The room was in an uproar. The nobles to the President’s right were a mix between indignant outrage and suspicious glances while the left was full of triumph, “I knew it!”s and loud cries for prosecution. Amidst all this, President Cai was looking down at Inspector Chen with a contemplative look, which was a dramatic change from his usual demeanor.
Then Lord Liu, raising her voice to be heard above the others, asked, “Well? Answer the question.”
Inspector Chen stared at her blankly. Then tilted her head to the side, arching her eyebrows in the perfect uncomprehending look. “Behind all of what?”
Xue Liu sighed. She rested her left elbow on the desk and pointed a finger down at the Inspector. “Tsk Tsk, were you not paying attention at all? But then of course you would act dumb wouldn’t you?”
President Yi Cai interrupted, “I suppose what she's trying to say is that if I’ve really been trying to keep this under wraps… why? Why would I want this and why go through all this trouble? What’s my end goal here?” the President looked at her with a quizzical look. His demeanor told a very convincing tale: he was innocent, he was just trying to get to the bottom of this mystery just like everyone else. “Surely you’ve got that all figured out?”
Xue faltered a bit under his gaze but she quickly caught herself. She was on the attack here, and she had him cornered.
She pulled up an image on the holoprojector. Manifestos of various orders and supply movements were projected in the center of the room in a sort of cube with the same image pasted on four sides so that it could be viewed from all directions.
“Why hide it?” She flashed the rest of the council a dramatic look, “Because then, by the time we found out, it would’ve been too late. The Rust would be upon us and we all would’ve had to rely on whatever preparations he made in secret.
“For the past few weeks or so, President Cai has been redirecting supplies and personnel to the Excavation Zones," the images flicked through. The numbers seemed pretty convincing, there was a notable uptick in shipments to the floors 40-45 the primary excavation hubs.
“Not to mention, more and more newly trained workers are being assigned to ‘classified survey projects’.”
Inspector Chen interjected here, “Excuse me, if I may…” The nobles all shifted their gazes to her. “Personnel and supplies get shifted around all the time, we had just decided in the last council meeting around a month ago that since our farm efforts were on schedule as well as our power generation quotas being well within limits, we would focus more on exploration and resource retrieval?”
Xue Liu gave her a pretty little smile, “Why of course that’s a reasonable explanation… EXCEPT as you see here on this date…” the screen shifted to a date two weeks ago. “A severe increase in not only exploration, but housing construction materials. Orders sent down through official channels, but notably not written orders. Specifically these were oral orders so as not to be easily traced.”
Oh? Two weeks ago… around when the Rust leak was first detected, Inspector Chen thought. She responded, “And what appears to be the significance of that date? To me, it appears to just be… Thursday?”
“Yes, but that Thursday happens to be the date the Rust was FIRST discovered to be dripping down into F1," Xue responded, then she blinked for a second before hastily continuing. “As you can see by the different materials being transferred along with long term storage foods, it's almost as if someone was preparing for colonization.”
“OHO!” Qin Yang clapped his hands together next to her. “She’s got you now, President. What have you got to say for yourself?”
The nobles all turned to look at President Cai. Even Sen, who was usually on the President’s side, was looking at him with suspicion. Inspector Chen had to admit, it was a good story. Hell, she had begun to have doubts of her own… until Xue had made the slip up.
President Cai still looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin. Ignoring the gazes of the nobles, he took his time.
Then: “You say the Rust was first discovered two weeks ago?”
Xue flushed slightly, “Why yes, but that’s beside the point…”
“How exactly do you know this?” President Cai peered at her with the perfect expression of innocent curiosity.
“Well, we investigated of course. With the murder of Dr. Li, we issued a warrant for all relevant info and… just found out," Xue Liu said a bit weakly.
“Oh that’s very impressive," President Cai looked at her with a slightly amused expression. “You did all of that within –lets say– an hour since the murder was first discovered. Most impressive indeed!”
“W-well we had to work quickly… with the emergency meeting you called…” Xue Liu said defensively.
President Cai waved his hand, dismissing the concern. “Fear not, just a minor detail.”
Then, he leaned back and clasped his hands in front of him. It was speech time.
“So," he straightened up a bit. “As Lord Liu here mentioned, I discovered the Rust –or what looked like Rust– a couple weeks ago.
“I decided to monitor the situation and confirm it… no need to cause panic if it's a false alarm. But just in case, I decided it might be a good idea to have an escape plan. Lo and behold we had already agreed to expanding our exploration efforts so why not go a bit further?”
He continued, “As time passed, it became evident that it was, in fact, the Rust. But! I had to be careful, you wouldn’t want this information to leak to the general public would you?”
At this point, some of the other nobles began nodding. Made sense.
“I had originally planned for a meeting to reveal all of this information, coincidentally, today at 1pm. So I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret from you all, I just needed to take the proper precautions.”
Xue scoffed. “Oh really? Then explain why you sent Inspector Chen to assassinate Dr. Li?”
President Cai looked concerned, “See that’s where I’m a bit confused. See a few days ago we discovered there were private messages being sent out from Dr. Li to an unknown contact. In fact,” he looked pointedly at Xue, “they had been happening since the Rust had first begun infiltrating 1F." He pulled up a schematic on the holoprojector which showed messages sent by Dr. Li to “unknown” with dates from two weeks ago.
Xue grew pale under his gaze. He continued, but kept his gaze on her, “Now who this private contact was, we don’t know.” He cocked his head to the side, “Could’ve been anybody. But we needed to make sure this sensitive information was not being leaked to the public. So I sent Inspector Chen here to go have a talk with Dr. Li and see what she could find out and…”
He raised his hands palms up and shrugged, “The rest is history, Dr. Li tried to suicide kill the Inspector here and we’re here left with this mess.”
Sen spoke up, “Couldn’t you have tracked the messages to see where they were going?”
“Oh we definitely did try to, and are still trying to, but the messages were redirected through multiple encrypted public servers so the final destination is still murky. At the time I figured, why not go directly to the source?”
The nobles all nodded in agreement. This was a reasonable explanation. And most importantly: this meant they didn’t have to pick sides and fight each other. It was all just a big misunderstanding.
Xue Liu looked defeated for a moment, but brushed it off quickly, straightening herself. After all, she simply misunderstood. Nothing wrong with a simple misunderstanding right? Now if she had been plotting to take down President Cai, that would have been a different matter…
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“So now that this matter is front and center…” President Cai smiled pleasantly, “Let’s figure out what to do with this Rust business shall we?” He nodded to Inspector Chen as her handcuffs were being removed.
After a quick bathroom break, she began regaling them with an improvised concoction of various numbers and supply levels and how they might be used now that the Rust was leaking into their haven.
***
“So you knew this whole time that the Rust was here?” Yahuei asked Yi Cai.
The meeting had gone long, extending for the majority of the day. They had now finally, at 21:44, gotten out and were holding a follow-up meeting in the President’s room.
“Actually, no," the President took off his suit jacket and began tugging on his tie. “I just found out right then. I made the rest up on the spot.”
Yahuei almost collapsed at that. She lowered herself into a wooden chair near a cabinet.
“Are you serious?” Now that she thought for a moment, everything he had said was something that could’ve been either known or inferred from the info presented at the meeting.
Other than the messages. “Oh! But we had been monitoring Yahuei – Dr. Li’s– messages weren’t we? But that was for the 2nd generation nanomachine project.”
“Yeah good thing, too," President Cai said. “But the funny thing is, they all seemed pretty benign. There wasn’t really anything suspicious.” He began unbuttoning his shirt.
Yahuei agreed. “I guess it would be difficult to tell unless we were specifically looking for something. Must’ve been a code of some sort. We might have to look over them again and see.”
President Cai sat down on his couch. Yahuei noted his healthy glowing muscular form laid bare. This was a high class muscular form, one only maintained by a healthy diet and gym exercise, not the lean gaunt musculature from someone in the working class.
Yahuei pushed this thought from her mind, “What about the preparations and uptick in supplies being shifted around two weeks ago?”
“That wasn’t me, or maybe it was, and I just don’t remember," The president shrugged. “A lot of orders get issued, could just be a coincidence. We could try to track down the exact parties involved, but I think we already both know who ordered them in the first place.”
“Hmph," Yahuei gave a grunt in agreement. She was too tired to think too hard about it at the moment.
The room grew quiet as the two contemplated for a bit.
“Well”, the president commented. “It’s getting a bit late, we should wrap up this little meeting sooner than later. Plus I’ve got company coming…” He gave her a sideways look, “unless you wanted to join in?”
“I’ll pass," she said, abruptly standing up. “Some of us have actual work tomorrow.”
“Alright then," the President chuckled, eyes following her form. “Well, we’ll chat again soon.”
“Sure.”
She made her way to the exit. The President’s suite was clearly much larger than her’s and actually had a living room and kitchen in addition to the usual bed and bathroom. As she opened the sliding door to leave, Yahuei found herself face-to-face with an attractive young woman with mischievous dark eyes and short hair. She was dressed in a revealing black tight dress that accentuated her curves and made her flawless pale skin look like it was glowing. She also had glasses on which didn’t quite fit the aesthetic, but President Cai liked what he liked.
“Oh…! Yahuei, didn’t know you were here," the woman said, her doe-like eyes widened in surprise.
“Hello Sora, I’m just on my way out," Yahuei stepped to the side and gestured for her to pass.
“What sort of mood is he in today?” the half-japanese woman whispered with a cheeky grin.
“Triumphant I suppose," came the non committal answer.
“Heehee this should be fun," the woman giggled, fluidly easing her way around her. “Well I’ll see you around then, maybe.”
“Maybe…” Yahuei answered, as she stepped out and the door slid shut behind her.
She sighed, exhausted. They had survived, just barely. Some questions remained such as how Xue Liu had gotten Dr. Yahuei Li to agree to a suicide murder. But a bigger more pressing matter loomed ahead: the Rust was making its way in.
This is going to get messy. she thought.
***
“Hey, Becca!?” a panicky distant voice said. “Oh god is she ok? Is she breathing? What happened?”
Becca groaned. Someone appeared to be cradling her in their arms. She turned over, eyes still closed. “Lay off my back, James, the morning bell hasn’t even rung yet.”
“Oh. She’s completely fine," he placed her back on the metal floor.
“Haha yeup!” came Lizzie’s voice. “She just got shot in the ankle with just a teensy weensy amount of needles.”
There was a reply but it sounded so distant. Everything faded to black once more…
A few hours later, Becca woke up. Or at least it felt like a few hours, she wasn’t sure. It sounded like she was in a public area from the sounds of overlapping voices echoing around. She was awake, but her eyelids kept drooping shut every time she tried to look around. Maybe she should just go back to sleep? But she found that she really couldn't, the sound of voices both loud and muffled rang around her. She tried to open her eyelids again and look around.
“Uhmmph…” she said. Her eyelids drooped shut again. She looked like she was in the cafeteria though. From the glimpse she got, she was on the ground. She felt like she was on a sort of soft surface… a blanket? Or pillows?
“Oh! You’re awake," came a voice. It was Lizzie.
Becca tried to open her eyes again; her left eye opened fine, but her right eye didn’t seem to want to cooperate.
“There, there," Lizzie’s face entered her field of vision from above, green eyes shining with compassion under dark frames. She felt a gentle hand stroking her forehead. “You’ll be ok. I think the sedative is wearing off finally.”
“Iz everywa okey?” Becca asked. “Aslo, wuzz up wiff my eye?”
“Oh your eye…” Lizzie winced. “Yeah it isn’t looking so good. You got headbutt remember?”
Oh right. Becca thought. “Whas happened, you safe me?”
“You scared the crap out of me when you got shot!” Lizzie winced, “I’m sorry, I tried to drag you out of the hole and it kinda worked… But your legs got scraped up pretty bad by the edges. I think you also banged your head on a few things when I tried to drag you to cover.”
Her head actually didn’t feel too bad at the moment. There was some throbbing pain in the area around her right eye and that was it. She closed her eyes again, it felt kinda nice to lay here and not have to move. Her thoughts were clearing up a bit more.
“What about James? Is he ok? I thought I heard him?”
“Oho?” Lizzie’s face lit up in a mischievous smile. Becca couldn’t see it with her eyes closed, but she could hear it in Lizzie’s voice. “That guy wouldn’t leave you alone. When he found out where we were taking cover, he ran right down. I swear I barely had time to get the words out and he was right there, sprinting toward us through gunfire and everything.”
“That’s cool I guess…” Becca could feel her face warm up. She was glad her eyes were already closed. “Wh-where is he now?”
“Oh, he got pulled away to a meeting when the pirates finally retreated," Lizzie said. “They’ve been trying to sort out the damage along with the crew of the Vestuge.”
“Wait, how long have I been out?” Becca asked. She opened her eyes again and tried to prop herself up and look around. She saw people rushing around the cafeteria she was lying in. It looked like it had been transformed into a makeshift infirmary.
“Shh… Calm down," Lizzie said, patting her head again. “It’s only been around eight hours since you were shot. You’re gonna need to rest some more with the injuries you got.”
Becca eased back down again. “Is anyone else hurt? How’s my mom?”
“She’s doing fine, she wasn’t anywhere near the combat zones. Pranav is doing great too, by the way, that crazy guy," Lizzie leaned in close, “Also y’know Eric? The other gifted? He apparently dropped a crate on a bunch of pirates. That’s how we found out in the first place!”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah it’s true! If he hadn’t accidentally dropped a shipping crate on one of their boats, we might’ve never found out until it was too late!” Lizzie giggled. “That’s one interesting guy.” She looked down at Becca again. “Anyways go back to sleep. I’ll update you on any news later.”
“Mmm sure, ok then," Becca yawned. She could feel her eyes drooping shut yet again.
“Is it too loud? Do you need me to cover your ears for you?”
“No, that’s really weird… just stop talking… for now…”
***
Over the next few days, the crew of the Vestuge and the inhabitants of the Ocearana worked together to repair the damage that was dealt. The Vestuge was hit the hardest as they were the primary target of the pirates. During the fighting, they lost six people with two more missing. Twelve more were incapacitated and needed medical care including Captain Larkke. During the attack on the containership, four helpers from the Ocearana had also been killed and ten more were injured. The deaths were primarily caused by various close range skirmishes, gunfire and falling into the water while hit by a needle. Including Becca, those working on the Whiskernash numbered eleven injured and seven dead with three missing.
On the Blue Beast’s side, they counted around eleven boarding boats in total arriving, each carrying around six to seven people. The Ocearana had managed to capture only around ten of these. The others had either died or made a hasty retreat. They left behind five of their boats; one of which was the one crushed by Eric.
This attack had a silver lining, at least for the people of the Ocearana. Had the Vestuge been attacked while it was sailing away, there was no doubt they would have been overcome. Captain Larkke, while sporting two fractured ribs and a sprained knee reluctantly acknowledged the fact that it was too dangerous for him and his crew to continue alone. With some further discussions and a leadership position on the council of the Ocearana, he agreed to join their colony.
Hence, newly allied, the two groups began working to ready their ships for departure in the face of the oncoming Red Wave.