Shadows of Golstar (25 page)

He was startled by her accusation and could not keep
from saying, “I don’t…” He clamped his mouth shut before he could say more and
hesitated, trying to think of what she was accusing him. With a sudden sinking
feeling, it finally dawned on him as to what she might be referring. He kept
his face from showing any reaction, but inside he was reeling. He couldn’t
believe it. His first few minutes on the Golstar ship and he had already
screwed up.

In what he hoped was a calm, measured voice he said,
“I believe what your sensors are picking up is my weight vest; it’s more like a
webbed harness. I regularly use it to compensate for lower gravity conditions.
It’s an aid to maintain my physical conditioning. It compensates for my Loder
reflexes and muscles. It’s what allows me to function normally on a lighter
gravity planet. I must have put it on automatically, without… conscious
consideration that it might be viewed as restricted contraband.”

She stared at him with barely suppressed fury.
“Explain the device!”

He continued, keeping his voice even, “It’s basically
a simple, miniature gravity generator held in place by flexible nylar straps I
wear under my clothing. It has a very limited field. It doesn’t have an
off-switch for safety reasons. It wouldn’t do to have it accidentally turn off
in the middle of ah… an activity.”

He was in a very deep hole, and one he had dug for
himself. “I now understand your concern. It was thoughtless of me and I ask
that you believe it was totally unintentional. I just put it on unthinkingly,
purely out of habit. I had no ulterior motive. It was an honest, though I
admit, thoughtless mistake on my part and I sincerely regret to have caused you
alarm. It certainly wasn’t my intention to circumvent any of your conditions.”

His explanation did not seem to placate the Keeper of
the Way. She ignored his apology. “Show me. Show me this
gravity
harness
now,” she commanded.

Owens hesitated. He wanted to ask a further question,
but seeing the expression on her face and the set of her shoulders he simply
shrugged and started to comply with her order. With as much dignity as he could
muster, he stood and removed his coat, draping it over the chair. Starting at
the collar of his one-piece garment, he opened the almost invisible closure
seam and continued down to his waist. He then pulled off the top portion of the
suit and let it fall to circle his hips.

Sharné saw the crisscrossed black fabric harness
snugged tight against Owens’ muscular torso. It crisscrossed his chest like
bandoleers and held a number of small flat disks comprising, if the man were to
be believed, elements of the gravity generator. She was unprepared for the
sight. She fought the oncoming flush of color to her face. Other than seeing
her father once with his shirt off when she was a little girl, she had never
seen a living man’s bare chest.

Her anger was momentarily forgotten. Trying to
maintain a cold indifference and ignoring her pounding heart, she briskly
walked around him, feigning disinterest and inspected him like a slab of meat.
She couldn’t help but notice that the harness enhanced his resemblance to that
of an ancient gladiator. She finished her inspection quickly and told him to
put his clothes back on.

Although he maintained a stoic countenance, Owens was
seething on the inside. What was next, a full body cavity search? So much for a
momentous meeting between two cultures, he thought heatedly. He was angry at
the cold young woman, but also angry at himself as well. He couldn’t have made
a worse impression had he deliberately tried. He wondered darkly, if they would
send him back to the
Holmes,
or simply execute him right there on the
spot.

Having finished her inspection, the Keeper of the Way
turned her back to Owens. As Owens finished reassembling his wardrobe, he heard
someone enter the room. He resisted the urge to turn around and see who had
entered. He was trying to think of something to say when the Keeper of the Way
spoke first.

Without turning she said, “You will follow the guard
back to the quarters that have been assigned to you. There, you will remove the
harness and give it to the guard. I will confer with the Captain and call for
you later.”

Owens took it as a hopeful sign that her voice had
lost some of its coldness. He looked over at the guard. The man was almost as tall
as Owens but carried nowhere near the body mass. Saying nothing, the guard
turned and re-entered the corridor, obviously expecting Owens to follow him.
Owens trailed closely behind, maintaining a respectable pace while still trying
to think of a way out of his faux pas.

His thoughts carried him back to the briefings that
took place on Denbus. He shook his head ruefully. His brain felt as if it was
made of stone. All he could remember were the many speeches that reinforced the
importance of the first face-to-face meeting between the two cultures; how
everything was riding on his successful representation of Confederated Planets.
He thought sarcastically, wouldn’t the Vice Consul be proud of him now?

Feeling a little desperate, he tried to think if there
was anything useful from the diplomatic library that he had accessed during the
trip out to Golstar; something that might help in this situation. His mind
remained a perfect blank. At this point, that was about the only thing that was
perfect about him. No doubt Hec would find his situation hilarious he thought
sourly. Yes, Hec would certainly laugh his ass off… if he had one. And Owens
knew he would deserve every derisive chuckle.

The guard abruptly took a turn down an adjoining corridor.
In his mental fog, Owens almost missed it. Wouldn’t that be wonderful, he
thought darkly, if he became separated from the guard? He wondered what that
infraction might entail.

He abandoned trying to find some magical solution for
the time being, and instead concentrated on following the guard. He noted some
time had passed, and mentally agreed the ship was as big as Hec had reported.
After taking a number of additional turns down lengthy corridors, they finally
arrived at what he assumed were to be his quarters.

He entered into what could only be described as a
Victorian bedroom suite, complete with a large, canopied bed. The guard spoke
his first words and in a surprisingly high voice. He told Owens to remove the
apparatus. The squeaky voice was at odds with the guard’s appearance. Owens was
alarmed to find himself grinning. Stifling his grin, he quickly followed the
directive and again partially disrobed and handed the harness over to the
waiting guard. The guard momentarily staggered under the sudden increase in
weight from the harness, then regained his balance and departed without
uttering a word, his back bowed by the additional weight. Owens was left alone.
He immediately broke out into laughter.

● ● ●

Sharné frowned as she listened to the ship’s captain.
The captain looked down at the harness, lying on her desk. Her hair was pulled
tightly back, away from her face, accenting her long, slightly crooked nose.
“It is truly quite an ingenious device. The miniaturization is impressive and it
is such a simple concept. It is indeed a self-contained artificial gravity
generator, just as the outsider indicated.”

“What of its potential use as a weapon?”

The captain shook her head, “None that we can
determine. In the ship’s engineer’s opinion, the device has no real practical
use other than the outsider’s claim. It has no ulterior weapons capability;
just a clever device used for gravity compensation, nothing less, nothing
more.”

“It is good to know that is all it is truly used for.
However, it does little to relieve my underlying concern. What do you have to
say for yourself and crew?”

The captain looked up, “Your Grace?”

“Allow me to be more explicit. Captain, why did it
take so long for you to notify me the device was aboard the
Light Saber
?
Janus Owens was aboard for almost twenty minutes before the discovery was made.
This ship represents Golstar and this incident does not reflect well on our
competence or our position as a military super power.” Sharné’s tone was cold
as deep space.

The captain visibly paled. She was of medium height,
shorter than the Keeper of the Way but had not felt the difference in stature
until that very moment.  She was now beginning to feel very small indeed.

“Your Grace, the report from the initial scans only
identified a communication device with an integrated timepiece which was
allowed under the conditions.”

“There were no other devices detected?”

 “None that were reported to me,” the captain
answered. “I did not suspect another device until Engineering later informed me
of the subtle anomaly in Owens’ physical scan when he first crossed the inner
airlock. It was not until I ordered the second, lower level scan that we
finally noted a distinctive energy fluctuation and its location. At that point,
I immediately signaled you and shared our finding. You have my sincerest
apology, Your Grace.” The captain was visibly shaken and looked ready to bow.

“Captain, my acceptance of your apology is contingent
upon an incident like this never happening again,” she said in the same icy
tone. “Such a lapse cannot be allowed lest it give a false impression of our
military competency. We cannot have our superiority questioned by the likes of
Janus Owens. Blunders such as this could very well put our position with
Confederated Planets in grave jeopardy.”

The captain bowed her head in obeisance and said, “I
understand.”

“Captain, must I remind you, you and your crew were
carefully selected for this assignment by the Guardian himself? Thus far, your
performance has fallen short of the faith he has placed in you. Do you
understand my meaning Captain?”

The captain raised her head. “Yes Your Grace. You have
my vow it will not happen again.”

“I will hold you responsible to see it does not. I
speak for the Grand Patriarch when I say we cannot allow another such incident.
Grave consequences will result if even a
hint
of a dereliction to duty,
such as this one, should occur again. I will ask you once more. Do you
understand my meaning, Captain?”

This time the
captain did bow, though a bit
shakily. “Yes, Your Grace, your meaning is absolutely clear. I will issue the
appropriate reprimands to ship’s Engineering and conduct operational reviews
with the crew at once. I will provide you a report when they are completed.”

“See that you do. I am not in the habit of lying, yet
you have forced me into it. I now must concoct something reasonable to cover up
this failing and I am not at all pleased by the necessity to do so.” She would
not go to her father for guidance. It was her responsibility alone, so it would
be her decision. She thought for a moment. “What is done is done; have someone
bring the weight harness to the day room. I now leave you to your duty.”

She turned on her heel and left for the ship’s day
room without waiting for a response from the captain. At Sharné’s departure,
the captain collapsed in her chair and pondered her once-secure future, but
only for a moment. Dutifully, she reached over and activated the intercom. It
was time to tell the crew the bad news.

● ● ●

The angry tapping of her heels on the wooden deck
echoed along the corridor as Sharné strode purposely towards the day room,
trying to compose her thoughts. She was still furious, furious with Janus Owens
for his thoughtless violation of the conditions. Typical arrogance of
Confederated Planets, she thought. She was angry with the Captain and her crew.
The delay in discovering the contraband electronics was unacceptable and could
have compromised her mission. She was angrier still with herself for overreacting
to the unexpected discovery of the harness.

Sharné reached the day room. She immediately called
for the ship’s steward to bring her some herbal tea. She sat and began to
prepare herself for the next meeting with Janus Owens. Her thoughts were
momentarily interrupted by the steward returning with the tea. Taking a sip
from the delicate porcelain cup, savoring the subtle flavor, she considered
what she could say to Janus Owens that would cover for the crew’s incompetence.

She was not a practiced liar. Truthfulness was a tenet
of the Way. It went against all of her training to concoct a false story. But
then she considered her mission. Was that not the reason for her presence on
the
Light Saber
, why Owens was summoned? It was all based on the plan, a
plan that relied on a false story, an elaborate lie.
 
Yes, she thought, it
was
in the name
of a noble cause, but a lie, nonetheless. And what was the harm of one more
lie, if told for the greater good?

She sighed sadly. The ancient adage was true, she
mused. One lie would lead to another, then another. And with more lies, the
possibility increased that their deception would be uncovered. Lies are the
bane of the Light and allow the Darkness to grow stronger. “Father,” she
whispered. “What have you led me to? And where might it all end?”

The colonel, known to his fellow conspirators as the
General hummed to himself as he finished rereading the latest message. He
nodded in self-satisfaction. All was finally in place and events were coming
together quite nicely. The message in his hand confirmed the time would soon be
at hand to begin the operation in earnest, his own operation, his special
operation. Everything was prepared. He was confident that all would be ready;
success was almost guaranteed.

A good soldier must always be prepared to take
advantage of unanticipated opportunities, he thought. He knew the Leader would
be most pleased. The General’s position in the new regime would now be assured.
Finally, the title of General would be legitimate rather than ceremonial. Soon,
the officers who had been promoted over him would be removed. He would become
the ranking officer over all Golstar military forces. No longer would he be
made to endure the humiliation of being passed over in favor of less competent,
but politically-favored appointees. And when he consolidated his position,
those responsible for his disgrace would pay and that payment would be most
dear. He chuckled for a moment as he envisioned their humiliation.

His demeanor turned serious once more and he turned
his thoughts to more immediate matters. He had recently come upon a piece of
unexpected intelligence that presented a unique opportunity, one that would
eliminate the enemy before he neared planet-fall. He relished the thought of
finally putting to an end to the outsider, this Janus Owens who had foiled the
previous two assassination attempts. This golden opportunity would allow him to
succeed where others had failed. He, the General, would be the one to remove
the interloper once and for all.

The General smiled to himself. He would not use the
plan he originally developed to remove the outsider on-planet. Instead, it
would be the new plan; his plan alone would provide the final solution. Far
away from curious eyes, Janus Owens would be terminated. Unfortunately, there
would be some added collateral damage, but given the outcome, it would
certainly fall well within acceptable parameters. As with any competent
military leader, he would not hesitate to sacrifice a few lives in the righteous
cause for the far greater good.

The execution of his plan would finally demonstrate
his ability to act independently, unselfishly for the grand cause. He knew the
Leader would be greatly impressed. His military acumen and decisiveness would
be proven beyond doubt. Any lingering qualms as to his qualifications would
finally be removed. Yes, he had planned well and soon the Preservers would know
just how well, he thought. They would be gratified to see that he had planned
for all possible contingencies.

The General again chuckled to himself as he thought of
his own cleverness. Through his foresight, some time ago, he placed a trusted
associate into a key position at the Central Communications Crypto Center. It
had not been long before the General had received a message from his spy,
indicating that a number of encoded communiqués had been sent from the Guardian
of the Way’s office. Copies of the decoded messages were now lying on his desk.

He smiled down at the message that gave the initial instructions
for assembling the ships at the rendezvous. It had been no small task placing
hand-picked officers and enlisted crewmembers on the two escort ships that were
loyal to him. His plan was simple and straightforward. At his signal, they
would take over the ships and then proceed to attack and destroy the ship
transporting Janus Owens. Of course, coordinating such a plan was much more
complex, but he was well up to the task. Soon, his tactical brilliance would no
longer be overlooked.

As he again pondered the many rewards he would receive
for finally ending the troublesome outsider, a chime sounded. He walked over to
the small, secure communication console in the corner of his office and flicked
the receive toggle. Immediately, a thin sheet spat out of the slot into the
receiving tray. He picked it up and read the short message. He smiled widely.
It was good news; the news he was waiting for; the outsider was aboard the
Light
Saber.

He thought a moment, then tapped out a coded message
on the console’s keypad, but did not immediately send the message. His finger
hovered over the transmit pad and he savored the heady, almost tangible feeling
of power. The moment was intoxicating. He would go down in history; his legacy
would be reflected upon by future generations. By his hand, the path of
Golstar’s future would forever be altered. With this single act, he would be
the one responsible for Golstar’s return to the true and righteous path. He
hesitated no longer. With a feeling bordering on ecstasy, his hand descended
and the message was sent.