The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  “Oh, really? That’s wonderful news.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra cheerfully expressed.

  “Indeed, it is.” General Deschner stated. “You mentioned something that happened last night?”

  “Well, General...” Lieutenant General Armitage started to speak.

  “We have been working on the ETD, and we found out how to get it to transport again. We transported a small object, and that was a success, and now we want to test a bigger object.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra requested.

  “But to do that, we need a bigger platform for the ETD,” Lieutenant General Armitage interjected, “Do you think you could contact STAV and ask them to make a bigger platform for us?”

  “Of course. Since Major General Solbrig is on Snakardekus, I will contact Brigadier General Vorhaus and tell her to do so. Did you have a blueprint to send to her?”

  “Oh, yes, of course.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra replied, “I can send it to you whenever you would like.”

  “Good, please do so now.” General Deschner added, “In the meantime, Lieutenant General Armitage, tell me what you found out about the ETD.”

  Lieutenant General dee Veyra swiped her hand and moved her finger down and then swiped and then tapped once more. Lieutenant General Armitage spoke as she sent the blueprint.

  “Well, at first, it wasn’t working General, and we couldn’t figure out why that was.”

  “Oh?”

  “We found out that Lieutenant General dee Veyra was denied access and thought that was odd since she is the only person working on the ETD.”

  “That is odd.” General Deschner agreed as he leaned forward.

  “We fixed it eventually, and she was granted access once again. Then we looked through the data logs and noticed that, well... they were altered.” Lieutenant General Armitage stammered.

  “Altered?” General Deschner asked, “How were they altered?”

  Lieutenant General dee Veyra swiped her hand and looked towards General Deschner. “I sent you the blueprints, General.” She exhaled before speaking, “Yes, General, the code was altered, and we found the source of it.”

  “Oh? What was that?”

  Lieutenant General dee Veyra turned to her right to look at Lieutenant General Armitage then looked at General Deschner. “Well, we found out the code said that you had altered it...”

  General Deschner did not utter a word and looked at each Lieutenant General before speaking. “I altered it?” he asked as if they were accusing him.

  “Yes, General. That is what the code said.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra added, “We looked at the code, and it showed us who still had access to the ETD, and you and I were the only ones who still had access to it.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “I mean, that is what the code said, and we double-checked it.” Lieutenant General Armitage admitted.

  “So,” General Deschner cleared his throat, “You finally caught me. I wasn’t sure how long it would take you to figure that out. Which is why I figured two-months would be sufficient, which just so happens to be the length of time I sent the Major Generals on their mission. I didn’t think you would figure out by the first month.”

  “Wait, what?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked.

  “You heard correctly,” General Deschner added, “I denied access to you on purpose.”

  “Why would you do that?” Lieutenant General Armitage asked.

  “What don’t you understand? I knew you wouldn’t be able to figure it out on your own accord. Nothing against you, dee Veyra, but Armitage is open-minded, and I knew he would help figure it out for you.”

  Lieutenant General dee Veyras’ face turned red with anger and embarrassment. “You’re just joking, right General?”

  “Oh no, I wish I were. In fact, you two did exactly what I thought you would do.”

  “What’s that?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked angrily.

  “You thought you could work together against me, didn’t you?” General Deschner asked.

  The Lieutenant Generals were surprised by what he said, Lieutenant General Armitage belted out. “What? No way, General! We weren’t planning on anything like that!”

  “Oh, really? You weren’t, huh?” General Deschner asked, “What about this?”

  General Deschner swiped his hand, and his INH opened. Then he tapped on “Files” then tapped on “USV Valkanaut” then he scrolled down and tapped on “Recordings” then he searched through all of the recordings and tapped on one that read: __Eng.Bay__Rec__LieutenantGeneral__Pt.3._056_3490_1883 and swiped it forward to play through the conference rooms speaker.

  The recording played, and the three listened to what was on it.

  “I sure hope not. This is the only evidence we have, and it is concrete. I just cannot wrap my mind around why General Deschner would, in fact, do that to you and your project.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “We can’t let him know that we know, dee Veyra.”

  General Deschner tapped on the recording and stopped it. “Explain that then.” His face was stern as he spoke. Lieutenant General Armitage looked down at the table in deep thought, and Lieutenant General dee Veyra blinked and shook her head. “Were you spying on us?”

  “Spying?” General Deschner asked, “How can I spy when the USV Valkanaut is mine?”

  “You were listening to our private conversation, General.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra explained, “That is the definition of spying.”

  “Do you not recall, dee Veyra? The USV Valkanaut and everything therein is the sole property of the General and only the General?” He leaned back in his chair and continued to speak. “So, since that is the truth, I am in no wrongdoing, unlike the both of you.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage looked up and asked. “But General, did you listen to the entire conversation?”

  “Are you calling me naïve, Armitage?”

  “What? No!” Lieutenant General Armitage explained, “I was just wondering if you listened to all of it to know the context of that conversation… that’s all.”

  “Of course, I listened to it all, what do you take me for?” General Deschner leaned forward and slammed his hands on the table as he stood up and commanded. “Everything inside of the USV Valkanaut is recorded. Every single room.”

  He looked at Lieutenant General Armitage. “Yes, Armitage every room, that includes the Medbay when you talked to the Major Generals in secret and gave them the files for Snakardekus and Varenok.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra curiously looked at him. “Oh, you don’t know, dee Veyra? Oh, before the Major Generals went on their mission, Armitage here thought it was a good idea to debrief them with files, pictures, and videos about the planets. He even went as far as calling Brigadier General Rosha Maruo without authorization to create weapons for the Major Generals.” General Deschner shook his head in disappointment. “I called Brigadier General Maruo after you did, Armitage, but I told him to change the weapons to my liking instead of yours.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage heard his heartbeat inside of his ears, he felt his stomach drop and felt his face becoming red and warm. He moved his head down and closed his eyes as he moved his hands in over his face. He was in trouble, and he knew it. Lieutenant General dee Veyra looked at Lieutenant General Armitage, then looked back and General Deschner. “I don’t understand.”

  “I didn’t think you would dee Veyra. You see, he has left you in the dark about a lot of things and has been keeping secrets from both of us, really.” General Deschner sat down at his chair and steepled his hands together. “Well? Do you have anything to say?”

  Lieutenant General Armitage looked up at General Deschner and started to speak. “I mean, what can I say? I care for the Major Generals. We control Nuwurth together, and we look out for one another. I just figured if I looked out for them on Snakardekus and Varenok that they might be less nervous or scared or...”

  “You broke protocol because of your feelings fo
r the Major Generals, is that what you’re saying?”

  “I didn’t want them to feel like the weight of the entire mission is on their shoulders!” Lieutenant General Armitage stood up while he yelled. “That isn’t fair to them or anyone! They need to know that they aren’t there alone!”

  General Deschner stood up while he shouted back at Lieutenant General Armitage. “They aren’t there alone, they each other! Because of what you did and went through and contacted Brigadier General Maruo, they will be in danger soon.”

  “What? How?!” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked.

  “dee Veyra, don’t you worry about it. Blood will be on Armitage’s hands, possibly physically if he continues to keep this up.” General Deschner pointed at Lieutenant General Armitage, “You sit down.” Lieutenant General Armitage meekly sat back down in his chair. “Now look, I’m willing to overlook this ordeal if you two cooperate with me.” General Deschner moved his arms behind his back and paced back and forth by his chair as he spoke.

  “This is what is going to happen. You two are not going to tell the Major Generals about this ordeal, and I will get into contact with Brigadier General Aishir Tomeoni to create a bigger ETD so we can transport Kradnaks along with able-bodied transhumans to Snakardekus to extract the Azuard from them!”

  “What? What is Azuard?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked.

  “You’ll see it in due time, but Major Generals Solbrig and Reingle have discovered something on Snakardekus that seems like it can be useful to the transhumans on Nuwurth. Now, I’m not sure exactly how, but we will find out. I’m thinking about putting every Brigadier General from all divisions to work on finding exactly what we can learn about the Azuard.”

  “What? But what about the mission?” Lieutenant General Armitage asked.

  “The mission is going to continue going forth until we won’t need them anymore.”

  “Them?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked, “Them as in...?”

  “The Major Generals, dee Veyra. General Deschner sent them on a suicide mission.” Lieutenant General Armitage continued to speak, “He told me in private what he planned on doing.”

  “Wait, what?! How could you, General Deschner!?”

  “How could I? I never said I am going to kill them! All I said was that they are Major Generals and that they know the risks. I did not say anything other than that.”

  “I mean, yeah, you’re right; they do know the risks.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra agreed. “We all know the risks of this job and what it entails.”

  “Exactly my point!” General Deschner agreed.

  “I can’t believe you two would just put the Major Generals in danger like this!” Lieutenant General Armitage pleaded with them. “Sure, we know the risks, but did we actually believe that these so-called risks are something that we would encounter?”

  “Well...” General Deschner started to talk, “Of course not, but we cannot back down when times get tough, Armitage.”

  “Back down? General Deschner, do you hear yourself? You’re the one that is creating fear, the Frochen and Snargde are not! They are just living their lives as best as they know how to. By sending the Major Generals to these planets, we are instilling fear upon their communities.”

  “What is wrong with that? That was the plan all along. We have to create an enemy image in the Snargde and Frochen. They are vastly different than us. The Frochen is just a bystander in this mission, they are useless, but if we create the fear that the Snargde are our enemies, then we can go to Snakardekus and take the Azuard without any transhuman questioning us.”

  “That was your plan?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked, “That is genius!”

  “This is still my plan.” General Deschner looked at Lieutenant General Armitage as he sat down in his chair. “...if Armitage doesn’t mess it up for us. Let’s be civil about this. Don’t notify anyone, and you’ll keep your rank as Lieutenant General, understood?”

  Lieutenant General. Armitage looked at the General. Deschner then looked at Lieutenant General dee Veyra. Her face turned into a scowl, and it spoke for herself. He knew he couldn’t do much about the situation, and he knew that being a part of the Syndicate was much better than not to be.

  “Fine, okay.” Lieutenant General Armitage groaned, “I won’t say anything. I messed things up already, and I don’t want to mess up more.”

  “Good, I’m glad you came to that realization.” General Deschner smiled. “I don’t really need you two in here anymore, you already sent me the blueprints, and I can contact the Brigadier Generals without you two.”

  General Deschner smiled at them with his hands steepled together. “You two have done the Syndicate a great service. I’m proud of the both of you, you have allowed us to get on with the mission at a faster rate than I thought, and for that I applaud you.” General Deschner clapped his hands. “You completed a lot of work for me without me lifting a finger.”

  The Lieutenant Generals looked at one another as they slowly pushed the chair back from the desk and stood up. Lieutenant General Armitage walked towards the door and pushed the button to open the door.

  “Oh, wait a second!” General Deschner moved his hand upward and tapped on something with his index finger in the air. “I forgot something.”

  The Lieutenant Generals turned and looked at him. General Deschner swiped his hand in the air, and his INH opened, then he tapped on “Disconnect.” A drop-down box of generals from their highest rank to lowest appeared, and then General Deschner tapped on “Lieutenant General Armitage, Ryker” and “Lieutenant General dee Veyra, Ayesha” then he swiped his hand away.

  “Okay, now you two cannot say anything to anyone.” General Deschner ordered.

  “Wait, what do you mean?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra swiped her hand in the air to open her INH, and nothing appeared. “Why did you disconnect us?”

  “I can’t have you notifying to anyone what is happening.” General Deschner admitted, “I’d say that I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

  “I should have seen this coming.” Lieutenant General Armitage shook his head. “Appreciate it.” He spoke sarcastically.

  “What do you expect us to do since we can’t use our INH?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked.

  “Whatever you want to do, just don’t get into any trouble.” General Deschner talked as he winked at them. “Don’t worry, it’s only temporary...if you don’t interfere.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage nodded his head as he walked out the door. Then Lieutenant General dee Veyra followed him, and the door shut.

  Everything is going according to plan, and now nothing is in the way to stop me. Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t disconnect their INH. Onto the next phase, time to call the Brigadier Generals.

  General Deschner swiped his hand, and his INH opened. He tapped on “Contacts,” then he scrolled down and tapped on all the Brigadier General’s names in alphabetical order. “Josselson, Alestra,” “Maruo, Rosha,” “Milenkovic, J’aleah,” “Sikorski, Kyris,” “Tomeoni, Aishir,” and “Vorhaus, Iy’leen.”

  He tapped on “Call,” and then he swiped his finger towards the table to project the hologram, and six screens flickered for a moment and appeared in three rows and two columns. Each person appeared one after another on each of the six screens. When they all appeared, General Deschner greeted them, “Hello there, Brigadier Generals, how are you all doing?”

  Brigadier General Rosha Maruo spoke first, “I’m doing alright, General Deschner.” Brigadier General Maruo moved his left hand and touched the side of his head where it was shaved, and he adjusted his monocle.

  Then Brigadier General J’aleah Milenkovic spoke, “Hello General Deschner, I’m doing well.” Brigadier General Milenkovic had shoulder-length dark black hair, her bangs were cut just above her eyebrows. She was wearing a bright red shirt that had a few buttons.

  “Hey there, General Deschner! I’m doing great!” Brigadier General Aishir Tomeoni replied with a
smile on his face. Brigadier General Tomeoni had a neatly trimmed thin goatee. His hair was blue-black, and it was spiked all over.

  Brigadier General Alestra Josselson waved her hand at the screen and smirked, “Hello, General.” Brigadier General Josselson had half of her hair shaved, and the other half was moved to the other side of her head. Her hair was bright red, and the length was down to her collarbone. Her earlobes were pierced, and her nose was as well.

  Brigadier General Iy’leen Vorhaus replied, “Hello General. I’m doing okay, another day.” Brigadier General Vorhaus had a device that looked like it was implanted on each side of her neck. Her bright green eyes were captivating even through the INH, and her blond hair was pulled back and braided behind her neck.