by Kal Spriggs
“This is not acceptable to the Shogunate,” Kaigun Motogami snapped in reply. “The Centauri Confederation--”
Kapitan Langsdorff cleared his throat and Kaigun Motogami broke off. He gave the man a nod, “President Spiridon is not to be trusted. Even if he does not have some interests in whatever Reese Leone is up to, then he would still work to see us fail.”
“We have intelligence that indicates that Centauri has also lost vessels to Reese's attacks,” Chairman-Admiral Ortega said. “And several of the ansible relay platforms he hacked and then subsequently destroyed are property of Icon Telecom. His daughter, Annabelle Spiridon, owns a majority of the company and acts as the CEO.”
Daniel hadn't considered that aspect, but that President Spiridon's faction of the Centauri Confederation had lost vessels and assets didn't really change the overall conditions. President Spiridon was known for being calculating and manipulating. Any information he provided them would likely be at a cost to themselves and any actions they could take on that information would benefit him.
It could be something as simple as telling us that Reese is based in a system belonging to one of his competitors, truth or lie, Daniel thought, and then sitting back and watching us fight his enemies for him. It could be something far more complicated. He'd arranged to have a false Marius Giovanni sent to the United Colonies to act as ambassador with what amounted to an offer of annexation. For that matter, he'd seized two former systems of the Nova Roma Empire using that same false Marius Giovanni. And since that man's death, he'd refused to let those systems have their freedom.
The Centauri Confederation lays claim to the entirety of the Dreyfus Fleet, Daniel thought, and we never found out the true extents of their involvement with the Dreyfus Coup, only that Julian Newbauer had discussed acceptance of their annexation.
“I'm not particularly enamored of President Spiridon,” Admiral Collae said. “In fact, I don't trust him at all, but certainly it wouldn't hurt to see if his forces are aware of the threat. For all their... distasteful politics, the Centauri have maintained the blockade at Kapteyn’s Star for the past eighty years.”
“That's because no one but a madman would want there to be easy access to the Temple of Light,” Kapitan Langsdorff replied in a cold voice. “And they know if they did pull their forces out of Kapteyn’s Star that the other worlds of the Confederation would not tolerate it.”
Daniel frowned at that. He knew that the station over the so-called Temple of Light had the capability to destroy entire fleets. Rory and Feliks's briefing on the Temple of Light had been somewhat lacking in detail, other than the fact that the Centauri Confederation did have a blockade of the planet. “Why exactly is that?” Daniel asked.
Langsdorff looked uncomfortable, though whether that was because he realized he'd spoken out of turn or because Daniel had shown his ignorance, Daniel couldn't guess. Chairman-Admiral Ortega spoke, after a long pause that suggested she thought carefully about what she could say. “There is a chamber, deep within the Temple. Those who go there are changed, a product of the Illuari device buried there. Many people go there: mostly those desperate for what it offers.” She sniffed, as if disdainful of the idea. “But they are made different. It does something to their minds, grants them gifts and abilities... but also drives them to obsession. The ones who survive will do anything, everything to activate the Temple's true purpose. Kapteyn's Star had three colonies and over time, all of them have come into service of the Illuari structure. That is why there is a blockade, to prevent more people from falling under the device's sway... and to prevent any of those under its influence from escaping offworld.”
Daniel didn't really know what all that meant. Yet it matched Rory and Feliks' warnings from earlier. Having seen the multicolored regions of shadow space that psychics could travel, he was willing accept that there were things that normal people weren't meant to know. “Alright, so just how many people are under this thing's sway? Because if Reese can use them as his allies...”
Langsdorff and Chairman-Admiral Ortega both blanched at his comment. “Those inhabitants around the Temple of Light, they number in the millions,” Langsdorff said after a moment. “They have an entire cult dedicated to it. Every child born to the planet is presented to the Temple as an offering at their coming of age, those that survive are inducted into their ranks and they live within the Temple.”
And from what he suggests, Daniel thought, given that survival isn't nearly guaranteed, these people sacrifice their children to this thing. That suggested a disturbing level of dedication. “So, we'll have to consider that element of the threat, that if he somehow does bypass or eliminate the blockade then he'll have millions of potential allies... assuming he hasn't already got some.”
Silence met his statement. Yet it was the obvious solution for where Reese had somehow managed to find loyal crews for his cause. If these people were willing to sacrifice their own children, then was it really any question that they proved resistant to disclosing their location or prevented any infiltration or spies?
“If that's the case, then we certainly should contact the Centauri,” Chairman-Admiral Ortega said. Yet the way she said it suggested that it was the very last thing that she really wanted to do.
Kaigun Motogami and Kapitan Langsdorff both looked uncomfortable, but this time they didn't argue. The possibility that the blockade had been breached presented a danger too grave, particularly if Reese had a potential alliance with millions of dedicated cultists.
“I will set up a meeting,” Chairman-Admiral Ortega said.
Daniel just hoped that it wasn't too late.
***
Minder sighed as he reviewed the message. It was more than a little ironic that the forces behind the confrontation at the slave-race's homeworld were now aligned with his own interests. He looked up at his daughter, “This seems adequate.” Have we made any further progress infiltrating their ranks?
“I will see that the message is sent right away,” Minder's daughter spoke. No further progress. The humans of the United Colonies screen their people too well, she sent back to him mentally.
That was unfortunate. The paranoia that his kind had sown among the humans had led to this, he knew. Deep tissue testing and biometric scanning had become second-nature to them. It would prove impossible to get an agent placed among their ranks, especially with their psychic allies. Damn Shaden Mira and Kandergain, he thought, the two of them and their minions are constantly a problem. He'd kept them distracted and chasing other threats through careful work, but the two had become aware of his efforts. Now that they knew of his people's existence, it would only be a matter of time until they saw through his layers of defense.
Thankfully he had managed to keep both of the powerful human psychics from building up any real power base. In truth, the Shadow Lords did much of his work for him in that regard.
“Well, send the message,” Minder said. “I'll entrust you to be our spokesperson.” The distance would not only provide him with a measure of personal safety, but it would allow them to sow further confusion in the human's ranks. Their “alliance” functioned to his ends already, the humans in their ranks had no idea that it was his efforts that led them to this point.
They'd continue to dance to his tune as long as he kept them focused on the proper threat. He nodded at his daughter as she left and he considered the issue.
Reese Leone had begun down the path that Minder had worked to block for over fifty years. The slave-race's return to their homeworlds was a substantial setback. If Reese Leone managed to accomplish his goals, then thousands of years of effort would be undone. The end of my kind is but the beginning, Minder thought with a barely-repressed shudder.
He considered the ships at the Temple of Light. The human vessels were the most advanced of their kind, the human crews should be motivated and very much aware of the threat they faced. They thought they served the interests of the Centauri Confederation, but i
t was as much his efforts as anyone else's that had put them there.
Centauri, Tau Ceti, Amalgamated Worlds, Minder thought, the human nations are all the same, their corrupt bureaucrats motivated only through fear and their short-sighted visions of personal gain. He felt little kindred spirit for them, though his body and mind had once been considered human.
They'd be terrified to understand what he was now. That terror amused him. In fact, those humans he had consumed or destroyed, he'd often given them some time to realize just what he had become. His ability to feel their emotions and thoughts had proven all the more that they were an inferior species.
Minder considered more than the threat of Reese Leone. He considered the opportunities, the chances to turn his “allies” against one another. Reese represented the constant threat that all humans presented... but using him to defeat them was an opportunity that Minder couldn't afford to pass up.
Their alliance provided that opening, a chance for him to turn allies into enemies and to destroy the factions of humans he considered the most dangerous. Victory was not something he could ever consider accomplished... not short of the death of humanity. Since that would mean my own death, he thought, I'll have to settle for putting them at odds against each-other to prevent their threat from ever fully manifesting.
Minder allowed his human face to smile. It was a cold smile, but then again, his face hadn't held a human sense of humor for decades. He sat back as he brought up details delivered by his scouts and spies, many of them as human as he appeared. War, it seemed, would be inevitable. The key would be insuring that it was a war that crippled rather than killed.
Minder would do his job and reap the benefits and within a short period, the minor setback of the slave-race's return would be of no matter.
***
Tanis System
Independent
December 27, 2409
“This is a terrible idea,” Rory said as he stepped off the shuttle and onto the UCS Constellation. “I hate travel. And any time we're sent to a dangerous place, something goes wrong and we almost die.” The two of them had debarked the ship as soon as they arrived in the Tanis system. He’d hoped that they could just stay in the rather comfortable quarters on the planet. Rory had even managed to avoid most of the absurd holiday distractions.
“You say that every time,” Feliks noted.
“That's because I'm right,” Rory ran a hand through his thinning hair. He looked at the Fleet rating who awaited them. “Okay, lead us to our lab.”
“Gentlemen, you don't want to go to your quarters?” the Petty Officer asked. At least, Rory thought he was a Petty Officer. He had the funny shapes on his sleeve that either meant he was some high-ranked fellow or else he'd done well on all of his pioneering classes when he was a kid. Rory didn't really keep track of those kinds of things.
“No,” Rory said. “I don't sleep much, nightmares, that sort of thing,” he waved a hand absently. “You know, standard side-effect of alien telepathy. Can't ever get their conjugates straight, part of the problem with four-dimensional beings, you know.”
“Possibly four-dimensional,” Feliks said. “Their ability to perceive the depth of shadow space implies some greater visibility of time, not necessarily full comprehension of time and causality.”
“Uh...” the poor rating looked around for help.
“Look,” Rory rolled his eyes, “I know my way to our lab, just bring me two pitchers of coffee, fifty grams of sugar each.” He glanced at Feliks, “Do you want anything?”
“No, I have Tiger's Paw,” Feliks patted his satchel. That's right, Rory thought, his black-market energy drink. The stuff was illegal on most worlds, but Feliks had some kind of hook-up. It turned his teeth yellow and a single sniff of the stuff had once given Rory a seizure, but Feliks swore by it.
“Yeah, two pitchers of coffee,” Rory said. “We'll be in our lab.”
The rating hurried away.
“I miss Elvis,” Feliks said as they walked down the corridors.
“It's a damned shame,” Rory nodded. The boy was totally wasted in the military. He was actually smart. Not just sort of tactically smart, but smart-smart. He knew things, understood things that most other humans didn't.
And now he's dead, Rory thought glumly. “I told you we should have pushed through the military exemption paperwork,” Rory poked Feliks.
“He didn't want out of the military,” Feliks admonished, “besides, your forgery of his biometrics and signature wouldn't have passed any real security inspection. You always assume that just because normal people are stupid that they won't notice subpar work.”
“It wasn't sub-par,” Rory objected. He ran a hand through his thinning hair, “That one time I got caught was because they called my sister to ask about the paperwork. That was a brilliant forgery, and if you'd just intercepted and answered the call like I told you to, then I wouldn't have been caught.”
“I sound nothing like your sister!” Feliks objected.
“Of course you don't, but they wouldn't have known that,” Rory said. They'd come to their old lab quarters and Rory paused. “What the hell, where's all our stuff?”
Two ratings looked up from where they worked on what looked like routine maintenance. “Uh, sir, this is a secure area...”
“No, no, no,” Rory growled, “this is our lab space. You need to get your junk out of here, we're going to be doing very important work here.”
The two looked at each other, “We'll need to talk with Petty Officer Spurlock...”
“Tell him to get his junk out of here!” Rory snapped. He looked at Feliks, “I don't believe this, this isn't a maintenance bay!”
As the techs scurried away, Rory looked back at Feliks, “And how do you know you don't sound like my sister? You haven't met her, have you?”
***
Tanis System
Independent
December 27, 2409
Commander Brian Bowder sighed morosely as he took a seat at the bar, weaving slightly. He'd spent most of the day drinking. In reality, he quite enjoyed drinking and he held his liquor very well. It would take far more than he'd had to drink so far to get him truly drunk. Not that he ever allowed himself to drink that much, not since long before he had donned the guise of Brian Bowder. Not that this place has anything worth drinking, he thought. The quality of good liquor had declined since the fall of Earth, in his opinion. What these people charged for even blended whisky was ridiculous.
He wasn't drinking for fun today, nor had he on his other visits to assorted bars here on Tanis. He did it because cultivating such a public vice could lead to other opportunities. Alcoholism, or at least the appearance of alcoholism, looked like opportunity to the right kinds of people. Intelligence agents saw it as a potential weakness, something to exploit. And Tanis, because of its neutrality, had become a haven for spies.
Commander Brian Bowder was himself a spy, of sorts, though he viewed himself as more of a revolutionary. He wanted to save humanity from the Balor... and in the process he needed to oust the man who would fail in that task. While I actually like 'Emperor' Giovanni, he's too soft for the task, he thought. That was why he had signed on with Admiral Dreyfus's conspiracy from the beginning. The people in charge were too weak to do what was required. Emperor Giovanni was something of an improvement over Amalgamated Worlds, but his competence was compromised by his conscience.
And that was why he was here in a bar, drinking in his uniform, and showing all the right signs of approach-ability. He needed allies. The loss of the Bowie and the normal holiday season depression that many war veterans suffered from nominally gave him an excuse and the opportunities here on Tanis were exactly what he needed.
"Captain Bowder," a gravelly voice spoke from behind him. He felt a smile broaden his face as someone finally took his bait. A bit unprofessional to reveal they know my name, he thought, but they think I'm a drunk, so I'll forgive them that.
He turned and his smile congealed a b
it. "Uh, I'm sorry, do I know you?" He instantly recognized Admiral Collae. Admiral Dreyfus had funneled him all of the intelligence files that the United Colonies had. While some of that was a bit out of date, he also knew that Admiral Collae had at least some involvement in the ongoing alliance to bring in Reese Leone.
The two men in security uniforms behind him probably acted as bodyguards, but Captain Bowder wasn't stupid enough to think they'd be the only ones. Admiral Collae collected enemies like other people collected travel souvenirs.
"I suspect you know of me," Admiral Collae gave him a frosty smile. "But that's not why I'm here. Did you know, Captain, that the Amalgamated Worlds Personnel Records Archives on Mars and Elysia are both still intact?"
He felt his pulse skip a beat, "No, why exactly does that matter?"
"Well, it's interesting," Admiral Collae said. He gestured to a corner booth. "Perhaps we could discuss it in private?"
"Sure," Captain Bowder replied. He walked over to the booth, careful not to make any sudden moves that might be taken as threatening. Admiral Collae's bodyguards had reasons aplenty to be twitchy. If they thought they had a dangerous infiltrator on their hands, then they'd be more likely to shoot him.
Not that I couldn't take them, Captain Bowder thought. They were muscle, there to impress and intimidate. A man like Admiral Collae would have other protections in place.
He took a seat at the booth across from Admiral Collae, "I have to say, this is an odd way to ask for a friendly conversation. Why exactly would you want to tell me about personnel records?"
"I'm something of a perfectionist. I monitored the Dreyfus Coup and the fallout and I couldn't help but notice that there were a lot of loose ends," Admiral Collae gave his cold smile. "Loose ends in such a chaotic situation can only be expected. An... associate of mine was able to access some of the records from the United Colonies investigation. He wasn't able to access them all, but what he did find suggested that there were four officers in charge of the conspiracy. Admiral Dreyfus had overall command, Captain Truffault managed personnel, Captain Wu managed security... and she seemed to have bungled that badly. The fourth conspirator was never identified, but there were a variety of assumptions, some attributed that Julian Newbauer was the fourth man, that he handled the civilian political aspects. Others theorized that the fourth conspirator was Senior Captain Ngo, who acted as Admiral Dreyfus's second in command for the overall conspiracy."
