Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  Johnston nodded. “One of them will be his contact.”

  “Indeed,” Swenson agreed.

  “Anything else?” Johnston followed up.

  “Yes, some strange titanium alloys.” Davis responded. “There were only a few miniscule flecks, but one of our drones managed to collect a couple of them. They are alloys that were only invented in the last hundred years. Given that the apartment is far older than that, none were used in its construction. Typically the flecks are used in military hardware. Including in the outer casing of hypervelocity missile launchers. Though not every nation uses such designs.”

  “Let me guess who does, the Chinese,” Johnston finished for Davis.

  “They do. I have sent away for the exact specifications of the shipment of missile launchers that is unaccounted for from China. Once we get it, I should be able to confirm if a launcher was in the room.”

  “Thank you,” Johnston said. “Follow up on the launcher and the DNA. I want every database we have searched for a match. But make sure it stays with us. I don’t want word getting out yet. Whoever they are, if they are smart, they’ll be on the lookout for someone trying to trace their DNA profile.”

  “Understood,” Davis said.

  Johnston turned back to Swenson. “I don’t think we need to wait for confirmation to assume this was the safehouse where Sault received his launcher. He was probably here the first time to be trained on how to use it then the second to receive it. That means his contact had to be here. We need to identify them and find them immediately.”

  “I already have my people on it. If they were picked up by any of our cameras, we’ll find then,” Swenson replied. “Do you want to join us back at IID headquarters or shall we update you when we find something?”

  Johnston was sorely tempted to get a shuttle with Swenson back to Portsmouth where the IID headquarters had been built, but he had other things he needed to see so. “No, I have to get back to my schedule. But as soon as you hear anything, I want to know.”

  “Of course General,” Swenson responded.

  Turning up his datapad Johnston reached out with his other hand to switch it off before slipping it back into his jacket. The image it was showing made him freeze. It was of a woman. She was wearing a thick scarf around her neck that covered her mouth. That wasn’t entirely unusual. But she also had her head tilted away from the camera. It was almost a small enough tilt that it looked natural. But almost wasn’t good enough. Not to Johnston’s eyes. He pulled the datapad closer to his face as he zoomed in. On Earth it was all but impossible to tell these days but judging from the color of her skin the woman looked like she was Indian. That meant she was probably from an Indian colony rather than here. Johnston felt his instincts screaming at him. “Her,” he said as he held up his datapad to Swenson. “What do you think?”

  “Maybe,” Swenson said slowly. Then with more confidence he nodded his head. “Yes, she is good. She’s stopping the cameras from getting enough for a full recognition scan, but she’s not drawing attention to herself from those around her.”

  “Exactly,” Johnston agreed. “She knows what she is doing.” He was sorely tempted to abandon his appointments and go with Swenson to Portsmouth. They had a real lead to follow up on. Yet he suspected he would just get in everyone’s way. And one of his appointments was the Empress. “Get as much of a facial scan as you can. And see if we have any better images from the other cameras. Make her your priority. I want a full run down on everything we have on her ASAP. It doesn’t matter where I am. Just interrupt me.”

  “Of course General,” Swenson replied.

  “Good work,” Johnston said as he shook the agent’s hand again. “I have to see to a couple of things, but I’ll be following up with you as soon as I can.”

  *

  Imperial Palace

  Johnston paused before the large double doors that led into Empress Christine’s main audience chamber. He took a deep breath as he collected himself. After meeting with Agent Swenson, he had spent two hours on the moon at the Marine Academy reviewing training practices and standards with the Generals in charge there. The Imperial Marines were under immense pressure to expand their numbers and they couldn’t afford to let standards slip. It was causing quite the headache. Dismissing those thoughts, he refocused on meeting with Christine. When ready, he nodded to the two marines guarding the doors. One reached over and pulled it open. As he walked in, he wasn’t surprised to see that Christine’s Chief of Staff was sitting with her at one of the tables that dotted the sides of the room.

  “Ah, General Johnston, it’s good to see you, come on over,” Christine called as she waved her good hand at him.

  “My Empress,” Johnston said as he approached and gave Christine a slight bow.

  Christine frowned and waved his head back up. “There’s no need for that when it’s just the three of us. Now come and sit. Tell me how good I’m looking and update us on the security arrangements and the investigation.”

  Johnston had to bite back a sigh. “So, you’re still planning to go through with it?” As he spoke, he glanced at Fairfax. The former British Prime Minister simply shrugged. They both knew how stubborn Christine was when she wanted to be.

  “Of course,” Christine replied as she allowed a hint of indignation to creep into her voice. At the same time she flashed him a smile. “Look at me. I’m up and about. Sure I still have these blasted casts on. And I won’t lie, I’m still a bit tentative on my feet. But the people need to see me. They need to see with their own eyes that I am well enough to lead them. Unless you’re suggesting I’m too much of a cripple to make a public speech?” As Christine finished speaking she tilted her head to fix Johnston with a level stare.

  “Certainly not Empress. In any case, I am not a doctor. I have no expertise to comment on your health. As long as you and your doctors are okay with that, I can’t complain on that front.”

  “Exactly,” Christine said, jumping in before Johnston could finish his thought. “There’s no point in you trying.”

  “That wasn’t exactly where I was going,” Johnston managed to get in. “As your Chief of Security, I am not entirely comfortable with just how public you intend to make this speech. Milan is a massive city. The cathedral sits in front of a large open square. It’s going to be a nightmare to fully secure. Especially if you want the square full of citizens. With your attackers still at large, I’m concerned. If they have more hypervelocity missiles there is no way we can fully protect you. Even with the best counter missile systems, I cannot guarantee your safety. Nor that of the crowd.”

  “I have every confidence in you,” Christine responded. “Your marines have never let me down. Neither have you. This is something I need to do. Something the people of Earth need me to do. You know as well as I that there are still rumors flying around that I’ve been permanently maimed or crippled. Heck, there are even rumors suggesting that Fairfax has taken over and is running everything in my stead.” As she spoke Christine winked at Fairfax. “Think about the nightmares that is giving some of my citizens.” She shook her head. “This needs to be done. Unless you’re going to tell me it’s impossible to protect me in one of my own cities, then this is what’s going to happen.” Christine leveled her gaze at Johnston.

  “I’m not saying it’s impossible. Just that I cannot remove all the risks,” Johnston responded.

  “You know as well as I that in life and especially in war, there are always risks,” Christine replied.

  Johnston simply nodded. The square was a nightmare to protect. There were five different streets leading into it and anyone could access the square through the many buildings that fronted onto it. Not to mention the much larger high-rise apartments and skyscrapers that surrounded the square further away. Any one of them would provide a good vantage point for a sniper or someone intent on harming Christine. As bad as that was, he had to admit that wherever Christine chose to do her speech, there would be risks. Someone with modern military weap
onry with the intent to use it would be able to find an opportunity one way or another.

  “Good,” Christine said as her facial features relaxed. “We can put that discussion to bed then. Tell me, how is your investigation going?”

  “We are still chasing up leads,” Johnston answered honestly. He didn’t want to tell Christine about the new apartment and the woman who was the potential contact who had recruited and armed Sault. Not yet. He wanted to be sure before he got her hopes up.

  “That’s all my Chief of Security has to tell me?” Christine pressed. “I know James asked you to handle this personally.”

  “I am,” Johnston responded. “We are certain that Sault wasn’t working alone. And that he wasn’t the mastermind behind the attack. Someone else planned it. Someone who simply used Sault as a pawn. That means they are organized and have skills in spy craft. It’s going to make finding them difficult. Not to mention stopping them launching another attack.”

  Christine frowned but chose to ignore Johnston’s attempt to return to their earlier conversation. “But you still have southern France, Switzerland and northern Italy shut down. So you believe this spy ring or whatever you are calling it should be stuck in those regions.”

  “That’s our hope,” Johnston said with a nod. Given the apartment they had just found in Avignon, he was quite certain that the spy ring had set up in southern France as their base of operations.

  “Well, the sooner you and Russell find them the better. I’m getting complaint after complaint from the Mayors and citizens of those regions. Restricting the personal freedoms of Imperial citizens is not something I’m keen on building a reputation for. There are four days until my public address. I’d very much like to announce the end of the restrictions then.”

  “Four days is not a long time to hunt down and root out a spy ring Empress,” Johnston said slowly. “Even if we have some success by then, it will be difficult to know for sure if we have all the conspirators.”

  “I guess we will just have to see how good you and Admiral Russell are then,” Christine replied. “For in four days I’ll be making my speech.”

  Mentally, Johnston sighed. As Christine drew him into conversations about how the training of the next cadre of marines was going, he allowed her to change the subject. Though he answered her questions and engaged in the other topics she wanted to discuss with him and Fairfax, his mind was focused on finding Christine’s attackers. If they only had four days, the investigation needed to pick up pace.

  *

  When he stepped out of the reception chamber forty minutes later, Johnston pulled out his datapad to check his messages. He wasn’t surprised to see Admiral Russell had requested he call over to his office. With Russell’s secondary IID office based in the Palace, it was just a short walk for Johnston to head there. When he stepped into Russell’s office and saw Agent Swenson was there as well, Johnston had to fight not to grin. They had made a breakthrough. “What have you found?” he asked as he shook both of their hands.

  “I’ll let Swenson update you,” Russell said as he gestured for both men to take a seat.

  “We have found hundreds more images of this unknown woman,” Swenson said as he tapped Russell’s holo projector and more than twenty images of the same woman appeared. In every one of them she had her head tilted away from the camera or was wearing something that covered most of her face. “As you can imagine, not a single one of them has allowed us to get a full facial scan, but there’s enough to piece together a partial one. She has used three aliases that we’ve identified so far. But her real name is Saria Bedi. She’s from New Delhi. She was suspected of being a member of Culthrapori’s militia but she was never found after the colony joined the Empire and we couldn’t confirm her involvement one way or another. Now I think we know why. We have images of her moving around Earth going back nearly a year. She’s definitely a spy. She has only popped up infrequently here and there all over Earth. With so much movement she should have a digital footprint fifty or a hundred times the size of the one she does. If it wasn’t for your suspicions, she might have evaded our general counter surveillance efforts indefinitely.”

  Johnston heard everything Swenson had said, but his mind had focused on one thing. “New Delhi,” he repeated. “That means Agarwal is involved. There is no doubt now. He was head of Culthrapori’s intelligence operations. He would have sent Saria here when Culthrapori was still in charge of New Delhi. If she is still carrying out active operations then Agarwal must be in contact with her. He has to be pulling the strings.”

  “That’s our working theory,” Russell agreed. “We’ve tried to backtrack Saria’s movements before she came to Earth. She came here via Britannia, then Canadian space and the Swedish colony of Gustav. After that, the trail goes cold, but I think it’s a safe assumption that she started out from New Delhi. We’re searching every record we have to see if we can identify if and when Agarwal came to Earth. He probably used the same methods Saria did and we know it had to be some time after New Delhi voted to join the Empire. But as yet we have nothing. What we need to decide is what do we do next?”

  “We’ve been compiling a list of known contacts and addresses Saria has visited and we are investigating them all,” Swenson informed Johnston. “But we are having to do it quietly so we don’t tip her off. We’ve also confirmed that one of the female DNA samples found in the Avignon apartment is of the owner who was looking to sell it. That means the second sample is most likely Saria’s. I have had a quiet trace put on the sample, if it shows up anywhere at all, I’ll be alerted. The question is, do we pick her up and interrogate her now, or follow her and try and find Agarwal and whoever else might be involved?”

  Johnston closed his eyes as he thought. The decision was not an easy one. And Russell and Swenson were laying the responsibility on him. “What are your thoughts?” he asked as he opened his eyes again and glanced from Russell to Swenson.

  Swenson glanced at Russell. “If it wasn’t for the Empress’ upcoming speech,” the head of IID said, “we could watch her for as long as we wanted. That way we could make sure we scoop up everyone involved when we finally take her. That would be my preference. If we lift her now, the rest will go to ground. They could hide out for six months or a year or even longer if they wanted and then start their operation again. We’d never know for sure if we had put an end to this. But…”

  “But they’ve already made one attempt on the Empress,” Johnston said. “And this speech is the perfect opportunity to make another.” He closed his eyes again. It was a Catch-22. Right now they knew about Saria. They had enough of a facial scan to track her movements relatively accurately. That gave them an advantage. They could watch her and identify everyone she had contact with. But if they picked her up and she didn’t break, then they’d be back to square one. They would know nothing. As he thought through both options he was reminded of Christine’s words. “In life and war there are always risks,” he said. “We need to put an end to this threat to the Empress’ life. We’ll watch her as close as we can. I want every surveillance drone we have searching for her. I want to be kept up to date minute by minute and hour by hour. If we think she is involved in planning something, we’ll jump on her immediately. But if she doesn’t look like she’s planning anything for the Empress’ Milan speech, then we’ll get as much information on their whole organization as we can before we move. How does that sound?”

  “That will work,” Russell said with a nod. “What do we tell the Empress?”

  “Nothing yet,” Johnston answered. “She doesn’t need to worry until we know something more definite one way or another.”

  “All right, Agent Swenson will continue to take the lead on this. He will report directly to the both of us.”

  “Very good,” Johnston said as he glanced at Swenson and nodded. “We can’t make any mistakes in this. They can’t be allowed to hit the Empress a second time.”

  “I won’t let you down General,” Swenson promis
ed.

  Johnston nodded again. “See that you don’t.”

  Chapter 12

  A trip to the Imperial capital can be a bittersweet experience, especially to a student of history. Many of the ancient cities are now but suburbs in one of the several mega cities that have formed. Still, if one knows where to look, some of the ancient sites can still be found.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  Milan, 23rd November 2483 AD (four days later).

  Standing in the middle of the large square, Johnston slowly turned through three hundred and sixty degrees as he surveyed the work his platoon of marines, or more accurately, the newly named Imperial Guard, were carrying out. At the base of the steps that led up to the cathedral, a small portable AM missile launcher was sitting. At the top of the steps the podium was in place and six Imperial Guards were at their positions. In the cathedral itself at least ten others were guarding the various entrances. As he turned, he noted the snipers on the top of the building adjacent to the cathedral. For several more buildings there were no signs of any marines, but he knew they were there making sure every entrance to each building that led into the square was covered. Each roadway had a small roadblock manned by Imperial Guards and on the roof of another building there was a more substantial AM missile battery. He had more than a hundred Imperial Guards keeping the square locked down tight. He would only open access to the square forty-five minutes before Christine’s speech and every single person who entered would have their face and DNA scanned.