?”

Ted studied her for a long moment. Starfighter pilots lived fast and burned out early, unless they saw the writing on the wall and transferred to other duties before it was too late. The certainty of death or the loss of everything that made life worthwhile had eventually driven her into her lover’s arms. And now…

He sighed Rose’s life had changed over the course of the mission, confronting her with the prospect of losing her career… and then losing a lover. At least they hadn’t broken up, the romantic in Ted thought, even though he knew it was absurd. She’d merely watched him being marched off to his death instead. There was no way that wouldn’t leave a scar.

“You will resume your duties,” he ordered, reluctantly. He’d have to recall Prince Henry from the surface too, just to have someone who could take her place, if necessary. “If we manage to get back to Earth without further ado, you will be able to make some judgements and decisions about your future then. I would advise you to consider a permanent transfer to the Academy” — if they’ll take you, his thought added silently — “or another division.”

She didn’t argue. She didn’t even look angry at his suggestion. And that was worrying.

“Yes, sir,” she said, instead. “Will there be a service for him?”

“There will,” Ted said. He paused, then leaned forward. “Commander… the starfighter pilots on this ship have never lost a commander before now. You will need to work with them, to keep them busy… they can’t be allowed to brood. And I can’t allow you to brood either.”

“I understand, sir,” Rose said. She looked up, meeting his eyes. “What will you tell his children?”

“That their father died bravely,” Ted said. It wasn’t, technically, his job to write the letter to the next-of-kin, but he might make an exception in this case. “I wasn’t planning to go into details.”

“Yes, sir,” Rose said. “Thank you, sir.”

Ted was tempted to ask what, if anything, Commander Schneider’s children had known of the affair, but he held his tongue. Instead, he took one final look at her, then started to walk towards the hatch. And then he turned back.

“Get a shower, Commander, then dress in a clean uniform and get out there,” he ordered. “I wish I had time to let you rest, but I have none. The war may not be over.”

“Aye, sir,” Rose said. She stood, reluctantly. “I’ll do my duty.”

“That has never been in doubt,” Ted said.

He smiled, humourlessly. The investigators might disagree, but he hadn’t been able to find any signs that Kurt Schneider had pulled strings on his lover’s behalf. Rose hadn’t been promoted at his command. She’d earned her rank, as far as Ted could tell. But then, almost all of the survivors of their first mission had been promoted. Rose was merely one of a handful who had stayed with Ark Royal.

“I know it isn’t easy to lose a loved one,” he added. Others might be able to visit a counsellor, but how could Rose when her affair had been thoroughly illicit? “If you need to talk, Commander, you may talk to me.”

He nodded to her, then turned and strode out of the hatch.