The Orion Deception

by Tom Bielawski

  When Lainne came out of from the suite's luxurious master bedroom, Heck turned away from the great window and went inside to put on his suit. But when his eyes met hers his heart skipped a beat. Freshly showered, her skin glistened in the warm lights of the cabin. Her blond hair spilled down over her shoulders and framed her innocent-seeming face, her large eyes revealed her vulnerable state. Though she didn't act scared, he could see it in her eyes. This wasn't the type of thing she was used to. Her life before had been starkly mundane. No adventures, no running and hiding. Especially no kidnappings of her loved ones. They were nearing the culmination of this harrowing journey and the danger was only just beginning.

  And to top it all off, Heck knew that he had fallen in love. Doubts assailed him briefly as he thought of Laylara. But he steeled himself against those doubts and closed that chapter in his life. She was gone. He would always honor her memory and the love they shared, but not at the expense of the future. And his future seemed inextricably tied to Lainne Connor.

  Heck left his place by the window and embraced the woman he had grown so fond of. The held each other close for a long moment and Heck was overcome with emotion and hugged her tightly. She squeezed him tightly in return and stepped back, smiling prettily at him. She whispered something in his ear and turned to lead him into the bedroom.

  It seemed they were going to be late for dinner after all.

  "Where is your assassin?"

  "He is homing in on your renegade lawman as we speak, sir."

  "It wouldn't hurt for us to have undercover agents in Rigel's Escape so we know exactly what our allies are up to."

  "We have tried before, sir. But my agents have always been discovered and politely refused before gaining entry. They are certainly spying on us if they can discover our undercover operatives so easily."

  "What is your assassin going to do differently to ensure success?"

  "The assassin will not tell me, there are ears within your palace that report to the aliens."

  "Mike!" shouted the Prime Minister, refusing to use his comm system with his Chief of Staff in the office next door. The Russian resumed his attack on a second bottle of vodka from the PM's liquor cabinet. Arnold shook his head, that man always could drink him under the table.

  "You can use the comm system, sir," came the exasperated reply.

  "Where is Orion?" he demanded, ignoring his Chief of Staff. "He's late for our meeting. I need to go over a few things before my appearance in the Halls."

  "He’s not answering the comm channel they provided for us, sir."

  "Shi-"

  "Sir!" interrupted Mike. "You've got to see the classified intelligence reporting feed!"

  "What?" he answered tersely as Vladimir activated the computer systems in the PM's desk.

  "Reports coming in now..." the voice hesitated. "Sir, I can't believe this."

  "Get on it with it, Mike!" he shouted at the comm. "You know I like to get my bad news without the BS."

  "Sir, the Ministry of Defense Intelligence is reporting the Liberty Island Drifts have been attacked. No," he paused. "They have been destroyed!"

  "Destroyed?" he whispered, numb. "All of them?"

  "I don't know, sir. It seems to have been confirmed. The news feeds are reporting unusual activity in the area of the Islands. Intelligence reports are confirming that refugee craft have been picked up by privateers as well as Palmetto Defense Force Fleet patrol craft."

  "What's left?" he asked, a smile playing about his lips. Only one type of weapon could wreak that kind of destruction: plasma cannons.

  "We have the video feed coming in now, sir. I'll send it to your desk."

  Arnold clicked off the comm and sat down behind the great cherry wood desk as the holographic video feed came alive. Live images from spy satellites in the area revealed a massive debris field flicking into view. The PM and the Fleet Marshal watched as hunks of metal, rock and even human remains drifted in the silent vacuum of space. The images shifted and focused on the main drift in the Liberty Islands, Drift of the Virginias. The massive floating city in space had been reduced to a charred husk. The great dome that had kept the vacuum of space at bay and kept the warm atmosphere in, was gone. The gravity plating had been destroyed as was evidenced by the sphere shaped debris and water fields surrounding the drift. The great mountain that had been created to give the drift a feel of the mountains of West Virginia had been leveled.

  "Congratulations, Horatio. It appears that Orion's Sword is going to make good on their part of the bargain."

  Arnold turned off the video feed, he had seen enough.

  "Mike!"

  "Yes, sir?" responded the Chief of Staff. By the tone of the man's voice, Arnold guessed that the man was swamped.

  "Get in here."

  "Sir, there is a lot of work to do now. You'll need to give a press conference. And I will need your orders for the Fleet, sir."

  "The Fleet?" he said, perplexed. "What about the Fleet? I have the Fleet Marshal here."

  "Aren't you going to activate battle plans? Send orders to the Branch Chiefs, Cabinet Ministers and brief the Members of Parliament?"

  "Mike, it seems you have forgotten. Those drifts withdrew from the Commonwealth and forsook their treaties and obligations. They attacked us first!"

  "Sir, I was not informed of any attacks against the Commonwealth."

  "They got what they deserved. A time of reckoning has begun, Mike. And we are going to see it happen, now get in here!"

  Horatio Arnold was giddy, the dawn of his rise to new heights was at hand. His prospects were good, but he wished that his benefactors had at least warned him that the attack was imminent. The door to the office opened and Chief of Staff Mike LeFevre entered. Arnold handed Mike a glass of champagne as the Chief of Staff entered the room, wide-eyed with grief and uncertainty. Vladimir chose to remain silent.

  "I want Parliament in Intelligence lock-down. Send no further briefings to them, including the committees."

  "But, Mr. Prime Minister, how can we do that?"

  "Executive Directive, Mike. Make it so."

  LeFevre used his secure comm channels to effect the orders of the Prime Minister and to ensure that the Executive Directive was registered and given an official number. Once that was done, he nodded to the PM.

  "Sit down, Mike. Let Anton and me bring you up to speed on something. And I sincerely hope you will see the value in what it is we have to say..."

  All thoughts of the assassin, bound for the mysterious drift taken over by the Orion aliens, drifted from the PM's mind. The Commonwealth was going to war.

  Chapter

  Ten

  ~

  Heck stood silently, staring through the observation window as the great tube extended from the Columbia II to the floating white spacedock. Stars glittered brightly in the backdrop of the floating metropolis-drift, a lonely jewel in the dingy and nearly lawless Outer System. There was one other large spaceliner docked on the opposite side of the spacedock, but Heck couldn't read the name on its hull. A number of tiny robotic craft traveled this way and that about the spacedock, continually inspecting the entire hull from the outside for any possible dangers.

  The spacedock was shaped like a wagon wheel with a spherical hub in the middle. Six long tubes, like spokes, radiated from the sphere in the center and terminated into a single tube that ran the circumference of the wheel. It was at the intersection of one of these spokes and the outer rim of the wheel where Columbia II now stopped. A vibration shivered through the Columbia II as the metal of the docking tube slammed home on the hull of the ship.

  A train of passengers stood patiently waiting for the docking procedures to finalize and were buzzing with anticipation. The captain and the first officer of the ship waited at the hatch while a flight attendant stood ready with a scanning device. Finally the hatch opened with a loud "swoosh" and a blast of beach scented air flooded the compartment. The passengers filed through the opening, each receiving a handshake or
a smile or a wave from captain and the first officer as the flight attendant used a passive scanner to register each passenger with the Spacedock Authority.

  Finally Heck and Lainne stepped out of the docking tunnel and into the spaceport, Gelad was right behind them. The spaceport was luxurious, more so than any spaceport that Heck had ever passed through, and was bedecked with themes reflecting the various entertainment zones on the drift below them. They were assailed by motion sensing advertisements and three dimensional recordings of people inviting the travelers to stay in this resort or visit that attraction. Some of the holographic ads were somewhat primitive in appearance, not unlike the early days of 3D television, Heck noticed, while other examples were far more sophisticated; it was an odd contrast with the dazzling technology that they had seen thus far.

  They passed from the beach themed room and entered the customs area which was decorated in a luxurious office style motif. The walls were a brown color and the floors were thickly carpeted with wooden desks and office furniture throughout. Great cushioned seats and benches were strategically placed before great windows with breathtaking views of the drift below and space beyond. The decorations and paintings were warm and inviting and fresh flowers sat atop counters and tables.

  At first glance, the customs station seemed rather free of customs equipment. Heck and Gelad both were veteran travelers and could not believe what they were seeing. Could it be that the intensely popular drift and its orbital spaceport truly had so little apparent security in place? Beyond the wealth invested in the decor, there was very little in the way of visible security.

  The signs in and around the spaceport were all in English and French, the official languages of the Commonwealth -a holdover from its United Nations predecessor of the early part of the century- as well as a number of other languages commonly used in the System. Heck was grateful for the use of English. While the ex-lawman could certainly speak a few languages, he was never comfortable doing so and stuck to English whenever he could.

  There were six customs agents on duty in the orbital station, each silently and mechanically waving chattering tourists from station to station. Several robots with an exceptional display of artificial intelligence hovered about and interacted with the travelers. The robots, which were a metallic approximation of a vaguely human head and upper body attached to an anti-grav platform, delighted some of the travelers with surprising wit as they checked passports and travel permissions.

  "Gelad," said Heck, watching the robots intently. "Have you ever seen artificial intelligence as advanced as those?"

  "No," he said, thoughtful. "I have not."

  "What do you think?"

  "I think that despite nearly two centuries of effort the Solar System's best scientists have yet to accomplish a fully functional and free thinking AI." The Israeli operative seemed bothered by the discovery. "Most of our robots have only basic artificial intelligence. Their ability to perceive human emotion, particularly humor, and to interact with it is limited. These are more advanced than we thought currently possible."

  "Have the System's best scientists ever been in one place and one time, working on the same projects with the same goals and direction?" asked Lainne. "Think of the brain power that's concentrated right here under our noses."

  "The potential for technological creativity is staggering," offered Heck in a low voice.

  "As is the potential for destruction," whispered Gelad.

  The trio was standing in line behind at least fifty other passengers from the Columbia II, all were waiting to proceed past a pair of simple metal antennas where they would board a shuttle to the drift below. The antennas, Heck inferred, must be part of a security scanning system, but not one that any of the three had ever seen before. They were fixed to the floor of the spacedock and stood approximately one meter tall. A pair of robots hovered near the antennas but there was no other equipment in sight. Each passenger stopped near the antennas while the robots asked them a few questions and the visitors were subsequently allowed to continue. All of the passengers' luggage had already been placed in another compartment where it was scanned and offloaded to the belly of the shuttle that was waiting to move them.

  "Oh look," said Heck tensely. "Here comes a customs robot now." Heck wasn't sure if Gelad had seen the robot home in on them or not, and he certainly had no idea how well the AI creations could hear. He only hoped the cutting-edge Israeli cloaking technology they were all using was sophisticated enough to fool the advanced technology of Rigel.

  "Where are you going today, friends?" asked the robot in an overly friendly voice, first in French and then in English.

  "On to the Escape," answered Heck. "For some much-needed R and R."

  "Ah, I see. This way please, lady and gentlemen!" The AI robot's smooth chrome face bore a pair of very human looking eyes that seemed to be hiding an intense interest in the travelers.

  "Is there something wrong, officer?" asked Gelad. The hovering robot bore a custom's officer's badge over the left portion of its barrel shaped upper body, and an insignia of rank adorned its arms. "We are still very far behind in the line, I would not like to cause a disturbance with the other passengers."

  "Please," began the robot. "Our identity scanners have confirmed your identities. You cannot be allowed to wait here."

  Gelad and Heck remained stoic, determined to play out their roles to the very end. If Lainne was fearful of having been discovered, she didn't show it and Heck was proud of her. But his pride was short lived as two more robots, with swiveling rifle barrels mounted on each shoulder, casually made their way to the trio.

  "You will please come with us?"

  The two customs robots drifted lazily toward them and Heck was beginning to think they had been discovered. Gelad seemed to be about to protest the added attention to the customs robot, their VIP status should have prevented much extra scrutiny. Heck looked around the customs area, taking in every detail, and began to think of an escape plan. The three had discussed this very scenario at length and were fully prepared to be taken prisoner under their false identities, should the circumstance present itself. Yet none of them were keen on risking their lives too early in the mission, for that might mean an end to any chance at rescuing Dr. Connor or fulfilling the mission of the Israeli government.

  But as the chrome-faced robots arrived and Heck prepared to make his move, the robots immediately spun about in mid-air and formed a protective circle about the three. The first robot, who Heck assumed was a leader, had no weapons displayed and continued to speak in a non-threatening voice.

  "Please forgive us, honored guests. You should not be made to wait in the common line," insisted the robot. "We have a VIP line just over there that will get you to the surface faster." The robot pointed to another room in the customs area with "VIP" over the door. The door was open and two travelers were visible inside with a bored looking human customs agent. The robots began to move toward the VIP area, herding the trio along between them.

  "Fine," said Gelad, sounding perturbed. His false identification marked him as businessman from Earth who had a reputation for having a poor attitude with authority. "Just get us down to the drift."

  "Right away, sir." The robot sounded suddenly humbled, as an exuberant child might after a parental rebuke. "There have been rumors of an infiltration by dissidents, the safety of the ballistic engineers visiting for their convention is of paramount importance. Please accept my apologies and follow me into the VIP station."

  Heck and the others followed the robots, wary of having just been politely lured to another area where they could be taken prisoner without witness. Such a plan would fit in with what they knew of the luxury drift and their penchant for discretion in all things. There was no doubt in the ex-lawman's mind that these AI robots had been programmed to avoid conflict with passengers and to lure potential detainees to their demise with kindness and promises of preferential treatment. He was on high alert, but knew that getting captured here would on
ly be an unwelcome turn of events if their true identities had been discovered.

  Once the three were inside the VIP area, the two armed customs robots flanked the entrance and faced out toward the main customs area. Even though the armed robots were in place for the security of their VIP guests, they still maintained an air of friendliness to passing travelers. Heck was amazed by their efficiency, but he was concerned that the advanced technology of the Rigel aliens might perhaps counteract their own advanced ID cloakers.

  But after a mere five minutes of casual interrogation and scans, the three were granted passage aboard the transport shuttle destined for Rigel's Escape without further incident. Soon Heck found himself sprawled on a luxurious blue chair in the Rigel-bound shuttle's business passenger section, even though the trip would be short, VIP guests were treated with the utmost in comfort. Lainne and Gelad sat down on either side of him and smiled, they had made it through the security station. Now they just had to prepare themselves for what was to come on the drift below.

  The three had worked out a simple cipher based communication system based on an existing document all three had read. It was to be used when they were in the presence of Rigel monitoring systems and needed to pass urgent messages along. It was cumbersome in verbal form and it certainly was not foolproof but it allowed them to encrypt brief verbal messages between each other without the need for any technology at all. To anyone eavesdropping their words would seem completely innocuous and not worth further scrutiny.

  Heck tapped a button on the armrest of his chair and a small table extended itself from within. The smooth glassy surface of the table doubled as the shuttle's computer interface system and allowed the travelers to access all of the Nets, Webs and Internets available to the public throughout the Solar System. The advanced system also allowed passengers to make holophone and televid calls and send messages to other passengers on the shuttle.