The ministry of secrets was indeed a busy place these days. Only the most loyal and trust worthy women and dare she say a few men worked beneath the halls of the Imperial palace, although who they were loyal to was sometimes a mystery. Mon’Kelron had visited a few times over her career, once at the behest of now Admiral Nar’Vala, and once at the behest of the Empress.
Once more, she followed one pace behind the Empress into the dark halls the ministry of secrets utilized. It was a strange mixture of the ancient dungeons of the past combined with almost magical Human technology. Spy-Mistress Kel’Taraan awaited the Empress as they passed the thick metal doors that although old, were without blemish.
Two of the ministry of secrets guards stood to each side, each in strange charcoal colored uniforms of some kind of thick cloth material and brandishing rifles that glowed blue from within their barrels. “More new Human technology.” She thought as they passed the check point and entered the sanctum of secrecy. Once inside, the two guards closed the impressive door and pressed a button on the wall, an intricate mechanism spun, forcing metal bars into place on all four sides of the door.
Empress Shi’Lana addressed the once ancient, but now middle aged Spy-Mistress. “How is our prisoner doing this morning?” She asked in a cold tone.
The Spy-Mistress waved for the group to follow her, “She is doing better now, we found a false tooth laced with poison and extracted it. We also used some of the medical nannites the Humans gave us to repair her face, Mon’Kelron did a staggering amount of damage, breaking her nose, maxilla and zygoma. She could not talk with all the swelling of her injuries.”
The Empress looked over to her Captain, “I heard you dispatched her, I did not know it was quite that brutal.”
Mon’Kelron sighed, “It wasn’t intended to be, it was instinctive, muscle memory. During that moment of terror I felt as if something unlocked inside me and I found I has incredible strength that was not there before the Humans repaired me.”
The Spy-Mistress cackled as they entered a room with a single chair in it’s center. In that chair was a woman, who appeared to be quite worse for wear. She was strapped to the chair by her ankles, shins, thighs, chest and neck. She did not look happy. “How are we doing this afternoon young Vir’Athen?”
The woman struggled against her bonds as she spat, “Better than all of you will be when our masters arrive with their fleet!”
The Empress raised an eyebrow to Kel’Taraan, “She speaks of the Howrons? Is she part of the lunatic fringe group New Beginnings or something else?”
“Oh, she is part of something else entirely. A group we had heard only whispers about in the past centuries, but we knew must exist.” Kel’Taraan sighed. “She is part of a group that calls themselves the Redeemers, who worship the Howrons, and have existed since they first came to our world.”
The woman settled down but spoke with vehemence, “We don’t worship them, they aren’t gods, but they are the rightful rulers of our race. For over ten generations we have been their presence on Alandra, and we don’t follow the orders of a false Empress!”
Mon’Kelron looked over to the Spy-Mistress, “I’m surprised she is speaking at all, if this group is as secretive as you say and even resorted to poisoning themselves rather than being captured.”
Kel’Taraan pointed to the tablet on the wall, one identical to the one in her quarters. “The Human’s gave us such wonderful toys. That medical tablet is monitoring a device that we implanted in the base of her spine, it completely inhibits the parts of the brain that control duplicity. Simply put, she can not lie to us, nor does she want to.”
“Humans!” The prisoner spat, “They are a blight on our universe, and the mortal enemy of the Howrons and the Ulraar!”
The Empress looked over to the Spy-Mistress, then back to the two other guards behind them, “I think I have seen enough for now, let us go to somewhere more private.”
As they turned to leave the prisoner shouted from her chair, tears running down her bruised and swollen cheeks, “The fleet is coming, and once they destroy the Humans they will lay waste to our world for siding with them! You will be the death of us all if you don’t repent!”
Mon’Kelron smirked at her, and slammed the door as she followed the group to Kel’Taraan’s private office. Leaving the two guardswomen outside the door she closed it and ensured it was locked before sitting in the only other chair in the office. The Spy-Mistess walked around her huge desk and sat in a strange chair that was obviously of Human manufacture.
“The prisoner, Vir’Athen has been grilled by myself and Spy-Mistress Isa’Bella for most of the morning. Her name is on no census, and other than her clothing and the pistol and reload cartridges she carried nothing else. Thankfully the devices the Human’s provided us with worked on our physiology. We have learned quite a good deal about this group from her, and will require Imperial permission to take out this group.” She stated, pressing her finger tips together.
The Empress sat back in the overly stuffed leather chair, “And you will have it of course, what will you need?”
Sighing the Spy-Mistress turned her computer monitor around, showing a map of the world with an island circled. “The group operates off an island compound near the equator, forty kilometers off shore. Evidently the Howrons set this group up with the means to operate and communicate with them.”
The Empress looked horrified, “They can communicate with the fleet even now? Have you informed the Humans?”
Kel’Taraan sat back and smiled, “Of course, they have been receiving everything we enter into our computers about this Redeemer group. Luckily this fleet believes they are only up against a single human warship. This other race of aliens are the ones that have Alex a bit nervous.”
Mon’Kelron spoke up, “The Ulraar? Yes, I wondered what the prisoner meant by that myself.”
Turning the computer monitor back around the Spy-Mistress grumbled, “As if things weren’t complicated enough, it seems the Howron have an alliance with this more advanced race against the Humans and have been in a state of on again, off again war for three centuries.”
“Hold on, I’m confused, why didn’t Alex and the others know their people were at war with the Howrons and this other race? They’re human after all!” Mon’Kelron asked.
Looking first at the Empress, then to Mon’Kelron, “You didn’t tell her?” She asked.
The Empress shook her head, “Nar’Vala was read in, but she is Admiral of our space based fleet, the Captain of my Guard didn’t need to know. She might as well now, tell her.”
“Very well your majesty.” She stated to the Empress before turning to Mon’Kelron, “The Humans are not from our Universe, thus far all who have arrived have come here by accident, including the first ship to grace our skies as well as the Missive of Dissent.”
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Mon’Kelron nodded, “Yes, that is part of the fairy tale, that they were from another realm, that doesn’t explain why they don’t know about this ongoing war.”
“Ah, but it does. Alex and his crew have been piecing together a series of events over the last three and a half centuries. A huge Human warship known as the IFS Conquest of Mars was the first to arrive in our universe, and was met by hostility from a Howron colony a little over four light years from our own solar system. They destroyed the colony world, sending it into an ice age and starting this war with the Howrons.” Kel’Taraan stated.
Mon’Kelron nodded, “Ok, go on.”
The Spy-Mistress swiveled in her chair, “The Humans aboard the Conquest left for a system near a pulsar to a group of systems inside a nebula. It is a place the Howrons cannot reach, the pulsar bathes the entire region of space in harsh radiation, but the Ulraar can attack them. The reason Alex, and even the first crew of the Prosperity didn’t know about the other Human’s was simply a matter of timing, by the time they had arrived, the previous humans had started a war and left.”
Mon’Kelron looked over to the Empress, then back to the Spy-Mistress, “So when the Howron found a Human ship in orbit above our planet they decided then that we needed to be conquered to keep the Humans from having allies?”
The Empress spoke up, “Perhaps at first, but once they found our planet to have vast reserves of Adamantine it became far more lucrative to them to take it from us as tribute. Though why they want it we still don’t know.”
The Spy-Mistress sighed, “Thanks to our esteemed guest, we now know why. Although she stated they were equals in their alliance, we believe the Howrons are buying technology from the Ulraar with Adamantine mined here. Alex noted the Ulraar ships, which he had been calling Trinar since they were all triangular in shape, used a vast amount of the substance in their hulls.”
The Empress balled up her fists, “So we have been slaves to these, these, beings simply because we had a resource they could use to bribe another group for technology?”
The Spy-Mistress shrugged, “It was always a mystery why they wanted the adamantine they forced us to extract, now we know. The Ulraar are more technologically advanced than the Howron, but neither seem to be able to get the upper hand on the group of Human’s in the nebula.”
Mon’Kelron tapped the overstuffed arm of the chair as she thought, “If the Humans here know where the Conquest went, what is stopping them from leaving us to the Howron to find more of their kind?”
The Spy-Mistress stopped swiveling her chair, “I spent the best seventy five years of my life with the Humans on the Prosperity, my Emmet…” She broke off her words and put her knuckles to her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. “The Humans will not abide slavery of any kind, Alex has made this abundantly clear. He will not leave until our system is safe and we can defend ourselves properly.”
Neither the Empress or the Captain had ever seen Kel’Taraan this emotional before, they both waited, giving her time to compose herself. “They will not leave us to our fate, they have committed Humans to crew the last two vessels. This new information changes nothing in the short term, in the long term they may reach out to the other group of Humans.”
______________________________
Monty looked over to Kelly as she sat down on the couch beside her. She had a plate full of cake and a huge glass of milk. “Are you alright? You kind of lost it there for a moment in your office.”
Kelly sighed as she put her glass on the side table. “Being a replicant is taking some getting used to. I can remember things as clearly as if it happened only moments ago, even if it were centuries past.”
“I guess Emmet was someone special to you?” Monty asked.
Nodding, Kelly answered, “He was the most important person in my life. He was my husband, and although we could never have offspring, I always wanted a family. I had health issues when I was young and he was the ships doctor. I was the advisor to the Empress and he took a liking to me, bringing me up to their ship to fix what ailed me.”
Monty nodded, “So that explains your exceptionally long lifespan. You spent seventy five years together?”
Kelly picked up her fork and took a bite from the piece of cake, nodding to Monty, “I did, seventy five wonderful years.” She started tearing up again. “I’m sorry, now I can recall everything with perfect clarity, it’s painful remembering those times, and my mind wondered to a time when I feared Emmet would leave me.” She wiped the tear away with her napkin.
Monty reached over and hugged her, letting her get it out of her system. “How about a comedy, something raunchy and stupid?”
Kelly nodded, “That sounds good, want some cake?”
Monty shook her head and got up to go over to the buffet table, grabbing some chocolate brownies and bringing back a plate full of them. “I’ve got everything I need right here.”
______________________________
“Thank you all for coming, have you all seen the information Kelly has collected from the Redeemer prisoner?” Kara asked as she stood in front of the now enlarged buffet table surrounded by Alex, Monty, Riven, Izzy, Valarie, John, Erin and Kelly. Nods from all around the table let her know that they had indeed read the latest bombshell from the planet.
Kara swiped her holo-tank to show the first time a Bells Inequality was detected from the surface of Alandra. “At the time we assumed this was sent from the Palace, however, after some talks with Kelly we have found this was not the case. That particular communication was sent from this Redeemer group. Kara looked to Kelly to continue.
The new replicant easily picked up the presentation, “We often wondered how the Howron knew where our research facilities were located. They have attempted to keep us technologically backwards to ensure we can never threaten them or leave our planet. It appears they setup this group centuries ago, and they have used their extensive spy network to pass on that information to the enemy. The city they destroyed housed a research lab working on nuclear fission.”
Kara picked up after Kelly, “Luckily Kelly is extremely paranoid, and the exact information as to our alliance has never been disclosed outside the Empresses inner circle. The prisoner, who was very highly placed in the Redeemer group is completely unaware of the mine field, the planetary defenses, or the new frigates. As of one hour ago the entirety of the Alandran navy, which isn’t as impressive as it sounds have been secretly launched to attack their island base.”
“We could just nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.” Monty stated.
Kelly shook her head, “Sadly that is not a possibility, we need to capture those in charge of the organization and capture any equipment they may be using to contact the Howron. The news has stated the Empress was gravely injured in the attack and the assassin is still at large, with any luck this story will hold until the assault on the island.”
Alex spoke up, “So will it only be the navy that will launch this assault on the island?”
Kelly grinned across the table to Alex, “No, Spy-Mistress Isa’Bella and our best agents in the ministry of secrets will also be going. Not only will they know what to look for, they are also equipped with modern body armor and light rail guns, they should turn the tide of any technology the Howrons equipped the Redeemers with.”
John spoke up as he picked up a small sandwich cut at an angle from the table, “I take it you have a plan?”
Kelly walked over to the holo-tank and Kara moved over to allow her to use the device, “We believe the device they are using to communicate with the Howrons is in fact Ulraar technology, and will look quite different than the examples we have seen before. Kara had her doubts about the Howrons having the knowledge to create particle entanglement, it seems this is a pass me down from the Ulraar who have discovered string radio, though not its full range yet.”
Continuing, she swiped the holo-tank to show the last information about the alien fleet in the Lynx system. “If we can capture that device intact we can send false information to the Howron fleet. We could maneuver them directly into the minefield!”
Valarie shook her head, “How would that work, if they are as fanatical as we believe them to be, even with an implanted neural inhibitor they still couldn’t be controlled enough to send them a video message.”
Kara nodded to Kelly, who moved away from the holo-tank. “I’ve researched both Bells Inequalities that we have encountered since arriving in this universe. There isn’t enough bandwidth to send a video file, or even an audio file. I believe there are only three entangled atoms in the device, allowing for transmission of only one bit at a time with error correction. They are limited to text transmissions.”
Monty bounced as she understood, “So the Howrons would have no idea who was on the other side of the transmission, they would simply have to trust it was still their group sending the message.”
Izzy spoke up next, “But this could all be ruined if they manage to send a message to the Howron fleet?”
“Yes, which is why my agents will infiltrate the base and capture the device before the navy begins bombarding the island.” Kelly stated.