“Mister Fisch sir?”
He didn’t look up from the holo-screens he was staring at, still watching the stalemate going on with the two ships nearby EODS-245B research station. He had only just managed to convince the Board of Directors to allow him to hire a team of mercenaries to go in and secure the ship. Considering the clandestine nature of EODS-245B, it had taken a lot of convincing, and going far afield to find a mercenary company known for both their dedication to a contract, and to keeping the secrets of a client.
Even with the concerns about EODS-245B’s operations getting out, a mercenary company was still an easier sell to the board than asking for permission to activate Omega Company. All companies had clandestine research facilities, but if any others had created a company of cybernetic zombie soldiers for black ops, they were as protective of that fact as Enigma Osiris was.
The company he’d contracted had just arrived in the system, and were preparing for their assault on the Gladstone, which would begin shortly. “Yes Mr. Horgan, what is it?”
“There has been an update on the search for the Aacens, sir.” Charles informed him, clearing his throat and tapping the screen of his tablet. “We were able to trace a communication sent out via the Benastian’s Fanservice connections to Yantari 3, and a hot springs resort there, sir. You were deep in that conference with the board when the intelligence came in, so I took the liberty of acting on it sir. I informed our local connections and asked them to do us a favor in apprehending them, as quietly as they could sir.”
“Excellent Charles.” Fisch smiled, at least something was going right. “When will their transport be arriving?”
He could feel Charles wince from across the room. Oh, he thought, I see. “Unfortunately,” Charles explains, it seems the Benastian did not count on her communications encryption to be uncrackable sir. She was prepared for someone tracing her. As a result, the team that went in to apprehend her and the Aacen girl made a lot more of a kerfuffle than they were instructed to make. The owner of the resort - one I am sure you are very familiar with - is extremely unhappy about such a thing happening on his grounds sir. I take full responsibility.”
Fisch sighed. If Charles hadn’t proved himself so capable over his short tenure as his administrative assistant, his employment would have been terminated right there. But so far Charles had gone above and beyond expectations, and he didn’t want to be searching for a replacement in the midst of all this. “I will have to think up an appropriate consequence for you at a less vexing time Mr. Horgan. What about Mr. Aacen?”
“He arrived on Yantari Three a few days after his sister and the Benastian, sir” Charles explained, “He arrived in the company of a diminutive woman of an alien race unheard of previously. According to security footage we obtained, Mr. Aacen identified her as Commander Jophixa Throhx of the Giobhioni Republic. He stated she was an accomplished warrior on an exploratory mission, and their home was dozens of light years away. Possibly it is her that is responsible for his unlikely rescue from the barren planetoid sir?”
Fisch simply nodded, so Charles continued, “It seems the check in clerk made the error of referring to this Commander Throhx as a child, being as how on first glance she might appear as one, if you ignore the hips, the ears, and the rather impressive teeth sir.” He held up his tablet to project an image of what had to be a woman maybe 1.12 meters tall, but with an unmistakingly mature feminine figure, and when she stepped up onto Aacen’s back to scan her iris for security, she flashed a set of almost sharklike, pointed teeth. “I’m given to understand that the old man nearly had a coronary at her smile, sir.”
“I think I can see where this is going Mr. Horgan.”
“You are likely mostly right, sir.” Charles continued, or would have if activity on the holo-screens had not caused Fisch to hold up his hand bruskly.
The next few minutes were filled with the comms reports coming from the mercenary teams confronting the alien presence on the Gladstone. They had managed to slip passed the ships weapons fire and breach the hull, but once inside began taking some moderate losses, disturbing was the fact that the alien monsters, whenever possible, were carrying the dead or wounded away with them when they retreated. Fisch prepared himself for questions from their commander when this was over.
Eventually the mercenaries reported that the “monsters” were fleeing the ship out of airlocks near the stern of the ship, which would have been good news, if it hadn’t been for reports from rearguard mercs stationed on the outer hull. These things seemed to be unaffected by hard vacuum, and were scrambling across the tethers to the alien ship the Gladstone had in tow.
Fisch clenched his fists. No! It’s mine! He screamed within his mind. He keyed the comms control on his desk, “Under no circumstances are you to allow that ship to move to hyperspace!”
“You heard the man!” a voice cried out, and on the holo, the intensity of the fighting increased.
Even with the renewed fervor of the mercenaries however, it did not stop the alien spider things from scurrying across the cables and, when all of them were over, cutting them loose. Mercenaries started activating jump jets on their space suits to bridge the gap, but the derelict ship suddenly came to life, its weapons systems beginning to take out the mercs before they could make it across. And then, just as Fisch was about to signal the station to go ahead and launch the nukes - If he couldn’t have that ship, no one could have it - the alien ship launched some sort of torpedo…
Then immediately transitioned to hyperspace, with at least a dozen of the spider things still clinging to the outer hull.
Staring at the holo, both Fisch and Horgan traced the path of the projectile as it made its way towards EODS-245B. Every active fighter, whether EO or Merc, began firing at it in an attempt to take it out. The station itself began firing with all its point defence guns, but the projectile evaded the larger stuff, and simply ignored the smaller. It seemed like nothing could stop it, and nothing did.
Shortly before impact, escape pods began ejecting from the station. But they could both tell by the number of them that got clear, that no more than half the station's personnel managed to get away.
Then the explosion rocked the feed.
“Good God,” Charles gasped, “half the station is gone…”
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“Sir, you have a priority communications link on channel 3”
Major Gertrude Kintzel looked up from where she was coordinating the search for Thomas Aacen, his sister, and the alien women to see her comms officer looking nervous. “Who the hell could be pinging me right now!” she growled, frustrated as hell. “The Prefect is riding my ass to find these people.”
“That’s just it, Sir. The ID code on the transmission says that it is the Prefect.”
Gertrude pinched the bridge of her nose, What evil did I do in a past life to deserve this shit? She asked herself, then said aloud “Put it through to my holo-screen.”
When the image for the Prefect lit up above the holo-projector, his grizzled old face was not happy at all. “Major! What is the meaning of this? I do not appreciate being called out of an important meeting, no matter how urgent your situation is!”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
She blinked, completely taken aback. “Prefect Johnson, I assure you, I was not the one to initiate this communication. I was told by my comms officer that I had priority communication from you!” she looked over at her comms officer, “I’ll have her send over the logs for you to verify. There must be something…”
The holo-image suddenly split into two, with the second image showing a serious, somewhat angry face of a green skinned woman with large pointed ears coming straight out from either side of her head, electric blue hair pulled back in severe braids. “You needn’t go searching for a mystery Major, Prefect.” the alien woman, whom Gertrude suddenly realized matched the image of the one that had been with Mr. Aacen. “My name is Ambassador Stasti Ai’fix and I represent the Giobhioni Republic. I have regretfully found it necessary to intrude on your communications network to deliver a message from my government, and a warning.”
The holo-image of Prefect Johnson’s face went beet red with anger and he opened his mouth to respond, but the ambassador woman responded. “Your law enforcement officers attacked and endangered the life of a hero of our people. One who was on your planet peacefully for shore leave while on an exploratory mission. Not only that, but I have reports from her helmsman that you had officers attempt to board not only her shuttle, but her ship as well. Please do not deny it, we have documentation to prove it.”
Gertrude winced. She had expressly ordered those officers not not board those ships unless she gave the go ahead, and now the two that had attempted the shuttle were dead, and those who attempted the Elegance of Light at the starport were in the infirmary. She was waiting for a chance to ask them just what the hell they thought they were doing. “I wish to apologize for that part of the situation Ambassador.” She informed the woman, “Those officers had express orders to only do such a thing on my express orders, or if they spotted one of the fugitives we were after entering the vessels. I aim to find out why they did so, and if they do not have a damned good reason, reprimand them harshly.”
“As well you should. Underlings should always understand the chain of command, and follow it!” The Ambassador was still looking quite livid. “But it doesn’t stop there does it? Your men are still pursuing our commander through a dense wooded area near where she was staying, are they not? Harassing her and her cabin boy?”
“I’m sorry, her what?” Prefect Johnson managed to ask, keeping his temper under control.
“Her cabin boy! I believe that is the term you humans use.” The ambassador looked on the edge of frothing at the mouth, “One Thomas Aacen. Commander Throhx reported rescuing him, next to dead on a remote desolate planetoid. He bargained for his passage to civilization via a contract of servitude as her cabin boy for a period of no less than 5.7 of your years. By our laws, he is under her protection until the end of that 5.7 years.”
“Ambassador!” the Prefect snapped before Gertrude could reply, “Thomas Aacen is a citizen of the Terran Commonwealth and a subject to its laws. Right now he is wanted for questioning in regards to a crime that was committed by his sister. That gives us just cause to pursue him, your commander was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time. If she simply hands over Mr. Aacen for questioning, she is free to leave without further fuss.”
Gertrude winced again. She could see where this was going. She had dealt with enough new alien cultures in her time with SysSec to anticipate the reaction here. The Ambassador’s next words just confirmed her hunch. “Your need to question him does not supersede the fact that he is under her legal protection via the contract. If she abandons him to you, she will lose a great deal of honour and be shamed before our people. That could cause a lot of animosity amongst our people towards yours. You might even say it could cause open hostilities.”
“Be that as it may, your republic is dozens of light years from our borders” Johnson smirked, “are your people really going to travel for weeks through hyperspace just to harry our furthest outposts? I very much doubt that, even if your honour is so valued. Thomas Aacen will be questioned.”
“Prefect, I really think you should…” Gertrude started, but the ambassador interrupted
“Prefect Johnson is it?” She said, her holo-image sneering and showing off those wickedly shark-like teeth. “You seem to be without tactical good sense when dealing with species and empires you know nothing about. Your superiors should be informed that you need to be leashed like the unruly dog that you are. Our ships could be on your border in days not weeks. And the Elegance of Light by itself could kill every man of yours in that forest searching for our people without even a thought, then annihilate every ship you send to retaliate.”
“The fact that we have not done so is because wiping out such a weaker species brings no honor to us. We have no desire to war with your people, but disrespecting our hero will cause us to consider it.”
Gertrude saw the Prefect look taken aback at the declaration. Granted, the ambassador’s assertions could be bluffs, but history is full of instances of a believed bluff not being one at all. You do not piss off a nation you have absolutely no intelligence on. It is just not sound thinking. “Madam Ambassador. I will call off the officers pursuing your Commander and her cabin boy right now.” she glanced over her shoulder and nodded to her comms officer to get it done. “I won’t be a party to starting a war between our people. I do hope that certain other parties see the wisdom in this and do not countermand my orders. I hope we can resolve this misunderstanding later, and have friendly conversations in the future.”
“Ah, someone with some sense.” She smiled, temper fading quickly, “Incidentally, When Mr. Aacen joined the commander’s crew, he reported to her that he was deliberately abandoned on that planetoid by a man named Johnathan Barstol, a man operating a salvaging ship without a license. Mr. Aacen was blackmailed to participate, and the blackmail was certain falsified evidence that his sister Jessica had been involved in industrial espionage against a corporation named Enigma Osiris.”
Both Gertrude and Prefect Johnson blinked, startled at that news. “Did Mr. Aacen have any evidence of this blackmail, or that it was falsified?”
“He did.” The Ambassador said, grinning her shark toothed smile “Mr. Aacen can be many things, but the man has an eye towards covering his ass. Something Mr. Barstol should consider before attempting to seek revenge again in the future. I can send you the evidence Mr. Aacen provided to Commander Throhx now.”
There was a beep behind her, and Gertrude heard the comms officer say quietly “Got it.” At the same time she saw Prefect Johnson’s holo-image look to the side and nod.
“Now,” the Ambassador said calmly, steepling her hands in front of her, “as long as your officers pull back and allow the Commander to return to her ship with Mr. Aacen, we will not have to escalate matters. I will even speak with her about making Mr. Aacen available to question via secure communication channel. That will be the most you will get, however, since you now have evidence that someone wishes to frame his sister. I would recommend you start following up on that information before risking an interstellar incident. Don’t you agree Prefect?”
Looking nonplussed and angry at being put in this place, Johnson gave a curt nod. “As you say Ambassador. We will allow the Elegance of Light to pick up your people, including Mr. Aacen. My apologies for the misunderstanding of the situation. Though in the future, if the evidence of falsified charges and blackmail had been provided to proper authorities ahead of time, this could have been avoided.”
“Ah.” Ambassador Ai’fix said, “It might have indeed, and I’m told an effort to do so was, indeed, attempted. Mr Aacen was in contact with a…” she looked away for a moment as if consulting a readout, “Commander Mancini of Fleetsec, stationed at Tyroli Station. He was attempting first to report some very critical information regarding the ship Mr. Barstol was towing back to Commonwealth territory. Your Commander Mancini gave him little chance to report more than the basics before ordering him to the nearest Law enforcement office for questioning. So you see, once again, we did our best to avoid conflict in this situation.”
Johnson coughed, looking extremely uncomfortable, about what, Gertrude wasn’t exactly sure. His reaction seemed a bit more extreme than the situation warranted. Something more was going on here, and she did not like political machinations getting in the way of law enforcement operations. “Ambassador, I hope that has resolved all the issues for today.” She said calmly, and in her best dealing with politicians voice, “I’m not sure exactly how you managed to infiltrate our comms and get both the prefect and I onto a call at the same time, but I am happy we were able to avoid more bloodshed. I have two funerals to arrange as it is. I will do my best to make sure that no hostile feelings are directed at your people by the next of kin.
“Please let me know the next time any of your people are in the neighborhood and wish to take shore leave here. I will ensure that no such incidents are repeated without first approaching your office.”
“Thank you Major. That would be much appreciated. Have a good day.”
The image of the Ambassador vanished, leaving only her and the prefect in the call. “Prefect, I…”
“Save it Major.” Johnson snapped, “I’m not in the mood. I have people to inform of this development, not the least of which are the executives from Enigma Osiris who are so adamant that Jessica Aacen was engaging in industrial espionage. We will talk about this more later.”
The channel went dead, and Gertrude breathed a long sigh. “That is the kind of clusterfuck that always makes me want to resign this job” she said out loud, “Something is fucking hinky here, and I don’t know if I should root it out, or leave it the fuck alone.”
A chorus of grunts from her staff came in response to her statement. They all knew that when politicos stuck their noses into law enforcement matters, shit always hit the fan. Mr. Aacen, she thought to herself, get the hell out of my system before I’m forced further into this than I am!
----------------------------------------
Toftri and Trasta sat on the bridge of the Elegance staring at each other in shock. If they didn’t have the ships logs to back them up, this was going to be a hard one to get the Commander to believe. “Did…did that really just happen?” Toftri asked in a whisper.
“Why are you guys looking so surprised? It was just a bit of hacking. Human network security isn’t that hard once you figure out the trick of it. I could probably crack their highest politico’s email if I wanted to.”
“The hacking was the believable part Stacy” Trasta said, a slow smile spreading across her face. “The fact that you just bluffed the absolute HELL out of those two without even a moment’s practice…”
“I had plenty of practice, sweety!” Stacy explained, “that’s why I needed those 15 minutes after hacking into their databases. I had to set up personality subroutines based on all their dossiers and run at least a million scenarios to make sure I had the hang of things! I didn’t want to put my Honey-cakes in even more danger!”
“What would you have done if they’d called your bluff?” Toftri asked hesitantly.
Stacy was quiet for a long moment, then said with a growling fervor, “I would have unleashed every gram of hellish fury the Elegance of Light has at its disposal upon them.”