by Greg Mutton
‘Thank you, I’m sure it’ll be fine.’
‘Well, I suppose we should find the others to have a drink before dinner.’ Sonia led Petra out of the garden room and down the hall to Jeff’s office. Inside, Jeff, Aaron and Dokad had been joined by Sol and JT. They all had a large glass of scotch in their hands.
‘Knew where they’d be… Jeffery keeps his best scotch in here.’ The men were glued to a vid screen as the two women walked in and Petra glanced over to see what they were watching.
The image of a huge star ship filled the screen. In the foreground and dwarfed by the enormity of it, a group of formally attired people stood on a dais behind a clear panel, giving the illusion that they were standing in space, in front of the ship. Behind them, there appeared to be hundreds of spectators, all safely inside the dock facility.
‘The President’s wife is about to christen that monstrosity.’ Jeff announced.
Petra couldn’t believe the size of it. ‘What is it?’ she asked.
Jeff answered her. ‘That, young lady, is Rhapsody of the Stars, the most expensive den of iniquity in the known universe.’ He looked across at Petra and the confused expression on her face.
‘Sorry, you wouldn’t know. Rhapsody is the largest space cruise liner ever built, and Abracorp built it. She can carry seventy five thousand paying guests to places considered unreachable by cruise ships, until now.’
As Jeff spoke, a woman on the dais waved a champagne bottle as if to smash it on something. The image zoomed to the front of the huge ship. A grapple arm mimicked the woman’s movements and a real bottle of Champagne was smashed on the front of the ship, accompanied by much cheering and handshaking as the huge vessel slowly moved back from the viewing window. Everything was choreographed perfectly, the bottle smashing, the ship moving to simulate being launched, with much cheering and more champagne bottles being opened.
Jeff turned to his eldest son. ‘Well, now that monster’s gone we can get down to some real work.’ They both smiled and raised their glasses in a mock toast.
Sonia stood with her hands on her hips. ‘That’s all well and good, Jeffery, but you have two ladies here and you haven’t offered either of us a drink. I have never known you to have such bad manners where a new female in the house is concerned!’ Jeff stood and offered his apologies, went to the cabinet and returned with two glasses of his best single malt.
Jeff stood before Petra, studying her intently. ‘Mannix,’ he said finally. ‘Any relation to Colin Mannix?’
Petra was saddened by his words. ‘Yes, he was my father,’ she replied quietly.
Jeff was taken aback. ‘Was! What happened?’
‘He was killed three months ago on Varga. There was a rebel attack on the capital. He went in with the rescue teams to assess the damage and to help survivors. He was killed when a building collapsed on him.’ She choked these final words out.
‘I’m terribly sorry,’ Jeff reached out to console her. ‘I knew him for many years, both as a client and a friend, but I never knew he had a family.’
Petra looked into Jeff’s eyes, hers brimming with tears. ‘Not many people did. My mother was Vargan and she kept mostly to herself. I spent a lot of time away at school and then at the academy.
‘When my mother died Dad sort of closed off from the world; it seemed he only lived to work, and for me. He never missed any special event in my life; silly things like birthdays, big events like graduation… he was always there, but not every day.’ She stopped, cleared her throat and took a long swig of her drink.
‘Anyway, enough of that… why are you so upset by this ship? After all, you said you built it.’
‘Yes we did but… that ship is designed as a pure pleasure palace… if you get what I mean. All sorts of pastimes: gambling, brothels… anything you can imagine. Ships like this make a mockery out of our thin veil of civilization! I can only hope that bloody pile burns up in some interstellar disaster.’ Jeff’s outburst surprised everyone as he was not usually prone to such passionate displays. He shrugged and went to the cabinet to pour another drink.
The butler appeared at the door, ‘Dinner is ready. I have laid it out on the porch.’ They all stood and followed Philip to the table.
Dinner was a quiet affair consisting of three courses, allowing plenty of time for Jeff and Aaron to get reacquainted. At first they appeared to be sparring, cautiously feeling out the other’s defences, but as dinner progressed the atmosphere lightened and they began to talk more openly. Sonia couldn’t have been happier — the event she had worked hard on for over twenty years was now unfolding in front of her.
The table had just been cleared and the coffee pot brought in when Jason and Amanda — Jeff and Aaron’s parents — arrived. They had left their home on Caprica five days previously and at Amanda’s insistence, had cut almost a full day off their normal flight time. After scanning the room she spoke. ‘I felt there was something incredible going to happen, and I was right!’
‘Yes I agree. Seeing you all here together calls for a celebration,’ Jason beamed as he left the room, only to return a few minutes later with two very old and dusty bottles. ‘I’ve been hoping that one day I’d have a reason to open these.’
‘Where did you get those?’ Jeff looked at the two old bottles.
‘Son, I was head of this family for many years. I suppose I still am, and I built part of this house. I still have a few hiding places that you haven’t found.’ Jason grinned as he opened the first bottle. It was a magnificent Para Port, fitting for the occasion.
Aaron’s memory of his father was of a very formal person, with only very rare displays of emotion or affection — but tonight was different. At one point he walked up to his son, gripped his hand and spoke quietly.
‘Glad you finally came home, your mother has missed you terribly,’ his voice broke slightly and he grabbed his son in a tight embrace. ‘Damn it, I missed you too.’ Jason broke free and looked at both of his sons, his eyes misting with emotion as he spoke. ‘What the bloody hell did you two idiots fight about in the first place?’
Aaron tried to speak but was cut off by his mother. ‘Leave them alone, Jason.’ She held her arms to Aaron. ‘Come and give your mother a hug.’ Amanda Abraham was not a tall woman, at just under one hundred and sixty centimetres with dark curly hair that was greying delicately. Her face was round, with eyes that were full of kindness, and her full figure moved with grace as she enveloped her long-lost son in a hug —the kind of hug that only a mother can give.
Aaron thought back to the many times, as a boy, when his mother’s hugs had solved his problems. ‘I hope you two boys have sorted things out, I don’t want to lose you again.’ She kissed her son on the cheek and broke away. ‘Now, will you please introduce me?’ She hadn’t changed. A gregarious woman, she was always eager to greet anyone new.
‘Mother, this is Commander Petra Mannix, my First Officer,’ Aaron stated.
Amanda took a long look at Petra as she shook her hand and said to Aaron, ‘Of course she is.’ A knowing smile formed on her face as she held Petra’s hand. ‘Welcome to the Abraham family, my dear.’ She led Petra to a lounge on the porch. ‘Now tell me all about yourself.’
As they sat, Jason turned to Aaron. ‘I have been trying to follow your exploits but without any contact, it’s been difficult. Fill me in on what you have been up to for the last thirty odd years.’
It was then that the full impact of his life dawned on Aaron. He had spent almost a third of his life to date, away from his family—and it had been far too long. The men settled into another port as Aaron began to bring his father up to date. Sonia smiled as she surveyed the scene; this was a much better result than she had hoped for.
It was almost midnight when the night came to an end and everyone headed to their rooms. Aaron and Petra walked together down the hall. As they reached their doors, Aaron turned and spoke. ‘I hope my family hasn’t been too much of a shock; my mother can be a bit intense.’
; ‘Nonsense, she’s delightful. We had a good chat, sort of helped me get to know my captain a bit better,’ Petra grinned cheekily.
‘Oh no, not the childhood stories,’ Aaron groaned, but Petra just gave him one of her innocent but suggestive smiles before she said goodnight. Before Aaron could say anything else, she was gone.
Next morning the house woke to the smell of fire smoke, the real kind fuelled by wood. Memories came flooding back, he and his brother working with their father digging holes and building fire pits. As soon as he saw Jeff he asked, ‘Are you still using the pits we dug all those years ago?’
It was Jason who answered. ‘I told you two then, if we build them right, they’ll be there forever.’
This was a momentous occasion, being the first time the whole family had gathered together for breakfast in more than thirty years; the two younger siblings — Salina and David — joining them. While everyone was getting settled, Jeff beckoned Aaron to the side window, seemingly to point out some feature of the country beyond. Instead, he spoke quietly so no one else would hear.
‘Make breakfast quick. President Malik and his staff will arrive in about twenty minutes and they want to get straight to business… he specifically asked that you attend the meeting.’
‘Why? I have no interest in Coalition politics.’ His inclusion puzzled Aaron.
‘Don’t know… but evidently your Prime requested it.’ Jeff answered.
At that moment Dokad entered the room and was greeted warmly by Jason. ‘Admiral, please accept my apologies for neglecting you last night.’
‘No need. It was a very important family occasion and I was privileged to be here.’ He sat and accepted the plate of food that Phillip placed before him. A traditional Krell morning meal, it consisted of a spiced porridge, made from a maize-like grain, topped with two raw eggs. Accompanying this was a long black sausage, the ingredients of which no one at the table really wanted to know.
‘This is wonderful,’ Dokad exclaimed. ‘How did you get this? I didn’t know Earth had any Krell foodstuffs?’
Sonia beamed. ‘Phillip here is an absolute magician in the kitchen. I asked him to see if he could make something from your culture. It may be a little different as I don’t think he could find everything he needed, but he is very good at improvising.’
The Admiral took a bite of the sausage. ‘Fantastic! If he had to change something, it has made it better. This is the best Jarol I have ever had! Thank you.’ He smiled and continued to eat with gusto.
They had all finished their meal and were enjoying some fine coffee when Ajay —Jeff’s PA — came to the door. Jeff stood and motioned to Aaron and JT to join him. Aaron tapped the Admiral on the shoulder and they all excused themselves from the table.
As they left, Sonia looked over to Petra and Salina. ‘Salina, could you please show Petra around? I have so much to do for tonight.’
Salina agreed and winked at Solomon, the only male left in the room. ‘Looks like you have us both to yourself.’ She gave him a wicked grin just as her elder brother came back in.
‘Sol, come on. You’re included in this.’ JT smiled at his sister, who returned him a withering glare as the two men left for Jeff’s office. Once the door was closed, Jeff touched a concealed button on his desk and a section of the bookcase opened.
‘One of the Second’s tricks — takes us straight to the Folly.’ Jeff said as he led them into a well-maintained ancient elevator. He closed the doors, selected the floor he wanted, and they started to descend.
‘Sorry for all this skulduggery, but it was requested by Malik,’ he said as the elevator started to descend. It stopped at Floor SB5. The doors opened to reveal the interior of a room, very similar to the office above.
Passing through a door on the far side they entered a larger room set up for meetings. In the centre was a large circular table that could seat at least twenty. There were a number of people already at the table, including the three admirals who had, just yesterday, witnessed the final test of Valliant’s weaponry; the President of the Coalition, Salim Malik and General Klastok, commander in chief of the Coalition ground forces. Malik stood and walked over to Admiral Dokad.
‘My friend, I am so glad you made it safely here.’ He turned to Aaron. ‘My thanks Captain; I hear you had an interesting voyage.’
Aaron took the Presidents hand and shook it, ‘Yes sir… that’s one way of describing it.’
Jeff spoke as the others took their seats, ‘I suppose you’re all wondering why we’re meeting here. When my ancestor built this place it was a most desperate time for Earth. With all that was going on, he strove to build the most protected bunker he could. This room is totally sealed. It has its own air supply, purification system, intrusion countermeasures — in fact, it was designed to protect any meeting in here from any sort of prying eyes and ears. I trust it meets with your approval?’
Malik spoke softly, ‘A perfect place for our discussions, thank you for agreeing to this. It appears we share some problems with the Krell. Admiral Dokad, can you please deliver the information you have?’
For the next thirty minutes Dokad had everyone’s undivided attention as he related the information and events that had led to this meeting. His closing words hung in the air.
‘From what I have learnt, and just told you, there is now a subversive partnership forming between dissidents in both of our cultures. Our indications are that the human side is led by one person… who, we do not yet know… but he is someone with access to great resources both in materiel and personnel.’
There was silence for a couple of minutes as the reality of what had just been said sank in. Finally it was Malik who spoke.
‘Thank you, Admiral, for risking so much to bring us this information. I can verify some of it personally. There have been a number of rebel incursions on various colonies in the past six months. Until now we just ignored them as local politics, but it is evident that the situation may be much more serious.
‘It is not widely known as yet, but there has been a coup on my home world; the government has been toppled and fundamentalists have seized control. The coalition base has been destroyed, but worse than that, the rebels have captured the Coultrane.’ This revelation stunned everyone. ECS Coultrane was one of the largest battle ships in the Coalition fleet — she was brand new and one of only three of her class in existence.
Admiral Wilson shook her head. ‘How was that even possible? Firstly, she was in orbit, and, secondly, there’s no way anyone could board her without authorisation!’
Just then the door at the far end of the room closed. No one had seen this new person enter, and now he spoke. ‘Quite simply… it was orchestrated from inside the ship.’ The speaker was a short man — almost completely bald. His eyes were dark and without any expression and his mouth was framed by thin, cruel lips that seemed set in a permanent sneer.
‘Director Crompton… as usual, a timely entrance,’ the President said, a hint of sarcasm edged his voice.
Anthony Crompton, head of the Coalition Intelligence Directorate, was not fazed by this at all. He was used to the response he drew in most meetings; his was probably the most hated job in the whole Coalition administration.
Previous chiefs of operation had made huge mistakes; personalities bordering on megalomaniacal had been in his position and had abused the power of the position for their own personal agendas. Heads of State had been assassinated, governments de-stabilized and private citizens ruined in the guise of protecting the status quo.
Finally enough was enough and a coup, of sorts, saw a new breed of operator emerge. Crompton was one of these types—highly intelligent, analytical, insightful and result orientated. He had been chosen to overhaul the old organisation and to his credit, in the forty years since he took over, there had been no return to the old cavalier attitudes. However, old wounds ran deep and he had to continually defend his organisation.
Crompton looked at everyone in turn and his gaze settled on Aar
on. ‘Captain Abraham… do you have any information about the explosion?’
‘Not as yet. We sent a probe back to the epicentre but no results have come through… it was programmed not to transmit anything until later today, just in case.’
Crompton placed the large valise he was carrying on the table and opened it. He withdrew two large bound books — a strange thing to all, as nothing was recorded on paper. He kept them closed and sat down.
‘Our intelligence gathering is ongoing in this matter. Admiral Dokad has corroborated what we have found out, but there is still a piece missing. The destabilization on Ummah is not an isolated event. At this precise moment, there are twenty-four other colonies that are going to fall in much the same way — probably some have already.’ He paused to gauge the group’s reaction; the stunned looks told him all he wanted to know.
‘Mr President, we in the intelligence community have been warning of this for several years, but our warnings have been largely ignored.’
Malik looked as if he was going to speak, but Crompton held up a hand. ‘Please Mr President, allow me to finish. The two books I have here are the complete and redacted reports into one of our greatest mysteries.’ He reached into his bag again and produced yet another slimmer volume. ‘This contains all the information we have been able to piece together into another ancient happening that ties completely with the first reports.’
Crompton stood and took a small data drive out of the bag and plugged it into the computer interface in front of him. ‘Rather than read a couple of thousand boring pages, I have brought the salient pieces together.’ A screen descended from the ceiling and came to life in front of the group.
‘Please bear with me, some of this will seem farfetched, but all will gel later. Just over two hundred years ago the largest colony ship — Baleraphon — left Earth; her journey was programmed to take two hundred years to reach the chosen destination. Approximately twenty years later, we lost all contact with the expedition.’