by F Stephan
She rose to pour herself some tea, thinking of her next step. She wanted the warmth of a real liquid after the exhausting meeting. Then, she called the United Organization’s president. He took her call immediately, and she opened a 3D window in front of her.
Anaru gave her a big smile. “Congratulations, Miss Podorovski. You have an interesting approach. It has been a gruelling meeting, but continue like this and it will soon become only a memory.”
Tasha saw the Envoy beaming behind Anaru. Our Envoy has been listening to the meeting. Not very proper behavior. Don’t you follow etiquette? This was the biggest problem she had with virtual environments. Uninvited guests could hack into them and listen without appearing to the participating parties. How do I ensure a better security with so many people involved?
“Would you mind an easy question, sir?” she asked in a light tone.
Anaru straightened. “Go ahead.”
“Who’s backing Susanna? She wouldn’t have attacked us without support. At least not so directly.” They hadn’t had time to debrief after the interview.
Anaru averted his gaze. “We don’t know yet. We don’t even know if this is just personal between the two of you, or something larger.”
Nashiz moved forward and called up a 3D projection with the opinion survey that had followed the ‘welcome back’ show. The show had worked well enough for the Federation and the United Organization despite Tasha’s poor performance, but it had profited EarthFirst to a greater degree. They had converted a new chunk of the population to their ideas.
“Who is EarthFirst really? They are not active in Reborn Russia.”
“I’ve been tracking their activities for a while now. They are the legal side of an extremist group, opposing the Federation. They originally came from the wastelands of Central America. You’ve heard their reasoning. They feel we divert Earth resources to help the Federation instead of helping ourselves and our ecology first.”
“Their concerns make sense, in a way.” Tasha said, wording her thoughts carefully.
The Envoy answered with a snarl, “Other worlds have asked the same questions, and some have withdrawn from the Federation.”
Tasha responded quickly, “Nashiz, please spare me. Filb went into anarchy, tried space piracy, and their planet is a ruin. No. We can’t solve our problems on our own and we know it. Some just don’t want to listen. Are they dangerous?” Her tone was dead serious now.
“Yes. They have gathered many eco-terrorist movements to their cause. It gives them a real strike force against our interests.” Is this the enemy my brother talked about? No, too visible. Probably a puppet, controlled remotely. “But more than that, they appeal to all who expected the Federation to deliver miracles and who haven’t seen the changes coming fast enough. That’s a huge crowd.”
“Any idea why Susanna backs them? She used to be pro-space during her time at the Academy.”
“Well, she has been versatile since she left the Academy. Her stay there didn’t end as she expected. You knew she had trouble with her parents?”
Tasha nodded quietly. If her mother had raged in private at her departure, Susanna’s parents had been a public storm.
“This may be a way to get enough support to strike back at them. Anyway, she’s in the open now and we will monitor her.,” said Anaru.
Tasha sipped her tea, thinking it through. “Fair enough. What should we do?”
Anaru seemed serene. “I’ve dealt with similar groups over the past fifty years. Eventually, they’ll make a mistake. We’ve got to be patient and make fewer mistakes than they do.”
Tasha remembered her talks with her father, the public front is designed to draw our attention away from the puppet master. Don’t get distracted.
Wilfried
European Confederacy, Zurich, August 2, 2140
The Central Police Coordination was headquartered south of the old Swiss town of Zurich in an antique military base built inside the mountain. Strong walls, large underground facilities, an impregnable position. Wilfried felt dwarfed by the complex and the multiple agents moving in and out. Police forces had a longstanding history of cooperation, and all those people seemed to work easily side by side. He hadn’t felt any such harmony in the station, and he would need to find out more about how they developed it down here.
“Please, would you follow me inside? You’re expected.” The assistant had been waiting for them at the entrance. Eastern Asian origins, a petite brunette, muscular, soft voice, clear eyes, she was the perfect embodiment of the good cop, the one who would put you at ease. Having grown up in the shadow-wharves of Hamburg, where all smuggling and illicit activities took place, Wilfried didn’t feel ‘at ease’ at all. Those were the most dangerous cops.
“Marine Wolm, we have prepared accommodation for you in the guest quarter while the Observer is here.” She was used to ordering people around, her tone made that much clear. “All facilities are open to you.”
“Thanks. I’ll wait until you’ve finished.” An ordnance took him away, leaving Wilfried alone with the assistant.
“We’ll reach Chief Iakoubi’s office soon. You’ve been cleared all the way up.” She took him at a fast pace through various internal security checks.
“Officer?” Wilfried cleared his throat. “I don’t want to be impolite. How should I address her?”
“Since you’re Federation and an Observer, you can call her either Madame, as any civilian would, or Chief, as we do. I believe she would appreciate the courtesy of the latter title. Come, she would not have you tarry.” With that, she led him onward into the building. So many police forces triggered old reflexes and habits, and Wilfried had to fight himself to avoid twitching and running for the door.
Several flights of stairs later, he was ushered into an office higher up in the mountain, with daylight pouring in through a concrete opening in the cliff. The air felt fresh and chilly. The Chief sat at a high desk to one side and a conference table occupied the other half of the room.
“Welcome. Please have a seat.” Her voice was warm, but she had a weasel face, one that Wilfried associated with the bad cop. He winced, obeying immediately, grabbing one of the chairs facing the desk.
“Good day, Chief. Can you tell me more about our meeting?” The door shut behind him as the assistant left him. A heavy silence fell in the room as the Chief scrutinized him.
“You've got a very interesting story, Observer, you know that?” He nodded without a word. “A strong family, until your great grandfather lost it all to gaming. A father who went away for adventure and never returned. A grandfather who held everything together as best as he could in the worst part of Hamburg.”
“This story is well known, Chief. The newsfeed told everyone all about it before I left.” It had been painful to see all the details of their lives offered to the masses like cheap thrills. He tried to keep his voice calm, but couldn’t keep out the rising anger he felt. I’ve risen above this, God damn it.
“They didn’t talk about Carsten, your older brother. The one who still runs the biggest smuggling operation in Hamburg today.”
The hammer dropped on Wilfried suddenly and he felt his knees weaken. He had had doubts, but no certainties.
“You weren’t aware.” The Chief nodded thoughtfully. “He’s too intelligent to compromise you, I see. And maybe you’ve avoided questioning him. Did you meet him on your return?” Her eyes bore into his and she smiled. “No, you’ve avoided Hamburg and he hasn’t crossed your path. Well, he’ll try to contact you, sooner or later. And your answer will be interesting, Observer!”
“Is that why you had me come here?” Rage flared in him – but lashing at her wouldn’t help him. It would only reinforce her convictions.
“No, although that made it more interesting for us to meet. Your brother has a quiet operation and doesn’t meddle with certain products. He has a real flair for this, I must admit. No one knows who would replace him and how much damage it would cause if we took him down.�
�
The message is clear at least. She doesn’t bother with indirectness.
The Chief raised her hand and images filled the room. “Have a look at this instead.”
Grotesquely deformed bodies appeared, their shapes changing unceasingly. With his enhanced vision, Wilfried could see the small mist of nanorobots moving chaotically. His heart tightened inside his chest. Nanite drug.
“What did you do with…” He couldn’t finish the words.
“Blasted them with your Federation grenades. Standard procedure. We have a stock of those in each continent. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen very often.”
Wilfried gulped. Not often. And a stock in each continent. Often enough, yes. “I’m here to fight this. Whatever happened in my past, I don’t want this let loose on our world. I’ve seen enough of it on Adheek.” Looking at the images, his words echoed inside him with unbreakable conviction. “How can I help?”
“Your intention is truthful. Good. I need it. And in this case, your background will help. You were raised as a smuggler.”
His face reddened again in anger. His grandfather had protected him from the worst of that trade, but he had had to run errands from time to time. And he wasn’t proud of this past.
He began to raise a hand, but the Chief stopped him. “Don’t bother to deny it. I know you were never caught but I’ve seen the look on your eyes. As far as I’m concerned, born a thief, always a thief. I don’t like thieves who cannot learn and too many never change.” The scorn was clear in her voice. “But once in a while, it makes for a good cop, a very good one. So, I’m going to bet that’s what you’re going to become.”
Wilfried nodded silently. He hoped he would be able to succeed. His grandfather would be so proud of him if he did. As he said. Take the opportunities you have and adjust. Never linger on your past.
She continued, her gaze piercing through him, “I’ve asked my assistant, Kimi, to brief you about everything that has happened here. No known drug runner can manufacture anything like this down on our planet. Our technology is not sufficient. It’s coming from space somehow and we’ve got to find it fast and cut it off.” Anger sipped through her words as if he had brought it with him. “I’m going to send Kimi, to support you. She’ll arrive disguised as a dockyard worker from Neo Kyoto. She was raised one, in fact, and will play her part in the game. It will give her access to the dark side of the station, the one where you can’t go. I will try to bring more help if I can find it. You’ll provide her with everything she needs. Do you agree?”
Sudden rage flared in him at being ordered around like this. He stood, planting his feet on the ground. “Chief, you have it right. I come from the shadow wharves. But where Earth sent me, you’ve never been. You’ve never faced nanites burning away your body as I did. You’ve never faced that training. I decided to take this job for a good reason, and I’ll do it no matter what you think. I’m not yours to command up there and will do the best I can.”
She began to rise, and he continued quickly, “I’m happy to have an experienced officer with me on this and I’ll give her all the support I can. But not because you’re bossing me around. Because I’ll take all the help I can find to fight those drug runners. Now, I have to find the processing plant. The smallest are the size of a briefcase can be hidden anywhere on the station. I’ll search Acheron until I find it.” His words were filled with cold determination.
Suddenly, the Chief laughed aloud, and Wilfried felt the tension ease. “That’s the spirit I need! Continue like this and you’re going to make a good cop. You’ll have all the help we can provide. Let’s go and meet Kimi.”
She rose to take him outside, passing among the 3D of the victims, without any sign of being affected. Wilfried followed, subdued by the horrible sights.
Tasha
Earth Baikonur Spaceport, August 15, 2140
The late August night remained warm even in the Kazakh Desert. Cloud cover kept the warmth trapped closer to the ground. Tasha sat with Wilfried and Leopold around a small campfire on top of the Baikonur Command Center, watching the stars. Kitem had launched four Federation drones which monitored the surroundings and he was now flying them in random patterns, making dark shapes around the group. Their remaining bodyguards, Wolm and Lelat, were playing cards close to the barbecue where they had prepared their meal earlier that night.
Leopold broke the silence, saying in a hushed tone, “How are your meetings with the committee going?” Leopold had attended once and soon announced he wasn’t the right person for the job.
Tasha was lost, looking at the stars above. “Everything feels hard. Specifying what we need, building the components, bringing them to the launch site. Not a single step working as it should. Corporations are improving but slowly. And if we don’t deliver, the station will return to Earth control by a vote of the United Council.” She felt so tired of those endless details to organize. “Wilfried, any good news?”
“Yeah. We’ve got a drug runner on the space station crew. Running a bad batch of nanite drug. One or more, actually.”
Leopold closed his eyes.
Bad, bad news, thought Tasha. “Anything positive?”
Leopold gave her a thin smile. “We’ll be back up on Acheron by next week. Back in space. Even unfinished and barely working, I prefer it to remaining on the ground.”
Tasha chuckled and took a sip of her drink. “You always find a way to cast a new light on things. But you’re right. Down here, we are under threat.” She looked into the cracking fire, trying to find a solution in the dancing flames.
Suddenly, Kitem barked, “Rocket.”
Within seconds, Wolm was on the alert, his rifle out. Lelal rushed toward them, yelling, “Activate your nanites.”
Tasha mumbled a quick prayer and the nanites within her awakened. The world instantly became sharper. She could now see as clearly as if it were plain daylight. A normal human brain couldn’t process all the photons perceived by the eyes, but with her enhancements she now could. Focusing her attention in the direction Kitem had pointed, she saw a rocket emerge, lit by its own exhaust trail. Her mind was now trained to avoid asteroids while flying a spaceship at a tenth of the speed of light. In an instant, she calculated the projectile’s vector and speed. The rocket was an old veteran, with multiple warheads and a large dispersion range. Kitem had sent one of the drones to the source of the launch, where a flare brightened the night. New launch.
Her bracelet activated and she heard the silent orders from Lelal directly in her mind. “Wolm, take them out. Pilots, we jump to the South and you run with the nanites to the outer shelter marked on your internal map. No one stops for any reason until there. Clear?”
Tasha subvocalized her agreement.
Wolm fired three rapid shots from his electromagnetic rifle. The titanium bullets travelled close to the speed of sound, embers in the dark sky. Tasha tracked them to their near-instantaneous impact on the first rocket, which exploded. A third rocket was now on the way toward them even as the drone was rushing to the launch location.
The space center security had awakened by now, and lights began to illuminate the different buildings and beams searched the sky. Sirens shrieked in the night. The second rocket went down in another blast and a gust of warm, toxic wind blew over Tasha.
“We go now.” Lelal gave Tasha a push and she jumped directly from the third floor, catching hold of the building’s façade to slow her descent. If felt so easy, with the nanites ensuring her actions had perfect accuracy – so easy, until she felt something attacking her from inside. The part of her brain which controlled the little robots informed her: The nanites have been diverted to fight a neurotoxin, specifics unknown.
She ran between the old buildings, her speed still inhuman, her lungs on fire. She felt the shock wave from the third rocket behind her. So close, she thought in near panic.
“Last turn and straight ahead.” Lelal pushed her and Tasha accelerated toward the door held open by Kitem. She saw Leopol
d and Wilfried jumping inside the bunker. She felt the last of her superhuman strength abandoning her as all her nanites focused on the neurotoxin. Suddenly, Lelal threw her like a puppet. Kitem caught her and, in an instant, they were safe, the airlock sealing them in.
She crumpled onto the ground, coughing, her entire body aching, her sight foggy. She heard Wilfried and Leopold coughing.
She felt Lelal push something into her hand. “Energy bar. Eat it. Help your nanites.”
She quickly gulped it and felt the pain alleviate. A second and a third bar followed rapidly. Later, Lelal came back with a glass of water and she could finally sit up.
At her side, his nose bleeding, Leopold said bitterly, “Threats, you said? They are shooting, I’d say.”
She tried to make light of it. “Old war rocket. Nothing serious. Wait until they try for real.”
Wilfried was holding his bleeding arm while Lelal cut his jacket. “At least, in space, we can fight on our terms,” he said with clenched teeth.
The airlock cycled and Wolm entered, holding the remote monitor for the drones. He collapsed on the ground, his body twitching out of control. Kitem took out his emergency kit and injected syringe after syringe. Nutrients, anti-toxin, nanite control. Wolm’s trembling ceased and his breathing returned closer to normal.
Lelal opened a 3D in front of them, linking with the drones. Tasha watched the launch site in fascination. Their assailants had left the weapon cases and mounts on the ground everywhere.
“They left the site hours ago. We won’t find them,” she said, coughing blood. “They were just measuring our reaction time and the effect of their toxins on us. And we are no closer to finding who they are.”
Anaru
Geneva Governmental Complex, August 15, 2140
Hours later, in the main conference room, Anaru met the Envoy, Yasmina, the CPC Chief, and Poiz Grayt, the Commander of the Federation. All four sat, serious-faced, watching the 3Ds coming from Baikonur.
