Slave World 2 - The Ties That Bind (26 page)

“You and your men are dismissed, Sergeant Trask. Close the door on your way out.” The security team exchanged glances, grudgingly obeyed.

“We’ll be outside if you need us, Ma’am.” Sergeant Trask said, as he closed the door behind him.

“I’m going to reach into my pocket now; do you understand?” the man said eyeing the lowered, but ready pistol at the Admiral’s side.

She nodded, and he stepped forward producing a jammer, setting it on her desk. The activation switch extended a small antenna from the top of the cylindrical body, while a small row of lights on one side rapidly flashed red, finally turning solid green. The fact he had used a jammer in a shielded office with an active dampening system attested to the sensitivity of the conversation. A large caliber handgun in a low slung shoulder holster was visible for a fraction of a second under his suit, when he reached into an inner pocket to retrieve his identification projector.

“My name is Special Agent Porter, Federation Security, Internal Affairs.”

A 1/6
th
scale holographic image of Agent Porter appeared several feet away, rotating slowly while his credentials scrolled downward next to it. The Admiral set her pistol on her desk before easing back into her chair with an ashen face. Richard’s expression was no different, back stepping a few more steps away from Agent Porter. In a society of hundreds of billions of citizens it was awe inspiring to stand in the presence of ultimate power, sanctioned by executive order from the Federation Council itself. Porter answered to no one but his own kind, and was outside of the law, because he was the law.

“I will start by saying this conversation never took place, I was not here and you will never repeat my name to anyone or anything you hear from this time forth. Any violation of this order will result in your prosecution under Article 12 of Federation Law pertaining to treason. Commander Richards, you are welcome to stay because this concerns you as well. Do the both of you understand all that I have just said?”

“Yes, I understand. What’s this all about? I’m sure-”

Porter cut the Admiral off in mid sentence turning to face Richards.

“Do you understand everything I’ve said, Commander?”

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

“Good. Now, I will start by saying that I have been following the ongoing investigation regarding the shuttlecraft AI that escaped from Waiverly Space Port soon after it came to the attention of Fleet Command. Excellent work, Commander, your analysis of the situation and raw data collected, as well as your hypothesis of the overall situation makes you a credit to your uniform.”

“Thank you, sir.” Richards replied flatly.

“Admiral Knolke, you may recall your scout ship and forget everything you know about system ST-101 and Colonel Burke. ST 101 is currently under FedSec investigation for an unrelated incident and Burke has been cleared of all charges, no longer a subject of interest in either case. As a matter of fact, none of this is your concern any longer. A junior agent is already in the process of collecting all of your data on the investigation and debriefing your staff.”

“What do you mean, it’s no longer my concern? That son of a bitch killed one of my men, and caused extensive damage to Federation property, in addition to killing a bunch of civvies! I don’t see how this falls under FedSec jurisdiction, anyway? This is a matter of local jurisdiction.”

“Admiral, I have no need to explain myself to you any further than what I have already. You have not been cleared for this level of information, and it is on a need to know basis only.”

“Not cleared for it? What the fuck is going on here!”

“Sir, did you say that Burke’s ship AI is to blame for this,” Richards interjected quickly. “That would mean it’s gone rogue, correct?”

Agent Porter turned his attention to Richards, smiling tightly.

“That’s correct, Commander. It fits with the current situation and the actions the shuttle craft took after arriving in system.”

“Now hold on a goddamn minute, I’m in command here, not Richards! If you have any information regarding the shuttle you will address it me!”

A grim shadow passed over Agent Porter’s face, and his voice took on a hint of annoyance and concealed danger.

“Not any longer, Admiral. Effective immediately Commander Richards is reassigned to FedSec, Internal Affairs. His transfer orders should be arriving any moment.”

Admiral Knolke’s face turned beet red, and she began to stand.

“This bullshit has gone far enough. You can’t...”

“I suggest you shut that sewer of a mouth of yours for a change, Admiral, and sit back down, my patience has been stretched far enough by your ongoing incompetence. I’m not surprised in the least your career is at a dead end, and quite frankly, I find it hard to believe you made it to your current rank. You should consider yourself lucky that you’re still in uniform at all, with no less than twelve accusations of sexual assault against you. Of course, this doesn’t include your current violation of Article 34 and 37 of the Code of Conduct pertaining to sexual conduct between Fleet personnel and alien races while under the influence of illegal mood altering drugs. It would behoove you to do exactly as you are told from now on. Have I made myself unclear in any way what so ever?”

The blood had all but drained from the Admiral’s face long before his final question, as she sank back into her chair, eyes darting between Porter and Richards like a trapped animal.

“No, I understand completely, Agent Porter.”

Richards had never heard her sound as broken and defeated as she did right now. This guy had her by the balls, knowing even more than he could have guessed about her illicit activities while attending one of the off limits pleasure dens in the seedier part of town.

“Good. Richards, you will remain here as my temporary liaison until Commodore Penburthery arrives next week. You will assist in his transition of command of Task Force 3.1 centered on the Strike Carrier Bunker Hill and the Battle Cruiser Littorio Veneto. Also, contact General Adams in Ground Forces Command with a warning order that 2
nd
and 3
rd
battalions of the 54th Armored Infantry Regiment will be detached for combat operations for an unspecified period of time.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You can inform him that the area of operation is still classified, but the command staff will be briefed by myself personally once in orbit. Departure is to be NLT 1500 local time on the 17
th
. I’m sure Admiral Knolke will be more than helpful with anything you may need in coordinating the efforts for this deployment.”

“I’ll help in any way I can, Agent Porter.”

“See? You are capable of making prudent decisions after all.” Porter dismissed the Admiral, turning his attention back to Richards. “As a personal courtesy due to your involvement with this case, I will be giving you a quick rundown on the history of the upcoming mission, but you’ve been assigned fulltime to an unrelated operation. This one comes right from the top, the Director herself singled you out for it, and you have her to thank for your assignment to FedSec. Tend to any personal matters as you see fit, you will be leaving for several months of specialized training and mission preparation after the departure of Task Force 3.1 for an undetermined period of time. Congratulations Agent Richards, and once again, excellent investigative work; your unique talents have been wasted for far too long.”

“Yes, sir, thank you, sir,” Richards croaked out as the full weight of the situation came crashing down upon his shoulders.

“Agent Porter,” Admiral Knolke asked softly, knowing full well that the remainder of her career hung in the balance. “I understand that I’m not cleared for information pertaining to this mission or the missing shuttle craft any longer, but… these are my troops. What’s going on? Give me something, at least as a personal courtesy?”

Porter retrieved the jammer, and his finger hovered over the power switch, hesitating.

“There’s much more going on here than even you could possibly understand. Rest assured that the parties responsible of the death of Federation citizens will be brought to justice very soon. This much I will tell you.” His eyes bored into her, and she seemed to shrink even further before his presence. “We know exactly where the shuttle craft is going and the clock is ticking for every AI bastard that ever harmed a human being. Penburthery has done this sort of thing before and knows exactly how to deal with them.”

Porter switched the jammer off and he returned it to his jacket pocket.

“Let’s go, Richards, time to start earning your money. Good day to you, Admiral.”

Porter began walking towards the door with a bewildered Commander, now Agent Richards following in his wake. When he stopped suddenly, speaking over his shoulder, Richards nearly ran into his back.

“Admiral, aren’t you getting close to retirement?” The tone of his voice held an oily darkness to it.

“Yes, a little over two years now.”

Porter nodded thoughtfully.

“Eighteen months, ten days to be exact. It may be wise on your part to consider early retirement. You’re not held in very high regards with Fleet Command at the moment and it would be a shame if embarrassing information came to the attention of the wrong people about your disturbing sexual tastes. Do yourself a favor and save what little is left of your career, while avoiding the unpleasantness of tarnishing the reputation of your uniform. Goodbye, Admiral, and we won’t be speaking ever again if I can help it.”

Porter turned and left the office but Richards paused, looking back at his former commander one last time. She had been ruined in more ways than one in a matter of minutes, and was quickly nearing the point of a complete breakdown, with the first signs of tremors already starting in her hunched shoulders. It was hard not to feel sorry for her, but she did bring this on herself.

“The vids and photo’s are in my safe, I’ll leave the key card with Lieutenant Roarke before I leave.” It was a small parting gift on his part that may help ease some of the humiliation that had been heaped upon her today.

“Thank you, Richards,” her lips moved wordlessly while he turned his back on her, ready to begin a new chapter in his life as a member of one of the most feared and ruthless security organizations in the entire Federation.

***

Richards sat spellbound in the secure briefing room, while Porter concluded the history on the upcoming mission. Unbelievable…it had all begun over two hundred years ago, and he was now about to listen to the final transmission from the Colony ship
Star Dancer
with its crew and passenger complement of nearly seven hundred human beings.

“Any ship…Captain Ross…of the colony…Dancer. Requesting immediate assistance!” The recording was so distorted and filled with static, that Richards had to lean forward and focus, in order to decipher that much of it.

“…all gone crazy because of…! They’re killing everyone not…numerous casualties and we can’t…the combat droids are trying… lost control of over half the ship already! The security forces can’t contain them…longer. They broke through …main engineering a few hours…”

A long portion of static hissed back at Richards, and he shook his head in frustration. This is insane!

“The ship AI is trying to…” A loud explosion overloaded the speakers, followed by the sound of gunfire and unintelligible screaming.

“Broken through the…open fire… tect the AI!”

The transmission ended just as suddenly, filling the room with an eerie silence. Porter leaned back in his char, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.

“That’s the last transmission we have from the Captain of a ghost ship.”

“It sounded like he was telling someone to protect the AI after the, whoever it was, broke through the bridge blast door.”

“Not whoever, Richards, but droids. They were trying to get to the ship AI before he could deactivate it. He may have even tried initiating the ship self destruct sequence and the AI called for help.”

“Perhaps, but there may be other explanations for what happened. What if it was something else? What if they were boarded?”

“Unlikely and I’ll tell you why. A rescue ship was dispatched after this transmission was received. They found nothing; the
Dancer
wasn’t anywhere near the projected planet selected for colonization. As you know, jump drive was in its infancy at the time and it took us over a hundred years before we found where they had crashed, and that was purely by accident. At first we assumed it had to be a main drive malfunction that took them so far off course, but that wasn’t the case.

“One of our long range survey scouts discovered on an uncharted class R3 planetoid, a rarity, perfect for colonization. They detected no hostile organisms or bacteria that would be considered dangerous to human beings. There was also an abundance of plant life, indigenous animals, and water. Even if none of these things existed, the colonists came prepared with their own stocks for starting a colony virtually from scratch, as well as being able to initiate some minor terra forming protocols. You know what else our scout found?”

Richards shook his no.

“A town situated around the gutted hulk of the ship, and it was populated solely by droids and bots. It was the remains of the Star Dancer and there wasn’t a single human being left alive out of the entire complement of colonists. They killed them all, Richards; every man woman and child had been butchered like animals.”