Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil (22 page)

They grudgingly
followed her towards the indicated conference table.  As they walked across the
thick, ornately detailed carpeting, Loren suddenly felt like it was a sham. 
These were all just props in some twisted stage performance he was being forced
to perform in.

They'd no sooner sat
down than two more senators walked in, accompanied by their own aides.  They
sat at the opposite end of the table, leaving a good ten seats open between
them and the naval officers.  Loren almost found it amusing, until he studied
the looks on their faces.  Then he was no longer feeling lighthearted.

"Officers,"
the one on the left started.  He was a human male, probably in his mid
fifties.  That should have been quite young for a human, but he looked much the
worse for wear.  His skin looked soft and seemed to sag, and while not exactly
overweight, he was carrying extra pounds.  Loren noticed it was especially
noticeable in his neck.  The man's neck seemed to balloon much larger around
than it should have and quivered when he talked, as though it was filled with
water or some sort of gelatin.  He couldn't take his eyes off it, and had to
make a conscious effort to look away.  "I am Senator Trimball, of the
Governing Committee."  He indicated the equally aged looking Drisk woman
on the right.  "This is Senator Jax.  We are here to discuss the matter of
your engagement with the Primans over Lemuria."

The four officers
just sat there, knowing that this was not intended to be a two way street and
that their input was neither wanted nor would count for anything.  This was the
sort of grandstanding that elected officials loved to do: make high-minded
speeches and talk down to others who were supposed to sit there and take it. 
And because these were officers who were rule-followers, the senators knew
they'd have to accept it.

"The truth is
that your orders were to not seek conflict with the Primans; your visit was to
be a diplomatic one only.  In addition, you engaged based on a request from a
military officer, not the duly elected civilian government of the planet.  In
essence, you empowered a military coup of the planet.  And lastly, the results
were pyrrhic at best.  You forced the Primans to withdraw, but at the expense
of moderate damage to Avenger along with the loss of three quarters of her
combat pilots, serious damage to Cobalt, and irreparable damage to Majestic
which will necessitate her being stricken from service."

Senator Trimball put
down the data pad he'd been reading the charges from and looked at them, and
Loren wryly realized why he'd been forced to leave his gun behind.

"We were there
to offer assistance," Captain Montari replied in the an unusually
impassioned speech for his species, "the civilian government had been
destroyed by Priman bombardment, and while I will lament the loss of life and
my ship more than you will ever appreciate, that's what happens in war and it
was a price I find to be justified."

None of the other
officers spoke; they agreed with the sentiment and didn't want to spoil the
moment by tacking on extra words that weren't needed.

The senators stared
at the officers, then each other and exchanged some sort of look.  One of
satisfaction, of being right about something?

"Regardless of
your motivations," Senator Trimball continued heavily, "the fact that
this happened during treaty talks with the Primans makes it a much more visible
and crucial issue.  If we don't investigate and take action if appropriate, it
could jeopardize the tenuous cease-fire we have with them."

"Are you saying
you want to throw us under the hovercar to make the Primans happy?" Loren
couldn't help but ask.

"Commander
Stone," Senator Jax finally piped up, "your best course of action,
for all of you, is cooperative compliance."  She said nothing more.  Loren
started to wonder what exactly was in store for them and if Senator Dennix had
known this all along and just didn't want to get involved.

Loren just stared at
the woman, who returned his glance with a steely, arrogant one of her own.  He
knew she was the sort of person who loved to be in charge, and he could give a
damn what she thought of him.  If Captain Elco ordered him to be quiet, he
would; this woman didn't get the same consideration.  Not any more.

"Moving
on," Senator Trimball continued, "it's the decision of enough members
of the Governing Committee that there will be an inquiry into the events over
Lemuria."  Everyone's eyebrows raised, and the senators could obviously
tell from the body language that the officers were upset.

"You surely
know that an investigation is simply that; we will have impartial observers
look into the events and render their opinion of what happened."  Senator
Trimball looked around to make sure they were all paying attention to him
before he continued.  "You have not been charged nor convicted, but the
official reason for the inquiry will be that of operating outside the scope of
your command and disobeying orders to remain neutral.  You will not be removed
from command, though under other circumstances you'd be restricted to certain
movements until your ability to carry out command of a starship was verified. 
Since your ships are all relegated to the repair yards here anyway, that is not
an issue."  Trimball looked pointedly at Captain Elco next.  "Though,
in Avenger's case, you will be ordered to report to the yards as soon as
practical for your own repairs.  There's no need for you to take up a low-orbit
slot at this point, so we'll have you make room as soon as you are able."

Silence hung over
the room.  The officers were speechless, and the senators were done with their
presentation.  Nobody made to move, however, until Tana Starr spoke up. 

"Perhaps now
would be a good time to follow me," she said gently to the Confed
officers.  A moment later and the spell was broken; they all stood and filed
out.  Loren made it a point to not even look at the offending senators; he
couldn't tell if the other three officers had done the same.

The walk back to the
street was performed in silence.  They passed out of the inner sanctum,
retrieved their weapons, and left the building at a brisk walk. 

Finally, they were
outside on the plaza and sought out a shaded area to collect their thoughts.

"Wow," was
all Captain Elco could bring himself to say.  He looked at Loren, who simply
sat there steaming in the afternoon heat.  "Should I ask what's on your
mind?"

"Anything I say
at this point would most likely be used at my eventual court-martial," he
replied through gritted teeth.

"The Senator is
a man without honor," Captain Montari added.

"We all know
this is a sham and it won't stick," Captain Rese finally announced. 
"The point is, why do it at all?  All they're going to do is keep us and
two or eventually three (she indicated Captain Montari as she said the number,
as sooner or later he'd get a new ship and be back in the fight) ships out of
the fight.  Why bother with the games?"

Captain Elco thought
about that, letting ideas flit back and forth in his mind.  He remembered the
words of his friend, the Talaran Captain Lazaf, as he'd told him about the
mysterious Tana Starr and Senator Dennix's shift in thinking and policies. 
Something was up, but he didn't dare talk about it in a place like this, where
he was fairly certain they were being monitored.  "I guess all I can say
at this point is that we should head back upstairs and get back to taking care
of our ships and crews," he said.  It was a nice, neutral, safe thing to
offer considering their recent meeting, and he realized that was exactly what
everyone needed to hear.  His fellow officers, as well as anyone who might be
listening to them.

Chapter Ten

"That went
well," Tana said to Dennix in his office.  He sat leaning back in his
chair, hands folded across his stomach, lost in thought.

"You know by
now that I am willing to do certain things in order to facilitate our
deal," he said, still staring straight ahead and avoiding eye contact. 
"But these people aren't idiots; sooner or later somebody is going to ask
why I do the things I do, and I'm going to have a hard time explaining it to them. 
Like this inquiry, like moving Velk to the city here, like telling the Navy to
reassign the ships with the best records to out-of-the-way roles and a dozen
more inexplicable things that you've told me to do."  Finally, he looked
at her, letting the chair's springs snap him back to an upright seating
position.  "But it can't last, at least not unless there are some
seriously positive things also happening that I can take credit for as far as
the populace goes.  So, what's Enric going to come back with?"

Starr let that hang
in the air for a bit, not just to taunt him but to see how he reacted to the
stress.  He just stared at her, a sign she took to mean he was starting to get
desperate.  In that case, it was best to pacify him; she didn't need him to go
out and try to make big plans of his own without her guidance.

"Enric Shae
will return with a treaty offer, which you will of course sign," she
replied.  She stood up and walked over to his side of the desk.  While she was
unfamiliar with the use of sexual tension to meet her own ends, Dennix realized
that she was very well capable of doing so.  Even in her standard, abrasive
state she could be alluring, though it was hard to pinpoint exactly what about
her made it so.  Still, he couldn't look away as she perched on the corner of
his desk, her athletic leg dangling within his reach.

She continued. 
"It will offer our nonaggression in return for your agreeing to dismantle
combat units along your borders.  You will be allowed to keep a certain
percentage of your fleet for internal police action, but you will not be
allowed to take those forces outside your borders.  In time, those borders will
change and we will assume more and more control, sometimes overtly and
sometimes not.  You will be named as our Governor and representative here, and
you will stay in power.  The rest of the details are more fluid and quite
honestly might change, but you will get your overall wish.  You will get to
rule in our stead, and the Confederation will not be conquered outright.  The
people only have to know what you tell them, and you know they'll believe you
even if there's evidence to the contrary as long as you stay ahead of
them."

Dennix spun his
chair away from her, disappointed with himself for thinking such thoughts about
the woman who was telling him how he was going to surrender.  For that's what
it would be.  Of course, it would start out innocently enough, but he was
enough of a player to know that the Primans would soon begin taking more and
more of the Confederation.  Eventually they'd want to start with their
indoctrination all over again as they did on every captured world.  They'd
insinuate themselves into the Confed culture.  He didn't know how patient these
people would be, but spending a thousand years out in the depths of space
plotting their comeback would indicate they might have a very pragmatic
viewpoint on taking their time with the Confederation if need be.  Hell, given
enough time, they could probably get one of their own elected to the Senate
someday and just start voting themselves into control.  He held no illusions;
his power was transitory, no matter who won.  But he still couldn't for the
life of him decide whether he wished the Primans would win or if he should root
for his own navy, the organization he was marginalizing every day. 

Loren was sitting at
his station on the bridge of Avenger, doing a little research.  With local
access to the entire Confed navy database, he'd decided to fulfill an
obligation  and look up a Priman prisoner named Krenis.  The Priman had been a
captive, but had been valuable in Avenger's quest to find a cure for the Priman
DNA weapon that had infected Toral.  Loren had promised he'd keep tabs on the
prisoner, as would Halley Pascal, to prevent any unexplained disappearances of
their prisoner.

He tapped and swiped
through the screens as he searched for Krenis's name.  Loren located him in a
detention facility right in the capitol, an unusual location for keeping POWs. 
Out of curiosity, Loren ran a quick search of the other Priman prisoners
located there.  The bridge crew heard a hiss of air as Loran inhaled, followed
by a few muttered curses.  Representative Velk was in the same facility.

"That's
certainly unusual, to be sure," admitted Captain Elco.  Loren had sought
out the captain in his cabin and told him what he'd found.  "It doesn't
necessarily mean anything, though."

"I know,"
Loren said with a grimace, "but it just feels odd.  I mean, why not put
him in Navy HQ in the asteroid field?  And why is he having visitors like staff
from Senator Dennix's office?"

"Now
that
,"
Elco said, holding his finger up in the air, "is an excellent
question."  The captain leaned back in his chair and bit his inner lip as
he ran through scenarios.  "I suppose the most likely reason would be to
interrogate or offer some sort of exchange  between Velk and the Governing
Committee."  He didn't say it with much conviction, though.

"I thought I
might ask him if he knows," Loren said gently.  "My clearance will
get me into the facility to see Krenis, and maybe if I had authorization from a
commanding officer involved with Velk's capture I could get in to say
‘
hi
’
to him as well."

Loren sat there,
straight faced and trying to look innocent.  Elco wasn't buying it.

"And you
wouldn't think of trying to grill him on Priman agents in the government or
anything else you might have on your scheming little mind?" Elco asked
through narrowed eyes.

"Come to think
of it," Loren said brightly with a wide grin, "those are excellent
ideas.  That's why you're the captain of a large and impressive ship like
Avenger, I guess."

"You would have
made a great salesman," Elco admitted.  He leaned over and started tapping
at keys on the desk surface and watching the results in the holo field hovering
above it.  "I assume you won't be going alone?"    

"I thought I'd
take Cory, Merritt, and Web with me," Loren said neutrally.

"Ok," Elco
said after a moment's pause.  "There aren't any restrictions on military
visitors that supersede me, and I don't see the harm.  You going tonight?"

"Can't think of
a better time."

Salvor waited in the
cafe where he and Tana Starr had met days ago.  This time, however, he'd found
a seat at the bar and ordered a local beverage, something based on a fermented
grain product. 

He pretended to be
studying the various displays around the bar area and their scenes of sporting
competitions, financial updates, and local news.  He fought the urge to glance
at his watch or comm device, but knew from the rhythm he was keeping that about
ten minutes had passed since he'd last checked.  Tana Starr was five minutes
late.

"Excuse
me," he heard a female voice say as someone tried to slide into the space
next to him, jostling him a bit.  He inclined his head, trying to not look
perturbed; standing out was not good for his cover, but something about this
rude woman demanded at least a glance at her.

He was surprised to
see it was Tana.  She flashed him a smile as she held up her comm device with
its embedded payment chip inside over the bar.  The bartender quickly swept
past and she ordered a drink.  A second later, it was sitting on the bar in
front of her as she waved her comm device over a flashing spot on the bar's
surface.

"I'm so sorry
for barging in," she began saying to Salvor.  He tilted his hand, showing
the concealed scrambler he'd been covertly holding, and nodded for her to
continue.

"You're go for
tonight," she said quickly, still smiling brightly.  "Seven o'clock. 
I've rescheduled as many guards as I could, but you'll have about seven or
eight to deal with in the area where the Representative is being kept.  Sorry
I'm late," she added, "but Dennix was unusually wordy tonight.  Take
care."

With that, she
grabbed her drinksand brushed his shoulder with hers as she left, just another
scene of flirtation among the many people out on the town.

Salvor finally
glanced at his comm device and saw he had forty-five minutes to be in position
to enter the detention facility.  He'd be able to get back to the safehouse,
gather everyone up, and be ready in less than twenty.

"I still can't
believe you managed to arrange this," Merritt said to Loren as they got
out of their military-issue hovercar.  They'd taken a transport from Avenger to
the nearest military base, then signed out a hovercar and driven to the
facility.  While most buildings in the city were so tall they had main
entrances and garages every twenty or thirty stories, this facility was largely
underground.  The idea was that there were only a couple ways out of the more
secure underground facilities, and they all led through two chokepoints up and
out of the building, unless somebody was willing to try to tunnel underground
and through the heavily reinforced walls and floor undetected.  Nobody had yet
escaped from the facility, a heavily-touted claim to fame.

The four walked
through the night air, finally cooling off after the hot day, though the air
was still dense with humidity.  As they reached the main surface-level
entrance, they passed through a series of checkpoints which led deeper in and
farther underground. 

They finally
approached the detention wing reserved for Priman prisoners and an older Confed
officer behind a blaster-resistant viewport.

"Evening,"
the battered-looking human woman began in a gravelly voice.  Loren had never
been a good judge of age, especially with women, considering the various
treatments available to prolong lifespans, but he'd have guessed she was
somewhere in her sixties. 
It wasn't the years, it was the mileage
, so
the saying went.  She was physically in decent shape, though her features were
weathered out of proportion to her physique.  Her eyes were stuck in a sort of
permanent squint, like she'd spent too many years in a desert without
protective eyewear.  She had a barely visible scar that crossed horizontally
from her left ear across her cheekbone, and she walked with the slightest of
limps as she moved to the viewport to address them through the tinny sounding
speaker mounted in the middle of the transparent armor window.

"Hello,
Lieutenant," Loren began, looking at her rank badging.  "We're here
to see a Priman prisoner named Krenis, and on authorization from Captain Elco
on Avenger we'd like to check up on Representative Velk as well."  He held
up a data chip for her to see, then set it in the recessed part of the
countertop below the speaker.  The countertop's clear cover slid over the chip
and the woman reached through from her side to retrieve it.  She placed it on a
reading pad and let the computer scan the contents. 

"Velk,
eh?" she began as she distractedly skimmed the orders from Elco. 
"Damn Primans," she continued.  "Cost me a whole lot."

"That where you
got the scar?" Web asked conversationally.

"Heh?" she
said, then realized what Web was getting at.  "Oh, no; everything you see
here is courtesy of the Enkarrans years ago.  One of those off-the-books
skirmishes we had with each other from time to time that we managed to keep the
media from finding out about.  Ship I was on was trying to claim some useless
gas giant and the Enkarrans were trying to do the same.  I was in the wrong
compartment when it got opened up to space.  Cost me a few scars, vocal cord
damage, and my left leg.  They grew me a new one and had the nanites sew it
back on, but I have some sort of rare immune problem where as soon as those
little things leave, my body tries to reject all the repairs they did, so the
docs just leave them in there, swimming around my insides.  Fixed me up good
enough to stay in the service if I wanted, but couldn't do combat anymore.  So,
I get to babysit deserters, local felons, and lately a few esteemed Priman
guests."  She paused.  "Thanks for asking, though.  Usually people
just try to pretend they don't see anything wrong.  Nothing to be ashamed about,
far as I can tell."

"None that I
could see," Loren agreed.  

"Well, you all
check out," the woman finished.  Only she knew the depth of the scan
they'd just endured, and they'd been cleared of everything from open warrants
to being Priman.  There was a series of beeps, and the armored hatch next to
the viewport slid open.  "Come on through."

They did as
instructed and found themselves standing next to another part of the desk as it
extended down a long, utilitarian hallway.  It reminded Loren of being aboard
ship, with exposed supports and services attached here and there.

"You can keep
your weapons for now," the desk officer continued.  "When you get to
Velk they'll have you check your sidearms.  Go on down to the end of the hall;
there's just the one door.  This long hall is just a kill zone in case somebody
tries to get in or out after I sound the alarm."

"Comforting,"
Web said with a grin.

"Enjoy."

They passed through
the hatch as expected and entered a common area that opened up to a maze of hallways,
interrogation facilities, glass walled conference rooms, and several banks of
holding rooms.  Everyone but Loren took a seat in the uncomfortable chairs
provided along the perimeter while he continued their authorization under the
watchful glare of two Confed Marines, HMR-12 "Hammer" assault rifles
held ready.