by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Devin left the meeting with Vickie and went back to inspecting the Colony’s Fleets telling the First Assistant that no traitor had been found during the meeting the next day. The First Assistant wasn’t happy about his failure to find the traitors and he knew he had to make a decision. After three months, he was called back to the First Assistant’s office and he knew that he had arrived at the point where he couldn’t delay any longer.
• • •
The First Assistant entered his office and Devin rose to attention, “Sit down Admiral; I’m not in the military. What have you found out about the traitors?”
“Sir, I’ve not uncovered any traitors in the fleets I’ve inspected. That makes me start to wonder about why Admiral Jordan wore a thought helmet. I initially thought he was just emulating the Prime Minister, but now I’m starting to wonder if that was accurate.”
The First Assistant’s eyes narrowed, “Do you suspect something?”
“I need to go back and interview him again without that helmet. But before I do that, I want all of his communications examined to see who he’s been communicating with.”
The First Assistant’s eyes narrowed, and he started nodding before saying, “He wouldn’t communicate with any other traitor.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Devin replied. “They probably don’t know about each other. But remember that one of the traitors isn’t in the military ranks but holds a position somewhere in the government. If we find someone Jordan’s communicating with regularly, we’ll look at that person’s communications and see if other contacts show up. I suspect that the person in the government is the one that collects the information from the traitors and passes it on to Britannia.”
“That’s a good plan, Admiral. I’ll get the Communication Trackers on it immediately.”
“I’d like to wait here on New Sydney until we determine if anything shows up.”
“Is that so you can be with your former partner?”
“Sir, I know she deceived me and I’m doing the same with her now. She’s not a bad person and was just following her orders but I resent she did it.”
The First Assistant welcomed Devin’s comment. He still felt something for her even though he knew about her deception; she would still be useful. “I’ll let you know what I find out Admiral. You’re dismissed.”
Devin stood up, “Thank you Sir. I’ll stay on board my ship to start my search again if nothing shows up.” Devin turned and left the First Assistant’s office. He knew he was playing a dangerous game and he suspected that Jordan’s communications would show regular contacts with Admiral Bellemy’s office. Should he try to remove Admiral Bellemy? The Admiral was a consummate idiot about fleet maneuvers and removing him might place someone with higher skills in his place. He thought about it and decided that he would find out just how stupid the Admiral was.
• • •
Major Storm looked up from his console and said, “Sir, that former telepath you sent to Britannia is asking to speak with you.”
Bellemy frowned and said, “Transfer the call to my panel.” Bellemy saw Devin appear on his display and he forced a smile, “Admiral McKay; I’ve been meaning to call and congratulate you on your promotion.”
“That’s ok, Sir. I know how busy you are. I have been inspecting our fleets as to their readiness for combat and a large number of the Fleet Commanders have voiced a concern that I thought I should share with you.”
“What is that?” Bellemy asked.
“They are concerned that if all of our carriers along with all of their Garrions attempt to move in on an enemy, that the sheer volume of the warships might lead to them being detected during their approach.”
“Why would that be a problem? Our ships can’t be detected.”
“Sir, they think that with that many warships moving together that the light from distant stars would be blocked by the large formations causing them to be detected. Our stealth systems prevent light being blocked by individual ships but that might not hold true if enough of them are in large formations. We know Britannia has scanners that detect the blockage of distant stars; we also have the same capability. I don’t know how we can avoid this happening Sir.”
Bellemy chuckled and said, “That could be easily remedied.”
“Oh? How Sir?”
“Simply have all our carriers move in on an enemy on a wide front where they aren’t close enough to each other to allow the blockage of light to be detected.”
“But the hundreds of thousands of Garrions could cause it,” Devin replied.
“The Carriers will launch their Garrions when they arrive inside the enemy’s star system. A force of a thousand Garrions will precede the carriers to detect any warships posing a danger to the incoming carriers.”
Devin smiled and shook his head, “I understand why you are in command Sir. That is a brilliant idea. They’ll never see us coming until we’re on top of them.”
Bellemy nodded and said, “I notice that you mentioned attacking Britannia. Where did you get that information; it’s supposed to be top secret.”
“Sir, pretty much every Fleet Commander knows that Britannia is a threat and if it’s a secret, it’s not a well-kept one.”
Bellemy shook his head and replied, “Congratulations on your promotion and keep up the good work.”
“Thank you Sir. I’ll contact you if I hear anything else you might want to know.”
Bellemy ended the contact and Mark looked up from his console, “I’m just not sure about that telepath.”
Bellemy waved a hand, “I know the Prime Minister has examined him thoroughly; he is what he appears to be. Send Admiral Gemini new orders on the attack plan. See that he doesn’t mass his forces but approaches an enemy on a wide front.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
Devin was in the loop of Colony communications and saw the orders go out to the fleet to avoid massing their forces. Bellemy was an idiot. He was too incompetent to remove from his position; however, avoiding that might be difficult. He waited to hear from the First Assistant. He knew that Admiral Jordan would have numerous communications with Bellemy, and he thought about how to prevent the Admiral’s removal during what was coming. One thing he did know; those communications would be going through the Major’s console.
• • •
The First Assistant called Devin to his office and stared at him as he sat down. “Have you discovered anything?” Devin asked.
“It appears that Admiral Jordan has numerous contacts with other fleet commanders. He also has an inordinately high number of contacts with Admiral Bellemy’s office. One of them took place just before you arrived to interview him. That is very suspicious Admiral.” Devin’s expression turned serious and the First Assistant lowered his eyes, “Do you suspect Admiral Bellemy of treason?”
Devin thought about it and then slowly shook his head, “I really doubt Admiral Bellemy is a traitor.”
“That’s not what the evidence says Admiral!”
Devin continued shaking his head and then said, “It might not be the Admiral that’s a traitor but someone inside his organization. I need to confront the Admiral about this suspicion and see what’s in his mind. Before I do that, all of the communications in and out of Bellemy’s office should be examined to see if other fleet commanders contact his office regularly.”
The First Assistant started nodding slightly and then said, “I’ll examine his contacts and get back to you.”
“Look for the contacts that are the most numerous,” Devin replied. The First Assistant nodded and waved a hand dismissing him. Devin left the First Assistant’s office and knew that the most numerous contacts would be to those Fleet Commanders that were most loyal to Bellemy. He suspected all of them were fanatics and were just like Admiral Jordan, inept. He knew he was sentencing them to death but better them than all the sailors under their commands.
• • •
He took his ship
into orbit and moved away from the planet. He contacted Charlotte and told her everything that had taken place. “You’ve been a busy house rat.”
“What do you think about what I’m doing? I’m uncertain about what might come from these actions.”
Charlotte paused and thought, “You know that any fleet commanders implicated in this might be questioned and the Prime Minister will know they aren’t guilty of treason. That could blow your cover.”
“That’s a risk I’m being forced to take; I can’t delay any longer.”
• • •
“If they don’t launch their Garrions until they arrive in Britannia’s star system, it will give our fleets a huge advantage. I do believe that removing Admiral Bellemy isn’t a good thing. He’s pretty much inept.”
“I don’t intend for that to happen unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.”
“I don’t see how you can avoid it Devin.”
“Admiral Bellemy doesn’t answer his calls. All his communications go through a Major in his office and you know that transferred calls can’t be tracked. I’m setting up that Major to take the fall. I’ll tell them that Admiral Bellemy knew nothing about it and he should survive. If not, oh well.”
“It sounds like you have a personal issue with that Major.”
“We have a history.”
“Does it have anything to do with the woman?” Devin was silent and Charlotte pressed again, “Does it?”
“It does.”
“Are you still attached to her?”
“No! She and I are over! My issue with the Major is that he is evil beyond anything you believe. He’s also a telepath.”
“Good.”
“Why do you say that?”
“After all of this is over and settled, I’m hoping you might come and visit.”
Devin smiled, “I think I’d like that.”
“Tah tah,” Charlotte replied and ended the contact.
• • •
Cami and Stoney sat in her office and listened to Charlotte’s report on what Devin was planning. Grady and Taffy were sitting in front of Cami’s desk and Grady shook his head, “Sending that telepath back to the Colonies was a stroke of genius.”
Cami waved a hand, “It wasn’t my idea; he insisted on it.”
“Well, he’s accomplishing more than anything we could do,” Taffy added.
Cami looked at Grady, “Stoney and I have discussed plans on how to take on the Colonies fleets and I’d like your opinion on them.”
Grady nodded, “Tell us what you think.”
Stoney began talking and after an hour, Grady glanced at Taffy and saw her concern. “What’s bothering you Love?” Grady asked.
“You run the risk of losing the good will of every Colony if you do this.”
Cami shrugged, “Do you see a better way to handle this?”
Taffy glanced at Grady and he shook his head. She turned to Cami and replied, “No, I just hate it has to happen like this.”
Cami turned to Grady, “I am placing you in overall command of our fleets, Dad.”
“Why?!”
“Stoney and I will be occupied doing something else. You’re the only one I trust to make this happen.”
Taffy stared at Cami and said, “I don’t think you should take this risk.”
Cami turned to her, “I have no choice Mom.”
“I’m going to bring RJ into the mix,” Grady announced.
“Do whatever you have to do,” Cami said calmly.
“I’ll be calling a meeting of all our Fleet Admirals to reorganize their commands. Justin, Des, and Admiral Ware will be commanding Britannia’s Fleets and we’ll have Charlie and Sweets move the Tanis fleets out to start joint maneuvers. I’ll be breaking them up to form four hundred and fifty units to be assigned to each Colony Carrier.” Grady paused and said, “I need to know when the Colonies launch their fleets and if their plans to delay the launching of their Garrions changes.”
Cami nodded, “You’ll be the first to know.”
“You know you’ll be given an ultimatum before they launch an attack,” Taffy stated.
Cami nodded, “Yes. I’m expecting that to arrive within six months.”
“How will you respond to it?”
“I’ll agree to their demands; I hope that this conflict can be avoided.”
“If you agree to their demands, why would they still attack?”
Stoney smiled, “Because they won’t like what that agreement means. The Prime Minister is determined to take control of Earth and Britannia and he’s being short-sighted in how he’s planning to handle it. But the delay will give us additional time to prepare after he rescinds his demands.”
Grady stared at Stoney and Cami and asked, “How do you know he’ll rescind his demands?”
Cami smiled, “It’s obvious Dad. Stoney and I are able to see things that we’ve missed in the past.”
Taffy watched Cami as she looked at Stoney and asked, “Is there something you should tell us?”
Cami laughed, “You are sooo observant Mom. Once this issue is settled, Stoney and I are going to be married.”
Grady looked at Stoney and said, “Are you sure about this?”
Stoney smiled, “More than I can ever express Mr. Henricks.”
Taffy watched them closely and stood up. She went around the table and hugged Cami, “Congratulations honey. I’m so happy for you.”
Grady looked at her, “Are you sure about this, Taffy?”
Taffy turned to Grady, “If you had the eye you would see it. They are already bound together, and I can see it’s wonderful.”
Grady stood up and shook Stoney’s hand. He embraced Cami and said softly, “I’m so happy you’ve found the one for you.”
“Dad, we found each other.”
“That’s even better.”
Chapter Twelve
Vickie looked at the report her team had collected on the contacts that went in and out of Admiral Bellemy’s office and she wondered why she had been ordered to do the survey. It didn’t take long; she had already been tracking all calls in and out of the office before the order came in. Something was going on, but she wasn’t going to ask what it was; that could cause some real issues with her superiors. She took the report to her boss and he praised her on how fast she had completed the task. She hoped Mark was in trouble but that was probably wishful thinking. She went back to her office and wondered about the reason for the report.
• • •
Devin was called into the First Assistant’s office and he found the Prime Minister present when he entered. He went to attention and the Prime Minister said, “Relax Admiral; take a seat.” Devin sat down in a chair in front of the First Assistant’s desk and the Prime Minister said, “It appears that six of our Fleet Commanders are contacting Admiral Bellemy’s office on a regular basis.”
Devin shook his head, “Sir, I learned that there are only four traitors in our fleets, not six.”
The Prime Minister glanced at the First Assistant giving him a knowing look; Devin realized he had just passed another test. The First Assistant added, “Four of the six Fleet Commanders have more communications by far than the other two.”
Devin nodded, “Then I need to interview them and see if they are the traitors.”
The First Assistant looked up from his console and said, “So far, the only one you interviewed was Admiral Jordan. You will not be going out to interview the others.” Devin’s brow furrowed and the First Assistant smiled, “We’ve dispatched an agent to each of the Fleet Leaders in question. You will go to Admiral Bellemy’s office and mentally examine every person on staff. If you find a traitor, those Fleet Commanders will be immediately executed. We can’t risk that they get a warning out to Britannia that we’re on to them.”
Devin raised his shoulders, “Sir, Britannia will know we’re on to them when they don’t receive any more information.”
The Prime Minister waved a hand, “They could mark it off to thei
r spies being carefully watched and not able to communicate with them. I intend to rid the fleets of this infection.”
Devin stared at the Prime Minister and said, “If you tell Admiral Bellemy that someone is coming to talk with him, and he’s not the traitor, the real traitor could be absent, and I’d miss finding him.” The Prime Minister’s expression showed he hadn’t thought of that. Devin hesitated and said, “Colony Personnel tracks the attendance of everyone working for the government. When they log in to their computers, they are given credit for attendance in Personnel’s database. We need to go in on a day where everyone is logged in present.”
The First Assistant smiled, “I told you he was intelligent.” The First Assistant turned to Devin and said, “I’ll make sure everyone is present and you’ll go in unannounced with a team of armed guards.”
Devin was silent a moment and the Prime Minister asked, “What are you thinking?”
“I was considering whether or not I could mentally examine everyone in the outer office with out a delay in entering Bellemy’s office.”
“So you don’t believe Bellemy is a traitor?” the Prime Minister asked.
“I do find it hard to believe Sir. However, we can’t give them enough time to send a message to Britannia before we enter.” Devin paused and said, “I believe I can examine everyone in the outer office fast enough to walk directly into Bellemy’s office. I’ll take a closer look after I examine the Admiral and the members of his staff inside his personal office.”
The Prime Minister looked at the First Assistant and he shrugged. “We’ll do it like you want Admiral. You will meet with a team of armed guards and be prepared to move on an instant’s notice.”
