The flat screen shimmered briefly, then filled with the image of her Master’s business icon. “Access not permitted by order of habitat renter,” the screen said in neutral Belizel.
Damn! Her Master had anticipated her curiosity. But what was it hiding about events on Megil over the last three months? While she had traveled off planet with her Master twelve times in the last 15 years, they were usually gone for a few days or a week. Never for months. Something had happened on Megil. She would find out what it was, come Hades or a suffocating windstorm.
“Alternate news guidance,” she said in a voice that would sound normal when Rak ho-mesk later listened to the monitor record. “Planet Thuringia, star Pi-3 Orion, current events, Trade and general news for the last three Belizel months. Display,” she said, mental fingers crossed.
On the screen a new icon took shape, occupied mainly by the brown and cloudy white planet of Thuringia and its single moon. The image focus closed in slowly. The screen expert system spoke. “News target acquired. Define timeline for audiovisual news accounts delivery. Indicate filter level.”
Charlotte suspected whatever happened on Megil had occurred nearly three months ago. “Three months ago begin. Filter first with all galactic tachnet broadcasts, followed by local planetary broadcasts.”
“Complying. Flat image or holosphere depiction?”
“Holosphere!” Charlotte said, impatient with the mental slowness of the expert system but glad it was not interrogating her like an AI level computer might do.
A person-size holo took shape between her and the wallscreen. A three dee image took shape of a group of humans surrounding a plaza in the center of Elios Port. Colony police forces were arranged in a circle facing a crowd of angry people shouting curses and demands. Behind the police there floated a hoverjet filled with a half dozen Anarchate officials. A holo app identified each of them with small Belizel text lines above their bodies. One was a yellow-skinned giant ant of the Brokeet species with the name sigil of Sector Captain Yorkel. Another biped was ID’d as Commander Chai of Sector 14 Intelligence, a Spelidon rat with long black whiskers. They and four other Anarchate beings of various species were looking down on a stone pillar ID’d as a ‘Memorial Pillar’. Three Meligun laborers lifted sledge hammers and began battering the pillar.
“Today,” said a human voice in a tone that sounded computer generated, “Sector Captain Yorkel, in charge of the Nova-class battleglobe fleet parked near our moon, initiated the destruction of the Memorial Pillar that commemorates the kidnapping by genome slavers of 47 Thuringia citizens by genome slavers, fifteen years ago,”
Charlotte blinked at sudden tears. “Stop! Image enlargement. Memorial Pillar that is subject of this tachnet report. Hold close focus until told to rotate.”
“Complying,” said the wallscreen’s voice.
Before her appeared the faces of her Thuringia neighbors from the Nidar peninsula where she and her family had lived a hard life as soybean and potato farmers. Rather than show the 47 as family groups, each person of whatever age occupied a beautiful full color ceramic medallion. When the close-up reached the bottom of the pillar, she spoke again. “Rotate ninety degrees, go to top of pillar, move down slowly.”
“Complying.”
Before her glowed the image of her father Benoit. His French features showed a black beard stubble. He was dressed in brown coveralls. There was no smile on the face, but Charlotte knew her Dad’s heart always smiled whenever he spent time with her, Matthew and their three sisters.
“Move down slowly.”
The close-up of the medallion images showed next her sisters, each one a smiling urchin. Red-haired Sally the youngest. Then black-haired Janine. Followed by twelve year-old Melody, the family flutist, her tanned face looking out intently. Then her own image came, showing a red-haired young woman dressed, like her Dad, in brown work coveralls. Then Matthew, at sixteen his black hair hanging in ringlets above his broad shoulders, while his brown eyes looked out intently. The image showed him lifting a barrel of potatoes for sale at Elios Port market. Finally there came her Mom. Her reddish-brown hair framed a narrow face with high cheekbones that Matt said came from their Apache heritage. Charlotte had never cared about their family’s ancestry. Only that her parents, brother and sisters had loved her deeper than words or medallion images could ever show.
She sniffled. “Pull back from close-up. Resume audiovisual broadcast.”
The holo pulled back to show the pillar in the center of the plaza, surrounded by the jeering crowd who were kept from attacking the Meligun laborers by colony police. The even-toned narrative resumed.
“Destruction of the Memorial Pillar was ordered by Sector Captain Yorkel due to its depiction of the Human renegade Matthew Dragoneaux, whose family was taken by the genome slavers.”
“Stop!”
“Matt! You’re alive!” And doing something that had ticked off the Anarchate. What could her brother be doing? Wetting her lips, Charlotte hoped that whatever he was doing, Matt was still alive.
“Resume.”
“Dragoneaux has been declared an outlaw to the Anarchate for violations of two of the four Rules of Anarchate Trade. His alien warship attacked and destroyed the Flesh Markets in the center of Halath city, on planet Megil, in Alkalurops C system. His ship also destroyed a dozen genome harvester starships in orbit about Megil. Before that Dragoneaux was reported to have destroyed a Commerce Station in Omega Centauri cluster. More recently, an alien warship similar to the T’Chak warship used by Dragoneaux destroyed planet two in the 51 Pegasi system, location of a major Anarchate tachnet base. Rumors of attacks on Nova-class battleglobes by the Dragoneaux warship have been denied by Anarchate officials,” the broadcast said as it showed a full body three dee image of her brother.
“Stop! ID source of images and Belizel dates.”
Shaking with hope and fear, Charlotte wondered just where Matt had come across an alien warship? She sniffled, still remembering the images of her family that were being destroyed in the central plaza of Elios Port.
Before her loomed two holo images of Matt. One showed him in a white ceramic combat armor suit adorned with several wolf’s head images. The suit sported two shoulder mounted laser pulse-cannons, while the large helmet faceplate was clear. It showed an older Matt, looking as if 15 years and lots of hard time had imprinted itself on his face. His expression showed unwavering determination. Its location was a Commerce Station in system CC1939, in Norma Arm. The other image was a holo of Matt from fifteen years ago, when he’d gone to Elios Port to buy parts for their potato digger. Just before the slavers hit her family’s farm. Just before everyone was kidnapped, with her father and three sisters to die on the way to the Flesh Markets of Megil. Only her mother had survived to be sold as a labor slave on the auction block. A sad look from her Mom had been the last Charlotte had seen of her mother Kristen. Later she’d found out that Mom had been sold to an off planet Anarchate official and taken away. Her eyes teared and her nose grew stuffed. She blew her nose, then wiped it with her trembling hand.
“Resume news broadcast,” she said softly, her skin feeling chill bumps from more than the habitat’s cool air.
“Thuringia’s Governor Charles Metzenbaum issued a statement saying his citizens had not seen or dealt with Matthew Dragoneaux since the male renegade left Thuringia fifteen years ago. Metzenbaum protested the destruction of the colony’s Memorial Pillar, calling it collective punishment for the alleged actions of a former colonist.”
The holosphere moved its focus away from a three dee of Metzenbaum to the hoverjet and focused in on the image of the Spelidon named Chai. “Commander Chai of Sector 14 Intelligence said he had invited genome harvester ships to visit his base near the Crab Nebula so he could investigate Dragoneaux’s claims of torture and starvation of captive humans and other species.” The holoimage pulled back to show a real-time image of a white cloud streaked Thuringia with its small moon to one side. “Chai has assured Governor Metze
nbaum that if the renegade Dragoneaux is captured, then perhaps the Memorial Pillar could be rebuilt, minus the renegade’s image. Chai also reported the Anarchate is offering a reward of one million platinum Standards for information leading to the capture of Dragoneaux and his warship.”
Charlotte blinked as the news broadcast came to an end. The Anarchate’s official emblem of the Milky Way pierced by a lightning bolt took shape in the holo. That indicated the broadcast had official endorsement. The wallscreen spoke.
“Additional news guidance desired?”
Charlotte grabbed her datapad from the kitchen platform and pointed it at the holosphere. “Transmit that broadcast to datapad Chrlotte4791. Then provide a timeline graph for the appearance of the name sigil Matthew Dragoneaux in any galactic tachnet broadcast.”
“Complying.”
The holosphere widened into the shape of a banner. On it appeared a timeline that began three Belizel months ago. Matt’s name only showed at the beginning of the timeline. “Extend timeline back to twelve months from the present.”
“Complying. Revised timeline presented.”
Her brother had been busy! The timeline first showed Matt’s name associated with a Vigilante action at planet Halcyon in Sigma Puppis system. That was followed months later by a mention of Omega Casino’s destruction in system Zeta Serpentis and the Belizel symbol for a question next to Matt’s name. Months later his name was co-associated with the Commerce Station destruction in system CC1939, Omega Centauri cluster, Norma Arm. A gap of six months showed empty on the timeline. Then multiple name IDs showed up at Alkalurops C and Megil, 51 Pegasi’s second planet loss, the Memorial Pillar destruction, then a final Belizel question by his name with system CC93721. The last entry showed the star lay close to the Crab Nebula. The entry carried an Anarchate Interdict icon. Which meant no one was allowed to visit the star’s location. Why?
“Screen, transmit this timeline to datapad Charlotte4791.”
“Complying.” In a second the holosphere blinked green. “Proceed to next news item from Thuringia?”
“Yes.”
That was a short broadcast by Governor Metzenbaum who looked angry, upset but in charge as he told his fellow Thuringians that the Memorial Pillar would be rebuilt as soon as Commander Chai messaged him the approval. Metzenbaum then asked citizens to pass on to him any information about her brother, saying the Anarchate had demanded this action. The holo image of the stocky governor showed him grimacing.
“We have had a hard week. But it is harvest time. I leave to bring in the potatoes and soybeans on my farm, like many of you. However, anyone can reach me over my tachnet comlink Charles2731AlphaZed. Thank you my citizens.”
Charlotte did not tell the wallscreen to transmit the governor’s comlink code. That would be too obvious. Anyway, she had memorized it. One of many things in her life that she had memorized rather than put into digital storage that could be viewed by her Master and any other lifeform with the proper snoop tools. What was in her head, well, that was private to her.
“Wallscreen, continue news broadcasts from other stars in Orion Arm. I wish to better understand Anarchate social issues,” she lied to the machine. Which, being just an expert system, had no means of monitoring her heart rate, brain waves or other indicators of lie-telling.
Charlotte turned and walked back to her bedroom, finished dressing in worn brown pants and a faded blue pullover blouse, pulled on her rough terrain shoes, then she went to her closet and pulled out her dark blue shoulder bag. Stuffing her datapad in the bag, she turned and headed out into the living room area of the habitat. She did not look inside her shoulder bag as she already knew what lay inside. A sewing kit with thread, needles and small snipers. A change of underwear. A neck scarf for the wind that was common on this dry, desert-like planet. A one liter bottle of sugared water. Her written paper notes on human physiology. A small broach with the only picture of her mother that she’d been able to keep during the auction of herself on the labor slave block in the Flesh Markets. And some dry sausage and yellow cheese. Each piece was something she could explain if ever asked about it by Nak ho-mesk. Yet each item was calculated to allow her to spend time on her own without making use of her monitored datapad. Every purchase she made was recorded by her datapad, as was every inquiry to the galactic tachnet by her datapad. Anything and everything she did was subject to monitoring and to eventual questioning by her Master. Despite that day and night tracking of her and her actions, today Charlotte was ready to gamble on an escape attempt. Her brother Matthew was alive! And causing big problems for the Anarchate, otherwise the officials would not have approved the sharing of the Memory Pillar destruction over the galactic tachnet.
Passing through the living room, she walked over to the records desk, pulled out the top drawer, laid her shoulder bag on the drawer, then bent over in a way that blocked the view of the ceiling monitor. Ignoring the holo images and talk-talk of the holosphere, she reached down to the silvery pile of platinum Standards. There were sixty-three present she saw in a glance, giving thanks for her near photographic memory. Passage on an interstellar transport ship usually cost thirty-seven Standards. She shoved forty Standards into her shoulder bag, stood back, pushed the drawer closed, slung her bag on her left shoulder and headed for the exit slidedoor. Tapping the exit patch, she walked out into the hallway and headed for the Academy’s library.
There were public access tachlinks there. Those she would ignore until it came time to buy passage on a shuttle up to the Commerce Station. But the Academy’s flat screen monitors, normally used to study IT datafiles, could also access the Academy’s datanet. Her memory held the code for a dataworm that could infiltrate the enrollment records of every IT student at the Academy. She would search for the name sigil and ID of a human female student. With a class enrollment of 43,000 students from three dozen species, she felt certain there would be at least one human female in the student body. And once she had that ID info encoded into her datapad, in a section separate from what Nak ho-mesk knew about, she could online visit the shuttle flight reservation center using the student’s ID. She would take an hour to remove the tracking nodule using the snipers, make herself look similar to the student, then she would show up at the shuttle station. Charlotte would use her datapad to claim the seat she paid for by platinum Standard deposit, then await launch into the sky. Passenger starships left the Commerce Station every six hours. Which would be before Nak returned for his evening massage and bug removal. She smiled to herself and headed off on her search for her brother Matthew.
CHAPTER FIVE
Running Leader, newly appointed Sector Captain of what remained of Sector 14’s battleglobe fleet, stood on his six legs and reviewed the status of his command battleglobe, the Defiant II. His trip out from Scutum-Crux Arm to the naval base at Orion M47 nebula, in Orion Arm, had been time-consuming. But adequate for him to study the combat records of his predecessor Yorkel, and the intelligence records of one Commander Chai of the Intel Base that formerly lay near the Cloud of Warning, in Perseus Arm. He read the datapad records in normal yellow light, while his UV and IR vision paid attention to the movements of his Bridge crew as they activated the power, ecofield and combat systems of a Nova-class battleglobe that held the mass of a small asteroid in its twelve nipad-wide shell. As a member of the Dolmat species, an Ancient lineage long respected in the galaxy for their group allegiance, Running Leader knew he did not have to strike a crew member with his spike-tail, or order them to polish the 30 nails on his six feet. While his armored bulk might be useful in a crowded hallway on the way to the Communal Food Hall, no Dolmat relied on physical force to manage other beings. His four-lobbed brain was sufficient for that.
“Sector Captain,” called Malel, the Orko quadruped who now served as his Executive Officer. “An urgent tachmessage has come in from Courier Swift Tail, on duty at CC3214. Site of the Anarchate admin headquarters for this part of Sector 14.”
Running Leader lowered his m
ass onto the flat restbench that lay under his belly, choosing to show calmness before his new crew and those veteran crew who had well served Sector Captain Yorkel. The Brokeet’s battles with the Human biped when the biped destroyed the naval bases at 18 Scorpii and Vela CC8733 had been instructive. Upon his arrival at the CC32415 Orion base he had brought in Malel, Chief Lark of Tactical Weapons and a half dozen other veterans of Yorkel’s flagship Defiant. While most of those vets were Brokeet arthropods like Yorkel himself, a few were heavy gravity species like the Orko Malel and his Chief Engineer Herd Defense, a Dolmat ally ever since his graduation from the Naval Academy at CC7843 in the Owl M97 cluster. A place which the Human had also destroyed.
“The report from Captain Illustrious of Swift Tail, is it in holo and in spoken Belizel?” Running Leader croaked to Malel.
“Yes, Sector Captain. Do you wish it transferred to your station?”
“Yes,” he said in a relaxed tone. “But also feed the report to a side holo pedestal so the rest of the Bridge can hear the news about our Human adversary.”
Malel hooted surprise. “How did you know it was about—”
“System 3214 is one of the locations that hosts my Nova Blast unit, ship Swift Tail. As you should recall from my staff orientation last week,” Running Leader said in mild admonition.
“Yes, Sector Captain. The holo report is activated in the left forward holo pedestal and on your left command pod,” Malel hooted in formal Belizel.
Running Leader braced his forearms against the restbench and supported his wide chin on his clasped chesthands. He focused on the left forward holosphere, as did several Bridge personnel, even as they prepared his ship for departure from the Orion protoplanetary disk that so far lacked a sun.
The shape of the Mican Captain Illustrious took form in the holo, his two dirty brown wings clasped tight against his muscled back as his furry face stared out at them
Anarchate Vigilante (Vigilante Series 4) Page 8
