Nova War

It said volumes that Sal waited for a nod from Briggs before replying.

That used to be me, Corso realized – unquestioningly loyal. But so much had changed, and both Sal and the Senator seemed more like figments from some terrible, half-remembered dream.

'I know you think I've betrayed our friendship, but there's too much at stake here, Lucas,' Sal replied tersely. 'We can't afford the niceties now. I'm sorry about what happened – really, truly sorry – but, given the magnitude of what's happening here, we're lucky the Freehold is being allowed to get involved at all.'

'That's enough, Mr Mendez,' Hua said, sharply cutting him off. 'Lucas, we're sorry about what happened to you, but you should consider yourself lucky to even be alive. Immortal Light approached us – by "us" I mean the Consortium – and asked for our help in their interrogations, in return for partnership in exploiting the derelict starship located somewhere on this station. They needed what was lodged inside your head, and they needed it fast. However, we made sure they stuck to a more conventional approach in interrogations, rather than, say, dissecting you at the start.'

'Is that supposed to reassure me?' Corso demanded.

Hua glanced at an aide seated by Corso's other side. 'Read him the second situation summary, Mr Cohen.'

'Sir,' Cohen replied, glancing down at a screen nestling in his palm. 'The Nova Arctis expedition was monitored by in situ agents acting on behalf of the Consortium, following information received of the recovery of an artefact of unknown origin. They subsequently reported on events leading up to and immediately prior to destruction of the system.' The aide looked directly at Corso as he concluded. 'Your subsequent detainment on Ironbloom was with the explicit permission of a secret committee of the Consortium Central Administration, and on the recommendation of the Ministry of External Intelligence, following consultations with court advisers of the Queen of Immortal Light.'

'Our presence in this system is a secret, Mr Corso,' Hua added. 'The Freehold have been permitted to join us simply because their new government offered their full cooperation when we demanded information about Nova Arctis. If things work out the way we hope they will, representatives of the Consortium as well as Immortal Light will soon be opening negotiations with the Emiss-'

Corso couldn't hold it in any more, and he dissolved into hysterical laughter.

Briggs slammed the table with one hand, her face as red as the morning sun and a lot angrier. 'Lucas Corso, you will pull yourself together.'

Hua didn't look happy either. He was about to say something, when one of the troopers hurried over. 'General, we've secured this ring for now, but that's about all we can manage without stretching ourselves too thin. The Immortal Light contingent appear to be fighting their own people here to get control of the station. There's a lot of fighting on the alpha and delta rings as well.'

'Do we even know where the derelict is yet?'

The soldier nodded. 'It's on Ring Gamma, the central ring, and heavily defended by automated systems. Lieutenant Nairit suggests maintaining our command post here, and sending a force to rendezvous with the rest of the Immortal Light forces there.'

Hua nodded. 'Do it,' he replied, turning back to Corso. 'The only reason you're here at all is because Immortal Light believed you were as important as Dakota Merrick. That was their mistake, and meanwhile she's been taken by the enemy. Now we find the Emissaries have dropped all communications with us. The fact remains, however, that you did develop communications protocols that got the Freehold deep inside another derelict. We brought with us the same equipment you used back in Nova Arctis, and we're going to want you to get us inside this derelict, too.'

'Let me be frank.' Corso shook his head. 'You can't hope to do anything with the derelict as long as Dakota Merrick is anywhere in this system.'

'So she is here?' asked Langley, leaning forward.

Corso nodded. 'She has a special affinity with the derelict, something I… I can't quite explain. Unless you've brought your own machine-heads, you don't stand a chance in hell of getting anywhere near that derelict.'

Corso didn't miss the sudden tension in the air, or the flash of alarm crossing Hua's face before he recovered his carefully neutral expression. 'You seem awfully well informed, Mr Corso.'

Corso glanced over at Honeydew, who stood nearby, watching the proceedings.

'I heard some things,' Corso replied quietly.

'Did she mention anything about… other people like herself?' Hua asked carefully.

Sitting next to Hua, Briggs wore an expression like an angry snake about to bite its victim to death. They're hiding something, Corso thought, glancing again over at Honeydew. There's something they don't want Honeydew to know.

For some reason his gaze next settled on Langley, the only apparent civilian present apart from himself and Sal.

Other people? He wondered. People like Dakota?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that the Consortium would have brought along other machine-heads to try and take control of the derelict.

Perhaps even without Immortal Light's permission or knowledge.

'Sir.' Corporal Roche approached Hua to confer quietly. Roche then pointed upwards, and Corso raised his head to gaze at the surface of the gas giant wheeling past the ring's enormous windows. Then he realized the Corporal was actually pointing towards an Emissary ship, all sharp edges and jutting spines, which was currently docking with the station's hub. Corso now saw with a start that two other Emissary ships had already docked, and another was on its way.

'That's an Emissary ship,' Briggs muttered. 'I thought the idea was they were going to hold back for now.'

'Oh, Christ and Buddha in a whorehouse.' Corso stared wildly around the table. 'Listen, we need to get out of here. Now. I mean now.'

Hua stared at him with open suspicion. 'Why is that, Mr Corso?'

'What do you mean "why?"' Corso demanded. 'Haven't you ever met one of the damn things?'

'As a matter of fact, no,' Hua replied. 'No human has – at least, not with anything beyond one of their client species.'

Corso stared at the General in horror. 'Well, I met one. And I hope to never meet another.'

There was a muffled explosion somewhere in the distance. They all looked in the same direction, to see a thin trail of smoke rising from out of dense foliage less than a kilometre away – close to one of the ring's external walls.

'We just lost contact with perimeter station beta zero nine, General,' said the Corporal. 'That's one of the ring-side spoke stations.'

'Get our men there now!' Hua ordered, standing as he spoke. 'I think the rest of us should get ready to move in case we're being specifically targeted. I think it's time to head for Ring Gamma.'

He turned to Corso. 'What happened when you met the Emissary?' he asked forcefully, while several troopers piled into a transport and roared down the hill towards the source of the explosion.

'It asked me if I knew where God lived and, when I couldn't answer, it ripped a Bandati in half in front of me. Ask Honeydew; he was there. Frankly, General, those things make the Shoal look like kittens by comparison.'

Something roared in the distance, an enraged bellow that only Corso had heard before.

'That's an Emissary,' he told the General, 'and that means everybody has to get away from here before they come any closer. Believe me when I tell you that you don't know what you're dealing with.'

'The only place you're going is wherever we tell you to,' Briggs snapped, but Corso could see the lines of apprehension evident in her face.

'Sir, the transport just reported in.' Another trooper, a tall, dark-haired woman, had stepped up to Hua. 'They're engaging-'