Starshine by G. S. Jennsen

by Discover Sci-Fi Special Edition

  She sank back onto the edge of the data center as dread pooled in her gut, already sensing whatever followed was, in fact, going to bollocks everything up.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, citizens across Alliance space. As announced yesterday, we have irrefutable evidence one or more Senecan Federation officials perpetrated the tragic assassination of Minister Santiagar at the Trade Summit on Atlantis.

  “Likely anticipating our reaction, today the Federation has opted to falsely accuse the Alliance of attacking one of their colonies and use it as a pretext to launch a violent and destructive incursion against strategic Alliance assets. I am saddened to report over six hundred men and women lost their lives on Arcadia, a number which is likely to increase.

  “Let me assure everyone the Alliance was not responsible for the unfortunate incident on Palluda. Nevertheless, at this point it is obvious Seneca intends to provoke us into renewed war by any means necessary. We must and will defend all our citizens from aggression. Therefore, moments ago the General Assembly approved a formal Declaration of War against the Senecan Federation. We will begin mobilizing forces immediately. I will speak further as events warrant. In the meantime, follow the »SFWar feed for the latest information. Thank you.”

  “You have got to be kidding me. We disappear for five days and the galaxy goes insane? Now there’s an armada of alien ships at our doorstep and we’ve decided to start a war against each other?”

  He was pacing in agitation around the cabin, but didn’t respond. In fairness though, she hadn’t technically asked him a question yet. “Why would the Federation assassinate our Trade Minister?”

  “They didn’t. Why would the Alliance respond to a minor assassination by blowing up an entire colony?”

  “What do you mean, they didn’t? And weren’t you listening? I don’t know what happened on Palluda, but the Alliance isn’t to blame.”

  He stopped pacing long enough to glare at her. “Alex, I’ve got classified reports coming in which state it was Alliance fighter jets bearing Alliance transponder codes and using Alliance communication protocols firing Alliance missiles on Palluda. Politicians lie.”

  “Of course they do. But Earth doesn’t want war with Seneca. I mean some people do, but the politicians can barely keep track of the colonies they do govern. And they’d never take such drastic action before spending three months debating it and forming four commissions to study it first. The real question is why Seneca so badly wants war with Earth.”

  “They don’t. We got everything we needed in the armistice: to be left alone to go our own way.”

  She arched an eyebrow in challenge and pushed off the table to meet him at eye level. “Maybe you’re no longer content with your little corner of the galaxy. Maybe you desire more influence and power.”

  Frustration crept into the creases of his eyes. A muscle beneath his left cheekbone twitched. “I don’t desire anything. If my government desired more influence it would start by persuading the nearby independents to join the Federation. Think about this logically, please.”

  “Oh, now we’re applying logic to government practices? Tell me then, logically, why would your government assassinate our Trade Minister?”

  “They wouldn’t. They didn’t. There’s always some nutcase championing a cause he’s willing to die for, but all the information crashing into my head indicates it was absolutely not officially sanctioned.”

  “Well it’s not like they’d own up to it once the Alliance has called their bluff.”

  “By destroying a farming colony? That’s low, even for them.”

  “So you say. Regardless, attacking Arcadia makes it quite clear Seneca does want war with Earth. They sent half their damn fleet to destroy one base—hardly a defensive action, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Not when it’s to disable the military facility posing a proximate threat to Senecan worlds and the presumed source of the Palluda offensive.” His brow drew into a tight knot above eyes squeezed shut. “My god, for being one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met, you can be blindingly stupid!”

  Her mouth fell open in shock. Or outrage. Possibly both. “How dare you—”

  Both hands rose in surrender. “You’re right. My bad. I’m sorry I said it.” His expression said he was sorry for saying it, but little else.

  He took a long, deep breath and seemed to forcefully will a portion of the tension out of his limbs, the pose of his shoulders and the set of his jaw. “Perhaps we should not fight our respective governments’ war for them here on the deck of your ship, and instead remember the real threat we’re facing.”

  For a few brief moments, she had forgotten. Now the crushing weight of what they had seen descended on her anew. She could feel her posture falter from it. “The invading army of giant alien monster ships.”

  “Yeah, those.”

  “Dammit, Caleb. How are we supposed to get anyone to listen when they’re busy blowing each other up?”

  His mouth opened, only to snap shut as he resumed pacing. He lapped the cabin once, twice before slowing to run fingertips along the top of the couch.

  She watched his lips quirk around as his eyes darkened, a shadow passing across them and refusing to leave. It occurred to her she watched him a lot. Watched him move; watched his lips move. She needed—

  “Stupid….”

  “Oh you are not seriously calling—”

  His focus jerked over to her, sparks of light dancing behind the shadow. “Not you. I…I really am sorry. You’re not stupid—in fact you’re kind of brilliant. You said it: there’s an armada of alien ships at our doorstep, and we’ve decided to start a war against each other? That’s not merely stupid, it’s improbable beyond all reason.”

  She frowned. “I agree it does seem rather ridiculous. But I’ve learned not to underestimate the sheer idiocy of government bureaucrats.”

  “Exactly. Politicians can be counted on to make rash, short-sighted decisions.” His pace regained speed, purpose now animating his steps between the kitchen table and the couch.

  Curious, she watched—again—and waited, until his gaze returned to her. “Look, the information I see is as close to the raw, unvarnished truth as you can get. It is not propaganda and it is not sugar-coated and it says my government did not assassinate the Trade Minister.”

  She blew out a harsh breath. She wasn’t eager to rehash the earlier argument, but she also didn’t intend to give in. “Well one of your government officials did.”

  “Yes. Granted. And maybe he was simply a lone crazy and that’s all there is to it. But then the Alliance blows up a farming colony, except they say they didn’t—and you’re right, it is out of character for them. And now in a matter of days—far too quickly for cooler heads to prevail—we’ve gone from improving relations to all-out war. And I have to wonder if anyone has stopped reacting long enough to ask why.”

  The world had flipped upside down upon the sight of the invading alien army, and once more at the revelation of this nascent war. Did that make things right-side up again? For a moment she couldn’t decide if he was a genius or delusional—or whether she even remained capable of telling the difference. “You think someone is manipulating events in order to provoke a war? You might be a tiny bit paranoid.”

  “I know. I’m just suggesting that coming into this from the outside it appears damn suspicious. Which brings us back around to the question, why now?”

  She suddenly felt an intense desire to get off the crazy train and return to reality, such as it was. “It’s possible the Trade Summit provided the first real opportunity. Or perhaps the answer to ‘why now’ is the Summit. There are plenty of people in the Alliance, and I imagine plenty on your side, too, who don’t want better relations between Earth and Seneca.”

  He seemed to still, as if all the energy of his movements came to rest within him. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

  The sharpness of his gaze speared into her. It left her feeling naked and exposed, but she
refused to look away. “I didn’t say that. I only…Caleb, I don’t want war. I never did.” She swallowed. “Well not for a long time now anyway.”

  He smiled with unexpected softness. His eyes softened to match, transforming his expression to one of gentleness. “Okay.”

  His shoulders rose in a weak shrug. “And you’re probably right. It makes more sense for the Summit to be the trigger, and not anything to do with the aliens. It nonetheless means something’s fishy. We’re walking into an even bigger mess than we thought—and we’re about to toss a bomb into the middle of it.”

  32

  SENECA

  Cavare

  * * *

  Michael pulled the collar of his jacket up to his ears as he exited the restaurant. A cold front had moved in over the course of the afternoon, and the night air now carried a stinging chill.

  Nonetheless, he chose to walk the dozen blocks back to Division HQ. He needed the brief solitude—if one considered being surrounded by hundreds of pedestrians going about their business solitude—to get his head focused in the right direction. The dinner had been a brief but necessary departure from work, if only to make sure his father was doing well. Which he was. His father perpetually insisted Michael didn’t need to worry over him; it never stopped him from doing so.

  With the arrival of hostilities—a full-on war as of this evening—his teams were being pulled off the Summit investigation and re-tasked toward Alliance missions. Pretty much everything about the assassination still struck him as wrong, but he tried to convince himself it hardly mattered now. Events were moving fast; before long the assassination would be merely a footnote as the incident which kicked off a series of incidents which kicked off another war.

  Though he had a few people embedded in the Alliance infrastructure and its periphery, for the most part such long-term espionage missions fell under the purview of other sections of Division. Special Operations tended to undertake focused, directed actions in lieu of passive spying. Going forward those actions were to be targeted at Alliance interests. He bore no particular ill will toward the Alliance or its citizens as a rule, but war was war—and the visuals of Palluda were certainly disturbing enough to stir up a case of righteous indignation.

  He wove through the crowd materializing when a levtram arrived and its passengers disembarked. For the moment, life continued on as normal in Cavare, and the streets thrummed with citizens working, playing and transitioning between—

  His eVi signaled an incoming livecomm request from Caleb Marano. Huh. In the chaos which had been the last week he’d had no chance to wonder about the Metis Nebula mission. He started to put the agent off…but once he got to the office he expected to again be overwhelmed for many hours.

  “Agent Marano, it’s good to hear from you. As soon as you can get back to Seneca, your services will definitely be in demand.”

  “The war, of course. We’ll talk about it in a bit, but I’m afraid there’s a larger problem.”

  His pace slowed. “Larger than a war? You found something in Metis?”

  “You could say so. I found an army.”

  “An army? I’m going to need you to be more specific.”

  “A sizeable army of alien warships gathering. I’m sending a few visuals.”

  “Now is not the time for—” An image of a tentacled ship of obsidian metal with a red glowing core appeared on his whisper. It was followed by one showing an uncountable number of identical such vessels docked in rows along the hull of a massive—there was no scale reference, but he sensed it was massive—carrier ship. A final image pulled out to reveal dozens of such carrier ships.

  He came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the sidewalk, hardly noticing as pedestrians jostled against him then continued on their way. “I sincerely hope you are joking.”

  “Would that I were. I—”

  “Are you seriously telling me an alien civilization is hiding in the Metis Nebula, and we’ve somehow missed this fact until now?”

  “Not exactly. There’s no signs of an actual civilization. You can see a large portal ring behind the ships in the last image—they’re coming through it.”

  “From where?”

  “No idea. Perhaps from some other region of the galaxy, or another galaxy. Perhaps from somewhere else. For obvious reasons it wasn’t feasible to approach close enough to determine much with respect to the portal.”

  He exhaled, long and slow. Things were never simple, were they? His job often required him to adapt quickly to rapidly changing circumstances, but damn. “Do you have any hard data on the ships or their inhabitants? These visuals are powerful, but as you can imagine our superiors are currently rather preoccupied. I could use some additional data to attract their attention.”

  “I do. I’m sending a full report detailing all the findings to your account.”

  “Excellent.” He resumed walking, albeit at a reduced pace. “What kind of numbers are we talking about? Does the last image constitute the entire force?”

  “The larger ships were still emerging through the portal when I left. I didn’t want to risk detection before getting this information out—hmm. The report bounced. It’s being blocked.”

  “Really? We’ve strengthened the defense grid on account of the conflict, but your ship’s authorized so transmissions from it should be allowed.”

  “Well…I’m not on my ship.”

  “Where are you?”

  “On a civilian vessel.”

  “Agent Marano, did you blow up another ship?”

  A notable pause. “Not intentionally.”

  He groaned. The man’s reputation was unmatched in Division; he had a fifteen-year-plus record of successful missions, including several no one should have been able to pull off. But he was proving to be a tad expensive. “Division’s resources are not unlimited. You realize this.”

  “I do, sir. It was unavoidable.”

  “I’m sure it was. You said you were on a civilian ship?”

  “Yes. It is registered under an Alliance designation though.”

  “I imagine there’s quite a story—” He frowned as an unwelcome possibility occurred to him. “You’re not being held under any coercion, are you?”

  “No, it’s nothing like…no, sir.” He thought he detected a trace of amusement in the response.

  “Well civilian or not, chances are it’ll still be blocked. We can’t risk remote electronic attacks so the defenses are casting a wide net.” He paused. While not officially sanctioned, the use of comm scramblers was at times a necessity in their line of work. “You don’t have any method of sending from a different designation?”

  There was a longer pause this time, as if the matter was under discussion. “No, sir. Not at this time. Can you obtain a waiver? I can provide the ship’s serial number designation if necessary.”

  “I can, but I’ll need to certify it Level IV. Is it worth it?”

  There was no hesitation in this response. It is.

  “Okay. Send me the ship ID and I’ll put in the request right away.”

  “Sent. Sir, regarding the war? It seems as though—”

  He drew to a stop once again as the ship ID came in. “Caleb, are you certain you’re not being held under any coercion?”

  “Quite certain. Why do you ask?”

  “Because you’re on a ship belonging to the daughter of a very powerful Alliance Admiral—were you not aware of this?”

  “Ah, that. Yes, I’m aware. It’s a long story, but she’s not acting on behalf of the Alliance military. She’s a civilian.”

  “Is she now. Nevertheless, I’m sure you will utilize any opening which may occur as a result of your current situation, yes?”

  “Absolutely. It’s just…yes, of course.”

  “I’ve filed the request. It shouldn’t take longer than an hour. If this report is as serious as you indicate, I’ll advance it up the chain with all due speed.” He sighed, his shoulders sagging briefly from the placement of yet more exist
ential weight upon them. “Aliens, truly? As if everything hadn’t already gone to clusterfained Hell and back….”

  “I had noticed. Is this war supposed to make any sense? Because from here it simply doesn’t.”

  “Not so far as I can tell, but no one’s asked my opinion on the subject.”

  “We can talk about it further when—do you need me to come in, sir? Provide perspective or an eyewitness account to go with the report?”

  “Normally I would say yes, but your, um, rather unique situation complicates the issue. It’s an opportunity I’d hate for you to lose. I tell you what—hold tight until we have a chance to review your report. This alien threat is likely to fall to the military to handle, in which case they may want you to consult, or you may be able to turn your attention to other matters. I’ll get back to you as soon as I know something.”

  “Understood. I would implore you to treat the contents of the report with the utmost urgency, but I suspect the report will accomplish that for itself.”

  The connection ended, and he paused at the side entrance to HQ. The visuals Marano had sent were horrifying, almost incomprehensibly so. They were otherworldly, as if out of a nightmare….

  A nightmare which now made the real horrors of the actual war waiting for him inside those doors seem almost welcome by comparison.

  “Graham, the eve of war is not the appropriate setting for your brand of humor.”

  Delavasi leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms against his chest. “Chairman, even I wouldn’t attempt such a joke tonight of all nights.”

  Vranas stared at him, skepticism ranking high in his expression. “Aliens.”

  “And not the fluffy bunny kind. It’s best if I just show you.” He sent the report to the screen above Vranas’ desk. “These images came in from one of our SpecOps agents three hours ago, but they’re over a day old. Apparently communications into or out of the Metis Nebula are difficult, as in impossible.”