Immediately, Tatia launched into an imitation of a media announcer’s voice. It generated chuckles all around, except for Willem who missed the joke.
Alex sent.
Shimada replied.
Eric added,
Alex hinted.
Alex sent, his laughter following.
Julien closed the comm links, and Alex was mentally revising the message he would send to President Drake when he noticed First Mate Lumley’s frown.
“Something wrong, Ser Lumley?” Alex asked.
“Your pardon, Mr. President, but I was wondering what a fully outfitted, sting-class ship would cost?”
Alex looked at Lumley for a moment before he grinned. “Mickey,” Alex yelled at the top of his voice, even though the master engineer wasn’t on the bridge.
Lumley laughed at Alex’s antics. Best decision I ever made was to join these people, he thought.
* * *
“President Drake, you have a comm call from President Racine,” a senior staffer announced after interrupting the cabinet meeting. “Apparently, the Haraken president is in system.”
Drake glanced toward Darryl Jaya, who still held the post of Minister of Technology, now under his third president. At the staffer’s announcement, Darryl adopted an enormous earsplitting grin. Without doubt, he was one of Alex Racine’s greatest fans, especially if the Haraken president was bringing new technological toys to New Terra.
“I’ll take the comm in my office,” Drake said to his staffer. “Adjourn for fifteen minutes, please,” he said to his cabinet ministers. Drake glanced toward Jaya and nodded toward the door, and his minister hurried out of the meeting like a child told he can go out and play.
The two men climbed the broad staircase of Government House to the second floor to gain the president’s office. Settling behind his chair, with Jaya behind him, Drake accepted the vid comm signal. On his screen popped an image of Alex and Renée, people who had played major roles in his life for the past decade and a half. They were standing on the bridge of the Rêveur, the starship that had started it all. Déjà vu, Drake thought.
“Greetings, President Drake,” Alex began.
“Darryl,” Renée exclaimed, and the pair promptly hijacked the meeting, as they caught up on family and news.
When Drake could insert himself into the conversation, he asked, “Are you inbound to New Terra, President Racine?”
“Yes, actually we’re here for business and pleasure. Since I was coming to see you, many of our New Terrans wanted to visit family and friends.”
“As always, your people are welcome. You said you wanted to see me. What about?” Drake replied.
“After the events that unfolded from United Earth’s interference in our systems, I thought you might be interested in our newest class of ships.”
“I thought things were settled with the UE,” Drake said, getting nervous.
“Oh, they are. But in dealing with the Earthers, it became obvious to us that the travelers have limitations … they’re confined to a system unless carried and their short beam throw puts them in harm’s way of larger ships.”
“Do you have a design to show? Is that what you’re bringing us?” Jaya asked.
“Actually, I brought a ship. It’s on its space trials, and this seemed like the perfect time to have it accompany me,” Alex said, smiling and trying to appear convivial.
“You brought a new warship into Oistos space without permission?” asked Drake, his voice hardening.
Renée sent to Alex.
“Certainly not, President Drake,” Alex replied, “the Tanaka is waiting for your permission to enter the system.” Alex could have kissed Reiko for her suggestion that the sting ship take up station beyond the belt. It gave him the edge he needed in the delicate discussion, and he deliberately dropped the ship’s name. Hatsuto Tanaka, the ship’s namesake, was a New Terran son, who sacrificed his life during the dark days when the New Terran government was in turmoil. It had the desired effect of mollifying Drake.
“Can you give us an outline of its capabilities?” Jaya asked.
“Certainly, Jaya,” Alex said, and then sent, Alex stalled by reviewing the limitations of the Haraken’s carrier-traveler combination during his encounter with UE warships while he was at Sol.
Aboard the Tanaka, Reiko and Franz ran from the captain’s cabin to the ship’s bridge, buttoning their officers’ jackets, while Julien briefed them.
“Our president knows this ship’s capability as well as anyone,” Reiko said to Franz. “He doesn’t need us to tell the New Terran president. Aren’t we just window dressing for the sale of the ship?”
“I believe we, not this ship, are the ones for sale today,” Franz replied, straightening his jacket and running his fingers through his short hair. “Be charming,” Franz added. Once on the bridge, he chose to stand behind his captain.
Julien cued Alex when the Tanaka was ready, and Alex wound down his pitch about the reasons for the invention of the sting class.
On the Tanaka, Willem activated the bridge’s vid comm, framing Reiko and Franz. Aboard the Rêveur, Cordelia located a second monitor on Drake’s desk. It was reserved for viewing finances, but it was still tied into Government House’s network.
As Alex finished his sentence, Drake and Jaya saw the image of Reiko and Franz pop up on the second monitor, and, in his excitement, Jaya nudged Drake from behind with an elbow.
“Let me introduce, Captain Reiko Shimada, formerly Commodore Shimada of United Earth, and Commander Franz Cohen, you know,” Alex said.
The New Terrans knew that United Earth scientists had jumped ship to join the Harakens, but that an ex-commodore had joined them was news. After a short exchange of pleasantries, Drake asked after Franz’s father.
“Hezekiah is well, Mr. President. Thank you for asking. We message each other about once a week. He and my mother keep asking when I will be having children.”
“Oh, do you have a partner, Franz?” Drake asked.
Reiko raised a hand. “That would be me, Sir.”
That the diminutive, yet formidable, ex-UE commodore was Franz’s partner and he the son of the well-liked, but now-retired, Joaquin Station director, eased more of the tension that had previously been present on the comm.
“So, Captain Shimada, you gave up your home for this poor excuse of a New Terran?” Drake said, laughing.
“Well, Mr. President, when he protected my destroyer by detonating a ship-killer missile with his traveler, I was inclined to give him a second look. But then, not soon after, when he carried me off the bridge in the nick of time before my ship’s dead hulk rammed a UE battleship trying to destroy a station full of innocent people, I decided he deserved a shot.”
Reiko had summarized the horrific events of the battle for Idona so simply and candidly that Drake and Jaya were speechless. They watched Franz rest his hands possessively on Reiko’s shoulders, and the two men were reminded of the essence of the Harakens — men and women who were unabashed in their efforts to protect all entities within their sphe
re — including the New Terrans.
“I’m told you’ll give us the highlights of your ship, Captain,” Drake said.
Alex could see the president relax even more. Alex sent to Renée, who smiled back at him.
While Reiko gave Drake and Jaya the highlights of the vessel, Alex mused over his relationship with Will Drake — contentious during the sale of Alex’s g-sling program, but replaced by a deep and respectful bond while working to repair the Rêveur and deliver Méridien technology to New Terra.
Julien watched his friend drift away from the conversation, reflecting on some personal thoughts no doubt, which eventually led to a frown that formed on his forehead. Correctly deducing Alex’s thoughts, Julien sent,
“So, President Drake, interested in a close-up view of our new ship and perhaps purchasing a few?” Alex asked when Reiko finished her summary.
“An FTL-capable warship with incredible beam power that can carry four travelers and has grav-drives … I think the answer would be absolutely.”
“We should meet away from New Terra to test the beams. Do you have any suggestions, Julien?” Alex asked.
“An equitable meeting point and one with adequate targets for the beam tests would be the rock fields interspersed around the moons of Ganymede,” Julien replied nonchalantly.
“How does that sound to you, President Drake?” Alex asked.
“That works for me. I have some business to attend to, but I can be aboard a traveler late tomorrow,” Drake replied.
“Excellent. By the way, President Drake, you’re welcome to bring your anxious friend,” Alex said, smiling.
Jaya’s triumphant “yes” could be heard as the comm closed.
* * *
“Julien, I recall the media producer we used for the interview with Christie was Charlotte Sanderson,” Alex said.
“It’s good to know that your implants haven’t failed … yet,” Julien quipped.
“And what is the lifespan of crystal memory?” Alex shot back.
“Much longer than brain tissue, human,” Julien replied. Much to my great regret, Julien thought.
“Charlotte, please,” Alex requested. Their repartee, which should have bolstered their spirits, managed to depress them both.
SADEs faced an unlimited lifespan now that they had mobility and control over their destinies. Julien placed a note in his long-term investigation queue — research the feasibility of transferring a human mind to crystal memory. He was aware that even if the concept could be proven many humans might not choose to make the transfer, his friend among them. It was the tenuous hold humans had on life, causing them to strive so fiercely during their short lifespans, which made them special to Julien.
“Ser Sanderson is now on the board of By-Long Media,” Julien said. “Do you still wish me to initiate contact?”
“Please, Ser.”
Alex’s polite and formal response told Julien that he too had been left pondering that thing that concerned all intelligent biological entities — their eventual demise.
Blades of grass warmed by Oistos tickled Charlotte Sanderson’s bare feet as she walked through the park. Lunch in the park and a ten-minute walk on the lush grass were part of her daily regimen — a chance to rebalance away from her hectic job. The two interviews with Christie Racine, more than a decade ago, one accompanied by Étienne de Long and the other with Alex Racine, catapulted her from producer to media director and eventually to a position on the company’s board of directors.
Charlotte’s reader chimed quietly, which surprised her because she was certain she turned it off — she always turned it off for lunch. Pulling the reader from her bag, to block further comms, Charlotte saw a swirl of delicate colors on the screen. The subtle and intricate play was mesmerizing, and then, without accepting the comm, a voice issued from it, and Charlotte nearly dropped the reader.
“Greetings, Ser Sanderson, I have an important story for you, but my source must remain anonymous.”
“Who is this?” Charlotte demanded. Her mind kicked into a producer’s investigative thought process. Greetings and Ser, the voice said — a Méridien.
“I’m afraid I too must remain anonymous. Do we have your promise?”
“Yes, on one condition.”
“No conditions.”
“Does this have anything to do with the Rêveur in our system?” Charlotte asked, hoping to get the contact to leak some piece of information.
When silence greeted her question, she relented. “Okay, fine. Yes, you have my word … anonymity for you and your source.”
“Greetings, Ser Sanderson,” Alex said, using voice comm only.
Charlotte tapped the record icon and it winked on, then off. She tapped it again and again it cycled off. SADEs, she thought, and a grin broke across her face. “This is a familiar voice,” Charlotte said, still hoping for confirmation of what she suspected. “And interesting, my reader does not detail your ID or origination source.” But here, her investigative techniques met a wall of silence. “As you wish, Ser Anonymous, what’s your story?”
“You might wish to report that according to a highly placed government source the Harakens have brought a powerful warship, the first of its kind, to Oistos for the purpose of selling the new ship to New Terra. President Drake has agreed to tour the new sting-class ship, named the Tanaka.”
The Tanaka, Charlotte thought and realized that the ship’s name gave her great color background for the report. When the voice didn’t continue, she said, “Is that it? A little thin. Can you confirm that President Racine will be meeting with President Drake?”
“I can,” the voice said, then the comm closed and the beautiful swirling pattern exploded in a spray of colors, reminiscent of the repaired liner’s display the day it left New Terra’s orbit to return to Méridien. Charlotte smiled to herself. Julien, she thought.
“Thank you, Alex,” Charlotte said quietly to her reader. Then she jumped up and down on the thick grass with both hands on her reader, squealing like a little girl.
Aboard the Rêveur, Alex sent,
the SADE replied.
The crew passing Julien in the corridor witnessed one of the oddest iterations of his head display. Soft sparkles of rainbow-colored light sprang from Julien’s crown and fell in a shimmer around his head to disappear near his shoulders. One New Terran crew member, who read fantasy stories to her daughters, explained the display to the other two walking with her when she sent,
-13-
Sarah Laurent and her partner, Fredericka Olsen, eyed Steve Ross, who sat across the table from them.
“Isn’t this cozy?” Fredericka said, fingering one of the silver rings that decorated every finger. She loved the contrast of the cool metal color against her warm brown skin.
“Hmm,” Steve grunted in reply.
The threesome comprised some of Prima’s top independent investigators, and they were also fierce competitors. That Maria Gonzalez had summoned them with short notice spoke of something big.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, people,” Maria said, sweeping into the room, and the three ex-Terran Security Forces investigators snapped upright. It was the response you would expect, short of jumping to attention and saluting, to pay your respects to an ex-TSF general and ex-president entering the room.
“I have an alpha-
priority contract to locate an individual or individuals. Your readers are receiving the details now,” Maria announced without introduction. She waited while the investigators perused the data.
“No names?” Steve asked.
“No details on the individual or individuals at all,” Maria replied. “All we know is that we’re chasing a biochemist who’s manufacturing a potent and addictive hallucinogenic drug.”
“Do we have locations where the drug has been found so that we might track it back through the suppliers?” Fredericka asked.
“Negative. All incidences of drug use have been off planet.”
The answers to the investigators’ questions were only generating more questions in their minds, and normally Maria was forthcoming with any information she could provide, but apparently not in this instance.
“Are we the only three working this case?” Sarah asked.
“Negative, Laurent, all my people are on deck for this one,” Maria replied.
If wheels weren’t churning in the investigators’ minds before, they certainly were now, and if there was ever to be a higher designation than alpha-contract, it could be applied to this one.
“Does this have anything to do with the Rêveur on its way in system?” asked Fredericka, which earned her Maria’s stare. She offered a “sorry” and nodded her head in apology.
“My people have already compiled a list of manufacturers, suppliers, and shipments of apparatus and equipment. You have the addresses, reader IDs, and comm numbers for every delivery location,” Maria said.
“So what’s our role?” asked Steve, which took the question right out of the mouths of Sarah and Fredericka.
“You three will be the only ones in the field and are tasked with determining if any of these shipments are being used to create the drug described in your notes,” Maria replied. “The difficult part is that you aren’t to let these people know they’re being investigated … that’s paramount.”
“So this is a covert surveillance operation … that part I get,” Sarah said, pulling on her short, blonde hair tucked behind her ear, which was a telltale that she was confused about something. “But how do we know who’s making what? We’re not chemists?”
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