The Artemis Trap

by DN Farrell

  "There's one hundred and eighty million people living on the planet Artemis 11, at one vial providing a thousand shots, it should take one hundred and eighty thousand vials." Replied the Doctor, who then waving his right forefinger over the itinerary tablet, he went on to say "Well we have an extra six cases, just in case an extra six million people show up," he smiled and said " so that should do it Jebelt."

  Jebelt just nodded and then went back through the itinerary one more time, so as to double check off everything. Meanwhile the briefing room door opened and Captain Jobi entered. With a receding hairline, which almost reached the top of his head and a domed head at that, the captain looked like a typical college professor and maybe if his life had taken a different course, he could have being just that.

  Trellon, Doctor Caskew and Science Officer Jebelt immediately turned to face their captain, with Trellon saying "Captain" and Doctor Caskew saying "Sir" at one and the same time, while Science Officer Jebelt just nodded over towards the captain.

  "At ease", said the captain, who bruskly walked past his officers and then took a seat at the end of the conference table. He dropped a large folder on the table and then looking over at his officers, one after the other beginning with Jebelt, then Trellon and then Doctor Caskew, the captain opened the meeting.

  "Fellow officers, thank you for coming here, I think we all know why we are visiting Artemis 11." He stated, then looking down at his papers he continued. "On a superficial level we are visiting the planet Artemis 11 at the behest of its King, King Kegimon III, thanks to an outbreak of Comarin’s Fever." The captain paused, and then sitting back in his chair he finished making his point. "We will provide the Artemisians with the antidote, but more importantly we have an opportunity to befriend the Artemisians, who are major influencers in this region of space. Especially in light of the general unrest in the quadrant and our last debacle on the planet Exugenes we need to win over some favour with the locals."

  "There's strong Intel that the Artemisians are in league with the Vis Yar rebels captain." Trellon stated matter of factly.

  "Hmmm", replied the captain, "talking of Intel where is Intelligence officer Quro?"

  "Here sir!" Exclaimed Lieutenant Quro, who ran through the sliding doors and into briefing room 2, as he clicked the top button of his officer’s blazer into place.

  "You’re late." The captain declared matter of factly, while resembling a school teacher, as he gazed across at the intelligence officer.

  "Sorry sir, it won't happen again."

  "It better not." The captain retorted, appearing like a strict school teacher, as he sat there in his chair at the end of the table overlooking facts and figure about the planet Artemis 11. "I've been overlooking the history of Artemis 11 and they have demonstrated strong Vis Yar sympathies, over the years, have you anything further to say on this Quro?"

  "Yes sir." Quro replied, then sitting down Lieutenant Quro, a tall Yuratian native, with yellow skin and a very high forehead, smiled broadly at his fellow officers, before outlining his overview of the planet Artemis 11. "Artemis has been a strong supporter of the Vis Yar and also has strong Analusian allegiances. But with the new king there has been a break in allegiances. He appears..." the Lieutenant paused and did a quick sweeping look at his fellow officers before continuing, "he appears to be trying to move the Artemisians into a more neutral position."

  "Do you think there is any possibility of the Artemisians becoming our allies?" Queried the captain.

  "Or is this all just a ruse Quro, what do you think?' Interjected Commander Trellon.

  Quro shrugged his shoulders and then smiled. "Who knows, we just have to go down and see how it all shapes up captain." Then looking over at Trellon, he answered Trellons query. "Commander I think their request is genuine, our reports suggest that Cormarin’s Fever is widespread in this part of Kolatian space. Other planets have been infected, but only the Artemisians have been broad minded enough to invite assistance from the Federation."

  "I see." Stated the captain, who was now looking over the group of officers and said. "Ok, you have all been selected for the away team. Do your job, but also remember we are trying to make some inroads in the Kolatian Quadrant. Keep your eyes peeled and I expect an extensive report, when you all get back. Thank you, you're dismissed." And with that the captain stood up and made a quick exit.

  "On time as always Quro!" Trellon exclaimed sarcastically.

  "Oh Commander, anyone can be late, it's just one of those things, I'll definitely be on time for the teleport." Replied Quro.

  Trellon shuffled some papers and then looking once again at Quro, who was about to walk out the door he said. "Remember Quro 0800 hours ship time, be at the teleporter, as the king will be waiting for us."

  "Sure thing Trell." Quro replied nonchalantly, while waving his right hand dismissively at Trellon, as he walked out the door.

  Teleportation Room- 0800 Hours

  "Jesus where is Quro?" Exclaimed Trellon, "we're supposed to be meeting the chief ninister of Artemis 11 right now.

  "He's always doing this Commander." Stated Science Officer Jebelt, who was standing on her teleporter pad, holding her arms in a crossed position and looking about irritatingly.

  "Well it looks bad." Trellon said while looking over at engineering officer Ajain. "Ajain, two minutes and we'll go."

  "Hold on there!" Quro exclaimed as he ran into the teleportation room. "Sorry Commander, I've been running a little late all day."

  "I never noticed." Trellon stated flatly and then looking over at engineer Ajain, he gave him a quick nod and with that they dematerialized, rematerializing on the planet Artemis 11, a couple of seconds later.

  Chapter Three – The Court of King Kegimon III

  Artemis 11 Reception Area

  As Trellon and his three colleagues materialized on the planet surface, the first thing which Trellon could distinguish was a tall elegant looking figure, with a gaunt facial expression, standing beside a small little chubby man. The two were in direct contrast to each other. One tall, elegant, gaunt, old, wearing a long blue robe and wearing a conical black colored hat, which made him look kind of wizard like. The second man being middle aged in appearance, with jet back hair and a bit of a stomach bulge. While the tall man appeared very serious, the small man had a wry smile on his face and looked like he was about to break out into a laugh, at any moment.

  The tall elderly man stepped forward and introduced himself. "Greetings Federation personnel, I am Regis, the Chief Minister of King Kegimon III and this is Du Brien, my assistant." He said while bowing slightly and pointing with his right hand over towards his assistant, who smiled broadly and bowed towards the Federation away team.

  "Thank you." Trellon stated slowly, while also bowing, in the hope that this was appropriate behaviour. "I am Commander Trellon and this is Intelligence Officer Quro." He said while pointing towards his right hand side, at Lieutenant Quro and then moving his hand towards his left hand side, he pointed at the other two officers and introduced them as "Doctor Caskew and Science Officer Jebelt, they will be organising the distribution of the drug IXSZ1, which will clear up the symptoms of Cormarin’s Fever."

  The chief minister just nodded at everybody and then Doctor Caskew made his input. "Chief minister and Assistant Du Brien, we have one hundred and eighty six cases of IXSZ1. If it's ok with you, I will now ask the teleportation team to send over the cases to this spot."

  "It is acceptable." Responded the chief minister sombrely. "You may tell them to deliver the cases here, then please come at once as the King is waiting, and the King should never be left waiting."

  "Oh I see." Replied the Doctor, while Trellon gave the intelligence officer a withering look.

  The Court of King Kegimon III

  Five minutes later the away team made their way to the court of the King and as they reached a large red curtain, which covered the entrance to the court, Regis spoke up.

  "My dear Federation personnel, please ente
r and bow towards the king, then stand in a line in front of the King. Do not turn your back to the King and bow on the way out."

  Seconds past and they could hear the court Herald announcing their presence.

  "Your Highness a party from the Galactic Federation of Autonomous Species is here to see thee concerning matters of health of the inhabitants of our fair planet Arhuradas, in the old language and also known galactically by the title Artemis 11."

  With that they were ushered into the court of King Kegimon III. The court was a relatively small hall, about thirty by thirty feet in size, with a high ceiling, which was also about thirty feet in height. At the far end of this square shaped room, sat the King, a regal looking figure who wore an old styled golden crown and who was wrapped in various robes, which where red, blue and green in colour. On his right hand side sat Regis, his chief minister and on his left hand side sat his three wives.

  All around the court where sat approximately thirty people, who appeared to be of various levels of wealth from noblemen and women to simple farmers, all here at the court to see the king regarding their issues. To the right hand side of the King, was a large tapestry with a wonderful picture depicting a large battle and on his left hand side was a large glass window which overlooked a picturesque green valley.

  Starting with Commander Trellon, each member of the away team came, bowed and then stood in a line in front of the King. The King looked over at them and introduced himself briefly.

  "Greeting Federation personnel, I am King Kegimon III and I am indeed very happy to see you coming here to my simple planet and delivering these lifesaving drugs."

  He then motioned over to an elderly man, who was seated in front of him and nodded towards him. The man stood up, bowed to the king and then looking over towards the away team he introduced himself as "Arahan, His Highness's Chief Medical Council at your service." And with that he bowed slightly.

  Trellon took his cue and quickly introduced everyone. "Your Higness I am Commander Trellon, this is Intelligence Officer Quro, then we have Doctor Caskew and Science Officer Jebelt , who will be distributing the vaccine."

  The King nodded back at Trellon and then briefly spoke. "Kind Doctor and Science Officer Jebelt, if you could kindly follow our chief physician to the medical center, this would be appreciated, as our people are dying in droves on a daily basis and we need your medicine without delay."

  Trellon immediately nodded towards the doctor and with that Doctor Caskew and Science Officer Jebelt bowed and followed the chief physician out of the court.

  The King looked back over at the commander and said firmly "Commander we appreciate your efforts, we have much to talk about, please Commander Trellon and Intelligence officer Quro, follow us and we shall dine together."

  With that the King stood up and all bowed before him and the court quickly cleared out. Regis came down to Commander Trellon and Lieutenant Quro, and indicating with his right hand, he ushered them out of the court and down a long corridor towards the Great Hall, where the King took his meals.

  The Great Hall

  Trellon and Quro were quickly ushered into a regal red colored room. Once again the room was absolutely square shaped and roughly the same size of the court room. As they entered they could see the king sitting at the midpoint of the table, with another large tapestry on the wall behind him. At the far wall to the left of the king, were two large windows, which once again displayed the green beauty of the planet Artemis 11 and at the other end was another large tapestry. The King sat in the middle of a large wooden table, which was half square shaped, with two sections of the table going off in right angles from the main part of the table, where the king sat.

  Regis ushered Trellon and Quro to the side table, on the right hand side of the King, from where they sat, they could see the King directly, while being on the right hand side represented their guest status with the King. In total, about twenty people where seated at the Kings table and Trellon was surprised to see the variety of types of people who were in attendance; clearly the King was selecting his meal mates according to the principles of politics and fair play, rather than cronyism.

  For a few moments there was silence. Then the head waiter served the Kings food taster some roast pheasant. The kings food taster tasted it, while the king waited for a minute or so, since the food taster appeared fine, the King then tasted it and nodded approvingly towards the chief waiter and immediately several waiters started serving food to all the guests. Both Trellon and Quro passed a look between each other, as they realized that the king was worried about the possibility of assassination.

  A couple of minutes passed while everyone was served, then the King took his opportunity to talk with Commander Trellon.

  "Commander, I would like to officially welcome you and your Federation ship, "The Bryant", to our planet Artemis 11."

  Trellon nodded back towards the King and the King spoke once again. "Commander, we have heard many strange tales about the Federation and their reason for being here in the Kolatian Quadrant. I have made certain decisions recently, in an effort to broaden the outlook of Artemis and its peoples, but this is my first opportunity to speak with an officer of the Federation, so what have you got to say for yourself?"

  Trellon looked around and realized that everyone was looking at him and that he was representing the Federation to this very world. Trellon would have preferred for the captain to be here, but he knew that the reason why Captain Jobi had sent him, was for this very reason. Trellon was charming, while Jobi was brusque, undiplomatic and shy. As usual he dumped Trellon in the deep end.

  "Well King Kegimon III and everybody..." He paused while looking around at the various courtiers, who surrounded him and Lieutenant Quro. "The Federation comes to the Kolatian Quadrant in peace. I know that many people fear the Federation and feel that it is like the Analusian Alliance or the Galbraggian Empire, but we are not an empire, rather we are a collaborative effort between eight hundred planets, across thirty thousand lights years of galactic space."

  Everyone continued to look on at Trellon, awaiting for him to say something more, as they were probably used to fairly wordy introductions, so Trellon decided to add some more comments. "We came to the Kolatian Quadrant, to fulfil the requirements of the Treaty of San Orora, which was designed to keep the Argillean war out of mainstream space. As you all know, there is widespread concern that this war, which has been raging between the two empires of the Analusians and the Galbraggians, could spread out of the Kolatian Quadrant. We are here as a peace keeping force, we are not here to enslave anyone or to preach any doctrine."

  The King nodded and retorted. "But Commander why are you so militaristic, if you come in peace?"

  "We are a peace keeping force Your Highness." Trellon said and then he elaborated his position. "We have to use force against rebel forces, who are engaged in acts of terrorism." He then looked around at the courtiers and looking for some signs of approval from the mute audience, he continued, "We only use force against rebel forces, who are either threatening the people of the Kolatian Quadrant, Federation personnel, or who are trying to spread violence outside of the Kolatian Quadrant."

  “Like you kicked the rebels out of the plaent Exugnes last week.” Added the King with a faint smile and look of appreciation on his face.

  “Exactly.”

  "I see Commnder, I see, very eloquently put." Replied the king. "So tell me how big is your ship and how many personnel travel on her?"

  "She is over one kilometer in length Your Highness and has a crew of seven hundred naval personnel and three hundred marines." replied Trellon.

  "And I bet it's armed to the teeth!" Exclaimed the Chief Minister Regis, who raised his eyebrows, while he spoke with some venom.

  "Oh Regis, they need to be well armed to fight the rebel forces." The King stated, while looking over at his chief minister, who sat on his right hand side.

  "Your Majesty, since the Federation arrived in the Kolatian Quadrant, there ha
s been many violent episodes. We cannot rule out the apparently friendly antics of another super power in our region, which is already over run with intrigue and warring super powers." The chief minister added.

  The King nodded approvingly and then looked over at Trellon, for some sort of a reply. Trellon looked over at his intelligence officer, in the hope of receiving some wise and diplomatic response from Lieutenant Quro, but the Lieutenant appeared to be engrossed in eating his dinner and simply sat there with his cheeks bulging, while he chewed on a huge chunk of mutton.

  "Well King Kegimon, chief minister, I'm not a politician, I'm just a simple first officer of a space cruiser, so please do not expect an in-depth diplomatic answer, but I will say that the Federation is genuine and the violent episodes, which the chief minister speaks of, have been increasing because we are upsetting the plans of the Analusian and Galbraggian empires and also of some minority groups, within the Kolatian Quadrant, who are happy to back warlike behaviour, so long as they benefit financially or politically from it."