Mapped Space 1: The Antaran Codex

by Stephen Renneberg

  Sarat stood slowly. “That concludes tonight’s proceedings. Breakfast will be at eight, bidding at ten. The bar will remain open as late as you like.” Sarat excused himself and disappeared down a corridor leaving us in the care of his humorless butler-guards.

  “Open bar! My kind of place!” Jase declared, motioning to one of the butler-guards to bring him another bottle.

  Marie and I exchanged inquisitive looks, then by mutual agreement – with the contest still in the balance – decided not to retire to the same room.

  “See you in the morning,” she whispered to me in a way that promised another night, then she headed off down the corridor to her apartment.

  Jase took the fresh bottle from the butler-guard, then we headed back to our room. He took a swig, then said in a low voice, “For a moment there, Skipper, I thought I was sleeping in the hall.”

  “For a moment, you almost were.”

  * * * *

  An alarm shrieked out of the darkness, snapping me instantly awake. Jase sat up on the sofa blinking in protest when I switched on the lights. It was three AM and the warbling siren was coming from outside our room. We dressed quickly and hurried towards the siren emanating from the meeting hall. Several guards stood over Henry Breckinridge, lying in a pool of blood in front of the Antaran Codex. His body had been neatly cut in half through the chest.

  “Oh man,” Jase said, wincing at the gruesome sight.

  Sarat rushed in wearing only a robe, cursing under his breath when he saw Breckinridge’s bloody corpse. “Get this cleaned up immediately!” He yelled at the guards.

  Several of his men hurried off down a corridor as Marie, Bo Qiang and Vargis arrived.

  Sarat turned to us with an apologetic look. “I didn’t expect anyone in this group to try to steal the Codex.” He motioned to the flat metal disk upon which it sat. “There are no guards in here for a reason. They’re not needed. As you can see, the Codex is well protected.”

  “You should have warned us,” Vargis snapped. “Suppose I’d tried to examine it?”

  “Then we would have one less person to bid against,” Bo observed dryly.

  “I told you it was shielded,” Sarat said. “That should have been enough.”

  If I’d lost the first round, that would have been me lying on the floor in pieces instead of Breckinridge. I took a closer look at what I’d assumed was simply a polished metal container used to transport the Codex. My threading detected no thermal or electromagnetic signature, yet it had generated enough energy to cut Breckinridge apart and to do so without scarring the wall behind him.

  “The base is alien-tech, isn’t it.” I said. “Is it Irzaen?”

  “They used this device to deliver the Codex to me,” Sarat admitted.

  “So it’s a vehicle and a weapon?” I asked, surprised at the incredible miniaturization that had gone into the transport device. We had no accurate information on how far ahead of us the Irzaens were, but it was far enough to ensure my threaded senses couldn’t detect their technology.

  “It’s a secure means of transport until the winning bid is decided,” Sarat said. “When we have concluded our business, it will release the Codex and return to the Irzaens.”

  “Why are they not here in person?” Bo asked.

  “They prefer to work through intermediaries,” Sarat replied, “although I assume they have a ship in this system.”

  “Have you ever met them, face to face?” Marie asked.

  “We communicate via holograms.”

  “Holograms are easily faked,” Vargis snapped. “I demand we meet this Irzaen in person. I want to know who I’m dealing with!”

  Vargis might have been a supercilious slime ball, but he knew a dodgy deal when he saw one. No wonder the Chairman had sent him out here to represent the Consortium.

  “That won’t be possible,” Sarat said. “Their atmospheric requirements are somewhat different to ours, but let me assure you, I’ve been dealing with them for more than two years and they’ve never given me cause to doubt them. If you play by the Irzaen rules, there will be no more surprises. The only reason Mr Breckinridge is dead is because he tried to steal the Codex.”

  I noticed we were short one other member. “Where’s Gwandoya?”

  “On his way back to the mainland,” Sarat replied. “Once he was disqualified, he insisted on leaving immediately.”

  “You should have kept him here until the winner was safely off planet,” I said, certain Gwandoya would be waiting in orbit for whoever won the Codex.

  “I must agree with Captain Kade,” Bo said. “It was unwise to allow Gwandoya to leave.”

  “What’s the matter, gentlemen,” Vargis said, “Afraid of a bunch of rag tag pirates?”

  I wanted to say that not all of us were flying battleships, but instead, refrained from letting Vargis know I’d investigated his ship’s movements. “Some of us prefer to err on the side of caution. Right Mr Bo?”

  Bo Qiang nodded. “Indeed.”

  The guards came and covered Breckinridge’s body, then we started back to our respective apartments as the clean up began.

  When we were out of earshot, Marie whispered to me and Jase. “Gwandoya’s not going to let the winner just fly away.”

  “Maybe we should let Vargis win,” Jase said, “So they kill each other.”

  “Then we’ll split the salvage,” Marie agreed.

  “You can have the salvage,” I said, “I want the Codex.”

  * * * *

  Early next morning, I went up to the lookout at the top of the rock spire. It was a low walled square cut into the spire’s apex with no protection from the icy wind. A skeletal tower in one corner housed a communications relay and the local weather station, while heating elements embedded in the rock prevented ice forming on the floor. The lookout had panoramic views of the distant rock spires spread in a line from the north west to the south east, and of the endless white capped sea dotted with icebergs surrounding them.

  I activated the small communicator Izin had fitted with a powerful encryptor and, using my body to shield it from the wind, said, “Izin, are you there?”

  His response came through with surprising clarity. “Yes, Captain. My hull crawler was unable to complete the activities you requested. It was destroyed before it got within range of the cutter.”

  “If that ship takes off, track it. We’ll need to know where it is when we leave.”

  “It launched early this morning, Captain. I lost contact with it when it moved to the far side of the planet.”

  Gwandoya was clearly going to make getting away from Icetop in one piece tricky. Perhaps he’d never intended to win, just to know where and when the auction was to be held, so he could pick off the winner. “Do you have access to our location?”

  “No, Captain. The system defenses there are extremely sophisticated.”

  “I can’t win without help.” I’d already bid three quarters of Lena’s EIS money and placed only third with two rounds to go. With Vargis representing the Consortium, his pockets were sure to be deeper than mine.

  “You’ll need to give me access from your side.”

  The elevator door opened and two of Sarat’s butler-guards emerged with assault weapons leveled at me. “Got to go,” I said quickly, raising my hands in surrender.

  One of the guards snatched the communicator out of my hand. “No unauthorized communications!”

  “Authorized by who?”

  The guard ignored my question, holding the communicator in front of my face. “Who were you talking to?”

  “My ship. I was checking on how our maintenance was proceeding.”

  “Why was the signal encrypted?”

  So they had been listening in, even up here. “I use it to discuss commercially sensitive information. I have this thing about nosy people with assault weapons knowing my business.”

  The guard gave me a stare colder than the wind tearing at my face. “Why wasn’t this communicator detected when you a
rrived?”

  “Your people scanned me, ask them.” I neglected to mention the communicator had been sealed inside my left boot, insulated from all but the most advanced detection equipment.

  The guard pocketed the communicator. “You’ll get it back when you leave. Do you have any other communication devices?”

  “Not that I can think of, but I have a notoriously bad memory.”

  Under other circumstances he would have clubbed me with his weapon, but as I was Sarat’s guest, he restrained his more brutal impulses. “Breakfast is in ten minutes,” the guard snapped, then he and his companion returned to the elevator.

  If I couldn’t find a way to contact Izin, my instincts told me there was little hope of stopping Vargis winning. I watched the iceberg filled sea for a while, gathering my thoughts before going down to breakfast.

  * * * *

  “It is such a pity you have all come so far, for nothing,” Vargis said as he sipped a strong black coffee. There was no smile, no play at humor, just an unabashed show of confidence designed to unsettle his competition.

  “It was worth coming,” Marie said, “just to sample Mr Sarat’s excellent food and wine.”

  Sarat nodded appreciatively. “Our Irzaen host commissioned me to ensure your comfort. He was most generous. Lavishing attention on high net worth customers is part of the Irzaen culture.”

  “If we’re dealing with Irzaens,” Vargis said suspiciously.

  “If this is the first time the Irzaens have traded with humans,” Bo asked astutely, “how did they pay for all of this?”

  Sarat lit a fume-stick. “They gave me a small quantity of precious gems, which I sold for currency.”

  “Did you pick Icetop?” Marie asked.

  “No. Ani-Hata-Ga selected the planet, although I found this specific location.” Sarat replied.

  “So they know enough about us to know the navy doesn’t come here,” I guessed, and to choose Sarat as their middle man. “That would make this a good place to hide a ship in-system without being detected, for as long as they like.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Sarat said evasively.

  “They could even have a base here,” Marie suggested. “From what I’ve seen, the locals would never detect an alien presence on this planet.”

  “Anything is possible,” Sarat conceded, showing a remarkable lack of curiosity. Clearly, he was being well paid not to ask questions.

  The Irzaens had chosen their middle man and their location well, which for a species with almost no contact with Earth showed a remarkable level of understanding. Watching Sarat puffing on his fume-stick, I wondered if he realized he was useful to a point, but one wrong move and he could quickly find himself expendable.

  “If they do have a base here on Icetop, they won’t need it once the Codex transaction is complete,” Sarat added. “They will open a permanent embassy on Earth and negotiate a trade treaty.”

  “Why do you call it a Codex?” I asked. “It’s an archaic word for a book, isn’t it?”

  Vargis gave me a surprised look, wondering how much I really knew, but said nothing.

  “There is no exact equivalent description of this device in our language,” Sarat said, “So the Irzaens chose a word that carried the qualities of the device. It’s highly compact, easy to access and virtually indestructible.”

  “Nothing is indestructible,” Bo said.

  “It would require a fusion explosion to penetrate its structure, and as such weapons are banned there is little chance it will ever be destroyed.”

  “Why does it need to be indestructible?” I asked.

  “Ani-Hata-Ga told you that without the Codex, we are trapped,” Sarat replied, toying with me. Whatever his meaning, it was obvious the others understood it. “The ancient Romans invented the first Codex because they needed something more durable than scrolls. I’d say a device able to survive drifting in space for eons is highly durable. Wouldn’t you?”

  A book meant knowledge, but what kind of knowledge? Alien science was virtually useless to mankind because we lacked the industrial base to put it to work and the theoretical background to understand it. Yet, Vargis, Bo and Marie were all convinced of the Codex’s value.

  “I assume the Irzaens have equivalent devices,” Vargis said. “Why not just sell us one of theirs?”

  “Because an Observer would immediately recognize their technology. The Irzaens would find that embarrassing. Selling old relics is simply business, but gifting their own technology is a political decision.”

  “What you mean is if the deal goes bad, Ani-Hata-Ga takes the fall,” Vargis said, “Instead of the Irzaen government.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But the Irzaens are a galactic species,” Marie said. “Wouldn’t that make them Observers?”

  Sarat shook his head. “They’re nowhere near that level. Few are. Ani-Hata-Ga believes an Observer would consider it possible we found the Codex drifting in space – because it’s almost true. Selling it in secret, with no way to trace it back to the Irzaens, avoids both embarrassment for them and censure for us.”

  Almost true was still a lie and it was Earth Council policy never to risk lying to an Observer. There were few Observer species for a reason. They were the oldest, most advanced and impartial civilizations in the galaxy. An Observer representation to the Forum was treated as fact, which was why the membership supported their recommendations. They were never wrong, never asserted anything they couldn’t prove beyond doubt and only ever recommended a decision that was fully within the letter and spirit of the law. From a human perspective, we assumed the Tau Cetins – the only Observer civilization Earth had ever had contact with – could use their magic to see right through any lie. We might omit mentioning secrets like bionetics, but if they asked us a straight question, we always gave them a straight answer, no matter how difficult. Fortunately, providing we played by their rules, they rarely ever asked us any questions.

  “When you return the silver machine the Codex came in,” Jase said, “you could track it. Find out where the Irzaens are hiding?”

  Sarat looked thoughtful for a moment, considering the odds, then shook his head. “Ani-Hata-Ga would detect any probe I launched to track the device. That might jeopardize my future dealings with the Irzaens.” Sarat chose his words carefully, revealing he would cheat the Irzaens in a heartbeat, but only if he could get away with it.

  Our host finally stubbed out the remains of his fume-stick and stood. “It is time for the next round.”

  * * * *

  Soon after we had gathered in the meeting hall, the holographic image of the Irzaen trade representative appeared. “Greetings, good customers,” Ani-Hata-Ga began formally, “and appreciation to those who sought exchange, but whose desire was insufficient to settle.”

  With one of the eliminated bidders dead and the other waiting in orbit to kill the winner, Ani-Hata-Ga was thanking no-one present. It made me wonder if he was broadcasting from a location so remote that he was unaware of what had been happening.

  The Irzaen made a sweeping gesture. “Let us begin bidding the second.”

  Sarat motioned us to the Earth Bank auctioneer, which would again record our bids. Following Irzaen tradition, Marie, having been the lowest bidder in the first round, logged her bid first. I went next. Having decided playing games would get me eliminated early, I bid the entire balance on Lena’s digital-vault. Bo followed me, showing no sign of anxiety, then Vargis as winner of the first round bid last.

  Once the formalities were concluded, we gathered together in the lounge for synth-bean coffee and idle time watching the ocean outside being whipped up by strengthening winds. The conversation was muted as we awaited the Earth Bank auctioneer’s decision on who qualified for the final round. Marie looked apprehensive, while Bo remained impenetrable and Vargis stood by himself, impatient to collect his prize and start the long voyage back to the Core Systems.

  Eventually we were summoned to lunch after which Sarat announced,
“The auctioneer has now validated the second round bids. If your name does not appear on the screen, you have been eliminated.”

  He turned towards the screen in the rock wall. Marie clenched her fists nervously while Vargis tried to appear calmer than he was. Only Bo sat back impassively, strangely relaxed as if he had nothing riding on the outcome. When I caught his eye, he shook his head slightly, telling me something was wrong. It was a look he might have given a confidant, leaving me with the sense that he no longer considered blowing my cover. There was something more important on his mind, although he made no attempt to explain what it was.

  Outside, the sky was turning dark gray as a broad storm front came rolling down from the northern hemisphere ice plains. The pressure fields shielding the windows had automatically ramped up, blurring the view and muting the hollow howl of the wind.

  Behind Sarat, the wall screen turned blue as everyone held their breath and the second highest bidder’s name appeared.

  Sarat turned to me. “Congratulations, Captain Kade.”

  “Yeah!” Jase declared enthusiastically. “That’s what we’re here for!”

  I accepted Sarat’s congratulations gracefully, feigning happiness, knowing I’d lost the auction. I’d bet my limit and still only placed second, making the final round a mere formality.

  “Well played,” Marie said tensely, but her eyes told me she hated losing.

  “Thanks,” I said mildly, wondering if she’d have to pay penalties to the Beneficial Society for not delivering on her contract.

  A moment later, my final round opponent’s name appeared.

  “Congratulations Senor Vargis,” Sarat said. “Once again, you are the highest bidder.”

  Vargis relaxed, regaining his confidence with his second triumph. “I hope Jie Kang Li doesn’t put a price on your head for coming second, Captain Kade.”

  “I could say the same to you about the Chairman, or will he just demote you to janitor when you return empty handed?” I glanced at Bo. “Better luck next time, Bo.”