T-47 Book II (Saxon Saga 6)

by Frederick Gerty

  “All these others?” Lori said, pointing to the screen.

  Mr. Sloane shook his head. “Some I recognize in the other companies, most not. Man.” He stood up, ran a hand over his hair. “I can’t believe all these people tried...helped to try to assassinate...no, it’s...” His voice trailed off, and Lori saw fury on his face when she looked at him. “And this one saw me racing in here, and is no doubt watching you now. What do we do?”

  He paced around a little, then said, “OK, look, I need to take this disk, Lori, OK? I need to put someone on it immediately...”

  “Pinkerton?”

  “No,” he said, pointing to a name on the screen. “We need someone else. Who’s that military guy–think he could? Man, I just don’t know who to trust anymore in this.”

  “Yeah, well, I’d go with Major Morales. Here’s his number,” she said, entering it on the disk. “He can advise you. But I’d be careful of where you call him from. Not from here. Anywhere here.”

  “Yeah. The debuggers come in after...OK, now, I got to get out of here, too, and allay any suspicion that something might be up.”

  “OK, here’s what we do.”

  One minute later, Lori laughed, her father did too, and Tari said, loudly, “Oh, that is such a good idea.”

  Mr. Sloane left the office, smiling, saying, “OK, now remember, mum’s the word. Don’t tell anyone else in the family, no ruining the surprise, OK?”

  Lori walked out with him, saying, “Yeah, well if you think you can keep a surprise party a secret now a days, good luck. Still worth a try. And I’ll never tell.”

  “You better not,” he said, with a quick kiss for her forehead.

  “I won’t. And thanks for coming over to talk about it.”

  “See you later,” he said, walking away, noticing the lady in the office three doors down was standing there, looking at them, casually like. He nodded to her as he walked by.

  She met Hunter for lunch, and her father joined them. Then his father, too. They flew off in Eagle One, it on alert, and raced out of town, over to the Atlantic shore, and then eastward, out to Gurney’s Inn at Montauk Point, flying fast and low in a clear lane all their own, to land and walk to a secluded table on the far end of the open porch, the beach and active ocean below nearby, the waves a steady, fuzzy sound in the background. Mr. Lindbloom opened a snoop-sniffer, turned it on. The lights flashed, turned green, and steadied. One glowed amber.

  “A phone in use at that table,” he said nodding. “Nothing else transmitting for 30 meters.”

  “It’ll do, I guess,” Mr. Sloane said.

  “OK, now what’s this all about?” Hunter said.

  Mr. Sloane briefed them. He said he’d called Major Morales from a friend’s phone with a sonic screen, and he would check and verify all the names, addresses, and positions, could do it quite surreptitiously, outside the usual channels, and leave no traces. He’d join them in a few minutes. Nothing else by wire or wireless, everything face to face on this matter.

  “And if it’s true?” Hunter said.

  “Then it’s purge time. And it may cost us a lot.”

  “Daddy, it’s over. Let it go...” Lori said.

  “No, not yet. Not till we check it out, verify it all.”

  “This new Kobi did this, found it all out?” Isaac Lindbloom asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “A mountain of work, that.”

  “Yes it was.”

  “Still think she’s a plant?”

  “Guess that’s what we’ll find out.”

  A tanned man walked up to them as they ate lunch, stopped to chat. He leaned down on the table to catch a few words, and when he stood up, the small envelope left there was gone. He chatted a bit, then waved, and moved on, back into the inn, and out of sight.

  “Now we wait, and plan our strategy, if it’s all OK,” Mr. Sloane said. “What looks good for lunch?”

  The family met in the bomb shelter in the basement of North Rock, cut deep into the schist of the bedrock, and used as a shelter by Mandy and her parents only once. But secure, and quiet, and safe from peeps.

  “It’s right?” Amanda said, after hearing the background.

  “Worse than right, some of the people seem to be of some importance in the Earth Only cult. It’s quite loosely organized, but certain names keep popping up here and there. To think these people tried to kill my daughter.”

  “And her fiancé, and her alien friends,” Lori added.

  “Yeah, and again on another planet. Man.”

  “I don’t think they all did, directly,” Mandy said.

  “No, maybe not. They just supported those hired to do it, or determined to.”

  “So what do we do now? Go to the police?” Ricky asked.

  Alan Sloane said, “Yes, eventually, but first, we’ve got to get the lot of them out of the company. Fire them all. To start, we get Nedri away and out of her office, and don’t let her back. I think her computer may contain some files and records we’ll need to see, and maybe a phone log, too.”

  “If she’s as smart as we think, she’ll have wiped it twice.”

  “Yes, but not the main server. All we need is a route and an address to that, and we can follow her back to day one.”

  “Tarissa said Leta wondered how they knew where we’d be that night...” Lori said.

  “We have, too.”

  “I looked in the time logs. Nedri was there, late, unusual, especially for a Friday. Kept finding parts of the reports that needed to be checked, or redone. Took hours. Kept us there...”

  “She knew your schedule?”

  Lori shrugged. “Probably parts of it. But she was working that night. I remember that. ”

  “She was checked out, superficially.”

  “Tari checked further. We should have, too.”

  “Now we have. Or she did.”

  “So what else do you think, Alan?”

  “OK. With her office secured, all the others on the Saxon payroll, just a few, will be escorted out of the building, and their computers and files inspected. I don’t think most will be let back in, if this is right. Then I have a conference call to certain suppliers, and will read them the bad news, too. I checked, we can invoke the morality clause in the contracts, and terminate them all immediately.”

  “It’s gonna cost us,” Amanda said.

  “I don’t care,” Mr. Sloane said.

  “I do. I don’t want you risking the family fortune on this, it’s over, we’re watchful now, we’ll be careful. There’s no need...” Lori said, a bit upset.

  “No, there is a need. And the family, and the business, will survive. And prosper,” her brother Jodi said. Everyone looked at Lori. “You’re outvoted on this one, this time, sister,” he added. “We’re gonna get those guys, and get them where it’ll hurt.”

  “I just hope it won’t hurt us worse.”

  “It won’t.”

  Her father added, “Since when are the Saxons afraid of a little trouble? We will stand together on this, and prevail.”

  Lori’s mother stared at him, and stood up, went to him and kissed him. So did her grandmother.

  “What?” he said.

  “That’s for saying you were a Saxon.”

  Tari clicked the small transmitter she held, alerting everyone that Nanci Nedri left her office for coffee. The clock read just after 10:30 a.m. Immediately, two security people entered the suite, went to her office, and began securing her computer. Fearing self destruct codes, they began copying the main drive, which would take some few minutes. Two more security people, a Pokoniry and a human woman, came up, and stood just outside.

  Nedri returned, carrying a cup of coffee fifteen minutes later, and the female guard put up a hand, and said, “You’ll have to wait, Ms. Nedri, we’re doing some security checks here now.”

  “What? I didn’t authorize anything,” she said, trying to move around her, spilling a little coffee on the floor, but the guard intercepted her, blocking her from m
oving on. “Get out of my way...bitch! Bastard! Hey, what the hell are you doing in my office?” she said, seeing the two people there. Now she pushed ahead, shoving the guard’s arms aside, and rushing forward, trying to get to the computer. The Pokoniry interceded, holding her back, to rising indignation from Nedri. “Get your stinking paws off me, you mangy beast! Hey, stop that, stop that, get away from my computer.” She struggled with the Pokoniry, and the human grabbed her arms, pulling her back. “Bastards, you have no right, let me go, god-damm, help!” this last word at a screech, getting everyone’s attention, those few who weren’t watching already.

  Including Lori, who stepped out to look.

  “Lori, get these bastards off me, tell them to let me go.”

  “If you relax, they will...”

  “Relax, hell, hey, they’re in my computer...”

  “Why would that bother you?” Lori asked cooly, her arms crossed.

  And suddenly the seriousness of what was transpiring hit Nedri. Her face paled, she stood there, and Lori saw her swallow. Quickly she turned to the door to her room and yelled, “Delete 141!” and the cords on her neck stood out, hard lines there.

  “What was that for?” Lori said, walking up to her.

  “There was...personal stuff on it...”

  Lori raised an eyebrow. “There shouldn’t have been, you have your own computer for that.”

  “Got it backed up, doesn’t matter. Anything not relating to the company will not be revealed,” one of the two people inside Nedri’s office said.

  Again, Nedri tried to break free, and began screaming, a ranting rage that shocked everyone. Lori just stood there. Nedri turned to the other people, and said, “See what you get when you let the aliens loose in here? Off world vermin! I hope you all choke on vomit, cock-suckers!” And she screamed some more.

  Lori said, “Get her out of here.”

  “My stuff, my stuff...”

  “If you are not allowed to return, it will be boxed up for you...’

  “I never want to return to this fascist place. I want out. Get out while you can before the bugs and the rats take over everything.” Then looking at Tari she screamed, “I wish you were killed with your ugly sister, and ...”

  “Out!” Lori said, pointing out of the office. “Get her out of here now.”

  But Nedri yelled on, as they started to drag her out, she fighting and twisting the whole way. “We’ll get you. We’ll get you all yet, we’ll get you out of here, get the hell off the planet and go back where you belong...”

  Lori took a deep breath, let it out. She looked at Tari, now crouching behind her desk. She went to her and said, “It’s OK, she’s gone, and she won’t be back.” She put a hand on Tari’s shoulder, and turned to the other people in the office. “We may have a few question for you all. Please stick around for a while, OK?” People nodded, and wandered away, talking in groups of two and three.

  Lori went back to Nedri’s office, and Tari followed. The two security people were reading files on a portable screen. “Phone log’s wiped after seven days, but not off the main server. Is this the date you wanted to see?”

  “Yeah,” Lori said, checking the Friday log. Call after call to two numbers, the last she thought was around when she finally left. “Where are they to?”

  “This is a cell phone in Atlanta. The other is an uplink to the station ring.”

  “Can you tell who?”

  “No, not yet. Both unlisted. We’ll find out.”

  “Anything else?’”

  One shook his head. “Too many to tell, I don’t recognize them. But that doesn’t mean much. We’ll check it out.”

  Lori walked back to her office, noticing Tari followed very closely behind. She dialed her father, said, “It’s secure. She put on quite a show.”

  “I heard. Can you come up to the conference room now? I’m ready to go.”

  Lori nodded, and turned to Tari. “I have to go to my father now–more confrontation. Can you stay here for a while?”

  “Must I?” she said, and Lori saw the fear in her youthful eyes.

  “No, OK, come on, you can come with me.”

  Tari followed as Lori left, with the security people already talking to the other staff in the suite.

  She entered her father’s conference room to see a number of faces on the screens on the wall, and miniature versions on the flatscreen on the table. Her father stood off to the side, looking very serious, his business suit on, very formal. He guided her to a chair next to his, and looked at Tari. Lori motioned her to a place near the entry corner, out of the camera range. Her father sat, and said, “Everyone, may I have your attention.” All the faces on the screens turned toward him.

  He looked at Lori once, she saw her image was on the screen next to his. “Before I start, I’d like to introduce my daughter, Lorelei, for those of you who don’t know her. Earlier this year, she returned from a three year exploration outside the galaxy, to the star cluster 47 Tucana, and brought artifacts and a representative from an intelligent race with her. I am very proud of her, and her accomplishments.” He smiled at her. Lori noticed everyone on the screen smiling, too. They wouldn’t for long, she knew.

  “Since then,” he said, “She’s been subject to constant criticism, even vilification in the press and elsewhere. But that we can deal with, and is not the subject of this conference.” He looked out steadily, his eyes going to those on the several screens. “However, what is difficult to deal with, and is the subject of this call, is the several assassination attempts on my daughter’s life, the last resulting in the death of her assistant, and over a dozen innocent civilians on Florez.”

  Lori sort of shrank down, getting uncomfortable, and wishing she wasn’t here. She couldn’t deal with much more of this, knew what her father was going to do, but not how.

  He went on. “A continuing investigation following the incidents has uncovered incontestable proof that the origin, organization, funding, and personnel behind these attacks came from a group calling itself Earth Only. This group seeks to expel all aliens from Earth, with no exceptions. For some reason, they took a strong dislike to my daughter, finally escalating that into the attempts on her life. This has proven, as you well might imagine, disruptive and stressful to her life, and to the functioning of this company, for whom she works, and which provides her support and services.” He looked sternly into the camera.

  “The bandit organization cannot operate without resources of its own, capital and staff. To my chagrin, I have discovered that some of that support comes from within the Saxon company itself, from supposedly trusted employees, who in fact provide donations, in one case substantial, to the Earth Only organization. We suspect, sensitive information on company personnel and operations, as well. Those employees have been placed on suspension, pending the continuation of the investigation into their involvement in any way in the attempts on Lorelei.”

  A pause. Lori sat there, looking at the people on the screen. If they sensed what was coming, they did not show it.

  “The investigation also shows that a number of people in the employment of the companies who do business with Saxon Enterprise, are also donors and supporters of the Earth Only group.” He looked as serious as Lori had ever seen him. “Gentlemen, I will not do business with people who finance an organization that is trying to kill my daughter.”

  Now the screens erupted with denials, shocked indignation, cries of “Not us, you’re not speaking about us, are you?”

  Alan answered. “No, not you, yourselves. But people in your companies, some in high places, others not. No matter. Those names and supporting documentation are being sent to you as we speak. I–we–feel so...betrayed by this, so violated, we must take action. Accordingly, and as authorized by clause W in all your contracts, the zero tolerance for workplace violence, or the support thereof, our agreements are hereby terminated as of noon today. Any goods received by that time, will be accepted. Any arriving after that time will be refused, an
d returned to the sender.”

  “Alan, you’re crazy,” one of the people on the screens said. “You’re hurting yourself. You’ll never be able to get new suppliers, your production will drop, you’ll lose market share, and you’ll be the one going down, sunk by your anger. And we have no control of these people, anyway. They don’t represent the company, or us.”

  “No, OK, yes, I am angry. But we’ll find other suppliers. Regardless, I will not traffic with anyone, or in any firm, that supports a group trying to assassinate a member of my family. I will not. At whatever cost. Family is more important than profits.”

  More agitation, more back and forth from the group. This went on for a few minutes, until it became clear that Mr. Sloane would not budge, would not change his mind, would not modify his deadline. Lori figured people were calling the contracts up on their screens, and reading the language there, knew they could probably challenge the decision in court, but if they did, they’d lose for sure, years from now.

  Finally one said, “Alan, what do we have to do to get back in your good graces?”

  “George, it’s quite simple, and you know what that is.”

  “If we do that, clean house, so to speak, what then? Will we be able to restore the contracts?”

  “Yes,” Alan said, without hesitation, and without waffling about re-bidding, or anything. “That is all I’m looking for. Honorable treatment. And no harboring of terrorist supporters in your midst.”

  “It’s going to mean prying into a lot of personal information...”

  “If we fire people, they’ll sue us. We don’t have any such clause in our employment contracts...”

  “Well, some of us do, maybe we all should...”

  “We can reassign people, out of the main office, or factories, to a subsidiary.”

  “How far down the line are you going with this, Alan?”

  “I’d like to go to the source, but probably can’t much beyond primary suppliers. You, at least, I expect to understand.”

  “Have you had quality control failures?”

  “Nothing significant, but that matter has bothered us, and if we did, you’d hear about it immediately. We did have two air cars go down after they left the line, and...well, we fixed them, that was outside expected limits, not what we used to experience. So, yes, we’re very careful in that regard.”