by G J Ogden
“Well, you taught me a lot about hope,” said Ethan.
“And also about the importance of a good cookie!” said the hermit. “Thank you, lad!” Then he took one of the amber-colored treats out of the box, and stuffed it into his mouth whole, munching on it as if he’d not eaten for days.
Chapter 13
Captain Karl Page had been silently standing to attention in Kurren’s office for five minutes, facing the sterile metal desk, which looked out of place in a room that otherwise had the more homely appearance of a well-used old study. He had marched in, at Major Darien’s command, and stated his name and rank, but the General had not greeted him or asked him to sit or stand easy, and so Page had remained in the same position, quietly observing as his new commanding officer studied a holo of his service record from the comfort of his chair.
“I need a new second-in-command for a matter of extreme importance,” said Kurren, eventually breaking the silence. He shut off the holo, but remained seated. “Major Darien says it should be you.”
“I’m honored, sir,” said Page, stiffly.
Kurren looked the officer over. His service record had stated his age – thirty years old, though, to Kurren’s eyes, he looked younger – and that he was unmarried and had no children. His only family were his parents, both of whom worked in mid-level clerical roles for one or other of the various government ministries; Kurren couldn’t remember which, and didn’t care.
“Honored?” said Kurren. “Tell me, Captain, what does honor mean to you?”
Page though for a moment, but was conscious not to take too long, in case Kurren thought he was indecisive. “It means doing my duty, sir,” he said. “It means protecting the citizens of the UEC, if necessary with my life.”
“Did you learn that from a basic training holo, Captain?” said Kurren.
“No sir,” said Page straight away. He knew Kurren by reputation and had been expecting a hostile interview. “It’s what I believe.”
Kurren grunted and stood up. So far, so predictable, he thought. He needed to push Page out of delivering the stock responses that any captain in his position would give to their new general; in other words, the answers they thought he wanted to hear. “Stand easy, Captain,” he said, and Page relaxed, though not very much. “You are aware that GPS has been destroyed, and that Governor Archer was a traitor, who was killed attempting to evade capture?”
“Yes sir,” said Page. “I saw your holo broadcasts, and Minister Kuba outlined the key facts to me a couple of hours ago, after I was summoned here.”
“And do you believe that this course of action was correct? That it was my duty?” said Kurren. “In other words, Captain, if you were in my position, would you have done the same?”
The question caught Page off guard, but he kept a level head, and considered it carefully, conscious that his previous answers had clearly not impressed the General. He wanted his next response to be good, but it also bothered him that the question was heavily loaded – how else could he respond but, ‘yes’? It was then that Page realized he could not answer the question, because he had not been in Kurren’s position. To respond in this manner was a risky choice, however; Kurren had a reputation for intolerance.
“Permission to speak candidly, sir?” said Page.
Kurren raised an eyebrow. “Very well…” he said, intrigued as to what the plucky captain was going to say next.
“I do believe in duty, sir,” Page began. “I’ve seen first-hand the damage and loss of life that GPS has caused, and I have always been committed to protecting this base and its citizens, even if that meant destroying GPS, as you have done.”
Kurren could sense the inevitable ‘but’ coming, and Page did not disappoint.
“But, the reconciliation process seemed to be working,” Page went on, “and, if I’m honest, sir, I had started to think it had a good chance of success.”
“What’s your point, Captain?” said Kurren, starting to get annoyed. Page’s candor was certainly a gutsy move, but at the moment, all he was telling Kurren was that he was not the right man for the job.
“Sir, your question was, would I have done the same as you,” said Page. “In order to answer, I need to know what you know. I need to know that there was no alternative.”
Kurren leaned forward, placing his knuckles on the cool metal surface of the desk. Page’s candor was bordering on insubordination, but this bold response actually played into Kurren’s hands. He had believed he needed someone who would follow orders without question, but it was actually far better to have an officer who had voiced his concerns, confronted his doubts and emerged with a conviction that was born from within. And since, as Kurren believed, Page was indeed an honorable man, Kurren’s personal assurance that Archer, Diana Neviah and Maria Salus had colluded would allow Page to conclude that there had been no other choice but to act as he did. It did not matter that Kurren would feed him lies; it only mattered that Page believed them and, in so doing, committed himself to Kurren’s authority without reservation.
“Very well, Captain,” said Kurren. “I will make available to you the classified evidence that was presented to the council of ministers.” The evidence was easy, since this had been falsified by Kuba to a standard that Page would be unable to determine as false. Kurren observed Page’s reaction to his promise and from the slight lift of his eyebrows and relaxing of his jaw, he knew that he was surprised by the offer.
“Beyond that, you have only my word as an officer that there was no alternative,” Kurren continued, knowing also that appealing to a sense of honor would be an effective strategy. “I was there when Diana Neviah first conspired with Maria Salus, five years ago. I saw the danger then, and have remained watchful and vigilant ever since. I acted because I had no choice.”
Kurren pushed off the desk and then proceeded to circle around it, his hands pressed behind his back. He stood in front of Page and peered into his curious brown eyes. When he next spoke, his voice was lower and more hushed, as if he were imparting secrets that he didn’t want anyone to overhear, despite the two men being the only people in the room. “I discovered that Neviah had been secretly dosing Archer with a chemical that made him susceptible to suggestion. It happened over a period of years; small amounts in drinks or food, or on gloved handshakes,” he said, starting with the most blatant lie of all. “It’s how Archer was twisted by Neviah into believing her lies about wanting peace. It was discovered in a routine medical screening just under a year ago; I saw the result myself, before it was erased.”
“Erased?” said Page. “By who?”
“Only Archer had the ability to alter classified records,” said Kurren. “No doubt part of Neviah’s plan.”
“So Archer didn’t betray us intentionally?” said Page, clearly shocked by the revelation.
Kurren felt himself swell with a sense of satisfaction, knowing that his tactic was working. “No, I don’t believe so,” he replied. He wanted to position himself as a devoted ally who was forced to make an impossible choice with unspeakable consequences. “I tried to help him see the lies, but by the time I realized the full extent of Neviah’s plan, Archer was beyond saving. He no longer knew the difference between reality and fiction.”
“And you have evidence of this?” said Page.
“Yes,” Kurren replied without hesitation; it was true he had evidence, but he failed to mention that the evidence was fabricated. “We managed to recover Archer’s history of record tampering from the data archives.”
Kurren turned and walked back to his desk, staring up at the gleaming UEC logo on the wall and, with his back still to Page, he continued his lies.
“The peace process was a front to allow GPS saboteurs onto this base. I discovered personnel arriving but not leaving, and the records then altered by Archer himself.” Kurren paused and then turned around, slowly, using all the tricks he had learned from the political class to ensure his message was delivered with the maximum emotional impact. “Their plan
was to disable our generators and air recycling systems, to leave us defenseless and unable to function. Our only choices would have been to die, suffocating in the cold, or to turn over control to Neviah and her accomplice, the known traitor Maria Salus.”
Kurren paused again to let this all sink in, and to allow Page the time to consider the information and how he would have acted in response.
“But, you stopped Archer and Neviah in the Teardrop, why then destroy the space station…” Page replied, but then held back, aware he was pushing. “Apologies, sir, I do not mean to overstep.”
“If you overstep you will know it,” said Kurren, gruffly, but then continued with his lies. “I confronted Archer and Neviah and gave them the chance to surrender, but Neviah refused; said she rather destroy the base than give up, and that is what she tried to do. If I had not struck the station at that precise moment, GPS would have launched an all out attack. Neviah was poised to escape, thanks to Salus and her influence over the Flying Corp. But my men stopped their saboteurs and we struck their station first, before they had a chance to launch. If I had not, who knows how many lives would have been lost here.”
Page drew a sharp intake of breath, “Forgive me, sir, it is quite a story.”
“Stories are read to children, Captain,” Kurren snarled, momentarily losing his vice-like grip on his anger. “This is war. I did not take the decision to act lightly, but it was my duty. I had no choice.”
Kurren again let this sink in. Page didn’t know the truth of what had happened inside the Teardrop, and the ‘evidence’ that Kuba would provide to him would corroborate everything he had said, even down to faked holo recordings.
“So, Captain Page, I ask you again – what would you have done in my position?”
Page’s head was spinning. When he had asked the question, he half-expected Kurren to throw him out of his office, not actually reveal to him the full details of what had happened. He still couldn’t believe it; in fact, it sounded preposterous, but Kurren had given his word and offered that Page could review the classified evidence directly; why would he do this if it were not true? “I believe I would have been compelled to act, as you did, General,” he said.
Kurren suppressed an urge to smile, forcing his face to retain its stoic expression, but inside he was gleaming with boastful pride at his skillful manipulation of Page. Control was something that Kurren loved above all else; the power to make someone believe him and do what he wanted. Ordering someone to act was too easy; they had no choice but to comply. But real control meant that he could make a man believe and trust him; and he would need this sort of control over Page if he was to get his revenge on Maria Salus.
“Do you have a family, Captain?” said Kurren, already knowing that Page did not.
“No sir,” Page replied, “but I hope for one, one day.”
“Well, I do,” said Kurren. “They were taken from this base; abducted by Maria Salus and Diana Neviah during their escape. They were to be used as political pawns; tools to bargain with.”
Page didn’t look surprised by this, which suggested news of Kurren’s family had become common knowledge, at least amongst the officers. Kurren felt angered by this and made a mental note to admonish Kuba for his failure to control the information.
“I had heard rumors, sir,” Page confirmed. “I am sorry for your loss.”
Good, thought Kurren. He thinks they are dead, so at least Salus’ escape to the planet was not yet common knowledge.
“They are alive,” he said aloud. And this time, Page did look surprised. “Salus managed to escape with a small number of ships, and my family were among the hostages.”
“Escaped?” said Page unsure if sure he had understood. “You mean they went planetside?”
“Yes,” said Kurren. “Salus herself taunted me with the information that my family was aboard, and that I would be forever separated from them. If, that was, she chose to let them live at all.”
As Kurren spoke these last words, he could see Page’s entire body tense up, as if a high voltage had suddenly been applied to his skin. His face flushed with color as the anger took hold.
“So it is a rescue mission, sir,” said Page, though it was phrased less as a question and more like a demand.
This time Kurren did allow himself to smile, but only because it was the appropriate response under these circumstances, and not because he was genuinely happy that Page was so eager to volunteer for the mission. The rescue of the UEC defectors came secondary to the death of Maria Salus; then, and only then, would Kurren turn his attention to their repatriation. Though rescue was hardly the right word for what Kurren intended for the adult survivors. He knew he could not execute his wife, but that didn’t mean he had to bring her back, either; she would meet her end on the planet, the same as Maria Salus, and his sons would be raised alongside him under the guidance of the Corp.
“You understand what such an undertaking involves, Captain?” said Kurren.
“I do, sir,” said Page, “and, if I may be so bold, you can count on me.”
Kurren nodded and then reached into his pocket, removing a small black box, roughly the same size as the ident cards that each UEC citizen carried. He held the box out in front of him in one hand and flipped open the lid with the other, revealing two gold-colored metal rank tabs. He held the box out towards Page and then offered him his free hand to shake. “Very well. Congratulations, Major Page.”
Page took the box, lowered it to his side without admiring the contents and shook the General’s hand firmly. Kurren was impressed with Page’s reaction, which contrasted that of Darien and the other officers who had colluded with him to bring down Archer, and gained rank and privilege in return. In each of those cases, they had coveted their newly elevated positions and worn their satisfaction openly. But not so with Page; he was a different creature, and Kurren had yet to decide whether this was a good thing or not.
“Thank you, sir,” said Page, “I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t,” said Kurren, releasing Page’s grip and returning both of his own hands to the small of his back. “Now, return to the CIC and take command of the search for the vessels that escaped the GPS station,” he ordered.
“Is there no indication of where they may have landed, sir?” said Page, surprised that this information wasn’t already known.
Page’s naturally inquisitive nature was beginning to grate on Kurren; he wished he had conducted the interview with Page seated in Archer’s guest chair instead, as this would have no doubt encouraged Page to ask fewer questions.
“No, we could not monitor their atmospheric entry point with any accuracy,” said Kurren, being as brief as possible.
“What about the reports and log files from the Planetsider mission?” said Page.
Kurren scrunched up his brow. “I don’t follow, Major.”
“Commander Salus…”
“Salus no longer carries any rank, Major,” Kurren interrupted. “You would do well to remember that.”
“Of course,” said Page, a little rattled, but not enough to lose his train of thought. “Perhaps she returned to the same location that she and Commander Kurren landed at five years ago. She had little time to act, and they would have been co-ordinates that she had memorized previously.” The General’s eye twitched at the mention of his brother, but Page was oblivious to the reaction. “It would mean landing in familiar terrain,” Page continued. “Perhaps she has even sought refuge in the same locations as before.”
Kurren’s frown remained, but Page’s suggestion had piqued his interest. “Go on.”
“We could check the flight computer of the UEC shuttle that she returned in,” continued Page, “and use its launch co-ordinates as the starting point for the search.”
The analysis made sense and was, in many ways, obvious. The fact that none of his other officers, or his hapless Acting Governor Kuba, had come up with this was telling, though he couldn’t be too hard on them for their f
ailure, since it also hadn’t occurred to him.
“We already know the location that Salus blasted off from,” said Kurren. “It was a private UEC space port, just outside Green Haven. Have the search team calculate the probability of this as a landing location.”
Page nodded and then made to leave, but Kurren still had more to add. “One moment Major; I want you to prepare four squads in full combat armor. Have them report to the main hangar bay in twelve hours.” Kurren, pressed his fists further into the small of his back and then announced, “Tell them that we’re going planetside to rescue our people and finish this, once and for all.”
Chapter 14
Maria kept the crawler on manual for the return to Forest Gate in order to get back as quickly as possible. This had seemed like a good idea to Ethan, but he had forgotten that Maria’s primary occupation was a combat space fighter pilot, and that her concept of ‘the quickest possible time’ actually meant, ‘the fastest possible speed with the least consideration for passenger comfort’. But, while it hadn’t been an enjoyable trip, it had been swift, and the settlement came into view on the horizon in around half the time it had taken them to find the hermit. Jostled, bruised and feeling more than a little queasy, Ethan was glad when Maria finally reduced speed to approach the gates at a less threatening velocity.
Unusually, the gates were open, and as they got closer Maria observed that a small convoy had gathered outside, and that some of the caravans were already moving away from the settlement in the opposite direction to the encroaching smog.
The convoy was comprised of wooden carts of various configurations, all roughly the same footprint as the relatively compact crawler, being pulled by horses and mules. Maria had not seen animals on the planet before, and it was also the first time she had ever seen a living horse. Maria recalled being shown an old UEC promotional holo which charted the long history of the UEC’s mining exploits, dating back centuries and leading up to the construction of the refinery. The refinery was the UEC’s crowning glory; an engineering marvel that had once encircled the entire planet, processing and delivering refined orrum, mined from the moon, to every major population center on the planet. Its destruction at the commencement of the UEC / GPS war had led to the near annihilation of all life planetside. The holo had been preserved in the base’s offline archives, where it was used to educate new employees or dazzle investors with details of the UEC’s incredible feats of engineering. The modern-day UEC still used it to instill a sense of pride in each new generation, but Maria had never paid much attention to the propaganda; however she was mesmerized by the holographic images of the horses and ponies that pulled carts filled with a primitive mineral fuel the planetsiders had used centuries earlier. To Maria these creatures were simply magical and beautiful beyond any words she knew to describe them.