Time Commander (The First Admiral Series) (23 page)

Curling up into the fetal position, Ambassador Sarkor Nicx smiled to herself, satisfied that she had made a difference in the universe today. With a couple of deep breaths, Sarkor Nicx began to feel the tensions of the day slide away from her. As the Ganthoran brandy started to relax her muscles, limbs and mind, the first ever Universal Alliance Ambassador to the Ganthoran Empire, Sarkor Nicx, drifted rapidly off to sleep.

It was a sleep from which she would never awaken.

The following morning, Karap Sownus sat quietly with his thoughts in the sparsely furnished and decorated single-room apartment of the Universal Alliance Ambassador to the Ganthoran Empire. The morning sunlight streamed in through the large single window, casting shadows that crept over the floor and reared up malevolently against the walls. In that harsh morning sunlight, the damp, peeling walls, uncovered floors, and cheap furniture threw into hard savage focus the stark reality of the room and magnified the tragedy that had just taken place.

It had been a rude awakening for Karap Sownus that morning. After his nocturnal expedition to the Lightning Fields, Sownus had been enjoying his extra hours of rest when the Comm-Link had blared urgently and announced the sudden death of Sarkor Nicx. The First Admiral had been blazing with anger; having been teleported out of the Legation on the discovery of the body. Standard procedure was for senior officers to be evacuated when security had potentially been compromised. His mood was further sharpened when the Ganthoran Pacifiers had claimed jurisdiction on the case and had tried to enter the Legation. The Landing Trooper contingent in the Legation had resisted the attempt, injuring several Pacifiers in the ensuing hand-to-hand scuffle.

At the news, Billy Caudwell had flown into a towering rage and had come very close to creating a diplomatic incident. The Legation was a diplomatic facility, and, hence, was sovereign Alliance territory. By the First Admiral’s order, any further attempts at incursion were to be met by deadly force. For almost an hour, there was a very real danger of a communication breakdown leading to a shoot-out on the streets of Ganthus City. However, a combination of Chief of Staff Lokkrien; who helped calm Billy Caudwell down, and some deft negotiations between Sownus and Second Adjudicator Tiba, they had managed to defuse the situation. Sownus himself would lead the investigation, but any information relevant to the authorities would be shared in exchange for continued Ganthoran support and co-operation.

With Billy Caudwell quietened and transferred back to the Aquarius, Second Adjudicator Tiba had made his instructions clear to the Pacifiers. They were to support the alien investigation in any way that was required, but not to interfere. This left Sownus with a free rein to look into Sarkor Nicx’s death without having to work his way through the endless layers of Ganthoran bureaucratic complications to get things done.

In front of the seated Sownus, a squad of Investigative Technicians scoured the room for evidence and recorded every detail. Meanwhile, two Medical Technicians gently lifted the mortal remains of Ambassador Sarkor Nicx onto a Med-Bed and covered her with an Alliance flag. With the body covered, the Med-Bed was operated and rose about a metre from the floor with a soft hum. The four-Landing Trooper ‘Guards of Honour’ snapped to attention, performed an immaculate left turn and began to escort the body to the roof of the Legation; where a transport awaited to take Sarkor Nicx on her final journey. Snapping to attention, Sownus drew his left hand up to his left temple; the formal Alliance salute, as the Med-Bed moved slowly and sedately out of the room.

Even in the reality of the squalid little room, Sownus could scarcely believe that Nicx was dead. When he had arrived on the scene, he could have sworn that the Ambassador was simply asleep. She looked so peaceful and quiet that his mind could barely grasp that such deadly violence had been committed upon her.

But that didn’t change the fact that Sarkor Nicx was dead.

It had been his responsibility to keep the Legation personnel safe. In that duty, he had failed. Now, the self-recriminations were tearing through the mind of Karap Sownus. No rampaging Bardomil soldier could inflict greater damage on Karap Sownus than he was doing to himself.

Thousands of questions seethed through the Senior Intelligence Officer’s mind as the Med-Bed slowly moved off.

Who had done this thing?
And, worst of all;
How could I have stopped it?

“
Doctor! A word?” Sownus quickly recovered from the salute to the Medical Officer who trailed behind the sad little cortege.

“
Sir?” The young M.O. watched as the body was taken away.

“
What’s the verdict, then? What did she die from?” Sownus said.

“
It’s a bit early to speculate, sir, but, some kind of narcotic poisoning I would say,” the doctor calmly replied.

“
Poison?”

“
Yes, sir...the initial scans are showing some local concoction that isn’t in any of our databases. I’ll need to work on the blood and tissues to be more certain.”

“
How did they poison her?”

“
Again, hard to say this early on, sir, but there are no punctures or tears on her skin. Her lungs are clear, sir, so I’d say that it was most likely something that she ate or drank.”

Instinctively, Sownus’ eyes shot over to the rickety table where the “welcome” hamper was being scanned by a female Investigative Technician.

“Be careful with that!” Sownus warned the Technician.

“
Sir.” An edge of irritation was heard in her voice.

“
Right, thanks Doc, let me know what you find from the autopsy,” Sownus dismissed the M.O.; who trudged wearily away.

Stepping quickly over to the table where the Technician was painstakingly recording and scanning all of the items from the hamper, Sownus looked carefully at the array of jars, containers and bottles.

“Anything out of the ordinary?” Sownus asked the Technician.

“
Can’t say as yet, sir,” the Technician said.

“
Anything been opened?” Sownus said.

“
A couple of jars, and the brandy.” The Technician indicated the suspect items.

“
Surely, she would have eaten something at the Ball?”

“
I wouldn’t know sir, you’d have to ask the Medical Officer that one.”

“
Have you finished recording and scanning these?” Sownus indicated the items on the table.

“
Yes, sir, I’m just cataloguing them now.”

Stretching out his hands, Sownus lifted the brandy container and one of the other jars from the collection around the hamper. For a few moments, Sownus looked at the labels and was about to return them to their original positions, when he suddenly stopped. He then looked at the labels again before setting them down and picking up one of the unopened jars. Scrutinising the brandy label and that of the unopened jar, he turned to the Technician again.

“How many of these hampers were delivered to the Legation?” Sownus continued to inspect the jars.

“
There were two, sir,” another Technician answered.

“
Ambassador Nicx received this one, who got the other one?” A very dark thought began to form in Sownus’ mind.

“
The First Admiral received the other one, sir.”

“
Where is that hamper?”

“
It’ll still be in his Quarters, sir,” the Technician said.

“
Have you checked it?”

“
Not yet, sir, we’re prioritizing the crime scene,” the first Technician explained.

“
Right... Follow me.” Sownus strode purposefully from the Ambassador’s room out into the narrow corridor followed by both Technicians.

“
Trooper, First Admiral’s Quarters?” Sownus glared at the corridor sentry.

“
That one, sir.” The black-clad Trooper pointed to the door at the end of the corridor.

A dozen steps later, Karap Sownus, and the two Technicians, swept into what had been Billy’s room in the Legation and made a bee-line straight for the table bearing the contents of the Welcome Hamper.

At the table, Sownus quickly scanned the contents and saw no brandy container. Setting the brandy down, he lifted one of the unopened jars and compared the label to the one on the jar he had brought from the Ambassador’s room. A cursory glance told him what he needed to know. Setting down the jar from the Ambassador’s hamper, Sownus retrieved the brandy and compared the labels to that of the First Admiral’s hamper.

Then, with a deep sigh, Sownus set both items on the table.

“Scan and record everything on this table, then send it up to Aquarius with the Ambassador’s hamper,” Sownus ordered.

“
Yes, sir,” both Technicians replied.

Sownus made his way out to the corridor, away from any evidence, Sownus lashed out at the wall with his boot and cursed himself loudly.

The brandy had come from the First Admiral’s gift. The poisoner’s target had not been Sarkor Nicx.

It had been Billy Caudwell!

Eight days after the death of Ambassador Nicx, Billy was summoned to the Adjudication Room in the Imperial Palace for the formal Adjudication Selection which would decide the fate of the Time Warrior Candidate.

The Adjudication Selection was, apart from the actual ritual’s battle re-enactment itself, the most important part of the Time Warrior Process. Having signalled his willingness to take the Candidacy for the ritual, Billy Caudwell had to notify the Adjudicators’ Office of his species’ origins, any national or tribal loyalties, and the history of his nation or tribe. To that end, Billy had authorised the downloading of the data from the historical database relating to Great Britain and the British Empire.

The Adjudicators, as part of their function, had pored over the data to find a defeat from British military history that would test the mettle of their new Candidate. There were several important parameters that had to be adhered to, the first being that the leader of the defeated army had to have been killed in the historical battle. Secondly, the battle, in the opinion of the Adjudicators, had to be winnable. The Candidate did have to have a chance to show off his skill and prowess in a battle where they were given a good chance of attaining victory. Thirdly, the battle had to be fought over a limited area, within a limited timescale. This ruled out some of the major battles of the twentieth century; some of which went on for weeks and months. It also ruled out siege battles, which were often long and protracted affairs.

Other factors also had to be considered. Billy Caudwell was not yet fully matured as an adult human and had little experience with hand-to-hand combat weapons, thus it would have been unfair to allocate him an ancient battle of sword, shield and sandals, where a commander very often led through brute force and skill at arms. To put him in charge of a horde of British tribesmen against a Roman Legion would have been grossly unfair. This effectively narrowed down the eligible battles to the defeats of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; where firearms and artillery had dominated the battlefields. However, in the twelve days since Billy had accepted the Candidacy, the three Adjudicators had spent their time contemplating a suitable scenario, and had finally narrowed a selection down to two particular battles, both of which had been colonial disasters for the British Empire.

Now, on the twelfth day, Billy Caudwell and Karap Sownus had been summoned to the inner sanctum of the Adjudication Room deep in the bowels of the Imperial Palace.

The Adjudication Room, despite its grand sounding name, was a very simple and unfussy affair. Unlike many of the grand State Rooms in the Imperial Palace, the Adjudication Room carried none of the pomp or splendour of the rest of the Palace. The whole room was decorated in a pale, cream-coloured panelling, from floor to ceiling, in a wood or substance that Billy had never encountered before. The floor was of a slightly darker cream colour, made from a marble-like substance that shone like a mirror and was shot through with a dark brown vein-like structure. The flooring was hard and glassy, causing both Billy’s and Lokkrien’s boots to echo and clack noisily as they walked and shuffled around the room. The ceiling was the silver-grey of the Ganthoran military, with a diagonal royal blue stripe.

The lighting of the room came from the traditional large panel lights set into the wall between the panels. As with the Ballroom, the wall lights were large, however, with the lower ceiling of the Adjudication Room, the light panels reached to the top of the ceiling itself.

There were no windows in the Adjudication Room. Being set deep in the heart of the Palace, there was no natural light source able to reach the room.

However, the dominant structures in the room were the Adjudication and Candidates tables. The Adjudication Table stood on a raised dais about half a metre from the floor, opposite from where Billy had entered. Like a judge’s bench back on Earth, the table was faced with the same panelling that hung on the walls. Behind the Adjudication Table stood three throne-like structures, which were set side by side. The throne in the middle was larger and covered with ornate carvings, whilst the seats to either side were plain and starkly functional. This was to be where he discovered what his fate would be, and, naturally enough, he was anxious. He had, however, expected the P.E.S. to keep him slightly calmer than he was actually feeling.