INTERVENTION

by Dennis Miller

  Rachmel, who had heard part of the discourse when she arrived moments before, now stepped into the room. Kamul flicked his eyes to the side in surprise at this new disturbance and Andretta, now within assault distance, used the distraction to make her move. Leaping forward in a half pirouette, she drove her elbow backwards into Kamul’s solar plexus. The shock of the attack caused him to almost double up as the agent forced him forward onto the floor; taking control of his gun hand she turned his wrist so that the muzzle of the weapon was sticking, firmly, into his side.

  Everything had happened so quickly and smoothly that Rachmel could only stand and watch in awe as Andretta said, calmly, “If you pull the trigger, the bullet will have no opportunity to seek me out and will, instead, explode into your body. Open your fingers and release the weapon; you do not have to die.”

  Slowly, Kamul’s fingers released the weapon and, still holding him down, the agent picked it up.

  Turning it in her hand, she stood and said “Crude but effective at close range. It’s a pity that there is, all too often, a trade-off between such intelligence and common sense. You are free to get up now.”

  “What the hell was this all about?” Asked Rachmel.

  “I’m afraid the Leading Officer has been under the delusion that my presence here was for his arrest. You see, back on Earth, two months ago, this Officer was in desperate need of a substantial sum of credits, to cover a gambling debt. He decided to sell, on the black market, a military armaments replication unit, that was worth many times more than his debt, to an arms dealer who is known to have done business in the past, with terrorist cells.

  “This case, however, is not mine; it is the case of an Agent Avery, who shall be awaiting the Officer’s return to Earth. In the meantime this Officer is to be confined to his quarters, under my jurisdiction, until the hibernation programme is initiated. I shall dispose of this weapon in the destruction facility in my quarters.”

  Rachmel looked around for Duarte to see the effect, if any, this had had upon her, but Duarte was nowhere to be seen: this substantiated Rachmel’s convictions about her 2IC.

  Andretta read the situation, immediately. “I have access to her psychological profile and it seems that the good Officer is repelled by physical violence.”

  Good try, thought Rachmel, but your excuses for her won’t work this time. Instead, she replied, jokingly, “Oh! how handy, for a military Officer.”

  Coles was in her quarters when the doorcom informed her “Entry is requested.”

  “Who?”

  “Commander Rachmel.”

  “Permission granted.”

  The door opened and Rachmel stepped quickly inside.

  “Commander, what can I …” the doctor’s question was cut short.

  “MAC, mainframe and remote interfaces in this section closedown.” This from Rachmel as she strode across to the desk where Coles was sitting.

  The reply came immediately, “Complied.”

  As she sat opposite the bemused Medical Officer, she said “My apologies for the abruptness, but what I have to say could be a matter of life or death to us all.”

  Coles regarded the Commander for a moment, “Go on.”

  Rachmel wasted no time. “Andretta’s true purpose on this mission is because one of us is in contact with an alien species; don’t ask me how or why, we just know.”

  “We?”

  “Yes; Miles, Hidson and myself; we didn’t know, until a short time ago, who it might be, but now we’re pretty sure.”

  Coles nodded, “So, if you’re telling me all this then you must believe it is either Duarte or Kamul.”

  “Duarte, yes; mostly circumstantial evidence but everything seems to point to her.”

  “Well, she is pretty bunched up about the Agent being on board; so what are you proposing to do, have everyone keep an eye on her?”

  “No, I can’t afford the risk; the wormhole is only three days away and once we are in the hiber pods we are at our most vulnerable; we have to contain her, now.”

  Coles was a little taken aback by the Commander’s last statement and asked, concernedly, “How do you mean contain her? And what about Andretta? Agents don’t welcome interference where their targets are concerned; you could end up dead.”

  Rachmel now had the bit between her teeth. “The hell with Andretta, I’m still in charge of this mission. Now here’s the plan; tomorrow we get our pre–hibernation shots, you will do this by the book. Andretta first, followed by Miles, and then the rest of us with Duarte last, and her shot will also contain something to put her out; but this must be something that will dissolve in her system and become untraceable as protection to us should we be wrong. Miles will keep Andretta occupied in the galley while the three of us place Duarte in her pod and close her down, manually; that way she will not be restated with the rest of us but will have to wait until I give the order.”

  After pausing, briefly, to allow Coles time to absorb what she had told her, she went on “Because of the nature of the reasons for this procedure I am withholding all data from log and shall report all actions personally to Missions Command when we return, do you understand?”

  The Medical Officer understood why Rachmel didn’t want this abduction logged, for abduction it really was; if there was no record of the event, Rachmel could then contain the knowledge and refer it to the people at the top who could make their own decisions as to the outcome, and thus avoid any leaks from subordinates in Missions Control.

  She nodded her agreement, “Very well, Commander, but what about Andretta?”

  “We shall confront our Agent tomorrow, after the event.”

  Once the Commander had left, Coles deleted her personal memo on Miles.

  Next day found the Commander in the main galley alone and deep in concentration; the repercussions for the action she was about to embark upon could be catastrophic to both Duarte and to herself; she had to be sure this was the right course of action. Had it not been for Andretta this would have been a straight forward operation, and her task would have been a comparatively simple one; why the hell did this woman have to be on her mission? This, however, was an impractical question, for she knew that Andretta had to be here; if it wasn’t her then it would have been another Agent.

  At that moment she was aware of someone standing behind her and, without turning, she said “Agent Andretta, how nice of you to join me.”

  Andretta smiled as she walked around and took the seat opposite to Rachmel.

  “That’s a rare talent you have Commander, one that not many human beings possess.”

  Rachmel returned the smile, “Nothing rare about sensing someone’s perfume.”

  Andretta leaned forward and rested her arms on the table; instinctively Rachmel leaned back in her seat.

  In a quiet tone the Agent said “I use no cosmetics Commander, I never have, and it is forbidden in the Agency.”

  Rachmel stared back into those two black windows of Andretta’s soul and saw…nothing; and she realised how a rabbit must feel when looking into the eyes of a weasel that was about to steal its life.

  After a few long seconds Andretta said, more conversationally, “So, how long have you been aware of your talent Commander?”

  Rachmel felt cornered but didn’t know why she should feel that way, nor why this woman’s’ presence should have such a hypnotic affect on her; she felt compelled to answer. “As long as I can remember, but you would know this anyway, wouldn’t you, Agent Andretta?”

  “Yes Commander I would, but then I know a great deal about people.”

  After another pause Rachmel asked “Do you believe that I am one of the people who are in contact with aliens?”

  At that moment MAC intervened “Agent Andretta you are requested to report to the medical section for pre-Biohibernation processing.”

  Andretta stood and said “I think this is what is referred to as ‘saved by the bell’, if you will excuse me Commander.”

  Turning, she walked t
owards the door, and then Rachmel asked “Why did you deem it necessary to tell Miles about the child?”

  Stopping, but not turning round, Andretta replied “Why did you not, Commander?”

  Andretta waited for a few seconds, and then when no reply was forthcoming she stepped out through the doorway.

  Staring at the place where the woman had disappeared, Rachmel said, quietly, “One day, Internal Administrator Andretta, I sincerely hope that you will be in serious need of my assistance.”

  Miles watched Andretta as she was leaving the medical section; in fact he had been waiting for her, and as they met he said “I want a word, in private.”

  Andretta looked him up and down and then replied “I hope you’re not going to ask me out on a date.”

  Taken aback, he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry; his mouth opened but nothing came out.

  Andretta smiled and said, gently, “Relax Leading Officer, just a little Administrator humour; you’re too old for me anyway.”

  He stared at her incredulously, and then he found his voice, “Don’t you mean ‘just a little Administrator humus’?” The sting of her remark obvious in his tone.

  The Agent grinned broadly “Touché Engineer Miles, I’ll be in the main galley when you are finished here.”

  Watching her leave he realised that she had slipped easily through his guard again; Christ, he hated this bloody woman; if woman she was, he was having his doubts.

  Coles watched as he entered the section, and said “Looks like you just bumped into our Agent.”

  Through gritted teeth Miles said “Just bloody get on with it will you?”

  The Doctor couldn’t help smiling “My my, she must really be on form today.”

  When it came to Duarte’s turn to be called Rachmel asked “MAC, whereabouts of Leading Engineer Miles and Agent Andretta.”

  “Leading Engineer Miles is stationary at the entrance to the main galley area: Agent Andretta is in the main galley seating area four: do you require these persons Commander?”

  “No.” To Hidson, she said “Looks like Miles is psyching himself up for the challenge, let’s go.”

  Before moving, the Pilot asked “Commander, are we absolutely certain that this is the right thing to do? I mean, we only have Andretta’s word that there is an alien influence on board, and she hasn’t even said who it is, everything we are working on is built of supposition. If we are wrong the penalties will be as serious as it gets, Andretta will see to that.”

  Rachmel considered for a moment and then replied, “No matter what we may think personally about Internal Administrators, the one thing that is always constant is that they don’t lie; they may resort to misleading someone or lulling them into a false sense of security, and they are experts at swerving and avoiding answering questions; and they may possess all the humanitarian warmth of a snake in an icebox, but they never lie.

  “If she says there is an alien influence on board, then you can put your life on the fact that there is, and putting our lives on the line is exactly what we are trying to avoid. Everything points to Duarte; we have precious little time left, and as Commander it is my responsibility to safeguard everyone’s life on this mission. If it is proven later that I was wrong then I alone shall be accountable. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

  Coles was in the act of disengaging the locking device that held the stretcher-bed, bearing Duarte’s now limp form, to the med-table when Rachmel and Hidson walked into the medical lab.

  The stretcher contained its own hover and directional facility and so, could be sent to any section of the vessel accompanied or solo.

  Looking up at her accomplices, Coles said “She’ll be out for an hour so we’d better get moving.”

  To MAC she ordered “Stretcher to Biohibernation section direct route.”

  Rachmel added “No log.”

  Mac responded immediately, ‘Complied.” and with that the stretcher moved off at walking pace towards its destination, its occupant completely unaware of the drama unfolding, with the three Officers following closely behind.

  Meanwhile on entering the main galley a nervous Miles saw Andretta sitting, waiting for him. A sudden picture flashed into his mind; a big black spider and a pathetic little fly. Christ, but he felt like the condemned man trudging to his doom.

  Taking the seat opposite the Agent, he began “I know you won’t tell me who it is, but I’m intrigued by the fact that we have an alien on board; to my knowledge no-one has ever met one; are you sure she isn’t a danger to us? Tomorrow we go into hiber state, and I don’t mind admitting I have concerns that we may not come out of it.”

  Andretta was silent as she considered; then coming to a decision she said, calmly, “Very well, I shall give you the full background but I will not tell you who it is, the time is not yet right; as for your concerns of the hibernation process, be assured that everything in that section shall function precisely as it should, and to dispel any doubts about my abilities you will be taking charge of the ‘close-down’; which means you shall be last in and therefore responsible for the safety of everyone.”

  Miles was mildly surprised at this last statement but greatly relieved; he hadn’t relished the idea of an Administrator closing the lid on his hiber unit, it would have felt to him more like a coffin.

  His mind was racing; once she was inside and closed down there was nothing to stop him from putting her unit on manual release only, or timing her release to function some time after his own, so giving the rest of them time to consider their position

  Andretta broke into his thoughts, “Does that allay your fears?”

  The Engineer, trying not to show his relief, answered too quickly and regretted it immediately, “Yes, I’m sorry; it’s just that …”

  The Agent cut him off before he embarrassed himself further, “It’s alright, I fully understand; if our roles were reversed I too would probably have reservations.”

  Despite her empathy he couldn’t imagine her having reservations about anything, and even if she did the cold black colouration of her eyes would never betray her true feelings.

  Feeling more relaxed, he said “So, tell me about the background.”

  In the Biohiber section Coles manipulated the stretcher next to Duarte’s hiberpod and, taking the limp form the three of them eased the Physics Officer into the unit. Once positioned, Coles depressed the pad that operated the internal clamps, and then she drew up the fibro-metallic shield which covered the whole body; when satisfied she said “Internal completed.” Rachmel then pressed the pad on the side of the unit, and the cover began to slide silently into position, sealing the unit completely.

  Satisfied that everything was as it ought to be Rachmel then went to the end of the pod where the management system was situated; under normal conditions this would be automatically controlled by M.A.C. and would only begin to operate once the occupant had been detected and the cover was closed; but today this unit’s release time was to be over-ridden by manual control.

  In the main galley Andretta began her narrative, “The wormhole that we shall be entering is known to have been used by Alien species; they have been utilising this facility for many tens of thousands of years, and Earth is one of the places that they took a particular interest in; or rather we, the human race, is what they took an interest in.

  “They watched our humble beginnings and observed the many hominids that came and went with time. They saw how one species after another disappeared and how one species in particular survived and thrived with the demise of the others; they noted the one thing that guaranteed their survival…Violence; a propensity to slaughter anything that stood in their way, including each other.

  “But to them the most disturbing thing they discovered about human nature was our ability to accustom ourselves to monstrous behaviour by excuse; basically, we can slaughter with impunity and then cleanse our souls with the belief that we have acted in the name of, and with the grace of, whichever Deities are fashionabl
e at the time.

  “This tendency disturbed them; we had already proven that we possessed the ability to rapidly advance our technology through the improvement of our tools and weaponry, usually by the onset of war.”

  Miles couldn’t resist pointing the verbal finger,” Administrators kill with impunity and, if I may say, coldly; so which Gods are you appeasing?”

  Andretta responded coolly, “We appease no Gods, we serve no Gods, our sole function is to respond on your behalf against those who have injured you; as for seeming cold in our business, it is imperative that we practice an emotionless objectivity, for in this way we can diminish the possibility of error. We are trained to base our judgements purely on stored information and facts, where gut feelings and intuition play little or no part in our decisions; and we owe no allegiance to anyone. In short we are just administering the laws that were set up to protect the herd.”

  Miles found himself agreeing to the principles she was relating and didn’t like the idea; he decided it was time to get back to the aliens.

  “But how can you know all this? There were no written records in those times?”

  Andretta countered “I agree, there were no written records, but there are verbal records; ancient stories and beliefs in beings that could take to the skies; over time these beings became thought of as gods and the people offered sacrifices to them, sometimes out of fear but mostly out of want.

  “If this all sounds a little too far-fetched then think about this, people across the whole of the planet sacrificed to the unseen gods, how would they so many thousands of years ago have come to such a similar conclusion of appeasement without the ability to contact each other? What could possibly have been the common denominator?

  “Did you ever wonder at the story of Atlantis? A fabled island where beings that were reputedly more than human lived; and then suddenly the island wasn’t there anymore. Was that just the colourful imagination of a clever storyteller? Or was it a serious record of the times?”