Universe of the Soul (35 page)

“All to the better,” Floyd gave Adri a look that Gray couldn't quite interpret. “Thank you, Captain. I'll work hard.”

“Great. You'll be a civilian commander, which will give you authority as a member of the senior staff and in your field, but little other power.” Adri nodded to the holoboard. “Who would you purchase from that list?”

Floyd blinked at his rapid change of circumstances, and then bent back down. After a few minutes he showed the board to Gray. “These ones would be well placed in an infirmary setting. All have updated medical files, hospital procedures, and reportedly well learned bedside manners.” With a little more confidence, he added, “If I may be so bold, could I suggest taking my sister aboard as well? I can attest that she is a good worker. Her gift of foresight comes in handy.”

“Foresight?” Adri repeated.

Floyd nodded. “It's one of her gifts as a Talented. She even lived in a convent for years to refine it.”

Adri mentally groaned. “You don't say,”

“Yes. In fact, she told me you'd be open to giving us a shot. You being an Adept and all that. But, uh, just what is an Adept, exactly? Freya was a little vague,”

There was a long second of silence as Adri and Gray both stared at Floyd. Then Adri shot to her feet and stormed off the bridge. “Fine! What do I care if I'm overrun with mystical geeks determined for me to fulfill my stupid destiny? What do I care if everyone knows I have magic powers? Sign her up!”

Floyd and Gray stared at the door for a long minute after she had departed. At last, Floyd said, “That was strange. Has something upset her?”

“No, just fate. Its been kicking her around.”

Galactic Commonwealth Cracks Down on Traitors!

Undaria Plot to Sell Out to Belligerents Exposed!

Halieth:
A stunning media brief made by our Supreme Chancellor, Roger Fane, announced the uncovering of a plot by the citizens of Undaria, first planet of the Undaria system.

“It came to our attention that there was strange activity occurring on the planet,” Supreme Chancellor Fane explained. “On a deeper investigation, our intelligence discovered that the satellite government on Undaria was underhandedly selling military secrets to the Belligerent Coalition. In response, special detachments from the military were sent in to ferret out the traitors and restore civil authority in the undarian provinces. Unfortunately, the savage undarians had all sworn a mae aras, or clan compact, to resist reunion with the Commonwealth.”

Supreme Chancellor Fane went on to explain the ramifications of a clan compact among the undarian people. According to their culture, a clan compact is sworn by the sixty-four clan heads and is obeyed by every member of that clan. Due to their culture that promotes extreme loyalty to clan members and dictates, Fane concluded, “the entire undarian species is sworn against the prosperity of the Galactic Commonwealth. They have deliberately chosen to become the enemies of our nation.”

In response to the question of possible motives for the undarian people to become hostile to the Commonwealth, Fane stated; “The undarians have always been an isolated, suspicious species. Due to their violent tendencies to attack and kill humans as a food source, their unusual views of death and the importance they place in their own position on the evolutionary food chain, the Galactic Commonwealth has always been prepared for a bloody rebellion. Luckily, new technology has enabled us to neutralize the planet, leaving only manageable pockets of potentially dangerous rebels scattered throughout the Commonwealth systems.”

When asked what technology enabled the neutralizing of an entire planet, Fane made no comment. “Our main concern now is to track down any undarians who may have been given terrorist orders from their clan heads.” He concluded with, “All Commonwealth citizens should be alert, but not alarmed. The government has the situation well in hand.”

“S
orry about the invasion. I didn't realize they were all just going to…stick around.” Adri leaned against Carter's antique desk. She'd have bet her new ship that the elegant piece of real wood cost more than the cruiser he had lent her.

“Oh, its no trouble. The more the merrier, eh?” Carter smiled at her from his slouch, and then dropped his gaze back to the holoscreen built into the desk surface.

“The more the noisier, at least,” Adri replied. Through the open door she could hear Duane and Floyd still arguing over some mechanical issue that had started less than a minute after Adri had introduced them as new colleagues. In a corner she could see Blair and Freya Tarkubunji huddled, doubtlessly talking about mystical hoodoo and how she was a vat of untapped Adept power. Across from them the Kobane sisters were watching the argument (which was getting louder), and possibly wagering on the outcome. Somewhere in the mansion she knew Gray was huddled over a holoboard with Jericho, on the viewscreen with the Admiralty about staff and resources. Her crew.

The sound of furniture crashing and the Kobane sisters cheering had Adri rolling her eyes. Danwe, were they all going to make it to their objective without killing each other? Putting them aside, she turned to her companion. “Looking over senior staff picks?”

“Nope. Junior officer candidates,” Carter replied morosely.

Adri was surprised. “Why aren't you having your vice captain handle those?”

Carter sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Because my vice captain is in the midst of a personal crisis,”

“Drustin Hamilton?” Adri queried.

“Yeah. His fiancé was injured in a house bombing. Her whole family was killed, and they fear extensive, non-op brain damage. No chance of cyborization. He hasn't left the hospital.”

“I'm sorry to hear that. Who was responsible for the bombing?”

“Well, they arrested Drustin's brother, Darius. He confessed to the bombing, says he was opposed to Drustin's involvement with anti-war activists.”

Adri huffed a breath. “Danwe. That's a vicious way to express displeasure,”

Carter shrugged. “Pity, true. Such a mess. Anyway, I'm worried now that Hamilton will back down as my vice captain. That'll leave me in a bit of a bind.”

“A bit,” Adri replied dryly. “But somehow I think you'll manage. And since I know that you have innumerable underlings that you could shove this off on, tell me why you are dinking around with the junior officer lists? Trying to keep your mind off of something?”

Her friend slouched further in his chair. “What makes you say that?”

“Did Fayded say no?” Adri teased.

Carter scowled. “She's undecided about my offer,”

“Ouch,”

“She'll come around.” He glared fiercely at the wall-mounted viewscreen that was running a news clip. “Did you catch all that news today about the undarians?” he said quickly. “Shocking!”

“Mm,” Adri turned to watch the clip. After the headline segment broke to the planetary weather forecast, she frowned. “You believe all that stuff about the undarians trying to sell out on us?”

Carter stared at her in confusion. “What do you mean? Of course. Although I must say that the supreme chancellor doesn't look very good in high collars. Don't you think?”

“You'd know best.” Adri murmured. She was still frowning.

Two weeks flooded past Adri in a blur of paperwork and meetings. There had been too much to do in the meager twelve days she'd been given to outfit her ship to spare time on her internal problems. Or so she told herself. Whenever Blair approached her, she brushed him off, using her overbearing workload as an excuse. She also used it on Gray, whenever he gently prodded her about what she was holding back. It was lame, and it was cowardly, but Adri was determined her beautiful ship, newly rechristened
Elegy,
would have a perfect first launch.

Especially because she wasn't sure whether she would get a second one.

When Adri had triumphantly waved the letter of consent to change the ship's name, everyone had asked her why she had picked ‘elegy.' While she had shrugged it off in front of the crowd, she had privately confessed to Gray, “It's the sound my blood makes when I fight. It… sings an elegy.”

He'd understood.

Now she sat in her captain's chair, with her bridge staff assembled, waiting for the Admiralty's inspectors to complete their final once over. Unlike the previous inspections that had occurred over the past two weeks, this one was an inspection of the crew. It was mostly a formality, since all crew personnel would have been passed through the Admiralty already. It was merely a last check to make sure that no changes had been made to the ship's manifest without the military being informed; a holdover from past decades when smuggling of all sorts had been rampant. It was really no big deal.

Except, of course, that she
was
smuggling. As well as fabricating. And forging. And possibly outright thieving. Many of her new senior staff had required government credentials they hadn't possessed. The recruitment office had denied the Tarkubunjis' applications for some very complicated reason that had Adri suspicious, so adjustments had to be made there. More fabricating and falsification that would surely be found out sooner or later.

Not that she was worried about it.

Danwe, were they going to be caught before they even left the planet?

At his position beside her chair, Gray murmured, “It's all going to work out.”

“I sure hope so,” Adri replied, eyeing the chief inspector suspiciously. “All it would take is one well placed question, and we'd be in major trouble.”

“Your crew is loyal,” Gray affirmed. “Nothing is going to go wrong.”

Down in the humacom maintenance lab, Floyd Tarkubunji was frantically repeating the same phrase to himself. “Nothing's going wrong, everything will work out….oh, Danwe…” With the speed of long practice, he continued to unlatch crates of personal gear he had had secretly shipped from his estate.

Beside him, Jericho assisted with removing and storing the equipment in its proper locations. After listening to Floyd mutter for several minutes, he asked, “Are you concerned about something, sir?”

Floyd huffed a breath and rubbed his temples. “Danwe, yes I'm concerned! Here I am, smuggling myself aboard an Advance Force ship under a false name and credentials. I had to steal my own belongings out of my home – which I don't own anymore – because my old boss might very well want to kill me. And if I am found out here, it will be far worse than a mere ‘accident' when I die. To cap it all off, I've dragged my sister into this whole sordid affair, because I'm afraid that if my problems don't spill off onto her, her own issues will get her killed! Not that she tells me what they are, exactly. Some mystical massacre…so yes, I'm concerned.” The humacom designer looked up at his companion in sudden question. “Are you?”

“Not at all, sir,” Jericho replied, with the smile that had become usual for him.

“Why? If something goes wrong during the inspection, you'll likely be either scrapped or recalled.”

The humacom shook his head. “I don't think anything will go wrong, sir.”

Floyd smiled a little at the confidence Jericho had placed in his tone. “And why do you think that?”

Jericho was silent for a long minute. “I can't explain. But I have utter confidence in the captain's ability to get almost anything she aims for. After all, Gray trusts her.”

[Bridge to Technical Lab,] Gray's voice called.

Floyd touched his new communicator at his ear. [Lab here,]

[All senior staff are assembling on the bridge.]

[I see…I mean, understood. We're on our way.] Floyd turned to Jericho. “Here it goes,”

“Everything
appears
to be in order,” the chief inspector announced to Adri when the last of his teams announced mission complete. “Although…”

Adri held her breath. This particular inspector was notorious for his dislike of female commanders. It was rumored that he'd once nearly lost his ship because he'd been unwilling to relinquish his post to the female relief officer. Adri had a feeling that he'd been sent to head her final inspection on purpose. The idea that the higher authorities were suspicious of her moves had cold sweat beading down her spine.

“There are some senior staff choices that have been brought to our attention that concerns us.”

Danwe
. “And what might those concerns be, Chief Inspector?”

“Your choice of vice captain and chief engineer are solid,” the elderly man stated, frowning over his holoboard. “Both men have served in the Advance Force for several years. But as to the rest…”

“All my senior staff have been handpicked because of their unique talents,” Adri cut in. “They are all more than qualified to serve aboard this vessel.” she hoped.

The chief inspector continued to frown. “Be that as it may, your doctor…”

“Is fully certified,” After several hours of hacking and forgery. While Blair probably knew more than a professional surgeon, a government certification was hard to come by on Junus.

“Yes, well,” he coughed delicately into his fist. “You have no second officer, no analysis officer, your vice captain is doubling as your security offcer…”

“Our mission will not take us beyond Commonwealth space. A full staff isn't necessary.”

“Be that as it may, you are using a humacom as your operations officer,”

“Jericho has worked in various positions throughout his career in the Advance Force,” Adri replied. “The operations position is nothing that he can't handle as well as an organic.”

The chief inspector looked doubtful, but finally shrugged. “Unorthodox, especially considering the times. Still…that is your choice, Captain. Lastly, we are quite concerned about your use of civilians aboard this vessel. To use them in minor positions is still contested by the Admiralty Recruitment Office. Therefore, what makes you think that you can use civilians in key positions, Captain?”

Tension settled like a cloak of iron around Adri's shoulders. “With all due respect, sir, I wanted people I can trust, people whose abilities I have witnessed for myself. If those happen to be civilians, then I will hire them. My authority as captain can extend to hiring such personnel.”

“But to use a civilian as a helmswoman!” the chief inspector cast a dubious glance at Freya, who smiled serenely back at him. She looked incredibly out of place in her severe gray military uniform, her hair neatly braided in a long plait down her back. Freya looked like a fairy trying to pass as a creditor. “One with no recorded experience. What can you be thinking?”

“Freya Tarkson has a pilot's certification,” At least, she did now. “And I have seen her in action. She has a way with piloting that exceeds anything else I've ever seen.” Which was true. Adri had never seen such reflexes as the ones Freya had exhibited in the cruiser chase. “She's the only one I would entrust to steer us right.”

“And the chief technician?” the chief inspector waved her off before she could begin her defense of Floyd. “Never mind. Why don't I ask your ops officer,” he turned to Jericho. With a derisive lift of his brow, he asked, “Humacom, what is the name and rank of your chief technician?”

A hush fell over the room. Adri could feel the prickle of nerves, distant stirrings of adrenaline.

Humacoms were not programmed to lie. The minute Floyd's last name was spilt, there would be serious problems. Already Adri was trying to formulate a plan.

“His name is Floyd Tarkson, sir, a civilian commander.”

The old man sniffed, “and just what are his credentials?”

Jericho blinked. “He fulfils the job description, sir. He designs, repairs and maintains humacoms. He is also qualified in general technical development and repair.”

The chief inspector's eyes narrowed. “Is that so. Answer me yes or no. Is there anything illegal or of dubious legality going on aboard this ship? Is there anything the Galactic Commonwealth would be opposed to?”

Adri closed her eyes.

“No sir.”

Everyone turned to stare at Jericho, who continued to smile blithely. The chief inspector frowned again, then turned back to his holoboard. “Is that so? Very well then. Captain Rael, you will receive permission to launch from Navy Control in a matter of hours.” He saluted, although he continued to frown. “We'll be watching you, Captain.”

Adri kept her hand in salute as the inspection crew left the bridge. “I'll give you something to watch,” she murmured.

No one moved for several long minutes, until a junior officer announced that the inspection crew had left the ship. Then Floyd spoke. “Jericho…you…you lied.”

The humacom tilted his head. “Not really, sir. Your name is Floyd Tarkson at the moment.”

“No, I mean…” Floyd turned to the rest of the staff, who were all staring. “I mean about the legality. You know that Freya and I are working under a false name, and that we're smuggling two Belligerents in the warehouse, and that…”

“The Galactic Commonwealth wants peace for its citizens,” Jericho replied. “All legalities stem from that desire. So by fulfilling our mission, aren't we following that dictate?”

Silence. Gray and Adri shared a look.

“Jericho,” Floyd said, “Could you go down and check to see that all my material is where we left it?”

When Gray gave an approving nod, Jericho saluted and left the bridge.

“That was creepy,” Duane commented.

Floyd frowned. Turning to Adri and Gray, he said, “There is no way that his logic program would have let him say that. No way at all.”

“What does that mean?” Gray asked.

“It's a quirk from the damage. Somehow, he's able to reroute his logic to come to a conclusion that suites him.”

“What does that mean?” Adri demanded.