by Jon Gerrard
Chapter Fourteen
Captain Saha was looking decidedly uncomfortable as he once again sat facing me across the desk in my cabin. Behind him, Alex was standing quietly off to one side waiting for my signal. As she stood poised to act on my order I thought about how much I had come to rely on her. She was more than my security officer. More than my lover. She had become a part of me. It had been difficult for me not to tell her about the return of my memory. Normally I shared everything with her and I didn’t like keeping this secret. Of course, she never knew that I had lost my memory in the first place. As far as she knew I was Cordass Pell, her long time smuggling partner who had recently become something more. Now that my memory had been restored, part of me wanted to drop everything and run away with her to live out our lives in quiet anonymity on some remote little world. As I thought back over the last two and a half years I realized that they had been the happiest of my entire life. I didn’t know what I would do without her, yet I also knew that once she found out who I really was I would lose her.
But there was more at stake than just what I wanted. If Saha’s information was as important as I suspected it was, I had to help him deliver it as quickly as possible. I had a sworn duty to protect the people of Gilead and I could not cast aside that responsibility for the sake of my own personal happiness. I had already ordered our heading changed and we were now on course for the Fleet outpost in the Onara system. Our best speed would bring us there in just under three days. Continuing to Bricese had made no sense since that was where the enemy expected us to go. They may not be able to track us directly with our stealth system engaged but if they had an idea of what our destination was they could scan for our hyperspace wake. Yet Onara was also a gamble. Being the only Fleet outpost in this sector it was also a logical destination for us. But because it was a military garrison, the outpost at Onara was also a much better place to hold off an attacking ship. It would be suicide for the enemy sub to try and attack us once we were docked at the base. We just had to get there ahead of them.
There was a third choice, however, a choice I was coming to believe was our only real option. I could bring Captain Saha directly to Fleet headquarters in the Gilead capital. It would stretch our fuel reserves to the limit but we could just make it. However, I wasn’t convinced that I knew enough to put my crew at risk by taking us into Gilead space. I had made a promise to the men and women aboard the Prometheus as well and I did not want to expose them to a dangerous situation without a damned good reason. The problem was that I didn’t know if I had a good enough reason. Saha’s story seemed credible, but there were too many gaps in what I knew. I was tired of operating in the dark and needed to know what he knew. One way or another I was going to find out exactly what was going on.
The Fleet Captain sat patiently waiting for me to speak. I took my time, studying the man before me. Uniform adjusted just so, shoulders back, freshly shaven and hair neatly combed, he was like a recruitment poster for the Fleet. But more than that he was a good officer, a credit to his training. He would wait for me to speak to see what this meeting was all about before committing himself to anything.
“I called you here, Captain, because I wanted to tell you that I’ve changed our course. We are currently headed for the Fleet outpost in the Onara system.”
Surprise registered on his face. “Thank you, Captain Pell.”
“The ship tracking us gave me little choice. But that isn’t your ultimate destination, is it. To complete your mission you need to return to Fleet headquarters. Given our current position, if we change course for the Argo system we could reach the Gilead capitol in about nine days.” From the corner of my eyes I saw the surprised look flash across Alex’s features. I hadn’t briefed her on what I planned to discuss with the Fleet captain. “But if I’m going to risk my ship and crew by heading into Gilead space, I need to know more about your mission. I need to know exactly what my crew will be risking their freedom and possibly even their lives for.”
“Captain Pell, I’ve come to believe that you are an honorable man. But as I’ve already said, the information I have is classified. I really can’t reveal any more than what I’ve already told you.”
“I respect your integrity, Captain,” I said as I flicked a glance at Alex. She was standing with her weight balanced on the balls of her feet, ready to spring into action. “Is that your final word?”
“I’m afraid it has to be, Captain. I’m sure you understand.”
“I do, Captain. I hope you understand why I had to ask.” I tapped the desk twice with my first two fingers–the signal we had arranged. Alex flowed silently forward from her place against the wall behind him.
“Of course, Captain I–!”
He was cut off in mid sentence as her arm snaked around his neck in a choke hold. Saha’s eyes went wide as his hands instinctively clawed at the arm across his throat. Gurgling sounds escaped from his mouth as Alex cut off his breathing. Seated as he was with her behind him he was effectively immobilized. While she held him securely I hurried around the desk and dug into his pockets. It took me only a moment to find the finger drive.
Once I had the drive she released him. She moved aside quickly, staying in his range of vision so that he could see the needler she was holding on him. Saha didn’t try to get up.
“My first impression of you was right after all,” Saha said between gasps. “You are nothing more than a pirate!”
I ignored him as I returned to my seat and activated the computer terminal. The transparent, flat rectangle of the screen unfolded from the top of the desk as the keyboard glowed into existence in its surface before me.
“That won’t do you any good,” Saha said, rubbing his throat. “That stick is specially encrypted. You’ll never be able to open any of its files.”
As soon as the system was up I plugged the finger drive into the special security port on the side of the screen. The captain was correct, the stick was indeed encrypted. All sensitive Fleet information was protected by such encoding to prevent unauthorized persons from viewing them. The drives provided two levels of security. The first level involved hardware. A Fleet finger drive could only be accessed using a Fleet computer. Since this was a stolen Fleet ship, however, the drive was able to be accessed by my desk terminal. The second level was the correct password. I did not know the file password Saha had encoded on the drive and I knew he would never voluntarily give that information to me. But above the regular user passwords were override codes, something Captain Saha probably had no idea even existed. These high level passwords were given only to a very select group of people. Mine would allow me to access any Fleet computer system or finger drive–if my password were still active.
At the prompt I typed in a long list of symbols. A moment later the screen cleared and I was looking at the text of Saha’s report. I quickly scrolled through the information.
“A total of six subs have gone missing over the past several years,” I said aloud as I skimmed through the data.
Saha’s jaw dropped. “How did you...? That’s not possible!”
I continued to ignore him as I looked through his report. “All of the missing ships were decommissioned shortly before turning up missing. ... Now this is interesting. According to their service logs each ship should have had several more years of active use. And each of the missing ships was apparently stolen from a Fleet scrapyard.”
Saha surged to his feet. “Captain Pell, I really must protest–!”
“Sit down.” Alex had taken a single step forward and leveled her needler at his chest. There was no mistaking the steel in her voice. Saha read the unwavering resolve in her eyes and slowly sat down.
I skimmed through more of the report. A large part of it was devoted to a comparison between the dates and times of the ship thefts and pirate attacks. I flipped past several pages and found a graph that compared the rise in incidents of pirate activi
ty and the corresponding thefts of Fleet ships. The conclusion was obvious. Somehow military equipment was being funneled into the hands of these outlaws. I felt my heartbeat increase as the implications became clear. Only someone in the highest levels of the Fleet could arrange something like this. I jumped ahead, skipping to his summary and conclusions. I had to read the last paragraph twice to be certain I had understood it correctly.
When I was done I sat back and looked up at the captain. I had to fight down my rising anger to keep my voice level. “So, you think King Sebastian is involved in this sale of Fleet equipment to pirates.”
Saha glared at me. “I will not discuss classified information with you.”
“You don’t have to, Captain, I can read it for myself. I just need some clarification on a few points. To begin with, I don’t see anything here about the money that must have changed hands. You’ve got records of deposits into a private account apparently owned by Sebastian but nothing else. No information on payments to intermediaries or bribes to Fleet personnel. It seems odd to me that you would have such detailed information on the King but no one else. I would think that Sebastian could have covered his tracks better than this.”
“Like you said, Captain, you can read the data for yourself. Draw your own conclusions.”
“I don’t understand something, Cordass,” Alex said. “Why would the King be involved in something like this? Surely not for the money. The Royal Family is incredibly wealthy.”
“On paper, yes, but the Royal Family doesn’t have access to unlimited private funds. They are allotted an annual stipend by the government which the King is supposed to live on. Oh, technically he can take money from the national treasury whenever he pleases, but any monies the King accesses is a matter of public record. If he wanted to fund some major project without the public knowing about it he would need a private source. The question is, what does he want the money for?”
I scrolled backward through the report to a part I had skimmed over before. “In your report you talk about rumors of a clandestine pirate fleet being formed somewhere in the outer sectors. That’s what you were investigating when we found you, isn’t it. Were you able to confirm the rumors?”
“Why don’t you tell me, Captain. After all, this is one of the stolen Fleet subs we’re aboard right now, isn’t it. Don’t bother denying it!”
“I don’t deny it, Captain. We realized this was a Fleet ship shortly after we took possession of it. But you should know that we captured this ship from a crew of pirates. Since we’ve had it, it has been our home and cargo hauler. Nothing more.”
“That’s easy to say, Captain.”
I sighed. “Look Captain, you’ve been with us for more than a week now. You’ve seen how we live and do business. Do you truly believe you’re aboard a pirate ship? Draw your own conclusions.” I didn’t really have the patience for this right now. Unplugging the finger drive I tossed it back to Saha. “Now that I know what you’re carrying I think it’s more important than ever for you to get your report back to your superiors as soon as possible. I’ll be taking you directly to Haven, Captain Saha. I’ve decided that your mission is worth the risk.”
Saha sat there with the drive clenched tightly in his fist, uncertain what to think.
“You’re dismissed, Captain.”
Alex lowered her needler. Saha kept an eye on her as he got to his feet and turned to leave. When he was gone Alex came around the desk next to me and looked at the screen.
“If what Captain Saha suspects is true,” she said, “how can we be sure that it’s safe for him to make his report? If the corruption is as widespread as it seems he might be sticking his head in a noose by revealing what he knows.”
“I don’t think so. Somebody already suspected what was going on. Saha was simply sent out to gather evidence. His report is coded for a specific person: Rear Admiral Ulysses Magnus. I’m guessing that Admiral Magnus isn’t working within the normal chain of command on this. As long as Captain Saha can get his report directly to him I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“I hope you’re right. That’s an awfully big gamble to take, but I’ve always been able to depend on your hunches before.” She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
What I couldn’t tell her was that I knew Admiral Magnus personally. I had served under him for several years when he was a battleship captain. Captain Magnus was one of the finest, most honorable men I had ever known. I would stake my life that he was not involved in whatever was going on within the Fleet. In fact, I was staking all of our lives on it.
“I’m going to need to meet with all of the department heads on the bridge in about ten minutes,” I said. “Can you take care of arranging that for me please?”
“Of course,” Alex said as she headed for the door. Her hand hesitated just as she was reaching for the switch and she turned to look back at me.
“Cordass? How did you get around the security block on Saha’s finger drive?”
There was so much I wanted to tell her, that I needed to tell her, but now was not the time. “When this is all over, I promise I’ll tell you everything. For now, just trust that I know what I’m doing.”
She gave me a piercing look. “I always trust you, Cordass. And I always will, no matter what.”
