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

>The Fenrite missiles had opened several holes in the outer hull of the station. While the devastating explosions ripped the metal apart, the loss in pressure forced an internal implosion. Large sections of the hull collapsed, folding over into layers and layers of crushed metal. What was once shaped like a large oval now appeared more like a hollow bowl with a jagged-edged rim.

"Put melees in flight," Hollins stated firmly, but with a note of calm respect. The image of the collapsed station continued to fill the main display screen, and it quickly became a memorial in the general's mind. He could not simply disregard the last monument of thousands of solders, anymore then he could ignore the safety of the fleet. "Signal the carriers. I want complete coverage of the group. We are on full alert. Interceptors are to afford complete and continuous patrol. Set up the pickets and begin full scan of Fenrir. Deploy outer probes. We can't assume the attack came from the planet itself. If they were able to do this, they might come from any direction. Send recons around the system's star and launch comlink satellites into an orbit around Fenrir's moon."

A bevy of activity erupted about the command center, but Hollins continued to focus on the main display and the remains of the base station. "Get all rescue crews available and begin a complete search of the hulk. There could still be some soldiers trapped in internal compartments. Include a team of techs to download any information from their files. And get the pilot of the courier that delivered the message over here. I want to know what happened. I want to know how a society of cross-genetic, backwards morons destroyed a Planning Station."

It was more than a question; it was a matter of history, one that was almost incomprehensible. The Authority had never suffered such a loss. Marauders were sometimes successful in damaging a frigate or a cruiser, rebel planets at times forced temporary withdrawals of ground forces, but never, ever, had the Authority lost a vessel of such strategic importance.

The general decided to use this to further his own opinion of what should be done next. "Record images of the station. Download to a courier ship and send it off to Base Spartan. Mark it for Authority Command and request immediate response. I don't know why they've been draggin' their feet on this, but I doubt they'll let this go unanswered."

Rath just stood and stared. Disbelief stung his every thought, and his eyelids blinked as if tried to wash a mirage from his sight. He had been through so much, yet he never expected to see the coordinator again, at least not here, not with Angelo.

"It appears you two know each other," Angelo stated the obvious while watching the reactions of all parties involved. "Good. That's going to make this that much easier."

"How did he get here?" Rath blurted out.

"I invited him."

"You in..."

"Yes. We analyzed the beacon placed on your ship. It was short range, well, short in relation to today's standards of travel. To receive the signal, a ship would have to be within scanner reach of your scout. Otherwise, they'd be unable to trace you. It was an easy assumption to accept that there must have been some spy ship in the area. I simply sent out a signal on all channels addressing veiled vessels. I wanted to speak with the individual concerned with tracking Rath Scampion. This is who showed up."

"This guy's a liar," Rath sneered.

The accusation rang clear with Rath's emotion. Jack offered no argument while Angelo simply professed his own acceptance.

"Of that, I'm sure. But he probably thinks the same of me. Still, it is possible for two liars to come to an understanding. And that's why he's here."

Jack lowered his head slightly, focused on a point on the ground, and then lifted his eyes to set them solely upon the pirate. If he still cared about Rath, it certainly didn't show.

"I came here, because I want to hear what you have to say, not because I'm ready to make any kind of deal."

Angelo rubbed his hands together as if to warm them. "Fine, this is what I have to say. I want your assurance that the Authority will leave this planet alone."

Jack actually laughed. He shook his long narrow head as he explained what was, in fact, now the truth. "You're talkin' to the wrong guy. I have no pull with the Authority."

"That's bull!" Rath nearly screamed. "I was on the Planning Station with him. He ordered colonels around like they were puppies."

"I think those circumstances might have changed," Angelo offered as he placed a hard eye on the coordinator. "I don't think he really can tell the Authority what to do. Maybe he could once, but not now. Otherwise he wouldn't have let them leave." The pirate scratched the base of his chin. "I can tell just by looking at you that you think the situation involving Scampion, and now myself, is much more important than the Fenrites themselves. If you still had any real influence over the Authority, this conversation wouldn't be happening."

"Perceptive, aren't you?" Jack offered while any semblance of amusement washed away.

Angelo waved off the compliment. "We're all capable of perception. It's just how we decide to use it. Anyway, I'll accept that you can't directly order an end to Authority hostilities against us, but that doesn't mean you're totally without power. Anyone with the clearance to utilize a spy ship in pursuit of one person must have some kind of pull. I'm certain you must have contact with a powerful council somewhere that can post some influence with Authority command."

Jack released a heavy sigh. He wondered if the pirate knew of the existence of Sinclair's supposedly secret council. Doubtful. More likely, the pirate was throwing out guesses to gauge a reaction. The coordinator decided not to play any mind games, and came right to the point.

"And why should I do this, promise to leave you alone? You're not the kind of person I'd want to stick my neck out for."

Angelo released a playful grin of his own. He moved like a snake on the hunt to a display control panel. Whistling near exuberantly, he downloaded all the information he obtained from Rath on the center screen.

"What I have here is all the data you probably want classified. And it's not just what I got from Mr. Scampion, though I must admit, that is the kicker. I have a network of my own spies and intelligence. When you own your own planet, you can afford that kind of thing. I have logs of Authority ship departures, copies of exploratory deep space scans, a basic chronology of all the activity around Fenrir. I have some council reports from sociologists studying this 'alien' and I have my own scanning reports of the planet itself. Alone, they don't mean much, but together they definitely begin to raise a suspicious odor. Finally, I now have information from the scout to first explore the planet. I have his logs which pull all of this together. Regency didn't just stumble across something on Fenrir, they planted something there. This is the kind of thing that could really cause an uproar."

Rath's chin dropped an inch or two. "Planted? Regency?"

Angelo answered the question, but kept a close eye on the coordinator. "That's right. The Fenrites didn't bring themselves to Fenrir. And they're not true aliens. They are a creation, a creation of Regency scientists."

Rath simply blinked, then rubbed his forehead.

"Another simple conclusion, really," Angelo stated confidently. "The facts are all there. I wouldn't go as far to assume why, though I can guess. We haven't discovered any alien life in our travel. That must have made someone impatient."

Rath looked to the coordinator. "This was a creation? And you knew it?!"

"And now this bastard is going to release this information to the public." Jack turned a disgusted sneer to the scout. "I guess you got what you wanted."

Rath nearly exploded. He did indeed fulfill his hopes, obtained a release from the burden, but he didn't want the blame, and he didn't expect it went this deep. "I didn't want any of this! If you just left me out of it, none of this would have happened."

"Don't blame me, pal. Blame luck, and your own stupidity. I didn't give you the scout bid, and you're the one who decided to hijack a freighter full of emeralds."

"And you're the one who decided to keep me around to try and deceive me. Why didn't you just try me for piracy and lock me up in some outer rim prison, wouldn't that have been easier?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "A trial? How could we have allowed the attention? The experiment was already in progress when you came back to the system."

"Children, children, don't bicker," Angelo intervened. "Does it really matter how we all got involved? We're here and we now have some decisions to make. I have no intention of releasing this information, as long as I get what I want."

The pirate fiddled with a few controls as the information on the screen disappeared. He swirled about like a dancer, but his demeanor now appeared cold and calculating like the thief he truly was.

"Now let's understand something. I know you tracked and destroyed all ships trying to evacuate during this little skirmish, I can't say I appreciate that by the way, and you might actually believe that this is the only copy you have to worry about. Don't believe it. I might not have been able to release a ship, but wave transmissions worked just fine. When the Authority was filling space with phony attack orders, I piggybacked this entire file to a satellite orbiting one of the system's uninhabitable planets. That satellite then transmitted a coded message out of the system. It may take a while, but that message will be received by one of my operatives. That's not all. Now that the Authority has cleared the system, I just deployed a courier ball of my own with another download. It's already in Boscon Push and heading to a different pickup sight. That makes at least three sets you have to worry about, and maybe I have a few other tricks I'm not willing disclose. What it means is you can't just bury this thing by killing me and destroying what's left of this complex. You've got two choices, make a deal now or I distribute this cover-up to every planetary com my ops are working on."

Jack seethed. "Son of a ...."

That was the second time Rath saw Jack lose his semblance of control. He remembered the first time, when the nukes exploded on Fenrir. That certainly didn't end like a ray of sunshine and the scout braced himself for another bad ending.

The coordinator swallowed hard, as if accepting the situation like bad tasting medicine. "Fine. We leave Semele alone."

"Can you guarantee this?" Angelo posed, openly wondering of Jack's influence.

"Nothing's a guarantee," Jack stated flatly. In the end, he offered his own assessment of the situation. "Right now, Authority Command seems to be making their own calls. They're not happy with you, but they're more concerned with the Fenrites. You may have just enough of a threat to keep them at bay. But I wouldn't get too cute. You'll have your base of operations, but that's all. You start moving out, expanding, and all bets are off."