Traitor Winds - Kestrel Saga: Vol. 0 (Kestrel Saga - Origins)

by Stephen A. Fender

  Angelika could see the anger on Katashi’s face, the same anger she would feel at the loss of just one person under her command, let alone an entire team. “What happened on Jido, Agent Katashi?”

  “An ambush of the worst kind. The tiger, if you will, caught the pups unguarded.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “My team and I had gathered all the information we could on Krador, his fleet, and his projected course into Unified space. It was more than enough to sign his termination order. The atrocities he could have committed—could still very well commit—were incalculable. As senior team leader, it was my responsibility to carry out the final phase of the mission. It was agreed that, until that portion of the mission was complete, my insertion team would remain hidden, disassociated until the final phase brought us on board our extraction ship together and we could head back to Unified space.”

  Toyotomi seemed to collect his thoughts as he paused. He sighed as the events played across his mind.

  “When it was time to execute the termination order, I positioned myself in a hidden alcove, far removed from suspicion. Krador was standing at a podium, addressing a legion of thousands of personnel in the center of the capitol city. I had a clear, unobstructed target. It was then that he said something that caught my attention.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said that, in the last few hours, he’d managed to round up a group of spies sent to destroy him and his fleet. He then motioned to a large display behind him. As I watched, our extraction ship came into view, still situated at its designated landing point. The camera view then changed to show the interior of the craft. There, one by one, was my entire team. They were bound and gagged, and there was no mistaking the look of sheer terror on their faces. The image will forever be burned into my mind.”

  There was another pause as Katashi took a drink from a nearby glass of water.

  “What did he do to them?” Angelika asked.

  “He made an example out of them. He ordered the destruction of the ship, which was to be carried out by orbital bombardment from one of the many cruisers under his command. Krador made mention of a particular cruiser, the Vindicator, and the many accolades of her captain. The honor of destroying the spies—my team—was given away as a door prize to a sadist captain, a human by the name of Haskell, who had massacred an entire population center on Gamma Vertis just to neutralize a small Sector Command weapons emplacement. I watched as the beams streaked down from the heavens. I watched as my team, my ship, and all our equipment dissolved in the ensuing explosion.”

  My God.

  Chapter 8

  Angelika leaned back in her chair as she processed the weight of Katashi’s information. Even with her extensive background in covert operations, she could still not imagine what it would be like to sit idly by as your entire team was murdered. From the look on Toyotomi’s face, she surmised that he’d never before encountered a loss of that magnitude, either. Unfortunately, neither she nor Toyotomi Katashi had the luxury of time to mourn those who had fallen. If they didn’t act quickly, that list was sure to rise exponentially.

  “Without a ship, how did you manage to get here to Torval?”

  “Krador has automated drone ore carriers that make routine stops to the Concordia system. It was easy enough to sneak on board one to get here.”

  Interesting. “Why does he have ore carriers coming here?”

  “That, Angelika, is another story entirely, and something I’ve been investigating since I arrived. Before he was put on my insertion team, one of my men was assigned to this very case. I believe you knew him.”

  “Really?” she asked with intrigue, despite the fact that, whoever this person was, he was now dead. “Who?”

  “Dmitri Yournikov.”

  It was a name she hadn’t thought of in a long time. During her tenure at Sector Command academy, long before she’d met Michael Wade, she and Dmitri had had a brief but passionate relationship. An upperclassmen when they met, Dmitri was stationed near the Outer Rim upon graduation. She hadn’t seen him in years, and hadn’t heard from him in nearly as long.

  “Dmitri…he’s…”

  “I’m afraid so, Angelika. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you.”

  One more casualty, one more good person lost in this accursed war with the Kafarans. “It’s okay,” she said, and she tried to mean it. “What was he doing here on Torval?”

  “As I said, this was Agent Yournikov’s last assignment before he was attached to my team. You could say that I’ve since picked up where he left off.”

  Angelika had to smile. If there was one thing that Dmitri had hated, it was leaving loose ends untied. “I’m sure he would have done the same.”

  “I am honor bound to carry out his mission. The OSI lost a lot of good agents on Jido. I will not let their tireless efforts be in vain.”

  She could see the determination in Toyotomi’s eyes as he said it. Somehow, even having just met him, Angelika could tell he meant every word with deep conviction. “So, what was he working on, Agent Katashi?”

  “Maros Krador owns a mining establishment out in the wastelands, beyond the edge of the Ruthenium Mountains. Dmitri was investigating the nature of those operations.”

  “And what did he find?”

  “Interesting question. I would say that he found more—much more—than the OSI thought he would. Initially, Agent Yournikov discovered that Krador was mining simple minerals—iron, steel, copper, alloys for the construction of his ships. However, during an expedition for selenium, Krador’s men came across an enormous deposit of LKC.”

  Angelika recalled hearing the term from Captain Faroni before she had boarded the Manamara the day before, but still couldn’t place the acronym.

  Katashi took her silence as a need to explain. “LKC is short for Lithiumhydroxide Kilostoic Cesium. In its raw form, it’s a malleable paste. However, when properly refined into micron-thick panels, it looks very much like gold. It’s used as a shield against the harmful effects of jump drive engines on organic tissue. It’s exceedingly rare, and quite valuable. No interstellar ship can operate without it. A small handful of the material could be refined into enough panels to shield the drive cores of several warships or cruisers.”

  Angelika nodded in understanding. “And Krador found a large stockpile?”

  “One of the largest ever recorded. And once he’s done equipping his fleet, I speculate that he will sell off the remaining material to help fund further expansion efforts. It’s estimated that the Torvolian wasteland field has enough LKC paste present to essentially drop its value to zero within three years. I don’t think I need to inform you of the economic impact that could produce.”

  Indeed, he didn’t. “Krador has been using this to help build his fleet?”

  Toyotomi nodded. “He’s been relying entirely on the wastelands to support his operations, and mining the material without destroying it is extremely difficult. He brings just enough LKC off the planet to not raise any suspicion. From my calculations, his fleet is somewhat short on the material.”

  “How short?”

  “Most of his light and medium cruisers are already launch-ready. This is also true for one of his two battleships. However, the final battleships and a number of destroyers still require the shielding material to be installed. Without it, all they have are fusion drives, making them incapable of long-distance maneuvers.”

  “Making them useless in an invasion force, you mean.”

  “Essentially. Also, the shielding needs to be replaced at regular intervals. Krador cannot sustain his fleet without Torval.”

  “Cripple Torval and we cripple his fleet,” she said in understanding.

  Toyotomi’s head nodded sharply. “We can’t stop the ships that are already complete, but we can stop any more ships from being finalized.”

  “So, I take it that you’ve been monitoring the mining operations out in the wastelands?”

  “I have. Th
ey’re extremely efficient, but not impenetrable. We should be able to disrupt them with little trouble.”

  “Krador isn’t protecting the mine?”

  The corner of Toyo’s bearded mouth twitched up into a smile. “You misunderstand me. I simply mean that, for someone of your proven skills, it should not be difficult.”

  Twisting her head, she gave him a sideways glare. “I’m not sure I like the way you look at me when you say that.”

  “It is a completely innocent look, I assure you,” Toyotomi replied with a slight bow.

  She smiled. “You have a plan, then?”

  “I do. I believe you have a substantial amount of mining equipment with you that is in storage?”

  Angelika went through a mental list of the equipment that had been unloaded from the Manamara. “That’s right.”

  “Excellent.” Toyotomi scribbled an address onto a notepad, then tore off the paper and handed it to Angelika. “Go to this address. It’s a safe house that I set up for you not far from here. There you may rest and wait for me to call on you.”

  “In the morning?” Angelika asked, knowing that the twin Concordian suns had set several hours before.

  “That is correct. I have some last-minute business to attend to before we set off for the wastelands, and I also must make sure that the bar is closed at the normal time, so as not to raise suspicions.”

  “I understand.”

  “Very good. I’ll call a cab to shuttle you over to your domicile.”

  Angelika stepped out of her chair and headed for the office door. As she reached for the knob, she heard Katashi call out her name.

  “Yes?” she replied.

  “For what it is worth, I am very sorry about Dmitri. He spoke very highly of you. I am…honored to be working with you.”

  She cast her eyes to the floor before nodding slowly. The fact that Dmitri spoke of her at all, and that she rarely even thought about him, conveyed a wave of guilt over her. “Thank you, Toyotomi.”

  Katashi nodded. “The hovercab will be waiting outside for you. I’ll see you in the morning. Pleasant dreams.”

  * * *

  Toyotomi had set Angelika up in a modest apartment in one of the tallest buildings in the city. Her room on the tenth floor had a large picture window dominating the west wall, and from there she could just make out the desert wastelands beyond the Ruthenium Mountains, far on the horizon. Wondering if he’d chosen this particular room for a reason, she stared intently out of the window as the morning suns lit the downtown area of Salias in a beautiful orange glow.

  Precisely at 0630, there was a knock on her door. She opened it to see Katashi, dressed for a desert expedition in loose-fitting clothes, with his head wrapped in what looked like a turban. She admitted him and he walked into the middle of the living space and seemed to give her a disapproving look as he gazed at her attire.

  “You’ll need to dress cooler than that. The afternoon suns have been known to kill after only thirty minutes of exposure.”

  She looked down to her formfitting shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. “I guess I could wrap myself in the bed linens.”

  Toyotomi smiled. “I don’t think the hotel manager would approve.” He slipped off his backpack and withdrew a small bundle. “I took the liberty of bringing something similar to my own. It has a built-in thermal suit which should help to regulate your temperature.”

  Angelika took the bundle and placed it on one of the uncomfortable couches. “Thanks. I came here with the impression I’d be doing underground mining and wouldn’t be working on the surface during the day.”

  “Of course,” Agent Katashi said with a nod.

  She sat down next to the bundle, almost bouncing off the unforgiving surface of the cushion. She withdrew scrambler, twisted it on, and then set it beside her. “So, what’s the plan?”

  Katashi set his bag down on a nearby table and withdrew a small computer tablet. Setting it on the tabletop, he pressed one of the buttons and a holographic emitter sprang to life.

  “Close the blinds, please.”

  Pressing a button on the armrest of the couch, the picture window faded quickly to opaque, leaving the only light in the room as what came from the hologram. It was displaying a three-dimensional image of a mining settlement, situated in a barren section of yellow desert.

  “This is Krador’s mining outpost,” Toyotomi began. “As you can see, it looks little different than any other on the planet.”

  Based on Angelika’s study of a sampling of mining consortium-held properties, she would never have been able to tell the difference. There was a large tower structure, with what looked like an office complex capping it like a dome. Around the tower were various gantries, cylindrical processing stations, cooling vats, several sheltered conveyor belts spreading out like black fingers, and several nondescript outbuildings.

  “How many personnel at the site?”

  “Just one.”

  “Just one?” she remarked in surprise.

  In the darkness, Toyotomi chuckled. “As far as assigned personnel, there is only one man. A human by the name of Stoval. He’s Krador’s third in command. As far as a non-human presence at the station, there are no fewer than thirty droid guards and as many workers.”

  Angelika nodded in understanding. Droid bodyguards were notorious for their treatment of enemies. With no emotion or compassion, it wasn’t unheard of them to disembowel or dismember anyone they deemed a threat. That was one of the main reasons why they were outlawed in Unified space. Fast and efficient, just one was more than a match for the stoutest of humans. Angelika had encountered them on more than one occasion, and knew that only the largest caliber weapons would completely disable them.

  “The droids are in constant communication with Colonel Stoval, as well as with one another.” Katashi brought up a schematic of one of the mining robots. It had a general humanoid shape, but with very boxy arms and legs. The center mass to the crown of the sensor-encrusted head was entirely uniform, segmented in three even sections for better mobility in the tight confines of mine shafts. In one clawed hand was a laser drill. In the other was an electromagnetic slide hammer.

  Toyotomi then placed a guard droid next to the image of the minebot for comparison. The two differed drastically in appearance. While the guardbot shared the same bipedal form, it was more rounded. Looking more manlike than machine, it was a seven-foot-tall terror, clad in black alloys and projectile-proof armor. The head, tapering to the rear, had a face full of optics and cables. Each of the two “eyes” was an independent directional camera. Between them, on what would be a person’s forehead, was a lens-like sensor mount, capable of detecting light and movement across multiple wavelengths. Various tubes and conduits ran up the neck and into the back of the head.

  “Most of the machines are down in the subterranean tunnels below the complex,” Katashi said, then brought up a topographical map that displayed their likely positions underground. “There are no fewer than three guards in the tower with Stoval, five on patrol in the gantries, with ten or more on foot around the perimeter. The remainder of the guardians are housed in three of the outbuildings, where they recharge when not patrolling.”

  Angelika studied the rotating hologram of the complex for a moment before speaking. “What is their Achilles’ heel?”

  In the darkness, Toyotomi grunted. “There really isn’t one. Any attack on one unit will signal all the other androids, and you would be overwhelmed in seconds.”

  “Then we need to remove them from the equation.”

  Though she couldn’t see it, Toyotomi gave her an approving smile. “Very good, Agent Jordan. That was my thought exactly.”

  “And you have a plan for that?”

  “I do.” Toyotomi reached over and shut down the projector, which was Angelika’s cue to reset the picture window’s transparency to a normal level. “I will set up a distraction, one that will ensure that the maximum amount of droids will respond to it. Once the majority of the m
achines have evacuated the area, it will be your job to seal the mine shaft to prevent any of the minebots from emerging.”

  Angelika snorted. “While simultaneously taking care of any remaining guards.”

  “As I said, this is why I needed your help. I have full confidence in your ability to do so, Angelika. I believe the mining equipment you brought with you should be able to help in our endeavors.”

  “In what way, exactly?”

  Toyotomi withdrew a computer tablet from the folds of his coverings. “This is the manifest from the Manamara, and all the equipment you brought with you.” He flipped on the computer and handed it to Angelika. “Thankfully, most of the equipment is fully automated. You simply need to give it a task, and it does whatever it’s programmed to do, much like the androids who will be guarding the mine.” He pressed another button on the screen, and a topographic map of Krador’s mine came into view to fill the screen. With the flick of his finger, the view zoomed out to an area of half a mile. Agent Katashi pointed to a small ridge on the northwest corner. “I will set up my diversion here, just on the other side of this hill. This parcel is still inside the boundaries of Krador’s stake on the wastelands. It will take the guards some time to get there on foot, but it’s well within their programmed range. That should give you ample time to get to the mine.”

  “And how do you plan on luring the majority of the guards there in the first place? I doubt that land pilfering is an offense requiring more than two armed droids to handle.”

  “That’s true, their preprogrammed tactics would only deploy a small sampling. However, if I were to openly attack them…say, with long range weapons, that would most certainly get their attention in large numbers.”