by Ben Weaver
“You’re doing the right thing. And you know I’m here if you need me.”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “And you know, she’s the only family I have left.”
“Hey, man, you’ll be all right. And maybe one day you’ll get to see her.”
He just glanced away and left.
The screen beckoned again, and I went back through the schematics, committing them to memory and whispering, “I’ll get you out of there. I promise.”
With my eyes growing sore, I decided to watch some war news, and there was my old friend, Ms. Elise Rainey, staring back at me from the screen and reporting from Kennedy-Centauri. Ten colonies had fallen to the alliances; with Icillica won back, nine of the seventeen were still under Alliance occupation. She went on with more local news about the riots, but my thoughts wandered back to the meeting we should have had and to the fact that she had contacted my father. I wanted to repay her, and I knew she wanted information, but I wasn’t sure what I could give her without compromising my position. An incoming call from the bridge flashed on the screen’s databar. I thumbed the remote.
“Major St. Andrew?” Callahan said from his command chair. “Vanguard One has just tawted in. I have Ms. Brooks for you.”
I straightened in the chair and rubbed the haze from my eyes as our Colonial Security Chief appeared, seated at her desk. “Major,” she said with a gasp, then took a moment to compose herself. “We received your message.”
“Where’s Paul now?”
“He’s leading a joint operation of Wardens and Western Alliance Marines. They’re heading to Sol, to the Exxo-Tally industrial ring station at Lagrange point five. We’re expecting an Eastern Alliance attack on the station any day now.”
“Whoa. Slow down. Wardens are working with Western Alliance Marines?”
“Remember when I told you how fourteen nations—including the United States—split from the Western Alliance because of what happened at Columbia? Well, a civil war among the Alliances has erupted, and we’re going to take full advantage of it. Paul’s leading the very first joint operation, and they just tawted out a few hours ago.”
“You let him go?”
“I had to. But Scott, can you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s a traitor?”
“Halitov and Jing are witnesses! He sold us out! C’mon, you have to believe me. He’s going to make sure we lose the war. His mother’s life depends on it.”
“Scott, we’re talking about Colonel Beauregard’s son. When I showed the colonel your message, he laughed. Then he absolutely refused to believe it. Then he grilled Paul. Afterward, he assured me that his son was not a traitor.”
“And that was enough for you? I don’t believe this. Why didn’t you and the colonel find someone else to lead the mission? Haven’t I at least cast enough doubt?”
“As far as I’m concerned, you have. But the colonel insisted. Between you and me, I believe he does have some doubts of his own, and I think he’s up to something, but I don’t know what.”
“Welcome to war. No one trusts anyone.” I slapped a palm on my forehead and rubbed my temples.
“Scott, I need you right now.”
“And Jing needs me, too,” I snapped. “She’s being held at the Nereid Research and Testing Facility, thanks to the colonel’s son. For all I know they could’ve brainwiped her already, or maybe she’s dead. Paul really took care of us. The bastard!” I lost my breath, slammed a fist on the desk.
“I’m going to order a strike team to Nereid. We can’t spare too many people, but we’ll do our best to get Jing.”
“And I’ll lead that team.”
“No, you’re going to be my ace in the hole. Without the colonel’s approval, I’m going to send you and Halitov to Sol. You’ll board that station, arrest Paul, and take over the mission.”
My heart told me to refuse and demand that I lead the team going after Jing. But being a good soldier meant making personal sacrifices. I knew what I had to do. “Ms. Brooks, do you promise you’ll send that team for Jing?”
“You know I will.”
“Very well. Rooslin and I will catch a shuttle back there. Have an ATC ready for us.”
“It’ll be standing by when you arrive. I’ll meet you in the bay.” Her expression tightened. “And Scott? I can’t remind you enough of what’s at stake here. If the United States and the other nations believe we’re double-crossing them…”
“I know. Not only do we have to help them defend their territory, but we have to maintain good diplomatic relations as well. I’ll do everything I can. I just can’t believe you didn’t stop Paul.”
“Admittedly, my relationship with the colonel has grown more tenuous, and my time has been divided.”
“We could lose the entire war because of the Beauregard family!”
“Scott, there are politics working here that you don’t need to know about. Suffice it to say, that letting Paul go was a mistake. I knew that, but it happened too quickly, and at that time, I needed to do everything I could to make the colonel happy.”
“Make him happy?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too. Because if Paul tips off the enemy, then a lot of good people are going to die for nothing—and with all due respect, ma’am, their blood will be on your hands.”
She closed her eyes, and I broke the link, stood, paced the cabin, skinned up and called Halitov on our private channel. “Rooslin, we’re leaving right now.”
“I’m a little busy.”
“That’s right. You’re tawting out to the Sol system to stop Paul Beauregard, who just happens to be leading a joint operation of Wardens and Western Alliance Marines on the ring station at Lagrange five.”
“Now that’s pretty funny.”
“I’m serious, Rooslin. Remember he said there was a mission coming up?”
“Wait a minute. Yeah. He said it was the last thing he had to do for them.”
“Well this is it. We’ve secured some allies in the Western Alliance, but he’s going to ruin that.”
“Goddamn. I’m on my way.”
When our shuttle landed aboard Vanguard One, it wasn’t Ms. Brooks waiting for us but Dr. Jim Vesbesky, who excitedly said that we would meet with the security chief following a brief treatment inside his newly modified Mnemosyne Reversion Stabilization Devices.
“We’re working against the clock, here, Doctor,” said Halitov, double-timing at my side through the bay, with Vesbesky tagging behind.
“This will only take a few hours.”
“I wish we had a few minutes,” I said. “But if we don’t get briefed and tawt out of here, growing old too fast won’t bother us anymore. And to tell you the truth, we’ve been experimenting with a more, I don’t know, thought-based approach to our problem.”
“I’m intrigued. Tell me.”
“Sorry, Doc,” Halitov said as we crossed into a lift. He turned, lifted a hand, forcing Vesbesky out. “If we make it back, maybe, just maybe, we’ll chase a little cheese for you.”
Vesbesky smirked as the lift doors shut.
“The guy’s only trying to help us,” I said, working my tac to contact Ms. Brooks.
“Fine. You want to climb into one of his coffins while everything goes to hell?”
I shushed him. “Ms. Brooks. We’re on our way up.”
“Sorry I couldn’t meet you there. Did you see Dr. Vesbesky?”
“Yeah. He needs a couple of hours. We’ll have to catch up with him when we get back.”
“A couple of hours? I thought he’d be brief. Well, I’m not comfortable sending you off in your condition, but I’d rather it be you than anyone else. See you in a minute. We have a lot to discuss.”
PART 3
The Blood of Patriots
13
18 February, 2322
Ms. Brooks’s face haunted me during the entire trip to Sol. When she saw us off, there was something in her eyes, something I just couldn’t place, a sadness perhaps,
a longing for something, I wasn’t sure, but it bothered me very much.
And now, many years later, I saw a similar expression on the face of President Holtzman as I entered his office. The big outdoorsman came forward and offered a firm handshake. “Colonel, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Indeed,” said President Wong, who rose from a plush leather chair positioned opposite Holtzman’s desk. He offered his hand, which I took.
“To be honest gentlemen, I wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, given the circumstances.”
“We don’t believe you understand the circumstances,” said Holtzman. He gestured to the chair beside Wong’s. “Have a seat.”
I did so and politely rejected Wong’s offer of water. “Can I assume we’re being recorded?”
“We’re not,” Holtzman answered quickly. “As a matter of fact, I’ve had everything turned off, and the office has been swept for bugs. This is between the three of us.”
“Sir, I don’t understand.”
Wong cleared his throat. “Colonel St. Andrew, we have some disturbing information for you.”
“More disturbing than our present state of affairs?”
Holtzman approached, towering over me, his gaze narrowed and hard. “Colonel, your president is a traitor.”
The absurdity of that remark left me grinning, but the smile dropped as I read their grave expressions. “Excuse me?”
“We have hard evidence indicating that she, along with a group of traitors in all three of our alliances, tampered with the congressional votes on Mars and Jupiter. The votes to secede will not stand once we release our evidence.”
“If you’re going to continue with these accusations, you’ll need to show me your evidence,” I said, my tone as unwavering as his.
Holtzman gazed back at his desk. “We’re prepared to do that.”
“Very good. Because I have a hard time believing that those colonies would endorse being abused by Inte-Micro and Exxo-Tally. The companies’ grip on the tech market is as obvious as it is illegal.”
“We agree,” said Wong. “And we’ve been doing what we can to persuade them to lower their prices and work more openly with the colonies.”
“Your attempts have obviously failed.”
“They’ve failed because there are those in our alliances and those in yours—including your president—who want to start a war,” said Holtzman with a grimace. “The Terran global economy has been taking a beating, and our losses have been felt by the seventeen. We’re all getting our economic asses kicked, and a good old-fashioned war would bail us out.”
Wong leaned toward me, and I thought I heard real emotion in his voice. “Your president and the traitors among us have taken advantage of our dispute with Jupiter and Mars. They’re using it as a means to begin such a war. And they’ve done much more than violate the treaty.”
“But what about your blockade over Rexi-Calhoon? That’s not a violation? Come on…”
“We were hoping that an initial show of force would give your president pause,” said Holtzman. “But she countered with her own ‘parade’ here.”
They had yet to show me their evidence, but I had to admit that President Vinnery’s behavior had been combative. “Instead of this show of force, why didn’t you just go public with your evidence, indict those people involved, and call for another vote?”
Wong steepled his fingers. “At this moment our central intelligence officers, along with a special prosecutor, are working to identify and arrest the traitors among us. Going public would compromise that operation.”
“Gentlemen, I’m floored. I came here armed with war stories and with a negotiations team of politicians, veterans, and citizens all meant to persuade you to allow the will of the people to stand.”
“As it should,” said Holtzman. “The people of Mars and Jupiter are pissed off, but they don’t want to secede. The votes of their representatives were not counted properly because of the tampering of your president and this network of traitors. Colonel, the three of us want the same thing here: a peaceful solution. But first we have to deal with traitors, warmongers, and opportunists.”
“So you want me to have my intelligence people investigate our president,” I concluded, my jaw going slack even as I spoke the words.
“That’s correct,” said Wong. “And we hope your investigation will help uncover those who assisted her in these acts. We can coordinate our efforts and put an end to the dispute by arresting those involved.”
“But you’re talking about bringing down my president.”
“Yes, we are,” said Holtzman.
I suddenly remembered to breathe. My gaze lifted to Holtzman, then to Wong. They wanted an answer. They wouldn’t get one until I was certain. “All right. Show me your evidence.”
Holtzman returned to his desk and activated a holographic projector. Numbers spilled across a flat display glowing in the air above us. “First I’ll take you through the computer code to demonstrate how it was tampered with, then I’m going to show you exactly how we traced it back to Rexi-Calhoon and your president.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Go ahead.”
For the next twenty minutes, Holtzman detailed how Vinnery had carefully covered her electronic tracks—but her thoroughness had been her undoing. Although the Western Alliance President used a lot of computer jargon, my cerebroed memory defined every word and phrase so that I clearly understood the cunningness of the acts. In the end, he illustrated that his experts had identified Vinnery’s tampering, and Western Alliance Intelligence had confirmed it. What was more, both he and Wong were willing to submit to cerebral scans to prove they were not lying to me and had not fabricated the data. I watched as for another half hour they submitted to those scans, and, finally, I received proof positive that they offered nothing but the truth. The shocking truth.
“So you see,” began Wong. “This is, indeed, more disturbing than our present state of affairs.”
“I’ll need to meet with my intelligence people and begin an investigation immediately,” I said. “But it’s going to take time. Months, probably. And we have these cruisers breathing down our necks.”
“And now we can’t withdraw ours with yours sitting up there,” said Holtzman. “So it’s a standoff until the truth comes out.”
“Let’s agree on this, then. No blockade. All ships are permitted through. We’ll just continue to point cannons at each other.”
Holtzman glanced to Wong, who nodded. “All right.”
“I guess that’s the best we can do for now,” I said. “But someone’s going to fire a shot.”
“Which is why you need to move quickly,” said Holtzman. “We’ll provide you with whatever you need to coordinate with your people back on Rexi-Calhoon. And don’t worry about getting an operative aboard Vinnery’s command ship.”
“Yes, we know you already have one there,” I said, dousing his attempt to surprise me. “Will he be at my disposal?”
“I’ll make sure of it.”
I rose. “All right. I’ll need an office to set up a command post. And now I suppose we’ll have to address the media.”
“I suggest we maintain an air of optimism,” said Wong. “The negotiations are ongoing, insightful, and we’re making progress.”
“Those are the facts,” said Holtzman. “But I’m having a hell of a time remaining optimistic.” The Western Alliance president led me to the door. “You know, I read your dossier in preparation for this meeting. Ironic how history repeats itself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean this isn’t the first time you’ve had to deal with a traitor.”
“No, sir, it isn’t.”
“Well, I hope the past has taught you something.”
“Funny, Mr. President. I had a premonition before I walked in here that it would. Whispers from the stars, maybe. Who knows.”
“We’ll meet up with you in a moment.”
“Very well.”
&nbs
p; Bren, Tat, Ysarm, and Jiggs sprang up from their chairs and met me in the waiting area as I hurried out. “How’d it go, sir?” Bren asked as we walked.
“Trust me, Bren. It was an eye-opener. We’re going down to meet the press corps, then we’re going to set up an office here.”
“What about the negotiations team, sir?”
“Send them home.”
The burly man’s face creased in confusion. “Sir?”
“Just do it, Bren.”
“Yes, sir.”
The rest of my security officers made no attempt to hide their bewilderment, and I made no attempt to explain my actions. They, like everyone else, would learn soon enough. We took a lift down to the press corps auditorium and passed through the scanners before being escorted by one of Holtzman’s spokespeople up to the dais. I gazed out across a crowd of journalists numbering in the hundreds, their cameras hovering like all-seeing metallic clouds. I reminded myself not to fall on my ass again, both figuratively and physically.
Presidents Holtzman and Wong arrived a moment later, and Holtzman whispered in my ear that I would go on first. Holtzman’s spokesperson announced me, and the room fell remarkably silent. My hands trembled, and I clutched the ornate wooden podium bearing the seal of the Western Alliance. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to report that negotiations between the Eastern, Western, and Colonial Alliances have begun in earnest. It is our aim to reach a peaceful solution to this crisis. I can state with impunity that the negotiations are ongoing, insightful, and we’re making progress.”
Holtzman and Wong beamed at me. I added a few remarks regarding our schedule before taking questions from the press. A strikingly handsome woman with dark hair streaked gray, rose from the front row and lifted her hand. I grinned at my old friend Ms. Elise Rainey and called her name.
“Thank you, Colonel. Now, sir, how do you respond to accusations made today from the independent parties on Mars and Jupiter that the vote to secede is inaccurate? And I do have a follow-up.”
“Of course you do.”
That brought laughter from the crowd. Rainey’s hard-hitting reputation was well known, but I knew she wouldn’t corner me. “Ms. Rainey, with any controversial vote, there are often those who come forward and cry foul. I know that investigations regarding the process are currently under way, so I cannot respond definitively to any accusations until we know the facts.”
