Chi-Young

#

"Phoenix Rises is approaching, sir," Ensign Kassem called out from her station behind the Admiral's chair.

"Thank you, Ensign." Chi-Young nodded at her and turned to Admiral Allison. "What do you reckon?"

Allison stared at the viewport showing the image of the incoming Alliance warship. "It was only a matter of time, and I think we've got everything we needed to from the Repository. Still, I'd have preferred longer to prepare."

"Silas is on that ship," Chi-Young said.

"He is." Allison looked around to check which officers were on the bridge. "But we can use that to our advantage. We need to find out where the Forge is for the next phase to begin."

"Do you think he'll tell us?"

"No, but if he doesn't, we'll just force his hand." He gave Chi-Young a smirk. "We'll mange, don't worry." Allison patted him on the back.

"What about Mr Fenig's research?" Chi-Young remained skeptical his work would pay off, but it didn't cost them anything to try.

"It's helpful, though doesn't give us the full picture. It's another reason we need to get to the Forge and download their records." Allison rubbed his eyes, he was beginning to look his age.

"Will that give us what we need?"

"It needs to, because I get the sense the Secretary General is growing tired with Caxis, and we've pushed our luck with the armed operations. Division and distraction won't work for much longer, but I've got something in mind that will keep Silas out of our hair, and force the Alliance to reveal the Forge's location. It's risky though."

Chi-Young smiled. "What you propose always is."

He thought back to when Allison first approached him about joining the cause for independence. Chi-Young had been on the Mandrake for around six months, after a tour on an Alliance ship dispatched to Caxis to help deal with the student protests. Allison revealed months later that Chi-Young's previous assignment had been one reason he had approved the transfer. They spoke about the protests, and Allison had let on his background. Chi-Young remembered they had been good conversations, but they pushed the boundaries of what he was comfortable telling his commanding officer.

In the end, Allison took a gamble revealing the cause to him, how he was working with a group of worlds that wanted to leave the Alliance for good.

He could remember it vividly. Allison had brought him to the briefing room off the bridge and asked him to take a seat. Looking back, in the run up to that moment there were lots of signs Allison doubted the Alliance cause, but Chi-Young just hadn't noticed it. Things like being soft on those that stirred up trouble on certain worlds and being cosy with Caxian officials while they agitated for greater autonomy in the aftermath of the protests.

At first it had shocked him, and it took every ounce of Chi-Young's resolve to not walk out the door and send a message to bring the mediators in. But in their time together, he had seen how Allison was a good, honourable man, and he deserved a chance to make his case.

Chi-Young hadn't said yes straight away, but he hadn't said no--just as well, as Allison had told him later he had a plan to stage an 'accident' if Chi-Young had turned him down. Allison told him the vast majority of the bridge crew were with him and aware of what was going on, and that he was working on the rest. Once the shock passed, Chi-Young came to realise Allison was right; the Alliance had been harming those it was meant to protect, and that while it had been a vital institution to help humanity through the Exodus from Old Earth, it no longer had the same meaning.

Before Caxis there had been little hope of a split being successful. The ever expanding Alliance military set upon any world that tried, Caxis had been the first to succeed, and only because of the caxeal. Allison had told him it had given him hope that secession was possible, but also highlighted the risks that came with it. That was until the gravity bomb.

While some leaders in Allison's clandestine group felt that this spelt the end of any notion of independence, Allison thought otherwise--the news of the bomb had been the first thing to convince him that independence was possible. It was just a question of getting their hands on a bomb.

"A hopper from the Phoenix Rises is requesting permission to board, sir," Ensign Kassem interrupted his thoughts. "It's the Admiral and PO Silas. Commander Karn is with them."

"Grant it," Chi-Young said.

"Belay that." Allison stood up and straightened his uniform. "Tell them we'll meet them on Sorrel Repository itself. Let's see what they have to say."

#

Garrick

#

Garrick felt honoured to accompany Silas to visit Sorrell Bank. What made it all the sweeter was the fact that he knew Admiral Jansen hated the fact he was there. Jansen hadn't uttered a single word to him on the hopper ride over, but he didn't care. He was on active duty again and examining the scene of an insurgent attack gave him a chance to get his investigation back on track.

That insurgents had both the firepower to attack the station, and the intelligence of its location, made Garrick sick. This wasn't just someone leaking information, it was a far wider operation to do serious damage to the Alliance. This attack was arguably the most significant event since the Exodus itself. No one had ever been able to go toe-to-toe with the Alliance military--at least, not until now. Garrick felt like they were chasing shadows, always one step behind those that were trying to bring down the Alliance. He was itching for the opportunity to step out on the front foot and take the fight to the enemy.

The first step was to find out what Allison and Chi-Young knew. The Mandrake's repair crews had at least re-pressurised the hanger, which meant their hopper could land on the station. Garrick sat at the controls of the small vessel, with Silas and Jansen conversing behind him. Sizeable chunks of the hull had been blown off into space, making travelling in and around the station difficult. The closer he got, the worse the marks of battle appeared. Scorch marks pockmarked the walls and deck of the hanger, though Garrick crews worked in vain to scrub these marks off.

He set the ship down and popped the hatch. A powerful smell of burning hung in the air, and the banging and buzzing sounds of the repair crews echoed around as they tried to pull the station back together. Garrick led the three of them out of the ship, his rifle hanging from his side on a strap. He didn't think he would need one, but after the Ezekiel he wasn't ever going without one.

To his surprise, no one came to welcome them. Just as he was about to set off to find someone, Garrick caught sight of Chi-Young hurrying towards him. "Admiral!" Chi-Young waved at them as he drew nearer. "Sorry for not being here to meet you. We've been hard at work trying to piece this station back together and working out what was taken during the assault."

"Not to worry, Captain," Jansen failed to hide the irritation from her voice. "Is Admiral Allison on board?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll take you to him."

Chi-Young led them out of the hanger and into the station proper. Here too there were signs of the beating the station had taken. Repair crews jostled for space around them as they walked through the once shining corridors, with panels open revealing the wires and pipes that formed the guts of the station. Welding torches illuminated the corridor, and crewmen weaved around picking up debris and rubbish.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I can see you've been hard at work, Captain," Silas called out over all the noise.

"We have, yes," Chi-Young said. "The Admiral decided it would be worth getting Sorrel Repository back to being a functional station again."

"What was the station used for, Captain?" Jansen said.

Garrick glanced over at Silas to find the mediator looking at a stuck panel on the wall--pointedly away from Jansen's gaze.

"The Admiral will explain all," Chi-Young said. "And I'm sure Mediator Silas will help shed some light as well."

"I look forward to it." Jansen frowned at Silas, but didn't stop walking.

#

At last they arrived at Sorrel Repository's control centre at the highest point of the station. Concentric circles of work stations spread out before him around a 3D projection of the station in the centre of the room to give readouts of the status of each part of the station. Viewports lined the outside of the room, allowing them sight of the vacuum outside. It wouldn't have been much of a view given the station's location nestled between some asteroids, but now the repair crews buzzed around, hard at work.

The projection in the centre of the room painted a grim picture of the station's health, despite the work of the repair crews. Sorrell Repository featured a long central axis around which a series of thin cylindrical sections sat with ever widening circumference as they reached about two thirds up the station's axis, before getting smaller again. On the projection, Garrick's gaze fell on a flashing red ring that sat around the outside of the widest point of the station.

Admiral Allison was standing behind a woman working to repair a console on the far side of the room when he noticed their entrance. "Admiral Jansen." He walked forward with his hand extended. "Welcome to Sorrel Repository."

Jansen gave his hand a firm shake. "Thank you Benjamin, quite the place." She looked around at the control room. "I hope you're about to explain what it is?"

"In a moment, yes." Allison inclined his head before looking over each of the delegation. He nodded at Silas, but broke into a smile when he made eye contact with Garrick. "Commander Karn, good to see you." He stepped across to shake Garrick's hand as well--his heart swelled, but his excellent mood evaporated when Allison asked--"is Captain Peterborough not with you?"

A cloud passed over Jansen's face. "Captain Peterborough was killed during an operation on an Alliance vessel."

"An Alliance vessel? I am so sorry, Keiko. I didn't know."

"You wouldn't have. We haven't transmitted it yet, I wanted to come here first."

"If there's anything I can do, please let me know."

Jansen shot a glare at Garrick but said nothing.

"Are you OK for us to continue, Admiral?" Allison said.

"Ben, if I didn't want to be here I would have stayed on my ship. Don't worry about me."

"Very well. As far as we can make out, Sorrel Repository is a secret Alliance research station responsible for developing the early theory of gravity bombs. You see this?" He pointed at the red ring on the projection. "This is a particle accelerator which tested the very early iterations of the collision that triggers the bomb."

"I assume you knew about this, Mediator?" Jansen folded her arms.

"I did, yes," Silas replied coolly. "Need to know basis."

"Well, now that we're here, I think we need to know. Don't you?"

Silas was unmoving.

"I'll carry on with what we've found, and I trust Mediator Silas will be kind enough to fill in the gaps for us." Allison smiled without using his eyes. "We can't know for sure what the attackers were after, but given the fact this is the second station involved with the bombs, I expect we can conclude the attackers were after information on how to construct one."

Hamasa wanted us to think they already had this information so we wouldn't worry about their attempts to steal it outright.

Allison continued. "The information we've found suggests the actual bombs weren't built here--instead they were constructed somewhere called the Forge. It's only reasonable to conclude that whoever attacked this ship is searching for this Forge, though it would be useful if there was some additional intelligence from the Whisper to verify this." Allison looked at them.

"The intelligence from Hamasa is... how shall we say, compromised," Silas said.

"Oh? How so?"

"She told Commander Karn the 'package' she gave to a contact in the Vale contained instructions on how to build a gravity bomb, and the information she provided suggested the leak of this information came from the Ezekiel," Jansen replied. "When we examined the Ezekiel, there was also information on how to build a bomb, but it was faked. In fact, the role of the Ezekiel was very overplayed by all involved."

"How so?" Allison said.

"The Ezekiel had been working against the Alliance, but to provide details of caxeal shipments for Hamasa to attack," Garrick said, still embarrassed by his failure, and by Jansen's attempt to highlight it.

"I see." Allison paused. "Though there is enough in the information taken from here to suggest the Forge is likely to be compromised in any event. I recognise your authority in these matters, Mediator, but if this were my operation, I would send ships to defend the Forge. It is clear what the insurgents are doing, and we know that they have part of the information so it's only a matter of time."

"We'll get to that in a minute, Admiral." Silas held up his hand. "First, I want to understand more of what happened here."

"Then let me explain all we've been able to glean of what happened." Allison worked at the console and brought up what looked like a video feed. "This is what the technicians on my ship have been able to restore of the internal footage." He stood back and let it run.

What it showed sent chills down Garrick's spine. Ten figures clad head to toe in black with rifles pour through a hole blown in the wall. The figures ruthlessly took down those that tried to get in their way--Garrick saw at least twelve people drop from beam hits. They moved through the ship to a room that Garrick didn't recognise.

Allison read his mind. "This is the room containing the controls of the particle accelerator used to test early concepts of the bomb"

One figure set to the consoles, presumably to download the data contained within them, while the others guarded the corridor to make sure they did not get trapped inside. It was a professional performance--these weren't just any random insurgents, they must have had military training.

The figures on the projection left the accelerator room and headed towards the control room. At this point in the footage, the feed kept dropping in and out. When it returned, there were small fires and debris scattered everywhere from the assault the station was under. Those trying to flee the attackers staggered as the station shook from impacts. Before the video showed the figures reaching the control room, the feed dropped all together.

"That's all we have, I'm afraid," Allison said.

There was silence.

Jansen cleared her throat. "One thing I'm not clear on, Ben--how did they find Sorrel Repository to begin with? I didn't know, and I'm assuming you didn't either, yet somehow they did?"

"I may have something on that," Silas said. "These insurgents attacked another Alliance research station. We're still investigating that leak, but the suggestion is, despite all the security protocols we put in place, something on this other station lead them to here."

"With all due respect, Mediator, that's a bit of a leap," Garrick said.

"I agree, but I can't see any other option."

"All the more reason to assume the threat the insurgents cause to the Forge is very real, and we need to fortify its defences as a matter of urgency to ensure that the insurgents don't take that station," Allison said.

Silas shook his head. "I appreciate the work you and your crew have done here, Admiral, but I cannot understand why you should be permitted to travel to the Forge, especially as you failed to prevent the assault here."

"The existence of the Forge is still meant to be a secret. We all know now, and if you're trying to keep it quiet, why not trust us? We were part of the operation that started all this in the Vale."

"I have to agree with Admiral Allison, Mediator," Jansen said, to which Allison looked elated. "We are two of the most decorated Admirals in the Alliance fleet. We are more than capable of taking this on."

Silas tapped a finger on his chin. "I must check with the Secretary General's office."

"Mediator, we both know that could take weeks," Allison said. "The insurgents are on their way there now and the Forge is sitting there, ripe for the taking."

"I'm sorry, Admiral. This requires the highest clearance, I will have to speak to his office. And besides, the Forge is not undefended, it will last a little while more on its own."

Silas walked off, leaving the three of them behind. Jansen gave Allison a sympathetic squeeze of the arm before also heading off to look at other parts of the control room. Allison stared off into the distance. "Are you all right, sir?" Garrick said. Allison didn't respond. "Sir?" Garrick was more insistent that time.

"Yes, sorry Commander." Allison shook himself. "Got lost for a minute."

"Is everything okay?"

"The delay isn't good," he sighed. "I'll keep pushing Silas, but he can be stubborn when he sets his mind to it."

"I have to say, Admiral, I'm not sold on his explanation for how the insurgents found Sorrel Bank, it just seems too convenient."

Allison cracked a smile. "You won't let that go, will you? Could be that leak you were investigating?"

"I'm almost certain it is, but the timings don't work out, and nor does the fact that next to no one knew there was a station in this system." A worrying thought struck Garrick. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking--when did PO Silas tell you about Sorrel Bank? He mentioned that he left before you travelled there from station B12."

"It was after an attack on the other station he mentioned." Allison raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"So you made it to the Candover system before the insurgents did."

"That's right, yes. Is there a problem, Commander?" Allison frowned.

"No sir. Just trying to get my head around the timings."

Allison nodded at him before walking away to leave Garrick alone with his thoughts. And they were troubling thoughts indeed.

What if the only reason the insurgents knew the station's location was because someone on Allison's ship told them? Not many would have known.

It couldn't be.

Could it?