“Perfect. Now, let’s talk about how we’re going to rescue Astrid,” I said.
The three people in the room stared at me, wearing various expressions of disbelief.
“Are you insane? There’s several thousand armed Imperials guarding her,” Darius said.
“We’ll never have a better chance. When they find his body, they’ll lock down the station. We won’t even be allowed inside, whereas right now, nobody knows we are foes. We can walk to her cell unnoticed,” I argued.
“And if someone does notice?” Darius asked, gesturing to the decapitated corpse at my feet.
I drew my lancer. “That’s what these are for.”
“The chance of success is essentially nil…” Darius argued.
“The chances of success were always slim. At least if we fail now, the rest of our conspirators can abort their operations,” I reasoned.
“None of the others are in their positions. We’ll endanger everyone else if we strike prematurely,” Darius countered, but I was prepared for that.
“If we don’t take this chance, our operation might never begin.” I softened my voice, pleading with the archduke. “Let’s strike now. If we succeed, it will be glorious. If we fail, at least we’ll fail fast.”
Exasperated, Darius turned to Pavlov. “Please tell me you don’t think this could work.”
“It will never work, but it will be glorious. Our names will be sung to the stars in Imperial ballads forever more,” Pavlov breathed, enraptured with the idea. “The forlorn hope of a fallen Emperor, loyal to the end. How magnificent.”
Darius pointed up at the massive demon, then at me. “You are clearly insane, and you, Captain, have let love cloud your reason. Major Tredesceu, explain to these two this is impossible.”
Tredesceu stroked his chin with a gloved hand. “Improbable, Your Grace, but not impossible. Upon further consideration, it seems to be our best hope.”
Darius threw his hands up. “I’m surrounded by madmen. Fine. Explain to me your brilliant plan.” So I did.
JUST INSANE ENOUGH
“THIS IS Ahorrible plan,” Darius opined twenty minutes later as the turbolift glided to a halt on the dungeon level.
“You could have said so on the way up,” I admonished. We’d had sufficient time riding the balloon station’s central turbolift from the lowest levels to just below the upper communications deck.
“I did say so,” Darius said before our conversation was cut short by the turbolift doors rudely opening. The four of us stepped into a sparse, spartan corridor with no cover, nowhere to hide once battle began. My fingers itched for my broadsword, and I desperately wished it were strapped to my equipment harness rather than the Yezhidian-issue short sword.
The demon guards standing behind the orderly’s desk eyed us curiously while the orderly typed away at his workstation. Despite the difference in size, the metal-and-fur Imperial uniforms rather than Royal tunics, and the dull composite alloy walls rather than gleaming wood and tapestries fordecoration, I was reminded of the room outside the chamber where I met three marshals so long ago.
That was less than three weeks past.
The orderly growled in Imperial, breaking me from my reflections. “State your purpose.”
“We are here for the Emperor,” I replied in the same harsh tongue.
The orderly’s head snapped up, and the guards dropped their swordstaffs into a guard position, alarmed by the request. My lancer was already out, my bolt catching the orderly in the chest before he could dive for the panic button.
A flurry of movement followed. Tredesceu and Darius both shot the left-hand guard, which left the other unassailed. He could have ended our countercoup then and there, but instead of sounding the alarm, he charged. Pavlov, keeping his bloodlust admirably in check, coolly parried the guard’s thrust, stepped inside the swordstaff’s reach, and slashed his short sword across the demon’s torso, spilling blood and entrails onto the floor before cleaving the demon’s head in twain.
Darius breathed. “What happened to calm and quiet?”
“They must have orders to arrest anyone asking to see the Emperor,” I reasoned.
“So glad I listened to you,” Darius replied. “How did you ever survive the war?”
“Search me,” I said.
“Search the cells. We need to find the Emperor.”
