by Greg Curtis
“So a couple of years ago they sabotaged the key information on the computer I dragged out of Calderon Six – mainly the genetic codes. They weren’t damaged by time or radiation and that’s why they’re the only parts of the records almost completely destroyed. That’s why the records became so much more fragmented and damaged somewhere between leaving Calderon Six and arriving on Earth. So somewhere along the way they must have been tampered with. Tampered with so well that the records couldn’t be unscrambled and yet subtly enough that we wouldn’t suspect sabotage.”
“Later they decided that they had to stop me personally. Because of both of my investigations. The breakthroughs into the Calderonians and the investigation into New Eden’s fate. They both had to be stopped at all costs. Either of them could lead to disaster and I was the key instigator in both. So they drummed up an apparent bureaucratic bungle, altered a prison transport, and in true Kaiwhare style, managed to shift the blame to Helos and the other scientists, or the Edenites themselves. That’s why it was such an elaborate plan. They simply couldn’t afford to get caught killing me, and they had to have a scapegoat. Still, it was another perfectly designed plan that should have worked. Only blind luck and your own crew’s perseverance saved me. But even then there was no evidence as to who had done it and plenty of scapegoats.”
“Then when we returned to QA 40 they had to know that things could easily come unstuck, fast. Especially if we found another computer, as I stupidly said we would, and as we just did. They also had good reason to believe that we would. Therefore they had to strike again before then. But how? I don’t know the how yet. But they do. They have two people on the ship. Almost certainly they’re both agents with deadly designs for the Targ. And I’m damn sure they were preparing for this very day.”
“They’re both people with whom I’ve had no contact. Which in itself is strange. I’ve met most of the crew over the last few months, at least casually. And the fact that I haven’t even seen them suggests they’re actually purposely staying out of my sight. In their shoes I would have gone out of my way to casually meet my enemy. Anything to better understand him, find out his weaknesses. But I’m not Kaiwhare.” Which was an understatement. Even putting aside their obvious evil, the level of cunning and devious planning that went into all of their schemes was staggering to a simple scientist.
“I suspect they’re actually scared of me. Of what I might have picked up from meeting with them. And it would have been dangerous to act directly. It could all have gone wrong, and if it did, all their secrets might have come out.” Which was the other side of the Kaiwhare persona. They were evil, cunning and devious, but they were also plainly terrified of being discovered. The shadows were their favoured haunt.
“So they chose to wait, I hope, for a while. To give themselves time to plan their way out while they prepared their forces. Especially if we actually found another computer. But even so they’ve probably been planting bombs or their equivalent all around the Targ. Whatever it takes to stop the research. And the single event that would have made them use them would have been us finding the Calderonian’s computer. That’s why I acted as I did. There’s no bomb down there at least, though there may be many up here. But I had to keep them off guard until they could be taken out. And above all else, I couldn’t let anyone know what we’d found. Not until they were no longer a threat.”
“They may also have sent other ships out to follow the Targ. To carry out the actions if they were caught or failed. Or to pick them up after the Targ’s demise. Clearly they have a fleet somewhere. And given their advanced knowledge, it may be very hard to spot them with your instruments. Or to stop them if you can find them.”
“It’s also no longer just me or Earth that they have to take out. It’s the entire Community. Because sooner or later your people would have returned, even if the Targ found nothing today or was destroyed. And they would learn about them. The better we’ve done at breaking through the Calderonian’s secrets, the more they’ve had to advance their schedule.”
“So my guess is that while we’ve been sitting out here, exploring haphazardly, they’ve been desperately amassing their forces somewhere out there, preparing for an immediate all out attack. Waiting for one thing and one thing only. The signal from the two agents on board that we had uncovered their plot. And that’s the one signal we can’t afford for them to send.”
“It’s also one signal they’ll never send.” But it wasn’t the captain who said it. It was a human being, a woman. A woman he knew well. Daryl spun round belatedly, caught off guard, and saw her standing there.
“Karen?” What was she doing on the bridge, in the captain’s ready room even? In a Force uniform as well instead of her medical robe? Shouldn’t she be in the sickbay? And why was she holding out some sort of black plastic card?
“Sorry Captain, this is a Force Security matter, and we’re going to have to take charge of the mission.”
Force Security? What the hell was that? And if he was confused, why did the Captain look as though he’d been pole axed. Take charge? His doctor was assuming command of the Targ? For a while Daryl thought he’d misheard her. The strain had all been too much for his tired brain.
“You mean he’s right?” One of the captain’s aids spoke up, while the captain turned slowly orange with shock or anger. “The Kaiwhare really are the Calderonian’s enemies, and plotting against the Community?”
“It’s still too early to say about the first part, though Doctor Chalmers has shown an alarming tendency to spot what everyone else misses and then ram it down everyone’s throats.” She was only half joking he realised. The other half was an equal mix of shock, anger and worry as she came to grips with so many new problems and unexpected truths. He felt the same way.
“But if he says it’s so then it probably is. He is extremely perceptive in these things. More so than any of the other scientists, which is no doubt why they hate him so. He is a genius and they simply can’t accept that. He also has a good military perspective as well. In any case it all fits together too well and the second part is true. We’ve known for ages that the Kaiwhare were more than they appeared. Far more.” For a few seconds Daryl almost let her compliment go to his head, although he wasn’t too crazy about being described as a military type, but then the rest sank in. They knew about the Kaiwhare’s ways?
“For at least eighty years we’ve watched them as they’ve slowly worked their ways up the various chains of command, too often by stealth and scheming. An accidental death here, an embarrassing scandal there, and always it was the Kaiwhare who benefited. And it wasn’t just one or two who did it. It was the entire race wherever they were in the Community. So yes, we’ve known they were cunning, scheming little backstabbing bastards with golden tongues for a long time. And we also knew it wasn’t just an individual drive. It’s organised and as each Kaiwhare gets ahead, he pushes another one higher up the chain.”
“We also suspected they were behind the Doctor’s abduction from the beginning. Even if we hadn’t watched them as they spied on him, we would have known their subtle machinations. And the other attempt on his life when he was electrocuted by a supposedly dead circuit. We suspected them as well. We just couldn’t prove it, especially when we didn’t know why.” Neither did Daryl as he suddenly understood they’d made a second attempt on his life, or rather a first. But no one had told him.
“But the rest, that’s a shock even to us. And especially to me and the other Edenites when they find out. Even more so than to everyone else. Believe me.”
“No doubt my people and I are going to have to re-evaluate our lives, and the Earth in time, will have to be given a formal apology and integrated into the Community.” Yet the look in her eyes was one of bleakness. Even having heard the truth it would be a long time before she could accept it. It’s not easy to accept that the people you’ve hated and feared your whole life aren’t the enemy. That they’re innocent.
“But that’s for later. For r
ight now the Doctor is correct in one thing. We have to act decisively. Keep them on the back foot, and then fool them into believing they’ve won again. If we can make them relax, we can buy ourselves the time we need to prepare a decisive counter strike.” Which made perfect sense to Daryl, since it was exactly what he’d been hoping for. A chance to stop their plans, whatever they might be.
“Everything Daryl’s said all fits perfectly with what we know. We guessed that they were a covert enemy. We just never suspected how dangerous a one. Doctor, I really am going to want to see that evidence before we interrogate the prisoners.” Her attention turned back to him, and he stared at her, unsure of what to say. Unsure even who she was.
“Close your mouth Doctor, it’s considered rude.”
Ryal had entered the room, and behind him Mark. Both he noticed, had more of the black plastic cards. ID’s at a guess. They too were security? People watching him? He was starting to feel faint. But he closed his mouth, vaguely wondering how long it had been hanging open.
“I knew there was no bomb!” Mark stared at him almost accusingly. “I just didn’t know what you were up to, so I played along. Ryal too. Sorry Major. If I’d realised I would have stopped him.” Ryal meanwhile grabbed the three recorders from him, and started down loading them into another machine in his other hand.
“That’s all right. It was always going to be a hard job keeping him in line. His thoughts jump so quickly it’s like shooting at air. We really need a leash on him. Besides, there’s no harm done. And maybe, if we’re very lucky, we’ll have a lot to thank him for. His actions were incredibly well thought out for a blindly panicking scientist. Doctor Chalmers here thinks on his feet. He’ll make a good officer.” Karen turned to him and smiled. For once an honest to goodness smile with no suppressed pain even if he wasn’t quite so sure that he liked the sentiment behind it.
“For my part Doctor, and on behalf of the other Edenites here, I’m truly sorry for keeping you at arms length. I always knew you weren’t to blame for my people’s fate, but I never even considered the possibility that your people weren’t either, and it’s very, very hard to keep the two things separate. I should have been much more trusting with you. We all should have.”
“I knew doctors didn’t wander around alien planets with blasters looking for missing people.” It was all he could think to say. She just laughed. A small laugh without much happiness in it. Just wry, slightly bitter humour, but at least it was a laugh.
“Of course not. Nor are we particularly good at shooting spears out of mid air. For now though we have a bigger problem to deal with. And I’m afraid there’s going to be some major changes ahead. For a start Doctor, we’re going to have to kill you off. And the Kaiwhare as well of course.” He stared at her, suddenly alarmed, wondering for the first time if he’d made a mistake coming to the captain. But she was still smiling and no one seemed to be reaching for any weapons. Which was a good thing. There were a lot of people between him and the door.
“Saints be praised, you can be slow. Of course not literally. But we are going to have to fake all your death’s quite carefully, so it doesn’t arouse suspicion in the wrong quarters.” He assumed she meant the Kaiwhare.
“A shuttle crash perhaps. So it looks like the two Kaiwhare were killed trying to get rid of you. That would make sense and should ease the tensions a bit. Make that a lot. They’ve already taken some desperate risks to get rid of you, which speaks volumes about how badly you scared them.”
“Can’t say I blame them either. You don’t seem to make small discoveries do you Doctor? Nor do you go through ordinary channels. Instead you just seem to spring soul-shattering revelations unannounced on a universe barely able to deal with them. No wonder the scientific staff hate you. They never know what bombshell you’re going to spring on them next! Or which of their cherished beliefs you’re going to turn on its ear.” Yet her eyes were twinkling and he realised she was joking. Sort of.
“But at least with you gone, the Kaiwhare will be less worried about the mission, and any precipitous actions will be held back for a while. It’ll also explain why their agents aren’t sending them any more reports. Two birds with one stone. And it’ll give us time to prepare.”
“Captain, can you fake a shuttle crash report please. It has to look genuine. And I think we’ll kill off Ryal and Mark as well please. The Kaiwhare had taken to watching them closely as well.” The captain nodded to her. The orange had gone from his face and he looked remarkably calm once more, as he no doubt understood he was still captain. But being given orders on his own ship was probably not going to sit easily with him for a long time.
“Later we’re going to have to fake another crippling injury to the Targ. Something that will mean it has to limp home slowly, and put everything more months behind schedule. It’ll look as though the agents left behind a device to destroy the ship. Much like the first one nearly did.”
“The first one?” The orange suddenly returned to the captain’s face and he looked more than a little angry. And Daryl wondered, who could blame him? Damaging the captain’s ship and risking his crew by accident was surely bad enough. But someone deliberately trying to destroy it was something else altogether.
“Yes. I’m afraid so. Much as I don’t like the little horror, Helos is only partly to blame for the fiasco. He and his people stupidly did everything they admitted to, but most of the damage was caused by the Kaiwhare overloading all the circuits to the secondary comms office at the right time. A plan they must have put together on the spur of the moment, when the chance came up. As the Doctor said, they really didn’t want this city to be explored, and it was no doubt a perfect opportunity to stop the study and as usual, divert the blame. Especially when they saw how much progress Doctor Chalmers here was making.”
“We guessed it was them, though we had no idea why until now, but we weren’t sure until we started sifting through the repairs. That’s why they took so long. And why there are so many extra security officers on this trip. To watch them. And him.”
“But this time if Scientist Daryl is right, it could be much worse. They would surely have had to destroy us properly, and there’s only a couple of ways to do that. What if they sent another ship to attack us, or to pick up their agents after they destroyed the Targ? It could still be out there, making a fiction of our reports, our plans.” The captain was really thinking.
“They did. It has … engine trouble. It could perhaps be here in another couple of months. Or not.” Engine trouble? Daryl’s eyebrows rose a few notches at that. Apparently the Kaiwhare weren’t the only ones to play at sabotage.
“So we dash for home while they think we’re crawling back again, and raise the alarm?” It made perfect sense as a plan. Which was why Daryl had been trying to get the Targ warmed up from the instant he made his discovery.
“Ahh no. We’ll be staying here for a few more days at least. We’ll send a message instead. One only our operatives can detect.”
“But we’re out of range.” Nearly a month out of range even at top speed Daryl thought, or a couple of weeks for the message torpedoes, but he said nothing. Karen seemed to have everything worked out.
“No we’re not. Force Security has access to some technology that even the Force itself doesn’t including the mythical tachyon burst transmitter. And that’s classified by the way. We’ll send a message tonight with the important stuff to our people, and then a standard high velocity torpedo with the other stuff we want the Kaiwhare to know about as per normal. But before we leave, we need to learn everything we can here. Before we make our dash for home.”
“Doctor Chalmers, that’s your job. I’m putting you in charge of the mission to gather or record everything down below.” Her face had gone hard all of a sudden, and yet he actually welcomed it. Because the one thing he’d had no idea of, was what to do after taking the Kaiwhare out of the picture. That was as far as his planning had gone. Suddenly he had somebody to tell him what to do and it was h
eaven.
“From what you’ve already told us, I’d guess that the city below is a fall back position as much as a citadel and graveyard. And as such it must contain a treasure trove of information about how the Kaiwhare waged their war, and how the Calderonians fought it and lost. We need all that, and fast. And I know it goes against your training, but we don’t have time to be subtle about it. Do whatever it takes to get everything you can.”
“Ryal, Mark, your job is to help him in that. You have three days. Anything you can’t copy, take it with you, burn it out of the walls if you have to, and we’ll analyse it on the way back. Ignore the Ancients. I don’t care about them unless they’ve got some weapons tech for us. I only want to know one thing; how to fight these people.”
“And be warned Doctor, I won’t tolerate any more grand standing. No matter how urgent it is, you will come to me or my officers first.”