Chapter 21: Justice or Vengeance? The Imperator Unmasked

It started with a comm call I was not expecting.

“Mr. Donovan? I would like to book passage to a small station approximately three and a half weeks from here. My friends Lancelot, Tristan, and Mary gave you excellent ratings.”

I knew those names.

Fanciful names, except for the last one.

That was a fantastic name to hear right now.

Mary, who had warned me.

Mary, who had told me I had been true to my word.

That was pretty much the best damn reference anyone could give.

Truth be told, Raphael had been a wonderful host. He had even found it hilarious when Erene and Daniella informed him that if he ever allowed Captain Alex to be arrested again, they would do all kinds of things they would not enjoy doing but would do anyway because Alex was their favorite.

Melissa eventually had to tell them to finish one threat and take a breath before beginning the next.

They looked embarrassed.

They also meant every word of it.

I loved them for that.

But I was ready to leave the planet.

This would get me off the planet.

And a small station?

Hopefully, if someone attacked us there, fewer than four digits’ worth of people would die.

That gave the job three things in its favor.

So I quoted him an almost extortionate rate. It was going to be a long journey, and between the extra supplies and the additional wear on the engines, it would cost more than three short runs.

I was not prepared for him to reject the price and offer triple what I had already thought was nearly too much.

That was not how negotiations were supposed to work, damn it.

We were soon ready to leave.

Only when it came time to board our passenger, a large electronic storage system arrived in Mr. Justinian’s place.

It was packed with what looked like absurdly old-school technology.

Were those Empire-era processors?

I was tempted to refuse the whole arrangement, but he had already paid in advance.

So the equipment came aboard.

Shortly after takeoff, I was complaining to Melissa that the lawyers appeared to have escaped cleanly and that I hoped they were not running toward Katain space when a man appeared on the nearest screen.

He introduced himself as Justinian.

I was shocked, naturally. There had always been rumors about digital intelligences, but by that point I suspected my capacity for surprise had suffered permanent structural damage.

He quickly assured us that the lawyers would not trouble anyone again.

Their “unscheduled vacation,” he explained, would last considerably longer than they had anticipated.

Melissa’s expression tightened.

She was fitting pieces together, and she clearly disliked the picture.

“You killed them.”

“Oh, no. They may live to a ripe old age, assuming their supplies hold out.”

Her hand struck the armrest.

“Okay. Stop.”

The room froze.

“Mister Justinian, you have been nothing but courteous aboard Alex’s ship, and I appreciate that. But after everything we have endured, I have had quite enough of clever people saying clever things in clever ways.”

Melissa had found steel in my absence.

Now she showed fire.

“So we are finished with the cleverness. You are going to tell us exactly what you did and exactly what you meant.

“If you do not, I will find the most heavily charged electrical component aboard this ship, introduce it to your innards, and discover how clever you are afterward.”

Justinian looked taken aback, as though people were usually grateful when someone else was clever enough to spare them from thinking ugly thoughts.