The Alpha Choice (78 page)

A look of interest began to form on Trang's face, but she said nothing.
 

He continued. ‘What happens if the ship is destroyed?’
 

‘I don't understand.’
 

‘If the Custodian had destroyed Eclipse, instead of swatting us away, how would our people know what had happened?’
 

‘I’ve no idea.’ Trang had stopped looking interested and was instead, beginning to look annoyed. She did not enjoy playing the part of student. Gorn had to admit to himself that, as well as feeling relief at the receding threat from Narol, he was enjoying Trang's discomfort.

He decided to put her out of her misery. ‘If the ship faces possible destruction, all critical data, including the likely cause of our destruction, is sent in an energy pulse to Te’ath, and all of our colonies. You might ask, what data is critical?’

‘I’ll play along, what data is critical?’ her interest rekindled.

‘Whatever else is included, you now need to add everything I know concerning Narol and the rebellion…’

‘There’s something you're not telling me.’

Gorn allowed himself the merest smile. ’I’ve adapted the sequence, or to be more precise, added a sequence of my own.’

‘Smirking does not suit you. Go on,’ by now, he had piqued her interest.

‘All the information Narol wants to keep secret will shortly be sent by energy pulse, to the Council. They won’t be aware of its nature or even that it exists, unless a second signal is dispatched from the ship…’
 

‘Let me guess, the second signal is sent only if anything happens to either of us?’

He was looking very self satisfied. ‘So it’s very much in my aunt’s interests that she doesn’t decide to destroy the ship and take us all with her, or engineer any more personal
accidents
. Her actions could create the danger she’s so desperate to avoid.’

Trang was hoping to ask a question, but found herself swept along with Gorn.
 

‘The ship will constantly monitor our implants,’ he looked at her with mock surprise, ‘that’s what you were going to ask, wasn’t it?’

’No,’ she replied, ‘I’d guessed that you wouldn’t be looking so smug if you hadn’t figured that out. I’m more interested about what happens once we leave the ship.’

‘As soon as we are within orbit, the routine I’ve set up will be embedded into the Agency monitoring system, where it will stay until I remove it. If any harm befalls either of us, at any time, the embedded message will become known to the Agency, and the Council.’

Trang nodded, even smiling herself. ‘I’m flattered you included me in your failsafe, it shows I was right after all, we are a team.’ She then sat back in her chair, an expectant look on her face.

‘What?’ Gorn asked.

‘I’ve told you what I did, isn’t there something you want to tell me?’

‘About what?’

‘How did you get the Custodians involved?’

Gorn had been wondering when she would get round to this, and knew that he would have to tell her everything, starting with a confession. ‘As far as I know, I had nothing to do with them becoming involved.’

It was Trang’s turn to look surprised, as he spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened since he came on board. She interrupted him constantly, being most interested in the Avatar. At the end, she shook her head. ‘Your plan for the Avatar, do you really think it will work? If you’re wrong, everything will fall apart. As for Kirion, isn’t it better to leave his death an accident?’

‘I’m pretty much certain it will work, but if it doesn’t, there’s no way anything will trace back to you, or our parents. As for the teleport, it’s probably too much of a coincidence: an accident involving the two people who had identified a conspiracy?’

‘I wasn’t thinking of that,’ she replied.

‘There’s no reason you would, you didn't know that I had control of the Avatar, but it will tie things in neatly, as it had the ideal opportunity to make the death appear to be an accident.’
 

‘You’re right. What about the loss of power on the bridge, before the battle? I know you didn't want anyone to die, and you thought it was the only option. Making a choice like that is never easy, I know,’
 

Gorn knew exactly what she meant, Kirion. ‘Frankly, I’ve no idea what, or who caused the blackout.’

‘The Custodians?’ Trang suggested.
 

He shook his head. ‘They would have just stooped me. We’ve seen what they’re capable of, and they don’t need to hide what they did.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I should have been able to trace the source of the interference…’

‘But…’ Trang sensed there was a complication.

‘If you, as I have, dig deep enough, you will find the instruction came from everyone’s console, including Darl.’

Trang was visibly surprised. ‘Could it be the Avatar?’

Again, he shook his head. ‘It had the ability, just like me, but it wasn’t responsible.’

’So, there’s someone else on board that we don’t know, and who didn’t want the Avatar to carry out your order.’

Now he nodded.

‘Do you think they’re dangerous?’

‘I’ve no idea,’ he replied, ‘but I think not, after all, they didn’t stop what happened to Kirion, and we’re both still here.’
 

‘Is there anything else you haven’t told me,’ Gorn shook his head. ‘Then,’ she continued, ‘as we can’t do anything about our mystery person, let’s talk about Narol.’ The next thirty minutes were spent discussing how best to get the information to her. After various proposals, all doomed to failure, were aired they agreed that the best route was the most direct one. Gorn, alone, would speak to her.

‘Now it’s time for a friend to take centre stage,’ Gorn sighed.

‘Do you want me to stay?’ Trang asked.

’No,’ he replied, repelling an inexplicable sadness that was threatening to descend upon him, ‘I want you as far away as possible, you’ve got fifteen minutes. Go to the REC chamber, I want you surrounded by lots of people when this happens.’

‘Darl wants us confined to quarters.’

‘With everything that’s happened, and about to happen, he’ll be too busy to analyse your explanation that you needed lots of human company.’

‘Assuming this works, when will you approach Narol?’

‘Meet me back here in three hours.’

Trang nodded and made her way to the door.
 

Ω

Zan, as tactical officer, had command of all shock troop deployment on board ship. Having received his orders directly from Darl, he was now carrying out final checks. Fifteen, very experienced men were chosen. Their orders were clear, all weapons were to be set to maximum, and programmed as instructed.

Satisfied they were ready, he gave the command to proceed. There was to be a complete communications blackout until the mission was complete, which meant any communication that might alter the commander’s orders would not be received until it was too late. Darl had decided, on balance that this was the safest course.

The use of teleports was not an issue, as they had been taken out of commission following the death of Kirion. Six of the troops were to make their way to the quarters of Garnoth's agents, and at a prearranged time force entry and place them under close arrest.

Darl was at a safe distance, but would join them once they effected entry, despite Zan’s concerns as to his safety.

The nine remaining taciturn men followed the tactical officer, secure in the knowledge that if his plan failed, they would all die.

Ω

‘No thoughts?’ Garnoth then shrugged. ‘Then let us return to the traitor, or traitors. As it is possible that he, she or they are on other ships, how do you propose we proceed?’ It seemed as though he was content to let Tala formulate the plan.

She obliged. ‘I have to admit, I’m disappointed. The ones we’re looking for might be out of harms way for the moment, but at least we can establish the culpability of this crew, and two thirds of the advance party.’

‘You are not convincing, Tala,’ the old man responded. ‘Despite your logic, you are convinced our quarry is on board Eclipse.’
 

‘Security on Telluria was directly under my control, and I was aware of the only breach.’

‘The Tellurian female, Corcoran?’

‘Yes, had there been another I’m reasonably certain I would have known. You taught me that every theory must permit of alternatives, hence my original proposition, but for all practical purposes, we can limit our search to the crew…’

‘Go on.’

‘You are a careful, and cautious man.’

There was no response.

‘You…’ she looked over to the Avatar, ‘would have monitored all communications from the other ships?’

It nodded. ‘There were no suspicious communications made from any ship to the planet.’

‘Would it be easier to circumvent your security routines from this ship rather than the others?’ she asked.

‘Yes, any communication from the other ships could not have been hidden, as their communications were limited to inter ship. Even communication with Te’ath was restricted to Eclipse, save for emergencies. It would be theoretically possible to hide a communication within a legitimate signal, but most unlikely, and at the time of the incidents on Telluria I can tell you that there were no communications from this ship other than those involving yourself, Garnoth and Darl, and they were after the interference you are alluding to.’
     

Garnoth looked grave. ‘It would seem Tala, your confidence notwithstanding, that the actual incursion was limited to our operatives on the planet. I need to examine everything you did while on Telluria. Somewhere in your memories may lie the key we seek. We know the conspiracy was beyond a single person’s capability, so we cannot discount the presence of a traitor on board this ship. Indeed it is highly likely, however, the implementation of their plan must have been on Telluria. From that analysis we can…’

Ω

The Avatar watched and listened impassively, as this conversation continued, and by virtue of his control of the Avatar, Gorn also watched and listened, but not impassively. Soon his plans would coalesce and then it would be over, or at least this chapter would close.

Tala, was closer to the truth than the colleague she venerated, but in a short while, even she would be unable to trace anything back to him. When the Avatar’s involvement became known, suspicion would fall elsewhere and the trail would end.

A number of things troubled him. He had hoped his race had been reprieved because the Custodians saw some promise in his people, despite all they had done. If that was right, why were only two thirds of the Tellurian garrison sent to Eclipse? He knew that none of garrison had anything to do with the failure of the mission, so had the remaining third been sent to the other ships, and if so, why? If not, where were they? As for Tala, she would have made no difference had she arrived at the same time as the others, so what was behind the twenty-four hour delay?

Ω

Garnoth decided they should take a short break. Rising from his chair, he walked over to the dispenser to refresh their drinks. No sooner had he finished, than a request to enter his rooms was received from Darl, whose face, floating within the holo-sphere, was grim.

The older man considered the request, before politely declining. He turned from the image, a vivid reminder to the commander that his authority did not extend to the Agency, and this audience was at an end.
Whatever Darl wishes to discuss can wait until Tala and I have finished. I will deal with him tomorrow.
 

He anticipated several more hours debriefing his former student, and as he was about to take his seat was more than a little surprised to see the image of the commander still displayed. Irritated, he was about say something to make the wretched man depart, when Darl spoke again. ‘I’m sorry Garnoth, but this will not wait.’

No sooner was the last word uttered than the doors opened, and a tall muscular man with ebony skin entered the room, swiftly followed by nine shock troops, all with weapons drawn. The troops fanned out through Garnoth’s quarters, splitting themselves into groups of three, one for each of the room’s occupants. Tala found herself looking across the barrels of energy weapons - whatever the perceived threat, it was too great for the use of stun tubes - into the eyes of the man who, unlike his companions wore a bridge officer’s uniform bearing the insignia of Tactical Weapons officer. Of all the newcomers, he was the only one unarmed.

A quick glance at the others confirmed that they were each far enough apart to discourage any attempt at disarmament. She knew that the slightest aggressive move would trigger the automated activation and firing of the weapons. The last thing she would ever know would be preparing the move that would be her last.

Garnoth and the Avatar were similarly compromised.

The tactic, Tala knew, was a textbook detainment technique, only ever employed when the detainees were considered extremely dangerous. She also knew that there was at least one person missing, the interrogator. As if to assuage her curiosity, a single figure entered the room, Darl.

‘I would have preferred things to be different Garnoth, but you left me with no choice.’ Before the spymaster had an opportunity to reply, the commander turned to the Avatar and asked. ‘Were you responsible for shutting down the suppression field that held the Tellurian female captive?’

The Avatar had watched the entry of the armed troops with detachment. They formed no immediate danger to its former master and even if they did, there were too many of them to be neutralised. It was not under any compunction, under normal circumstances, to answer to anyone but Garnoth. Ordinarily, it would seek guidance from him before answering any question that might compromise his position. Without regard for Garnoth, it answered. ‘I released the Tellurian female, knowing this would relinquish any constraints upon the instrument, Hugo Black.’

All eyes were on the Avatar, which appeared oblivious to the chaos it had just unleashed. It analysed all relevant data quicker than the humans around it could blink. What it had said was correct, yet it was totally unaware of those actions, until now. Nothing in its analysis shed any light on why it had done this thing, or why it was compelled to voice its involvement.