Athena Lee Chronicles 8: Infiltration (7 page)

The sergeant scratched his head as he answered. “We aren’t sure Ma’am. Merlin here, he only found that one by accident. I was hungry, see, and I thought to raid the kitchen last night. He followed me, finding it while I raided the refrigerator.”

“You both know what this means? We have a spy in the kitchen. Have we looked at the security scans?”

“Ma’am, that is one of the reasons we are here. There is a week's worth of vid to go through.”

“Why are we not scanning it right now then? I can bring in more troops.”

“Ma’am, we didn’t want the spy to get away. Merlin thinks he has a solution but we have to clear it with you first.”

“Has the cat been talking to you Sergeant Kristoff?”

“Sort of? He understands way more than he lets on. We get along fairly well. I was wrong in thinking he was useless.”

If a robotic cat could smile, this one would. Instead it sat there pretending to clean itself. “So what is the solution?”

“We need your permission to tap into the computer vid storage database. Merlin can tap the system and search faster than we can.”

“How do you know that he can do any of that?”

“I read the instruction manual Ma’am.” Minerva resisted the impulse to face-palm. The instructions! How could she forget them?

She looked over at the cat sitting on her desk. “Mr. Merlin the computer is all yours.”

The cat sat up and lightly sprang from the desk to the computer console. Using its paws it accessed the memory data storage module on the system. When the port opened, the Cat inserted its tail in the hole. The screen came to life with vid from the kitchen. As they watched the speed to the vid increased until it was a blur. Suddenly the vid stopped and backed up. When the screen lit up, it was a view of the breakfast nook where her family took most of its meals.

Kitchen helper Sarah was at her wits end. Every camera or listening device hidden in the house was gone. No trace remained of any of it. She wanted to leave but her handlers insisted that she plant at least one more bug. They had to know what was happening within the Militia command structure. There was a new soldier in the house who she suspected might be the one removing her bugs. He was always accompanied by a drone that resembled a cat. A secondary assignment was to either capture the drone or destroy it and return with the circuitry. There was a council meeting tonight and both of the Lee’s would not be in residence. She hoped that she would be able to plant a few new bugs.

The day was progressing just like any other day. The Colonel and his daughter enjoyed their breakfast as usual in the kitchen. She was able to overhear several bits about deployments and future plans of the Militia. Those few bits would keep her out of the sights of the wardens. Whatever happened, she still had a job to do.

Contriving a spilled pot of sauce she stumbled in the kitchen and ruined the dinner that evening. The kitchen was simply covered in sauce and grease from the now ruined dinner. She apologized to the head cook repeatedly and volunteered to clean it up after the meal. She was assigned the job instead. Both she and one of the newer cooks. A learning experience is what she called it. The cook had been the patsy she used to drop the pot of sauce. It really was too bad, the Coq au Vin really smelled good after cooking all day.

Misdirecting the cook was easier than expected. He almost caught her planting the listening device behind the painting of the Lee family farm on the wall. She covered herself by pointing out splashes of sauce that she herself planted on the ceiling. Too bad the rules kept her from asking him out. He was kind of cute.

Sarah, the cook's helper was the spy? Minerva had been shocked that the sweet young girl could be part of this. The truth was in the pudding. She was obviously planting something behind the painting. They watched as she splattered the ceiling then used it as a distraction. As an infiltrator she was skilled. The cameras were new, many on the staff were unaware of them. Sarah did not know they were there or she might not have hidden the bug.

Minerva looked at the cat on her computer console. “Good kitty!” She gave it a good head rub.

“Sergeant, put a team on her. I want her watched everywhere she goes. I want to know who she talks to, what her schedule is, what she eats, everything. I want everything that we can find out about this woman. Put as many people on it as you need. Keep a snatch team handy, we may need to grab her or her contact.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He saluted and hurried off the contact Yannos and the Special Operations team.

“Merlin, I need to know something. Can we make more of you? I know that Wilson most likely designed you as the start of a whole line of robots. He is obsessed with all things robot. Plus for some reason he likes making more credits. If I order the robot plant to make more of you can you give them a thought matrix?”

Merlin the cat cocked his head and walked over the edge of the console and jumped down to the floor. He sat there for a moment before jumping up to Min’s desk. The cat looked Minerva in the eyes and nodded.

Hoping that was the answer she needed, Minerva accessed communications and called the Robots-Are-Us factory.

Chapter 11

Athena and Amalie were still in a state of shock. The implication that the Cabal was a secret Old Earth organization was staggering. Isabella went on to explain what she knew of the inner circle and its workings. She knew very little in the way of its strength or off-world facilities. She did know their basic strategies but only how they related to Mars. The plan as she understood it was to place agents in positions of influence and power. Those agents were to come out of the shadows at a given signal and pave the way for a takeover. Her contact informed her that the day of reckoning was at hand. The last orders she received were to be sure the ambassador did not lose his position. Great things were coming.

“Those ships that your Captain saw. It has to be Earth forces."

I nodded my head. “I think you are right Grandmother. You were a part of them once, do you have any idea of what their future plans might be.”

Amalie shook her head slowly. “I am tempted to say no but it must be the same goal as before. Control of the colonies. That is the one thing that was their focus a century ago. The power behind the UN is most likely still trying to pull all the strings still. The problem facing us is the sleeper agents. How many do they have in place and when will they strike.”

“Athena tell your grandmother that I have some of those answers.” Once again Wilson rides to the rescue. I giggled just a bit.

“Grandmother, Wilson would like to say a few things to you.” I gestured to the big screen. Wilson appeared in his cowboy outfit and persona, but this time he was wearing a badge and small mask.

Grandmother looked up at him and smirked. “I guess that works, you are lone. What do you have for us?”

“I pulled the records of that college and charity organization before they could erase them. Isabella was telling the truth. The Round Table Charity organization has over five hundred members world-wide. I gave the lists to Gaston and your security forces. The Foucault Academy has many names that overlap with the other organization. Amalie, this will impact Mars in a major way. Over half of your assembly is on one or the other of those lists. Almost every major industry board of directors has at least one member. This has the possibility of being very nasty.”

“Wilson, what about my personal house guards? Are we safe here?” She was staring down at her console. Everything that she had built over the last hundred years was now threatened.

“As near as I can tell according to records, only five of your house guard are on the list. They are all new, having been hired in the past five years. From what I can scan, most of the Dorr house is safe. None of your family are implicated.”

“Thank you. Gaston!”

Gaston dropped what he was doing and rushed over to Amalie’s desk. “Yes, Primus.”

“What is the status of our security forces?”

Gaston took a deep breath. “With Wilson’s help, we cross-referenced every member of both the planetary service and our own. Less than a dozen have popped up as having been on a list or related to someone who is. Our screening techniques are working. Arrests have already begun planet wide. The Foucault Academy got wind of the arrests and cleared out early. The computer room was torched and all hard copy records destroyed. They were not aware that we had copies already. The Round Table Charity is trying to fight us in court. They are finding that hard as we have arrested all of their lawyers. They were on the lists too. What remains of the Assembly is even now calling my office. They wish for an explanation, Ma’am.”

The look on my grandmother’s face would burn metal. “Have the Assembly gather online in an hour. I will explain then. Have the meeting televised for the vid networks. It is time that we inform our people of the threat to our world.”

“It will be done as you ask, Primus.”

She looked over at me. “Can you send a copy of everything that we know to your father and Government?”

“I have already done so, Grandmother. Wilson beamed the message out to the network in a coded message. He also sent it to every PPL ship in the region for re-transmittal just in case.”

“Excellent work Athena. I think I will enjoy working with you while you are the Ambassador here.”

“Grandmother? About my question before, do you remember what they wanted the first time?”

“The first time it was control of resources and of the people. Many countries on Old Earth had freedoms that scared the UN and threatened any plans they could make. It is hard to control a people if they have freedom of speech or the right to bear arms. Free thinkers and the intellectual class were some of the first to be sent offworld. The risk was too great that they would incite revolt or rebellion. That was the reason that North America and Russian countries were put down so hard by the UN. It was only later that they realized that they needed those people to run the labs and make the weapons to keep them on the cutting edge of technology.” She smiled to herself as she thought of those times.

“When I was sent here, I saw the UN’s mistake and took advantage of it. My orders were to assume control of the planet so Earth could take over. I rebelled and married into the Dorr family instead. I used my knowledge of Earth and its plans to unify the planet and keep Mars on the cutting edge of technology. Your planet is similar. Not in technology but in crop advancement and growth output. Many of the best agriculturalists were sent to planets like yours. Your planet is unique in that it can feed itself and others. The people are extremely independent and have proven themselves to be good soldiers. Controlling your planet is of course a priority of theirs. It has to be.”

“What of the Empire, should we warn them too?”

“Child, I believe that they are beyond the stage of listening to what we have to say. This council that Isabella speaks of must be located in a high profile city. It is the only way they could have stayed hidden in the shadows for so long. Capital planet is a prime candidate for that. I sent a message to my embassy there to evacuate back to Mars. I fear that soon the shadows will walk in the light very soon.”

Amalie and I stayed in her office. She told me many stories of Old Earth and what she remembered from The Program that created her. She, like Sam, had both good and bad memories of that time in her life. Hers was a rich and moving story of the founding of Mars and the creation of a technological legacy.

“Primus, the Assembly is formed and all the major Vid networks are present.”

“Thank you Gaston.” I moved away from her desk and sat in the background. While I was family, this was politics and for the moment I represented a foreign power. One by one the screens in the room came to life. The large screen in the middle showed the Marketplace on Deimos.

“Thank you for joining me today. As many of you know hundreds of our fellow Martians are being arrested and detained across our world. A vast conspiracy has come to light that I feel will echo across our galaxy in cries of outrage. Over a century ago, the United Nations sent out teams and groups of government officials disguised as colonists. Many of our historians can verify this fact, it is not a secret. Most of these people ignored their orders and began new lives on the new worlds. Some did not. An organization was founded that would hide in the shadows waiting and watching. They called themselves ‘The Cabal.’ Our friends and allies on Hong Kong recently encountered them when they overthrew the Empire on their world. Imperial forces, subverted by the Cabal, attacked their world with kinetic strikes and attempted to destroy it. The commander of that attack was captured here on this planet trying to hide. His capture unearthed the hidden organization. Arrests were made.” She took a sip of water from a bottle on her desk.