by M. D. Hall
Gorn felt he was missing something. ‘Easy? What if Narol had tried to wrong foot you?’
‘That wasn’t possible. I had an advantage over her. She didn’t know of the link between our fathers, and so was blissfully unaware that anyone else knew what you were up to.’
‘I saw the two of you talking on the bridge, and just assumed you knew each other.’
‘Not at all, she couldn’t be seen to approach you, as you were meant to be at arms length, no favours shown and all that. She came to me and asked what had happened in the meeting we had with Commander Darl, weeks earlier. I told her that he would have told her, if he thought it concerned her. Knowing of the history between them, I supposed that if I fed her suspicions it would sidetrack her, I think it was reasonably successful. Why she would choose that point in time to ask about the meeting puzzled me, still does. Of course, Kirion would have known of it, perhaps he had just found out and passed the information on to her. But there’s no point in guessing now, because we were both at the teleport when it blew, she’ll have dug into my past and found the link between us. We have no choice, but to confront her.
‘She’ll be like a cornered animal, and might have communicated with a confederate already. It’s likely there’ll be at least one other on board, but she’s too clever to do anything, to either of us, unless we’re swept up in something bigger. Whatever else Darl might be, he isn’t stupid; if either of the two witnesses to Kirion’s death comes to an untimely end, he’ll tear the ship apart until he finds the perpetrator. No, she’ll continue to lie low, and wait until we go to her.’
‘And you really think she’ll expect that?’
‘Think about it, you succeeded in derailing the invasion,’ she waited for him to say something, to no avail, ‘and one of us, she doesn’t know which, has taken out her man. She’s definitely waiting to hear from us.’
‘I can't say I’m looking forward to that,’ replied Gorn, ‘but you’re right, it needs to be done, and the sooner the better,’ Trang nodded her agreement, but before she could say anything else, Gorn had another question. ‘How did you know he meant to kill me?’
‘I was getting to that. We agree there may have been another reason Narol didn't speak to him, and so I couldn't assume that he was the assassin. I needed to check him out, and the best place to do that was from your console.’
Gorn doubted her implication. ‘You would need access to my quarters, and my console without me knowing.’ He was sure the task was beyond her, and yet…
‘Neither presented a problem. When I came here the first time, you did all the work for me, creating a cloak that I only had to adapt later to cover my tracks. I left a device which enabled me to gain access.’ He remembered how she appeared behind him on that first visit, she was even quicker than I thought.
Despite knowing it would be gone he, instinctively, glanced around his quarters. Trang shook her head, ‘I certainly won't tell you where I hid it, you never know when I might need it again.’
He hoped she was kidding.
She continued, ‘I must admit, while the second part was straight forward, it was difficult not knowing when you'd be back. I chose a time when your schedule placed you with Narol, it had to be when we weren’t on duty together, and I estimated I had no more than an hour, at most. Half of that was cracking your access codes, but as I had a compendious file from Jaron and the others, I knew everything there was to know about you, and my father provided me with a decoding device they used, back in the day updated by your father, a brilliant man, I can see where you got it from.’
‘I'm impressed.’
‘As you should be. I ensured my tracks would be covered, so neither you, nor anyone else would know I had been here or what I’d been doing. Setting up remote access to your system, from my quarters was easy enough. From then, I was alerted whenever you weren't using the system and could track you, wherever you were. Because you had no idea you’d been hacked, you didn’t look for any intrusion, and your subverted routine did a perfect job of letting you think everything was fine. From there it was simple to access Kirion's system, not a very complex creature but exceptional engineering skills.’
‘Then you discovered he was your man?’
‘I was lucky to find him when I did, as he was intending to erase all traces of his work before the assassination. His plan was to lure you to any teleport on the ship. If you hadn't approached him he would have found another way to get you to your final embarkation point. As for his method? Remotely configuring the teleport station was ingenious. It wasn’t easy to have your console recognise the remote emission, then redirect the signal to the adjacent station.’
‘What,’ Gorn interrupted, ‘if there had only been one station?’
‘Unlikely, as his plan required that you both teleported at the same time, but as the first task of our program...’
‘Our program?’
‘I needed your protection protocols. Without them, he would have known in an instant that someone had been poking around,’ she smiled. ‘Credit where due, Gorn.’
He just shook his head, she was incorrigible, but he liked her.
‘As I was saying, the first task of our program was to ensure that his configuration was reversed. That alone would ensure your safety, at least from that attack.’
‘And you knew we were together, how?’
Her smile transformed, so that she was now beaming. ‘I think that even you, the master of stealth, would have been proud of me. I amended the subverted routines to feed into the surveillance and internal sensor array. That way I would be alerted, not only when you were out and about, but also whenever the two of you were together. I would know, courtesy of a redirected signal to my implant,’ she tapped the right side of her head.
‘Courtesy of my father?’
She shook her head. ‘My father!’
‘The loss of audio at the teleport, your work?’
‘It would look too suspicious if there was no visual. I kept my back to the camera and positioned myself so that your face would also be hidden, and Kirion would be side on.’
‘Pretty risky. What if they analysed his lip movements, not impossible even from the side?’
‘I don’t agree that it was risky. Darl’s priority would be to see if it was an accident. By the time that was confirmed, he would know about Garnoth. Even my lame explanation would be enough, especially as Kirion is now a hero.’
Gorn still thought it was risky, but he could not deny that hindsight seemed to have proven her right. ‘When you confronted us, you asked him not to use the teleport.’
‘I reasoned that he wanted to get away and destroy the evidence of the remote. The last person he would listen to would be me. The only way I could ensure he would use the teleport, was by asking him not to.’
‘Ouch,’ was Gorn’s instinctive response. ‘How did he think he would get away with it?’
‘The remote had a separate button for each station, which he activated when you stepped towards your station. He would then teleport immediately before you and once at his destination, would see to it that the remote was secreted away, to be destroyed later when the investigation was complete. When, as he anticipated, you didn’t arrive he would return to the scene of your murder and feigning horror explain to Darl what the two of you were doing, in the hope that if the authorities weren’t satisfied your death was an accident, they had a potential culprit in the form of Garnoth.’
‘You knew about Garnoth, before we went to see Darl?’
‘I listened in, that was about all I could pick up. I had…have no idea how you incriminated him,’ again she waited in vain for him to enlighten her.
‘You worked all this out, on your own?’ he was unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.
‘Oh, I’m not nearly as helpless as I might seem.’ She replied, with not a little sarcasm.
‘I’m sorry, it’s just that I wouldn’t have known where to start. Everything I did was technical, and
with a certain level of skill, not too difficult. Believe me when I say I wasn’t criticising you, quite the contrary.’
‘Praise accepted,’ she responded, this time without the sarcasm.
‘It seems,’ said Gorn, ‘that you had everything covered. You didn't need to be there when he made his attempt.’
‘Oh, but I did. It was always Kirion’s plan to teleport just before you, so as not to get caught up in the vaporisation halo. If you were standing next to him when the reverse trap was sprung, you would have died. I needed to be sure you weren’t too close to him.’ Gorn remembered stepping back when Kirion was confronted. ‘You also needed to be convinced that Kirion was the assassin. Imagine me giving you this story without that conversation. You would still see Kirion as a victim.
‘Finally, you’re incommunicado and the only reason I'm allowed here to tell you all of this is because we were there together, and you needed to know you weren't alone. Despite what I've said, you're the smartest person I know, and you would have very quickly worked out that there was every possibility that accident was meant for you. When that realisation dawned, I needed to be here.’
‘Why did you need me to cover your tracks before you came over?’
‘Because we don’t know who else is working with Narol, and it’s important she thinks we haven’t had a chance to talk.’
She sensed he had other questions, but now was not the time to answer them. ‘Any further explanations will have to wait. We have your aunt to deal with. You need to find her and discover what she’s doing, because while I don’t think she’ll orchestrate another assassination attempt, we need to be absolutely sure.’
Pleased that he was no longer to be a spectator, Gorn moved straight over to his console. ‘Are you thirsty?’ he asked. Trang took the hint, and as Gorn accessed his surveillance routines, she went to the drinks dispenser. Moments later, they were both looking at the holo-sphere showing Narol in the recreation area with an innocuous looking individual. Gorn focused on playing their conversation while, at the same time, calling up a full history of her companion.
‘...I know it's a terrible thing to have happened. I didn't know the man very well. We bumped into each other now and again at official functions. From all accounts, he was a fine officer, I’ve no doubt there was so much he had left to do, that will now remain undone.’
She was sending a clear message to her companion, and anyone else that he may speak to, that assassination, as an option, was no longer viable. Gorn set the parameters of his surveillance sub-routine to include the stranger - an administrative assistant in the hydroponics chamber - and anyone he would be meeting for the remainder of their long journey home.
Narol and her companion spoke for a few more minutes before the two of them parted and went their separate ways.
Gorn finalised the set of routines and, with a satisfied sigh, turned in his chair to face Trang. ‘You were right about my aunt, but it looks as though we won't need to speak to her, at least not straight away.’
‘You don't think so?’ She looked serious, as serious as she did after the teleport incident and she pleaded with him to follow her lead.
‘I’ve obviously missed something, again!’
‘You’d better be careful, it’s becoming a habit!’ she replied. ‘Narol knows we’re watching her, and didn't survive this long without being able to think on her feet. She has seen part of her plan fail, and knows, or at least suspects, that I know about her. She will have checked me out more thoroughly, now that Kirion is dead and will be kicking herself for not spotting the link earlier. As far as she is concerned, nothing has changed. We need to get to her as soon as we can...’ she paused. ‘The problem is, what do we say to ensure she stays away?’
‘What about your theory that she won’t risk another attempt?’
’That only helps us while we’re on the ship. Once we’re back home, accidents will happen.’
Gorn had hoped that they could simply watch Narol and her confederate to ensure they behaved. Unfortunately, he had to concede that Trang was right, but unlike her, he was sure he had the answer. ‘It isn't what we say, it's what we do.’
‘I hope,’ she responded, ‘that you're not considering violence. The fact that Narol might be crazed enough to attempt it again doesn't mean we should even begin to consider it.’
Gorn thought how bizarre it might appear to a casual observer that this girl who had, in cold blood, orchestrated a man's death just a few hours earlier, could have qualms over one more death. Yet he knew that her reluctance was born of the same logic that resulted in the death of Kirion.
Trang pressed on. ‘When we speak to her, no threats of violence will work. I suspect that she will have already set in motion a doomsday contingency. If she thought it would secure her secret, she would gladly die and take everyone on board with her, which is why we have a dilemma, we have no viable threat.’
‘Oh, but we do,’ smiled Gorn. ‘We ensure that if she takes any steps against us, or anyone close to us, her involvement and that of Kirion, and her new friend will become known to the Agency and every member of the Council. It wouldn’t take long for the Agency to look at every innocent contact she had ever made. In no time they would discover the identity of her entire group.’
A look of interest began to form on Trang's face, but she said nothing.
He continued. ‘What happens if the ship is destroyed?’
‘I don't understand.’
‘If the Custodian had destroyed Eclipse, instead of swatting us away, how would our people know what had happened?’
‘I’ve no idea.’ Trang had stopped looking interested and was instead, beginning to look annoyed. She did not enjoy playing the part of student. Gorn had to admit to himself that, as well as feeling relief at the receding threat from Narol, he was enjoying Trang's discomfort.
He decided to put her out of her misery. ‘If the ship faces possible destruction, all critical data, including the likely cause of our destruction, is sent in an energy pulse to Te’ath, and all of our colonies. You might ask, what data is critical?’
‘I’ll play along, what data is critical?’ her interest rekindled.
‘Whatever else is included, you now need to add everything I know concerning Narol and the rebellion…’
‘There’s something you're not telling me.’
Gorn allowed himself the merest smile. ’I’ve adapted the sequence, or to be more precise, added a sequence of my own.’
‘Smirking does not suit you. Go on,’ by now, he had piqued her interest.
‘All the information Narol wants to keep secret will shortly be sent by energy pulse, to the Council. They won’t be aware of its nature or even that it exists, unless a second signal is dispatched from the ship…’
‘Let me guess, the second signal is sent only if anything happens to either of us?’
He was looking very self satisfied. ‘So it’s very much in my aunt’s interests that she doesn’t decide to destroy the ship and take us all with her, or engineer any more personal accidents. Her actions could create the danger she’s so desperate to avoid.’
Trang was hoping to ask a question, but found herself swept along with Gorn.
‘The ship will constantly monitor our implants,’ he looked at her with mock surprise, ‘that’s what you were going to ask, wasn’t it?’
’No,’ she replied, ‘I’d guessed that you wouldn’t be looking so smug if you hadn’t figured that out. I’m more interested about what happens once we leave the ship.’
‘As soon as we are within orbit, the routine I’ve set up will be embedded into the Agency monitoring system, where it will stay until I remove it. If any harm befalls either of us, at any time, the embedded message will become known to the Agency, and the Council.’
Trang nodded, even smiling herself. ‘I’m flattered you included me in your failsafe, it shows I was right after all, we are a team.’ She then sat back in her chair, an expectant look on her face.
/> ‘What?’ Gorn asked.
‘I’ve told you what I did, isn’t there something you want to tell me?’
‘About what?’
‘How did you get the Custodians involved?’
Gorn had been wondering when she would get round to this, and knew that he would have to tell her everything, starting with a confession. ‘As far as I know, I had nothing to do with them becoming involved.’
It was Trang’s turn to look surprised, as he spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened since he came on board. She interrupted him constantly, being most interested in the Avatar. At the end, she shook her head. ‘Your plan for the Avatar, do you really think it will work? If you’re wrong, everything will fall apart. As for Kirion, isn’t it better to leave his death an accident?’
‘I’m pretty much certain it will work, but if it doesn’t, there’s no way anything will trace back to you, or our parents. As for the teleport, it’s probably too much of a coincidence: an accident involving the two people who had identified a conspiracy?’
‘I wasn’t thinking of that,’ she replied.
‘There’s no reason you would, you didn't know that I had control of the Avatar, but it will tie things in neatly, as it had the ideal opportunity to make the death appear to be an accident.’
‘You’re right. What about the loss of power on the bridge, before the battle? I know you didn't want anyone to die, and you thought it was the only option. Making a choice like that is never easy, I know,’
Gorn knew exactly what she meant, Kirion. ‘Frankly, I’ve no idea what, or who caused the blackout.’
‘The Custodians?’ Trang suggested.
He shook his head. ‘They would have just stooped me. We’ve seen what they’re capable of, and they don’t need to hide what they did.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I should have been able to trace the source of the interference…’
‘But…’ Trang sensed there was a complication.
‘If you, as I have, dig deep enough, you will find the instruction came from everyone’s console, including Darl.’
