“Officially, I am here to make a finalevaluation before we are committed to this mission. Unofficially, Iam here to offer you a way out. I heard your speech in the meeting,and I know that when you said it you fully believed it, but youwere under the pressure of the meeting and the desire to proveyourself to us. In such situations, people may later regret takingso strong a stand and wish they had a way out. As your friend, I amhere to offer you one.
“You see, if I declare you unfit for thismission, then the mission is off, and the captain shoulders noblame, as I would be overruling him. Your name would also be clear,since you can lodge a formal complaint and appeal my ruling. Thisof course would take many weeks to process, and by that time wewould have been forced to wipe out the Magi, ending the need foryou to fly this mission. All you have to do is let me know that youwant out, and I will take care of it. There will be no record ofyour request, just my assessment saying that you were notpsychologically ready for such a mission. Nice and neat, and no onehas to take a fall.” He stopped here and waited for my reply.
“If you know me as well as you claim, youknow my answer to that,” was my response. I was being very carefulnot to give him anything he could use to remove me from thismission. I needed to go or I might never solve this puzzle.
“You are right, I do. Originally you wereserving out of faithful loyalty and whatever mission was tossedyour way you would blindly accept. But that has changed. Now youare so tied up in solving this mystery that you cannot see anythingelse. To you, this has gone beyond a mere act of loyalty or anattempt to prove yourself. Instead, it’s a challenging puzzle thatcries out for an answer. I doubt short of tossing you in the brig Icould stop you from going at this point.”
Amazingly, his insight into me was betterthan my own. He was right, although I was not sure when this changehad taken place. I was no longer afraid of the mission, and in astrange way actually looked forward to it. “Okay, Larath, since Iam bound on a suicide mission your secret will be safe with me. Howdo you do it? What is the secret to your insight?”
That actually seemed to catch him a bit offhis guard; I had finally got one up on him. I wanted to move theconversation away from my evaluation, to ensure I said nothing togive him reason to think he should cancel my mission. It onlylasted an instant, but it was a small victory for me.
“Have you not heard the rumors? I am amind-reading amphibian from the Outer Colonies,” he replied with abig grin, masterfully not answering the question at the same timeas seeming to answer it.
“No, I have not heard that one. Are you atelepath? Look, Larath, I am about to face an enemy who may haveparanormal powers. If you have any information on these powers, Ireally need to know.”
He said nothing for a minute or two. I couldsee he was deciding how to answer, but nothing could have preparedme for his reply.
“No, I am not. I am an empath, as are most ofthe top counselors in the fleet. This means I can read yourfeelings which, allied to my training and experience, is almost asgood as being a telepath.”
I just sat in silence. Up to this mission, Ihad thought all this psychic stuff was silly children’s fantasy andnot worth my time studying. I realized that might turn out to bethe biggest mistake of my career.
“The Empire has been actively seeking andtraining anyone they can find with empathic powers and, yes, thereare some telepaths. All anyone in the Empire can do is read minds,until now at least. The Magi, or more likely the Black Adders, seemto have learned how to project thoughts, and in a big way.”
“You said the Empire was actively trainingpeople. I assume this includes a defense against this kind ofattack?”
“Yes, but until now it has never been triedagainst someone who projects thoughts, because there was no suchperson. Fortunately the defense does seem to work. In fact, that ishow I have managed to keep my cool throughout this crisis. The nextobvious question is how, so let me answer it. To block an empathyou need to take hold of your emotions and bury them behind a stoiccover. It takes much dedicated practice to do this on a consistentbasis, but once you learn it you can still experience the fullrange of emotions while appearing to have none. Blocking a telepathis much harder; you need to learn to cover your thoughts with ashield. I don’t know how it works, nor am I very good at it. Somepeople seem to be born with that ability and merely need coachingto do it.”
“Can you teach me to block this fear weaponof theirs?” I asked.
“In the time that we have left? Probably not.But I can give you some basic starter skills to work on, and if youhave the gift you should be able to work it out with time andpractice on your own. If not, no amount of training will prepareyou for the level of skill you must have to wage battle with downthere.”
“Fine. Can you come by my quarters at 0600hours?”
“Certainly. Let me ask you something, do youfeel the weapon any longer?”
Oddly, until he said that I had not paid muchattention to it. He probably knew the answer already, but I playedalong. “No, I do not. I’m not sure when that happened, but I getthe feeling you’re going to tell me it was when I began to approachthis like a challenging puzzle.”
“Yes. Very good, you have completed yourfirst lesson successfully. Tomorrow we can work on more advancedmaterial. Oh, by the way, Dr. Rannor asked me to deliver the orderfor your pre-mission physical. One wonders if he plans to offer youa way out too,” he said with his trademark big grin. “I must bemoving on now. I look forward to our meeting in the morning.” Withthat he left.
Yet more threads for the puzzle. What did hemean by “I have already completed the first lesson?” How long hadthe Empire been employing psychics? Besides counselors, what otherpositions were they in? The possibilities were endless andfrightening. Were there more cells out there like the Black Addersjust waiting to crack? Was Pandora’s box already open?
Well, that mystery would have to wait. Rightnow I needed to announce my replacement to my team leaders,distribute the policy changes and then go to see Dr. Rannor. Igathered up all my work and sent a message out to all my teamleaders to meet in my office.
Chapter Eight
As I walked to my office I paid closeattention to my crewmates. I wanted to see how each was dealingwith the fear. Most of them looked like they were struggling tofocus on their work, but holding it together. Some just wandered ina daze, and a select few seemed to be so intently focused on whatthey were doing that the ship could be on fire and they would notnotice. Like the honor guard, they seemed to be completelyunaffected by the fear weapon.
As I approached my office I saw that some ofthe team leaders were there already. “Hello, gentlemen,” I said asI passed them to unlock the door. Once inside everyone filed intohis place. Unlike the very formal atmosphere of most officers’meetings, I tried to keep mine as casual as I could. There was nolarge table to sit around, just a collection of chairs with endtables. I always had some refreshments, and kept the lighting at acomfortable level.
Once everyone arrived and was seated I letthem chat a bit amongst themselves. There were seven of them inall. To an outsider they must have looked like exact clones. All ofthem were perfect products of the best training that the Empire hadto offer. Each had their strengths and weaknesses, but that was notapparent until you had worked with them for some time.
When I took over the department it was a muchmore linear structure, and officially it still was, but I did notrun it that way. Instead I set it up so that each team leader wasequal in rank and authority, with complete jurisdiction over theirown team. Any conflict between leaders would be settled in ameeting like this with myself as the final authority if needed.Officially I still had to give them linear ranks, so I just namedeach team a color of the rainbow and their rank followed the colororder: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
“Okay, gentlemen, let’s get this meetingstarted,” I began, then gave everyone a moment to settle in. “Firstof all, thank you for coming at such short notice, especially thoseof you I had to wake up.�
�� Since the department was required tofunction around the clock some of my team was asleep at any giventime.
“There are two things I need to go over withyou. The first is some rule and policy changes. I have already sentthem to each of your message boxes for you to review in detail. Thechanges are fairly minor. I increased team cycle times toaccommodate a longer rest cycle, shifted the balance of the rewardand punishment system to give a bit more weight to the positiveside, and a few other things of that nature. I do not want to wasteour time going over that right now. When you get back to youroffices you can review them and send questions in if need be.
“The second thing I need to discuss is theprimary reason for this meeting. The Empire is sending me on amission and I will be gone for an extended period of time. In fact,if the mission is successful, it could be several months before Ican return to this post.”
“Sir, it seems a bit unusual for a rankingofficer to be sent on such a mission,” interrupted red team’sleader.
“Yes it is, but these orders come from theEmperor himself. Everything about this mission is highly unusual. Icannot tell you much about it, but I do need to say that themission is extremely dangerous. Therefore I must appoint myreplacement, not only for the time I am away but also in case I donot return.”
I looked around the room. I knew thatwhichever choice I made would have the potential to cause jealousyfrom those not chosen. I remembered one of my professors explainingthat in this kind of situation it is best if everyone else can beconvinced that they made the decision. The trick would be gettingthem to make the same decision I had already made.
There was no doubt in my mind that red team’sleader was the best choice. From the first day I worked with him Iknew he would replace me. He was a natural in his position, andwell-liked by his teammates. I hoped I would not have to steer themto that realization, but rather that they would get there bythemselves.
“Well, team leaders, you know each other wellby now, as well as I do if not better. I would like to hear fromyou. Who do you think will make the best replacement for me?” Thiswas where I would find out if all the work I put in encouraginghonest and open communications had any real impact.
Unlike the typical, rigid structure ofcommand teams, everything about my department was designed to beloose and casual. I hated all the formality of my job. It just gotin the way of getting the job done and had a stifling effect oncreativity and imagination, which were critical to my line of work.That was one reason I used colors to name my officer ranks insteadof the official ranking system. It helped cover up the rigidness ofthe system a bit and allowed my officers to forget that there was astrict line of command.
“Sir, I think I can speak for all of us whenI say that the best person for that position is Red,” repliedGreen.
“Anyone else have an opinion?” I asked,somewhat shocked at how easy that had been.
“Sir, Green is right. Red has out-performedall of us in your tests and challenges, and has a good, level headon his shoulders,” replied Blue.
“Well, Red, what do you have to say aboutyour peers’ recommendations?” I asked.
“I am honored by their respect andcompliments but no one could replace you, sir. If I am chosen Iwill do my best to serve as well as you have,” replied Red.
“Are there any comments against Red’sappointment? Speak now; you will not get another chance. I leave inless than forty-eight hours.” I waited, but received no reply.“Very well, then. Effective in forty-eight hours, Red will take myplace. I will let him choose his own replacement as Red leaderafter he takes over.
“The mission I am about to embark on carriesa high risk of capture by a hostile force. While we all like tothink that we could never be forced to give up the secrets we hold,the reality of modern day drug-induced interrogation is thateveryone can be broken. Because of this all my access, all securepasswords, all encryption keys, and so forth must be changedimmediately after Red takes over. Furthermore, I will not becontacting any of you for any reason. All communications from mewill be directly to the captain. If you do receive a communicationfrom me it will be a signal that I was captured. Inform the captainimmediately. He will know what to do.”
“Sir, you do not expect to return, do you?”asked Red.
“Well, the odds are stacked pretty highlyagainst me right now, but that will not stop me from doing all Ican to complete the mission successfully.” I paused a moment, thenplowed on. “The appointment of Red will stand uncontested untilsuch time as it is determined that I am dead. If that shouldhappen, a different replacement for me may be chosen, and if thatis the case it is likely to come from outside our department. I amtelling you this now so that if it happens you do not see it as areflection on you. High Command prefers to bring leaders in fromoutside a given department in order to keep ideas and methods freshand new.
“Inform all your teams that we will be havinga department-wide meeting at 1800 hours tomorrow. I will beannouncing Red’s promotion there. Until then do not speak of itoutside these chambers to prevent the rumor mill from going intooverdrive.
“That will be all for tonight. Everyone otherthan Red is dismissed.”
After goodbyes and well-wishes were exchangedand everyone had left the room, I locked the door and turned offall internal recording. What I planned to talk about was notsomething I wanted on record.
“Red, I guess that title no longer fits.Lieutenant Commander Peter is more appropriate. As you will betaking my position, you will need to be more fully briefed. Soonthe captain will be looking to you to solve the problems that wecurrently face.
“The mission I will be leading is codenamedQuiet Storm. I will be leading a small assault force to penetratethe planet where the Magi are at present, with the goal ofestablishing a foothold there. I have prepared a data disk for youwith all the information that we have on the Magi, and the logs ofall the command meetings about them to date. You should know thatthis is considered a suicide mission, and our last chance toprevent war with the Magi. A war with the Magi could be a very badthing. They have displayed technology that is at least a centurybeyond what we have reached. I do not need to tell you what thatmeans for our chances of winning such a war.
“You will know the success or failure of mymission in about two weeks. The captain has orders to destroy theplanet if I am not successful. If at any point he launches thisattack you will know that he has reason to believe I have failedand am probably dead.
“High Command believes that the Magi arepresently contained on this planet only, and if that is true thewar can be won there. If the captain’s attack fails, we can expecta full retaliation from the Magi, and we really do not know whatthat means yet. I would say we have good reason to think that wewould suffer many casualties.
“As you know I always look for a backup plan,and in this case you are it. Do you recall all the cycles ofdecryption challenges we did, especially the one I called the DuckCode?”
“Yes, sir. As I recall no one, not even thecentral computers, ever cracked it,” he responded.
“Also on that disk is a complete explanationof the Duck Code, including how to encrypt and decrypt it. It isactually a fairly simple code. But it is specifically designed totake advantage of a weakness I found in our decryption methods.Because of this, no computer in the Empire can decode it; it has tobe done by hand. I am giving you this code so that if I should needto contact you, you will know it is from me. Of course, there willalways remain the possibility that I have been captured and broken.You will just have to do your best to determine that for yourself.Do not share the Duck Code with anyone; do not even admit knowingof its existence, ever. After you have memorized it, destroy thatdisk completely.”
He took the disk and stared at it for a longwhile, then slipped it in his inner jacket pocket. After that Igave him some advice on how to run the department and how to choosea new red team leader, then sent him on his way. It was gettingnear the end of Dr. Rannor’s shift, and if I hoped to catch him Iwould have to move quickly.<
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Chapter Nine
I made my way quickly to Dr. Rannor’s officein the medical wing. I wondered why he wanted to see me. Larath’ssuggestion that he planned to offer me a way out did not seemlikely; he was not the type to get mixed up in games of deceptionand politics. Well, if nothing else it gave me a good excuse tomeet with him as the captain had requested.
As I entered his office, the ensign behindthe desk snapped to attention and stood there silently. “As youwere, Ensign. I am here to see Dr. Rannor,” I said, rememberingthat junior officers were not permitted to speak unless spoken to,a rule I had done away with in my department. All this formalityjust got in the way of getting anything done.
“Sir, he is with a patient,” was his concisereply.
“That is fine. I will wait here until he isfinished,” I said. I sat in one of the chairs provided for waitingpatients and began to think about the Magi again. This mystery keptgrowing more and more complex. I began to focus more and moredeeply on all the threads of information I had, slipping intopuzzle-solving mode. I continued by building a wall of thoughtaround my mind to block out distractions, and once that was set upI began to deeply focus both my subconscious and conscious mind onthe problem.
Once in this mode, I lose almost allconnection to the outside world and that nearly got me killed once.I was working on some puzzle as a small child when our home caughtfire. I never heard the alarms, or felt the heat. The only memory Ihave of it is my mom screaming as she ran out of the house with mein her arms. Because of that, I learned to save a bit of myattention to watch and listen for trouble around me.
I do not know how long I had been working onthe mystery of the Magi when I heard alarms sounding. I wasextremely deep into the puzzle but for the first time ever Isuccessfully managed to separate my awareness of my surroundingsfrom the puzzle solving. It was very odd. I could see everyonerunning, and hear commands being called out, but everything wasgoing very slowly. I knew it would take me at least thirty, if notforty-five seconds to fully come out of my deep focus, and I sawDr. Rannor coming towards me. As my brain became more aware I stoodand walked towards him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw all thecolor leave the ensign’s face as he attempted to stand up, withoutmuch success. Slowly the world started to come back up to normalspeed and I heard Dr. Rannor call out, “CANCEL ALERT! EVERYONESTAND DOWN!”
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