“This is a code word operation that you will briefed about in a week or so.
“There is an I-Branch officer aboard the shuttle. Assign him your most junior officer with the least time on station. The I-Branch officer is young and inexperienced and has never lost someone on an op before. Be firm. Now get moving.”
Admiral Timmu was out of the chair at once, trying not to run. He arrived at the Combat Information Center, which had been fully staffed since the attack years before.
The Tactical Officer of the Watch went to him at once and the admiral listened to him run down the current activity in-system. “The biggest thing going on now is dozen cruisers detailed to Adobe have dropped from fan in the last twelve hours. They dropped from fan well away from Campbell’s, announced a Nav Check and resumed fans. They all had good IFF.”
There was an alert tone. “That’s someone squawking an emergency, Admiral. They want to land at California. We’ll have to accept them; a case of appendicitis,” one of the communications officers reported.
Admiral Timmu walked over to one of the empty positions, took the headset and plugged it in. “Admiral Jimmu for Captain Pindar,” he told the voice in his ears.
“Captain Pindar! There is a shuttle arriving shortly that has declared a medical emergency. Please assign Dr. Levine to the party, to lead the medical team.”
The voice on the other end of the link yammered an objection.
“Dr. Levine is an MD is he not?” Admiral Timmu asked. “He is fully qualified to perform an appendectomy, is he not? He’s a full captain, is he not? When was the last time he went out on a call?
“Five and a half years ago, California was impacted by a gigaton weapon. Ten thousand dependants died in that burst, with thousands injured. Every man, woman and a significant fraction of the children who survived helped with the casualties. You tell Levine he’ll face a Special Board if he isn’t there to meet that shuttle and deal with what has to be dealt with.”
Admiral Timmu was there when the shuttle landed. He couldn’t fault how fast the casualty was dealt with, although he almost missed the transfer of the message to Dr. Levine. The agent was very, very good. He gestured at the comatose patient’s abdomen repeatedly, speaking to Dr. Levine urgently in a loud, demanding voice -- except for twice.
The transition from anger to deep concern was obvious, and then the patient was rushed to the hospital.
The agent was young, he was sure. At the end, the admiral came up and stood next the agent. “He’ll be okay,” the admiral said. “Dr. Levine is a genius at this sort of thing.”
“Cliff had a Cold Dark basic certificate. That was only ten minutes in the Cold Dark. He went longer.”
“Thor asked for it; he’ll get the best treatment available.”
“Tell the doc it’s deep psychosis. He started losing it forty minutes into the mission. I knocked him out at the fifty minute mark, but he was pretty far gone by then.”
The young man obviously tried to move beyond what had happened. “You are supposed to have someone for me, sir.”
“Is there more Cold Dark time?” the admiral asked.
“No, sir. This was designed as a stealthy approach to Campbell’s. It will still work. I assure you, sir, that this next phase of the op will be as safe as can be.”
“So, it was your origin you wanted to obscure, was it?”
“I can’t answer that, sir. You will be briefed in a week or so with more details.”
“The person I have is a female I-Branch ensign who is currently undergoing a transition class to familiarize her with the local system. She is due to go down to the planet in a few more days.”
“If I could meet her, sir, I could decide quickly if she is suitable,” Steve told him.
A young woman appeared and Steve looked from her to the admiral. There was an unmistakable family resemblance. Still, with one look he could tell she was suitable. “Ensign, do you have a go-bag?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Return to your quarters, change into civilian clothes, then return here as fast as possible with your ship bag.”
She saluted and sprinted off. Steve turned to the admiral. “I’ve been benefited since I joined the Fleet by special interests. Frankly, it’s a pain. I would like to think I’ll never inflict it on anyone else.”
The diminutive admiral grinned. “And it has been my experience that such interest is rarely misplaced these days. My daughter isn’t much interested in that, only in bringing the war back to those who attack us.”
Steve didn’t let any expression show on his face.
In a gratifyingly short time, the young ensign returned carrying a ship bag and in civilian clothes. “Let’s board the shuttle; we’re slightly behind schedule,” Steve told her.
Admiral Timmu watched the shuttle depart until it faded into the distance. He’d known this day would come, and had been in no hurry about it. He shook himself and walked quickly to the hospital.
Captain Levine was still with the patient. “Appendectomy, eh?” the doctor said to Admiral Timmu.
“You have to fake it; don’t really cut on him, but it can’t get out that he’s suffered from Deep Cold Psychosis.”
“How long was he out there?”
“The first symptoms didn’t manifest themselves for forty minutes; he does have a basic certificate, but...”
“How long, Admiral?”
“Ninety minutes.”
“Well, he is currently sedated and hooked up to a gizmo that monitors his thoughts. I would have expected the time to have been days. Are you sure about the onset of symptoms?”
“There was someone with him the entire time.”
“There was a note pinned to his clothes that we are to report his condition hourly to Fleet Ship Mad Hatter. I ask you, what sort of a name is that?” the doctor asked.
“They stopped off for some engineering tests a week ago. Be careful, Andy!”
“What kind of ship is that? Fleet is getting whimsical with ship names,” the psychologist said.
“Andy, it’s one you don’t want to mess with! It has a crew of three -- and it’s the size of a cruiser. I looked it up on the Registry when I heard the name. I don’t know what they are doing, but they are bad! Scary! That ship got the entire duty watch of the Earth Defense relieved for cause. Then the entire sensor department of Thebes got purple rockets and their boss was relieved.
“The shuttle that had the emergency was from Mad Hatter. My next stop is my sensor department, because I told them I was to be informed of any activity of that ship. I wasn’t informed they had launched a shuttle.”
“From this, I assume...”
“Don’t assume anything, Andy. There’s an intelligence seal on this, and the seal is classified as well. Do what you were told and nothing else.”
The doctor made a face. “Merriweather has screwed up again, hasn’t he?”
“Please, Andy, don’t say anything, or you’ll be locked up. Don’t assume.”
“Can I assume you’re right?” Andy Levine asked innocently.
A half hour later the admiral was sitting in his office when the head of his sensor department entered with two other officers, one a full lieutenant and the other a just-promoted ensign. Admiral Timmu stood when the others came in.
“Captain Jeffers, sir, reporting as ordered with the officer of the watch, Lieutenant Parkinson and watchstander Lieutenant Wilson.”
Admiral Timmu nodded and remained standing. “You are here for a preliminary inquiry to the events earlier today. The specifications are that a shuttle from ship Mad Hatter did declare a medical emergency, requested clearance for a hot orbit, said request was confirmed and granted. The shuttle was successfully recovered and the casualty is currently under treatment in the hospital.
“Tell me, Captain, how is it that a vessel I personally placed on the watch list launched a shuttle, that shuttle declares an emergency and lands -- and the first I know of it is a message from that shuttle?”
“I have no idea, sir. I knew it was on the watch list and should have been reported.”
“Lieutenant Parkinson, as officer of the watch, were you aware of that ship’s status?”
“Yes, sir. I didn’t think a shuttle launch for a routine flight to the Kalliste habititat was reportable.”
Captain Jeffers face flushed, but before he could speak, the compartment door opened and two women entered. One was a Fleet captain with an impressive array of medals and the other woman was in an unfamiliar shipsuit.
“If these officers could wait in the outer office admiral, I would have a few words with you,” Captain Lynn Shapiro spoke. “I’m Shapiro, captain of the Mad Hatter.”
“Captain Jeffers, I’m sorry about the interruption, but I do need to deal with this,” the admiral told the others.
The three went out into the outer office and Lynn Shapiro turned to Admiral Timmu and smiled. “I am here to brief you on a situation, Admiral.”
“Merriweather feeling frisky, is he?”
Captain Shapiro took it in stride. “Chairman Merriweather has planted a number of deep cover agents in the Fleet. One of those agents is Lieutenant Parkinson. As we speak, he has been detained in your outer office, and will be packaged up and shipped to Mad Hatter.
“I regret to inform you that he is the eighth compromised officer we have detained. So far as we know, he was the last -- there were three cells. Unless there are more cells. We can’t say for sure.”
“And you have proof of these very serious accusations? Also, why did they fail to report Mad Hatter’s shuttle?”
The second woman spoke for the first time. “I am Senior Pilot Officer Makaa, an officer of the Union Space Force. The Union has more experience with telepaths than the Federation has had. We treat telepathically derived evidence as functional hearsay -- to wit, not dispositive in a court trial. But sufficient for warrants to be issued.
“It was amusing, Admiral. It was a case of mistaken identity. Parkinson had no idea who we were, but thought it odd that you placed Mad Hatter on the watch list. Then, for a convenient place to send our shuttle, we picked Kalliste Habitat. Kalliste, as it turns out is about ninety-five percent run by the Campbell’s Home Defense Force, and so Parkinson thought he was doing a service for his friends. He didn’t have a chance to check with his cell leader.
“A futile exercise, because Ensign Wilson found out that Parkinson had scrubbed the report and was going to bypass Parkinson.”
“And you derived all of this telepathically?”
Captain Shapiro smiled. “The remaining AIs from Snow Dance are nearby. Admiral Gull was there and was happy to enlist some of the aforementioned AIs. They no longer command human-crewed ships, but are still willing to help.”
“And what will happen to those officers being detained?”
“It is not generally known, sir, but the new Federation President is trying to move away from Special Boards. They will be court-martialed. Alas, sir, the charge will be treason and will still result, if convicted, in a capital sentence.”
“And you are holding eight of my officers? I’m surprised I didn’t hear about it.”
“The arrests were effected in the last thirty minutes, Parkinson was the last. Brigadier d’Alemida is in your outer office; he coordinated the arrests.”
“And the general was briefed?”
“We brought him a message from the Marine commandant telling him that we had authority for any arrests needed. That was the extent of his briefing. He was told to keep his assumptions and theories to himself at the proper time, all will be explained.”
“And obviously, I should do that as well,” Admiral Timmu stated.
Captain Shapiro laughed. “I don’t think it’s my place, sir, to point out the obvious to flag officers.”
His finger speared towards her chest. “And those gongs tell me who you are. My very great honor, Captain Shapiro! You have my permission to tell me anything you think I need to know.”
“Flattery will get you briefed about a millisecond early, sir.”
*** ** ***
Steve Yardley showed the newcomer where she could stow her ship bag for the nonce, and led her forward in the shuttle.
“Tell us who you are, Ensign,” Steve told her, while Susan Hightower got a clearance and entered the orbit.
“My name is Ensign Charlotte Timmu, detailed to I-Branch. I arrived here a week ago and was in the last days of my orientation to the personalities here. I was born and raised on California; it was a formality.”
“I’m Steve Yardley, a lieutenant in I-Branch. I am the Action Officer of this mission. We will forgo ranks and titles until further notice.
“Our pilot is Susan Hightower, a Fleet Academy cadet on an apprentice cruise, which she can tell you about at another time.
“You are taking the place of another cadet, also on an apprentice cruise. I keep telling myself that there was no way to tell in advance that he was subject to Cold Dark Psychosis; he had a basic certificate, after all! That should be the only risk involved here and that is behind us. Please don’t ask what we were doing in the Cold Dark.
“You and Susan will act as secretaries, taking dictation from me. Written, not recorded. We have a device that eats handwritten text and spits out code text and shredded confetti. It is stand-alone, not hooked into anything and has multiple devices to render it nearly immune to monitoring.
“Ideally, our targets will never know we are there.
“Each of you will take dictation in two-hour shifts, with two hour breaks, with at least eight hours of personal and sleep time a day.
“Susan, this next you will need to pay attention to as well.
“I debated just letting you figure out for yourselves what is going on, but have decided against it.”
“Merriweather is acting up?” Charlotte asked.
“Charlotte, speculation is inevitable -- but you will keep it to yourself. Both of you.
“Now, one of the secrets of the Federation, one which you never will reveal to anyone.
“I am a telepath.” Steve laughed at Charlotte’s first thought. “Charlotte, you can imagine yourself bundled up in snow gear, but I can read your mind about your shower this morning.”
Charlotte turned red.
“Charlotte, I’m not a voyeur and I don’t read the minds of people I work with. In other words, I could read what you did in the shower this morning, but I swear I never would.
“That said, I feel no such compunctions with enemies of the Federation.
“I will seek someone out and read their mind. Anything I learn that could be useful, I’ll dictate to whichever one of you has the duty. The target will meet people, and when he or she does, I’ll transfer my attention to the new person, doing the same thing to the new individual. So forth and so on, until I reach the top.
“When I’m done, we’ll return to the shuttle, if the way is clear, and return to California. If the way isn’t clear, we’ll await the cavalry.
“Any questions?”
“I signed up to fly starships, Steve,” Susan said. “This isn’t that.”
“Susan, I’m sorry. But the way we are going to get the data back to the Fleet is through you and Makaa. Makaa has the ability to link with anyone she knows well at distances on the order of a hundreds of thousand kilometers. She’ll link to you while you are sleeping and record the code text you’ll have looked at during the day. And you will have reviewed them all.”
“And here I thought I had a good deal aboard the Hatter... so much free time to read my syllabus.”
“Susan, Captain Shapiro gave you several extra books to read. It takes a very short time to transmit the data in this fashion, and only occurs in REM sleep. Several days you woke up extremely well-rested.”
“Gosh, when they say, ‘Everything is a test!’ they weren’t kidding! And what is the purpose of all this?”
“Charlotte knows. At the start of the war, Campbell’s launched some cruisers
belonging to something they called ‘The Campbell’s Patrol.’ They were nuclear-armed ships, in contravention of the Federation Agreement.
“The Federation sent out an admiral with a ship armed with Blues. The rest of his ships were armed with nukes. They offered the autocrat who controlled the government a choice and he accepted. Evidently, he wasn’t sufficiently dissuaded. The Campbell’s Patrol is back with a new name, armed with Blues as well as nukes. They want to make it too expensive for the Federation to stop Campbell’s from becoming independent. If that’s the right word to apply to a dictatorship.”
“I know I sound naive, Steve, but would it be worth stopping them?”
Charlotte snorted. “Live free or die!”
“Pretty much,” Steve agreed, nodding at Charlotte. “If there was no war, the Federation would respect the results of a freely conducted plebiscite. But there is a war on and there is extreme doubt that any election would be fair.
“The only way to stop an entrenched government is by rooting them out wholesale. That would result in thousands -- millions -- of innocents being killed. The Federation wouldn’t stand for it.
“If there was no war, the Federation would ban interstellar flight for Campbell’s; they would interdict the planet. In the past that sort of thing would have required a large number of ships; as it is, it will be a lot of ships that we can ill-afford.
“On the other hand, if we have the names of everyone involved, if we know the locations of all the vessels, the Federation could take them out with economy. I don’t think we can succeed bloodlessly, but thousands would be preferable to millions.”
“You really think you can do this?” Charlotte asked.
“I want to. I think we can take them by surprise and then...”
“I will do whatever I have to do. Ask for me if you start to flag, Susan. Whatever I have to do!”
“I said I was a telepath, Susan. Charlotte, explain to Susan why you feel as you do?”
The Odyssey and the Iliad (Kinsella Universe Book 7) Page 33
