Chapter 8: Kingdom

I glanced at Jen sipping tea in the shop and dressed like all the other young students on the huge station. The emperor would know we were coming. The traitors on the council thought we were coming. The commandoes were afraid we were coming. They were all right but I knew something they did not, we were already here.

I smiled as Sharp finally moved out of the crowd and crossed to me, “About time.”

He grinned and glanced back before walking to the large table Jen and I had sat at for several days, “Hi I am James.”

She smiled at him and looked at me, “Hello Sharp.”

He shifted and glanced back before looking at her again, “And what would a tender thing like you be doing with the old man?”

She grinned, “He belongs to me.”

He laughed and waved to the waitress to order tea. Mat appeared beside me, “Like a beacon in the night.”

I snorted and he walked into the shop to sit beside Sharp. Jen looked at him closely, “Um ... Deadeye?”

Mat grinned, “A lifetime ago.”

She reached out to touch his hand, “I think Sam meant it another way.”

He looked at her and then at Sharp before nodding. Herman walked down the busy corridor calmly and paused before going in, “The vids are covered.”

I nodded and let him go in as Jeff strode across from another shop. He nodded but did not stop as Jen greeted the Professor. David and Adam were next with a stunning woman between them on Adam’s arm. I smiled when she looked at me and whispered to Adam who blushed while David laughed. Last was the large frame of Paul with the tiny woman almost hiding in his shadow.

I followed them in and sat beside Jen and looked around the table, “The regency council meets in four days to decide who the emperor’s granddaughter will marry. We are hitting them in the Council Hall. Boomer you need to collect a few surprises to slip into the supporters viewing galley. I want max damage to the assholes. Use a mini to back up Adam and David.”

I looked at the Professor, “We need secure encrypted comms and once the show starts we need a total shut down of their systems.”

He nodded and I glanced at Mat, “Recon the Hall and make sure our surprises are still in place. Find a spot to cover the emperor and his granddaughter. Kill any guard that gets close to them once we open the door.”

He nodded and I looked at Sharp, “We are going in through the Kilgore tunnel.”

Sharp grinned, “Of course.”

I looked at Paul, “You need a mini on the right wing.”

I glanced at Adam and David, “Take the commandoes at the doors. No one enters or leaves the hall until we have the emperor and his granddaughter.”

I looked around the table again, “I will take the council out. This time we are walking away with the emperor and everyone that gets in the way dies.”

They all nodded and I leaned back, “So...”

I looked at Jen, “This is Jen, my companion and a biologist.”

Adam grinned, “This is Alley, my companion and an archeologist.”

Paul grinned, “This is my wife and boss. She is a damn good mechanic and driver too.”

We laughed as she hit his shoulder and smiled at us. I sighed, “It is good to see you again but now we need to move. I have a tug scheduled to take us down in an hour. Meet at the under gate in maintenance, level four, dock five tube two.”

I went to watch as one by one they left and then Jen slipped her arm through mine. I walked out and headed across and into another service door. We walked down a hall and then used a lift to go down to level four. Down another hall we stopped beside a door marked maintenance and Jen went in. I watched until she returned with our bags and slung one before leading her down to another door.

The docking bay we entered was huge and I led the way to the right. I stopped beside a data terminal and I started the prepared loop I had made and checked. We crossed another bay and slipped into an airlock. I grinned when I saw Sharp and turned to watch the empty bay. It was a minute before Mat crossed and walked into the airlock and Sharp led him into the tug.

One by one the others appeared and went past me until everyone was there. I used the airlock terminal and entered a set of commands before closing the doors and the hatches in the tug. I headed to the bridge and ignored the Professor at the engineer display and Sharp checking the copilot instruments. I checked the time and opened the comm, “High station control this is tug one seven three requesting clearance to leave station.”

“Copy one seven three.”

I started the sequence the separated the tug and used thrusters to move us away. I turned the ship to head out, “High station control, tug one seven three any word on the Dynasty’s anti gravs yet?”

“They got half up using a jury rig but I would not count on them.”

I headed towards the large yacht, “Did they get the reactor feed tank drained?”

“Last shift. The anti gravs are running off the power coils.”

Herman snorted, “The anti gravs will not last once we reach atmosphere.”

I nodded, “That is why they wanted a tug to take it down Professor.”

I slowed and drifted over the yacht before stopping. I switched on the grav tractors and watched a screen as the ship moved toward us. The tug shifted when the yacht touched the hull and it began to conform to yacht’s shape. Finally I locked the grav tractors, “High station control this is tug one seven three requesting clearance to begin atmosphere descent to the secondary star-port on Dent.”

“Copy one seven three, you are cleared for reentry.”

I checked the tug comp before putting in the data and we began to descend and slow to match the planet’s rotation. I glanced at the Professor, “Go ahead and turn the shield generators on.”

I dropped lower and watched as the shields began heating up. A few minutes and we dropped through into open sky. I changed course, “Dent control this is tug one seven three heavy requesting clearance to Salidor repair yards.”

“Copy one seven three, you are cleared to precede.”

I slowed and began descending until we were a few thousand meters from the surface and close to the outer marker of the landing pads, “Salidor control this is tug one seven three heavy requesting clearance to land.”

“We have been expecting you one seven three. Pad four is prepped and ready and pad five is clear.”

I glanced at the pad marker beacons and made a slight course change, “Start the altitude reading Sharp.”

He began to read off the altitude from the ground to the yacht as I dropped lower and slowed. It was a little tense as I brought the tug to a hover and slowly settled the yacht onto the anti grav pad waiting for it. I glanced back to the Professor, “Let it go.”

The ship shifted and lifted up before I adjusted and began moving to the next landing pad. I settled the ship on the pad before beginning the shut down sequence. I glanced at Sharp and nodded my head towards the hatch. He slipped out of the other seat and grabbed his bag, “See you at the Kilgore tunnel.”

One by one the others left and then I grabbed my bag and smiled at Jen. She led the way and once we were out and down, slipped an arm through mine. She talked about shopping and seeing the imperial gardens and the ... I kept nodding as I checked around us. I made a few calls from public comms during the next three days while taking Jen around to all the tourists sites.

I was up early the morning of the fourth day and dressed before coming back to sit on the bed and wake Jen. She smiled, “You better not die Samuel, I want to meet the emperor.”

I smiled, “Just be at the spot I told you and do not be late.”

She nodded and I bent to caress her face and kiss her. I stood and grabbed my rifle before leaving. I used the housekeeping code to open their closet on the floor before using their lift shaft. I got out in the basement and then moved to the back corner to remove a panel. I stepped into a narrow corridor and moved sideways down to the other end.

I broken the seal on the panel blocking the way and stepped out in a public fresher. It was in the underground public tram station. I closed the panel before moving across the room and opening the maintenance and janitorial access. I slipped in and moved around cleaning and maintenance equipment. At a back wall I touched four tiles in sequence and the wall slid in.

I moved in and closed it before climbing down another long ladder. I stepped off at the bottom and put a pair of night glasses on. I went down another narrow hall to a tunnel before turning right. I started walking as I thought ahead and tried to think of anything I might have missed. I glanced aside when Sharp stepped out of a niche, “All clear boss.”