Gabriel's Redemption (3 page)

Gabriel glared at MacFarland, eyes locking, until the admiral broke his gaze and rapped the table with his Naval Academy class ring. “So let’s get moving, shall we?” He nodded towards Gesselli.

“Thank you sir,” she replied with an answering nod. “Commander, this is the 46 Scorpii system, 602 light years from our solar system in the constellation Scorpius, a main-sequence K0-2 orange-red dwarf.”

Her fingers tapped at her open flexscreen, and the holotank in the center of the table came to life, a glowing pale yellow ball of light rising up out of its surface. An image of a solar system appeared with a primary similar to Sol, circled by six planets and an asteroid belt. The display showed the planetary orbits as looping lines, with the sixth, a gas giant with several large moons, having an irregular path 20 degrees out of the ecliptic plane; the others were in traditional paths. The fourth planet was highlighted and blinking, and Gesselli continued.

“This icy planet is called
Poliahu
. It was named after the snow goddess of Mauna Kea, discovered in 2072 by the Hawaiian astronomer Kewe Iohunukonu using the Kepler-3 orbiting sensor array. It sits 104 million miles from the star, just outside the Goldilocks zone of habitability.”

Gabriel noticed his flexscreen screen had illuminated with scrolling text, charts, and images of the planet. He picked it up and began flicking through pages.
 

“You can read full details of the planet and the system later on,” Gesselli said with a sharp tone. “Right now we’re going over the highlights and the reason why you’re here.”

Gabriel slid the flexscreen closed and tossed the tube back onto the table with a clatter. He leaned back and clasped his hands across his lap. “By all means,” he said drily.
Why bother putting this in front of me then?

Gesselli glared for just an instant, interrupted by MacFarland clearing his throat. “Lieutenant, give the Commander a quick overview of Poliahu and move on.”

“Of course sir,” she said. “Poliahu was targeted for colonization in 2140, when automated probes found evidence of high concentrations of valuable minerals, most notably uranium and cesium, which I’m sure you’re aware are invaluable to our military. Eight years ago, the Bureau of Colonization awarded the charter to a small group comprised of scientists and miners, who were able to come up with the funding necessary for the lease. It formally registered as a Corporate World with all proper documentation and governance regulations the following year, 2169. ”

The holo image shifted and zoomed in on the fourth planet.

“You’ll notice the planet is essentially a ball of snow and ice. It is water-ice, and the atmosphere, while averaging several dozen degrees below freezing, is very similar to our own. So humans can live and breathe without respirators, albeit in environment suits. Combined with a .94 gravity, this makes it an excellent colonization target.” She paused. “But no one will mistake it for Eden.”

Gabriel stared at Gesselli, his eyes laser-targeting hers at the mention of Eden. He knew damned well that she would know of his past, and was now needling him for a reaction. Instead, he nodded, ordered his neuretics to tamp down his emotional response and calm his heart rate a bit, and said, “Go on.”

Gesselli cocked her head a bit, the smirk returning, and after a few seconds broke eye contact. Gabriel assumed he passed her test.

“Interestingly enough,” she went on, her attention back on the holo image, “Poliahu wasn’t always ice-bound. The Planetary Research Council concluded that around a hundred and fifty years ago, a massive asteroid collided with the planet so severely that its climate was thrust into a nuclear-winter type of situation for several years, remarkably similar to the Shanghai event here. But unlike Earth’s collision, Poliahu’s impact also affected its orbit, pushing it approximately 35 million miles further out from its primary, and reducing its tilt to almost zero degrees. This caused it to freeze over, and without that axial tilt, every season is winter across the surface.”

The holo image ran through a simulation of the event - the bluish-green planet orbiting just under 70 million miles out, an eleven degree tilt, then the asteroid collision, the orbit change, and the planet’s color shifting to its current mottled gray-white. The simulation stirred Gabriel’s emotions. Every human of school age or older had seen video and telemetry of the asteroid impact in Shanghai in 2160. The resulting catastrophe plunged Earth into nearly two years of darkness and cold. Gabriel suppressed a visible shudder at the memory, both of the Dark Days and of the related deaths of his father and cousin.

“What about indigenous life?” Gabriel asked, shifting in his seat, trying to clear his mind.

“Probes found evidence of previous plant and minor animal life, but essentially nothing land-based survived the freeze,” Gesselli replied.
 

“Almost nothing,” MacFarland cut in.

Gesselli glanced at MacFarland. “Yes, almost nothing. Which brings us to the issue at hand. Commander Gabriel, do you know what
dew
is?

“Assuming you’re not talking about what shows up on the lawn first thing in the morning, yes,” he replied.

Dew was a designer drug that only recently started appearing on Earth, Mars, and colony worlds. It was a clear, odorless, tasteless liquid that, once injected into a user’s tear duct using a microsyringe, overwhelmed the brain’s sensory functions, creating a feeling of incredible euphoria. It also left the user with a near-unlimited tolerance for pain, as it blocked the body’s natural nerve receptors. Users had been known to cut off their own limbs without so much as a wince.
 

Typical dew doses would keep the user high for three to four hours, after which the crash was so severe, people would sometimes drop into a coma-like state for up to ten hours at a time. For this reason the drug became highly addictive, as the up so far outweighed the down, use continued to inject it on an almost-continuous basis to maintain that euphoric feeling.

“Dew has been causing significant problems in our military,” Gesselli said. “And we’re having a harder and harder time detecting it being smuggled in. Several major drug cartels are distributing it, but unlike other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or bluestim, no one knows its origin or who initially created it, or even its current source. That is until now.”

The holo image changed again, warping into a head. But not a human head, Gabriel noted with a start.

“This is an animal from Poliahu, what might be the only surviving land species on the planet.” Gesselli tapped at her flexscreen, and the image rotated and panned back to show the complete body.

According to the scale shown on the image, the alien stood a little over four feet tall, had two legs and two arms arranged just as a human would, as well as two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth, but the similarities ended there.
 

It was covered in a pale green fur, with alternating patterns of red and brown throughout. Each hand ended in a four fingered claw, with a nub that might have been (or would be in a few thousand years) an opposable thumb. The claw had sharp talons on the end, almost like a bird of prey. The legs were thick and muscular, but the knees bent backwards, and each foot had the same four toed layout as the hands, with no visible nub. Smaller talons graced the end of each toe.

The face reminded Gabriel of a koala bear, with its small snout, beady eyes, and tufts of longer hair sticking out just above its tiny ears. The face was tan in color, in contrast to the rest of its body. The mouth was closed, so Gabriel wasn’t sure about teeth or what it ate, but it certainly seemed fairly harmless.

MacFarland rapped his ring on the table again. “
That
is the source of dew,” he said with a growl.

Gabriel looked at Gesselli. “This teddy bear is the galaxy’s biggest drug runner?”

She shook her head. “No, this animal is the source of the drug itself, but it’s humans who are running it.”

The holo split into two, the alien moving to one side, and an image of a prefab colony complex appeared on the other. The complex was a fairly typical multi-use facility normally seen on more recent colony worlds. It consisted of several buildings for power production, housing facilities, entertainment, research, and the like. They were inexpensive drop-in-place prefabs that all but the most highly funded groups used to start colonizing a new planet, and were easily integrated into the larger colony once it became self-sufficient.

“The drug runners are the colonists. The entire group, actually. They settled as an independent corporation, not governmentally backed, and provided their own funding. Leases were signed with a portion of the minerals and ores being shipped to the NAF as per the original agreement. All of that continues, and has for several years, so no one questioned it.”

She tapped her flexscreen. “I just sent you copies of the lease and charter, read through them later.” Gabriel’s closed flexscreen tube bleeked in receipt.

“Cripes,” he said. “Will you just flash the info to my rets? I don’t plan on carrying one of those around.”

She tapped another few keys. “There. Just pay attention,” she said.

Gabriel’s neuretics confirmed receipt of several data packets. He filed them away in a storage folder for later.

“We have a source on the ground,” she continued. “Part of the colony group. He’s there ostensibly to keep an eye on skimming, making sure what we’re getting resource-wise is all in proper order. Just recently, he stumbled upon the real profits of the colony.”

The holo shifted again and the alien now filled the image, lying on its stomach in what appeared to be a grainy home video. The video began, and Gabriel shifted uneasily in his seat, the leather crinkling.

The alien was alive, strapped to a table, arms and legs spread wide. It was struggling against the bonds, and a high pitched keening was heard. A man approached the alien with an instrument in his hand. He placed the instrument at the base of the alien’s skull and a bright pinpoint of light appeared. Small wisps of smoke rose from the alien’s skull, and its wail intensified. The instrument, a laser scalpel as Gabriel now realized, moved towards the top of the head, smoke rising as it went. The creature struggled even harder as it sensed its fate.

The laser scalpel shifted back down to the base of the skull, the skin and fur now parted to reveal grayish bone. The man made an adjustment to the device, placing its tip to the bone. The keening was almost unbearable at this point, and Gabriel ordered his neuretics to filter out that audio frequency.

More smoke, and the man lifted what appeared to be a piece of bone from the open wound, tossing it aside. He set the scalpel down on a side table, and picked up a pair of forceps. He pressed the forceps into the skull opening, worked them around a bit, and removed them. The alien’s struggles abruptly ceased, and the man dropped a small item into a pan from the end of the forceps. The video ended in a blur of static.

“What the hell was that?” Gabriel asked, looking from Gesselli to MacFarland and back.

“That’s the origin of dew,” Gesselli said flatly. “It’s synthesized from the pineal gland, or whatever that animal’s equivalent is, and apparently it has to be done while it’s still alive.”

“These bastards are farming them,” MacFarland said. “We’ve gotten reports back of dozens of pens holding thousands of these animals, and these colonists are growing them to maturity and harvesting their brains for an illegal drug.”

“Well, it’s not exactly their brains,” Gesselli said.
 

“Same goddamned thing!” MacFarland shot back. “They’re digging in their brains, pulling stuff out, and killing them. One by one, inhumanely. This is only the eighth planet we’ve ever discovered with animal life on it, and they’re wiping them out to make a profit.” He leaned forward. “And it’s literally killing my soldiers.”

“Jesus H. Christ,” Gabriel muttered, still stunned from the video. “How long has this been going on?”

“Dew first hit the market around six years ago, so at least since then,” Gesselli replied. “That’s not too long after Poliahu was registered. We only just received this video and the evidence needed to send you in.”

Gabriel sat silently for a minute or two and went over the horrific video he had just witnessed. Disgusting was the only word he could think of. Then it hit him and he narrowed his eyes. “Wait, send me in? What the hell are you talking about?” he asked.

Gesselli looked at MacFarland, and he nodded, replying to Gabriel. “We need you to go in and shut down this operation. We can’t send in troops, they are a self-governed Corporate World on an independent charter. It would be like…invading Nike or Disney headquarters.”

Gabriel still couldn’t wrap his brain around what he was being told. “Shouldn’t this be taken to legal authorities? World Court, UN?”

Gesselli answered. “We don’t have enough evidence to arrest, let alone convict. We’ve got our agent’s word and some video, and that agent isn’t even supposed to be there in the first place. A hack public defender would blow a hole through this case before we even got troops on the ground. We can’t even file charges against the leader of the colony, as no one is sure exactly who he is. The colony incorporated with a board of directors and a chairman, and the chairman is listed as anonymous, which is their right as an independent Corporate World. So all we know is the leader goes by
The Chairman
, which obviously makes things difficult when going before a World Court.”

“We need a covert, quiet, off-the-books team to go in there and shut down the operation, or more and more of my people are going to end up getting hooked on it. Then we’re going to have a serious national security issue on our hands.” MacFarland pointed at Gabriel. “You’re the best, and I know you’ll be discrete. The colony leaders and all others involved need to be brought to justice.” MacFarland punctuated the last few words with three open-handed bangs on the table.

Gabriel was still in a daze, but it was making more sense why he was plucked from the middle of nowhere for this operation. He was expendable, and in some military eyes, didn’t even exist. No family or friends to speak of, he thought with a slight pang of regret. He would be completely off the radar, and more importantly, completely deniable. Familiar ground for him.