Page 39 of Reformation
“Then they can be used to relay a message about me to my stepfather, whowillpay for me. He’ll pay anything you ask.” Cody knew that much was true. He hadn’t left things in a very good place with Garrett, but Garrett would never turn away from him.
Corva tilted her head. “That’s a lot of trouble to go to for an uncertain future.”
“Everything about your entire life is uncertain,” Cody said, letting a little of his disdain show. “Your ship is falling apart. Your people live huge parts of their lives in the dark, reduced to their work and nothing else. You have cargo that you can’t easily off-load, not even on Pollux, but you have an expensive hostage to help offset your costs if you play your game right. Wait and see what the fleet can do. Bargain for me. You’ll be surprised at what you get.”
“Perhaps.” Her lips pursed like she was about to spit. “You know, I’m inclined to keep your little friend. Livia says he’s useful.”
“It’s ‘ze,’” Cody corrected. “And trust me when I say that you can’t handle the hurricane Ten would drop on your ship if you tried to separate us.”
Her dark eyes gleamed from within the folds of her drooping eyelids. “Fine. Then you’ll be offered as a package deal, but if I don’t get enough for you? I might rethink my stance on keeping you alive.”
“Understood.”
Well. At least it was all out in the open now.
Chapter twenty-two
Raymond Alexander
Raymond was … vexed. He stared at the hologram of Commander Orwell, who looked decidedly uncomfortable, and waited for the man to begin to sweat before he started speaking. “You’ve had nine standard days to break through Pandora’s shields. Nine. Days.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When I require a comment from you, Commander, I’ll ask you for one,” Raymond snapped. “But as you’re so eager to talk, maybe you can explain to me how a colony of that size can withstand the firepower your ships are bringing to bear on it?”
“Their energy shields are more complex than we initially thought,” Orwell admitted. “And they seem to be bolstering them somehow. The shields are getting smaller—we’ve decimated the outer edges of the city—but they aren’t losing any of their power where they’re in place.”
“Why haven’t you extrapolated from that to figure out how much more of your bombardment is required to completely reduce them and given it to them?”
Commander Orwell frowned. “Two reasons. The first is that a hurricane has been pounding the region for the entire time we’ve been here, big enough that it seriously negates the effects of our plasma weapons. The second is that we haven’t had the opportunity to refuel and resupply our ships since we began the offensive.
“To put it bluntly, sir, we’re running out of firepower. With the Academy’s fleet soon to arrive, it makes sense to save some of our reserves for fighting them.”
Raymond repressed the urge to sigh. “You are an elite fighting force with more than half again the number of ships heading your way, all of them crewed by little more than children, and you’re worried about destroying them? Are you the same man who helmed theRelentlessfor seven years? Because that man was bold—he was a man of action, not a frightened miser.”
It was small motion, the tightening around the corners of Orwell’s mouth, but Raymond noticed it anyway. “I haven’t survived so long out here in the black, doing your will, without keeping a sense of caution,” the commander said, his tone edging toward vicious. “If I’d had accurate information about the shield status over Pandora City, I would have deployed my forces differently. As it stands, whether or not the Alliance ships are adequately crewed, I assume their commanders aren’t useless. They’re going to know how to use their weapons, and we need to be able to protect ourselves and respond in kind.”
“The man leading them is only a marine general. He has no experience commanding a fleet. This really shouldn’t be very hard.”
This time Orwell let his disbelief show openly on his face. If he’d been in the room, Raymond would have slapped him.“Miles Caractacus was the governor of an Alliance planet after spendingdecadesin command of the Alliance Marine Corps. He might not have commanded the ships his troops rode in on, but he has ample experience in both space and ground combat. If you really think otherwise, then I suggest you read up on your history.”
“I suggest you mind your words,” Raymond replied, but internally, he could acknowledge the truth of the accusation. Miles had been an incredibly convenient choice politically, and Raymond was still confident that the dark fleet’s numbers and firepower would overwhelm the Alliance ships, but that Miles was an untested leader in the field … no. “What’s your plan, then? Given that you don’t have time to make a refueling run.”
Orwell shrugged. “We’ll ease off Pandora for the time being. We could send in ground troops to get around the energy field, but there’s no telling what they might be walking into, and my people aren’t accustomed to those sorts of operations. Better to wait until we’ve handled the fleet. Once they’re destroyed, we’ll search the wreckage for parts and fuel, then take the fight to the surface. We’ve scoured the coast for any sort of external defenses and taken them out, so we’ll set down just outside the city and prepare for the incursion.
“The Alliance fleet should be here within the next three to four days, and I don’t anticipate the battle lasting more than one. We’ll be on the ground and moving into the city by the end of the week.”
“Good.” Orwell might be disrespectful, but he was efficient when it came to getting things done. All the same, Raymond wouldn’t be sorry to see him removed. His second-in-command, Captain Abenabad, was standing by to take control once the destruction of Pandora was complete. It was time for new blood to lead, and Abenabad was more loyal to Raymond than he was to Orwell. He’d better be if he wanted to keep the status quo withhis family going. “Contact me again after you’ve taken care of the fleet and before the ground offensive.”
“Understood. Orwell out.” The link ended, and Raymond indulged himself in a deep sigh. The delay wasn’t a flaw in his plan, exactly, more like a little wrinkle that he couldn’t smooth out that disturbed the perfection of it in his mind. It was a cup he couldn’t balance, sending the perfect spin of his political mobile slightly awry.
But then, such things happened. He could acknowledge his own imperfections. Look at what had happened with Kyle.
He’d gone about turning the boy into the right thing the wrong way. Raymond had never had an opportunity like that young, trusting child before, and he never would again. How people could stand to give their offspring the liberty of their own choices … he just couldn’t comprehend it. You gave them everything, tried to mold them in your image, and then they ripped your heart out and betrayed you, over and over again. Raymond still wasn’t sure what he himself had done to make his father lose interest in him, but it must have been painful. And look at howthathad come back to haunt the man.
It was at times like this that Raymond wished he still had something of a relationship with his sister. Berengaria was the only family member he had left—by choice, he reminded himself, it had all been by his own choice—and she refused to see him, just stayed locked in her floating palace, hidden away from the universe.
Perhaps she had it right. The luxury of being able to turn a blind eye was shockingly appealing at times.
