by A. K. DuBoff
He had no doubt to whom his father was referring—an acquaintance from the joint op two years ago with the Tararian Guard. Conventional weapons had been wholly ineffective in their engagement, and they’d only prevailed thanks to the heroic actions of one Guard soldier who’d been modified with experimental nanotech and an embedded AI. Aside from her modifications, she also possessed telepathic abilities, though through different means than most Tarans, making her skills unrecognizable, unlike those of Agents.
Jason crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. “Kira? Yeah, she’s good.” He was intentionally downplaying it. Truthfully, he thought she was a total badass.
Wil nodded thoughtfully. “Have you stayed in touch with her?”
“No. I’d meant to, but you know how it goes.”
He nodded. “Well, I was thinking that she might be helpful in this situation with the Outer Colonies.”
Jason sat up straighter. “What did you have in mind?”
“The Guard is more likely to quell rebellion through force, but I believe that would make things worse. So, the TSS is ultimately in the best position to intervene diplomatically, except our Agents can’t sniff around, because everyone can see them coming and won’t open up. Even so, we need someone with an enhanced skillset to get the whole truth, in this case. As far as I know, Kira is the only covert ops Guard officer who’s also a telepath.”
“That she is. And that nanotech she has… Suffice to say, she can go into a fight alone, and I feel sorry for whoever wrongs her.”
“That’s exactly what made me think of her for this mission.”
“If she’s still in General Lucian’s chain of command, I’m not sure he’ll be willing to loan her to the TSS.”
“We loaned him a ship; it’d be in poor taste for him to deny the request.”
“He kinda hates me.”
“Lucian is an arrogant prick who can’t admit he made a fool of himself with you. Don’t worry, Mathaen can put in the order straight from the top. Before that, though, I’d like to see if Kira is amenable to working on our behalf.”
“Any mission parameters I should pass on?”
“Posing as a civilian, investigating a potential separatist group in the Outer Colonies. Possible connections to contractors, such as Renfield, with ties to those with deep pockets and more power than they should rightly have. And, that geneticist boyfriend of hers might be handy to have along. I’ll forward you the tip we received.”
“All right, I’ll reach out to her.” Jason paused. “And, Dad, we’ll figure out this thing with the Rift. If these aliens struck a treaty with ancient Tarans, that means the odds were even enough that they called a cease-fire rather than one dominant force wiping the others out.”
“As much as I want to believe that, we have no idea what kind of technology our ancestors had. Just because they were able to stand up to the enemy back then, we have no way of knowing if we can do the same now.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Jason smiled. “But they also didn’t have us.”
—
Some people left a lasting impact, even knowing them for a short time. For Jason, Major Kira Elsar was one of those individuals.
Throughout his time in the TSS, he’d encountered few people who could challenge his telekinetic abilities—and all of those were immediate family members. Granted, there were many powerful Agents, but he, his father, and his sister were in a unique class of their own. Kira, on the other hand, had no Gifted abilities in the traditional sense, but she was augmented in a different way that had posed a genuine challenge when he’d sparred with her.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t beat her; it was that she’d been able to catch him by surprise. Such a simple thing, but to someone who’d rarely been challenged, he relished the feeling of someone finally being able to get one over on him. More than that, she’d treated him like any other colleague while she’d done it. Perhaps it was because she’d grown up on a world outside of the formal Taran Empire where the Sietinen name didn’t command immediate deference. No matter the reason, he appreciated that he’d needed to earn Kira’s respect.
Jason went down the hall to his office to place the call. He pulled up Kira’s contact info; it’d been almost two years since their last exchange. Hey, still not as out of the blue as these calls I’ve been getting from people back on Earth.
He sat up straight in his chair and initiated the vidcall, expecting it to be forwarded to a message inbox. To his surprise, the call was accepted.
Kira’s smiling face filled the screen, her hazel eyes bright and red hair still styled in a casual pixie cut. “Stars! Jason Sietinen. Not who I expected to hear from today.” The video on the other end had a bounce and waviness to it, indicating that she was probably on her handheld.
“Hi, Kira. I owe you an apology for not staying in touch like I said I would.”
“Oh, psh!” She waved her free hand. “I was just as bad. I’ve been too busy to really notice. No offense.”
He chuckled. “None taken. I’m shocked I caught you.”
“Yeah, lucky timing. We just got back from a field op. I was actually on my way to the gym to work out some unspent energy.”
“If you don’t mind me delaying you for a few minutes, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Yeah, go for it.”
“Can you get somewhere private?”
Kira looked at someone off-camera and nodded. “Yeah, gimme a sec.”
The camera pointed down at the deck, accompanied by the sound of jogging footsteps. Subsequently, the video panned up to her face again. The background looked to be a compact office similar to the study rooms found throughout TSS Headquarters.
“All right, there.” She tilted her head and looked him up and down. “So, how’ve you been?”
He was about to respond in the way he normally would to the question when asked by a casual acquaintance, saying things were good but busy. Generally, people didn’t want a genuine answer to the question; it was asked as a pleasantry to feign a sense of caring and closeness. A gesture of civilized society. Though Jason had been through a trying experience with Kira, they hadn’t spent enough time together to be the sort of friend where he’d bypass small-talk and jump to the heart of real issues. However, given what he was about to ask her to do, he also didn’t feel right pretending that everything was okay. So, he struck a balance between the two. “Life goes on, the good and the bad.”
Kira nodded. “I hear ya.”
“You’ve probably heard about what’s going on with the Rift?”
“Yeah, bits and pieces.”
“I lost a good friend on Alkeer.”
“Ah, shite. I’m sorry.” Genuine sympathy clouded her face.
“No one ever said things would be safe and happy in this line of work.”
“Yeah, I know that all too well. Doesn’t make it easier when you lose someone, though.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed. “How’ve you fared since we last saw each other?”
“Better than most. The worst part has been being on a new team since my promotion to major. They’re good, but it’s not the same dynamic. At least I still have Jasmine; she says ‘hi’, by the way.”
“Hi, Jasmine,” Jason greeted Kira’s neurally embedded sentient AI, which had been paired with her to control her unique nanite augmentations. “Glad you’ve been keeping Kira out of trouble.”
“She says she hasn’t entirely succeeded.” Kira laughed.
Jason smiled. “Well, you did have an exceptional team before. I’m glad I got the opportunity to meet them.”
“They’re all the rock stars of their own units now. Apparently, we did our job too well and the Guard decided to spread the goodness around.”
Jason nodded. “I’ve seen it happen. It’s bittersweet.”
“Yeah.”
“And what about that boyfriend of yours? Leon, right?”
She smiled. “He’s great. And fiancé now, actually.
”
“Oh, congratulations!”
“I don’t think we’ll ever get legally married, but there was no sense kidding ourselves that we weren’t in it for the long haul. The official paperwork doesn’t matter to either of us.”
“That’s common in the TSS, too.”
“Look at us, finding all of these similarities! Maybe this whole ‘integration’ thing between the TSS and Guard will work out, after all.”
“Hopefully, because there’s a lot to take on.”
“Yes, to business,” she said. “What’s the deal?”
Jason had been authorized to share the details of the attack on Alkeer as well as the other information that was still classified within the TSS. Since Kira had had direct alien contact herself and was, in fact, carrying a variant of alien nanotech within her, she was in a unique position to understand the circumstances and need for discretion. Plus, there was no way he could ethically send her on a mission without her having a clear understanding of the risks and stakes. They needed complete buy-in from their key people on the ground.
“We’re facing an invasion by transdimensional aliens who probably want to wipe out the Taran race.”
Kira raised an eyebrow. “That it? So just a regular day at the office.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, fok.”
“Yeah. But it’s actually a little worse than that, because there appears to be a separatist group in the Outer Colonies that’s taking advantage of the present disruption to make a move. And that’s where we’d like you to come in. The TSS is going to be beyond tapped out dealing with this alien threat, and we need someone reliable to gather information about what’s going on from a civil unrest standpoint. Someone who doesn’t stand out like an Agent.”
“You’re thinking an undercover op inside whatever organization is behind the movement?”
“That’s the idea.”
“Hmm.” She pursed her lips.
“We got a tip from someone on the inside. Sounds like she would make a good point of contact, assuming the whole thing isn’t a trap.”
Kira nodded thoughtfully. “I could probably make that determination easily enough.”
“There’s another wrinkle,” Jason continued. “This ‘Alliance’ is recruiting new members—specialists, this time. Engineers, biologists, the works. Leon is a geneticist, from what I recall.”
“Oh, I see.” She shook her head and looked away.
“If you don’t want to get involved—”
“No, I’ll do it. Jasmine’s in. Leon will, too; I’ll talk to him.”
“Are you sure?”
She shrugged. “Beats most of the boring shite they have me do. Assuming Command signs off on it, of course.”
“My father will make the formal request with Admiral Mathaen. We wanted to check with you first.”
“That’s not really how this works. I’m a soldier. I go where I’m told to go and do what I’m ordered to do.”
“I appreciate that,” he said, “but we do things a little differently in the TSS. For any kind of high-risk undercover op, we like to get buy-in. It’s a choice, not an assignment.”
“How ‘high-risk’ are we talking here?”
“The informant’s friend disappeared. The Alliance has planted a bomb on a station and killed two people. Extrapolate from there.”
Kira bit her lip as she considered the information. After several seconds, she gave a resolute nod. “We’re still in. It’s nice taking out the one-off baddies, but it’s not every day there’s an opportunity to tackle something big like this. I want to know what they’re up to.”
“You might be in for… months.”
“With Leon there with me, it’ll be a nice vacation.”
Jason nodded. “Okay, I’ll pass it up the chain. Thank you.”
“Sure thing. It’s good to talk to you, Jason. Take care.”
“You too. In case I don’t talk to you again before you head out, best of luck.”
“Thanks. And good luck with those aliens. You know, saving the Empire and all that.”
He smiled back. “Like you said, just another day.”
CHAPTER 20
“Thank you for lending Kira’s unique abilities to our investigation,” Wil said as he concluded his check-in with Admiral Mathaen. “I’m glad you were able to send her out to the field so quickly.”
The admiral nodded. “It’s fortunate the timing worked out. Admittedly, I’ve heard a lot more about her than an admiral should ever hear about a major. Her commanders haven’t known what to do with her.”
“Then I’m glad we can put her skills to full use. She’ll be an asset in this endeavor.”
“I hope you’re able to get the answers we need to stay ahead of this thing.”
“Indeed. I’ll keep you apprised.”
The admiral nodded. “Thank you.”
“On that note,” Wil began, shifting gears, “with all this talk of unity, it’s occurred to me that both of our organizations are due for name changes.”
“How so?”
“Well, they’re ‘Tararian’. It’s very capital-centric. We serve Tarans as a whole.”
“That’s a good point.” Mathaen stroked his chin.
“I suspect others have thought about it in the past and then promptly realized what an utter nightmare the paperwork would be for a rebrand of that scale.”
“An even better point.”
Wil shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s something to consider in the future.”
“The sentiment is important now, though, given the political climate.” Mathaen paused in thought. “I wonder if there’s a way to present a new umbrella that encompasses both the Guard and TSS. Not anything official to the point of needing legal name changes or reorganization, but more symbolic.”
“I like that idea. But what to call it?”
“I’m about as far from a marketing expert as one can be. Don’t ask me!”
“I’ll get some input,” Wil stated. He wasn’t much for branding himself, but he knew many people who were. It would be nice to show up in a more inclusive way. I don’t blame the Outer Colonies for distrusting us when everything down to our name points to the Central Worlds.
“Sounds good.” The admiral paused. “And Wil, I’m glad we’re finally working together. We should have done this a long time ago.”
“Better late than never, as they say.”
“And just in time. The storm is brewing.”
— — —
Lexi couldn’t help looking over her shoulder at every turn. Sending that message to the TSS might get me killed! What was I thinking?
She had been acting independently, and that was the problem. The Alliance expected her to fall in line and do whatever they said without question. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, do that—not knowing they were killers and were behind her friend’s disappearance. Now, if only the help she desperately needed would arrive.
Yet, she couldn’t wait around forever hoping someone would swoop in to take out the Alliance. She needed to keep digging deeper and learn everything she could.
The past week had been tense around the office. She’d been instructed to take the hovercart for each of her daily pickups from the port, and the heavy crates had almost maxed out the equipment’s capacity. The inventory duty had been passed off to a new recruit, so Lexi hadn’t had the opportunity to see inside. Based on the little snippets she’d dared to glean from people’s minds, she had gotten the impression that it was something destructive—either weapons or explosives. The Alliance was going to make a big splash.
Lexi went about her tasks around the office, listening and gathering information whenever she could. She kept getting pieces, but she didn’t have nearly enough to get the bigger picture.
“Oren wants to see you, Lexi,” Shena said as she came up behind her.
Lexi jumped at the sudden address. “Where?”
“His office.” Shena walked off to do whatever else. Lexi still
, for the life of her, couldn’t figure out how everyone passed their time throughout the day.
Not having a real choice in the matter, she went down to the basement.
Oren was working at his desk when she arrived. She knocked twice on the open door to get his attention.
He motioned to the seat across from him, and she took it.
“So, I hear you’ve been asking questions.”
Lexi’s heart dropped to her feet. She swallowed and forced herself to breathe. “I just want to do my part to the best of my ability. Understanding the larger goals helps me prioritize and be effective in my tasks.” Her voice didn’t quaver, thankfully.
“I appreciate your attitude. You know we keep things compartmentalized for a reason.”
“Yes, I know. Just… everyone was so excited to see Magdalena speak, and I was hoping to know more about her.”
Oren cocked his head. “Why didn’t you come to me and ask?”
She shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t want to bother you. It seemed silly.”
“You shouldn’t feel that way at all. There is some information we need to share with our trusted members.”
That phrasing was encouraging. I’m still on the inside, it seems.
“The Alliance is a piece of something much bigger,” Oren continued. “Magdalena is one of the visionaries behind what is known as the Coalition. I will simply say that there are very powerful players working behind the scenes to make sure we have the resources to be successful.”
Lexi nodded. “I’ve gotten the impression that we have moved from a time of talking to a time of action.”
“Indeed, we have. In fact, our biggest move is about to be set in motion.”
“May I ask what that is?”
He studied her. “It’s a big responsibility to be brought into the next level. Are you sure you’re willing to commit?”
“Have I done anything to make you question my loyalty?”
He was silent for longer than Lexi would have liked. “No,” he said at last. “And we’re going to need more people to help see us through the next phase.”