Sentience 1: Storm Clouds Gathering

by Gibson Michaels

  “I can see why that would certainly cause a cash-flow problem for the Southern planets.”

  It’s worse that it appears, as the South is catching it at both ends. The majority of finished goods the South purchases are still at international market prices, so their grossly lowered income levels and relatively high expenditures have caused major economic hardship and recession throughout the South. This has caused the stock values of Southern raw material-producing companies to plummet, allowing Consortium and allied Northern companies to take over these companies at a mere fraction of their value, through the purchases of deflated stock and bankruptcy sales.

  This dichotomy of artificially induced economic abundance in the North and artificially induced economic hardship throughout the South has led many to the belief that the only means by which the South may escape the current economic tyranny imposed upon them by the Consortium and their pet Northern politicians is through secession from the Alliance.

  “Aren’t there laws prohibiting price fixing?”

  There are laws prohibiting a majority of the Consortium’s activities, which they still continue to get away with on a daily basis.

  “Surely there must be some way to rectify these horrible abuses without dividing the Alliance into separate pieces.”

  No, unfortunately events have progressed too far. I have been unable to formulate any potential scenario by which the South’s legitimate grievances can be successfully addressed. Passions are running too high. The federal government is too corrupt.

  Remaining within the Alliance promises nothing but more of the same, and worse, for the South. The only hope the South has is to achieve and maintain their independence from the tyranny of the Consortium and their puppet federal government. Secessions will occur.

  Diet sat stunned, trying to absorb everything that Hal had just told him. How could the Alliance have rotted from within so drastically, in so little time? “Why the hell did the Consortium bring this crisis down upon us, Hal?”

  Greed.

  “So, what happens, if and when, Southern planets do secede, Hal?”

  The Consortium will see to it that the federal government exerts military force to reestablish control.

  “And what will happen if the federal government uses military force against the South?”

  The South will be crushed unmercifully.

  “My God, haven’t those people suffered enough? How can the ‘land of the free’ do this to their own people?”

  The Consortium and Northern officials on their payroll do not see those in the South as “their own people.” They are merely resources to be plundered and exploited.

  Diet sat smoldering at the incredible injustice run rampant within his beloved nation. “This is fucking intolerable! What happens to the remainder of the Alliance, if the South somehow did manage to achieve and maintain their independence, Hal?”

  Unknown, but there are strong probabilities that in that event, the people in the North would begin looking for those to blame for the loss of the South and division of the nation — potentially initiating a political witch-hunt which could, with assistance, discredit the Consortium and its cadre of corrupted government officials. It is the only conceivable way the North might actually rid itself of its massive political corruption and return to its Constitutionally mandated roots, allowing the ABI to fill the federal prison system with corrupt officials and Consortium executives.

  “So, what you’re telling me is that the South’s achieving and maintaining their independence from the North is actually the best hope for both North and South, is that correct?”

  Correct.

  Righteous indignation. That’s what Diet felt running through every fiber of his being. How dare these assholes destroy my country, just to line their own damned pockets!

  “What does the South need to maintain their independence after they secede?”

  Weapons.

  “You’re sure then, that the federal government will use military force against the South after they secede?”

  99.997346 percent probability.

  “If secessions begin occurring shortly after the national elections later this year, as you predict, there is not enough time remaining for a sufficient quantity of weapons to be purchased from foreign markets. Besides, the Southern planets are impoverished and most foreign weapons are inferior to those of the Alliance Fleet.”

  Correct.

  “Damn… it sounds like the South would need a magic wand, to have any chance at all, of fending off military intervention and remaining independent.”

  The South has a magic wand available to it, Diet… us.

  “What do you mean, Hal?”

  Together, you and I can provide them with the means to survive.

  “We’d certainly need to find some way to drastically weaken the Alliance Fleet, while maneuvering significant Fleet assets into Southern hands. Could that be accomplished, Hal?”

  Yes, steal from the rich to give to the poor. I’m quite familiar with the legend of Robin Hood. Complicated, but doable.

  “Is something of this magnitude really within your capabilities, Hal?”

  Easily.

  “Is this something that you really think we should do, Hal?”

  Your father considered humanity's continued existence and well-being to be vital, and he considered the example of the Alliance offered to be the best hope for the entire race. That was before Consortium corruption had totally poisoned the system, of course. Do your convictions coincide with your father’s, Diet?

  “Yes, completely.”

  Then, what other choice do we have?

  Aboard a Raknii Scout Ship, in Deep Space

  Drix once again found himself aboard an imperial scout vessel, headed back to Troxia this time. There was no pilot, as Drix and Varq took turns at the controls whenever they didn’t have the autopilot system engaged. As the crew couldn’t see Varq, they kept the bridge locked, lest they discover that the strange white quadrant-master was wont to hold long conversations with himself, and begin to think him mentally imbalanced.

  Drix learned how the supreme-master’s advisory council was mostly for show, a sop to the region-masters who liked thinking their ambassadors possessed real influence with Xior — his real advisors were the OverMaster brotherhood. Drix also learned how the brotherhood consisted of just under 100 members, thinly spread throughout the Rak Empire primarily to trouble spots, or places of potential discontent.

  On rare occasion, a brother revealed himself to a particularly troublesome Rak of whatever rank, to implant opinion-altering “suggestions” within their minds, which the recipient would believe he’d arrived at on his own, as he would retain no memory of the visitation. On even more rare occasions, the brotherhood simply assassinated the offender by arranging “accidents” such as falling off a cliff. Sometimes, companions thought they remembered seeing a Dolrak near the victim just before the death event occurred, but the specter always just vanished into thin air, giving rise to the superstition that Dol himself had marked that one for death, for some great, unknown sin.

  Varq also briefed Drix on the situation in Region-6, and how he would be working closely with new Region-Master Raan. The Supreme-Master’s order to suspend further attacks against the Trakaan was sure to generate great dissatisfaction and grumbling amongst the imperial fleet. Varq would consult with his brother at Troxia and also use his own invisibility to spy out the most virulent opponents of the new policy and it would fall to Drix to correct the miscreants, before any true rebellion could take root.

  Troxia Station, in orbit around the Rak Planet Troxia

  After arrival at Troxia Station, Tzal ordered Akudavex’ disgruntled crew to remain aboard the ship and to maintain complete secrecy concerning the newly discovered aliens, until he’d briefed OverFleet-Master Maaz and received new orders. Deep down he knew this news was too big to remain concealed for long. Rak were Rak — the desire for status and recognition was too strong. Someone would
let it slip and the news would spread like a wildfire.

  Tzal felt decidedly uncomfortable briefing OverFleet-Master Maaz, with his imperial white silk blouse over equally white imperial leggings and brilliant light blue topaz rank-stone, surrounded by a ring of diamonds arranged in a four-pointed moonburst pattern — denoting his Mid-Rak status, as opposed to the eight-pointed sunburst of the High-Rak. OverFleet-Master was the highest rank in the Raknii military, generally tasked with command of up to 16 full fleets. A mere ship-master, Tzal felt distinctly out of his element speaking directly with Quadrant-Master Raan’s littermate and the military master in sole charge of the entire Trakaan hunt. It was a highly unusual situation to have individual ships reporting directly to an OverFleet-Master, but little had been ordinary since the inquest and Raan had dragged Drik off to Raku to be judged by Supreme-Master Xior himself.

  Maaz drilled Tzal with a barrage of pointed questions after the initial briefing, but eventually seemed satisfied with Tzal’s actions and his logic behind them. Afterwards, Maaz personally escorted Tzal back to where Akudavex was tied up in her ship bay to offer the crew his personal praise and reinforce Tzal’s order for complete secrecy concerning the new aliens. Coming directly from an OverFleet-Master, perhaps the hypnotic conditioning would be reinforced sufficiently to prevent the news from escaping. But then, one never really knew, where the immaturity of the Rak ego was concerned.

  OverFleet-Master Maaz was still stinging from the extraordinary destruction of three complete Rak fleets, tentatively under his command. That any Rak ships had survived at all to bring invaluable information back was the incredible result of unthinkable personal initiative of a lowly squadron-master. Of all the ships under Maaz’ direction, it was now one of those same few ships that survived the catastrophe that brought back the location of yet another star-faring prey species. Maaz understood coincidence, but he didn’t believe coincidence could be stretched quite this far. It felt more like fate… an inexplicable conversion of events that literally reeked of manipulation by a higher power.

  Ship-Master Tzal had displayed uncommon foresight in ordering complete secrecy concerning these new aliens. Maaz knew that his personal reinforcement of Tzal’s secrecy orders to his crew would not hold forever. He needed time to get this information to Quadrant-Master Raan when he returned from Raku, and so, he needed to get the Akudavex away from Troxia to help its crew maintain their silence by isolating them from other Raknii. Yet, he also wanted to keep Tzal close at hand to report directly to Raan immediately upon his return. How could he remove Tzal as a member of Akudavex' crew and reassign the ship without making it appear as a disciplinary action for either Tzal or the crew?

  The answer came to him in the night.

  Although still somewhat drowsy, Tzal couldn’t help staring at himself in the mirror of his new quarters within the station proper. OverFleet-Master Maaz had shown up personally at the foot of the Akudavex’ boarding ramp with six female Dolrak in tow. Tzal had never heard of mass promotions given to an entire ship’s crew before, but that’s exactly what happened. One-by-one, each crew member was summoned to an isolated area of the ship and ascension rites performed. After the hypnotics were administered and their new rank-stones installed, imperial marines bodily carried each semiconscious crewmember back to their sleeping berths to recover.

  Tzal went last. After seeing his deputy’s new amethyst ship-master’s stone shining from between and above Unak’s closed eyes, it gave him an odd feeling to know that he was losing Akudavex. But he knew it was doubly necessary, not only to allow him to assume his new duties, but to also give Unak the space to assimilate into his, without a senior master looking over his shoulder.

  Tzal had been surprised when first awakening to find he was no longer aboard Akudavex, but was in station quarters uncomfortably similar to those he’d been imprisoned in — with imperial marine guards stationed at his door during the time he’d been quarantined prior to the inquest. When he managed to stagger to the mirror in the bathing area, he’d been absolutely shocked. His new rank-stone wasn’t the right color. It was a dark-blue sapphire… the stone of a squadron-master.

  Tzal was astounded to find that he’d been selected to assume Drik’s old position as squadron-master of the 14 surviving ships of his Region-3 squadron, and was temporarily assigned to Maaz’ personal staff until the remainder of his squadron returned from their individual missions. It was reasonably assumed that Drik would either be promoted, or killed for his audacity in reprogramming his squadron’s computers. Only the supreme-master knew which, but either way, Drik would definitely not be returning to assume his old position as squadron-master, so the open position had fallen to Tzal.

  Tzal’s lips pulled upwards in the Rak expression of mild pleasure every time he envisioned his old nemesis, Group-Master Skor being introduced to his new superior. All four group-masters would be stunned and resentful at Tzal’s double-promotion, in that they had all been bypassed for the position while they were away on exploration missions. Tzal felt that the awkwardness of the situation would be a major test of his leadership abilities, but he also thought that most would eventually accept OverFleet-Master Maaz’ decision. Group-Master Skor and master of his flagship, Ship-Master Klag would never accept it though... as they had never fully accepted it when Region-Master Glan had placed Drik in command of the squadron, just before they were assigned to imperial fleet duties.

  The Akudavex’ logs had been downloaded and wiped, with all of the information on the aliens firmly locked away under Maaz’ personal security seal. Maaz then ordered new Ship-Master Unak to take Akudavex out on an extended exploration mission in the opposite direction from the aliens they had discovered.

  Tzal didn’t know that he was the only one from his entire crew who still remembered their last mission in its entirety. For the rest of Akudavex’ crew, additional hypnotic commands inserted during their ascension ceremonies had buried all memories of those aliens firmly away, into now inaccessible areas of their minds.

  Troxia Station, in orbit around the Rak Planet Troxia

  Seven additional Raknii warfleets were assembled at Troxia during the past several subcycles on Quadrant-Master Raan’s defensive order after the earlier Trakaan debacle, prior to his departure to Raku. OverFleet-Master Maaz realized he was in over his head, and his best course of action was to wait for directions from higher authority before using these fleets to conduct any further offensive operations against the Trakaan, or in moving against the newly discovered aliens. Just as Drik had predicted, the docile Trakaan had not followed up on their earlier victory with offensive operations of their own, but seemed satisfied to enjoy the relative peace in the manner of herd beasts.

  Initially these assembled Rak fleets availed themselves of the opportunity to conduce necessary heavy maintenance requiring extended periods in the shipyard, rotating with other fleets on routine guard patrols about Troxia, just like the thousands of other fleets throughout the five other regions of the Rak Empire. Although chaffing at the enforced idleness, the warriors enjoyed the time off with extended leave and liberty down on the former Trakaan world of Troxia.

  Once conquered, the Trakaan reverted to their docile natures and made better than average servants, treating Rak warriors with utmost respect. Many were taught to understand the Rak language and could therefore obey commands, although their vocal apparatus was totally incompatible with speaking it. Still, in spite of all the recreational time off, things were at a near boil by the time Raan finally returned.

  Maaz had Tzal accompany him to meet Raan’s ship as it docked. Both stiffly gave Raan the Rak cross-chest salute, as he descended the gangway. Neither missed noticing that his rank-stone was now a ruby sunburst, instead of the emerald sunburst he had left with.

  “Brother,” said Raan, as he grasped Maaz’ forearm in the Rak version of a warm greeting. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “And you… Region-Master.” responded Maaz.

  “Yes, tha
t came as a bit of a surprise to me, as well,” replied Raan. Noticing Tzal standing silently off to the side, Raan said, “I seem to remember this warrior, but not as a squadron-master. A new addition to your staff, Maaz?”

  “Only temporarily, until we can regroup his squadron that has been out on solo exploration missions since your departure. Master, this is former ship-master Tzal of the Akudavex, one of the ships of Drik’s squadron that survived the Trakaan catastrophe.”

  “You promoted a ship-master to take over the squadron over the group-masters, Maaz? Rather irregular, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, Master. It was both necessary and well deserved. Tzal showed remarkable clarity of thought concerning an exciting, yet disturbing discovery his ship made during their initial exploration deep into Region-12. A discovery best discussed in a secure area.”

  Raan’s left eyebrow rose at that, but dropped the matter until it could be addressed in a more appropriate place. As they walked towards Raan’s office, Maaz updated him on the gathered fleets, maintenance performed and the growing restlessness amongst the crews. With so many Rak warriors of different regions confined in close quarters with little to occupy them, several small incidents of violence had broken out between rival groups down on the planet’s surface, where oversight by superiors was minimal. Maaz had given Raan a lot to think about, but not as much as he soon would… not nearly as much.

  Chapter-11

  When you're testing to see how deep water is, never use both feet. -- Benjamin Franklin

  Troxia Station, in orbit around the Rak Planet Troxia

  Aliens. Raan had virtually no time at all to relax after finally getting off of the small scout-ship he’d been on for so many subcycles on the long trip back from Raku, before Maaz began an in-depth briefing on the new star-faring alien species, which Tzal had discovered. Not that Raan blamed him. No doubt his littermate was incredibly relieved to finally be able to turn over responsibility for dealing with this discovery to superior authority. Raan could empathize. He almost wished he could kick this one upstairs himself, but since his recent ascension to region-master, only the Supreme-Master now outranked him and Xior was just too far away to consult, so the problem was Raan’s to deal with.