The Glorious Becoming (13 page)

That didn’t surprise Scott in the slightest. But what did surprise him was EDEN’s side of the equation. How could a global organization of military leaders never piece together information like this? If EDEN Command truly had never considered these things, then it went far beyond incompetence. It was near-criminal negligence.

“You know,” Scott said, “this is making more and more sense now. Tauthin said a few other things, too, but one thing that stands out now is what he called the
Golathochian Subjugation
. If they think that the Golathoch somehow allied themselves with us, and that that creates some form of interference in a holy war, it might make sense that they’d want to conquer the Golathoch as punishment.” The zealotry was so human. “He said that we—humanity—would herald the Golathochian Subjugation. I’m not sure what else would even make sense at this point.”

Becan frowned. “Too bad yeh don’t have a Ceratopian friend to talk to.”

The Golathochian perspective—that was one angle Scott was missing entirely. For as much time as he had spent with Tauthin in Confinement, he’d never spent a moment with a captive Ceratopian. The closest he’d ever come was during his encounter with H`laar on the Battle Cruiser.
Dar Achaar veraatat dech. Dar Achaar veraatat Rumigtaah.
Words intended for him that he was yet to decipher. How they haunted him.

“
What
did you just say?”

Scott blinked back into awareness. The question had come from Auric, who now sat wide-eyed at the Nightmen’s table. “What?” Scott asked.

“What you just said, captain. Say it again.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah yeh did, Remmy,” said Becan. Others backed up the statement. “Kinda came ou’ all mumbled.”

“I
did
?” He must have thought aloud without realizing it.

“‘Der Achaar verratet dich,’” Auric said. “Is that what you said?”

That was it exactly. Auric had spoken the words so fluently, so naturally. Scott physically reacted. “How’d you say that so good?”

Auric looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“How can you speak Ceratopian like that?”

“Ceratopian?”
The blond-haired slayer stared back. “That is not Ceratopian. It is German.”

The silence that hit the room—and flooded Scott Remington’s mind—was deafening.

“‘Der Achaar verratet dich,’” Auric repeated. “The Achaar betrays you. The Achaar betrays Remington.”

“Auric, are you serious?” Scott spoke like anything but a commanding officer. He sounded more like a stunned bystander. All this time? All this time that he had wrestled, and pondered, and sought answers from every scientist in Confinement? All this time, and the answer was right there in Room 14, just waiting to be found?

The German was adamant. “That is what you said, right? If so, it is ‘The Achaar betrays you.’”

His heart pounding, Scott approached the slayer’s table. “What’s Achaar? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I have never heard that.”

“It’s not German?”

“No.”

David pointed between the two men. “I just want to make sure we’re all hearing this right, because it sounds an awful lot like you’re suggesting a Ceratopian talked to you in German.”

That was exactly how it seemed. “Yeah. I mean, that’s as close to the way I can remember it.” German! How did that even make
sense
?

“Okay,” said Esther, “this one’s even beyond me.”

Dostoevsky cut in, as the whole room grew more animated. “Captain, when this happened, it was clear that the Ceratopian was trying to deliver a message to you, correct?”

“Yes.” It was blatantly clear. The alien—H`laar—was making it a point for Scott to understand, even going so far as to use
Remington
in the phrase.

“But tha’ doesn’t make sense,” said Becan. “If you’re tryin’ to get a message to Earth, wouldn’t yeh pick English or Chinese? Somethin’ a larger percent o’ the population actually speaks?”

Esther nodded. “English is either the first or second language for most people on the planet.”

There had to have been a reason for the Ceratopian to have chosen German, of all the languages on Earth. Was it the easiest for the aliens to replicate? Or was there one nationality, one person in particular they were trying to contact? Famous Germans. Famous Germans of the modern era. Scott racked his brain to come up with one. It didn’t take him long. “He was trying to find Faerber.”

The moment Scott said it, a hush struck the room.

“H`laar was trying to send a message to Klaus Faerber,” Scott went on. “Captain Faerber is the most prominent member of EDEN on the planet, almost more so than the president. If you know
anything
about EDEN, you know who Faerber is.”

“But would the Ceratopians know who he is?” Becan asked.

“Why not? The Bakma knew EDEN and the Nightmen.” It was a long shot—the idea that H`laar was sending a message to Klaus Faerber—but it was the only idea that made immediate sense. But
why
? “Auric, Achaar’s got to mean something.”

The German shook his head adamantly. “It does not. It is not a German word.”

Scott paced in front of the room. “The Achaar. The Achaar betrays. What is the Achaar?”

“Why must it be a ‘what?’” asked Svetlana. “What if it is a ‘who?’”

“Because of
the
.
The
Achaar betrays.”

“Perhaps it just spoke wrong,” Esther said. “You know. Ceratopian
Engrish
.”

That was a possibility Scott couldn’t discount.

“Archer,” said Dostoevsky suddenly. The rest of the room faced him. “Benjamin Archer.”

Max’s brow furrowed. “Who the hell is Benjamin Archer?”

That name rung a bell to Scott—he’d heard it before.

“A judge in the High Command,” Dostoevsky explained. “He is their newest member.” The fulcrum looked at Scott. “There must be a reason the Ceratopian tried to reach Faerber specifically, and not someone on the Council. There are no Germans in the High Command. Pauling is American, several are Britons, Russians, other nationalities. But no Germans.”

Scott felt somewhat sheepish for not knowing the name of one of EDEN’s own judges, but the truth of the matter was that the political side of the organization rarely—if ever—crossed onto the battlefield. Prior to EDEN, he probably couldn’t name a senator or congressman outside of his own state. Ignorance used to be bliss; now it was embarrassing.

“The Ceratopian chose not to speak a language of the Council,” Dostoevsky said. “There must have been a reason for this. Achaar and Archer are very close. He could have been trying to circumvent EDEN’s leadership by contacting its top soldier.”

Travis’s ears suddenly perked. “Hey, now, my memory might be a little fuzzy, but didn’t EDEN send that general to that mega-mission by direct order?”

“Wha’ general?” Becan asked.

Snapping his fingers, Scott looked at Travis. “That’s right! Shoot, what was his name?” No one had an answer. “It doesn’t matter. What Travis said is right—EDEN Command sent a general to directly intervene with that interspecies conflict in Verkhoyanskiy. They ordered us to back out of the fight.”

David looked at Max, smirking. “The Axen Technique.”

“Aw, shut up,” said Max.

“The Archer betrays us,” Scott said. “Archer betrays us. He was trying to tell Faerber that someone in the Council was betraying humanity. He went so far as to make it personal. He said the Archer was betraying
me
.”

Dostoevsky nodded. “And who showed up to get us away from the mission? Someone sent by EDEN Command.”

Scott didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but for the life of him, this was adding up beyond his comfort level. He hated the word
conspiracy
. It was a word overused to the point of ineffectiveness. But there was undeniably something going on here.

Svetlana held out her hands. “But what does that mean? Archer betrays us? Betrays us how?” She sighed in frustration. “I am skeptical of all this.”

“How can you sodding be
skeptical
?” asked Esther.

“Because
someone
must be, Esther,” answered Svetlana, glaring. She turned back to Scott. “We cannot make these leaps in logic without evidence. This could mean something completely different. Maybe the word was not
Archer
. Maybe he mispronounced other words. We cannot just guess our way to a conclusion—that is what crazy people do!”

Svetlana was right. Just because dots were connecting didn’t mean they weren’t being forced to. Something substantial was required, something more than a collection of hunches. If this was something significant—and that was a long-shot—it had to be approached the correct way. Scott needed to talk to the Ceratopian, H`laar, again. Wherever H`laar had gone. All Scott knew was that it wasn’t
Novosibirsk
. The EDEN-sent general had taken over the operation. Scott hadn’t gone home with a single captive beyond a handful of Bakma, and they weren’t even from that same battlefield.

He had to find out where H`laar had been taken. The obvious answer was EDEN Command, since it was EDEN Command who’d dispatched a general to claim the alien, but it was by no means a certainty. He had to talk to Petrov in Confinement. If anyone could find out where H`laar had gone, it would be him. But Scott would have to be careful. The last thing he wanted to do was tip off the scientist to some conspiracy theory that might have been totally wrong. If this was all legitimate, the implications were horizon-shattering. It meant the Ceratopians were privy to human politics. That meant there was communication between the two species, somehow. It meant that whatever it was that Archer was doing, it was to the detriment of soldiers like Scott and Faerber. It meant the possibility of corruption at the highest level.
Get it all out of your head, Scott.
It meant nothing. Not without evidence—just like Svetlana had said.

It was time for a new kind of mission. “All right, everyone. Here’s what I need.” No more poking around by himself. He had one heck of a team—he’d be a fool if he didn’t use them. “Benjamin Archer. I need to know everything about him.”

The first volunteer surprised him. It was Svetlana. “His medical records will be classified, but if nothing else, I can find his biography.”

Esther fidgeted in silence.

Nodding, Scott moved on. “The general who got dispatched by EDEN. I want to know who he was.”

“If I had the
Pariah
I could dig through its old transmission files,” said Travis solemnly. “I’ll have to just dig back through our personal ones. No promises they’ll have anything saved that far back, but you never know. If nothing else, maybe I can just find his name.”

“That’ll work, Trav.” Scott looked at Max. “I want you to talk to Tanneken. Tkachenok was a captain at that event. He ended up being demoted and sent to Tanneken’s unit. Find out if anything suspicious happened prior to our arrival on that mission.”

“Aye aye, cap’n.”

There was one final need to be filled. “This whole thing centers on betrayal. I want the rest of you to pore through some records. Find out everything EDEN Command has done in the past year. See if anything, even to some remote degree, could be seen as detrimental to the rest of us. Dave, I want you heading that up.”

Esther cleared her throat. “Shall I try to get in touch with Captain Faerber, sir?”

“No, not yet. We don’t have anything yet. Right now I want you helping the others.”

She sighed. “Yes, sir.”

The mission pieces were falling into place. Now it was just a matter of completing the objective—finding out what H`laar’s message meant, where H`laar went, and whether or not they were chasing rabbit trails or something significant. Dismissing the others, Scott headed straight for Confinement.

9

MONDAY, MARCH 12
^TH
, 0012 NE

1754 HOURS

T
HE MOMENT
S
COTT
entered Confinement, he knew something was amiss. Not only was the room packed, but it pulsed with activity. Scientists were clustered across the room, flipping through pages of documentation and examining consoles and devices. The whole room was frenzied.

“Petrov!” Spotting the chief scientist across the room, Scott pushed through the crowd to reach him. “What’s going on?” Sparing a quick glance to Tauthin’s cell, Scott saw that the alien was in the midst of an interrogation. In fact, every alien in Confinement was being drilled.

When Petrov saw Scott, he shook his head. “No time for this today, Remington. Today is not a good day.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Your friend,” Petrov said, motioning to Tauthin’s cell. “He just changed the war.”

“Changed the
war
?”

Petrov exchanged a fiery word with a fellow scientist. He looked back to Scott. “I cannot talk to you today. And yes, I know what you are capable of, so do not try threatening me. The general is capable of worse.”

“The general? What’s he have to do with this?”

“Go to him and find out.”

Not a chance.
“I just need to find out one thing,” Scott said. “It’ll take sixty seconds.”

“That is sixty seconds too many.” Marching to another cluster of scientists, Petrov spat out a barrage of orders.

Scott chased him. “I need this, Petrov!”

“And I need
you
to leave.”

“I can’t leave without this.” Two scientists bumped into Scott as they ferried past. “What in the world happened in here?”

The chief scientist eyed him harshly. “I am in charge of every man in this room—I do not have time to answer questions. If you want to know something, go to Thoor.”

“I’m not going to Thoor.”

“Then get out of my Confinement.”

One thing—Scott just needed
one
thing! “Two Ceratopians were taken captive during the inter-species conflict in Verkhoyanskiy. I need to know where they went.”

Petrov ignored him.