Children of Zanar 1: The Zanari Inheritance Page 22

  Calm, cool confidence washed out from Sienna, walking just ahead of Nirayla, like a wave and Nirayla relaxed. There was nothing wrong. They were just a senior Sister and her novice out on a cruise and they had just stopped off at Monteagle Island to pay a courtesy visit to a valued client of the chapter house. That was all there was to it. Nothing to see here. Move along.

  As they closed the distance, Sienna smiled. ‘I am sorry, Sor Monteagle. I don’t know the correct form of address. Is it simply Sor now, or do you still use your military rank?’

  ‘Commander,’ Monteagle replied in a rough voice which still managed to carry a hint of pride. ‘I use my old naval rank.’

  ‘Commander Monteagle then. I am Sister Sienna, and this is Novice Nirayla. She is accompanying me on a tour of some of the islands on Giltanish Prime and we were hoping that we could see some of yours. Sister Mirganna told me that your patronage of the chapter house here is much appreciated.’

  Monteagle seemed to consider for a second. Then he said, ‘I’d be happy to accommodate you, Sister. Please, follow me.’

  He turned and Nirayla followed, flanked by the two guards. Sienna stepped up shoulder-to-shoulder with the commander and he did not object as she swept along beside him, her skirt sweeping out behind her as she went.

  ‘You seem to have quite a lot of security here, Commander,’ Sienna said, turning it into more of a question.

  ‘A man with my history tends to gather enemies with a desire to make my life shorter,’ Monteagle replied. ‘I was with the Ishara Complex Navy for twenty-five years before going private. We ran anti-piracy operations a lot of the time back then. Things got a lot better during my tenure, but there are still a few men out there who would like to see me dead because of it.’

  Sienna was fairly certain much of the problem had come from the reputation the Kraggans had developed under his leadership and only made worse under his son’s, but mentioning that would not have been diplomatic. ‘A shame to have to carry weapons in paradise.’

  ‘Ha! I’ve been around armed men and women for more than a century. I’m not entirely sure how to behave without them.’ He walked, Sienna noted, with a slight limp in his right leg. It had to have been badly damaged for modern medicine to be unable to fix it entirely. ‘We’ll go up to the roof terrace and have some refreshment,’ Monteagle went on. ‘It’s too beautiful a day to spend too much time indoors.’

  ‘Of course. If your staff will provide some assistance, Nirayla will serve. It’s always useful to practise.’ And, Sienna added into Nirayla’s mind, you can take a look around the more mundane parts of the building while I keep Monteagle sweet.

  Inwardly, Nirayla grimaced, but nothing showed on her face. Of course, she sent back, hoping not too much of her nerves carried with it.

  ~~~

  Watching people do more or less nothing was boring. The guards seemed to operate more on a basis of ‘I’ll patrol when I think I need the exercise’ than anything organised. The patrols they had seen on the cliff had to be coming from the compound on the south side because Garaka’s people spent most of their time in their barracks. Which was a waste considering how beautiful the day was.

  Apparently, two of them decided that it was too nice a day for sitting around inside. Thea figured that the woman was the same one she had seen the night before since, as far as it was possible to tell, there seemed to be only one woman on the team. Together with one of the men, she swam laps in the pool before climbing out and lying in the sun. After a few minutes, it became apparent that these two were ‘close.’ Either that or the woman took turns at keeping her fellow mercs from getting frustrated.

  Are you in position? Thea cast out to Sienna.

  The response was more or less immediate. In position and having a rather nice glass of white wine with our host.

  Nice for some.

  Nice wine, but you know how I feel about men undressing me with their eyes. Right now, the only one not doing that is Xaviran. The three guards he has stationed around us are another matter.

  Thea looked across at the pool. The male guard had got the woman out of her bikini top. The bikini should have been a giveaway: no one did laps in a bikini if their aim was exercise. His guards look serious? I’m getting a soft porn show from the ones at Garaka’s place.

  Quite serious, but I would not say they are especially disciplined. They’re paying far more attention to my cleavage and Nirayla in general than they are to any threat we may pose or any threat which could come from outside. They rely, I think, on the sensor arrays.

  That’s my assessment. Still, Xaviran has his people doing patrols.

  I saw a team going out as we walked in, Sienna confirmed.

  It was a little worrying. They were getting a picture of the security, but Thea was almost certain that Garaka’s end of the island was going to see some significant changes when they turned up. There was no way he kept to this level of security when he was actually on the island. It seemed lax for a location he was about to visit.

  Does Xaviran know Garaka is coming back here? Thea asked.

  I asked about his son and the reply seemed to suggest that he has no idea of what’s going on. I could dig, but he did not appear to be dissembling.

  No. See what you can get without resorting to too much psi. He may have detectors or a personal screen.

  There was humour in Sienna’s reply. I assure you that, from the way he’s reacting to me, he has no personal screen. I’ll see what else I can get.

  Thea focused on the pool for a second. Sure. I’ll just be here watching the porn.

  ~~~

  Xaviran Monteagle had a pool outside his house too. The entire place was on a fairly grand scale, suitable for a retired man who had certainly made enough money to keep him well into old age. So, the pool at Xaviran’s house was overlooked by a huge solarium with a domed roof and an unusual centrepiece.

  ‘What is that unusual robot?’ Sienna asked, gushing enthusiasm. ‘Did you capture it in battle? Is that why it doesn’t have a head?’

  The ‘robot’ stood almost two metres tall without its ‘head.’ The bulk around the torso was added to by the contouring of the armour and the extended back segment which was built out like a backpack. Heavy motor units were apparent around the joints, especially in the legs, suggesting a great deal of power. There were no obvious weapons, unless you included the mass of metal in the armoured hands; the thing almost certainly hit like a train.

  Xaviran rumbled with laughter. ‘Not a robot, Sienna.’ They were already on a first-name basis; Nirayla was quite amazed at the speed with which Sienna had wormed her way into the commander’s affections. ‘That is my old battlesuit. She saved my life many times and, when I retired, I couldn’t bear to see her scrapped or mothballed. She’s a little out of date compared to modern suits, but she could still hold her own in a fight. A bit like me.’

  ‘Commander!’ Sienna exclaimed, putting a hint of a laugh in her voice. ‘I think you may be underselling yourself on purpose.’

  He is, Jinny’s voice said into Sienna’s mind. At least, he’s underselling that suit. Sienna had been sending Jinny what she could see and hear since walking into the room, and Jinny had been analysing as she lay on the foredeck of the boat. That’s a Willgor Star Commander Mark Four. Technically, he’s right that it’s a little outdated, but there aren’t many better heavy powered armour suits around.

  A problem? Sienna asked.

  Everything has a weakness.

  Giltanish System, 10/2/483.

  There was the point in time when space was just space: a near-perfect vacuum aside from the few particles per cubic metre which composed the interplanetary medium. Then there was the point in time where an insignificant portion of that vacuum was filled with ten thousand tonnes of armoured spaceship.

  The crew made immediate sensor checks of the near area and, finding that there were no threats, went about the task of switching power over from the hyperspace engines to the main normal-space
drives in an unhurried fashion.

  Pressor systems engaged, applying thrust with no visible means of achieving it, and the Monteagle’s Prize began to accelerate toward the far-distant orb of Giltanish Prime.

  Sister Clementina, Giltanish Prime.

  Thea emerged into the solarium rubbing at her hair with a towel. She had swum back to the yacht during the night and decided to catch up on some sleep before coming up from her cabin. It was a good two hours after dawn and the sun was blazing in the windows, making the solarium look like a solarium.

  ‘I’ll get you some breakfast,’ Nirayla said, and she started for the hatch.

  ‘Thanks, Nirayla,’ Thea replied. Her attention turned to Sienna and Jinny. ‘So, what do we have?’

  ‘The powered armour is real,’ Jinny said, ‘and good. If he brings it out, countering it will need some specialist weapons.’

  ‘That you have with you?’

  Jinny grinned. ‘I came prepared for more or less anything.’

  ‘More or less?’ Sienna asked.

  ‘Thea never lets me bring anything nuclear. Anyway, I saw at least ten guards. I think they were making up excuses to come out to the jetty to’ – Jinny made air-quote gestures – ‘“make sure I wasn’t up to anything.” I figure we’ve got at least fifteen, probably twenty, in the contingent at Xaviran’s side of the island.’

  ‘There are four at the north compound, but I think that’ll see some reinforcement when Garaka gets here,’ Thea said. ‘We should assume we’re looking at forty. Armament? We’ve seen assault rifles.’

  ‘They patrol in clamshell body armour,’ Sienna said. ‘The weapons looked like needle rifles to me. With underbarrel launchers of some sort.’

  ‘Grenade launchers,’ Jinny added. ‘They’re packing light needlers when they’re not expecting serious trouble. Sub-machine gun profile.’

  Thea pursed her lips. ‘If they stick to clamshell armour and assault rifles, that gives me an advantage up close. At a distance, the rate of fire on a needle coilgun is going to be an issue for both of us, Jin.’

  Jinny shrugged. ‘That’s if they can get a clear shot and I don’t see why we have to give them one. I think I run a diversion at Xaviran’s place, we take out their comms, and you go in to get Kaya.’

  ‘You’ve got something to take out their comms?’

  ‘Heavily inhibit it anyway. I’ve got jammer warheads. Two or three will blanket Xaviran’s compound and if you can drop one in Garaka’s place, it should cut the head off their command structure.’

  ‘Unless they have landlines laid between the compounds.’

  Jinny flashed a grin. ‘Not from the amount of radio traffic Clementina was detecting while we were in dock. I think they use radio for more or less everything.’

  ‘Hardly very secure,’ Sienna said, adding a sniff of distain.

  ‘The underbrush on this island is thick and the soil is thin,’ Thea said. ‘Solid rock under it too. They may not have felt the pain of running a cable, which could probably be detected fairly easily and cut, wasn’t worth the added security.’

  Nirayla emerged from below, holding a tray. The scent of coffee filled the air. ‘Okay, I’m going to wake up the rest of the way, and thank you, Nirayla. Jinny’s plan sounds good, but we’ll need to iron out the details and we don’t know when Garaka’s due to arrive with Kaya.’

  ‘It must be soon,’ Sienna said. ‘We’ve already passed the expected time for their arrival.’

  ‘I guess they don’t have our awesome navigator,’ Jinny said. ‘Let’s face it, we’re going in at night. That means we’ve got the better part of fourteen hours before we even think about kicking this off. Plenty of time.’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ Thea said. ‘Let’s hope Kaya’s in a fit state to be rescued when we do go in.’

  Monteagle’s Prize, Giltanish System.

  Kaya prised her eyes open and was a little surprised to find that she could see. Her head felt like someone had filled it with fog and, as she began to take stock of her senses, her back felt less than perfect, but she could see.

  What she could see was a medical bay, white and sterile, a woman in a white skinsuit who was examining various instruments with a detached air, and Garaka Monteagle. The latter was watching Kaya.

  ‘You’re still in a null field,’ Monteagle said. ‘Your psi won’t work.’ That also explained why the instruments were connected to her via wires: psionic systems did not operate in a null field either.

  ‘No restraints?’ Kaya asked.

  ‘Some restraints.’

  Which was true. Kaya could feel straps around her wrists and waist. Her legs seemed to be free so they weren’t too worried about her kicking someone. Now she considered it, she could feel the press of acceleration working on her; it was possible that the restraints served to keep her in place as well as keeping her down.

  ‘We’ll put you in cuffs and a portable null-field generator shortly,’ Garaka went on. ‘We’re two hours away from Giltanish Prime orbit. I don’t believe we need further measures.’

  ‘I wish you’d decided that a few days ago.’

  ‘Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Don’t give us any trouble and we won’t need to put you in something more restrictive.’

  Kaya shook her head in mild exasperation. ‘I don’t know what Jay told you about me, but I really doubt there’s much I can do to you while I’m stuck in this field.’ Or out of it, but she somehow felt she should avoid mentioning that. He was not going to turn it off anyway.

  Monteagle’s lips actually curled into a smirk. ‘I’m quite sure you could be a nuisance if you wanted to. You be straight with us and I promise you you’ll remain unharmed.’

  Kaya shrugged as best she could. ‘Not like I have a lot of choice.’

  Monteagle Island, Giltanish Prime.

  The dropship’s wide side doors opened and a full squad of twenty mercenaries disembarked to surround the vessel. Each was wearing a light suit of ballistic armour and carrying assault needlers.

  Kaya was sitting in the chair she had been strapped into and waiting for someone to get her out of it. The trip down from orbit had not been much fun since the dropship had no artificial gravity, or motion compensation, and some of the manoeuvres the pilot had performed dropping through the atmosphere to the island had been less than subtle. Plus, true to his word, Monteagle had had her cuffed, but the cuffs were attached to the belt holding her own, personal null-field generator by a fairly short chain. Her legs were free to move, but her arms were barely mobile and she could not grip the seat while the ship pulled high-G turns under her. She was quite sure she had bruises from the seat’s harness.

  It did not help that Jay was sitting opposite her wearing a self-satisfied grin. He said nothing the entire trip, but he watched her, grinning, as though he was looking at his passport to riches and glory. Maybe he was, though Kaya could not see how she was going to provide him with any of that.

  Monteagle undid Kaya’s straps himself while Jay got up and headed for the hatches. ‘Remember, Sora Trevorny,’ Monteagle said, ‘be on your best behaviour.’

  ‘Still nothing much I can do,’ Kaya replied. She got to her feet and followed him out of the ship onto a concrete platform set into cleared space in a rather scruffy-looking jungle. Maybe jungle was the wrong word. Maybe it was more of a forest, but the undergrowth looked thick even if the trees were stunted. Thin soil, but fertile, maybe volcanic.

  It was night, with a clear sky and plenty of stars, but the area was well lit and there was an armoured vehicle of some description waiting for them. Not a large one and it seemed like a lot of the troops would be following on foot. Indeed, only two men and the driver accompanied Kaya, Monteagle, and Jay in the car, but the trip was not exactly long and there were four more guards waiting outside the house they were driven to.

  Monteagle stepped out of the vehicle ahead of anyone else and turned immediately to the guards. ‘Wollgott, Dance, take the prisoner to the downstairs guest roo
m and stand guard outside it. She’s not to be let out of her restraints or her room. You’ll be relieved in two hours.’

  A man and a woman stepped forward to get Kaya out of the car. The woman held Kaya’s arm as they led her toward the front door of the building.

  ‘One other thing,’ Monteagle called out. ‘No one is to enter her room without my express permission.’ There was a slight pause and then he added, ‘Is that understood, Sor Colder?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jay replied. ‘Understood.’

  Kaya found herself grinning at the note of displeasure in Jay’s tone. Okay, so she was a prisoner on a remote island, on a planet which she was fairly sure no one knew she was even on, but Jay had got it in the neck at some point and had just been humiliated in front of the mercs. It was not all bad.

  Sister Clementina.

  ‘Looks like a Fenris-class,’ Jinny said, examining the sensor replay. ‘That’s… a pair of ten-centimetre guns and ten twenty-mil rotary cannons. It’s got missiles and a sixty-mil rotary up front, but they won’t be anything to worry about unless it gets airborne.’

  ‘Which it might do if you start blowing things up,’ Thea countered. ‘As I recall, it can carry thirty troopers. We could have a few more to deal with than I estimated.’

  ‘Maybe, but I doubt it’s enough to make much difference. Maybe you should take out the dropship crew before you hit the compound.’

  ‘You just keep adding these little tasks… Okay, we’ll go in after midnight; let them get comfortable and settled in for the night. We’ll get the sleds set up and then rest up for a couple of hours.’

  ‘Rest?!’ Jinny squeaked. ‘How am I supposed to rest with what I’ve got planned for them?’

  Thea let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Try.’

  Monteagle Island, 11/2/483.

  The first thing the guards in Xaviran Monteagle’s compound knew about the coming attack was the sudden loss of their radar. The man on duty in the communications room was just about to do something about that when a one hundred-millimetre thermobaric warhead detonated right beside the pool and the entire building shook.