TSN: The Best Laid Plans (Terran Space Navy)

by Paul Phipps

  He saw that several people in the room start to ask questions and held up his hand in a commanding manner. “If I tell you this information then you are in grave danger personally. What we have discovered… Well, frankly it confirms that we are either the luckiest of all the versions of Humanity that the Gho’ L’Gamesh discovered in its journey across the dimensions. Or that it proves that there is a God that loves us and wants us to survive and thrive.”

  Ansel smiled in a self-deprecating manner and with spread hands said, “I sound a bit melodramatic there don’t I?” Then with a chuckle he continued as everyone kept an eye on him as though he had turned into a strange and potentially dangerous creature.

  He pulled back the sleeve of his right arm and held up what appeared to be a bare arm. A silent command made the anti-Quarn Gauntlet appear for the Englishmen in the room. First Sarah and then Captain Llewellyn and Commander Delacort followed suit and showed that they too were wearing gauntlets. They received puzzled looks from King William and the others.

  Ansel then continued, these Gauntlets do three things for the wearers, it protects them by issuing a warning and then by projecting a force field, finally it protects by killing the wearer before the information he or she bears can be taken from them.

  He watched as his final words penetrated the consciousness of the men in front of him. Once he was sure that it had it, he continued once again. “I can tell you what you wish to know, but before I do you must agree to wear the gauntlets yourselves. And before you ask, no… they cannot be taken off without causing the wearers death.

  So… do we continue to discuss this further or do we go on to a more… less sensitive subject.” He said after brief pauses for effect.

  “Well I did hope for some blunt conversation, but this? No, I can’t say I expected this.” King William paused and thought and with careful judging looks at his Prime Minister and Home Secretary he finally said to them.

  “When I started this discussion I just wanted to know if my feelings were justified. Now I see that they were, personally now I feel I must know the rest so I can determine how best to serve my subjects and the United Kingdom.

  So gentlemen, what do you advise?” The King asked quietly.

  A discussion between the five men ensued and the four TSN officers sat and listened while sipping on tea.

  Ansel in turn was assuming that the decision would be for becoming a part of the Anti-Quarn forces. To that end he directed Helen, the Command A.I. of the vessel he had built along the same lines of the Dawn Seeker, Captain Thomas’s personal transport. His though was named the Helen of Troy because he thought she was a lovely craft, to fabricate twenty five sets of Gauntlets and to prepare a persona locked briefcase with his standard briefing materials and to have LtJG Saunders standing by to deliver them to the palace if needed.

  After a while the Prime Minister asked Ansel a question, “Commander Webster does anyone not in the Terran Space Navy know what you have discovered? And if so can you tell us who they are?”

  “Yes there are Mr. Prime Minister and no I will not tell you who they are until you too are wearing a set of Gauntlets. And yes, before you ask, this is a non-negotiable matter.” Ansel told him calmly but firmly.

  With that statement out in the open there was a slight chill in the air. The King and his politicians were not used to being told no even in a polite manner.

  The home Secretary decided at that point to ask a different question. “If we decide to not join your group of insiders what will you do then?”

  “Nothing different from what we have planned. We will do a series of open houses, visit your training facilities. Command Chief Cavendish will make a trip to Mousehole and return her powered wheel chair to the council there and we will go back into space and continue to protect Earth with our latest addition to the fleet.”

  “Interesting…” The Home Secretary said in a doubting tone of voice. “And just as an exercise in speculation what would the TSN do if you were asked to leave tonight and we canceled all of the scheduled activities you have mentioned.”

  Ansel gave a surprised look and then said in a very serious tone of voice, “We are your guests and it’s a guest’s duty to do as you, our hosts ask. Of course we would leave, we can be gone within five minutes of walking out the main doors of Buckingham Palace.”

  “And then, what would you do when you are questioned about leaving England in the middle of the night?” Asked the Duke of York.

  “If we were to be questioned we would refer them to your government, your lordship. And whatever your government gave as the excuse we would just go along as long as it did not cross the line into the TSN being accused of illegal actions.

  A good and valid reason would be that the Huntress was urgently needed to investigate an anomaly in the outer reaches of the solar system.” Ansel told him helpfully.

  “Thank you for that excuse but it will not be necessary, Commander.” King William said decisively. “Besides my driving curiosity, I also have my subjects’ well-being to think about. I will wear your Gauntlets and I will hear what you have to say.

  No one else that is here needs to do the same.” He added and looked at the others that had come in with him. “However if I do determine that you need to be in on this great secret, you will have no other choice than leaving the service of the United Kingdom as a reason to say no.” With a steely eye he looked commandingly at each one of them and finished up. “Am I understood?”

  With a series of “Yes, your Majesty’s” the decision had been made. With a decisive nod of his head he turned to Ansel and said, “Is that satisfactory to you Commander Webster?”

  “Yes it is you Majesty. If I may make a suggestion though.” And he waited for King William to respond.

  “Go ahead Commander, what is your suggestion?”

  “I suggest that the head of your personal security team and one of two others also attend your briefing. Of course they too will have to wear the Gauntlets. But once they hear what we tell you I don’t think they’ll object at all.” Ansel told him seriously.

  The others in the room gave Ansel and the TSN officers’ looks that varied between concerned and speculative. Admiral Sir Jamesway spoke up at that point.

  “Your Majesty, if you do not have a problem with it, I too would like to be a part of this briefing.”

  And with that simple statement the others also agreed to the terms that Ansel had set down. A few more minutes passed and then LTJG Saunders was ushered into the room with six of the palace security forces following him.

  “My apologies Commander Webster, these security personnel would not allow me in until they could examine the contents of your briefcase and the Gauntlet chest so we compromised and they wish to examine them once you unlock them.” LtJG Saunders told him after a very proper salute.

  “That’s their job Lieutenant, let’s just set things up so that they can see what is in them.” And with that Ansel opened up his briefcase and showed that there weren’t any weapons in there. Next was the chest and the cloth gauntlets were examined and then with their duty being satisfied started to file out.

  “Captain LeForge I would like you and your men to stay please. Commander Webster is about to give us all a briefing that he promises will put us all in deadly danger once we receive it.” King William directed his security team.

  Ansel had Sarah distribute the gauntlets to everyone while he set up his Jammer, Holo-projector and the truth verifier to his satisfaction. Once everyone was suitably gauntleted and the security people were arranged to their satisfaction, Ansel engaged the Jammer and then started the briefing.

  It was a long one too, as they approached three o’clock in the morning Ansel had covered The Gho’ L’Gamesh’s encounters with the Quarn, Shaitan’s Breath and it’s genetic modification to be curable only by ingestion of a Quarn Q-Mot, The Master who was also known as the Former President-for-life. The attack on the Mentor and its aftermath and then the intercepted communications with
certain British subjects and their orders to go to Indonesia were the last things covered.

  Finally Ansel stopped and said, “Well, there you have it, Your Majesty. The good news for you and the U.K. is that we detected no Quarn-slaves at the reception or dinner this evening and your personal palace also seems to be Quarn free.

  Mind you though,” He emphasized with a raised finger, “that can change in an instant as soon as one of your trusted people is parasitized and starts to parasitize the rest of the people here. In your favor though is that you are now protected and so is a core of your security people now and together you should be able to stop that. The rest is up to you and how you and your nation will use the information you have received.”

  And with that he sort of collapsed in his chair, he had talked nearly non-stop for close to five hours and he was tired… very tired.

  King William in turn had been fascinated, horrified and righteous with anger as he had watched the briefing. Finally he had the chance to speak his mind.

  “Thank you Commander Webster for a complete and exhausting briefing. I know better than to pontificate when I am tired. So let’s meet again later today.”

  “That’s fine with us, your Majesty. We have busy schedules ahead of us for today but we can meet after 1700L. In fact why don’t all of you come on board the Huntress for a special tour? We can then discuss this to your satisfaction then.” Ansel told him.

  The reporters waiting outside the palace had finally gone home and all of them managed to get to their various homes quietly for a few hours of well-deserved sleep.

  Saturday, March 6, 2027

  Banda Aceh, Indonesia

  Ayesha – She who lives.

  Tom-Cat and Ratter had just entered the enormous courtyard of the Ayesha public swimming pools. There were two of them with a high wall dividing them from the sight of each other. One for males and the other for females. Both were busily crowded it appeared from the happy shrieks of children and young adults that could be heard.

  Following the local customs they separated and each went to the pool designated for their sex. They kept in close contact though by using their Comm implants.

  Tom-Cat/ Comm Mode: “Interesting setup here Ratter, the boys here are pretty much what I would expect anywhere else. Lots of horseplay and the adults are being more circumspect with their fun. If it wasn’t for the language I would say I was back in the states. Although this pool is easily four times the size of a standard Olympic pool.”

  Ratter/ Comm Mode: “Pretty much the same over on this side. My initial research shows that this complex was built with a grant from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I’m going to go find a quiet spot and just listen. Call me if you find Bambang.”

  Tom-Cat/ Comm Mode: “Will do.”

  The pool was magnificent, when afternoon prayers were called everyone dutifully got out and lined up in rows to pray. Tom-Cat and Ratter were still in character and joined right in. Ratter had been in the pool several times eavesdropping on groups of women when her telefactor’s internal sensor’s detected a large electrical signal approaching her position. Before she could determine the direction it had stopped.

  As she got out of the pool to sit and listen she noticed something strange. All of the people in the pool and around her had expressions on their faces of tiredness yet they also looked like they were near an ecstatic state.

  Quickly she tried to assume a similar look and contacted Tom-Cat to let him know what she was witnessing. He in turn confirmed a similar phenomenon.

  Tom-Cat/ Comm Mode: “I’ve got a lead Ratter, this pool complex appears to be a part of the Ayesha Children Home. Several of the young men near me have talked about the unlucky ones who will be gone soon. And I don’t translate that as going somewhere but as in dead.”

  Ratter/ Comm Mode: “None of the young women here have said anything like that near me. I think we need to put some ‘bugs’ around here. There is something going on for sure.”

  Ratter‘s sensors felt the electrical signal moving away, this time she felt like it was moving north towards the sea. She sat down on a nearby sunning chair and started to analyze her data. She was so engrossed in doing that, that she was startled when a young girl’s voice penetrated her concentration. She looked in puzzlement at the young girl, who was maybe thirteen. It was hard to tell really as she was wearing one of the head to ankle women’s bathing suits that was the mandated style by the Islamic Clerics.

  “Excuse me, please say that again.” Ratter told the girl, “I was thinking and I am sorry, but I didn’t really hear you.”

  “That’s ok, most of the women here ignore us. We are the unwanted you see.” The girl said with a sad look on her gaunt face.

  “Unwanted?” Ratter said with a slight tone of confusion. Then she moved her legs and indicated that the girl should sit down on the sun chair.

  “Yes, unwanted. We who wear these colors,” She said indicating the tasteful purple and blue swimsuit, “are from the Orphanage. “ She then pointed to an unassuming door in the far wall. The four story building beyond it was of soothing peach and cream colors and the architecture was somehow calming to look at.

  Ratter nodded her head then in understanding. Girl children in this society were considered a burden and not a joy. And a girl child who had no dowry was even more unwanted. Harum had been a fountain of information about the societal mores and interactions in the nation of Indonesia.

  “Have you lived here long?’ Ratter asked her “And what is your name, child?”

  “I am called Rani and I have only been here a week or so. I was at another Orphanage down island, I was told that I might have a better chance at finding a family to take me in here.” She sniffed in disgust.

  Ratter smiled in delight, “My name is Rani too.” And then she held out her hand for the child to take. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  The child looked confused at the outstretched hand and then took it in both of her own. “I too am happy to meet you too.” she said with a glow of muted joy in her eyes.

  “So… Why did you want to talk with me?’ Ratter asked gently.

  “You’re different…” The girls said slowly.

  With those words Ratter felt a thrill of fear surge through her. With discipline she kept her face a calm mask. With a hand gesture she encouraged Rani to say more.

  Rani stayed quiet and watched Ratter carefully with a body that looked prepared to run away.

  “Go on Rani, in what way am I different.” Ratter said encouragingly.

  “You don’t feel the same as these others.” Rani said with a slight wave of her hand, “You’re here but you don’t feel like you are all here. I’ve never felt that before. I’ve been watching you for a while and when the feeding occurred you were surprised, you are a good actress but you weren’t affected like the rest of us.”

  “Feeding?” Ratter asked questioningly.

  “Yes, the feeding… well I call it that. She doesn’t take much from any one of us at first, but when she is hungry she can kill us with her need. She doesn’t want to do that you know, she wants to prolong the feeding as long as she can.”

  “Do you know who she is?’

  “No, although I’ve overheard the sisters and the new ones who are arriving every day, they talk among themselves. They call her the ‘Mother’. I thought at first that it was the Mother Superior of the Orphanage but she calls that one the Mother too. It’s all very strange to me. And they don’t feel right either. They are like you in some ways, but I think you feel nice. They don’t feel nice… they don’t feel like people at all actually.” Rani said very quietly, almost in a whisper.

  “Why are you telling me this, Rani?” Ratter asked her in the same way.

  “Because, I feel you can help me get away before she eats me all up.” Came the desperate statement. With a slow careful motion Rani pulled back the sleeve of her left arm. There was so little muscle and flesh on the arm that Rani looked like a walking skeleton.

>   Ratter looked closely and with an emphatic nod she said, “I’ll do what I can, can you leave the Orphanage grounds by yourself or with a friend?

  “I’m… not sure. I haven’t tried and none of the others has either.”

  Ratter nodded in understanding, she then asked, “Are there any others like you that can feel what other people are like here at the Orphanage? Also do you know a boy named Bambang? He is crippled but I and my partner have been looking for him for some friends of his.”

  “I knew Bambang, he died two days ago after she fed. He was a funny boy and he was smart too.” Rani paused and swallowed in sorrow as she thought about Bambang. Then when she was calmer she said. “I don’t know of any others here who can feel what a person is feeling like I can. I learned a long time ago to hide it so maybe they are too? But I am desperate and I just knew that you would listen and not be afraid of me.”