by Ben Winston
“Not yet,” Deirdre replied. “We haven't been awake for very long and those chosen to go into cryo were pretty stable to begin with. I'm sure once the newness of our situation wears off, we'll have our share of incidents. There are a few other factors contributing to it, but again, I can't really get into those yet. Here we are.” Deirdre indicated the large lockers lined up between two of Gail's armed Marines.
“Where are we going once we're done here?” Jance asked.
Deirdre smiled at her. “Just inside here. There are a few folks you're going to want to meet and a lot of information for you to listen to. Most of your questions about us, should be answered then.”
As she finished speaking, Deirdre looked toward the door and grinned. “Speaking of people to meet, here comes one of them now.”
Jance looked up to see a young, human male walk through the door. The fact that all the nearby troops came to immediate attention when he walked out was not lost on her. He was obviously someone very important. The young man was smiling and bowed slightly to Jance as Deirdre introduced him.
“Commander, may I introduce my brother, Benjamin Bedouin. Ben, this is Ranger Commander Jance Halst and her team.”
“It's a great pleasure to meet you, Rangers,” Ben said in accented Imperial Standard. “I only wish it could have been under less official circumstances.””
Jance bowed at the waist in a show of respect. “It is our duty to serve, Sir.”
Ben tilted his head to her. “Okay, so what gave it away?”
Jance nodded to the guards. “They did. They reacted when we walked up, but I already knew that Deirdre was someone important. However, it was nothing compared to the reaction you got. You are the leader here, even if you look barely into manhood.”
Ben nodded. “I won’t deny it, but I was hoping you wouldn’t figure it out quite this quickly. I am sure my advisers will be rather displeased that you had. Because of security issues, they were against my being the one to address you.
“Considering the important and sensitive nature of this situation, I felt I had to be the one to meet with you. If for no other reason than for you to understand how strongly we feel about this. A lot of people’s lives are on the line here; more than you are currently aware of.””
“I am beginning to get that idea, considering everything that’s happened so far. I cannot make guarantees without knowing the whole story, but I will say that my team and I will treat you fairly,” Jance replied.
“At this point, I believe that is the best we can hope for. However, before we enter this room, there is one more person I would like you to meet, if that would be all right?” Ben asked.
“Certainly, Sir,” Jance replied.
Ben opened the door and said something to someone inside. When he turned back, a person followed him out that she had only seen in incident reports. The young woman placed her left hand over her heart and bowed her head to the Ranger.
“Greetings, Ranger Commander. I am Addson Dee, formerly of Anti-Piracy Command, Argassi Aerie.”
Jance returned the greeting. “Addson Dee, I need to verify your identity. You are listed as deceased in the Imperial Network.”
“I would be happy to, Commander, however, by doing so, must I give my current location?” Addson asked.
“I see your point. I will place the scanner into local only mode. It can still verify your identity, but it won’t transmit any data,” Jance explained. ““With your permission, Sir, I would like to do the same with you and your wife. Before you ask, no, I don’t expect it to know who you are, because I believe you, though, my superiors will need more than my belief.”
“I understand Commander. I can only allow this as long as such information will not lead to our discovery. We have stayed alive and free for this long. I would like to remain so until we can speak to the Empire,” Ben replied.
“Your sister explained this to us on our way in. I can make sure this data will not leave the Ranger data network. Neither will my team reveal your location, without your leave, or unless ordered to by Imperial decree,” Jance said looking back at her team members.
Deirdre looked back at the other members of Jance’s team. “Rangers, all of our accommodations here are currently set-up for human occupation. However, if you need anything special in order to make yourselves comfortable here, please just ask.””
As one, the other Rangers bowed to Deirdre in thanks for her hospitality. “Milady, you have already shown us more hospitality than we’ve seen since arriving at this planet. We thank you for your concern.”
While Deirdre had been speaking, Addson Dee held her hand on the scanner that Jance produced from her pack. When it beeped softly, Addson removed her hand and Jance looked at the screen. “You are indeed Addson Dee. I am relieved to find you healthy, Citizen. Welcome back from the dead.”
“Thank you, Commander. If it weren’t for these remarkable people, I would have died out there. They saved my life,” Addson replied.
“So noted, Citizen,” Jance said smiling at the young woman.
Ben held his hand out for the scanner. It didn’t take nearly as long because the scanner started tweeting a soft alarm. The person just scanned did not exist in the Imperial Database. Jance touched a couple of Icons, and had Ben place his hand back on the scanner. “Please state your name and rank, if any, for VoCode verification.”
Ben replaced his hand. “My name is Benjamin Anthony Bedouin, I am the current Prime Council for the free citizens of the planet Earth.”
When the device beeped again, Jance nodded to him, and turned to Deirdre, who copied her husband. “My name is Deirdre Ann Bedouin, I am the current Minister of Logistics for the free citizens of the planet Earth.”
Jance nodded to the two. “Thank you, I will keep the information you have entrusted to me to the best of my abilities.”
Ben smiled at the woman again. “Commander, we haven’t even started giving you classified information yet. Please follow me, let’s get this part over with.”
Ben led the small group into the room that everyone seemed to come out of. It was set up like a small theater, which made sense to Jance, since they'd told her it was a pilot's briefing room. The seats were set in curved rows with each of the rows slightly elevated over the one in front of it. There was a narrow isle down the middle, dividing the seats into two sections. The room could easily hold a hundred pilots. Seated in the far section was a group of men that had also been waiting for the meeting. Jance briefly wondered who they were.
Deirdre indicated where Jance and her team could sit – the front row of the non-occupied side, before she and Addson Dee took seats behind them. Ben took the place of the briefing officer behind the podium that was just beside the door. In the front center of the room was a huge holographic projector. Currently, it was displaying an image of an unfamiliar planet.
“Okay, now that we're all here. Let's get this show on the road. Rangers, the planet before you is the same one you are currently on as it appeared eight thousand years ago. At that time, it held a population of between eleven and fourteen billion humans,” Ben started at the beginning and told them everything. Stopping occasionally to answer brief questions, it took the better part of two hours to relate the entire story, including the discovery of the pirates and the information that they'd uncovered concerning that group.
“Can any of this information concerning the pirates be independently verified?” Jance asked.
“I can certainly point you to where the messages are located in the pirate's computers, Ranger Commander,” Mother said. “However, the only trace I can find in the Duke's computer is a log stating he sent the messages, but not what they contained.”
“Please understand, it isn't that we do not believe you...“ Jance tried to explain, but Ben held up his hand.
“Don't worry about it, Commander. We understand that you need to verify the information yourselves. It is the hope of the people formerly called the pirates that, in light of the n
ew information the Imperial Court will see fit to at least spare the families and perhaps reduce the sentence for a few of their members,” Ben said.
“I cannot speak for the Courts of course, but if there is evidence that they were coerced into these actions as you have said, then there is a better than average chance the Courts would dismiss the charges against them. That being said; it will be difficult to prove coercion if their families are with them,” Jance replied.
“Commander, their families weren't released to them until it was too late for them to stop. Several acts of piracy had already been committed by the time that happened. The records for those acts are present and available in the memory systems of the ships. The Duke had constructed plenty of evidence against them by the time he released their families. They had little choice but to continue doing his bidding, since they couldn't prove he was the one sending them their orders,” Ben replied. “They are also very concerned about their families. Since they were with them at their base, but didn't have anything to do with the actual attacks.””
“By Imperial law, they are guilty by association, as are you, now. However, I can see that there are extenuating circumstances. Since you have come forward with your information, I can dismiss the charges against you and your people based on the fact that you delayed coming forward until you had what you believed are all the facts,” Jance said and the rest of her squad nodded agreement. “As citizens of the Empire the families are duty bound to report all criminal activity. However, considering the seriousness of this case and the involvement of the Duke, I could drop the charges against them as well if we can get definitive proof that the Duke is behind this.”
“Prime Counselor, forgive me for asking, but you have not yet mentioned a motive for the Duke to act in this manner. I grant there is no love lost for this being because of his attitude; however, he is a very important member of the Empire and many would find it hard to believe he has done this just because he could,” one of Jance's team asked.
Ben nodded. “I was actually waiting for you to ask me that. We are still trying to gather data, but everything we have so far tells us that the Duke is planning on staging an attack on Hyperion in an effort to overthrow the Empire.”
Ben had been expecting a reaction from the Rangers and he hadn't been disappointed. They were all shocked and very upset.
“What evidence do you have that leads you to this conclusion, Prime Council? Please be as detailed as possible so we can follow your logic,” Jance asked, suddenly very serious.
Ben bowed slightly to her and told her everything they knew, as well as what was suspected, as of this moment. When it was over, Jance looked thoughtful and her team looked troubled.
“Prime Council, is there any evidence of the Duke billeting troops here? Such an attack would require a considerable number of troops on the planet, not to mention a great number of warships. We have seen no evidence of either,” the other human Ranger asked.
“Rangers, we have no off-planet resources in which to verify anything, although, I did find references to several off-planet sites scattered around this system in the Duke's computer system. Nothing was mentioned about what was there, but he uses those points as a form of contact with those sites. I've been waiting for him to make contact again so I can trap the message; however, it hasn't happened as yet,” Mother replied.
One of the men in the group on the other side of the isle from the rangers stood. “Uh, begging your pardon, Prime Council, but I think I might know somethin' 'bout that. Uh, not the off-planet stuff, but 'bout the troops here, on this planet.”
Ben nodded to him. “Any information you have would be appreciated, Sir.”
The man nodded and hesitantly began. “After we'd raid a floater or train, we'd have to deliver the cargo we took to a depot out in the ocean. For the last few months, when we'd make a delivery, we noticed that there were a lot of house soldiers there and more seemed to be showing up all the time. Willid told me, uh, Willid runs our scanners for the deliveries, he said that the rock formations on the bottom had changed from the first few trips. He showed me that when we'd started that run, there was a few rock ridges just to the south of the depot, but the rest of the area was sandy. But the last scans he'd taken showed almost no sand at all. There was rock ridges almost covering the bottom for as far as our equipment could reach,” the man said.
Ben looked at Jance. “In case you haven't figured it out by now, the men here are the group you call the pirates,” he indicated the group of men. “They have agreed to surrender to you. These are the men and women that took an active part in the illegal activities. We have taken their families into our population under asylum.” He looked back at the still standing man. “Do you have the coordinates of that depot, sir?””
Another man stood up. “I'm Willid, Sir. The depot is listed as an emergency sea shack in sector one-ninety-nine-thirty-four, delta. It's the only one in that sector, Sir. It has an active beacon, so it shouldn't be hard to find. Just to say, that place is no emergency shelter, Sir. It far too big for that."
Ben nodded to the man. “Mother? Can you get us a picture?”
“I can, but the only one I can get is from the planetary survey office and the image has been tampered with,” Mother replied but put the image up in the hologram.
“Can you show us what's been altered?” Ben asked.
“These images are multi-spectral in composition. While what you see here, is actually the original image, the differences occur in the thermal and topographical settings. Defining the area of tampering is not possible; however, the proof is evident when we compare these two modes.
“In the topographical scan, depicting the actual bottom of the ocean in that area, we can see the rock shelves Mr. Amerath described. As you can see, it covers a very large area surrounding the emergency shelter.
“Now, on the thermal-graphic setting, all we can see is the shelter itself. However, since we know rock tends to hold heat energy better than sand, we can see a discrepancy here.” She put an overlay on the thermal image of where the rock shelf from the topographical scan should have been.
“As sensitive as this scan claims to be, we should see the temperature differences, even thru the water. The recorded depth in this area is less than a hundred feet.” She switched back to the original image.
“Depending on the type of rock, we should also be able to see it with this resolution. I would mention as one last comment – this area was very sandy and flat with no rock outcroppings within five hundred miles according to our original geological study of this area. However, the possibility exists that the rock came to the surface either due to wave activity, or through another cataclysmic event,” Mother finished.
Jance took out her communicator. “Jance to Dalphine, do you read?”
“Good to hear your voice, Commander. Orders?” a voice replied.
Jance smiled. “We have some new friends – the good kind. I need a full spectrum scan of sector one-ninety-nine-thirty-four, better include the adjacent sectors for comparison. Has anyone questioned why you're still in orbit?”
“We'll have it for you in about five minutes, Commander. Yeah, planetary ATC asked us why we were still here. I told them we were ordered to hold position and stand by for new orders. I alerted Command so they'll cover for us if anyone double checks that,” the voice replied.
“Commander, we already know what it is, but since you need independent verification, you should ask for a current fleet status. I'll bet you dinner that most of the Imperial Guardians are away putting out small fires,” Ben said.
Jance passed along the request. “You think the Duke has a fleet hidden somewhere that we don't know anything about?”
Gail stepped up to Ben and he leaned over so she could whisper to him.
“Sir, there are several surface contacts converging over the old pirate base. They appear to be those ships Addson called floaters.”
“Do we have any idea why they're doing that?” Ben
asked.
“If it weren't for the fact that those boats are supposed to be nothing but robotic cargo haulers, I'd say the Duke is about to destroy the pirate base,” Gail said.
“Why use floaters? They're slow as hell and they don't have any weaponry,” Ben asked. Then turned. “Mother, is there any unusual computer or satellite activity centered on the old pirate base?”
There was a short pause as Mother searched. “Affirmative, Prime. Two satellites are focused on the area, and a real time feed is being fed to the Duke's private terminal. Further, the floaters are under direct command from a control system located in the local Ducal Residence. The signals are heavily encrypted. It will take me at least two hours to crack it.””
“Can you tap into the satellite feed?” Ben asked.
Jance was watching what was going on. “Is something happening, Prime?” she asked.
“I'm not sure, but it's starting to look like it. There are several floaters converging on the area where the pirate base used to be. They are under direct control by someone in the ducal residence and he's watching this on his terminal. What I don't understand is if he kills off his pirates, how is going to get the rest of the Ranger force to come here? For that matter, who is he going to blame your deaths on and how is he going to make that happen?” Ben asked. “I really don't like not knowing those answers.”
Jance raised her comm again. “Hojoh, you still there?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Raise shields and cloak the ship. Then find someplace to hide, there's a good chance you're in danger,” Jance said.
“Sir, there's nothing up here. Just the standard civilian traffic – the scanners are clear too,” Hojoh replied.
“Hojoh, remember what I said last time you questioned my orders?” Jance countered.
“Raising shields, engaging cloak and looking for a place to hide. Could we return to the planet after we get those scans for you? It's actually the closest and probably the safest place to hide. Otherwise, we could lose contact with you.”
