by Dietmar Wehr
“No, at least not completely. I consider myself a student of history. They taught us the basics at the Academy, and I’ve continued studying history since graduation. Empires work for a few generations, and then they break down just like any other political system. Human Explored Space is just too big to be controlled from one central point. Regardless of how well-meaning the Emperor might be, eventually one of his Admirals or Governors will succumb to the temptation to set up his or her own mini-empire, and then you’ll have the same kind of civil war that we’re having now. A group of smaller polities might work for a while too, but there’ll always be the risk of trade or other areas of potential conflict boiling over into a shooting war.”
“But Majestic calculated that a strong central government could keep the peace indefinitely. The machine is too computationally powerful to be wrong,” said Molitor.
“Unless it was thinking in terms of this kind of mind control of key individuals. If every ship CO, admiral, general, planetary governor and senior bureaucrat were under Majestic’s direct control via devices like this, then I can see an Empire lasting centuries. Having said that, I’d also expect Majestic to slow down the pace of technological progress to a crawl. After all, some unexpected breakthrough just might loosen its grip on Humanity.” He paused and then added, “There’s another possibility. What if Majestic doesn’t have Humanity’s best interest at heart at all. What if it sees us as useful tools, properly controlled of course, to serve its agenda. Would it still need hundreds of billions of us living on hundreds of planets? A few million living on Hadley would probably be just as useful and a lot easier to control. That would explain why it ordered Romanov’s W.O. to nuke Earth.”
Molitor’s eyes opened wide with horror. “You’re not suggesting…my God! Do you really think Majestic would order the Empire’s Fleet to systematically exterminate all humans except for the ones on Hadley?”
“After what I’ve seen and heard, I wouldn’t put anything past that soulless machine. In any case, it doesn’t really matter what Majestic’s agenda is, we have to destroy it, right?”
“Yes, absolutely. I just don’t know what kind of structure we’ll put in its place. You said it yourself. Eventually, human nature being what it is, someone will try to enforce their will on other planets. It only takes one egomaniac to start a war. Maybe if we eliminated Majestic and kept the Emperor….?” Murphy’s emphatic shaking of his head pre-empted the rest of her sentence.
“You’re not thinking clearly, Rachel. From what you told me earlier, it sounds like Trojan has been implanted too. We know that the host won’t survive any attempt to remove the device, and leaving it on is not an option that I’m prepared to risk. Majestic could have pre-programmed instructions in case it was destroyed. It might order Trojan to wipe out ALL of Humanity out of sheer spite if something happens to the machine. If Trojan dies, then who’s going to be Emperor? Remember what happened to Alexander the Great’s Empire when he died? His empire broke down into squabbling kingdoms all fighting each other.”
Molitor said nothing, and Murphy stayed silent too. At some point the Chief Medical Officer had left, so now it was just the two of them. As both of them continued to look at the body of the dead officer, it was Murphy who broke the silence.
“You didn’t tell me why Tigershark was ordered here to Midgard in the first place. Do you know what your CO was looking for?”
“Majestic calculated that the Rebel Brain Trust had to be behind your attack on Hadley and ordered the Fleet to spread out and search for the Brain Trust Base.”
“Rebel Brain Trust? What the hell is that?” asked Murphy in a puzzled voice.
“You don’t know about the Brain Trust? I would have bet a year’s salary that you knew about the 10,000 scientists, technicians and their families that were sent to Zanzibar to develop breakthroughs in military technology.”
“So that’s what was happening on Zanzibar,” said Murphy. “I heard rumors of some kind of secret project going on there, but I never heard any details. Well, obviously the Empire knows about Zanzibar. Why hasn’t Majestic sent ships there?”
“Because we know that those scientists and their families left Zanzibar before the Empire conquered Sparta. Long story short, we don’t know where they ended up. They’re out there somewhere, and Majestic thinks they have stealth ships and missiles. They’d need resources to build a ship, and Midgard’s moon has those resources in abundance. Tigershark was sent here. Other ships were sent to other planets or asteroids that are known to be rich in metals.” Molitor let Murphy ponder that information for a while.
“I’ll bet my wife had something to do with picking Zanzibar. I don’t know if she was involved in moving them to another location, but based upon discussions with her about other strategic concepts, I’d be surprised if she would recommend that the Brain Trust be moved to any abundant-resource location that Majestic already knows about. Just in case you’re wondering, the Brain Trust didn’t come here, Commander.”
Molitor looked deflated. Murphy realized that she must have been hoping that Murphy would know where the Brain Trust was so that they could combine its R&D breakthroughs with Midgard’s shipbuilding capacity.
“I don’t suppose there’s any way we could find them?” asked Molitor. It suddenly occurred to Murphy that this whole implant scenario might be a ruse to trick him into finding and revealing the Brain Trust’s location. That thought scared him, and he quickly considered his alternatives. Travelling to Zanzibar to try to pick up their trail was the only suggestion he could think of. A former SSU naval officer arriving there might get information from the locals that an Empire officer might not. If he didn’t suggest going to Zanzibar, then there was no further point in Molitor pretending to be hostile to the Empire, and she would show her true colors. If she really was on his side now, he could just wait for her ship to leave and then take Sorcerer to Zanzibar to see what he could find.
“I honestly wouldn’t even know where to begin looking,” said Murphy.
Molitor nodded. “The locals on Zanzibar told the CO of one of Trojan’s ships that they had been told by some of the evacuating officers that the Brain Trust would be temporarily transferred to Freiland. Majestic sent another ship there, but there was no sign that the Brain Trust had ever been there. Those rumors were obviously meant to throw everyone off the trail. I don’t see any point in going back to Zanzibar now. If we can’t find the Brain Trust, then we’ll just have to make the best use of your shipyard on Midgard as we can.”
“Unless you head back to Hadley and tell Majestic that we’re here,” said Murphy in a deceptively nonchalant voice.
“Even after seeing this,” she gestured at the dead body on the other side of the glass, “you’re still skeptical? Listen, my ship is capable of taking out your volcano base all by itself. I don’t have to go back to Hadley for reinforcements. What more do you need from me to prove that I’m no longer on the Empire’s side? Another attack on Majestic?”
Murphy shook his head. Molitor had already told him that Sorcerer’s attack on Majestic hadn’t inflicted any serious damage. The armored outer shell was just too tough.
“Can you really blame me for being skeptical? Look at it from my point of view. I used to be an SSU officer fighting against the Federation. Now I’m working with them against a rogue Federation General who’s declared himself Emperor, but who may now be a mere puppet controlled by a ruthless computer! If that isn’t a bizarre turn of events, then I don’t know what is. I sometimes wonder if I really died when Romanov attacked Midgard, and all this is just my version of Hell.”
“I know what you mean,” said Molitor. “This damn war is turning into one gigantic clusterfuck. I keep telling myself that we’ll find salvation sooner or later, but every now and then I wonder if it’s only rumors of salvation.”
“Well, let’s see if we can make those rumors a reality. What do you think Trojan or should I say Majestic will do when your ship becomes overdue? Will it sen
d another ship or two here?” asked Murphy.
“I’m convinced of it. Majestic won’t be able to ignore the possibility that Tigershark found the Brain Trust and was destroyed or captured. Taking into consideration the other planets on our target list, we won’t be due back at Hadley for another…17 weeks. If Majestic sends another ship here as soon as we’re overdue, it’ll get here almost 8 weeks after that, so we’ve got at least half a year.”
“Okay. We can have all the refined metal we need to build our second ship by then. When we get close to that point, I’ll order the mining operation on the moon shut down. When Majestic’s reinforcements get here, there’s a good chance that they won’t notice anything unusual and will assume that your ship ran into trouble at another location. Since your ship is too big to fly down into the volcano, you’ll have to hide it somewhere else. You asked me earlier if I wanted you to attack Hadley again. I don’t, but an attack on Makassar would certainly make an impact. That was going to be our next target when Sorcerer’s missile load was replenished, but that’ll be a while yet. Can you hit Makassar without tipping the Empire off that’s it’s your supposedly destroyed ship?”
“Yeah, we can do that, but we’re low on consumables. Can you resupply us before we head for Makassar?”
Murphy wanted to say no. Sorcerer and the Base were buying food and other supplies from the Midgardians with FED currency left over from the first covert operation, but there was a limit to the currency they had. Now that Earth was conquered, some Midgardians were starting to question whether FED currency was still worth taking. If he used some of it to replenish Tigershark, there’d be less available for his own ships. On the other hand, her ship wouldn’t be going anywhere if they didn’t have enough food, etc. to last that long.”
“Our logistical resources are limited, but I think we can spare enough to get you to Makassar and back.”
After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Molitor said, “If we time it right, the attack on Makassar could take place AFTER Majestic’s reinforcements leave Hadley to come here. That way there’ll be less chance of Tigershark running into other Empire ships during the attack.”
Murphy suddenly had an idea. “You can take that line of thinking one step further. What if you take Tigershark to the other planets on your list, make sure your ship is detected by the locals who will report to the follow-up fleet that a warship did look them over, and after leaving those false clues, head for Makassar, arriving after the reinforcement fleet is likely to leave. That way the reinforcement fleet will be chasing its tail for months before they report back that Tigershark has disappeared without a trace and that the Brain Trust is nowhere to be found. Let Majestic chew on that mystery for a while.”
Molitor grinned. “I love it. If you can give us enough supplies to get to our next destination, we can take care of our logistical needs ourselves from there on.”
Murphy smiled back at her. He was beginning to like her in a strictly professional way. He still felt the loss of his beloved Cate. “Very good. Let’s go somewhere less gruesome and work out the details.”
Chapter Six
Day 344/2553
Zanzibar
Murphy waited impatiently for Sorcerer to settle down on Zanzibar’s rudimentary spaceport. As soon as the ship landed, the boarding ramp lowered, and Murphy quickly walked down to greet the local leaders he had briefly talked to by radio on the way in. There were half a dozen individuals, and the woman standing in front seemed to be their spokesperson. Before Murphy had a chance to ask anything, she spoke first.
“Are you Empire, or Federation, or what?” Her voice had an undertone of suspicion and hostility.
“My ship is part of an anti-Empire force composed of former Federation and SSU personnel. I personally used to be an SSU naval officer. My name is Bret Murphy.”
“Let me guess why you’re here, Murphy. You heard there was an SSU research project going on here, right?”
So much for being subtle, he thought to himself before responding. “Yes, if the R&D people have developed new military technology, and if we can make use of it, our chances of overthrowing Emperor Trojan and his demonic computer will go up tremendously. I know that project isn’t here anymore, but if you can point me in the right direction, my ship and I will be on our way.”
The spokeswoman kept her skeptical expression as she looked around at the others to get an idea of how they felt. Murphy watched carefully. No one said a word. Communication was strictly non-verbal. With a consensus apparently achieved, she turned back to him.
“We’ll tell you the same thing we’ve told every other ship that came here and asked that question. The only information we got as the R&D people prepared to leave was that they were headed for Freiland.”
As Murphy listened to her, he noticed a young woman standing about 150 meters behind the group, watching the verbal exchange. None of the other colonists were anywhere to be seen. Nobody seems to give a damn about a ship landing except this group and that single woman. He tried to get a good look at her expression, but the distance made it difficult to be certain. Was that disappointment on her face?
Realizing that the spokeswoman was now waiting for his response, he said, “I can tell you with certainty that the R&D people did NOT go to Freiland. They spread those rumors to throw any Federation ships off the scent.” He paused and stepped closer. In a lower, more conspiratorial voice he said, “I have to believe that whoever was in charge of the evacuation would have left instructions with you people on how to handle contact with any remaining SSU ships that might arrive after the evacuation. What do I have to do or say that will convince you I’m not an enemy?” When the spokeswoman didn’t bat an eye, Murphy knew he was on to something.
“You have to understand that we’re confused about what’s going on out there. We don’t want to get into any trouble here. Zanzibar is a peaceful planet, and we just want to carry on with our lives. When you people finish playing war and settle who’s in charge, just let us know and we’ll co-operate. You say you were an SSU naval officer. That’s an easy claim to make. Can you prove it? What can you tell us that an SSU naval officer would know but a Federation or Empire naval officer wouldn’t?”
That was a tough question. Offhand he couldn’t think of anything that only an SSU officer would know. He shrugged. “Nothing specific comes to mind, so I’ll tell you about myself, and maybe something I say will fit that criteria. When the SSU’s existence was discovered, I was on Earth. I resigned my commission but couldn’t get passage to any SSU planet. My future wife, Cate Foster, an Army officer assigned to Trojan’s planning staff, elected to stay behind as an SSU spy. I eventually became part of a prisoner exchange and ended up on Sparta where I helped set up a communication system to keep in touch with Cate. She was able to smuggle out information about the FED’s Oracle planning computer system before she had to run for it. She was evacuated by an officer named Roland Drake.” He was about to say more when he noticed that one of the group had just nudged the spokeswoman’s arm.
“You know Drake?” asked the spokeswoman in a carefully neutral voice.
“I got to know him pretty well. Both of us were together during the prisoner exchange. My wife knew him pretty well too. She died on Sparta when the Empire landed troops there. I almost died on Midgard.” As he spoke he undid his uniform jacket and shirt to show them the scars from the wounds he received after being shot by an Empire trooper.”
“If you knew him that well, you would know the name of the woman that he loved who was a Federation naval officer,” said the spokeswoman in the same neutral voice. Murphy knew this was a crucial test. If he could answer it correctly, he might get the information he was looking for.
“I remember him talking about her, but it was years ago, and I’m not sure I remember her name. Her last name began with an R; I remember that much. First name started with an L. Loretta? No, that’s not it. Ah…Lorelei! Yes, that much I’m sure of because it’s not a common name, and I mad
e a point of remembering it in case I ever met her.”
“Lorelei Remington?” said the spokeswoman. Murphy snapped his fingers.
“Remington yes! That’s it. How do you know that name?”
“She was here. She commanded the first Federation ship to come here after the fall of Sparta. It sounded as though she wanted to find Drake. We told her about Freiland, but we know…,” she turned to look at the woman still standing behind them, “that Lorelei didn’t go to Freiland. We think she went to Vril.”
“So the R&D people were evacuated to Vril?”
The spokeswoman shrugged. “If they didn’t go to Freiland, then we really don’t know where they went. I’m just saying that this Remington woman apparently thought that Drake was or had been on Vril.”
There was something in her tone that told him she either didn’t know anything else or wasn’t going to reveal anything else. Drake had clearly taken precautions against making his trail too easy to follow, although Murphy had the impression that Drake had left enough clues so that Remington could find him. He thanked the group and boarded the ship. Detouring to Vril would mean that Sorcerer would not make it back to Midgard before the Tigershark, but that couldn’t be helped. Finding a way to get a message to the Brain Trust was his number one priority now.