Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil (34 page)

He returned to the
dining room table and aafter removing the gag from his mouth sat across from
Velk, elbows on the table and chin in his hands.  "I think it's safe to
assume neither of us saw today going like this," he began.  He pulled out
a small stun pistol, about the size of a Pocket Derringer, and laid it on the
table right in front of him.  Velk was very securely bound- Garrett had checked
that for himself- but he wasn't going to take chances.  The former Priman
Commander didn't need to know about the SDF Compact blaster that Garrett had in
his back waistband, either.  "Looks like we'll get to know each other for
a while.  How do I address you?  Representative?  Name only?"

Velk studied
Garrett, trying to figure the human out.  He seemed so straightforward, but
that was often a mask for lies.  However, he knew his adversary Loren Stone
well, and if Loren considered this man a friend, perhaps he had the same noble
qualities as the Confed soldier who'd caused him no end of trouble.

"You can call
me Representative Velk, or just Representative," the Priman replied. 

"She's
what?!" Zek Dennix cried out in shock.  Enric Shae just stood in front of
the Senator's desk, trying to keep a straight face.  The Senator was so
emotional, reactionary.  His swings were dangerous, something the Primans had
tried to show him during his time with them.  Oh, they'd tried their best to
indoctrinate him on the wonders of Priman society and rule, and to be honest
Shae couldn't entirely disagree with their point of view.  But what he really
wanted was the Senator's job.  Dennix didn't deserve it and frankly wasn't
suited to it.  He'd bide his time for now as the faithful aide, but promises of
being put in Dennix's place had been whispered to him while with the Primans,
and Enric Shae thought that was a great idea.

"After I saw
that Starr had been captured," Shae continued, "I went to the facility
directly so I could see what had happened.  She'd been interrogated by the SAR
woman, Halley Pascal.  She informed me that Ms. Pascal had adminstered some
sort of truth serum and done a field interrogation, so I had to assume she'd
spilled everything, sir."

Dennix was still
trying to regain control of himself.  "But what did you say?  On whose
authority did she kill herself?"

Shae did his
damnedest to hold his smug smile in check.  "I was given orders while in
Priman space on what to do in certain situations," he started.  "They
are only concerned with keeping you in power, Senator.  You are the link that
will make this all happen; a Priman truce, no more bloodshed," he lied. 
There would be more blood required, blood that would be blamed on Senator Dennix
when the Primans eventually removed him and demanded Enric Shae replace him as
head of the Confederation in their stead.  Everyone on the Governing Committee
and the Senate in general would fall into line as he made the real calls after
that; he'd learned quickly how the political process worked.  The politicians
were adept at saving themselves; they'd realize what they needed to do, of that
he was sure.

"And so you
ordered her to kill herself?" Dennix continued.

Shae looked the
Senator right in the eye.  "Yes."

Dennix deflated a
bit.  She'd always been pain in his ass, a constant reminder that he was on a
leash that was held by the conquering aliens.  But they had just ordered one of
their own to die to protect him.  If there was ever any doubt that they owned
him, it was gone like smoke in the wind.

"We need to get
out ahead of this now," Shae continued.  "They want us to move on
with the second phase and start the transition."

Dennix just stared
at the surface of his desk for a while, then nodded absently and stood up. 
"Let's go over to my work table," he said, indicating one of the
large conference tables closer to the large doors leading to the outer office. 
"Starr and I had been working on my speech.  You'll need to help me finish
it."  The Senator walked off in a daze, and Shae saw the beginning of his
own era flash into existence.

Upon arriving back
aboard Avenger, Loren had gone right to Captain Elco's quarters and warned him
about what he was going to tell him.  The captain got them two glasses of
liquor and led them to a table in his day cabin, then had Loren tell him
everything.  Loren complied, from a recap of Velk's breakout, to hunting him
down, Halley's interrogation of Starr, the revelations about Dennix, and his
resultant captivity in an undisclosed location.

"Damn,"
Elco mumbled as he drained his glass.  "You never do anything halfway, do
you Loren?"  He puffed up his cheeks as he thought for a while, then
looked at his XO again.  "You're taking years off my life, you know,"
he said, trying to show some good cheer at the situation.  Loren only smiled.

"I suppose you
have a plan?" Elco asked.

"There is one
person in all of the Confederation that I would trust with Velk's
captivity," Loren said slowly.  "And according to the fleet movement
orders I just checked, his ship is due here tomorrow to visit the shipyards for
repairs."

"There she
is," Lieutenant Caho announced from her seat behind Captain Elco and
Commander Stone in the sensor shack.  "Thunderbird.  Sable class fleet
carrier, Flagship of Fleet Admiral Privac."

And unofficial
lair of Admiral Nodam Bak, the most driven and possessed person in the
Confederation navy
, Elco thought.  Formerly something like a mentor to him,
he'd had to demand the Admiral turn himself over on charges after he'd admitted
leaking classified into the the Enkarrans in the days before the war.  He'd
done it to keep tensions high and the military funded, but he had no idea the
Primans had been in league with the Enkarrans back then.  He'd been responsible
for the destruction of two Confederation ships before hostilities had been
official, and had since been sequestered in the bowels of Admiral Privac's
flagship.  For as much as Nodam Bak was guilty, he was also brilliant at
delving into Priman tactics and seemed to always be working on the next big
thing.  He was simply too valuable to lock up in prison.  So, he'd been given
credit for the things he did well, then disappeared.  Now, he unofficially
worked for the Fleet Admiral, waging a clandestine, unconventional war in
parallel with Confed's regular efforts.  If there was anybody in the
Confederation who would safeguard Velk, it was Admiral Bak.

There was only one
problem: Loren wasn't entirely sure the Admiral wouldn't dissect the Priman if
he thought it would lead to worthwhile results.

Loren and Captain
Elco strode the corridors of Thunderbird, passing by bustling crew every step
of the way.  The carrier was only going to stay docked for a few days, then it
was off to rejoin a task force patrolling recently contested territory along
their shared border with the Priman-occupied Talaran territories.

They'd contacted
Fleet Admiral Privac to let him know they had a plan they'd like to present to
Admiral Bak.  The Fleet Admiral appreciated the protocol and had suggested they
come over just before the dinner hour, when much of the crew would be either
off-ship or rotating through the mess halls.  Loren and the captain had spent
much of the day going over details and trying to put together a briefing that
didn't sound like it was done under the influence of mind-altering drugs.

Now they stood
outside the series of conference rooms that were turned over to Admiral Bak and
his small staff.  Elco tapped the call button on the frame of the hatch and
waited for a reply.

"Come in,"
came a neutral sounding voice.

Elco entered first,
followed by Loren.  The conference room was empty, and as always seemed to be
lit only by the small lamps on the large briefing table.  Loren still wasn't
sure if was theatrics, focus, or an aversion to bright light, but Admiral Bak
seemed to like a very low ambient light when working alone.

Admiral Bak strode
purposefully up to them and saluted, then offered his hand to shake.  Loren and
Elco complied, then the Drisk Admiral pointed to chairs where they should sit. 
The Admiral, despite being old enough to be eligible for peacetime retirement,
showed no signs of slowing down, and his often unlimited energy had been known
to wear down the most energetic staffer.

Admiral Bak lowered
himself into a chair across the table from them and pointed at a pitcher of
water and glasses set between the three.  "Can I get you some water?  Have
you eaten yet?" he asked.

"We're fine,
Admiral," Captain Elco started.  "This could take some time, so I
thought we should get right at it."

Bak's interest was
piqued; Elco was being uncharacteristically shady, and Loren wasn't afraid to
get in the mix if it meant getting the job done for Confed.  This was getting
interesting for the Admiral.

"I'm all
ears," Bak replied, leaning forward intently.

"You're
familiar with Representative Velk's escape the day before last?" Loren
began.

"Unfortunately,"
Bak said darkly.  Then he looked at Loren and knew something was up.  "You
know something," he said slowly.

"I know where
he is," Loren stated matter-of-factly.

"Excellent,"
Bak replied brightly.  "Let's bring him in.  I'll inform Admiral Privac
and we can get started with a proper interrogation."

Elco shook his head
just a fraction as he spoke.  "It's not that simple, Admiral," he
said. 

"Explain."

Elco took a deep
breath and rattled the rest off as fast as he could.  "Velk was broken out
by Tana Starr, close advisor to Senator Dennix.   Yes, I know you warned us
about the high turnover on his staff.  She was a Priman in disguise.  Loren and
a few others tracked her down, assaulted their safehouse, and kidnapped Velk. 
He's now being held incommunicado while we decide what to do with him."

As soon as Elco took
a breather, Admiral Bak broke in.  "Then we return him to navy custody!"

"Here's where
it gets to the 'not that simple
’
part," Elco said with a frown, then looked at Loren to continue.

"Senator Dennix
is part of the Priman's plans.  They're giving him orders, and he's obeying. 
Halley Pascal, the SAR operative who supported this mission, did a field
interrogation on Tana Starr using a new Priman-tailored drug.  Starr coughed up
a lot, including a plot to kill Velk so he couldn't drum up more moderate
support among his own people.  There's a new Commander and as we've seen, he's
much more trigger happy than Velk was.  Velk isn't safe among us because the
Primans and whoever is working with the Senator will want him dead.  We needed
Tana Starr's testimony to even begin to have a case against the Senator's
actions, but she committed suicide early this morning after being visited by
Enric Shae."

"Everyone would
say she was prepped to give that sort of answer to sow discord among us, and a
suicide would wrap that up nicely," Admiral Bak continued. "Though it
seems plausible that out government has been infiltrated and that the Senator
has been compromised, I might be inclined to agree with those who would toss
out Starr
’
s interrogation
as misleading information.  Why should we believe her statement?"

"Because Halley
does, first thing," Loren said.  "And because Velk did, too.  I saw
it in his eyes; he knows his people are changing and I don
’
t think he likes their
direction.  But now, with Starr dead, Velk is the only loose end.  I'm starting
to believe that he might actually be useful to us if the Primans themselves are
split as to how to go about this war."

"Or he could be
useful to us in a straight-up interrogation," Bak continued his earlier
train of thought.  "He certainly has intel that is still valuable to us,
even after being out of the loop so long."  Bak stared hard at Loren,
intentionally ignoring Elco.  "Perhaps this is our opportunity to
interrogate him without the oversight that often hampers us."

Loren's face
hardened.  "I don't see how that helps, sir."

"You did it
once, Commander, to save an entire planet.  You threw a Priman prisoner right
out of an airlock, did you not?"  Bak was becoming confrontational with
Loren's lack of enthusiasm over the potential.  "You remember that,
correct?"

"Of course I
do," Loren said softly.  Then he continued with more confidence. 
"But I'm not going to be the bag-man for every dirty job that comes along,
either."

"So you'd spare
that man if you could do it again," Admiral Bak challenged, "let your
planet and wife die?"          

Loren's hesitation
was all the answer Bak needed.  "No, you wouldn't.  And neither would I. 
So what's different now?"

"Maybe I'm
different," Loren said.  "I've killed people, taken Priman lives
since this war started.  I don't much relish the idea of taking lives, but it's
something I've made peace with a necessary to protect my home, family, even
myself. I figure someday, when my time here is up and I have to account to a
higher power for the things I've done, I can stand tall about most everything
in my life.  Except for that one Priman.  Maybe he didn't need to die, I don't
know, but I did the only thing I could think of at the time.  Maybe a better
man could have come up with an alternative, but that's all I had.  I'm not
going to make it my habit, though.  We can come up with a better way."

Admiral Bak leaned
all the way back and relined his chair, studying Loren's face.  Loren stared
him right back, not sure if he should be deferring to the man's rank and look
away or stare him down to assert himself.  Finally, Admiral Bak continued.

"Alright,
then," he said slowly as he chewed his lip, "we'll take interrogation
off the table for now.  Is Velk in a safe place?"