by A. K. DuBoff
“Just because your planet is now in the Empire doesn’t mean you get free rein to direct our resources. It’s my responsibility to determine the most urgent threats and allocate our forces accordingly. Right now, you’re not the top priority.”
“Then I’d like to speak with the general in charge of your base.”
Kaen chuckled. “Mr. President, if you think going over my head will help your case, you’re sorely mistaken.”
That’s it? We’re on our own? Joris stared levelly at the colonel. “This isn’t the attitude I’d expect from an officer in the Guard.”
“Then perhaps you need to reset your expectations.” Kaen ended the call.
Joris leaned back in his chair and scoffed. It was like he was talking to an entirely different person than the man he’d worked with in the previous months regarding the MTech investigations. Unless…
His pulse spiked. “Ellen!” he called over the intercom. “Come up here right away.”
“On my way, sir,” she acknowledged.
She arrived less than two minutes later. “Sir, what is it?”
“I may know why the Guard didn’t act on our information.”
Ellen took a seat across from Joris. “Why?”
“I have nothing more than a hunch to go on, but it’s possible that Colonel Kaen is under the same influence as Chancellor Hale.”
“Stars!” Ellen’s face drained. “Are they working together?”
“Maybe not together, but possibly for the same side.” Joris spread his hands on the desktop. “Whatever’s going on, they don’t want others butting in.”
“Then that’s exactly what we have to do.”
The president evaluated her. “That’s a dangerous proposition. If someone as high-ranking as Kaen has been subverted, and hasn’t been caught, then he has authority to take actions that could easily wipe us out. Having the Guard as an enemy would be exponentially worse than the Mysarans.”
“But we’re members of the Empire now!”
“Yes, but if Elusia is declared a threat? They’d just as soon turn against us.”
Ellen crossed her arms. “We’re trapped.”
“No, we just have to get creative,” Joris replied. “It’s time you reach out to your brother. There has to be someone in the Guard who’ll help us.”
— — —
The landing shuttle ascended at a steep angle through Valta’s sky toward its rendezvous with the Raven. Leon remained standing next to the hovercart, as the shuttle was too small for him to shimmy around it to get to his seat.
Once in space, the shuttle maneuvered to the underbelly of the Raven and slipped into its berth. The hatch dropped open once they were safely inside.
“I’ll get this into storage.” Leon directed the cart down the ramp toward the cargo area.
Nia followed him. “Despite what Ari said, we’re all happy you went back for it. The mission comes first, especially since it’s for Kira.”
“I’ll do right by her,” he said.
“Good.” Nia backed away and formed a ‘V’ with her index and middle fingers, pointing them to her eyes, and then to Leon. “Because we’re watching you.” She smiled and climbed the ladder with the other soldiers.
Leon shook his head and chuckled as he strapped the cart to the cargo bay’s grated deck. When he was finished, he climbed the ladder to the common area. The members of Kira’s team were nowhere to be seen, but Gil and Sven were on the couch again.
“Hi,” Leon greeted.
“Oh, hey.” Sven pointed upward. “You got a call while you were down on the surface.”
“From whom?”
“Dunno.” Sven shrugged.
Curious, Leon climbed the ladder and headed for his cabin. He’d made it three meters down the hall when someone called his name from behind.
Leon turned to see a woman descending from the bridge.
“I’m Aleya, the first officer of the Raven,” she greeted. “You had an urgent call from Elusia. We said you’d call back when you were on board.”
“Who was it?” Leon asked as he walked toward her.
“Your sister, Ellen.”
“Ellen? Why would she be calling me here?” Leon wondered aloud.
“It was important enough that they routed it to us. Said she’d only talk to you. We have a private communications booth up on the flight deck.” Aleya scaled the ladder.
“Thanks.” Leon followed her.
The upper level of the Raven was more compact than the residential and rec levels below, as it was housed inside a protrusion at the top of the vessel. The ladder led to one end of a central corridor. To the right, toward the nose of the vessel, a door sealed off the bridge. To the aft, a small social area was on one side of the corridor, complete with a booth and table, and beyond were doors to enclosed rooms.
Aleya indicated the first room. “Comm system is all set up for you. Sister said you’d know her direct line.”
“Thank you.” Leon inclined his head and went into the booth. The space was only two meters square, but it was equipped with a holodisplay and two padded seats. He sat down and entered in Ellen’s contact information on Elusia.
She answered after twenty seconds. “Leon, thanks for getting back to me so quickly.”
“I was on an op. What’s so urgent?”
“You… on an op?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story.” Leon shook his head, not wanting to explain what was going on with Kira, if he even could. “So, why’d you call?’
“I wanted to follow up regarding a message President Joris sent Colonel Kaen.”
Leon crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“No, but you’re close to Kira, and Kira is in Kaen’s chain-of-command, right?”
“Yes, but it’s not like she can just ask about his private conversations with the president,” Leon pointed out. Not to mention the suspicions that Kaen isn’t himself. Yet another thing he didn’t want to explain to Ellen.
“Well, we relayed a rather important piece of information, and it’s being dismissed—even to President Joris’ face.”
Leon’s breath caught. “And this only went to Colonel Kaen?”
“Yes.”
Shite. Leon leaned back in the chair and sighed. “If Kaen didn’t act on the information, then he had a reason.” And the information didn’t match with the goals of whatever influence he’s under.
His sister eyed him. “Leon, do you know something?”
“What is this information, anyway?” Leon hedged.
She swallowed. “Is this communication encrypted?”
Leon checked the details of the comm link. It would route through Guard headquarters, which meant there’d be a record someone of Kaen’s rank could access. “Not well enough,” he told her. “But the fact that we’ve already had this much of the conversation won’t make a difference.”
Ellen nodded. “We told Kaen that the Mysaran Chancellor might be under some kind of influence.”
That explains what she was doing on Valta today. Well, part of it. Leon groaned. “There are people I can trust. I’ll pass on the message.”
— — —
Kira couldn’t take being strapped down any longer. Getting agitated will only make it more likely I transform. I need to work off this energy more productively.
She took a calming breath and pressed the call button they’d placed near her right hand. “Doctor Elric, may we have a word?”
“I’ll be right there, Kira.” The doctor entered through the tunnel three minutes later. “Is everything all right?”
“No,” Kira admitted. “I don’t think being strapped down here is the answer. I thought I might keep transforming randomly, but there hasn’t been so much as an eye glow since that incident soon after I arrived in the infirmary.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“Let me use one of the sparring rooms. Put four guards at the door. If I transform and lose control, they can subdue
me with a sonic blast.”
The doctor considered the request. “I don’t have any medical grounds to hold you in quarantine. Those safety measures seem appropriate for the circumstances.”
Kira perked up. “I can go?”
“I know Colonel Kaen would approve, so I don’t see why not.”
She looked into the doctor’s eyes and asked telepathically, “Why did you tell me Kaen isn’t who he seems?”
Elric hesitated. “We shouldn’t talk about it here.”
“This telepathic link is the most secure communication there is. Tell me. Pretend like you’re giving me an exam.”
He took an unsteady breath and began checking Kira’s limbs, making eye contact on occasion to maintain the telepathic link. “He thinks I don’t remember, but I do.”
“Remember what?”
“Right before you came for your medical check-up, after getting home from Valta, Kaen came to see me,” the doctor explained. “He told me to delete the test results showing your new nanites and to forget I saw anything—or that I’d even talked to him. And I did, until I saw you transform. The memories slowly came back until I realized what the colonel had done.”
Kira’s heart skipped a beat as she thought through the implications of the revelation. “Have you been able to test him?”
“No. I didn’t want to give any indication that I suspected something was amiss,” the doctor replied. “I have no idea what he might do to us if he learned we were discussing it now.”
“We have to go to someone about this,” Kira urged. “Major Sandren. I trust him with my life, especially with my current state.”
“Whatever happened to the colonel, it must be recent. He’s always been a reliable member of the Guard.”
“I’ve never doubted him, either, but something has been off since the Valta op…”
“The ability to exert telepathic orders—especially to alter memory—isn’t something he should be able to do,” the doctor added.
“What could enable that kind of skill?”
“I can’t think of a single thing that we have access to within the Guard. That’s the TSS’ area of expertise.”
“Do you think the TSS or its Agents are involved?”
“No, they’ve always stopped this kind of subversion. The closest incident was a neurotoxin first used by the Bakzen and later adapted by the Priesthood.”
Kira raised one of her arms for the doctor to fake-examine. “Could some survivors from the Priesthood be behind this?”
“Unlikely—none of the other facts line up. Given how even our advanced scans can’t readily detect any issues, that suggests this is something we haven’t encountered before.”
“Any theories?” Kira prompted.
“Against all odds, it might be alien,” the doctor asserted.
“That would align with what we learned from MTech.”
“Are the nanites and the method of telepathic subversion from the same alien source? I can’t be certain,” Elric continued. “Either way, it’s alarming to think about MTech having access to alien technology the Taran Empire hasn’t seen before.”
“No shite.” Kira sighed inwardly. “I’ll meet with Major Sandren as soon as I can. We’ll figure out what’s going on with Kaen.”
The doctor nodded and broke the telepathic connection. “No further symptoms, Kira. I think that workout you requested is just what you need.”
“Thank, you, Doctor.”
“I’ll arrange an escort to the training room for you.” The doctor departed.
Kira sat in quiet contemplation for the next twenty minutes, thinking about the opponents she’d encountered in missions over her decade-long career. Though rare, people with telepathic and telekinetic abilities would occasionally make an appearance, but those abilities were always innate traits. For someone to be possessed by another sentient presence was a whole new situation. She couldn’t think of an explanation.
A new alien foe. Well, that’s fantastic. She groaned. It was shaping up to be quite the week.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a complement of guards arriving outside the containment chamber.
“Captain Elsar,” the largest of the four guards said, “we’ve been directed by Doctor Elric to take you to one of the sparring rooms for physical training.”
“I’m thrilled to hear it, Private,” Kira replied. “Have you been apprised of my condition?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’re prepared for any contingency.” He patted a sonic handgun on his hip.
“All right. Now get me out of here!” Kira smiled and jangled her restraints.
The four soldiers entered. Two cautiously released her restraints while the other two stood by with their sonic pistols at the ready. Kira had to admit it was a disconcerting change to be on the receiving end of a weapon in close quarters.
When the final cuff was disconnected from the bed, the soldiers directed Kira to her feet and placed stasis cuffs on her for the walk down to the sparring room.
“My friends are going to wonder what kind of crazy shenanigans I got into over the weekend to end up being escorted by you guys,” Kira jested as they bound her wrists behind her back with stasis cuffs.
“I bet we could come up with an epic story if you’d like, ma’am,” the lead guard offered.
She grinned. “Nothing yet. We should keep people guessing. Helps with my mystique.”
They led her from the containment chamber and through the infirmary. Workout facilities were located near the residential sections of headquarters but also in designated team training areas within the outer reaches of the facility. They headed to one of the lesser-used areas to minimize the number of potentially prying eyes, not knowing if she might transform.
As they worked their way through the facility, she found herself questioning whether or not she wanted to transform. As frightening as the prospect was, she was curious about what she might be able to do. All the same, she recognized that Colonel Kaen wanted her to do just that, and following the advice of a potentially subverted individual under unknown alien control was undoubtedly a bad move.
By the time they reached the entrance of the designated sparring room, Kira had decided to fight the transformation to the best of her ability. If Kaen wanted her to gain mastery, then the opposite course of action was what she needed to do.
The guards ushered her inside the six-by-six meter chamber, which had pads arranged on the floor in the center of the space and various weapons and other training implements along the side walls, including racks of free-weights.
“Give me forty-five minutes,” Kira told the guards.
“Yes, ma’am.” The lead guard undid Kira’s stasis cuffs and then went to wait in the hall with his colleagues.
Kira grabbed some weights off the rack and began her usual rep routine. It felt great to get her blood moving after sitting nearly stationary for two days. She moved on to body weight exercises and combat forms.
Twenty minutes into her exercise, Kira noticed something was off. The weights and movements that were historically her most challenging were coming to her easily. She looked in the mirror on the back wall of the room, but she appeared normal—no glowing eyes, even. Is this like the strength my teammates always seem to have?
It was entirely possible she just had excess energy after doing nothing for days. She was about to continue the workout when one of the guards poked her head into the room.
“Ma’am, we were just informed that Leon Calleti is back. He wants to see you.”
CHAPTER 9
Colonel Kaen paced across his office against his conscious will. It was curious that the being controlling him, despite not having a body of its own, liked to pace as it thought.
“They’re onto us,” Nox muttered in Kaen’s mind.
“Onto you, maybe,” Kaen clarified. “You haven’t been doing a very good impersonation of me.”
“All your official procedures… it’s wearisome.”
Kaen made no indica
tion, but Nox had inadvertently given him a gift. The alien had disclosed an annoyance, which presented a weakness for Kaen to exploit. He just had to find the right opportunity to use the Guard’s regimented structure as a means to get him the help he needed. His unwanted tenant was about to get an eviction notice.
“Your interest in Kira will be your undoing,” Kaen said, hoping to provoke a reaction. He had found that when Nox was emotional, the alien’s grasp loosened.
Indeed, Nox’s energy moved to the surface, giving Kaen room to flex within the inner recesses of himself.
“I am in control,” Nox insisted.
“The Guard will come for you. They’ll kill me rather than allow a subverted officer to live.”
“Your people value individual lives too much to do that.”
In reality, Kaen wasn’t positive what would happen to him when he was inevitably found out, but he would rather die than compromise the Guard’s security. He’d already caused enough inadvertent damage as it was. “They will kill me, and you’ll die with me.”
“This work is too important to abandon,” Nox replied.
“You said Kira had to be delivered to your benefactors, though. How can you deliver her if you’ve been eliminated?”
Nox was silent for several seconds. “She must embrace her abilities. Someone must be here to give her guidance.”
“Your presence won’t make a difference either way. By remaining here, you’re only putting yourself at risk,” Kaen insisted. “As soon as they discover you inside me—which won’t be long now since they already suspect—you’ll either be removed or we’ll both die. Neither option gets Kira wherever you want to take her.”
“Then I will do a better job of blending in.”
“The damage is already done.” Kaen raised as much of a mental presence as he could muster. “If you want to succeed with this mission, then you have to run. Hide and wait for Kira to come into her own, then retrieve her.”
“You’re lying to me. You have your own intentions.”
Kaen gave a mental shrug. “That’s your call. I’m a prisoner in this body regardless.”