10 Light-Years to Insanity

by C M Dancha

  His frustration was rising, and he couldn’t afford to waste more time playing games with the two underlings.

  “Where is our Shooting Star 38?”

  He could tell by the expressions on their faces that they hadn’t given one iota of thought to the experimental Interceptor. The Commander was on the transport when it blew up. He specifically said the harness beam from the 38 to the transport was broken. Put two and two together and it added up to, “where the hell is the 38?”

  “Trifect, considering the 38 is the most important piece of military hardware in the Yandan space fleet, don’t you think it would be wise to find it?”

  The two Trifect knew the Lead Trifect was mad. The tone of his voice and the ridicule in his words were meant as an obvious tongue-lashing.

  “We’ll get on it, sir.”

  One of the Trifect reached for the communicator on the conference table to start the search for the 38.

  “Hold on. There are some other things to do, so let’s discuss them before you get to work.”

  The Lead Trifect didn’t wait for a response. He launched into a step-by-step review of what had to be done.

  “First, find the 38. Use every resource at our disposal to find it. Check with our allies. Review our monitoring outpost recordings to see if the 38 flew by. Put out a reward bulletin for the return of the 38 or information leading to its whereabouts. Find that damn ship. It’s value to the Empire is beyond calculation.”

  The Lead Trifect watched his subordinates scribbling notes besides recording everything he said.

  “Next, get at least a half-dozen sweepers to the coordinates where the explosion occurred. I want forensic evidence to substantiate if it was our transport which exploded. Also, look for genetic evidence. Were Morg and the Earthling on board the transport or not? And, this brings me to my last directive. Watch this.”

  The Lead Trifect fast-forwarded the Commander’s communication. He stopped at the point where the reflections in the transport’s viewing port window were barely noticeable.

  He fiddled with the enhancement software to bring out a decent image of JoJo and Tookie sitting in the gyro chairs. “Look closely. Do you see these two creatures? I want to know who they are and where they came from.”

  “Any questions?”

  He didn’t expect either of the Trifect to ask or say anything. He had embarrassed and ridiculed them enough. They were ashamed and wouldn’t dare open their voice holes.

  “Good. I’m leaving. It’s time to put in a communication to Mr. Conway.”

  17

  “Excellent. Very, very good, comrades. You executed the plan exactly right. You are to be commended.”

  The Crelon responded for the revolutionaries. “Thank you, First Comrade Joe, but all the honor and compliments belong to you. Your plan was perfect. All we did was follow it.”

  “Well, we can all share in the success of operation Decoy. The Earthling let everyone bask in the glory before continuing. “Now, can I assume our two little friends were vaporized in the explosion?”

  “Yes, sir. JoJo and Tookie were martyred.”

  “They will be remembered as true patriots in the overthrow of the Yandan Empire.” Comrade Joe didn’t believe that, but it sounded good. By the end of the rebellion, no one would remember JoJo and Tookie or care what they did for the rebellion.

  “And, we know for a fact the surveillance Interceptor was Yandan?”

  “Absolutely. JoJo sent us a live feed of the Yandan trooper boarding the decoy transport. Plus, we’ve towed the Yandan Interceptor back to Ziptowtheon. You should see this thing, First Comrade.”

  “Why is that?”

  “None of us have ever seen a ship like this. The shadow drive system is quite a bit different than a normal Interceptor. And, the aerodynamics and hull materials are innovative compared to the newest Interceptors. Everything about this ship is a radical change from the most modern Interceptors. Our technicians are reverse engineering it. The initial feedback is this is an experimental ship which can travel much faster than anything known to exist. Our technicians are referring to this ultra-fast speed as hyper-jump”

  “Well, that would explain how the Yandans got a surveillance set up so fast.” The Earthling went into one of his deep-thought modes. The more he pondered the advantages of having the Yandan experimental Interceptor, the more excited he got. If they could duplicate this new shadow drive system, they would be unstoppable. With super-cloaking and this new Interceptor, they would overrun the Yandan Empire with ease. A broad smile spread across his face as he thought about the glorious victories to come.

  “Gentlemen, it’s all ours. What could be more fabulous? The Yandans are most likely going crazy. They have lost their new baby. Its vanished into thin air. I love it.”

  The kid chuckled louder and louder. This led the four members of his executive revolution staff to smile, giggle and congratulate each other. Their egos could not have been more inflated. If they weren’t already the most powerful beings in the rebellion, they would have promoted themselves on the spot.

  When the laughter petered out, the Earthling resumed the meeting. “Okay, okay, let’s move on. Before I forget, make sure our best technicians are working on the experimental Yandan Interceptor. He didn’t bother to explain the benefits of having a fleet of hyper-Interceptors. “Have you begun the next phase of our plan?”

  The Earthling made a point of giving credit to the entire council for all his plans. He believed that beings who had ownership and authorship for what was to happen executed plans with devout loyalty. In fact, some became zealots to ensure their plans were carried out successfully.

  “Yes. Ziptowtheon is moving to the new location we selected. The other cloaked mini-planets and satellite weapon platforms are also moving closer to Yanda and their ally planets.”

  “Very good. Keep the speed down so our cloaked units leave a minimal shadow trail. I’m sure the Yandans are snooping around the Ziptowtheon coordinates. They'll try to find evidence of the transport, their experimental ship, and the passengers on those ships. Passengers like me.”

  When the irony of the Earthling’s last remark registered with everyone, they broke out in another laughing fit. Each of them could imagine the Yandans wandering around a large sector of space like lost children. The thought of them wasting considerable time and money looking for something which didn’t exist was priceless.

  Everything was working out exactly as the Earthling planned. Word would leak out that the Yandan transport exploded and with it, Morg and the Earthling were now permanent residents of the afterlife. The kid was shielded by his fake death. He could now operate at will. He didn’t have to worry bounty about hunters, mercenaries, the Trifect and whoever else hated his guts and wanted him arrested or dead. All he had to do was keep a low profile and not do anything stupid.

  The only being who could upset his perfect plan was Morg. The Yandan had to be watched closely. Hopefully, he wouldn’t make any more communications for quite some time. He believed the Trifect was investigating the cloaked star of Ziptowtheon. His offspring would be notified of his death. And, the daughters of his former mercenary friends were looking for a transport which supposedly no longer existed. If Morg did something unexpected which couldn’t be negated, he could always be killed. The kid hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He was beginning to like the Yandan.

  The wild card was his father, the high and mighty Prefect Conway. What would the old man do when he heard the transport vaporized? Would he investigate or leave it alone? As hard as the kid tried, he couldn’t guess what the old man would do. He was too unpredictable.

  The Earthling broke the communication with his revolutionary council just as Morg wandered onto the bridge.

  18

  There was knocking at his bedroom door. He could tell by the perfectly timed raps, all delivered with the same force, it was the Mentat. He marveled at the Mentat’s rigid and precise behavior although it could be annoying at times. To
Conway, he seemed more like a robot than a living, breathing being.

  “Prefect, are you awake?”

  “Honey Nuts, when are you going to get rid of that thing. He creeps me out.”

  Conway rolled into a sitting position and hung his legs over the edge of the bed. He looked for something to cover his nude body. The fog of sleep was slowly evaporating and as his mind cleared, he thought about Beth’s cutesy nickname. He asked her numerous times why she called him Honey Nuts. No badgering, gifts or promises could get her to reveal the reason. He finally gave up trying to pry the answer from her. After all, she was young, firm and the best ride he ever had.

  “One day my dear. Right now, he’s too valuable to me.”

  Honey Nuts Conway leaned backward and playfully gnawed on Beth’s shoulder. He followed with a quick peck and then casually strolled to the door as he wrapped himself in a bathrobe.

  He opened the door wide enough to make sure no one else was with the Mentat. “I’m up. What’s going on?”

  “The Lead Trifect has requested a personal communication with you in .034 Tripes. He claims it is very important for you and him to talk.”

  Conway rolled his eyes and shook his head in mild frustration. He wondered why the Mentat continued to use alien terms he didn’t understand.

  “What the hell is .3 whatever Tripes? English. What’s that in English for god’s sake?”

  “It’s approximately forty minutes.”

  “Okay. Tell the Yandans I’ll be ready in sixty minutes. I’m sure you know how many Tripes that is.”

  Before the Mentat could question Conway’s re-scheduling of the communication, the door shut in his face. Conway slammed the door in partial retaliation for the Mentat using alien technical words. He also got a kick out of agitating the Mentat to see if he could get an emotional response from him. A simple curse word, fit of anger or laugh would go a long way to proving there was something inside the Mentat other than even-keeled, programmed responses. Thus far, Conway had been unsuccessful. The Mentat’s responses were like those of an automaton.

  Conway slid back into the bed and rolled over on Beth’s backside. In this position, he loved how his body molded to her. “I have a surprise for you. Are you interested?”

  Beth let out a loving coo and said, “Show me, Honey Nuts.”

  For the next thirty minutes, she only thought of how rewarding it was being the bed partner of the most important man on Earth. The last several years as his concubine were thrilling. It was exactly what she needed after that bum Joe deserted her. It could only get better when the reigning Prefect of Earth defeated the Yandans and became the Prefect of the Universe. But, if Conway stumbled during his rise to power, she would have no problem distancing herself from the middle-aged creep.

  One hour later the Lead Trifect placed the communication to Prefect Conway. The Mentat answered and started making excuses for Conway’s absence. As they bantered back and forth and started negotiating for a rescheduled comm time, Prefect Conway was strolling to the communications room. He wasn’t the least bit concerned about standing up the Lead Trifect. The Yandan needed to be taught a lesson about who he was dealing with on Earth. Conway held the high cards in this game. Earth possessed the natural resources Yanda needed for survival. Yanda held nothing which Earth was in dire need of. That included their huge supply of Cannis which could be bought easily on the open market.

  “Lead Trifect, I will contact you as soon as I speak with Prefect Conway. I’m sure he has a good reason for being late.”

  Ten light years away, a disgusted Lead Trifect reached to push the off-comm button on his communications panel. He paused long enough to see the Mentat’s attention drawn to a commotion occurring off-screen. Prefect Conway walked casually into view, sat down, and poured himself a drink.

  After two gulps and an obnoxious burp, Conway peered into his halo-screen transceiver. He twisted, turned, and cocked his head several different ways pretending to have focus and reception problems. The Mentat stood at his side wondering what the hell he was doing.

  Finally, he said, “Lead Trifect, how good to see you again. What do I owe this honor to? Do you have some good news for me? Am I going to talk with my son today? After all, it has been a couple weeks since I asked to speak with him.”

  The Lead Trifect held his anger in check. He thought about how much of a jerk Conway was. Not one word of an excuse or apology for being late. How could he and the people of Yanda trust this jerk? The same thought kept looping through his brain. “Conway, you are pushing your luck, pal”.

  “Prefect Conway, your son is dead.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said, your son is dead. His transport exploded.”

  The Lead Trifect sat motionless and didn’t flinch a scale on his body. He knew this revelation would likely end the CASETA Agreement once and for all, but he didn’t care. It had become an extreme long-shot that Conway intended to sign the Agreement. So, there was no reason to hold back and try to hide the kid’s death. In fact, it was worth seeing Conway’s reaction.

  Every ounce of color drained from Conway’s face. He tried to stand but there wasn’t enough energy or desire left in his leg muscles. They gave out and he fell back into his chair. He slumped over like an old man and put his face into folded arms on the table. The only time he looked up was to confirm the Lead Trifect’s shocking news with his Mentat.

  The Lead Trifect was tempted to end the communication but wanted to see how a jerk handled personal tragedy. There was a part of him that enjoyed seeing the man suffer. He sat in his office for twenty minutes waiting to see what Conway did. The kid’s father hardly moved. Other than rocking his head back and forth in his arms, the jerk said and did nothing. No one, including the Mentat, came over and tried to console him. When Conway finally got up and left the room the Lead Trifect made some interesting observations. Conway had not wept over his son’s death. His eyes were crystal clear, not bloodshot. The man looked normal, as though he was getting ready to go for an afternoon stroll in the park.

  The Lead Trifect kept his transceiver on in case something happened on Earth. He sat there watching the screen and wondering about Conway’s reaction. The man was either cold as death or putting on an exceptional performance. He would have paid any amount of Cannis to know exactly what was going through the Prefect's head and heart, if he had one.

  Once Conway left the prying eye of the halo transceiver he straightened up and started walking at a brisk pace back to his personal quarters. He had a lot of work to do. First, he needed to figure out if his stupid son was really dead. The Mentat confirmed that the Lead Trifect believed he was but that meant little to Conway. Although accidents happened, he knew his kid was too smart to be blown to bits on a transport that was safety certified before it left Yanda. That left only one possibility. The transport explosion wasn’t an accident. The transport either took direct hits from an external force like an Interceptor or espionage was involved.

  The farther he walked the more dubious he became about his son’s death. In a strange way, things were starting to make a sliver of sense. The kid lied repeatedly about where and why the transport stopped for repairs. He lied about the rogue planet and its inhabitants. And now, shortly after he left the rogue planet, the transport blows up. There had to be some kind of connection between the rogue planet and the fate of the transport. But what was it?

  He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face the Mentat. His psychic servant was exactly where he expected to find him. Five steps behind, over his left shoulder, and quiet as a mouse.

  “Mentat, did you overhear my conversation with that Yandan creep?”

  “Do you mean the Lead Trifect?”

  “Of course, I do. Who else would I be referring to?”

  “Yes, I overheard your conversation.”

  “Good. Then here’s what I want you to do. Tomorrow, I want you to contact the Lead Trifect. Ask him what his thoughts are about the CASETA Agreeme
nt. He'll be surprised by your question because you are giving him a ray of hope for finalizing the Agreement. After he tells you, find out as much about the transport explosion as possible. Where did it happen? Get the coordinates. When did it happen? How does he know my son was on the transport? Etc., Etc., Etc. Do you understand?

  “Yes. How should I explain your absence from the communication?”

  “Tell him I’m in mourning. I’m so upset I’ve locked myself in my bedroom and refuse to come out. Make up any excuse you want.”

  “Mentat, do you know why I've asked you to contact the Lead Trifect?”

  It took less than three seconds for the Mentat to answer. “Because I can distinguish truth from lies?”

  “Good guess. You are correct, my man. I need to know facts. Not innuendo or guesses.”

  “Am I correct assuming you doubt your son is dead?”

  “I don’t know. But I do know something doesn’t smell right.”

  First Prefect Conway turned and walked away. The Mentat stood in the hallway watching his boss and wondered what his comment about not smelling right meant. These humans had an extensive library of trite idioms which meant something entirely different than what was said. Why they were so indirect and obtuse was a mystery to the Mentat. Why couldn’t they get directly to the point and say what was on their mind?

  The Mentat was also very curious about why the Prefect wanted to find out if his son was dead. He didn’t like the kid. He bitched about him all the time. They were more like bitter enemies than loving father and son. The kid completed his mission for the old man, so why did the Prefect care one iota about what happened to him? In fact, he should be happy the kid was gone. From what the Mentat deduced, the elimination of his son was a wonderful stroke of luck. He got rid of someone who constantly mucked things up. Plus, a thousand secrets went to his grave.