by Greg Mutton
Admiral Wilson broke in. ‘Crompton, this is history. We all know this story… what’s your point?’
‘Admiral,’ Crompton replied, ‘to get to the point, some history is needed.’ Wilson shook her head but sat back and indicated for him to continue.
‘As we all know, there were one million seven hundred and fifty thousand colonists in stasis for the journey. There were also ten thousand crew members working on a ten year rotational basis so they would all still have the opportunity to start a new life at their destination.’
Wilson made to interrupt again, but a sign from Malik shut her down.
Crompton continued. ‘There are a number of things that have never been released about this whole episode. There were also three million viable human embryos, also in a state of stasis. The entire crew were members of the Sedition, and the venture was funded by the Sarclan group, via a number of bogus shell companies — something that we have only just uncovered. Add to this the events leading up to Sarclan’s expulsion from Earth and the course he and his followers took when they left, and the only conclusion is that Baleraphon didn’t disappear and wasn’t destroyed, but was actually diverted to a new destination by the Sarclan Sedition.’
‘Are you completely fucking mad?’ Wilson could not control the outburst. ‘That’s not possible… it’s unthinkable!’
Crompton stood and glared at the Admiral. It was no secret that there was no love lost between the two — various incidents with bad intel had given Space Corps reason to distrust the intelligence community. ‘Or, Mr Director, is this another attempt for the Directorate to start up an active division?’ She was referring to the old ‘black ops’ operations that had caused so much trouble in the past.
‘Admiral’—Crompton sounded strangely humble, so much so that everyone, even Wilson, gave him the floor—‘believe me, I wish there was some other conclusion. Given the time, the resources and Sarclan’s expertise, this is the last scenario I want. But it is the only one that fits. If we are correct, he could have a standing force of over seven million… that’s our estimate of his potential military capability.’
‘But that’s just supposition… what are the facts?’ Malik asked.
‘Sir, I have summarised everything we have been working on and,’ he turned to Aaron, ‘Captain Abraham, I’ll wager you a bottle of thirty-year-old single malt that your probe reports Trisidic radiation from that blast. Watch and see what we could be up against.’
The group watched the presentation Crompton had prepared and twenty minutes later, a deathly silence filled the room as they assimilated the information they had just seen.
Admiral Morris was the first to break the silence. ‘So your assumption is that Sarclan stole the Baleraphon, found some safe haven and started a colony. In all these years we’ve never heard or seen any evidence of this, and now you’re intimating that he has somehow infiltrated the governments of twenty five Coalition colonies. That he is the master mind behind all these rebellions. To what end?’
Crompton considered Morris’s words before answering. ‘I can think of only one thing, revenge. He’s out for revenge on those who he believes destroyed his life here and, if our assumptions are correct, he has the manpower to do it.’
Morris countered ‘How could this have happened? Sarclan would have needed so much support to pull this off… everything from records being falsified to sensor logs being erased. How is it possible?’
Crompton spoke quietly. ‘We don’t know; but a total of twenty five colonies will fall to so called rebels, which will in fact be a take-over by Sarclan. The Krell uprising at the same time is just too much of a coincidence for anyone to believe.
‘If this is all correct, and I expect corroboration to start to come in soon, he could soon have over twenty million in a military force. The Empire and the Coalition can’t field anything to match him. As for how it happened… we let it. The Baleraphon mission was the most ambitious ever… no other mission had entailed so much… a two-hundred year journey!
‘The longest ever done previously had been seventy-five years, and that was a one off. We threw every piece of technology at that mission, the latest in replication systems, cloning systems, weapons. The latest and best of everything we had was on that ship, plus it was the only ship to ever be powered by Trisidium.’
JT stood and spoke. ‘Then that’s the key to finding where he went — Trisidium; they must have had a source for refining! As I recall from the official story, Baleraphon was equipped with a processing plant. In fact, it was the reason the original destination was chosen… there appeared to be a source of the ore there. If all this is true, and Sarclan did divert Baleraphon, he must have known of an ore body they could exploit! After all, the ship only had a limited amount which wouldn’t supply a full colony for long.’
Admiral Dokad interrupted. ‘We already know of one very rich ore body… Medros six. It was supposed to be deserted, but it is so far out of the way no-one ever goes there… or so we thought.’
‘We didn’t even know of its existence then,’ Morris interjected.
‘Neither did we.’ Dokad came back. ‘In fact, we didn’t discover Trisidium till many years later according to the timeline here.’ He pointed to the image on the screen. The discussion continued along similar lines for quite a while until Malik spoke up.
‘Quiet please.’ He waited till the conversations ceased. ‘It’s quite obvious we don’t have all the facts and we could keep this conjecture going forever and get nowhere. I suggest we adjourn till next Tuesday, as we had originally planned. By then, we will know if we are, in fact, in the grip of another, Sarclan Sedition, or not. If more colonies fall to rebel forces, then we must assume the worst and plan accordingly. Until we know more, there is nothing we can do.’
The nodding of heads around the table indicated all agreed.
‘Admirals Wilson and Morris, I would like you to start working with Crompton on our logistic requirements and, more importantly, our current resources. Admiral Grogan, can you have a list of all Space Corps assets we have available and their disposition? General, we will need a full review of our ground forces for our meeting.’ All agreed.
‘Then I suggest we leave this till next Tuesday at ten hundred hours,’ he said finally.
Crompton, Wilson, Klastok and Morris headed for the hangar and their shuttles. Grogan held back, indicating he would join them later and pulled Jeff aside.
‘Jeff, these new Mantas might be very urgent now. Can you and Silas have a production timetable by Tuesday?’
‘No problem, Admiral. Silas is working on that as we speak… our end has already been done so we will have a full program ready for you Tuesday. How soon can you supply the ships?’ Jeff asked.
‘Give me the word and I’ll have the first batch to you in two days,’ Grogan replied.
‘As soon as funding is approved, we can start.’ Jeff looked the Admiral in the eye as he spoke, understanding the urgency of the situation.
‘Good. I have funding I can use for five, at the cost we have been discussing, so I’ll arrange for them to be transferred tonight. They should be on site Monday evening, latest.’ Grogan extended his hand to seal the deal. Contracts would be signed in due course but the relationship between the two men was based on trust — far more binding than any contract.
As Jeff and Admiral Grogan bid each other farewell, President Malik spoke to Aaron. ‘I know that this situation goes against all that Freebooters believe in but I don’t see any way of you avoiding this. The Coalition and the Empire make up a sizeable part of your trade business… not just you but all Freebooters. If we fall, what happens then?’
Aaron studied Malik’s face, seeing only honesty. ‘You may be right, Mr President,’ he said reluctantly. ‘But until our Prime decides a course of action, I can’t do anything. I have been involved as a private citizen so far; any general Freebooter involvement must be decided by the Prime and, in all probability, the Council of Seniors.’
> ‘I understand,’ Malik conceded. ‘Thankfully, Grainger will be here for the meeting Tuesday.’ He turned to Jeff and changed the subject. ‘I have always been fascinated by this construction and the stories about it. It always seemed to be a bit of a myth.’ He gazed down the passage way. ‘So much to see…’ he said as his voice trailed off.
‘Yes, sir’ Jeff answered. ‘It’s been a bit of a family joke for many years you know… the Second’s Folly and all that… most of the family thought him a bit mad. Strange thing is though; as things now stand, this might be the best piece of real estate on Earth, if all that we have just learnt is true, well… it won’t be a folly anymore.’ They walked back into the room and entered the elevator to the surface. It was already 6.00 pm and Sonia was going to be impossible if they were late for her party.
11
While the meeting was taking place, action at the house was furious.
Sonia was in her element, directing the settings for the night’s celebrations like a conductor in front of an orchestra. Phillip was designated Pit Master and was overseeing the BBQs; the staff kitchens below were in full production and there were guests to greet in the afternoon.
Petra was grateful that she and Salina had been overlooked and they had slipped quietly away so that Salina could show her around. They commandeered a small shuttle and did a quick tour of the property. Sal had little interest in the operation — she just wanted the chance to escape to one of her research stations. As the half hour aerial tour ended she turned to Petra. ‘Want to see something fascinating?’
Petra had no idea what she was up to but agreed and Salina turned the small craft towards the coast. ‘So, what’s the deal with you and my uncle?’ Salina Abraham wasn’t known for beating around the bush — she was always direct and sometimes a little too blunt.
“Nothing, he offered me this job on Tuesday,’ Petra replied, hesitantly. I took it and our first trip was here.’
‘Really, that’s all, nothing more?’
‘’No, we only met earlier this week… why the questions?’
Salina looked intensely at Petra. ‘I’m pretty good at reading people and there’s more to the two of you than meets the eye.’
‘We met earlier this week,’ Petra said, desperately trying to sound disinterested. ‘He offered me this job and I accepted, that’s all there is.’
‘OK, for now. Sorry if I was prying.’ Salina finished the conversation and started her landing cycle — they had arrived at their destination.
The research station they landed on was twenty kilometres off the coast, east of Sydney. It was here that Petra saw the real Salina Abraham; she came to life and seemed to glow. Gone was the slightly dour and prickly demeanour; here she was truly alive and very animated.
They spent the next few hours touring the facility, Salina talking enthusiastically all the time. Petra began to understand her passion and to understand just how much damage humans had done to the planet, her appreciation of the work Sal was doing growing each passing minute. The last part of the tour was the best — they took one of the mini subs to tour an artificial reef that had been constructed for fish habitat while all the time Salina kept up her commentary. They were both so engrossed that time flew by till, finally, Salina checked her watch.
‘Shit!’ She exclaimed and turned the sub back toward the station. ‘3.00 pm, we better get back! We really don’t want to be late for tonight — Mother would not be happy!’
They arrived back at the house at 4.30. Already several shuttles were on the apron, and more were on approach. Being family, Salina claimed priority and parked in the family hangar. The two raced for the pod and arrived at the service entrance.
‘This is a quiet way to enter the house, if you get my drift,’ Salina said quietly. ‘We used this as kids to sneak in and out… always worked for us back then.’ Their entrance went unnoticed, and they split up, Salina going back to her house to dress. Petra walked quietly down the hall towards her room and was almost there when she heard a voice behind her.
‘Petra, glad I caught you. Did Aaron fill you in on the dress for this evening?’ It was Aaron’s Mother, Amanda. She was holding Prince in her arms, the cat purring contently as she stroked his head. ‘Lovely animal… Aaron was always fond of cats.’ She approached Petra and gave her an enquiring look.
‘No. I was just going to wear my uniform.’
‘Typical bloody men! Sorry, but he should have remembered tonight is formal — all Sonia’s events are. Come with me… we’ll sort this out.’ She led the way towards a door at the far end of the hall.
The room was empty except for three very comfortable chairs. One wall was mirrored with the moveable sides. ‘One of the benefits of being an Abraham—there’s always a great selection of clothes.’ She smiled and indicated for Petra to turn. Amanda summed the younger woman up and moved toward a small panel on the far wall. She pressed the pad and the wall opened to reveal hundreds of dresses. ‘Oh! I am sorry. Does your culture have any clothing requirements?’
Petra laughed. ‘No, Argos is very casual but we do dress up occasionally,’ and the two women began to pour through the vast selection before them.
It took just over an hour before Amanda was satisfied with the choice. She looked at Petra’s image in the mirror. ‘That’ll knock his socks off,’ she commented.
‘Who’s socks?’ Petra questioned.
Amanda tilted her head to one side and gave Petra a knowing grin, ‘it’s as plain as day how Aaron feels about you and, if I’m any judge, how you feel about him.’ She held up her hand, to stifle any comment Petra might make, ‘don’t protest, I am his mother and I have a feeling that there’s more to you two than either of you understand.’
‘But we only just met, a few days ago,’ Petra frowned, feeling somewhat uneasy, the woman before her was his mother and, from her own upbringing she knew that sometimes mothers had a sixth sense, where issues concerning their children were concerned.
‘Does that really matter? I knew Jason was the one for me the day I met him — it did take another six years to snag him — and I still love him as much today. Now, tell me you don’t feel the same about my son and you can go back to wearing your uniform,’ Amanda smiled.
‘I’ll keep the dress,’ Petra said quietly, ‘and you’re correct, there is something… something I can’t explain.’
‘So, how did the two of you meet? And don’t give me any of that “he offered me a job rubbish”.’ Amanda’s eyes showed that she wouldn’t be fooled by any subterfuge.
‘We met at a restaurant, on Monday night last week, Earth time. We had both been stood up and we sort of started talking and ended up having dinner together.’ Petra finished there, hoping she had said enough.
‘And that’s all?”
Petra looked into Amanda’s eyes and instantly knew there was no way she would be fooled. ‘Pretty much … we had dinner, talked till midnight and then I left. The next day, we met at the Prime’s residence.’ She looked at Amanda, her eyes pleading. ‘So that’s the story to date but there is something… a feeling I can’t explain. Please don’t say anything to Aaron.’
‘What! And miss all the fun of watching you make him squirm? You must be joking! My lips are sealed, now off you go, the festivities start in under an hour but wait for me … you need to make an entrance.’ Amanda opened the door, winked conspiratorially and let Petra out into the hall.
The party was as expected. Sonia had invited a number of potential partners for her children. JT was prepared and managed to avoid most of them but one had struck a chord and he was actually starting to enjoy her company. David, on the other hand, was not so lucky and had eventually resorted to sneaking back to his own house to escape his mothers’ machinations. Salina fared best. Early in the evening she had attached herself to Sol and there she stayed, sending a clear message to her mother’s chosen potentials.
Aaron was concerned — it was now after eight and he hadn’t seen Petra since he returne
d. Salina had told him they had arrived back a bit late and she was going back to her room to dress — but that was a couple of hours ago.
He started back into the house but stopped when he looked up to the top of the stairs; there between his mother and father was Petra. Since they had met, such a short time ago, he had only seen her dressed in uniforms, or normal casual clothes. But here before him now was a different person. Everyone was formally dressed; men in either formal suits or dress uniforms and the women in evening gowns — but Petra had outdone all.
The dress she wore seemed to shimmer as she moved. The neckline plunged almost to her navel but was joined by a translucent fabric. Her shoulders were bare but she had a silk shawl draped seductively over her arms.
The buzz of conversation seemed to quieten as they descended the stairs, with all eyes centred on Petra. Amanda Abraham was renowned for making an entrance wherever she went, but tonight she surrendered that job to Petra. She whispered to Petra as they approached Aaron.
‘That’s how to make an entrance, my dear.’ She turned to her husband as they reached Aaron. ‘Jason, the orchestra has started. I’d like to dance and Aaron,’ she moved closer to her son and whispered, ‘close your mouth or you’ll swallow a fly.’
Aaron was stumped for words but finally spoke. ‘You look amazing.’ His throat was dry and his voice little more than a croak.
‘I think you need a drink… then we can dance.’ Petra had clearly taken control as they moved through the crowd to the bar area. Aaron selected two glasses of champagne and raised his to Petra.
‘To the most stunningly beautiful woman here,’ he drained his glass and offered his arm. ‘Care to dance?’
Petra smiled and took his arm. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
