by S. H. Jucha
“Was that all your leaders wanted?” the Boobaffle asked. She was surprised by the limited scope of the requests.
“Yes,” the Terrium replied, shrugging his broad, thickly haired shoulders. He wore a tunic vest that hung down to his calves. It allowed his heavily muscled arms more freedom of movement.
The Boobaffle thought she’d reached the end of her arguments. However, something that her captain said triggered her memories of the time in the hall and aboard the traveler on its way to the polar region.
“We’re familiar with the sisters as translators,” the Boobaffle said. “Are you aware that they have much more capability than that? I had an opportunity to speak to them in detail during a flight to the polar region.”
“Was that when you were replaced on the negotiating team for your duplicity?” the Terrium asked. His tone had shifted. It had become heavier, deeper.
“Yes, I regret to say, but I’m hoping to make amends for that,” the Boobaffle replied. “It occurs to me that the sisters might have as much or more ability than Artifice. Certainly, one great advantage they have is that they’re mobile. The envoy negotiating team has yet to discuss the possibility of tech transfer. What if by helping the admiral, you could take part in that transfer? Wouldn’t returning home with an alternative to Artifice be of value to your leaders, especially since the sisters are safer than Artifice?”
“Hmm,” the Terrium hummed, as he considered the Boobaffle’s appeal. “Contact the admiral, report her response, and we’ll consider whether to join your false wedge. We’ll require verification of the admiral’s acknowledgment that we’re performing for the Kirmler but not taking part in his scheme.”
The Boobaffle nodded, swinging her tendrils.
“If you intend to visit the other two envoys who left with me, don’t bother. I’ll relay your message,” the Terrium said.
The Boobaffle hesitated. The subterfuge could be undone if the Terrium failed to convince the other two, and one or both of them left the ring and exited the system.
“You needn’t be concerned,” the Terrium added. “They’ll listen to me.” His voice had taken on a deep resonance, a near growl.
“It’s imperative that this not be accomplished via the comm systems,” the Boobaffle requested.
“Understood, young one,” the Terrium said, emphasizing the Boobaffle’s youth to indicate that using a shuttle was an obvious requirement.
Belatedly, it occurred to the Boobaffle that the tufts of white and gray that accentuated the Terrium’s dark hair weren’t part of his natural coloring. They indicated his advanced age, and it accented the extent to which she’d been out of her depth in the Kirmler’s game.
32: Ellie’s Game
Ellie and others at her table finished their meals. The talks were scheduled to continue tomorrow. The news from Quizra had been positive, and she hoped that the issues could be peacefully resolved without further loss of life. Then Hector dashed those hopes.
Ellie heard the tone and recognized the words. Hector was speaking as the fleet leader. It wasn’t a request, and she signaled Alphons and Adrianna to accompany her.
On the bridge, Hector activated the holo-vid, using a wire model of the ring. The orientation was from the planet’s polar region, allowing the admirals to see the complete ring of battleships and Tridents. The travelers were still deployed, but they weren’t represented in the projection.
“Admirals, we’ve been monitoring the Kirmler ship,” Hector began. “While communications haven’t revealed anything new, a shuttle left his ship and traveled around the planet to dock with the Boobaffle vessel. Soon afterward, the shuttle departed. Telemetry identifies it as the same one, and it returned to the Kirmler ship.”
“Hours later,” Lydia continued, “a shuttle left the Boobaffle ship and sailed to a battleship which was known to be of an envoy in the Boobaffle cluster.”
“It appears that the Kirmler’s plan needs a little updating, and he isn’t risking comms,” Adrianna said, and she chuckled at the effort the Kirmler was expending to advance his scheme.
“Why does it look like the Kirmler hasn’t any expertise in warfare?” Alphons asked. “This is the point where Alex would laugh and say the Kirmler is tipping his hand.”
“Let’s not assume,” Ellie warned. “For all we know, he’s deliberately misleading us with his actions.”
“I spoke to several sisters about the Kirmler,” Lydia said. “They report he’s devious, but they don’t believe that he’s capable of subtle layers of machinations.”
“To continue,” Hector said, to draw attention. “The Boobaffle shuttle visited the four envoys within her cluster. Then it proceeded to the nearest ship of one of the three envoys who were last to leave the hall.”
“Which one was that?” Adrianna asked.
“The Terrium,” Hector said, and sent an image of the envoy.
“That’s a powerful body,” Adrianna commented, whistling softly.
“Can we assume the Boobaffle shuttle visited all three of these envoys?” Alphons asked.
“Negative, Admiral,” Hector replied. “The Boobaffle shuttle returned to the envoy’s ship. Then a different shuttle exited the Terrium ship and docked at the other two envoys’ battleships.”
“I wonder if the Kirmler is trying to recruit the Boobaffle envoy’s cluster or simply updating them,” Ellie mused.
“And I’m wondering if the final three are part of the scheme or just an opportunity for the Kirmler,” Alphons added.
“It’s definitive evidence that the Kirmler is attempting to create a second wedge before he makes his move,” Hector said.
“Interesting that the Kirmler is using the Boobaffle envoy to communicate to the three envoys, who aren’t in her cluster,” Ellie said. “Where are the ships of the Boobaffle cluster and these three?” she asked.
The display colored the locations of seventeen battleships, and the admirals received the color codes.
“That’s either opportunistic for the Kirmler’s plan, or he’s drawn a bad hand,” Alphons commented, when the admirals realized that the Kirmler and his cohorts were in one hemisphere and the Boobaffle cluster and the final three were in the other hemisphere.
“This story’s narrative continues,” Hector said, drawing on the words of his favorite authors. “Telemetry detected a repeating signal from the bow of the Boobaffle ship not long after the shuttle left.”
“A signal for the shuttle?” Adrianna offered.
“Initially, the controller deemed the event insignificant enough that it didn’t report it to us,” Hector replied. “However, the signal was slightly erratic, which the controller deemed worthy of communicating.”
“Erratic, as in intermittent. Perhaps a circuit malfunction?” Ellie inquired.
“A subtle erratic nature, Admiral, as in a biological is tapping out the sequence,” Hector replied.
“Anyone else communicating via their bow lights?” Adrianna asked.
“Negative, Admiral, just the Boobaffle ship,” Hector replied.
“Consensus?” Ellie requested.
“We believe the Boobaffle envoy is aboard the shuttle, and her ship’s captain has been signaling to gain our attention, Admiral,” Hector said.
“Lydia, did you speak to the sisters about the Boobaffle?” Ellie asked.
“I have detailed observations on every envoy from the sisters,” Lydia replied.
“Of course, you do. My apologies, Lydia,” Ellie said. “Tell me about the Boobaffle.”
“She’s a relatively young and inexperienced envoy,” Lydia replied. “The sisters believe that she was eager to succeed and sought allies.”
“A good target for the Kirmler,” Adrianna commented.
“How about her cluster?” Ellie inquired.
“Similar to her, Admiral,” Lydia
replied.
“And the final three to leave?” Alphons requested.
“Not at all like the Boobaffle cluster,” Lydia replied. “For instance, the Terrium is experienced and many annuals older than the Boobaffle. The sisters believe the three were frustrated by the limited acceptance by the hall of their singular request.”
“Which was what?” Ellie queried.
“They wanted to borrow Artifice to advance their tech,” Lydia replied.
The admirals stared at one another and the SADEs with stupefied expressions.
“In their cases, the sisters surmise that the leaders of these three thought that if the envoys had a simple singular request, it was more likely to be accepted,” Lydia said, raising her hands outward to indicate she was perplexed by the reasoning too.
“Then they exited the hall when they learned that their request was impossible to grant,” Ellie reasoned. “That probably happened after the envoys’ negotiating team visited Artifice and word reached these three about what the team found.”
Ellie stared at the wire model, while trying to put the pieces together. “The Terrium is too experienced to accept the Kirmler’s outlandish plan,” she mused. “Yet, he takes a shuttle to the other two envoys after the Boobaffle’s visit. Then we have the Boobaffle captain signaling us, using a crew member on the panel to show us that’s it’s not a malfunction but deliberate.”
Ellie regarded the SADEs and said, “Well, I assume you two are fluent in the Boobaffle tongue.”
There was a momentary pause. Then Hector smiled and said, “We are now.”
Ellie nodded, and Lydia commenced her intrusion into the Boobaffle comm system. When she’d commandeered that bridge portion of the system, she sent,
Ellie’s sending was translated by Lydia. When the SADE finished her intrusion into the bridge system, the city-ship’s holo-vid displayed the Boobaffle battleship’s bridge from the view of the forward central monitor. Those on the Our People’s bridge could see the immediate scramble to communicate with the captain or the envoy.
Hector replied.
The city-ship’s bridge audience watched two people hurry onto the bridge.
One of the new arrivals matched Hector’s image of the envoy. Obviously, the other individual was the captain. His tendrils were worn like a cape that reached to his waist. The tendrils in front of his face were held aside by decorated ribbons that matched his uniform. It allowed him clear sight.
On the other hand, the envoy’s tendrils were shorter than many of the officers seated at their panels, and she wore them as a curtain, which concealed her face.
“Thank you, Admiral, for your response,” the envoy replied. “The signal was my captain’s idea, while I was occupied.”
The captain laughed heartily, bouncing his cape of tendrils. The envoy’s reaction was unknown. Her tendrils hid her face.
“It’s refreshing to deal with a senior commander, deserving of her reputation,” the captain said. “We’ve a touchy problem, Admiral, and we seek your advice and support.”
The captain explained what he’d heard from his envoy. Occasionally, the envoy expanded on the details. When they finished, they waited for the Omnian admiral to respond.
The captain turned toward his envoy, and he nodded gravely. The envoy received the message. Her captain had warned her that the Kirmler was playing a dangerous game, and the Omnians wouldn’t be fooled by his amateurish machinations.
“We’ve an adaptation to the Kirmler’s plan,” the envoy said. “However, to bring it to fruition the others in my cluster and the Terrium and his associates want some assurances from you, Admiral.”
“In its simplest form, Admiral,” the captain replied. “We’ll form the wedge over the polar region, but we’ll never launch.”
“I’m afraid it does, Admiral,” the captain replied.
The tendrils of the envoy swung, as she turned toward the captain and whispered.
“My youthful leader doesn’t understand the problem, Admiral,” the captain said. He spoke so as to teach his envoy a lesson that you don’t whisper in front of a senior commander. It destroys trust.
“First, my envoy assumes you can’t see us,” the captain continued. “I presume this is incorrect.”
The captain chuckled and swung his head, swirling his tendrils, for his audience. “Unfortunately, their length is a sign of age,” he said.
“One hopes,” the captain replied. “To explain to my envoy, the conundrum is that we need the admiral’s assurance that she won’t take the formation of a second wedge as an aggressive action on our part. We’re asking that she take our word for what we intend to do. Yet, how does she know that we aren’t playing her for a fool? She wants proof of our intentions before she grants us her word.”
“I’ll offer myself as a hostage,” the envoy volunteered. “If a second wedge is formed and launches missiles, my life will be forfeited.”
“Then how do we break this impasse?” the envoy asked.
“How should we proceed, Admiral?” the captain asked.
The envoy interrupted, saying, “It’ll make the Kirmler envoy’s attack that much more sinister.”
The envoy regarded the captain, and both of them shook their heads in negation.
The Boobaffle comms officer stared at his captain. His tendrils swirled, indicating his confusion at what had happened to his system.
“The Kirmler is a greater idiot than I thought,” the captain mused aloud. “The Omnians resemble sentients watching the actions of a small vermin. They can choose what they want to do with it at any time.”
The envoy leaned close to her captain and whispered, “Let’s hope the Omnians don’t view us as vermin.”
Aboard the Our People, Hector returned the display to the wire model of the battleship ring, with its color codes.
“Admiral,” Alphons said, ad
dressing Ellie. “This has been our first contact with a captain of one of the seventeen suspect battleships. Previously, every one of our discussions was about the envoys. Who’s to say what the Kirmler captain is thinking?”
“Alphons has a point, Admiral,” Adrianna said. “When I was listening to the Boobaffle captain, it was clear to me that he hadn’t been taken into the confidence of his envoy until long after his envoy became involved with that devious individual.”
“Lydia, I’d like to try a test, but I need you to err on the passive side,” Ellie said.
“Your parameters are understood, Admiral,” Lydia replied.
“Investigate the Kirmler battleship,” Ellie directed. “I’d like to know if you can gain access to the launch system. If you can, check the code that controls access. I’d like to know who has authority to activate and fire the missiles.”
Lydia directed the city-ship’s powerful telemetry antennas at the Kirmler battleship. Gaining access to the comm system was an easy task. Then she roamed through the systems, matching them to a list she maintained of the systems she expected to find. She was guided by the previous investigations of federacy battleships by other SADEs. However, none of the historical data detailed by the SADEs indicated a launch system.
After several unfruitful minutes, Lydia slipped out of the battleship’s system. “Admiral,” she said. “The launch system isn’t connected to the general bridge systems. It must be a discreet component within the battleship’s design.”
“Logical,” Hector commented. “It would be a safety precaution against possible electronic warfare from enemies.”
“We can assume the captain has authority,” Ellie said. “There would be one or two officers, who would be his backup. But this doesn’t answer my concern.”
“Does the Kirmler envoy have the authority?” Alphons finished for Ellie.
“That’s part of it,” Ellie said. “The other half is if the envoy has access to the missiles, does the captain know this?”
“Ah,” Alphons said softly. “What authorization did the Kirmler leaders give their envoy, while leaving the battleship captain in the dark?” He shook his head at the foolish mistakes that leaders consistently repeated.