by Tobias Roote
Two hours later Grady was wishing he hadn’t chosen his own task. The mix of the mundane and the flash of activity with so many casualties was sobering. He had sequenced all the camera recordings and was now on the fourth run through from start to grisly finish.
Five men made their way through to Command. Their behaviour was perfectly natural until reaching the entry point whereupon they pulled out their handguns and sprayed hi-velocity rail-rounds throughout the Main Ops centre.
Grady watched scanning the visuals for something, a smidgen of intelligence he could use, but he couldn’t see anything yet. One man, who he couldn’t yet identify seemed to be holding back behind the others who from the screen looked similar, the must be clones, he decided. Grady had just picked up the different body movement of the fifth person and was wondering why he wasn’t pressing forward with the others when Shrilla came in.
“We’ve got more evidence.” She laid out her written findings and threw a memchip on the table where he was working.
“Kildark was definitely the originator of the message to the hunters – “
Peter came in at that point with a concerned look on his face. “We’ve tracked every move they made and we have just one problem.”
“You’ve only found four bodies,” Grady answered smiling grimly. He’d made the same connection himself.
Range was flabbergasted. “How... ?”
“I’ve watched the recordings. There is a fifth man, I cannot tell his identity from them. The others are most likely clones, and there seems to be something up with the cameras, or the fifth man is using some kind of portable diffusion device to offset the cameras,” Grady responded to his query.” Then added,
“He’s there one minute on the Command floor, the next he’s no longer in-shot.”
Looking up at both of them he gave his opinion. “I believe that we still have an intruder on the premises,” .
“I’m on it.” Range sped off to alert his team and lock down the Command area. There will be more killing before this was over, thought Grady.
“What do you think ?” Grady asked Shrilla.
“I think something stinks, there are better and easier ways of covering your trail and Kildark knows them all. None of this sits right,” Shrilla replied. “However, he’s the only one alive. The medics confirm they tested all dead for ID confirmations and Preston and Vangher were the only corpses in that room,” she added.
“They were both in the same room ?”
“Yes, Vangher had apparently been shot close range with a flechette weapon, there were six rounds fired, three to heart and vital organs, two in the throat and one through the eye. Whoever shot him really meant for him to be dead.”
“What about Preston, how was he killed ?” Grady enquired.
Shrilla checked her printouts. “He was shot in the face by a single wide blaster.”
“Hmmh !” Grady mused, he was missing something... a bunch of some things, but he couldn’t see more than was presented to him. There were aspects to this that weren’t evident yet and until they were, the answers would continue to elude them.
The door burst open, Range was there, he’d been running.
Chapter Ten
Core Showdown
“You’d better come quick. It's Kildark – he’s been arrested.”
They ran. Grady was there marginally before Shrilla and could see there were Core personnel in the corridor all armed and holding back other members of the management teams outside Kildark’s office. They were out of their jurisdiction, this was a closed area. How had they gotten in ?
He pulled his weapons and gestured to Shrilla to do the same. They held them down at their sides, less obvious until they got closer.
He turned to the squad leader and gave him his orders. “Range, get your boys up here, I want this lot contained - nobody in and nobody out until you get orders from me.”
Pulling up to the outer office area Grady and Shrilla spread out and pointed their weapons at the six men who were standing outside Kildark’s door. There were additional personnel inside that Grady couldn’t see yet. There was an almighty row going on inside and it temporarily distracted the men on the outside. They weren’t expecting any armed retaliation so were being a little sloppy.
“You boys are out of your jurisdiction - how did you get in here ?” Grady bawled as they approached the nearest and put a gun to his head to get his attention. His other hand was covering the others as they moved to swing their weapons up. “The first one to point a weapon at me will get a new hole in his forehead. We are in lock-down here and your presence is unauthorised,” he growled.
“We’re here to arrest a traitor and a spy. We have our orders,” the lieutenant spoke authoritatively. He didn’t seem concerned at the gun pointing at him, that was until Shrilla upped the power setting on her laser, the whine of the gun’s adjustment caught his attention and Grady saw the sweat break out on his forehead.
“As I said, you’re out of your jurisdiction, drop your weapons and move out of that doorway, or I’m going to treat you as part of the armed intrusion and shoot you on the spot,” Grady ordered.
“Excuse me ?” A strident voice came from inside the office and a hand waved dismissively as the uniformed person exited the office and faced Grady. “I think you will find Commander Grady, that there are more of us than there are of you and we are here officially to remove Mr Kildark who has committed the inexcusable crime of murder and consorting with the enemy. Your presence at this juncture, armed and aggressive is neither helpful nor warranted and might be construed as treasonous in its own right.”
The officer was one that Grady knew more than by reputation. Her hard-nosed approach to managing the security forces in Core was renowned and Grady had previously crossed swords with her when he was a naval attaché. Her presence here was serious, but how had the information got out so quickly ? Her response here was nothing short of miraculously fast. Somebody up top was pulling strings.
“Lt Commander Fuego, how nice to see you again - and your team.” He raised his other gun to point at her forehead knowing full well she would remember their last meeting. Shrilla would be covering the others, but they were sorely outnumbered. It was going to be a stand-off and climb down if something didn’t break. Then, out the corner of his eye Grady saw what he’d been waiting for.
He continued. “I would like to remind you, that under Core regulations, you are required to give up all weapons on entering into the Alliance of World’s neutral jurisdiction, and that under those same regulations you can be forced to do so if you refuse.”
As he finished the sound of weapons arming and the whine of lasers came from all around them and Range stepped forward pointing a large-bore multi-blaster directly at the group. If he fired it would take most of them out in a single burst. He wasn’t messing around. He had his orders and his ass was copperplate covered.
Grady glanced at him, he looked like he was enjoying himself. He caught Grady’s eye and the slightest glimmer of a wink passed between them.
“Ah, I see reinforcements have arrived. Would you care to hand over your weapons to our security team ? Thank you so much everyone,” Grady requested flippantly.
Fuego looked furious and glared at Grady malevolently.
“Squad Leader, would you escort these soldiers back to the main reception on the ‘other’ side of Command security and keep them there until the Lt Commander joins them. Retain their weapons until they are off the premises.”
“Sir !” Range responded and he and his men moved out the surly group of Core security leaving Fuego alone and feeling decidedly uncomfortable.
Shrilla bumped him. “Navy regulations ?” she muttered looking at him darkly.
He grinned. “It was all I could think of at the time,” he whispered.
Fuego was glaring at him. She’d been stripped of her baton and laser and was as harmless as a Gamma chick, a flightless bird-like creature that was so stupid it wou
ldn’t even run when faced with a hungry predator.
“Lt Commander would you join us inside General Kildark’s office.” Shrilla took over while Grady checked that all was as it should be. Kelly was standing completely undeterred by everything that had happened.
“Do you need me for anything, sir ?” he asked, completely aware that Grady was exercising his new authority in an extremely difficult situation and doing so without any apparent concern..
“Yes, try and track down where their orders came from.” He gestured to the retreating guards and their charges. “.. and who from here contacted the outside. Any questions field them to me, or Captain Beyeur until we get a grip on what’s going on.”
“Aye, sir, will do.” He smiled and charged off to get a comms specialist to help him track down the required information.
Inside AW Command
Grady walked into the office where Kildark was still seated. He was being unmanacled by one of the guards while Shrilla was returning upturned paperwork to his desk.
Fuego was standing alert, but confused. Her attempt at taking over the AWC had been thwarted, and now she was at a loss as to how to recover the initiative. Grady wasn’t about to let her get the upper-hand.
“This seems to be a habit of yours, Fuego,” Grady said condescendingly.
Her face reddened, as she remembered their last meeting. She had arrested him for insurrection and sedition, but was rescued at the last moment ; right before he was shipped off to the prison colony. Later, it was discovered she’d ridden roughshod over evidence that would have acquitted him. He’d been so disgusted with his superior officers lack of support that he’d resigned and vowed to have nothing further to do with them. This was the first time in four years that Grady had met anyone from that incident. His feelings about it still rankled.
“I do as I’m ordered,” she replied awkwardly, but her demeanour showed she was far from beaten. Her eyes gleamed with hatred for Grady and his arrival here would do nothing but aggravate her attitude towards him.
“Sir ?” Shrilla ignored the altercation between Grady and Fuego and pointed her remarks at her boss, Kildark. “We have reason to believe that you are being framed by persons and for reasons unknown and need more time to investigate our initial findings. The fact that this Core officer is here with a contingent of guards to arrest you, with authorisations of unknown origins, implies that the matter originates outside of the AW Command structure.”
“Yes, you could be right, Captain, and I appreciate the work you both have done in such a short time. However, I’m afraid something has come up that needs your attention even more than this.” He gestured at Grady and Fuego. “Commander, please remove this Core officer and return to me for your orders,” he said dismissing them, “and if Kelly is still around, send him in on your way out.”
Fuego struggled against the guards and turned to him, as she was being led out. “You’re not out the woods yet Kildark ; you will be called to the Febrillo Council to account for yourself. Be ready to support the actions of your team here today, because if I have anything to do with it there will be charges heading their way as well.”
Kildark stood abruptly and leaned over the desk with such speed she shrank back as he bellowed at her. “Lt Commander, thank your lucky stars that Commander Grady here is as quick-witted as he is even-tempered. Even without reinforcements he would have had your people dead in their shoes had you made a single wrong move out there. And, let’s not discuss just how you managed to finagle your way in here... I’m going to bet you forged documentation somewhere along the line to get you to my front door. Be lucky, VERY lucky, I’m not putting you into the can for the duration of Grady’s investigation. Be assured that I’m going to document EVERY move you’ve made and it will be available at that same commission hearing you’re talking about. Pack a toothbrush if that happens because you may find yourself with a long stay in solitary. Have a good day, Lieutenant.” Kildark dismissed her with a nod of his head towards the guards and resumed his seat.
Grady was impressed ; he’d never seen Kildark with his teeth bared. It was everything he’d imagined it would be. Fuego visibly shaken walked out of his office without another word.
He grabbed her arm and guided her forcefully to the corridor wall and pushed her up against it. “Just in case Kildark didn’t make it clear to you, Fuego - if you come after me or any of my people now or in the future I’m going to take the greatest of pleasure in putting a bullet in your head. You’re a fucking liability to the Core and you’ve crossed me twice - the third time is the last. Understand ?”
“You can’t threaten me, Grady, you’re a ‘nothing’ and always were. If I’d had my way you’d already be serving time without parole on Gueppo.” She pushed him away. “And, as soon as I get out of here I will be putting your ship and you on Red Alert status, a person of interest in the attack on Simos Station yesterday.”
“Range ?”
“Yes, boss ? Did I just hear her threaten you, sir ?” he enquired politely. “Shall I put her in the brig to cool her heels for a day, or two ?”
“You wouldn’t dare !” she accused, but looking at them both at that second realised they would do just that.
Fuego looked suddenly sick, her injudicious moment of grandstanding had just cost her dearly, she knew she had just made a mistake.
Grady realising that she would hold true on her word, had an inkling that he would need to be leaving shortly and the Core navy, if looking for him actively would happily hold him until it suited them to release his ship. He had no compunctions about what he was going to do. He smiled at Fuego and turned to reply to Range.
“I think that might be prudent. Make it forty-eight hours. I have a feeling I’m going to need that much time to clear Core space. Take her down and don’t let her communicate with anyone. Kildark’s orders still stand. Reason for detention is to be stated as ‘prisoner has information sensitive to an ongoing investigation and is to be held incommunicado until such time as investigation is concluded'. While you’re doing that, I want to know chapter and verse on everything she knows about how the Core navy got involved in an issue that is out of their jurisdiction. However she swings it, she’s committed offences and will be brought up on charges - and this time she won’t get off lightly.”
“ I don’t want to bust your flush here, Grady, especially as you’re enjoying yourself so much, but didn’t Kildark give her a free pass out of here ? We can’t go against his orders.”
“Actually Shrilla, he wasn’t in a position to give orders. We have full control of this investigation and this poor excuse of a Core officer is now a suspect in it. We have jurisdiction.” Grady smiled coldly. He wasn’t about to let Fuego leave and be ready to shoot him out of the skies as soon as he got into open space.
Fuego was losing it, but Grady didn’t care. “Take her down, Squad Leader. Tell her troop they are free to go, but we’re holding their officer as a hostile witness for further interrogation into the forging of documentation to gain access into a secret establishment of a neutral ally.” Holy Grell ! She almost started a war today, he realised, as he pushed her towards Range and grabbed Shrilla to walk back towards Kildark’s office.
“You won’t get away with this, Grady, I'll have you shot dammit. Forget that, I’ll shoot you myself,” she cried as Range dragged her off.
“Quiet, Lieutenant, he’ll make you stay longer if you keep threatening him,” Range told her as they proceeded out of earshot.
Grady smiled - he would too. He was impressed with Range. He could do with a promotion.
Shrilla noticed his look. “Fuck, I really wouldn’t want to get on your bad side, Grady. You sure don’t play nice.”
Grady stopped. “That woman falsified documentation, ignored witness statements and tried to have me incarcerated on Gueppo, a prison planet that has no return passengers. If it hadn’t been for one man, I would have been an erased memory in the history of the navy. The only re
ason she’s not on Gueppo herself is that she has friends in high places, and I think I know how she came to be here, but we don’t have time to deal with that issue right now.” Grady fairly spat the words out. The anger he’d held in check for the last four years was surfacing and he didn’t like the taste. He was struggling to control it and put it back down deep where it couldn’t poison everything he touched or came into contact with.
Shrilla’s answer was to grip his arm firmly and whisper to him while holding off at the edge of Kildark’s office. “You don’t have to justify anything to me, Grady - we’re on the same side.”
“Get in here you two - we have a problem,” Kildark called to them.
“Just the one, sir ? That’s nice,” Shrilla responded sarcastically as they each took a seat.
“Kelly tells me you’ve just resolved an issue, or three in the corridor. You going to have a problem, or is it contained ?” Kildark looked at Grady with those hawk eyes of his and Grady just shrugged. “I’m just following your orders, boss. We’re trying to contain the investigation and it looked about to get taken out of our control,” he replied.
“Quite so, in which case I approve your actions. Range can keep me posted in your absence.”
“Absence sir, where am I going ?”
“I’m sending you both. You’re our best two agents and I think you will need every advantage you can put your hands on out there. The corporations are up to something. I’m not convinced today’s little débâcle isn’t unrelated. If it is, it’s going to be a nightmare scenario and one we’re not prepared for. We could lose the AW if we don’t get to the bottom of today’s incident, but unfortunately that pales into insignificance when compared to what I believe may be occurring in the Archon Sector.”