Athena Lee Chronicles 8: Infiltration (10 page)

“Didn’t you think that I should know about what it could do? We can use something like that here.”

“Well, you weren’t very happy with me when I first built it…”

“Forget about all that. Min sent the plans. If we make more will you give them life?”

“Of course I will. Anything for you Athena.”

“Grandmother did you find out any more information about the ship meeting with the Earth vessel?”

“No, just that it was registered to an Imperial company.”

“This is going to be bad isn’t it? Are we ready for a war with Earth?”

“Child, I don’t know if the galaxy is ready. But Mars is. We have been preparing for a great many years.”

Chapter 15

“Status report!” Alpha 364 walked onto the bridge. His planning session was interrupted by the report of a ship closing with their position.

“Sir, we have a small scout ship on an intercept course with us. It’s IFF shows it to be from Imperial Fleet twelve. Communications has picked up a private message addressed to the captain of the ship. It is in one of the early Program codes.”

“That would be our contact then. Good. Have it brought aboard and placed under guard. Under no circumstances are the occupants to be allowed out of the hangar bay.” Alpha stared at the ship's plot. Imperial Fleet? These sapes have high expectations of grandeur. We shall have to disabuse them of that idea.

The tractor beams on Colossus grabbed the scout ship as soon as it was in range. The bridge crew watched as the tiny ship was pulled into the hangar bay. The moment pressure was restored Delta shock troops in full armor emerged from hidden doors and surrounded the ship. “Unseal your door and prepare to be boarded.”

Inside the scout ship Johann 009 heard the familiar lilt of Earth speech and smiled. These were his people. Now the real work would begin. Signaling his copilot Johann unsealed the ship. He smiled as the first troops came aboard and held out his hands in greeting. He received a rifle butt to the head for his trouble. Knocked unconscious he fell to the floor. He was not aware as his tiny crew was beaten down and tossed from the ship. Gamma line techs raced on board and began stripping the data banks of the ship. A sealed metallic case was found and scanned before being sent to the Alphas. Engineering techs opened access panels and began disassembling the ship in search of technological advances that could be harvested.

Johann woke to find himself in restraints staring up at the ceiling. “Hey, let me out of here! I’m the representative from the Cabal.”

“Ah, good. You’re awake.” The voice was sibilant and snakelike. A man came into view looking down at him. He was a hunchback with a twisted face and deep-set eyes. “My name is Zeta 666. You and I are going to discuss a few things. What is your name?”

“I am Johann 009, former commander of the 153rd UN fighter wing. I am your contact with the Cabal.”

“Excellent. You are from the first generation of Gen Mods. That is good. The Captain has been needing some of your breed. Now, what can you tell me of the Cabal? Who are its leaders and where is its base of operations?”

“I can tell your Captain all of that. I brought documentation, it’s in a silver case on my ship.”

“Yes, the case. We have that and have read what is inside of it. But tell me who are your leaders in the Cabal?”

The questions went on for several hours. When Johann became belligerent, the pain began. Zeta’s were very good with pain. When the screams finally stopped, Johann was sent to the bridge to see the Captain.

The bridge was silent as two Delta line guards dragged Johann onto the bridge and dumped him at the Alpha’s feet. The Gen Mod lay there bleeding from a cut on his brow. “What do you think of our pain amplifiers Gen Mod?”

Johann lay gasping on the floor. He did not even realize that he was being spoken to until the Alpha kicked him in the stomach. “I asked you a question, Gen Mod. How do you like our pain amplifiers?”

Johann gasped from the pain, his ribs felt cracked. “I like it just fine, Sir.”

“Excellent. Zeta 666 prides himself on their effectiveness. Now how many of you Gen Mods are there in this Cabal of yours?”

“The entire inner circle of thirteen and maybe another dozen on other worlds. And the children too.”

“Children, Gen Mod? What children? Your line is sterile or so we have been told.”

“There were a few hundred women in the Program. They were meant to be the leaders but not enough survived.”

Alpha looked at his fellow Alpha and smiled. “That information was left out of our briefing. Interesting. How many of these children are like you Gen Mod? How many are stronger, faster, and have longer lives?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know, please don’t hurt me.” Zeta smiled at his captain. His work was done here and in record time too.

“I have good news Gen Mod. You get to live. We have uses for your breed, unlike the sapes you came with. They went for a walk outside. Their usefulness is over. Take him down to the Quartermaster. Inform him that this one is to survive, but to feel free to work him.” He motioned to the Deltas, and they dragged Johann off the bridge.

Alpha 364 looked at his co-captain, Alpha 366 and they both smiled. The plan was coming together. “Attention on the bridge. Navigation, continue the course for Mars. Communications, begin scanning for Martian frequencies. As soon as we reach the frontier we will be sending a message. A message of peace.” The bridge crew looked back at him in shock. “For now.” They all nodded and began to laugh. Their laughter echoed through the halls and corridors of Colossus.

__

The Empire was burning. The inner circle of the Cabal all stood atop the Imperial Senate building watching the flames. By morning the worst should be over but for now the battle for control continued. “How much of the Empire do we control?”

“Sir, Jeremiah 117 and his people control seventy percent. Over ninety percent of the Navy is with them. They’re actively hunting down Admiral Kane and her rebel fleet. A few of the larger ships escaped but most were heavily damaged and have no chance of linking up with her.”

“What are we telling the masses? What is the spin?”

“Rogue Senators attempting to pull off a coup were intercepted by loyal government troops. In the resulting battles many of the conspirators were killed and others captured. Elements of the Imperial Navy were involved and are now on the run as brave patriots sacrificed their lives intercepting the enemy ships and destroying them. Martial law has been declared to help round up those few traitors who escaped. The curfew will end in two days after Government troops have had time to ensure public safety.”

“Excellent. Be sure that the Vid networks don’t alter it too much. We need a unified message to go out. Get with Robert 025 and start planning the public trials and executions. We need for the people to trust us to protect them.”

“Sarah 100, get with your people in the education system. We need patriotic youth groups started, plans for this should be in the archives. Control the youth and you control the country.”

“How stands the non-Empire worlds? Did any of our groups succeed?”

“No, Sir. Hong Kong intercepted the hit squad and captured them. Somehow they have discovered all the listening devices that we have planted on Freedom Station. The last of our people retreated to the Consulate and are staying in hiding there. New Reno was our only success. Our agents eliminated the bridge crew and took control of the station. A pitched battle broke out in the main concourse lasting for several hours. Without access to Station supplies and services our people managed to capture them.”

“How many are they holding?”

“None now. They all went for a walk outside.” The leader of the circle smiled.

“What about Sam 0256, did we capture that old bastard?”

Peter 400 winced. “I’m sorry, Sir. Sam had a hidden ship no one knew about and used it to escape. It was a Mark One Starfury.”

“Damn it, Peter! You had one job. Find him and kill him! What of Mars?”

“Another failure, Sir. Our agents were intercepted and destroyed. They, like Hong Kong, have some sort of new surveillance detection system. Somehow they located our training camps and captured many of our graduates.”

“One last question and there had better not be bad news related to it or off the roof you go. What of the Earth ship?”

“Our sensors show that it met up with Johann’s ship at the correct coordinates. The ship then continued to the frontier forts. Our last message stated that it was docked at the one closest to Mars.”

“Has Johann been in contact?”

“Not him personally, but a coded message was received bearing his code words. Earth wishes for us to claim as much territory as possible for the new Earth Empire. They welcome all of us back into the fold and promise that we will be rewarded as befits our station.” That last bit puzzled James 112. What is our station?

“Finally. Now with any luck we can all go home again. It has been too long since any of us last saw Earth. Good. Let us all get to work. The Empire needs to be in working order when the Earth ship arrives.”

Chapter 16

“Admiral, here is a list of the ships that managed to break free of the ambush.”

Admiral Emily Kane took the tablet from her new aide Lieutenant Hollis. She looked at the list in horror. Only half of the fleet made it to the jump point during the escape. Everything happened so fast! She and the other prominent Admirals were at an impromptu meeting at the New San Diego Fleet supply base. They and their fleets were gathered to hear of a new threat to the Empire. Grand Fleet Admiral Conrad Cobb had given the orders to meet, so every officer was there.

New San Diego was at the heart of the Empire, every new ship was launched from here. One of the earliest systems settled during the colonization years, it was primarily a huge mining colony. Three Navy shipyards were located in this system. Heavily defended, it held the honor of never being attacked in either of the two interstellar wars. Each jump point was protected by massive hollow asteroid defense stations and over twenty fighter wings. Only an idiot would try to attack this base. It made the perfect meeting place for high-level conferences.

The meeting began like any other. Admirals and their aides and bodyguards all attended a meet and greet in the main conference area. Nothing stood out as unusual at least in the beginning. The Grand Admiral arrived late. His protection squad circled the room taking up positions on all the wall. There were a few more troops than usual but nothing out of the ordinary. The Grand Admiral was the most protected man in the Empire.

“Ma’am, something is a bit off with those troops.” Her security had been with her for years and she trusted them implicitly.

She stepped to the side of the room and conferred with her man. “Why do you say that Commander?”

“Call it a gut feeling. I have trained with the Grand Admiral's guard force. Those are not members of it. I should know, I spent two weeks in the mud with their best last year during Fleet maneuvers. I had met their entire team by the time it was all done. Something is wrong for him to have changed his protection.”

“I hope you are wrong John. Keep an eye on them and let me know immediately if that gut of yours twinges again.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She walked back to the group and continued to mingle.

“If I may have everyone's attention!” The Grand Admiral called attention and waved toward the conference room. “Let’s get this meeting started. We have a great deal to go over.”

As the small groups of officers entered the room, they could see more of the Grand Admiral's men along the walls. Each Admiral was seated at a long table in the center of the room. Aides and guards were seated behind each officer. The Grand Admiral stood at the end of the table.

“Admirals thank you for coming. A great threat has risen that threatens the Empire and everything that we have worked toward for many years. Even now it is changing the way of life that our ancestors started on the colony worlds. They came here to start a new life and…” As the Admiral continued the drone on about history she could hear and feel both John and her aide silently discussing something. She glanced behind her and they were looking at her expectantly. The Grand Admiral’s opening statement had shifted he was now getting to the meat of the situation.