The Twice and Future Caesar by R. M. Meluch Read Free Book Online

specialist ran down the code. “Life pod’s signal traces back to
Bernini
. That ship is no longer extant.”
    â€œThen tell me what kind of ship
Bernini
was when it existed,” Calli said.
    There was a pause and a hitch while the specialist ran the query twice. “Pacific Consortium make, Xerxes model. Italian-flagged ambassadorial craft. Reported stolen.”
    The words hit the command deck like a grenade.
    The signals specialist kept reading, “Destroyed in ’forty-seven. That was last year.”
    Yes. Most of us saw that happy event
.
    The Xerxes class ship hadn’t been called
Bernini
then. The pirates who hijacked the Italian ambassadorial craft
Bernini
rechristened it
Bagheera
.
    â€œCan’t be,” Dingo said. “We saw that ship die.”
    â€œWe did,” Calli said. As much as anyone could really see anything out here. You were dependent on sensors to tell you what you saw.
    Bernini
/
Bagheera
died a very showy death with a lot of credible witnesses to verify it, including Caesar Numa’s own patterner.
    Dingo Ryan suggested, “The pirates must have ballasted their life pods sometime earlier.”
    Calli shook her head. “You actually think this is a life pod that someone picked up at a surplus outlet?”
    â€œYou’re right,” Dingo backed away from his suggestion. “That doesn’t explain what this life pod is doing appearing suddenly in the middle of nowhere with a live person inside.”
    â€œThis is not the middle of nowhere,” Calli told Dingo. “It’s
right in front of us
.”
    Dingo said, “Trap.”
    Calli nodded. No question. “Trap.”
    Someone behind her—had to be one of the Marine guards flanking the hatch—blurted, “Sir! What if it’s Colonel Steele?”
    All personnel on deck stirred. Colonel TR Steele had been the commander of
Merrimack
’s half battalion of Fleet Marines. He’d vanished months ago. In fact he vanished the same day the pirate ship
Bagheera
died.
    Calli had never realized just how vital that man was to this ship until she didn’t have him. She felt a massive amount of surprised hope rise suddenly on her command deck. Everyone wanted to believe it was Colonel Steele.
    Calli felt a chill. “It’s not,” she said, dead firm.
    I should shoot it. White flag be damned.
That pod was registered to a pirate ship.
    She could make a bomb-proof case in front of a board of inquiry as to why she blew away a lifeboat signaling an SOS and showing a white flag.
    â€œTargeting!”
    â€œTargeting, aye.” Targeting sounded nervous.
    â€œGet me a lock on the life pod.”
    â€œLock, aye.”
    â€œFire Control.”
    â€œFire Control, aye.” Fire control sounded frightened.
    â€œSend the trigger up here.”
    â€œAye, sir.” Fire control sounded relieved. “You have the trigger, sir.”
    Calli regarded the light on her console, indicating the armed trigger. The safety was on. For now. “Com.”
    â€œCom, aye.”
    â€œGet me on the universal human distress channel.”
    â€œChannel open, aye. On your console, Captain.”
    Captain Carmel spoke, “Inhabitant of the life pod, identify yourself.”
    She listened to a long stretch of dead silence. Then a sluggish voice came back in Americanese, “Pirate, ma’am.”
    A few sharp intakes of breath sounded around the close-packed stations on deck.
    Calli returned, “Don’t ma’am me, I’m not your mama.”
    Not too articulate, the voice went on, “I know who you are, Empress Calli.”
    â€œThen you know I don’t need to honor a white flag for a pirate. How stoned are you to identify yourself as a pirate?”
    â€œI’m already dead, ma’am.”
    Calli looked to the sensor specialist to confirm the dead status. The young man tilted his hand one way then the other to say
really