this position.
Les uttered maledictions under her breath. Her body was not responding well due to the pain, and probably to the previous strenuous activity—had it affected her mind also? She must think straight. Was Ellicott in on the conspiracy, or had Stu planned this for such a long time that he could arrange appointments? An idiot in charge would make a coup easier.
She continued to read Ellicott’s history, hoping to find a clue. Ellicott’s career did not commend him for this position. So bland, so ordinary, and somehow so wrong. Too perfect, too cut and dried. Almost as if—as if it were a cover profile. Her head snapped up. Could it be?
Stupid old woman! Think!
She took a deep breath—difficult to do with the increasing weight on her chest—and made her decision. She tapped into the channel the commander was using. “Commander Ellicott, this is Colonel Bayleson.”
“Colonel? Where are you? What is going on?”
“Where I am is unimportant. I need you to go to your office. Alone. Now.”
While she waited, she forced herself to take deep, even breaths, but her mind refused to clear, and the heaviness in her chest grew to a sharp pain. What she needed was a nap.
“I’m here,” she heard him say. “Now what is it?”
She blinked, forcing herself alert. What was the current pass-phrase? “Ellicott, I once saw a ship embedded in a rock.”
A pause. In a low voice he said, “It was written that way.”
Les relaxed in the chair. He knew the answer. “Indeed. So. Stop the bumbling act. The Orionis Axis plan to disable this station and seize control. This is going to take ingenuity, and I’m only an old woman stuck in a small room. I am downloading pertinent information to your office’s terminal. All the station’s functions are under my direct control at the moment. They have ships due to arrive within a few hours. I shall unlock all weapons systems so you can take care of any external threats.”
“Yes, this base’s weapons and fighter wings can handle virtually any attack. I’ll get the ships docked on both military rings and those on sector patrol into high alert. But what about internally?”
“The OA on this base, and their accomplice, retired Colonel Stu Graham, are scattering as they know I am on to them.”
“How many are there on station?”
“Unknown. The group that tried to kill me consisted of a dozen men, but two are now dead and one disabled. I don’t know how many others there might be. As I can pinpoint various signals from hacked frequencies, I can direct your men to where individuals or perhaps small groups of them are, so have your men ready.
“My overrides should keep them out of here, but by now they know where I am, and will try to figure out a way in. You must take charge in case they succeed. I assume that you know which of your men can be trusted, and that you’ve been monitoring the OA and their activities, waiting for this?”
“Yes, but we didn’t think it would happen this soon. From what I can see, you have the situation well in hand though.”
“For the moment. However, that could change. Who knows what confederates they have.” Like Stu.
“From our intelligence, most of them will be in the ships. Their plan, what I know of it, was to disable the base’s security. Many of my men were ‘placed’ by Graham, as was I. He thinks they have sufficient numbers either on their side, or incompetent enough, that they will encounter little resistance. With your help, I think we can nail these lunatics once and for all.”
“I do have one question.”
“Yes, Colonel?”
“Stu. Do you know why he’s turned traitor?”
Silence. Ellicott finally said, “We think it was because of Mars.”
“Bitterness, then? Not greed or power?”
“Who knows what they might have promised him. But since retiring, he’s become vocal over that disaster, saying it wasn’t just mishandled, but that you were all deliberately set up. That’s our guess at motive. He wants our government set into chaos and thrown down.”
Memories of Mars flooded over Les again and she clenched her jaw as she took a deep breath. A debacle, yes, but incompetence, not malice, had caused it; and those responsible had paid with the ruin of their careers. Les had seen to that surreptitiously, using Marcus. It had been her duty to all those who died. She closed her eyes as she saw and heard it all again, a nightmare that never faded. Would that she could find peace.
“Colonel?” Ellicott’s voice broke through her dark reveries.
Les shook free with a frown. “Let’s get to work, Commander.”
= = =
The next few hours remained tense. Inside the base, Ellicott’s men hunted the radicals.
Orionis Axis ships jumped in, mostly smaller vessels, frigate class with medium particle weapons, and strike carriers outfitted with shuttles. No war cruisers. They must have planned to disable the base’s defenses from the inside then have their ships deliver more crew and weapons, not take on Orion Station in an overt strike. A good strategy against the formidable star base but it had turned into a slaughter.
A small red light drew Les’ attention. All pre-igniters for the four fusion reactors had been brought online and the magnetic confinement was being boosted. An overload. Can’t take control of the base so you’re going to destroy it, eh? Les snorted. Not while I’m alive! But—how did someone get in the primary control room with her lockdowns in place?
She notified security and opened both audio and visual for the control room. Stu. How had he obtained clearance codes to override hers? No—not hers. The station’s. Fool! Why had she not used her own?
She pursed her lips in a tight smile as she locked out the command functions using her personal override, still active all these years after construction. Stu grunted and began banging on the now dead control panels, stating his opinion of their ancestry and sexual preferences.
Les’ stomach churned with bitterness for the betrayal of someone who had been not only her friend, but her comrade-in-arms, her brother.
“It won’t work, Stu,” she breathed into the comm. Stu jerked around, looking up—prey aware of being stalked. She touched a control. “Magnetic confinement returned to normal.” Her fingers flitted over the panel. “Pre-igniters offline. I will not let you kill my Baby.”
He shook his fists in the air. “You always were obsessed by this place. It’s only a thing, Les! A star base.”
“You planned to use Orion Station as headquarters for your subversive activities. Did you think I wouldn’t try to stop it if I found out? You know what this place means to me.”
“It’s strategic. And once we had this sector locked down, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”
“It’s too late, now. You’ve lost. So tell me why.”
“Because of Mars! I don’t need to tell you what they did to us. They led us into a trap and ignored our pleas for help.”
Would Stu even listen to the truth? No. His mind was made up. “So you help these murderers?”
“That’s all men are, you know that. Murderers and liars. It’s just a matter of which group you associate yourself with.”
Before Les could reply, the door burst open and Stu turned, swinging his weapon up at the security detail. Two men fired. His body fell to the cold, metal plating. Les closed her eyes with a swift inhale. Stu. My old friend. How could it come to this? The sharp pain in her chest swelled. She clenched her jaw, willing her rebellious body to obey her. “No,” she hissed. “Not until Baby is safe.”
She focused on the display in front of her, compelling every ounce of discipline and control she possessed to keep her body functioning. Soon. She could let go soon. She had done her duty one last time.
Ellicott called all secure a few minutes later. “I’m on my way, Colonel. I want to thank you in person.”
Les smiled, leaning back in the chair while her gaze drifted about the room, the mind and heart of her Baby. She unlocked her override, and closed her eyes as darkness began to enve
lop her, easing her pain—and her regrets.
= = =
Ellicott entered the room to see a frail-looking woman with short, blue-grey curls seemingly asleep in the chair, a peaceful smile on her face.
END
This story takes place approximately one thousand years before Slap and Tristan.
The Confederated Terran Republic, of which Col. Leslie Bayleson was a part, eventually suffered from a massive civil war resulting in a loss of technology and a splintering into small, interstellar nation-states. These slowly grow into the various galactic governments which exist during the time of the Deuces Wild stories.
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