Crystal Deception (3 page)

“You’ve given me a lot to think about,” she said, hugging
her carrycase with both arms. “It’ll take me some time to digest it all.”

“No worries,” he said.

Her ride home was a fog. The crystal’s disclosure of a
treacherous collaboration between Brady Sheldon and the Kardish weighed heavily
on her as she entered her house. Her relationship with the crystal had grown so
gradually as he had matured that, looking back, she couldn’t pinpoint the
moment she started accepting him as another being in her daily life.

And now he was challenging her to act on his thought processes
and discoveries. He had been specific in his instructions and provided her the
outlines of a script to follow. It wasn’t in her nature to be an accomplice who
blindly followed directives. Yet this was all so far outside her experience and
comfort zone that she feared the consequences of improvisation.

She wanted desperately to lighten her load by seeking advice
from a trusted friend. While Mick was her obvious choice, the crystal had been emphatic
that she limit her discussions to those in the script. Racked with indecision,
she understood that her next actions hinged on whether she had faith in her
creation. Or—phrased another way—did she trust the crystal?

Chapter 4

Juice fretted late into the night,
checking her com several times in the dark to study references the crystal had
given her. The next morning, she lay in bed, trying to stay as long as possible
in that delicious zone of half-asleep and half-awake. And then memories of the
day before flooded her thoughts.

Fully awake, she swung her feet to the floor and asked
herself, “Could it hurt to make one call?”

During her morning run, she used the time to clear her head
and weigh her options. She considered the ulterior motives the crystal might
have for his story of kidnap and collusion. Given his free access to
information, she presumed he was aware of the plans to place him aboard a Fleet
ship. Maybe he concluded that being in space was dangerous, and this was a
calculated attempt to remain safely on the ground. Perhaps he was trying to get
her to behave foolishly and publicly discredit her for reasons that weren’t
obvious to her. She could list maybes all day. And one was: maybe the crystal
was telling the truth.

At the halfway point in her route, she started to examine
her own motives. If she had such great doubts, why didn’t she just shut him
down? But she knew she couldn’t. She had helped create him.

She had downplayed her role in the project when meeting with
Sheldon in the hopes he would invest in an additional level of security. But he
was right about the significance of her contributions. Indeed, the four-gen
design template was developed by the gang of one hundred. But she was the one
who had invented the intricate network that enabled the gang to collaborate in
the first place. She and Mick had developed the fabrication process that, atom by
atom, followed the four-gen template pattern to build the new crystal. And she
had discovered how to extend the existing three-gen intelligence structure so
it could access the tremendous capacity of the sophisticated four-gen crystal
lattice.

She was proud of her contributions and protective of the
crystal. It was as simple as that. Yet the battle playing in her head called on
her to decide good and evil, loyalty and betrayal. If the crystal was telling
the truth, then she was in the best position to protect him while she delivered
Sheldon up to the authorities. And if the crystal was spinning a tale, she was
the one who could discern its fiction. Both her moral and emotional compasses compelled
her to stay involved until the issue was resolved.

As she arrived home and climbed the front stoop, she knew
she would take the next step, though cautiously, and make the call. If the
exchange didn’t play out as the crystal suggested, she would simply end the
conversation. With her stomach in knots, she called Captain Cheryl Wallace using
the access codes the crystal provided.

When Cheryl answered her com, Juice saw the floating image
of a smartly-dressed young officer with a friendly smile. Trying to sound
casual and confident, she said, “Hello, this is Dr. Tallette of Crystal Fabrications.
I’m following up on the visit by our techs to your ship the other day, Captain
Wallace. I understand there was a misunderstanding?” She waited. Her heart was
pounding so loudly she feared the captain would hear it through the com.

“Oh, yes,” said Cheryl. “I did speak briefly with the techs,
well, one anyway. They surprised me, but I’m not sure there’s any problem. How
can I help you?”

“We’re about to kick off the implementation phase for placing
the new crystal on your ship—the
Alliance
. I’m interested in hearing
your thoughts on how best to gather input from your people as the project moves
forward. Would you be willing to meet with me?”

The conversation was intended to make Cheryl believe she wouldn’t
be asked to make any project decisions at their meeting. The crystal suggested
that if there were decisions to make, she would want to get others involved. By
limiting the discussion to a simple protocol, the crystal believed the captain
would feel no need to include others.

“I’d like that opportunity,” said Cheryl. “Are you near the Fleet
base? Perhaps we could meet at Jonah’s Café off Lexington?”

Juice agreed, disconnected, and exhaled in relief. The first
part of the plan played out just as the crystal had scripted. She hoped the
next steps would go as smoothly.

* * *

They arrived at the café exactly on
schedule, and their hands touched as they reached for the entry gate. Recognizing
each other from their com conversation, they laughed at their awkward start. They
took a table on the patio and both ordered coffee and water.

Juice expected this to be the most challenging conversation of
her life. The crystal’s script called for her to start at the beginning, keep
it simple and factual, and not leave anything out. She took a breath, exhaled
as if she were starting on one of her long running routes, and began a
monologue. By the time she was done, Cheryl had been briefed on everything up
to the moment they had arrived at the café.

“Dr. Tallette, you seem sincere,” Cheryl said, playing with
her coffee spoon. “But this story is, I don’t know, let’s call it extraordinary.
You know things only an insider would know, so I’m inclined to believe that
there are truths buried in your tale. Given the seriousness of the subject
matter, it would be reckless of me to dismiss this out of hand.”

She thought for a few seconds, and then put her spoon into
her empty cup with a sense of finality. “I think I need to bring others in on
this. There’s too much at stake. But I also need more information before I
start sending up flares. I think the best place for me to start is at Crystal
Sciences. Can you get me a tour of the place?”

“Crystal Fabrications,” corrected Juice. “And of course, given
your role with Fleet and this project, it’d be perfectly ordinary for you to
request a visit to the lab. An ‘inspection tour’ is the term I’ve heard used
most often. I suggest you send a no-nonsense request to Brady Sheldon. He’s
used to those sorts of communications from Fleet. He’ll bend over backward working
to arrange a visit. Also, be sure to ask to speak with the four-gen. If he’s
going to be placed on your ship, it’d be expected that you’d want to see him in
advance.”

“The crystal’s a him?” Cheryl asked.

“That will make more sense to you after your visit,” Juice said
with certainty.

“Isn’t Brady Sheldon one of the bad guys in your story?”

“I’ll be honest with you, Cheryl. I like and respect Brady.”
Juice felt like she was selling out a friend. The guilt was crushing. “He’s
been great to me, and he gave me an amazing opportunity at the start of my
career. This whole thing is upsetting, and I can’t decide if I want to discover
that Brady is a good man and the crystal is acting inappropriately, or if the
crystal is as smart as we’d hoped.” She left unfinished what this last case
would imply for her friend and mentor.

“And what about you?” said Cheryl. “How do I validate your
role in the company?”

“Show up almost any time the building’s open. You’ll find me
in the crystal development lab and in charge of its operation.” After a moment,
she added, “Your discretion is important here. If you simply observe during the
visit, you retain the option of raising alarms in the future. If you raise them
now, we may not learn the truth until it’s too late to do anything about it.”

“Does the crystal’s plan say what I should be doing at this
point?”

Juice nodded. “He requests that you tell this story to Senator
Matt Wallace. He was adamant that the senator is a man of honor and integrity
and that he would know what to do.”

Cheryl froze and stared at Juice. “What do you know of him?”

“That he’s a senator in the Union Assembly, he’s the chair
of the Senate Defense Committee, and…” She started to reach for a lock of her
hair and succeeded in forcing her hand back into her lap. “…he’s your father.”

* * *

Cheryl was heartened that Juice had
her own doubts about Sheldon and the crystal. It made her account seem more
credible. But she was not prepared to move this fantastic story up the chain of
command. Not yet anyway. She had homework to do and decisions to make before
she would consider such an action.

The natural place to start was at Crystal Fab. Cheryl
contacted Sheldon, and he agreed to host her the next day. As Juice had
predicted, Sheldon was ecstatic to have the captain of the
Alliance
onsite for a tour. He fawned over her as he escorted her around the building
and took every opportunity to promote the idea of putting the crystal in orbit
on a Fleet ship. Given the allegations of conspiracy combined with what she
learned about him and his company since her meeting with Juice, one thought
kept entering Cheryl’s mind—
what a reptile.

She judged the high point of the visit to be her time with
the four-gen. They had a wonderful chat, and she found “him” to be smart and polite.
Since Sheldon was present, she kept their conversation focused on general
topics. She had experience working with crystals, but she had never chatted with
one that engaged her with stories and offered opinions when asked. Despite her
reasons for being there, she couldn’t help but imagine what an amazing resource
he would be to have on the ship.

Cheryl left Crystal Fab feeling that she might have confirmation,
at least at some level, that the crystal was concerned about being kidnapped. Throughout
their discussion, he had appeared to be weaving a number of carefully worded
statements into the conversation that had a double meaning to her.

She admitted to herself later, though, that she couldn’t be
sure whether or not her imagination had gotten the best of her. Some phrases he’d
used were “it would be captivating to be on the
Alliance
,” “this is a
case of bait and switch,” and “the Kardish vessel could steal the show.”

She was gravely uncertain, but the stakes were high. It
would be irresponsible for her not to take some sort of action. Protocol dictated
she take this to her superior officer, Admiral Keys. Yet the situation was so
speculative that she chose to seek counsel from her father first. He would advise
her, and if he thought her concerns were founded, he would push her back to her
chain of command. It didn’t register with her that by going to her father, she
was following the crystal’s script.

It was two days before Senator Wallace’s staff could fit her
into his schedule. She spent that time chipping away at the considerable to-do
list of preparing the
Alliance
for its shakedown cruise. In her few
spare moments, she gathered background research on Juice, Sheldon, and Crystal
Fab.

On the day of her meeting, Cheryl walked up the steps of the
government building, excited by the prospect of seeing her dad. She loved him dearly,
and they had a close relationship. Since he had won the role as chair of the
Senate Defense Committee, however, his elevated status cast a modest shadow
over her career.

Certain colleagues had alluded, rather snidely, that she’d been
promoted to captain and received a new ship because of her father. A few others
who weren’t aware that her father was a big shot used sideways comments to imply
she won special treatment because she was pretty. She’d learned over the years
that there were as many motives as there were people. She was happier when she simply
ignored all of it.

She entered the ornate rotunda and, before heading up to his
office, spent a half hour viewing the magnificent gallery. While enjoying the
art and architecture, she thought about how her father often reminded her that
she was welcome at any time. She was happy to have a legitimate reason to see
him, because this way she wouldn’t feel she was interrupting him in his busy
day. And seeing him about the security of the Union was a chart topper when it
came to reasons for visiting your dad.

A member of Senator Wallace’s front office staff escorted her
back to his private room. The two hugged and chatted, catching up on the
happenings of family and friends. Then it was time for business.

She told her father the story as she had heard it from Juice,
about her own experiences during her visit to Crystal Fab, and about bits she
had discovered on her own. She made it clear that she didn’t know if the allegations
of treason were true, but she believed that at least one person working on the
crystal destined for her ship had an agenda that wasn’t in the interests of the
Union.

After listening closely to Cheryl’s story, the senator said,
“Given what these ships cost in money and political capital, your suspicion
alone is a big deal. I’m pleased you came to me with this. It was the right move.”

He asked her to give him a minute, and though he remained
sitting in his desk chair, Cheryl’s view of him blurred and the sound of his
voice faded. He had activated a privacy shield, and she tried to guess who he’d
called. Without a doubt, it was someone important.

After a few minutes, he came back into focus. He stood up
and, in a voice used by a dad to his little girl, said, “Let’s go, honey.”

“Where are we going, Senator?” asked Cheryl, using the
formal title to remind him that she was thirty-four, not fifteen.

“To see the secretary of defense.”

She followed him, keenly observing the beehive of activity as
he led her through a maze of hallways and stairs until they reached a handsome
office suite. The secretary was expecting them.

“Hello, Tim, this is my daughter, Fleet Captain Cheryl
Wallace.” He beamed with pride and made no effort to hide his feelings.

Secretary Tim Deveraux stood to shake her hand. “It’s a
pleasure, Captain Wallace.”

They sat, and her father and the secretary began speaking. Cheryl,
keeping her back straight and chin up, listened to a conversation filled with acronyms,
insider abbreviations, and unfamiliar names. As a Fleet officer, she spoke this
way on a daily basis. It had never registered to her that when the alphabet is
scrambled and the names are changed, the chatter sounded like a foreign
language to an outsider.