Bellona Colony, Eridani System
9 Years, 4 Months, 12 Days After Eridani Landing
“Well?” Daniels looked Megan square in the eye, then Ben.
“Well what?” said Megan, annoyed with the Councillor.
“You have no explanation other than this?” he asked, holding up the report and slapping it down on the table in front of him.
“What more of an explanation do you want?” Ben growled.
“How about how you thought it was a good idea to suggest that these creatures work with Humans in an environment where they might suddenly go insane!” Daniels shouted, standing up. “They were eating people!”
The other Councillors were all looking at him, not saying anything.
“The Tanuin who reverted to such behavior were dead, Councillor. In much the same way a comatose patient without brain activity is dead. Their bodies were still reacting on instinct, but as people, they were dead. I made the same comparison in the report.”
“I read it. When a human is ‘effectively brain dead’, they do not suddenly start trying to eat people!” hissed Daniels.
Megan sighed. “No, we don’t. But then, the Tanuin are not human, Councillor. For them, it is just as strange that someone with brain damage simply slips into a catatonic state.”
Daniels turned to glare at her again. “I don’t care what is alien to them. I care that we are, on your insistence, now living with a species that might on a moment’s notice decide that Humanity is a food source!” Daniels shouted.
General Yan tapped his hand on the table. “Daniels, that is unfair. The Tanuin suffered casualties in this accident the same as we did. The men and women who were mauled and attacked afterwards is a tragedy in its own right, of course, but we cannot place more value on the human lives lost when compared to the many Tanuin that were killed.”
Daniels frowned and turned towards the General. “Why not? These creatures have not yet been proven to be as intelligent as us. For all we know they’re dogs that can talk! Allowing them to remain in the colony and consume our resources simply because we want to prove on some moralistic ground that we aren’t afraid of aliens is idiotic!”
He turned to address the other Councillors on the board with him.
“As sad as their plight might be, it is important to remember that WE are all that is left of Humanity. We must ensure our survival! Risking that by allowing these creatures to remain here is not worth it!”
The other Councillors looked at one another, but didn’t say anything.
“Daniels, we are at war!” Ben stood suddenly, his voice rising to meet Daniels’ fervent volume, drawing the attention of the men and women on the ruling council. Striding forwards, he continued. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, strength in numbers, we need every advantage we can get! Kicking them out because of a reason like this is insanely stupid! Besides, where would we send them? Unless you’re advocating we straight up kill them all?”
Daniels shook his head. “Of course not. They can hibernate. We give them a ship and launch it on a ballistic trajectory towards one of the other planets in this system. Let them survive there and we can revisit the issue later.”
Ben simply gaped at the Councillor.
“Thank you for stating your positon. Both of you. For the moment, there will be no change in our treatment of the Tanuin.” General Yan suddenly said firmly, stopping any further argument. Turning to Megan, he asked, “Do you have the estimate on how long the construction of the Russia will be delayed due to this incident?”
Megan nodded and stood. “Thanks to the help of the Tanuin, we were about two weeks ahead. At worst, by the time we finish the investigation into the incident, we will still be ahead of schedule.”
“Good, although for the moment lets have only human crews work on the China.”
“Understood,” said Megan.
The General nodded and gestured at the exit, indicating they were no longer required in the meeting. The couple collected their data tablets and other material and marched out. Megan’s legs clinked on the metal floor almost menacingly as she exited.
Stepping out of the council chambers, the two paused to look at one another.
“That went well,” deadpanned Megan.
“Were you expecting that to go any differently? He’s been chomping at the bit for any reason to kick them out.”
Megan reluctantly nodded. “I wasn’t surprised. I’m still pissed, though. I’m starting to be nostalgic for the days where I could have shot him just because he’s a Martian.”
Ben chuckled. “That’d be stooping to his level though.”
“Well, I can’t shoot him just for being a dick. Let me dream!”
Ben shook his head, but didn’t say anything else.
The two continued through the main tunnels and corridors that connected the many complexes and buildings of the Bellona colony. Small vehicles and other people passed by them in every direction, everyone on their own path from one part of the colony to another.
A small autonomous transport that held a stack of computers shot past them and appeared to barely avoid hitting another transport carrying a pallet of processed meats. In reality, the two vehicles posed no danger to each other, each communicating with the other and each perfectly timed by their software.
At another junction, a gaggle of school children looked up at the engineers as they passed before breaking into whispers and small laughter. Many of the children stared wide eyed at the prosthetics that Megan had. Seeing humans with replacement limbs was not that uncommon, but most of the time some effort was put into matching the artificial limbs to the persons’ normal morphologies. Something Megan had foregone in favor of cramming as much engineering complexity into them as possible.
After half an hour of walking, the foot traffic thinned as they approached their destination: the housing complex that had been adapted to serve as the Squeaks nest.
The security around the complex had been expanded. The simple bulkheads that lined most corridors had been replaced by sturdy barriers and mounted weaponry. The Squeaks as a whole had been confined to the nest since the incident. Humanity was apprehensive; the general mood of the colony cautious. The Tanuin were, after all, aliens – but since their arrival several weeks ago, they had done nothing but help humanity. Certainly there had been no aggressive behavior from them. Still, the fact that at any moment they might suddenly decide to snack on someone, however unlikely, was disconcerting to say the least.
The two engineers ignored the additional security, walking straight past the guards and into the nest. Like before, the temperature was a little hotter and slightly more humid than the rest of the colony, regulated to be closer to what the Squeaks preferred.
“You know where Alpha is?” asked Ben, turning to look at the Squeaks who were mirroring the humans in the corridor, ready to defend their nest if need be.
The creature looked up at him and let out a low warble.
“He is upstairs, with your crews.”
“Thanks,” said Megan.
The creature jumped up and down in affirmation.
The two trudged through the nest to the stairs. The nest had developed even further since their last visit. The construction of the many interlocking room’s boxes and pieces of equipment looked haphazard, but not disorganized. The Tanuin had left openings for humans, but the once spacious corridors and rooms were now cramped.
Stepping into what Ben had begun to think of as the main chamber of the nest, the two engineers found the room cramped with nearly a dozen of the other dockworkers and Fort personnel who had been working on the Russia.
In the center of the mass were Night, Alpha, and several other Squeaks.
The floor space that wasn’t covered by a Squeak or a human was covered with data tablets and readouts. Everyone, Human and alien alike, glanced up as the two entered.
“What’s going on in here?” Megan asked lightly, looking around a small smile on her face, sounding slightly surprised.
“Analysis. If the Council isn’t going to let us work on the ships, we’re going to work here,” said one of the engineers near the back of the room, a man who had a Tanuin on his head and on each shoulder.
“Analysis of?” asked Ben.
“This,” said Night, moving forwards and holding up a small tablet in his stubby claws.
Ben took it and looked at the data, showing it to Megan as well.
“What do you see?” asked Alpha from the center of the room.
Ben furrowed his brow and looked at the data. Megan, who had always been better with the coding side of mechanics, got it first. She gasped and took the tablet from Ben’s hands.
“The data signature for these two illegal accesses, it’s an identical footprint!”
She frowned and scrolled through the data. “What two events are you comparing? You’ve obscured that.”
Several of the engineers glanced away, suddenly finding the walls of the Tanuin nest very interesting.
“The data you are looking at is from the shuttle you crashed near our previous nest, and from the dry-dock control computers of the Russia compartment in the Fort,” Alpha said bluntly.
Megan slowly turned to look at the construction crew. “Both of which are classified events still under investigation. I very much doubt anyone here has valid access to that data, considering neither me nor my husband do,” growled Megan looking around.
None of the engineers said anything.
Ben nodded. “Still, it’s not something we can ignore now.”
Megan slowly turned to look at him. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you?”
Ben paused for a moment. “I know I promised never to lie when I married you, but I’d like to keep my balls. Do you really want me to answer that?” he asked, his face the paragon of innocence.
Megan closed her eyes and took a breath, immediately after which her hand snapped out, sending the data tablet flying into his head. He took the hit with practiced ease, rolling with it slightly; if he completely dodged it, she would find something else to throw at him. Probably something harder to dodge and painful on impact.
“We’ve been going over it for hours now; there’s no doubt. Whoever sabotaged your vessel in an attempt to kill you did the same to the airlock of the Russia dry-dock,” said Night.
There were murmurings of agreement from the other analysts and construction workers in the room. Alpha jumped up and down in agreement.
Ben picked up the tablet and looked at it again.
“Well, if you lot have figured that out, have you managed to figure out who’s signature this is?” asked Ben.
“No, we’re still trying to do that,” said Alpha.
Ben cracked his knuckles and nodded. “Alright, let’s get to work on that then.”
The Imperial, Deep Space
“You knew,” [Vann] growled as he sat down at his desk. He looked across it at [Charles], who was sitting back, relaxed, and sipping from a metal cup that likely did not contain water.
The old Captain shrugged. “I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you inform me, then?”
“Because I needed to see how desperate [Marcus] is.”
[Vann] stared at him for a moment.
“Do you know what he was trying to get?”
“The Humans, obviously – or rather, the information they have. Not that he would have had much luck if he had got them, especially now that one of them has been killed. The other one will be even more aggressive now. She might try to get us to kill her.”
“What? Why would she do that?” asked [Vann].
“She’s Human. She’ll try to escape, and when that fails, she will take as many of us out as possible.”
[Vann] frowned. “You really think she’s going to try and escape? She does know she’s on a ship, right? Where would she go?”
“Try and steal a shuttle, I would imagine. Not that she would know how to fly it, but I doubt that would stop her.”
[Vann] shook his head. “The way you describe C1764, the more I agree with [Marcus] in saying we need to put forth every resource to eliminate them.”
[Charles] slowly nodded his head. “True, they are insane; however, I doubt we will be able to kill them.” He hesitated a moment, thinking back to the fall of the Martian Bunker.
“Even if we could get close to killing them, they would make sure we paid for it in blood. They have the ability to be violent, and yet compassionate. Humans are a balance of chaos; with the smallest of disturbances, they can be pushed into an unstoppable furor.”
“Do you still think you’ll be able to get information from the C1764 we have left?” asked [Vann].
[Charles] shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Are you willing to continue trying?”
“Yes.”
“Good. The next issue, though, is how [Marcus] knew about the two prisoners. I deliberately left that fact out of all the reports and data transmissions.”
[Charles] nodded in agreement. In unison, the two of them turned to look at the other desk in the office.
“[Syn]? Any luck on figuring out where the leak is?” asked [Vann].
The irritated Cabinet member looked up from her workstation, eyes bloodshot. “You’re asking one person to screen several hundred crew members. I can’t do that in a day!” she growled.
“I need something – anything, even if it’s someone who’s only marginally suspicious.”
[Syn] frowned. “You want me to frame someone?”
“No, I want someone who we can publically accuse, arrest, and throw in the brig for treason. If we declare the security leak as fixed, the actual informant might get careless.”
[Syn] and [Charles] both raised eyebrows at that.
“What?” growled [Vann].
“That’s a risky move,” said [Syn], looking over at him.
“Are you going to tell me not to do it?”
[Charles] chuckled. “No, you’re just sounding like a politician.”
[Vann] groaned at that. “[Marcus] just made the same comparison. Please don’t say that again.”
“It was bound to happen at some point.”
[Vann] said nothing to that comment. “[Syn]? You have someone in mind?” he asked.
“I’m assuming we want someone who isn’t going to go insane because of an accusation, and steadfastly remain adamant about being innocent – of this particular crime, at least?” asked [Syn].
“Yes.”
“Then I’ve got someone. He’s been passing along extra GCV doses to class B crew members.”
[Vann] nodded; it was a common enough illegal practice. Many class B citizens were desperate for their genetic lineages to make it to class A status, and the more GCV an individual took, the more quickly the genetic corrections would occur. The standard monthly dosage would correct most species within three or four generations; some citizens felt that was not fast enough and slipped them extra doses.
“Alright, he’ll do,” said [Vann] as he leaned back in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“When?” asked [Syn].
“As soon as you’re done scanning the rest of the crew. I’d rather not falsely accuse the man unless we need to flush the actual spy out.”
“That’ll be a few more days. Unless you want me to bring in some people I’ve already vetted.” asked [Syn].
“No, best not,” [Vann] turned to look at [Charles] and [Sam]. “Would you two like to help?”
[Charles] laughed. “I’m a soldier, not an espionage agent. [Sam], though – she is your assistant, isn’t she?” he asked, turning to look at the diminutive spy master.
A vicious smile spread over [Syn]’s features, and [Sam] let out an obvious groan.
[Yuka] carefully sat down at a small table in the mess hall and quietly began to eat. The other class B citizens of the ship, who had trained and worked most of their lives to receive the privilege of working on the Imperial flagship, all studiously ignored her.
She was the helper to a drunk, dishonored Captain, whom the Emperor simply tolerated… and to make matters worse, [Charles] had insisted on including her in almost any activity or dinner he was involved in with the Emperor. She had sat at the same table as the ruler of the Empire, a privilege that none of the men and women that worked on the ship would ever receive.
They did not harass her, nor did they do anything to help her. The entire class B population was apathetic towards her, tolerating but ignoring her presence. They were still unsure of what power she had, if any, and why she had sat at the Emperor’s table or had been otherwise involved with his companions.
After a few minutes, [Yuka] hesitantly looked around the room again. Most of the class B citizens had already filtered out, returning to their duties. Taking one last bite of her meal, she quickly stood and deposited her plate in the receptacle, the same as everyone else, and followed the crowd out of the room – ensuring that she was at the back and as unobtrusive as possible.
The crowd quickly thinned as crew members peeled away from the main corridor. Feeling out of place as usual, she perked up slightly at the sight of Crewman [Tarin]. He was one of the few people on the ship who even interacted with her.
The Crewman had apparently spent the first half of his life on an outer colony, unlike many class A’s, and was entirely comfortable with the fact that she wasn’t Dorvakian.
“[Yuka]!” said the man, a smile on his face.
“Crewman.”
He chuckled. “Never going to get you to use my name, am I?”
[Yuka] shook her head. “That would be improper.”
“Improper or not, you’re about the only person who calls me by my rank. Crewman isn’t much.”
[Yuka] shrugged noncommittally.
“Where you off too? I just got off shift and I’m grabbing something to eat.”
“I already ate.”
“Ah, alright.” The man pulled out his Comm. “You finish that book?”
[Yuka] nodded. “It was different compared to what I normally read.”
“Not big into mysteries?” asked the Crewman.
“I don’t know. I usually read adventure novels, I like the fast pace. This one was a little slow.”
“Did you figure it out before the end?”
[Yuka] snorted, and quickly held a hand up to her face to cover her poor manners. “Sorry!”
The class A citizen waved his hand. “I take it you did then?”
“Who else would it have been besides the Father?” she asked.
“See, I was thinking it might have been the illicit lover, all of the evidence lined up!”
“Except there was no motive.”
The man sighed. “Fine, try this one next. It’s got a little more action.”
[Yuka] quickly raised her Comm, and the man transferred the text to hers.
“Thank you!”
“Heh, alright. I’ll see you later, I’m starving!”
[Tarin] winked, trudging past her towards the class A dining compartment.
[Yuka] glanced down at the title of the book. ‘The Class C Killer’.
She shuddered at the title, imagining what might be in it. As much as she enjoyed adventure novels, they were usually of the more romantic subtext as opposed to fighting. Given the title, though, [Yuka] had no doubt there would be some violence in the story. Still, she had nothing else to do.
Opening the file, [Yuka] looked at the first line.
‘It was a dark and stormy night.’
Promising beginning, at least.
Diana, Jikse
“You know where to get more of these?” The boss held up a vial of the nano-machines.
Diana’s faced remained impassive. “I did. Not anymore.”
The boss returned her blank but firm expression. “Why not?”
“My original crew destroyed the facility after we got them. It was quite the explosion, so I seriously doubt that they’re going to be manufacturing more of them any time soon. Besides, these,” Diana reached out and took the vial from him, “are inferior to the ones we stole.”
“Inferior?”
“The concentration is way too weak, among other things. Look.” Reaching into her jacket, Diana extracted her own small vial and compared the two. The one from her jacket was almost solid black, in stark contrast to the ones they had stolen, which were a much lighter grey.
The boss looked at the vials for a moment and grimaced before turning away.
“Your crew never sold that stuff here, right?” he asked.
“We never had the chance.”
“And you did destroy the manufacturing facility?”
Diana nodded. “We did.”
“How long until they would be able to repair it?”
“A year or so,” Diana said, being purposefully vague.
The boss nodded. “Good. Then we can still sell these.” He pointed at the case.
Diana nodded in agreement. “Who did we steal these from? The way the guy we robbed after the trade claimed to be working for ‘Him’. There might be a problem selling them.”
The boss stiffened at that. “He was simply trying to scare you.”
“He seemed fairly confident. If you did just send us to rob a trade involving the largest crime lord on the planet without telling us, well, I would be pissed off a lot more if you tried to lie now,” Diana growled, amazed that the man was even trying to lie. The truth was clear as day on his face.
The boss, uncertain how to respond, turned to look over at [Orin] and [Hal] for support, both of whom were eating dinner at the single table in the small warehouse.
“The encrypted data we got, that involved Him in some way as well, right?” Diana added.
“[Rant], you should just tell her at this point,” [Orin] said between bites of her food.
Diana raised an eyebrow at that, both at learning the boss’s name and what [Orin] had said. [Rant] shot an annoyed look at [Orin]. Diana put a hand on her hip and waited.
“‘He’ has ruled this city for years. He appeared out of nowhere [fifteen years] ago, and absolutely demolished every syndicate that was in place back then. He was brutal. Some of the previous syndicate leaders even considered letting the Governor in on things to try and stop him. Before they did it, though, the leadership for every organization was gone. Everything pointed to Him.” [Rant] shuddered.
“Since then he’s had a hand in everything, but hardly anything ever comes back down the pipe. At least the syndicates were worried about the city, improving it and not letting the petty crime grow out of control. He doesn’t seem to care. Everything he earns, steals, or otherwise obtains goes to him, and disappears!” [Rant] was shouting now.
“The city is falling apart! If it gets any worse, the Empire is going to step in and completely destroy everything to regain control. We’ve been lucky because the rebellions only ended 50 years ago. They’re still watching those planets more closely than us. But that won’t last.”
Diana nodded, giving [Rant] a few seconds to regain control as she processed what he had said. “Alright. So what’s your plan?” she asked calmly.
“My plan?” asked [Rant], suddenly still, stunned.
“To oust him.”
[Rant] blinked. “What?”
“How do you plan to replace him, take the power back?”
“I’m not planning on doing that.”
It was Diana’s turn to be confused. “You’re not going to take power back?”
“I want the syndicates to come back. The city was run by them for nearly [270 years], ever since this planet was opened for colonization! They were the ones who developed the city, cleaned it up from the mess that the class C race left behind.”
Diana scoffed. “So you want to remove a power hungry, autocratic criminal lord from his position, and revert back to the previous system without creating a power vacuum that will destroy the city.” She was bemused.
“A what?” asked [Rant].
“You remove him. People will fight to take his position if you don’t immediately fill it, right?”
[Rant] looked at her, confused.
Diana turned to look at the other two, who also looked perplexed. “This won’t happen?” she asked them.
“No, the crime syndicates he’s allowed to crop back up will just continue to operate.”
Diana looked at the different aliens in the room for a moment. She was on a different planet. Things worked differently here. Maybe that’s why ‘He’ was able to take so much control so easily. “Alright. You still have to kill him, then.”
“Which is why I stole the medical machines from him. I’ll eventually sell them back to him, but I’m going to insist that we meet face to face,” said [Rant].
Diana felt her mouth fall open at that.
“You’re joking,” she said.
“No.”
“What’s to stop him from killing you when you offer to sell them to him?”
“Why would he kill me? He’s got no proof that it was me that stole them from him.”
“He doesn’t need proof! If I were him, I would kill you on the suspicion!” shouted Diana.
The three aliens looked around at one another again.
“That’s needlessly violent,” [Orin] said. “I can’t imagine He would do that.”
Diana looked around at them and paused, holding her tongue. They were class B citizens of the Empire. From what she understood, that meant that the vast majority of their populations were complacent. The few who had made their way to Jikse were perhaps the worst of the worst within those populations. Class B citizens had wars before the Empire, but rules and things like honor had always held firm.
The class C races, like humanity, thought differently. When faced with war, they would fight in ways that most Empire citizens couldn’t imagine. Sneak attacks; guerilla warfare; biological, chemical, and nuclear weaponry; anything to win. Class C species would actually fight wars, bloody battles to destroy the enemy at any cost.
From the history she had read, class B citizens had only ever fought in what were essentially glorified arenas with rules. They couldn’t comprehend what Diana was suggesting, it simply wasn’t conceivable to them. Like with the theft of the nano-machines. [Orin] and [Hal] had only ever wanted to obtain the cargo; had they been able to do so without killing the man, they would have. The fact that Diana had held a weapon to his head and threatened him in cold blood, much less shot him, was something they were still trying to process.
Diana considered that event for a moment. The man might not have talked for the very same reasons. He had thought that since they had the cargo, she wouldn’t shoot him.
“I suppose you’re right,” said Diana.
[Rant] nodded. “It’s how we’ve always done things.”
Diana nodded. “Tradition, it’s something nice to fall back on.”
She neglected to add that the tradition she would be falling back on would be something a little more brutal in regards to its application.
“So when are you going to sell them back to him?” she asked.
“As soon as possible.”
“Great.”
Diana looked at [Rant]. She was going to have to come up with an idea of her own, around his plan. It would also be better to assume that ‘He’ was more ruthless than any of the class B citizens of the Empire.
She let a small smile spread across her face. Maybe he was Human. Not that it would matter; she would be perfectly fine killing him anyway.