The Veritian Derelict (Junkyard Dogs) (18 page)

"
We must return to the ballroom and see if we can calm down our guests," said the Ambassador. "I'm sure they'll all be pleased to know that we're now heading for the New Ceylon system. Sondia? Inform the rest of the ship's company about what has happened. Dr. Carlisle? Lieutenant Harvick? Would you come with me please? I have urgent need for your diplomatic skills."

Carlisle thought to herself, "
What diplomatic skills?"
but she followed the Ambassador anyway.

The t
hree of them made their way back to the ballroom. Commander Hussein, head of the Ambassador's personal security force, greeted them in the corridor outside the ballroom.

"Do you have a report for
us, Hussein?" asked the Ambassador.

"I do, Excellency," replied the security chief. "The so-called Sheik
of New Cairo is an impostor, just as we suspected. We are attempting to determine the man's true identity as we speak. The second assailant is dead, it appears he took some kind of poison, something that was hidden on his person. The first assailant is still alive, probably because he was knocked unconscious..." the security chief gave Carlisle a respectful glance. "...He is in the brig strapped to a gurney and under the direct supervision of the ship's doctor. We are assuming that he also has a suicide pill somewhere on or in his body. The doctor is keeping the man sedated so he doesn't have the opportunity to take his own life as the other attacker did. The dead man is being examined to see if we can determine what sort of toxin he used. If we know what killed him we may able to keep the other assailant alive long enough to get some information from him." The security chief's look was grim. "They all appear to be members of 'Aswad Haboob,' the 'Black Storm,' professional assassins for the fundamentalists."

"It is flattering to know that whoever is responsible for this attempt
on my life chose to use the best people available," said the Ambassador. "Thank Allah for Sondia and, of course, for Dr. Carlisle!"

Carlisle blushed at the complement.
Then she watched as the Ambassador put on his game face, straightened his shoulders and, surrounded by his security people, went back into the ballroom to face a mob of angry and confused "guests" who had now become his responsibility for an indeterminate time. Carlisle and Lieutenant Harvick trailed in after them.

Chapter
25.

On board the Meridian Imperial Diplomatic Ship
Istanbul,
somewhere in Wu-Chang psuedospace. December 3, 2598.

T
he macrojump to the New Ceylon system required nearly six hours of subjective time to complete. When the
Istanbul
phased back into normal space, the
Dingo
was already waiting for her. Using the
Istanbul's
Stage I communicator, Captain Nassar immediately attempted to contact the Federation authorities. He received a reply within a few moments.

"
Greyhound
here," said Helen Murdock, from the
Istanbul's
viewscreen. "Who did you say you were?"

"This is Meridian Imperial
Diplomatic Ship
Istanbul
calling, we must speak to whoever is in command of this system immediately."

"
That's what I thought you said," she replied. "Hang on a minute, I'll get Commander Kresge."

Kresge
had been getting some well-earned rest in the first officer's cabin, which he had taken over for his office/living quarters. Though still a little groggy, he was on the bridge of the
Greyhound
in under a minute. He sat down in the Captain's chair and spoke towards the video pickup.

"Commander Oskar Kresge
of the United Terran Federation Navy here," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"Commander Kresge, this is
Captain Nassar of the Imperial Meridian Ship
Istanbul
. Unfortunately we meet again under dire circumstances."

"It is
a pleasure to hear from you again, Captain Nassar," replied Kresge. "What is your situation?"

Kresge paled as
the most recent developments were explained to him. "So it's begun," he said. "This isn't how I expected it to start but I had a feeling it wouldn't be long. What do you propose to do, Captain?"

"We are as yet unsure, Commander. We were to
make our way back to Meridian after our conference but we need to investigate the situation there before making any decisions. At least one of our escort ships defected to the opposition just prior to the attack and, at the moment, we aren't sure of anything. It is entirely possible that we will need to seek refuge in this system for a time." He paused for a moment and then added, "I also must admit that I cannot be certain we won't be pursued."

Kresge looked thoughtful. "
We should all be safe here, for the time being anyway. If you were needing to hide out for a while, the Scrapyard is a good place to do it. There are at least eighty wrecks out here in the same size range as the
Istanbul
. With systems powered down, you'd be very difficult to detect."

"An excellent
suggestion, Commander. With your permission, we are on route to the Scrapyard now."

"We'll expect you sometime in the next few hours. Kresge out."

***

Carlisle
and Harvick were in the
Istanbul's
communications suite at the request of the Ambassador when Captain Nassar put through a call to Meridian on the Stage II Whitney Communicator to report current events and to check on the status of their home planet.

"This is Captain Nassar of the
Istanbul
calling the Meridian Imperial Guard. This is a top priority communication. We have important information concerning Planetary security to report!"

Ominously, he had to repeat the call
several times before he got any response. Finally a reply came but the video was of very poor quality and tended to cut in and out. The news from Meridian was not encouraging.

"Meridian Imperial Guard
, Major Mustafa here." There was the sound of small arms fire in the background. "Before you continue, Captain, I would advise you not to reveal any information about your current situation or location. There are many separate skirmishes...
crackle...
all over the planet...
crackle
...are in the middle of an insurrection here in the capital city...
static
...aren't sure how long we'll be able to hold out, if at all. Any information you give to me or others in this office could easily wind up in enemy hands."

Captain Nassar was so shocked that he
didn't reply for several long moments. Finally he composed himself enough to respond.

"I will tell
you then that the
Istanbul,
with Ambassador Saladin aboard, was able to escape an attack on the Santana Nexus without harm. Prior to the attack we were able to thwart an assassination attempt on the Ambassador as well. Do you have news of the Emperor or the Prime Minister?"

"
...
crackle
...young Emperor is safe in one of the underground...
static
...may Allah be praised! The whereabouts of the Prime Minister remains...
crackle
...know that several cabinet members are dead and several others have been captured. I apologize, Captain...
crackle
...is chaos here at the moment."

"I understand, Major. It sounds like you
are fully occupied. We will sign off for now. Please call when you reach a more stable situation."

"Roger, Captain Nassar,
...
crackle
...stafa out."

The silence on the bridge of the
Istanbul
after the termination of the call was palpable. The Ambassador immediately contacted Commander Kresge with the news. The crew of the
Istanbul
kept an anxious eye out for any sign of pursuit but the diplomatic ship and Davis-Moore's smaller
Dingo
were able to make it to the Scrapyard, a journey of about four hours, without further incident. Kresge directed Captain Nassar to park the
Istanbul
next to a large conglomeration of similar sized ships. Once there, Nassar proceeded to shut all systems down to minimum levels. The
Dingo
slipped in next to the cluster of cargo ships where the
Greyhound
was stationed.

Based as she was on the same
platform as a Meridian heavy cruiser, most of the
Istanbul's
hardware, including drive systems, sensor arrays and shielding were virtually the same as her military counterparts. Where she differed the most was in her offensive armament or, more accurately, her lack thereof, and in the quality of her furnishings in addition to the size and configuration of the various compartments aboard. Use of the military grade stealth systems, that had been left intact on the ship, meant that she would be very difficult to detect even for an enemy that had the most up to date sensing equipment. Out in the Scrapyard, surrounded by the wrecks of more than eighty ships of similar size, detection was going to be extremely difficult. The ship and its occupants were indeed probably safe for the time being.

After a transit that had taken about half an hour, a
small delegation consisting of Kresge, Harris, Murdock, and Hawkins from the
Greyhound
approached the
Istanbul
on the
Rover II
. The small group cycled through the
Istanbul's
main airlock and removed their space suits before being escorted to a conference room. Captain Nassar, who had met many of the Federation personnel earlier during the terrorist incident on the New Ceylon Orbital Station, came into the room a few minutes later. His overall manner was understandably grim, but he greeted everybody warmly before moving on to the current business.

"Commander Kresge?" said
Nassar. "The Ambassador would like to meet with you in private for a few moments. He has a communication intended for your eyes only. The rest of you relax, perhaps have some refreshment. A briefing will begin within the next twenty minutes."

Kresge
left the rest of his colleagues and followed the Captain a short way down the corridor to a small office. The Captain rapped softly on the door. "Excellency? Commander Kresge is here."

"Please show him in, Captain."

Kresge went in to the office, closing the door behind him. Some ten minutes later he emerged, his face now grim also, and rejoined his companions in the conference room.

"Listen up,
everyone," said Kresge. "I have just been informed that the Ambassador has two Federation officers with him. One of them is a Lieutenant Lawrence Harvick, he's one of the official Federation liaisons, and the other is...," he looked directly at Harris, "...Tamara Carlisle."

Harris felt a stab in his chest. Kresge took a deep breath before continuing

"That's not all. This may be somewhat difficult for all of us but we are to conduct ourselves as we don't know her."

Seeing Harris'
perplexed and somewhat stricken look, he explained as best he could.

"
Carlisle is on a special assignment from the Admiralty and is actually undercover. She is under orders not to discuss her mission with anyone, not even me. For the security of her mission and her personal safety, in the presence of anyone we don't trust completely, we are to behave as though she were a stranger. Pretend you don't know her. Have you got that?"

"Yes, Sir," replied the group.
Harris wore a look that was hard to decipher.

"The
Istanbul
was hosting a religious summit back at the Santana Nexus when a skirmish broke out. One of the two destroyers escorting the
Istanbul
defected to the Meridian Opposition, led by a known terrorist who calls himself the Sheik of Barsoom. This ship attacked the other Meridian escort before attacking and damaging several Federation Navy vessels as well. With religious leaders from all over the Quadrant onboard, capturing or destroying the
Istanbul
had to have been one of their prime objectives. At that point the
Istanbul's
tactical officer detected an even larger force, consisting of at least four additional ships, that was almost within weapons range. In the face of this additional threat, they had to do something and fast or face the consequences. Thanks to some quick thinking on the part of Dr. Carlisle, the
Istanbul
and Clancy Davis-Moore's
Dingo
managed to escape the attack and jump out of the Santana Nexus system but..." Kresge paused for a moment and looked around at his audience, "...we must tread carefully. This ship is loaded with people, some of whom are known enemies of the Ambassador and others whose loyalties are questionable. Don't do anything that would break the Ensign's cover. Is that clear?" He was looking directly at Harris as he said the last.

"Clear, sir," replied Harris

"We also have to assume that the Santana Nexus is now in the hands of this new enemy. A briefing will start within the next few minutes."

The
four of them remained standing, lost in their own thoughts, until a fairly large delegation from the
Istanbul
joined them in the conference room. Harris watched them as they filed in, Captain Nassar, Ambassador Saladin, the Ambassador's wife Lady Sondia, Clancy Davis-Moore, another ten or twelve dignitaries of various ethnic origins, a tall, young, dark-skinned Lieutenant that Harris didn't recognize in a Federation Naval Uniform and...he felt his heart flutter...Ensign Tamara Carlisle. To his eyes, she had never looked better. She was not in uniform but was instead wearing some sort of business suit, an outfit that, except for the color, was very similar to the one that Lady Sondia was wearing. Her short, dark hair looked like it was a little longer than he remembered but her large sea-green eyes and the exotic clan tattoo on her left cheek were just as he remembered. Carlisle briefly caught his eye and then looked away, her expression enigmatic.

Ambassador
Saladin asked everyone to take a seat while he and Oskar Kresge remained standing.

The Ambassador began the briefing.

"Thank you all for coming." He performed a series of introductions. Harris was not surprised to learn that, among others, the delegation consisted of a prominent Catholic Bishop, a Jewish Rabbi and a half-dozen Islamic leaders. What did come as a surprise was that one of the oldest men in the delegation was introduced as Dr. F.C. Talbot. More surprising was that he appeared to be the same Federation engineer whose radical theories had been so important to the success of the destroyer action in the Succession War but had also been invaluable to Harris, Carlisle and Hawkins during their ordeal two months ago in the Scrapyard.

Introductions completed, the Ambassador began the meeting in earnest.

"We received a burst of messages just over two hours ago on our Stage II communicator. Commander Kresge and I think you all need to see some of them," he said, before passing the floor to Kresge."Commander Kresge."

"Thank you, Excellency," said Kresge. "The video you are
all about to see could only be unlocked after I input my personal code. This message was intended for Federation Naval personnel but I don't think it contains anything that needs to remain a secret. Run the video now, Captain, if you please."