The Orion Deception (7 page)

"These leaders have put a resolution before the Security Council demanding the drifts be fined for their insubordination. The resolution authorizes the Commonwealth Prime Minister to use force in collecting these fines..."

The PM thought that last sentence was rather like icing on the cake. The failing Earth governments would gladly authorize the use of force to collect money from the successful governments of the drifts in order to survive. While the drifts were prepared to use force to cut ties from the weak governments of the Earth, and the Commonwealth, in order to survive.

A cold war among the member states of the Commonwealth had actually begun in the form of strained trade relations among member states. Some of the drifts now refused to trade with Earth governments and were, for the moment, using the incompetence of Commonwealth Parliament to justify their acts. The Parliament had become so completely dysfunctional, and its Members so beholden to those who had placed them in power, that it was only a matter of time before the drift governments chose to go their own way.

Some already had.

A number of vids and holographic tickers fed the PM a constant deluge of news from the Commonwealth member states, but he had long since learned to absorb much of the info with the sound muted.

The dapper looking newsman disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared with a tap of Arnold's meaty index finger on the desk interface. Arnold swung his chair around to face the window again and looked out at the illusory blue sky over the city. He kicked off his shoes and put his toes in the thick, plush, carpet enjoying the feel of the soft fibers. A gentle chime behind him alerted the PM that a visitor was waiting outside his door.

"Enter," he said aloud. The door to his office slid open and a tall man with a sickly looking face. The man stood before the PM's desk, waiting patiently to be addressed. After a moment, Arnold did spin his chair back around to face the newcomer.

"Yes?" he asked, feigning indifference. The man was tall and appeared to be physically fit, but his eyes seemed haunted and shrouded in shadows. He was bald and covered his pasty head with a knit cap, presumably to keep his head warm.

"I have reports for you, Prime Minister." The newcomer’s voice carried an almost sibilant sound, which set Arnold's teeth on edge.

"Good. Tell me about the state of my Commonwealth."

"It stands on the brink of war, as you already knew." Arnold noted the scorn in the voice of the newcomer. "Our efforts in that area over the previous months ignited what had been brewing beneath the surface. The Drift States have formed alliances for common defense and the Terran States are looking for someone to blame for their insufferable woes."

"Which could be me, if we don't properly set this on the Parliament."

"You stand on the knife's edge, Prime Minister. If you do not proceed carefully, the knife will split you in two."

"You believe we can succeed?"

"I know we can, but only with discipline. I have seen this strategy work time and again; my people tend not to learn from history."

"All right," answered the PM. "I'm committed now. I will play it out to the very end if I must."

"Indeed."

"What assurances do I have from your people?"

"As I have said, Prime Minister, my ship and crew will be at your disposal when war breaks. Rest assured, our weapons are superior to your own in every way. The war will be ended quickly and you will have your empire, though it may be smaller than what you had hoped for."

"Bah," he waved his hand dismissively. "From the ashes will come a new empire, one that will thrive on trade with your own people and the resources you possess."

"You stand to gain much, Prime Minister, as do we. It is in our collective interest that this plan succeed from the force of overwhelming violence."

Arnold smiled cruelly. He had in fact seen a demonstration of the specialized weapons the newcomer had in his possession. A warm sensation flooded his body as he recalled the devastating power of plasma cannons and the long range plasma artillery. Plasma weapons had the amazing ability to accept programming that would deliver varying effects on targets. But the most commonly used effects of the plasma weapons in the arsenal of his new ally were incendiary, explosive, corrosive, and adhesive; the last being most effective in disabling a spacecraft without damaging its cargo. The troops of Orion's Sword also carried pistols, rifles and edged weapons capable of similar feats but to a lesser degree. 

And that was just a taste of their might.

"Palmetto Drift, which withdrew from the Commonwealth a year ago, has successfully recruited an armed force of volunteers and regulars. The Palmetto Defense Force, such as it is, has already staffed a full combat division with aerospace and ground elements in support."

"How did they do that so quickly?"

"They have relied heavily on volunteers from other drifts who seem likely follow Palmetto's withdrawal from the Commonwealth. The Palmetto Defense Force will continue to grow and become more organized as they train in their secret locations."

"Mmm. And their Fleet?"

"Currently only a small fleet of regular patrol craft and they have a number battleships under their command. However, they have recently taken a page from your book Mr. Prime Minister."

"How so?"

"The Palmetto Drift government is recruiting an impressive fleet from the dregs and castoffs of the Outer System. They are offering Fleet commissions to some, pardons to many, and Letters of Marque to those who can provide a fleet to sail under the Palmetto flag. As you can imagine, it has proven a popular concept among those who have been declared criminals or terrorists by your government."

"Have we lost any of our own fleet to deserters?"

"Not yet, sir. But you should expect some as more drifts withdraw from the Commonwealth."

"I have already placed the Defense Minister on guard for signs of discontent within the Fleet." The Prime Minister walked across the soft carpet and poured himself a glass of brandy from a crystal bottle in his cabinet. He gestured to the glass but the Orion agent shook his head. "Ahh, I had forgotten that your
disposition 
precludes alcohol consumption."

His ally said nothing in reply, merely staring at the Prime Minister with his cold eyes.

"Tell me of my other problems. Have you handled them for me?" asked the PM as the man reached into a pocket. "The last five have been eliminated, I trust?"

"Orion does not fail," said the man simply. He placed a small drive onto the PM's desk and a hologram flared to life. Three short video recordings played, each displaying a murder of prominent members of Parliament and the PM's cabinet. Arnold was enraptured by the vids and his heart bubbled in triumph. He could not fail now.

"They got what they deserved for abandoning me," he whispered to himself. "All of my Centaurus loose ends but two have been taken care of. Good work."

The man nodded and collected his drive.

"Have you found the renegade marshal?"

"No, Mr. Prime Minister."

"He must 
not 
be allowed to interfere!"

"Do not worry, sir. We have ensured that his reconciliation with the Commonwealth was short-lived."

"What about Director Hall? Can he be trusted? He helped Thomas once already."

"The assistance Director Hall extended to Marshal Thomas was done so at our own direction. If you will remember, former director Gem Revelier departed from your flock. He had mistakenly assumed that the Centaurus Device would provide him with the firepower he needed to take over the Commonwealth. He did not believe in our FTL technology due to the miscalculation that brought us here."

"And he almost succeeded," said the PM. "Had it not been for your intervention, he would have been seen as a hero for having destroyed the Ukrainian mafia and bringing the mastermind behind the attack on the 
CS Marauder
 to justice."

"A narrow victory on our part, certainly. But Director Hall 
has
 been made to see the wisdom in accepting our judgment and seems to be on the correct side. For the time being he will be allowed to live. He is under close surveillance and, thus far, has made no moves to create any damaging files."

"If he does..?" Arnold let the question hang.

"Then he will have an unfortunate accident, sooner rather than later."

"Good, I can't have any little surprises popping up in the media, can I?" The dark looking man nodded solemnly in response to the Prime Minister. "Are we sure there are no others who are aware of the Centaurus Device?"

"We have been assured by Director Hall that Heck Thomas is now the only person alive with intimate knowledge of the device. There were others of the 
Ryevolutiza, 
and of course Gem Revlier, but those problems have all been eliminated. And when the Director meets his own unfortunate demise, that will only leave the Marshal."

"What are you doing about him?"

"He is being tracked by one of my assassins and will be disposed of."

"Just one?" asked the PM. "You failed to destroy the man when all he wanted to do was to go through the wormhole after his dead girlfriend. Now he has a purpose to thwart us and you have 
one 
ag
ent after him?"

"One will be enough."

"Let us hope so." The PM spun his chair back around to look out the window. Everything was riding on this and only Heck Thomas now stood in the way. 

"What kind of assassin, Orion?" The PM had taken to calling the man Orion, he couldn't seem to pronounce the man's name. "Is he one of your people? Because your people seem a bit weak in nature. Not quite so much meat on their bones!" the PM said with a snicker.

"No," said the dour man, failing to see the humor. "We recruited him from the ranks of the Crescent Moon."

"Ahh," said the PM with a smile. "They do make good assassins. Why they agreed to my terms, I'll never understand."

"Having dominion over what they deem their rightful home is not so hard to understand."

"Well, it still seems as though I got the better end of that deal."

"Perhaps, Mr. Prime Minster. I would caution against optimism until they have been properly dealt with. Their kind are unpredictable."

The PM nodded and tapped the tips of his fingers together, his mind having already moved away from that part of the conversation. Then he tapped the interface on the glassy desktop and the image of Heck Thomas and an unknown woman fleeing from a small town bar in Florida illuminated the air above the desk. "We received this surveillance video not long ago. It's from Mason, Florida, where Thomas was last seen. We are gathering a file on the woman now."

"Yes, we have already seen this video." The comment earned a raised eyebrow from the PM, who didn't like to be scooped on good intelligence work. He made a mental note to have a chat with his intelligence chief about this. "A tipster recognized Marshal Thomas from a news feed and reported him. The local police failed to capture him and he fled into the wilderness.

"The woman is Lainne Connor, the sister of FTL engineer Dr. William Connor."

"I take it you already know why she is with Heck Thomas?"

The visitor did not answer immediately and a look of anger flashed across the typically impassive face. "It seems Ms. Connor's purpose was to hire Heck Thomas to find her brother."

"We have 
him
 on the project?" asked the PM.

"Yes, sir."

That news certainly gave the PM pause. While the leader of the Commonwealth did indeed receive updates on the people who were being brought onto his top secret FTL project, he didn't necessarily hear every name. Dr. William Connor was the only person who had successfully cracked the FTL code, and that was before he was brought on to the Orion Project. The FTL code was the formula that scientists theorized was needed to allow organic matter, such as human beings and their spacecraft, to pass through the space-time barrier out of normal space and into the
in between
space to travel faster than light, then return back to normal space.

And only Dr. William Connor, of Aurora Aerospace Industries, had been able to get it done.

"How long before we can commence our initiative, Orion?"

"A few more weeks, perhaps less."

Arnold smiled. "Good. The Parliament is on the verge of calling me out, doubtless they have some insight on my plans. Do you have a store of completed weapons?"

"We have enough plasma artillery to arm one of your Guard cutters, should your Parliament force your hand sooner than you anticipate."

"Thank you, Orion."

"Kindness is not required, Mr. Prime Minister," said the Orion officer with disdain. "We have entered into an arrangement for mutual benefit. The terms will be fulfilled by both parties."

But Arnold wasn't listening. He spun around in his anti-grav chair with a grin on his face. Then he stopped and looked back out over the masses below.

"They will bow before me," he whispered to himself. "They will call me Emperor!"

"May I offer you some words of wisdom, sir?" Arnold turned and glared at the visitor, but did not stop him. "Beware the chains of royalty for they are but chains of a different metal."