by Tobias Roote
She recalled the mission parameters received from Kildark. They were themselves unusual in that Kildark had sent her orders by cryptext, a short encrypted messaging system that piggybacked on carrier waves, making them practically undetectable. Her instructions had been precise and the location and timing had been laid down in the attached briefing. AWA knew precisely where Grady would be at that time and he was supposed to have remained at the appointment for at least two hours giving her time to remove the threats and get clear. He’d been tipped off that something was happening at the space-port and returned at the double - just in time to get caught up in it all. How did he know, what tip off ?
“If someone wanted you out of the way, there had to be good reason,” Shrilla muttered to herself as she caught the glimmer of a thought and threw it at Grady.
“Where would you have gone if you hadn’t been redirected to Simos Station ?”
He was sat back, twirling his cup and chewing his lip, consumed with his own thoughts. He saw her looking at him and realised her question was for him. He sat up paying immediate attention.
“Hmmh ! Good question. Normally, I would drop in on Command for debriefing. We have a dual-transponder circuit in the cockpit and I use it to land incognito at the space-port and meet up with one of the handlers in a bar who then usually reassigns me,” Grady replied, aware that his answer wasn’t strictly true, but not wanting to go into detail about his relationship with the AWA.
With no immediate response from Shrilla his mind drifted back to his momentary meeting with Dalt... what was it he’d said ?... “There are developments that require your immediate attention - leave now !” He scowled in frustration and smacked his cup on the table his irritation showing. Why do people have to be so fucking cryptic ?
“Whatever this all is all about has to do with me, although I’m equally certain it has nothing to do with the mission I just finished,” he confessed, none the wiser for the sudden desire to have him eliminated.
“Oh ! that’s pretty obvious, Mr Grady. Wherever you go there’s usually trouble, from what I hear,” Shrilla scoffed.
Grady was oblivious to her comments. He was still trying to get to grips with the feeling in his gut that was telling him to be some place, but where ?
He’d received a coded cryptext message from Command telling him to go to Simos Station and meet with another agent to take on a new mission of considerable urgency. It was unusual in that he wasn’t aware of an agent being maintained there, nor was Simos Station on their list of approved destinations. A few too many ship thefts and unexplained absences of owner / captains kept it off the officially sanctioned routes. Why had he not questioned that order ? Was Shrilla the other agent ?
“Shrilla, how did you receive your mission instructions from AWA this time ?” Grady queried.
“Oh, yes, I thought it was strange at the time, It was a text with attachments, but it seemed legit. All the codes were authenticated as well as the originator of the message,” she answered.
“Where would you have been if you had not received your mission instruction ?” he asked
“Same place as you, I expect. AW Command.” Shrilla turned towards him with a big question mark on her face as she answered. Seeing the look on his face she realised they were both thinking the same thing. Whatever it was, had to do with Command.
“That's where I think they will hit,” Grady announced.
“How do you work that out ?” Shrilla scorned seeing him make the leap from a single thought to a full-blown theory in seconds.
Grady was excited. He knew he was right, but needed to talk it through otherwise Shrilla would never get it.
“Whoever was managing the mission information you were given must be high up within the inner circle, agreed ?”
Shrilla nodded. “With you so far,”
“Now, only three people besides yourself know that I am working undercover for the AWA, and whoever sent me the message wanted me to be there at that time.
“Yes, but why would they want me to rescue you ?”
“I don’t know that yet. I got a message that put me into a trap, I then got another message that got me out just in time to cross your path which is where it all gets fucked up.”
“What message ?” Shrilla asked.
Grady realised he hadn’t told her. “I met an old friend who warned me that I was being stalked by an unknown group,” he explained.
“Now I hear about this ?” her voice sounded incredulous.
“Look, it was just an opportune meeting ; one that got me out of a hole.” Grady tried to dig himself out of providing a full explanation that would raise more questions than he wanted to answer right now.
“You mean just like that, and someone was there to help you escape a trap that nobody knew of until that day ?” Shrilla responded caustically.
Shrilla’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on Grady, but he preferred that to explaining things from his past that he wasn’t sure needed to be aired right now.
“Well, whatever. The point is if my message originates from the same place as yours, then something evidently isn’t right at Command.”
Shrilla made for the console and began typing in a string of text.
“What are you up to ?” Grady quizzed.
“I’m checking the message logs on the AWA database. I have clearance to access everything up to director level as part of the ongoing search for the mole. If you’re right then we should be able to check outgoing missions sent to you and me.”
Grady stood behind her watching her mining the database in her search. A ping on the adjoining console as a message box popped up with the details of the first message, the one sent to Grady. He looked at it carefully, but couldn’t seen anything unusual, except it definitely came from Kildark’s office.
“What about the other one ?” Grady asked.
Shrilla glanced at the message he was reading, then looked at him with concern.
“I can’t seem to trace it. If it was sent from Kildark or any of the directors it would have shown up in these searches.”
“Hmmh !” Grady muttered.
He now had a good idea who assigned her to take out the hunter ships, but what could he tell her ? Nothing !
“I know, I know... it should be here, but there’s no such record. I’ve even done a search under content phrases that I remembered being part of the message. Even if it was spoofed by someone within Command other than the directors, that should have brought it to light.”
“So...” Grady prompted.
“So, there’s no trace of that mission being deployed from Command which means it wasn’t issued by them.” She pressed some keys and the screen returned to the console login effectively ending the search.
“I now have a huge problem,” Shrilla finally admitted. “I took out two ships on Simos Station on false orders. Who could have organised that, and why ... and why me ?” She looked as though she’d been shot with the laser again, her face pale and waxy as the shock hit her.
Grady decided to offer some support. “Maybe you were the nearest effective agent and someone wanted to ensure the hunters were removed as a threat either to me, or the AWA. If the threat was to me, then it still means someone in AWA blew my cover. If the threat is to AWA, then perhaps me not being at Command was part of the plan. When you stop and think about this, there’s me being blind sided, you being set-up and AWA footing the blame for everything. What would be their next step ?” he concluded.
“If they failed to take us out and know we’re now together they will have no choice but to change their plans, and their target.” Shrilla caught up with his theory.
Grady nodded at her, “Whoever they are will try to take out the other two people to protect themselves. – “
“ – Then whoever is left is the mole,” she finished for him. “We need to warn them.”
“We can’t – “ he responded.
“ – because then if it’s one of
the directors they will know we’re onto them and will change their plan,” Shrilla said.
“Will you stop finishing my sentences for me !” Grady asked, annoyed, but only because she was as sharp as a pin now her sedatives were wearing off.
“How fast is your ship ?”
“You mean can it get to Gamma in a day ?”
“Yes !”
“Ario ? are we refuelled and ready to go ?” Grady called out to the AI who though still in the cockpit would nonetheless be ear-wigging their conversation.
“Ten minutes if we need to fully arm, you will need to approve payload,” came the immediate response.
Grady’s look was intense as he scrutinised the reactions from Shrilla and was pleased with what he saw ; resolution and decision, she seemed happy to be looking at a confrontation - so was he. It had been three months since his last decent altercation. It can put you on edge when you’re on stand-by for that long. He needed action and it seemed he might just get his wish, but he wasn’t overly keen on the mission, the feeling he had when the ships exploded, that ominous feeling in the pit of your gut that tells you that trouble is brewing, was getting stronger.
He sighed. “Let’s get going. There are suits and armour in that room over there, I’m just going to approve Ario’s list of weapons, then I will join you.”
He could have gone immediately, but had the thought that the reticent female agent might not be happy undressing in plain view and he had no other rooms on this level except his sleeper. His intention was to give her time to deal with that before he suited up himself.
“We can be there in fourteen hours if we don’t have to divert to avoid patrols. I have a feeling that we might not welcome any attention from the Core,” he informed her as he added armour to his already worn suit. He picked out a pair of laser pistols and clamped them to his hips, then a helmet with an active link to Ario and threw a comms unit at Shrilla who clipped it to her belt and selected the correct band for local chatter. It also recorded everything they said, saw and did which was normal practice in AWA. She left the ear-piece off until it was needed. Lastly, he picked up a black bag that went on every mission, it had toys in there that never failed to prove useful.
She retrieved her laser blaster from Citrix having added a NPB and a string of NFG’s, Nerve Freeze grenades which could harmlessly disable anyone within a fifty-foot perimeter for up to thirty seconds. If they ended up in a firefight with their own people, she wasn’t keen on taking them out permanently.
“Ario, close screens and disable the locator's sensors in the cockpit.”
The light from the outside dimmed as the screens blanked, Shrilla looked across at him strangely.
“This is a secret location, I’m not about to give you, or AW a means of tracking me down - and before you say anything, the routines in Ario are mine, and are activated whenever I set home-base as a destination, or when we leave here. The blank screens are so you cannot locate approximate locations by eye.”
“Hmmh ! What makes you think the AW are interested in your whereabouts. You’re not that important to them.”
“In that case you won’t have any problem in not being able to tell them my location, then.” Grady smiled smugly.
He could see the mechanics of her mind juggling everything as she weighed up her position. She would already know enough about him to be aware that pulling rank would have the opposite effect on him and realised that she needed his full cooperation to achieve any positive outcome.
“We need a plan,” she said finally to distract the discussion and put their relationship on a better footing. He could see the change of attitude. It was as if a switch had been turned on when she realised that he wasn’t going to be the kind of person to play games with and win. Instead she opened up a little on her thinking.
“We know there are only three people who know what we know. Kildark, Preston and Vangher. So, it’s going to be one of them, but I would probably rule out Kildark because we have the closest ties with him. It’s more likely to be one of the others,” Shrilla said by way of a peace offering.
Grady had no such loyalty to Kildark, he decided that he was as much a suspect as the other two. Neither of whom he had ever met. He said so.
“Oh ! I don’t know. If Kildark wanted to compromise the AW ops division, he would be ideally placed for it. As much as I hate to think it, he’s the more likely candidate,” he responded. Grady knew it would be useful if they disagreed, it would make their analysis more robust and tease out any weaknesses. They could automatically discount the ops staff because there was too much compartmentalisation within AW. A crewer wouldn’t have access to enough of the information to be able to put personnel, operation, location and timing into any kinds of workable format. That’s assuming they knew the codes to access the data grid in the first place. She was right, it had to be either Vangher, ops director, Preston, his deputy, or the ops controller, Kildark.
“What do you think would be their reaction to being discovered ?” Shrilla asked.
Grady knew what she meant. Would they risk an armed attack on the station ? He didn’t think so. A small force of assassins on an extract mission, but that would be all.
“No, I think whatever plan they have it will be to sow confusion and put us off the scent while they escape or use misinformation to send us on a wild goose chase,” he said, shaking his head as if discounting further ideas.
“Are we missing something here ? Why ?”
“Why now, you mean ?” Grady replied.
“Yes, why was it important to move against you now, If it was one of those three, then they have known for years who you were. So, why strike now ?”
“I think you have to ask yourself who is behind the agent. Are they freelance working for their own ends, or is it a corporation plot to undermine the AW. If the latter, then it means there is something in the wind they don’t want us to know about,” Grady answered. It was his gut feeling that this was corporation-based. The involvement of Dalt back on Simos Station implied as much. However, he couldn’t dwell on that aspect yet. He needed to concentrate on the here and now.
“A distraction of sorts, perhaps ?” Shrilla offered and Grady wondered if that’s all this was, but something didn’t tally. He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. For them to act now meant they assumed we would be well out of the way. I’m sure your wounding was an attempt to take you out of the equation after I had been dealt with as well. I was attacked on Simos Station while you were dealing with the other ships.”
“You were attacked ? - So, that’s where the crews went.” Shrilla’’s eyes lit up at the revelation. “That makes a kind of sense. Like, if they were told you were an undercover agent then, they might want to take you out personally, and not bother about waiting to take out your ship. That explains a lot,” she said.
“How should we play it when we get there ?” Shrilla asked. Her mood was pensive, but Grady hadn’t known her long enough to push for her reasons. She was higher up the chain than him so might have her own allegiances. He decided he could trust her in this, and if anything else came up, he would watch her carefully. He had his own secrets to keep.
“We land and aim for debriefing as normal. Gauge the response and act accordingly,” Grady summed up their plan.
“...and if we’re attacked on arrival ? If we’re designated as rogue and expendable ?” Shrilla asked him for her own confirmation.
“We get out and regroup until we can see a way forward. I don’t want to be killing our own people,” he answered.
She seemed pleased at that. The idea of becoming your own side's enemy wasn’t part of their training. There were no contingencies for these circumstances. Grady decided that if they got out of this mess, they would instigate them as a matter of course. There had to be fail-safes.
“Coming up on Fording Station, Gamma Quadrant. ETA ten minutes,” Ario announced.
The station was the entry point to th
e ops centre. All ships landed there and crew were ferried underground to the secret HQ.
“Send references ahead. Advise Citrix is coming in hot, and we require emergency protocols,” Grady advised. This would tell the operators that they had either wounded personnel, or damage that required immediate attention. There would be no questions asked and they would be directed to the nearest valve to the entry point.
“You ready ?” he asked. Grady was amazed actually that the agent hadn’t pulled rank on him. They had gone the fourteen hours without a single reference to seniority. That in itself told him that the agent was serious operational material. He would look up her stats when he got a chance, I’d like to see how good she really is, he thought. Actually, he thought he just wanted to know how much better he was. It was a matter of personal pride that he aced his tests. He did it with everything. His upbringing was at fault. Living in a high-level political household from early childhood meant he was competing for attention from his parents as well as siblings to survive the private education system they were enrolled in. Whilst younger than his half-brother, Grady scored higher marks, but had had to work harder, whereas Hadrian always managed to breeze through his exams. Having a different mother, seemed to make the difference.
Despite the competitive spirit, he and Hadrian always managed to stay close. This was partly due to the cold, empty void that their parents provided by way of family life. They were constantly on show but never shown affection by either their father or mothers. It was left to them to support each other. They still did, albeit neither needed much in the way of brotherly support these days.
Grady saw they were approaching the gate and Ario was adjusting the vertical thrusters to drop them within a stone's throw of the valve. Excellent.
They prepared to exit and engage whatever faced them. They didn’t expect anything until they entered the corridor so when Grady twisted the valve and the door opened and he was presented with a full squad of energy weapons whining on full power ready to fire, pointed directly at him, he was somewhat surprised.