Star Trek: Mirror Universe - 005 - Rise Like Lions by David Mack

Author:David Mack [Mack, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure
ISBN: 9781451607192
Google: MZ5L5D3xoYcC
Amazon: 1451607199
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2011-11-29T08:00:00+00:00

PART II

Deballare Superbos

2378

23

Crowns of Blood and Fire

Rise for Him Who Holds the Throne for Him Who Shall Return!”

The announcement reverberated in the cathedral-like space of the Klingon High Command’s strategic command center, where hundreds of the Empire’s most skilled war planners and tacticians directed the movements and activities of its armed forces. Few things could compel these professional warriors to set aside their duties, but a rare visit by the Regent of the Empire was one such occasion.

Klag strode onto the main floor flanked by his retinue of advisers and selected members of the High Council. The one-armed head of state gave only a cursory upward glance to the tiers of officers who had risen to honor his arrival. “Resume your duties,” he said, enabling the busy staff to go back to work, their obligations to protocol fulfilled. The regent and his entourage joined Goluk at the center of the situation floor, which was a transparent steel surface above a deep pit inside which was projected a holographic map of local space. Klag stood beside Goluk and eyed the map. “What news of the Terran rebels, General?”

“Still no sign of them, My Lord.” Goluk used a data tablet to manipulate the projection beneath their feet, magnifying different areas as he continued. “The Sixth Fleet converged upon Athos IV as you ordered, but found the rebels’ camps deserted and all their ships long since departed.”

“Departed? For where?”

Dreading the regent’s inevitable harangue, Goluk said, “Unknown. None of our listening stations or patrols have detected any large-scale fleet movements in or out of the Badlands in months.”

Klag squinted at the star map. “Could the rebels have evaded our sensors if they’d left a few ships at a time, on different vectors?”

Goluk considered that scenario. “In theory, yes. Assuming they had foreknowledge of our surveillance patterns, they might have done so.”

Pointing at the projection, Klag said, “If they regroup, it will most likely be inside the Rolor Nebula or the Argolis Cluster.”

“That was our conclusion as well, My Lord. General K’mdar and his battle group are positioned inside the nebula, and the cluster is being patrolled by the Third Fleet under General Torgoth. However, neither has reported any activity in the past six weeks.”

That news put a broad grin on the regent’s face. He turned to his crowd of sycophants and cronies. “You see! Just as I predicted—the Terran Rebellion has scattered, gone to ground like frightened voles! O’Brien and his malcontents are finished.” Looking back at Goluk, he asked, “And what of Calhoun’s armada?”

“We’ve been unable to locate them, My Lord.”

Klag’s grin became a scowl. “What? A fleet that size? Are you telling me that many ships escaped the Joch’chal Nebula without being detected?”

It was hard for Goluk to preserve his air of detachment with Klag shouting in his face, but he did so because, as a professional soldier, he had too much respect for the chain of command and the demands of decorum to break them for the fleeting satisfaction of upbraiding a Regent of the Empire.

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