Beyond the Veil

by Hamish Spiers

  “Why?” Laila exclaimed.

  “That seemed to be a mystery. Some of my scouts looked around the Cepheis system to see if there were any clues there. Unfortunately, there was a large clean-up operation underway so they were unable to get in and have a closer look. But it seems a military installation was hit. An orbital station and several cruisers that were refueling there at the time of the attack have been damaged beyond repair.”

  “And the farmers?”

  “The scouts believed that they were inconvenient witnesses. Apparently, they were trying to raise the alert when they were pursued and boarded.”

  “Why boarded?”

  “That is the right question,” Admiral Roth replied. “It appears that the hit on that orbital station was done using internally placed explosives. Whatever ship the perpetrators were flying, it lacked the firepower to inflict effective external damage. However, the weapons that they carried with them when they boarded those farmers were anything but ineffective.”

  Laila shook her head. “I have some ideas but I feel as though I only have a few pieces of the overall puzzle.”

  “Yes,” the admiral agreed. “It is most vexing. However, perhaps when we see the farmers’ ship for ourselves, we may find a few more of those pieces. Still though, you said you had some ideas?”

  “Well, if they’ve done as much damage as you say, then whoever attacked the orbital station had more than enough weapons to do the job. However, when they carried out their attack, they used weapons that they could carry on board other vessels. Well-placed explosives, handheld blasters and the like. And they used a ship that was incapable of even destroying a small civilian transport.”

  “And your conclusions?”

  “It sounds as if they were part of a small group but they wanted to make their attack appear as if it were carried out by a much larger one. As if it were some kind of set-up.”

  “An elaborate frame job,” Admiral Roth agreed. “Yes, I had drawn the same conclusion myself. However, as you said, we are still missing some of the pieces of this puzzle.”

  “Yes,” Laila replied. “Who these people are, who they were trying to frame with this job and... well, why, I suppose.”

  “That would about cover it. However, my scouts believe the puzzle might be slightly more complicated than that.”

  “How so?”

  “They believe that some of the weaponry used in the attack was not Minstrahn in origin.”

  Admiral Roth paused as he phrased the next part in his mind. Admitting to Laila that he knew she had three crew members on board the Deliverance who could help him with this problem would, for all intents and purposes, be a confession that his intelligence teams had been spying on them. Thankfully however, there were less incriminating ways in which he could ask for their assistance.

  “I don’t suppose you have anyone on board the Deliverance who might know about Levarc weaponry by any chance?”

  “Well, it’s odd that you should ask,” Laila told him, “but I actually have three Levarc among my crew.”

  Admiral Roth allowed himself an expression of mild surprise. “Is that right? Well, that’s most fortunate. I wonder if I could request their assistance in resolving a little matter.”

  By the time Admiral Roth arrived at the crippled civilian ship with Laila and her chief engineer, the Levarc officer called Chaelak, there was nothing to suggest that either of his intelligence teams had been there. The bodies of the farmers remained where they had fallen in their gruesome contortions, and everything was as it had been when Gamma-Five had first discovered it.

  “These people had no weapons,” Laila murmured.

  “Yes,” Roth replied, crouching down by one of the farmers. He remained there a moment longer before he stood up again.

  There were two soldiers standing behind the group, and Chaelak had brought his nephew Kalaer along as well. However, that was it for the boarding party. The admiral had decided that given the size of the ship, a larger group would be rather impractical.

  “Shall we do a sweep of the ship before you proceed?” one of the soldiers asked.

  Admiral Roth shook his head. “Thank you, Lieutenant, but no. I’ve been assured that there is no danger to us. Come. Let’s have a look at the rear hatchway on the port side.”

  It was not a long walk and soon, they were standing over the particular evidence that they had come to see.

  “Well, Chaelak?” Roth asked.

  Although looking at the shards on the deck, there was little doubt in his own mind. He’d used a Levarc grenade during his escape from a mining camp in the early days of the Levarc War. The design, at least as far as he could tell from the fragments, was too similar to be a coincidence.

  Chaelak crouched down and pulled the fragments together. Then he tried to hold several in place in his large claws to see how they’d look.

  “These formed a grenade that humans could wield,” he said, “but they’d be heavier for you than what would be comfortable. For my people however, they’d have exactly the right weight and balance.”

  Admiral Roth nodded. “So, any idea how such a thing could have found its way into the Minstrahn Empire? Could the perpetrators of this attack have been Levarc?”

  Chaelak shook his head as he climbed back to his feet. “I doubt it. We would never build a ship that had so little firepower it couldn’t destroy a vessel such as this one. Our cargo transports would have had superior firepower to whatever it was the perpetrators of this crime used.”

  “Then the question raises itself as to how Levarc weaponry found its way out here,” Admiral Roth said. “Is it possible the Levarc ever reached the Minstrahn Empire?”

  Chaelak thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think so. Lord Valaekei and the Third Division of the navy got as far as a nearby system called Felarias, where they established an outpost. But that was really to provide his ships with a base from which to launch attacks against the nearby Frontier worlds. I don’t think they ever came out this far.”

  At the mention of Felarias, Laila’s gaze flicked down. She knew now that this was where Maia’s mother had come from. And where her Minstrahn father had died.

  “However,” Chaelak said, “there are rumors that there may be Levarc settlements in the uncharted regions of space. Perhaps such a settlement may be nearby.”

  Admiral Roth frowned. “The break-away groups... around about the time of the formation of the Federation?”

  “When Prince Araakheil seceded from the Kingdom,” Chaelak said. He turned to his nephew. “Because?”

  “His uncle, the self-appointed King Saeravak, took the throne and denied him his birthright,” Kalaer replied. “Araakheil took those loyal to him and seceded from the Kingdom, leaving the throne in the hands of an usurper. However, his son Karaevas wrested it from his great-uncle when he came of age and continued his father’s line.”

  Laila found the recital somewhat unnerving. She had had no idea how strong Chaelak’s ties to his people’s past were. He had, like all resident Levarc in the Frontier worlds and the Federation, renounced the crimes his people had inflicted on the countless people who dwelled in their neighboring sectors but more importantly, she considered him a friend. However, hearing the manner in which he had taught his nephew the history of his people, it made her realize something that she hadn’t really acknowledged. Chaelak was a Levarc, and he would always be a Levarc, and to think of him as otherwise would be to wrong him.

  “And no one knows where the Sons of Araakheil settled?” Admiral Roth asked.

  Due their reptilian physicality, Levarc expressions were somewhat difficult to read. However, for those who understood the subtle shifts in their poise and the set of their eyes, the expression that crossed over Chaelak’s face could be interpreted as a mixture of surprise and newfound respect.

  “The Sons of Araakheil,” he said. “You know the Levarc phrase.”

  “Araakheil lek Kefraei,” Roth replied.

  This time, Ch
aelak was definitely impressed. “In our language as well, no less. You seem to know a great deal about our people.”

  “You forget that Karaek was my father’s personal Levarc adviser during the War,” the admiral reminded him.

  Karaek was one of the first - if not the first - Levarc who defected during the war. He had at turns been hated, feared, despised and admired by other Levarc, depending on where their loyalties lay at the time. However, among the present Levarc communities in the Federation and the Frontier systems, he was remembered with great honor.

  “You met him?” Chaelak asked. “What was he like?”

  “Everything he is said to have been,” Roth answered, favoring the other with a smile. “Sadly though, I did not know him well. Now, the Sons of Araakheil?”

  Chaelak shook his head. “A mystery. Nobody ever tried to find them and they never tried to re-establish contact with us.”

  Admiral Roth nodded. He hadn’t expected anything else but in his experience, it was always worthwhile to check. “Never mind. We are still making progress with this mystery nonetheless. Anyway, we had better be going.”

  “Is there something wrong?” Laila asked.

  “I have just been contemplating what it would look like if a Minstrahn patrol were to discover the Sentinel, the Titan, the Magnanimous, the Deliverance and the Harpy surrounding a small civilian ship covered in scorch marks with a dead crew. And a crippled orbital station less than thirty minutes away at sublight speed. It was not the most attractive picture.”

  Laila nodded. “Right. And even if they listened to our reasons for being here, the fact that we are acting in a law enforcement capacity outside our jurisdiction could put us in a potentially difficult situation.”

  “True,” the admiral replied, letting his gaze fall on all present, “which is why no mention can be made to the Minstrahn of what we have discovered here. At least, not until we are able to get a better grasp of the current political mood. Which I would like to ascertain as soon as possible.”

  He took the grenade fragments from Chaelak, placed them back where he had found them, then he marched down the corridor. “Come. The sooner we reach Minstrah, the better.”

  “What about the passengers of this ship?” Laila asked, quickening her stride to keep up. “They must have families, people waiting for them...”

  “It is regrettable,” Roth replied, “but by your own admission, we have stepped outside our boundaries here. Besides, once it’s known they’re missing and a search is organized, the Minstrahn should find them soon enough.”

  “They’re leaving,” Asten announced, watching the viewscreen as the shuttle pulled away from the floating derelict. “I wonder what went on down there.”

  “And why the shuttle went to the Deliverance before docking with that ship,” Selina added. “And why it’s going back there now. I mean, who are they dropping off?”

  “I kind of get the impression that we’re being left out of things a bit here.”

  “I imagine everyone’s getting left out of this,” Selina said, looking at the Deliverance and the three Federation cruisers in front of them.

  Drackson glanced at Carla and her sisters. “I suspect your mother probably knows what’s going on. Maybe she can enlighten us later.”

  “Maybe,” Carla murmured. “I think something’s very wrong.”

  “Yeah, you and me both,” Asten agreed, not turning around. “Well, they’ve dropped whoever that was back on the Deliverance,” he said, keeping a running commentary. “And the shuttle’s heading back to the Sentinel.”

  “I sure hope a Minstrahn task force doesn’t rock up and catch us all out here,” Selina said. “This would not look good at all.”

  “I’m sure Admiral Roth’s already thought of that,” Drackson assured her. “He’s probably got some long-range scouts out to raise the alert if any large ships look like they’re coming this way. By the way, how far out are we from Minstrah here?”

  “Three and a half days if we go straight there,” Selina said, “assuming there aren’t any more side-trips. It’s right in the middle of the Empire.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah, it is,” Lyla said, joining in. “From what I’ve seen of the star maps Mom’s shown me, it’s considerably more centrally positioned than Corsida.”

  “Well, Corsida was more or less the central administrative center for all those systems by that time anyway,” Asten pointed out.

  “True,” Lyla agreed. “However, the location of Minstrah was chosen after the Empire was largely established.”

  “Odd.”

  “Not really. The whole Minstrahn Empire was sort of planned. When the initial population centers started spreading out and colonizing worlds that were further and further away, people wanted a central world so the colonies could retain close contact, and trade and assist one another in times of difficulty.”

  It was interesting, Asten thought to himself. Lyla definitely knew a lot more about Minstrahn history than either of her sisters. Alia, as far as he could tell, wasn’t the slightest bit interested and Carla - who was rather more open-minded about it - only knew a little.

  “Anyway,” Lyla continued, “that’s where we’re going. The center of the Empire. However, since the Empire is a lot smaller than the Federation or, say, the Harskan Sector, that won’t take all that long. Ergo three and a half days.”

  “I wonder if we’ll get an official welcome before then,” Selina said, “since we don’t seem to have run into anyone yet.”

  “We might get an official reception here if we don’t get going soon,” Asten muttered.

  “Relax,” Selina told him. “I just saw the shuttle dock with the Sentinel. We should be out of here any minute now.”

  Shortly afterwards, there was a chime from the communication console. “What’s this?” Selina wondered, flicking it on. “Harpy reads.”

  “Selina.” It was Laila’s voice on the other end. “We’re about to head for Minstrah. However, the Admiral wants us to rendezvous outside the system before we get there so Maia and my daughters can transfer to the Deliverance.”

  Selina made a face. He wanted them to do this, did he? Yeah, she bet that was how he had worded it.

  “Sure,” she said. “Do we get to know why or is it some highly classified secret?”

  “I want my daughters along when we meet the Minstrahn Empress,” Laila replied. “However, Admiral Roth thinks it might be a good idea if the Harpy stays back outside the Minstrahn’s radar range. Since no-one’s seen us yet, they don’t know how many ships we have with us. The admiral suggests for the time-being that we keep it that way.”

  “He’s a trusting soul,” Selina said.

  “Anyway, someone from the Sentinel will feed the rendezvous co-ordinates to you in a moment. Then we’re out of here.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  “See you at the other end.”

  There was a definite sense of relief once they had gone to lightspeed, Asten thought as he observed the others around him. It was good to know that he wasn’t the only one who had been worried about the Minstrahn discovering their envoy of five cruisers in that rather compromising situation.

  Now, with the Harpy running its pre-programmed course, everyone was down in the mess hall listening as Lyla explained a few last tidbits about the Minstrahn Empire.

  He glanced across the tables at Zak and Maia, who were sitting near the other members of Sigma squadron. Zak saw him and gave him a smile. If he and his pilots minded being cooped up with nothing to do, they were being pretty decent about it.

  “Well, we’re dealing with a much smaller number of systems than the Federation,” Lyla said in response to a question from Adaria, a pretty pilot with light brown skin sitting a couple of seats over from Zak. “In fact, it’s very small when you consider the other sectors in this region of space. I mean, the Federation has two hundred and seventy-eight systems, and there are sixty-seven Frontier systems that are now negotiating
a permanent alliance. And the Harskan Sector has...” She looked Drackson’s way.

  “One hundred and ninety-two systems,” Drackson supplied her with the number.

  “Thanks.” She then turned back to Adaria and the rest of the group. “Whereas the Minstrahn Empire has only ninety-three systems all up.”

  “Also,” she added, “while some systems are remote, giving the sector a larger area on the star map, most of the systems are fairly close together.”

  “How are they divided up between the quadrants?” Asten asked her. “Are they evenly distributed or are the quadrants determined by a set number of cubic light years, getting whatever systems fall within their borders?”

  “The first,” Lyla explained. “Each quadrant has precisely twenty-three systems and Minstrah, the ninety-third system, belongs to none.” She gave him a smile. “That was also planned.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” another of Zak’s pilots commented.

  Asten recognized him. Ja’is, Zak’s wingman and probably one of his oldest friends, judging by how close the two of them were. Actually, they were all pretty close. He was glad they hadn’t been split up after the dismantling of the Resistance.

  “True,” Adaria agreed. “Since Minstrah was established as the core world of the whole sector, it would tip the balance of power between the quadrants if it were ceded to one of them.”

  “Yeah, the establishment of the whole Empire seems to be based on this concept of balancing power,” Ja’is said, “just like that business with the rotation of the ruling families.”

  “That’s right,” Lyla told them. “And with ninety-two systems remaining, dividing them up was pretty easy.”

  “But not without its difficulties,” Asten pointed out.

  Lyla looked a little surprised. Sitting next to her, Alia nodded in agreement.

  “What do you mean?” Lyla asked.

  “Well, let’s just say not all planets are created equal. What if one quadrant ended up with a great resource provider like Usile and ten beautiful Erelli equivalents, while another just got a whole lot of backwater holes like Danneri? You’d have a fight on your hands, wouldn’t you?”