Aneka Jansen 6: The Lowest Depths of Shame

by Niall Teasdale

  Hands slid over Aneka’s skin, arms circled her waist, and a warm body slid up against her side. Lips touched her neck just under her ear.

  ‘I kind of miss having you sleep with me,’ Ella whispered. ‘It’s nice waking up next to you. Especially the waking up bit. I am going to make you moan like a whore at an orgy.’

  Aneka giggled. Even when the world seemed dark, you could always count on Ella to brighten it up.

  ~~~

  ‘So what happens now?’ Aneka asked. ‘Pierce has lost his viral weapon, but he’s still got control of the Navy, the FSA, and most of New Earth, and the rest of the Jenlay worlds will follow their lead.’

  ‘An accurate assessment,’ Winter said, her eyes on the display table which had a schematic of the Joval system hovering over it. ‘Currently, he won’t know what happened on Eshebbon. We’re quite sure nothing got out from the FTL relay, so the first he’s going to know of what we did is when one of those frigates gets back to New Earth which will be… the twenty-second.’

  ‘So everything goes on as normal until then?’

  ‘Yes, though I’m preparing for when it does. He is likely to panic, or at least get very annoyed. I suspect he may decide to plant further evidence of Herosian attacks and move for a large-scale Navy deployment. I am busy arranging for strategic releases of information around that time which will discredit him. The last thing he needs right now is for people to start hearing the truth.’

  ‘Will that work?’ Sharissa asked. ‘He’s done a pretty thorough information management job so far.’

  ‘Oh, I’m going to make sure he can’t stop this going out. Everywhere is going to start getting this data. I already have probes transmitting it to media hub stations in the Rim. It will take days for that to filter through to the core worlds, but when it does he’ll be faced with a tidal wave of facts.’ The AI looked at Aneka. ‘I need you on New Earth. Elaine and Janine will need some backup when they arrest Pierce.’

  Ella stepped closer to Aneka and took her arm. She had a fierce sort of ‘I will not be left behind’ look on her face. A little way off, Cassandra was looking the same.

  ‘All right,’ Aneka said. ‘I need to speak to War about an idea Al and I had. We’ve got a couple of days to see if it’ll work so we might as well give it a go.’

  20.3.531 FSC.

  Ella shifted the muzzle of her rifle and squeezed the trigger, and the last of the holographic enemies disintegrated in a flurry of pixels. And silence fell as the set dissolved around them.

  ‘It works,’ Ella said after a second. ‘I’m… uh… kind of shocked at how well it works.’

  Aneka, Cassandra, and Ella had ended up back-to-back in the simulated courtyard at the centre of the room while squads of holographic soldiers charged in at them from four entry points. They had tried it with Al’s drone, but the numbers had been too much and coordinating their response had been too difficult. Up to a certain threat level four was good, but beyond that it worked best if Al handed out targets from his list of up to a hundred individual tracked threats, and the three women carried out his instructions. Aneka still had overall tactical command, but she left it to her AI to decide what needed taking out to get there and…

  ‘Yes,’ Aneka agreed, ‘it works. Cassandra? How are you feeling about this? It’s maybe less natural for you…’

  ‘I am feeling… rather elated,’ Casandra replied, looking more shocked than excited. ‘The new fire control software works very effectively. I just need to give it directions and make sure my body is pointing in the right direction. I… I suppose I should feel like I’ve handed over control of some of myself to Al, but I just feel like… like I can go into a situation where this is needed and feel less like a fifth wheel.’

  ‘You were never that,’ Al said into their heads. ‘I feel more comfortable having you in combat situations with us like this, so I am happy. Ella is about to collapse from adrenaline overdose, however. I suggest we break to let her come down before her head explodes.’

  ‘My head is not going to explode,’ Ella replied. ‘Even if I do feel so wired it’s untrue.’

  Aneka gave her a grimace which was half-grin. ‘Better get your drone mobile, Al. When she gets like this there’s only one cure.’

  Cassandra nodded as she started for the door of the firing range. ‘Perhaps we should see if Dillon is free. This looks like a double Ella-bang situation.’

  ‘Hey!’ Ella squeaked. ‘Well, maybe…’

  ~~~

  ‘With War’s help I have adjusted the fire control patterns slightly,’ Al said into the silence of Aneka’s mind. ‘Some of the load has been shifted to you. This will reduce the stress placed on Ella and reduce the impact on her heart. I was being flippant earlier, but she was reaching dangerous stress levels.’

  Aneka nodded, her eyes on the redhead who was now lying flaked out on the bed. ‘Good. I’m happy she’s going to be more capable of defending herself in these fights we keep getting into, especially since it’s tough keeping her out of them, but I don’t want her killing herself doing it.’

  ‘Long term, War suggests some additional cybernetic work. Strengthening of the heart muscles, augmentation of oxygen intake through the lungs, re-engineering of the nerve pathways, some skeletal strengthening, toughening of the muscles and ligaments…’

  ‘That sounds like a lot of work.’

  ‘Nanotechnology can achieve it with no inconvenience. She would be fitter, stronger, and with a significantly increased life expectancy, even without the danger of firefights.’

  ‘You don’t want to lose her either,’ Aneka said after a second.

  ‘My drone can be replaced with little trouble. Cassandra or even you could take significant damage and be reconstructed. Ella is irreplaceable.’

  ‘Yes,’ Aneka agreed, ‘she certainly is.’

  High Yorkbridge, 22.3.531 FSC.

  The reports were incomplete. Pierce decided that he would see about punishing the crews of the frigates returning from Eshebbon when he had the chance. They had not stayed to confirm the destruction of the facility there leaving him with only the probability that the alien vessels had destroyed everything. That was worthy of some form of punishment. Possibly execution, if he could arrange it quietly.

  The fact remained that it seemed as though Eshebbon was a complete loss, but it was a delay, nothing more. The plans for the nanovirus had been transmitted to New Earth prior to construction of the production facility. They were still secret and a new factory could be built. Somewhere Winter and her irritating colleagues would not find it. Somewhere closer to the targets, perhaps.

  He got to his feet and started for the door of his office. There would be a need for more funds and that meant calling a meeting. He was quite sure no one would say no: the rewards for success would be far greater than the immediate losses. The new factory could be larger and take a little more time to construct. Yes, the revised plan would be better than the current one.

  By the time he was walking out of his office, Pierce was smiling.

  Norden Forest.

  Truelove and Janine stepped into the main cross-corridor on Gwy with smiles on their faces. Even if they had to sleep on the floor, the ship had showers and different food.

  ‘Welcome aboard,’ Aneka said. ‘We’re a little crowded, but most of us don’t need to sleep so we should be good to wait for a day or so.’

  ‘That soon?’ Truelove asked.

  ‘We spotted a couple of the frigates from Eshebbon in the system. Pierce knows we trashed his base so we need to move quickly. Winter will be pushing the data Part gave you along with some even more inflammatory material overnight. By tomorrow, all Hell should be breaking loose.’

  ‘And then…’

  ‘And then,’ Ella said from the cabin doorway, ‘we go kick that prick’s front door in.’

  High Yorkbridge, 23.3.531 FSC.

  The trill of his phone woke Pierce early. It was still dark outside and he had had no more than four hour
s’ sleep, but the call had a demanding note to it somehow and he grabbed the device from his nightstand.

  ‘Pierce,’ he snapped.

  ‘Sir, we have… a problem.’ The voice belonged to Watts, his current assistant. The man was loyal, ex-Navy, fully with the programme, but not a little prone to panic.

  ‘What kind of problem, Watts?’

  ‘Someone’s posted data on a number of private servers. Beryum, the misinformation campaign, and a lot of information about Aqua Regia and the viral outbreak on Sapphira.’

  ‘Well… You know the procedure, Watts. Why are you bothering…?’

  ‘The normal methods aren’t working, sir. There are similar feeds coming in from out of system. It’s on just about every in-system feed there is. CFM will pick it up very soon…’

  ‘I want a press blackout in place in ten minutes. Tell them Herosian disinformation has found its way onto our network.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Watts said. He sounded hesitant. ‘Sir, I don’t think…’

  ‘Do it!’ Pierce screamed into the phone before flinging the offending instrument at a wall.

  Gwy.

  ‘There are crowds on the streets,’ Winter’s voice said over the flight environment’s audio relays. ‘Peacekeepers are trying to keep order, but there are people throwing anything they can get their hands on at the FSA building and Naval HQ. I think we can safely say that the news has got out.’

  ‘Elroy?’ Aneka asked.

  ‘He’s convened a special meeting of the Representatives to discuss the matter. He seemed to think it would be short, and include the arrest of several of the attendees, if they turn up.’

  ‘Well, if they’ve heard what’s going on they won’t. I take it Pierce’s press block didn’t hold?’

  ‘I may have hand-delivered all of the data to CFM and pointed out that the man calling for a blackout was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jenlay…’

  Aneka grinned. They were entering Yorkbridge’s airspace from the north, cloaked. There were vertol gunships in the air, but she could not tell their purpose. None seemed to be attacking anything, which seemed a good start.

  ‘Where’s Pierce now?’

  ‘He’s at the Gobari Club. Tracking indicates that he is on the second floor. There is sufficient space outside to land Gwy.’

  ‘You hear that, Elaine?’

  ‘I did,’ Truelove’s voice replied. ‘Would you please deliver us there so that we can arrest his sorry ass?’

  A marker appeared ahead of them hanging over High Yorkbridge and Aneka shifted course toward it. She cut the external transmissions and spoke to Gwy.

  ‘All right, once we’re down we’ll all be going out. You keep your turrets at the ready. You have authorisation to fire, but only if fired upon.’

  ‘Yes, Aneka. My hull is quite resilient. The weaponry on the other aircraft in the area is insufficient to penetrate.’

  ‘Good, but if one of them fires on you, you blow it out of the sky and put your shields up. Understood?’

  ‘Understood.’

  ‘Right.’ Aneka cut the external feed back in. ‘Thirty seconds to landing. Everyone get ready.’

  Then she cut the cloak as she dropped the ship down toward a plaza in front of the white edifice which was the Gobari Club. The landing struts had barely touched the Plascrete before she was unplugging and heading for the lift.

  Aneka was first out of the airlock and down the steps, followed quickly by Ella and Cassandra who fanned out to flanking positions. Janine and Truelove followed and, when everyone was on the ground and the steps had retracted back into the hull, they moved forward.

  ‘There are two men with rifles at the building’s entrance,’ Gwy informed them. ‘I am also detecting two vertol craft vectoring this way.’

  ‘You’ve got your orders,’ Aneka replied. She had seen the guards. Facial recognition had already flagged them up as Marines, though they were dressed in civilian clothes. ‘Elaine, this is your show, we’re just the couriers.’

  As they had planned, Truelove did not move from her place behind Aneka, but she raised her voice as they approached the doors. ‘I am Agent Truelove of the FSA. I am here to arrest Admiral Jason Pierce under Federal Statute one-zero-one-point-one. Step aside or be considered complicit in his crimes. Use of lethal force has been authorised in Admiral Pierce’s apprehension.’

  The Marines glanced at each other and then their rifles began to rise. Al had already sent out targeting orders. Ella and Cassandra, carrying force rifles, barely moved before firing and the two men were smashed backward through the double doors they were guarding.

  Un-holstering her pistols, Aneka marched forward, eyes flicking around the large atrium. Al highlighted targets as he identified weapons. Aim points were handed out to the software all three women were running.

  ‘This is an official FSA arrest,’ Truelove called out. ‘Put down your weapons and no one will be hurt. Resistance will be met with lethal force.’

  ‘And is also futile,’ Al commented. ‘Target four.’

  Aneka’s right hand pistol swung up and fired. A laser beam lanced through the air, swinging high as the firer died pulling the trigger. Someone moved out of cover on the left with a sub-machine gun of some description and Ella blasted him across the room before he could fire.

  Silence fell, and then there was the sound of a gun being dropped to the floor. It was followed by a dozen more clattering noises and the guards stepped out of wherever they had chosen to hide, hands raised.

  ‘Wise move,’ Aneka said.

  ‘Get out of here,’ Truelove told them. ‘All of you, leave while you still have legs to run on. I just want Pierce.’

  ~~~

  There was the sound of gunfire outside the room. Pierce sat with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand and listened to it. It seemed far too brief and one-sided. Then there was silence. Silence aside from the chattering of ice cubes in Dreyman’s glass. The man’s hands were shaking. Pierce had known he would break before this was over.

  Something hit the solid wooden doors, blasting one off its hinges to clatter to the floor two metres into the room. The other was left barely hanging on as Aneka, Ella, and Cassandra walked through, the latter pair flanking the door while Aneka moved in, her pistols lining up to cover the two bodyguards on either side of Dreyman’s wingback.

  Then Truelove walked in with Janine at her side, the latter aiming a pistol at Pierce’s head. Truelove did not look happy or triumphant. She did not seem to be taking pleasure in her victory. Her apparent victory, Pierce corrected himself.

  ‘Admiral Jason Pierce,’ Truelove said, her tone solemn, ‘you are under arrest for crimes against the people of the Lorenti Federation. I can itemise those crimes if you wish. Please surrender yourself or we will detain you by force.’

  ‘Crimes?’ Pierce said. He smiled up at her and then got slowly to his feet. ‘I’ve committed no crimes. I have simply done what no one else would do. What no one else had the stomach for. I will bring an end to war.’

  ‘By killing thousands of Jenlay, in as horrible a way as I can imagine?’

  ‘By eliminating the aliens who threaten our peace. With them all gone…’ He stopped, turning his head.

  Ella had moved up to Aneka’s side. Her rifle was raised to her shoulder and sighted on Pierce’s face. ‘Keep talking,’ she told him. ‘We’re supposed to bring you in alive, but I’m guessing you don’t want to go to trial and I’d love to paint the wall with your skull. So just keep talking…’

  Aneka reached out a hand and pressed gently on the barrel of Ella’s gun with her own. ‘You don’t want to do that, love. You don’t want to kill him like that. Not like that.’

  Ella let out a grunt of disgust and turned away.

  ‘No one said we had to bring him in conscious though,’ Aneka added, and then she hit Pierce in the face.

  Part Seven: Sacrifice

  High Yorkbridge, 25.3.531 FSC.

  Elaine Truelove sat behind the
big desk in the office of the head of the Federal Security Agency looking distinctly uncomfortable. She had chosen to wear a grey suit with a pencil skirt and a pale, sheer blouse, and that really did not suit her, but the real reason she was feeling as though she really should not have been sitting there was the audience.

  Aneka leant against one wall, smirking. Beside her was Ella, smiling encouragement. Janine was there, sitting in a chair by the door and looking faintly amused. And then there was Winter, Xenia Winter, down from the Hyde to make sure Truelove was settling in. She was not.

  ‘But this is your desk,’ Truelove said. ‘It should be you sitting here. This has been your desk since you were you!’

  ‘Then get rid of the stupid desk and get your own one in,’ Winter replied. ‘Have the walls painted a different colour. That chair was never comfortable. Get a new one. I am not going to do this anymore. It’s your job now.’

  ‘I’m not really sure I want it.’

  ‘Elroy was very specific about it. He said he should have had the courage of his convictions and promoted you instead of appointing Pierce. He said he blamed himself for all that’s happened. So I told him off for half an hour.’ Ella stifled a giggle. ‘This is what you’ve trained for, Elaine.’

  ‘I’m not ready! I don’t know if I can handle the responsibility. I don’t know if I want the responsibility!’

  ‘Look at it this way,’ Aneka said. ‘Technically, the Jenlay and Herosians are still at war. In time of war, everyone has to make sacrifices. This is yours.’

  Truelove sagged forward in her seat. ‘Somebody shoot me now.’

  ~~~

  ‘I’m not really looking forward to the trial,’ Elroy said. ‘It’s going to be messy and recriminatory. We’re already getting political backlash.’

  ‘I had noticed,’ Winter replied. ‘People are busy forgetting that they went along with everything out of fear and they have decided that the Representatives, the Navy, and the FSA are to blame.’

  ‘We’re going to need to hold elections for several positions anyway. I had around twenty Representatives arrested along with several FSA agents and the entire Admiralty. Part escaped that ignominy by being murdered, of course. I’m quietly pushing him as a whistle-blower. It makes it sound as though at least some of them were having second thoughts.’