Shadows of Golstar (32 page)

Owens asked, “Why not?”

Sharné carefully kept uncertainty she felt out of her
voice. “It is not currently inhabited so we could not expect immediate help.”
She continued before Owens could ask any questions. “It possesses a mild,
though somewhat cool climate. Although there is not anyone on the planet’s
surface, there is a diverse ecology. Its terrain has significant variations and
plentiful forestation that could aid us in remaining hidden. In any event, it
would at least allow us additional time to perhaps devise a plan that will
further enhance our chance for survival while awaiting a rescue.”

She hoped what she said was true. She had never
actually visited the planet. She had only read of its nature in history texts.
She didn’t truly know what they might find on Selane.

Owens’ curiosity was briefly piqued at the term
‘uninhabited’ but pushed it aside temporarily for the more pressing matter of
their immediate circumstances. As long as they could maintain a sufficient lead
over their pursuer, he thought they still had a reasonable chance. 

“Land on a planet? Just getting down through the
atmosphere before being fired upon will be a major undertaking. What do you
think Hec?”

“Well, I can’t accurately estimate the interval that
we’ll have between the
Holmes
and the Golstar ship when we finally reach
the planet’s stratosphere. But I can say there won’t be much time for the
Holmes’
escape pod to make it down to the surface before the Golstar ship arrives. Plus
there’s the matter of the pod itself. Once down, it can’t move under its own
power. If the Golstar ship were to scan it on the planet’s surface, it would make
a great starting place to begin a search.”

“Oh yeah,” Owens frowned. “It has no propulsion other
than basic steering jets. It would take a while to coast through the atmosphere
and since it can’t move on the surface, its presence would pinpoint where we
landed.”

“It’s not all bad news, Boss. Remember, the
Holmes
is a military class, long range scout. Even though it has had some significant
modifications, it still retains the full the capabilities of an LRS.”

Owens asked, “Meaning?”

“Meaning the
Holmes
can perform an unassisted,
powered atmospheric entry,” Hec said. “Based on what I scanned of its exterior,
that battlewagon can’t.”

“Well,” Owens looked at Sharné. “I suppose that if we
can keep from getting blown up, if our reaction drive engines hold together,
and if we can stretch our lead a little more, then we may have enough time to
land and hide before they can make planet-fall in their shuttles.”

He shook his head. “I know that’s a lot of ifs. But if
we can stay ahead of them, we might be able to delay our untimely deaths for a
little longer and just maybe gain a little more time to figure a way out of
this.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I sure can’t think of anything better;
we might as well try it.”

Sharné nodded and provided Hec with general coordinates
for the planet Selane.

“There’s one more small problem that I failed to
mention,” Hec began. “What are we supposed to do when, or might I say, if we
reach the sensor grid?

“What do you mean?” Owens asked.

“Well,” Hec responded, “according to the historical
records provided by our government, Golstar has a quite effective satellite
defense grid. We are presently just past the three orbits of the outermost
planets in this system, and according to my data, we should have long since
reached this grid. I have rechecked the original Probes’ telemetry a number of
times, but I can’t find any obvious errors.”

Hec had Sharné’s full attention. She had wondered when
this anomaly might be questioned. When Hec paused, she immediately spoke up,
“That is very easily answered.”

Hec asked, “It is?”

“Yes, although I cannot reveal the details, which are
classified by the military, I will tell you that the outer perimeter of the
sensor net has been pulled back in preparation for deployment of a new class of
our satellite wardens. I am sorry, but that is all that I am allowed to say.”
She felt the simple story was plausible but was acutely aware it was not
getting any easier for her to lie.

Owens looked at her with a pained expression. More
damn government secrets he thought, remembering the non-disclosure documents he
had been coerced into signing. He asked with a slight note of sarcasm, “Are you
at least allowed to tell us how far the perimeter has been pulled back, or is
that a secret, too?”

She was not pleased by Owens’ tone. “I do not know. I
can only tell you we should encounter the grid prior to reaching Selane.”

Owens knew he was being petty, but he pressed anyway,
“Couldn’t you be a bit more specific?”

She did not hide the exasperation in her voice, “No Owens.
I cannot because I was not given that specific information. At the time, a need
for such information was not anticipated.”

 Hec quickly interjected, “The historical records
also indicate we don’t have a chance in hell should these ‘satellite wardens’
decide they don’t particularly like our looks and choose to sic one of those
big fortresses on us.”

Sharné smiled indulgently, raising Owens’ already
elevated blood pressure. “You need not worry, Hec. It would be foolish of me to
guide us in our escape from the mutineers only to have us meet our end by
Golstar’s automated weapons defense system.”

Owens resisted the urge to comment further.

 She finished, “Rest assured, I am not so unwise.
I should be able to provide us with safe passage when the proper time comes.”

“Sorry,” the AI sounded sheepish, “I’m not very good
at being diplomatic. I’m sure a true AI would have already drawn that
conclusion without having to ask. My ‘Hec’ personality overlay sublimates many
of the normal AI logic functions to achieve a human facsimile. Some of the AI
base programming was sacrificed so I could be more… human.”

“It is quite alright Hec,” her smile warmed. “I
appreciate your ‘humanity’ and I take no personal offense. I am in agreement;
it was something that had to be voiced. At least, you do make the effort to be
civil.” She pointedly looked over at Owens.

“Ouch,” Owens grimaced in mock pain. “About Hec,” he
began, “with everything that’s happened, I haven’t had a chance to explain… ah,
his nature.”

“Please, there is no need.” She waved her hand in
casual dismissal. “Hec and I had an interesting and quite informative
conversation while you were recuperating in the medical unit. I confess I find
his story most intriguing.”

“Yeah, well I’d use a number of words to describe Hec,
but intriguing isn’t one of them,” Owens said dryly.

“And what might they be?” In spite of her irritation,
Sharné found she was curious.

 “Well,” Owens hesitated. His small attempt at
humor had passed over her head. “The word that comes to my mind when describing
Hec is simply ‘friend,’ a very good friend,” he answered her truthfully

For once, Hec remained silent.

The pain in his heart was almost overwhelming, but the
Grand Patriarch remained expressionless as he listened to the Guardian of the
Way. Talin attempted to maintain an outwardly calm demeanor but his gray-tinged
complexion and a slight tremor in his hands betrayed him. He battled for
composure as he related the events of which he had just been informed.

He told the Grand Patriarch that communications with
all three ships had been mysteriously lost. As ships could not enter subspace
from within the planetary system, it would take over three day-cycles using
reaction drives to reach the rendezvous point from Berralton. In the meantime,
they had no way of determining Sharné’s fate or that of Janus Owens.

“Our long-range monitoring is spotty, but there
appears to have been weapons fire exchanged in the vicinity of the rendezvous,”
Talin’s voice cracked slightly with barely suppressed emotion. He tried to
swallow but found his mouth was dry.

The Grand Patriarch voice was hollow, “How, how could
this have happened?”

“At this time, I cannot venture to say. You know we
carefully chose the area to preclude any surprise attacks by the opposition. We
have no indication our ships were aware of an impending assault. At this point,
we can assume a strike did occur. The only way it could have succeeded, would
have been by surprise, along with an equal or greater force.”

“Is that possible?”

“I do not understand it either. We are operating on
pure conjecture at this point. What actually happened, so far remains a
complete mystery. I have dispatched Admiral Lender and ships of the White Fleet
to the rendezvous location. Our patrol ships along the quarantine zone would
take far too long to reach the site.”

Talin’s eyes were becoming glassy with as yet unshed
tears.  His voice lowered as it descended into the depths of obvious
worry. “If anything has happened to…” He broke off, and then said with open
anguish, “Forgive me, I failed to foresee this. I greatly underestimated the
opposition. And now Sharné is a victim of my failure.” Tears finally broke
through his defenses and his gaunt cheeks glistened in wet misery. “I failed in
my responsibility and it is my fault this has happened.”

No
, the
Grand Patriarch thought,
you were not to blame, old friend, I am
. Talin
tried to make him see the folly of using his daughter, the senseless risk he
asked her to take. He could have used any number of other young women, but in
his misplaced pride he had refused to listen, and now Sharné was missing, or
worse.
I should have heeded your advice, Talin. But I did not, and now she
may be lost to me forever.

As these thoughts echoed through his mind, outwardly the
Grand Patriarch remained sitting rigidly before his advisor, no hint of the
mental anguish building from within. His face was stone, all hard angles and
planes. Like a statue, he said nothing and was as still as carved granite. But
inside that stony façade his emotions were churning a volatile mix of grief,
regret, frustration and anger.

Talin suffered his own anguish and frustration. He
confessed to the Grand Patriarch he had been caught totally by surprise. The
Grand Patriarch interrupted his advisor and demanded answers not excuses. Who
would take such an action? An attack against a Golstar ship had not occurred
for over three hundred years. The Grand Patriarch asked if the attackers could
have known Sharné was aboard one of the vessels.

Talin could not supply the answers his leader
demanded. His shock at hearing of the attack matched the Grand Patriarch’s. It
provided him no comfort that he had protested Sharné’s involvement in the mad
scheme. Though it was highly likely that she was dead, his failure to convince
the Grand Patriarch to use someone other than Sharné weighed heavily on him.

The Grand Patriarch said in a quiet voice, with lips
barely moving, “Bring Minister Joselé to me.”

The Guardian of the Way spoke hesitantly. “Do you believe
that Minister Joselé could be responsible? I remember that the Minister was
present at Sharné’s initiation into the rights of adulthood. She had been one
of your daughter’s sponsors. She was always quite fond of Sharné. Surely she
would not go this far and jeopardize her life.”

The Grand Patriarch looked away and said, “Before our
disagreement on the way to solve Golstar’s crisis, I admit the Minister and I
had been close allies. But that all changed when I shared with her the facts
surrounding the crisis facing our people and the path I would take to achieve
the solution.”

 “She had been incredulous at first. Then, as our
discussions grew more heated, Joselé became outright hostile and vowed to fight
me on any action I might propose to the Council. She, like many others within
the Council put their faith in the scientists to come up with the answer. I had
argued that the scientists had had centuries to find it, but still had not. I
argued we no longer had the time to wait on scientists. We had to act or all
would be lost.”

 “Despite all my efforts at reasoning with her,
she stubbornly refused to see the problem in its totality and broke off all
future discussions on the issue. From that day on, Minister Joselé has opposed
me on almost all of my proposals to the Council. She is the prime reason for
the plan. I was forced to act unilaterally and completely circumvent the
Council because of her.”

The Grand Patriarch stood up abruptly, almost knocking
the heavy chair over in his agitation. “You know she has considerable influence
with key members within the Council. Her power has grown of late and if it
continues unchecked, it could threaten my ability to govern. More importantly,
she may prevent our plan from succeeding.”

Listening to his leader, Talin was further saddened.
Even with the real possibility his daughter had been killed, the Grand
Patriarch still returned to the damnable plan.

The Grand Patriarch sat back down. “Since she has
openly become my arch foe, the possibility of her involvement in this incident
is not insignificant. She could have somehow been made aware of my plan and is
directly responsible for the previous attacks on the chosen, including the
latest one on my daughter.

With an expression that finally reflected his anger,
he said again in a frightening voice, “Bring Minister Joselé to me… now.”