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FLESH AND STEEL

  Book Two: FIRST ASSAULT

  by

  Kliment Dukovski

  Copyright © 2014 by Kliment Dukovski

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  SYSTEM MAP

  VALERIA

  Shadows danced in the dark corridors of Burnum as Commander Valeria and Doctor Modius moved their flashlights in sync with their hurrying steps. They were in the infirmary when they saw the broadcast from Palatine. It was there that they heard the emperor address his people.

  It was a trick, she tried to convince herself then. It has to be.

  Now she wasn’t certain anymore. Her mind raced from the moment they found Lucius to the moment she saw the usurper broadcast. But the usurper had Lucius’s golden body. When could he acquire it if he was indeed an usurper and not Lucius himself? Everyone knew that it was impossible to make a copy of that perfect body of his. It was forbidden by the gods.

  No. It was a trick. My father said it was Lucius on Timor. It was we who failed to reach the emperor on time. I will not fail him again.

  She had to hurry and reach the hangar bay if she was to keep her word. Before it was too late.

  “We are going, doctor, this is not for a debate,” she said when she realized the doctor was still following her.

  “But- but what about the boy? I just stabilized his condition. He’s not ready to travel yet.”

  Valeria started to like the boy, she had to admit. It was a helpless little thing. The sight of him stirred an instinct in her, something she didn’t know she had. It was a desire to take care of him, to protect him. But there were more important things to consider than that.

  She stopped and turned to look at the doctor, her flashlight beaming in his metal face. “Are you trying to tell me that the boy’s life is worth more than our emperor?”

  He blinked, adding a dark layer over his green eyes to compensate for the light. “No, commander, of course not, but the emperor…”

  “…should’ve been back by now. Aquila is one of the finest battleships in the Imperial fleet. I doubt a single merchant vessel would be trouble to raid. Something’s wrong, doctor, I know it is, and I’m taking the fleet with me to find out what happened.”

  “But–” the doctor tried to protest, but Valeria turned her back on him and continued her stride toward the hangar bay.

  Clodius – she sent – you have exactly one hour to prepare the battleship for our departure.

  Clodius quickly replied – That might be impossible, commander. I am still on Burnum. I would need twenty minutes at least to reach the ship and then ten more minutes to reach engineering. Add another five minutes to run diagnostics, and only then I would be able to start working on the remaining issues.

  Valeria didn’t care – Then you better start going. You have fifty-nine minutes left.

  What about the boy? – Clodius sent again – Doctor Modius might still need me.

  Modius can handle himself. Fifty-eight – She wasn’t going to argue anymore – Fail me, Clodius, and I will make sure you stay on Burnum. On the outside. Forever.

  There was a short pause before she got his final transmission – I am on my way to the battleship, Commander Valeria.

  The doctor’s footsteps were closing behind, his flashlight making frantic moves on the bulkheads.

  “You have less than one hour to transfer your equipment and the boy on the battleship,” Valeria said without turning. “Make use of that time.”

  The doctor grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Commander,” he said with a lowered voice, “I know you want to make your father proud with your service to the throne, and I know how much you care about Captain Arrius–”

  “Don’t go there, doctor, I am warning you.”

  His green eyes looked away. “I apologize, commander, I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have.”

  The doctor looked at her. “The boy is important to us, can you not see? The cure to our infertility is right there–” he jabbed his thumb behind– “inside the boy. He must survive.”

  Valeria jerked her arm free and stuck her face in his. “The emperor needs me, doctor,” she said, “the captain needs me. If something has happened to them, they will need you as well. Get the boy, get your equipment, and be on that battleship.” She turned and disappeared in the darkness. The doctor’s footsteps didn’t follow her anymore.

  All personnel prepare for departure – she sent to her fleet – we leave in fifty-seven. She then transmitted to the remaining captains – I want all of you in the battleship’s CIC in ten. Be there.

  She received reply from fifteen merchant ships and two fighters. The rest were gone after they saw the usurper broadcast. They didn’t believe he was a fraud. And how could they? It was Lucius Cornelius Venator on the balcony. Even Valeria was tricked by the sight of him. His perfect body of Imperial steel and gold, the medals on his chest with the Imperial eagle, the golden flames on his chin, cheeks, and hair, they were all authentic enough. Even the way he spoke, the fire in his words – if she didn’t know any better she would’ve believed it was the same man. Now that man needed her, she was certain, there was no other way to explain why they weren’t back yet.

  Commander Valeria reached the hangar bay with head full of doubts and worries. They had to depart even sooner than the deadline she gave her men as the deserter captains grew more with every passing second. She was certain that soon they would broadcast their location, if they have not done it already. It was something she could not allow to happen.

  Valeria did try to stop her captains from deserting, it was true. She even threatened them with destruction of their ships, but eight out of ten fighters decided to flee, and the weapons on the new battleship weren’t operational yet. There was nothing she could do to stop them. And now if she didn’t see the rest of her captains in person, she feared they would leave her as well. Valeria was determined to prevent that.

  I won’t fail him again.

  The hangar bay was spacious and mostly empty. There were only three shuttles and a dozen soldiers preparing for departure. They saluted her. One of them escorted her to the closest shuttle – one of the fully-automated transports that didn’t need a pilot.

  “Welcome, commander,” said the computerized voice. “What will be your destination?”

  Valeria slumped on the metal seat, her worries weighing her down. “Take me to the battleship,” she said, thinking how much they needed a name for it.

  “Acknowledged, commander. Estimated time of arrival seven minutes.”

  “Just get on with it,” she said as if it will make the shuttle go faster.

  In that same instant the engines kicked in and lifted the shuttle above the soldiers’ heads. The one who escorted her looked up, but then the shuttle accelerated and he turned into nothing but a black-gray dot.

  Valeria was staring through the porthole, watching the outpost shrink among the asteroids. But her mind was still there, still inside the infirmary. She couldn’t help but think about the little creature of flesh and metal. She honestly wanted him to survive, to grow up and live his life until the end of days, if it was possible for him to grow anymore at all. Being a mother was all she ever wanted. She hoped that once the war was over she would have time to found a family like the ordinary people did. However, the brain facilities were gone for centuries. It was impossible to have a kid without a new brain.

  Not anymore.

  The boy was a gift from the gods, she knew. It
was the only boy she ever saw in her life, how could it not be a gift? It was half organic, it was true, but she didn’t care – it was a boy, a living boy, and that’s what mattered. She only hoped he would survive the transfer and the upcoming flight even though she knew the odds were heavily against that.

  “We have arrived at your destination, commander,” said the computerized voice.

  Valeria didn’t wait to be told twice. She hurried out of the shuttle’s ramp and into the battleship’s hangar. There she found groups of Bion-looking men and cybernetic humans transferring equipment, cargo crates, batteries and fuel cells, bundles of wires and cables, and everything else they could carry from the previous ships they served. She couldn’t help but notice a gigantic man with organic skin over his face and arms. He carried one massive crate all by himself with incredible ease. The rest of the crew were busy and focused on their own assignments. Most of them didn’t even notice her as she rushed by. Valeria wondered for a moment if His Highness was right about having Frang and his men aboard the battleship. She didn’t trust him at all, nor did she like him. He was a smuggler and a pirate and he said he traded with Bion tribes. No Imperial captain would ever trade with their enemies. It made Valeria question his motives. But she was not going to let him betray her emperor and his cause.

  The CIC was two decks above the hangar bay, surrounded by a metal shell which made it the safest place on the ship. Two heavily-armed soldiers stood guard at