War of the Innocents

by Michelle Breon

  At the nightclub, Torvuld left the group to watch Angel while he investigated the building, his natural distrust increasing his desire to be prepared for anything.

  Sirvana shadowed Angel at the nightclub, often asking one of the many men around to dance so that she could remain closer to Angel.

  Angel ended the night out earlier than usual, using tiredness from the travel as a convenient excuse. She answered everyone’s questions on Nik throughout the evening with the oblique statement that he was recovering well at home and was eager to resume his duties.

  Once inside their suite at the hotel, Torvuld explained the layout of the nightclub and all six possible entrances and exits. “Not all were locked or had guards. Tis no wonder why Nik wanted a team if you are going to such places. The building for the meeting had more entrance points than I care to go over, but all were guarded by the military.”

  A gloom settled on Angel. Restless, she tossed and turned, unable to settle down to sleep. Images from her dreams rose unbidden in her mind. Some had already occurred, like her bloody hands. Nik’s blood. She sighed without realizing it.

  “What tis troubling you?” Sirvana asked.

  “Nothing. Everything.” Angel sighed again. “I miss Nik.” She paused. “I feel danger on all sides. Nothing specific,” she added as Sirvana sat up, “just a foreboding. Like maybe the war is closer than we think.” She paused again, then added, “Sorry I woke you.”

  “Try to sleep. We go home tomorrow,” Sirvana said with a yawn.

  But Angel lay awake for a while longer, thinking about the new attacks on outposts and border planets. She had heard whisperings of other shipping problems, many mercs, and disappearing ships. Perhaps the war had actually already started. Angel forced her thoughts to home and fell into a light, troubled, sleep.

  At the press conference just before lunchtime on the final day, the President announced the successful completion of the new identity record agreements from many of the participants. As she extolled on the benefits in security to all that the new cards would bring, Angel worried about the ones who had not agreed. Joel had provided her a recording of the meeting. She would pass that to Mischka and seek his counsel on what changes would need to be made. Torvuld had indicated that Mischka had several concerns on the new system, but had refused to elaborate.

  When one of the reporters asked about her bodyguard, the President invited her to approach the podium. She recognized the reporter as Jim Daily and mentally prepared to answer his rude questions again. “He is recovering well at home.”

  “Is he part of the conspiracy? Have you investigated his involvement?”

  Angel maintained a neutral expression. “If such a conspiracy exists, he is not involved. He has been investigated and cleared. He will return to his duties once the doctors give him medical clearance.”

  The President stepped forward and Angel gladly relinquished the podium. She maintained an outward calm appearance as the President ended the press conference. Joel led the group back to the transport pod.

  Joel flipped on the autopilot and turned to Angel. “While I’d like to bar Mr. Daily from all press conferences, the President believes he represents a small percentage of people and feels they need a voice as well. You handled him well though.”

  Angel smiled wanly at the compliment.

  “Conspiracy?” Torvuld asked.

  “Aiy, to assassinate me and the Chancellor.”

  “Who did the investigation?”

  “I did. I talked to Nik. Come on, you know Nik. What do you think?”

  As one the team agreed that Nik would not be involved.

  She turned to Joel. “What is the latest on that conspiracy theory? Is there anything I should be worried about? I know the police caught the shooter. Did he say anything about who or why?”

  Joel carefully considered his response. “Unfortunately he managed to take a poison before the police could get a full confession. There is a conspiracy and we know Nik was not involved. We just don’t yet know all the players or where they may strike next, so yes, you should be worried.” He turned to the Chancellor. “You as well. Unfortunately, this is a civilian investigation, so I don’t have all of the details yet. When I can I will pass them along.”

  Torvuld made a mental note to pass the recording from Nik’s recorder to Mischka later.

  At the hotel, the Chancellor headed to his room and Joel turned to Angel and her team. “Cerato, a team is a wise choice. You may also want to consider more equipment for them besides boot knives.”

  Angel nodded. “I’ll be back for the next Peace Conference.”

  “I’ll meet you in the lobby as usual.”

  Good byes were said and Joel headed out. Angel headed up to her suite to wait on Ryan and Jason. She ordered lunch from the hotel’s dining room.

  “Who is this person we are waiting on?” Torvuld asked.

  Angel explained about Ryan, Jason, the mercenaries, and the shield ships while they waited for lunch to be delivered to the room. “While the Elders know about the treaties and the shipments, few know about the mercenaries or the shield ships.”

  “Tis more to the Apaugallas than the others think,” Brok observed.

  “Aiy,” Angel and Torvuld said in unison.

  “More than even I know,” Angel said. “Or want to know. And nothing should ever be told to the others. Most would not understand.”

  Torvuld remained silent.

  Lunch arrived about the same time as Jason and Ryan. Again Angel introduced everyone, then settled in to discuss the shield ships with Ryan.

  “I’m glad you agreed to this interview,” Ryan said as he activated his recorder.

  “Tis the least I can do for Steven and his ships. They have secured the transport of three separate shipments now.” Briefly she described the two recent shipments, including one that Tashi had coordinated while they had been on Earth tending to Nik in the hospital.

  “Jason tells me you experienced the first such mission from inside one of the ships.”

  Angel explained the first shipment and the battle, describing in detail how the ships had turned back the missiles and eventually rammed the mercenary ships until they retreated. She chuckled softly at the memory of Gillian piloting the ship.

  “I’m sure that wasn’t funny at the time,” Ryan said.

  “Oh no. I was scared the entire battle. I just remembered grandmother’s flight on the ship.”

  Jason grinned. “Did she get to pilot one of them?”

  Angel nodded. “Off the record,” she said, waiting for Ryan to agree before she told about Gillian’s flight. She heard muted laughter from the team during the story.

  Jason laughed. “Gillian would have made a daredevil of a pilot.” At Ryan’s silent query, he explained about their initial excursion on Rhodri’s ship. “Never will I forget that voyage. She has a talent for pushing the ship and the crew to its limits. I thought their cook was going to throw her off the ship after one sharp turn.”

  Ryan asked several more questions on the shield ships, typing the information into his datapad as they talked. Angel answered everything that she could, including some of the technical details that she asked be kept off the record.

  Once Ryan asked the last question, he typed up the ending to his news article. After a quick read, he passed the article to Jason and Angel for review.

  Angel read the article, glancing back often to the accompanying picture of the ship and a star map of an unidentified sector of space that had been overlaid with a non-descript freighter and a shield ship, showing the perimeter shields.

  “Where did you get the pictures from?”

  “Actually Mr. Caldare provided them. They are his general publicity images, very generic so as not to give away any client info.”

  Angel stared thoughtfully at the vidphone, remembering Ethan’s words. “Do you mind if I talk Steven?”

  When neither Jason nor Ryan objected, Angel crossed to the vidphone and entered the transpond
er code for Steven’s office.

  “Good afternoon, Cerato. What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?”

  “Have you been talking to Ryan Jute of the Times?”

  “Yes. He indicated that he was doing a publicity article with you. Is there a problem?”

  “No problem. I was wondering, if you thought a video from one of the fights would help the article, perhaps showing where the mercs breakoff the attack?”

  Steven smiled but shook his head. “I’d advise against it. Anyone good with a star chart could figure out where it happened.”

  Angel waved away his concern. “Llanelyn’s location is already known, thanks to the Post.”

  “Then yes, I think it would be a good addition. I can call him if you’d like,” he started, then broke off as Angel motioned Ryan and Jason over.

  “I can access the videos you sent me from here and we can all look for a segment.”

  “Don’t risk your computer security. Switch over to a secure channel.”

  Jason made the necessary adjustments when Angel paused at the unfamiliar controls. “Done”.

  “Cerato, allow me to play the videos from here.”

  Angel agreed and motioned for the team to watch as well while Steven replayed the three battles. They watched all three once, then Ryan asked Steven to replay the second battle. “Back up fifteen seconds and replay from there,” Ryan requested. “Yes, that will do well. Can you isolate just that twenty second segment?”

  Steven focused on his computer for a few seconds. “Is this what you wanted?”

  “Perfect.” Ryan turned to Angel. “That shows a single shield ship pitted against three mercenary ships, just before they break off the attack. I can have my cameraman edit out the stars. What do you think?”

  Angel asked Steven to replay it one more time. “If I had seen something like this when you first called me, I would not have been so hesitant.”

  Steven grinned. “The clip has already been sent then.”

  Ryan checked his datapad and acknowledged that he had the video. He forwarded it on to his camera crew with instructions to remove the stars in the background, but touch nothing else.

  “Is there anything else I can do for you Cerato?”

  “No, danku. The next shipment is still weeks away.”

  “And thank you. This will help my company immensely.” Steven smiled as he disconnected.

  Angel turned to Ryan. “Can I get a final copy?”

  “I always send the final to Dr. DeWitt. I can send it to you as well.”

  “Why don’t I just forward it and all the previous articles to you,” Jason offered, more a command than a question.

  Angel nodded. Ryan would not have her contact information and that was fine with her.

  Jason edited several spots to remove information that made him or Angel uneasy, then passed the datapad back to Ryan. After a final review, Ryan ensured the article was saved and submitted.

  “When will the story run?”

  Ryan grinned. “Tonight.”

  “But I thought your deadline for that passed an hour ago,” Jason said.

  Ryan chuckled. “Not when I have the front page headline. I pitched the story to my editor and that is what he wanted to do with it, so he held the deadline up. I just sent him the story after you approved it. Thanks to you doc, I am pretty much assured of top headlines for anything dealing with Llanelyn or Parrhesia.”

  They talked for a few more minutes until Angel reminded them that she had to leave soon. Ryan deactivated his recorder and quickly said good bye to everyone. Jason walked with them to the transporter, asking about the family and Nik as they walked.

  Again Torvuld transported first, the others following as before. Angel forced a smile and asked what they thought about the trip as they waited between jumps. At Tuttenrock, she was restless and unable to sit still. Sirvana glanced to Torvuld, nodding towards Angel. He acknowledged her, then headed over to the operator to see how much longer it would be.

  Nik waited for them at the transport chamber. He stood as the operator began working the buttons.

  Angel wanted to run to him, but held herself in check. “You look better,” she commented as she stepped off the transporter pad.

  “I can manage more each day. How did the meetings go?”

  “The President claimed success. I don’t think grandpa will agree.”

  Knowing that was not a conversation to have in the open, Nik turned to Torvuld and the others. “What did you think of your first trip off-planet?”

  As they walked slowly to the Training Center, they swapped stories of the trip and home. Nik stopped once to catch his breath and Angel chastised him for pushing himself too much. “Tis the farthest I’ve made it so far. Just give me a minute and I’ll be fine.”

  Mischka, Tashi, and Gillian met them at the Training Center. Angel passed along the recording of the identity record meetings. “We will need to upgrade our systems to accommodate the changes.”

  Torvuld pulled Nik aside handed him his recorder. “Listen to it, then talk with Mischka. He will want to know this.”

  Once all news had been relayed, Gillian led Angel home to sleep.

  Tashi turned to the team. “What else did you find?”

  Torvuld relayed the remaining information and Nik played the recording of Joel’s words on the conspiracy. Mischka looked at Nik.

  “The detective told me they had the shooter, just needed my confirmation. But I agree, Joel knows more than he told Angel.”

  “Trust Joel to tell us when the time tis right,” Mischka advised. “Go rest. We resume training tomorrow.”

  As the team headed out, Nik remained behind. “I’ll talk to Joel and Roth on the next trip.”

  “Aiy. See what you can find out. Take Torvuld with you to Roth.”

  Sirvana hung back as Brok and Tork strode away from the building. She caught Torvuld. “You saw what I saw, aiy?”

  “Aiy.” He frowned. “As Ethan said, we have two clients to protect, not just one.”

  Several days later, the vidphone beeped with an incoming call and Angel crossed to answer it, glad to have something to do. With the team in training, everyone was too busy during the day and too tired in the evenings to get together as they used to. The next shipment that needed the shield ships was weeks away. She had already read all the news articles forwarded by Jason and a few new clips from Ian on the original Lost Seven. She had worked with Mischka on the new components for handling the identity record changes. That list had already been sent to Rhodri to see what he could find and to the Advisor on Tuttenrock. There was little left to do but worry about that nagging feeling the war would soon happen.

  “Goesh muirnon,” Angel said to the stranger on the screen. She did not recognize the stranger. The prominent bony ridge on his forehead, hairless features, beady black eyes and small flat nose were easy to remember.

  “Goesh muirnon, Cerato,” the stranger said, his voice carrying a mocking tone. “How unwise to be answering your calls personally without screening them.”

  “Can I help you?” Angel asked politely.

  “You can surrender your planet now and save me the trouble of destroying your defense shields. Such a waste of good tech.”

  “Who are you?” Angel asked nervously. Had he really called just to threaten her? She glanced to the control panel to ensure the auto record light was on.

  The stranger chuckled mirthlessly. “Who I am does not matter. What I want does. I want your planet. Yours and the other one.”

  “You mean Parrhesia?”

  Nik entered quietly behind her to join her for lunch. Noting her agitated state and the caller that he did not recognize, he stayed out of the viewing range of the vidphone as he accessed the secondary computer control panel in the wall near the door. He started a trace on the call, checked for ships in the area, and sent an urgent message for Mischka to the vidphone at the Apaugalla Training Center.

  “You insignificant fools have n
o idea as to the value your planet has. You squat on it like vermin. I will save the planet from your infestation.”

  Angel bristled with anger. “I will never surrender this planet or its people. Our allies . . . “

  He laughed outright as if her words amused him. “Ah, yes. The Earth Alliance. They will abandon you when it is convenient for them. That is their way. You will stand alone when you face me and I will prevail.” He paused, his voice turning colder as he demanded, “Surrender now and I will spare your people.”

  “Never!”

  “Then you are a fool. You will die and your people will suffer. This I vow.” He began laughing again as Angel disconnected the call.

  Nik spoke from a few feet away. “I could not complete the trace but I think he was calling from Drotz.”

  Angel jumped at the sound of his voice. “You startled me. How much did you hear?”

  “Enough. You did well.”

  She shuddered. “What if he is right? Will Earth Gov abandon us?”

  “Trust your instincts on Joel and the others.”

  Angel nodded. “Then why did he say all that? Why did he call? And who is he?”

  “Just a guess, but to test you and see how you respond. And to get to you and sow distrust of Earth and the rest of the allies. He tis probably part of the conspiracy, possibly tis he who hired the assassin.”

  Mischka arrived then, winded from having run across the village. “What tis the urgency?”

  “Show him” Nik said quietly.

  Angel accessed the vidphone screen and replayed the conversation.

  “Hmmmm,” Mischka said. “Do you not recognize him?”

  “No. He does not look like the Drotz Ambassador. The facial features are completely different. But the Ambassador is not a Drotz. Joel said he was Tarken.”

  Nik explained his guess for the call.

  “A hired merc then. Or someone working for his own gain and taking advantage of the situation. However, he tis correct in one aspect. You should not answer the vidphone without some screening.”

  “I’ll take care of it. Forward me the recording.” Nik said quietly.

  Mischka noticed Angel was still shaking and pulled her into a hug. “You did well rosso coch,” he crooned, using her pet name to help calm her. “Tis merely a bully who hides behind others, getting them to handle the dangerous stuff. A coward and a bully. Nothing else. You may never see him again. Do not worry about him for now.”