Surprisingly, Blanchard was met with a bunch of shaking heads nonverbally telling him to continue. “Alright, no questions. So, going as far back as we could, Commander Remming and I found that the trail only really began one Custos day before we jumped; twenty-one hours to be exact. On that morning, fifteen of the Armada’s personnel were reported as Failure to Report for their units’s first formation. Breaking it down, one came from each Fleet Vessel with Steadfast and Loyal taking the additional fifteenth.”
Euphretes was skeptical. “Then how is Steadfast and Loyal the only one affected?”
“Why don’t you let him finish before asking questions.”
“Breaking it down even further, fourteen of the fifteen soldiers who missed their first formation shared the same Military Occupational Specialty. Specifically, they all worked within the superstructure of their Ships. Their job is to track down and diagnose faulty sensors and any minor faults picked up by main computing systems. More importantly, their occupation is basically the only one that authorizes soldiers to work alone. In my opinion, what got the enemy’s attention was the fact that they are required to wear equipment that completely covers their entire bodies. Specifically, their work uniforms are layered just enough to hide the identity of whoever is underneath.”
“Well that was smart of them.”
“No kidding. Just glad we now know how they got in,” Euphretes commented back to his mind space.
“And it’s an easy fix,” Neuma added.
“Good point. Wait. It is?”
“Listen!”
Blanchard continued to brief, “The one outlier who did not share the same occupation as the other fourteen, and our only NCO of the group, works as a Systems Engineer here on Steadfast and Loyal. He specifically maintains SR6’s programming and conducts his cyclic preventative maintenance services.”
SR6 cut in while simultaneously disappearing from his standing position next to Euphretes and reappeared beside Blanchard, “I have verified that Staff Operative Blomquist is without a doubt the soldier who has been working with me over the last one hundred and twenty five days. I can also attest that his actions do not reflect his work, which is always exceptional. That is all; sorry to interrupt Captain.” The RAI disappeared again and resumed his position next to Euphretes.
Senior Leading Operative Crestone stood up and spoke before Blanchard could open his mouth to respond, “Captain Blanchard, can you please just explain what happened to my fifteen soldiers before getting all analytical and Officer like?” The Senior NCO asked with slight hostility, frustrated and concerned that his soldiers could be in a ditch somewhere without anyone knowing it.
“Roger that Senior Op,” Blanchard replied, “After their leadership scrambled to find them, all fifteen soldiers were either found by their first line supervisors or walked in of their own accord. Twelve of them suffered relatively severe injuries while the other three only had minor wounds. We now know that one of those three was responsible for the attack on Demon’s Reckoning. Commander Remming will provide the specific details during his portion of the brief in a moment,” Blanchard explained while looking at Remming to confirm what he said.
Neuma could feel a resurgence of guilt trying to break through Euphretes’s defenses at the mention of the Predator’s name. “It’s alright Euphretes, you’ve already been down that road. You know where it leads.”
Her comforting voice was filled with a tranquilizing, yet awe inspiring energy that reverberated around his anxious mind space while sending pulsating waves of peace throughout his inner core. The shame, fear, and innate desire to feel the consequences of his failures fled Neuma’s commanding presence; the whole ordeal only lasting the time it took Blanchard to finish a yawn.
“Excuse me,” The Captain confessed with a slight shake of his head, as if to rid himself of any lingering fatigue. “When their care teams asked about their injuries, the twelve who required more extensive treatment genuinely couldn’t remember what happened to them. And even when scanned, their care teams were unable to come up with anything. So their physicians assumed it was due to the typical predeployment parties thrown by the younger soldiers.” Blanchard’s voice started to build as the pieces to the puzzle began falling into place.
“Good ole predeployment parties. Wonder how many Serious Incident Reports I’ve written because of them over the years,” Euphretes commented to Neuma as memories of late night communication requests and knocks on his door played through his mind.
“Fifty; not counting the one you had to write for yourself.”
Captain Blanchard’s voice continued, “All twelve soldiers have since been able to report back to their units and are in good health. What remains a mystery is why no one reported that the injuries looked as if they were caused by the patient being in some form of physical altercation. I can’t say for sure, but the care team’s excuse as a whole was they didn’t want to get the soldiers in further trouble.”
“So that’s where things first started to go south,” Neuma assessed, knowing that if any of the twelve treating providers had said anything, investigations would have been started and the entire rogue planet incident might have been avoided.
“What they assumed was the result of fights among friends was actually the result of legitimate physical altercations with individuals trying to gain access to the Armada. Again, Commander Remming will brief the details on that in a moment.” Blanchard paused to look at the group to see if anyone had any comments.
Without standing up, Crestone exclaimed, “If someone attacked our soldiers, I can guarantee you that they also sustained some form of bodily injury, no matter how inebriated our guys were.”
Commander Remming stepped into Crestone’s field of vision to answer the question. “Unfortunately Senior Op, I thought the same thing and asked fifteen different precincts and over fourteen local hospitals to no avail. It seems who ever assaulted our crew managed to escape; or their bodies were picked up before authorities could find them.”
Crestone shook his head in frustration as he answered, “Roger. Thank you.”
With no other questions brought up, Commander Remming stepped out of the way so Blanchard could continue. “As for the other three who reported to medical with less severe injuries, their excuse for missing first formation was that they accidentally fell down some stairs and were knocked out until the morning.”
“I find it hard to believe that three people fell down the stairs and were knocked unconscious on the same night,” Euphretes remarked to Neuma.
“When it comes to intoxication, all things are possible.”
Captain Blanchard started to shake his head in regret as he provided the next story to the group. “Crewman Goddard on Demon’s Reckoning. Correction, the fake Crewman Goddard, reported in late to the Ship’s Primary Staff Duty instead of his unit’s. Because his face slightly resembled Goddard’s and the Staff Duty personnel had never seen or met the guy until that moment, they didn’t bother to verify his Identification Badge because he had it displayed like he had nothing to hide.”
Commenting within his mind space, “False confidence is one of the best weapons when it comes to stuff like this,” Euphretes remarked with genuine sincerity, having pulled similar stunts in the past.
“It is. However, protocols, like DNA Verification, are meant to neutralize it.” Neuma’s voice sounded both mournful for the fallen and frustrated that the smallest of over-sites had cost the entire Predator’s crew their lives.
Euphretes stood up, catching Blanchard’s attention who stopped speaking. “Sorry to interrupt. And I know it’s the whole ordeal of the one bad egg ruining things for everyone else; but, unfortunately for everyone working Staff Duty, DNA Verification is now mandatory for all personnel wishing to report in. SR6, you get that?”
“The order has just beennnnn…” SR6 drew out the last word as he put the final touches on the new directive, “sent.”
“Good. As you were, Captain Blanchard,” Euphretes
directed to his XO while sitting back down.
“Roger, thank you Sir,” Captain Blanchard acknowledged before resuming, “Unfortunately, the real Crewman Goddard’s body was found in a decommissioned Water Treatment Facility four days after we jumped. Based on the amount of wounds Goddard sustained and the chemicals his murderer poured over the body to hide the evidence, whoever killed him was not a trained professional by any means.” Blanchard paused momentarily and looked over to Commander Remming who stepped into Euphretes’s field of vision and interjected his voice into the brief.
“Authorities have since returned the body to his family and were able to conclude their investigation with the information we had on our end. However, something worth mentioning is that morticians found some abnormalities in his organs when they did an autopsy. His heart had turned black as tar and was swollen to almost two times its original size. When they opened his skull, his brain had started to shrivel and turn a sour green while other areas looked as if they had been melted and then re-solidified into place.”
“Almost sounds like acute radiation dosing if the energy could be narrowed down to a needle point.”
“Yeah, concentrated radiation on a level we have never seen before!” Euphretes commented as Remming continued to speak.
“Goddard’s skin had also started to flake off by the time he was found. A fungus that normally takes cycles to flower, was somehow thriving on his corpse. I’m telling you guys, the pictures of Goddard’s body still haunt me. Whatever they did to him was,” Remming hunted for the right word, . . . . “unnatural.”
Commander Remming turned to Blanchard to see if he had missed anything before giving the floor back to the Captain. A slight head nod by Blanchard told him that he had covered everything important and Remming slid out of the way. Picking up where he left off, Blanchard continued his brief. “Thank you Commander Remming. So, that leaves us with explaining what happened to the other two,” The Captain said out loud, redirecting his audience’s attention to the topic at hand.
“The other two came from Steadfast and Loyal. One of them, our previously mentioned Staff Operative Blomquist, was found that morning by the staff of a popular party venue in Alphero; in the building’s basement actually.”
“And they wonder why partying is outlawed on Fleet Vessels.”
Blanchard couldn’t help but shake his head in shame yet bite his tongue from laughing as he explained. “Apparently, just before last call, Blomquist mistook the basement door for the bathroom door. How he managed to lock the door behind him before falling down the stairs we’ll never know, but sprawled out at the bottom of the stairs is where he stayed until the next morning.”
Crestone stood up again and interrupted, “Pretty sure the words “bring someone with you when you go out partying” are said at Every. Single. Safety Brief. I for one know that I say those words every time!” His words were filled with agitation.
“The “who’s your buddy” system. Elemental protocol, once taught in preschool.”
Blanchard didn’t skip a beat, “Well Senior Op, it turns out that his friends left earlier that evening. It was an attractive waitress that seemed to have deterred him.”
“Looking for that good tip,” Euphretes chuckled to Neuma, unable to resist finding the humor in Blomquist’s situation. At the same time, he looked over and saw Crestone mentally running through the different punishment options he had in mind for the NCO.
“Glad you’re not that guy,” Neuma said light heartedly as she saw the Senior NCO’s death stare.
“No kidding. Extra duty for cycles on end!”
“Regardless,” Blanchard continued after receiving silence from Crestone. “If we’re ever docked outside a major city again, our Day Passes will be far more strict.” The Senior Leading Operative nodded his head in acknowledgement but sat back down without responding, giving Blanchard room to continue his brief.
“Which brings us to our third soldier, and the reason why we decided to wake you up Sir, Crewman Apprentice Warrhen. This guy just happened to be found by his first line supervisor, dressed from head to toe in his equipment, as he was walking in late to report to duty that morning. When challenged by his first line, Warrhen’s excuse was that he tripped and fell down the stairs on his way to the night Shuttle’s Platform. It seems no-one working at the platform saw him until the next morning’s Shuttle arrived. Anyway, after a verbal warning, the supervisor let Warrhen go without a second thought.”
Captain Blanchard paused to take a deep breath, a tactic he often used to catch his train of thought. “What’s curious is, the real Crewman Apprentice Warrhen reported a second time later that day. This Warrhen goes to a different supervisor, with an entirely different story.”
The Executive Officer turned his eyes toward Crestone, “This time, he had no recollection of what happened to him or where he had been. He also claimed to be missing one of his Identification Badges. However, when this supervisor saw that he had already checked in and that the soldier had some minor cuts and bruises, he sent Warrhen to medical to get cleaned up with follow on orders of going directly to Personnel to get a new Identification Badge. The real Warrhen goes to medical but conveniently “forgets” to get a new badge before he returned to duty. As for the fake Warrhen, except for some video that will be discussed momentarily, that’s about where his trail ends.”
“Do we know what the false Goddard did on Demon’s Reckoning to cause the collision?” Euphretes asked without standing up.
Captain Blanchard looked over to Commander Remming and politely answered, “Yes Sir, we do. Commander Remming will brief that portion now.”
“Pretty sure you knew they were going to brief that.”
“Just wanted to keep the ball rolling.”
With Captain Blanchard stepping off to sit next to Crestone, Remming filled in the empty spot and began to speak. “The day we jumped from Ozark, only two of the fourteen agents sent to infiltrate our Armada were successful. As we now know, one of them went to Demon’s Reckoning while the other remained here on Steadfast and Loyal. Moments before we jumped, using Goddard’s and Warrhen’s stolen credentials, the two agents sent messages to the same undisclosed location in the Baikal Empire. For some reason, however, we cannot see the Profile they sent the messages too. It’s as if their connections were blocked.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Crestone said as he stood up.
“Not at all Senior Op.”
“I’m no technology expert like you youngens,” Crestone started off, drawing a good round of laughter from Neuma, “But shouldn’t those messages have been flagged and sent to their Section Commander for approval? Or are we just throwing security to the wind?”
Euphretes could feel the anger starting to radiate off the Senior NCO and spill into his aura. “He’s getting ready to knife hand somebody.” Euphretes had experienced the rising anger in his friend’s aura before seeing it like a volcano erupt onto an unsuspecting victim.
“You better get to Remming before he does if it comes to that.”
Laughing inside his mind space, “It won’t come to that,” Euphretes paused momentarily before dropping his voice and saying, “At least I hope it doesn’t.”
Commander Remming didn’t know how to respond at first, unsure if the Senior Op was addressing him specifically as the Armada’s Technology Officer in Charge or if his anger was directed to a more metaphysical enemy. “Yes, Senior Leading Operative Crestone, both messages should have been flagged immediately and not sent until an O3 or above signed off on their contents,” He answered, referring to Officers who had progressed three ranks and therefore, in the eyes of Huron Military, had the wherewithal to make the right decisions.
“Why neither Ship picked up the illegal location is still a mystery, as they were blatantly obvious about it. From what we can tell, something was imbedded into the message from an outside source at the time of its creation. We think that is what tricked the system. Unfortunately, whatever was imbedded did
a masterful job at erasing any identifying evidence, leaving us only with bits and pieces,” Remming explained, answering Crestone’s outburst.
“Tell me you were at least able to access those messages,” Crestone stated in return. He was afraid the Huron Empire’s red tape would prevent those messages from being opened. Still nurturing a ball of wrath to throw at the next available opportunity, the Senior NCO waited for a response.
Commander Remming nodded his head in affirmation, “While we legally cannot read our soldiers’s messages, we were able to access these two because they were sent to a hostile Empire during an active war; therefore forfeiting their messages’s right to privacy.”
Before sitting back down, Crestone could be heard mumbling, “It’s about time the bureaucracy works in our favor,” his anger stemmed for the moment.
With the Senior NCO back in a seat, Commander Remming continued. “When my intel teams dug into the messages, the picture became very clear. They both discussed the jump time and the jump path in intricate detail, as well as our troop counts.”
“What about our true mission?” Neuma asked nervously, prompting Euphretes to take action.
“Anything on our follow on destination to the desert regions?” Euphretes interrupted Remming.
“Thankfully no, Sir. As far as we or our RAIs can tell, the two spies had no idea of our follow on objective,” Remming answered, drawing a sigh of relief from Euphretes and Neuma.
“Talk about lucky,” Neuma commented, her tone riddled with the fear of what might have been.
“Yeah, that could’ve been interesting,” Euphretes replied to his mind space before speaking out loud to Remming. “At least we have that still going for us. Thank you Commander Remming. Carry on.”
“Roger. Yeah, no kidding. This would be a lot more dicey had they found out,” The Commander stated. “But, back to Demon’s Reckoning and where things get more complicated. Fast forward to just over eleven days into the jump. Two more messages were literally dropped from Demon’s Reckoning and Steadfast and Loyal mid jump; and by dropped, I mean they literally took a physical object, imbedded a message or something important onto it, and then dropped it from their Ships mid jump. How, we are still trying to confirm, but two suspicious trash dumps were authorized around that time, one from each Ship. Unfortunately, we have no idea what was imbedded or whether or not they were picked up, but a Natron response team has been dispatched to the area to try and find anything in the trash fields.”
Through the Abyss Page 23