Darkness on Sagitol: Guns of the Federation Book 4

  DARKNESS ON SAGITOL

  GUNS OF THE FEDERATION BOOK 4

  ANTHONY JAMES

  CONTENTS

  Homecoming Part 2

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Homecoming Part 3

  Also by Anthony James

  © 2022 Anthony James

  All rights reserved

  The right of Anthony James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser

  Illustration © Tom Edwards

  TomEdwardsDesign.com

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  HOMECOMING PART 2

  The fifteen-day return journey from planet Saxivor – where recent action had seen Captain Jed Grisham and his crew defeat an all-powerful Ax’Kol warship and help a Kijol civilian evacuation transport escape into lightspeed - seemed to last an age.

  On the one hand, Grisham appreciated the downtime and the chance to think about everything which had happened recently both to himself and the Human Federation. On the other hand, he was desperate to find out how the conflict between the Freedom and the Unity cabals had played out while he was away.

  Perhaps, Grisham thought, his direct involvement would no longer be required and he’d be able to pledge the Voltran to whichever side had come out on top.

  Fat chance.

  When the Voltran finally exited lightspeed, it was at a place midway between planets Loxor and Shesa-2. The latter was home to Senator Herschel Maynard, the man who was leading the effort to forge peace with the Kijol. Grisham sent a comm, requesting guidance.

  Comm travel time to Shesa-2 was a little over two hours, so Grisham was obliged to settle for a recorded reply, instead of a live conversation. The recording left much unanswered, though Maynard revealed that Fleet Admiral Oldan Scott had committed to the Freedom cabal. As far as outcomes went, it was a bad one for those within the Human Federation who wished to negotiate an alliance with the Kijol.

  Maynard’s recommendation was for Grisham to return to his home base of Fremont on planet Loxor and report in to Admiral Russ Danner, so as not to arouse suspicions.

  Four hours later, the Voltran exited lightspeed on the fringes of the Altarn-4 system, home to planet Loxor. Grisham spoke to Admiral Danner. The conversation was short and Danner gave little away. He ordered Grisham to a meeting on Fremont.

  “I have to attend this meeting,” said Grisham, when he saw the look on Commander Lois Deneuve’s face.

  “You say that every time Admiral Danner snaps his fingers, sir,” said Deneuve.

  “As far as the Admiral knows, we’ve completed the mission we were given and have sensor drones filled with footage of a wrecked Kijol world,” said Grisham. “Maybe when Danner sees the footage, he’ll start asking himself if the Ax’Kol are the real threat.”

  “You’re still hoping for a peaceful outcome,” said Deneuve. Her expression betrayed her thoughts on the matter.

  “If I’m wrong—” Grisham shrugged. He and his crew had discussed this many times during the recent voyage. Bringing it up again now wouldn’t achieve anything.

  A short lightspeed transit brought the Voltran to within a hundred thousand kilometres of Loxor. No fewer than fifteen warships of the fleet were patrolling the skies. Doubtless others were watching from the cusp of the planet’s single moon, where they’d be harder for attacking vessels to detect.

  Soon, Grisham was piloting one of the Voltran’s shuttles towards the base. Although he’d been away for longer than thirty days, the defensive activity had not appreciably lessened. Tanks, launchers and troops were visible everywhere. Meanwhile, the work to create four new construction trenches was continuing apace. It wouldn’t be long before the Human Federation could start building in them. As far as Grisham saw it, that was a positive regardless of what happened between Freedom and Unity.

  “Are you going to be safe, Captain?” asked Sergeant Tyrus Maxwell, standing in the shuttle’s cockpit at the adjacent interface post.

  “I hope so, Sergeant,” said Grisham. “I’ve successfully completed my mission, but I don’t know much about what’s happening in the Human Federation. It’s time to find out.”

  “Sometimes it’s best to just disappear until things settle down, sir,” said Maxwell, not looking directly at Grisham.

  “I have to speak to the Admiral, Sergeant. Even if it’s just to find out which way the wind is blowing. But this might be our last visit to Loxor for a time.”

  Grisham’s uncertainties came once again to the fore. He’d thought long and hard about whether he was doing the right thing and had eventually decided he had to do this. The last time he’d spoken to the Admiral, Danner had apparently concluded that Grisham was still onside. Since then, Grisham had completed his mission to Savixor, so, if anything, Danner should trust him more.

  However, with Unity and Freedom playing dirty, things might not be so straightforward. Grisham had already seen how suspicious Danner was. Vanishing for a time, like Maxwell had said, was a tempting option.

  At the back of Grisham’s mind was the thought that even if he believed an alliance with the Kijol was the best option, his ultimate wish was for humanity to survive the coming Ax’Kol storm. If the Freedom cabal rose to the ascendancy – which looked like it had already happened - Grisham would fight for the Human Federation regardless of the direction it was taking.

  Damn, but he hated the politics.

  Grisham piloted the shuttle in fast. He remembered his last visit to Loxor, when the crew of a Storm tank had tried to kill him. A missile or two launched from one of the local fleet warships would be enough to destroy this shuttle and Danner would have no problem covering up the incident.

  The local defence fleet took no hostile action and Grisham focused on guiding the transport towards his designated landing pad, which was almost in the middle of the base. Admiral Danner was changing offices regularly and he was currently located beneath a building less than a hundred metres from where Grisham would set down.

  “There’s no welcome party,” Grisham observed.

  “I’m sure it’s because the Admiral knows we’re completely safe, Captain,” said Corporal Ralf Barkley, deadpan.

  Grisham landed the shuttle in the middle of the pad and took his hand away from the interface bar he was holding onto. Immediately, his connection to the sensors was lost.

  “Let’s go,” said Grisham.

 
He exited through the cockpit’s single door. The rest of Maxwell’s squad were in the passenger bay beyond. They were standing, because the Ax’Kol didn’t fit seats into their spaceships.

  “I’ll lead, Captain,” said Maxwell, hurrying across to the portside flank door. He gave a couple of orders on the squad comms and the soldiers readied themselves.

  Maxwell placed his hand on an indented area of the shuttle’s inner wall. The exit door slid open with hardly a sound. It was raining heavily outside, which came as no surprise since it was summertime on this part of Loxor.

  Muttering a curse about the weather, Maxwell jumped onto the shuttle pad. Private Nestor Vaughan with his XR repeater went next, followed by another couple of soldiers. Then came Grisham. His feet thudded down on the concrete and he looked around for a moment.

  Admiral Danner was located in the building directly north of the landing pad. Like the other structures nearby, the place looked like it was used for administration purposes. A few windows punctuated the otherwise bleak grey of its façade. Pedestrian footbridges led from each of the landing pad’s cardinal points, providing a safe means of crossing the busy roads.

  “Corporal Fine, bring the drone,” said Maxwell on the comms.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The shuttle’s rear cargo door opened and Grisham saw Corporal Fine and Private Olivia Diaz in the bay, along with the cube-shaped drones used to gather footage of the faraway Kijol worlds. All the recordings from the mission to Savixor had been copied to a single drone to make it easier to upload the data.

  Corporal Fine jumped from the bay, and the drone – leashed to her suit computer – floated out afterwards. She turned and gave it a mocking pat on one side, as if was a pet dog rather than a piece of sophisticated and incredibly expensive technology.

  “Let’s go,” said Maxwell, setting off for the footbridge.

  The double entrance doors to the destination building were coated in a reflective material, so Grisham couldn’t see what lay beyond. Doubtless the place would be heavily guarded, just like the road in front of the building. A couple of tanks were parked near the lower entrance and there were a few patrols.

  Even so, Admiral Danner had clearly realised that stationing excessive troops, armour, missile batteries and so on near his office made him easier to find rather than harder, and he’d toned things down somewhat since last time.

  When Grisham was three-quarters of the way across the bridge, the entrance door opened. A squad of ten soldiers emerged and the lead officer approached at a fast walk.

  “I’m Sergeant Joseph, sir,” she said.

  “Captain Grisham. I’m expected.”

  Joseph had evidently done her homework and she didn’t bother checking her handheld tablet for confirmation. “This way, sir,” she said.

  A few seconds later, Grisham, Maxwell, and his squad entered the building. There wasn’t much to see – the reception area had a hard-tiled floor, a hard-tiled ceiling, and hard-tiled walls. It could have been purpose-designed to be as soul-destroying as possible. Even the shittiest of shithole worlds was more appealing than this administration building, Grisham thought.

  Soldiers were here in plenty, along with four mobile minigun turrets and, for a reason Grisham couldn’t fathom, a compact multi-launch missile system. Maybe it was here for show, or perhaps a high-ranking desk officer had decided it would have some use in the defending the Admiral.

  “There’s a data upload point for that drone through those doors over there,” said Joseph, pointing left. She turned and stared directly at Maxwell in what was probably meant to be a challenge. “Your squad isn’t permitted to come to the sub levels, Sergeant. You can wait in the upload room.”

  “Is that your order, Captain?” asked Maxwell.

  Grisham had committed himself to coming here, so he had to go along with the wishes of the local security teams. “Go. I won’t be long, Sergeant,” he said.

  A short time later, Grisham, Sergeant Joseph and five members of her squad descended towards the lower levels. Grisham noticed that the readout panel on the lift car had been disabled, so that the level number wasn’t visible. When the lift arrived and the doors opened into another, smaller, reception space, the signage here had been removed. This was something Grisham remembered from last time he was here – Danner was clearly managing every detail to make it difficult for any potential kidnap squads to find him.

  Admiral Danner still believes he’s threatened. Perhaps things are more evenly balanced than I imagined.

  “Do you have orders to blindfold me, Sergeant?” asked Grisham, only half-jokingly.

  “No, sir,” said Joseph, stony-faced.

  She led the way along cold passages. All the doors were closed and Grisham saw no sign that the building’s usual personnel were still working here. At last, Joseph stopped outside an unmarked door in the left-hand wall. Six soldiers were stationed here, and one of them carried an XR repeater. Sure enough, two of the guards were from way back on Bastion Station, and Grisham was certain they were among Danner’s most trusted.

  “The Admiral is expecting you, sir,” said one of the soldiers, holding out a hand for Grisham’s rifle. “Go right in.”

  Grisham handed over his gun and stepped up to the door. It opened within a couple of seconds. A short passage led to a second door, and he approached. After a short delay, this door, too, opened.

  “Jed,” said Admiral Danner, rising from behind the four-screen communicator which was sitting on top of his antique wooden desk. He looked more rested than last time Grisham had been here.

  “Admiral,” said Grisham. He glanced around the windowless room with its tiled walls and couldn’t think of a place he’d less like to spend his waking hours.

  “I’d offer you a seat,” said Danner, shrugging to indicate he wasn’t planning to do so. “Your mission to Savixor was a success.”

  “Yes, sir. I assume you’ve read the report?”

  The report – composed by Grisham on the long ride back from Kijol territory – was honest enough in terms of the facts it presented. With plenty of footage showing the loss of the planet, Danner had what he’d asked for and more. The uncertainty was in whether he’d object to Grisham’s methods. By helping the Kijol evacuation shuttles escape Savixor, Grisham had opened himself up to criticism if Danner was determined to find fault.

  “Yes, I’ve read it,” said Danner. “Another dead world and yet more evidence the Kijol are not in a position from which they can demand our surrender.”

  Grisham kept his expression neutral and didn’t offer a different viewpoint. “Yes, sir. How is the balance between Freedom and Unity, now that Fleet Admiral Scott is with us?”

  “Things are complicated,” said Danner. He seemed distracted and kept looking across at the communicator.

  “This doesn’t have to be a long meeting, Admiral,” said Grisham. “I can return to the Voltran and wait for orders.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Jed,” said Danner. He leaned over his desk and looked at something on one of the screens. “As it happens, I’m more interested in talking about your mission to Xendar. The mission in which you were tasked with the elimination of one of Freedom’s chief opponents.”

  Hearing the words made Grisham’s blood run cold.

  He knows something.

  “What is there to talk about, Admiral?”

  “You told me you arrived at the planet too late. That were was nobody there, so you returned to Loxor.”

  “Yes, sir, that’s right. Why are you bringing this up?”

  Danner met Grisham’s eyes and his expression was not at all pleasant. “While you were away, I ordered a scout ship to Xendar. It discovered an installation on the planet’s surface – an installation which was not mentioned in your mission report.”

  Grisham didn’t bother objecting. He could tell from Danner’s voice and manner that this was game over.

  “Furthermore, while you were on your way here to see me, I had one of my te
chnical team remote link to the drones on the Ax’Kol shuttle,” Danner continued. “The calibration systems on each of the drones indicate that during the Xendar mission, they went on a twenty-thousand-kilometre journey at an approximate velocity of twenty-one-kilometres per second. Where exactly were those drones taken, Jed?”

  Still Grisham said nothing.

  “Were they perhaps taken in the hold of the Ax’Kol shuttle as it went on a journey to the surface facility on the planet?”

  Suddenly, Grisham’s fury rose within him. “How dare you challenge my refusal to murder someone!” he roared.

  Something glinted in Danner’s eye and despite his rage, Grisham wasn’t too blind to see it.

  Be careful. This is what he wants. He doesn’t know what happened on Xendar between me and Senator Maynard, and he’s hoping my loose tongue will fill in the details.

  “All these years, Admiral,” spat Grisham “You were building a killer. Brick by brick.”

  Danner didn’t try to deny it and that, at least, was likely the most honest he’d ever been with Grisham. The office door opened and soldiers entered. Grisham requested a channel to the Voltran, but his suit comms unit was showing an error code.

  “Lieutenant Davis, take this man away,” said Danner.

  Grisham didn’t fight, since this wasn’t a battle he could win. He allowed the soldiers to lead him from the room, wondering what the hell Danner had planned for him.

  ONE

  In the corridor outside, more soldiers joined with the six who’d taken Grisham from Danner’s office, and he was marched in the opposite direction to the one by which he’d first arrived. He was taken up in an airlift and emerged into an underground parking lot. Then, he was instructed to enter the back of an armoured personnel vehicle.