by Aer-ki Jyr
“I came alone,” the Archon said, pulling up one of several chairs and sitting down while Davis finished whatever he was working on. “I didn’t want to pull the others off until I knew what we were dealing with.”
Davis tapped his desktop and the holograms vanished, replaced by a floating list of dates and events on the Archon’s side for him to view. “Bits and pieces I’ve been able to piece together over the last century. We’ve dealt with other dissident organizations before, but this one is far more devious and widespread…so much so that security hasn’t been able to track down more than a few leads. They’re extremely secretive and above all else, patient.”
David looked down the list, seeing small thefts and rules violations, cargo transfers, and other very thin fibers in the web the Director was trying to track down. “Not much to go on…especially given the range of dates.”
“No it’s not,” Davis agreed. “But logistics necessitates certain realities, and I’ve been getting better at guestimating their capabilities and needs…which led me to find this.”
Another hologram popped up, detailing a more recent incident involving the death of an American police officer.
“I don’t see the connection. The Americans still permit civilian ownership of firearms, unless you’ve convinced them to adopt Star Force protocol?”
“Not on that count, no. Look at the weapon.”
David touched a few virtual buttons on his side of the desk and pulled up photos and a report on the confiscated weapon. It was a plasma pistol, obviously, but not of Star Force make. In fact, the report indicated that it didn’t match up with any known weapons maker…which was extremely odd, given that you couldn’t just build plasma weapons out of your backyard shop, not even the crude knockoffs of Star Force designs that other nations and corporations produced.
“Custom build?”
“Tie that in with various thefts of materials and you have a rough region around the Colorado area showing activity. It’s barely detectable, but there.”
“I don’t see how thefts are low key?”
“I’m labeling them thefts,” Davis explained. “To the corporations they’re coming from the amounts are small in number and listed as damaged or miscellaneous parts and compounds. Whoever this organization is they’re very sneaky about appropriating what they need…and this weapon suggests that they are in fact building some items on their own. To do that they have to have a base of operations off the grid, and I suspect it’s somewhere in or near Colorado.”
“You want us to locate and dispose of the firearms factory? That’s a lot of ground to cover.”
“No, I want you to expose as much of their operations as you can. I don’t think this is a local organization. I believe it to be system-wide, but Colorado is the only location I can even remotely pin them down to. I know there isn’t much to go on, but they think and operate socially. In order to produce equipment they have to operate logistically, establishing infrastructure. Sniff it out and follow the threads wherever they lead.”
“And the Americans?”
“I’m not tipping them off that we know anything, otherwise this group might go to ground again.”
“Again?”
“They’ve been exposed before, the last time being 17 years ago. It was whitewashed into a bribe attempt by a gambling syndicate, but they were attempting, I believe, to infiltrate key facilities in order to create blind spots in the surveillance grid. If no reports of missing items or personnel are filed, then they’re ghosts save for the locals. This is how I think they’ve been covering for themselves, and that recent shooting was a major blunder. It’s already been deemed an act of suicide by cop, but the weapon report was filed before they could get at it and our computer sifters picked it up before they could retract it. As of now the officer was killed by a series of bullets fired from a 9mm Trech.”
David frowned. “How long did that take?”
“The report was adjusted within 20 minutes of publishing. Unless someone was looking at it live they wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Sounds like they don’t have the local police in the bag, but there’s no way that’s going to fly with the locals unless they can put some pressure on them.”
“I agree, which is why I’d like you to start there. Look for infrastructure, possibly subsurface tunnels. I’ve had geoscans of the area taken from orbit, but there are so many subsurface caverns that only straight line construction sticks out, and we haven’t discovered any, so they may be using natural or concealed passages.”
“Why are you so sure they’re subsurface?”
“Because I’ve been monitoring cargo shipments and there haven’t been any anomalies. If they’re interested in medium to large scale production, they’ve got to be getting resources in somehow.”
“In to where? You can’t monitor an entire state.”
“Process of elimination. I’ve built enough structures to be able to ballpark the capabilities and requirements to house industry and have quietly investigated all those that fit the profile…but they’re clean. I think this organization has built their own structures, and best bet would be in the mountains deep enough that our scans can’t penetrate. I was hoping we could pick up connecting tunnels or overland cargo shipments, but we haven’t been able to find evidence of either.”
“Other than just poking around, what do you want us to do that security can’t?”
“Security is already on site, undercover. They’re tracking down some leads. I want you there and ready to move if and when something comes in.”
“So no clue then?”
“Suspicions only. Find their supply lines and they should lead you to the nest, wherever it is. I doubt they’re growing their own food, so they’ve got to be shipping it and other items in regularly.”
“As far as your suspicions go, how large of a ‘nest’ are we looking for?”
“Something big.”
David nodded, having heard enough. “I’ll assign myself until we find something more solid to go on, then call in Green Team if a target materializes.”
“As you wish. I don’t want to take you away from your training for any prolonged period of time, but this is a weed we need to pull out before it grows any larger.”
“If they’re building up an arsenal of plasma weapons in secret, they intend to hit something,” David guessed. “Any ideas?”
“None…and plenty. Whoever this is is staying very quiet while they build their strength. That alone suggests something nefarious.”
“You think they’re stupid enough to come after us?”
“We’re the shiny object that people like to toss rocks at, and given how widespread I think this organization is, I’d be genuinely surprised if their agenda didn’t involve Star Force in some way.”
“I just can’t see what their endgame would be,” David said, rubbing his forehead. “We don’t bow to public sentiment, and there’s no way they’re putting up anything that can touch our fleet.”
“Headache?” Davis asked.
“A bit. My senses have been wonky for the past few weeks.”
Davis’s eyes narrowed. “Wonky how?”
“Flashes, on and off. Sometimes I think I can even see behind me, but it doesn’t last long enough to analyze, which makes me wonder if it isn’t a bit of dream-state slipping over. That’s happened before when I’ve been going through heavy training, but that felt dopey, not flashy…not that that probably makes any sense to you.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Davis said, pulling up one of several datapads and finding a particular file. “Read this.”
David took the datapad and scrolled through a short message from Head Trainer Wilson, detailing some alarming reports he’d received from Jason-025 and Aaron-010. Both were having headaches, it seemed, along with mind-related ‘powers’ that were beginning to manifest. Both trailblazers had requested Wilson’s take on ways to refine the new abilities, given that they’d never trained for anything like this befo
re. Attached were the personal messages from both Archons, detailing their similar, but not identical situations.
As he skimmed through Jason’s report David’s eyes widened at the noting of ‘spherical sight’ and how it had been a precursor to telekinesis.
“Similar?” Davis asked at seeing his reaction.
“Jason’s case is, not so much with Aaron,” he said, skimming his report having to do with thought projections then going back to Jason’s. “Grainy black and white, yeah, that’s exactly what it feels like. Why haven’t they said anything to the rest of us?”
“I’d hazard a guess they wanted to work this out for themselves so they’d have some guidance to offer the rest of you. They didn’t tell me either, by the way, and if you’re showing signs then there may be others as well.”
“Signs?” David asked, curious as to how he intoned that word.
“Of repressed mental abilities resurfacing.”
“What repressed mental abilities?”
Davis frowned. “They didn’t even bother to tell you that much?”
“Apparently not.”
“The dragon we had come visit…you know about that, right?”
“That was mentioned,” the Archon said sarcastically.
“The dragon said that Zen’zat possessed mental abilities that shouldn’t have been affected by subsequent generations…meaning we still have them in our genetic code.”
“Son of a…now that they really should have told us. How long have Jason and Aaron had this?”
“I only know what you’re holding in your hand, but it seems recent.”
“Coincidence?”
“To what?”
“The dragon’s visit.”
Davis sighed. “That thought crossed my mind, but Aaron wasn’t even on Earth when it came and hasn’t been back to the pyramid since, so I don’t think his case was prompted by any alien influence.”
“I wouldn’t rule it out entirely,” David warned.
“You three are all high level Archons. It might be that you’re just breaking through naturally…or maybe the trailblazers were trying on purpose and your case is just random. How much mental training do you do?”
“More than the others,” he admitted.
“Tell me, have you mentioned this to anyone else?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I…well, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening. I half thought it was my imagination.”
“And I wonder how many others there might be in the same situation,” Davis prompted.
David raised an eyebrow as their gazes locked. “You’re thinking it’s time we all swapped notes?”
“I think that would be wise.”
“Jason’s still out on the frontier.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but if they’re asking Wilson for training assistance then this must be a whole new ballgame for you guys. That’s not something you’re going to solve in a few weeks. You’re going to have to create a whole new training component. I think that’s something Jason would be willing to swap off for.”
“If you think he’ll come back, send out a recall order.”
Davis smiled. “I’m not an Archon. Military matters, and especially your training, are not something I have pull over.”
“Yeah, like second gens can give trailblazers orders? You do know how silly that is, right?”
Davis worked his mouth around as he chose his next words, realizing he’d been caught in a ‘my bad’ moment. “I would hope that such internal rivalries wouldn’t cloud their judgement.”
“There are people fighting and dying out on the frontier,” David said, steering the conversation towards the point. “They’re not going to want to leave that in someone else’s hands unless there is a very good reason to do so. You’re in a better position than me to convince them of that fact.”
Davis nodded. “Point taken. I think Taryn’s still on Earth, so I’ll run it by her. Do you have any objection to pulling yourself off the line?”
“After this mission, I assume?”
“After,” Davis confirmed. “With travel times being what they are, it’ll be months before word can even get out to all regions.”
“If this is a new ability developing, I’d like to get it under my thumb sooner rather than later…and if it’s the beginning of massive numbers converting, better to have some of us get through it so we can toe the line when the others need to come back and train. Did the dragon say how many Zen’zat had these abilities?”
“It was taken to mean categorically.”
“Then whatever is prompting my head to go wonky might start happening to a lot of others. So let’s get this figured out now, before the war really ramps up.”
“A point I’ll be sure to make with the trailblazers.”
“If you don’t mind, can I get your medtechs to run me through a few scans before I head off to the states? Not the normal ones, your specialists.”
“Please. The messages from Jason and Aaron didn’t come with any data, and I’d like to get our biologists working on the problem as soon as possible.”
“Have you had a look through the database yet?”
“Briefly, but I don’t have any terminology to specifically search for so I was just wasting my time.”
“Why the damn dinos couldn’t leave an index is beyond me.”
“Alien thinking. Besides, when you pack a bag for a trip, how often do you make an inventory list?”
“Never.”
“Because you already know what’s inside and where to find it.”
“Right…we’re fake Zen’zat so we shouldn’t be complaining.”
“Our techs can work their way around the portions we’re familiar with, much as I assume the V’kit’no’sat did, and can show others where to find what they need, but finding new areas is random and tedious. I’ve got 8,000 techs working through it, piece by piece, but we’ve gotten through less than 2%...and we only know that now because we have core access. I’m sure there are files on the Zen’zat’s mental abilities in there somewhere, but without any links we haven’t been able to find them.”
“You did run a search for ‘superpowers,’ right?”
Davis smiled. “I don’t even know how to say that in V’kit’no’sat. Our vocabulary is still on the thin side…and our mathematics are even worse. They have an engineering language that is completely separate…that we also discovered with the core access. We’ve learned about 10 words since, and that’s just from matching up symbols on schematics.”
“So we’re going to have to figure this out on our own for the time being?”
“Pretty much, which is why I’d prefer to have you all working the problem together. I’m not the combat expert, but even I know that telekinesis would be a huge asset on the battlefield.”
“And if the real Zen’zat have it,” David said, thinking long term, “the sooner we figure it out the better.”
“That thought also crossed my mind.”
David shook his head in dismay. “Is there no end to their bag of tricks?”
“Given the size of their database, I’d guess we’re in for a lot more surprises…not to mention whatever they’ve developed over subsequent millennia.”
“Don’t remind me,” David said, standing up. “If I start mindbending pebbles I’ll let you know, but I’d like to get on the Colorado mission before the cop shooting gets any colder.”
“I’ve made arrangements for you to work out of the Phoenix spaceport. There’s a mantis on standby to take you there whenever you’re ready.”
David tapped the datapad he’d left on the Director’s desk. “Send a copy of that and all other relevant information to my account.”
“That’s all I’ve got at the moment, but I’ll make sure you get any updates within an hour of them crossing my desk.”
David nodded, not bothering with a goodbye now that all relevant information had been exchanged, and headed down the
stairs out of Davis’s office, picking up his armor satchel from the bottom where he’d left it, and headed straight over to the mantis air pads.
4
May 17, 2405
Solar System
Earth
David sat in one of the Phoenix spaceport’s executive offices, studying report after report that Star Force security and analytics were pulling for him, some based off of Davis’s previous work and others following up leads the Archon pointed them toward. The more data that David worked through the more he was convinced that Davis was right that some shadowy organization had a foothold in the Colorado region. Whoever it was was very tidy, but Archons weren’t chosen only for their physical skills.
Seeing and identifying new patterns, troubleshooting where one had no previous experience, and finding ways around problems were all baseline prerequisites for Archon trainees and while this organization, which David had come to start referring to as ‘The Silence,’ had perfectly blended itself into societal norms to the point of invisibility, his mind didn’t function within the box that the masses did, and thus The Silence couldn’t camouflage against what they didn’t understand.
There were clues everywhere, like scattered easter eggs, but nothing that could even remotely be used as proof…not that David needed proof. Nor did Star Force for that matter. But he could see how The Silence had eluded national authorities so easily, even with the occasional gigantic snafu like the death of the police officer in Steamboat Springs. The city was small, but like most nowadays had a central portion that was built vertically to allow for population growth while maintaining the wilderness environment that many vacationers came to visit from the urban sprawl along the coasts.
The shooting had apparently happened on the street in a small college park when a group of students got into an argument with a passerby. The man had shot them, then a nearby officer that responded to the ruckus before three others got onsite and killed the shooter, whereupon they claimed his weapon that mysteriously morphed from a plasma variety to the much more common bullet-launchers.