When Templeton was gone, Ormosa sighed and sat down at the conference table, looking tired. Cornwallace chewed on his pipe thoughtfully, studying his counterpart closely.
“Looks like you were right about those two,” Cornwallace said. “Guess I would have lost that bet.”
“I suppose you would have,” agreed Ormosa.
“Rook and Berenger…” mumbled Cornwallace, shaking his head in amusement while puffing on his pipe. “Not only did they crack this case, they also covered each other’s butts like real partners do. Who’d have thought?”
“Me,” said Ormosa. “Those two are at their best when there’s something around to challenge them. Every test we ran their profiles through said so. Putting them together ensures they challenge each other constantly, which means we’re always getting the best from both of them.”
“I gotta admit, Ormosa… sometimes I find it disturbing how your brain works.”
“You know what I find disturbing?” Ormosa said as he tapped on his datapad, calling up a classified file folder on his secure IIA network. “The details of our two Rangers’ debriefing. The real debriefing, not this farce we just fed Templeton.”
“You mean about how they murdered a high-profile colonial governor and covered it up with our help?”
“No, I think you and I can agree that decision was justified at the end of the day,” Ormosa said. “I’m talking about the other thing.”
“Archeron,” said Cornwallace.
“Indeed,” Ormosa said as he added the video files of the debriefing session to the secure database. “Looking beyond the facts that our data network has somehow been compromised and that there is the possibility of a mole operating within the Initiative, this is the fifth instance of that name cropping up in the course of an investigation, each one more disturbing than the last.”
“True. But this incident was far more concrete than any of the previous ones,” Cornwallace said. “A secret lab on a remote planet running experiments on kidnapped children? A faceless man who may have been pulling the strings? Ties to a conglomeration of powerful businesses that have aligned to carve up the quadrant for themselves? These are the most solid leads on whatever Archeron is that we’ve been able to find.”
“And yet, there is no evidence substantiating these new leads beyond the word of our Rangers,” Ormosa lamented. “And we can’t even file their accounts in our databases without putting their lives at risk, if their claim that our network isn’t secure is accurate.”
“We could always follow-up on it unofficially,” Cornwallace offered. “Shake some trees and see what falls out while we look to plug these leaks.”
“I’m not sure where we would start,” Ormosa replied. “The Pink Suns were just hired guns. They were commissioned to do what they did by Stygaard, so there’s no thread to follow concerning them. We might have been able to crack Stygaard and see what he knew, but that’s no longer an option. Furthermore, there’s no evidence to suggest the other members of this New Frontier Conglomeration had any association with Stygaard’s illegal activities, and even if they did, they wouldn’t cooperate with us. Frankly, my friend, this is just par for the course every time Archeron seems to cross our paths. Whatever it is leaves far too many questions behind with way too few answers, and it is beginning to vex me.”
“Well, I suppose there’s really only one question we need an answer to right now,” said Cornwallace as he puffed on his pipe. “And that is… how many times do we need to encounter this mysterious Archeron before we should be worried?”
Ormosa glared at the files on the screen of his datapad, the folder name Archeron practically taunting him as he looked at it, the very word itself coming off as dark and ominous in a manner the Chief found deeply unsettling.
“If my gut is anything to go by, old friend,” Ormosa said, “I fear we may already be there.”
Epilogue
In the depths of deep space, amongst the vast empty void of the Great Expanse in an area yet to be mapped, explored, or even known to exist by those who lived in the Frontier, a space station drifted silently in the emptiness.
Its metal hull was painted black with special panels on its surface specifically designed to absorb all sensor signals. The few windows the station possessed were tinted so as not to emit any light. There were no flight beacons or anything else on it that would give away that it was even there. The station was built to be a shadow upon the backdrop of space – invisible to everything that might try to set its gaze upon it.
On this station, a man stood in the middle of a large room. Advanced dataservers lined the walls, and holographic displays hung in the air, showcasing reports and information concerning various covert programs from across the Frontier, all transmitted there with encrypted ultrawave signals.
The man standing at the center of the data monitored everything meticulously. His head was practically covered in bionic implants which allowed his brain to process incredible amounts of information as it was fed to his location. A large robotic lens covered his right eye, affording him even further access to more datafeeds.
As the Overseer of the shadow station, it was this man’s job to monitor everything it received. Because of his level of access, he was often left to manage the information he obtained as he saw fit. But occasionally, the Overseer would come across a situation which he was unsure how to handle.
The events that had occurred on Sarjana in the Alpha Renway system fell into one such category. He had read all the reports logged with the Office of the Judiciary on Barnholm, as well as those submitted to the Galactic Ranger Initiative’s databanks. Though he was disappointed that the two Rangers who’d infiltrated the lab on Sarjana had not been killed when he’d initiated its self-destruct protocol, he knew the loss of Sylas Stygaard and the experiments into genetic manipulation were not significant detriments to his mission.
If anything, his being free from Stygaard and the man’s ambitions was a benefit. Now, the Overseer would not need to waste resources on the man or his endeavors. But the very fact that such a failure had occurred in the first place was disturbing to him.
There were no loose ends left concerning Project 33814 and the genetic experimentation performed in the Sarjana lab. The only people involved in the matter that were still alive were the two Rangers who had taken the project down – men by the names of Deckland Prescott and Braxxon Berenger. These two lawmen had proven they were more resourceful than anyone had anticipated and were clearly smarter than the Overseer would have liked to admit.
This left the issue of what to do about them. Had the matter of Project 33814 not been so tidily wrapped up already, his inclination would be to eliminate the Rangers. But at this point, that action might risk drawing too much attention to a case that was considered officially closed.
This was where the man hoped his Superior could offer him guidance.
The Overseer shut down the various holo-screens which were projecting around him and called up a new one, which manifested as a blank plane in front of him.
“Secure transmission,” the Overseer said. “Call the Superior.”
There was a long moment as the transmission began, the word “Connecting…” flashing on the holoscreen until the encrypted call was answered. The screen once more went blank before a blinking green cursor appeared, signifying the Superior had accepted the call.
The Overseer placed his fist on his chest and bowed his head. “Forgive the intrusion,” he said. “But I require your guidance concerning a matter of some importance.”
The cursor blinked briefly before lettering was typed out on the screen in response to the man’s words.
>>>REPORT.
“The lab on Sarjana has been destroyed. Stygaard is dead. Project 33814 has been compromised.”
The previous reply disappeared before a new one was silently typed out on the screen.
>>>WHAT OF THE DATA?
“All data from the testing was recovered before the lab was terminated,�
�� the Overseer replied. “All evidence of our involvement there has been erased. Blame for the kidnappings and murders is being placed on the Pink Suns, and Stygaard’s death is being attributed to them, as well. It would appear the lawmen involved in this incident are sweeping what actually happened under the rug.”
>>>OUTCOME IS ACCEPTABLE.
The Overseer nodded. “How should we proceed?” he asked.
>>>ARCHIVE DATA FOR FUTURE USE. ABANDON FURTHER TESTING. CLOSE PROJECT 33814 PERMANENTLY.
“And what of these two Rangers who were responsible for the events on Sarjana?” the Overseer inquired. “How should we deal with them?”
>>>THREAT ASSESSMENT?
“They did not officially file any reports that mentioned Stygaard’s link with us, or make any reference to us specifically,” the Overseer replied. “They may be satisfied with the outcome, since it serves their interests, and those who were directly responsible for the kidnappings are now all deceased. But they proved themselves to be dogged investigators. There is a possibly they may continue to investigate our involvement unofficially, but I believe that would be difficult considering there is nothing more to tie us to the testing that took place on Sarjana.”
>>>CONTINUE TO MONITOR.
“And if they should prove to become more than a trivial nuisance?”
>>>ELIMINATE THEM.
The Overseer nodded. “I will open a file on them immediately and set up alerts to keep an eye on their future actions,” he said. “Do you have any further instructions for me?”
>>>CONTINUE WITH OTHER PROJECTS. STAY ON MISSION. REPORT ANY MORE UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS.
“As you command,” the Overseer said as he placed his fist on his chest and bowed his head once more. “For the mission! For the future!”
The cursor on the screen blinked, typing out one final message before the transmission ended, which read:
FOR ARCHERON.
Rook & Berenger Will Return In…
Special Thanks To:
A very special thanks to my beta readers, whose feedback was invaluable in the crafting of this story:
Greg Bennett
Fred Brinkman
Dayna Burnell
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Jere Ferguson
Marc Finkbeiner
Hazel Godwin
Dan Grover
Murphy Henson
Crystal Janasiewicz
Richie Kester
Tim Maney
Jeff Rawlings
Travis Ressler
Donna Stanton
Joel Storms
Scott Tulleners
Eric Wilson
Robert Withrow
Another thanks to my mother, who isn’t afraid to point out every single mistake I make while editing my books:
Cynthia Kadish
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Lawmen- Rook and Berenger Page 23