Rise of the Federation

by Christopher L. Bennett

  Tucker stared in amazement. “How can you be so calm about all this?”

  She resumed the march, while the Malurians gathered up the arms crates behind them. “It’s a survival trait for a sex slave,” she explained. “I withdraw within myself. Detach from whatever is said to me or done to my body, from whatever motions I am trained to go through, so that it doesn’t reach me.” She gave a faint shrug. “As you see, it has other benefits.”

  The human shook his head. “I never know whether to be sad for you or impressed as hell.”

  “Whichever you choose, it matters little to me. Which is essentially the point.”

  Once they finally reached the resistance headquarters and were introduced to Dular Garos, the Raldul operative was less than pleased to see them. “It was reckless of the Sisters to send a representative directly to me—especially with one of their agents at his side,” the gray-scaled humanoid intoned. “If it were to be confirmed that Maltuvis has Orion backing, then your presence here could risk exposing the larger strategy.”

  Tucker spread his arms. “Plenty of Orion slave women out there. Not all of them are secret agents.”

  Garos’s gangsterish features twisted skeptically. “Would you care to wager on the percentage?”

  “Anyway, it’s not something you have to worry about. You see, we’re not actually here on the Sisters’ behalf.”

  “Then what—”

  The Malurian broke off at the sound of new arrivals at the entrance. Tucker turned to see a Chelon and a human entering—and his eyes widened in recognition at the latter. “Garos, good, I see the new shipment’s finally here,” Antonio Ruiz said. “Maybe if we get in some practice, it’ll help distract from all the strategy arguments and—” He faltered, staring at the other human in the room. “Albert?” he asked. “Albert Sims?”

  Tucker sighed. He didn’t look quite the same as he had under that identity, but he and Ruiz had gotten to know each other pretty well during his previous visit to Sauria. “Hey, Tony. Been a while.”

  Ruiz rushed over to him. “Yeah, it has.”

  For the second time in two years, Tucker saw Ruiz’s punch coming a mile away and let it hit home regardless. He deserved it no less now than he had then. “Good to see you too, buddy,” he said as he rubbed his jaw afterward.

  Devna swiftly interposed herself, stroking Ruiz’s chest. “There’s no need for that, is there? We’re all friends here.”

  “It’s all right,” Tucker told her, regaining his feet. “Nothing I didn’t have coming. Let him go.”

  After a probing glance at Tucker, the Orion spy shrugged and released Ruiz, who was visibly reeling from her pheromonal whammy. Meanwhile, Garos looked confused. “Sims? You told my men your name was Victor Lund.”

  “He’s a Federation spy,” Ruiz explained, his anger letting himself shake off Devna’s influence. “At least, I figured he was. I guess I have my proof now. So why are you back, Al? Victor? Mal-toothless already cut off the Fed’s dilithium gravy train, so you got nothing to gain by sabotaging the resistance. Or did your masters finally decide to close the barn door after the cows got slaughtered?”

  “I have my own questions,” Garos broke in, his commanding voice halting Ruiz’s tirade. He crossed his arms and looked back and forth at his new visitors. “A Federation agent with an Orion agent? Which of you is the defector?”

  Tucker gave a slight grin. “Would you believe both? Tony’s right—my employers pulled me out two years ago because they didn’t want me disrupting the mining deal with Maltuvis. They figured the Federation’s material wealth was more important than the Saurians’ freedom.” He turned to Ruiz, not needing to feign his abashed tone. “You were right about me, Tony. I didn’t have the courage to say no when I knew my orders were wrong, like you did. It took a few more wrong orders before I managed to find my spine. If I’d stood with you when you asked . . . well, the Saurians and a lot more people besides might be better off. I’m sorry.”

  The younger human looked wary—but Garos was even more so. “And you?” he challenged Devna. “What did he offer you to gain your defection?”

  “The only thing I have ever truly desired,” Devna replied. “Freedom. Which is why I join him in fighting for Sauria’s freedom.” She told the lie with a perfect facsimile of sincerity.

  “Starfleet is here for the same reason,” Garos said, turning back to Tucker. “How, then, are you in defiance of your Federation masters?”

  “Not everyone shares Starfleet’s goal,” Tucker replied. “Some groups think they’d be better off if the intervention failed.”

  Garos studied him and Devna warily, afraid they intended to expose his true agenda. Instead, Tucker turned to Ruiz. “That’s why Elevia and I came—to warn you about the risk of sabotage. We came to Garos first because his people had a way in . . . and because it might be tricky to explain my presence to the Starfleet team. I’m glad you found me first. It’ll be easier to maintain my cover if I have your help.”

  “Why can’t you just tell them who you are, if you’re here to help?” Ruiz countered.

  “Because I’m not ‘Mister Bond,’ ” Tucker replied, invoking Ruiz’s old nickname for him. “I can’t be careless about revealing my identity, for a lot of reasons. In this case, it’d just make it harder to get them to trust me. And I need them—and you—to trust me if I’m going to help you.”

  “Why the hell should I trust you, after you let me down before? You talk a good game now, but you’ve changed your mind before when it suited you or the Federation. People like you—like me, before I spent the past two years in the thick of this—you don’t know what oppression is. Your privilege keeps you safe, makes it something that happens to other people, something you can feel bad about but shrug off in the name of the bigger picture.

  “Not like Garos. Not like his people. These guys, the Raldul alignment, they know oppression. They know what it’s like to be branded as criminals, exiled from their homes and families, just for disagreeing with their leaders. They understand doing whatever it takes to survive and carry on the fight. Yeah, I know the things he’s done in the past. I know what the Feds think of him. But I know he’s fighting for survival, like the Saurians—not just for some abstract principle or a clear conscience. So I trust him.” Tucker saw Garos’s head tilt back and his shoulders straighten at Ruiz’s praise. It was subtle, most likely involuntary, and Tucker filed that away for future consideration. “Give me a reason I should trust you.”

  Tucker held his gaze. “Because I’m trusting you. I could get in real trouble if you don’t keep my secret from Starfleet. And as right as you are to be mad at me, I’m trusting in your sense of mercy and fair play. All I’m askin’ for is a second chance. A chance to prove myself before you throw me to the wolves.”

  Ruiz brooded over the matter for a few moments before giving a heavy sigh. “All right. A chance. Because we need all the help we can get. But trust needs to be earned, ‘Victor.’ ”

  “I understand. For now, though, there are things Elevia and I need to discuss with Garos in private. If you don’t mind.”

  “Okay,” Ruiz replied slowly. “I just came to get some rifles for the exercises. I should get back to that anyway.”

  Garos instructed his underlings to assist Ruiz and the Chelon with the rifles while he led Tucker and Devna to his private office. Once they were alone, the Malurian crime boss spoke. “Well, you didn’t expose my link to the Sisters. If that gesture was meant to earn my trust, it’s succeeded to the extent that I won’t just shoot you here and now. But what you’ve come to say to me had better be worth my while.”

  “You should think about being nicer to us, Mister Garos,” Tucker replied. “Because we’re here to prevent the sabotage the Sisters recruited you to perform. Now, we could do that just by telling the resistance what your real allegiances are. But I’d prefer to do it with your cooperation.”

  Garos studied their faces. “Because you aren’t in it for simple altruism.
You want to get something out of it for yourselves. Such as?”

  “Like we established, the lady and I are both, shall we say, disillusioned with our respective employers. Hers are trying to engineer a catastrophe to make Starfleet intervention look bad, so the Federation will adopt a policy of noninterference—which they imagine to mean that Federation justice would leave their activities alone. My employers know all about it—and they want to let it happen. In their minds, an officially hands-off Federation will make fewer enemies, and they’ll still be free to act secretly on its behalf when they need to. And neither organization much cares how many Saurians have to die for their convenience.”

  “So you want me to help you stop them. How? While I’m certainly open to negotiations, you’d need to pay me quite a bit to outbid the Sisters. And foiling the sabotage might embarrass the Sisters, but it would have no effect on your employers, Mister Lund.”

  Tucker went on to explain the rest of his plan—to fabricate evidence of collusion between Harris and D’Nesh in the planned sabotage, then publicize it before the disaster happened, thereby exposing Section 31 and discrediting D’Nesh within the Syndicate. “A bold plan,” Garos said, taking in both Tucker and Devna with his smile. “You’re not as soft as I suspected. Playing your respective superiors against each other, gambling with the lives of the Saurians to betray your own masters . . . it’s brazen. Reckless. I like it.

  “But how does it benefit me? What reason do I have to cooperate in this betrayal? My relationship with the Sisters is tenuous enough after Rigel. And I’m not in the mood to draw down the wrath of your employers either.”

  “I have a different question for you, Garos. What benefit is there in continuing to work with the Orions? What do you get from that relationship that’s worth betraying what you believe in?”

  Garos bristled. “I have never betrayed my beliefs! Everything I do is for the good of Maluria. Everything!”

  “I know. You believe you’re rebelling against an unjust regime. You think their policies are bad for your people.”

  “I don’t just think, I know. They’re trapped in an antiquated way of thinking that ends at the atmosphere. They can’t recognize that a planetbound nation is doomed to be overrun in a galaxy of interstellar empires and syndicates and federations. Their laws and regulations are killing our people. Only the outlaws can save Maluria.”

  “These rebels are fighting for the same thing! They’ve been driven from their homes by an unjust leader clinging to antiquated ways and an insular view of the universe. They’re willing to do anything it takes to save their people from that. I saw it in your eyes, Garos—you’re proud that people like Antonio approve of your efforts here.”

  Garos made a dismissive noise. “Your ability to read Malurian expressions is limited.”

  Devna stepped forward. “Mine is not,” she said. “I may not be able to seduce your kind, but I and my sisters have had to tend to their other needs in the course of our alliance. I’ve had sufficient occasion to learn to read Malurian moods. My master is correct. You do recognize these rebels as kindred spirits.” That silenced Garos.

  Tucker took the opportunity to continue. “So how can you be okay with betraying them, discrediting them, probably getting thousands of them killed, just to help that tyrant secure his power?”

  The Raldul boss glared. “It wouldn’t be the first sacrifice I’ve made for Maluria. I’ve made deals with monsters. I’ve killed personal friends. I’ve done none of these things lightly.”

  “So it’s all right to let others burn as long as you save your own people from the same fate?” Tucker shook his head. “I’ve tried that, Garos. I’ve been ordered to do that twice—once right here on Sauria. I was dense enough that it took me two tries to see the hypocrisy of it. What good is saving a society from its enemies if you become as bad as they are?” At the Malurian’s sneer, the human went on. “I think you feel that too, deep down. You weren’t comfortable helping the First Families tear down Rigel’s civilization for their own profit. You helped Valeria Williams and Starfleet expose their plans.”

  “Only because the Families betrayed me first. Retaliation in kind was the only option left to me. And it brought no benefit to Maluria. Rigel’s Federation membership has cost my alignment dearly in the Kandari sector. Our profits have taken a serious hit now that Starfleet law and order has engulfed the region. We need the remaining allies we have, and we need the profits from this arms deal—plus what the Sisters are paying for my assistance with their upcoming show.”

  “And what kind of an ally has the Syndicate been to you, really? Think back, Garos. Their plan to weaken the Federation by starting a war with the Vertians failed. Their attempt to sabotage the last Babel Conference was a fiasco. Their plans to undermine the Federation from within were exposed, and all the secessionist groups they supported are now either dissolved or discredited. They keep losing, Garos. Losing to the Federation, again and again. Can you really look at that win-loss record and still believe you’ve bet on the right team?”

  Garos scoffed. “So you suggest that Raldul should realign with the Federation? The author of so many of our setbacks?”

  “Setbacks to your plans to undermine us. Maybe if you tried working with us instead, it’d work out better.”

  “The Federation would never back a criminal organization.”

  “But it would use every legitimate means at its disposal to encourage reforms on Malur. Admiral Archer went there last year to try just that. Even though you tried to kill him once or twice, even though he hates your guts, he still tried to help your people.”

  “By talking. Then just walking away when, to no one’s surprise, it achieved nothing. I prefer methods that actually get things done.”

  “Except we’ve established you haven’t actually been doing that. Even before there was a Federation, you weren’t able to make enough of a difference to change things on your world.”

  “And do you really believe,” Devna put in, “that the Three Sisters have any true concern for the good of Maluria? They are simply using you for their convenience, just as they do with everyone else. They will betray you and your people as soon as it benefits them.”

  “Which is why I will betray them first—when the time is right.”

  “That time is now, Garos,” Tucker said. “This is your opportunity. Stand with the Federation. Make the act a reality. We love a good redemption story. Show us you really want to help, and we’ll do all we can to help you in turn.”

  Garos shifted his weight uneasily. “This is the second time one of you Federation do-gooders made me that offer. I have to admit, when Lieutenant Williams did it back at Rigel, I appreciated it in an odd way. To be offered aid by an enemy after my own allies failed me one by one . . . it did raise some questions.” After an encouraging moment, though, he shook his head. “But the cost is too high. You’re too obsessed with getting everyone to join your club—to put the good of the whole above their own needs. I would never subsume Maluria to your authority.”

  “You don’t have to. The Federation has allies, not just members. Whether you join or not is up to you. Nobody’s been forced in.”

  “And that’s the other reason I wouldn’t trust your help. You’re too soft, too indecisive. You won’t do whatever it takes to win.” He smirked. “At least, not officially. Your employers seem like more pragmatic types. Maybe I should consider—”

  Tucker preempted him, shaking his head. “Allying with them? Never work. They’re just as gung-ho about protecting the Federation by any means necessary as you are about Maluria. If they wouldn’t hesitate to let Sauria suffer a disaster for their own convenience, they certainly wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to Malur or one of its colonies.”

  Devna moved in closer. “Neither would the Sisters. Navaar already considers your aid unreliable. D’Nesh resents you for humiliating her before Navaar after her Babel plan failed. And Maras? If your whole system burned, she would applaud the pretty firework
s. All they need is an excuse.”

  “And yet you ask me to give them one. If I fail them this time, do you imagine they won’t retaliate?”

  “I imagine that Victor’s plan will weaken them badly. If the plot to implicate Starfleet in a staged disaster is exposed before it comes to fruition, and if both Victor’s employers and D’Nesh are publicly revealed as conspirators in the plot, it will destroy D’Nesh. Navaar is like you—a pragmatist, willing to sacrifice those she loves for the sake of her goals.” She gave a graceful shrug. “Those she loves, besides herself, number exactly two, but that will not stop her from halving that number.”

  Garos studied her. “Why D’Nesh? Why not all three?”

  “As a united front, they could fight the charges. Even if they were brought down, one of their rivals would quickly enough seize control and take aggressive action to make a name for herself. But turn Navaar against D’Nesh, and the Sisters will be weakened, their image of an inseparable front broken. It will undermine them without breeding open chaos. Surely that could benefit Raldul as much as weakening the Federation would. A diminished, distracted Sisterhood might lose its grip on certain business opportunities. Raldul could move into the void.”

  Garos looked intrigued. “You should have let this one speak first, Lund. Her arguments are far more appealing. As, I admit, is the prospect of seeing D’Nesh brought down. I have some degree of respect for Navaar’s raw cunning, but D’Nesh is crass, clumsy, and arrogant. She deserves to be humbled.”

  After a moment, Tucker dared to ask, “Does that mean you’ll help us?”

  “It means I’ll give it serious thought. But in all honesty, I’m not certain how much help I can provide. The plan was made by Navaar and Maltuvis. They’ve only given me what information I need to play my part.”

  “Information such as . . . ?”

  With a sigh, Garos went on. “Oh, very well. All I know is that I’m supposed to ensure that the rebels raid and sabotage one of Maltuvis’s shipbuilding facilities, and that at least one of the more extremist factions of the resistance is included in the raid. Some sort of disaster will be triggered in the process, leading to Starfleet being blamed for recklessly putting dangerous technology in the hands of fanatics.”