Prominence - Redemption

by Shane Griffin

  #

  Relv sat in the back of the transport ship staring out the view port as it dropped through the upper atmosphere towards the surface of Vaslus. Vaslus looked dry and much browner than he remembered. He had received another direct message via his special security chip. It simply read.

  "I am sorry about yesterday. There is more to all this. Meet me here and keep a low profile. There is a lot I need to explain."

  There were a set of grid coordinates with the message. It did not specifically say it was from her, but he knew it was. His initial thought was to crush the chip and let her court martial him or lock him up. However, he knew her well enough that if she said there was more to something then it was probably an understatement if anything. It intrigued him enough to leave the Prominence and book a transport from Prime Station down to the surface.

  The transport dropped down onto a small paved landing pad outside the one thousand story government tower and office of the Primariate. It was an imposing structure, still one of the tallest on Vaslus and a testament to the level of complexity and dedication to stability that was required to successfully govern a civilization that had spanned several centuries in time and thousands of light years in distance.

  The transport door swished open and the parching heat from outside was intense and very uncomfortable, especially for one used to the artificial climate of a navy ship.

  "Please exit the transport and stand at a safe distance. All visitors to Vaslus are advised to wear their radiation skins and remain outdoors for no more than 15 minutes at a time. This has been a public safety announcement. Enjoy your stay," chimed the artificially soothing female voice from within the cabin.

  The radiation skin was designed to reflect the growing levels of cosmic radiation that were ever more invasively penetrating the atmosphere of Vaslus. It did this very effectively; the only problem was it was hot, and as itchy as hell. He yanked at the high neck aggressively so he could scratch for about the hundredth time since squeezing into it.

  He looked directly up at the tower. It was so tall he could not see the top, but he knew there must be landing pads up there for the high and mighty. He wished just once that she could have let him come see her via the front door.

  With the heat beating down on him and the itchy radiation skin aggravating his own skin he was keen to get indoors so he pulled out the security chip and followed the locator beacon towards the coordinates he had been sent.

  It lead to a back loading area of the tower. It was the catering entrance judging by the amount of food stuff going in. Like most busy loading docks there is always one person looking more flustered than the others and brandishing an info tile.

  Relv made a bee line directly to him.

  "Excuse me. I'm here to meet with the Primariate. Can you direct me where to go?"

  The loading dock foreman stared at Relv in his casual civilian clothes and with several colorful expletives told him to go away.

  Relv was tempted to counter him by revealing his identity and rank, but the message had specifically told him to be low key. Instead he took a deep breath and pulled out his security chip.

  "If you can just take a moment to swipe this against your info tile you might change your mind."

  "In about five seconds I am calling security," rumbled the foreman.

  "Good," replied Relv firmly. "Maybe one of them will be kind enough to check it."

  "I don't get paid enough for this shit!" groaned the foreman as he snatched the security chip and touched it against his info tile. The tile suddenly glowed red and whatever was written on its screen had him back peddling at speed. He quickly called up a communication channel with someone inside the tower the whole time apologizing to Relv.

  After about 5 minutes of waiting in the dock one of Mira's huge bodyguards arrived. He took one look at Relv and ordered him to follow. Relv complied without a word; her bodyguards over the ages had never been the talking types. The monster led him to a service elevator which took them up several hundred stories before it stopped. The bodyguard ushered him out across the hall and into a second, elevator.

  This one was much larger than the first and contained two luxurious lounges as well as its own mini bar. It was obviously the Primariate’s private elevator and was designed for the comfort of whatever important dignitary or colony ambassador that needed their ego massaged. It also came with a second bodyguard ready and waiting.

  Knowing Mira it was probably bugged in every way imaginable so he simply sat on one of the lounges and smiled at the silent bodyguards. The doors closed without a sound and they stood either side of him and stared at him intensely, as though they intended to pounce on him and rough him up. The he realized that he was most probably being scanned from head to toe to make sure he was not hiding and weapons, poisons, biological agents or anything else that could be even vaguely used to harm the Primariate.

  “Seriously Mira,” he said out loud, on the off chance she was actually listening, while frowning and shaking his head.

  Neither of the bodyguards moved until the elevator finally stopped. He was once again ushered out. This time the elevator exited into a large opulently furnished meeting chamber. Apart from having the most lavish furniture he had even seen it also had everything and anything that a visiting dignitary could ever want in regards to hardware and communications. All at their fingertips and all most likely bugged.

  The first bodyguard stayed at the lift while the other led him across the meeting chamber to an exit on the far side. The bodyguard used his security chip to open the door. It led to a long white hallway with various other doors leading to rooms branching off it.

  "Last on the right," the bodyguard growled.

  Relv walked down the corridor and opened the last door on the right as instructed. He stepped out of the sterile white corridor and into a dimly lit room. He was immediately assaulted by a strong, but alluring perfume that permeated the entire room. As his eyes adjusted to the semi darkness he realised he had walked directly into Mira's private bedroom.

  She lay seductively across a huge luxurious bed dressed in a figure hugging outfit that left little to the imagination. He gently closed the door behind him and for a moment his base instincts took over. He pulled off his shirt, kicked off his shoes and socks and crawled onto the bed to kiss her. He was gentle and tender at first, but she pulled him hard against her body. He let the passion start to wash him away for a moment, but then he pulled away.

  "You know the rules Mira, business first."

  She slapped him hard across the face then rolled off the bed and stood up angrily. At first she did not speak and instead moved to a side table in the room and poured a strong drink for herself.

  "You think that after all this time I am still trying to manipulate you?"

  "If I thought that were true then I would not be here Mira and you know it."

  "Then why can't you just accept that it’s been over six months and I missed you?"

  "Because nothing is ever that simple with you. You always go for seduction over just straight talking."

  "We have plenty of time to talk about the mission tomorrow. Right now I just want to forget everything and lose myself in the only person still alive I can really trust," she said forlornly.

  "I am not talking about this suicide mission you want to send me on. I am talking about us Mira and what the hell you were thinking becoming Primariate! You know as well as I do that as Primariate you can never leave Vaslus again. You are already a handful of years older. Plorus is a three year jump in either direction..."

  "Eight months," she corrected.

  "What?"

  "With the current jump drive advances its eight months each way now," she replied quietly between agitated sips.

  "And what about the next mission or the one after that? Time will change you then kill you long before me. The reality is you are leaving me and you won't even acknowledge it!"

  Mira sculled what was left of her drink and grimaced to keep
it down then came back to sit on the side of the bed. She would not look at him at first so he reached across and turned her head towards him.

  For the first time ever since they had met her face was an open book as she intentionally let go her normal facade of complete control. He was shocked by the expression of anguish on her face.

  "There won't be another mission Relv...I need you to go to Plorus and keep the Orlak occupied as long as possible. Use the Prominence if you have to, but make sure that no matter what happens that it does not fall into their hands."

  "So you are not just leaving me you are killing me too! That’s a hell of a way to end a relationship even for you."

  "You think I want this? You think I wanted to spend even a minute apart from you these last six years? This is about our civilization Relv...which is why we are evacuating Vaslus." Her last words were hollow and she slumped against him for support as though she lost strength just speaking them.

  "You want to abandon Vaslus to the Orlak?" Relv asked incredulously grabbing her by the shoulders and staring directly into her eyes in the vain hope she was joking.

  "Not because of the Orlak, because of Sol Prime. The solar flares are now getting measurably worse by the year not just by the decade. Our lead solar researchers are predicting less than a decade before there is a major instability. There have already been several solar flares large enough to have potentially wiped out all life here had they appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time."

  "Then why is the Grand Admiral trying to build an all in defense fleet?"

  "Because he is a one dimensional thinking military fool. He thinks he is out-playing me at my own game with his secret research to improve on the Singularity Pulse and put them into new ships. There is nothing he has achieved that was not without my consent or design. He thinks he is building a fleet for the final defense of Vaslus when he is actually building the biggest evacuation fleet in all of history.

  For each combat vessel he has in the ship yards I have three colony ships and every type of freight ship possible. We will strip Vaslus of every ounce of resources we can and move the entire population."

  "Where to?"

  "In the early days of exploration a habitable planet was found that is over 400 years away by jump. It was never pursued further due to the long jump distance, but now it will be our second beginning, a one way trip to create a new future."

  "How do you know if that will even be safe? If we run now what is to stop the Orlak from systematically destroying the rest of the colony worlds and then following you?"

  "Because we intend to destroy them at Vaslus once and for all. Every captain of any ship with a Singularity Pulse onboard is one of my handpicked agents. The moment the Orlak arrive to attack Vaslus my agents have been ordered to turn their Singularity Pulses onto Sol Prime itself. If our boffins are correct it will be enough to tip it over the edge and potentially even go supernova."

  Mira pulled from his grip and went back to the side table for another drink.

  "This is insanity Mira! You are going to destroy Vaslus and everyone on it!"

  "Now you know why your mission is so important. Every month, day and hour you give us is countless more lives saved. Please you have to say yes, you are one of my best military commanders and the only one I trust."

  Relv stood angrily, he wanted to throw the entire bed at her. How could she be so clinical and calculating about everything, especially when she was effectively saying goodbye to him forever. He grabbed his shirt and shoes from the floor and was about to storm out when he noticed that her hands were shaking. He dropped his clothes again and moved to her and wrapped his arms around her. That's when he realized her whole body was shaking. He turned her around and saw that she was crying unabashedly. Something he had never seen before or thought her capable of.

  "Ever since the Abarath I have been in this to defend Vaslus and make the Orlak pay. I guess it’s time for the final chapter." he said quietly.

  Mira wiped back tears from her eyes and then grabbed his hands and pulled them to her chest. It was a traditional gesture of intimacy and trust and Relv was not quite prepared for it from her.

  "I know that we never properly bonded through the Tata, but I always felt that if I ever went through it that it would be with you. You are right; the truth is that this time it will be goodbye forever."

  Relv pulled his hands away gently and looked into her eyes. The Tata was a very real spiritual and mind link that only people completely dedicated to each other went through. Once completed the other persons emotions could be sensed at all times by their Tata. That meant that everything either Tata felt was experienced to a lesser extent by the other. It was not something that was entered into lightly as once completed it was irreversible. Spacers like Relv very rarely entered into it because the time that passed for one was not the same as the other. Some people had gone mad as their Tata lived and entire life while only hours passed for the other.

  "Damn you Mira, you are hard woman to love, but I love you anyway. If this night is going to be our last then I want to make it one we never forget."