Regan's Reach 2: Orbital Envy (21 page)

Led into a large meeting room the older man gestured for them to sit. The two Coran's took seats opposite and for a moment no one spoke. Zelin leaned forward and was about to introduce the General when Lebedevs hand clamped down on his thigh. He looked down, startled and then settled back into his high seat.

The older Coran broke the deadlock. "I am Merryl, Commander of this . . . Warship, and this," he gestured dismissively at his offsider, "is Officer Ryner, my second in command. Whom do we have the pleasure of meeting?" and he looked straight at the General as if he, Zelin, did not exist.

"I am Major General Alexander Lebedev, Commander of The Russian Federation Space Command." Zelin could not help himself and raised his eyebrows at the designation. Fortunately Merryl appeared to miss it.

Lebedev continued. "Commander, the Russian Federation as a senior member of the Earth Security Council and as leaders in the Earth space program welcomes you to our planet. We have looked forward to such a visit since the knowledge of your worlds became known to us. We wonder at the purpose of your welcome visit, if any, and how we may work together to mutual advantage."

Unsmiling, Merryl regarded him giving nothing away. After an unsettling pause he glanced sideways at Ryner, and then turned his eyes back to the General slowly. "Major General, we are here for the murderess . . . one Regan, and for the rebel Merali from our system. Do you know of them?"

Like the Commander, the General gave nothing away. Almost comically he mirrored the actions of the Coran, glancing first at Zelin, and then back at Merryl. "Commander, it seems fortune favors you. You have by chance or fate come to the people most able to assist you in your quest. I wonder how this quest and our assistance might work to mutual advantage."

Merryl regarded the General with distaste but also respect.

"Major General," He looked Lebedev in the eye, "it is our expectation that fate will work with us. It would be a great disappointment for such words to prove empty. However, should you be able to deliver on those words, who know what benefits might accrue for those who assist?" and he grimaced a smile.

"Then we must work together to achieve our respective goals Commander." Lebedev remained calm. "Might I suggest that at your earliest convenience we meet with the leaders of our Federation, and develop a plan that will see your needs met
and
our own. You may yet have the bitch and her bastard son." Zelin could tell the General could hardly contain his sense of triumph.

Merryl's demeanor was cold, chilling. "This is my earliest convenience General, we will leave at once." Zelin made to speak but the Coran dismissed him with a gesture. He turned to his number two. "Ryman, ready a transport, and arrange for our other guests. . ." he turned back to Zelin offering the same grim smile, ". . . to be accommodated here."

The General stood smiling, not even bothering to look at his pilot. A cold chill at the realization of abandonment swept through Zelin.

As the Coran Pod exited the flight deck Officer Terrin transferred recordings of the meeting to the drone and entered settings for dispatch. Not long after the Pods departure the drone, little more than a Warp drive and processor, drifted out of the flight deck, powered itself to a safe distance and then disappeared in a blink.

. . . Sokolov could hardly contain himself. The briefing from Lebedev as he rode down from orbit, while coded, was unambiguous in its positive signals. Although slightly inconvenienced by this late might meeting he had grasped the opportunity with enthusiasm. Not that he had a choice.

Now, as Ryman prepared his equipment for screening, Vasily Popov watched his President guardedly. The Russian leader sat, hands clasped together, short legs crossed at the ankles and rocking back and forward with embarrassing glee. He looked every bit like a ventriloquist's dummy. The very thought was treasonous he knew. Unfortunately as he continued to watch, The Coran officer Ryman stepped behind the Russian leader after positioning his small projector. Ryman rested his hand innocently on the back of Sokolov's chair and it completed the picture so perfectly he couldn't stifle a laugh.
Ventriloquist and dummy, perfect!

Sokolov glared dangerously across the room and Popov struggled to cover his giggle with a cough. Fortunately the byplay was missed by the important visitors.

There followed a two hour presentation, shocking in its content and implications. The presentation showed images and audio detailing the Stein woman's crimes. There was clear evidence of the Dahlian leader Beria placing Regan in the care of her sons'. Beria's words were quite clear making the later images all the more shocking. Images of Regan leaping and dispatching the elder brother with a high martial arts kick. This attack carried out when, as they were able to observe quite clearly, he had only and quite rightly come between an aggressive Regan and his mother. They revealed further images of Regan throwing a spear and killing the leaders second son as he ran back to defend his mother from rebels. As they watched Regan also brutally killed a soldier as he reached down to help her back on to a balcony. Later park cameras showed her running with the Premiers kidnapped and terrified grandchildren. There was more but they had seen enough. Both Sokolov and Popov were shocked and appalled.

On completion of the presentation Merryl perched himself on the edge of a desk and looked down at the leaders. He crossed his arms and spoke just the one word."Well?" The question hung in the air.

Prime Minister Popov spoke first. "With respect Andrei, I do have some thoughts." He waited for the President to allow him to continue.

"Of course Vasily." He gestured with his hand, "You have the floor."

Popov turned to the Coran leader. "Commander Merryl, with your evidence I believe you clearly have a strong legal case even on our world. We have a saying; roughly translated we would say your case looks 'airtight'. However, the woman, Regan Stein will not be easy to apprehend, certainly not without much loss of life. She resides on the Station you no doubt observed nearer to our moon. This station is of great value to our planet and we would desire that it not be damaged or destroyed. However, and this is important, Regan Stein depends on the favor of the nations of our planet and the rule of law is respected widely here. With your evidence and testimony I would say the case against her is proven. We should call her before our courts. She will be convicted and returned to you."

"And if the courts do not convict her?" Merryl seemed unconvinced.

"Sir," Popov continued, "I did say we should call her before
our
courts, where on this evidence she
will
be convicted." He smiled. "As friends of our Federation you could of course insist she be tried here perhaps?"

Merryl's cold demeanor hardened and the grim smile returned. "You will make the arrangements." It was a statement not a question.

"Of course Commander," Sokolov jumped in his eagerness, "leave us a data copy of this presentation and we will do the rest." He stood and extended his hand. Merryl simply looked down at it and the Russian withdrew it quickly. "Commander Merryl," Sokolov continued, "While we make the arrangements, I would recommend you make no contact with others on our planet. You want the woman, this will be the best way."

Merryl turned abruptly to his officer. "Ryman, copy them the file." He turned to depart the room and then stopped, looking back at the president. "We will return to our ship and contact you again in twenty four of your hours. You
will
have something for me."

As the two aliens departed the room with their aides Sokolov turned to his Prime Minister. "Brilliant Vasily, brilliant, and the beauty of this is we have clean hands. He will gain Stein from us, and we yet, will have Hillary Station. Brilliant!"

* * *

The Saucer, Gliese 667, Dahlia Orbital

As The STEIN Transport cruised in toward the orbital from the outer system tension built in the control room with every passing hour. Something was very wrong.

"Still nothing Marin, I don't like this, I don't like it at all."

"Ham, are you sure it's not Dahlia? The Responses all seem correct, courteous and welcoming."

"Oh come on Marin. Are you suggesting that you couldn't tell if Regan or Steph suddenly lost all their personality? I don't believe it. Yes, all the correct protocols are there but Dahlia is gone. Something is very wrong. And why have they not been able to connect us to Sindali?"

"Isn't Sindali head of the Orbital now?" Steph suggested, "It's not entirely surprising that she might not be available for a while. How long did they say?"

"Two hours, conveniently just
after
our projected arrival." Ham sounded far from convinced.

"Ham, this is our own orbital. They are all family, are you sure we aren't getting a little paranoid?"

"Marin, Dahlia is gone! I can't trust
any
system there now. Until we know the state of play you should be
very
careful."

"We will Ham, you know that, but just in case, when we disembark immediately lock down. Leave and remain in orbit if you have to. Stay close until you hear from us."

"This is freaking me Marin, are you sure we're alright?" Steph held his arm tightly as she viewed the distance shots of the Orbital. It was growing larger by the minute.

"We'll be fine Steph, Sindali would never let anything happen to us, you'll see." He hugged her shoulder encouragingly.

Ninety minutes later the saucer slipped into the family bay, passing over its normal concave rest and settling instead on the large flight deck beyond. Through the control room screen they watched for a moment. A few flight deck crew going about their business and a single waiting official the only signs of life.

"Well," said Marin "They did say Sin' wouldn't be available for another half hour."

"I'm not going to comment, you know my feelings about this." Ham wasn't convinced.

Marin turned to Stephanie. "Steph, I know we've discussed this but you may still find it difficult. With the ear implant we'll be able to communicate with each other when we need to but everything else is going to be guttural babble to you, it may even be a little frightening. Just stay close and ask anything whenever you need clarification. Ham will translate those things you need to hear but he'll keep it at a minimum otherwise you'll be overwhelmed with noise."

"I'll be fine, sure I'm nervous but I'm also excited. I'm just glad to be here with you. Let's get down there and go meet your family."

"Remember Ham, lock and leave if you need to."

Marin stepped to the door and it ratcheted open. Taking Stephanie's arm he stepped through and helped her down. "Welcome to my world."

They turned and made their way across the deck toward the unsmiling official.

The man stepped forward as they neared. "Welcome home Merali son of Beria." he bowed slightly as Marin bristled.

"Fool . . . I am Marin, son of Mariner." He glared at the man

"Of course sir, Marin it is, I must apologize. Sindali will be waiting for you at her apartment, shall we go? He gestured for them to proceed him.

They walked ahead of the official toward the lift, a feeling of unease at the man's slight accent building in Marin's mind, a
nd he did not use the proper term of respect. He said simply Sindali, not Mistress Sindali.

Marin's steps were already faltering before they reached the doors, and before Ham's urgent sub. [Marin, voice analysis . . . he is almost certainly Coran. This is a trap]

They had no time to react, the doors opened followed by an immediate energy blast. Stephanie gasped, a searing heat ripped through her, burning, dissolving, cauterizing. She looked down in shock, clutching at her stomach . . . but there was nothing there to hold. At that moment the man behind Marin threw everything into driving him forward crashing on top of him in the lift as the doors closed. A finger of blue reached out from the saucer and Stephanie's body disappeared. Then it reached out again, probing the lift, penetrating to the interior but it was too late. The lift had gone.

Ham viewed the body crumpled on the Saucer floor, surprisingly little blood flowing. The searing weapon cauterized as it burnt, leaving a gaping hole. If not lifeless yet it was soon to be.

Ham reflected on the sad figure,
no recovery from this one, not without a stomach and spine anyway. No, she's dead, finito, kaput, no . . . going . . . back,
he sighed,
and damn!

"Well Steph," his voice seemed to echo around control, "I guess you were breakable after all . . . but you didn't deserve that."

A blue field, gel like in appearance, materialized around her securing and preserving the sad remains.
Marin can clean this up later
. Then in a blink the Saucer disappeared from the flight deck, reappearing for only an instant several thousand meters away before disappearing again. He repeated the move, over and over from spot to spot until he was certain no system could have traced him. The final resting place created a new blister on the underside of the central Dahlia bulb. It was unlikely to be noticed by anyone. From this new vantage Ham began to probe carefully. He wasted no time on grieving. No gumball AI would be a match for him.
What have you done with my Dahlia . . . . . . . and Marin.

In the lift, finally restrained by the three remaining men, the much stronger Marin decided to rest and think. He could see the fourth man's body slumped in the corner, the weapon bearer, his head bent at a disturbing angle so that Marin could still see his expression. He had died with a shocked
'What'
look that Marin noted to his satisfaction. Then, as that last image of Steph flashed again to mind, his own head slumped to his chest.
How am I going to tell Regan?

Anger surged in him and he snapped back his head thumping into the nose of the man behind, a rewarding satisfying 'crack' bouncing off the hard walls in the small space. The man cursed and responded with a jab to Marin's side, something hard, followed by a paralyzing pulse of electricity. The room for Marin dissolved into a haze of twinkling lights and he passed out in agony.