The Ganthoran Gambit (The First Admiral Series) (4 page)

Once again, the British position rang to the sounds of cheers and celebrations, as the defeated and captured Zulus sat down, dejectedly, and covered their heads with their hands and arms.

In the deepest shame.

Frontier General Avavid Kallet simply could not believe his eyes.

For the first time in almost three thousand years, it had rained in Ganthus City during the months of the hottest season, and the timing could not have been worse. No sooner had the red-haired alien successfully completed the Time Warrior ritual than the heavens above Ganthus City had opened up in a torrential deluge. A great number of highly superstitious Ganthorans would read the omen as supporting the Caudwell creature. And, Frontier General Kallet was blazing with anger. There was no way he could ever take any credit for this miracle. He could broadcast that his scientists had discovered some new technique for making it rain, but the moisture-bearing storm clouds had been gathering over Ganthus City for almost two days. That was a full two days before Kallet’s ships had appeared in orbit.

In the major city of a planet which imported almost all of its water from the worlds that made up the Empire, the appearance of rain at this particular time would totally undermine Kallet’s claim to be working for the benefit of the people. Confident in the knowledge that the alien would fail in the Time Warrior ritual, Kallet had allowed the broadcast media to show what he believed would be Caudwell’s failure and death. Kallet had to admit that the alien was good. He had humbled Grobbeg and now he had completed the challenge of the Time Warrior ritual against the odds and the best efforts of Kallet’s saboteurs.

Kallet’s ships had chased away the single Alliance warship that had been in orbit around Ganthus. Then, he had overwhelmed the token formation of Imperial Guard ships and had occupied Ganthus City. A state of martial law had been declared in the Capital to stop civilians impeding Kallet’s military activities as opposed to saving lives. The remaining Imperial Guards had been forced to surrender and had been confined to their barracks. However, twenty thousand Imperial Guards still presented Kallet with a major headache. The Imperial Guards still had to be watched, which drew large numbers of his own troops away from other activities. Frontier Generals Timmeg, Sal’nor, and Kav’al had pledged to support the shadowy Emperor and were bringing their fleets to Ganthus to support Kallet. Grobbeg may have lost to this Caudwell in battle with one fleet, but with four fleets, Kallet could sweep this impertinent Universal Alliance away from the Ganthoran Empire.

As he mulled over the problem of the Imperial Guards, Frontier General Avavid Kallet once again took out his frustrations upon the furniture of the Adjudication Room in the Imperial Palace. And, just as quickly as his rage had appeared, it disappeared. Avavid Kallet had been in the process of throwing one of the heavy Adjudicator Chairs at the Table, when he suddenly had an idea. Setting the heavy chair down with considerable ease, Kallet strode purposefully, without a word, to the window. The rain seethed from the heavens above Ganthus and ran down the now-spotlessly clean floor to ceiling window. Outside, in the narrow streets below, Kallet could see that the people of Ganthus City had ignored his martial law order, and were celebrating in the pouring rain.

He would deal with that kind of disobedience later, he considered, but first he had the most delicious idea for solving his conundrum of the Imperial Guard. Turning from the window, without a word, Avavid Kallet strode over to the Tele-Portal and stepped through the opaque barrier and into the transport beam.

An instant later, he emerged to the consternation of the two sentries that had been placed on the Tele-Portal door at the Barracks for the Imperial Guard Officers.

The two sentries snapped to a ragged attention for the Frontier General, who barely registered their existence, as he stalked off towards the Administrative Centre of the Barracks. The two sentries stared at each other, their faces frozen in terror and alarm, and were just about to report the arrival of the General, when his Senior Officers followed through the Tele-Portal and began to hurry after their massively unpredictable commander. Snapping to attention once again, the two sentries were never acknowledged by the scampering Senior Officers.

Stalking through the deserted barracks, Kallet appeared to know his way around this particular place. Unknown to his Senior Officers, this was where the young Avavid Kallet had been rejected by the Imperial Guard, and the delicious irony of what he was about to do made the Frontier General smile wolfishly. Turning down the winding corridors, where the dark-grey diamond-shaped doors stayed regimentally closed, it took less than three minutes for Avavid Kallet to find the Administrative Centre. And, like the storms that were lashing across Ganthus City above them, Frontier General Avavid Kallet swept into the main Control Room of the Administrative Centre. The two sentries flanking the inside of the door snapped to attention and presented arms. The other Frontier Fleet soldiers also snapped to attention, many remaining seated at the Control Consoles that were their current Posts. 

For the main nerve-centre of a facility that housed over thirty thousand people, the Control Room was surprisingly small and compact. It required a Duty Shift of only twelve people to function effectively and to monitor and control all of the vital systems of the Barracks. However, guarding and patrolling the Barracks perimeter needed at least three thousand soldiers. There were eight Control Consoles set around the four starkly-grey walls of the Control Room. Two non-commissioned technical officers monitored and supervised the activities of the Console Operators, whilst one Junior Officer reported to the more senior Duty Officer who sat at a desk facing the door.

As with the rest of his Duty Shift, the Duty Officer had sprung to his feet when General Kallet had burst into the Control Room. With his heart hammering in his chest, and fearing that something unpleasant was likely to happen, the Duty Officer spoke.

“Welcome, sir, how can we be of service?” He stood ramrod straight, realizing that he spoke in a more nervous voice than he had expected.

“What’s your name?” Kallet smiled wickedly, his face a much darker green than normal, owing to the excitement and exertion of reaching the Control Room.

“Major Kadrimus, at your service, sir.”

“Excellent, Major. Are the Imperial Guards secure?”

“Yes, sir - of course, sir, standard procedure in military close arrest, Officers confined to quarters, other ranks to barrack blocks....” 

“Excellent, show me!”

“Yes, sir! Feed all Vide-Links into the main Monitor Array!”

“Yes, sir,” a young officer replied nervously and almost tripped over his own feet.

“Come on, hurry up!” the excited and agitated General Kallet barked.

“Yes, sir, sorry sir,” the Duty Officer said.

The Monitor Array consisted of twenty holographically-generated Vide-Monitors stepped up in a block of five by four.

Each monitor was forty centimetres by twenty centimetres and formed a holographic checker-board of images for the Duty Officer to observe. And, in short order, the images on the monitors cleared from the blank white of no-signal to some form of activity.

Like a greedy child scanning the shelves of a well-stocked sweet shop, Frontier General Avavid Kallet devoured the images with his eyes. From the images presented to him, Kallet could see officers secured in their personal quarters and groups of other ranks, whiling away their now-enforced leisure time in their forty-person Barracks blocks. Some of the Imperial Guards were asleep, whilst many others played games of chance. Some of the Imperial Guards were exercising, trying to keep themselves both mentally and physically fit. Meanwhile, many others, mainly the officers, prowled agitatedly around their quarters like caged animals seeking some escape. 

“When was the Fire-Suppressant system last tested?” Kallet asked.

Checking his Control Console, the Duty Officer quickly gleaned the information from the Systems database.

“The Fire-Suppressant System was last checked seventeen days ago, sir.”

“And, was the suppressant discharged, or was it an Activation Systems check?” Kallet asked.

“Erm, it was an Activations Systems check, sir, the last Discharge test was conducted over a year ago, sir.”

“Oh my, it does look like our Imperial Guard colleagues don’t take their fire safety protocols very seriously, doesn’t it, Major Kadrimus?” Kallet smiled malevolently.

“No, sir,” the confused Duty Officer said.

“Then, we’d best make sure that the Discharge System is working properly throughout the facility, hadn’t we, Major?”

“But, sir, we’ll kill all…”

The Fire Suppressant System discharged a highly poisonous gas called Haggrion into the confines of the areas affected by any fire. The effect of Haggrion was to starve the fire of any propellant gases such as oxygen. The effect on any living, breathing life-forms unfortunate enough to be caught in the discharge was a relatively swift but painful death by suffocation.

“What, Major? We’ll kill all the Guards. No, Major, we’re eliminating traitors to our new Emperor.” General Kallet eyed the Duty Officer with hostility.

The Senior Officers that had followed Kallet into the Control Room fell deathly silent and stared at each other in horror.

“Activate the Discharge System, Major,” Kallet ordered.

“But, sir, it’s cold blooded murder…”

“I gave you an order, now carry it out!”

“But, sir, please-”

With the speed of a striking cobra, Frontier General Avavid Kallet drew his side-arm from the holster at his right hip and fired two laser bolts into the pleading and protesting Duty Officer. The two laser bolts struck him squarely on the chest, throwing him backwards onto the ground, where he shuddered jerkily for a few moments, and then lay still.

“When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed!” Kallet bellowed angrily.

The oppressive silence in the Control Room was shattered by the humming of the massive power generators of the facility, as the Frontier soldiers stared at the lifeless body of the Duty Officer.

“I will not be disobeyed!!” Kallet shrieked like a petulant schoolboy, waving the laser pistol in his right hand. “Do you understand me!?”

The mumbled responses and silence from the terrified Frontier troops only served to enrage Frontier General Avavid Kallet even further.

“I said, do you understand me!?” he screamed.

His face was the darkest green that any of his Senior Officers had ever seen him.

“YES, SIR!!” The subordinates in the Control Room bellowed at the top of their voices in response to their commander, who had clearly lost all reasoning.

“You!” Kallet pointed the pistol at a young Junior Officer. “What’s your name?”

“Junior Lieutenant Arranus, Gleythar Arranus…sir.”

“Are you going to disobey me, Junior Lieutenant Gleythar Arranus?”

“No, sir....”

“Then activate the Discharge System, please.”

With his eyes still fixated on the pistol in General Kallet’s hand, the young Junior Lieutenant stumbled nervously over to the Control Console behind the Duty Officers desk. Gasping to control a sob, the Junior Lieutenant looked across at the lifeless body of Major Kadrimus that stared open-eyed at the ceiling of the Control Room, and began to initiate the Fire Suppressant Discharge System.

“Ready, sir.”

“Proceed.”

Breathing heavily, whilst unable to hold back the tears any longer, Junior Lieutenant Gleythar Arranus pushed the small black button on the Control Console that activated the Discharge System and allowed the Haggrion gas to escape from the reservoirs concealed in the ceilings and floors of the Barracks facility. And, having pressed the fatal button, Junior Lieutenant Gleythar Arranus fell clumsily to the floor, on his backside, and wept.

The great wracking sobs from the young Junior Lieutenant were drowned out by the harsh blare of the fire alarm klaxon. Avavid Kallet fixed his attention remorselessly onto the images of the Imperial Guards trapped within the confines of their locked and sealed quarters. On the holographic images, the first response of the doomed Imperial Guards was one of surprise and astonishment. This was quickly followed by panic and disbelief as the white Haggrion gas began to seep and drift into the Barracks facility. The alarm klaxon was rapidly disabled, as Kallet wanted to experience the full joys and delights of the demise of the Imperial Guard. From the audio channel of the Vide-Monitors, Kallet could hear their exclamations of disbelief and outraged anger as the Guards began to comprehend what was happening to them.

Turning up the volume control, the twisted Kallet listened to what he considered was the sweet music of their suffering. They pleaded and begged their captors to open the doors. They were trapped in their own quarters, with no escape or chance of mercy. With his face shining; dark green and painted with sweat and excitement, Avavid Kallet devoured the images that flickered and danced before him on the checkerboard of screens. From the holographic images, he could see the terror written on their faces, and Avavid Kallet revelled in their mental agonies. This was revenge for Frontier General Avavid Kallet.

This was the payback for all those years ago when the Imperial Guard had shattered his youthful dreams and sent him back to the horror and cruelty of the Frontier Fleets. Avavid Kallet let their panic and terror flood into his mind like the euphoric effects of some narcotic drug.