by S. H. Jucha
“While I understand our president’s commitments to seek peaceful means of change, Admiral,” Z said to Tatia, “the history of events surrounding him would suggest that he be accompanied by prudent protection at all times. The alternative is illogical.”
“Z,” Tatia said, planting a wet kiss on the side of the SADE’s face, “who knew that we spoke the same language!”
“Your sentiment is taken as intended, Admiral. Allow me to show you what I have in mind.”
When Z unveiled his new avatar, Tatia laughed. It was a close image of a Terran Security Forces captain she had known — a good man. “A New Terran avatar,” she exclaimed. “Z, this is perfect for our little escapade.” Tatia stood aside while Z sent commands to the base controller to demonstrate the defensive and offensive armament he worked into the suit.
The avatar appeared to mass as much as the Rainmaker, Little Ben, who was Harken’s minister of mining. He was an enormous New Terran immigrant, who was credited with wetting the dry planet’s climate by pitching ice asteroids at it with the aid of Z and a city-ship. But with its internal metal-alloy structure, Z’s avatar weighed twice as much as the minister.
“Why would you build such a thing, Z?” Tatia asked, even though she heartily approved of its presence.
“As I indicated previously, Admiral, the laws of probability,” Z replied. “Calculating the president’s lifetime and the events of the past eleven years, it is inevitable that he requires support of this nature, frequently.
Tatia laughed at that and replied, “Load up, Z.”
An envoy of House Diamanté met the Harakens at the terminal and led them underground to acquire transport. The envoy called a car and the group was soon whisked away, headed for a distant terminal. Alex glanced over at Ser Cedric Broussard, who Tatia introduced as they boarded the shuttle. Alex had requested Z’s presence for the trip, but he expected the director avatar, not a mountain of a New Terran.
When the group exited the transport, the envoy led them to an expansive private lift. Once the doors slid closed, no movement was detected, and Alex raised an eyebrow at Julien.
Several moments later, the lift doors opened, and the envoy led them down a spacious corridor, which ended in a sumptuously inlaid set of double doors. The metal-alloy doors slid apart at the group’s approach, and they entered a luxurious suite with delicately decorated walls and floor coverings. Ceiling-to-floor windows exposed a vista filled with sky-towers and clouds that floated a half kilometer below them.
Four House Leaders of the Confederation paused to regard the group as they entered, and then Gino Diamanté rushed forward to greet Alex and the others followed. Introductions were quick as the Leaders were known by many of Alex’s people for years — Devon O’Shea, Katarina Pasko, Bartosz Rolek, and Gino Diamanté were some of the first purchasers of Haraken’s travelers. Hospitality was observed with the dispensing of food and drink.
The only Leader to be suspicious of Ser Cedric Broussard was Gino. As a frequent visitor to Haraken, Gino was intimate with Alex’s inner circle, and Ser Broussard was a stranger, hardly the sort who would accompany the Haraken president to a clandestine meeting of Méridien Leaders.
After the courtesies were observed, Gino announced, “President Racine, I believe you came here to educate us. We have a holo-vid prepared for your display.”
“Thank you, Leader Diamanté for organizing this meeting, and thank you all for your courage in attending,” Alex said. It was a rare thing to link Méridien Leaders with a word like “courage.”
Room lights dimmed, and a large holo-vid lit, displaying the start of the Shadow’s vids. The Leaders gathered around it for the viewing and were soon full of questions, being unfamiliar with many of the critical points of the images they were observing.
“To help us understand what this Haraken tool has discovered, let me query Esther, my House SADE, to interpret these visuals for us,” Gino said. It was prearranged by Alex and Gino to have the Leaders’ questions and concerns answered by an entity whose credence Méridiens would not question.
“Good evening, Sers,” Esther said, her voice emanating from the base of the holo-vid. “And a most pleasant evening to you, Julien and Z.” The House Leaders were familiar with Julien’s avatar, but did a double-take when Ser Broussard responded to Esther. Esther restarted the presentation, jumping from one critical image to the next. She explained to the Leaders that she possessed the New Terran colonists’ records of ancient Terra and was the one who originally evaluated the UE ship’s exterior and determined it hid armament.
“You will note, Sers,” Esther explained, “my original suppositions have been proven correct. Most of the explorer ship’s bays hold fighters, and the lower hatches in the wings conceal missile ports. These appear to be chemical rockets, but the warheads are unknown. What was unknown was the extensive number of armed troops the UE vessel carried. Z’s Shadow has detailed a row of rooms containing more than forty personnel.”
“But for what purpose?” Leader Bartosz Rolek asked. His House, one of the oldest in the Confederation, was responsible for their society’s food production.
“As you might already be aware, we have met the Earthers on two occasions, once for a fête onboard Le Jardin and once for a … a demonstration onboard their ship,” Alex said. “We have records of our conversation during the course of hours, but suffice it to say, the Earthers’ purpose in coming here was to add any human colony they found to their United Earth.”
“If we ignore them,” Katarina said, “there is little they can do.”
“Is that what you thought, Leader Pasko, when you first saw the Nua’ll sphere?” Tatia asked.
Before Katarina could take umbrage with Tatia’s provocation, Alex said, “From what we gather, the attitude of the Earthers is that all humans must be united under the UE flag, one way or another.”
“During the fête, one of our young Harakens,” Renée added, “questioned a second lieutenant on that same thought. What could one UE ship do? His answer was that there would soon be more.”
“President Racine, do you truly think these humans would employ force against our people if we did not join their United Earth?” Devon O’Shea asked.
“Faster than you could blink,” Alex replied. “It’s our understanding from a UE scientist that the organization was created on Earth after what was called the Final Wars. Once the UE power was consolidated, it forcibly annexed the habitats and colonies of the Sol system and that’s what they did to their own people.”
“Méridiens, Harakens, and New Terrans might see themselves as related humans, but the Earthers might view us as second-class citizens,” Tatia said.
“I believe, Leaders,” Z said, “you are missing the primary motivation for the Earthers’ actions. Perhaps that is because, as is customary for you, your thoughts are human-centric. You might wonder if the Earth has sky-towers, genetic engineering, cell-gen injections, programmable nanites, grav-drive shuttles, and mobile SADES. Based on our observations of the explorer ship, it is our opinion that at present they do not. So yes, the UE might have a great desire to annex our worlds, but it has an even greater desire to possess our technology.
“Sers,” Esther added, “the UE ship and its probes have certainly witnessed some of these things. Not to mention, they have observed ships in and out of FTL transit in myriad directions. They are certainly aware that we have multiple worlds.”
In the silence that followed Esther’s comment, the room’s entrance doors slid open and in marched Council Leader Mahima Ganesh, accompanied by five other Leaders, most notably Shannon Brixton and Albert de Guirnon. Six escorts slid through the doors behind them and fanned out along one side of the room, their stun guns drawn.
“Well, look what we have here,”
Mahima Ganesh sneered. “Méridien Leaders secretly meeting with Harakens.”
“It’s because you, Leader Ganesh, are committing the same act of stupidity as the last time the Confederation was invaded,” Gino challenged.
“I will deal with you later, Leader Diamanté,” Mahima hissed. “President Racine, you and your people are to come with us. You are being detained for inciting the Méridien people against the peace. You may walk or we will provide grav-lifts for your inert bodies.” Mahima smiled and no one was in doubt as to which choice she preferred.
“I forbid you to treat these people in this manner, Leader Ganesh. They are my guests,” Gino said, taking a step toward Mahima. He halted when two escorts trained their stun guns on him.
“You forbid me?” Mahima cried out, her voice strident. “What words are these to say to your Council Leader? I have a mind to declare you Independent, Gino Diamanté.”
“No Leader has ever been declared Independent, Leader Ganesh,” Bartosz exclaimed.
“Well, this might be one of those changes all of you seem so intent on welcoming to the Confederation,” Mahima said, an ugly sneer on her face. “Perhaps I’ll declare all of you Independents. Take the Harakens.”
As the escorts deployed, the Harakens received a message,
Alex came slowly back to consciousness. Due to the extremely sensitive nature of the incident, no medical personnel were called, which incensed Renée. Alex took blasts from three stun guns when he moved, not to the floor as directed, but across the two meters necessary to enfold Renée in his arms and present his back to the escorts as he pulled her to the floor. When Alex woke, he felt a cool refresher cloth on his face, and his head was cradled in Renée’s lap.
When Renée saw Alex’s eyes focus on her face, she sent,
Alex struggled up and found arms supporting his efforts. The room possessed a decidedly uneasy feel. Gino and his people were backed against the far wall and were eyeing everyone else. Mahima’s six escorts were on the floor in various crumpled poses. Étienne and Alain were covering the downed escorts and the interloping Leaders with their stun guns. Alex looked around, taking a head count of his people. He came up one short. Meters away, Z’s avatar of Cedric Broussard lay still on the floor, and Shannon Brixton, Leader of the House responsible for the manufacture of controllers and SADEs, was bent over the body.
Anger pumped adrenalin through Alex’s body, and the unsteadiness fled his limbs as he strode toward Leader Brixton, who was poking through the exposed areas of Z’s neck where blasts from the escorts’ stun guns struck. The avatar’s metal shell was burned and fragile connections underneath the synth-skin were destroyed. Z’s head was at an odd angle and Leader Brixton was twisting it farther aside to see better into the skull.
“Fascinating,” Shannon murmured before she shrieked in surprise, finding herself suspended in the air by hands that gripped her upper arms and her face only inches from the Haraken president’s face, which was twisted in a snarl as if he was preparing to bite her nose off. Many Leaders, including herself, remembered their first and only meeting with the then New Terran admiral, who in their Council chambers humiliated the Council Leader with his implant powers.
“That is my friend you are desecrating, woman,” Alex snarled. He received several urgent implant messages and blocked them all, and no one made a move to intervene physically, not even Renée. A line was crossed — the SADEs were special to Alex. “What if I was to start sticking my fingers inside your skull right now and begin pulling out little bits and pieces?”
“But surely you know this is a SADE, Ser President,” Shannon Brixton managed to get out. Even Gino’s entourage winced at that statement, realizing how much their opinions had evolved since first visiting the Harakens, who thought of their SADEs as fellow citizens and treated them as such.
“What part of the words ‘my friend’ did you not understand?” Alex said, while he lowered Shannon to the floor but kept a tight hold on her arms. He could feel the muscles and bones of her arms compressing under the pressure of his grip.
“My apologies, Ser President, no insult was intended. I was excited by the prospect of investigating a mobile SADE,” Shannon replied.
“Take your ghoulish self and go stand by your compatriots,” Alex said and gave Shannon a shove toward where Mahima and her other four Leaders stood near the room’s entrance.
Alex walked slowly past the Leaders who accompanied Mahima, locking eyes with each one. They shrank from the anger they saw in his face. Only Albert stared haughtily at Alex, pleased to see him hurt, but that expression faded when Alex stopped in front of Renée’s brother and continued to stare at him, as if he were examining an insect, until Albert glanced away.
Alex never wanted to hurt someone as much as he did Clayton Downing, the criminal former president of New Terra, when his people killed Lieutenant Hatsuto Tanaka, but here he was again. You are fortunate, woman, that my people are more important to me than my hatred of you, Alex thought. “All of you,” Alex directed Mahima and the Leaders, “take a seat around the holo-vid. We have a show for your entertainment.” When the Leaders glanced nervously at Mahima, waiting for her approval, Alex said with a nasty smile, “Or we can provide grav-lifts to move your inert bodies.” The five Leaders deserted Mahima and scurried to take seats around the holo-vid. Mahima continued to glare at Alex until both Étienne and Alain raised their stun guns and pointed them at her. With a scowl she joined the others.
Alex introduced the vid, and, as it played, Esther augmented the visuals with explanations. The ch
ange in the room’s atmosphere was subtle but relentless. The more imagery of the Reunion that was displayed, the more questions the new Leaders asked, and the more questions they asked, the more Gino’s people engaged them, debating the information. At Shannon Brixton’s request, the vid was played a second time. There was a bright mind behind the centuries-old face, and she was a close associate of Katarina Pasko. The two debated fine points about the information.
Julien replayed several snippets of conversation from their communication with the Earthers, adding to the supposition that the explorer ship was nothing of the kind and its mission commander’s intentions did not bode well for the Confederation.
“Council Leader,” Albert de Guirnon said, “we would seek your thoughts on this matter.”
Mahima, who hadn’t said a single word during the entire time the vid was played and discussed, focused on Alex as she said, “These people are prevaricators. Who knows what trick they are foisting on us and toward what end?”
If this was Haraken or New Terra, there would have been objections, even outcries, but this was Méridien and the Leaders kept their counsel. There were enough breaks from tradition this evening to have filled a decade.
“Are we free to go, Haraken?” Mahima said, staring icily at Alex. When Alex nodded, Mahima got up and strode to the room’s entrance, noticing that only one Leader followed her, Albert. She spun around, glaring at the others. When they made no move to follow, Mahima stomped out.
The awkward silence that followed was broken by Emilio Torres, House Leader responsible for the life records of Confederation citizens. “Leader Diamanté, would you request your SADE transfer these records to my House SADE?” Emilio asked.
“Or you could request that directly of me, Leader Torres,” Esther replied.
When Gino simply raised an eyebrow at Emilio, the Leader repeated his request to Esther. The other Leaders quickly followed Emilio’s lead, requesting the same of Esther, surprised at the level of autonomy Leader Diamanté allowed his House SADE.
