by Tobias Roote
“Which is ?” Grady looked at Kildark with a suspicious glare.
Kildark glared back. He knew what Grady meant - was this a diversionary tactic to get them out of his hair.
“Which is, Grady - that ENCIO has discovered valuable resources on Archon-5. Unfortunately, their land-base appears to have been attacked by possible mutants. We don’t know the full details, but we have received an unofficial request to intervene. We know ENCIO have also contracted six hunters to eradicate them once found. Your job is to get there, identify and intervene between them, the land-base, the hunters and ENCIO. I don’t want another genocide on our hands.”
“Why do you think this is related to our problems here ?” Shrilla asked.
“Because this is the second request.” Kildark paused. “The first was received and got filed under ‘unsubstantiated claims’ despite it coming via our source within ENCIO.” Kildark looked decidedly glum over that revelation.
“Who shelved it ?” Grady asked, knowing what the answer was going to be.
“Apparently, I did.” Kildark looked up at him and without wavering, glared at Grady “Only it wasn’t me - I didn’t see it, only the one that came in while you were investigating the attack here. Our source was upset the first message had been ignored and gave me a hard time over it. I’m glad to say that although we have lost a day, there have been no further developments on Archon-5. However, that could change in an instant.”
“So, why now ?” Shrilla asked again.
Grady answered. He’d come to the same conclusion as Kildark. He also decided it would sound better coming from him.
“Because ENCIO wants this planet’s resources to themselves. Whoever intercepted the first message also set-up this attack on AW Command, either as a diversion to keep us occupied without any directors or operational control or as the start of a coup. I think Fuego’s timely arrival points the finger at the latter and the Corporations.”
“Dammit ! The Core aren’t even supposed to be in this part of space, they are so far out of their jurisdiction that they cannot possibly justify their actions to the Alliance.” Kildark exclaimed.
“But, that would be an act of war - wouldn’t it ?” she gasped.
“Not necessarily, it might well be viewed as a half-hearted attempt to over-reach themselves and that would certainly be how it would be played in Council,” Kildark commented. “Whoever is involved would attempt to downplay it to a misdemeanour - nobody wants another war.”
Grady had a sudden premonition. “You realise this might also be intended to divert our forces away from here to leave you exposed.”
“It had crossed my mind, yes,” Kildark replied.
Grady saw an opportunity. “Sir, if I may make a recommendation ?” Seeing the nod from Kildark he proceeded. “Squad Leader Range might prove invaluable if he had a larger force under him,” he suggested.
Kildark frowned, then brightened. “Good idea, I’ve had my eye on him. I’ll see what I can do.” He made a note on his pad.
Grady intended to ensure that Range was in a position to protect Kildark and the AW from further mishap. Currently, he was the only person in this building that Grady felt he could trust, present company excepted. He glanced across at Shrilla, she seemed pleased with the exchange.
“I have just one concern. With me going in as a fully-fledged AW agent, does this mean my cover as a mutant hunter is blown ?”
Kildark sneered grimly. “I think you can safely say that once Fuego gets out of here - and she will, but not too soon, I hope - there will be ‘open season’ on you if you ‘aren’t’ protected by the AW’s influence in this sector.
Your undercover work is finished as of now.”
Grady was relieved. It had been a hard battle to keep up the pretence of being a hunter when his natural tendency was to protect the mutants from being eradicated. As an agent he felt he could do more now, especially with the experience of working alongside hunters behind him.
Kildark hadn’t finished. “Kelly will give you your authority strips on the way out, put them on before you leave here, they will be validated by the system and will clear the cache of your old authorisations. You will both have BETA10 clearances and your authority on Archon-5 will be autonomous by necessity. That’s in case anything happens here. The AWC will allow you access under all circumstances ; you will also be able to direct the AW fleet to come to your assistance. It’s not something we normally grant and if Preston or Vangher were here, they wouldn’t approve. However, these are extraordinary times and I cannot afford for you two to get caught up in any political wrangling.”
Grady and Shrilla exchanged surprised looks. BETA10 gave them the highest clearance in AW Command. What wasn’t Kildark telling them ?
“Your ship is cleared to depart. I took the liberty of sending the file to your AI with the mission particulars and you can update en-route. Timing is crucial and you need to be out of this system before the Core gets their report on your activities here. Your ship would become target practice for their missiles.”
“What about any further attempts to take you, sir ?” Shrilla asked.
“In hand, Shrilla, in hand. If I had expected such actions from the Core, I would have been better prepared. Undoubtedly they did not anticipate your joint effort to turn their plot to oust me on its head. Good work, by the way.” He smiled - the look strangely out of sync with his features.
“Thank you, sir. I take it you have put security in place to keep things ticking over until we get back ?” she asked.
“Mostly, but I won’t make it easy on any future efforts. We have friends in high places too, and I’m going to be calling in some favours to see us through this.
Right, get moving you two. Your ship transponder has been re-calibrated to AW status. I fully expect that neutrality to be honoured, but don’t expect automatic right of way in Core space. It won’t help much if they catch sight of you - so keep on your toes. Dismissed.”
“Oh, and Grady ? When you get back - be ready to give me ‘chapter and verse’ on your personal history with Fuego.. all of it,” he insisted.
Grady nodded tersely. Like fuck I will, he thought to himself.
Chapter Eleven
AW Command Centre, Fording Station, Gamma Quadrant
Range watched the moving display on the screen.
He pointed, “There it is again.”
Barr flicked some keys and another screen displayed. This one had rolling code, some of it highlighted by a screen filter he was running.
They had been running the replays for two hours, and each time they detected the same tiny fluctuation in two places. The first, when Preston and Vangher arrived at the security checkpoint, the second when the assassination squad entered Preston’s office and shot both the directors.
“What do you think ?” Range asked Barr.
“I think someone doctored the video-stream on the fly.The question is - why ?”
“That would mean whoever it was has access to the system at top level, do you think they hacked in ?” Range asked knowing the unlikelihood of that because their network was a closed system.
“No, I don’t. This code here,” he pointed at each of the sections that were highlighted, “originated within the network.”
“Can we trace the location ?”
“Yes !... No !” he dissembled, then sighed. ”There’s a bit of a weird problem with that,” Barr looked at him oddly. “The node in question doesn’t exist within this building.”
“..but, you just said it originated inside the network, that has to be inside this building, there is no external access.”
“I know. It’s on the network, but it’s not a known ID. Someone has a ghost-link within the building and is using it to monitor and modify the information being seen and recorded.”
“Kildark ?” Range offered, thinking it would need to be very senior management.
“I don’t think so. Some of this occurred
while he was ‘in’ the videos elsewhere in the building with witnesses to prove he was there.”
Range was still dubious. “It’s strange that if someone wanted to remove the head of the AW, why not Kildark as well ?”
Barr nodded. “I was thinking the same myself, it’s SOP that in the event of the directors being indisposed, that the operations controller would run things.”
“So, why wasn’t he a designated hit ?” Range mused.
“Someone ‘wanted’ him to be left in charge ?”
“Yet, the news gets out and within a few hours we have Core navy team in here trying to arrest Kildark for the assassination of the other two. Who gave them the information and why is Kildark being framed, and if they’ve failed - what’s their next move ?” Range wondered out loud. He was flitting back and forth between the videos. Something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t put his finger on the reason. He sighed, thinking he’d come back to it when his mind was clearer. He was more worried about Shrilla. Grady was someone well capable, and she was too, but their mission had all the hallmarks of a possible killing zone. He’d seen enough of those in his time to get the tingle that warned him when something was going down there.
“I need you to find this ghost,” he said to Barr. “Do it quietly and without disturbing anything.”
“No problem, I’ve got some kit in my locker that might help with that.” Barr smiled, tapping his nose on the side. Then he was gone, leaving Range to consider his next move.
He was just about to check on the unit who were currently supplementing the security teams at the corridor entrance when his comms buzzed. “Range, who’s this ?” he asked.
“It’s me, Fagg, sir. We have a situation at the corridor entrance, we could do with your presence to resolve the matter, sir.”
“I’m on my way, give me the details over my comms.”
“Well, sir, it’s just that we have a stand-off here between a new Core navy squad and ourselves and there’s a gunship floating outside the entrance with its SK’s pointing straight at us.”
Damn ! He thought quickly. “OK, don’t let them past you and don’t give up your weapons. If necessary shoot their officer first. In fact, make sure at least half of you have your weapons trained on him. If they open fire, he goes first. Tell him that.”
Range called a number on his unit as he ran. The call took the rest of the time he had to get down the corridor to finish, by the time he got to the entrance the rest of his team had assembled.
One of them passed his armour along with his battle weapons. “Just like old times, sir !” He laughed. Everyone had earwigged the comms between Fagg and the boss, they knew what was expected of them.
AW Command Entranceway
Kildark arrived and beckoned to Range.
“What’s going on, Peter ?”
“I think the Core want their officer back, sir,” Range smiled grimly. “The gunship covering the entrance is armed with a kinetic rail-gun which at this close range would blow the entrance away.”
The rail-gun was a deep-space weapon, SK’s or ‘Ship Killers’ they called them. If the main entrance went down the rest would be taken out by the ground units. No doubt about it, this lot meant business.
Range gestured to the group of his men standing with Caryns, his number two.
“Take up secondary positions at the entrance to AWC proper, keep to the shielding along the edges - if they fire that fucker it will take out the first hundred feet of corridor and the percussive blast will finish the job. Make sure you’re all helmeted and hunkered down.” Range turned to General Kildark, “Sir, I suggest you move back with Caryns. It’s going to be pretty crazy here in a few minutes.”
Kildark nodded. “You have a plan for this, son ?” he asked.
“Sir, I do have a plan of sorts, it’s going to be a bit tight. You could say it can be a real bitch to land around here, sometimes,” he grinned as Kildark joined the group ready to fall back.
He glanced at his 2nd and nodded as the man went to move off. Caryns knew if the blast occurred, then Range, Fagg and the others outside would be dead, and he would be tasked with keeping the AW’s HQ free of boarders.
“No worries, PR, they’re not coming through a second time,” he answered the unspoken order.
Range grimaced, and twisted the valve to join his men on the other side. The angle and the door’s thickness meant that those inside couldn’t be seen from the entrance. The rail-gun wouldn’t worry about that, it would take the whole wall out. Anything less would be stopped dead by the reinforced plasteel.
He cycled the hatch closed behind him and took in the scene in front of him.
His men, all armoured as per SOP when on main duty, were now fanned out away from the line of fire from the gunship. It was hovering outside, its rail-gun hanging underneath and the air coolers used for atmospheric firing revolving around the turrets. Mean-looking fuckers, he thought grimly. They would drill right through the entrance, and right up to the AWC proper doors. The blast would take out everything in between. He glanced at the enemy soldiers. There were at least two squads, twenty Core marines facing the entrance. All had weapons trained directly on the sentries, and now also on him.
Range flicked his speaker to announce-mode. It would play in every open comms unit within receiving range of them. That would include the public landing pad and the arrivals terminal. He had no doubt the news cameras were already beaming this live across the galaxy. This would be hot news and whatever happened here, it would be seen that the Core navy had broken the peace accords.
“Core ! You have no jurisdiction here in AW territory. This is the second time in twenty four hours that you have committed an act of aggression against this neutral complex. The Council have been notified and all public feeds are now trained on this area. Remove your men and the gunship, or it will be considered a hostile ‘Act of War’ against the Alliance of Worlds and the Febrillo Alliance.”
The Core officer who was standing off to the left, also out of the line of direct fire, responded using his own public broadcaster,
“The AWA have unlawfully detained a serving Core Naval officer. We require you to surrender them into our custody for trial through Core Naval courts where you will be able to present any evidence of a crime committed against the AWA,” the officer responded, also on public speaker. The ranks in front of Range adjusted, as if resolving to stand their ground. They felt they had the high ground and weren’t about to back down. The ship behind them reinforced their superior position giving them the confidence to ignore the neutral zone laws.
Range wasn’t concerned. The soldiers weren’t the danger. The SK was his only worry at this stage, but he wasn’t about to give them what they wanted. He’d been in more fire fights than any of the men in front of him and he could already see where to hit them to fold their attack.
He responded by stating the official line, more for the listening news drones than to convince the officer to pull back. Whilst he was only a security officer, he also had a good grasp of the public relations angles of fire fights and knew how to state the facts in a positive light, one that his superiors could stand behind.
“The Core officer who attempted to overthrow our complex this morning also threatened our agents while trying to kidnap our Operations Director. She is to be detained until such time as we can secure the safety of our agents in the field from Core retaliation. She will then be handed over to the Justice Department Investigators for crimes committed against the Alliance.”
Range heard the whine of the SK warming up. It was either bravado, or stupidity. If the gunship opened fire it would begin a war that neither side could win. It was the reason they’d had a ceasefire in place across the galaxy. No, something serious was going on here, and it was more than just about retrieving their officer. They wanted the AW closed down for some reason and intended it to happen - one way, or another. Why ?
Range’s ear piece stuttered with static and a
message came through. “Inbound. Stand by.” He recognised the voice but the static being created by the gunship’s actions were breaking up the signal. He hoped it meant good news.
He concentrated on the peripheral area of the landing zone while half listening to the bluster from the bumptious idiot in front of him. He was looking for whatever ‘inbound’ meant - was it a gunship, a military squad ? He couldn’t see anything and was beginning to wonder if the message had actually been for him. He focused back on the scene in front of him.
The officer was adamant “...It is not acceptable. Lt Commander Fuego was acting under the direct orders of the Council. She is to be released immediately and you are to surrender yourselves with immediate effect. Stand down now, or..“ He looked up, startled by something outside Range’s view. Whatever it was, the officer was no longer concentrating on him and his men. Range glanced at them to see they were likewise distracted. A wind was picking up and dust whirls flew around between them that increased in frenzy as he monitored the troops opposite him who were just as startled by the change in weather as he was.
As he continued to watch, weapons still primed and ready to engage, a large shadow filled the view around the gunship darkening the entrance as though nightfall had arrived, which wasn’t due for a good eighteen hours yet. Partly shielded by the overhang, Range couldn’t see what it was without moving out into the ranks of the CN troops, but he had a pretty good idea from what he was able to see and the increase in the air pressure as the whirls became gale force.
The Core officer had a better view and was staggering back as he tried to take in what was going on above him. Range moved the men forward to close with the Core soldiers nearer the entrance. His men's weapons blinked green, then red to signify they were armed and set on ‘deadly force’ while they struggled to maintain their positions against the force of the wind blowing. All of a sudden it eased as the belly of a large cargo transporter appeared in his helmet view. It was at least ten times the size of the gunship and descending in a controlled action that would crush the ship and everything within if the pilot misjudged his distance. As it was, the tricky handling of such a large vehicle was a testament to the skills of the pilot.