The Rylerran Gateway

by Mark Ian Kendrick

  “For what reason?”

  “He didn’t know.”

  “That wasn’t part of the official report about the aliens,” Corren nodded. “That must be how they entered our domain. How did you discover that bit of ‘information’?”

  “We ‘legally’ used methods at our disposal,” Satto told him, barely able to suppress his grin.

  “I see,” Corren responded, not bothering to hide his.

  “One original is on the Guardian space station.”

  “And?”

  “We don’t have the manpower to get it,” Satto said. “Nor can we discover its precise location. Dryter didn’t have specifics. But that’s irrelevant because he still had the template of the device in his duplicator. We, uh, ‘requested’ he make two of them.”

  “What of Kestin?” Corren asked.

  Satto hesitated briefly, his tone disingenuous. “Sadly, he had… an accident.”

  “He won’t be found,” Corren intoned.

  “No sir. He will not.”

  “Bring the devices to me,” Corren ordered excitedly. “I want to see them myself.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The next morning’s meeting started at eight a.m. local time. Naylon and Efren were to be in attendance this time, at least at first. No one from Satto’s team would be present, including Satto himself. Naylon was to act as their translator despite Efren’s newfound command of Lingua.

  Efren was considerably interested in recent events now that the First Executive and his people were on Andakar. Naylon considered Efren a friend now and saw no reason not to keep him abreast of current events and the details of what was transpiring politically on Andakar. He had learned enough now to be aware that a radical change had taken place. A show of force might be necessary to prove Andakar’s intent. That was something he could relate to. But the details had brought him to a much better understanding of the role he played in these events. He had leverage. Surprisingly unexpected leverage. This might be his chance. If the contingent from Earth wanted information from him, he would make a deal with them.

  While sitting in the room adjacent to the conference room before they entered, Efren asked intentionally vague lead-in questions. He had been practicing Lingua with Naylon. But not now. He had reverted to Empire Spanish. He knew no one knew his language but was taking no chances. He spoke in hushed tones.

  “Executive Grusics is considered an emperor, right?”

  Naylon shook his head.

  “Then how would you describe him?”

  “He’s just the head of the Consortium. That’s all. Earth is over one hundred light years from here. His influence isn’t what he seems to think it is. At least, not to the majority of Andakari Citizens. Personally, I think he’s wasting his time.”

  “Is he the richest man on Earth?”

  Naylon shrugged. “If not, he’s damn well near it. He didn’t get his position without amassing personal as well as planetary wealth.”

  “So, he’s like the rest of the business leaders on Andakar. His focus is on profits.”

  “I really don’t know anything about him personally except that his intention is to bring Andakar back into the fold. He can’t seem to accept the reality of what’s legally taken place. He seems to be caught up in some sort of conceited belief that no one would dare challenge Consortium authority, at least while he’s First Executive.” Naylon shook his head at the vanity of it all.

  “What about conduit technology? Can’t you exchange that for, say, security?” Efren was fishing. He needed to know what Deep Sky executives knew about it.

  “I’ve been told they don’t know a thing about conduit detection, much less how to navigate one. You do know they’ve threatened to cut off our fuel supply unless we capitulate to their demands.”

  “They would do that?” Efren asked innocently.

  “I think they’re bluffing. But it’s irrelevant. They have no idea we know about the conduits. Using them will provide us with enough time to start producing our own fuel.”

  “How many conduits have you found?”

  “Darreth told me that eight have been found in the systems they’ve mapped so far. It’s going to dramatically change everything. All thanks to you, my friend.” Naylon warmly patted Efren on the shoulder.

  Yes, thanks to me, Efren thought. And thank you, Naylon. You’ve told me exactly what I needed to know. He hoped the smile on his face looked genuine. He tried extremely hard to make sure it looked that way.

  One of the guards who had been stationed outside the main meeting room opened the door and pointed to the two men. Both Naylon and Efren rose and went to the conference room. Three hours later, after Corren asked a myriad of questions of him, Efren was booked passage to Rylerra. Siloy could see no reason why Efren couldn’t go there with them, although he had no idea why it would be necessary. Legally, no one on Andakar had any authority over the man.

  Naylon and Efren both left the conference room. They were free to go while the high level negotiations resumed after lunch and long into the afternoon, then evening.

  “We have no intention of using our Space Navy for anything other than its original purpose,” Commander General Tlor stated irritably, for what must have been the fifth time, he thought.

  “Yet we have no guarantee of that,” Corren replied. “Given the blatant breach of every corporate contract that ties the Inhabs inexorably together, you are in no position to tell us you have no intention of using your-your escort service against Earth.”

  Escort service, Siloy thought. He tries to downplay their true use while accusing us of being a threat. Siloy knew Corren was simply trying to rile his new space station General. No one had even hinted at such a course of action.

  Tlor didn’t bother to take Corren’s bait. “We have nothing in our by-laws that even hints of using it as an offensive force against any Inhab. We will continue to use our ‘escorts’ to make sure expensive pharmas get to where they’re shipped and when they’re needed. Andakar is well-aware of the need for the continuous flow of profits amongst the Inhabs.”

  “Without the input of your Planetary Director as to the pirates’ whereabouts you can’t be assured of your success,” Corren told the General flippantly.

  Commander General Tlor put his fists on the table and leaned forward in a convincingly menacing manner. He was starting to get tired of what appeared to him as unwillingness to comprehend simple statements. “The pharma industries on this planet are secure,” he growled. “More secure than they’ve been in several years. The pirates have not only been dealt with, but their leader has been identified.”

  “What? Why wasn’t this brought to our attention?” Corren asked, quite angered at this sudden news. After all, he’d been on Andakar for several days now and not a hint of this had been given to him.

  “That hasn’t been the focus of these discussions. As the documentation will attest, it was through no action our planetary director initiated. The facts all point to how she prevented us from learning their identity, their whereabouts or even how they knew where our ships were bound. That has come to an end.”

  Corren struck a conciliatory tone for only the second time so far. “Third Executive Senerete has requested the bail be reduced so Alarr may be freed pending her trial.”

  “Mr. President?” Tlor turned to Siloy so he could answer.

  “We were coming to that.”

  “And?”

  “This is what will happen, First Executive,” Siloy began, glad the issue was finally getting the attention it deserved. So far, Abela had been meeting with her in private. The results of their discussions had not come up yet. But it was moot as far as he was concerned. “She will be granted immediate passage on a ship back to Earth. She will not be tried here despite the charges of attempted murder and planetary treasury looting. We will have nothing further to do with her.”

  Corren sputtered a surprise. He wasn’t at all prepared for such a statement.

  Siloy continued. �
�We have no need for her presence since her duties are no longer required. Several of her staff have already sought other employment. Tev Yannic, on the other hand, will not be allowed to remain on-planet. He’s been deemed an accomplice in this matter and has been told to return to his Inhab of origin. He is no longer welcome on Andakar. If either he or former Director Alarr ever return, they will be immediately arrested and the original criminal charges reinstated.”

  “You can not banish Citizens from a planet, much less a Planetary Director!” Corren blurted, his corpulent face flushing.

  “Need I remind you sir. Director Alarr is not a Citizen of Andakar, nor could she ever be, by law. That makes her an undocumented foreigner and unwelcome to stay. Especially after this clear criminal activity was uncovered. Mr. Yannic is a Citizen of Jaren II, not Andakar. He has no long term interests on this Inhab since he is now unemployed.”

  Corren tapped the tabletop several times with his stubby fingers, gazing at the room’s other occupants. He was glad his lawyers were recording every word of this proceeding. “This is all very amusing. Very amusing, indeed. For the last several days you have provided me with evidence for enough violations of corporate law to have you jailed for the rest of your life,” he finally said, smiling up at Siloy.

  The lawyer to Corren’s left touched his arm and shook his head.

  Corren pulled his arm away with a hard jerk. “I will have my say,” he told the man. Then to Siloy, “Your so-called election has no precedent in planetary colonial history. I do not recognize your presidency, Siloy James-Po. No one on the Supreme Board of Directors does. In fact, as far as we are concerned you are the criminal with clear unlawful intent. My lawyers have most of the appropriate documentation already drafted. After having personally witnessed your confession to multiple illegal actions, the case against you will no doubt be swift after formal charges are brought up.

  “Keep that in mind while we make our passage to Rylerra to view the artifact and the aliens there. I will be meeting with the planetary director to assess the extent of this-this ‘independence infection’. I intend to return in nine days. You will have resigned your position, turned local administration over to alternate local managers, and returned Inandra to her post. I expect you to accompany us back to Earth for a formal trial. If not, there will be severe repercussions. We are done here,” he said pompously, heaving himself out of the chair and duck-strutting out of the room.

  Chapter 47

  Naylon and Darreth had just arrived at Partnership Hall in downtown Tokaias ten minutes previous. The hall had several different formal and informal rooms in it. This particular one was the second largest room in the building and one of the nicely appointed formal ones. It was filled with over two hundred people, which consisted of family and friends, along with journalists wearing head cams. The ceremony was scheduled to start in about an hour. The journalists had discretely interviewed a few random guests, thankfully staying out of the way of most people. Both Darreth and Naylon were still some of the most famous people on the entire planet because of their adventure on Rylerra and couldn’t easily say no to their presence. Naylon had mixed feelings that their sudden notoriety hadn’t faded enough for this to be a non-event. He couldn’t wait for he and Darreth to eventually fade into history. That is, if the populace let them.

  Both men had wanted Efren to attend their celebration, but sadly, that hadn’t happened. Instead, he was halfway to Rylerra with Corren. Something told Naylon it was probably better Efren wasn’t with them. Although Efren refused to say it, Naylon was acutely aware Efren seemed disturbed about the upcoming male-male partnership ceremony. Naylon couldn’t understand why it still seemed to cause the man such consternation.

  Darreth took his father aside for a moment. “Are you okay, Dad? You don’t look well.”

  Siloy had no intention of divulging the ultimatum Corren had, only hours previously, given him about resigning his post. This day was to be for his son and his soon-to-be new husband. Siloy placed his hands on his son’s shoulders, smiling brightly despite the stress. “It was an extremely long day. We’ll talk about it later. Good news though. It’s been brought to my attention that the ore was viable.”

  Darreth’s face lit up. “Excellent! One of the Rylerran assayers who was with us said the same thing after he tested a small sample. He still wanted an official test done to make sure his methodology wasn’t flawed. An interplanetary shuttle is no place to determine such things.”

  “Well, the deal is firmly sealed now. The first empty ore ships have already been booked for Ethlacos to take delivery of a shipment. I’ve already had a communication from Director Illigan about that. They’ve already started the conversion of one of their heavy metal processing facilities to handle the new ore.”

  Darreth felt a shiver of excitement work its way up his back. “Then it’s really happening. The alliance is for real.”

  “We’ve even outlined how Ethlacos could restructure their governing system to take full advantage of our mutual strengths.”

  “We’ve done that? Why not them?”

  “They’ve been living like pirates for years. Tilshar made the request to have us provide them with some, er, guidance. That’s all.”

  “So, they don’t think we’re pressuring them.”

  Siloy sighed. “No, the pressure is on me.” You have no idea how much, son.

  Soon enough, Naylon and Darreth stepped up onto the raised platform. Darreth in his dress blues and Naylon in a crisp, black tunic. Words were exchanged, their kiss drew applause from everyone and they formally signed an actual paper document. Some things hadn’t changed in hundreds of years.

  Rehl had been assigned to accompany Efren as they made their way to Rylerra. He was extremely disappointed he was missing his best friend’s formal signing ceremony, especially with all the hubbub because of their renown. But he knew it would be almost as good seeing it on holovid later when he returned.

  Despite having an official translator, Efren had prepared himself well in advance, learning specialized vocabulary necessary for the deal he was going to make. It was during their second day in transit to Rylerra that he stole away to meet with Corren in private.

  “Come in Efren. May I call you that?” Corren asked as Efren stood at the door of his quarters.

  “Of course. That is my name,” Efren responded.

  “You’re sure you don’t want your translator here?”

  “I’m sure,” he said, enunciating as precisely as he could.

  “Come. Sit,” Corren told him airily, waving his hand as he turned to pick up a bottle. “I have a particularly excellent brandy I would like you to try.”

  Efren shook his head, not understanding the somewhat rapid pace of Corren’s statement.

  Noticing that Efren had not quite understood him, he shortened his request. “Uh, drink?” Corren pointed to the rich brown bottle he held.

  Efren’s eyes lit up. “Yes. Drink.”

  Corren poured them both small snifters and the two men sat on an L-shaped couch. Efren took a sip, then placed his glass on the coffee table. He didn’t want to bother with small talk, so started right away. He had been on Andakar for far too long as it was to waste any more time. “I have information you want and need. I will give it to you in exchange for something I want.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You do not know of a secret.”

  “I do not know of a secret,” Corren repeated, not understanding what that meant.

  “Yes. A secret kept from you about star travel. I hear no one talks about it.”

  Corren shook his head sagely. “There is no secret about it. We have traveled the stars for a very long time.”

  “My people have a way of traveling between stars that is unknown to you. President James-Po keeps this secret.” Efren was trying to stay away from nuanced verb conjugations, sticking with present tense as much as possible.

  Corren’s mind was racing now, trying to discern what Efren was trying
to tell him. “And you will tell me this secret?”

  “It is one known to your people but hidden centuries ago.”

  “Hidden from who?” Corren asked, his curiosity piqued.

  “Your fathers hide this secret. For profit.”

  Profit. Now that was a word that always merited his attention. He sat forward, speaking slowly and as clearly as possible. “What do you want in exchange for this secret?” He motioned with both hands back and forth between Efren and himself.

  “To leave Andakar.”

  “That’s all?” he asked cautiously, so as to not misunderstanding Efren’s exact meaning. “Just to leave?”

  “I wish to live on Earth. I no longer want to live on Andakar.”

  “Why?” He was sure Efren was about to tell him something about Siloy. Something even more nefarious than what he had learned in the hours of meetings he had already attended.

  “Many reasons.”

  “Does any of this have to do with the new political climate on Andakar?”

  “I do not understand ‘political climate’.”

  “Uh, the changes that have happened. Siloy’s election. Things like that.”

  “No. Other things,” Efren said plainly, wasting no words.

  “Are you sure you don’t want your translator?” Corren was beyond curious now and desperately wanted to make sure he was getting the right information.

  Efren adamantly shook his head. “No. Rehl can not know what I say. You will promise me to live on Earth,” he demanded.

  “You don’t belong on Andakar anyway. They’re traitors. I will grant you passage, er, travel, to Earth. When we return to Andakar I’ll tell them you’ll no longer live there. I have full authority to grant such a thing.”

  Efren didn’t know the word traitor but he did know belong. “Belong. I belong on Earth,” Efren said with a wide smile.