SAGCON

by Craig Martelle

  “I’m sure it still does. Knowing my father, I expect he factored that into his equation and is counting on me to get you involved. You may have to fly to the side of the planet at a moment’s notice, depending on when we see the military ships appear.” Shaunte shifted uncomfortably. Every action required people to know a small part of the big picture.

  “Sign off on a ship for us. We’ll have it prepped and ready to go. Mast and I will be on a short leash. In the interim, we’ll need it to survey the planet for Unglok colonies. That’s not quite a sheriff’s duty, but we can convince the people that we’re the best ones to do it, guarantee the sanctity of the natives and their way of life.”

  “If we’d only done that with the initial planetary surveys…” Shaunte stopped mid-sentence, re-thought her words, and started anew. “We have to play the hand we’re dealt, which means we have to make the best chicken salad out of, well, you know what we have as our main ingredient.”

  “I do.” Thad reached down and gripped Shaunte’s shoulder. She looked at his hand and then into his eyes. “We’ll do everything we can to make this right, Shaunte. You can trust me, and more than that, you can count on me to watch your back.”

  He looked at his hand as if it had a life of its own before removing it from the Company Man. He stood and without another word, fled from Shaunte’s office.

  “I know,” she said as the door closed behind him. “I don’t want you to get caught up in my world, where people like my father treat people like you as pawns, to be sacrificed so they can win the game. You are so naïve, a breath of fresh air.” She reached to the spot where he’d sat. It was still warm.

  She closed her eyes and turned her imagination loose…

  CHAPTER NINE

  Tye stood in the clubhouse waiting on the defense minister. Despite the man’s abominable swing and horrendous score from the previous round, he had enjoyed himself so much, he now blocked ninety minutes every week for nine holes of golf.

  Tiberius Plastes carved out the time, too. Initially, he was hesitant.

  Every minute of the chairman’s time was an investment. He saw the world in terms of return on investment. Tye gauged his efforts in terms of the biggest payback, getting the appropriate allocation of time. The defense minister was worth far beyond the supply of equipment and off-world training facilities. The relationship had the potential to help break the stranglehold that Cornelius Vandersun had on interstellar travel.

  What if SagCon got a cut instead of the richest man in the universe? Fur would fly, but competition was good, at least until SagCon won, then they’d do their best to stifle all contenders.

  It was the way of the business world. The business universe.

  “Howdy, Chairman!” the defense minister called with a big smile.

  How did you ever get your position? Tye wondered while giving the minister his most welcoming smile.

  The two men shook hands, made small talk, and headed for the first tee.

  “I heard that the general has taken the first group and deployed,” the minister said when they were alone.

  “All is on track. The second and third groups are being formed. General Quincy has discovered a number of veterans with potential and they are being screened at present. We can’t have any lingering mental issues for the best armed combat unit in the known galaxy. I thought the training area was…”

  The minister held up a hand and quickly turned away. “I don’t want to know the details! You ever hear of plausible deniability?” He grabbed a club from the back of the cart and walked toward his ball.

  “They’re on Centauri Prime,” Tye said firmly. No, you don’t, you scum-sucking toad. You are going to share the knowledge right along with me.

  The minister stopped and hung his head. He turned around with his eyes on fire. Tye smiled at him and slowly walked up, checking to make sure no one was on the tee behind them.

  “Minister. This is a secret between us. Men like you and me are able to keep secrets, deny knowing that which we aren’t supposed to know, even when they know that we know.” Tye laughed softly, turning to look at the green. He licked a finger and held it up to the wind. “By being together, people will suspect something, even if there is nothing going on. It is the way of things, the way of those in power. So we will know and we will do what’s best for our concerns, protect those in our charge, and do what’s right, by our own standards, of course.”

  The minister chewed on the inside of his cheek, narrowing his eyes in contemplation.

  “They never tell you what it’s like, being in this position. There is no mentor or person to help who doesn’t have an agenda. Sink or swim. That’s the only way it’s done. I hope you can understand where I was coming from. Men like us aren’t like me. I will be learning every day I wear this hat until I get crucified in the court of public opinion for something I probably won’t have done. In the interim, I’ll do the best I can for Melborn and the inner system. I’m not one to break eggs, but I will deal with men like you. I know that you see the profit, but you’ll also give me what I want, which is hopefully what I need.”

  The minister hesitated as he fought to find the words, but nothing came to mind. He shrugged it off.

  “I hope we can be friends, Tye, although I understand when the time comes for the sacrifice.”

  “I will do everything I can to ensure that doesn’t happen, Westy. You and I will navigate this asteroid field while accelerating toward light speed. We’re not afraid because TerroCom is the future. They will protect us when no one else can, and they’ll do it where the inner system doesn’t know they’ve been protected. After the Alpha Centauri campaign, people are tired of worrying, of being afraid. We will give them peace of mind.”

  “A laudable goal, my friend. That is all I ever want.”

  And that is what you are going to pay handsomely for, Tye thought. You’ll be helping my daughter make her fortune, so she can step out on her own, too. That means a lot to me, and for that, I will help you.

  “Fear not, my friend. SagCon wields some influence across the spectrum of Melborn’s affairs. Nothing you fear will see the light of day. We will move forward smartly, no?”

  The minister clapped a hand on the chairman’s shoulder. “There is no doubt about that. So they’ve gone to Centauri Prime? At first blush, that seems insane, but after thinking about it, I believe that it could be genius.”

  “If only we were that lucky with our golf game,” the chairman diverted, pointing to the minister’s ball in the rough.

  ***

  “Mast Jotham is displeased with this flight,” the deputy said.

  “Mast, why are you talking about yourself in the third person?” Thaddeus Fry asked.

  The Unglok checked the cockpit of the small flyer. “There is no third person,” he whispered, looking askance as he leaned away from the sheriff.

  “Just a saying, my good man, just a saying. What was the point you were trying to make before I so rudely interrupted?” The sheriff turned toward his deputy. The craft was flying itself at that point. They had a long way to go. Mast didn’t play cards, so there was usually a great deal of boredom when they traveled together.

  Maximus was out cold, wedged behind the front seats. Thad couldn’t imagine why the pig-dog was so tired. He had yet to see him burn any calories in the months that they’d known each other.

  “My studies of being a lawman suggest that we should be keeping the peace and not surveying the planet. This is very muchly outside our scope of duties. I don’t like it. If we meet Ungloks, I doubt I will speak their language. I will be as dark as you.”

  “In the dark, I think you mean, but what are you saying? How would they not speak Unglok?”

  “Do you speak human?”

  “We speak Galactic Standard. But there isn’t a single human language… Oh. But there aren’t many of you!” Thad screwed his face tightly as he tried to remember the long-ago lessons from school. “Damn. The farther apart you are, the less
likely that language would have integrated, or something like that. I’m not a linguist.”

  “You are very problems,” Mast said firmly.

  “What?”

  “It is muchly clear, yes?”

  “It is muchly not clear.” The sheriff slouched in the pilot’s seat. “I hope we don’t find any settlements.”

  “Me, too, Sheriff. I am discomfortably waiting the results of our survey.” Mast pressed his face against the windshield to better see the terrain passing below. The sheriff wasn’t tall enough for his head to reach the plexiglass front. He groaned at the clock.

  Only seven hours to their destination. Thad reclined his seat as much as he could without squishing Maximus, closed his eyes, and hoped for sleep.

  ***

  The recruits didn’t care where they were. Their eyes were focused solely on the obstacles before them. A long run. A climb up a mountain with full gear. Fording a torrid river.

  And that was only the first day. Maybe they were too tired to observe their surroundings.

  “That’s when they need to be most observant,” the general said softly. “Bring them in for individual debriefings. I want a full report on what each of them saw by the morning. Where were the gun emplacements? Where were the hardened defenses? Most importantly, where were the weaknesses that we could exploit?”

  Sergeant Craken pursed his lips. He’d been running with the recruits as they worked their way through the courses. He had not seen anything beyond the training track. He looked up at the general with puppy dog eyes.

  “Not you, too?” The general did not look pleased.

  “No excuse, General. I have to ask, what should I have seen?”

  “Miles one and six of the run had hardened facilities to the west of the road. Mile seven had a gun emplacement. There was an entire anti-aircraft battery on the hillside above the turnaround point. That battery is defunct, but it is still there. I have no idea how long it would take to revive. The river fording area had hardened facilities on both sides, but those were headquarters areas. Worth noting, and probably good targets, but the softest of the hardened targets in this area. And finally, the weak spots. What do you think they are, Craken?” The general loomed over the sergeant.

  “The defunct aircraft battery, the areas between the hardened facilities off the main road, which allow unobserved flanking maneuvers,” the sergeant suggested.

  “Very good. I would add to avoid the river fording area. The building density in that area suggested random population that could be too observant, except for operations in the dark of night.”

  “Thank you, General. I feel like the pupil who had to ask for the answers.”

  “You did, Craken, so learn from it. None of the others need to know that you didn’t see for yourself. You need to maintain your mystique as the training sergeant, sees all, knows all. It’s part of the job description, I believe.” The general chuckled quietly. “Get to it, Sergeant. Debriefs, chow, and rack time. We start again at four in the morning.”

  ***

  “That’s a haul truck filled with manure.” Shaunte shook her fist at the screen.

  “Come now, dear,” her father replied and waved dismissively. “We haven’t made our final selection yet.”

  “Daddy, you know you have. We both know you’re sending the military to Darklanding to shoot up my planet!”

  “Don’t be so dramatic.” He backed away from the screen and started to pace. Shaunte knew that he did that when he was thinking.

  More lies? she wondered. New lies?

  Shaunte waited until she couldn’t wait any longer. “The sheriff and his deputy are surveying the area right now to make sure there are no native settlements anywhere near there.”

  “That’s good. That information will help us make a final decision.”

  “Really? You’re going to continue to lie to me? Mister Chairman! Pull your head from your butthole and tell me the truth so I can run this operation!” She controlled her voice so she wouldn’t sound hysterical by shrieking.

  “Okay. They will be coming to your planet, but we don’t know when. It all depends on when they complete their initial training and step up to carrying loaded weapons. They will train with a variety of armaments, no nukes, but high-yield conventional explosives, man-portable rockets, and all manner of handheld weaponry.”

  Shaunte blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She had expected her father to continue denying that the decision had been made.

  “How many support crew are coming? Ground control, that kind of stuff?” she demanded.

  The chairman stopped pacing so he could lean on his desk and study his daughter’s expression. “Where did you learn those terms? Who did you tell?”

  She rocked back in her chair as if punched. She didn’t play poker because she was hopelessly honest when it came to the right things. Her father was proud of that part of her, but he was still the chairman of SacCon and an employee had revealed a company secret. He didn’t take that well.

  “What does it matter? You told me you weren’t coming here! You lied and I didn’t believe you, now I’m at fault.” She thrust her middle finger at the screen, then pulled her hand back quickly, eyes wide and mouth open as she realized what she’d done.

  Tye cocked his head and started to laugh. “When all else fails, my dear, we must revel in the absurdity of it. You told the sheriff and that’s why he’s on the other side of the planet. He took his deputy to interpret if they find natives. How is your sheriff? When are you bringing him home to meet your parents?”

  “DAMMIT!” Shaunte screeched. She turned away from the monitor and gritted her teeth so hard, her head shook. When she turned back, she was more composed, but still angry.

  “Your daddy’s looking out for your best interests, sugarplum.”

  Shaunte sighed, grabbed her head, and started massaging her temples.

  “Sounds like you have things well in hand. Let me know the results of the survey and if we need to change the coordinates, let me know those as soon as possible, but not by anything other than voice.” Tiberius Plastes moved close to the monitor and whispered, even though he knew his office was secure. “There can be no paper trail, as it may be, not from you, anyway. I have all the paper I need from the defense ministry. They have the account numbers for the Darklanding operation and will start making payments soon. Then you can stop trying to finance your operation out of your pay. Give your sheriff a big ol’ sloppy kiss for me.”

  The last thing her father saw as he signed off was Shaunte’s mouth dropping open.

  “He’s doing it for shock value and to distract me from what he’s done!” She pounded her fist on her desk before relaxing, taking a breath, and blowing it back out.

  Alone, she took in her surroundings. A small office in the middle of nowhere. Dust blew rapidly past her window. The sparse furniture was nondescript. I don’t want to stay here forever, she admitted. The inner system sounds pretty nice right about now.

  She stood and straightened her dress, turning back and forth to see the reflection in her monitor. She brought up the camera app and took a picture, then attached it to a short note to send to her mother, adding that she was eating well and no matter what her father said, there was no man in her life.

  Why am I so defensive? she thought, smiling at the thought of the sheriff and his coveted chair sitting in the middle of her office the first few days after his arrival. Simple and complex, a warrior who wanted peace more than anything.

  She shrugged and got back to work.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Thad asked, pointing to the flyer’s sensor screen. A series of caves appeared to be right below the surface in the southwestern corner of the grid that Shaunte had highlighted.

  Mast Jotham looked at the screen and then to the sheriff. “Your thoughts? I do not know them, Thaddeus Fry. My vision quest helped me see my thoughts in a new light. Yours? Well, you will have to
so very muchly find your own way.”

  Thad hung his head. Sometimes, the sheriff simply wanted things to work. That didn’t happen as much as he liked.

  It’s not you, it’s me, one of his ex-wives had told him. He hadn’t accepted that at the time. Now? She was right.

  It was her.

  Mast Jotham was his friend, and Galactic Standard was his second language. He spoke it far better than Thad spoke Unglok. He should have spent more time during the long flight practicing. Mast wasn’t like his ex-wife at all.

  This time, it was the Fry-man.

  “I’m sorry, buddy. What do you see on the screen?” he asked, correcting himself from the literal.

  “I see what looks like a village of my people,” the Unglok replied. He traced a finger across the screen.

  “We’ll come back here. Let’s see how many others are out there.” The sheriff added thrust and the flyer increased speed. He didn’t firewall it because they needed their fuel if they wanted to fly back to Darklanding. Getting stranded on the far side of the planet wasn’t high on Thad’s priority list.

  They continued in silence, crisscrossing the massive training area. Thad dialed the sensors to the widest possible sweep. He slowed the flyer to further save fuel.

  “Anything, Mast Jotham?”

  The Unglok deputy had a blank expression.

  “Did you see anything that looked like another possible settlement?” The sheriff was making small talk. His eyes had been glued to the monitor for the past two hours.

  “I have not,” Mast replied after the clarification. “Only one place, close to the mountains where the underground is more welcoming.”

  “We could do one of two things. Stop and see if they’ll move, or set up the beacons to make sure the area is designated as a no-fire zone. Then they’ll never know how close they were to getting bombed.”