by D. J. Holmes
The End
Return to
Haven
Empire Rising Book 3
Prologue
9th February, 2467 AD, Haven
Clare Edwards was a cleaner, though that term referred to something entirely different than it once did. Her job was to carry out regular sweeps of the Council Chambers for bugs or other dangerous electronic devices. That meant she had access to a lot of sensitive information, it also made her the perfect spy. An intermediary representing Councilwoman Rodriguez had approached her almost two months ago. The intermediary had offered to pay Clare a high price for any information she could smuggle out of the First Councilor’s office.
As she had listened to his pitch she couldn’t deny that he had done his homework. He had said all the right words; corrupt leaders, uncertain future, a need for new friends and allies. They were all thoughts that had already been going around in her head. In the end, Clare had been happy to agree and the money had been the icing on the cake.
Being on the inside of the Council Chambers had opened Clare’s eyes to what went on within the Council. Especially when it came to the First Councilor. The revelations about piracy and corruption the British Captain had made hadn’t surprised her in the least, but they had been the final nail in the coffin. From then on, she had decided that Haven needed to be led in a new direction.
When Councilwoman Rodriguez had contacted her, it had been the opportunity Clare had been waiting for. Since then she had been feeding the Councilwoman all the information she could get her hands on. None of it had been of great value, yet she hoped it would prove of some use. Certainly, it had given her a thrill when she had listened in to Councilwoman Rodriguez’s weekly broadcasts to the populace and had heard references made to information she had slipped the councilwoman.
Today Clare knew things would be different. The First Councilor was having a private meeting with Admiral Harris and two of the most powerful Councilors on the Council. Clare was positive something was afoot and she was going to make sure Councilwoman Rodriguez heard all about it.
As she entered the First Councilor’s outer offices, Clare nodded to the receptionist behind his desk. There were also two guards barring the way into the Councilor’s main office but they ignored her when she looked at them.
Instead of staring she got to work. First she scanned the outer office for bugs, then she went into the adjoining bathrooms and scanned them. Once she was finished she walked confidently up to one of the two guards and handed him her identity card. He scanned the card with the portable reader he carried before stepping aside to allow her to place her hand on a DNA scanner.
As Clare reached her hand out she focused on keeping it from shaking. This was something she did every day. Yet no other day was like today. Today she was going to betray her nation’s leader. Despite her outward confidence, she felt like she was about to break down. She wanted to let out a giant scream or break into a fit of giggles.
Thankfully, her hand stayed still and the DNA scanner let her enter. As she walked in she closed the doors behind her. When they shut, she let out a deep breath. She was alone, the First Councilor was not expected back for another hour and no one else would be coming in.
She got to work and carefully scanned the room for bugs. When she found nothing, she uploaded the results of the scan to the Council Chambers’ main security computer. Then, very carefully, she reached into the backpack she carried her equipment in. Slowly she pulled out a bug the intermediary had given her yesterday. After examining it for a few seconds to make sure it was fully functional, she placed it under the First Councilor’s desk.
The bug was impressive. She had scanned it herself with her own security equipment. With luck it would go unnoticed until she returned tomorrow to carry out the next scheduled sensor sweep. Then she could pick it up and take it home with her, leaving the First Councilor none the wiser.
Her job done, she packed up her equipment and headed out of the First Councilor’s office and nodded to the receptionist again. Then she made her way to the next set of offices that needed scanning and continued her normal work day.
*
Clare sat in one of the cubicles in the public bathrooms in the Council Chambers. The receiving device the intermediary had given her was sitting on her lap. The bug had a COM unit with a very limited range to avoid detection. She had to stay near the bug to record what it picked up. With a couple of taps on the receiving device’s interface she turned on the ear bud.
“Your repairs are now complete?” First Councilor Maximillian asked.
“Yes,” a voice replied which Clare guessed was Admiral Harris. “Solitude has been restored to full functionality and both Avenger and Sparrow are ready to go.”
“Ready to go where?” a female voice asked. Clare knew Councilman Farks and Councilwoman Pennington were both scheduled to meet with Maximillian and ascribed the voice to Pennington.
“That’s why I invited you both here,” Maximillian said. “You command the strongest following in the Council and among the populace. Together we have kept the people on board with our vision for Haven despite all the recent upsets. However, we all know that things are going to change rapidly in the coming months and years.
“Being discovered by that British Captain was one thing, but to have not just one but two alien civilizations on our back door is going to make us a target too good to give up. Unless another shift passage is discovered, the only way from Earth to the Vestarian and Kulrean homeworlds is through Haven. That means every Earth power is going to be vying for control over our system. Whatever power controls us, will control access to the aliens and will obtain a huge advantage over their rivals.
“Unless,” Maximillian said and paused for effect. “Unless we act now. Admiral Harris and I have a plan; however, it is risky. That is why I have asked you both here. I thought it wise to get your approval, for if it works, we will have to make sure we cover our tracks well. And if it doesn’t, then we may have a set of different problems we will need to face together.”
“Just what are you suggesting?” Farks asked.
“Yes, I’m not sure I like the sound of this,” Pennington said. “I overlooked your earlier actions because I think we need stability at the current time, but you are proving to be somewhat rash.”
“Nonsense,” Maximillian said in mock disgust. “You and I both know that everything I have done has been in the best interest of our world. I am the great grandson of our founder and I won’t let it be taken over by any earthling!”
“Then what is your plan?” Pennington said. Clare could hear the concern in the Councilwoman’s voice.
“You tell them,” Maximillian said to Admiral Harris.
“It’s simple really,” Harris began. “If friendly diplomatic relations are opened between Earth and either the Vestarians or the Kulreans, then Haven is going to become the center of all the Earth nations’ attention. Our plan is to stop these relations now, before they deepen any further.”
“That’s a grand goal, but surely one that is impossible after all that British Captain did to help the Vestarians and Kulreans,” Farks said. “Their relations are hardly going to sour now.”
“No, we don’t think we can stop the British from becoming friends with the Vestarians and Kulreans. But we can stop the aliens from letting any other Earth powers approach their systems. And with luck, we can make it so that even the British have to tread carefully with the aliens for the next few decades.”
“And just how are you going to do this?” Pennington asked.
“We are going to fake an attack on the Kulrean diplomatic envoy,” Harris answered.
“What?” Pennington shouted before Harris could explain any further. “That’s insane. If we attack the Kulreans we will bring the wrath of every other human power down on us. They would invade for sure and probably arrest the whole lot of us.”
“We don’t plan to kill the Kulreans, we only want to attack their ship and scare th
em off,” Admiral Harris answered calmly. “A few missiles set to detonate near the Kulrean ship should be enough to send those pacifists running home. And no one will come after us if we make it look like it was another Earth power. We can intercept the Kulreans in the Alpha system and make it look like our ships are Brazilian ships. That will shift the focus of the Earth powers away from us and onto the Brazilians. More importantly, it will cool relations between Earth and the aliens. If it works, it will give us the breathing space we need to survive.”
“You are talking about attacking a peaceful alien race,” Pennington pleaded.
“An alien race that has done nothing against us. How can you justify this? Surly this is not who we are.”
“We are survivors,” Maximillian said, re-joining the conversation. “Our forefathers did everything they could to survive and make this colony feasible. We owe it to them to protect what they have built.”
“But not by becoming the very thing our forefathers left Earth to avoid,” Pennington said angrily. “This smacks of the very backstabbing and political maneuvering our forefathers so despised. I cannot let you do this,”
“You have very little choice,” Maximillian said. “As well as being my biggest supporters and the most powerful councilors on the Council, you are the only ones who can seriously oppose me. If you don’t agree to this plan, you will not be leaving this Chamber.”
“Are you threatening me?” Pennington almost shouted in indignation.
Clare was shocked by what she was hearing. Instinctively she tried to up the gain on the bug to make sure she got the rest of the conversation as clearly as possible. If Councilwoman Rodriguez could leak this information she might just be able to overthrow the First Councilor.
“Hold it,” Farks said before Maximillian could respond to Pennington. “My COM unit is detecting a strange signal. I have programed it to detect attempts to eavesdrop on me. When was this room last swept for bugs?”
“Shit,” Clare said as she pulled the ear bud out. “Time to go.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she threw the receiving device the intermediary had given her into the toilet. There was no way she would be able to get out of the Council Chambers with it now. There was also no way she could just walk out the front door. If they found the bug she would be at the top of the suspect list. Thankfully, she had a backup plan in place.
Calmly, she flushed the toilet and walked out into the corridors of the Council Chambers. Without looking around, she casually walked down the nearest corridor and made a number of turns. Less than two minutes later she rounded a corner and came to a dead end.
“Hi there, Helm,” Clare said to the security guard who was sitting at the end of the corridor. He was guarding an emergency exit.
“Miss Edwards,” the guard said smiling. “It’s good to see you. What? No coffee?” he asked when he saw her hands were empty.
“Sorry, not this time, I just came for the conversation,” Clare said.
Instead of looking disappointed a pleased smile crossed Helm’s face. Since she had decided to spy on the First Councilor, Clare had been working on an alternative escape route. Helm was it. He was tasked with guarding one of the emergency exits. They were to be used only in the event of an evacuation and were otherwise locked so that no one on the outside could get in. Helm did have a card key however, allowing him to override the locking mechanism in case it malfunctioned in an emergency. Clare had been visiting him regularly over the last two months, usually under the guise of bringing him a coffee from the staff canteen.
“So what’s new?” Helm asked as she approached his security desk.
“Well, I’ve finished my scans for the day and I was wondering what I’m going to do with myself this evening,” Clare said coyly. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“I dunno,” Helm said as he looked down, a little taken aback. “Maybe you would like...”
He didn’t get the rest of his sentence out for Clare was already racing forward and her fist made a solid cracking noise when it connected with Helm’s head. Without even a groan he slumped over his desk unconscious.
Clare fished around in his jacket for his access card. She swiped it across the emergency exit’s control point and its lights switched from red to green. She pushed the doors and jumped out into the open air. She heard a voice squawking over Helm’s COM unit and broke into a run.
There was no doubt that a quick search of the Council Chambers’ security cameras would identify her as the one who had attacked Helm. As soon as they knew who she was they would know that she had planted the bug. She needed to disappear quickly. Thankfully, the intermediary had provided her with a fake identity and some credits for just such an eventuality. She had hidden them in a rundown building less than a kilometer from the Council Chambers.
After several minutes of running at as close to a sprint as she could maintain, Clare reached her destination. There was no doubt the Council Chambers’ security sensors would have been able to track her this far away from the Chamber, but with her new identity she would be able to get on the nearest maglev train without any difficulty. Then she could disappear.
As she ran to the nearest station she pulled out her COM unit and composed a message to Councilwoman Rodriguez. She wouldn’t be able to give the Councilwoman any hard evidence; the politician would just have to take her word for it. Nevertheless, Clare knew Rodriguez would take her seriously, what she had to say was too important to ignore.
In the Council Chambers, Maximillian was in the main security office watching a holo recording of Clare attacking Helm. “Do we know who she is yet? Did she plant the bug?” he asked the head of security.
“Her name is Clare Edwards; she is a cleaner. Her work records show that she scanned your offices for bugs earlier today. I think we can assume she planted the bug.”
“How quickly will you have her in custody?” Maximillian asked angrily. “She is going to pay for this.”
“I’m coordinating with the local defense forces. They are already closing in on her. It looks like she is heading to Hornblower station. If she tries to get on a maglev train, we’ll have her in seconds. I have already alerted the local police force to apprehend her as soon as she uses her identity card to access the station.”
“I’m picking up a strong COM signal coming for the fugitive’s location,” another security officer called from his terminal.
“Jam it, immediately!” Maximillian shouted. “She can’t get her information out.”
“It’s too late,” the officer said. “She has already finished her transmission.”
“Damn it,” Maximillian shouted as he punched one of the terminals.
“If they were bugging our conversation then your plans have been leaked. I’m sure this cleaner wasn’t working alone. One of your opponents was behind this I’m sure,” Councilwoman Pennington said from where she stood watching Maximillian. “You must publicly renounce them immediately or else they will use this against you. Worse, this information might get back to the Earth powers. You need to rescind Admiral Harris’s orders.”
“Arrest her,” Maximillian said, “she is a coconspirator with this cleaner.”
“Wait, you can’t do this,” Pennington said as two security guards approached her.
“I just did,” Maximillian said, “lock her up,” he added.
“What did the message say and where was it sent?” Farks said to show he was still on board with Maximillian’s plans.
“It is encrypted,” the security officer who had detected the signal said. “It will take several minutes to decode. Judging from its strength, I would say it was meant for someone in the outer system. Maybe on one of our mining operations.”
“Rodriguez,” Maximillian said. “That bitch. I’m going back to my office. I have a message to record for her.”
*
Councilwoman Suzanna Rodriguez’s COM unit beeped to alert her to an incoming message. “What is it?” she asked the station manager.
; “We just got a message from Haven, I think you are going to want to see it,” he replied.
“I’m on my way,” Suzanna replied.
A couple of minutes later she stood in the command room of her family’s gas mining station. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “I never thought Maximillian would stoop this low.”
“Can we trust her?” the station manager asked.
“Yes, I believe so, all her other reports have been accurate,” Suzanna said, having already asked herself the same question.
“We’re getting another transmission from Haven,” one of the technicians said.
“Put it on the main holo display,” the station manager ordered.
“Suzanna,” Maximillian said when his face appeared. “I should have known that you would be spying on me. However, I can still be reasonable. If you delete the transmission you received I will agree to meet with you for open and frank talks. On the other hand, if you leak this information, I will crush you. I will tarnish your family’s name and strip you and your relatives of their wealth. The name Rodriguez will go down in infamy on Haven and you will not live to see out the year. Think carefully about what you do next councilwoman.”