by John Appel
Interesting. Quite senior enough to not give offense or be dismissive, but not the very top of their government. The intelligence briefing on Ileri’s Prime Minister had noted that she was known for being a skilled negotiator. Using Ngo, the Interstellar Affairs Minister, as a buffer between the head of state and the Saljuan minister struck Andini as a savvy move. More immediately, she felt the knot of tension in her neck that had been present since just prior to emergence relax a bit; she’d half-expected to be dealing with Vega, the Defense Minister, which would have made for a very different conversation. Though Vega was on the call; she sat two seats away from Ngo, like a weapon close at hand, ready to be grasped.
She noted, though, that the Commonwealth ambassador sat next to Ngo, a likely indication the Star Republic’s chief rival supported its prospective member. Andini silently offered thanks to the merciful Father that Amazonas, the Commonwealth warship she’d been told was en route to Ileri, hadn’t yet arrived.
Once introductions were made, Ngo, a soft-featured woman with a melodious voice, came straight to the heart of the matter. “Minister Dinata. The message you broadcast after your unconventional arrival into Ileri space indicated you wish to conduct inspections as specified in the Accords of Year 83 Post Exile. Perhaps you would be so kind as to elaborate on that request?”
Even as Dinata drew breath to speak, Andini felt the knot of tension return.
“We are not making a request, Minister Ngo,” Dinata said flatly. “That is a notification. A statement of intent.”
There was a three-second delay as the signal and the return message bounced from ship to station and planet.
“Notification typically arrives ahead of the inspection team,” Ngo said.
Dinata flicked the fingers of her right hand as if brushing off a fly. “It is the right of all signatories to the Accords to conduct unannounced inspections at any time. The Star Republic chooses to exercise that right at this time.” She fixed her gaze impassively on the video pickup as if she could bore through the intervening kilometers into Ngo.
A private message window popped up and Andini waved it open, down by her left knee as Ngo and Dinata continued to spar.
A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach arrived to match the literal pain in her neck.
Andini was grateful that gymnastics competitions in her youth had given her the ability to fix an expression on her face despite whatever she felt inside.
Ears frowned.
Vega, the Defense Minister, took over after the brief lag. “Minister Dinata,” she said after the most recent lag gap. “I wish to formally deliver a protest from my government to yours regarding an espionage operation directed against the safety and good order of the Republic of Ileri.” The protest document appeared in the main projection field over the table as it simultaneously hit Andini’s inbox.
She was impressed by the Ileris’ thoroughness, sending it to her personally as well as to the conference channel. Vega probably knew that messages to her personally would be logged, regardless of what Dinata chose. She popped open the message to see the Ileris had, indeed, intercepted the Anomalous Cases signal. That was a fast bit of work. She prayed they weren’t able to crack the cipher.
Dinata’s eyes returned to her vid pickup. “This is immaterial,” she said impassively. “My government has received information that the government of Ileri, in conjunction with the government of the Commonwealth, has come into possession of Exile-grade mind-domination and reprogramming technology, in direct violation of the Accords of 83 PE.”
Andini heard the gasps in the locals’ conference rooms quite clearly. She didn’t blame them; the specter of the Unity Plague which had driven their ancestors not only off of Lost Earth, but out of the solar system, loomed large in the Saljuan consciousness. When the cabal of plutocrats and their religious fundamentalist allies had unleashed the nanoware agent that gave them control over the infected populace, her world’s people had fled up Earth’s space elevators with so many others. Unlike the Ileris, or the Novo Brasilians, her forebears hadn’t ended up on a garden world.
She locked her face into full-bore commander mode. This was Dinata’s operation to run, the Commandant had made that abundantly clear. She had her concerns about the ministers’ methods, but not about their ultimate goal.
“The Republic of Ileri categorically denies this charge,” Ngo, the Interstellar Affairs Minister, said.
Three more seconds ticked by.
Dinata shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if you deny it or not,” she said. “My mission is to determine whether or not this is true, and if so, to exercise our lawful rights to ensure any illegal material is destroyed.” To Andini:
Andini glanced at the mission plot.
“My government is not going to allow you to conduct a fishing expedition,” Vega chimed in before Ngo could respond.
Dinata leaned forward. “Minister. Captain Andini informs me we will achieve our initial parking orbit in approximately four hours,” she said. “We intend to dispatch an inspection team escorted by Major Nkruma’s troops to Ileri station. We shall provide you with flight plan prior to launch. Please prepare to receive them and make arrangements for them to conduct their inspection. I expect full cooperation under the provisions of the Accords. If cooperation is not forthcoming, I will recommend immediate interdiction of the Ileri system.”
Vega braced up, and Andini recalled the woman’s combat record as a peacekeeping-force commander. “Minister, we have no intention of cooperating until the matter of the espionage team has been resolved. We believe they are involved with the kidnapping and assault of Ileri citizens.”
The Commonwealth ambassador spoke up at last. “Speaking for the Commonwealth, Minister, while we respect your rights under the Accords, we advise you against precipitous action in exercising those rights. Enacting Interdiction without positive evidence of compromise is most emphatically not recognized under the Accords, and the Commonwealth will respond appropriately.”
That finally broke Dinata’s implacability, and she actually sneered. “Your people are just as complicit in this matter, Ambassador,” she said. “And you’ve been skirting the abyss for decades. You’d see us all made the thralls of the force our ancestors fled.” Her mask descended again. “We’ll speak again once our vessel attains its orbit.”
Dinata made a chopping motion with her left hand, below the pickup’s view.
“Captain Andini.” She heard Dinata’s voice as if it came from somewhere far away, instead of a little more than a meter to her right.
“Yes, Minister?” Her voice w
as steady, at least.
“How quickly will you be able to launch the inspection team’s shuttle once we achieve orbit?”
“We can be ready to launch almost immediately, Minister, but there may be a delay until Iwan Goleslaw is in proper position relative to the station for rapid transit.” Her hands moved to call up the navigation plots.
“Very well. I want Major Nkruma’s team on the way to Ileri Station at the earliest practical opportunity.” Dinata pulled herself to her feet and made for the steps. “Please tell Major Nkruma I’m on my way to brief him personally.”
“At your direction, Minister,” Andini said. She called her XO. “Keep the ship at Condition Two and prep a shuttle. The hunt is on.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Meiko
Joint Base Adnan,
New Abuja, Ileri
Meiko stood on the grassy strip between the runway and shuttle hangar and faced the sun, arms at her side and eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun and the cool of the morning breeze off the bay at once. She caught the waxy scent of gardenias and the sweeter aroma of jasmine along with a sharper, crisper smell she couldn’t identify.
Captain Teng stood next to her, his yellow kaftan trimmed with green piping rippling with the wind. “First time groundside in a while?”
“First in nearly four standard years. First time without needing an exosuit of some kind, that is.” She had a flashback to her disastrous last mission, of bounding across the frozen, airless surface of Haem IV’s third moon, racing to get one of her critically injured companions to their shuttle’s nanostasis tank in hopes the doctor could stabilize him enough for stasis. She suppressed a shiver, not from memory of cold, but from the knowledge of how close they’d all come to dying in that remote, desolate place. She rubbed her injured left arm and turned back to face the sun again.
She and Teng stood a bit apart from the others. A pair of civilian investigators, one Meiko’s age and the other in her early thirties, stood together a few meters away with a trim young Constabulary officer, clad like Teng in civilian dress. The constable displayed better taste, to Meiko’s eye. The trio talked quietly between themselves, as if leery of standing too close to the spies.
Teng looked on expectantly, and she indulged him with an answer. “Not since I was home last, in fact.”
“Have you been on Ileri before?”
She couldn’t fault him asking, but only smiled faintly in response. Either he knew already, and was trying to catch her in a lie, or he didn’t know, and was fishing for intel.
No freebies here, young man.
Teng didn’t press and shifted topics, instead asking about her recovery. Truth be told, she felt pretty good; Dr. Tran’s treatments were doing their job, and she’d scrupulously followed the supplements regimen to keep the nanosurgeons fed. She wasn’t used to the weight of the cast on her forearm but, then again, she wouldn’t have it on long enough for that to be a factor. Or so she hoped.
He relented and let her enjoy her brief communion with the relative novelty of an unregulated environment in silence. All too soon she heard the soft whir of an electric motor. She opened her eyes, scooped up her go-bag, and joined the others as they ambled towards the gray van come to deliver them on the next leg of their journey.
She found herself sitting next to Okereke, the older of the two civilian investigators, while Teng sat in the back next to the woman’s partner, with the policewoman settled in up front next to the driver.
“It seems we have some mutual friends,” Okereke said as the van’s gentle surge of acceleration pushed them back into their seats.
“Excuse me?” Meiko asked, startled.
Her seat mate flicked a glance back at Teng, who was chatting with the younger woman, Tahir. Okereke leaned towards Meiko, speaking softly. “Fari and I are the ones that saved your ass yesterday.”
Meiko laid her hand on Okereke’s arm. “Thank you,” she murmured. “That could have gone very badly if you hadn’t come along.” The rush of gratitude she felt was tempered with caution. The woman had connections with both the Fingers and the police. Interesting. Whose side is she on?
“Thank our friends. They’re the ones who vectored us in.” Okereke eyed the cast around Meiko’s left arm. “You look pretty good considering how they were working you over.”
“Timely rescue and a good doctor.” Her fingers twitched and she called up Okereke’s public profile, something she’d have done earlier if she hadn’t slept through the flight down. “What’s your involvement in the case?”
Okereke leaned away in surprise, her eyes widening. “You truly don’t know?” She nodded towards her partner. “Fari’s brother was Minister Ita’s bodyguard on-station. He was one of the victims.”
Meiko cursed silently as she flashed up the victim list. There was the name, Saed Tahir, along with a picture of a grinning young man. “I’m sorry, I didn’t make the connection,” she said aloud. “My condolences. You knew him well, then.”
“He was family,” Okereke affirmed.
“We both want the killers brought to justice,” she said. “Trust me, I want this as much as you do.”
Okereke nodded. “I’ll take your word for it.” She cocked her head and said, “Your social profile says you’re a planetary surveyor from Novo Brasilia. Your other profile, the one our friends passed me, also claims you’re a surveyor but that you’re an Ileri.” She looked Meiko straight in the eyes. “Is any of that true?”
Meiko hesitated, but Teng seemed caught up discussing some kind of fighting competition with Okereke’s partner, seemingly uninterested in whatever Meiko might say to the civilian. “Let’s just say my current profile is correct but not complete,” she said at last.
Okereke nodded as if she expected an evasion, but she stayed relaxed. “I hear surveyors get around. You’ve been to a lot of worlds?”
“I’ve seen my share, yes.” The van slowed as it pulled up to the canal-side quay where a Constabulary boat waited to carry them to the city center. “More than most. I’ve been lucky.” She glanced at Okereke. “How about you?”
Okereke shook her head. “I’ve never been out-system,” she said. “Born on the station. Hardly ever come planetside.” The Ileri woman eyed the gently bobbing watercraft sitting quayside dubiously, and Meiko noticed the sheen of sweat on her forehead. Nerves? Meiko wondered. Afraid of open water? Okereke caught her looking and grimaced. “Not a fan of unmanaged weather.” She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her face.
Transferring their scant luggage—it seemed they all traveled light—went quickly, and the team settled in to enjoy the early-morning view of Ileri’s largest city from water level.
Meiko had caught a few overhead views of the city on her seat’s vid panel during their landing approach, including the bright flashes of the canals which served as the city’s arteries in the early-morning sun, a patchy web of silver between the districts. New Abuja sprawled across its island near the center of Lake Perpaduan, hugging the bay that cradled the lower terminus of the space elevator. She’d only glimpsed a few towers; the capital tended towards shorter buildings, four and five stories tall, arranged in blocks around central courts, many of which served as green spaces.
Now, from the water level, she looked up and saw the brightly colored facades of these buildings as they zipped past. Residents walked or rode bikes or the tramline on their way to school, or work, or wherever they were headed, but fewer than Meiko expected. It was hard to tell from some meters away, but she got a vague sense of nervousness, or even fear, among the people; they clustered together in packs, heads down, eyes scanning for... something. It had been nearly twenty years since she’d last come down the cable to the city, but she remembered the sounds of music, even in the morning hours, people singing as they walked, of buskers getting an early start. A major war had swept through the systems on their doorstep but that hadn’t repressed the jaunty boisterousness of New Abuja’s citizens.
Now, they lo
oked as if they feared the demons which had haunted the streets of Shenzen’s and Goa’s cities were poised just outside of view, waiting to sweep in and wreak havoc.
Okereke, again seated next to her, noticed it too. “It’s worse than on-station.” She scanned the meager crowds and frowned. “Heard there were more disturbances here than we’ve had. Wonder how bad they’ve gotten.”
“Bad enough,” piped in Zheng, the stationside policewoman. She was taller than average, long-legged and built like a swimmer, with a round face framed with straight black hair bobbed short. Her comment earned her a disapproving look from Teng, which she blithely ignored. “No fatalities yet, but last night there was a pretty significant fight between One Worlders and the Harmonians, believe it or not.” She stretched her long legs carefully as the boat slowed to negotiate an intersection of canals. “The Commonwealth ship coming for the referendum had them stirred up plenty, but the Saljuans popping up unannounced, inside the exclusion zone to boot, and shouting about the Accords? It’s like poking a stick into a nest of flare ants.”
“What about the inspection team?” Okereke asked.
Zheng got the distant look of someone reading a private AR window on their implants. “They’ve docked but they’re still bottled up in the hub. Their commander wants them to be under arms in the station and our people are having none of that. Standoff, phase two.” She focused back on her companions, and her eyes settled on Meiko. “We might need to do something about your social profile, broadcasting you’re an off-worlder, when we reach HQ. We’ve got enough to do without needing to spend cycles keeping people from wanting to tear your face off.”
“Hm.” Meiko glanced at Teng, who shrugged. “I can handle myself, but that’s a good idea.”
“Even with one arm down?” Zheng pointed at Meiko’s cast.
