Alien Cradle, Jeff Inlo [graded readers .txt] 📗

As if guided by a grudging sense of responsibility, Rath decided to make an immediate visit to Lar's warehouse. It had been a long time since the middleman left the Fenrir system to return to his business. Rath wondered how much Lar would hold against him, expected at the very least a cold response. He was thankful, as well as surprised, to see that Lar welcomed him first with astonishment and then with a huge smile.

"Rath?! I didn't think I'd ever see you again," the middleman offered the scout a hand. "You've been gone a long time. I mean a long time. I was wondering if they had put you away on some penal planet. I just couldn't believe they were going to forget you wanted to steal those emeralds."

"Who me?" Rath laughed. "I'm an honest scout, remember?"

"Yeah, how could I forget? So really, what have you been doing with yourself all this time?" Lar looked a bit sheepish but asked the question anyway. "Did you have some time to do?"

"No, no penal planet. I've just been working with the Authority. It was a good deal while it lasted so I thought I'd milk it for as long as possible."

Rath was relieved to receive the cordial greeting, but he couldn't hide a twinge of guilt. "Seriously now, I'm sorry I got you into all of that. I should've known better."

Lar waved it off. "Things happen. What am I supposed to do, cry about it?"

"Yeah, but you were gone a long time, too. Don't for a minute think I didn't know that when we were cooped up together. It meant lost business. Is there a way I can make it up?"

"They really must have paid you well." But Lar shook his head. "The Authority more than compensated me for the lost time. They probably gave me more than I would have made had I been operating all that time. They also gave me first crack at major contracts until I got back on my feet again. I didn't suffer. In fact I probably made more money these past few months than I ever have."

"But you wouldn't want to go through it again, right?" Rath asked laughingly.

"You got that right. Once was interesting, but once was enough."

Rath's eyes instinctively scanned the room. Though apparently alone, he still lowered his voice. He could still remember Jack's expression when the coordinator advised him to keep quiet. But this was Lar, who had seen the alien. He didn't see harm in revealing information to the middleman. In fact, he felt almost obligated. "Not as interesting as after you left. You should have seen some of the stuff out there, especially the last few days. I tell you..."

The middleman didn't let Rath continue. Lar's demeanor turned gray with dissent.

"I don't want you to tell me," Lar stated hard and fast. "I don't want to know anymore than I do. I don't want to start up anything new. And I don't need anything else bottled up inside of me. You have no idea how hard it's been not to be able to tell anybody about what we saw. Every time I'm about ready to slip, I remember what that Jack guy said about it being classified. I got a few reminders of that in the beginning and a few new ones just a few weeks ago. I don't need any other stories keeping me up at night."

Rath held up his hands as if surrendering. "You're right, you're right. I guess I just want to talk about it, too. But we're not supposed to, so I'll try to keep you from anymore trouble." He paused and reconsidered how he should put his next question. "I'm not asking you anything out of the ordinary if I want to know how much the public knows about this, am I?"

Lar frowned. "I guess not."

"Have you been checking the coms?"

"Every now and then, but I try not to do it anymore than the average curious Joe."

"What are they saying?"

"Normal stuff. Know-it-alls blathering on about nonsense they know nothing about. It's all guesses and made-up stories. Bottom line is that the Regency Bureau of Information distributed a notice that a possible finding has been made by one of the exploratory councils. They said in order to protect the integrity of the finding and to allow the councils to do their job; they are keeping most of the information classified. Of course the media immediately went up in arms."

"I guess they would. Were they able to force any more information out?"

"Actually, it seems they were. They forced a press conference with the head of the General Exploratory Council. In some heated exchanges, the council head admitted it was a finding of alien life."

There it was again. Alien life. The scout had seen the Fenrites up close. He had been on the Authority Station that scanned and surveyed every Fenrite activity. He had been shot down by the alien defenses. Still, the mention of alien life bothered him. The thought that something else existed on that planet before he landed pressed on his own reasoning. Something didn't fit, but it simply evaded him. Now, however, news of the Fenrites was apparently being spread across the Regency population.

"Then, I guess it's out," the scout capitulated. "We've got aliens. We're not alone. I guess everyone is talking about meeting these things, huh? The media's probably distributing pictures."

"Hardly. Regency Govern has determined that the alien organism has rights of its own, and these rights supersede the rights of the media. They want them protected and that's been a debate all in itself. The location is still classified, but you wouldn't believe how good some of these hackers are. With all the Authority activity going on all over the galaxy, they've actually narrowed it down to three possible systems."

"Do they have the right one?"

"Yup."

"Then, someone's going to try and break in."

"Apparently a few already have, but it hasn't helped narrowed down the possibilities. There's a record of a pilot captured in all three systems, and in each case the pilot has been held by the Authority on charges of conspiracy. No one's been able to get in, make a scan, and get out, so no one other than the Authority and the councils no which system it is."

"Except for us," Rath added.

Lar didn't appear thrilled with that thought. "Yeah, except for us. That's why I don't like talking about it."

"Don't worry too much. If there's this much pressure on the council to release information, I'm sure what we know will be general knowledge in a few weeks." Rath decided to quickly change the topic. "So what else is going on?"

"Not much. Business is good, like I said."

"How are the prices of emeralds doing?"

"Still a hot commodity. I hear they've actually made a prototype of the new engine, but the Authority's got it under wraps. They don't want to make it available to public yet. And speaking of emeralds, are you going to bring me some more soon? I need some scouts to do business with. I've got more buyers than suppliers, and I'm always on backorder."

Rath sighed. "I don't know. I guess so. I want to retire, but I don't think I can, not yet anyway. I do have a good amount on deposit to fall back on. That's the first time I've had that luxury in a while. And you should see the nice new scout I have."

Lar shook his head, but smiled for his friend. "All because you wanted to pirate some emeralds. I guess crime does pay."

"I never thought of it like that," Rath admitted. "I guess I am better off than when I started."

Reception advised Dr. Sinclair of her guest's arrival. She looked at her calendar again and grunted with great disapproval. He was late, by several days earth standard. This never would have happened before, but she guessed her ouster from the Alien Research Council allowed others to think they could treat her with less respect. And what could she do about it? Regency had all but removed her power. Why would a coordinator of Jack's status concern himself with an ousted scientist?

She sat in her office with a sour frown. She debated whether or not to return the favor, keep him waiting in the outside hall, like he kept her waiting. It was childish, vindictive, but somewhat enticing - a final charade or a last grasp at control. She decided against it. He might not wait, might simply drop off a note. He probably only arrived out of professional courtesy. There was no other explanation. He didn't need her influence anymore, she didn't have any.

She really didn't even expect a personal visit, all she needed was the final report, notification that the experiment concluded successfully. She was waiting for the classified release when the orbiting Control Station relayed a message that a transport had come out of Boscon Push with the coordinator on board. That actually caught her off guard.

She asked for him to be shown in.

"I must say, I never expected to see you again. I simply expected a note," her tone slipped, made her irritation obvious, "a note I expected days ago."

Jack sat down heavily and waved a disgusted hand. "We don't have time for that. I did not send the release because the experiment is far from concluded."

Dr. Sinclair's eyes widened only slightly at first, than narrowed in an almost accusatory stare. "Excuse me?"

"The Fenrites are still around."

The doctor shook off her surprise as her eyes glistened and her face turned red. Her anger grew as she made her own assumptions before hearing the facts. She clenched a fist almost viciously. "Regency Govern changed their plans and they didn't notify me? They want to keep the Fenrites around. They're going to continue ... not without me. I want back on that council. You go tell..."

He cut her off as abruptly as he entered. "Govern didn't change their plans, the Fenrites changed things for them. They shot down the missiles."

"What?!" This time she couldn't just shake off her surprise. She watched Jack with a dumbfounded expression.

"That's right, the mission was a complete failure." Jack's narrow head tilted to one side. When he raised his eyebrows to express his own astonishment, he appeared more animated than real. "The Fenrites defeated an entire Authority attack, shot down almost every missile. Quite a dramatic event really. I would never have guessed they would have built so many defenses. They had almost complete coverage of their entire planet. Only two of our missiles got through to their targets. Severe damage to one city. I surveyed the damage myself to make sure. They suffered setbacks in production and population, but not enough to wipe them out. I assure you, they're still there."

Sinclair sat quiet, reflecting on this new information.

"A good deal of this is my fault," Jack said without a note of sorrow. "I should have been more forceful with other suggestions. Our main priority should have been to remove the Fenrites. Secondary concerns should not have been treated as important as they were."

Dr. Sinclair finally recovered from her shock, but she still had many questions. "What secondary concerns? I thought the main objective was to destroy the Fenrites."

"It was, but another agenda reared up as well. No one wanted to risk a public relations disaster. Everyone