by Selby, Caleb
Fedrin glanced out the window once more. He looked just in time to see the Hornell Carrier begin to brake away from the fleet and head toward her assigned sector. The Arbitrator III combat destroyer followed behind in close formation.
Fedrin watched until the battle group was completely clear of the rest of the fleet and then made his way for the door.
6. Commander Drezden
“We had agents in the Second Fleet!” yelled Senator Trivis angrily as he glared at Defuria through his tele-link screen. “Why would you activate the minefield without warning them?”
“I had to act when I did,” replied Defuria calmly. “The loss of our allies is regrettable, but I had no other choice. Admiral Caton made it clear where his loyalties resided and when my backup plan having Commodore Tropnia take over also failed, it became apparent that I had to act. For if they managed to combine forces with Fedrin, our job would be immensely more complicated and may have even put in jeopardy, our bid to acquire the Grimsin and finish this once and for all!”
“Be that as it may, your indifference to our continued collateral damage is starting to concern us,” Trivis stated.
“Us or you?” Defuria asked directly. “I haven’t heard anything from any of the other agents.”
Trivis shook his head angrily. “I just want to remind you, Mr. President, that we all have a part to play in this masquerade. If too many of us meet a premature demise, there will be nobody left to finish what we’ve started and no one gets the Grimsin, yourself included.”
Defuria chuckled, amused at Trivis’ mistrust. “You fret needlessly Senator. For as you pointed out, we need each other if we are going to finish this. We have too many enemies and obstacles for any one of us to go it alone.”
Trivis shook his head. “Speaking of, we still need to address Fedrin. He knows something is happening and if the Sions get a hold of him before we can finish him off...”
“The Sions are of no concern to us right now,” Defuria said. “We are too far along at this point to become preoccupied with outside distractions. We must stay the course!”
“Perhaps, but we can’t count Fedrin out until he’s dead and gone,” reiterated Trivis. “He will make a play to depose us once he is able, likely with Sion assistance. You can not deny this Defuria!”
“He won’t have the time, even with the Sion’s help,” Defuria stated. “The Krohns will see to that for us!”
“When will they be here?” asked Trivis sarcastically. “Will they come before the Sions do? Will they come before Fedrin gets the Grimsin? Will they come before we are dead?”
“They are ready to advance on both fronts,” Defuria replied confidently. “No matter what Fedrin does, they’ll be waiting for him,” he said flatly and then smiled. “He will die at their hands leaving the Grimsin to us!”
Trivis nodded slowly. “It’s not that simple...Mr. President. We still need to find it and we can’t find it until we locate the Origin Codex…as you well know! Without the ancient writings contained therein, we will have no way of finding the Grimsin.”
Defuria nodded and spoke. “Of course Trivis, of course. It has all been planned for. The Codex, Fedrin, the Grimsin, it has all been taking into account. That’s what I’m here for Trivis. I plan, you do. Got it?”
Trivis’ eyes narrowed in mistrust but he held his tongue.
“What?” Defuria snapped. “Life not fair Trivis? Do you want to complain about your share again?”
“The shares aren’t fair,” Trivis mumbled. “We take all the risks and you get all the reward. How is that fair?”
“All the reward?” Defuria said in a shocked tone. “What do you call the Grimsin I give you every month?”
“A fix!” Trivis snapped. “It’s just enough to keep us junkies coming back for more.”
“Junkies?” Defuria exclaimed in a hurt tone. “Trivis, I’ve introduced the universe to you through the Grimsin’s power! If it weren’t for me, you’d never have achieved what you’ve achieved. You’d never have experienced what you’ve experienced!”
“You made addicts out of us!” Trivis yelled back. “You’ve indentured us to do your bidding with ever more dwindling rations of the Grimsin in return. And then, when we have outlived our usefulness, we are discarded without a second thought!”
“You are free to walk away anytime you wish,” Defuria countered. “We’ll manage just fine without you.”
Trivis hesitated, wishing with all his might that he could have indeed just walked away. Alas, the Grimsin’s hold over him was too strong and he reluctantly shook his head. “I don’t want to walk away. I...I just want enough Grimsin from this job to be independent for awhile.”
“The amounts are not negotiable,” Defuria answered. “Take the share offered or leave it Senator. The choice, as always, is yours!”
Trivis slowly nodded his agreement to the terms, hating Defuria for his ruthlessness and hating himself yet more for being hooked on the Grimsin to begin with. How he wished the day that Defuria had approached him all those years ago had never happened. How he wished he was still a free being.
“When you are done feeling sorry for yourself, I want you to finish your task,” Defuria said.
Trivis nodded like a drone, his fight all but gone. “I will soften up the ground forces in and around Larep in anticipation of the invasion.”
“I assume you have a plan to do it?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Trivis answered flatly.
Defuria smiled, enjoying the power he held over Trivis. “Good. Because when the Krohns land, I don’t want them meeting any undo Namuh resistance. I want them here to help us find the Origin Codex and then butcher the populace. If people are shooting at them, it’ll take forever.”
“I said I would take care of it!”
“I know you will,” said Defuria snidely as he terminated the transmission. “You want the Grimsin too much to fail,” he then added to the empty room.
***
Fedrin picked up the simmering pot and poured two steaming mugs of fresh lor. He walked over and handed one to Drezden who was seated in a plush armchair facing Fedrin’s desk. Fedrin, mug in hand, then walked back over to a porthole and looked out. He sipped his hot drink slowly.
“So, how are you old friend?” Fedrin asked, turning from his window after a few minutes and glancing at his visitor. “We’ve been stationed in orbit together for almost two months but we’ve barley had the chance to say hello.”
“Yeah, it’s funny that we had to go out into deep space to get some time to talk,” Drezden nodded in agreement as he sipped from his mug. “Too much going on at home I guess.”
“You have no idea,” commented Fedrin.
“Pretty bad?” asked Drezden.
Fedrin smiled and shook his head. “When I’m at Larep, everyone wants to talk to me about stuff I don’t know about and involve me in meetings I don’t belong in. It gets really tiring. All I want is to be in space, away from the politicians, bureaucracy and red tape. I just want to fly my ship and be left alone!”
“I can’t imagine.”
“If only you knew,” Fedrin said as he walked to his desk and fell into his chair. He put his mug on his desk, sat back and rubbed his tired face.
Drezden had been the commander of the first ship Fedrin served aboard, the Purple Nova, a tired old freighter that made the circuit from the Zelin System to Namuh Prime. The Nova would complete the very dull task of ferrying raw materials mined from the asteroid rigs to the home world, and bringing back to the colonies such essentials as provisions, tools and occasionally weapons.
As part of Fedrin’s officer training courses, he was required to intern aboard a civilian operated ship and monitor the goings on and then compare it with that of a navy ship and write a volume or two comparing the differences between his experiences and highlighting what the Navy could learn from the private sector and vice versa. It truly was an arbitrarily created assignment but one that had become so engrained in t
he fabric of the naval officer training program that it would never be done away with. And so it was that Fedrin found himself on the bridge of the Purple Nova, under the care of Commander Drezden, watching and taking notes so that he could write a paper he was sure would never be read. Of all ships to monitor, none could have been duller until that fateful day.
Halfway through his two-month internship, a rogue Krohn escort managed to blast through the Third Fleet blockade and penetrate deep into the system. Prior to being hunted down and destroyed by a small contingent of light cruisers dispatched from the Second Fleet, the escort stumbled upon the Nova and decimated it with several rounds of deadly laser fire. One of the rounds smashed through the bridge and killed the entirety of the command crew save Drezden and Fedrin. Several stray shots also managed to find their way to key systems in the vessel taking out engines, lights and three of the four life support generators. It wasn’t until eight days later that fleet emergency ships managed to locate the Nova and rescue her survivors. For eight days, a crew of eighty survived on a generator intended to support twenty. For eight days, Drezden and Fedrin tirelessly kept up morale and strict discipline to keep the men and women of the Purple Nova alive. Between sleeping in shifts, militant rationing of food and water and enforcing a complete and total ban on speaking to conserve air consumption, the precious life support capabilities of the crippled ship managed to keep the entire crew that had survived the initial attack, alive until the rescue. The experience, needless to say, changed those involved forever, but none so much as Fedrin and Drezden, without whom the entirety of the crew would have surely perished.
“Looks like you haven’t been sleeping again,” Drezden commented after analyzing Fedrin’s countenance.
“That obvious?” asked Fedrin, who knew that he must have looked awful.
“You should really cutback on the lor. It looks like it’s taking its toll.”
“Yeah I guess,” said Fedrin as he instinctively reached for his mug.
A message suddenly beeped on Fedrin’s data pad.
“What is it?” Drezden asked.
Fedrin set his mug down and looked at the screen thoughtfully. “Looks like one of the Hornell’s squadrons located the Refrac Pirates.”
“So soon?” Drezden exclaimed. “Is everything going ok?” he asked, leaning over to view the screen for himself.
Fedrin nodded. “Looks like the Hornell is pulling back and all fighter squadrons are launching.”
“The Hornell boys in those new Comet Fighters will eat them for a snack!” Drezden said followed by a hearty laugh. “It won’t even be a fair fight!”
“Indeed,” Fedrin said with a smile. “I almost feel sorry for them.”
Drezden raised an eyebrow. “Almost?”
Fedrin shrugged. “If they didn’t raid our transports, attack our sentry ships and steal our reconnaissance satellites for spare parts, I might consider feeling sorry for them. But under the circumstances, I want them to all die a painful decompression death once their atmospheres vent...” Fedrin’s voice trailed off.
“Well...that was dark,” commented Drezden as he shook his head and chuckled.
Fedrin shrugged. “I’ve had a bad day.”
“That you have,” Drezden answered. “We all have.”
The two men sat in stillness for several minutes. Occasionally Fedrin would glance at the pad to get an update on the skirmish while Drezden sat back in his chair sipping his lor and looking thoughtfully about the room. In the back of each of their minds ran thoughts about the dire situation they were all in, but neither wanted to discuss it.
Drezden finally broke the silence after looking at a picture on Fedrin’s cluttered wall. “You miss him...don’t you?” he asked.
“Who?” asked Fedrin, looking up from the pad.
“Nebod,” Drezden answered as he nodded at the picture.
Fedrin looked up at the picture and then nodded slowly. “I wish he was still here. He would have the right answers for all this stuff going on...I just know he would.”
Drezden sat back in his chair and looked thoughtfully at the picture. “So, what is going on Fedrin? What’s really going on?”
“What do you mean?” asked Fedrin.
“You know what I mean,” Drezden answered. “What’s going on at home? You hinted at doing something big at the meeting. The only thing that I can think of that would require all the fleets, would be a coup. Am I far off?”
“I wish I was planning a coup,” Fedrin said and shook his head. “If I was planning a coup it would mean I was planning something. As it is, I don’t even know where to start.”
Drezden looked at Fedrin like he was joking. “Come on Fedrin. I’m your best friend, maybe your only friend. Tell me what’s up?”
Fedrin sighed and then looked Drezden square in the eye. “The War Council and the Presidency have both been compromised,” he said frankly and then waited for Drezden’s reaction.
“How so?” Drezden asked. “The Telecast hasn’t pumped anything about that.”
“That’s because the Telecast doesn’t know,” Fedrin answered. “Or at least doesn’t want everyone else to know.”
“And you do?”
Fedrin nodded. “I got a glimpse of the Council’s true selves yesterday. They were monsters Drezden. Horrid, evil looking monsters!”
Drezden looked at Fedrin in disbelief. “And the President?”
Fedrin shook his head. “I’m not really sure. He looked the same but he acted irrational and irresponsible when we spoke. He is not on our side, I'm sure of it.”
Drezden shook his head and offered an uneasy smile. “I hate to say it Fedrin, but if you’re right then I think our pessimistic Commander Sanders was right. We lose.”
Fedrin reluctantly nodded. “The next few days will be challenging. There is no doubt.”
“Challenging!” Drezden exclaimed and then laughed. “You’re talking about an enemy that has cut down the Sixth Fleet and totally wiped out the Second Fleet in two days Fedrin! Two days! Challenging doesn’t even begin to describe the mess we’re in!”
“Which is why I told you all in the meeting that we will not win this new war through the might of our ships and strength of our arms!” Fedrin reminded him.
“Then what are you planning to do?” Drezden asked with raised voice. “Send them flowers and ask them to leave?”
Fedrin shrugged. “Stay alive and learn more about what’s going on.”
Drezden shook his head as he tried to grasp everything Fedrin was saying. “So help me out here,” he said as he raised his hand. “Just how are you going to learn more about back home while we’re out here? Seems counterintuitive to me.”
Fedrin shook his head. “I haven’t really figured that part out yet either.”
“Uh huh,” Drezden said skeptically.
“We’ll think of something,” said Fedrin with a sigh. “We always do.”
“Maybe the Sions will rescue us again?” said Drezden sarcastically.
Fedrin rolled his eyes.
Drezden smiled and was just about to make another sarcastic comment but abruptly stopped as he spotted the Defiant come up into view in the large porthole behind Fedrin. He immediately stood to his feet and approached the window, awestruck at the sight.
“Sometimes I don’t really appreciate how beautiful she is,” said Drezden as he soaked in the sight of his ship, his home, his one and only true love.
“She is a fine vessel,” Fedrin agreed, as he amusingly watched his friend’s eyes dance over every contour of the craft as the orange glow of the Defiant’s engines illuminated his face.
“Fine doesn’t begin to describe her,” Drezden said, not turning away.
Fedrin smiled. “She’s a far cry from the Nova. That’s for sure.”
Drezden chuckled.
“How about those burn streaks?” Fedrin jeered, nodding at the blackened marks inflicted by the explosions and subsequent fires at the docks.
Drezden shr
ugged. “I kind of like them. It gives her more character...like she’s actually done something in this war other than just fly around and look pretty.”
Fedrin smirked and turned back to the ship. “Now she gets to fly around doing nothing while looking ugly.”
“Her time will come,” Drezden said, his eyes still fixed on her. “She’ll show up all the other ships in the fleet. Just wait Fedrin.”
“I’ll be waiting a long time,” Fedrin said in a patronizing tone. “Those destroyers really throw their weight around when the Krohn battleships are closing in.”
A few moments of quiet passed before Drezden turned back to face his friend. “Fedrin, you’re in a tough spot right now. I don’t envy your position or the decisions you will have to make in the coming days. But I want you to know that I will back up any course of action you suggest wholeheartedly, regardless of the consequences. As I was to Nebod, I am also yours to command. If you say on to Namuh Prime, I’ll be right there spear fronting the fleet. If you want to float around the system for a few weeks doing recon, we’ll be there. Regardless of what you chose to do with your fleets, be sure to trust your instincts. Nebod chose you for a reason Fedrin. Although we may not understand why, he saw something in you that he knew we would all need when the time came. I believe that time is now and the decisions you are about to make will be the ones you were born to make.”
Drezden finished speaking and the two men stood there for a moment longer not saying anything; nothing more needed to be said. After several more quiet minutes had passed, Drezden picked up his uniform jacket and left the room quietly, leaving his student, friend, comrade and now leader, alone at his window.
7. The Sions
Tarkin removed his worn leather vest and tossed it over the rail of a vacant bed in his room. After kicking off his boots into a corner, he stretched all three pairs of his mighty arms before letting out a deep sigh and making his way toward his washroom to make ready for bed. He had had a long day and was most anxious to indulge in several hours of much needed rest before the intense learning program Kesler was subjecting him to was to start all over again in the morning. He had indeed learned much in his first few days but much more awaited him if he was to become an acting officer on the bridge.