Edge of the Vortex Read online

  As soon as the first lines of the authentication sequence were sent, the AI had a change of tone. “This is the artificial intelligence for Five. Please state your request.”

  “Landing bay and audience with Admiral Lex.” Roper Daz said in an authoritative tone.

  “Bay twelve. Data transmitted. Admiral Lex is located in his quarters.” The AI replied.

  “Where is the crew?” Daz inquired.

  “The crew was given shore leave on Bern 36.” Came the response.

  “What internal security droids do you have?” Daz asked.

  “Light Sentinels.”

  “Fine. Have the Sentinels secure the Admiral in his quarters, and keep him alive.” Daz looked at Rhea. “If he feels boxed in, he may try and take his own life.”

  Rhea nodded and pursed her lips.

  “Rais, take us in.” Ranix ordered.

  “Moving.”

  The Epsilon lurched forward from the position she had stopped at. The Five loomed large in the monitor once the image of the bridge had disappeared. The ship was twenty-thousand metres long and had an incredible amount of firepower. Had Admiral Lex wanted to declare himself an independent state and fiefdom, it would have taken a massive fleet to bring him under control. Or you just needed the kind of authorization that only Royal Inspector Wey possessed to gain control of the ship’s AI.

  It didn’t take Rais long to manoeuvre the Epsilon into bay twelve, which was large enough to handle a ship twice its size. The Epsilon set down, and the first thing off the ship was the ever-cautious Sentinel Commander who set up a perimeter around the ship with his forces. Once he was satisfied that there was no risk, Wey, Daz and Rhea all stepped down into the massive hangar which was almost bright white in colour and empty other than the Epsilon.

  A hatch at the far end of the hangar, nearly fifty metres away opened, and a single service droid walked in and walked over to the Epsilon in a very mechanical manner. The machine stopped a metre from Wey, turned around and started walking back towards the hatch.

  No one said a word, but the trio instinctively started following the machine.

  Rhea kept her head on a swivel and couldn’t help but admire the simplicity in design of the interior of the ship. Every wall looked smooth without a crease or a joint, just clean lines everywhere. The colour scheme continued to change as they moved through the ship towards the centre, where they found an internal monorail system was waiting for them.

  Boarding the transport, the trio sat down in the open-air conveyance and sat in silence as they were whisked towards the front of the ship. The journey took them through a tunnel that would have been just high enough to stand up in, and once they reached their destination they exited the transport and followed the droid to a lift that brought them up to a level that had an orange colour pattern, and was as deserted as the rest of the ship they had passed through.

  Continuing forward, Rhea could see what she thought was the bridge at the end of the corridor they were moving down but noticed a pair of Light Sentinels standing outside a doorway just before the bridge. The robots were green in colour and had Universal writing on their chests. The service droid that had greeted them at the hangar stopped at the door, said nothing, then started walking back down the corridor they had just walked down.

  Rhea looked at Daz. “So?” She pointed at the door.

  “Must be the Admiral’s quarters.” He replied.

  Rhea nodded and looked at Wey. He gestured for her to hit the call button, she nodded and stepped forward and pressed the top button on the control panel next to the door.

  As she stepped back, she looked at the two droids that were standing on either side of the door. Neither moved as she backed up. Rhea couldn’t hear a ring on the inside of the hatch. She looked at Daz who then looked at Wey.

  “Press it again.” Daz said.

  Rhea repeated the procedure and waited. After another few seconds of no activity, the trio started to get impatient.

  “Open this hatch.” Daz said in the direction of one of the droids. The machine quickly turned about and looked at the door for the briefest of time until the hatch opened to reveal a large stateroom.

  Daz stepped inside first, his hand on a small laser pistol on his right hip. Wey followed next with Rhea bringing up the rear. The room was massive by comparison to the kind you’d find on more modern warships, almost three-hundred square metres of living space. The lights were dimmed, and the place was a mess. Datapads littered the ground along with several empty bottles and broken glasses.

  Rhea watched her step as she moved through the room, looking at various images on the walls depicting ancient battles and vistas. Scanning the far wall of the chamber, Rhea stopped in her tracks when she finally spotted Admiral Lex, strung up by his neck, hanging from a fixture in the ceiling above his desk.

  “Jesus.” She said out loud.

  Daz was quickly on his communicator. “I need medical droids to the Admiral’s quarters at once.”

  The AI acknowledged the call, but Rhea knew it was already too late. Walking towards the desk, Rhea tried to avoid looking at the body that was dangling in the air. The Admiral had put on his dress uniform but had placed his rank insignia and decorations on his desk. It was a symbolic gesture, Rhea thought, even if it was futile.

  Standing before the desk, Rhea looked at the various datapads that were on it and waited for either Daz or Wey to give the go-ahead to touch them. Wey surveyed the desk, then looked at Rhea, indicating that it would be fine to handle the materials. Reaching forward, she picked up the pad closest to her and quickly attached a small circular device to the underside of the pad which instantly translated all the information into English for her to read.

  When the screen was translated, she found herself looking at a series of lines on a chart. She looked up at the dead Admiral and tilted her head to the side. “What were you up to?” She asked, then looked down at the pad.

  “Roper, what do you make of this?” She asked, showing him the pad.

  He took the pad and looked at it for a moment, then removed the translation device from the pad and checked what he was looking at again. “These look like financial records.” He said, scrolling through the information. “It seems that there were significant amounts of money in his accounts until recently, and then it all seems to have vanished into ghost accounts, which the Admiral tried to recover, unsuccessfully it appears.”

  “Betrayed by someone?” Rhea asked.

  Daz shook his head. “That or he transferred the money out, and then tried to recall it.”

  Wey walked around the to the far side of the desk and was checking Lex’s primary monitor. “It would appear that the Admiral placed several coded calls to Mechcharga in the hours leading up to his death.” Wey turned his attention away from the monitor and picked up the Admiral’s decorations. “The question we have to ask is: what happened to Lex that drove him out here, alone, to take his own life.” Wey put the decorations down. “Why would the conspirators discard one of their own and a powerful one at that?”

  Daz looked at Rhea, and then to Wey. “Perhaps the leader or one of their close associates is trying to bring this to an end. By disposing of the threat to the conspiracy, both internal and external.”

  Rhea nodded. “Someone is trying to make it all go away.”

  The medical droids finally arrived and cut the Admiral down and declared him officially deceased.

  “Droids, do not report this to fleet command until I instruct you to do so.” Wey ordered as the droids were leaving the room. He looked at Daz and Rhea. “What if someone at the top of the conspiracy expected this to happen? What if they depleted Lex’s funds under the assumption that he would kill himself, and perhaps do their dirty work for them?”

  “What are you driving at?” Daz asked.

  “You don’t want to report Lex’s death because you want to use the rouse that he is still alive to flush out the rest of the conspirators, or their accomplices.” Rhea said
.

  Wey nodded. “If Lex was, in fact, a part of the conspiracy, and the leaders decided that he needed to go, and they assumed he would kill himself, how would they respond if he returned to Mechcharga to seek revenge instead?”

  “They’d panic. They would assume that they had miscalculated and that he was out for revenge.” Rhea said, resting her hands on the table.

  “That would be the logical conclusion.” Daz added.

  “So, in order to expose more members of the conspiracy we need to act like Lex would act. Enraged and bent on taking back what was his, or at least getting his compensation in flesh and blood.” Wey added.

  “So back to Mechcharga.” Rhea said. “With this ship?”

  “That’s the only way to actually convince them.” Daz said.

  “Our mere presence may not be enough. We might need to take more direct steps to influence the outcome we desire.” Wey said.

  “How direct?” Daz asked, a slightly worried look on his face.

  “Don’t worry, Estiva Controller. Nothing too drastic.”

  43

  Tohil Facilities

  5 April

  Keegan held the tiny data stick in his right hand. He had been staring at it for hours. For some reason, the memory of it had been blocked from his mind, and perhaps because of the trauma that had caused that blank spot, Star Guard Hulo had kept the stick in his possession since they were on the airfield in Saskatoon. He was having a hard time wrapping his mind around what Hulo had told him when he gave him the stick. He said that his wife Ryan was on the stick. Her mind, her memories, her emotions, everything was stored on the stick. Frozen in time, and would remain there until they got to a facility with the technology to get it off and transfer it to a new host.

  Keegan couldn’t even begin to get his head around that idea. A new host? What the hell did that mean? He wondered to himself, staring blankly at the small grey coloured stick. He brought up his left hand and rubbed his forehead. What was he going to tell his five year old, the rest of his family? What had happened to Ryan’s body? It had most likely been discovered shortly after their departure, but then what would have happened to it? It was left in the snow next to Captain Joyce. Maybe his kid already knew. Maybe they thought he was dead also.

  A knock on his door snapped him out of his trance. It was Sergeant Greenleaf, and he had news.

  “Hey, Doc.” He sat down in the only other chair in the room. “We’ve got news. Things are happening.”

  Keegan looked up from his palm, and the little data stick.

  “That’s right. It seems that things are shaping up.” He inched the chair closer to Keegan. “We’ve been asked by Canadian intelligence to get down to the National Defence HQ in Ottawa, and start planning for a counter-attack.”

  That peaked Keegan’s attention. “Attack on what?”

  “There is some set-up in Kansas that the American’s think is critical to everything. They know we’ve been in contact with the Alliance and they want us to start planning to take-down this thing in Kansas. They said it could be the start of something big.”

  Keegan sat back on his chair and looked at the sergeant for a moment then looked over to the wall and scratched his top lip. After a moments pause, he looked back at the soldier. “We haven’t received a response from the Alliance yet.”

  The sergeant shrugged. “I dunno, Doc.”

  Keegan nodded. “Okay.” He tightened his grip on the data stick and rose from his chair. “I suppose I should pack.”

  The sergeant stared at him blankly. “Whatcha got to pack?”

  Keegan smiled. “Nothing.” He looked at his clenched fist. “I’ve got everything I need right here.”

  John Robert gave a quick brief the day before they were to depart on the plan to get to Ottawa. He wanted to load up two of his 18-wheelers and drive straight through. It wasn’t complicated or flashy. He was giving the responsibility of counter-detection to Doctor Gaius Stephenson and Star Guard Hulo, who were both confident that with the assistance of the Coalition drone, they’d be able to prevent the convoy from being spotted by anyone in orbit.

  Robert wanted as many of his engineers and scientists along for the ride, in addition to the Canadian soldiers, the Alliance fighters and of course Doctor Beck. It was hard to estimate the travel time without knowing the road conditions, but winter was over, and Robert suspected that the entire drive could be done in less than 24 hours, even moving at a very cautious pace.

  John Robert knew that the arrival of the Alliance forces along with Doctor Beck meant that he’d inevitably lose his grip on his Earthbound monopoly on alien tech, but he also knew that there was little or no point living in a world where he was unable to fulfil his ambitions. The communications from Canadian intelligence came as a bit of a shock to him. He was still in the dark as to how they had all the information they did. Clearly there was a spy inside the organisation, but he had been unable to unmask them. No matter. He was already planning the next phase of his plan.

  When the time came to load up the trucks in the giant receiving area on sub-level one, John Robert was chomping at the bit to get on the move, and the night before their departure he had a lengthy discussion with Doctor Beck about how his presence would be received, and he was reassured that his past crimes could probably be overlooked because of his more recent contributions to the survival of the human race, but Keegan refused to make promises on behalf of Colonel Hunt who would undoubtedly want revenge for the death of his friend, Doctor Bobby Temple.

  When the first truck started rolling it was just after nine in the morning. The ramp to the surface had been swept of any snow that had blown inside, and after a mile down the road, Star Guard Hulo reported that the Coalition drone was masking their movements as expected. John just hoped that would be the case all the way to Ottawa.

  The roads of Quebec were busier than John had expected. People were figuring out how to get their cars running again, and while the country hadn’t fallen into some post-apocalyptic nightmare like other nations around the world, there were signs of a breakdown in society and law and order. A few strip-malls that they drove past had been looted and set alight. It wasn’t the end, but it might have been the beginning of the end.

  Reaching the main highway, the lead driver stopped. The conditions were as expected, broke down cars every so often as far as the eye could see. It didn’t take long for the snowplough that each truck was carrying to be attached for clearance duties, but after that it was a slower journey, pushing cars out of the way every so often. They’d get to Ottawa, it was just a question of how long it’d take.

  When the first 18-wheelers got within a mile of the defence headquarters, it was clear that someone inside the Canadian military chain of command had decided to turn the place into a fortress. John Robert wasn’t sure what good that would do against an enemy that could destroy you from orbit, but none the less, it looked impressive. Tanks and self-propelled artillery supported by infantry in dug-in positions providing security for everything including several batteries of surface-to-air missiles.

  The trucks were led to a rear loading area where a large canopy had been erected. Once the Tohil personnel, Canadian soldiers, and Alliance forces and the rest of the passengers from the journey were safely inside, the five main players. Doctor’s Beck and Stephenson, along with John Robert, Star Guard Hulo and the infantry detachment commander Sergeant Wilson were all taken to the buildings primary threat-environment conference centre located several levels underground. There they found the entire staff of the Canadian high command, along with the Prime Minister, and his senior staff. It was quite an audience.

  Introductions were made, then it was down to business, and the most pressing question was where did things stand with the Alliance? Was there a rescue fleet on the way? What was happening? Star Guard Hulo broke the bad news that there was no news. They were waiting.

  “How long?” General Perkins asked.

  “Unknown.” Hulo replied.
r />   The Prime Minister nodded and looked across the table at the reptilian looking alien. “Assuming there is a rescue on the way, what could we do to facilitate their effort?”

  “I do not know, Sir.” Hulo replied dryly. “We do not have a clear picture of what Coalition assets are in the system, or what assets they have on the surface. Without knowing these facts, we cannot act.”

  “Do you know what this is?” The Prime Minister asked, pointing to an image that was displayed on a large television on a nearby wall.

  Hulo looked at the picture. “No.”

  The Prime Minister nodded. “This was taken in Kansas. American intelligence believes that it is a critical component to the Coalition’s control of the planet. President Bednarik wants to have you and your team moved to Fort Riley, Kansas in anticipation of the Alliance rescue so that you can facilitate an attack on this target.”

  Hulo looked at Keegan, then over to the Prime Minister. “We can go anywhere you like, but without coordinating an attack plan with Alliance forces, any plans or concepts for a ground-based assault on this or any other target must be considered speculative.”

  “I agree with the Star Guard, Sir.” Keegan chimed in. “We don’t know what we’re up against here. We don’t have actionable intelligence from the rest of the world, we don’t know what this device is, and without Alliance support, we’re in no position to act.”

  “What about that drone you captured.” Perkins looked at John Robert. “You’re using that to communicate with the Alliance?”

  John took a drag on the cigarette he had been told numerous times to put out and nodded. “We are, but under suggestion from the Star Guard, we have only used it once, for a transmission. We’re waiting for a response. I believe that excessive use may lead to its detection, and therefore our detection. Best to use it sparingly.”

  The Prime Minister looked around the room, but his eyes stopped on Keegan. “Doctor Beck, could you give us your thoughts on what the dynamics are between the Alliance and the Coalition as you understand them.” The PM looked at Hulo. “You’ll excuse me, but I’d like to hear what the resident head of the Visitor Liaison Team thinks of your intergalactic scuffle.”