by Daniel Gibbs
“Does that apply to Marines too?” Calvin asked.
“You bet your commission it does, Colonel.”
“Okay. I may restrict the MEU to the ship, then. Marines plus a planet rife with alcohol, gambling, and attractive ladies might be a bad combination.”
“You don’t say,” Ruth said with a snicker.
“Now,” David said, steering the conversation yet again. “There is the matter of our landing party. Director Qadir and I have a meeting this afternoon with members of Gilead’s security services and government. Usually, when I’m gone, Colonel Aibek is in charge. But not this time.”
Aibek glanced around the room, his scales flushing. “Sauria has reported instances of this ‘Orbita’ substance appearing on our streets, despite the obvious dishonor it brings to those who would use it.”
“Orbita?” Hammond asked. “Seriously?”
“Supposedly, it makes you feel like you’re in orbit,” David replied with a noticeable eye roll. “I think they need a better marketing team.”
“So who’s in charge then, skipper?” Hanson asked. Please don’t say me.
David flashed a grin. “Well, it just so happens I decided it was your turn in the big chair, Major.”
Oh, crap. “Uh, thanks… I think, sir.”
“What’s the matter, Hanson? It’s a milk run,” Calvin said with a snort.
Hanson felt his face redden at the jibe. “Looking forward to it, sir.”
“Good,” David said. “Now… Doctor Tural, have you made any progress with reviewing the research to date on the drug?”
“It’s a fascinating substance, Colonel. I studied the CBI files at length and hoped we could obtain samples during this mission to study. The drug appears to heighten the senses and give the user access to higher levels of brainpower, if you will. If you took this drug, you would sense euphoria and extreme intelligence. In a word, it’s a marvel. The downsides include paranoia, brain damage, and in time, the entire central nervous system of the human body collapses from its side effects.”
“Disgusting. The Leaguers have outdone themselves this time.”
Aibek glanced at David. “I completely agree, sir.”
“Has anyone considered that if we could reverse engineer the substance and remove the side effects, it could be a net positive for mankind?” Hayworth asked, focusing the entire room on him.
“That’s a joke, right, doc?” Hanson asked.
Hayworth let the use of the diminutive pass. “No, I see validity in further research.”
“I don’t,” David said with finality. “We don’t artificially enhance our bodies. That’s a bedrock Terran Coalition principle. It’s a road to perdition.”
“Whatever,” Hayworth replied.
David glanced at Hayworth, then back around the room. “Okay. You all know I detest long meetings, so let’s get back to our duties. I’ll see those of you joining me with Director Qadir at 1300 hours in the VIP shuttle bay. Dismissed, except for Hanson.”
Those assembled stood and filed out, leaving Hanson and David alone. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“I was surprised by your lack of enthusiasm for the big chair. Something going on?”
“No, sir… I just, well, I haven’t thought of myself as command material. I mean, I have to take a space shower before I come to your meetings because of how dirty my uniform gets down in the engineering spaces.”
David cracked a grin. “You’ve been doing engineering for a long time, Arthur. I think it’s time to broaden your horizons. If you don’t like it, fine, but at least try the CO’s chair on for size. I’ve noted you’re a good leader from what I’ve heard from the engineering team. Even Hayworth is a fan.”
“I appreciate it… but I’m a wrench monkey and a nerd. Command was never in my career path.”
“Being an officer in the CDF wasn’t in mine either,” David said dryly.
“Touché, sir.”
“Just promise me you’ll consider it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Carry on, Major. Don’t scratch the paint. I hate it when that happens.”
Hanson felt himself turn red again, despite the apparent joke. “Aye aye, sir.” Taking his leave and walking toward the gravlift, many thoughts went through his mind. I don’t want command because I don’t want to be responsible for who lives and who dies. I’ve seen what it does to the colonel. Not something I have a desire for.
9
Coalition Intelligence Service Office
Terran Coalition Embassy - Gilead
November 3rd, 2462
Another day, another report, another operation. So was Miranda Eldred’s thought process as she logged in to her slate at her desk within the dark confines of the CIS annex. Her team was composed entirely of covered operatives with inventive titles such as cultural exchange officer and inter-species assistance agent, but what they did was an open secret. She was one of the few non-covered operatives present on Gilead. In CIS parlance, this meant if she were captured, she’d be disavowed.
“Ma’am?” a young analyst asked hesitantly as he stuck his head into her office.
“Yes?”
“Drone feeds show the Lion of Judah’s contingent landed and being picked up by a government helicar convoy.”
“Cohen and Qadir?”
“Yes, ma’am, along with a few other low-ranking officers from the ship.”
“Good. Keep me informed.”
The analyst disappeared back into the room that lay beyond her office, a labyrinth of cubes and workstations.
She’d been working the Orbita case for months, slowly building up information and recruiting sources, only to see them killed within days or weeks after turning. Gilead has more leaks than a broken tub. Her train of thought was broken by a continuous beeping. She quickly engaged her office door lock and blacked out the windows using a secure code for Top-Secret, special compartmentalized information and code word she knew no one else in the annex had access to. Using her index finger to unlock the third drawer down on her desk, the source of the noise—a small black commlink—vibrated and clanked around. She picked it up and placed it against her ear.
“Control.”
“This is Z,” a garbled female voice on the other end said.
“We’re not supposed to talk for another three days.”
“I can’t take this anymore. He’s going to find out, then he’ll kill my family and me.”
Eldred forced herself to stay calm and project that calmness across the line. “Listen to me, I won’t let him do that. No one knows but me. You’re not in our systems, anywhere. Not on this planet, not back on Canaan.”
“Feldt knows everything!” The woman was on the verge of hysterics.
“Z, what’s going on? Why are you panicked?”
“He’s all freaked out about some ship from the Coalition Defense Force being here. Your flagship. He believes there’s a traitor in our ranks.”
Damnit. “Where are you now?”
“The main production facility.”
“Okay. If they start a lie detection sweep, call me. I’ll come to get you.”
“But you said I had to provide the information before you’d get me out.”
“I still want the information, Z.”
“All I have right now is the location and launch point of the next freighter with Orbita on it. I also have its IFF code, and I’m going to tag it as you instructed.”
“It’s a good start,” Eldred said, trying for a soothing tone.
“Is it enough?”
“I need at a minimum the name of the next level down from Feldt.”
There was a long pause on the line. “I’ll try.”
“Good. Now we can’t talk long.”
“What you told me when we met. That God puts us in a bad situation so we can help others and follow his plan… do you believe it?”
Eldred was silent, thinking back to when she recruited the woman and used her Catholic faith as one
of the keys to the lock that governed her soul. “Yes, I do.”
“Just keep up your end of the bargain.”
“I will, Z. I promise.”
The line cut off, leaving Eldred alone. She let the commlink drop from her ear and placed it back in the drawer before locking it away. I’m breaking ten different regulations. The biggest one? Personal involvement with a source. She’d been an intelligence officer for over ten years. It wasn’t a business for the meek or for those without strong stomachs. But a promise is a promise. Especially one that I invoke God’s name in. If He’s up there, it’s the one thing that would damn me to hell.
Humans and aliens, all are flawed and fallible. Loyalty is nothing but a myth. Such was Edward Feldt’s mantra. An imposing man who, while short in stature at only one point eight meters, had the face of a killer. He ruled with an absolute iron fist; it was said anyone who dared to challenge him would not only see themselves killed but also their entire families. The door to his office swung open, and one of his lieutenants brought in the recruit he’d been expecting.
“Jacob Aquino?” Feldt asked mildly.
“Yes, sir,” the new arrival replied. He had beads of sweat spreading across his forehead—even though the temperature in the office was quite comfortable, even cold.
“Do you know who I am?”
“You are el jefe, Señor Feldt.”
“El Jefe.” Feldt smirked. “I like that. You have proven yourself over the last few months, Jacob. You see, I handpick every member of my organization.”
“Yes, sir.”
Feldt stood up from the desk and walked around to the other side. He took Aquino’s right hand in both of his. “It is good you have progressed this far with us. I offer many benefits—good pay for honest work, loyalty to anyone who works for me. In return, I demand only one thing: that you place my needs above your own. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m not sure you do,” Feldt said as he snapped his fingers. “What happens to those who disobey my orders?”
“It is said you kill them, sir.”
“What else?”
“Depending on how bad the offense is, you kill members of their family too.”
“I’ll kill your entire family if you cross me, Jacob,” Feldt said without a trace of emotion or mirth, his face a mask of complete calm. “My word is like that of God, if such a creature existed. For you? I am now your God. You will do what I tell you, when I tell, how I tell you. Not that you’re worth my time to order around, the word of those above you in my organization is the same as my own.”
“Yes, sir. I understand. I will not fail you.”
He smiled thinly. This idiot doesn’t realize he will eventually fail me, because everyone does. Only a select few have managed not to over the last ten years. Feldt had been a criminal since his teenage years; he treated crime like a business. It paid off. First, he was a low-level dealer, then he killed his boss and took over his territory, and before too long, he controlled a significant stake of the illicit drug trade. Politicians, police, judges, attorneys; all were on his payroll.
“Many have said this, Jacob. Many, so many have failed to live up to their end of the deal. What is a man like me to do? I have tried for years to develop a system to ensure it’s easy for those who work for me to follow the rules. So will begin your first test. Have a seat,” Feldt said as he gestured to one of the chairs in front of the large, ornate desk.
Aquino did as he was told and gently sat himself down, taking care not to grate the chair on the hardwood flooring.
A point in his favor; he respects my office. “Direct your attention to the monitor over there.”
The large monitor attached to the wall, which was at least a meter and a half wide, snapped on. There were numerous separate video feeds, each of a different person.
Aquino’s jaw dropped, and a look of horror crossed over his face.
“Ah, you recognize these people?”
“They are my family and closest friends.”
“That’s right, Jacob. I need you to understand how important following my orders is. I need you to understand how important loyalty is.”
“I do… I do, señor.”
Feldt laughed. “Perhaps. I want you to pick one of these people.”
“What for?”
Feldt shrugged. “For me to make an example out of.”
Aquino blanched, his body visibly shaking.
Fear… such a disgusting emotion. “If you do not choose, I will kill you… and everyone on these screens.” Feldt’s voice was calm, cool, and collected. It was the same voice he used to order his toast and coffee each morning.
“Señor, please. Please, I have been loyal. I will always be loyal to you.”
“Choose.”
Aquino glanced from feed to feed, back at Feldt, then at the door.
Working through his options, trying to determine if he can run. Classic fight or flight response.
A choice apparently made, Aquino took a step forward and pointed to a grainy video of an older woman. “Her.”
“Why?” Feldt asked.
“Because she has lived a long, happy life.”
“Interesting,” Feldt replied. “I’m fascinated by how each prospective candidate to join my organization comes to different conclusions on who to pick. Yours shows… pragmatism. I like that. Benoit, see that Jacob comes in with more rank than a normal recruit.”
“Of course, sir.”
Feldt turned around and pressed a button on the screen of the tablet lying on his desk. A moment later, the feed showed the woman collapse, clutching her chest as she fell. “Chemically induced heart attack. Instantly fatal, with a minimum of pain. I am not unmerciful, you see.”
Tears began to trickle down Aquino’s face, and he was mute.
“Let this be a lesson. Should you ever cross me, I will kill them all in the most painful methods I can devise. Allow me to assure you I have a dark and deviant mind, Jacob. I enjoy seeing how far a human—or alien. I don’t discriminate—can be pushed before they break with reality.” He smiled coldly as he finished his little monologue. “Now… Benoit here will take you to get in-processed. All my employees are fitted with nanotech tracking, and there is a full suite of advanced armor, weapons, and other tools of the trade at your disposal.”
“Yes, sir,” Aquino replied as he turned slowly and walked out the door, his movements more like an automaton’s than a man’s.
“Ever notice how human government buildings, at least from western civilization countries, look remarkably similar?” David remarked as he strode side by side down a hallway with Aibek.
“Saurian buildings are nothing like human buildings.”
“That makes sense… you’re an entirely different race of beings than us.”
Behind them, Qadir, Taylor, and Tural were following closely.
To the front, a guide escorted them through hallway after hallway. Without warning, the guide stopped. “We have arrived,” he said, gesturing to an open door and the conference room that lay beyond it.
“Thank you,” David replied politely and stepped through.
“Colonel Cohen, I presume?” a tall, thin man said. He wore a smart-looking business suit.
That suit looks like it costs more than I make in a month. “In the flesh.”
“Brandon Nelson, Gilead Internal Security Bureau. I’m in charge of our overall drug trafficking interdiction efforts.”
“Pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce Director Rajiya Qadir, Coalition Bureau of Investigation.”
Qadir passed by David and made eye contact with Nelson. “I’m acquainted with Mr. Nelson, Colonel.”
“I didn’t realize,” David replied. “My senior officers… Lieutenant Colonel Aibek, the Lion of Judah’s XO, Doctor Tural, our CMO, and Lieutenant Taylor, communications and cybersecurity expert.”
Nelson gestured to the empty chairs on one side of the table. “Thank you all for coming.”
>
David dropped into a seat, taking note of the gaggle of mostly civilians, with a stray uniform among them, sitting behind the main group of Gilead officials, in chairs that lined the walls. “Half my crew is on liberty, enjoying your planet’s hospitality.”
“Oh, I’m sure they are,” another man, this one wearing the uniform of the Gilead Security Forces, said as his voice dripped condescension. He wore two stars on his shoulders.
“I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you Gilead has a reputation, Mister?”
“General Wright. We’re not here to be lectured by the Terran Coalition on our lack of suitable morals, Colonel.”
Oh yes, I’m aware he outranks me. David flashed a smile that he hoped wasn’t too insincere. “And I’m not here to lecture you, General. Director Qadir and I want to assist Gilead in dealing with the Orbita problem.”
“Orbita is under control, here. The Terran Coalition needs to stop the demand for the drug.”
Qadir laughed out loud. “Do you take us for fools? The only reason Orbita hasn’t swept this planet is that it’s the main distribution hub. I wouldn’t be surprised if half your security forces weren’t on the payroll of whatever cartel is behind this scourge.”
Wright’s face immediately turned blood red. “How dare you insult the men and women under my command…”
Before Qadir could register a retort, David intervened. “Harsh rhetoric won’t solve anything here, Director.”
She glared at him but didn’t speak.
“Now… General, Mr. Nelson, I take it the two of you speak for the planetary government?”
“We do, Colonel,” Nelson interjected. “I, too, wish to avoid any overheated talk. We acknowledge Orbita is an issue for both of our governments.”
“How do we stop it, is the question?” David asked.
“Gilead doesn’t deal with drug interdiction very often,” Wright said, his tone still hostile. “Because we learned a long time ago to legalize and regulate activities that consenting adults want to engage in.”
