The Alpha Choice (69 page)

Addressing the crowd, he looked at Tala. ‘I do not have the time to demonstrate how you will meet your end. However, I can show you what will happen if you obstruct our shock troops.’ There was a moment’s pause as his eyes lighted upon the Artefact. ‘Before we commence the demonstration I would like you to take possession of that interesting little box, Tala.’

She nodded dutifully, wondering why there was any need for a demonstration.
Surely
,
there’s been a sufficient display of our power. These people are crushed…why’s he doing this?
 

Stepping over to the table, ignoring the eyes following her, she picked up the Artefact. Removing a small galet from a pocket, she passed it over the unremarkable object; no energy readings, or indeed readings of any kind. It sat inert, in the palm of her hand, then began to glow softly and warmth from the little device suffused her entire body, before it vanished.

‘Oh,’ remarked Garnoth, ‘that was most unfortunate. Perhaps it did not like you, my dear.’

Tala felt strange but was unable to place the feeling, then it, like the Artefact was gone. The carefully aimed barb from her mentor washed over her, without registering.
 

Despite the minor setback of the disappearing trinket, Garnoth was enjoying himself even more than he thought possible. He knew he was a cruel man, gaining pleasure from the suffering of others, but he had ceased being self critical more years ago than he would care to remember. True, the pleasure was vicarious, but it reminded him of why he resisted the lure of retirement. Back home, he had to employ more indirect devices to achieve his aims, convincing himself that the satisfaction he derived from his subtle machinations was more than a match for any in-field delights. He was now forced to admit he had been fooling himself, nothing matched this.

He accepted that an impartial bystander might consider, what he and his people were doing, monstrous enough, without seeking to terrorise a tiny group who would be unable to report their experience to anyone. Imagining how he might react, if placed in a similar predicament, he knew instinctively, that he would face his doom honourably. It was this mindset that distinguished the Te from these creatures. The fight was knocked out of most of them, and there was no sign of any further resistance. They might share the same genetic code, but nothing more.
 

His reverie was interrupted by the sight of Beron - still holding on to Jon - moving towards Tala. The, normally taciturn, agent was not averse to violence when it was necessary, but he could see no benefit in what Garnoth was about to order. He was concerned the Supreme Council would take the same view, and their displeasure might rebound on him. If he could speak to Tala she might be able to persuade her mentor to reconsider.
 

‘Beron, how may I help you?’

The look in the spymaster’s eyes stopped the agent, instantly. Beron was a stranger to fear, and found himself in unknown territory. Without speaking another word, Garnoth communicated he would brook no interference. One look at Tala confirmed that Beron would find no help there; he made his decision, perhaps the best and safest course would be to mention it to his father when they returned home. After all, Vaaris could perhaps use the information to embarrass, or even remove his arch rival.
 

As Beron backed away with Jon, Garnoth silently regarded the agent with contempt. The look on Tala’s face became noncommittal.

Satisfied he would not be interrupted again, Garnoth turned his attention back to more important matters. There would be questioning of the humans, which normally would not involve him directly, yet that exercise might also prove interesting. The assimilation of the planet would be a matter for the military, and the bureaucrats. All too quickly, for him there would be the inevitable, slow atrophy of retirement, albeit luxurious. With no imminent projects on the horizon, even he might find it difficult to remain in post. He decided to make this mission one that would sate his needs for some considerable time to come.

‘Tala, terminate the female by the door,’ he paused, before adding. ‘Do not feel the need to hurry, take your time.’

Knowing that to look at her mentor would betray her feelings, she reached into a pocket and removed from it something the like of which no Tellurian, including Hugo and Jon, had ever seen. It was similar to the galet, but large enough to fill the palm of her hand, completely silver with no discernible controls. Both Jon and Hugo knew from experience that the galet was capable of being used as a weapon, so what was this? The onlookers, for that was what they had become, watched as she pointed the device towards her cowering victim.
 

The weapon emitted a bright red beam, and enveloped the young woman in a red glow not so bright as to prevent anyone seeing what was happening, although most would have wished to divert their eyes from the horror. Tendrils of energy moved out from the fireball, which had the effect of making the sight so much more terrifying. It was as though the deadly fingers, even while feeding upon their present victim, were reaching out for new prey. The reluctant observers recoiled, almost as one.

Tala felt sickened. She knew that denying Garnoth was not an option. Refusal of a direct order would result, not only in her death but that of her entire family. His instruction was explicit, maximise the terror. The woman, she knew was long gone, but the psychological impact of the snaking energy matrix was incalculable.

She switched the weapon off and turned her head away.

As the intense glow began to fade, there was a collective gasp from everyone else in the room. Reactively, she looked at the point in space where the energy beam had done its grisly work, and her eyes widened.

In turn, Garnoth followed her gaze and for the briefest of moments, was stunned. Then, quickly recovering his composure he spat venomously. ‘No, it cannot be, you are not allowed to interfere, we have acted within the Accords.’

All eyes were focused on the place where the young woman had been enveloped within the deadly energy ball, and who now stood totally unharmed. She stepped forward, towards Tala and metamorphosed into another figure, tall, unutterably beautiful and totally inhuman. She was clad in a flowing dress of pure white; her eyes, electric blue, her perfectly formed face devoid of expression, it was
Jane
.

The pain in Jon’s arm disappeared, instantly. He felt better, physically, than he had ever known. He tried to speak, but ‘Emily…’ was the only word he could utter. That pain remained. Not only did
Jane
not reply, she did not even look at him, it was as though they had never met before. Beron released his hold on Jon, he had no choice in the matter, the Te’an agent felt himself being propelled firmly away from his captive.
 

Tala, was now looking at the hologram as if seeking guidance. What she saw in the face of her mentor was no longer the imperious invader, more a scavenger, desperately seeking escape.

Almost everything that had happened washed out of Jon, all he could think of was his young friend. The words stuck in his throat, but he managed, in a strained voice to utter. ‘She sacrificed herself to save me.’

While the blue orbs that were
Jane’s
eyes continued to disregard him, he felt stronger and the pain that was remembering Emily began to recede until it was bearable; he was glad it was not gone altogether.

The Custodian turned her implacable, cold gaze towards the holo image.
 

Beron chose that exact moment to turn and run but found, to his horror, that he was held motionless by the invisible, irresistible force that was
Jane’s
mind; he was turned back to face her, and the force was released. He made no further attempts to flee.

The glacial being addressed Garnoth. ‘Before the agreement was finalised, your subordinate precipitated an act of violence. You are fully aware of what the Accords have to say concerning such events.’

‘I didn't kill her, she ran at me and we both went over the rail. She was the one who was responsible, not me,’ Beron blurted out. The remorseless Te’an agent had disappeared and, for the briefest of moments, he looked as though he might attempt to run again, but that moment passed without incident.

The Custodian was still facing Garnoth as she continued. ‘If it was not for your violent actions, that situation would not have arisen, she was trying to protect her friend.’

She slowly turned her head to regard Beron, who could not hold her gaze and looked to the floor like an abashed child. ‘You should have withdrawn. Everything that followed was a direct consequence of your actions.’ Her face remained impassive. The pause that followed was imperceptible, but every Tellurian and two very frightened Te’ans anticipated something terrible happening that very moment, in that very room.

Instead, she turned back to Garnoth, who had tried but failed to regain his composure.

‘Did you think we would not know what had taken place and, in knowing, fail to act?’ She looked at Tala and the unfortunate Beron. ‘Go back to your ship, you should be with your own people when we do what must be done.’ The Te’an agents disappeared, but the galet and the hologram remained, except that it no longer showed Garnoth, it now showed nothing at all.
 

Everyone, except Gerry Wye - who by now, was catatonic - looked at this astonishing being who had been masquerading as Tellurian, yet no one could recall seeing her before the moment she stepped forward. She walked over to the galet, which continued to hover in midair and said softly, to no one in particular. ‘Let us take a closer look.’ The object disappeared as, to all those present, did the room.

There was no sensation of movement as Jon found himself in a familiar place. As before, there was a panoramic view of local space. Only this time it was not the Sun that was displayed, but the flotilla of Te’an warships, now reduced to the original three.

All the Tellurian occupants the Signing Room, including the President himself, were present, even the three screens hovered, with their images now in attendance looking out at the Te’an armada. From the calm and curious looks on everyone’s face, Jon knew that
Jane
had done something to their minds to allay panic. The only one not present was the Custodian.

Jon’s attention was drawn to the three Te’an ships in orbit around the Earth. Unlike the hologram, which had the effect of diminishing their size, he now appreciated the scale of the warships, they were vast. Despite orbiting Earth at speed, they appeared motionless, each pointing towards the waiting planet, below. The silence, and relative immobility adding to the sense of dread. If they were aware of the presence of the viewing platform, they gave no indication.

The colossal warships were, he thought, both ethereally beautiful and frightening at the same time. Still and silent, neither they nor the recently ensconced observers had to wait long before another twist unfolded.

Ω

The entire bridge galvanised into action, all officers too busy to notice Gorn, all save for Trang, whose eyes betrayed nothing, and then she too concentrated her mind on performing the role assigned to her.
 

Gorn looked up at the holo-sphere, which had remained blank throughout the brave, but futile defence of Telluria. It now showed the planet below, where most of the inhabitants would be completely unaware of the danger they now faced. Eclipse’s sister ships, Horizon and Quasar were not in view, having fallen in behind and to either flank of the flagship.
 

Absolute quiet descended upon the bridge, accompanied by a complete cessation of activity. All eyes regarded the cause of this newfound silence. Where they should have seen the blackness of space, broken only by the blue, green, white planet below, there was a tiny electric blue light waiting, perfectly still, before them.

Gorn looked at the data projected by his console. As he expected, the light emitted no energy signature and appeared to be completely without mass, but for what his eyes told him, he would have to say it did not exist.

It seemed that despite his failure, the Custodians had chosen to intervene.
What happened down there?
he asked himself.
Do they know about me?

Intercession by the Custodians had been his worst case scenario. Clearly, something had occurred on the planet to invoke their attention, which in turn would result in the destruction of his people. Now that he was faced with the reality of that outcome, it was nothing like he thought it would be. All the grand talk of his aunt, and the bold planning seemed so unreal now. How could he possibly have thought it would be any different to this? Destroying an entire race was not what he wanted, neither Tellurians nor his own race. He had hoped the Custodians would see Te’ans who cared, who were prepared to act, persuading them to do something other than carry out their threat.

The Tiny light, although it was impossible to gauge its size when it failed to register on their systems, remained as it was.
Surely,
he thought,
if it was going to destroy us, it would have acted already. Why is it waiting?

He had been called to the bridge soon after sending Hugo Black to help Jonathon Tyler. Liz Corcoran was safe, as he did not send the kill signal to the Avatar,
so what caused the breach?
Unless he gained access to a console out of sight of prying eyes, he would have to wait to find out. He tore his eyes from the light, which was still doing nothing, and redirected his attention to his commander.
 

Darl's face was not that of a man in fear and Gorn, one of a few of all those present, knew what was coming next, the Alpha Wave.

Most of his fellow officers suspected what the blue light heralded, the return of the beings many had consigned to the realm of myth.
 

The commander issued the order he had waited for. After three thousand years of paralysis, he would be the man remembered for freeing the Te from the yoke of the Custodians. ‘Signal Quasar and Nova, they are to position themselves and await my order to deploy the Alpha Wave.’