by S. H. Jucha
Alex listened to the Leaders requesting copies of the recording. The Shadow was an ingenious little tool invented on the spur of the moment by Z. Alex tried not to think about Z’s condition or if they failed to retrieve him from this avatar. For now, it was enough that eight House Leaders were requesting the Reunion information despite Leader Ganesh’s disapproval. It was his hope that they would share the Shadow’s intelligence with others. The revolution has begun, Alex thought.
Gino joined Alex, who was standing over Z’s body, informing him that a grav-pallet was ordered for Z. “Do you know his condition, Ser President,” Gino asked.
“Undetermined, I’m afraid,” Alex replied.
“Would your SADEs have foreseen a tragic event such as this and made alternate arrangements, if you will?” Gino asked. His emotions were a roiling mix that his Méridien upbringing found difficult to control. That the Council Leader would have brought armed escorts to a meeting of Leaders and fired on his guests was unconscionable, and his own guilt raged that he was the one to ask for Alex’s help, which resulted in this unimaginable situation.
Alex glanced over Gino’s shoulders at the group of Leaders standing around the holo-vid. “The Haraken SADEs are a resourceful group of individuals,” Alex said, laying a comradely hand on Gino’s shoulders. Alex didn’t want to discuss the SADEs’ capabilities in present company, and Gino was placated by Alex’s response.
Alex took Gino’s arm and steered him back to the other Leaders. “I have a final thought for you. Trouble is coming, and I don’t see it going away. This time, we aren’t talking about a single alien sphere; we’re talking about an entire solar system of humans. They are war capable, and they’re coming for you and all the bounty you represent. I suggest you start getting your House in order as fast as you can.”
Several Leaders were confused by Alex’s reference to a single House and privately queried Gino, who explained that the president was referring to the House of the Confederation — the Council.
Gino’s envoy arrived with a sufficiently sized grav-pallet to transport Z’s avatar. A path was cleared by hauling Mahima’s unconscious escorts out of the way, and it required Alex, Tatia, and the twins to load Z’s avatar onto the pallet.
Alex heard as his people began filing out of the room. Shannon Brixton walked up to him and waited respectfully.
“Why did you come to this meeting?” Alex asked. He could see his question caught her off guard, but he needed to know how Leader Ganesh was manipulating her people.
“We were told individuals were fomenting discontent among our people, advocating an aggressive response to the UE ship. Leader Ganesh did not disclose that Harakens were involved and that you led them,” Shannon replied.
“Would it have made any difference?” Alex asked.
“It was our duty to support our Council Leader,” Shannon replied, her voice trailing off.
“Copying that vid to study it and possibly distribute it does not seem supportive of your Council Leader,” Alex challenged.
“Major changes have always been viewed as disturbing to order, but recent history appears to argue that view is incorrect,” Shannon acknowledged.
Alex regarded Shannon’s face, attempting to read the thoughts behind her words. “You wanted to speak to me, Leader Brixton,” Alex reminded her.
“Yes, Ser President, I must admit that your view of SADEs and mine, which has been cultivated during the past century of work in my House, are significantly different. As such, I see that I did not treat your SADE with proper respect,” Shannon admitted.
“When you say ‘my SADE,’ Leader Brixton, I’m not sure I take your meaning,” Alex replied.
“While I’m not sure of your arrangement, I would suppose your SADEs are responsible to someone or to an organization, you or the Haraken government,” Shannon replied confidently.
“Leader Brixton,” Alex said in exasperation, “your Council Leader’s escorts might have just murdered a Haraken citizen — a free and independent entity — who is responsible to no one but himself. Think on that.” Alex whirled and marched out of the room, leaving a surprised Leader behind.
Shannon Brixton was worried. She wasn’t too concerned about misunderstanding the relationship of a SADE to the president and his people. After all, they were Harakens — oddities were expected. No, what concerned her was that President Racine considered the SADE a potential murder victim. Shannon regretted she hadn’t delivered a more sincere apology. It also seemed prudent to rethink her supportive position of Council Leader Ganesh, who seemed intent on distancing herself from the Confederation’s Leaders and making an enemy of the Haraken president.
-15-
Aboard the Rêveur, Alex accompanied Z’s avatar to engineering. Mickey waited for Julien outside of Z’s cabin with a grav-sled. Julien was needed to override Z’s locking encryption on the cabin.
The cabin door slid open, and the tech pulling the grav-sled into the room looked around and stumbled to a halt, the grav-sled threatening to knock him over. Mickey and the crew stared at the two avatars laid out on the beds — two anatomically perfect, naked avatars of Z’s bank director and Miranda Leyton.
“Jump to it, crewmen,” Mickey demanded. “We want the bank director.” Four of them hoisted the avatar onto the grav-sled, and Mickey grabbed a bunk coverlet to drape over Z’s avatar. “Let’s move!” he shouted.
Normally, Z would transfer his kernel between avatars via comm protocols and hardwire connections. Even though Cedric’s crystal-brain was housed in his chest for security’s sake, his visual, auditory, vocal, and balance senses were situated in his head and, unfortunately, so was his comms connection. With his kernel trapped in a nearly decapitated body, it was impossible for Z to initiate the transfer.
In engineering, the two avatars were placed side by side, and Julien directed the engineering team to deploy the transfer controller. The physical connections they needed for Cedric’s avatar were located in the back of the neck, and it took several hours for the team to rebuild the required links for the controller.
When the controller and connections were finally in place, Julien initiated the transfer. The room waited in silence until Julien announced, “Transfer complete.”
The director’s eyes blinked once, then twice. Humans and SADE alike waited quietly. Then Z’s eyes focused and traveled the faces hovering over him. “Greetings, Ser President. Were we successful? Was anyone seriously injured?” The room broke out in applause, and Z sat up, his covering dropping to his waist.
“Everything worked out fine, Z. We’re glad to have you back,” Alex said, slapping Z on the shoulder.
Renée leaned over Z and kissed his cheek. “Welcome back, Z. We were so worried for you,” she whispered.
Z had witnessed thousands of exchanges among humans and even between Julien and Cordelia, but had never received a kiss himself.
“That was quite the gambit, Z. What made you initiate action on your own?” Alex asked.
“Was I wrong to do so, Ser President?” Z asked.
“Negative, Z. If the Council Leader detained us, there would have been no one to stand up to the Earthers.”
“I must admit, Ser President, I found my actions a surprise myself,” Z replied. “I believe searching with the Swei Swee has taught me about swift, decisive action to accomplish tactical goals. I reasoned that our people’s protection is predicated on your directions, which requires you be free from detention. The Council Leader’s action would have negated your freedom and that required curtailing. So I initiated an offense.”
“Well done, Z,” Mickey declared, laughing, and slapping Z’s shoulder, the sting from the hard contact with the metal alloy
sheathing under the synth-skin traveling up his arm. “I would have loved to have seen that.”
“Allow me to share, Mickey,” Julien said and transferred his recording of the event to Mickey. He also copied Z, who appreciated retrieving the lost moments.
“Darts from fingertips,” Mickey said after reviewing the initial images. “I love it. What else can your avatar do, Z?” Mickey asked.
“I would be pleased to demonstrate its attributes, Engineer Brandon, if you would care to help in its repair,” Z said.
Alex and Julien left Mickey and Z, who wrapped his coverlet around his waist, to examine the damaged avatar. Z was happily describing the offensive tools built into it.
Alex replied.
* * *
On Méridien, subterfuge — an uncommon word in the Confederation — was becoming the order of the day for a small group of Leaders. Council Leader Mahima Ganesh had a great many followers or rather she had many who feared her power. Nothing she did was overt enough to contradict Council law, but she had ways of pressuring a House whose Leader went against her wishes.
The eight Leaders, whose eyes Alex opened with the Shadow’s vids and the recordings of conversation with the UE principals, adopted different means of reaching out to their associates. Most opted for one-on-one meetings to carefully control the environment and the delivery of their message, but their success was limited by the nature of the meetings, secretive and a limited audience. Many of the invitees feared the meeting request was a test of loyalty orchestrated by Leader Ganesh.
In contrast Katarina Pasko threw small dinner parties. She invited intimate friends and a few Leaders, telling her guests that some unusual entertainment would be provided. Once her guests were satiated, they gathered around a holo-vid. Katarina turned the viewing into a parlor game, asking her guests to guess the location of the images and identify the items they saw. There were various levels of success but none were significant. So at the end of the vid, the guests were always anxious to have the mystery revealed by Katarina. Once she explained where the vid was taken and who took it, several guests would hastily depart, but many more would stay to hear more.
During the past twenty years, Katarina Pasko found her faith in the supremacy of the Confederation slowly eroding. It began with the inexorable encroachment of the Nua’ll, and her Council’s failure to take action. During the decades, she admired Gino Diamanté’s quiet call for intervention, but few supported him against Leader Ganesh’s firm stance of no action. When Katarina accepted Gino’s invitation nine years ago to visit Haraken and view the new grav-drive shuttles, she told herself it was an opportunity to discover the secrets of Alex’s implant control, but her curiosity was rebuffed by Alex. Despite that, she returned frequently with Gino to visit Haraken and soon discovered she made the trips as much for his company as for business. That her House prospered due to the acquisition of Haraken technology was a definite plus even though it earned her Leader Ganesh’s enmity.
Initially, Katarina expected Alex to decry everything about the Confederation, but his honest evaluation, strengths and weaknesses, of her culture intrigued her. Throughout the years, she and Alex developed a mutual respect. And, against all logic, Katarina became friends with Renée. The four of them, Alex, Renée, Gino, and she, spent hours sitting in the cliff-top rotunda, watching the Swei Swee at work and play, while they talked about many things, especially their hopes and dreams for the future of their societies. In time, the last veils obscuring the weaknesses of Confederation society were removed from her eyes.
-16-
Suddenly, Méridien FTL comms were overloaded as they hadn’t been since the relay of the emergency broadcast of the annihilation of the Cetus colony by the Nua’ll nearly half a lifetime ago. Reports came in first from ships entering the system, then from outposts on outer planets, and finally from the orbital platforms — a massive ship was entering the Méridien system. The only good tiding was the ship wasn’t a giant sphere, which meant the invading Nua’ll, who destroyed so many Confederation colonies, hadn’t returned.
Gino requested an immediate audience with Council Leader Ganesh. He was surprised that it was accepted and hurried to meet with Mahima in her office at Confederation Hall.
“Did you come to apologize, Diamanté?” Mahima asked, foregoing a proper greeting when Gino entered her office.
“And here I was hoping you had come to your senses, Council Leader Ganesh,” Gino replied smoothly. “It appears we will both be disappointed. I presume you have received word of the strange ship that has entered the system.”
“I’m kept well informed, Leader Diamanté, of all things,” Mahima replied, her hard stare underlying her message.
“And are you aware that the new ship is communicating exclusively via a directed beam with the Earther explorer ship?” Gino asked. Mahima’s mask slipped slightly, and Gino knew he surprised her. He was angry that she was unable to stay on top of the critical issues, but this was not the time to add to the animosity between them. “Have you asked Winston for his evaluation of the ship?”
“How would that be of value?” Mahima asked.
“Esther has shared the New Terran’s historical Terran records with Winston. The records detail much of the Earth’s ancient military history. The SADEs have preliminary telemetry and have already made some shocking discoveries,” Gino replied.
“You come to me with statements detailing the improper influence of those Harakens on our SADEs, and you expect me to accept that they are adding value to the Confederation? We have stood for centuries in peace and prosperity, and, if we maintain our path, we will continue to do so. All that you are doing is allowing a disease to enter a healthy body. Be careful, Gino Diamanté. Your House might not support your direction, and if it doesn’t, I will see to it a new Diamanté Leader is appointed.”
“So I take it that you have not reviewed Winston’s evaluation of the new ship,” Gino replied calmly.
“We are done here. You may leave,” Mahima said, ignoring the courtesies and scowling at Gino as he left her office.
As Gino walked the majestic corridors of Confederation Hall, his thoughts focused on Mahima Ganesh. It’s time for you to go, old woman, before you destroy us all.
* * *
On the Rêveur’s bridge, Alex and his senior staff surrounded the holo-vid, examining the vids gathered by Méridien vessels, which passed the immense winged-ship as it entered the system. Winston received the Méridien vessels’ telemetry and passed it to Esther with the intention that she would share the information with Julien and Z. The SADEs were collaborating despite the Council Leader’s strictures against communicating with the Harakens, and each one of them was postulating what life would be like if the Confederation fell under Earther control. Their greatest fear was that the Earthers wouldn’t recognize artificial intelligences as legal citizens.
“Black space, that’s a big ship!” Tatia declared. “Are those dimensions correct?” When Julien arched an eyebrow at her, Tatia retreated. “Sorry, Julien, it’s just that the numbers are hard to believe.”
“I understand, Admiral,” Julien replied. “They are as incredible as they are accurate.”
“Why the same design as the explorer ship?” Mickey wondered out loud. “A longitudinal shape woul
d seem more practical. Instead, it’s a similar wing shape … just a damn sight bigger.”
The ship’s wings exhibited five decks along its front edges. Three decks were each the same height as the explorer ship’s single wing and were dotted with bay doors. What the group understood to be fighter bays occupied the top, center, and bottom levels, alternating with two smaller decks between them. In addition, where the explorer ship possessed one central fuselage, this ship had three, the center one having the greater diameter and length. Its overall wingspan was four times that of the explorer ship.
“This general shape would indicate an engineering limitation,” said Z, who was utilizing his director’s avatar. “The foreshortened bow-to-aft length might allude to drive-system problems or FTL transition. The probabilities favor the latter.
“Julien, what is the telemetry on the ship’s velocity?” Tatia asked.
“The ship entered the system at 0.48c, Admiral, and began decelerating soon after,” Julien replied.
“That far out? Are they heading for any of the outer planets?” Tatia asked.
“It does not appear so, Admiral,” Julien replied. “The vessel altered course toward the explorer ship as soon as it entered the system. I have no explanation as to why it is dropping its velocity at this rate.”
“They’re distrustful,” Alex said, and all eyes regarded him. “They expect armed resistance so they aren’t hurrying into the system blindly.”
“Armed resistance from whom?” Renée asked. “Surely Speaker García informed them that he has met no resistance.”
“Old habits, I would say,” Alex replied. “Look at that ship. What do any of you see?”
“Ancient Terran records would call that a ‘battleship,’ Ser President,” Julien replied.
“Affirmative — a ship designed and built for war,” Z added.
