“We are approaching a known hostile planet.We should be trying to make contact from the fleet, not sendinggood people to a place that has killed many people already. HighCommand has informed me that the Emperor himself decreed all theparameters of this mission. This is the first time in my career inthe Imperial Navy that this has happened. Something very strange isgoing on here. My orders are to have Vydor lead a squad toinvestigate and make the mission a code-one stealth mission. Theonly control I have is choosing the soldiers that will join him.”The captain paused again. Taking a breath, he continued, “Quitefrankly, I don’t like this at all. I have every reason to believethat High Command estimates their safe return to be unlikely.”
Zalith broke into what I was sure was vulgarlanguage, but in his anger he used the Zalionian tongue of hisyouth. I knew him well enough by now to know that he much preferreda direct frontal attack and despised the games, as he called them,that High Command would play. A fierce gaze from the captainsilenced him, but judging by his posture his silence did not changehis opinion of the situation.
No else one piped up. This was very bad.Code-1 stealth meant that once we launched there would be nocommunications with anyone for any reason until the missionsucceeded. There was no provision for failure. It seemed as if HighCommand was very afraid of something. But why wouldn’t they tellus? Why not just destroy the planet and be done with the Magi?Nothing made sense any more.
“Captain, you could override the order; thatis your right as commander of the flagship,” stated Dr. Rannor.
When I first learned of this provision, Ithought it was odd that an officer was able to override the order,but it was explained to me that due to the large size of theEmpire, sometimes local conditions would not be fully known by HighCommand, and the various captains would have to make a judgmentcall on any orders they received.
“Well, Doc, I thought of that. But in amission of this apparent magnitude they would strip my command andfind someone else to lead. They have made this clear to me.Whatever we are on the edge of here is big. My hands are tied onthis matter.”
The room erupted into various discussionsafter that. The captain sat quietly by, as if he were just lettingthem talk out everything he had already debated in his mind. I tookept quiet; I had nothing to add. All their talk centered on waysout of the orders. It seemed that no one thought the orders were agood idea. I had absolute faith in my Emperor, but this was tryingthat faith to the limit. There was no logic behind this that Icould see. So many things did not make sense; it was as if thefoundations of my beliefs were being chipped away.
Someone suggested I should merely refuse theorder, which would have led to me being thrown into the brig, butwould have made the mission impossible. I did not like that optionat all. As Chief of Intelligence it was not normally my honor tolead a vanguard mission like this, but I wanted to meet the Magi inperson. The more I studied them, the more I felt an attraction ofsome kind. I could not understand it, but I knew it was my destinyto meet them face to face. But why did the Emperor choose me forthis? Since he chose me, I must have been the best choice, but Iwas one of the least experienced members of the crew.
I decided it was time to speak up for myself.“Good sirs, if I may speak on my own behalf? I do not need a wayout of this. If these are the Emperor’s wishes, then I will proudlyserve.”
The room fell silent at my remark; a look ofsurprise fell across everyone, except Larath and the captain.Larath was as stoic as ever, and the captain just smiled as if thatwas exactly what he had been waiting to hear.
“I would prefer not to take my team, though.None of them has any real combat experience and most are onlytrained in processing reports, not frontline data collection,” Icontinued.
“So be it then,” stated the captain. “Zalith,I would like you to hand-pick a team for Vydor. I want to be surehe has the best possible chance of success, and I know you are thebest person to assure that.”
“Absolutely,” stated Zalith. Somethingabout the way he said this told me that he already knew who tosend.
“So what do we really know about the Magi?Other than that they appear powerful enough to scare the entireEmpire. Do we have any unofficial leaks on them?” questionedCommander Jones.
“None of my normal contacts have told meanything. Heck, I cannot get half of them to talk to me. They areall running scared. I have one … umm, unofficial is a good word …source who says, ‘The secret to the powers of old is hidden on thatplanet.’ That is it, nothing more. I don’t know what he means byit,” answered the captain.
“The powers of old? What in the Emperor’sname is that supposed to mean? Are we going to find old projectilehandguns down there?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That was his last message tome. He is dead now; apparently his space cruiser had a freakaccident. Vydor, you have complete authority over this mission. Youhave excelled in all your tasks and have certainly proved able tocarry your own weight, but I suggest you lean heavily on your moreexperienced crewmates. You will have two weeks to create a securefoothold. If you fail, our orders are to bombard the planet andensure nothing survives.”
Planetary bombardment was a very drasticmove, and one that was expensive on resources. This was notsomething that the Empire would order lightly, and was only usedwhen total genocide was determined to be the sole option. Once wereached the asteroid belt, the fleet would gather the largest spacerocks it could find, and fit them with powerful engines. Once thedeadline was reached, these massive rocks would be sent towards theplanet at extreme speed.
The tremendous force generated by the impactswould liquefy the crust of the planet, ending in its completedestruction. Nothing had ever survived this, not even in computersimulations. There would be no safe haven, not even deepunderground. In addition, the Dragon Claw and its fleet would benearby to destroy any craft that attempted to escape. Thedestruction would be complete and there would be no chance ofsurvival.
This prompted me to ask, “Sir, should Iassume that we are at war with the Magi?”
“For now, assume this to be a diplomaticmission. I know they destroyed our probes and possibly our taskforce, but until we know their intentions, I will not send theEmpire to war. But, I expect your squad will meet resistance, andit should be dealt with as needed,” responded the captain.
“Sir, you’re sending troops on to soil theypresumably claim as their own at this stage, and establishing abase. That would definitely be seen as an act of war by mostcultures,” commented Commander Jones.
“I know, Commander Jones. That is why theinstant Vydor succeeds you will be sent to take over communicationswith the Magi,” said the captain.
It was customary that the first contact wasthe honor of the ship’s Alien Relations Officer. He doubled as anemissary in times like these. We were lucky to have such a highlyexperienced officer. He had been in five first contacts and, ofthose five, three joined the Empire after their meeting withhim.
“Sir, it would be better if I went with him…” began Commander Jones.
“I know that, Commander Jones, but it is badenough that I must send one of my top officers on this suicidemission; I will not make it worse by sending two.
“This mission is to be considered classified.Only the people in this room and the men who will be on the missionare considered to have a need to know. The operation will becodenamed Quiet Storm. People, we are making history here. Let’smake sure it’s a good one. Bring the fleet into position and engagelevel-one defense screens. Zalith, see what you can do with theplasma weapons research. If they can do it, so can we,” said thecaptain.
Chapter Five
It was time to call in some favors. There wasjust too much about this mission that could not be explained byusing the standard channels. I went to my office where I could workin private. “Computer, find me Karathlathornka.”
Suddenly a massive cat-like humanoid hologramappeared before me, one that would easily tower over any man.Karathlathornka was an old, but still quite vibrant-looking
,Cathratinairian, an almost extinct species that lived on the edgesof society. Most of them avoided all contact with other species, asthey saw them as inferior and unworthy. This one though (I did notknow if it was a he or she or genderless) seemed to know just abouteverything that was happening anywhere in the known galaxy.Karathlathornka was completely fearless, and was the only one Ithought I could go to for this kind of information.
“I see the great and mighty Vydor has finallyrealized he needs help,” Karathlathornka said.
“Greetings, Karathlathornka. I take it thenyou already know what I plan to ask?”
“You have been assigned to a top position inthe Navy and are being sent on a suicide mission. It is easy toextrapolate from this that you need answers fast.”
I always did my best to keep a totallyexpressionless face, but revelations like that never made it easy.“Good, then you have already done the work and have thoseanswers?”
“Maybe. Why should I tell you?”
“Our normal agreement should hold here,unless you think that you no longer need it?” This caused him torecoil slightly, and I knew that was a bad sign. He really held allthe cards in these negotiations; he could have easily just claimedignorance or fed me bad information if I pushed too hard. Time toswitch tactics. “Look, I have no intention of breaking thatcontract, but you are of course right about the suicide missionand, if I am to continue our agreement, I need to survive.”
He seemed to think that one over a bit, as ifweighing the possibility of not having me around. I wondered if hehad found another way to get what he needed. He sighed, then said,“As you already know, I still need our agreement to stand, so sitback and I will tell you the tale of how you got where you aretoday…”
He produced information from extremelyclassified reports on the colony that we were approaching, many ofwhich I was not authorized to know the existence of, never mind toread. The wealth of information at Karathlathornka’s disposal wasalways nothing short of miraculous. I was thinking that one day Imust discover his sources.
When he had finished his report I said, “On amore personal note, be careful. It seems that people who getinvolved with this end up having ‘accidents.’”
“Vydor, do you honestly think I got thisinformation for you by being careful? I will be fine. You had bestbe concerned with your own hide.” And with that he ended thetransmission.
I thought back to our first meeting, howtimid and foolish I was, but darn lucky. I had been working in thefield as an apprentice when my instructor was assigned to anemergency meeting. A call had come in for him …
“This is Cadet Vydor, the lieutenant is outright now …” Just then I lost the power of speech when a massivecat-like creature appeared before me. His bright orange fur, spikedhead, and massive claws were far more impressive than anything Ihad to offer.
“Where is he?” the creature demanded.
“Well, um, he was called to a meeting …”
He responded with a bone-chilling roar, and Istruggled to remind myself that it was only a holographic displayand he could not harm me. “Maybe I can help you?”
“YOU? Help me? HA!” he said.
“Well, why not? I have full access to hiscomputer …” That got his attention.
“Full? Hmmm … perhaps you can help me, butthen I would owe you and it’s bad enough being indebted tohim.”
Interesting, I thought. This must be one ofthe lieutenant’s informants, and if so it would be a good thing tohave him owing me. I moved to the lieutenant’s computer and said,“Well, it is your call of course, but it seems to me you would notbe calling here unless you needed something, and I might very wellbe able to find it for you.”
“What string are you going to attach to it,human?”
“That is not a question I can really answerwithout knowing the value of what I am looking up, but let’s justsay that someday I may be in need of information and then you willsupply it.”
He seemed to ponder that a bit beforereplying, “All right, that seems fair. Call up the records on …”This started me on a wild run through the computer banks until Ifound the information he wanted, and at the same time I stumbled onthe agreement that he had with the lieutenant.
As he was getting ready to end the call Istopped him, saying, “Look, the day will come when he cannot makegood on your agreement. When that day comes, find me. I can make ithappen.” I was mostly bluffing, but I could not pass up thisopportunity for an informant.
To that he simply nodded and broke theconnection. It was years later before he contacted me and told methat the lieutenant had lost his ability to fulfill the agreementand was calling in my promise. I had no idea at the time of hisvalue as an informant. I thought I knew, but I was greatlyunderestimating him.
Back then at that chance introduction I couldnot have known how great a find he was. As I sat there ponderingthe information he had given me, it occurred to me that my careerso far had been one lucky chance after another, almost as ifsomeone was orchestrating a huge play in which I was a helplesspuppet.
Chapter Six
From Karathlathornka’s report I made abreakthrough in the problem of the Magi. It was not much, but itmight be the key we needed to start making headway. Often in thesecases a few small steps are made, then all of a sudden everythingfalls into place. I was still trying to make that happen but atleast I had enough to make a start.
In the Academy we were trained to look ateverything like a child’s picture puzzle. Every piece of data was anew clue to be assembled in order to reveal the complete picture. Inever worked this way; it was too simplistic for real intelligencework. Instead I saw everything as threads in a great tapestry inthat the data we collected were not discrete pieces, but ratherstrands of thread, and those threads were often knotted up.Untangling them and figuring out how to weave them into the biggertapestry would reveal the hidden truth. While working at thethreads, smaller patterns could be found that would eventually makeup the details in the bigger picture, and it appeared that I hadfound one of these smaller patterns.
I brought my report to the captain, but heinsisted on waiting until the senior staff was assembled. I did notknow if I was ready for this. If I was wrong this would reinforcetheir low opinion of me, but if I was right it could be theopportunity I needed to prove myself. It would be nice to leavethem with a good impression before I departed on my suicidemission.
When I entered the conference room and lookedaround, the atmosphere seemed more relaxed than it had beenrecently. I wondered if that was because they did not expectanything I had to say to be very shocking.
Zalith had his feet up on the table, Dr.Rannor was sitting on the table looking like he should be sipping adrink, and everyone generally seemed in a carefree mood. It feltmore like a social gathering at a friend’s house, at least as faras the others were concerned. I felt like I was about to face theworst exam of my life and had forgotten to study. I assembled mynotes and did my best to look as relaxed as they were, but withoutmuch success.
The door opened and everyone jumped toattention as the captain entered. His broad shoulders seemed tofill the great doorway as he passed through it, adding to the auraof power that he projected.
Soon everyone was seated and the captainsaid, “I asked Vydor to call this meeting because he has some newsfor us on the Magi situation. He has shared a little with mealready and I think we would all benefit from hearing hispresentation.” He paused and looked at everyone as to say, “Givethe kid a break,” then said, “Vydor, go ahead.”
“Thank you, Captain.” I paused, took a breathand told myself that these were my peers, not a review board. Ionly wished I could believe myself …
“I want to start with a review of what weknow, going back to the original transmission from Lieutenant Tom.This is because I think I have found a thread running through allthe events which gives us a clue to the puzzle of the Magi.
“When Zalith presented his report on Tom’smessage, he stated that he thought the message was tampered withb
ecause of the way Tom was acting. At the time I agreed with him.Tom, as we all knew, was a battle-hardened veteran and was actinglike a green soldier who had never faced battle. After thatmeeting, I studied the message to see if I could verify thattheory.
“It is fairly well-known that alltransmitters in the Empire have a code which they transmit toidentify themselves. What is not so well-known is that all militarytransmitters, like Tom’s, have a second coded message they transmitto prevent any possibility of interference. Based on my analysis ofthat data, there is no way that message was tampered with. It isexactly as it was when it left the transmitter. If there was anyfalsehood involved, Lieutenant Tom would have had to be involved.There is no reason to believe he would knowingly have taken part,so we can only take the message at face value.
“The next thing to look at is the target theMagi picked for their move: a colony deep within the Empire’ssecure borders researching biological warfare. At first it soundslike a great target, because it would be unexpected and yield somenice weapons, but not this colony. The last few reports on thecolony indicate that it is a complete failure. It has neverproduced a single new discovery in the seventy-five years it hasbeen in operation. What does not make sense is the colony’sclassification. It is rated in the highest level of biologicalwarfare research, which is why Dr. Rannor strongly warned usagainst landing. From what these reports say, that project shouldhave been abandoned and not classified so highly.”
I paused here. I wanted that to sink in abit. I had a lot more to say and I needed to gather my thoughts. Iwas sure they would soon start wondering about my informationsources. I did not officially have the security clearance to knowabout the reports I had just cited, never mind study them. Heck, Iwas not sure anyone in this room other than Dr. Rannor did.
The Enemy of an Enemy ltop-1 Page 3