Beyond the Veil

by Hamish Spiers

  “When things spiral out of control for any man, he falls to all fours,” Ilian countered. “A beast. Any man, Admiral Roth.”

  “You may believe that if you wish,” Roth replied. “It is of little concern to me. However, we are talking about you, Lord Ilian, and believe me, things have very much spiraled out of your control.”

  “The Levarc?” Ilian asked and shook his head. “That woman told me about them as well. But it is not as bad as you fear. Ten systems, not even a quarter the size of the original Levarc Kingdom...” He smiled. “Yes, I know about what goes on outside our borders, Admiral Roth. I’m not like the others. I’ve been to your precious Federation and have studied your history.”

  “Yes, I know,” Roth replied. “However, if you have studied our history, then you should know how dangerous it is to have enemies running through your territory while you’re completely blind. Early in the Levarc War, the famous Levarc commander Lord Valaekei conquered a number of systems for that one reason. So who knows what’s going on in the Minstrahn Empire right now?”

  “We will bring the Minstrahn Empire back under control soon enough,” Ilian told him. “When the four quadrants are consolidated into one force under the command of my people, we will re-establish the communication systems and drive the Levarc to the far corner of the galaxy for their betrayal.”

  “That is not going to happen,” Roth told him. “Your attempt to usurp the Empress and the rule of the five families has failed. Your ships are currently under the control of the Minstrah Defense Fleet and Knight Admiral Alenski is being held on the surface.”

  “Then you have doomed the Minstrahn people.”

  “That type of emotional manipulation might have worked with Knight Admiral Alenski,” Roth replied, “but it does not work with me. And that was a rather cruel thing you did, by the way. You didn’t choose your knight admiral because he was well suited to your plans. You chose him because you could manipulate him. Perhaps he may have eventually gone on to reach higher ranks in the Daeispa quadrant fleet but we’ll never know now because you’ve ruined him.”

  “Nonsense,” Ilian scoffed. “He was already envious of Lady Admiral Karaeli and a scheming fool. I hardly ruined him. I gave him a greater goal to aspire to than his petty ends.”

  “You’re a bastard, Lord Ilian,” Roth told him. “However, you may be of some use. You’re going to tell me where these worlds are that you promised the Levarc and everything else I want to know. Not because of the threat of torture or execution but because while you are a bastard, in your own way you do care for your people.”

  Several hours later, Admiral Roth stood on a terrace on Minstrah alongside the Empress Tenenial, watching as two guards took Lord Ilian away.

  “Well, your Imperial Highness, he’s all yours,” Roth told her. “However, I would advise you to keep him alive.”

  “We do not execute prisoners,” the Empress said, her eyes still on the Minstrahn lord. “Even traitors.”

  “I know you are angry, your Imperial Highness. However -”

  “Do you have any idea?” she asked, whirling to face him with tears glazing her eyes. “Can you have any idea what it is like to have one man undo everything your people have worked to achieve?"

  “Yes, your Highness. I know exactly what that’s like.”

  The Empress sighed. “Corinthe. I apologize.”

  “No need,” Admiral Roth told her. “However, history is filled with those who try to mould the societies in which they live to their liking through war and bloodshed. Lord Ilian may have wanted to protect the Minstrahn from the Levarc, although a civil war is not the way to achieve that.”

  “The Levarc,” Tenenial murmured, turning away to look out over the terrace once more. “I know my people already owe you much, Admiral. And I know that we haven’t shown you the proper gratitude...” She trailed off for a moment. “And I am sorry for what Lord Admiral Arathea said before. But if there is anything you can tell me that might help me defend my people, I would forever be grateful. As you already know, my people are not warriors.”

  “There’s no shame in that,” Roth said. “There are more worthwhile pursuits than the art of war. However, whether they thank me or not, I do not intend to abandon your people in their hour of need. You, your Imperial Highness, have asked for our help and I intend to give you that help. However - and I am sorry to bring it up once more - my intentions are contingent on your cooperation.”

  The Empress sighed. “I agreed to your conditions, Admiral Roth. And I spoke to Lord Admiral Arathea when you returned to the Sentinel. He will cooperate with you, General Kellahav or any of your people in whatever way he can. Besides, my people need you.”

  Roth nodded. “Very well. Also, if you will forgive my directness, your Imperial Highness, I don’t like leaving a job half done.”

  The Empress smiled. “Well then, what is our best course of action?”

  “The Minstrahn ships that are currently in orbit should remain here, for starters. To send ships off looking for the Levarc while they are effectively blind would be very dangerous. Besides, I am working on your long-range communications issue.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t accept that,” the Empress protested.

  “The Federation’s interests are at stake here too,” Roth replied. “We don’t want another Levarc War on our hands. The last one was quite enough. I will also ask General Kellahav and his task force to remain here as well. If the Levarc attack, he can work with Lord Admiral Arathea to protect the system. The Annihilator is an impressive ship.”

  “Yes. So I heard.” Despite her earlier words, Tenenial was still somewhat shocked by the destruction of those two Minstrahn patrol cruisers under Knight Admiral Alenski’s command.

  “The destruction of those ships was necessary, your Imperial Excellency,” Roth told her. “It was because of that loss that Knight Admiral Alenski surrendered without risking any more Minstrahn lives in his folly. Also, the innocence of those on board is debatable. The commander of each vessel could have refused to follow the knight admiral’s orders to attack the Minstrah Defense Fleet. The crews of those ships could have refused to follow their captains when they failed to do so. The list goes on. However, what’s more important is that you are the Empress of the Minstrahn. You cannot fall apart when they need your leadership the most.”

  “You are right,” Tenenial said, her voice regaining some of its regal strength. “So General Kellahav and his task force will remain here. It is a comfort to know that we can rely on that strength should Minstrah fall under attack. However, what of our new enemy? Will they attempt to bring the Minstrahn under their control before pushing on to the Frontier worlds and the Federation? Or will they assume that we’re so badly crippled and scattered that they can leave us at their backs?”

  “It’s a good question, your Imperial Highness,” Roth told her. “And I think I can find that out if I have a look at the worlds Lord Ilian promised these people. My feeling is that they will probably push through and prepare to strike against the Federation then come back to finish what they started here. However, that is entirely a guess on my part.”

  “I didn’t know you guessed,” Tenenial said with a slight smile.

  “On occasion,” Roth replied. “As much as I would like to be, I’m not omnipotent. However, I try not to act on guesses alone if I can avoid it. In this instance, I think I can. We will resolve this matter, your Imperial Highness.”

  “Our interests are not at odds then?” Tenenial remarked wryly.

  “On the contrary,” Roth told her, “I’d say right now that Minstrahn and Federation interests are very much aligned.” He started to turn away then stopped. “Wait. Two more things if I may, your Imperial Highness.”

  “Anything.”

  “Lord Ilian did not approach the Levarc on his own, not knowing whether they would talk to him or kill him for violating the sanctity of their home system. He took a task force with him.”

  “Under the command of Lord
Admiral Calendres?” the Empress asked.

  “Precisely so.”

  “You wish to speak with him as well before you go?”

  “No,” Admiral Roth replied. “I want to take him with me.”

  “You want to take him with you?”

  “Yes. And Knight Admiral Alenski as well.”

  The Empress frowned. “I thought we’d agreed that Knight Admiral Alenski was little more than a pawn in Lord Ilian’s schemes. Most likely, Lord Ilian, Lady Valinski and Lord Admiral Calendres were the real orchestrators. The knight admiral was probably let in on very little.”

  “That’s exactly why I’d like to speak to him,” Admiral Roth said. “The others would have to have given him something resembling a complete story to satisfy him. I’d like to find out what that was.”

  “But if it’s not the real story, what good is it?”

  “Contradictions between different versions of stories can be very telling, your Imperial Highness, and how that triumvirate convinced Knight Admiral Alenski to help them could be informative as well.”

  “You think Lord Ilian still hasn’t told you the truth?”

  “I’m certain of it.”

  “What makes you say so?”

  “The nature of such people,” Roth explained. “I do not believe that after going to such extraordinary measures to reach their goals that any member of that triumvirate would give in now.”

  “Lord Ilian’s in custody,” the Empress pointed out, “as is Lord Admiral Calendres. And their ships are in our hands. What could they possibly hope to achieve from such a disadvantage?”

  “One never knows.”

  “And shouldn’t the Levarc be our primary concern?”

  “They should of equal concern,” Admiral Roth said. “These three people have crippled the Minstrahn Empire, your Imperial Highness. I wouldn’t turn my back on them.”

  As the Sentinel, the Titan and the Magnanimous left the Minstrah system, the members of Gamma-Six watched them disappear off their radars.

  “Good luck, Admiral,” Ms. Tellashi murmured.

  The others didn’t say anything but there was definitely a somber mood on the ship. Outside, bright sunshine poured in through the cockpit but it was hard to properly appreciate it under the circumstances.

  “All right,” Mr. Ishara said from the communication console. “I’ve got a tap on the ingoing and outgoing communication traffic for this entire system. If you want to have a crack at breaking into the logs, Ms. Tellashi, now’s as good a time as any.”

  “Thanks,” Ms. Tellashi replied, fiddling with the instrument panel in front of her.

  “There’d be a lot of transmissions though,” Ms. Analia pointed out, leaning over her shoulder. “This could take ages.”

  “Not necessarily,” the other told her, still concentrating on the task. “We’re not dealing with Corsida’s comm traffic here. This is a largely unpopulated world, despite its central administrative role. Also, I’m only looking for logged communications for certain periods, just after Lady Valinski went missing and this past day or so.”

  “You’ve got a theory?” Ms. Analia asked.

  “Yes, I’ve got a theory. And the admiral’s got the same theory, and now we are testing it... yes.”

  “What have you got?” Mr. Ishara asked.

  “Three messages from unknown origins,” Ms. Tellashi explained, lifting up a headset from the panel in front of her and putting them on. “Someone didn’t want anyone else to know where they were transmitting from.” She played the recordings back through her headset while the others waited. They didn’t have to wait long.

  “The admiral was right,” she said, taking the headset off. “At least, I think he was. I think those three transmissions were all from the same person.”

  “And?” Ms. Analia asked.

  “They were all encoded,” Ms. Tellashi explained. “It might take me a little while to crack the code but according to Mr. Ishara’s decryption programs I’m running here, the probability is extremely high that they were coded using the same encryption.”

  “But what does that mean? When are you going to enlighten the rest of us on this?”

  “Lady Valinski never left Minstrah. She’s still here, and she’s still orchestrating something.”

  Ms. Analia shook her head. This stuff wasn’t really her area of expertise. “But she did leave, didn’t she? Who sent that message to Aleida?”

  “That was just a woman who used her name. That could have been anyone. I think Lady Valinski intended to lead us away like that.”

  “She didn’t intend for us to capture Lord Ilian though, surely.”

  “No, she expected him to be safely away by the time we got there. But she wanted us to get that message so we still thought she was out there somewhere.”

  Ms. Analia leaned back in her chair. “So she wanted Admiral Roth to go racing out to the Daeispa quadrant. Then she had those three ships pull off that diversionary attack on Lady Admiral Karaeli so Knight Admiral Alenski could attack the Minstrah Defense Fleet in Roth’s absence.”

  “And he would have succeeded too if General Kellahav hadn’t shown up,” Mr. Savaja said. He then turned to Ms. Tellashi. “You said there were three transmissions. Two of them were made just after Lady Valinski’s disappearance, right? And the last one was made shortly after General Kellahav and Admiral Roth arrived?”

  “That’s right.” Ms. Tellashi replied, giving him a puzzled look. “But how did you know?”

  “One would have been sent to someone to take that message to Aleida and then meet up with Knight Admiral Alenski,” Mr. Savaja explained. “Just after that one was made, another was probably sent to whoever Lord Calendres’s second in command was at the Kyrias quadrant fleet, because remember the ships under Alenski’s command came from both the Daeispa fleet and the Kyrias fleet.”

  “Yeah, that fits actually,” Ms. Tellashi agreed as she thought it over. “So what about the last one?”

  “That one’s a little tougher. With the first two, I could work out what they were about because of what happened afterwards. But with the last one, it’d be purely guesswork. However, you said it yourself. Lady Valinski’s still orchestrating something.”

  “By the timing of that transmission then, it’s going to be something to do with Admiral Roth,” Ms. Tellashi replied. “Let’s contact the Sentinel.”

  It was strangely quiet on the Harpy as the ship returned to the Frontier. Everyone avoided talking about the subject that was on all their minds until, on their second day out from Minstrah, Alia broached it.

  “It’s weird isn’t it?” she murmured as she stirred her morning coffee.

  Lyla, Carla, Asten and Selina were also in the mess with her. Eventually Carla stirred. “What?”

  “It’s weird,” Alia said, still stirring her coffee.

  She had been stirring it for some time now, Carla noticed.

  “What’s weird?” she asked.

  “I mean, we could be on the verge of a war here,” Alia told her. “A war like the one that nearly crippled the Federation and the Frontier twenty years ago.”

  “For many systems, it did,” Selina said. “I remember learning about places like Pelagia back in school. Imagine it. An entire world destroyed, just like that. No life. No animals. No plants. Just barren rock and craters.”

  “And a life of war,” Asten added. “Eleven years. The entire time I was a child, the Federation and the Frontier worlds were fighting against the Levarc.”

  “Maybe they can stop it,” Lyla said. “Admiral Roth and General Kellahav. Maybe they can stop it before it gets to that.”

  “Any idea how big this Levarc group is?” Carla asked.

  Asten shrugged. “It won’t be as large as the original Levarc Kingdom. I mean, at least I don’t think it would be. But that’s not much comfort, especially for the Frontier worlds.”

  “We’ll be right in the firing line,” Selina said.

  “Is it possible,” Lyla sug
gested, “that maybe all these guys are interested in is just grabbing a few Minstrahn worlds? You know, maybe that’s all they’re after.”

  However, it was more wishful thinking than genuine hope and when no one commented, she just let the question go.

  “Then we prepare a line of defense,” Alia said suddenly. “We put the Frontier on alert and when the Levarc attack, we meet them head on.”

  “Well, Mom’s taking the Deliverance to Laonist,” Lyla reminded her. “She’s going to see if Admiral Kalae can round up a strike force and she’s going to relay the message to everyone else along the Frontier. Of course, the Phalamkians will know but they may not know how serious the situation is. But we’ll also alert Kordan, Hie’shi, Narvashae, Koratav, Ellast and Cirtan too.”

  “Ah,” Asten smiled. “We’ll get Admiral Draedon and Admiral Garam on this then. It’ll be like old times.”

  “Yeah,” Selina said, smiling. “Although next time we want to get the old gang together, why don’t we have dinner instead?”

  “I’m with you on that,” Asten told her. “Now, I wonder though. Do you want to stop by Felarias? Maybe we can raise Zak and Maia.”

  Selina shrugged. “It’s on the way. Why not?”

  Admiral Roth opened the door to the prison cell and stepped inside. Knight Admiral Alenski almost trembled. He was only a young man and it was clear that he had been out of his depth during his involvement with Lord Ilian’s triumvirate.

  “Knight Admiral Alenski,” the admiral greeted him. “I am Admiral Roth of the Federation Navy.”

  “I know who you are,” Alenski replied, trying to sound calm and in control, and doing a reasonable job considering how nervous he was.

  “I would like to make something clear to you,” Roth said, sitting down. “I intend to return you to your people and I have no interest in making things any more difficult for you than they are already. I am more interested in the people who put you up to this.”