INTERVENTION (17 page)

   The newcomer
halted exactly three feet away from the Commander and in a disarmingly calm voice, said “Commander, I am Internal Administrator Avery; you appear to be in the process of vacating your premises.”

  
“Yes, I am expecting to be relieved, I thought you may have been he.”

   “Not
he
, Commander,
she
.”

  
“She?”

  
“Yes, one of your subordinates from the Communications section. She was appointed nine minutes ago; four minutes after you cut the link with the Missions Finance Director, with orders to relieve you of your command immediately; I estimate she will be here in less than fifteen minutes.”

  
The Commander was stunned. “How the hell do you people get information so quickly?”

   Agent Avery’s
lips widened slightly taking great pains to reveal a smile, but the eyes made no such pretence. “I really should get to work Commander; it would be appreciated if you would temporarily discontinue your present task as I may need your assistance.”

  
“My assistance in what?”

  
“I am to examine your personal database regarding all information relating to the late mission of Delta Sierra One. You will open with your private code please.”

  
“But that is my own private data that not even my superior has the right to view without my approval.”

  
The Agents’ unblinking stare locked onto him.

  
“Commander, I am not your superior, I am an Internal Administrator and I require access to your private database. I shall allow you one choice, one time: we can do this intelligently with you being in full possession of your brain cells, or we can do it the other way. Within the next ten seconds you will have chosen and if not, I shall choose for you.”

  
For a long eight seconds the two men locked stares until, finally, the Commander walked over to his desk and said “Code zero zero.”

  
Agent Avery sat at the desk and proceeded to scan: after a while he said “You really should compliment your inspection team, Commander, they have performed a speedy and efficient service here under somewhat adverse conditions.”

   The doorcom announced “Entry requested.”

   Before the Commander could speak, the Agent responded “Request denied; investigation in progress.”

  
After a short spell the doorcom sounded again, “Entry requested.”

   Without taking his eyes from the screen, the Agent said
“It appears the lady is impatient, you must allow her entrance.”

   The Commander responded
“Permission granted.”

  
The door opened and the woman strode in furiously and, confronting the Commander, she demanded “How dare you deny me access to my own quarters? I have orders to relieve you immediately of your position: and what is this investigation?” 

   Motioning
to the man seated at the desk with his back to the door, the Commander replied “Ask him.”

   Turning to the stranger,
she demanded “And who are you? And what is your business in my quarters?”

  
The Agent stood and turned to face her: too late, she recognised the black insignia. 

  
In a quietly conversational tone, he said “I am Internal Administrator Avery, and at this time my business here takes precedence over yours, Commander: I instructed the doorcom in the first instance and now I must ask you please to wait in your previous quarters until I am finished: be assured that I shall contact you personally at the appropriate time.”

   Staring
in disbelief, words failed her and her body felt as though it had turned to stone. 

  
To break the silence the Agent spoke again, softly, “Thank you, Commander.”

  
Turning, as in a trance, she walked back out through the door and returned to her quarters.

  
The Commander grinned widely. “That was impressive Agent Avery.”

  
The man paid no heed to the remark but sat back down at the desk and requested “I would like to view the external monitor readings inside the wormhole now, if you please, Commander.”

  
After locating the information requested, the Commander sat and regarded this Agent: he wondered what an alien species would make of these Internal Administrators. Would they consider their cold and calculating demeanour to be representative of the rest of humanity? And would they consider this to be a possible threat to them? It was certainly considered a threat by the rest of the human race.  Even though he deeply disliked the persona of the Internal Administrators, he understood and agreed that upholders of the laws were necessary, and he knew the reasoning behind the replacing, almost a century ago, of the old systems of policing and judicial punishment procedures. 

  
All had been open to incoordination and corruption, especially after the unification of the Worlds’ populations; the enforcement of one set of laws and regulations for all was virtually un-policeable by the old systems, and so the Bureau had been created with specially selected and trained personnel who were deemed incorruptible as they were answerable to none other than the laws that they upheld. Their strengths being that they regarded wealth and possessions as negative ambition and therefore a probable weakness that would eventually undermine their roll as administrators of the laws that protected the populace. Thus far the system had been a complete success and all Agents had proven to be beyond reproach. 

  
The issue that most people held, however, was with the sheer cold, calculating and mechanical way that they went about their business; which gave rise to many myths and tales of possible alienation, robotics and even the living dead.

The living dead
,
thought the Commander,
Yes that was quite possibly the closest to the
mark.

  
When he had finished his inspection, the Agent transferred all of the information to the main Bureau data system on Earth. Seeing the anxious look on the other mans’ face, he said “Please don’t worry Commander, I have only confiscated data relating to the mission; be assured that all of your personal data is intact and unviewed.”

  
After a moments thought the Commander asked “Agent Avery, what was Agent Andretta’s true function on this mission? It seems unlikely that Agents of the Bureau would be seconded to a venture by some civilian outfit just to look after their financial interests.”

  
“I have no knowledge of Agent Andretta’s mission, Commander, nor has any other Administrator; if we have no immediate concern then it is deemed ‘not our affair’ and the Agent is left to get on with it. For the most part we work alone, Commander which, no doubt, is of great relief to service personnel and civilian alike.”

  
“But there are three of you here today.”

  
“This is an extraordinary situation, Commander; seven personnel have died by causes as yet unknown; one of these people was an Internal Administrator. These causes shall be revealed, in due course, by Bureau investigation and everyone involved in this mission will face interrogation.”

  
“In my own defence I must tell you that I, on more than one occasion, advised for more expeditionary probes into the wormhole before sending in a manned flight; I personally did not consider that we were ready, and advised my superiors of my reservations.” Offered the Commander, aware that the people above him would try to ‘get from under’ by throwing someone below themselves to the wolves.

  
“Do you have this as transcripted evidence?” Asked the Agent.

  
“No, communication was always secure, making recording impossible.”

  
“There is no such thing, Commander; think back to your conversation with the Missions finance Director earlier today.”

  
This was a jaw-dropping revelation to the Commander who, throughout his career, had placed his complete trust in the knowledge that military communication was totally secure. He thought back to some of the communications over the years and the sensitivity of security that had been required, when all the time the Bureau had been monitoring everything. And, now that he thought more about it, these three Agents must have already been on their way here even before he had informed his superior back on Earth; no wonder these people knew everything about everyone: he decided to open Pandora’s Box.

  
“How does it feel to have so much power over people Agent Avery? And how high could you actually take your powers?”

  
“For the first part, power in human beings is normally associated with wealth and position which, in themselves, are driven by ego; since we have neither need nor desire for wealth or position our power is driven only by factual evidence, therefore we are deemed incorruptible, and justly so.

“
To date this has always been the case; basically we are today’s equivalent of the policemen of earlier times, with the added powers to judge and execute sentence, thus eliminating the earlier problems of a possibly corrupted or compromised judge and jury. The power we hold is to determine a person’s guilt or innocence and then to act accordingly; not to determine how he or she should live their lives. 

“As to
the second part, there is no limit; anyone attempting to use their powers of position to thwart our investigations would be ill advised.”

  
“Anyone? What about the four members of the World Political Executive?”

  
The Agent repeated, emphatically, “Anyone, Commander.”

  
“And what if, for some reason, an Agent was to commit an offence, what would be your position then?”

  
“Anyone, Commander.”

  
“So you would consider someone like me to be a very small fish.”

  
“There are no fish of any size, Commander; a human being is one individual in a world of individuals and as such is as accountable for his or her actions as any other; the higher they climb the more careful they must become, or suffer the consequence just as any other citizen of Earth.

“
If you have not committed a crime, whether it be physically, verbally, or morally then you have nothing to fear and shall not enjoy the pleasure of my company again. If, however, you are involved in a crime you will be questioned, judged and the appropriate execution of justice shall be meted out.”

  
“Execution of justice?”

  
“Yes, Commander, this can vary from Home arrestment to incarceration on the home planet or the ice rings of Saturn right up to the penalty of death and everything in between. And now if you will excuse me I must inform the new Commander that her quarters shall be vacant in thirty minutes: would that be enough time for you fulfil your duties here Commander?”

  
“Yes, thank you. But one thing more before you go, earlier you instructed the doorcom to my quarters which works on a voice recognition system, my voice to be precise; how did you do that?”

  
“Quite simply, it is necessary for Agents to have the key to all doors, Commander.”

  
As the Agent stepped outside the Commander smiled wryly at the thought that his replacement would be pacing the floor and torturing herself with the expectation of hearing the doorcom announce “entry requested.”

He was not wrong, for as the door to her quarters opened she began a tirade of excuses.

  
“Agent Avery, please excuse my behaviour earlier, it was inexcusable and completely out of character: I was nervous about the promotion and the short notice I was given. I had not been informed that you were on the station: I simply had no idea that you were working in the Commanders’ quarters.” 

  
Agent Avery hadn’t attempted to speak throughout all of this but had stood impassively staring into the woman’s eyes: she realised that she had been rambling and had now exhausted her repertoire of excuses, and in the few seconds of silence that followed she feared the worst. 

  
Then the Agent spoke, softly, “Commander, your new quarters shall be vacant in approximately twenty four minutes. I would like to thank you for your generosity in allowing me to complete my investigation and for your patience.” 

  
With that, he turned and left her standing in the centre of the room staring blankly at the space that he had vacated: from somewhere far away she thought she heard a voice saying, meekly, “You’re welcome Agent Avery.”

The journey back to Earth was uneventful and silent; the Commander, the three Agents and the seven deceased being the only passengers. Upon landing, the six dead service personnel were immediately claimed by Missions Control for cremation and ceremony with their respective families in attendance; all had been arranged.