Warrior Chronicles 2: Warrior's Blood (16 page)

Dave Keen was about to speak when his intercom activated. “Just a moment, everyone.” He stood up and disappeared from view.

Cort said, “Rhodes, are you ready?”

“Yes. Gods, I hope you are wrong, Cort.”

“So do I, Chief.”

In the background they heard Keen cursing.

Cort pulled his hood down. Kim, Rand, and Dr. Black were confused.

One property of the old style synthetics was that they could be used to question a subject. It was a practice widely used in the criminal systems on Earth. By putting the subject in a state of ‘forced hypnosis’, it was easy to determine the intent or guilt of the person being questioned. It was this property that Cort was counting on. Keen reappeared in his chair. This time he was between two of Rand’s security people.

“Is Doctor Verne with you?” Cort asked.

“What are you doing, Addison?” Keen practically screamed, “I thought you were not a dictator! Release me
NOW
!”

“Stun him,” Cort ordered. The security officer didn’t even hesitate. When Keen’s body went limp, Cort asked about Doctor Verne again.

“Yes, Mr. Addison. I am here,” Verne said. “I would like to know why though.”

“Has Keen been transitioned to the biosynthetics yet?” Cort asked.

“No.”

“Okay. Chief, open up the comms.”

Once Cort saw that he was transmitting he spoke. “Hello, everyone. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I hope to address two problems at once with this broadcast. As you know, Governor Keen has ordered that you all be transitioned to the new biosynthetics or be moved to non-vital positions. Part of that transition is being questioned before the procedure. The need for this exists because so many people have died as a result of espionage and attacks against our federation. I would like you to all see exactly what kind of questioning you will be subjected to. Governor Keen will be undergoing exactly the same procedure you will, should you choose to comply with the order.”

Rhodes split the transmission view. One half of the screen was now filled with Governor Keen’s face. Cort spoke again. “Please activate Governor Keen’s synthetics.” After a moment he began the questioning.

--

“Damn,” Dr. Verne said after the broadcast was over, “I never would have considered Keen as a mole. What tipped you off, Mr. Addison?”

“I don’t know. There were several things, I suppose. He kept going against things that would increase our defensive ability. Then I thought about the battle for Oxia. He would have been a more logical target that Kay. But he wasn’t even in danger. The attackers entered the opposite side of the base. And Rhodes coordinated the defense. I still didn’t think it was true though. When he pissed me off tonight, I wanted to embarrass him. That’s how it felt, anyway. I won’t lie to you, I am going to enjoy putting him out. He and his people caused Kay’s death. She was family and my best friend, next to Dar,” Cort sighed. “Listen, I’m a little tired. What say we continue the meeting tomorrow before Chief leaves?”

Everyone agreed, but before Cort signed off, he said, “Two more things. Clare is either unwilling or unable to execute her duties. Dr. Verne, you are now the medical director for the Federation. Rhodes, you are temporarily in charge of Oxia. Don’t get used to it. We will hold elections within the month. Second, all of you will be interrogated before you transition. And your interrogations will be broadcast. I’m not trying to make this difficult, but when it comes to the Ares Federation, I do not trust anyone. Too many people have died.” Cort paused as his words sank in. “And let me be clear. For the administration, no one is exempt from interrogation. Not a single one of you. Am I clear?

“What about you Mr. Addison?” Dr. Verne asked.

Rand and the others were visibly shocked at the question. Verne clearly didn’t understand the hierarchy yet. And he clearly didn’t know Cort. Kim said, “Doctor, I don’t think…” but she was cut off before she could finish the sentence.

“Doctor, that’s a great point. I already have the bios, so standard questioning won’t work on me. If you can come up with a safe and effective way to interrogate me, I will submit to it. I’m going to rest now, everyone. Thank you.” Cort deactivated his comm.

--

The next morning, Cort awoke to the smell of freshly fried bacon. As he walked back from the bathroom Kim joined him in the bedroom with a plate of food and said, “Hey. You up for some breakfast?”

Cort looked at her in his three hundred year old Forty Niners jersey. He took the plate from her and sat it on the nightstand. Lifting the shirt over her head, he said, “I can do the work this time.”

“Gods, this is such a bad idea.”

Later, as they ate breakfast, Kim asked, “Cort, will you teach me to fight?”

“Fighting isn’t as useful now as it used to be. You would be better off learning how to use weapons.”

“Dave Gaines taught me weapons. I am qualified for everything we have now. Even the CONDOR Twos.”

Cort was surprised. “Since when?”

“I started as soon as Dave transferred here.”

“Clearly I haven’t been keeping up with my own job if you were able to qualify with all our gear and I didn’t even know about it.”

“Cort, you had a few other things on your mind.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m going to miss Dave.”

“He thought a lot of you, Cort. And Gods, he was gorgeous. If he had been ten years older and interested in women, I might have fallen for him.” She winked.

“Aren’t you the funny one,” Cort laughed. “Did he have anyone?”

“Just Mike Rage. Mike has taken it pretty hard.”

“I knew they were close, I didn’t realize they were a couple though. I’ll go see Mike today.”

“They weren’t married. They met when Dave lived at Oxia Palus. May I come with you Cort?”

“Of course.”

“You know, Mike would be a good person to teach you to fight. He’s a martial arts expert. I’m not sure what form. It would be good for him too.”

“Good idea.” Kim finished her breakfast and stood up. “It may not matter though if the aliens are in a bad mood when they get here.”

“Speaking of which, drop the module and bring your people back.”

“Okay. What’s your next step?”

“That depends on them. If they approach Argyre or any other colony, I will fight them. If they go for the module, I won’t.”

“Okay. I’m going to work. Are you okay today?” Kim was still worried about Cort’s stamina, regardless of his morning ‘exercise’.

“Yeah. I will turn the FALCON on and off throughout the day to keep building up my strength.” Cort hesitated and asked, “Are you coming back here tonight?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Yes.” Cort stared at her. “No promises Kim, but I would like you to come back tonight.”

“Good. Because I want to.” Coke followed her through the door.

Oxia Palus

Chief Rhodes was watching MPS feeds from the security office. One ship was approaching. Because of the angle of approach they didn’t know if it was headed for the module containing Cort’s medallion or the Argyre facility. Four railguns were tracking the ship. Cort’s HAWC suit was linked to the MPS network, but his railgun was not activated. He was halfway between the Argyre facility and the disconnected module, ready to attack the alien vessel if necessary. While his railgun was not actively tracking the ship, it was fully charged and in fractional mode.

Oxia Palus had been broadcasting on all frequencies for the past hour. The message was Cort’s voice warning the vessel away from the populated sites and directing it to follow the laser beacon that was emitting from the module. So far, there had been no response from the approaching ship.

Approaching Mars Orbit

“Sir,” Parvess said, “we are receiving a transmission from the fourth planet. Communications is trying to decode it now.”

Glydnal was studying the planet surface. “They have three active colonies on the surface. There is one at a polar region that is inactive. There are also multiple sites containing synthetic debris. Perhaps from earlier exploration activity. There is also one structure emitting an amplified light signal. Its location matches the location of the beacon.”

Parvess closed his eyes and read. When he opened them again, he said, “That conforms to our interpretation of the signal. It is directing us away from the populated areas and ordering that we move to the location of the light signal. Instructions, sir?”

“They are confident, I will acknowledge this species has that trait. Approach and recover the Beacon first. Then we will attempt communication.”

Near Argyre

“It looks like they figured out what we were saying, Chief. But don’t stop tracking the ship until they are gone. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Cort. You want us to track until they leave orbit.”

“You’re learning, Chief.” Cort had long since been training everyone in proper radio procedures, and Chief repeating his instructions was a first. Usually, he did just fine in drills but had not followed the training in actual situations.

“Thanks, boss. A smaller vessel has left the ship. I think it is going to land near the module. It would be nice if they didn’t damage it.

“Send me the best feed, Chief,” Cort ordered.

“You have it.”

On his HUD, Cort saw a craft that looked like a small, old style space shuttle gliding toward the module. When it was over the laser beacon, it landed vertically next to the module. One side of the craft opened, and a quadrupedal robot moved toward one end of the structure.

“Chief, can you open the module remotely?”

“No, Cort. Sorry.”

“I doubt you’re getting the module back, then.”

As if on cue, the robot fired a laser at the end of the module. One long arm held a tethering ring as the laser cut an opening. The robot then crawled through the hole. A minute later, it emerged holding the lead box that contained the medallion. After the robot entered its shuttle, the craft lifted vertically and returned to its mother ship.

“Cort, I’m getting a transmission from the ship. In Atlantan. It’s asking for permission to approach the colony.”

“Patch me through, Chief.” Cort said.

“You’re on.”

“Do not approach the colony. You will be destroyed.” Cort said.

“Who are you? I am designated Glydnal. Who am I addressing?” The voice was thin and sounded synthetic. Cort suspected it was some sort of translation system.

“I am Cort Addison. I protect this planet. We are no longer associated with the planet that attacked you. Please do not approach our structures.”

“Cort Addison. We wish to speak with you. We must know how our beacon was brought to this planet. How it was activated. How you travelled forward in the timestream with our device.” The metallic voice reminded Cort of HAL from the old science fiction movie, if HAL had inhaled helium.

“I will answer your questions, but do not approach our population.”

“Cort Addison, regardless of your designation, you are not in position to dictate to me. We will land at your colony and you will board our ship.”

“Do not approach our colony, Glydnal.”