Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) (7 page)

Emilio in the next cabin woke with a fright at the scream and then he physically recoiled as the wall next to his bed was thumped. It took him a moment to realise what was happening. He got out of his bed, opened his cabin door and knocked on Buster’s. He knocked again and then a third time before the door opened. He could see that Buster had been in a state. He was holding his right arm and he was sweating profusely.

“You all right” asked Emilio trying to keep his voice low.

Buster was now fully awake, his right arm hurt and he now realised why. “Yeah, just a nightmare. Sorry. I’ll be OK…sorry.”

Emilio wasn’t all that convinced. “You sure?”

“Yeah…sorry” said Buster as he closed the door shut.

At 0730 Emilio sat down at the table in the SNCOs mess next to Buster. Buster acknowledged him with a nod as he was finishing off his eggs. Emilio took a moment to place his tray down. He took a bite into his sausage, munched it and took a bite of toast. He then asked “That happening a lot?”

“A few times” conceded Buster.

“Apart from the previous night, when was the last time?”

“I’m OK. Just leave it.”

“When was the last time?” asked Emilio. This time he was staring directly at his old team buddy.

Finally Buster responded “on the shuttle trip here.”

“How many times during the trip?”

“A few. But I’m OK. Leave it.”

“How many?”

“Four. Can you just leave it?”

“No Buster…I’m not going to leave it. You need to see the doc.”

Buster leant towards Emilio. “No, I do not.”

“Yes you do. Do I have to come the heavy with you?”

Buster knew Emilio very well. They had served together in Bravo Team aboard the Hermes. He knew the look in Emilio’s eyes and he knew how pig headed Emilio could be once he got a bee under his bonnet. “All right…I’ll get onto it.”

Emilio took another bite of his sausage. He wiped a piece of toast into the tomato sauce on his plate and then munched on that too. Then he looked back at Buster. “Don’t worry, I’ll speak to her for you.”

“Come on Emilio, give me a break.”

“I am buddy. I am.”

Chapter 15. Slidwon, Istridium 0740, 4 August

Angina Slirinus, the director of the rogan Internal Security Service (ISS), was already at her desk. She was a career, intelligence operative now managing thousands of agents throughout the rogan Empire. Her remit was to protect the imperialist state from all manner of internal threats.

Recent troubles had made her job and her life very busy indeed. It was as well she no longer had a husband for she had little spare time. Both her children had long left home and rarely stayed in touch with the mother they never really had. Hers was a lonely existence except for the odd discreet foray for sex. She had had several lovers from within the service in her earlier years but since attaining the directorship she had been careful to avoid these. The complications were just not worth it.

She had made sure that three of her previous lovers had left the service, one way or another. The only one remaining was still an active field agent though with the news coming in of the loss of the Combined Fleet over Polaris she feared he was now dead too. ‘Pity’ she thought ‘I really did like Peena’.

She stopped her little indulgent day dreaming and refocused on the report just in about a major anomaly in the Qwantum system. The more she read the more certain she was that this was not a natural phenomenon. She made the decision to investigate further; raised a new tasking order and sent an order to the appropriate section to deal with this. She knew it would take some time to investigate and report back but she wanted this matter done quickly. So she specified that a report be back to her within a fortnight.

At that moment her workstation chimed and an alert flashed on her screen. It was a code 949. Angina jolted. She opened the alert and then the signal it referred to. “So Peena you live!” She had a smile on her face. It soon dropped away when she digested the message. “That bastard Sallusam.” Within five minutes a watch alert, along with a bounty, went out for one Imperial Admiral Meeka Sallusam.

Chapter 16. Resolute over Chelora 0920, 4 August

Dave Warner was standing in G deck with LCmd Sue Chalker, who now commanded the 1
^st
Droid Bn mounted on board. Her husband and Dave’s best friend, LCmd Art Simons had just arrived on the warthog in front of them.

Art’s tall frame emerged through the hatch and a big smile came over his strong face as he spotted Sue. Sue moved towards Art. He dropped his bag and they embraced. They had been apart now since the battle for Polaris at the end of June and Dave could see that absence did make the heart grow fonder.

After a long kiss Art came up for air and acknowledged Dave with a grin. “Thanks for pulling this off ol’ buddy” he said to Dave.

Dave picked up Art’s bag from the hangar floor and bid them to follow him. In the elevator Art asked “So what’s this about a detour into rogan space?”

“Aubrey reported a gravitational anomaly strong enough to force them out of warp” said Dave. “They sent a data package that could indicate the use of a PME or similar device. We have to check it out, report back and then head for the sleth systems. You’re not really needed on this first leg but I reckon you’d appreciate travelling with us than waiting around here.”

“You bet” said Art as the doors opened on B deck and they walked into the officers’ lines.

“Alas darling” said Sue with a frown “We’ve been bumped out of our former digs.” Art looked puzzled. “We have a new XO” explained Sue.

“Ah, of course, and whose that then?”

“Commander Charles Chen” said Dave. “His dad is the Treasurer.”

“I see. Oh well I hope he’s pleasant company” added Art with a smile. But he could tell from Sue’s reaction that she didn’t think he would be.

“We’ll see” said Dave. “It’s also going to be tight for accommodation because of the sleth contingent. Gret and Jelka (two sleth officers) each have a room on this deck. The rest of their team is on C deck.”

“So Fowlsit didn’t come along?” asked Art.

“No. Gret makes the political calls and Jelka handles the military side of things.”

“Right” said Art. “Well we all know Jelka can handle himself in a fight. Let’s hope that Gret has learnt enough from his dad.”

“Here we are darling” said Sue.

“Just before you get settled Art” said Dave “use this time in transit to get as much info from Gret and Jelka about their home worlds, contacts, resources etc. You know the drill.”

“Sure Dave” said Art with a wink before he took the bag out of Dave’s hand. Art followed Sue into the cabin, turned and began closing the door. “I’ll get onto it straight away….well straight after we get things settled here.” He gave Dave another wink and closed the door.

Dave couldn’t help but smile. He turned and headed for the elevator. “Crystal” he hailed.

“Sir?” responded 1
^st
Lt Crystal Wong, Battle Systems Officer and currently the officer of the watch.

“How long till Val and her lot are finished?”

“Wait one” replied Crystal. Dave hit the button to ascend back up to A deck. When it arrived he marched out, left wheeled and headed forward into the large circular space that is the command centre. Crystal’s lithe form was bent over a terminal checking some details while she conversed with 1
^st
Lt Val Gomez, the ships Quartermaster. Crystal looked up as she caught sight of her skipper. “We’re still expecting two more shuttles. ETA on the last is in … 22 minutes. Val needs another fifteen to unload. So we should be ready to warp at 1000.”

“Great let everyone know” said Dave.

Chapter 17. Slidwon, Istridium 1600, 4 August

Jebna Diljet, Angina Slirinus’ deputy, walked into her office on the 213
^th
floor of the “complex”, as the megatropolis on the south bank of the Pujitna river was known by its occupants. He was short even for a rogan but what he lacked in physical stature Jebna made up for in his towering intellect. He had been with ISS for over twenty years now and was the walking repository of its corporate knowledge.

Born into a second tier aristocratic family he chose the ISS as his pathway to power. Through hard work more than inspiration he had become a master at unveiling secrets others did not want to reveal. When there was a particularly difficult issue, Angina would turn to Jebna. She had done so earlier in the day in regard to the Qwantum incident.

He was holding an ePaper in his hand as he came in and sat down opposite Angina. He never entrusted sensitive matters to the networked systems. He placed it on her desk in front of her. Angina looked at him for a clue but his expression gave nothing away. So she read the report.

On page two, Angina pulled back her large head and looked up into Jebna’s eyes. With a slight nod he raised his eye brows. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“That it came from within the FIA (Foreign Intelligence Agency) yes” replied Jebna seriously. “That it came from a senior executive within the FIA yes.” Jebna then frowned. “But exactly which one, no.”

“Mmm…” pondered Angina.

They had worked together now for a long time and knew each other well. Jebna knew what she was pondering. “We may not have enough time for an undercover investigation. I recommend we front the FIA director.”

Angina nodded. “This could get messy if it’s him” she stated.

Jebna grunted in acknowledgement. “But at least we will have brought it out into the open. We need to find out who is behind this? This may force them to communicate and then we’ll have them.”

“Best if it’s just directors and deputies” said Angina. “Set it up Jebna. Tomorrow, as soon as it can be scheduled.”

Chapter 18. Resolute over Chelora 1640, 4 August

“So doc what do you reckon?” asked Emilio. He was sitting inside the office of 1
^st
Lt Mary Chernside, the senior ship’s doctor.

“You were right Chief it’s PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), quite bad I’d say. They should not have shipped him back out. I’m not worried about his capacity to function but I am worried about the long term effect on his mental state.”

“So what, he goes back?”

“He’s pretty adamant he wants to stay. Says this is his home. Now that’s sad, don’t you think?” said Mary with a shake of her head.

Emilio’s eyes engaged Mary’s. A knowing expression came over his face. “In that regard, I reckon you and I are tarred with the same brush as Buster, don’t you think?”

A brief smile came over Mary’s face as she realised just how astute Emilio was. “Perhaps” she replied.

“So isn’t there something we can do for him here?”

“I’m not a proper psychiatrist.”

“But you can prescribe him something can’t you?”

“Well yes, I can, but that’s probably not what he really needs.”

“Well what does he need then?”

“He needs to process the trauma he underwent back in Assam. That is best done with a professional psychologist. I’ve had some training in psych but he really needs a professional. He also needs not to be exposed to any more trauma and in case you’ve forgotten, trauma seems to accompany just about everything we do at the moment.”

“It’s all relative isn’t it? He’ll probably be traumatised if you send him back.”

Mary sighed. “Maybe…probably…well to a degree anyway. But it would be a lot less traumatic than taking a pulse shot or being grenaded again.”

Emilio stayed quiet and just stared at Mary.

“And they call me stubborn” she finally relented. “Alright the best we can do right now is to conduct a few sessions and get him to talk about what happened. It would be good if he could do that with the others that were there.”

“Akos Salaman is here and Simons has just arrived.”

“Leave it with me Chief but I want to make sure you understand that this may not work. I have a duty of care to ensure that Buster’s welfare is looked after. If he doesn’t improve then we will have to ship him back.”

“Understood and thanks Maam.”

Chapter 19. Slidwon, Istridium 1030, 5 August

“This had better be important” said Charak Tumbisit. He was a tall lean rogan who maintained an erect posture despite the weariness that was obvious on his face.

Everything about Charak screamed ‘military’. He was a first tier aristocrat in his own right with twenty years’ service in the Imperial Rogan Fleet – an unusual calling for the first born of the famous Tumbisit retail empire. He should have been managing the family business but he had no appetite for commerce. Charak had known from an early age that his destiny lay with the Fleet.

The directorship of the Foreign Intelligence Agency was at first a bitter pill for someone who aspired to be a great admiral. But after some wise counsel he saw it was useless pursuing his boyhood dream. This was his tenth year in the job and, with Imperial fortunes turning, his days were getting longer and his eyes heavier.

“Please sit down Charak” said Angina. “Good morning Raitah” she added as Charak’s deputy entered the conference room behind him. Raitah Pratin was also a lean character from the same disciplined mould as her boss. Her hair should have been grey by now but that would never shine through. She dressed smartly as always and sat down beside her boss. Her sharp eyes quickly scoped out those on the other side of the table. It was a piercing gaze but Angina and Jebna were oblivious to it now. All four had spent many such meeting together.

Jebna handed out a sheet of ePaper to each of them. “This was received early yesterday morning.  The incident occurred on the 1
^st
. The latest news just in is that an evacuation will be needed. It looks like Qwantum has a bleak future.” Jebna then looked at each of the FIA officers and continued. “Someone from your executive service facilitated this. This is an attack on an Imperial system. As such this is treason.” Again she looked at both of them and added “a capital offense!”