ARTIS PRIME

by Tobias Roote

  In fact she was discussing with Gossie the means with which to bring Osachi up to date. She didn’t know quite how to handle it yet. The opportunity needed to present itself in the right way. She looked up at the young man to see how he was coping with it all. He looked older, pale and tired, the experience had taken a lot out of him. He would survive, but could he manage to absorb all of the information he needed to before he was returned to his own people.

  He tapped her on her shoulder as if to bring her out of her reverie. “But, how do you know all of this? How did you discover about the Tochin? They had told me the coup was almost ready to begin; a simultaneous takeover of both Terra and the Empirum,” Osachi said. He was looking for confirmation or denial of the the information he had been fed.

  RIGA nodded at this confirmation of her own QDE data conclusions. ‘It’s true, but I think we can stop it, or might already have brought a temporary halt to it. I have no idea what is happening in Terran space, though.”

  “It sounds like you might have saved both our empires, RIGA,” he said admiringly.

  “Actually, it’s all thanks to you Osachi, literally. Your shield and cloaking upgrades worked so well, we took them by surprise and managed to follow their trail across two empires,“ RIGA complimented her friend.

  “Really! As simple as that?” He sounded completely unconvinced. He was young, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew there was a lot being left unsaid.

  “Well, it might have taken a bit of investigative work as well, but truly your shield and cloak helped immensely. I’m told by Jennings here that your family were very concerned and he was sent with a small fleet to hunt you down and rescue you,” RIGA said.

  “I doubt that, RIGA. We have a family policy of no ransoms and no recoveries because in the end they always cost other people's lives. My father always said none of us were worth more than any other man, woman or child. So, if Jennings says my family sent him, then you shouldn’t believe him,” Osachi responded derisively.

  “We have a problem, then,” RIGA advised him. “How well are you known amongst the small fleet that is here in Empirum space?”

  “Probably on sight by all officers on the bridges of any fleet ship. I’m supposedly their next Commander-in-Chief, after my father.”

  “OK, next question. Are you aware of who kidnapped you?” RIGA asked him.

  “Yes, it was that weasel, Wright. The bastard called on me while I was waiting for you on the Space Station and the next thing I know is, I’m being interrogated by that scary bastard, Trench, on an unknown ship.”

  “What was it they wanted?” RIGA asked.

  “Initially, they demanded the cloak disarm codes for your ship. Then, he said they weren’t important as you were the next in line for interrogation. I thought the bastard was lying. Anyway, I didn’t give him anything then because another officer came down and stopped it. I was apparently worth more unharmed and alive, than dead.” he paused, shifting to a more comfortable position.

  “They transferred me to another ship that brought me to this place,” he indicated the moon base below. “ I was given chemicals to force the truth from me. They didn’t stop there, though. They took great delight in telling me that as the plans progressed, they had less and less need for me, so used torture to extract more information. In the end I gave them all they wanted, but they never asked about your shields, so I hoped you would understand and realise that I had no choice, but to give them something - I gave them the cloak.

  RIGA smiled. “It wasn’t a problem. I guessed as much. However, now we need to get you safely back to Terran space where your family can take steps against the threat in your systems. First though, you must speak to the captains of the Terran fleet. Then we must remove the Tochin threats on board those ships. From there you can safely return home. You will have time to read and act on the records we have obtained from the Tochin ships on your way back to Terra,” RIGA explained.

  “Talking of ships....” Gossie interjected. “Flash message off the nearest comms drone. TELLUR destroyed. GEN Vasta damaged, but operational. Two other Empirum cruisers damaged. No losses. Terran fleet under arrest pending your return. Update on time-scales soonest. Terrans are unhappy,” Gossie reported.

  “But – ” Jennings looked shocked.

  “Oh! Sorry, Captain.” RIGA said with false sympathy.

  “YOU DAMNED CYBORG...” he shouted at her. “Your kind will be finished once we takeover. Humans will never be controlled by artificial intelligence so long as the Tochin are in power. “ Jennings frothed in his fury, straining at his straps in an effort to get to RIGA.

  “Damned by your own admission, Captain Jennings, if that’s your real name. We have a list of all of the Tochin agents in the government and military forces, and as soon as I reach Epsilon Gamma, my job will be to eliminate them all - with extreme prejudice.”

  “Hah! You think you’re clever, you only have a fraction of the agents we have in place. We have been planning this for years. You have no idea,” he spluttered.

  “Really, Captain? Did you know that the DNA of the Tochin has a marked difference to that of say, a human from Terra, or from the Empirum? They represent a minor branch off from Earth origins, but it is clear and unassailable evidence of your origin. The ESSG has been testing people in positions of high office for the last three weeks under the pretext of a dangerous virus outbreak. It won’t be long before all of your people are identified.” She paused to give him time to digest the information. Osachi was watching the exchange and RIGA knew he was making his own mind up.

  She continued for Osachi’s benefit. “Back that information up with the database of agents that we have recovered from the TELLUR, then add it to the core we recovered from the Tochin telephone exchange in Terran space and we can probably cross-identify and confirm 99.9% of all your agents within a matter of days.”

  “The core was destroyed. I saw the debris. You’re bluffing,” Jennings accused her.

  “Yes, it was damaged, but sufficient amount of the memory core remained intact and we photographed the complete telephone exchange before it blew up. We have a visual record of every cell in Terran and Empirum space. We can tie all that in quite easily with the logs we retrieved from the TELLUR and the DAN.”

  Jennings was thinking. “You are still too late. Our fleet will respond as soon as they learn what is happening. It is going to take you time that you don’t have to neutralise our agents. They will go underground as soon as they are discovered.”

  He shook his head. “It won’t halt the invasion. It will be put into immediate effect and you will lose all of your fleets and your defences.” He smiled as he realised, “you cannot defend yourselves against our superior forces, not even the Terrans can stop us.”

  “Oh, and why is that Captain?” Osachi asked. His pain temporarily forgotten in growing concern for his Father’s empire.

  “Ah, I cannot say, but it won’t be long. If I were you I would take sides with us now, you could be ruling both empires. We only want to secure our borders from these abominations.” He scowled at RIGA.

  “Actually, you're wrong, Captain. We discovered Pelon’s plan to install missile and defence weaponry compromised with Tochin over-rides. Now, when you press the button on your little invasion, all you are going to do is seal your own death warrants,” she responded having had enough of his tiresome behaviour.

  Jennings fell silent, slumped down in the chair, all of the previous arrogance replaced with dismay as he realised that RIGA was right. She had identified all of their plans. The look of dejected disgust on his face was evident. RIGA decided it was probably the thought of being ruled by cyborgs and AI’s.

  She had one last point. “The only decision left to me at this precise moment, Jennings, is what to do with you once your debriefing has been carried out.”

  “Oh! I think my father would like to deal with him, personally,” Osachi piped up, smiling at RIGA in open admiration.

  ‘The inter-system shutt
le Met Tampa is in hyperspace and will be at the coordinates in two hours,’ Gossie announced on their private circuit.

  ‘We should be there to greet them, but remain cloaked. We cannot take any chances until we are sure,’ RIGA responded.

  “Osachi, please strap yourself in, we are about to jump the ship.” She smiled quietly - mission accomplished.

  27. The Clean Up

  RIGA arrived at the main door to the Secret Committee of the High Council. They formed the nucleus of support for the ESSG and were fully aware that the ESSG had thwarted an invasion plan by an enemy empire. At this point the Leader of the Senate, Conver Legurre, would be the only one who knew the whole story, but she wouldn’t know the names of those involved in the conspiracy until afterwards. This was because she would have to deal with them on a daily basis until such time as complete security was restored. To avoid compromising the ongoing trace of all cell members and their contacts, it was deemed best to restrict that information to the Operational Unit, headed by Bollida, with RIGA as Director.

  The emphasis was on not creating panic over which of their colleagues might be the enemy, the confidence in the Council had to remain intact. The whole matter needed to be handled delicately and all of the known enemy watched in a major operation to establish their level of involvement directly, and indirectly, in affairs of State. Every move they made was recorded, monitored and judged.

  RIGA proceeded with a debrief on recovery of the Terran Empire’s prodigal son, Osachi, and the unfortunate accident that cost the Captain of the Tesperadus his life. Cut to pieces by a fusillade of laser fire in the secret base at DL5YK , the Captain had died attempting to protect Osachi during the recovery operation. Unknown to the Council and In actuality, Captain Jennings was being extensively debriefed by ESSG and would, shortly be passed back to the Terran authorities.

  The Tesperadus and its fleet had recently returned to Terran space with Osachi on board. It had been delayed in quarantine while Empirum medical staff inoculated all crew members and officers against a deadly virus that had been released by saboteurs. Unfortunately, a small number of officers and crew were already infected and had died before the antidotes could be distributed to the crew.

  The replacement PO, several Deck Officers and two Ensigns across the three ships as well as four senior crew members on the weapons decks were all fatally infected. As per standing Space Navy protocol, all dead were disposed of through a short service of remembrance, their sepulchres committed to space on a fast trajectory into the system’s sun.

  As with Captain Jennings, a cloaked Empirum vessel standing by, recovered all coffins. These were transferred to a secure facility where sedated Tochin agents were prepared for debriefing by ESSG. Again, these enemy agents would be transferred to Terra at some point.

  With the destruction of the Goliath and the DAN, the Tochin had suffered a setback to their planned invasion. However, they had no idea that their operations had been completely compromised by RIGA’s efforts in obtaining the databases of agents, and infiltrated agitators.

  The lack of any retaliation against their secret assets had left the Tochin complacent, believing them still secure, which was exactly how ESSG’s Director of Operations wanted it. The Empirum’s revenge against the threat needed to be complete, which meant a total blackout on all investigations while each and every conspirator was tracked down, and dealt with.

  Bollida, unsurprisingly, gave RIGA a free hand to conclude the matter, safe in the knowledge she would deal with everything efficiently and quietly without any trace back to the Council. This was what she had trained for and, in this particular matter, she knew it was a matter of extreme importance, that no Tochin was left behind.

  ***

  Few would ever know just how close the Empirum had come to the outbreak of interstellar war, or that it had been averted largely through the efforts of just one agent of the ESSG. The Council themselves were only partially aware of the immensity of the averted threat. As a result nothing changed outwardly in Council as the ESSG went about quietly picking up all of the pieces, clearing all of the debris of treachery and minimising the fallout from internal breaches in national security.

  Then, for the Empirum it was a time of great sadness as, through a combination of accident and illness, the Empirum lost four great bastions of strength and leadership in a short period of time. The Council quickly came together, human and AIder, to assure their subjects that, despite the loss, there would be immediate steps taken to elect new representatives. Thus reassuring everyone that business in the Empirum, would continue as usual.

  Even before the dust settled, the new Council quickly changed the ‘usual’ balance of thinking, forcing old decisions to be overturned. New, decisive policies took hold, ousting previously ratified decisions. The Empirum moved forward dynamically, finally marching in tune with the majority population of its member planets. It was a time of amazing progress and the Empirum’s popularity improved by its new thinking, looked ahead and considered new treaties, the first on the table being the Terran Empire with which trade was already proving beneficial to all.

  In the military, there were similar tragedies. A flitter explosion, airlock malfunction, and a missing shuttle, took three senior members of the PACT Navy out in one month. Filling the resulting vacuum in strategic management with worthy successors created an early opportunity for radical changes in military strategy.

  This resulted in the dismantling of unpopular policies of appeasement in matters of Empirum security. As a consequence, immediate expansion of Navy operations, along with reorganisation of priorities, brought an immediate end to the plague of smuggling and pirating within the Empirum’s borders. There was a new confidence in the Pact and the promotion of Captain Xandarl to Fleet Admiral ensured that the future Navy would prove more responsive to any perceived threat of its borders. The Empirum was more secure.

  ***

  The delicate wires completed their intrusion of the small control box built into the recessed entrance to the building. The glow, previously a dim red outline around the switch now turned green, the universally accepted colour of approval. Still the figure delayed, waiting for some unknown signal to proceed. Then, when the built-in timer should have returned the switch to red, it flashed once and turned off. An audible click indicated the lock had disarmed. The figure, a shadow in the darkened recess of the unlit street moved silently through the now open doorway and into the blackness beyond. As the door quietly closed, its self locking mechanism awoke the control box which, newly reactivated, resumed its dim red glow.

  Inside, the figure worked quickly in complete darkness, efficiently moving between items and obstacles as if in broad daylight. The shadow moved down the corridor to the door of a room with a strip of light showing underneath. The dark shape knelt down on one knee and placed a hand to the lit area of the door. There was a tiny flash as glass briefly reflected the beam of light and the shadow stilled, observing the room via a miniature camera placed within the gap.

  The hand came away. The figure stood, silently waiting, listening for something beyond audible reach. When it was satisfied that things were as expected, it took hold of the door handle and turning it smoothly, entered the room.

  Facing into the room the door swung shut behind them, the figure’s hand unerringly guiding the latch to its closed position, returning the corridor to darkness. The light underneath interrupted by the movement of shadows as the figure now on the other side, moved closer to the light source and away from the door. Within a few seconds the slit resumed its uninterrupted gleam.

  Inside the room, the small framed figure of RIGA, ESSG’s top agent and assassin, padded silently across to an archway and stepped silently onto the old fashioned stairway, testing each step for traps, or alarms. She had switched off all human mechanisms such as breathing and heartbeat. Silencing all sounds that would identify her as a human also meant keeping her sensors on passive to avoid tripping finely tuned receptors in the walls and
ceiling. She knew one false move, or sound, would probably mean her instant death and failure of her mission. It was not her intention to be the victim tonight.

  She continued to move silently and warily upward, another eight steps to the top, before her eyes came level with the first floor. She used zoom lenses built into her optical implants to examine the hidden traps that could only be detected by minuscule differences in height of the flooring. She could see the safe path so continued forward, stepping carefully through a minefield laced with CED’s (concentrated energy disruptor) cells; designed to explode upwards in a circle of explosive heat, they would melt all flesh and metal in a furious release of energy. Of limited duration and specifically created as man-killers, these were equally effective against synthetic and artificial intelligence. There would be little, or no trace left of a victim, requiring a little sweeping up and replacement of one square metre of floor and ceiling. A perfect defence.

  RIGA reached the end of the corridor, listening, using her heightened auditory perception for any sound on the other side of the door. There, a heartbeat, but not close, its thump regular and at rest, the breathing even, and shallow. Asleep then, she decided, as she made to open the door.

  On impulse she hunkered down and slipped a finger beneath the door, it had a small optic attached and could rotate by mental command. She scanned the room at floor height looking specifically for trips, wires or pressure points that would set off defensive devices.

  Seeing nothing specific to give her cause for concern, RIGA nonetheless, remained extremely cautious. This was her profession and she excelled at this beyond all other skills that she had learned. She could count the kills she had made, but it was moot as nobody would ever ask her how many assignments she had carried out. Nobody outside the ESSG knew she was anything but an Ambassador - only Bollida knew everything.