Descent

by Hamish Spiers

  The witnesses were then excused from the room and, not long afterwards, the inquiry panel concluded its discussions. As the members left, a Narvashae officer shook her head. A former general, mir Ameile was now a United Frontier ambassador and the foreign secretary of her government. “I can’t understand how this Imraec Tarc business ended up as such a catastrophe,” she said. “I just can’t. We had the combined resources of the United Frontier at our disposal and it was just one world. It should have been a simple, clean operation.”

  Overhearing the remark, Garam smiled at her. “Mir Ameile, what things should be and what they are rarely correlate. Come on. It’s been a long day. Let me buy you a coffee.”

  Over the next few months, there was plenty to occupy the people of the United Frontier, and the residents of Phalamki in particular. Relations with the Imraehi were not as thorny as many predicted and, without the leadership of Deramar Ardeis, the people seemed more amiable to improving relationships with their distant Frontier neighbors. With their capacity to defend their world and wage war all but crippled, there was no fight in them anymore. Meanwhile, on Phalamki, work on repairing the damage to Kerali and the other cities that had been bombarded began almost immediately.

  After a state funeral for Lord Tarj Erama, in which Zak had honored his father by arranging a Phalamkian Kite fly-by with the members of the old Sigma squadron, the naval headquarters where Lord Erama had given his life while trying to save the lives of others was rebuilt and a plaque was unveiled by the main entrance in his honor.

  Selina was devastated by the death of her father and had maybe the hardest time coming to terms with his loss, save her mother Deidre, who needed considerable care for some time afterwards. Asten felt it his duty to provide as much of that care as he could, to both Selina and her mother, and his own parents, who were not at all inclined to interstellar travel, made the long journey from Halea to the Frontier in order to offer their own condolences and spend time with the grieving family as well.

  Maia, who was almost as hard hit as her sister and her mother, found some measure of comfort in the distractions of her work. In the main, it consisted of overseeing the restructuring of the Phalamkian defenses and repairs to the planetary shield generator. Her uncle Cyraes also came to Phalamki to be with his niece and the family that had taken her in when she had had no one else. He stayed for some time.

  Asten for his part found that once Selina and her mother were improving, and due in no small part to the comforting presence his parents provided, work was some solace to him as well. He dedicated his own efforts to the logistics of the rebuilding process, shipping personnel and supplies to where they were needed. He would arrange shipping schedules from the newly repaired naval headquarters in Kerali. Sometimes, he would fly personnel and equipment himself in the Harpy. And he would also make small trips in the repaired Lady Hawk.

  Carla Casdan dedicated her own ships to the cause as well, as did Drackson with the Albatross. Reece Carrelle also stayed to assist, becoming a permanent addition to the crew of the Lantern.

  About five months after the official inquiry into the incidents of the Imraec Tarc operation and six months after the incidents themselves, Asten took a break from the work he was undertaking in order to take care of Selina after the birth of their child. Their daughter was a healthy girl, entirely human in her appearance and apparent genetic make-up, although she carried recessive Phalamkian genes, and Selina named her Elise.

  By this time, their home in Kerali had been rebuilt and they were living there once more. Selina’s mother now lived in a new home nearby to the one that Maia and Zak occupied when they were planetside, while Asten’s mother and father remained with their son for a little while longer.

  Taking care of his newborn child, Asten no longer had time for the responsibilities that had occupied him until then and he had been obliged to delegate them to others. Now, the duties of midnight feeding, making sure that both Selina and Elise had enough rest and other such responsibilities of new parents took over his life. His own parents offered, regularly offered, to help in these matters but, for Asten’s part, he wouldn’t hear of it. He relished his new duties as a father, finding them both peaceful and a pleasant distraction from some of the memories and grief that still pained him from time to time.

  “You know,” he said to his wife one night when Elise, and his parents, were fast asleep, “Elise has really helped me a lot, I think. It’s like the joy of having her goes some way to overcoming the pain of losing Father.”

  Selina smiled and squeezed his hand. “It’s the cycle of life, isn’t it? We lose loved ones. We gain loved ones.” She sighed. “I wish Father could have been around a little longer though. He would have loved Elise.”

  “I’m sure he’s watching her,” Asten said, “wherever he is.”

  They were standing just outside their daughter’s room.

  Asten looked at her with a wistful gaze. “She’s a cute little thing, isn’t she?”

  Selina’s smile remained. “Yeah.”

  For a few moments, they were quiet and then Asten pursed his lips. “You know, when we were stranded in that forest, I have to admit that on more than one occasion I found myself thinking that... if we made it out of there alive, I was going to have words with your father for getting us in that mess.”

  Selina chuckled. “It’s all right, honey. I was thinking the same thing. Believe me.”

  “But in hindsight, I’d say we were lucky. If we hadn’t been trekking through that forest or paddling down that river...” Asten trailed off.

  Selina nodded. “We might have been here when it happened.”

  “So I guess he saved our lives,” Asten said. “And Elise too.”

  “I suppose he did,” Selina said. She led Asten away from the room and they sat down on their sofa, with a skylight above them and the lights in the room bathing the scene in a pleasant warm glow. Two cups of coffee, still hot, rested on a little wooden table in front of them.

  “I was just thinking,” Asten said, “would you like to go back to Imraec Tarc someday?”

  Selina turned to him. “Are you serious?”

  He shrugged. “Well, it is a pretty place, isn’t it? And those beaches might even give a few of Erelli’s a run for their money.”

  “Maybe,” Selina conceded, reaching for her coffee. “Actually, I would like to go back some time.” She shrugged and took a sip from her cup. “When things have calmed down enough.” She put the cup down and sighed. “I know we’re not fighting any more but I’m not sure I’m ready to call the Imraehi friends.”

  “They’re just people, honey,” Asten said. “Some good, some bad and a bunch in between. Just like the rest of us.”

  Selina nodded. That was true. The Phalamkians. The humans. The Vaschassi. The Ksia. The Calae. The Heg-shur. The Hie’shi. The Harskans. They were all like the Imraehi in their way.

  “Maybe we should go easy on them then,” she said.

  “If we want to avoid any trouble down the road,” Asten said, “then we probably should. At the moment, I’d say they’re neither friends or enemies. The steps we take in dealing with them now will determine which ones they’ll become.”

  28. The Truth

  Zak was looking over some revisions Maia had suggested to some of the outlying Phalamkian patrol routes when he heard a chime outside his office door.

  He stood to greet his visitor, although he did not know who was calling.

  “Come in,” he said.

  The door slid open, revealing Tahei Ismaer, the first minister of the Kataran government in exile.

  “Minister,” Zak greeted him, extending a hand in welcome. “This is a surprise. What can I do for you?”

  Ismaer looked at him with a mixture of anger and grief and then he stared at the proffered hand until the young man withdrew it.

  Zak frowned. “Have I done something wrong?”

  “Aramheig Kadeiri,” Ismaer said, enunciating each syllable with voiced disdai
n, “has been appointed the head of the new Kataran government.”

  “All right,” Zak said, wondering when the blow was going to fall. “I’m afraid I don’t quite follow. And the recovery work here has also kept me quite busy these past few months so I haven’t had much of a chance to keep abreast of the news coming out of Katara and Imraec Tarc.”

  Ismaer’s glare remained. “Do you mean to tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about?”

  “I’m sorry but, in all honesty, I have no idea.”

  “You,” Ismaer said. “You! When you and your wife led that so-called liberation force to Katara. When Kadeiri was so conveniently ready to assist your ground forces and roll out the welcome mat for them. When your people sang his praises for his assistance.”

  “My wife and I were containing the damage to our other task force at Imraec Tarc at the time,” Zak reminded him. “We left the responsibility of dealing with the transition of the Kataran government to people more suited to the task.” He picked up a pad. “Now, this... Kadeiri -”

  With tears in his eyes, Ismaer lashed out, slapping the pad out of Zak’s hand.

  “Don’t pretend you’ve never heard the name!” he cried.

  “I’m sorry but I haven’t,” Zak told him. “I’m not lying to you. However, I am confused. As I understood it, you and your colleagues have always held the official stance that you were not interested in governing Katara if and when it regained its independence. You yourself said, and I quote, that it was a job for a new generation of your people.”

  Ismaer flung his hands against his side in a gesture of despondency and let out a great sigh. “We’re not interested in governing Katara. Master Zak, if it were just a matter of envy over Kadeiri’s position, I wouldn’t trouble you. I’m appealing to you for the sake of my people, who’ve just been rescued from exploitation by the Imraehi only to be exploited by the Frontier in their stead.”

  Zak gestured to a chair. “Look, why don’t you sit down and explain it to me from the beginning? I’m on your side, Minister, believe me. And if I can help you, I will.”

  Ismaer sank his shoulders and then, after a momentary display of reluctance, he took a seat while Zak returned to his own behind his desk.

  “Now, take it from the top,” Zak said. “Tell me a little bit more about Kadeiri first of all.”

  “He’s an opportunistic upstart,” Ismaer replied. “He’s from an extremely wealthy background and, not being satisfied with having an amount of personal wealth greater than a nation of old, his constant goal in life has appeared to be the accumulation of the wealth of several. The man is insatiable.”

  Zak nodded. “I’m aware of the type.”

  “But that’s not his only fault,” Ismaer said, “although it’s bad enough. But he has always compromised his ethics for his own personal advantage. While the Imraehi were lording it over Katara, he maintained close relations with them in exchange for various favors. Several local resistance movements, which may have been successful, failed in their infancy because Kadeiri and his spies sold them out to the Imraehi. People died for his treachery. And when you and your allies prepared to remove the Imraehi from power, he sold them out to your lot.”

  Zak frowned. “I don’t see how. We acted independently from any assistance from the Katarans and acquired our own intelligence.”

  “From several sources,” Ismaer said. “I am aware that your friend Drackson Araujion supplied a substantial amount of information through his independent investigations and that the Hie’shi had an agent on the ground. But, only recently, I’ve learned that Kadeiri was supplying information as well. Your friend Senator Ereis would fly to Katara in secret and meet with him.” He shook his head. “One has to wonder who Kadeiri will sell your mob out to when he’s done with you.”

  Zak’s expression was grave. “I see.”

  At this, Ismaer shook his head. “Not yet. There’s more to tell. Before you outlined your proposal for an intervention plan on Hie’shi, I remember explaining to you how the Imraehi exploited my people for the large quantities of Itherian ore and the Daelitheius crystals that can be found on Katara. Well, since Kadeiri has taken power, a new arrangement has been made regarding the trading of these commodities.” He pulled out his own pad, brought up a document and passed it to Zak for his inspection.

  “Here you are,” he said. “Kadeiri signed this, along with Senator Ereis. A contract stating that a Hie’shi corporation shall hold exclusive purchase rights to eighty-five percent of Katara’s annual yield of both Itherian ore and Daelitheius crystals. At forty percent below market price.”

  Zak skimmed through the document, frowning as he did so, and handed the pad back. “That’s what it appears to say,” he agreed. “And Senator Ereis is the other signatory?”

  “Correct,” Ismaer replied. “And you may well wonder why someone who is supposedly representing the interests of the Kataran people would sign an agreement like that. It’s very difficult to see what possible advantage my people could hope to gain from such an arrangement.”

  Zak nodded. “I think I understand where this is going now. This doesn’t benefit the general population of Katara but it benefits Kadeiri, I take it.”

  “Exactly so,” Ismaer said. “In return for orchestrating this arrangement, he will receive a massive twenty percent of the annual profits this Hie’shi group will make from it. Now, I have been unable to obtain all the related documents - this business appears rather secretive - but if I were to hazard a guess, then I would say that Senator Ereis gains something similar from the arrangement as well.”

  “Undoubtedly,” Zak said through stiff lips. He then rose to his feet and walked around to the front of the table. “Minister Ismaer. I want to thank you for coming to me with this. And I assure you, I will do what I can to rectify the situation.”

  The minister rose to his full height with another sigh. “Thank you, Master Zak. I’m sorry for being short with you before. I should have realized that this was a matter involving just a handful of unscrupulous individuals. I’m sorry I doubted your integrity.”

  “I completely understand where you were coming from, Minister,” Zak said, shaking his hand. “There’s no need to apologize.”

  He then led the minister out, said goodbye, and returned to his desk to make a call. Soon, he was speaking to Senator Ereis.

  “Ah,” the Hie’shi exclaimed. “Good morning, Master Zak. It is morning in Kerali, is it not?”

  “It is,” Zak said, his tone guarded. “Senator, I’ve just had a rather interesting conversation with the first minister of the Kataran government in exile.”

  “I see,” Ereis replied, his voice giving nothing away either. “Although I understand that, since there is now an official government on Katara itself, the government in exile will soon be dissolved.”

  “Yes,” Zak said. “I imagine it will be. Senator, you do me a disservice pretending not to know the reason why I’m calling you. I’m not a politician so don’t treat me like one. Tell me the truth. Did you play Admiral Seirvek off against Maia and myself to push the intervention in the Imraec Tarc business forward?”

  “Of course not,” Ereis said. “That would be unconscionable.”

  “That would be the word,” Zak agreed.

  Ereis remained impassive. “And what would be the point, Master Zak? What would I have to gain?”

  “A substantial personal income,” Zak said. “I believe that it was in your interests to move the intervention forward in order to have it coincide at a point where the political climate on Katara would be favorable to your co-conspirator and former Imraehi collaborator Aramheig Kadeiri.”

  Ereis shrugged. “A curious idea. One that sounds like it’s based on the trumped up evidence of a disgruntled former Kataran minister.”

  “I don’t believe Minister Ismaer’s evidence is trumped up,” Zak replied.

  “The courts will,” Ereis replied. “Was there anything else?”

  Zak gripped the edge of
his seat to keep his emotions under control. “Only that you should know, Senator, that this is not why I led a task force to Katara. And this is not why Admiral Seirvek took a risk with millions of lives that may haunt him for the rest of his own life. If we liberated Katara because we believed that helping its people was the right thing to do, if we acted according to a moral imperative, then hooray for us. But if we did this simply for our own gain, then we’re just a bunch of jerks.”

  Even now, Senator Ereis appeared unmoved. “Could we not have done both?” he suggested.

  “You can tell yourself that,” Zak said. “If you believe it. Personally though, I believe that one can only do one or the other.”

  Ereis let out a slow click. “You are a noble soul, Master Zak. The United Frontier needs more like you. If you’ll excuse me however, I have some business to attend to. Good day.”

  Maia heard about the whole thing when she met Zak in the evening. Zak shook his head as they left the naval command center. “If I’m complicit in a conspiracy like this,” he muttered, “then I should probably turn in my commission.”

  Maia kissed him on the cheek and, smiling, she took his hand in her own. “Well, I’m now the highest ranking commander of the Phalamkian naval forces and I would refuse your resignation.”

  Zak laughed and smiled back at her. “Some would say you’d have something of a conflict of interest though, Princess.”

  Maia tossed her head, flinging her long blue black hair, and lifting her chin up high. “And I’d say to hell with them.”

  Zak laughed again and as he did, he felt some of the exhaustion from the last few months draining away. Despite the shock the day had brought, he felt happy. For the first time in a long time. The past was gone and whatever the future held for him, he was now keen once again to find out. In fact, he was looking forward to it.