Ep.#13 - Return of the Corinari (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “There were two others, actually,” Council Member Garon explained. “The second reason was the economic benefit. Even at a discounted, below-market rate, our profits will double.”

  “And the third?”

  “The protection your alliance offers will allow our society to maintain its pacifist ideology by passing that responsibility to others.”

  “Some might say that supporting an alliance that uses military force to ensure peace does not meet the true definition of pacifism,” Nathan pointed out.

  “Yes, but not being the ones bearing swords is a compromise that allows our people to survive,” she replied. “Hopefully, it is one that we can live with as well.”

  Nathan looked down, sighing.

  “You do not appear pleased, Captain,” she said.

  “I regret that jump drive technology has forced the Casbon, and many other worlds, to change the systems they live under. I feel somewhat responsible for that.”

  “The jump drive is but a tool, captain. One that can be used for both good, and bad…nothing more.”

  “Perhaps, but I am responsible for its rapid spread,” Nathan admitted.

  “You cannot stop progress, Captain,” Council Member Garon said. “The best you can do is to try and ensure that it is used responsibly. This is precisely what you are trying to do.”

  “I hadn’t really thought of it that way,” Nathan admitted. “For that, I thank you.”

  Council Member Garon nodded respectfully. “I must warn you, Captain…there is one more condition that must be met before we will formally join the Karuzari Alliance.”

  Nathan’s heart sank. “What would that be?” he asked, fearing the answer.

  “We require that you take all our fighters, permanently. The people of Casbon would prefer that there were no weapons on our world, and we believe that those fighters will serve us better in the hands of the Alliance.”

  Nathan felt a wave of relief wash over him. “I think we can handle that one,” he replied, smiling.

  * * *

  Cameron met Nathan at the top of the ramp leading to the Aurora’s command deck. “How did it go?”

  “We need to notify the Glendanon to get underway,” Nathan said as he topped the ramp and continued forward.

  “To where?” Cameron queried, falling in alongside him.

  “Casbon, to pick up one hundred Nighthawks,” he replied, a slight grin on his face.

  “You convinced them to loan all of them to us?” Cameron asked in disbelief.

  “They gave them to us,” Nathan corrected. “Turns out their people really don’t like having those fighters in their backyard. They’d rather have someone else do the dirty work.”

  “Meaning, us,” Cameron surmised.

  “Yup, they joined.”

  “Wow,” Cameron exclaimed. “I didn’t think you could pull that off.”

  “I haven’t pulled it off just yet,” he reminded her. “We still have to beat SilTek’s defenses.”

  “Speaking of which, Rogen command relayed a message from SilTek. They would like us to come as soon as possible to conduct the inspection so that they can prepare the simulation.”

  “Let’s jump back to the Rogen system, first,” Nathan told her. “We need to load up as many jump missiles as we can before they start poking around. Besides, I need a good night’s sleep before dealing with SilTek.”

  “Understood,” Cameron replied. “I’ll get us back to Rakuen.”

  “Thanks,” Nathan replied as they reached the entrance to his quarters.

  “Nice work, by the way,” Cameron told him.

  Nathan smiled. “Thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there is a rack in there with my name on it.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Nathan watched as four SilTek inspectors, three of whom were obviously androids, entered the Aurora’s bridge.

  “Captain Scott, I presume,” the human inspector greeted in businesslike fashion. “I am Lorne Wells, leader of the inspection team.”

  “Are there just four of you?” Nathan wondered. “I was under the impression there were more.”

  “There are thirty-eight of us in all,” Lorne explained. “Four of us are human.”

  “Where?”

  “Fanning out all over the ship in groups of three or four.”

  “I have security teams with each group,” Jessica assured Nathan.

  “I see,” Nathan replied. “How can we assist you?” he asked Lorne.

  “We will need access to all of the ship’s specifications and performance parameters,” Lorne explained, “as well as all weapons, targeting systems and ordnance, including any adjunct craft such as shuttles and fighters. We will also require recordings and logs of all battles for the purposes of understanding just what the Aurora is capable of.”

  “No way,” Jessica objected.

  “Pardon?” Lorne said, surprised.

  “You’re talking about highly sensitive data,” Jessica told him. “If it got into the wrong hands…”

  “I assure you that all data collected for the purpose of the upcoming simulation will be destroyed upon completion of the simulation.”

  “Captain, we can’t turn over all the combat logs,” Jessica insisted, “that would give away all our tactics. Security risks aside, it would give SilTek a huge advantage.”

  “I can assure you there is nothing to be concerned about,” Lorne assured Jessica. “We at the Gaming Commission take our responsibility quite seriously.”

  “Gaming commission?” Cameron asked.

  “Did no one explain this to you?”

  “Apparently not,” Cameron replied.

  “For the purposes of safety, all contests are conducted within SilTek’s simulation matrix. The Gaming Commission is responsible for ensuring the fairness of all simulated competitions.”

  “So, you don’t work for SilTek?” Jessica surmised.

  “Everyone who lives on SilTek works for SilTek,” Lorne corrected. “However, employees of the Gaming Commission operate independently. We are not subject to the corporation’s direct control. In fact, our positions are protected.”

  “So, SilTek cannot ask you to skew the simulation in their favor?” Cameron asked.

  “They can ask,” Lorne replied.

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Jessica commented.

  “The Gaming Commission is monitored by a civilian panel. Only that panel can terminate the employment of any of the commission’s inspectors. The corporation cannot. If an inspector were to grant such a request, they would surely be terminated, possibly even imprisoned.”

  Nathan looked at Cameron, then at Jessica. “Good enough for me.”

  “Not for me,” Jessica argued.

  “You said the data you collect today would be destroyed after the simulation is over?” Nathan questioned.

  “Correct,” Lorne replied. “All data collected this day will be stored in a single data module, which can be read, but not copied. The module will be connected to a stand-alone simulation matrix. Once the simulation is completed, and a winner is officially declared, the data module can be returned to you to destroy yourselves, if you wish.”

  “Oh, we wish,” Jessica insisted.

  “That sounds acceptable,” Nathan decided. “I do have one question, though. Will we be allowed to use our AI in the simulation? It is unlicensed, and not technically installed in the Aurora.”

  “I do not understand,” Lorne said.

  “It is still installed in the Sugali fighter to which it was originally licensed,” Nathan explained. “It is connected to the Aurora through an interface that our chief engineer designed.”

  “I see,” Lorne replied, one eyebrow raised in disapproval. “That does raise some questions. I will have to consult my superiors before I can give you an answe
r.”

  “Fair enough,” Nathan said. “What can we do to help get you started?”

  “One of my inspectors will need access to a terminal,” Lorne began. “The rest of us will be inspecting each station on the bridge, and questioning operators on their individual functions.”

  “Either of these aft-most terminals are considered auxiliary work stations,” Nathan replied. “So, take your pick.”

  Without a word, one of the android inspectors moved to the starboard auxiliary station and sat down, immediately tapping away on the console.

  “All right, then,” Nathan commented, as the inspectors went to work.

  “I don’t like this,” Jessica said under her breath, stepping closer to Nathan and Cameron.

  “You don’t like anything,” Nathan replied.

  * * *

  Doran Montrose entered the Orswellan precinct house, pausing to look around the lobby. The man he was looking for was at the reception desk on the far side, his attention on his view screen as he furiously tapped away at the input plate in front of him.

  Doran made his way across the lobby and stepped up to the counter, the officer still not looking up. “What kind of a cop doesn’t even look up to see who’s coming across the lobby toward him?”

  “The kind who recognizes that cheap piss you call cologne the moment you stepped through the door,” the officer grumbled, still not looking away from his screen. “Besides, the cameras ID’d you before you entered, you smart ass.” Finally, the man looked up, a broad smile coming across his face. “What the hell are you doing here, Doran? Kaplan finally get wise and fire your lazy ass?”

  “No such luck,” Doran replied. “How are you, Denton?”

  “Fair enough. Food on this planet sucks, though. Not enough meat, and they bury everything in some pungent, fermented crap called savari.”

  “How’s life as a cop?”

  “Keeps me busy, I guess. Mostly paperwork.”

  “The bane of leadership,” Doran commented.

  “What are you doing on Orswella?” Denton wondered.

  “I got reassigned,” he told his old friend.

  “You going to baby-sit Orswellan cadets as well?” Denton wondered.

  “Nothing like that,” Doran assured him. “I’m actually here to whip all your sorry butts back into shape.”

  Denton looked suspiciously at his friend. “In shape for what?”

  “Just in general,” Doran lied. “Captain Scott wants all the Corinari to be in top shape, and ready to fight at a moment’s notice.”

  “The Corinari are always ready to fight at a moment’s notice,” Denton insisted. “Even lazy old farts like you.”

  “Never hurts to train, my friend.”

  “Bullshit,” Denton replied. “Something’s up.” He studied Doran’s face for a moment. “We have a mission, don’t we?”

  “Like I said, he just asked me to get us into top shape, that’s all.”

  “We spent the last three months training with the Ghatazhak. We could take the eye out of a fliket with a toothpick from ten meters. The only reason the Corinari would need training is for a specific mission.”

  “Scott’s just worried that playing cop is going to make us all go soft,” Doran insisted. “Now, if he’s got an underlying reason he’s not sharing with me, I cannot speak to that. All I know is that I am to take command of all Corinari ground forces, and prepare them for combat.”

  “Combat where?” Denton pressed.

  Doran looked around, checking to see if any could overhear their conversation, then leaned closer to his friend. “If I were you, Crawley, I’d go with the flow on this, and stop asking questions. Get my meaning?”

  “I have no problem with extra training, Doran,” Denton assured him. “But everyone’s going to be speculating.”

  “And we’ll be sticking to our story,” Doran replied.

  “I can do that,” Denton assured him. “Just one question. Why are you coming to me?”

  “Because I want you to be my second.”

  Denton sighed. “I don’t suppose it gets me out of this lousy desk job, does it?”

  “Not at first, no. At least not until you train one of the locals to take your place.”

  Denton smiled. “A boba could do this job. When do we start?”

  “Come find me after your shift ends. I’ll be at the old re-ball stadium on the point,” Doran told him. “That’s where we’ll train.”

  “Where are you headed now?” Denton wondered.

  “I’ve got a few others to recruit,” Doran replied. “Any idea where McCrary is working?”

  “He’s running precinct eighteen, over by the waterfront, the little kiss-ass.”

  “He always could get the cushy assignments,” Doran laughed, turning to exit. “I’ll see you later.”

  * * *

  “What’s the problem?” Nathan asked as he and Jessica entered the Aurora’s starboard missile compartment.

  “They want me to pull every missile for inspection,” the young lieutenant in charge of the Aurora’s ordnance reported. “The only way to do that is to pull them out of the magazines, one by one, and float them up to the flight deck to line them up. That means…”

  “That we’d have to close up the forward flight decks,” Nathan realized.

  “Not only that; it would leave us highly vulnerable,” Jessica added.

  Nathan looked at the leader of the inspection group. “You’re taking it a little far, don’t you think?”

  “We need to verify that your ordnance counts are correct,” the inspector stated.

  “They’re correct,” Nathan assured him.

  “That’s what I told him,” the lieutenant added.

  “That is what we intend to verify,” the inspector explained.

  Nathan looked annoyed. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll pull all of our missiles out of their magazines, and line them up for inspection, if SilTek pulls all of their missiles out at the same time-and I’m talking every damned missile-so that we can go over every single one of them.”

  “That can be arranged,” the inspector assured him.

  “All of them, from every storage magazine and launcher, at the same time?” Nathan added.

  “That is not necessary,” the inspector insisted.

  “The hell it isn’t,” Nathan argued. “How do we know that you don’t have tunnels connecting all of your missile launchers, so that you can move ordnance between launch sites?” Nathan argued. “You could shuttle them between launchers and make it look like you have a lot more missiles than you really have.”

  “That’s absurd,” the inspector argued.

  “No more so than asking us to pull every missile out of our storage magazines,” Nathan rebutted.

  “Captain…”

  “Those are the terms,” Nathan stated firmly. “If you find them unacceptable, we’ll be on our way, and we’ll take our business elsewhere. You may be the biggest, you may even be the best, but you’re not the only technology and weapons manufacturer in the galaxy, and we have a great enough jump range to find another vendor and help them gain a larger market share.”

  The inspector deferred to one of his android aides. The aid closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, nodding.

  “Very well, Captain,” the lead inspector said. “We shall not require the inspection of every missile. We will inspect one missile…one of the shield-penetrating variants.”

  “Lieutenant, pull the first shield-penetrating jump missile for inspection,” Nathan directed.

  “Uh…yes, sir.”

  “Once they conclude their inspection, set it aside for inspection by our own engineers.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “We would prefer to use the inspected missile for the live test,” the inspector stated.
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  “I bet you would,” Nathan replied, turning and walking away.

  The lieutenant rolled his eyes and turned toward one of his technicians standing by the outboard missile magazine gate. “Pull the first missile from the outboard magazine,” he instructed.

  Jessica smiled at the inspectors, turning to follow Nathan out of the compartment. “That was awesome,” she said once they were in the corridor and out of earshot.

  “I’m just glad it worked,” Nathan replied.

  “None of those missiles have been tested, you know,” Jessica reminded him.

  “I do.”

  Jessica shook her head in disbelief. “You sure do like to roll the dice, don’t you? You must clean up at the casinos.”

  “Actually, I usually lose at the casinos,” Nathan replied. “Miserably.”

  * * *

  Doran Montrose entered the Ghatazhak command center, which had been set up inside the Orswellan capital building. As expected, staffing inside was minimal, with two Ghatazhak specialists manning tracking and communications consoles. On the center of the facing wall hung a large view screen, displaying a tactical map of the city. On either side were a number of smaller screens showing views from various security cameras.

  Sergeant Czarny spotted Doran and walked over to greet him. “Welcome to our makeshift command center, Chief.”

  “Looks pretty functional,” Doran replied. “Are there cameras all over the city?”

  “Every street light, every building entrance, and every corridor,” the sergeant replied. “A benefit left behind by the Dusahn.”

  “I expect the Orswellan’s don’t see it that way.”

  “Most are so used to it they don’t really care,” the sergeant replied. “The problem is, we suspect that the Dusahn still have access to the network.”

  “There are still operatives on the surface?”

  “Maybe twenty, but that’s just a guess. Telles believes they’ve gone cold for now.”

  “I suppose there’s no way to ever know for certain.”

  “Eventually, we hope to get every person on this rock scanned and have their DNA sequenced to verify their origin.”

  “You can do that?”