Colonyside

by Michael Mammay

  The waitress set my plate in front of me and removed the polished lid, displaying what had to be at least a five-hundred-gram cut of the most expensive beef in the galaxy, set off by a side of yellow root vegetables. The myth said that a specialized veterinarian certified each cow prior to slaughter. That Zentas was serving it here, two-thirds of the way across the galaxy from its origin, blew my mind. He was looking at me expectantly, so I picked up my knife and cut into it. It had a perfect sear on each side with a lot of pink and just a touch of red at the middle. “It’s perfect.” I tried not to think about how he knew how I like my steak.

  “I take care of people who work for me,” said Zentas.

  He’d offered me a job and I didn’t understand why. It could have been to buy influence into the outcome of my investigation, but that wasn’t likely. What was there to influence? He didn’t know that I knew about his lawyers helping Bergman, so it had to be something other than that. I took a bit of steak and lost my train of thought for a moment. It was a chewy cut, and the flavor . . . I now believed the hype. In the end, I went with the most basic question. “What’s the job?”

  “The job . . . is whatever I need you to do. There would be travel, of course. I have interests in many places. Sometimes being on the ground at a key spot provides a lot of benefit.”

  “So I’d go places as your proxy?”

  “That, yes. Sometimes. And places I wouldn’t necessarily go. Places with problems. As my fixer.”

  Fixer. I had to admit, if I had any intention of taking another corporate job in my lifetime, it did sound good. It fit my skill set too. But as much as I could get used to this lifestyle, I didn’t want anything to do with it. Still, it didn’t seem prudent to tell Zentas that at the moment. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would take no well, and I still wanted to figure out Caliber’s game. “I trust you don’t need an immediate answer. I’d like to think about it.”

  He looked at me for what felt like a minute but was probably four seconds. “What’s to think about?”

  “It’s a great opportunity, and a job that I think I’d like. But I was enjoying retirement. I need to weigh those things.”

  “I usually don’t wait for things I want.” He paused, letting it sink in. “For anyone else, I’d say take it or leave it. But for you . . . I think you’ve earned a couple of days. The offer stands until I leave the planet.”

  Something in his manner felt just the slightest bit off to me. I couldn’t explain it, but it made me decide to dig in a little. He claimed he came here because of his daughter, and though the meeting wasn’t over, he hadn’t made it a priority topic. He’d transitioned right into the job offer. “Just out of curiosity, what types of things would I be fixing?”

  He considered the question, perhaps deciding how much to share in his answer. “Things like this place.”

  Despite my minor issue with Stroud, I didn’t take the bait. “Your team here seems capable. What would I fix with them?”

  “The team here is fine. Stroud is unimaginative, but competent and motivated. She’s sufficient. The problems here are beyond the control of my team.”

  “Such as? Forgive me, I’m not trying to be obtuse. I just want to see what I’m getting myself into.”

  “Such as the delay in expanding our operations. Ever since your actions on Cappa, there’s been a political shift that’s gone in a decidedly un-business-friendly direction. Anti-development candidates have made gains at both the galactic level and at the local planetary level in a lot of systems. Not all, of course. But enough to cause problems.”

  “I don’t have any experience with elections.”

  “But you do. You’ve already influenced them. Politicians have exploited your action to create sympathy for anti-exploration and anti-development policies. Some have run entire campaigns on that as their lead issue.”

  “I don’t see how that has anything to do with me now. I did what I did, but that’s over.”

  Zentas looked at me like a man who might be regretting having offered me a job. “They’ve rallied one side of the political battlefield, but nobody has rallied the other side. Specifically, you’ve been silent. If you spoke up—”

  “I have a nondisclosure agreement.”

  He waved his hand as if shooing away an insect. “I have very good lawyers. Things like that are a temporary roadblock at most.”

  I didn’t want to tell him that for the most part, I didn’t agree with the side he wanted me to rally. Instead, I went back to my excellent steak.

  After another moment he spoke again. “Carl, your silence on the issue has been a problem for me. When I have a problem, I usually buy the solution.”

  Serata had said he was direct. That he wanted to buy me didn’t bother me as much as what he wanted to buy me for. “So, the fixer thing . . . that’s just a cover?”

  He smiled. Maybe he thought he had me. “Absolutely not. That would be your primary focus. For the other stuff . . . I have people for that. They’ll craft a marketing campaign, roll you out slowly. They’ll know which races you can help. Meanwhile, you fix places like this. You’ll have a team. You can pick most of it.”

  That caught my interest. The chance to bring in some of my own people and take care of them was a big incentive. I didn’t need the money, but some of them could probably use it. People like Mac. “It’s an enticing offer. That said, I’m not clear on how I’d fix a place like Eccasis.”

  “You’d find a way. That’s what you do, right? You find a way to do things when other people can’t. Now you’d just be finding a way for me instead of the government. You influence the governor. You get the local environmentalist types to get out of the way. You get expansion moving faster. Whatever it takes.”

  I’ll admit, I gave it serious thought. The task held some appeal as an academic exercise if nothing else. “I’d need to do something about the hominiverts. As long as they’re out there, it would be tough to make progress. We’d need to map their territories and work around them.”

  “We’ve got xenobiologists and anthropologists and whatever else you might need in order to craft your story.”

  “It’s not about a story,” I said. “It’s about figuring out where they go and how to get them there.”

  He smiled, but it was flat and cold. “You’re looking at it wrong. It’s all about the story. Those things have killed humans. They’ve killed my daughter. They’re a threat, but nobody sees it that way. Not yet. But if Carl Butler says they’re a threat . . . well, then people will listen. They’ll see the data our team develops, and if you do your job right, they’ll act. Or they’ll let us act. Either way.”

  My device buzzed, saving me for a moment from responding. I glanced at it. A message from Oxendine. She wouldn’t send something that wasn’t urgent. “Excuse me. I have to check this.” I thumbed it open.

  I’ve detained your hacker. Oxendine.

  Shit.

  She had to mean Ganos, which probably meant that they’d caught her doing something she shouldn’t. That could have been any one of several things.

  I cleared it and looked at Zentas. I didn’t really want to leave. I had a lot more questions, and Zentas seemed ready to talk, but this couldn’t wait. “I’m really sorry, but it’s General Oxendine. It’s an emergency.”

  “By all means.”

  “You’ll hear from me soon, Drake. I promise.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  “Thanks for the meal. It was outstanding.”

  I just hoped I could keep it down while I figured out what happened to Ganos.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mac and I headed to my quarters instead of going directly to see Oxendine. Whatever had happened there, I needed as much information as I could get before I went. Fader was at my quarters waiting.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Ganos came running into my place, threw a pair of earrings at me, then three MPs showed up a few seconds later and took her away.”

>   “Did they say what for?”

  “I asked. I even tried to pull rank. They said they had orders not to speak to anybody about it, and that included you. All they would say was that you should come to headquarters and see the general about it.”

  “Why did she throw her earrings at you?”

  “That was my question too, sir. Turns out they’ve both got computer chips in them.”

  “She was passing information.”

  “She was. There was even a short video file . . . it almost seems like she knew she’d get caught and wanted to make sure we got the information.”

  “The video—”

  “Her explaining the rest of the data, sir. Here, best if you just watch it.”

  Ganos’s face appeared on Fader’s device. She spoke in a whisper, leaning into whatever she used to make the recording.

  Sir. If you’re watching this, that means I probably got caught. I’m sorry for any inconvenience that causes you, but there was no other way. Whatever they tell you I did, I probably did. I probably did more than that. The data on this chip will confirm everything I’m saying here if a professional reads it, but since I’m your professional and you might not have access to me, the bottom line is that the hack of your vehicle came from inside the military. It wasn’t routed through the military—someone inside did it. From the data on the chips, any competent cyber tech can trace the terminal and the time, which should lead them to the culprit. A military insider hacked the cameras at the governor’s and your vehicle. It was a good hack—hard to find—so there’s a chance that the good guys looked for it and missed it, but if that’s the case, they need some better techs.

  She glanced to the side.

  Shit. Gotta go. You owe me big for this one.

  “That’s all there is, sir,” said Fader.

  “You think she’s okay?” asked Mac.

  “The message I got from Brigadier General Oxendine said that she’d detained Ganos. I think she’s probably okay. Whether we can get her out or not is a different question.”

  “When the general sees the data, she’ll have to let her go,” said Fader.

  I snorted. “Because commanders are always happy when someone points out that their organization is tied to illegal activity? Besides, I might not be able to show her the information.”

  “Why not, sir?”

  “I don’t know what she has on Ganos and what she can prove. If I give her the data, it might be the evidence she needs for a conviction.”

  “What are you going to do, sir?”

  “I’m going to go meet with Oxendine and wing it.”

  I found Oxendine in her office. At least she didn’t pretend to be busy and keep me waiting. Her XO joined us, a tall, dark-skinned colonel with short, curly hair. She hadn’t been present for any of our other meetings, and I’d only met her in passing. Oxendine wasn’t afraid of me, so that only left one other reason.

  “You figure you need a witness?” I asked.

  “I might. While I don’t suspect you of a crime right now, that could change.”

  She was sending a message that we both understood. She didn’t want to read me my rights, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still use something against me. As soon as I said something incriminating, she’d stop me and read them then. It might not apply since I’d retired from the military and wasn’t subject to their jurisdiction, but I was here on military orders. The lawyers would have to figure it out later, if it became an issue. I didn’t think it would. Ganos had done a fine job of keeping me out of it. I truly hadn’t known her plans. I could have guessed, but I didn’t know.

  That made a difference. “I took it from your message that you have Ganos.”

  “We do. She’s fine. She’s not in a cell. That’s a courtesy.”

  “What’s the charge?”

  “Officially? At the moment, it’s unauthorized access. Depending on what we find, it could go as high as espionage.”

  “Espionage? Come on.” That was bullshit. They’d have to prove she was trying to do harm at a galactic level.

  “The final charge will probably be somewhere in between. She did more than just unlawfully access.”

  “Can I see her?” I asked.

  “Maybe in a bit. First I need you to tell me what you knew about this.”

  “Not a thing.” It was only a small lie. I intended to stick as much to the truth as I could without making things worse, but I wasn’t ready to give up anything just yet. “I knew Ganos was running down a lead, but I didn’t know what it involved.”

  “You didn’t tell her to get specific information?”

  “I might have. What information did she get?”

  Oxendine smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “Nice try. You think you’re clever, but you really aren’t. Tell me what you had her looking for, or we’re done talking and we’ll let the lawyers figure it out after I ship Ms. Ganos off world.”

  It was a bluff, but the only way I could call it was to shove everything into the pot. I couldn’t. There was too much at risk. If I called out the inside job from Oxendine’s organization, I’d be admitting that I knew what Ganos found. “She was working on several things for me. Most recently, she mentioned the possibility that our vehicle had been hacked. You’ll recall I asked you for access and you turned me down. I told her that you turned me down, and I did not give her further instruction.”

  “You didn’t tell her not to try to access it on her own?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I didn’t tell her not to shoot anybody, either. I just assumed she wouldn’t.” Oxendine had asked a stupid question, so she deserved the flippant answer.

  “Those are hardly the same, Carl.”

  “I did not tell her to break the law. That’s what you’re asking, right?”

  “I believe that you didn’t. What I’m asking is if you specifically told her not to break the law.”

  “Not specifically.” I didn’t add that that wasn’t a crime because Oxendine knew that. She just wanted to make me feel guilty. Probably so I’d give her other information. But it went beyond that. It was a basic interrogation technique, and Oxendine would know that I knew that, which meant she had a different purpose. She might have been covering her ass, in case someone asked later, or it might have been performative for her subordinates. That would explain the presence of her XO, who could leak that the general had really grilled that Butler asshole.

  “Did Ms. Ganos communicate with you after her actions?”

  “I’m not sure I want to answer that.” I didn’t have to play her game.

  Oxendine’s jaw tightened for a split second before she schooled her face back to neutral. That one had pissed her off. “You realize that if she passed you classified information, then you’re party to a crime.”

  “My orders make it pretty clear that I have a clearance that gives me access at the highest level, and that I define my own need-to-know as it relates to my investigation.”

  “This isn’t part of your investigation.”

  “I have a lot of leeway in determining that, too.”

  She started to speak but stopped. Judging by the narrowing of her eyes and the hard breath she blew out, she was frustrated. Good. We’d finished the game and it was time to negotiate. She knew it too. She had Ganos on a legit charge, but I was right about my access to information. “How does this end, Carl?”

  “You give me Ganos. You drop all charges and agree not to reinstate them and not to bring new charges. In return, she will turn over to you everything she found.”

  Oxendine considered it. No way would she accept the offer, but I’d given her something to counter and she had to at least pretend to think about it. I appreciated her in that moment. She didn’t take it personally. Just business. I could always work with that, even through a conflict. “I give you Ganos, I drop the charges, and you ship her out of here on the next thing moving. She doesn’t touch a computer of any kind on this pla
net ever again, and you wrap up your investigation in the next twenty-four hours and get out of here as well.”

  I kept my face neutral. Her demands were unreasonable, but mine had been too, so I deserved it. We had a starting point. “For any of that to happen—and I’m not agreeing—you’d have to throw in that you’ll look at what Ganos found and track the lead—”

  “I’m doing that regardless,” she said, cutting me off.

  “And share the results with me.”

  “Why? That’s internal to the military and outside your investigation.”

  I took that to mean that Oxendine already knew the basics of what Ganos’s information showed. Of course Oxendine would want to keep the fact that she had a leak quiet. “Because whoever did those hacks was involved in not one, but two different attempts to kill me. Even if it is outside my investigation—and I’m not convinced it is—I want to know who is behind it.”

  “Do you see why I’m reticent?” she asked. She was good. She wanted me to put it out there instead of her having to voice it.

  “I do. It seems likely at this point that someone inside your organization was part of a crime outside your organization. Someone is compromised. That’s not something you want getting out.”

  “Go on,” she said, still unwilling to say it, but acknowledging it with her tone.

  “I’d like to promise you that I won’t put it in my report, but I can’t—”

  “Then I’m not likely to share the information—”

  “Hear me out,” I said. “I can’t promise it won’t go in my report, because if it’s linked to other issues I’m investigating, I might have to include it. What I will do is this: If it doesn’t matter, I won’t put it in, and if I do have to include it, I’ll add the caveat that it was your team that found the compromised agent.”

  She thought about it for several seconds. “So you’ll lie.”

  “Who said anything about lying? We haven’t found the person responsible yet. It’s going to be your people who do that. That’s the truth.”

  “A half-truth,” she said.