by PP Corcoran
“It’s all right, Commander, you have my permission to tell them. It is long past the time for secrets now. Well, some of them anyway,” said Helbrunn.
Del Mastro turned her head to the admiral, ready to remind a woman who was so far above her rank that she may have well have been sitting at the right hand of God, that that piece of information was so classified that only a direct order from the head of the ONI would allow her to reveal it. Helbrunn got there first.
“The officers in this room are all to be read in on Judy.” Helbrunn passed a secure data chip to Del Mastro who, to her credit, verified the order on her own data pad before extracting the chip and handing it back to Helbrunn.
The mood in the room altered as the gathered senior officers watched silently at the exchange between the fleet commander and the lowly lieutenant commander. Like young children expectantly waiting to open their presents on Christmas morning, the assembled admirals and generals were virtually salivating at the prospect of learning something that no one else knew.
Del Mastro looked down at the podium’s burnished metal top for a few seconds as she composed herself. Raising her eyes once more, she faced the assembled admirals and generals with steady, clear eyes. Her voice, when it came, was level and uncompromising. “Ladies and gentlemen. What I am about to tell you does not leave this room. It is my duty to remind you that revealing this information in any way is contrary to the Defense Security Act and carries a mandatory sentence of execution if found guilty.”
If Del Mastro had not gotten the attention of those in the room before, then she most definitely had them now.
“For the past nine months ONI has been receiving information from a highly placed asset within the K’Tai military, codename Judy…”
The room erupted with noise as each admiral and general attempted to shout a question or made some incredulous comment. Del Mastro stood stock still at the podium as she was barraged by a wall of sound. The sound of a clenched fist banging on the conference table’s metal top was followed by a commanding voice rising above the clamor.
“Enough!” The room descended into silence at Helbrunn’s order. The admiral eyed the room with an icy glare, daring anyone to disobey her. After a few moments, they settled themselves. Helbrunn addressed Del Mastro in a soft voice, fooling no one. “Please continue, Commander.”
“To give you some context in which to assess the information provided by Judy, perhaps it I should explain how Judy first established contact with us.
Under my guise as Assistant Defense Attaché, I attended several formal engagements during my tour at the embassy. One of those engagements was a reception for the outgoing League Ambassador. The affair was atypical for an embassy function, more dignitaries than you could shake a stick at sharing the usual mundane conversations.
As was expected of me, I made small talk with my opposite numbers from the various embassies. As the party wound up, I was approached by a marine from the embassy security detail who informed me that the intruder alarm in the ONI office was activated. Marines had checked the outer door and it was secure, however, standing orders called for either myself or Captain Okon to open the office and ensure nothing had been tampered with.
In recent weeks we had had several false alarms, so I was not overly concerned; nevertheless, procedure is procedure. I made my way to the office on the eighth floor of the embassy, a floor that can only be accessed by a single elevator and is guarded night and day by armed marines.
The floor has no windows and every corridor and door is under constant electronic surveillance. The ONI office door is only be opened by a dual retinal and number code of the day system, a code known only to myself, Captain Okon and the two chief petty officers, both of whom were not in the building that night.
The office door was secure, but upon entering I noticed that the light in Captain Okon’s personal office was on. I had been last to leave that day and I knew for a fact the light was switched off when I had left. Captain Okon is a stickler for procedure, and at the end of every working day we have a clear desk policy. Nothing of any classification is left out. Everything is returned to the office’s security cabinets. So, when I saw a data chip sitting slap bang in the middle of his desk, I knew something wasn’t right. I called for Captain Okon and upon his arrival, I retrieved a sterile handcomp from the secure cabinet and together we inserted the data chip into it.” For the first time, Del Mastro paused in her story and swept her gaze around the table. Every eye in the room was fixed on her, awaiting the climax of her tale. Despite herself, Del Mastro nervously swallowed before continuing. “The data chip contained the K’Tai deployment plans for a complete blockade of the Paral sector. The Imperium’s main source of Redlazore was now in the hands of the secessionists.”
In the stunned silence that followed Del Mastro’s statement, you would have heard a pin drop. The room remained deathly still until a female voice, laden with venom, spoke from the far end of the table.
“You knew those bastards had been cut off from their Redlazore supplies and you didn’t warn me?”
Del Mastro eyes searched the table until she located the speaker. “Admiral Alderman. It was thought prudent by ONI to…” Alderman cut her off before she could go any further, and in the subdued light of the room Alderman’s face was full of anger, her muscles shaking as she stood, pointing an outstretched finger at Del Mastro accusingly.
“Don’t you try to justify this by hiding behind the skirts of those politicians in uniform at ONI, Commander! If I had known that little gem of information, do you think I would have left Agate exposed? Damn it, I would have demanded half of Battle Fleet to come and sit on the planet.” Alderman’s taut voice echoed her inner anger. “What the hell where you thinking?”
Del Mastro opened her mouth to rebut Alderman; however, she realized that she simply did not have an answer to the infuriated admiral’s question, so closed her mouth without a word.
“In the commander’s defense, the decision to keep the information compartmentalized was made at the highest levels of ONI, Admiral Alderman.” The placating tone in Helbrunn’s voice was an attempt to calm the enraged Border Patrol commander. Alderman remained standing for another few seconds; her finger remained pointed accusingly at Del Mastro. After what seemed an age, the finger curled back into the fist and Alderman slowly retook her seat.
Christina Helbrunn rose from her seat, Del Mastro stepping aside with a tangible sense of relief as the commander of Eighth Battle Fleet took the podium with a small wave toward a lieutenant with a gold and dark blue aiguillette on his left shoulder, signifying him as Helbrunn’s aide-de-camp, who moved around the table placing a secure data chip in front of each officer. “Contained on the data chip each of you is now receiving is the full, unredacted information that Judy has provided to ONI over the past months. It is obvious that the source is highly placed but does not have access to everything. Nevertheless, what they have managed to secure is startling and provides us with a window into the inner workings of the Imperium and I believe, with judicious use, we can turn this to our advantage.”
Hungry eyes fell on the information held by the data chips as each was activated. A series of expletives randomly escaped from the general officers as the treasure trove of intelligence, that was Judy, was revealed to them. Helbrunn felt a satisfied smile tug at the corners of her lips as she remembered that same surprise as she had flicked through page after page of operational plans, ship and weapon schematics, force readiness evaluations and logistics statuses. In short, the information that Judy had provided was tantamount to Helbrunn and her staff having access to the same information as the K’Tai High Command itself. That realization had brought with it a darker thought, though. If Judy had this sort of access, then why had ONI not known about the impending invasion of Agate? In Helbrunn’s mind there were only two possible explanations. One, Judy was completely unaware of the planned invasion for some reason or, more worryingly, option two: the ONI had deliberately withheld
knowledge of the planned invasion. Option two was a cause of deep concern to the admiral; Alderman may have called those in the upper echelons of ONI politicians in uniform during a pique of anger, but there was always a deep suspicion in the ranks of Battle Fleet that the Office of Naval Intelligence, at times, was prone to put its own agenda ahead of that of the navy. Judy was a phenomenal asset. The question was, how far would ONI go to protect that asset? With an internal shrug, Helbrunn chased away the lingering doubt. She had bigger problems to deal with and with every passing minute, the K’Tai around Agate would be busily reinforcing their defenses. She urgently needed to know what was deeper in system than the picket ships Alderman had left could tell her. Well, she reflected, this is what they pay me the big bucks for. Clearing her throat loud enough to be heard from across the room so that all heads turned toward her, she said, “Admiral Matheson, Admiral Alderman, Lieutenant Commander Del Mastro. Would you mind joining me for a moment, please?”
Without waiting for a reply, Helbrunn turned and strode the few steps to a seemingly solid wall, which magically split apart to reveal a doorway into a smaller, more private office. Robert Matheson, with Alderman close behind and Del Mastro in the rear, followed Helbrunn through the entranceway and into Commander Eighth Fleet’s inner sanctum. Although Robert had been here before, his eyes still passed over everything in the room as if for the first time. To one side was a large, curved desk made of the same reflective material as the conference table in the larger room, in front of which sat three waiting seats. The desk was completely bare of any personal items such as images of family or friends. Instead there were neat piles of data chips, their various colors indicating each pile’s level of classification. The piles were of the same height and were perfectly in line with the desk’s front edge, an observation not lost on Robert. Admiral Helbrunn was a thinker. Everything had its place and there was a place for everything. Behind the desk was a large, comfortable leather high-backed chair, while the walls of the office were festooned with images of various vessels, ranging from an older model Jaguar interceptor to a sleek destroyer, its single mounted particle cannon jutting proudly from the bow. Then a frigate, a light cruiser, and so on, each vessel larger and more powerful than the last, each charting the command career of Admiral Christina Helbrunn.
Helbrunn seated herself behind the desk and indicated for the still standing others to be seated. Once they had, Helbrunn lifted a single data chip from the piles in front of her and pushed it across to Robert with an outstretched finger.
“Congratulations, Robert, to you falls the task of ensuring that my wolf pack idea succeeds.”
Robert’s eyes lingered on the lone data chip. When Helbrunn had asked him and the others to join her in her office, Robert had suspected… no, hoped, that this would be the result; however, now that Helbrunn had spoken the words, his growing excitement was tempered by the encroaching responsibilities of the appointment. The thoughts of those responsibilities must have been obvious to Helbrunn, because a deep throated, very un-admiral-like chuckle came from her, catching Robert by surprise. When Robert looked up at her smiling face, he could see the twinkle in her eyes.
“Oh, don’t look so worried Robert, I’m not going to throw you to the lions on your own.” With a nod toward Alderman, the admiral continued. “Louise knows the system inside out. It’s her Border Patrol ships that have done such a bang-up job keeping us up to date as best they can with what’s going on in the system while avoiding the K’Tai and, if you will excuse the phrase, Louise…” Helbrunn nodded toward the Border Patrol admiral. “That was a damned ballsy move, and the correct tactical one in my opinion, when faced with massively superior odds, to make the decision to withdraw knowing the political recriminations that you would almost certainly face.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” mumbled Alderman gratefully.
Helbrunn waved her thanks off with a dismissive hand before continuing. “Under my authority and pursuant to General Order Fourteen, I am appointing you as Robert’s second-in-command.”
Louise Alderman’s jaw dropped open in shock. Appointing a Border Patrol officer to a command slot within Battle Fleet was unprecedented; in fact, Louise was not entirely sure it was legal. To her credit, Louise recovered her composure and closed her gaping mouth with an audible click. Louise glanced across at Robert; however, his impassive face failed to reveal his thoughts on Helbrunn’s statement. Not so Del Mastro, whose face was a picture reflecting the confusion running through her at this point as she struggled to understand her presence in the room. Helbrunn soon clarified it for her.
“Lieutenant Commander Del Mastro. Consider yourself brevetted to Commander and assigned to Admiral Matheson as his personal ONI liaison with immediate effect.”
Helbrunn returned her focus to Robert. “That data chip contains your orders and authorizes you to take your pick of any ship and crew in Eighth Fleet.” Helbrunn paused for a moment and when she spoke again her voice had taken on a low, vengeful tone. “Robert, build me a raiding force that can take the fight to the enemy. I want them bloodied, pained and, more importantly, so preoccupied with you that they leave Doberman alone. Buy me time, Robert. Time to gather my strength so I can take Eighth Fleet into Agate and kick their blue-skinned K’Tai ass out of our space!”
A feral smile spread across Robert’s face and an evil glint was in his eyes. “Now that, Admiral. That I can do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Cabin
DAY EIGHT
Jodee felt the brush of cold air touch her face, something was wrong. The cabin was well-sealed and in all the time that she had been coming here, she only felt a draft when someone left a window or door open… Forcing her body to remain still, she cracked open one eye and ever so slowly turned her head to the sight of the cabin door standing ajar, allowing the early morning sun to stream through. The rays of light were briefly broken by a dark shape stepping silently through the doorway before melting into the shadowy cabin interior.
Jodee’s hand slithered out from under the blanket until her hand wrapped around the grip of her pistol. With forced patience she raised the barrel, her eyes now fully open as she hunted the room for the elusive shadow.
Wooden boards squeaked on the veranda, the light from the rising sun blocked again as a second figure paused in the cabin’s door, as if unsure whether to enter or not.
The pistol in Jodee’s hand centered on the outlined figure as she wondered how many more of them could be waiting outside. And where the hell was the one already in the room? If she fired on the one in the doorway, it would give away her position, so she would have to move quickly unless she wanted to be a sitting target. Jodee cursed her decision to relax the guard shifts that they had had in place since arriving at the cabin. Too late; now she had to deal with the immediate threat. She’d take out the one intruder she could see and hopefully the other one would do something to reveal his position.
Centering the sight on the figure in the doorway she let out a breath, steadying her adrenalin charged muscles, her finger tightening on the trigger.
A cold metallic muzzle pressed into the back of her neck.
“If you even twitch it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
The harsh whisper left her in no doubt of its owner’s intention. The lingering shadow in the doorway had been a ruse to buy time for the first elusive shadow to scout out the room. Even with the muzzle pressed against her neck, she felt grudging respect for whoever had managed to navigate their way around a pitch black, unfamiliar room, find her, and get close enough to put a gun to her head without her hearing a thing. Dad would be disappointed.
With exaggerated movements, she removed her finger from the trigger, raising her gun hand up so her captor could relieve her of the weapon.
The muzzle nudged her neck.
“How many more of you in my cabin and where are they?”
“It’s not your cabin, scumbag, it’s my dad’s, and you can go play with yourself if you thi
nk I’m going to tell you squat!”
From behind her she sensed more than felt the intruder pause, for the first time apparently uncertain. Jodee sprang into action. Spinning in place, she sent a straight-arm punch in the ghost’s direction. The punch connected with something solid and she heard the sharp exhalation of breath. Without pause, she lunged for the rifle propped against the stone fireplace. Two steps and the rifle was in her hands, she thumbed off the safety and prepared to send a hail of Teflon-coated needles in the general direction of the intruder.
“Jodee?” came a strangled voice in disbelief.
The thumping of blood in her ears as her heart raced almost blocked out her name… almost. How could the intruder know her name? Her finger paused in the motion of pulling the rifle’s trigger.
The room burst into stark relief as the main lights came on. Jacob stood in the entrance to the corridor leading to the bedrooms. His old-style scatter gun centered on the first intruder, whose pistol now dangled from limp arms. Over the sights of her rifle, Jodee observed face of the man she was about to kill. Her racing heart skipped a beat and tears welled in her eyes. The rifle clattered to the floor as she raced into his waiting arms, burying her head in his chest, feeling his strong arms wrap around her.
Jacob was completely confused by the sudden turnaround of events. He shifted his aim to the second figure still highlighted in the cabin door and noticed that the ugly-looking carbine in his hands was still loosely pointed in Jacobs direction.
Before Jacob could ask what was going on, he was knocked to one side by the sprinting Chris, who barreled past him and launched himself like a missile, arms spread wide, at the dark figure holding his sister.
Any question of the intruder’s identity was answered for Jacob at the sight of Jodee and Chris holding on to the man for all they were worth. Jacob saw children in the arms of their father. Lowering the scatter gun, Jacob called across to the still unidentified man.