“They think you are more important as a symbol than as a captain. Resolute is nearly a century old and she’ll hang like an ornament on posters across the galaxy,” Chang slurred. “Congratulations, Captain. We won the war.”
“I don’t know what to say, Admiral,” Lee said softly. “I just don’t know…”
“Take your father home, Lee,” Chang said. “Marry that girl of yours and live a long life. Let security handle things from now on. It isn’t like it was in the old days. There’s a chain of command and a government and … well … you know.”
“I do, Admiral,” Lee said. “And I will. Thank you for the promotion. I’ll get my people and go back to Earth as ordered. I’ll let Alliance Security take care of things from now.”
Lee stood and extended a hand to his friend. Chang stared at the hand for a long moment before taking it. He stood up himself, and then allowed Lee to salute him. Neither spoke another word as Lee left the small quarters. Each had already said all there was to say, and understood what the other had meant. There was now only the parting.
“I’m sorry,” Lee said to the little aide as he walked through the outer office. “I don’t know your name.”
“That’s right, you don’t,” replied the man. “It’s McGraw. If you are done with the admiral, I need to run these reports past him for his signature.”
“I’m done, but I don’t think he’s in a condition to sign anything,” Lee replied, looking back to the door. “Can I trouble you for a favor?”
“If you got that man drunk, no,” replied the aide. “What do you want?”
“Can I get an open line to Earth?” Lee asked. “I want to talk to an old friend of mine about the incident here.”
“No personal calls.”
“It’s not personal,” Lee said. “He’s in Alliance Security. His name is Henry Moore.”
3
Battleship Resolute
As Henry Moore stepped through the airlock and into the battleship Resolute, his mind traced back to the last time he had been on board her. The corridors were still as cramped as then, although a fresh coat of gray paint had been applied. It seemed fitting that the ship had undergone the cosmetic change. Since the war ended, so much of what had occurred during the invasion seemed to have been glossed over by the politicians and bureaucrats. That Resolute had changed only by having its paint restored felt right. It had nearly been the only thing in his life to remain unchanged during the last six years.
Henry’s escorts greeted him with a salute and waved him further into the ship. The naval security officers wore dark gray duty jumpsuits and side arms, while Henry still wore the lighter gray uniform jacket of Alliance Security. The changing uniforms of the last few years had kept him amused as leaders changed and styles were adjusted. The return to the light jumpsuit on board ship, however, had pleased the naval forces tremendously. Henry saw each of the departmental colors pass as they moved deeper into the ship. It was much easier to tell the soldiers from the scientists when the departments were separated.
The security guards called a lift and waited for the older man to enter before stepping in behind. Henry wondered if he should mention he could make the trip himself, but thought better of it. New regulations set by the Alliance military made visiting even ships he had once been on a much more formal affair. The situation was made more difficult when the meeting was held off the record as this one was. He flexed his hand around the data pad he carried and glanced at it for the third time to be sure he had turned the display off.
Resolute had exited M-space far outside the orbit of Jupiter. After the call from Vadne, Henry had cancelled the classes he taught at the Security Academy and arranged for a private shuttle. The hardest part had been his call to Emma. Since they had married, he had never lied to her. The situation, however, had required him to evade her questions under the guise of security. Since that call, he knew the situation had become much more complicated and the wait for the battleship had forced him to make some decisions about the meeting.
The lift doors parted and the trio moved down the short corridor leading to the bridge. To the left, an open door made Henry pause. In his mind, ominous music seemed to emanate from the opening. He had been betrayed under orders the last time he had been through that door, ejected from the ship by force. He took a deep breath as he stepped through. The sight of Lee Pearce standing next to Alice Bennett almost wiped the memory from his thoughts. They had been his friends for longer than he could say, and their presence calmed his nerves despite the situation. Lee smiled as his friend entered and Alice stepped forward to wrap her hands around Henry in a tight hug.
“Henry,” Alice said, holding the embrace a moment longer than he expected. “It’s so good to see you. How’s Emma?”
“Pregnant,” Henry replied with a smile. “We just found out.”
“Henry! That’s wonderful. I am so happy for you both. I remember how happy you were back when you and Priya were…Oh…I’m sorry. I just meant It’s good to see you happy again.”
Alice had been a mechanic on board the passenger liner Terran Princess when the invasion had occurred. She remembered his first wife Priya and their daughter and how things had been before a madman had caused their mass suicide. Henry would never forget the sight of his little girl being blown out into space. When Emma had told him of her pregnancy, all the emotions had welled up and he had cried for almost an entire day. As embarrassing as it was, he missed the sound of children playing, and knowing he would be a father again had lifted his spirits higher than he had thought possible.
“Just what the galaxy needed,” Lee said, reaching out to take Henry’s hand. “More Moores! It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. You’ll be a great dad, Henry.”
Lee’s handshake was firm and his smile was genuine, but Henry could see the pain behind it. When he had heard about the loss of Everett Pearce, he had needed to hold Emma while she worked out the loss. The old man had been a comfort to so many during the occupation of Earth, and Emma especially had held a place in her heart for the old man. Lee’s eyes tightened as Henry nodded. The gesture was all the two needed to say to each other. Lee had been through so much—they all had—and Henry did not want to contribute to his pain any further by reminding him of it.
“Look, Henry,” Lee began, his expression changing to one of serious worry. “I know I put you on the spot. If you are having second thoughts about this—”
“Lee,” Henry interrupted. “Chang’s been arrested.”
The news landed like a bomb in the small conference room. Lee stood, stupefied, while Alice stepped to the door and pressed the panel. The door hissed shut as she came back to stand beside her captain. Henry brought out the data pad and called up the display. A classified memo explained the situation in curt, military script. He handed the pad to Lee and watched his face harden while he read it. Lee then handed the pad to Alice and walked around the table to take a seat. Alice followed as she read and sat next to him. When they were done, Henry sat opposite and took back the pad.
“I don’t get it, Henry,” Lee said, finally breaking the silence. “Why Chang? The pad doesn’t say anything beyond he and his aide were arrested at the triage station.”
“What you have just read is the raw communiqué from Alliance Security. In about an hour it’s going to hit the news net with a lot of embellishment. I have to admit, Lee, I almost went home before I saw this. After I saw what was happening, I thought it would be better not to get involved.”
“So why did you stay?” Alice asked.
“We all owe Chang a lot more than what the news feeds might have reported. You know that as well as any of us. This whole thing is wrong, and if you are planning on doing something about it, I want in.”
“You still haven’t answered the question, Henry,” Lee said. “Why Chang?”
“After this came over the security feed, I called one of my cadets on Vadne. He owed me an ‘A’ and I called in the favor. It’s not the admiral
they are after, Lee. It’s that little prick, McGraw, who got him into this.”
“McGraw?” Alice asked, looking to Lee.
“Ron’s aide. He’s a jerk, but I don’t see how he could have had anything to do with the explosion. He was in the auditorium with the rest of the people. He wouldn’t have blown himself up.”
“Actually, I wouldn’t put that idea away just yet, Lee,” Henry said with a strange expression. “McGraw is a member of a radical group of xenophobes called the Raoists.”
“Raoists? Like Banu Rao?”
“The same. It seems our former chief minister had a cult following. He left behind a manifesto in the guise of an autobiography. These nuts act like it’s the Bible.”
“I can’t believe it,” Alice said. “Banu was a nut who wanted to destroy all Ch’Tauk. What does he have to do with the explosion at the conference?”
“The Raoists are taking Banu’s writings to mean that all aliens should be expelled from Earth and the planet become isolated from the rest of the galaxy. Alliance Security has had their eyes on these nuts for a while. It looks like they aren’t above sacrificing themselves for the greater good, just like their personal savior talked about in his book.”
“Suicide bombers?” Lee said incredulously. “In this day and age? It’s barbaric.”
“For the desperate, the means justify the ends, Lee. The galaxy has become a pretty strange place over the last few years, in case you forgot. We came across religious zealots who believe in letting the universe burn, extra-dimensional midgets who can turn off our ships with a thought, and people who didn’t mind feeding the human race to cattle. In the light of day, the Raoists almost seem sane.”
“Where does McGraw fit into all of this?” Lee asked, standing and walking to a closed viewport. “He wasn’t a very nice person, but I can’t believe Ronald wouldn’t have noticed a potential threat in his own office.”
“How often have you spoken to the admiral lately?” Henry asked, looking at his friend’s back. “He isn’t the man we once knew, Lee. All the fighting was starting to get to him. It seems he may have sent McGraw to the Raoists.”
“No! I refuse to believe it,” Lee said, turning to face Henry. “He might have been under stress. Hell, we all have been. I can’t blame him if he needed a break. He probably needed one more than all of us, but he’s still the admiral and there is no way he would have sided with Rao. For God’s sake, he was one of the Joint Chiefs of the Alliance!”
“Not for much longer, Lee,” Henry said. “They were moving in on him, pushing him out to pasture with a big desk and a fake title. He knew it and had been doing everything he could not to let that happen. The conference was going to be his big glorious sendoff.”
“Mine too, Henry,” Lee said, to Alice’s surprise. “They were moving me back to fleet headquarters too. They said I was too valuable to let out of the stable.”
“Lee,” Alice said, standing and going to him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “What matters is what we can do about it. Tell me about McGraw.”
“Preston McGraw was one of your survivors,” Henry said. “You pulled him out of a slave market two years ago. He worked his way up through the ranks by being efficient, quiet, and a total prick.”
“A politician,” Lee said with a smirk. “How did they connect him with the Raoists?”
“That’s the weird thing, Lee. His record is nearly spotless for the last two years. About three months ago, according to his security dossier, he attended a meeting held by the Raoists on the Gobi plateau. Security managed to get some info from the meeting and knew they were planning something big, but couldn’t figure it out until the explosion. Obviously, he wasn’t the bomber, but they think he may have been involved with planting the explosives and getting them past security.”
“We need to get info on these Raoists and find out what they’re after,” Lee said. “If they wanted to disrupt the Alliance, they did a pretty good job. I think the chancellor may be the only reason the other races haven’t pulled out already. He was pulling bodies out along with the rescue teams. The Vadne think he’s some kind of hero.”
“You’ll never get anywhere near those freaks, Lee,” Henry said, tapping the pad to call up more data. “After the explosion, they went deep underground. The only reason Security went after McGraw was he was the only one they could find.”
“So where does that leave us?” Alice asked as Lee sat back down. “If we can’t get to the terrorists, where do we go from here?”
“If I were you,” Henry said with a slight smile. “I’d take my ship back to port, take that desk job and leave all of this to Alliance Security.”
“Like hell we will.”
“Good,” Henry said. “I just wanted to say that so if anyone asked I can say I did.”
“I should stick you in an escape pod and send you back to Earth,” Lee said, chuckling.
“You can’t,” Henry replied. “You don’t have one, remember? You tossed me out last time and I happen to know you never replaced the thing.”
“They don’t make that model anymore,” Lee replied.
The three smiled at each for a long moment before breaking into laughter. The tension in the room had begun to escalate and the release was quite welcome. It had been a long time since they had been in each other’s company, and hearing the laughter brought back some of the good times. After a few minutes of joking around, the three friends settled down and the mood returned to the dark humor from before. Lee looked at the pad Henry had been using, calling up more data about the Raoists on its small screen.
“So where to?” Lee asked his friend. “If we try to track down the Raoists on Earth, the brass will nail us both to a chair and scrap my ship.”
“There’s an old saying in my line of work, and I think it might be a good place to start,” Henry said. “Follow the money.”
“You mean find out who’s funding the Raoists?” Alice asked. “I thought you said they were xenophobic. Wouldn’t they be using the banks on Earth?”
“What banks?” Henry replied. “Every transaction on the planet goes through the main galactic exchange. There hasn’t been any time to set up banks on the planet, and with the comm-nets making transactions instantaneous, there didn’t seem to be a reason. I swear, Lee, things are happening too fast. You know they built Trinity in less than three months? It seems like time is speeding up for some reason and we’re getting pushed along in its wake.”
“Alright, so where does a homegrown bunch of alien-hating terrorists do their banking?”
“Same place you do, Lee,” Henry relied, reaching across the table and pressing a control on the pad. “The Raoists spent a ton of money since the war ended. We know that kind of money isn’t on Earth anywhere. The only place they could even move that much money is through the Tonal Banking Commission. Alliance military goes through Tonal, just like the Raoists.”
“Then that’s where we need to be. Hell, I’ve always wanted to try cashing a check at a real bank. I guess now’s my chance,” Lee replied, standing. “Henry, I can’t thank you enough for this.”
“It’s no problem,” the man said, standing and extending his hand again. “I was getting bored teaching shave-tails how to dust for prints anyway. So it’s off to Tonal?”
“For us, yes. I can’t ask you to go off on this with us. You need to get home to your wife.”
“Emma?” Henry said with a smile. “Who do you think convinced me to leave? She says ever since I found out she was pregnant she hasn’t had a moment to herself. No, Lee, I’m coming with you this time. It’ll be like old times. Besides, if anyone asks I can say I was undercover keeping an eye on a rogue captain and his decrepit ship.”
“Thanks, Henry,” Alice said, reaching out to plant a kiss on the man’s cheek. “I don’t know what to say.”
“How about telling me when dinner is. I haven’t eaten good ship food since I went back to Earth. I�
��m starved.”
Lee smiled as he waked to the door and pressed his hand to the panel. The three officers stepped out into the corridor and down to the compact bridge. Henry looked around at the cramped, circular command center and smiled. In his memory, the ship’s bridge was a lot larger.
“Commander, patch me through intra-ship,” Lee ordered Farthing at the communications panel.
“You’re on, sir.”
“Attention, crew of the battleship Resolute. This is your captain. As you know, the Alliance has ordered us back to Earth. In the wake of the events on Vadne, this ship and her crew have been asked to stand back and allow our new allies and governments to take charge of the investigation. However, there are a few things I have withheld from you. When we arrive on Earth, the fleet intends to mothball this ship and scatter the crew. Apparently, we are too important to be allowed out on our own. These are our orders.”
The bridge crew looked around. They had been together for so long they had become a tight family. At the main navigation console, Josh Goldstein stared at his captain, waiting to see what would come next. Manning his own station, the octopod had stayed his tentacles for the duration of the announcement and now seemed to turn a dark gray which matched the walls. Farthing looked placidly back to Alice and Henry as Lee took another deep breath.
“It is my intention to disobey our orders and go find the people responsible for the death of our friends and the disruption of the Alliance negotiations. You are the best crew I have ever served with. I cannot ask any of you to go along on this mission and jeopardize your lives and careers with me. If any of you wish to leave this ship and return to Earth, there is a shuttle docked at our port docking ring. You are welcome to go. I will not hold anything against you. Your safety and career will not be endangered by me. We will undock from the shuttle in thirty minutes. Please have your things packed and ready before then. Pearce out.”
Resolute Alliance (The War for Terra Book 6) Page 3
