The Exxar Chronicles: Book 02 - Emissary

by Neal Jones

  Ain took a sip of his drink. "That's better, but not by much. You're right, Mister Vi'Sar, we should choose someplace a little more respectable for our next meeting." He withdrew an ASD from the inner pocket of his coat and activated it before setting it in the center of the table. The invisible privacy screen would ensure that their words would not be overheard. "Now, what is it that has brought you to my doorstep?"

  "You don't sound surprised that I've sought you out."

  "Should I be? As I said earlier, you and I are leaders of a mass resistance. Our goals are mutual: the return of our respective empires to their former glory."

  "And how does bombing a civilian marketplace at midday accomplish that goal?"

  "I had evidence that the Talik'Jhor used that government sector – and that market in particular – to quietly kidnap civilians suspected of insurgency or anti-government agendas." There was no defensiveness in Ain's tone, or much of any emotion. He was stating a fact. "I do mourn the loss of innocent life, but I assure you that most of the victims in my attack were undercover agents of the Talik'Jhor. They are clever that way. They use the public as a shield, hoping that my followers and I will not cross that line."

  "And how many times have you crossed that line?"

  "Four in the last two years. I only strike targets like the marketplace when I absolutely have to."

  Alikk nodded. "I can accept that."

  "And what about you? I've heard of the Haal'Chai striking civilian targets."

  "They have, but not on my authority. I have spent the last few years bringing all resistance cells under my control, in order to prevent such catastrophes."

  "How noble of you," Galoret sneered. "And how is that plan working for you?"

  "So far, very well." Alikk remained calm, refusing to be goaded into a childish argument with a man he was starting to loathe. "In fact, there is an inner circle of the High Quorum that has proposed a new alliance: one between the Jha'Drok and the Chrisarii. I am here now, acting upon their authority, to present you with a rare opportunity."

  Galoret stared at the Chrisarii for a heartbeat, and then guffawed. "You?? Is this a joke, Alikk? You don't look like the type with a sense of humor."

  Vi'Sar hand shot across the table and seized Ain by the throat. The Jha'Drok's drink clattered to the floor, splattering wine, and the other patrons looked up once more to witness the commotion.

  "Do I look like I'm joking?" Alikk growled, his face just inches from Ain's. After another few heartbeats, he loosed his grip on Galoret's throat and summoned a waiter. "Another glass for my guest, please."

  Ain coughed as he smoothed the front of his tunic, and he darted a glance around the bar, pleased to see that everyone had returned to their conversations and drinks. The droid appeared with an empty glass, and then retrieved the dirty one from the floor.

  Alikk refilled Galoret's cup, and then said, "Shall we start again?"

  Ain sipped his drink slowly. "I'm listening."

  "It seems that the Quorum is as tired as I am of our treaty with the Federation. They want to use the Drigald and the Haal'Chai to form a covert alliance. At the same time, the Quorum will continue their negotiations for charter membership in the Federation. When the time is right, the negotiations will end and the Chrisarii – with the assistance of the Jha'Drok – will resume open warfare with the Federation, but this time we will be victorious. We will not stop until we have conquered every last member world."

  Ain didn't immediately respond. "That's a bold plan, and very risky. I didn't think that the Quorum had it in them, especially your chancellor. He knows about this as well?"

  "Of course."

  Ain considered the proposal for another few moments, and then leaned forward and lowered his voice. "How exactly would this alliance work?"

  Alikk smiled. "That's what you and I have been assigned to figure out."

  ( 2 )

  Brantar Varis stepped onto the flight deck of the Endeavor, pausing long enough to determine that all necessary personnel were present. Lieutenant Japh was at the helm, Ritano at tactical, Jolan Nejra at communications, and one of the Marines was manning a backup tactical console. Varis strode to the fore of the deck and cleared her throat.

  "Everybody listen up. I'm sorry that I've kept us here longer than expected, but I wanted to be sure before I made my decision." They'd been on reconnaissance for three days, scanning and re-scanning every inch of the Plonn system, searching for a way to destroy the hypergate without alerting the Jha'Drok to their presence. "I've reviewed the data three times, and I just don't see a way that we can infiltrate those defenses surrounding the hypergate. Not without risking exposure and/or possible capture by the enemy. Therefore, I am terminating this mission. Jolan, would you please assist Japh in plotting a course away from this system and out of Jha'Drok space? Mister Ritano, please compile all of our data into a single report that I can deliver to Commodore Gabriel when we return to Exxar-One."

  There was no protest to her decision. They'd all arrived at the same conclusion. There was simply too much fortification surrounding the hypergate and the starbase positioned near it.

  "Brantar, could I speak with you in private for a few minutes?" Jolan asked.

  Varis nodded and motioned to the rear cabin. Jolan followed her and waited until the door was closed behind him to speak.

  "Annaias and I cannot go back to Exxar-One with you." He stepped forward and placed a holo-imager on the table. A 3-D star map appeared with a jagged red line intersecting it. "I anticipated your decision yesterday, and I have already plotted us a course that will take us safely around this perimeter of Jha'Drok space." He entered a command into his pad to highlight that section of the border. "There is a star system here, just outside of our territories, that contains one habitable planet." A section of the map magnified, and a solitary sphere with a milky green and gray atmosphere appeared. "For several generations now this planet has been home to a group of Jha'Drok who have shunned all form of technology. They call themselves the N'Kydo, and they live entirely without the benefit of modern technology. Their colony has a population of only a few thousand, and they live mostly off the land. This planet's soil is rich with certain nutrients that makes farming very beneficial and relatively easy."

  "And they've lived here for how long?" Varis interrupted.

  "Almost two hundred years. The empire has, for the most part, ignored them, mainly because there's nothing of value on the planet as far as minerals or other natural industrial resources, and also because the colony is small enough that the loss of tax revenue is too minimal to matter to the monarchy. The N'Kydo live this way for religious reasons, believing that this is what the Gods intended. For all of our faults, we Jha'Drok are very tolerant when it comes to religion and faith."

  "And you think that you'll be able to hide from the senate here? If I was Erengaar, this planet and others like it would be the first place I'd look for you and your wife."

  Jolan smiled. "Yes, you're right, except that there's one unique detail about this planet that makes it an especially good hiding place. Its atmosphere contains a type of magnetic radiation that acts as a naturally occurring EM field. Most forms of modern technology cannot be used on the surface of this world, which is the primary reason that it was chosen as a homeworld for the N'Kydo. This EM field also acts a repellant for any sensors beings used from orbit. In order to find us on this world, any warship that Erengaar dispatched here would have to send its soldiers down in specially equipped shuttlecraft, and then they would have to search the entire surface on foot. In other words, it would be too much time and effort, and both Erengaar and the senate have more important matters to deal with just now."

  "Or they've anticipated your plan and left a team on the surface near the central colony."

  Jolan shook his head. "Again, too many logistical details to justify the time and manpower needed. To begin with, they have no idea what time I would be arriving, if at all, and once I did show up they would need
a way to get a signal off the surface to the warship that is presumably waiting in orbit or somewhere else close by. I will admit that this type of plan is a possibility, but I believe it's a remote one. Not only that, Erengaar is not expecting me to choose a hiding place so close to the empire. I am quite certain that he believes I am in protective custody of Federation Central Intelligence. It has also been more than three standard months since my sabotage and defection, and as I said before, the state of current affairs within the empire has worsened considerably in my absence. I believe that Erengaar and the senate are too preoccupied at this point to bother searching for me in a backwater system such as this one."

  Varis nodded. "You make a good point. And I have no qualms with granting your request. But how are we supposed to get you to the surface of this planet?"

  "A minor alteration to the frequency of the Endeavor's deflector field will protect us from the effects of the EM field. It's only most forms of modern technology that cannot operate within the span of the EM interference. There are a few exceptions." He handed Varis his compad to show her the calculations. "It will be at least another day before we arrive at this system. That should be plenty of time to implement this modification."

  J'Soran nodded. "What am I supposed to tell Commodore Gabriel?"

  "The truth. I tried to fool myself into thinking that I wasn't betraying my people, that I wasn't really defecting. I thought that if I helped the Federation bring down the monarchy, that I could go home again. But the last few weeks have given me time to reflect and to think about my actions, and I realize that I was wrong. I will probably never be able to return to Emperium in my lifetime, and I would rather live on a backwater colony with the N'Kydo than to be a prisoner by Federation Central Intelligence. You and I both know that that would have been my and Annaias' eventual fate, no matter what you and Commodore Gabriel did. At least this way I have some control."

  "Okay," Varis replied. "I can understand that. So does this mean that you're going to give me the intel that you wouldn't before? The kind of information that only someone of your rank and status within the Imperial Senate could provide?"

  "Already done." Jolan motioned to the compad. "It's all under a file marked with my name." There was a tone of deep regret in Jolan's voice, as if the words were almost too heavy for him to speak. He cleared his throat. "I'll go assist Lieutenant Ritano in making those modifications to the Endeavor's deflector grid."

  After he left, J'Soran sat at the table but didn't immediately begin reading the report. She sympathized with Jolan and Annaias, but now she was wondering whether she'd made the right decision by not telling her superiors about their presence on Exxar-One. This wasn't the first time in her career that she'd withheld a source of information, but Jolan wasn't just any Jha'Drok citizen. He'd been a high-ranking officer of the Imperial Senate, and if his report contained the type of intelligence that she suspected it did, then her superiors would want to know her source.

  Jolan was right to be afraid of the FCI. In many ways they were as ruthless and as persistent as the Talik'Jhor. Had J'Soran told them about Jolan and Annaias, a recovery team would have arrived on the station within hours of receiving her communiqué and taken them to a holding facility in the Rane sector. It wasn't exactly prison, but the quarters weren't nearly as comfortable as those on Exxar-One, and the agents in charge of their care would be concerned with only one thing: the value of the information that the prisoners provided. As soon as they were no longer of any use to FCI, Jolan and Annaias would be shipped to another facility that was designed for long term living, but where FCI could keep a close eye on them. Another prison, in other words.

  That was one good difference between FCI and the Talik'Jhor, but J'Soran had heard a few rumors over the years of certain prisoners who had suddenly disappeared while in FCI custody. She felt certain that Jolan and Annaias would have been one of those unfortunate disappearances had she reported their presence on Exxar-One to her superiors.

  During the last several weeks of working with Jolan, Varis had developed a sympathy for him and his situation, and that made her uncomfortable. She was a field agent, required only to observe and report, not interrogate prisoners. She hadn't been fully trained on how to keep her personal feelings from affecting her judgment in a situation such as this. Which meant that she should have gone with her initial instinct and reported their presence to her superior officer as soon as she learned of it.

  But you didn't because you couldn't resist an opportunity like this, she reminded herself. You thought you could play this right and work a promotion out of it, or at the very least a new assignment. Now the only option you have is to pass on this intel and hope that Agent Connor doesn't make a formal request for your source.

  Or she could deny Jolan his request and keep him and Annaias in custody until they returned to Exxar-One. There were enough Marines on board that he wouldn't dare attempt an escape, and he was already resigned to a fate of living outside his home territories for the rest of his life. She could tell him she had no choice, that she was bound by her code as an officer of FCI to turn him over to her authorities.

  But she didn't. Instead, she began reading his report.

  ( 3 )

  Vatra Inehl held out her goblet for the maidservant to refill as Lord Tannit finished another of his boorish anecdotes about hunting wild vort. My gods, Vatra thought, that man should be hired by surgeons to put their patients to sleep before major operations. Then his wife, Lady Marija Tannit, launched into a story about redecorating their hunting villa, and Vatra suddenly wanted nothing more than to drive her fork into her own temple, just to end her misery.

  Erengaar and Larewyn had insisted on the whole family dining together every other night, and the ritual was starting to wear on Vatra to the point that she was certain her half-brother was up to something more than his usual manipulations and deceptions. Besides herself, Jharek, and Larewyn's parents, there was Doctor Rimshar, Dakkahr Broen, Sierik and his wife Lyka, the Lord and Lady Kelhos, who were close friends with the House Tannit, and First Lovar Teon Ranunt and his wife, Sheekrim. Vatra had been watching the others closely, particularly Larewyn and her parents, but the conversation was never anything more than inane small talk, and the entire meal never lasted for more than an hour, even with the entertainment of the court musicians and dancers that always followed dessert.

  "Mother may I have another piece of omus?"

  "Yes, I suppose," Vatra replied absently, glancing in Sierik's direction. He and Lyka were seated on the other side of the long table, near the end, and they were whispering to one another. Lyka snickered and playfully slapped her husband's arm.

  "And what do you two find so funny down there?" Larewyn asked.

  "Sierik was just making a rather nasty joke about our Resaki districts."

  Marija made a sound of disgust. "I can just imagine. Thank you for keeping that to yourself."

  "Oh, but I want to hear," Lord Gyan Tannit said excitedly. "What good are the 'Saki except to be made fun of?"

  "Father, please don't be crass," Larewyn interrupted. "Those poor people cannot help their position in life, and those districts are there for a purpose."

  Gyan snorted. "Your cause is a lost one, daughter. Those 'poor people' can help their position by taking advantage of the many welfare programs that the senate and the state governments have set up for them. You should be thanking the gods every day that you were not born into such wretched filth."

  "It doesn't matter how modern the society," Erengaar added drolly. "There will always be the poor, the weak, and the sick. The best we can do is make their existence as comfortable as possible until they finally expire and leave room for their wretched offspring."

  Vatra seized the opportunity. "Now, now, brother, that's not what you said when you toured one of those districts with our father not too long ago," she teased.

  "A tour that you were absent from altogether," he shot back.

  "Yes, of course. I wouldn't dare g
o near such...'filth'." Vatra nodded to Gyan. "I agree, lord, that there's so much of the poor these days, I don't know how those districts can contain them. So many of our people have turned to laziness and crime instead of old fashioned hard work."

  "You have vermin like Galoret Ain to thank for that!" First Lovar Ranunt thundered with such vehemence that everyone turned in his direction. It was clear that he'd consumed more than his share of wine, and he slammed a fist on the table for emphasis. "The sooner the Talik'Jhor can capture that hepta, the better off we all will be!"

  "Yes, yes!" Lord Tannit chimed in. He raised his goblet and the others followed suit.

  "Where is Ryomekk tonight?" Sierik asked.

  But a burst of musical fanfare drowned his words, and everyone applauded as the entertainment commenced. The dancers suddenly appeared from all sides, all of them female, and they were garbed in brightly colored gowns with elaborate, matching headdresses. Erengaar, as usual, looked on with naked lust at the lithe and barely-clothed bodies while his wife pretended not to notice, and the dinner guests feigned amusement while nibbling the last of their dessert.

  Vatra, however, was focused on her cousin's last question, for she hadn't noticed Ryomekk's absence until Sierik had mentioned it. It was odd, because the first lovar never turned down an invitation to a meal with the lord emperor. It simply wasn't heard of, and to do so was to unnecessarily risk one's own life. So either some extremely important piece of business had detained Ryomekk, or he was lying on a floor somewhere bleeding to death, if not already dead. Since the latter was very unlikely, Vatra wondered what kind of business had sprung up at this late hour.