by Jucha, S. H.
* * *
After their conversation with Maria and a midday meal, Alex and Renée took their walk before boarding their traveler for the Rêveur. They walked hand-in-hand while the twins flanked them.
The trail through the woods was sun-dappled, and the breeze was fresh and clean, a promise of fall in the air. Underfoot, the detritus of the forest was thick, years of accumulated leaves and twigs slowly returning to the soil.
As they walked in silence, Alex could feel his shoulders relax and the tension drain away. He knew he couldn’t convince an entire society of what he believed in his heart. Only time would tell if what he had strove to build for the Harakens would prove to be the more robust world.
“Check for biters,” Alex called to the twins, who holstered their stun guns and began tearing the dangerous insects off their boots. In many cases, the poisonous mandibles remained attached and would have to be extracted later by a tool.
When finished with Renée, Alex checked his own boots, which in the brief moments of exposure to the nest were covered by tens of the creatures. “A large nest,” Alex commented, as he pried the insects off one at a time. “I’ll have to warn Maria about this one.” He recorded his location for Julien, who could pinpoint the nest for Maria on a map of her property.
The twins circled wide and helped rid Alex of the numbers infesting his boots.
Staring back at the biter colony, which was seething out of the ground in search of the prey that had disturbed them, Renée remarked, “New Terran predators, two-legged or six-legged, they’re always intending us harm.”
“It’s why we defend Haraken so jealously, my love,” Alex said, kissing Renée on the forehead. “But over time, I’m afraid that we won’t continue to guide its destiny. That will belong to the generations to come, and we should be prepared that it might not evolve into the world we would wish it to be.”
“Then, my love, we will choose a new world and start over,” Renée said confidently, returning Alex’s kiss, but on his lips.
Alex laughed. “And who would follow us on this grand adventure?” he asked.
Renée’s eyes slid to the left, and Alex followed her line of sight. Étienne and Alain stood with their right hands in the air and smiles on their faces.
“And what would your partners have to say about your choices?” Alex challenged, laughing.
“Undoubtedly, they would have something to say,” Alain replied, feigning earnestness.
“Oh, yes,” Étienne chimed in, “It would be something to the effect of ‘You two better hurry and get aboard or you’ll be left behind.’”
Alex stared silently at the twins for the longest moment, and they returned his gaze. “Good friends,” Alex finally said.
Alain glanced down and signaled Étienne. The horde of deadly insects had followed the sound vibrations of the humans’ conversation. Pulling their stun guns, the twins knocked down the first 2 meters of the biters, the energy beams overloading the insects’ nervous systems.
Alex tweaked an eyebrow at the twins’ antics, but, without a word, Étienne and Alain holstered their weapons and took up defensive positions.
“I believe the de Long twins have also had enough of this world’s aggressive species, my love,” Renée said, “and I’m done with our walk in the woods.”
* * *
At Maria’s house, there were hugs, kisses, and tears as Renée and Maria said farewell. Then Maria hugged everyone, the twins, Julien, and Cordelia included.
As the Haraken’s traveler lifted through New Terran air, Alex sent a pleasant message to Jaya, expressing his hope to see the minister someday on Haraken. For Jaya, the message tweaked his imagination, and thoughts of a different and unique future would haunt his daydreams for a long time to come.
Drake also received a message. On his reader, the word “goodbye” appeared.
“Goodbye,” Drake said quietly in his empty office.
In the days following the trials, General Oppert wasn’t the only one who lost his job. Drake dismissed Tessie Bernoulli.
Government House was flooded with tens of thousands of messages from the public, who wanted to know why the General Counsel was demonstrating a bias against the Harakens. It had been painfully obvious to the populace during the media coverage of the trials that Bernoulli had sought to limit Haraken testimony at every opportunity.
The messages brought Drake a moment of clarity. Much of the paranoia aimed at the Harakens came from the influencers of New Terran society. The powerful realized that their aspirations and manipulations, while hidden from government scrutiny, were transparent to the Haraken SADEs — in short, Julien and his kind threatened their power.
On the other hand, the general public, after weathering the transition of industries due to the adoption of Méridien technology, had benefited from an explosion of job opportunities created by society’s expansion into the system, a process made much safer by that very same technology. Crippling injuries and most loss of life were eliminated by the constant shipments of Haraken medical nanites. Overall, the hard-working people of New Terra were supportive of the Harakens.
Drake came to realize that he had ignored one of Maria’s parting pieces of advice given him on her last day in office. She had said, “Don’t isolate yourself, Will. Government isn’t just about representatives, ministers, and captains of industry. It’s about caring for the welfare of the millions who elected you. Don’t forget that.”
-43-
After the biochemists and lab evidence had been released to TSF, Haraken personnel were free to return to their original ships and access their personal belongings and cabins.
Aboard the Rêveur, Alex announced their departure. The Haraken ships broke orbit and made a wide circle around the planet for an unimpeded view of the system’s star, Oistos.
Eric Stroheim, aboard the Tanaka, managed the preparations for Oren and Nestor’s star services. It was Reiko Shimada and Francis Lumley’s first time viewing the Harakens’ ceremony for their dead. The bodies were laid in crystal-covered containers, which would be launched from the bay toward the star for immolation. Willem stood in the bay’s airlock to broadcast the observances for every Haraken, while the crew set the containers for launch.
Alex led the ceremony from the Rêveur’s bridge. The girls stood next to him, tears in their eyes. Each felt responsible for the deaths of the troopers, since it was their efforts to investigate the Espero club, which led to the events at the moons of Ganymede.
The girls’ experiences, starting with their kidnapping, would start a slow unraveling of their tight-knit relationships. Soon, Eloise would find more and more excuses not to join her friends, and a love interest would enter Amelia’s life. When the girls finally separated, the sister of the famous Alex Racine would begin a new phase of her life.
The Haraken ships accelerated in tandem as Alex finished reciting the traditional lament for the dead. A sharp port turn, a release of beams, a cancellation of a grav grid section, and the caskets slipped out of the bay. Imparted with a significant launch velocity, Oren and Nestor would embrace the enormous energy of the star in a matter of days.
* * *
Alex sat with Julien in the meal room. The dishes had long ago been cleared away, and the crew was gone. Even Renée had left the two alone.
“Once again, you’re thinking that New Terran law isn’t up to the task of dispensing justice,” Julien said.
“How can it be if the process ignores evidence because it comes from sources that are feared?” Alex stood up and began to pace.
And so we reach the crossroads again, Julien thought.
�
�Billings, who appears to us to have made a minor mistake, has his livelihood eviscerated,” Alex said, “and Kadmir, who was in concert, in some manner, with Toyo, walks away without a single charge leveled against him.”
“But even we can’t determine the extent of Kadmir’s guilt,” Julien argued.
“I would argue that we see evidence of his involvement,” Alex riposted. “First, Christie and her friends show us, by their recordings, that Boker was part of the kidnapping crew when they were transported aboard the freighter. We can tell by his demeanor in their vids that he was no future rescuer, who was working under cover for Kadmir. Later, Boker walks the girls out of Toyo’s domes to a shuttle with Kadmir aboard. Just how did he manage that without Toyo’s cooperation? Later, Boker’s found dead, shrapnel damage and a knife in his heart by a woman who works for Toyo, and she dies by Boker’s poisoned blade. If that doesn’t scream betrayal, I don’t know what does.”
“I can think of other explanations, but I find yours deserving of the highest probability,” Julien replied.
“And here’s the part I find compelling,” Alex said. “After Toyo’s domes are confiscated, it takes only days before Azul Kadmir and Roz O’Brien have purchased the establishment from the government at a fraction of the price it’s worth.”
“And you find this compelling, why?”
“Wouldn’t you consider the two men competitors?”
“I would indeed,” Julien replied. “I see. If the two men were competitors, how did they agree on a partnership to purchase Toyo’s domes so quickly? It would indicate that they had already chosen to do so before Toyo attacked Kadmir’s domes.”
“Precisely, my friend,” Alex exclaimed.
“But Toyo did not seem the type of man to sell his company to his competitors. He displayed a preference for bargaining with weapons.”
“Which is why I believe that Kadmir and O’Brien coaxed Toyo into a plot that was never meant to happen, which is why Toyo and his people went after Kadmir.”
“Do you have an inkling of the plot?” Julien asked.
“Yes, I think it revolved around the kidnapping. Toyo was desperate to get the girls out of his domes, and Kadmir offered him a way out. The girls are moved, and Kadmir comms us that he’s rescued them.”
“But Toyo discovers he’s to be betrayed,” Julien interjected.
“That’s my guess,” Alex said, sitting down at the table.
“With the arrival of the Rêveur, a vessel known to often carry the president, and a new Haraken warship, I could understand why Toyo would be desperate to participate in Kadmir’s plot,” Julien hypothesized. “In the first place, Toyo would have hoped that the kidnapping would never have been traced to Oistos, much less to his domes, but our arrival told him that his hopes were futile and time was against him.”
“Exactly … I don’t know what Kadmir told Toyo, but it had to be good enough to get him to play. I think Kadmir and O’Brien planned to get rid of Toyo, and we were supposed to be the destructive instrument in their scenario.”
“Well, you do have a reputation as a man who dispenses justice in his own inimitable way,” Julien said.
“Whose side are you on?” Alex asked.
“Mine,” Julien said, smiling.
“Traitor,” Alex shot back.
“Fallible human,” Julien replied.
The two smiled at each other, and both were lost in their own thoughts for a while.
“So if we believe in this theory, which we have concocted but which is highly probable, what is to be the extent of their punishment?” Julien asked.
Alex grinned at Julien and said, “I think Azul Kadmir and Roz O’Brien are about to become poor, at least for a short while.”
Rather than an immediate reply, Julien cocked a querying eyebrow at Alex.
“Okay, so technically we’re stealing,” Alex replied, admitting to the nature of the proposed transgression. “But I prefer to think of it as the rightful redistribution of funds from those undeserving to those in need.”
Alex waited, watching Julien for his reaction. With every step they took that crossed the lines of New Terran law, it made a case for criminal charges to be brought against both of them. Of course, that depended on whether New Terra wanted to prosecute a Haraken president who had administered some punishment to people the New Terrans hadn’t managed to touch, judicially speaking.
An ancient, black, tricorne hat appeared on Julien’s head. Pinned to one side of the hat was a dull, metal medallion displaying a human skull and crossbones. “And who would you like to be the benefactors of these men’s largesse?” Julien asked, returning Alex’s grin.
“You may not possess a human heart, my friend, but you’re one of the most decent individuals I know. You choose who benefits.”
* * *
Investigating Kadmir and O’Brien’s personal accounts, Julien was appalled by the massive amount of wealth the two men had accumulated, which was spread across hundreds of accounts. Taking time to investigate the nature of their account transactions, Julien wasn’t surprised to discover monthly payments to many of New Terra’s powerful — payments that had nothing to do with services or supplies for their domes. “Influence peddling” was the term that came to Julien’s mind from a New Terran vid.
Realizing that the effort to deal with the number of accounts required substantially more work in order to hide the final destination of the transactions, Julien enlisted the aid of the other SADEs.
Miranda replied.
In the simplest of responses, Alex agreed to assist Willem reach his goal, but his life’s purpose had changed radically over the years. Still, he never forgot the president sitting beside him in the coarse soil next to a trickling stream, waiting for hours to hear Willem speak. The human has the patience of a SADE, he had thought.
Julien replied, his tone as neutral as could be made.
There were a few ticks of quiet, and the other SADEs were quite aware that Willem was calculating the probabilities.
In the morning, as the Haraken ships headed out of system, Azul Kadmir and Roz O’Brien disc
overed their personal bank accounts drained of every credit but one. They screamed their protests to the TSF and their government supporters, claiming the Harakens were responsible and every credit must be traced and returned.
Registered as a major theft, the government took responsibility for the investigation. Forensic teams would spend nearly a quarter of a year attempting to trace the transfers, with little to show for their efforts.
The SADEs took particular pleasure in not only emptying the myriad accounts, but moving the funds through an endless number of corporate accounts. A transfer would begin with a significant amount, but as that transfer moved from account to account, more than ten thousand times, a small portion of the total was siphoned off and moved in a different direction. In the end, one initial transfer from Kadmir or O’Brien’s account would end in hundreds of thousands of payouts.
Many benefited from the SADEs’ generosity — government medical research programs, charities, struggling entrepreneurs, the families of the chemists and techs who had been kidnapped, and, most important, the families of those killed in the fight at Kadmir’s domes.
Julien managed one particular set of transactions that didn’t involve the criminal leaders’ accounts. The Racine’s New Terran home was purchased from the present owner and placed in a trust with a substantial amount of Julien’s personal funds. The trust would manage the home as a visitor center, and Darryl Jaya received a message from Julien, explaining that the SADE had named the minister as the executor of the trust. Later, when Darryl examined the trust’s details, he discovered its primary goal was the funding of a considerable number of university scholarships every year.
The morning after the transfers, the Rêveur’s crew discovered Julien walking the corridors, whistling happily. As Willem remarked to the other SADEs when they finished their efforts, “I believe the Sers have been adequately warned to leave us well alone.”
* * *
“Alex, I did discover information that I thought would interest you,” Julien said, later that morning. He shared a snippet of the purloined data with Alex. It itemized the monthly transfers from Kadmir and O’Brien’s accounts to various individuals, who peddled the crime leaders’ influence.