They all nodded.
The Grand Mother raised her new grav sled a little, adjusted the way it faced, and settled it down again. She grinned at the looks she received. She could have moved herself instead of the sled, which had been a gift from Fred, but she was enjoying the freedom it gave her to move about now, and the reactions it caused.
"Getting the go-ahead for Hunter’s Run ships to remain in our space for our own defence was touch and go," sighed the Grand Mother. "There are a number of elements in the council as you know, who are in opposition to the whole idea of partnership with Hunter's Run, and having alien human ships in orbit, or in our space, is anathema to them. The motion was narrowly passed, and there is a lot of work to do, convincing opposition groups it's in our best interests."
"Intelligence sharing with Hunter's Run will be invaluable," stated Fitzy. "When the Human Federation start to trade further out into sectors ten, nine, and eight, we need to be able to understand their politics, cultures, and military ambitions. We can reciprocate with knowledge of our sector in particular."
"If we could only agree on access to technology," commented Snark. "I understand Jane’s need to keep it from being freely shared throughout the galaxy, and to manage release in a controlled way, and with her allies first, such as the Mushrooms, and Fuzzballs. However, there is considerable pressure from cat groups to have more advantages, in addition to the gifts Jane has given us so far."
The Grand Mother sighed again.
"It needs to be step by step, but some cats are impatient. The techies took my sled away for a few hours, and were downright distraught they'd been unable to understand enough of it to reverse engineer. Their faces were so downcast, it was hard not to laugh. They also failed with the new salvage droids as well. So no short cuts for us, I'm afraid."
Snark smiled knowingly. He'd looked his own repair droids over after they were upgraded by Jane, and been unable to understand what had been done to them. That the techs would fail too, hadn’t surprised him.
"How are the treatments going?" he asked her, changing the subject.
Duke Fred had brought a medical unit as promised, a crack team of experts from the Human Federation, who were keen to explore the scientific wonders of new species, and mapping the cat physiology was a head start in this process.
"I feel like a new cat," she purred. "The scars are much diminished, you can barely see them, and they've identified ways to give me new energy. It’s knocked at least ten years off my age."
The Grand Mother thought about how she'd nearly died after the assassination attempt at the World Council, and Snark had been framed. She felt so much better now. She knew Jane had ulterior motives, including ensuring a friendly regime in place in the Cat World. But she could accept them for the longer life span she'd gained.
"How is Jamie going after his operation?" asked Fitzy.
Snark’s tail twitched, but he managed to keep his jealousy from showing.
"The PC is installed and working well, although Jamie’s joking is more frequent, and even more inexplicable. I watched the procedure, and it's amazing something so tiny is so powerful. As far as I could understand, what they have in their head is much more powerful than our tablets, and even leave our maxiputers for dead."
He tried to smile, but he was disappointed after being told he would have to wait for a PC, until the medical team had mapped the cat brain structure, and neurological networks more completely.
"He needs to get used to it, by all accounts," added the Grand Mother, laughing softly. "Fred said he keeps sending messages to the wrong people accidentally, and getting into all sorts of trouble."
Snark was pragmatic, if miffed.
"Once he gets the hang of it, he’ll be able to interact instantly with Seasprite, and also be able to instantly call up anything stored in the PC and ship databases. As well as personal coms with Hunter's Run people. It’s going to be an advantage to us when we’re back on the trail of the Stone."
The Grand Mother summed up.
"I’m very pleased at the way the talks have gone, as well as the bonds we’ve made with the humans, and mushroom and fuzzball representatives. We stand to gain enormously."
Fitzy and Snark nodded. The mushroom and fuzzball had been employed by Jane to ensure the trade talks didn’t disadvantage the Kingdom because of lack of local knowledge. According to the trade cats, they'd been tough negotiators. But then, they were known for it, and thus it had been expected.
Not far away, Fred was in his room contemplating his next report to Jane.
He was particularly pleased with the mission so far. The cats had conceded some major areas of potential disagreement, including being a base for Walsh's Apricot Mapping Service to explore this sector. Walsh himself was still mapping sector ten, but several of his teams were now working their way across sector nine, formally mapping the area Tranquil had added comnavsats to while shadowing Seasprite. The base agreement also included the stationing of a fleet in the system, and rental of space on the orbital station.
They'd also agreed to an exchange of ambassadors on a permanent basis, when suitable accommodation was available for both. This would most likely be at least a few months away, given the need to build a custom built embassy here on Cat World.
There still was some gridlock over access to technology, however this was to be expected. He'd had strict instructions from Jane about what could and couldn’t be disclosed or given away, and he'd been able to stay within those, despite the cat's pressure.
He'd formed a close bond with Fitzy, although Fitzy was careful to ensure he didn’t give anything away to Fred unnecessarily. He'd also made friends with Jamie. Who could not like Jamie? The Scot may be hard to understand with such a thick accent, but he was human, and so agreeable. Funny, quite charming without meaning to be, and committed to the mission he was on to find the Destiny Stone.
The only thing between them was Anna. Jamie was obviously besotted, and Fred was quite taken with her as well. But Fred had decided to leave well enough alone. Anna was beautiful, sexy, a princess, and enigmatic. All qualities Fred found intriguing.
But he still missed Justine, and he was only here for a short time. And he could see Anna was brooding over her mission to find the Stone, which blotted out anything else from her awareness, and made her difficult to converse with at times.
Besides, there was something brewing between him and Lyana, and incurring her possible wrath over someone who wasn't really available, wasn’t worth the bruises when she thumped him down on the training mat harder than she normally did in their morning training sessions.
As if thoughts triggered events, Lyana stepped through his doorway without knocking.
"So," she said, standing there hands on hips. "What's going on between you and Romanova?"
"Going on?"
"Don’t come the raw prawn with me. I saw you looking."
"Did you see Jamie looking?"
"Bloody hard to miss. So?"
"He's so easy to stir."
Lyana laughed, and he joined in. Crisis averted he thought to himself.
Seven
The talks were finally coming to an end.
The Grand Mother was pleased they'd gained more than they'd hoped for the cats, while still realising the humans had gained quite a lot in concessions from them. As far as she was concerned they were extremely successful.
Fitzy on the other hand was worried. Some of his operatives were reporting unusual activity among some of the known and suspected aliens, and he was getting intelligence from his contacts in the police force which indicated suspected terrorist activity, from extremist cat groups disgruntled with the elevation of the Wild Ones, and those against contact, trade and deal-making in general with the humans. While these groups had always been operating, this was a perfect opportunity for them to further their causes, and though he'd eradicated the Brotherhood cells and individual agents operating at the time of the coup, they were extremely difficult to detect, and ne
w ones could have been set up, ready to disrupt these talks. These could be cats, as well as local alien species. Could there also be agents amongst the human delegation? He was liaising with their security as well.
Sapperscar, Fitzy's second, who was currently coordinating efforts to hunt out the Brotherhood cells, came to report to Fitzy. After initial greetings, they got down to business.
"We’ve located a possible Brotherhood cell, members of a dissident group, anti any talks with aliens, especially the humans."
Sapperscar rubbed his upper left arm, where the artificial limb joined his shoulder. He’d had to have his arm amputated due to a nasty break on board the Seasprite when they’d fought off the Bhatet and Brotherhood forces. It still hurt sometimes.
"Should we move in?" he added.
They discussed the intelligence gathered so far, and decided they had enough evidence. They would need to work in conjunction with the local police, but Fitzy knew, thanks to the additional powers his unit had been given by the Grand Mother, there would be no problems there.
With arrangements for a raid in place, Sapperscar left, and Fitzy considered his next moves. If the raid was successful, and they could interrogate members, they could find out what was really going on. Fitzy knew there was something planned, he just didn’t know what. And it disturbed him.
He considered the weak points in security arrangements, but there was nothing he could see. Public appearances by the main players were always a problem, but these were minimal between now and the end of the talks. Security was doubly tight at the main auditorium where the closing speeches were being held, especially after the assassination attempt on the Grand Mother at the World Council. The buildings where the talks were being held, the accommodation areas, the dining hall, everything was locked up tight.
He just had a feeling. If there was one suspected Brotherhood cell, there would be more.
He returned to his tablet, and started going over the reports again.
The interrogation of the Brotherhood members was going well. Fitzy always wondered why cats would want to join such a cult, but he was always surprised by stupidity. He supposed if you were disaffected, at odds with yourself, and your society, then cults like the Brotherhood might seem appealing if you believed their recruitment lies. Cats didn’t make particularly good secret society members though. While two of the members of the cell were staying quiet, one had cracked, made a deal, and was singing like a songbird, largely blaming the others for everything. They'd had to promise some serious protection first though.
While this cell didn’t seem to be planning anything more than some general disorder at the next events, he was interested in some of the beings this cell were associated with. With luck, this would lead to uncovering another cell.
The way the Brotherhood operated was frustrating. Each cell operated individually, and rarely knew about other cells. They were controlled remotely. However, this time, he thought they could get some substantial leads.
It was all a bit too little, too late, he had to admit.
Eight
The end of the talks was celebrated by a special outdoors concert, free for the city populace, which was a great success. The final banquet went smoothly, with some entertainment by the cats, and a rendition of a popular human song by a social singing quintet from the medical team, which was not very tuneful, highly amusing to the humans, but unfortunately not funny to the cats, as the humour didn’t translate. Nevertheless, the cats felt the effort was the thing. Jamie completely lost it, and cats shot him dark looks wondering what he was laughing at.
The Grand Mother was tired, but satisfied.
Fred and his team of negotiators were very happy with progress. Fred’s emails with Jane indicated they'd achieved what Jane wanted. While there was still some disagreement over the pace at which technology would be released, and what would be released, most of the talks had ended with mutual and beneficial agreements for both parties. The whole tech issue was going to be a big thing, and get bigger as time passed, and Fred was basically testing the water to see how such talks would go. Back home, Jane was doing the same thing with sector ten ambassadors. Speed and thruster improvements were the easiest and safest to allow now, as were front airlock conversions. But everyone was going to want guns, and this was something Jane wasn’t prepared to allow yet. Not the least because the Kingdom still had very little grasp of what actually was going on in their end of the galaxy.
A farewell ceremony was planned at the Spaceport, with invited guests only. Fitzy had been opposed to the venue, as the Spaceport was full of aliens, and next to disreputable suburbs favoured by aliens, and the city’s scum. It was a security nightmare. Someone higher up had thought it would be a good idea, given the human shuttles would leave from there, and it would be good to highlight their space relations of the future.
Snark was feeling pleased with himself. His part in the talks had gone smoothly, with Duke Fred and he, forming a fast friendship, which also extended to many of his bodyguard team. He also knew Jamie and Fred had become friends, being human and similar ages, but it was important the cats and the humans of Hunter's Run not only became ‘friends’ in diplomatic terms, but in personal terms as well.
Snark was starting to look forward to returning to his quest. Grandmother had told him of further dreams she’d had about the cold evil, as well as the Destiny Stone, and he felt he needed to fulfil the mission she'd given him. He was happy the human medical team had been able to heal Grandmother’s wound, repair the scarring, and give her a health boost, and were leaving a med unit configured to the cat physiology which would help give her renewed health and vitality.
He was disappointed they hadn’t been able to give him a PC like Jamie, but perhaps next time, when the operation had a higher chance of success.
Attending the final event, Snark was sporting a new electric blue suit, which set off his eyes nicely. He was sitting with the Grand Mother’s party, which included Duke Fred and his immediate entourage, and the Seasprite team as honoured guests. The main Spaceport concourse had been converted with a platform, VIP seating, and other general seating for the invited guests. He noticed a lot of security, and spotted Fitzy organising things behind the scenes. Being early, and bored, he went over to greet him.
"Snark!" said Fitzy as he looked up from talking with what looked like an undercover security guard. The guard left, and Fitzy turned to talk with Snark.
"Fitzy. You look busy. Just came over to say hi."
"Busy is an understatement. Just making sure this sorry excuse for a venue is secure."
Fitzy looked unhappy and worried.
"What’s up?" asked Snark.
"This wasn’t my idea. Security was built in up at the main talks venues and accommodation in the city. The Spaceport is not safe for this kind of event, with a lot of VIPs all in the same place at the same time. I told them, but someone with clout didn’t listen."
Fitzy’s tablet beeped.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Just keep your eyes and ears on alert." Fitzy looked at his tablet, and scanned the messages. "Sorry I have to go." He smiled with his usual good humour. "No rest for the wicked!" He immediately moved off at a fast pace.
Snark was concerned. Fitzy was usually cool, calm and collected, but he seemed frazzled. Something was up. Snark decided to take a look around.
Guests were starting to arrive, with security check points at all of the entrances. The Spaceport had been closed for the occasion, but there were a number of exits and entrances, and he could soon see Fitzy’s and the security team’s dilemmas. The Spaceport hadn’t been built with security in mind, and was really a series of cobbled together sections added at different times, as trade with the Cat World grew.
The main concourse had multiple entry points. The Grand Mother’s and Duke Fred’s cars would soon arrive, with crowds flocking to get a glimpse of them along the main road to the Spaceport, and outside the Spaceport itself. Snark should have be
en part of the official proceedings, but had preferred to come early on his own.
The seating was filling up quickly. Where was Fitzy?
Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd outside. The cars must have arrived. Cheers, loud cat-calling, clapping, and more cheering, could be heard in the concourse.
Snark decided not to take his seat, as the entourages entered and made their way to the VIP seats. He saw Fred, Grandmother, and the Seasprite team seated. There was also seating for Fred’s security team, however he noticed some of them on the ground rather than in the seats. Now the VIPs were there, the ceremony would begin. Snark still didn’t take his seat. He could smell danger.
He messaged Jamie. He could see Jamie read the message and look around. He made some excuses, and started to make his way out of the VIP seating, and over to where Snark was standing at the back of the guest seating.
"Wha’s up?" asked Jamie, as he came up to Snark.
"Don’t know, but something’s not right," said Snark.
He spotted Fitzy at the side of the space, and they made their way over to him.
Fitzy saw them coming, nodded and waved them to follow him. They changed direction, as Fitzy went behind a security barrier. They caught up with him.
"We’ve had intelligence there’s going to be an attack," Fitzy said simply.
"What kind?" asked Snark quickly.
"A bomb," Fitzy replied quietly, scanning the crowds as if he could find it by looking.
"What?" said Snark and Jamie together.
"It can’t be anyone seated now," said Fitzy quickly. "We’ve searched everyone thoroughly coming into the concourse, and no one is here without an invitation. We’re searching the surrounding areas, in case there’s a large bomb, which if it goes off, will destroy the concourse as well."
"Shouldn’t we evacuate?" asked Snark.
"That is the best of course of action, yes. Get the VIPs away, and get everyone out as quickly as possible without creating a panic." Fitzy paused. "However, the powers that be have decided it’s too damaging." He paused again. "Too damaging! If it is here and it goes off, we’ll see damaging!" he said angrily, but still quietly.
Destiny Stone (A.I. Destiny Book 4) Page 4